Improvements in Propelling Ships or Vessels, and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Propelling Ships or Vessels, and Apparatus
therefor.
I, PAUL HAENLEIN, of Frauenfeld, Switzerland, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a method of propelling ships or vessels according to
which compressed or slightly compressed air is caused to act in a pulsating
manner upon or in a shaft or chamber which is formed within a ship or vessel
and communicates with the water outside, and from which the said air expels the
water, and whilst the water is entering, the pump forces air into a storage-chamber
or reservoir preparatorily to being used during the next following impulse.
The accompanying drawings illustrate two examples of apparatus for carrying
out this method.
In Figs. 1 and 2, 1 represents a ship, 2 a motor, 3 its crank-shaft, 4 its piston-
rod, and 5 its connecting-rod. 6 represents the connecting-rod of the air-pump,
7 the piston-rod thereof, and 8 the air-pump casing. Upon the crank-shaft 3
there is fixed a small spur-wheel 9, which engages, with
spur-wheel 10 that is mounted
a larger
on a valve-shaft 10".
shaft there is fixed an eccentric 12, which is adapted, by means of an
Upon this valve-
eccentric-rod 11, to operate the inlet slide-valve 17. There is, further, mounted
upon the same shaft, an eccentric 12", which serves, through the medium of an
eccentric-rod 11, to move the exit slide-valve 19 to and fro. The air-pump is
connected with the air-reservoir 13 by means of a pipe 16. 14 represents a
water-chamber provided in the rear part of the ship, and having its outlet-
nozzle 14 directed horizontally. 15 indicates the casing of the air-inlet slide-
valve 17; this casing is connected with the air-reservoir 13, by means of a pipe 16.
The outlet slide-valve casing 20 is connected by a pipe 18 with the water-
chamber. 21 and 22 are respectively guide-rods of the outlet slide-valve and.
the inlet slide-valve; they are connected to the respective eccentric-rods.
elbow of the water-chamber 14 where the latter joins the nozzle 14", there is
At the
arranged a valve 23, which closes or opens a passage 1 in such a manner that
the water is driven out either to the one side or to the other side, and the ship is
thereby moved forwards or backwards.
The mode of operation of this apparatus is now as follows:-
The motor 2 rotates the crank-shaft, whereby the air-pump 8 is driven and
compressed air is pumped from the delivery-valve casing 8 first into the
reservoir 13, from which the air passes through the opened inlet slide-valve 17
into the chamber 14, where it forces the surface of the water down from the level N
to the level N¹.
(The surface of the water in the water-chamber is on a level with the surface N°
of the water outside when atmospheric pressure obtains in the water-chamber.)
By this means, a jet of water is projected from the nozzle 14" so as to drive the
ship forwards.
When the surface of the water in the chamber has reached the

page_text: level N' the inlet slide-valve 17 is closed, and the outlet slide-valve 19 is opened.
The air that has been used escapes into the atmosphere and the water flows back
again into the chamber through the nozzle until the level N is reached, where-
upon the same operations begin anew. The pressure of the air in the reservoir
is made such that the water will pass out much more rapidly than it enters.
This form of the propelling-apparatus is specially designed for canal-vessels,
for which, as is well-known, neither paddle-wheels, screws, nor centrifugal pumps
can be employed, because all these propelling-apparatus are very quickly rendered
useless by being choked up by vegetation. A further advantage accruing in the
case of canal-vessels from the use of this propelling apparatus is that the forma-
tion of waves, which is so injurious to the banks, is completely prevented, whilst
the propelling-apparatus does not project beyond the vessel. The cross-sectional
area of the nozzle of this propelling apparatus is about 0.4 metre. If a few stalks
or stems were to be drawn in by the inflow of the water, they would be expelled
again immediately by the next following rapid outflow of the water and the
water-chamber will remain entirely free from vegetation. For backward move-
ment, the valve 23 is moved into the position shown in dotted lines, and the water
passes out through the nozzle R.
