CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
FOWLES, of North Shields, in the County of Northumberland, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Fowles, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Robert Fowles,
my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Fowles,
my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein. ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands
of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROPELLING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Robert Fowles, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Fowles, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The nature of my said Invention consists, firstly, in propelling vessels by
means of stern propellers of a peculiar form and construction, to which I give
the name of "fan propellers;" secondly, in. employing one, two, or more such
propellers, according to the degree of immersion of the vessel; and, thirdly,
in so fitting and fixing the said propellers, that they may serve as well to steer
as to propel the vessel.
And the manner in which the said Invention is performed or carried out
is exemplified in the Drawings hereunto annexed, and in the following
description thereof:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vessel, with my fan propellers applied to it:
A is the keel; B, the stern post; C, an iron shaft, which is placed immediately
abaft the stern post and in a line parallel with it, extending upwards from near
the keel to the vessel's deck E; at bottom it is attached to the stern post by
a strong gudgeon or brace D (similar to those used for hanging on rudders),
and it turns in that gudgeon as in a socket. F, F, are the propellers (it being
here supposed that two will be required to suit the degree of the vessel's im-
mersion), which are attached by binges to the shaft C:. .A plan of one of these
propellers detached from its holdings is given in Figure 2, and an end view of
it in Figure 3. It is made of the fan shape represented in the Figures, and in
order that it may have a certain degree of flexibility, it is constructed of a
framework-of steel rods or plates covered by vulcanized caoutchouc or metallo
thionized gutta percha, each in a sheet form drawn tightly over it. G is a
second shaft running parallel to the shaft C; which is looped to the propellers
in the manner shewn, so that by moving it up or down it will cause a corre
sponding up-and-down movement in the propellers. At top the rod. G is
linked to an oscillating quadrant H, which it is proposed to work by con-
necting it to a steam engine placed in any convenient part of the vessel... As
the shaft C to which the propellers are hinged turns as before stated on its
axis, it follows, that the propellers may be moved as required to either side of
the stern post, (which may be done by applying a tiller to the top of the
shaft C,) and give their propelling force on either quarter of the vessel; and
serve thus to steer it also in any direction without the need of any rudder. The
preceding arrangements may be easily varied; so that the propellers shall be
made to move' in 'a horizontal plane, instead of in a vertical plane; as before
.

page_text: described. For example, the propellers may be fitted and worked in the
manner exemplified in Figs. 4 and 5. Figure 4 is a side elevation of a
vessel similar to Figure 1; C is the upright shaft to which the propellers F, F,
are attached; at bottom it rests in a step piece K, and at top is secured to a
plummer block; L is a cross head, which is firmly keyed to the shaft C at
right angles to the position occupied by the propellers, as separately shewn
in Fig. 5, which is a plan of the propellers, the shaft, and the cross head.
M, M, are connecting rods, by which a lateral oscillating motion is communi-
cated from a steam engine or pair of engines to the cross head, and through
the shaft C to the propellers; these connecting rods M, M, are represented
as passing through apertures made in the stern of the vessel, and I prefer
placing them in this position because of its convenience and being out of the
way, but they may be also carried above deck from the shaft C to the engine
or engines; for greater security as regards the means of steering, a rudder
may be inserted in a space made for it in the dead wood, as indicated by the
dotted lines in Figure 4.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements which
I claim as constituting my said Invention are as follows:-
First, I claim the employment in the propelling of vessels, of propellers
shaped, constructed, fitted, and worked, as before described.
And, second, I claim the adaptation of propellers such as before described
to the steering as well as propelling of vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Fowles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
ROBT. (Ls.) FOWLES.