IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRO- PELLING VESSELS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert Newton Penrice, of Witton House, near
Norwich, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR PRO-
PELLING VESSELS."
Sealed the 25th November 1859, and dated the 3rd June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert Newton Penrice
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, our
the 3rd June 1859.
I, HERBERT NEWTON PENRICE, of Witton House, near Norwich, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
FOR PROPELLING VESSELS," to be as follows:-
At the stern of the vessel or in an aperture in the dead wood, I place two
blades or paddles, each of which is mounted on a rod or bar which receives a
The bar
réciprocating longitudinal motion from a crank and connecting rod.
is guided by a frame or guide, which oscillates upon an axis so as to raise the
paddle out of the water while it is returning, and to cause it to descend into
the water when making its stroke. The oscillating motion is communicated
to the guides by means of rods and levers connected to the cylinder of an
oscillating engine which drives the machinery. Or, if a fixed cylinder is
employed, the motion is communicated from the cross head or piston rod by
bell cranks, or otherwise, directly from the engine to the guides and paddle
bars. The amount of the motion may be adjusted as required, and the
weight of the parts is balanced as much as possible. The machinery may be
placed at the head of the vessel, if desired, but I prefer to place it at the stern

page_text: so that the paddles may work in an opening in the dead wood, and to make
the paddles wide enough to overlap each other as their up-and-down motion
enables them to pass each other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Herbert Newton Penrice in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
NEWTON PENRICE, of Witton House, near Norwich, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Herbert Newton Penrice, Her special licence that I, the said Herbert
Newton Penrice, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Herbert Newton Penrice, 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 MACHINERY FOR PROPELLING VESSELS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Herbert Newton Penrice, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Herbert Newton Penrice, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
.
At the stern of the vessel or in an aperture in the dead wood, I place two
blades or paddles, each of which is mounted on a rod or bar, which receivės a
reciprocating longitudinal motion from a crank and connecting rod. The bar
is guided by a frame or guide which oscillates upon an axis, so as to raise the
paddle out of the water while it is returning, and to cause it to descend into

page_text: the water when making its stroke. The oscillating motion is communicated
to the guides by means of rods and levers, connected to the cylinder of an
oscillating engine which drives the machinery. Or, if a fixed cylinder is
employed, the motion is communicated from the cross-head or piston rod by
bell cranks, or otherwise, directly from the engine to the guides and paddle
bars. The amount of the motion may be adjusted as required, and the weight
of the parts is balanced as much as possible. The machinery may be placed
at the head of the vessel, if desired, but I prefer to place it at the stern so
that the paddles may work in an opening in the dead wood, and to make the
paddles wide enough to overlap each other, as their up-and-down motion
enables them to pass each other.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a plan, and Figure 2 is a side
view, partly in section, of an arrangement of machinery for propelling vessels
constructed according to my Invention. The same letters refer to similar
parts in each Figure.
A is a steam engine cylinder, whose piston rod B is attached to a cross-
head C working in guides D, D. These guides, and a part of the framing,
and the greater part of the fly wheel I, are omitted in Figure 2, in order to
show the other parts more clearly. The cross-head is connected to the crank
E by a connecting rod F. The crank shaft G turns in two bearings H, H',
and carries two fly wheels I, I, on each of which is a crank pin J, J¹.
K, K', are two connecting rods leading from the pins J, J', to the ends of
two propeller rods L, L', respectively; the other ends of these rods L, L,
carry the paddles or float boards M, M¹. N, O, N, O, are sliding pieces of
metal, which are fixed to the rods L, L', respectively, but slide freely on the
strong cylindrical bars or tubes P, P', which are fixed to central pieces Q, Q.
The pieces Q, Q, are provided with trunnions which turn in bearings R, R,
R', R. The lower parts of the pieces Q. Q', are tubular, and furnished with
stuffing boxes, through which pass the propeller rods L, L'. The bars P, P',
are braced by rods S, S¹, passing over projections or standards on the pieces
Q, Q. a is a connecting rod from one end of the cross-head C to a pin b on
a bent lever c, turning on a pin or fulcrum d on the bearing or frame H.
The lever c carries another pin c, from which a connecting rod f is connected
to the end of the bar P. To the opposite end of the crosshead C is connected
another connecting rod a¹ leading to a pin b¹ on a bent lever c¹, turning on a
pin or fulcrum d', on the frame or bearing H. This lever c' carries another
pin e', from which a connecting rod f' leads to the end of the bar P'. It will
be seen that the bent lever c is placed above its fulcrum, while the lever c¹ is
below its fulcrum. As the piston rod B advances, the pine and the end of

page_text: the bar P are raised, while the pin e¹ and the end of the bar P¹are depressed.
As the piston returns, the bar P is depressed and P¹ raised; at the same time,
the revolution of the crank shaft G and fly wheels I, I', communicates a
reciprocating to-and-fro motion to the propeller rods L, L', in addition to the
oscillating motion which they receive from the bars P, P'. The effect of
these two motions is to cause the blades or float boards M, M', to alternately
descend into the water and move aft, and then to rise out of the water and
move forward, each float board on its return through the air, passing over the
other, which is making its propelling stroke in the water; the vessel is thus
driven forward. By reversing the motion of the engine so as to drive the
crank shaft in the opposite direction, the float boards move forward when in
the water, and aft when in the air, and the vessel is thus moved astern when
necessary. The motion or course of the float boards may be varied con
siderably by shifting the position of the pins J, J', and also by adjusting the
pins b, b, to different distances from the fulera d, d¹. I prefer to place this
machinery so that the float boards may work in an opening in the dead wood
at the stern of the vessel; it may, however, be so placed that the float boards
may work entirely beyond the rudder, or it may be placed at the head of the
vessel, if desired.
I have shown the machinery arranged to be driven by a single engine or
cylinder. If two cylinders, with their pistons working simultaneously in
opposite directions are employed, one piston rod may communicate the motion
to one oscillating bar, while the other piston rod communicates the motion to
the other oscillating bar. When two cylinders and pistons acting on cranks
at right angles to each other are employed, the motion for both oscillating
guide bars may be communicated from one piston rod. The machinery may
be constructed with one propeller instead of a pair of propellers, but its action
would then be so intermittent that I prefer to employ two propellers, as
herein-before described.
When an oscillating engine is employed, I communicate the motion from
the two ends of the cylinder to the guides P, P¹, respectively, either imme-
diately by means of connecting rods, or through levers or beams for increasing
or varying the motion. In all cases, the motion is communicated directly
either from the piston rod or from the cylinder to the guides, instead of being
communicated to them from the crank shaft by means of cams or eccentrics
or similar means. The guides are thus caused to oscillate simultaneously
with the motion of the piston or the cylinder.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I

page_text: claim is, constructing machinery for propelling vessels by means of a paddle
or paddles sliding on a guide or guides and receiving a reciprocating longi-
tudinal motion from a crank or cranks, while the guide or guides receives or
receive an oscillating motion, communicated through levers and rods, or
otherwise, directly from the piston rod or from the cylinder of the engine
employed for driving the same, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert Newton Penrice, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
H. N. PENRICE. (L.S.)