IMPROVEMENTS IN NAVIGABLE VESSELS, AND IN STEAM APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES FOR PROPELLING THE SAME
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Simpson at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 27th September 1881.
JAMES SIMPSON, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Naval Architect.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN NAVIGABLE VESSELS, AND IN STEAM APPARATUS OR APPLIANCES
FOR PROPELLING THE SAME,"
The said Invention relates to a new construction or adaptation of the hull of a
ship or vessel to make it suitable for my novel system of and apparatus for
propelling by the action of steam, and the alternate ejection and indrawal of
water, and has for its object to provide at reduced cost simple and durable parts,
economical in working and maintenance, and not liable to get out of order.
First. To provide or adapt a ship or vessel to be propelled in the manner and by
the apparatus hereinafter described, I construct or make openings through the shell
of the said ship or vessel in the following novel manner :-One or more openings
near the bows beneath the waterline, which I term the inflow, is or are in com-
munication with a passage or passages leading aft. The said passage (or passages)
terminates or terminate in a chamber near the bows, and is fitted with a valve or
valves opening inwards. From the said chamber passages lead aft to openings
near the keel, through which water is ejected in a slightly lateral direction and
towards the stern. The passages do not project beyond the shell or skin of the
ship or vessel. The apparatus or appliances for giving motion to the water is
attached to and in communication with the chamber above mentioned.
Second. To propel ships or vessels constructed as above set forth, I make use of
a steam generator of any ordinary or desired construction in combination with
horizontal steam cylinder fixed longitudinally near the keel. The said cylinder is
fitted with a valve or valves for admitting and cutting off steam, and with a
piston, preferably hollow, or otherwise made light and of non-conducting material
as regards heat. The cylinder is preferably lined with wood or other bad conductor
of heat, and one end opens into the chamber mentioned under the above first part.
Third. To control the admission of steam to and its condensation in the cylinder
described under the above second part, I fit the rear end of the said eylinder with
a steam admission and cut off valve of any desired construction, and the said
valve is actuated for the admission of steam by means of a tappet lever or rod,

page_text: struck by the piston at the end of its backward stroke. The said valve is moved
to cut off steam when the piston has travelled the desired distance by a tappet rod
or lever connected to the said valve, and acted on by the piston in its passage along
the cylinder. The said tappet rod or lever is fitted to the cylinder at such a
point as would cause steam to be cut off at the desired time. The steam is
condensed by water admitted to the said cylinder through an opening or orifices,
past which the piston moves at the end of its forward stroke. The opening or
orifices lead to the chamber at the mouth of the cylinder or to the sea. The water
entering the cylinder as above set forth is ejected, together with the water of
condensation when the piston again reaches the outer end of its stroke.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-Steam from the generator is admitted
behind the piston at the end of the cylinder near the stern, and the piston is
driven towards the bow so as to eject the water contained in the said cylinder; the
water so ejected passes into the chamber at the mouth of the cylinder, near the
bow, and drives before it the water contained in such chamber through the passage
or passages leading therefrom towards the stern of the ship or vessel. The valve
or valves in the inflow passage or passages prevent the ejection of water in the
direction of the bow. When the piston has reached the end of its stroke, the steam
is condensed by cold water entering the cylinder through the orifices or orifices
mentioned in the above third head, and a vacuum is produced in cylinder behind
the piston. The piston acted on by the said vacuum on one side and the pressure
of water on the other, is driven back to the closed end of the cylinder. At the
end of its stroke the said piston acts on a tappet or equivalent device, so as to
open the admission valve, a fresh charge of steam is thereby admitted, and the
actions above described are repeated.
Fourth. To enable the motion of the slip or vessel to be reversed or caused to
move.astern,-tho-valve-or-valves-in-the-inflow-passage or passages is or are fitted in
a cylindrical chamber or cylindrical chambers, capable of being rotated, so that the
said valve or valves may be moved into position to open outwards.
Fifth. Apparatus described under the above second and third parts are, if desired,
fitted to act in conjunction with a chamber and passages at the stern instead of
at the bow.
Two or more cylinders are, if considered advisable, used in one ship or vessel, and
are placed or arranged either side by side or end to end.
The orifice or orifices near the keel, through which the water is ejected, is or are
made smaller in area than the inflow passage or passages, and preferably is or are
fitted with an adjustable mouth piece or equivalent device, so that the area of such
orifice or orifices may be altered as desired.