IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF VESSELS FOR NAVIGATION MOVED BY INTERNAL POWER
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bridges Adams, of No. 1, Adam Street,
Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF VESSELS FOR
NAVIGATION MOVED BY INTERNAL POWER."
Sealed the 10th July 1855, and dated the 12th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bridgos Adams,.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th May 1855.
I, WILLIAM BRIDGES ADAMS, of No. 1, Adam Street, Adelphi, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF VESSETS
FOR NAVIGATION MOVED BY INTERNAL POWER," to be as follows:-
First, in constructing metallic vessels in two shells or thicknesses with
spaces between, whether for bottom or sides or decks, or the partitions
known as bulkheads, the shells being kept at the requisite distance from
each other, either by bolts screwed at each end into the plates, or by
bolts of the ordinary kind, with metallic tubes or distance pieces round
them or near them at the proper length to keep the plates apart, or with
bolts rivetted at each end on to the plates, or by rivets with the ends of
smaller diameter, so as to form shoulders, or by similar means, such

page_text: being an improvement in the usual mode of cellular construction with
close partitions, and the intermediate spaces may at the bottom be filled
with pitch, or tar or bitumen, or cement, or asphalte mixed or not with
stones as ballast, the preferable material being an elastic bitumen. Any
composition that will fill the spaces may be used. Another portion of
the space may be used for the storage of fresh water, and other portions
may be simple air spaces, and the bolts will serve for the purpose of
climbing, if the spaces be wide, for the purpose of examination; and
this arrangement is particularly applicable to vessels of large size.
Secondly, in constructing axles and shafts for the paddle wheels or
other propellers of vessels of large size, so that they may be more
accurately made, and of sounder construction, whether hollow or solid
The shaft or axle is to be made in short lengths and welded together
end to end. I prepare these short lengths in any convenient method,
and, by preference, I make each at one end a salient and at the other a
re-entrant cone. I place one length above another with the salient and
re-entrant cones opposite at a convenient distance; I then make jets of
gas from concentric burners, throw a sheet of flame over the surfaces,
quickened or not by blowers or blow pipes of air or other gas. When
the heat is sufficient, and the surfaces in a pasty condition, they are to
be squeesed together by hydraulic or other pressure, and, in preference,
slightly turned round or rubbed together, as a carpenter would use
glue; and it is desireable to use the most powerful pressure that can be
attained. The gas heat is the most convenient method, as it is easy to
turn it off and examine the metal in an incandescent state, but other
methods may be used; and this same process may be applied to other
parts of vessels made of iron.
Thirdly, in applying springs of elastic caoutchouc, steel, or other
material as a means of communication between the shaft and paddle
wheel or propeller, in such a mode that no violent blow will be struck
on the water, or on the teeth of the geared wheels, by allowing a power
of recoil, which will greatly diminish or entirely remove tremor and
vibration, and the shocks of blows; and the force which would otherwise
be wasted will thus be absorbed by and reside in the springs, and be
given out again gradually. Thus the mischievous force tending to twist
the shaft and shake the frame will be usefully employed and the specd
increased; and various other means of preventing concussion by elastic
recoil may be adopted, as in the principle of spring carriages.
Fourthly, in applying signal lights by olefiant gas made in the fire-
places of the vessel, carried to the mast heads in tubes, and which may
be used also to light the vessel in other ways.
Fifthly, in an improved fog signal by pressing air, gas, or vapour by

page_text: means of the engine into a reservoir, and discharging it at pleasure
through a large trumpet.
Sixthly, in forming the joints of the iron planking or other portions of
vessels, by heating them in the modes before described, or by other con-
venient method, and uniting them by cast steel or cast iron fluxed to
their surfaces, and forming a solid substance with them as a substitute
for rivetting or bolting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters l'atent, filed
by the said William Bridges Adams in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, WILLIAM
BRIDGES ADAMS, of. No. 1, Adam Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most, Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Bridges Adams, Her special license that I, the
said William Bridges Adams, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Bridges Adams, my executors,
administrators, and 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 THE
CONSTRUCTION AND PROPULSION OF VESSELS FOR NAVIGATION MOVED
POWER," upou the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Bridges Adams, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 I, the said William Bridges Adams, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, that is to say:
BY INTERNAL
First, as to constructing metallic vessels. of two shells or thicknesses

