IMPROVEMENTS IN AERO-NAVIGATION AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF AEROSTATS AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS THEREFOR, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE IN PART APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES." PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Brannon, Civil Engineer, of Solway House, Grove
Street Road, Victoria Park, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AERO-NAVIGATION AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE
OF AEROSTATS AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS THEREFOR, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE IN PART APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip. Brannon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th October 1877.
PHILIP BRANNON, Civil Engineer, of Solway House, Grove Street Road, Victoria
Park, in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AERO-NAVIGATION AND
IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF AEROSTATS, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND
APPARATUS THEREFOR, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE IN PART APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES."
My Invention of "Improvements in Aero-navigation and in the Construction and
Use of Aerostats, and in the Machinery and Apparatus therefor, which Improve-
ments are in Part Applicable to other Purposes," relates to the construction and
navigation of aerostats by means of the employment of a floatation skin, either of an
arched, domic, pyramidal, ridge, or inverted ship shape, combined with any suitable
motor and mechanical apparatus of aero-planes, screws, paddles, wings, or fans, the
whole disposed so as to gain the utmost support and impelling resistance from and
to collect and govern, to direct and cumulate the re-acting mechanical force exercised
upon and communicated to the air by such apparatus, and especially so as to effect
the said results, and to use the immense floatation support and resisting power
natural and inherent to the atmosphere under and by the law in pneumatic action
of resistance to concentric pressure, which is accomplished in my said Invention by
the employment of the said floatation skin formed with a concave inferior surface.
And by this means and the other features of this my said Invention I partially or
entirely dispense in aerostation with levitation by the inflation of balloon casings,
and effectually secure the ascension or descension, and the floatation, propulsion, and

page_text: guidance of such aerostats at any desired level in the atmosphere at the will of the
navigator.
And my said Invention, which in order to distinguish from other aerial machines
in use I term and herein-after signify it by the terms arc-acrostat, or arcustat, or
aero-arc, consists of the following parts and arrangements, which I now proceed to
describe:―
Firstly. The employment of a floatation skin, inverted hull, or aero-arc, which
I term & which is herein-after signified by the term the arcuate. This arcuate is
formed of any balloon skin or strong light material such as is usually employed or
suitable for balloons or other aerostats, such as silk, linen, or cotton fabrics, or com-
binations of such materials, with cord, tape, web, or other netting, bonding, or
strengthening, or of the same with paper or scaleboard, or veneer wood, or even of
thin metal, and which skin is either used without addition to such materials, or is
dressed as desirable with any suitable air, water, or fireproofing varnish for balloon
cloth, as otherwise in use. It is formed invariably with a greater or less inferior
concavity of any discoid, inverted ship or boat shape, or any ridge, pyramidal, or
domic configuration, so as to act both for ascension and propulsion by its concave
inferior surface in producing concentric pressure on the subjacent air, and by having
in its upper surface that contour which is desirable for the rate of ascension and
propulsion through the air which is required on the particular traffic for which the
acrostat is destined.
Secondly. The said arcuate is contoured and made permanently rigid, and sus-
tained together with the car and the necessary machinery by what I term the
standing frame or standing, being a suitable skeleton or light framework and
ribbing of canes, bamboo, light wood, or light strong tubes of metal or wood, or
compound materials, or on my original system of levity structure, herein-after
described, the whole of such standing or framework being connected with the
principal rod or frame in the lowest edge of the arcuate, which I call the border, and
the topmost centre rib, which I term the keeling of the arcuate.
Thirdly. In order to increase the floatation power as may be desirable, and for
other purposes, I obtain beyond the border or area of the arcuate any more exten-
sive resting and concentric action upon the subjacent air by means of additional out-
rigging or floatation skins, which I term stud arcs or studdings, and which are
sustained on light movable framings attached to the border of the arcuate, adjustable
at will at various angles, arranged as lufferings, when it is requisite they should be
worked as aids in ascension or propulsion, or adapted to be reefed or unshipped as
occasion may require. And I sometimes provide a special apparatus, worked either
by hand or engine, to give a quick flapping action to the said studding.
Fourthly. The forming in the crown, stem, or stern of the arcuate, or laterally to
its summit line or keeling, an opening or openings termed the ouverture or ouver-
tures, to be closed or expanded as required, according to the position in which the
course of the arcustat may require the drivers or propellors to act, and for this pur-
pose I make the upper sections of the arcuate movable, either by means of any suit-
able lever or spring hanging at both upper and lower edges, so as to be raised as
required at the keel, or at their lower edges; or I make two stages of flaps, so that
one may be closed when the other is raised; and for some purposes, as when designed
only for ascension, as herein-after eighteenthly explained, I make the overture at
the summit only.
Fifthly. The placing of the whole or the greater part of the propelling or lifting
machinery, either over, within, or below the ouvertures, or entirely within the area
or interior of the arcuate, or in such connection with it as to drive or draw the air
which is set in motion by the fans, paddles, blades, or other moving portions of the
propulsive machinery through the ouverture or ouvertures, or below the border into
the area of the arcuate itself, or into the column of air on which its pressure and
concentric action take effect, and which direction of the displaced air I therefore
term the indraft.
Sixthly. I also employ for propulsion, wherever suitable, any of the forms of

page_text: screws, fan blowers, or other propellers, or as I term them, drivers, which are other-
wise known or in use, disposing them in the positions fifthly described, and
constructing them or either of the propellers of my own Invention of my levity
material or cellular metal, herein-after described, or of any other suitable light
material.
Seventhly. I also sometimes employ in the said positions my Invention of a
compound driver formed with continuous whole threads, or in sections or blades,
exterior to a hollow axle or boxing in which revolves either a fan blower or screw,
preferably of a higher pitch, greater velocity, and opposite rotation to those of the
external main screw; and the ejection mouths of such blower or internal screw are
turned so as not only to contribute to the indraft, but also by their direction to
re-action, propulsion, and lift.
pro-
Eighthly. I also sometimes employ a novel form of rotary action in lateral
pellers, which I term the rotary wing, and in which the shafts of the blades, wings,
or alae are inserted at their base by any suitable joint into a ball or spindle, and
below the base of the blade or wing traverse an oval or flattened ovoid ring rail, and
are caught by any suitable form of feathering stubs or catches at the reversing
turns, and in the forward stroke in the upper part of the course are thereby
feathered with a slight upward slope, and at the descending point are turned
to press against the air in traversing the under part of the ring rail,
And by
setting the longer diameter of the ovoid ring rail at an angle inclined abaft,
and when requisite downward also, as herein-after described, I secure the con-
centric action of aerial resistance or pressure in the volume of displacement to
aid the ascension and propulsion of the arcustat.
Ninthly. I also employ for propulsive and other purposes in order to increase tho
_concentric action of drivers or propellers, screws with the threads set at an oblique
dipping or backward angle instead of their being set in the usual method, square to
the shaft or axle, and which therefore I term the dip screw, and by this means over-
come some serious defects in the action of marine and aerial propellers.
Tenthly. I further sometimes employ as a lifter or driver a variation of the said
dip screw by forming a pyramidal or domic screw, which I term a gyrodome, and
in which the area of the cylinder of revolution is wholly or in part covered by a
series of dipping sectors, each sector having its forward edge elevated and its after
edge depressed thereby in its revolution, screwing upward and forward, and pro-
ducing a great indraft of air and powerful concentric action.
Eleventhly. I also in some cases employ a propeller or wind wheel, with fixed
blades or paddles inclined at 45° or other angle to the wheel plane, and then by
placing it so as that horizontally and vertically its axle will be inclined to the
course of the areustat or other vessel. I cause one or more of the blades to press in
direct leverage, others to pass into screw action in the revolution, and the after
blades only to cut the air.
Twelfthly. The steering of the said arc-aeronave I accomplish by means of a
caudal appendage or rudder governed by a helm or shaft, which works through
suitable bearings and gearings in the standing frame. The helm or shaft being
fitted with a lever wheel or cross handle at its head can be turned right round in
the suspensory bearing near the navigator, and being fitted with a universal joint
near the pintle bearing can be made to bring the flat surface of the blade or rudder
into any angle with the course of the arc-aerostat, either port or starboard, upward
or downward, or in intermediate oblique directions.
Thirteenthly. The prime motors employed to actuate the propelling machinery of
my said arc-aerostat may be any of the forms of steam or atmospheric engines, or of
the special aeronautic machines otherwise invented or in use, but, for the arcustats,
when of small size, I sometimes employ only an ordinary light wheel of the
velocipede tension or bicycle type, with one or more grooves in its periphery or tire,
and set in motion by treadles and hand cranks, so as to admit of a single navigator
electing either pedal or manual action, or for two persons to employ these modes of
actuation conjointly or interchangeably. And the translation of the motion to the

