AN IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING STEAM AS A MOTIVE POWER FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Parker, of No. 6, Lilford Road, Camberwell,
Surrey, Solicitor's Managing Clerk, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF APPLYING STEAM AS A MOTIVE POWER FOR PROPELLING VESSELS AND
FOR OTHER PURPOSES,"
Sealed the 22nd August 1862, and dated the 28th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Parker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
February 1862.
I, JAMES PARKER, of No. 6, Lilford Road, Camberwell, Surrey, Solicitor's
Managing Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING STEAM AS A MOTIVE POWER FOR PROPELLING
VESSELS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
The first part of this Iuvention relates to improvements on the Invention for
which Provisional Protection was granted to me bearing date the 2d October
1860, No. 2374, and which consisted in discharging high-pressure steam into
an open pipe or air chamber leading through the bottom of the stern, or
other part of the vessel to the water. The steam on entering the pipe
combines and carries along with it large quantities of atmospheric air, which
being rarified and increased in bulk by the heat of the steam, finally issue
forth into the water, and rising to the surface propel the vessel in the manner
[Price 8d.1

page_text: described in the Provisional Specification accompanying the said application
for Letters Patent.
Now my improvements consist, firstly, in using for the said purposes super-
heated or dried steam instead of high-pressure steam in its natural state of
saturation.
Secondly, in heating the air which is to combine with the steam by means
of the ordinary, or surplus, or waste heat of the furnace, instead of heating it
simply by contact with the steam. The air forced or drawn into the air pipe
or pipes by the steam may be heated either before coming in contact with the
steam or subsequently. I enclose the air pipe or pipes along their whole
length, or greater or lesser part of the same; thus forming a jacket or
heating chamber to be heated either by steam, or by the waste, or other heat
from the furnace.
Thirdly, in discharging two or more jets of superheated or ordinary high-
pressure steam from nozzles or openings into one air pipe leading to the water
instead of using a separate air pipe for each steam jet. These several steam
jets may either discharge directly into the common or joint air pipe, or each
jet may have its own branch air pipe, and the several branch pipes open into
the common or main pipe. I have found that several smaller jets of steam
carry a proportionately larger volume of air along with them than one single
steam jet of the united area of the several smaller jets; and I have likewise
found that several smaller steam jets discharged into one air pipe of increased
size produce a better effect than the same number of jets discharged each into
a separate pipe.
Fourthly, in passing the products of combustion from the furnace either
wholly or partly through the air pipe or pipes into the water, instead of
through the ordinary funnel, the heated air, gases, and other products of
combustion take in this case the place of the atmospheric air, whereby a con-
siderable economy of fuel is effected, and other advantages are obtained.
The second partof my Invention relates to the application of this improved
mode of applying motive power for the purpose of steering vessels, whether
propelled as above described, or by means of paddle wheels, screws, or
otherwise. The combined steam and air are made to issue into the water at
such parts of the vessel as are best calculated to cause then to produce the
desired effect on rising to the surface against the sides or ends of the vessel
or against fixed or moveable parts or apparatus attached to the vessels for
this purpose. In propelling vessels, whether in a forward or backward direc
tion, the apertures from which the combined steam and air issue are inade
where the steam and air are likely to produce the best effect on rising against

page_text: the bottom or steru, or bow and sides of the vessel; and in some cases it is
advantageous to fit or apply channels or other guides fixed,or noveable, to the
outside or bottom, or to form such channels through part of the body of
vessels. In vessels built on purpose for this mode of propulsion, I prefer to
form a channel or channels in or on the bottom of the vessel, beginning amid-
ship, or nearer the stern, or the bow, and gradually rising towards the stern
to the surface of the water.
The third part of my Invention relates to the application of combined steam
and air, as described, to set in motion all descriptions of machinery and appa
ratus by causing the said steam and air to act upon helices and apparatus,
similar to vertical and horizontal water wheels and turbines immersed in
water or other fluid to greater or less depth according to the power to be
developed by the combined air and steam, and the dimensions of the helices
or wheels on which they are to act. I also use the combined steam and air
as described; for setting in motion bucket chains and all other similar appa-
ratus acted on by buoyancy of air in water, or other liquid medium. The air
being allowed to rise into the inverted buckets or other holders from which
they displace the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Parker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
PARKER, of No. 6, Lilford Road, Camberwell, Surrey, Solicitor's Managing
Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Parker, Her special licence that I, the said James
Parker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the
said James Parker, 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 "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF APPLYING STEAM AS A MOTIVE POWER FOR PROPELLING VESSELS.

page_text: "
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Parker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par
ticularly 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 Officewithin six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Parker, 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:-
The first part of this Invention relates to certain improvements on my
former Invention, for which Provisional Protection was granted to me bearing
date the 2d day of October 18 0. and which consists in discharging high-
pressure steam into a pipe or tube of uniform diameter, and leading through
the bottom of the vessel at or near the stern into the water. The steam thus
discharged into the pipe carrying along with it a large proportion of atmo-
spheric air, which combining with the steam, finally issues into the water, and
rising by its buoyancy to the surface reacts upon the vessel, and propels the
same, as described in the Provisional Specification accompanying the said
application for Letters Patent.
Now my improvements on the said former Invention consist, firstly, in
using for the said purposes superheated steam of whatever degree of pressure,
instead of high-pressure steam in its natural state of saturation.. By using
superheated steam, condensation in the pipes leading to the jets and in the
jets is diminished, the issue also of the steam from the jets becomes more
regular, whereby a larger quantity of air is forced into the pipe or air chamber
leading to the water from a given quantity of fuel.
Secondly, the said improvements consist in the construction and com-
binationof thesteam jets,and of those parts into which the steam is discharged,
and through which the air is forced into the air pipe or chamber leading to
the water. According to my former Invention the steam was discharged
through a single circular puncture, or hole, or nozzle, or nipple formed with a
small circular hole or apperture, and from this apperture the steam rushed
into the mouth of the corresponding air pipe, which was placed exactly
opposite the nipple. The airpipehaving been ofuniformdiameter from oneend
to the other, its capacity was necessarily limited by the size of the steam jet, and
the small bore of the pipe caused great friction and consequent loss of power.
I now discharge steam of sufficient pressure, superheated on non-superheated,

