Improved Rowing Device.
Year: 1893

page_text: Improved Rowing Device.
I, JOSEF SCHMIDLIN, Works Foreman, of 24 Schiller Strasse, Pyrmont,
Germany, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention and in what manner
the same is performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The present invention consists of an apparatus for propelling boats by means of
oars in such manner that the oarsman may be enabled to sit in the boat with his
face forward i.e. looking in the direction in which the boat is propelled, the motions
of the body and the oar handles being the same as in ordinary rowing boats, that of
the blades of the oars through the water, however, reversed.
In order to make the present Specification more easily intelligible, reference is
had to the accompanying drawings in which similar letters denote similar parts
throughout the several views.
Fig. 1 is a cross section through a boat, showing the apparatus arranged
thereon,
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus,
Fig. 3 a detail part elevation drawn to a larger scale and
Fig. 4 a detail view of the chain and ratchet wheels employed in connection with
the apparatus.
'
The whole apparatus is mounted on a plate a which is secured by means of a
lug b and pin d to one of the central ribs c of the boat, said rib being strengthened
for its reception; or the same may be secured to the gunwale of the boat to which
end it is provided with flanges ƒ and g having perforations f' and g³ for the
reception of securing bolts. The mechanism for moving the oars is mounted on
this plate on the two spindles and i. On the spindle is arranged a loose metal
disc & lying directly above the plate a and again above this disc is a ratchet disc or
crown wheel also loose on the spindle. Above the ratchet crown wheel and separated
from the same by means of an intermediate collar m is a combined chain wheel and
tooth segment n n', consisting of the upper tooth segment n and the lower smooth
chain wheel or roll n', by means of which the chain o may be tightened up or let out.
The wheel is provided at its lower rim with a flange n² to prevent the chain o from
slipping off underneath the same, or instead of this flange a separate loose disc may
be provided as shown in Fig. 3. The segment part of the wheel n n is prolonged
outward over the side of the boat to a fork p, in which the blade end A of the oar
is pivoted. The upwardly extending arm B of the oar A is provided with a hook
to which the chain o is attached, said chain being passed through the fork round
the chain wheel n' as shown in Fig. and finally attached to the wheel 9. at g¹
which wheel is mounted on the spindle i of plate a. The wheel which is similar
to wheel n n' only larger is separated from the plate by a loose disc m' only. The
lower disc of this wheel g however, and to which the chain o is attached is not
rigidly attached to the upper segmental part but is independently revoluble on the
spindle being prolonged inwardly at q and provided with the handle g. In the
upper surface of the part q" is provided a pin r adapted to traverse the periphery
of the smooth side of the upper tooth disc y and being limited in its movement on
said disc by pins and arranged in said disc q. The arm B of the oar blade A
and the chain o may be covered by a casing D whilst the other parts of the
apparatus may be protected against the influence of the elements by a covering E
which extends downwards to the plate a on the outside.
P

page_text: The apparatus operates in the following manner :-
On making a stroke through the water with the blade A the pin of the arm q"
rests against the pin of the disc q and the chain o is out of operation. As soon
however as the stroke is ended (Fig. 2) and the motion of the handles q is
reversed, the pin r passes idly back from to and the chain o is pulled by means
of the lower part of disc to which the arm q" is attached, and thus the chain o
raises the blade A of the oar out of the water. When the pin or stop r has
reached the two parts of the disc q will be coupled so that on continuing the
backward movement of the handles the blade A of the oar will be passed back to
commence the next stroke, being held the while over the surface of the water by
the chain o..
Owing to the weight of the oar blade A when out of water considerable strain is
put upon the chain wheel n n' and in order to relieve this wheel of a part of the
strain and strengthen the same it is provided with a ratchets adapted to engage in
the ratchet crown wheel as soon as the chain comes into action, thus coupling the
two wheels nn and and dividing the strain. When the chain is out of action
i.e. when the blade is making its stroke through the water the ratchet s will simply
slide over the teeth of the wheel l.
The effect of the oars may be increased, i.e. the power required to propel the boat
may be decreased by lengthening the arms q as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,
in which case the seat is advantageously shifted further back so that the oarsman
may stand to row instead of sitting.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
--
In rowing boats a device by which the blades of the oars are caused to propel
the boat in a direction reverse to that of the pull of the handles, by means of the
gearing n and g, the said blades being lifted out of the water before the commence-
ment of the return stroke by chains o in the manner specified, whilst the strain on
the chain wheel is relieved by the ratchets and ratchet wheel in the manner
substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 14th day of August 1893.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.