page_text: driving pulleys is contrived by any convenient arrangement for giving velocity and
power to the revolution of the drivers or propellers as well as by my special modes
of effecting the same twentiethly described.
Fourteenthly. To secure the greatest facility in the determination and maintenance
of the course in any upward or horizontal direction, in combination with the said
use of pedal or hand crank driving wheels, I set the driving pulley on the same
shaft with what I term a rider, in the head of which at right angles to it is set the
bearing for the revolving shaft of the screw, fan, or other propeller. By this means
without any stoppage of the movement which for aero-navigation it is essential to
make continuous the driver or propeller can be set either forward, vertically, or
abaft, because I arrange the bearing of the outward extremity of its shaft to travel
in an arc traverse rib in the keel line concentric with the driving shaft. And in
the employment of the rotary wing eighthly mentioned the like provision is made
in order to its working upon a similar rider, so that the driving may be in either
horizontal, inclined, or vertical lines, without any alternate stroke or other appreciable
loss of force.
Fifteenthly. For the levity construction necessary in the building of aerial vessels
and machinery, I employ not only all the usual means and materials, such as basket-
work webbings and thin scantlings of ash, hickery, and other tough wood, but
obtain by what I call compound levity structure iminense strength, forming sheets
or tubular spars or beams of successive layers of scaleboard, veneers, or knife
veneers of wood, and of textile fabrics, all cemented firmly together, and arranged
so as that there shall be contrary disposition of the longitudinal fibre in the
alternate layers, and for intersecting members or points of connection and bearing.
I block the interior and cincture, the exterior with ferrols, rings, or wire or
cordage bonding so as to admit of any indents, perforations, or boltings required.
Sixteenthly. For levity construction in metal I employ my novel method of
forming cellular or levity metal, in which I alternate layers of corrugated plates or
tubes with thin plane plates very firmly united by double turns, rivets, and the
like, and the use of the known methods of drawing, cramping, and shrinking,
on, and with, this cellular metal I form any parts of the arcustat, for which such
material is preferable, and any required shafts, pistons, cylinders, or other parts of
machinery or apparatus for aerostats and other purposes.
Seventeenthly. These aerial vessels or arc-aerostats I make of any proportions
required either for traffic, speed, or other purposes. When the arc-aerostat is
required for regular navigation as an aerial boat or ship, the contouring of the
arcuate is specially adapted, as in marine vessels for propulsion by utilising the
re-action of the air displaced forward upon the after quarters of the vessel, and thus
in arcustats the arcuate must necessarily be of considerable length compared with
the beam breadth, between the border, and in all other respects must be adapted
for direct propulsion, the preferable position for the drivers being along the
crown or keeling of the arcuate admits of employing two, three, or more propellers,
or giving any requisite length with a narrow width, and obtaining any desirable
velocity of locomotion.
go
Eighteenthly. When designed merely for vertical ascension or as captive aerostats
for military prospecting and the like, or in the manner of balloons to
in any
direction the wind may take them, it is sufficient to make them of a discoid, domic,
or pyramid form, the provisions for forward propulsion and for guidance may be
omitted, and when so constructed 1 term the vessels ascending arcs.
Nineteenthly. The navigation of the said arcustat is exceedingly simple, the
motor action being started, whether by treadle, hand crank, steam, or other power,
it at once actuates the propeller or driver, which for ascension will be set vertical,
and when the required level is reached will be moved forward on the traverse as
required without arresting motion in the slightest degree. The volume of indrafted
air being forced aft not only supports the arcuate, and the weight dependent on it,
but also issuing at the stern strikes with its full force the face of the rudder when
turned out of the axial line, and thus secures the greatest obedience to its direction,

page_text: or utilises it as an aid in support when turned with the face slightly out of the hori-
zontal in its length, and level with it transversely, and the stud arcs will be lowered
or worked, flapping for ascension, and extended for horizontal movement or poising
in any set position. And I also generally set the arcuate border at an angle inclined
to the horizon upward for ascension or horizontal progression, and downward for
a forward oblique descension. And whilst the propellers can be turned any way
during the most rapid forward motion of its prime motor, the engine or driving
wheel itself can also be directly reversed, so as to screw the arcustat downward at
any angle or vertically, and at a suitable rate of velocity.
Twentiethly. To lighten the construction and diminish waste of power in
friction and otherwise, I employ any of the known means of antifriction or minimal
friction bearings, and any of the otherwise used lubricants and mechanical devices,
and in particular I dispense with bevel and contact gearings by my method of making
pulleys in changed motion, direction of equal or relative axial length, and cylindric
diameter, so as to admit of working with any suitable driving bands on the skew..
And in order to effect the simultaneous opening or closing of the studdings when
worked for the flapping action, and to do so with the least weight and strain, I use
a peculiar form of bent lever acting on the opposite studdings by stiff levity rods,
the arcs described by the said bent lever & rods securing the equal movement of
both studdings by one movement of the actuating lever or wheel. Any ordinary
provision for safety, such as buffer or spring feet, are also added as advisable to the
car.
Twenty-firstly. When it is required to combine parts of the said Invention with
levitation aerostats, such as gas, fire, hot air, or vapor balloons, or with a similar
levitation casing, or the addition of a levitation hull to my said Invention, in order
to assist floatation and increase carrying power, I sometimes simply make the same
a separate casing above the arcuate, but prefer to make the lower part of the
levitation casing or skin correspondent to the principles and action of the said
arcuate, and to attach it to the border or principal horizontal framing, and to make
the whole weight dependant from, and the direct mechanical action to bear upon the
same, or on a higher secondary or midship framing coincident with the mean centre
of the whole construction, so as that the propulsive motion will be communicated
in the axial line of locomotion to a rigid skeleton, which sustains alike the inflation
skin and all the inferior parts of the aerostat, and that thus the entire structure
will move together as one rigid mass in the manner of a ship's hull, or of a fish
through the water, and I call this combination of levitation with concentric pressure
action the compound aerostat or levity arcustat.
Twenty-secondly. I adapt my said arcustat by the following modifications to the
special purposes of war and surveying -For the purpose of destroying static fortifi-
cations and marine works, I use my vertex discharging tube, double hung in the car
to secure verticality, with a powerful telescope, the axis being truly parallel to that
of the tube, and employ my gravitation shell bolts, the detonating hammers of
which are released only by the movement of the lever which drops the bolt from the
tube; and for the said purpose and surveying, where perfect steadiness in the car is
essential, I sometimes employ a second car either below or in a line with the working
or motor car, and hung independently and directly to the main frame or border of
the arcustat. And when employed for laying telegraph wires or other special
work, I also adapt the principal driving wheel or other motor by supplementary
gearings and mechanical details, as otherwise in use for the necessary arrangements.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Philip Brannon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th April
1878.
"
PHILIP BRANNON, Civil Engineer, of Solway House, Grove Street Road, Victoria
Park, in the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN AERO-NAVIGATION AND IN
THE CONSTRUCTION AND USE OF AEROSTATS, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND
APPARATUS THEREFOR, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE IN PART APPLICABLE TO OTHER
PURPOSES.""
My said Invention relates to the construction and navigation of aerostats by
ineans of the employment of a floatation skin, either of an arched, domic, pyramidal,
ridge, or inverted ship shape, combined with any suitable motor and mechanical
apparatus of aero-planes, screws, paddles, wings, or fans; the whole disposed so as to
exercise the most energetic action upon and to gain the utmost support and impelling
resistance from, and to collect and govern, and to forcibly direct, and also cumulate
'the reacting mechanical force excrcised on and communicated to the air by such
apparatus, and especially so as to effect the said results, and to use the immense
floatation, support, and resisting power natural and inherent to the atmosphere
under and by the law in pneumatic action of resistance to concentric pressure, which
is accomplished in my said Invention by the employment of the said floatation skin
formed with a concave inferior surface, and by this means, and the other features of
this my said Invention, I partially or entirely dispense in aerostation with levitation
by the inflation of balloon casings, and effectually secure the ascension or descension,
and the floatation, propulsion, and guidance of such aerostats at any desired level in
the atmosphere at the will of the navigator.
And my said Invention, which, in order to distinguish from other aerial machines
in use, I term and herein-after signify by the terms arc-aerostat, or arcustat, or aero-
arc, or arcuboat, consists of the following parts and arrangements, which I now
proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Figures, the same letters
signifying in each Figure the same or similar parts of my Invention:-
Firstly. The employment of a floatation skin, inverted hull, or aero-arc,
which I term, and which is herein-after signified by the term the arcuate. This
arcuate is formed of any balloon skin or strong light material, such as is usually
employed or suitable for balloons or other aerostats, as for example, silk, linen, or
cotton fabrics, or combinations of such materials, with cordage, tape, web, or other
netting, bonding, or strengthening, or of the same with paper or scale board, or
veneer wood, or, in some cases, partly of thin metal, and which skin is either used
without addition to such materials, or is dressed as desirable with any suitable air,
water, or fireproofing overlay, preparation, dressing, saturation, or varnish for
balloon cloth as otherwise in use. It is formed invariably with a greater or less
inferior concavity, sometimes rising sharply to a considerable pitch or height above
the springing, and in other cases but slightly above the horizontal plane, and is of
any discoid, inverted ship or boat shape, or any domic or pyramidal configuration,
or of a ridge, kerb, Mansard, or other roof form, so as to act both for ascension and
propulsion by its concave inferior surface in producing the greatest possible con-
centric or inward pressure on the subjacent air, and by having in its upper surface
that contour which is desirable for the rate of ascension and propulsion through the
air which is required in the particular traffic for which each aerostat may be destined.
When it is inconvenient to give to the central or principal floatation skin any other
form than that of an extended plane, then the arcuate action is secured by the use
of secondary planes and arcuates in lateral additions, as by the studdings thirdly
described, and by guard floats as fourteenthly described, or by lateral inclined
planes, as in Figure at S, S, either in close connection, as shewn on the starboard
side, or more or less open at the border of the summit plane, as on the port side, to
form the ouverture for indraft by the propellers, as shewn also in the said Figure at

page_text: D, and by the direction of the air of displacement being caused to act on the under
surface of the said plane, either by the position of propellers, as last mentioned, and
as further shewn in Figures 8, 9, 10, and 42, or so as to produce the same effect;
and the several Figures, especially Nos. 1 to 9, illustrate some of the variations in
the elementary contour of such arcuate or floatation skin, and the invariable action
thereof by atmospheric concentric pressure, A, A, being the form of the arcuate ;
B, B, the inferior sustaining skeleton or framework, with its edge or border; and
K, K, the mid summit keeling thereof, and the dotted lines shew the direction of
the primary focal lines of and the secondary reflective divergent and expansive forces
resulting from concentric or inward pressure, the central vertical indicating the
vertical and focal axis, and the lateral verticals the gravitation line round the
arcuate, meeting the reaction expansion force of the air forced into and pressed on
by the arcuate, and the lower horizontal dotted line is an assumed limit for
indicating the estimated extent of the mass of air on which effective pressure
operatos.
Secondly. The said arcuate is contoured and made permanently rigid and sus-
tained, together with the car or seat and the necessary machinery, by a suitable
skeleton or light framework and ribbing composed of any ordinary otherwise used
material of canes, bamboo, light wood, or light strong tubes and tubular screws and
bolts, and hollow or flange nuts of metal, or tubes and boxings of wood or compound
materials, or on my original system of levity structure, herein-after fifteenthly and
sixteenthly described; and in the several Figures the reference letters A, A, signify
the arcuate and its ribbing; B, B, the border or horizontal framing forming its base
and springing; K, K, the keeling or longitudinal summit rib or strake; F, F, the
supporting or standing framework; C, C, the car; and Z, Z, the feet on which it
stands when resting on the ground.
Thirdly. In order, whenever it may be desirable, as above firstly described, to
increase the floatation power, and for other purposes, I obtain beyond the border or
area of the centre or principal arcuate or floatation skin any more extensive resting
and concentric action upon the subjacent air by means of additional outrigging or
floatation skins, which I term stud arcs or studdings formed as firstly described, and
sustained on light movable framings formed as secondly described, and which are
hinged, hung, or otherwise attached to the border of the arcuate; such studdings
being thereby adjustible at will to various angles, and arranged as luffering when
it is requisite they should be worked as aids in ascension or propulsion, so as to
allow air to pass through them in the up stroke, as shewn in Figure 36; or some-
times they are adapted to be reefed or unshipped as occasion may require, and I
sometimes provide a special apparatus, such as the V or elbow beam and lever
wheel, or simple levers, or otherwise, as No. 8 detail, twentiethly described, worked
either by hand or engine, to give an ad libitum flapping action to the said studdings;
and in the Figures the said outriggings or studdings are lettered S, S, being the
parts between B and S, B and S, and the range of their flapping action or ad libitum
setting is shewn by the broken lines; and in the Figure No. 5 the direct reciprocal
and reflective actions of concentric and radial forces are also indicated by dotted
lines, as firstly explained with respect to the former Figures; and the use of
the said studdings is further exemplified in the other Figures, Nos. 10, 35, 36,
& 42.
Fourthly. The forming in the crown, stem, or stern of the arcuate, or laterally to
its summit line or keeling, an opening or openings termed the ouverts or ouvertures,
and marked O, O, in the Drawings, to be closed or expanded, as suited to the position
in which the navigation of the arcustat may require the drivers or propellers to act,
as nineteenthly explained, and for this purpose I make the upper sections of the
arcuate movable between the keeling, and the requisite flank or ouvert framings,
either by means of any suitable lever or spring hanging, or at both upper and lower
edges, so as to be raised as required at the keeling or at their lower edges, or I
make two stages of flaps working on a mid ouvert strake, rail, or band, so that one
may be closed when the other is raised; and for some purposes, as when designed

page_text: .
only for ascension, as herein-after eighteenthly explained, I make the ouverture at
the summit only; and the Figures No. 6 and 7 shew transverse sections of arcuates,
No. 6, with double hangings of the crown skin, as above and twentiethly herein-
after explained, and No. 7 with separate crown and flank sections, each single hung,
and in each of the ouvertures 0, 0, are shewn opened on the port side, as would be
required at the crown for vertical ascension, and on the starboard at the flank, as
required for horizontal progression, o being the ouvert flank strake, rail, or band, and
o1 an intermediate ouvert strake when the alternative in Figure 7 is adopted.
Fifthly. The placing of the whole or the greater part of the propelling or lifting
machinery in connection with the ouvertures, either over, within, or below them, or
so as to be entirely within the area or interior of the arcuate, and thus or otherwise
in all cases to drive or draw the air which is set in motion by the fans, paddles,
blades, or other moving portions of the propulsive machinery, through the ouverture
or ouvertures, or below the border into the area of the arcuate itself, or into the
column of air on which its pressure and concentric action take effect, and which
direction of the displaced air I therefor term the indraft. And by this arrangement
1 also cause the air supplying such indraft to be drawn from the space immediately
in advance of the ouvertures in the course of the arcustat, and set up a partial
rarefaction or vacual action, resulting in a tractive or sucking force in aid of the
propulsion, and which I term the sucking or vacu-duction force, and the said
disposition of the drivers or propellers I call interning the drivers, and the said
action, whether by external or internal propellers, I call the indrafting. And
Figure No. 8 shews in a vertical section of an arcuate by the firm lined outline of
an interned screw propeller or driver, and broken outlines of it above and below,
the alternative positions of a screw or other propeller, with its action on the air as
above described, indicated by dotted lines and arrow heads; and Figure No. 10 in a
horizontal section, also indicates such alternative positions, and illustrates my mode
of obliquely setting the rotary wing or other lateral propeller so as to drive all the
air displaced by the pressure of the blades or fans towards the area of the arcuate
abaft and convergently to the axis of progression, so as thereby to exert a powerful
reaction force for floatation and propulsion. And in the Figures, the plain shaft
arrows above the arcuate indicate the first result of propelling action in the vacu-
duction of suction force externally, and, secondly, of direct lift by the indraft pro-
ducing a column of denser air and expansion resistance within and below the
arcuate, whilst the winged arrows indicate the third conjoint effect of propellers so
placed in the production of a direct blowing force on the intrados, soffit, or under
side of an arcuate or summit plane, and by the plain arrows below is signified the
fourth effect, in further action of the escape draft at the borders, producing reaction,
lift, and propulsion. When the drivers are placed near the central arcuate borders
to effect the indrafting from below, I sometimes form the studding as in Figure 9,
so as for its upper edge to be separated from but rise above the level of the central
arcuate or aero-plane border, and its lower edge to turn inwards, so that the
separation above will form the ouvert, and the indraft and blowing force will be
more direct and effective on the intrados. And sometimes with the simple arcuate
I place or brace the driver to point more or less downward, as, inter alia, shewn in
Figures 8, 9, and 22, to produce an upward and inward blowing force on the
intrados, and in such cases the upper ouverts are closed.
,
Sixthly. I employ for propulsion, wherever suitable, any of the forms of screws,
fan blowers, or other propellers, or, as I term them, drivers which are otherwise
known or in use, disposing them in the positions fifthly described, and constructing
them or either of the propellers of my own Invention of my levity material or
cellular metal, herein-after described, or of any other suitable light material, as
firstly and secondly described, such as cloth, prepared leather, patent waterproof
paper, thin steel sheet, latteen zinc, brass, copper, or other sheet metal strained on a
light frame of cane, wood, or metal, or metallic tubing, wire, or the like, to form
the threads, fans, blades, or paddles. And in order to work any such propellers in
any desirable direction, I combine them at the centre of the movement desired with

page_text: universal joints or revolving gearings and concentrically therewith; the outer end
of the shaft works in a curved traverse, as for the guide or rudder, or for the dis-
position of a propeller, to act also for steering, which I term a guide driver, both
fourteenthly described, and for which I provide plan traverses or horizontal arcs;
or for the interned drivers in combination with the riding gear, the vertical arc
traverse, and combined vertical and horizontal traverses, also fourteenthly described;
or I construct the elliptic or ellipsoidal ring traverses and link rack wheel for the
rotary wing, eighthly described; and to enable powerful screws and other propellers
to work securely in the light framework, indispensable for aerostatic construction,
I frequently cause them to revolve by means of a hollow axle working on a central
axle shafting or tie rod, like a king rod in a roof truss, and which at the same time
locks the crown and base of the arc or other framing with all the intermediate
bearings or members securely together.
Seventhly. I also sometimes employ in the said positions my Invention of a
compound or double driver, constructed of materials as sixthly explained, with
continuous whole threads, or in sections or blades, made upon and exterior to a
hollow spindle or axle expanded to form a boxing w, w, in the Figures, in which
revolves either a fan, blower, or screw, preferably of a higher pitch, greater velocity,
and opposite rotation to those of the external inain screw, and by the proper
direction of the ejection mouths of such blower or internal screw, and as far as
possible in the like adjustment of all screws and other drivers and propellers, I
direct the indrafted air to impinge on the intrados of the arcuate so as to produce
the greatest blowing or wind force thereon, as fifthly described. And Figure 11
shews a double driver with the setting of the further extremity of its shaftings,
journals, and wind boxings in its carrier on a double traverse T, T, which is also
given in elevation in Figure 22, with the blades of the exterior screw or driver D, D,
formed on w, w, the hollow axle or spindle, and its expansion into a wind boxing,
of which Fig. 51 is a cross section; I, I, the blades or fans of the inner screw or
blower; E, E, the ejection mouths of the wind boxing; and O, O, the indrafting
ouvertures; b, b, b, b, the several bearings of the internal and external journals;
jj, the journal or axle of the internal fan or screw; and p, p, the driving pulleys;
r, r, the running lines; the necessary bushings, ferrols, washers, and antifriction
The said double driver I also
bearings being, of course, omitted for clearness.
employ with the traverse and carrier for marine purposes and ventilation action,
modifying the proportions and form of the wind or water boxings, ouvertures, and
ejector mouths, as suited to particular cases.
Eighthly. I also sometimes employ a novel form of rotary action in lateral pro-
pellers, which I term the rotary wing, in which the blades, wings, or alae, describe
in their revolution the periphery of an ovoid or flattened cone, with its base at
the outward extremity of the wings, and in which the shafts at their inward
extremities are inserted by any suitable joint into the initial driving cylinder,
wheel, ball, boss, or spindle, called the root axle k, and below the base of the blades
or wings, by means of carriers, the wing shafts move within the traverse T 2, which
is a fixed oval or flattened ovoid, ring-formed, curl-flange rail, and are caught and
alternately feathered and set, by means of suitable collars, feathering stubs, and
setting catches, at the reversing turns v 1 and v 2; and in the forward stroke in
the upper part of the course are thereby feathered with a slight upward slope, and
at the descending point are turned to press against the air in traversing the under
part of the ring traverse rail; and by setting the axis of the conoid of motion to an
angle inclined abaft, and the longer diameter of the cross section as may be requisite
in navigation, either upward or downward, by means of a riding or oscillating
carriage tilting fore or aft, I secure the proper inclination to the plane of travel to
obtain floatation, and the concentric action of aerial resistance or pressure in the
volume of displacement, to aid the ascension and propulsion of the arcustat by the
action fifthly described. I also vary the details of the construction in the said
arrangement as requisite, but prefer the following for general use:-Figure 10, at
W, W, shews the principle on which such rotary wing propellers are, disposed in

page_text: respect to the axis of the aerostat and its course; and Figure 16, the principal parts
and alternative details. The primary actuation of this rotary wing may take place
by the rotation of the root axle k, as in the Figure 10, or by a knotted, corrugated,
stubbed, or ratchet driving band, traversing the link rack wheel with corresponding
periphery of rails, corrugations, or other gearing, placed at any convenient point as
at d 1 or d 2, in Figure 16. Figure 12 is the transverse view of the wing traverse
T 2, with the plate link chain wheel d', shewing on the former the position of the
ascending or feathering stub at v1 and the descending or setting stub at v2, and the
resulting feather above and sett below of the wing blades W¹, W', and in the latter
the regulating of the revolution of the wings by their connection therewith. The
broken lines in Figures 10 and 16 at the outward extremity of the wings shew the
alternative result of employing single wing shafts, thus giving a curved base or
extremity to the rotation cone, and thereby requiring a corresponding curvature in
the traverse, and rendering actuation from the root axle necessary, and the firm
lines in Figure 16, a form of working sometimes preferable when actuation by the
link wheel is adopted, and the necessary right planes of revolution are secured by
the employment of a compound or telescopic shaft, automatically extended or con-
tracted by a spiral spring attached to both inner and outer members, as shewn in
Figures 45 and 46, and further explained in No. 9 detail, herein;after twentiethly
described. Figure 13 is section, and Figure 14 view of the wing traverse ring rail,
the curl flange rail forming a double channel, in which run freely either over, under,
or laterally, the roulettes or rollers at the carrier clips c, c, which sustain the shafts
of the wings or paddles in the plate link wheel, by means of the circular collars in
which the shafts turn free when released from the clutch spring or catch n. Upon
the traverse side of each carrier. the shaft is held by a fast collar, having four ears
or tappets v, v, which are caught successively at v¹ and v² by the stubs their affixed
to the intrados of the traverse, and by reason of the oblique set of the wing or
paddle blade, the said feathering at 1 and set at 2 are produced, and the catch
spring or clutch affixed to the carrier is lifted by the slip spring n 1. Above the
stubs before the ears or tappets meet them, and immediately on passing the
stub, the clutch drops and holds the wing in the angle acquired in the last
versing, until it is again lifted by the slip spring before reaching the next
stub. And Figure 15 gives a form I employ in the plate link chain, shewing
the racking for driving and the loose collars carrying the wing shafts.
Ninthly. I also employ for propulsive and other purposes, in order to increase
the concentric action of drivers or propellers, screws having their threads, fans,
or blades set at an oblique dipping or backward angle, instead of their being set in
the usual method square to the boss, spindle, shaft, or axle; and which therefore
I term the dip screw, and by this means overcome some serious defects in the action
of marine and aerial propellers. And Figures 18 and 19 shew in dotted lines the
differential right-angled projection of the ordinary thread, and in firm lines the
set of the dip thread upon my said improved system, which I employ also for action
in the water, the Figure 18 indicating this character of the continuous thread, and
Figure 19 that of sections or blades.
Tenthly. I further sometimes employ either as a lifter or driver, or as the arcuate
of an ascending aerostat or navigable parachute, a development of the said dip
screw to obtain its greatest effect, by multiplying its fans or blades, so as to
constitute a pyramidal or domic screw, which I term a gyrodome, and which has
the general form of an oblate circular pyramid or dome, as shewn in the arcuate part
of Figure 20, and in the internal driver of Figure 37, the surface being wholly or
in part covered by a series of dipping sectors; each sector having its leading or
forward edge fixed and elevated, and its after or following edge movable, but usually
depressed thereby in its revolution screwing upward and forward, and producing a
great indraft of air and powerful concentric action. And when it is required to use
this domic screw alone for ascension and descension, I contrive it with the other
parts shewn in the said Figure 20. In constructing it I use a rigid base frame or
border at B, B, and the leading edges of the sectors being fixed, as already stated, in

page_text: order to secure and modify at will the inter-helical spaces, the following edges are
made to descend or rise by means of earrings formed at their after lower corners,
which move on down rods or bob-stays e, e, such bob-stays having a curvature with
the radius of the sector's outer width, and a loop eye or small pulley at each end
through which are rove a circular halyard above and down-haul below r, r, both
connected with each sector earring by a short reefing point, ratline, cord, or clew
line, and the working lines from the said halyard and down-haul are led through the
interior to belay pins on the spindle or hollow axle of the gyrodome, together with
those from a corresponding topping halyard and down-haul working at the interior,
summit, upon a ring to which all the sectors are attached, so that the ouvertures
or inter-helical spaces may be simultaneously opened to the degree required, or
be closed at the border and opened at the summit, or vice versa, or closed
together throughout, so as to form a close parachute for floatation or gravitating
descent. When employed only as a propeller, as shewn in Figure 37, for the
driving or lifting in connection with an arcuate and its ouvertures, as firstly,
fourthly, and fifthly described, it revolves either on its own fixed axle and gudgeons
or journals, or, as is generally necessary, by a hollow axle on the main vertical
shafting or axle tie rod a, a, explained at the close of the preceeding sixth description.
When this domic screw constitutes the arcuate itself, as in Figure 20, then the
central shafting a, a, is formed on the latter alternative, so as to support the whole
structure and its burthen, and is formed of proportionate strength. Upon it revolves
the gyrodome hollow spindle, its bearings being fitted with suitable antifriction
provisions as twentiethly described under No. 5 detail, and it carries on its
surface the necessary belaying ring and pins for the lines, working its revolving
parts as well as the driving pulley or gearing which actuates it, whilst
the necessary branch suspension rods F, F, which carry and maintain the
whole structure, car C, C, and machinery are attached to a fast collaring
of the central shaft below the lower bearing of the gyrodome, as indicated in
Figure 20.
Eleventhly. I also in some cases employ as a propeller the skew set-wind wheel,
fixed permanently with blades or paddles, or at pleasure temporarily fixed or set at
45° or other suitable mean angle to the wheel plane, modified as required, according
to the known rules which regulate the detailed construction of wind engine motors
or wheels, and without feathering in revolution; and then by placing it so as that
both horizontally and vertically its axle will be inclined at the requisite corresponding
angle to the course of the arcustat or other vessel, I cause one or more of the blades
to beat and press in direct leverage thereto, and some of the others to pass into
screw action in the revolution, and bring the after blades only to cut the air
comparatively frictionless in the vertical plane of locomotion.
In Figure 10, at W 3, W 3, the position of this propelling wind wheel in the bow
of an aerostat is shewn in combination with the positions and actions of some other
forms of my aerostatic propulsive machinery.
And in combination with the levity arcustat, twenty-firstly described, I sometimes
employ a wind wheel of ordinary construction, except that the blades are feathered'
and set by a traverse, as T 4 in W 4, Fig. 10, or by stubs, and as shewn at W2, W², in
Figure 42, and similarly to the details given in Figures 12 to 15 for the feathering
of blades to my said wing wheel.
Twelfthly. The steering of the said arc-aeronave or arcustat I sometimes accomplish
by means of a caudal appendage or rudder, and as shewn at G, G, in Figure 10, and
in the Figures 34, 35, and 42, and formed of any of the materials firstly, secondly,
or sixthly described, and governed by a plain helm or shaft, which works either
directly or by common tiller ropes rove through any eyes or pulleys. Or in larger
arcu-boats I work the rudder by universal joints and gearing in the standing, the
under side of the base frame, or other parts of the framing. In this case the helin
or shaft H, H, being fitted, as convenient, with a lever wheel, crutch, or cross handle
at its head, turns free in the inner circle of a binnacle hanging at the pintle bearing

page_text: U¹, as shewn in Figures 21, 34, 35, and 42. Where the size of the arcu-boat neces-
sitates further jointing, by means of a Hook's or other convenient universal joint to
the helm shaft at U, and a second but swing suspensory bonnacle joint U2 between
it and the helmsman, the rudder can be turned in any direction, and made as shewn
in Figures 34 and 35, at G, G, to bring the full breadth of the blade into any angle
with the course of the arc-aerostat, either port or starboard, upward or downward,
or in intermediate oblique directions.
or narrow,
I also make the rudder blade, according to the special purpose of the vessel, broad
and flat, or as a scoop rudder with a bagging or concavity, as Figure 21,
and in the latter case I arrange the concavity surface to diminish in width towards
the after extremity, and terminate with that concavity. open as a discharge orifice,
in order to concentrate and utilise the escape current at E as a column of reaction
force.
I also generally contrive the webbing, skin, or other material of the blade to
commence with a considerable width and at some distance within the border or
studdings; or also use special wind guides, in order to collect and ensure more
effectual action of the escape draft from the arcuate thereon, as shewn in the Figures
21 and 42, at g, g, and in order to avoid jibing and bagging when the rudder is set
for right forward, the upper and lower edges are fitted on each side with reefing
springs of metal or india-rubber, marked u, u, in Figure 21, so as to automatically
reef up the slack of the blade and contract it to a plane surface in said course.
I also in some cases assist or even dispense with rudder steering entirely, both in
arcustats and in the levity arcustats, twenty-firstly described, and effect the guidance
altogether or in part on the system formerly originated and invented by me, by
placing the drivers or propellers at either bow or stern, or both, or working them
with universal joints upon plan traverses, as described fifthly, and shewn in Figure
10 at G, D, G, D, and also in Figure 42.
Thirteenthly. The prime motors employed to actuate the propelling machinery of
my said arc-aerostat may be any of the forms of steam, electric, or atmospheric
engines, or of the special aeronautic machines otherwise invented or in use; but for
the arcustats when of small size I sometimes employ only ordinary light wheels, or
I adapt and use for the purpose of my Invention any of the velocipede, spider, tension,
or other wheels as used for bicycles, but formed with either one or more deep grooves
in their peripheries or tires, and set in motion by crank treads or treadle boards,
rods and cranks, or by hand cranks, so as to admit of a single navigator electing
either pedal or manual action, or using both, as shewn in Figure 34, or for two
persons to employ these modes of actuation conjointly or interchangeably. And
when the motor is not an engine, and great power is wanted, I use for the work in
one vessel a larger or tread wheel, or two or more pedal wheels and hand crank
wheels, as may be required. And the translation of the motion to the driving
pulleys is contrived by any usual convenient arrangement for giving velocity and
power to the revolution of the drivers or propellers, as well as by my special modes
of effecting the same, twentiethly described in detail 6.
I also contrive the employment with my said Invention of other parts of bicycle
apparatus, such as the adaptation of the fork and saddle to the purposes seventeenthly
described, and I place the said pedal or other motor wheels either in the longitudinal
axis of the car, nearly under the navigator, as in a bicycle, with suitable modifi-
cations of the seat and its supports, or in front, behind, below, or above the navigator,
geared with suitable cranks, treadles and rods, or on either side of the navigator,
to make more convenient seat room; and when the prime motor is of the stored
power class, for which my aerostat is adapted in short journeys, such, for example,
springs or compressed air, the same or other motor apparatus may be placed,
according to convenience, in relation to the design. When the motor is a hot air or
steam engine, I employ any convenient furnace otherwise Patented or in use, but
prefer to use my own improved forms of aerial furnaces and generators, either that
which I term the lamp furnace, or the mass furnace, or the flare and guard or jury

