A MACHINE OR AFPARATUS FOR PROPELLING CARRIAGES, VESSELS, AND LOCOMO- TIVE BODIES
Year: 1829

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
CRABTREE, of Halesworth, in the County of Suffolk, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of July, in the tenth year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert
Crabtree, His especial license that I, the said Robert Crabtree, my heirs,
executors, and administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Crabtree, my heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times 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, and
also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "A MACHINE OR AFPARATUS FOR PROPELLING CARRIAGES, VESSELS, AND LOCOMO-
TIVE BODIES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me,
the said Robert Crabtree, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Robert
Crabtree, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist in a

page_text: machine or apparatus which is put in motion by means of a pendulum or lever
acting upon two lever chains or system of levers commonly called lazy tongs,
which, by their alternate expansive and contractive motion in propelling weights
to and upon a main beam balance or lever, act by means of crank rods upon
the cranks of paddle wheels in relation to vessels, and upon common wheels in
relation to carriages, and also by means of propellers in relation both to
vessels and carriages, thereby producing progressive motion: "And in further
compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Robert Crabtree, do hereby
describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed, by
explaining one of its applications, namely, that which serves for propelling
vessels, and for which description it will be necessary to refer to the Drawings
annexed hereto, and to the letters marked thereon, that is to
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
say:-
The Drawing No. 1 represents a side elevation of such an application as
aforesaid of my said Invention in a quiescent state. A, A, is the main lever
composed of two parallel boards or planks, leaving an interval between thein for
the lever chains to traverse backwards and forwards. C, C, are two lever
chains working between the two sides of the main lever; they are confined at
one of their ends in the center of the lever by a' bolt passing through the main
lever, and are supported at the other ends by the axles of wheels or rollers
marked D, D, shewn by the dots, to which wheels or rollers, by their alternate
contraction and expansion, they give a motion to and from the center from and
to the extremities of the main beam balance or lever. These wheels or
rollers D, D, move between two weights of iron, lead, or other ponderous
material, marked E, E, in the form of disks or any other convenient shape;
which are fixed on the ends of the, axes of the rollers, and by their motion to
and fro depress and elevate the main lever alternately, as shewn in the Draw-
ing No. 2. F represents an iron bar or rod fixed at each end to a bolt or pivot
of the lever chains, and by its alternate action produced by the oscillations of
the lever G next hereafter described, expands and contracts them.. G, G, is a
lever or pendulum working on the bolt H fixed in the upright frame K; the
upper end short arm of which lever is connected by a bolt or pivot with an
iron bar I; the other end of which bar communicates in like manner with the
bolt at one end of the bar or rod F, and by its motion expands and contracts
the lever chain. K, K, is a stand or frame supporting the machinery. I is
a paddle wheel, which is put in motion by the two crank rods M, M, which
communicate at their upper ends with the main lever, and at the lower end
attached to a double crank N upon the axis of the paddle wheel. 0, 0, are

page_text: legs or propellers working at their upper ends upon bolts on the main le ver
and which may be used in canals where the depth of the water is nearly
uniform. P, P, are feet in which the lower ends of the propellers work upon
bolts or pins. Q, Q, represents the deck of the vessel. R, R, are frames at
each end of the machinery, each composed of a double upright with braces,
and their use is to guide and keep steady the main lever, the extremities of
which work between them. S, S, is the water line, and T, T, the bottom
of the canal or river. The aforesaid Drawings and description apply more
directly to the action of the machine in propelling vessels and other floating
bodies; but it is obvious that the same mode of operation equally applies to
the propelling of carriages and other locomotive bodies upon land, for which
purpose nothing more is necessary than to apply the cranks to the axes of
carriage wheels instead of the paddle wheels, or to propel them by the action
of the main lever on the propellers O, O.
And lastly, I do hereby declare that the Drawings herein-before described
are intended to represent my said Invention as calculated to be moved by
manual labour; but that I claim and reserve to myself the liberty of using
any of the known mechanical and moving powers for the purpose of putting
the said machine or apparatus in motion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Crabtree, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of, January, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty.