AN IMPROVED METHOD OF APPLYING THE POWER OF WIND AND WATER TO HORIZONTAL MILLS, THE PRINCIPLE OF WHICH MAY BE ALSO APPLIED TO SEVERAL OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1797

page_text: DAIK
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BEATSON, of Kilrie, in the County of Fife, North Britain, Esquire, late of the
Corps of Royal Engineers, do send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third, by His
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of October, in the thirty-seventh year of
His reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Robert Beatson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, His especial licence that I, the said Robert Beatson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF APPLYING THE POWER OF WIND AND WATER TO HORIZONTAL
MILLS, THE PRINCIPLE OF WHICH MAY BE ALSO APPLIED TO SEVERAL OTHER PURPOSES;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Robert Beatson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within one calendar month after the date of the said recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Beatson, do hereby declare that my said Invention of an improved
method of applying the power of wind and water to horizontal mills, and the

page_text: same principle to other purposes, principally depend on a peculiar method of
constructing and disposing those surfaces upon which wind, water, air, or any
other fluid shall act, by which means, and by opposing alternately a resisting and
a.non-resisting surface, their whole force or impulse acts in a direct manner upon
the resisting side of a wheel, vane, sail, or other surface, in proportion to its
extent; and when the non-resisting side is returning against or opposed to either
of those powers there is very little resistance, however large the original opposing
surface may be, and vice versa. When such surface, constructed upon these
principles, is required to act against any fluid, the resistance will be considerable
on the one side and very small on the other. When applied to horizontal
windmills, the power of those mills, even with the same quantity of sail or acting
surface, may be increased or diminished as shall be required; and upon this
principle windmills may be constructed in any form of building, or in the same
form of buildings as at present, and the same principle may be applied to
several other useful purposes, all which will appear more clearly by the fol-
lowing explanation and description of the above Drawings.
First, with respect to windmills. Fig. 1 is a direct view or elevation of
two opposite sides of a horizontal windmill, wherein A, B, and C, D, are two
of the upper arms, and E, F, and G, H, two of the lower arms, of which there
are four in number crossing each other, that is to say, four upper arms and
four lower arms, but there may be more if thought necessary, and for some
purposes perhaps even fewer may do, although it is presumed four will be
sufficient for any purpose: I, K, is the vertical shaft into which the arms are
fixed. L, M, N, O, and P, Q, R, S, are two frames, which may either be
immoveably fixed between the upper and lower arms, or they may be made to
slide, backwards.or forwards, so as to be placed nearer to or from the vertical
shaft, as shall be required. The surface or space contained within these frames
(which I call the vanes) is filled up or covered with any sort of thin light
substance or material for the wind to act upon, as canvas, linnen, silk, leather,
skin, or even paper or pasteboard, which, if thought requisite, may be prepared
either with,oil, tar, paint, or varnish, or otherwise, in such a manner so as to
resist wet, and to enable the wind to act upon them with the more effect. Or
these spaces or vanes may be covered with very thin wood or boards, or thin
-plate iron, tin, or copper, or in short_with_any_other_thin_or_light-substance-or-
substances. suitable to the purpose. It will, however, be observed that with
whatever material or materials these vanes are covered, it must not be in one
whole piece, but divided into a number of small separate parts or flaps placed
or suspended.in such a manner, as to overlap each other a little; that is to say,
if the mill is. intended to turn round from left to right, the lower part of the
:

page_text: .
upper flap 1 of the vane L, M, N, O, must overlap the 'upper part of the flap 2,
the lower part of 2 must overlap the upper part of 3, &c.; so that all the over-
laps being on the near side, the flaps will all be close shut when the wind acts
upon them, and consequently, the vane will receive its whole impulse: the same
5. as if it consisted all of one entire piece. The flaps in the opposite vane
P, Q, R, S, must, however; be suspended in a different manner, that is, the
overlaps must all be on the reverse or off side,, by which means, while the wind
shuts all the flaps on the left or resisting side L, M, N, O, and is acting thėrė-
upon with its full force, it' opens' all those on the right or non-resisting side
2. P, Q, R, S, and passes through between them "with little or no resistance,
except what is occasioned by their thin edges, which should be.as thin as pos-
sible, that the resistance may be the less; and if these flaps are properly sus->
pended and counterpoised, the resistance will be nearly as small as if there was
до covering at all upon the vane P, Q, R, S. It is therefore evident. that if
there are four of these perforated vanes crossing each other, as in the plan.
Fig. 2, when the wind acts upon the resisting side' A, with all the flaps. shut,.
and passes through the non-resisting side B, with all the flaps 'open, as shewn
in the Figure, A will be impelled forward, and will be succeeded by C, upon
which the wind will then 'begin to act; and thus, by the one vane succeeding.
the other, a constant rotation will be produced so long as there is wind'sufficient
to impel them forward; and it matters not from what quarter the wind blows,
as its effect will be the same upon vanes of this construction, which will always "
turn the same way with any wind. If the overlaps, were made on the near
side of the right vane, and on the off side of the left, they would turn round
the opposite way; as the right side would in that case become the resisting side,.
and the left the non-resisting. The flaps of the vanes should consist of thin
light frames of wood,' metal, whalebone, or any other substance fit for the pur-
pose of stretching the canvas; linnen, silk, &c. upon; and should be suspended
by two small bolts, staples, or hinges at the upper corners, upon which they
should hang freely and loosely, so as to be easily opened by the wind; but if.
they are made of thin wood or light plates of metal there will be no occasion
for stretching frames, as the bolts or hinges may be fixed to their upper corners.:
Instead of overlapping, these flaps might be made to shut close to each other,
with a stop or catch at the lower corners to prevent them blowing through;
but it is better to make them overlap, for several reasons, particularly as they
will resist the wind better, and the one will support the other in a firmer and
stronger manner. When mills on this principle are made on a larger scale, .
that is, when the vanes exceed five or six feet square or thereabouts, it would,
be proper to divide those spaces in two or more parts or pannels vertically, as
in Fig. 3, by which means the flaps will have the shorter bearing, and may:

page_text: therefore be made the thinner and lighter; and by dividing them vertically in
this manner they may be so contrived that all the flaps on any of the vertical
spaces or pannels may be kept open or shut at pleasure, and so give the mill
more or less vane, according to the force of the wind. In large mills, too, it
will be necessary to support the lower arms by means of struts or braces A, A.
There might also be on the top of the shaft a pole or rod B, C, from which
ropes C, D, and D, E, might extend to the extremities of the arms; there
might also be ropes horizontally fixed to the ends of the arms, so as to connect
them together, all which ropes and braces will tend very much to strengthen
and support the arms. Small uprights of iron or deal might be used instead
of ropes, and connect the ends of the upper to those of the lower arms. The
vanes, as has already been observed, may either be fixed in one position between
the upper and lower arms, or they may be made to slide further from or nearer
to the vertical shaft, according to the power that may be required, for it-is
evident the farther they are placed from the shaft or centre of motion, the
greater power and effect will the wind have upon them. The manner of stop-
ping and regulating these mills may either be by a brake or gripe, as in the
common windmills, or (which is perhaps better) by a contrivance for opening
or shutting all the flaps of the vanes at pleasure. This may be done by small
ropes or chains fixed to about the middle of the lower edges of the flaps, and
conducted over rollers or pullies at the top of the vanes to the inner side of the
mill, by means of which ropes or chains all the flaps in the vanes may be at
once drawn up when required. A preferable method, perhaps, is shewn in
Fig. 4, being a section of four of the flaps a, a, a, a, representing the manner
they overlap each other. b, b, b, b, are thin pieces of iron (edge upwards) affixed
to the flaps or to the gudgeons, and projecting about as many inches as the
flaps are broad to the outward ends of these projecting irons (which may be
called lifters). A small rope or chain c, d, is fastened so as to connect with all
of them; consequently when that rope or chain is drawn downwards (which it
may be by different contrivances), it will open all the flaps either partly or
entirely, and so regulate the mill, or stop it altogether when necessary. Other
methods for opening the flaps of the vanes, or of each pannel separately, might
be mentioned, such as that shewn in Fig. 5. A, B, and C, D, are two thin
bars of iron pierced with long apertures, as at b, b, b, &c.; these bars are made
to slide easily up and down upon the face of the frame by which the gudgeons
of the flaps are supported. These gudgeons may have a small trigger or pro-
jection, which is put through the long apertures when the bar is in its place;
so that if these bars are moved upwards, the lower part of the apertures, pressing
upon
the trigger, open all the flaps if they are suspended on the resisting side
of the vane, and if they are moved downwards they may be made to keep them

page_text: all shut; if they, are suspended on the non-resisting side (which is the best
way), the downward motion of the.bars will open the flaps, the upward motion
shut them. These bars may easily be moved upwards or downwards by small-
racks and pinions, as at B and D, turned by means of a sheave or wheel at one
end, as at E, having a small rope over it to communicate with the inside of
the mill, or by another pinion and small wheel or sheave, as at G and H.
Instead of apertures in the bars, the same effect might be produced by small
rods with projections, as at F, F, F, or by notches; but these mills might be
easily made to regulate themselves according to the power of the wind, by
means of balls, weights, or pendulum fixed to inflexible rods, and suspended
without the mill upon the arms or frames, or within it, in such a manner as to
operate upon the sheaves or pinions, or the ropes that open the flaps, which, if
these balls or weights are properly situated and constructed, they will do more
or less, according to the velocity at which the vanes are moving. Several other
ways might be mentioned of applying the same principle here explained to
horizontal windmills, particularly by making the flaps of the vanes stands verti-
cally or obliquely, or by making them or the vanes of different other shapes; or,
instead of frame for the vanes, the flaps might be suspended on uprights fixed
between the upper and lower arms, and the vanes might be made of a concave
form on the resisting side, and convex or angular on the resisting; they might
also be constructed with only one set of arms, to which the perforated vanes
might be fixed or made moveable. But whatever may be the manner of
applying it, the principle I claim the invention of is as before described and
explained, being the manner of opposing alternately a resisting and non-resisting
surface, by dividing it into several small spaces, which are so constructed and
placed as to shut and oppose their whole extent collectively to the wind when
acting on one side, and when on the other they all give way and allow it to pass
through with little or no resistance, except what is occasioned by the thin edges
of the flaps, together with the small proportion of resistance made by the power
requisite for opening them or raising them up; but this resistance
reduced to almost nothing by poising the flaps in such a manner (by weights
upon the lifters or otherwise) as to rise very nearly of themselves, or at least
to require only the smallest possible power or motion of the wind to raise them.
Secondly, with respect to water mills. The same principle already explained
may be applied to horizontal water mills in proper situations, especially for
wheels to go under water in the current of a river, or by the ebbing or
flowing of the tide where the situations will not admit of any fall for under-shot
or over-shot wheels, or where the river is apt sometimes to rise and sometimes
to fall so much that such wheels cannot be used advantageously. At the same
time, where mills of some sort would be of great utility in raising water to
may be