page_text: with spaces between for bottoms, or sides, or decks, or bulkheads, so
that such spaces will contain air, or may be used as reservoirs for water,
as in the case of bottoms, and the lower portions of the sides may be
filled in with cement, or bitumen, or asphalte, or similar substances,
mixed or not with stone or metal as balast, so that the double shell so
lined may become a solid mass, which will prevent leakage or fracture
in case of striking on a rock; the general hold formed by the inner shell
being divided or not into separate compartments, as may be judged best;
and the outer shell may be put together in any ordinary manner, either
with ribs and framings, or without, by rivetting together; but I prefer
forming the shell without ribs, by abutting the edges of the plates
together and rivetting them on internal plates, covering the joints,
which joints may be afterwards brazed, or soldered, or welded together
by heat from blow pipes, formed by inflammable gas under consider-
able pressure, and mixed at the junction of the metal with atmospheric
air under pressure.
In this mode the plates may be made to form a solid
mass. The outer shell being thus formed, the inner shell is to be formed
in a similar mode, at such a distance between as may be desirable, the
distances increasing with the size of the vessel and the thickness of the
plates. Holes are then to be drilled or punched through both shells,
opposite each other and perpendicular to the planes of the plates, the
holes varying in size, according to the dimensions of the structure; and
these holes are to be spaced at the requisite distances from each other to
give strength when the connecting bolts are applied, or the holes may be
made previous to putting the plates together. As a general rule the holes
may be e spaced in squares of two to three feet. If the distance between the
shells be such that a man can go between, the whole inner shell may
be completed before putting in the connecting bolts; but if the space be
narrow, it will be well to apply the bolts as fast as the plates are con-
nected together.
Figure 1 shews a section of a portion of inner shell (a) and outer shell
(b) connected by a bolt, (c, c,) the two ends of which are screwed into
corresponding holes with threads, while the centre portion of the bolt is
of smaller diameter, to permit it to pass easily from one side to the
other. When the bolt is screwed in, the ends are rivetted into button
heads or into flat countersinks, both of which are shewn. Figure 2 is
a similar Figure, shewing the bolt (a) with a square head, screwed firmly
into and against the inner shell and into the outer shell, into which it is
rivetted in a countersink; Figure 3 shews a bolt with a square head,
and a screw only at the outer end, which is rivetted into the outer shell.
In this case, to keep the shells apart a tube (d, d,) surrounds the bolt,
the sharp edged ends of which cut into the plates and make a water-

page_text: tight joint, as seen in section. Figure 4 shews a shouldered bolt (c, c,)
abutting against the two shells and rivetted over; Figure 5 shews another
bolt, with right and left screws (e, e,) to screw into the sides; and
riveted over. In these two last cases the plates must be arranged to
be moveable to apply the bolts. Figure 6 shews a plain bolt (c) rivetted
into the shells, with a distance tube (d, d,) to form the frame or resis-
tance for the bolt; and in forming the bottom in this manner the keel
and kelson may be made as usual; and when the vessel's two frames are
built up sufficiently high, the heated bitumen or asphalte may be applied,
after previously warming the whole of the iron work, so as to ensure
adhesion; and thus the asphalte will surround the bolts, and adhere to
them and to the shells, and a very firm structure, free from internal
rust, will be attained, as shewn at Figure 7; and, if preferred,. dia-
phragms or separating partitions may divide the space between the shells
into portions, some of which may serve as fresh water tanks, or for other
uses; and where tubes are used round the bolts, they should be filled
with pitch or bitumen, to make them solid with the bolt.
Secondly, for the construction of shafts and propeller axles, I form
them first in short lengths or cylinders, whose length is about equal to
their diameters. I prepare these short lengths by rolling up plates
into a spiral form, or by putting together a number of concentric
segments round a central rod, breaking joint with each other, as
Figure 8, leaving spaces so that they may be heated to a proper degree,
and then I pass them thro' rolls to form a union of the surfaces. I then
form them into cylinders, one end of which is a salient and the other
a re-entrant angle, as shewn in the section of a hollow shaft at Figure 9
(a, a,) and (b, b,) which represents longitudinal sections of the cylinders
with the central hollow (c, c). Around the joint of these two cylinders,
which are to be kept from an inch to half an inch apart, the lower one
resting on a solid base and the upper one attached to the vertical ram
of a powerful hydrostatic press supported on pillars, I place two
hollow rings or gas pipes, seen in section (d, d, d, d,) pierced with
numerous openings radiating towards the centre. One of these rings
contains gas of strong combustible quality under considerable pressure;
the other contains atmospheric air, or it may contain oxygen, also under
considerable pressure. The hollow and projecting ends of the cylinders,
having been first turned in a lathe to exact corresponding surfaces, the
gas and air, indicated by (e, e,) are turned on and lighted, and produce
a sheet of solid flame, of intense blow pipe heat, which perfectly covers
the surface of the cylinder ends, and prevents any oxydation, just as the
flame of a candle surrounding the wick, and, excluding the atmospheric
air, prevents the wick from consuming. When the heat is sufficient, and