page_text: furnace. And if the vessel is of the compound or levity arcustat structure, and the
levitation hull is wholly or in any compartments thereof to be filled with heated or
vapor air, I cause the waste production of combustion, steam, and heated air to
combine over the furnace, and then ascend by suitable passages into the upper part
of the hull, or vapor compartiment thereof, as in Figure 42, at i, i.
Fourteenthly. To secure the greatest facility in the determination and main-
tenance of the course in any upward or horizontal direction, in combination with
the said use of pedal or manual actuation driving wheels, or as actuated by gearing
with any other motor, I set the driving pulleys on the saine driving shaft with a
revolving gearing frame or rider R, R, in the Figures, the head of which carries the
driver journals or shaftings and gearings, either set with it radially, as in Figures 33
and 34, or as is sometimes preferable in the arrangement of pulleys at right angles
or at other suitable angle required by the peculiar mode of gearing, as shewn in
Figures 22, 35, and 36. By this means without any stoppage of the forward
working movement, which for aero-navigation it is usually essential to make
continuous, the driver or propeller revolving regularly and equably with its spindle,
axle, or shaft, in any direction in a plane transverse to the driving shaft, can be set
either forward, vertically, or abaft, as shewn by broken lines in the Figures. To
control this action and render it effective I make the bearings of the outward
extremities of the shafts or journals to travel by means of a principal carrier in an
arc traverse, which is an arched double rib or frame composed of rods of double
turn or curl flange metal, and curved concentrically with the driving shaft, as shewn
in Figures 22, 34, and 35, and marked T, T. When the drivers working in the
traverse are to act below the border the centre of motion is raised above the border,
and the traverse is carried as low as may be requisite. And the halyard and back-
haul lines to work and run in this curvilinear course are carried clear of all fouling
by other carriers c, c, travelling similarly to that of the journal or shaft head, as
shewn at the head of the double driver in Figure 11, and in the ring traverse,
Figures 13 and 14 and eighthly described. And to secure the universal motion of
the driver, and thereby increase the command of the arcu-boat, I also sometimes
mount this vertical traverse on a segment or circular traverse in plan, having at the
common centre of motion the compound driving pulley receiving the driving band
from the prime motor below, and communicating the motion to the driver shaft or
axle above. And in order to work the ouverts at the summit and other moving
parts the runing bands or lines, halyards, backhauls, and the like, are kept from
fouling by any usual or suitable fast, loose, or friction form of pulley or sheave, dead
eye, thimble, loop, or eyelet, connected with the framing. And when there is a
liability to retardation of the vessel's way by too great an inset of wind, or air
resistance into the intrados of the arcuate, as will sometimes happen with arcuates
of great depth, then by the employment of a deflection skin or aero-plane, which I
call a jaw, wind-guard, or guide at the bow, and marked g in the Figures, or by
either an ouverting or a wind guide extension of the arcuate at the stern keeling,
or by such wind-guards otherwise placed, I utilise such inferior resistance for lift or
propulsion. And I also neutralise the retarding action on the extrados of the
arcuate at the stern by deadening the curvature or sheer at that point so as
to convert current action from retarding force into slip pressure force above.
Fifteenthly. For the levity construction necessary in the building of aerial
vessels and machinery, I employ not only all the usual means and materials, such as
basketwork, webbings, and thin scantlings of ash, hickory, and other tough wood,
and as otherwise herein-before described, but obtain, by what I call compound or
levity structure, immense strength, forming sheets or boxings, framings, planks, or
blocks, or tubular or cellular spars or beams of successive layers of scale board,
veneers, or knife veneers of wood, and of paper or felted or textile fabrics, all
cemented firmly together and arranged so as that there shall be contrary dispositions
of the longitudinal fibre and threads in the alternate layers, for example, as shewn
in Figure 27 and 28, the hatched lines indicating wood, and cross lines strong
textile fabric, strong paper, felt, or wirework; and for intersecting members or

page_text: points of connection and bearing, as indicated in Figure 28, I block the interior
with solid cores of wood and cineture, the exterior with ferrols, rings, or wire or
cordage bonding, so as to admit of any indents, perforations, or boltings, or other
fixings required. These internal blockings by halving, morticing, and bolting, in
any workmanlike manner, form one unyielding solid at any angle of junction,
with solid branches extending into the centre of each tubular or other connected
member.
Sixteenthly. For levity construction in metal.-In addition to the ordinary
methods of thin angle tee and other contoured rods, and corrugated or ribbed
sheets and tubes, I employ my novel method of forming cellular or levity metal, as
shewn for example in Figures 29, 30, 31, and 32, in which I use the toughest and
best tempered rolled or hammered thin sheeting of steel, brass, copper, zinc, or other
metal, plain, ribbed, and corrugated, and lap welded or drawn weldless tubes of the
same; and I alternate layers of such corrugated or angle ribbed plates or tubes with
thin plane plates very firmly united by double turns, revets, and the like, or by
brazing or other sufficient union, and the use of the known methods of drawing,
cramping, and shrinking on. And with this cellular metal I form tubes, cylinders,
sheets and beams, and any parts of the arcustat for which such material is preferable,
and make any required shafts, pistons, cylinders, or other parts of machinery or
apparatus for acrostats, and therefore use such material in the place of solid castings
or forgings, as for example, I close or turn in the ends, or I close or turn the edges,
to form bearings or seatings as to the cylinder, Figure 30, and I form plates, discs,
or cappings, as the cylinder disc and head in Figures 31 and 32, and to obtain such
closed together edges I employ the known means of heating and pressure, and
treating the metal otherwise as required And where requisite I form a core
or body of wood, as explained fifteenthly, or of compressed asbestos or slag
wool;
and for the retention of heat by such levity metal as in steam cylinders and
the like I employ jacketings of ordinary felts or other fabrics in sheets or fillets, or
feltings of asbestos or slag wool, or simply use such material as non-conduction
packing between or around the plates or corrugations of the sheet metal.
Seventeenthly. The said aerial vessels or arc-aerostats I make of any proportions
required either for traffic, speed, or other purposes. When the arc-acrostat is
required for regular navigation as an aerial boat or ship, the contouring of tho
arcuate is specially adapted, as in marine vessels for propulsion by a properly
adjusted sheer, as exemplified in Figure 10 on plan, and in 34, 35, in section, and
42 in elevation, utilising the reaction of the air displaced forward upon the after
quarters of the vessel; and thus in arcustats the arcuate should preferably be of
considerable length compared with the beam breadth between the borders, and in
all other respects must be adapted for direct propulsion; and as these arcustats can
be effectually propelled by all kinds of propellers, either ahead, astern, or at the
flank, whilst the greatest effect is derived from disposing the drivers along the
crown or keeling of the arcuate, or at the border when of low pitch, as fourthly
described, they admit of the employment of two, three, or more propellers, or the
laying out of the mould lines with any requisite length, and a comparatively narrow
width, and obtaining any desirable velocity of locomotion; and examples of varying
treatment, according to size, are given in Figures 33 to 37, and 42, and some of the
alternatives of different propellers and their positions in plan are given in Figure 10.
The smaller sizes of arcustats, when desired to be used by a male voyager in the
manner of the ordinary roadster bicycles, I usually term aerocycles, and form as
shown in Figures, in 33, transverse, and 34, longitudinal section. In these I employ
pedal wheels M', M', but in place of the usual bicycle fork, corresponding but up-
wardly elongated flank pieces of wood or metal, which I call the checks, united
with the base frame of the arcuate, together with a quirital or bicycle saddle,
referenced Q, Q, having a framing consisting of saddle brackets q, q, adjustible at
will of the traveller by means of slots or pin holes in the end of the saddle stay, and
united at its head with the saddle backbone or strut, so as to carry the saddle with
any springs or other suitable fittings. By other bracketings to the cheeks I also

page_text: add, when desired, any manual motor for additional propellers M 2, and in con-
nection with the same cheeks by yards or transverse spars y, y, or rails, or the like,
I sustain any of the fittings or contrivances otherwise berein described as adapted
to my said arcustat. And for other smaller sizes designed for the use of ladies, I
arrange the standing frame and car similarly to the larger arcustat shewn in Figures 35
and 36, with a seat for the voyager, using treadles and rods and any of the other-
wise used treadle work in ladies' bicycles or tricycles, and hand cranks for motor
actuation, placing the pedal or manual motor wheels at the sides, and any store
motor or engine and other detail arrangements, as will be most convenient to the
travellers, and as otherwise thirteenthly described. And when pedal wheels are
designed to be used also as roadsters, they are made according to No. 18 detail,
twentiethly described. The larger arcu-boats with two or more drivers are generally
disposod as in Figure 35, lateral view, and 30 transverse section, shewing an arcu-
boat with two double drivers D, D, as detailed in Figures 11 and 22, and seventhly
described, one treadle motor wheel M' and the studding elbow or V beam V, V,
oscillated by a lever and stud arc-setting wheel L, L.
Eighteenthly. When designed merely for vertical ascension, or as captive aerostats
for military prospecting, or the like, or in the manner of balloons to go in any
direction the wind may take them, it is sufficient to make them of a discoid, domic,
or pyramid form, and the provisions for forward propulsion, and for guidance, such
as the rudder, may be omitted; and when so constructed as navigable parachutes,
I term the vessels ascending arcs or domic arcustats, as for example, in Figure 37 a
domic arcuate is shewn with an annular ouverture just below the summit, and the
alternative of a domic screw lift or propeller P, P, within the arcuate, and the alter-
native of a manual motor worked by a vertical shaft and crank at M², or of any
engine or store motor in the car at M, with an alternative form of arcuate in broken
lines
Nineteenthly. The navigation of the said arcustat is exceedingly simple. The motor
action being started, whether by treadle, hand crank, steam, or other power, it at once
actuates the propellers or drivers, which in the case of summit or keeling drivers
for lift or ascension, will be set vertical, and when the required level is reached, will
be moved forward on the traverses to the horizontal or inclined line of the course to
be travelled, as required, without arresting motion in the slightest degree; the
ouverting fourthly described being opened over or in the line of driving, and else-
where closed by the running rig and gearings. When there are separate drivers
for ascension or lift, set vertically, and for forward progression or driving, set hori-
zontally, they will be separately worked for those directions, and conjointly worked
for oblique lines of course. The volume of indrafted air being forced aft, not only
supports the arcuate and the weight dependant on it, but also issuing at the
stern, strikes with its full force the face of the rudder when turned out of the
axial line, and thus secures the greatest obedience to its direction, or utilises it
as an aid in support when turned with the face slightly out of the horizontal
in its length, and level with it transversely. If the guidance is by fore and aft
propellers, they will be ported or starboarded on their traverses, as required, and
the stud arcs will be lowered or worked flapping for ascension, and extended for
horizontal movement or poising in any set position, and by adjusting the gravita-
tion of the riders and other weight carried. I also generally set the arcuate border
longitudinally at an angle inclined to the horizon, upward for ascension or horizontal
progression, and downward for a forward oblique descension. And whilst the
propeller, as fourteenthly described, can be turned any way during the continuous
forward motion of its prime motor, the engine or driving wheel itself can also, as
usual, be directly reversed, so as to screw or draw the arcustat downward at
any angle, or vertically, and at a suitable rate of velocity. And if by reason
of rain, or dry air, or continued tension, the driving bands contract or slacken,
their tension can be rectified by the seventh detail, next twentiethly described.
Twentiethly. In order to render my said Invention practically effective and useful,
I observe all ordinary constructive and mechanic details, and to lighten the con-
°

page_text: struction and diminish waste of power in friction and otherwise, I also employ and
adapt to my Invention any of the patented and otherwise used conic roller, roller
cycle, and other bearings, and also use any of the known means of antifriction or
minimal friction bearings, and any of the otherwise used lubricants, as well as sundry
details of my own original Invention, and in particular as may be requisite and
advisable, I adopt the following detail provisions numbered 1 to 27:-
Detail 1. To bring friction and heating thereby to a minimum I make all
revolving journals, bosses, hollow or solid axles, centres, or cones, of the smallest
diameter practicable, by the employment of best tempered steel and the use of
phosphor bronze or white metal bearings.
Detail 2. And where excessive heating is still liable to occur, I use a fan or
exhaust blower, and discharge the blast by a taper nozzle on to the journal and
bearing.
Detail 3. To regulate the tightness of bearings upon the journals, and to
compensate the reciprocal wear I employ hubb clips composed of two double or
Z flanged rings on the opposite sides of the hubb, and communicated at their outer
flanges through the openings of the spokes by screw bolts and nuts, and enclosing
with the nave or hubb and any plane or circular washes or zones of rollers or other
bearings a zone or zones of double wedges, with their heads driven or relaxed by
the screwing or unscrewing of the bolts to the hubb clip, as shewn in the
Figure 24.
Detail 4. I also in some cases enclose roller or other bearings for axles in a
flanged elastic steel or hammered brass ring clip drawn together with a bolt, as in
Figure 25.
Detail 5. I prefer, where there is great friction, as in the bearings of the domic
screws and arcustats as tenthly described, to employ my adjustible conic roller
bearings, shewn in Figure 23, in which the axle shaft rod is fitted with a double
angular curl flange clipping or stop collar, having, preferably, a concave surface to
the cone apex, which is also correspondingly rounded. The conic rollers are set to
the requiste inclination, and contiually as they may be reduced or slackened by
wear, are brought close by the approximation of the conic or triangular washer
fitting the outside of the collar, and which, together with the clip or stop collar
holding the cones in position are set close or slackened by the terminal nut as
shewn. I sometimes vary this method by substituting a row of balls for the
rounded apex of the cones and otherwise, as indicated in the upper and lower parts
of the figure. The extremity of the hollow axle w, w, bearing on the cones may be
an oblique flange as shewn, or set rectangularly by the corresponding alteration in
the contour or position of the cones.
Detail 6. I also generally dispense, as far as practicable, with bevel and tooth
contact gearings, by using my method of making pulleys in the diversion or
translation of motion, of equal relative axial length and cylindric diameter, as
shewn in Figure 38, so as better to admit of working with any suitable driving
bands or cords on the skew.
Detail 7. I employ for the running lines the strongest driving bands or cords of
web, flax, leather, gut, and the like, and in order to adjust the stretch of the
running gear, and to relax or tighten the respective driving bands, the axles or
shafts are sometimes made to rest on bearings held between pairs of setting screws,
as Figure 26; or I cause the driving bands in passing over any turning or friction
pulleys to be stretched or relaxed by mounting such pulleys upon bearings,
sustained on stanchions, yards, or other spars, or on frames, which are lifted or
lowered either by adjustment screws, as Fig. 26, or by being hauled up or down, or
braced fore or aft, by tackling in the manner of setting and bracing masts and spars
in shipping, as Figure 47; and to prevent slip in the groove tires thirteenthly
mentioned, I prefer to use for flat bands deep square channel tires; and for round
lines deep hyperbolic or V section tire driving wheels and pulleys, with slight
⚫rounded corrugations, illustrated in three sections in Figure 17, and such a twist,

page_text: knotting, corrugation, or rubbing in the driving lines or bands as will be suitable
thereto.
Detail 8. And in order to effect the simultaneous opening or closing of the
studdings I sometimes employ any ordinary alternate action, such as that of direct
levers or of halyards and downhauls; or for setting only, use a lever working by
an eye sliding on a stilted rod as V, V, in Fig. 33, but prefer to work the flapping
action so as to effect it with the least weight and strain, by my peculiar form of
unequal arm and generally bent lever V or elbow beam, as Figure 39, acting on the
opposite studdings by stiff levity rods, which as required are fitted with automatic
action accommodation or extender springs, as Figures 45 and 46, and nextly
described; or by an adjustment slot bar and double levers, Figure 48, and otherwise
in such a manner as that the arcs traversed by the bent lever and rods compensate
each other, and whilst one arm pushes the other pulls, and yet so secures the exact
and equal moment of both, studdings together, both in or both out, by one
movement of the actuating lever or wheel; and Figure 39, by the firm lines indicates
the work as set for close and open studdings, and the broken lines indicate the
arcs described by the arms of the V beam and the studdings respectively.
Detail 9 For the purpose of meeting the unequal distance to be traversed by
rods, such as those to the V rods or bent lever, or to the rotary wing when its
blade extremities traverse a tangential, and not a concentric course, I use. the
accommodation or extending shafts formed, either as Figure 45, with a spiral spring
attached at one end to a shaft, and enveloping it for a distance, the other end being.
attached to a hollow shaft, in which an extension of the inner shaft slides; or
I invert this arrangement, as shewn in Figure 46, by making the sliding end of the
shaft tubular, so as to enclose both the spiral spring and the end of the fixed shaft
on which it slides.
Detail 10. The hanging of ouvert flaps, when required to open, as in Figure 7,
parallel on either side, is effected by pairs of stay or lever rods; the ends attached
to the strake of the arcuate frame moving on fixed centres or pins, but the ends
attached to the border of the ouvert flap ending in a loop or eye, and sliding on a
stilted wire, so that each edge is either opened or locked by the same rods. The
ouverts, in Figure 8, on the lifting edge, are worked by one or more such stays.
Detail 11.-Any ordinary provision for safety, such as buffer or spring feet, is also
added, as advisable, to the car bed or floor under side. But to render the coming to
the ground in descending safe from too sudden descent, I prefer to employ, in more
finished arcu-boats, my method of spiral springs enclosed in a telescopic case com-
bined with rollers for movement on the ground, as shewn in Figure 40, and in 35
and 36 in the car feet, and also as feet for the ground stays, Figures 33, 34, and 42,
and to the bed frame of the car I prefer to attach my double or triple springs, as
Figure 41, two being horizontal springs in tubular casings, and acted on by pistons
or heads, and rods working obliquely from the bearing over the ground roller, and
which rests on the axle thereof, and is either an ordinary fork or a single or tele-
scopic tube containing a third spring, as shewn in Figures 41 and 42.
Detail 12. To enable the navigator to moor the arcustat the ordinary grapnels
and moorings are used. And I also employ a spiral footed iron or steel bar, or cork-
screw, or helix anchor foot, fitted with an eye head for leverage in screwing, and a
collar and rings for making fast, as in Figure 49, and by this means I secure the
arcustat to the ground, through the connection of the said screw feet with the
standings, or by mooring lines from the framework, as shewn in Figure 42,
at Z³ or Z⭑
Detail 13. In order to enable the arcustat to stand vertically, and be moved
along on the ground when the car bed does not afford sufficient base area to secure
steadiness, I provide ground stays or standings shewn in Figures 33, 34, and 42,
and lettered Y, Y, y, y, Z, Z, consisting of booms, stanchions, framings, and spars,
either hung for unshipping or swinging into a compact housing, as shewn by the
dotted lines in Figure 34, and I fit their feet with springs and rollers Z, Z, as
B

page_text: defined in Detail 11, or with the anchoring screws last described in Detail 12, as at
Z³ and Z, Figure 42. And I also employ shepherd's hook catch springs to hold
any such framings or spars in position, or close them in for stowage when sailing,
as on the inner end of the hook yard or stay in Figure 34 at Y, Q, and shewn in
dotted lines also in Figure 34.
Detail 14. In order to maintain the wings, blades, fans, or alae of screws and
other propelling apparatus rigidly in their true helical or other contour and sett, and
to form them of the thinnest material for action in either water or air I stay and
brace them with cordage or wire, or wire rope, and in some cases flat metal, or band
bracings, or stays, so as that such bracings or stays in revolution cut the fluid with
the least resistance, as indicated in the Figure 11 by the lines t, t.
Detail 15. In order to prevent derangement of action by the effect of vibration
of machinery, and of tho irregular flexure, straining, and torsion of the aerostatic
elastic light yielding framework, I employ for the several bolt and nut unions, and
journal and axle bearings, elastic washers of the known kinds, such as india-rubber,
spiral, coil, flat, or round metal springs, or any patent anti-vibration washers.
Detail 16. And all the ordinary gearings and actuations by means of driving
bands or running lines, and all rigging, bracing, and staying, as otherwise employed
or suitable, are availed in working the said arcustats, but are not specified, inasmuch
as they do not constitute the essential characteristic working features of my said
Invention.
Detail 17. In order to unite plates of very thin metal with each other, either in
simple overlay, or with single or double turns, or to unite the edges of such plates
with the interior portion thereof. After being turned over a stretching and sup-
porting skeleton, as in the formation of fans, screw blades, and the like, in addition
to the usual methods of soldering and brazing, I employ the punching and uniting
with eyelet revets of metal in the manner otherwise in use for attaching or sup-
porting sheets of paper or leather, and I sometimes further utilise such holes as the
perforations for a running or lacing tie of wire or cord.
Detail 18. In order to render the herien-before described pedal wheel motors
available for road traffic, as well as for the actuation of aerial motion, I either
recurve or turn over the flanges of the channel tires, or form both flanges with
additional and stilted channels or grooves to receive rubber or other tires otherwise
in use, as shewn by the three sections in Figure 50, so as in either case, without
unshipping the driving bands, or whilst working them, and so revolving the propel-
lers, the pedal wheels may run on the ground with the like facility to ordinary
roadster bicycles, either in the initiation of the aerial action for ascent, or in some
cases even to utilise the propellers in aid of road traction.
Detail 19.In detailing the treatment of fan blowers I contrive to utilise to the
utmost the two forces of vacuduction and direct blowing, as fifthly described; thus
in the central blower to the double driver, shewn in Figure 11 and other Figures,
the ejection mouths E, E, discharge tangentially, and whilst acting in blowing force
on the arcuate, assist by the reaction of the air in revolving the wind boxing or
hollow boss of the main or external driver, as also shewn in the Figure 51 in trans-
verse section. But when the blower does not act in a revolving wind boxing, but
by its own direct blast alone, I sometimes form it, as shewn on the starboard side
of Figure 9, by using the arcuate flank as part of its enclosure, and directing the
full blowing force of the ejection on the intrados above and adjacent to it. And in
all cases of the placing of drivers interior to the arcuate, they are disposed as close
to or in the ouvertures as the framing and skin will admit.
Detail 20. In the use of link rack wheels in connection with rotary wings and
the like, where the form of link chain used requires a guard against irregular action
in the passing over the differential curves of ellipsoid travel, I employ, as shewn in
Figures 13 and 14 at T, Ts, an inner or chain traverse, with rollers or other suit-
able antifriction arrangement, either fixed to the traverse or forming part of the
link chain.

page_text: Detail 21. In order to make the pitch of screws and blower fans adjustible,
when the purposes of the aerostat make it desirable, I arrange the seating on or
fixing in the boss or spindle of the base or rod to the following edge, to be movable
either by separate points of attachment, or by a traverse on the spindle, with
setting screws or other fixings, and by the conjoint slacking and bracing of the
respective up-and-down braces to the periphery edge, described in No. 14 Detail
preceding, I both adjust the pitch and the degree of dip, according to my Invention,
as ninthly described.
Detail 22. In the detail treatment of the fans, aeroplanes, angular or rounding
scoops, wings, arms, paddles, or blades of any of my wind or wing wheels, or paddle
wheels, in preference to the feather and set of blades, or skew set of the wheel itself, .
I use sometimes my set and close arrangement, as illustrated at W', in Figure 10.
In this method the blades, or similar parts, are set radially and square to the main
periphery, but so as to move and fall or close one way on a boss, axle, or gudgeons,
and preferably to be rigidly sustained the other way in the set or stroke position by
a stop shoulder abaft of and in one with the hinging or boss.
On the inner flank
of the paddle, or other wheel, is a traverse working on the same shaft or axial line
T, T, but in its periphery either eccentric, to produce a gradual setting and
closing of the blades, or, as shewn in said figure, composed of two arcs of different
radii, united by two oblique curvilinear portions, and contoured with any practical
suddenness to effect the setting and closure with the rapidity desired, such traverse
being otherwise formed similarly to those already described; but in order ad
libitum to set the blades for forward, back, or oblique propulsion, the traverse itself
is geared for revolving or reversing and setting by a paul or other convenient catch.
The blades have each an arm projecting interiorly, and terminating in a bend,
forming the axle to a roulette, as elsewhere explained, and which runs in the said
traverse, so that as the wheel periphery revolves, the roulettes on the said paddle
arms are alternately brought close to the periphery, and thereby close the paddles,
or are drawn towards the common centre, and thus open and set the blades.
Detail 23. The blades of the set and close propeller will be ordinarily in their
radial width restricted by the circumference, free to their closing action, but in all
fans or blades their value or hold on the air is, as may be practicable, increased by
making them concave either on a curved or angular projection, the other elements
of contour and proportion being altogether determined by the particular design of
the vessel.
Detail 24. When any of my aerostats are designed for or employed in travelling
over considerable extents of water, I provide against the obvious contingencies,
firstly, by covering the car with a proper waterproof skin, or by two such skins on
the inner and outer sides of the car framework; secondly, by attaching to the car
rails a waterproof and water-jointed studding, as shewn in Figure 35, at S2, held
between the studding border rail and double laths, or other light elastic booms
which form the strutting or ribs, and which work upon the car rail on hinge joints,
and are connected and governed at their extremities through eyelets therein by a
fast knot in the centre of a line, such line being hauled downward from below as a
down haul to form the aerial arcuate studdings, as S2, but hauled upward by the
upper or halyard part to raise them, and form an expanded hull for water floatation
either convexly or concaving to the water side, as shewn in the dotted lines at S³, S³.
But where the alternative of progression or resting on the water is contemplated in
the design, then there will be an extended and elongated boat form given to the car
frame by a permanent and stiff gunnel rail and ribs, adapted to secure more
effectual use of the water-tight car studdings aforesaid. I also for provision against
the said and other obvious contingencies, make all such or other studdings, and even
the arcuate itself, capable of reefing by any suitable reefing contrivance, tackle, and
fittings. When the arcustat is fitted with the adjustible stanchions Y, Y, described
in No. 13 Detail, they are contrived to work and be connected as one frame, to-
gether with the border and ribs of the herein-described car or marine studdings, so,
B 2

page_text: as that in the water, the main structure of arcuate and framing will be sustained
rigidly without liability to torsion or overturning by their bearing on the said
floatation skin, whilst by the said power of reefing, the action of the wind on the
upper portions can be reduced to a minimum. At the same time the guard floats g, g,
attached to the bow and other parts of the framing may be set to act as sails
in the manner of stay and jib sails, and be braced ad libitum for such a purpose,
whilst the drivers may be worked as for horizontal progression. For the exigency
of any accident compelling marine floatation, as above described, a steering appliance
is formed by the unshipping and attaching to the car of the arcustat rudder,
twelfthly described, or a jury rudder is carried to be worked from the car as a
scull.
Detail 25. In case of military and other emergencies, when it is inconvenient
or impracticable to carry on the more regular and properly workmanlike detail
construction of my aerostats, I adapt ordinary.local materials, as for example, the
formation of arcuates and motors. For the arcuate I employ any ordinary rect-
angular textile sheeting, as woven or pieced together; I then strengthen it as
requisite with bandings, and in particular contrive it that when strained upon the
arcuate and studding framework, one band, provided with eyelets or pendent
seizings, shall correspond to the keeling, and others, if desired, to the ribs and
strakes, another to the main arcuate border, and another to the studding rim. When
strained and seized down, if the arcustat contour is boat-shaped or otherwise
rounded or pointed at bow and stern, the corners of the sheeting will hang down,
and these portions will be governed by extending spars and bracing lines, so as to act
as guard floats on the quarters and bow beams. The same arrangement can be
adopted for a car studding to serve as a water float as mentioned in No. 24 Detail
Jast explained. The sheeting being passed under and seized firmly on to the car,
and bound securely to the extending gunnel rim or border, similar to 83, 83, last
mentioned, for pedal or manual motor wheels, in exigencies, I convert any light
carriage wheels fastening thin board or sheet metal flanges to their felloes or tires,
to form secure housings for driving bands, or I form a wheel of thin boards in
three or more thicknesses, properly diagonally bracing each other, the two outer
thicknesses projecting to form the flanges and the central receiving the driving
band, but being preferably formed of segments cut on end grain, the whole being
bonded and strengthened at both the bearings and periphery by such metal and
minimal friction bearings as may be obtainable.
Detail 26. In order to convey my arcustats and other herein-before described
vessels when required for that purpose to be separable for packing, I make them in
separate parts arranged to lie together and stow closely, and to be rapidly re-
connected and firmly united for use; or I hinge the several parts together so as on
the release of the several extending or rigidant stays, the arcustat will collapse
and fold together in two or more principal sections and otherwise as convenient.
Detail 27. To provide against contingencies as to the failure of any part of the
machinery, spare or duplicate drivers and gearings are fitted up, and in the con-
struction of the arcuate and framing duplicate bondings and recticulate or inter-
secting bands, bracings, stays, and lattice or strutting are disposed to prevent
accidents arising from the failure of individual parts.
Twenty-firstly. When it is required to construct aerostats by the union of parts
of the said Invention with a balloon or levitation hull I employ therefor my own
former air-ship contrivances, or ordinary balloons or aerostats, in order to assist
floatation and increase carrying power, and I adapt the balloon or levitation hull
for inflation with either gas or vapor air, or for the conjoint employment of both, by
constructing it in different compartments and the combination therewith of my
aforesaid and other improvements, namely, I construct it when it is to be filled
with gas as a single skin encasement in the usual manner, or by vertical.and
longitudinal transverse septs make it a compartmented and entirely distinct casing;
but when it is to be filled with hot vapor air I prefer to form it with a double
encasement, securing an intervening interval of air space to form an air jacketing,