Another example is shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. In these figures 20 represents
a ship, 21 a motor, 22 an air-pump, and 23 a common crank-shaft, which is pro-
vided with fly-wheels 40 for the purpose of regulating the speed In a casing 25
is an inlet slide-valve 26, having a guide rod 26. The motion of this inlet slide-
valve is produced by an eccentric 28 mounted on a counter shaft 44, by
means of a rod 28" and a bent lever 27. The shaft 44 is driven from the crank-
shaft 23 by means of spur-wheels 45 and 46. The outlet slide-valve, which is
movable in a casing 33, receives its motion (which is opposite to the motion of
the inlet slide-valve) by means of a double lever 35 to the one arm 37 of which
there is attached the rearward slide-valve rod 38 of the inlet slide-valve 26, whilst
the slide-valve rod 41 is connected in the manner shown to the other and equally
long arm 39. The water-chamber 30 is built-in in such a manner that its cover
will be slightly above the level of the water outside. 30, 30, 30°, 30d are pipes
or channels of rectangular cross section that communicate with the water-chamber.
31, 32, 33, 34 are slide-valves for enabling the water-chamber to be brought into
communication with or be cut off from the channels 30°, 30, 30°, 30d at will.
The mode of operation of this apparatus is as follows:-
The motor drives the air-pump, which pumps air first into the reservoir 24,
whence the air, when the inlet-valve 26 is open, passes into the water-
chamber, where it forces down the surface of the water from N to N¹
If the slide-valves 31, 33, and 34 be closed, but the slide-valve 32 be open, the
water contained in the channel 30° will be expelled. When the water-level N¹
is reached, the inlet slide-valve 26 is closed, the outlet slide-valve 29 is opened,
and the air that has been used escapes, whereupon the surface of the water rises
again from N¹ to N, and the operations begin afresh. For canal-boats, and also
for river-tugs, the inlet and outlet-slide valves may be operated by means of floats
instead of eccentrics. The cross sectional area of the channels 30ª, 30, 30°, 30d
is made very large, so that such a channel will contain, for example, 6 cubic
metres of water-that is to say 6000 kilograms. Now the inertia of such a mass
of water is so great that it can escape only very slowly even when a great pressure
acts upon it, so that the mass of water can pass out only very slowly, and therefore
this propelling-apparatus will exert a great pressure, even with small slip. When
the water-level rises again, the water does not return through the channel 30°,
but enters past a suction-valve 50, which is arranged on the bottom of the water-
chamber. In consequence of its property of exerting a very great pressure against
the water at a very low speed-that is to say, with very small slip this propelling-
apparatus is especially suitable for use for towing rafts or floats. Fig. 5 illus-
trates how such tugs may be connected with a raft by means of stays and tie
rods If now, by suitably operating the slide-valves, the jets of water" be caused

page_text: to pass out through the channels 30°, then the raft will simply be driven forwards,
but if the raft is to be turned round its axis c in the direction of the arrow, then
the water jets are caused to operate in the manner shown.
Dated this 16th day of September 1897.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Propelling Ships or Vessels, and Apparatus
therefor.
I, PAUL HAENLEIN, of Frauenfeld, Switzerland, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a method of propelling ships or vessels according to
which compressed air (it may be compressed only slightly) is caused to act in a
pulsating manner upon or in a shaft or chamber which is formed within a ship
or vessel and communicates with the water outside, and from which the said air
expels the water and whilst the water is entering, the pump employed to compress
the air forces air into a storage-chamber or reservoir preparatory to being used
during the next following impulse.
The drawings accompanying my Provisional Specification illustrate two
examples of apparatus for carrying out this method.
In Figs. 1 and 2, 1 represents a ship, 2 a motor, 3 its crank-shaft, 4 its piston-
rod, and 5 its connecting-rod. 6 represents the connecting-rod of the air-pump,
7 the piston-rod thereof, and 8 the air-pump casing. Upon the crank-shaft 3
there is fixed a small spur-wheel 9, which engages with a larger
spur-wheel 10 that is mounted on a valve-shaft 10. Upon this valve-
shaft there is fixed an eccentric 12, which is adapted by means of an
eccentric-rod 11, to operate the inlet slide-valve 17. There is, further, mounted
upon the same shaft, an eccentric 12, which serves, through the medium of an
eccentric rod 11", to move the exit slide-valve 19 to and fro. The air-pump is
connected with the air-reservoir 13 by means of a pipe 16*. 14 represents a
water-chamber provided in the rear part of the ship, and having an outlet-
nozzle 14 directed horizontally. 15 indicates the casing of the air-inlet slide-
valve 17; this casing is connected with the air-reservoir 13, by means of a pipe 16.
The outlet slide-valve casing 20 is connected by a pipe 18 with the water-
chamber 14. 21 and 22 are respectively guide-rods of the outlet slide-valve and
the inlet slide-valve; they are connected to the respective eccentric-rods. At the
elbow of the water-chamber 14 where the latter joins the nozzle 14*, there is
arranged a valve 23, which closes or opens a passage R in such a manner that
the water is driven out either to the one side or to the other side, and the ship is
thereby moved forwards or backwards.
The mode of operation of this apparatus is now as follows:--
The motor 2. rotates the crank-shaft, whereby the air-pump 8 is driven and
compressed air is pumped from the delivery-valve casing 8ª first into the
reservoir 13, from which the air passes through the opened inlet slide-valve 17
inte the chamber 14, where it forces the surface of the water down from the level N
to the level N¹.
The surface of the water in the water-chamber is on a level with the surface N°
of the water outside when atmospheric pressure obtains in the water-chamber.
By this means, a jet of water is projected from the nozzle 14" so as to drive the

page_text: .
ship forwards. When the surface of the water in the chamber has reached the
level N¹ the inlet slide-valve 17 is closed, and the outlet slide-valve 19 is opened
The air that has been used escapes into the atmosphere and the water flows back
again into the chamber 14 through the nozzle until the level N is reached, where-
upon the same operations begin anew. The air reservoir is for the purpose of
storing the air compressed by the pump during the period in which the water
Hows back into the chamber, which air then acts to press the water out.
pressure of the air in the reservoir is made such that the water whilst being
driven out escapes comparatively slowly and with constant velocity, although it
will pass out much more rapidly than it enters.
The
This form of the propelling-apparatus is specially designed for canal-vessels, with
which, as is well-known, neither paddle-wheels, screws, nor centrifugal pumps
can be advantageously employed, because all such propelling-apparatus are very
quickly rendered useless by being choked up by vegetation. A further advantage
accruing in the case of canal vessels from the use of this propelling
apparatus is that the formation of waves, which is so injurious to
the banks, is completely prevented, whilst the propelling-apparatus does
not project beyond the vessel. The cross-sectional area of the nozzle of this
propelling-apparatus is advantageously about 0.4 metre. The shaft or chamber
is made of considerable capacity and its walls are made internally quite smooth
in order that the slightly compressed air may force out the large body of water
slowly and constantly thus preventing the formation of waves and so that the
large capacity and smooth walls may prevent vegetation from collecting therein.
If a few stalks or stems were to be drawn in by the inflow of the water, they would
be expelled again immediately by the next following outflow of the water; the
water-chamber will thus remain entirely free from vegetation and the propelling
action will not be interfered with. For backward movement, the valve 23 is
moved into the position shown in dotted lines, and the water passes out through
the nozzle R.