page_text: the iron is in the pasty condition called welding heat, the hydrostatic
press is put into rapid motion, and at the time of contact the cylinders
ȧre moved round one on the other till the pressure forces them together,
and thus a perfect weld is obtained without the prominent edges being
damaged by burning, as is the case when metal is put into a furnace;
thus, this kind of weld may be accomplished without noise or concus-
sion. The two cylinders being thus jointed are lowered down, and a
third is attached to the ram, and the process is repeated till the shaft
has attained sufficient length; and cranks may be formed in the same
manner, and the iron, not being subjected to cold hammering, will not be
rendered granular, but may be fibrous; and this same process of welding
by gas, or, in lieu thereof, brazing by gas, may be applied to form the
joints of the shells of the vessel, because two pieces of iron in contact
with a clean close fitting joint will thus unite firmly, if heated to the
proper degree. Figure 10 shews the cylinder (a) and one of the hollow
rings (d) in plan, with the radial lines of gas and air entering the
joint (e, e).
"
Thirdly, for the purpose of moderating the effects of shocks and con-
cussion-caused by the strokes of propellers or paddle wheels on the water
while in rapid motion, I make the paddle wheel or propeller in two
parts, which are connected together by the agency of elastic caoutchouc,
or of spiral, volute, or disc-form or hoop-form steel springs. Figure 11
is a front view, with the centre and arm broken away; and Figure 12,
a section of a paddle wheel. (A, A,) is the shaft; (B, B, B, B,) the
paddle wheel frame. This frame is not keyed fast on the shaft, but can
move round it, like the wheel of a carriage, on its axle at the centres
(C, C), Figure 12. This moving round eludes the force of the blow, but
the motion round the axis is gradually retarded by one or more elastic
dray links, which stretch from the periphery of the wheel or paddle
blades (b, b, b, b,) to a boss (D), pressed firmly on the shaft at (0, 0, 0, 0.)
As the shaft is moved round by the steam or other power, the periphery
is at first quiescent, but as the caoutchouc (a, a,) compresses, the wheel
gradually comes into motion, and the caoutchouc is more or less com-
pressed, according to the speed, and the recoil is greater or less accord-
ing to the resistance of the waves, and the power is not lost, but resides
In these
in the springs, and is given out again as the resistance lessens.
Figures the elastic links are shewn composed of a number of discs
(a, a,) of vulcanized caoutchouc, separated by metallic plates, and to
which are connected a pair of rods or links (o, o, o, o), so arranged, that
by pulling the rods endways the caoutchouc discs are compressed as the
rods extend; and instead of the caoutchouc, volute, or spiral, or disc, or
hoop springs of steel may be applied in the same mode, though I prefer

page_text: the caoutchouc. And the caoutchouc may also be used in the form of
rings or tension links, stretching from the periphery towards the centre,
as seen at Figure 13, where an inner wheel (A) moves inside an external
periphery (B), connected by the links. Another mode of accomplishing
this elastic yielding is shewn at Figure 14, and in section Figure 15', where
the main body of the wheel (A, A,) is adapted to move a multiplying
periphery, partly shewn in the dotted lines, for a propeller shaft. This
wheel partly revolves in the toothed periphery (B, B, B, B,) till arrested
by the compression of caoutchouc rollers (b, b, b, b), which are placed in
the interstices (a, a, a, a), forming inclined planes, approaching each
other as the movement increases. The caoutchouc formed into discs or
rollers may have the force increased by compressing them into the inter-
stices by the screw bolts (c, c, c, c), which pass through them and the
washers (d, d, d, d), which confine them. Four of the caoutchouc
rollers are shewn with the washers removed, and flat rings covering the
whole space may be used instead of the washers. Compressible hoops
of steel may be used instead of the caoutchouc in the manner of key rings,
and the motion may be in either direction, backwards or forwards, and
the numbers or multiplication of the elastic connections may be more or
less, at pleasure, for either variety of wheel. Figure 16 shews another
mode. An inner wheel A is formed with a number of cogs or teeth on
its periphery, turned true, so that the ends of the cogs will move in the
inside of the external periphery (B), which has a similar number of cogs
interspacing with those of (A). Between these cogs are placed segmental
pieces of caoutchouc (C), which may be secured by washers or flat rings,
and the compression of the caoutchouc in either direction will give the
elastic action. Figure 17 shews a mode of forming an elastic cog or
tooth, by a metallic bush (a, a,) working on an axis (b, b), and-sur-
rounded by a disc of caoutchouc (c, c,) within a metallic hoop (d; d);
as this tooth presses on a corresponding tooth it can revolve, and thus
prevent rubbing friction in the movement, and by its elastic action con-
tact will be induced without jar, and the elastic pressure of the
caoutchouc will also prevent recoil, or what is technically termed "back-
lash;" and the same result will be obtained in the tooth wheels before
described, the one being a provision for the whole of the teeth together,
and the other for each tooth separately. Figure 18 shews the tooth in
section. The mode of attaching such elastic teeth to wheels may vary,
according to convenience.
Fourthly, my improved signal light, to be used at night or in fogs, is
a powerful gas light, forming lambent jets of strong flame round the
head of the chimney, or in other conspicuous parts. This gas may be
produced from retorts in the furnaces; but I prefer to produce it by