page_text: and thereby diminish refrigeration and condensation. I also sometimes contribute
to this result by employing for the skin of such hot or vapor air encasement a fabric
having a villous surface, or standing pile, or knap, of any light fibrous material,
or attaching such a villous or downy material to the skin material, preferably
when practicable to the exterior of the inner or hot air enclosure. I prefer
to make the lower part or soffit of any levitation encasement correspondent to the
principles and action of my said arcuate, and to attach the same to the border or
principal horizontal framing or base frame. And I make the whole weight dependant
from this base frame, and the direct mechanical action to bear thereon in connection
with the framework, by which, as indicated by the horizontal section, Figure 10, and
the clevation, Fig. 42, is given a navigable form to the said hull, and especially the
higher secondary or midship single frame or double framings, horizontal and nearly
coincident with the mean centre of the whole construction, and which carry the
bearings of the principal propellers and actuation gearings so that the propulsive
motion will be communicated in the axial line of locomotion to a rigid skeleton,
which sustains alike the inflation skin and all the inferior parts of the aerostat, and
that thus the entire structure shall move together without flaccidity through the air
as one rigid mass, in the manner of a ship's hull passing through the water. When
I employ gas for levitation I also prefer to inflate therewith the section above the
midship frame, and to form this section as a separate upper hull or encase-
ment, with a considerable ascending arcuation in its soffit, and a slack allowed therein
proportioned by the calculation for the expansion of the hydrogen or other gas
employed, and governed and adjusted by elastic suspenders and braces A², A². In
this case I also form the midship frame double, so as to obtain a free midship
airway between the upper and lower hull to give. effect to current re-action force
and to the action of blowing force directly on the said arcuate soffit, and
especially conjointly on a midship studding outrigged from the upper and
braced to the lower border of the double midship frame. The Figure 42 shews
an example where there is such a double midship frame, at B¹, B', and B2, B2,
and a midship free airway 02 and O2 between the upper and lower bodies of the.
double levitation hull, rendering it perfectly safe to fill the upper compartment X³, X²,
with hydrogen or coal gas, and the lower compartment X', X', with hot vapor air,
this latter being also fitted with the cold air ouvert or chill valve O³ for descension
ad libitum. This lower soffit, as aforesaid, being concaved upwards at A¹ and A¹,
is of course connected with the suspension beam and border of the base frame, to
which also are attached the studdings and other parts and apparatus of the simple
arcustat, as otherwise explained or figured and indicated in the lower part of
the said Figure 42. And with my herein-described compound aerostat or levity
arcustat, by means of the framings giving rigidity to the said hull, I am enabled to
utilise and employ any suitable form of screw propellers and flank feathering, or
other wind wheels. And I also sometimes combine with the said parts my original
Invention of horizontal drivers or propellers working within the said midship free
airway, such as the feathering wind wheel eleventhly described, or the set and close
paddle wheel in Detail No. 22, twentiethly described, and shewn at W*, W4, in
Figure 10; or I cause to act over and upon the said airway the rotary wings eighthly
described, and shewn at W¹, W₁, Figure 10, or the feathering wind wheel in vertical
flank position, as also shewn in plan in same Figure at W2, W2, and in elevation in
Figure 42. And also to act on the same midship airway arcuate and studdings,
propellers, ahead or astern, or both, working on universal joints and horizontal
traverses so as thereby also in part, or entirely, to effect the steering, as shewn
at G, D, G, D, Figures 10 and 42, and otherwise, as herein-before explained. The
actuation of the machinery for such compound aerostats has been already thirteenthly
and otherwise herein-before described. The encasements of the levitation hulls
are strengthened by sewn-on flat tape and web bands instead of cordage nets,
and the driving bands are led either through tubes in the hot air or gas division, or
any suitable eyes, pulleys, and the like exterior, by bearing on the framing and
otherwise, as fourteenthly described.

page_text: Twenty-secondly. I adapt my. said arcustat by the following modifications to the
special purposes of war and surveying:-For the purpose of destroying static fortifi-
cations and marine. works I use my vertex discharging tube, double or binnacle,
hung in the car, to secure verticality; and for use in action it is connected with a
powerful telescope, the axis of which is kept truly parallel to that of the tube. I
thus fit it perfectly for the use of my gravitation shell-bolts, the detonating hammers
of which are released only by the movement of the lever which drops the bolt from
the tube. For the said purposes, and especially for the employment on my system
of aerostatic surveying and observations, where perfect steadiness in the car is
essential, I sometimes employ a second car, but prefer a compound car, the central
division of which is ordinarily maintained in a line with the working or motor and
passage or storage cars, but hung independently and directly to the centre of the
suspension beam or main frame or border of the arcustat, so as when required for
surveying to be lowered below the other divisions, yet so as to ensure the proper
connection of the double or triple car, by making the abutting sides travel with
universal joint friction rollers and suitable springs, the plan section being concentric
to the surveying car centre, as shewn in Figures 43 and 44; and when employed
for laying telegraph wires, or other special purposes, I also adapt the principal
driving wheel or other motor by supplementary gearings and mechanical details, as
'otherwise in use, for the necessary arrangements, as also for steadily raising,
lowering, and turning the surveying or central car, and ad libitum controlling the
propellers and steering apparatus for maintenance in a given position or movement
at a required rate; and for this and other purposes when large and powerful screws
of extreme levity, are desirable, in addition to the materials sixteenthly mentioned,
I use a screw formed of a hollow or sheet plate cylinder, with its thread or threads
formed of semicylindric, square, or triangular metal tube, as illustrated in Figure 52.
The helix tubes will be attached by any of the known or otherwise used methods of
connecting metal plate. To obtain great smoothness in working the studdings for
like and other purposes, I sometimes employ an adjustible eccentric wheel, having
a single radial or entire diameter, or two diameters' spokes, with central slot for the
adjustment, sliding, and clamp down fixing of the working or driving axle in the
same, so in the latter case the form of an elliptic trammel is assumed, as shewn in
Figure 53. The studs are actuated by arms or levers working free in collars
attached to the loose tire or band of the eccentric, as shewn in same Figure.
Twenty-thirdly. And in relation to the several illustrative Figures herein-before
referred to, it must be understood the necessarily variable sizes of aerial vessels
prevents the employment of any precise scales of dimensions, but the principles and
configuration of my said arcuate are exampled in the Figures 1 to 9, that the
Figures 10, 20, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, and 42, all illustrate the general contours, arrange-
ments, and combinations of the several parts in my complete aerostats, alternative
parts and positions being shewn in broken lines, and the arcuates, studdings, or other
Hoatation skins being drawn comparatively small, in order to make the other parts
clear in the Drawings, but being in practice made and extended to any dimensions
required to obtain the area and floatation bearing on the air necessary in the case of
each aerostat, and that all the other Figures illustrate various parts and details in
such enlarged proportions as may be adequate to make the same clear and compre-
hensible, portions of framing and other parts, not material in the explanation of
the Figure, being omitted.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same may be carried into effect, I would at the
same time have it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise forms and details figured herein, as the same may be otherwise varied strictly,
according to the peculiarities and true meaning and intent of this my Invention, and
that I do not claim the origination or sole use of any parachute when used in the
method hitherto adopted for the purpose of descension only, without the apparatus
herein described to render such a form capable of ascension, nor aero-planes as

page_text: hitherto used, nor the combination of tubes and corrugate metal in the structure of
boiler flues, as heretofore proposed, nor of any ordinary appliances or forms when
not combined or incorporated with my herein-described novel Invention; but what
I do claim as being novel and original and constituting the Invention to be secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, as employed substantially
in and for the purposes thereof, is as follows, that is to say :-
Firstly. The employment, in the construction of aerostats. or aerial or flying
machines, of the arcuate, as herein-before firstly described, for the purpose of securing
the most effective results from the action of the machinery and appliances for ascen-
sion, floatation, and navigation in the atmosphere.
Secondly. The extension of the area acted or pressed upon by the arcuate by the
use of outrigging studdings, in the manner thirdly described, and the making of
such studdings capable of opening outward, or closing inward, or alternately closing
and opening, as also thirdly and twentiethly described in Detail No. 8.
Thirdly. The provision in the formation of the said arcuate of openings or ouver-
tures, as fourthly described, for the purpose of indrafting the air into the region
lying within and below the said arcuate and studdings, and the interning of the
blowing fans and screws or other drivers, as fifthly described, or so as to produce
the like effect by the placing and working then, so that they shall drive the air,
displaced and set in motion by their action, into the said area.
Fourthly. The structure and use of the compound driver, described seventhly and
twentiethly in Detail 19, and which I otherwise employ also for marine propulsion
and ventilation purposes.
Fifthly. The contrivance and use of the rotary wing and the apparatus for its
actuation, as eighthly described.
Sixthly. The use of the dip screw and its employment in propulsion purposes,
both for aerial and marine vessels, as described ninthly and also twentiethly in the
Detail 21.
.
Seventhly. The formation and use of the domic screw, either as a propeller or
driver in and to an aerostat, or to an ascending arc or navigable parachute, as tenthly
described.
.
Eighthly. The formation, gearing, and use of the guide tail or scoop rudder, as
herein twelfthly described.
Ninthly. The contrivance and use of the revolving riding frame, and of the vertical
traverse, or combination thereof, with plan traverse, as and for the purposes herein-
before seventhly, eighthly, and fourteenthly described, and also as twentiethly
described in Detail No. 22.
Tenthly. The formation and use for levity structures of the compound levity
material, fifteenthly described, and of the levity or cellular metal, sixteenthly
described.
Eleventhly. The combination for aeronautic purposes of the herein-before described
contrivances, with bicycle, pedal, or manual wheel, motors, or both, and the detail
improvements of the same, for the said purposes, seventeenthly and otherwise herein-
before described.
Twelfthly. The combination of the herein-before described contrivances in the con-
struction of navigable aerostats of any dimensions, as seventeenthly described.
Thirteenthly. The combination of the said elements into ascending arcs or
navigable parachutes for vertical motion and floatation only, as eighteenthly
described.
Fourteenthly. The combination of my herein-before described Inventions, with a
single or double levitation hull, as twenty-firstly described.
Fifteenthly. The adaptation to military purposes of any such arcustat by fitting.
it with a discharging tube, or the employing of such vessels for surveying by means
of the suspensory or centre hung car.
Sixteenthly. The employment, in the construction, adaptation, and use of aerostats,
and for their construction and management in emergencies, and their alternative or

page_text: occasional resting or movement on land and water, of the contrivances and details
twentiethly herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Brannon, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-eight.
PHILIP BRANNON. (L.S.)