page_text: from one or from two or more nipples or jets, with small holes into one air
pipe of enlarged area; cach jet discharging into its corresponding branch air
pipe or nozzle attached or leading to a main air pipe. The air nozzles may
be funnel or trumpet-mouth shaped, and the steam jets and air nozzles
arranged to be brought nearer to or further from each other according to the
steam pressure, and the pressure of the water to be overcome. I prefer
several smaller circular jets of steam to one large jet of the united area of the
several small jets, because the single large jet offers a smaller surface to the
surrounding air, and consequently carries a smaller quan tity of air into
the main pipe. I also use air jets combined with and adjustable to the air
nozzles, and similar to Bunsen's gas burners. Or the steam jets and air
nozzles may be constructed similarly to Giffard's injectors, with either the
steam or the air passage, or both, being adjustable; for instance, a circular
steam jet in the centre, with an air zone surrounding it, then a steam zone
round the air, and again an air zone surrounding the steam zone, in which
combination both the steam and the air zones can be enlarged and contracted.
The construction of jets to which I give the preference on account of its
simplicity and efficacy is the flat jet, in which the steam issues from between
two flat surfaces, two edges of which are brought together in the shape of a
wedge, similar to a pipe flattened at the end. In this jet the issuing steam
offers the largest surface to the air in proportion to its sectional area. The
steam may be discharged simply through a square slot in the main pipe or air
chamber; but I prefer to use a funnel or trumpet mouth shaped nozzle.
The distance between the steam jet and air nozzle can be regulated at
pleasure, and the sectional area of the air nozzle can likewise be enlarged
or contracted by making the sides adjustable.
In addition to the arrangements above described I also use a number of
small jets suitably disposed, and discharging into one common nozzle or other
opening of the air chamber. The main air pipe or pipes, or air chamber or
chambers are made of such a shape as is best suited for the part of the vessel
or boat in which they are to be placed, and the dimensions and shape of the
airtroughsorguides through which the air has to pass in rising to the surface
of the water after having been forced out at the bottom of the air chamber
into the water. I prefer to use one flat jet to each air chamber, or to each
division of an air chamber.
In the Provisional Specification accompanying the present application for
Letters Patent, I describe as an improvement the heating of the air pipes or
air chambers with the view of thereby increasing the bulk of the air forced
into the air chamber by the steam jet, and for this purpose I enclose the air

page_text: chamber, or a portion of the same, in a jacket, and heat the same with the
waste heat from the boiler, furnace, or otherwise. I have, however, in the
course of my experiments found that in some cases it may be advantageous to
adopt the opposite mode of proceeding, and to cool the air by surrounding
the air chamber with water, or otherwise, so as to prevent the air from
becoming reduced in bulk on leaving the air chamter and rising to the surface
of the water. I propose, when desirable, to place the steam jet or jets, with
corresponding air nozzles, within the smoke-box, or enlarged part of the
chimney or flue connected therewith, and to pass the smoke and other pro-
ducts of combustion either wholly or in part through the air pipes or
chambers into the water, instead of through the ordinary funnel into the air.
In boats or vessels built on purpose for my improved mode of propulsion, I
arrange the channels or troughs for guiding the air on its rise to the surface of
the water in. such a manner that the centre trough or troughs are furthest
astern, and the remaining troughs receding one by one on both sides of the
stern towards midship, following the wedge-shaped line of the stern. I
prefer to make the troughs straight, and to place them at an angle of from
30 to 50 degrees with the water line. In some cases it may be desirable or
advantageous to form troughs or other guides in the sides or through parts of
the body of the vessel, and I make these troughs cither fixed at certain
angles or adjustable.
The second part of my Invention consists in applying the motive power
obtained, as above described, for steering boats or ships, whether such ships be
propelled by paddie wheels, screws, or otherwise; aad for this purpose I place
the air troughs or guides on the right and left sides of the stern or bow of
such ship, and at such inclination or angle as may be most suitable for
effecting the purpose. I also steer vessels by the propulsive force of air forced
out through apertures provided for this purpose in suitable parts of such
vessel. The propulsive force of the air and the force of the air rising by its
buoyancy may be used together for propelling in a forward and backward
direction, or sideways, and for steering vessels,
The third part of my Invention relates to the application of the motive
power obtained, as
described, for the purpose of setting in motion machinery
and apparatus by causing the air to act upon helices and horizontal and
vertical turbines and other wheels immersed in water or other fluid to a
greater or lesser depth. According to the construction and dimensions of
such turbines and other wheels the air will act either by the power by which
it is forced into the water, or against the fixed or moveable parts of the
machinery or apparatus, or it may act simply by its buoyancy. I also use the

page_text: air, as described, for setting in motion bucket chains, by causing the air to
rise into the inverted buckets or other holders, and to displace the water
therefrom. The buckets are made feathering or collapsing, so as to reduce
friction on descending into the water, and in like manner are the floats or
buckets of vertical water wheels made feathering or collapsing. I also intend
to use this mode of applying motive power for driving the screws or pro-
pellers of vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Parker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JAS. PARKER. (L.S.)