Another example is shown in Figs. 3; 4, and 5. In these figures 20 represents
a ship 21 a motor, 22 an air-pump, and 23 an ordinary crank-shaft, which is pro-
vided with fly wheels 40 for the purpose of equalizing the movement. In a
casing 25 is an inlet-slide-valve 26, having a guide-rod 26. The motion of this
inlet slide-valve is produced by an eccentric 28 mounted on a countershaft 44, by
means of a rod 28 and a bent lever 27. The shaft 44 is driven from the crank-
shaft 23 by means of spur-wheels 45 and 46. The outlet slide-valve, which is
movable in a casing 33, receives its motion (which is in a direction opposite to the
motion of the inlet-slide-valve) by means of a double lever 35 (rotatably mounted
at 36) to the one arm 37 of which there is attached the rearward slide-valve rod 38
of the inlet slide-valve 26, whilst the slide-valve rod 41 is connected in the manner
shown to the other and equally long arm 39. The water-chamber 30 is arranged
in such a manner that its cover will be slightly above the level of the water out-
side. 30, 30, 30°, 30d are pipes or channels of rectangular cross section that
communicate with the water-chamber. 31, 32, 33, 34 are slide valves for enabling
the water-chamber to be brought into communication with or be cut off from
the channels 30º, 30b, 30°, 30ª, at will. The mode of operation of this apparatus
is as follows:-
The motor drives the air-pump, which pumps air first into the reservoir 24,
whence the air, when the inlet-valve 26 is open, passes into the water-chamber 30
where it forces down the surface of the water from N to N¹. If the slide-valves 31,
33, and 34 be closed, but the slide-valve 32 be open, the water contained in the
channel 30° will be expelled. When the water-level N¹ is reached, the inlet slide-
valve 26 is closed, the outlet slide-valve 29 opened, and the air that has been
used escapes, whereupon the surface of the water rises again from N¹ to N, and
the operations begin afresh. For canal-boats, and also for river-tugs, the inlet
and outlet slide-valves may be operated by means of floats instead of eccentrics.
Such floats would be placed in the water chamber 30, thus by ascending opening

page_text: the outlet valve and by descending opening the inlet-valve. The cross sectional
area of the channels 30, 30, 30, 30 is made very large, so that such a channel
will contain, for example, 6 cubic metres of water-that is to say 6000 kilograms.
Now the inertia of such a mass of water is so great that it can be moved only very
slowly even if a great pressure act upon it, so that the mass of water can pass out
only very slowly, and therefore this propelling apparatus will exert a great pres-
sure, and with small slip. When the water level rises again, water does not return
through the channel 30° but enters past a suction valve 50, which is arranged on
the bottom of the water-chamber. In consequence of its property of exerting a
very great pressure against the water at a very low speed-that is to say, with
very small slip this propelling apparatus is especially suitable for use for towing
rafts or floats. Fig. 5 illustrates how such tugs may be connected with a raft
by means of stays and tie rods. It will be seen that by suitably operating the
slide valves of the water. channels the jets of water can be caused to pass out
through the channels 30* so that the raft will simply be driven forwards, and if
the raft is to be turned round its axis c in the direction of the arrow, then the
water jets are caused to operate in the manner shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. Effecting the propulsion of a ship or vessel by causing compressed air to act
upon water in a chamber arranged within the ship or vessel and communicating
with the external water and from which chamber the said air ejects the water
comparatively slowly and with constant velocity; the arrangement being such
that when by the pressure of the compressed air the water level in the chamber
has been lowered to a predetermined extent the said compressed air is allowed to
escape and water is allowed to again rise in the said chamber to the higher level
to be then acted upon by a further supply of compressed air, and so on successively,
substantially as described.
2. In apparatus for carrying out the method specified in the preceding claim,
the combination with the air pump and water chamber of a reservoir for storing
the air compressed by the pump while water flows into the water chamber, such
air afterwards acting to cause water to flow out of the chamber to propel the
vessel substantially as described.
3. Apparatus for propelling ships or vessels by means of compressed air in
the manner herein before set forth, constructed, arranged and operating substan-
tially as herein before described with reference to and shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and
in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, of the drawings.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.