page_text: placing a pipe of metal in a furnace heated to such a degree, that oil
or fat dropped into it in small portions will be flashed into gas, and,
ascending inside or outside the chimney in a connected pipe, will com-
municate with the ring or head of jets, and the heat in the chimney may
make the lighting a self-acting process, and the flame can be extin-
guished by stopping the flow of oil or fat. The gas may also be used for
lighting the binnacle, and for other purposes; and in this mode gas may
be made and used in a vessel without risk, as there is no accumulation
in a large mass, and the light can be exhibited in all directions around
the chimney without the necessity of men ascending the rigging, and
without risk of its being blown out, the effect being of that kind so
remarkable in blast furnaces for iron, as seen over great stretches of
country and also in natural volcanoes.
Fifthly, my improved signal for sound to be used in fogs is formed by
the application of an air pump worked by the engine, which condenses
air or gas into a strong receiver of sufficient capacity, and which con-
densed air or gas may be discharged continuously into a gigantic trumpet
or or other instrument, made to vary its sound by means of an apparatus
similar to the governor of a steam engine, but made to work irregularly,
if required, so as to vary the amount of the issuing jet; and metallic
tongues may be made to act in unison with the trumpet, so as by their
vibration still further to vary the sounds; and this air chamber, if made
of sufficient strength and magnitude, will serve also for the purpose of
discharging a continuous shower of shot from a swivel or other gun or
guns, so as to repel pirates or others attempting to board the vessel.
And these arrangements for light and sound signals do not require illus-
trating by Drawings, as any competent engineer will be enabled to
construct them by the foregoing description.
Having now described my said improvements, I wish it to be under-
stood that I claim as of my original Invention,-
First, the structural arrangement of vessels of metal formed with two
shells connected together by bolts or stays, in the modes indicated by
Figures 1 to 7 inclusive, the same being applicable to the decks and bulk-
heads also; and the application of cement, bitumen, or asphalte, or other
similar material, to make a solid body of the two shells, as hercin-before
described.
Secondly, the construction of shafts for paddle wheels and propellers
either solid or hollow, by uniting parts together heated by gas heat or
other flame heat, and compressed by hydrostatic or other pressure; also
uniting the joints of the iron planking by gas heat for welding and braz-
ing, so that the operation may be performed without a forge fire, as

page_text: herein before described, and illustrated by Figures 8, 9, and 10 inclusive;
and such modes of welding can be applied for the shaft of other
machinery.
Thirdly, the application of caoutchouc, either vulcanized or otherwise
treated to improve its elasticity or otherwise, for the purpose of giving
elastic yielding and reaction to paddle wheels and propellers or toothed
wheels, or the application of volute, or spiral, or discs, or hoop springs
of steel for the same object, as herein-before described, and shewn in
Figures 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 inclusive.
Fourthly, lighting vessels by night, or in fogs or for other purposes,
with gas formed by dropping oil or fat into heated pipes or by retorts
placed in the furnaces, as herein-before described.
Fifthly, the application of air chambers or strong air or gas reservoirs
to be worked by the engine, and the air or gas highly compressed, so
that such air or gas will serve either to blow a loud signal trumpet or
other instrument with regular or irregular notes, or can be applied to
throw a shower of shot from a gun, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bridges Adams, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM BRIDGES ADAMS. (L.S.)