IMPROVE- MENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER."-A communication
from abroad by Pierre Gardère, Manager of Saw Mills, and Charles
Patel Gentleman both of Paris in the Empire of France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th August 1863:
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inu Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Pierre Gardère, Manager of Saw Mills, and
Charles Patek, Gentleman, both of Paris, in the Empire of France, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of obtaining motive
power, and to the application of the same to the propulsion of ships and to
the driving of machinery.
According to this Invention, it is proposed to utilise the power derived

page_text: from the rapid and continuous flow through pipes of water obtained artificiall
by the condensation of steam directed in the form of a jet or jets into a
vessel or chamber in connection with such pipes.
Iu applying this system to the propulsion of ships, it is proposed to employ
one or more sets of pipes running longitudinally along the vessel from stem
to stern below the water line. An opening is made near the bows of the
vessel communicating with the pipe in the fore part, and another opening
is made near the stern communicating with the pipe in the after part. These
two pipes open into a chamber in which a jet of steam is directed from a
boiler in the direction of the pipe leading to the stern, so that when the steam
is turned on a rush of water takes place (by means of the vacuum produced
by the condensation of the steam in the vessel) through the opening at the
bows along the pipe in the fore part of the ship and into the steam vessel
or chamber, whence it is expelled by the force of the jet along the pipe in
the after part of the ship, and issues at the stern in the form of a powerful
jet of water which has the effect of propelling the ship along. In practice,
it will be advisable to have two sets of these pipes with their steam jets
directed in opposite directions, so that by bringing one or the other set into
operation, the vessel may be directed ahead or astern, as required.
In applying this system as a prime mover for driving machinery, the jet
of water produced by the action of the steam in the steam chamber is directed
against the naves or buckets of a water wheel, the water being obtained from
a well, reservoir, or other convenient source. By this means no natural fall
of water is required to drive the water wheel.
The above are two examples only of the mode of applying this system
of motive power, which may be varied considerably according to the nature
of the uses to which it is to be applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
mne, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said. John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER," a
communication to me from abroad by Pierre Gardère, Manager of Saw Mills,
and Charles Patek, Gentleman, both of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that Í, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to an improved system or mode of obtaining
motive power, and to the application of the same to the propulsion of ships,
and to the driving of machinery.
According to this Invention, it is proposed to utilise the power derived from
the rapid and continuous flow of water through pipes obtained artificially by
the condensation of steam directed in the form of a jet or jets into a vessel or
chamber in connection with such pipes.
In applying this system to the propulsion of ships, it is proposed to employ
one or more sets of pipes running longitudinally along the vessel from stem to
stern below the water line. An opening is made near the bows of the vessel
communicating with the pipe in the fore part, and another opening is made
near the stern communicating with the pipe in the after part. These two
pipes open into a chamber in which a jet of steam is directed from a boiler
in the direction of the pipe leading to the stern, so that when the steam is

page_text: turned on a rush of water takes place (by reason of the vacuum produced by
the condensation of the steam in the vessel) through the opening at the bows
along the pipe in the fore part of the ship and into the steam vessel or
chamber, whence it is expelled by the force of the jet along the pipe in the
after part of the ship, and issues at the stern in the form of a powerful jet of
water which has the effect of propelling the ship along. In practice, it will be
advisable to have two sets of these pipes with their steam jets directed in
opposite directions, so that by bringing one or the other set into operation, the
vessel may be directed ahead or astern as required.
In applying this system as a prime mover for driving machinery, the jet of
water produced by the action of the steam in the steam chamber is directed
against the vanes or buckets of a water wheel, the water being obtained from
a well, reservoir, or other convenient source; by this means no natural fall
of water is required to drive the water wheel.
The above are two examples only of the mode of applying this system of
motive power, which may be varied considerably according to the nature of
the uses to which it is to be applied.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I'shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represent respectively a
longitudinal section and plan of a vessel provided with a duplex apparatus for
propelling the same either "a-head" or "a-stern," arranged according to this
Invention.
A is a metal chamber provided with three mouths or apertures a, b, c, and
enclosing a conical tube or jet nozzle d; this tube or nozzle receives by the
pipe D the steam generated in the boiler E, and directs it in the form of a jet
In the direction of the discharge pipe F. The immediate condensation of the
steam produced on its exit from the nozzled inside the chamber A by contact
with the cold water in the chamber, which cold water is constantly supplied
by the pipe G placed below the water line of the vessel, produces a powerful
influx or current of water into and through this tube which keeps the
chamber A constantly supplied. The water rushes with considerable velocity
into the end of the tube G through the perforations or openings g in the fore
part of the vessel, passes into the chamber A, and is ejected therefrom into
and along the discharge tube or pipe F by the force of the steam jet, and

page_text: escapes by the orifice fat the stern with force sufficient to propel the ship
forward; by increasing the number of apparatus, greater power may be
obtained.
In the Drawings I have represented two single apparatus directing or
discharging a jet of water, the one from the stern, as already described, and
the other (lettered A¹, D¹, F1, and G¹) from the bows, to be used when the
vessel is required to go "a-stern."
Figure 3 represents a sectional elevation of an undershot water wheel
driven by a jet or current of water produced in the manner herein-before
described. A is the chamber disposed in a similar manner to the chamber
employed for marine propulsion, and herein-before described in reference to
Figures 1 and 2, being provided with three openings a, b, c. The opening a
admits the steam from a boiler or generator by the nozzle and pipe D; the
opening 6 admits the water by the pipe G, the lower end of which dips into a
well or other convenient source of supply, as shown. The opening c in this
arrangement receives a feed pipe H for supplying the chamber with water on
first commencing to work. In the arrangement herein-before described for
propelling, the pipe G serves this purpose, as, being situate below the water
line, it keeps the chamber A always full of water. d and h are two cocks
placed, the one on the steam pipe D and the other on the feeding pipe H for
the purpose of regulating, stopping, and starting the apparatus. The water
which is raised from the well is ejected in the form of a powerful jet from the
chamber A (the open end of which is slightly tapered) and is directed against
the several vanes or blades of the water wheel R, causing the wheel with its
shaft S supported in the bearings P to rotate. It is obvious that the same
principle may be applied in various ways for the obtainment of motive and
propelling power, of which the Drawings give two examples only.
In lieu of a water wheel with a horizontal axis, as shewn in the Drawings,
a turbine may be employed, having its axis placed vertically, and the water
supplied thereto in the form of a jet produced in the manner described. In
all these cases no fall or head of water will be required, the requisite force of
the jet or current being obtained by the action of the steam.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, 1 would observe, in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel
aud original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus
for obtaining and applying motive power, as herein-before described.

page_text: 2nd, the application and use of a jet of steam for inducing a powerful
current or jet of water, substantially in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)