page_text: supply towns, gentlemen's seats,' &c., or for other purposes, a wheel on' thẻ
principle here mentioned might be used in such places to great advantage; 'as
it would go either wholly under water or partly so, and would always turn
round the same way,' whether the current was running 'down the river or up;
as when affected by the tide, and therefore might be applied to tide mills.
This will be more apparent by referring to Fig. 6 and 7. A, B, is the hori-
zontal water wheel, placed in the current of the river or of the tide, either under
the arch of a bridge, or in any other suitable place at which it may be contracted
by two walls C and D, or by any other means, in order to render the current
the stronger at the wheel. A is the side with the flaps shut, or the resisting
side when the current runs in the direction of the dart:1. B'is the open or
non-resisting side advancing against the current. When it runs in the direc-
tion of the dart 2, B will be shut and become the resisting side, and A will be
open and be the non-resisting side; consequently it is evident whichever way
the current runs the wheel will always turn round in the direction of the four
crooked darts d, d, d, d, and if the overlaps were made on the side B the wheel
would turn the reverse way. The flaps for water wheels of this sort may
be made either of thin deal or other boards, or of thin plates of iron, copper,
or other metal. These water wheels may be stopped or regulated by a sluice on
either side to stop the current, or to admit only so much as is thought neces
sary, and there may also be sluices at C and D to open when the wheel sluice
is shut. It is thought unnecessary to give Drawings of any part of the machinery
connected with these wind and water mills, that being no part of the Invention,
for they may be applied to any sort of machinery. whatever, and vertical' wind-
mills might easily be altered to the horizontal form, which saves a great deal
of machinery at the top of the mill, and requires no attendance to turn it to
the wind.
:
Thirdly, with respect to other purposes. The same principle may be applied
to several other purposes, as follows: 1st, it may be applied to the pistons of
pumps on a large scale, which, if divided in a number of long narrow valves or
flaps, will be much better for such pumps than if all in one valve. The pumps
may in this case be made square, and of any dimensions; and having a lever or
handle in proportion, may with a small power raise an immense quantity of water
in a short time. Such pumps may either be worked by hands, by the horizontal
mill, or by any other power, and might be of particular service on board of
ships in case of a leak, for which purpose portable or moving pumps of a great
width might be kept on board of all ships, to be ready to be put down-the
hatchways or any other part when necessary to throw out the water, which
would be done, more expeditiously in this manner than by bailing or other
ways; and, even on board of ship the horizontal windmills might be-used to

page_text: work such pumps, which would be a very great relief to the seamen in many
cases. 2d, to accelerate the motion of ship, vessels, or boats by means of a
flat surface divided into a number of spaces or flaps, which, when drawn or
pushed the one way, will act with its whole force against the water; and when
the other, will give way, and easily be brought back, so as to re-act in the same
manner. This may be done either by pushers with long poles or handles over
the stern or any other place, or by being suspended over the sides and drawn
backwards and forwards in various ways. 3d, for ventulators to let off the
foul air at one part of a building, room, or window, and to admit the fresh air
at another. 4th, to prevent the back draught in flues or vents of all sorts, and
by that means keep the smoke of neighbouring vents from descending, and in
many cases the vent from smoking; also to construct boxes or square tables to
put upon the tops or in other parts of vents, so as to open on one side and shut
on the other, according to the way the wind blows. 5th, for sluices that are re-
quired to keep water out or in on either side, as the ebbing and flowing of the
tide when wanted to be damned up for mills or other purposes, or in embank-
ments to keep the water out on the one side, and to let it off from the other.
6th, for the bottoms of buckets or barrels to draw water with, which, if con-
structed on this principle, would not require to be overturned before they can
be filled. And lastly, this principle may be applied to any other purpose by
which it is required to obtain or to produce motion or power by the alternate
actions and reaction of resisting and non-resisting surfaces in fluids of any
denomination, or to produce effects by the alternate action and reaction of such
fluids against surfaces of that description.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Beatson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our