CERTAIN IMPROVE- MENTS IN PROPELLING ON LAND AND WATER
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHANN
GOTTLOB SEYRIG, of New Lenton, in the County of Nottingham, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the tenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Johann
Gottlob Seyrig, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Johann Gottlob Seyrig, my exors,
adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Johann Gottlob Seyrig, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROPELLING ON LAND AND WATER;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Johann Gottlob Seyrig, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Johann Gottlob Seyrig, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described in and
by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The nature of my Invention, in so far as regards propelling on water,
consists in taking advantage of the power derivable from the fall or pres-
sure of water from the height of the water line outside of a vessel, to some
lower point inside of it, and in using the power of such fall, in combination
with the power obtainable from steam or any other source, to propel vessels.
Of the manner in which this may be accomplished, the following are exem-
plifications:
In the first of these exemplifications, the details of which are represented in
Sheet I. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, the water pressure is employed
in combination with steam power to drive a screw propeller. Figure 1, a
longitudinal sectional elevation of the machinery employed for the purpose;
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the same; Figure 3 is a transverse section on
the line a, b; and Figure 4 a transverse section on the line c, d. A, A, are
two open passages which lead from the outside of the vessel to an enclosed
watercourse; B, C, is a "turbine," which is fixed in the watercourse B, and
through which the water for producing the assisting power flows; D is the
step in which the shaft of the turbine revolves; E is the propelling screw
which is placed in the watercourse immediately abaft the turbine, and revolves
in two bearings F, F. It is represented in the Drawings as made with an
increasing pitch and diminishing diameter, but may be of any other suitable
construction. The shaft D¹ passes upwards through the top part of the casing
of the watercourse B, and carries at top a bevil wheel G, which gears into
another bevil wheel H, which is attached to the screw shaft, and revolves in a
recess made for it in the top of the watercourse, as shewn in Figures 1 and 4.
The turbine and screw being thus connected together, the power obtained by
the former is carried over and imparted to the latter. The screw shaft is
connected to and derives its first motion from the steam engine S. When tho
screw is put in motion, it obtains the leverage power by which it propels the
vessel from the resistance of the water flowing through the watercourse in
which the screw revolves. The action of the screw takes away the back
pressure of the water from the turbine, and leaves it free to be acted on by the
following water, so that it may always transmit the effect of the pressure of the
latter to the propelling screw, as before explained. K, K, are two passages by
which the water, after flowing through the watercourse B, is driven out
sternwards.

page_text: In the second exemplification, which is represented in Sheet II. of the
Drawings, (Figure 1 of which is a longitudinal sectional elevation, and
Figure 2 a plan of the top part of the channel,) I dispense with the turbine,
and obtain the same or similar effects by employing two screws, one of which is
acted on by the fall or pressure of the water as aforesaid, and transmits the
power thereby obtained to the main or propelling screw (E), which derives
its first motion from the steam engine or other primary power employed. In
this case the auxiliary screw E3 is made with a diminishing pitch and
increasing diameter, and the propelling screw E with an increasing pitch and
diminishing diameter. B is a watercourse, as before; P, P, are a number of
curved plates, which are placed in front of the auxiliary screw E, to guide the
water in such a direction as to strike against the sides of the screw, and pro-
duce the same effect as results from the guide plates of the turbine. The
shaft of the auxiliary screw is passed through, and works within the shaft of
the main propelling screw, and its power is transmitted to the latter by an
arrangement which will be herein-after explained under the second head of
this Specification.
The Drawings on Sheet III. represent a third arrangement, in which the
propulsion of the vessel is effected by the force of a body of water driven out
from the inside in a contrary direction to that of the line of motion. Here a
wheel F, with curved leaves F', enclosed in a watercourse B as aforesaid, is
made to revolve by the direct action of the steam engine, and the water which
descends into the whicel F serves in the ratio of the altitude of the column of
which it is a part, to increase the velocity and force with which the water is
discharged from the wheel F into the external water. Figure 1 is a sectional
clevation of this arrangement, and Figure 2 a top view of the wheel and its
appliances on the line f, g. S is the steam engine; B is tho passage through
which the water flows from the outside into the wheel F; and A³ the passage
by which, after passing through the wheel, it is again discharged outwards.
L, L, aro guide plates, by which the water is conducted in curvilineal lines into
the wheel; F, F, are the leaves of the wheel; N, N, are a series of fixed
plates, which are so curved and placed as to catch the streams of water as they
are ejected from the wheel F, and guide them in the desired direction.
The Drawings on Sheet IV. shew a fourth arrangement, in which the pro-
pulsion of the vessel is effected by the ejection (by steam or other power) of
compressed air and water from the interior of the vessel. Figure 1 is a
sectional elevation on the line l, m, of Figure 2 of the parts belonging to this
arrangement; Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 a cross section on the line k, i.
A', A, are two separate but parallel channels made in the vessel, from the foro

page_text: to the hinder part, and V1, V, two valves by which these channels are alter-
nately opened and closed; P is a double-acting air pump, worked by a steam
engine or any other suitable power, by which air is forced alternately into the
two channels A', A². T', T, are two auxiliary pumps, open at bottom to the
channels A, A, the pistons of which are connected by a double quadrant
piece Q, with teeth on the two quadrant faces, which take into racks formed
on the sides of the piston rods; W is a connecting rod, by which the piston of
the auxiliary pump T is connected by a supplementary piston rod X to the
piston of the air pump. On the pump P being put in motion, a cylinder full
of air is driven into the channel A¹, and presses down the valve V¹, which
closes for the moment the front end of the channel A'. As soon as the piston
of the air pump is at the end of its stroke, the valve V₁ being no longer acted
on by the air is forced back to its original position by the pressure of the
inflowing water, while at the same time the air just expelled is driven forwards
till it comes under the auxiliary pump T', rushing under the piston of which it
forces it up until the spindles of two valves U, U, in the piston press against
two stops z,, which opening the valves allows the air to escape into the
external atmosphere, the air itself being impelled upwards, and completely
cleared from under the piston by the upward pressure of the water behind it.
The ascent of the piston of the cylinder T' causes, of course, the descent of the
piston of the other cylinder Ts (through the medium of the quadrant and rack
before mentioned), by which descent the water which was in the latter cylinder
is expelled, and thereby assists in the propulsion of the vessel. An effect
precisely similar to that which has been just described as being the result of
the first or descending stroke of the piston of the air pump in regard to the
channel A¹ and the acting parts in connection with it, is produced by the
second or ascending stroke of the piston in regard to the channel A², and the
similar parts connected with it; and so the action goes on as long as the steam
engine or other first mover is kept at work, each stroke of the air-pump pro-
ducing a backward thrust in one or other of the channels A', As, which thrust
serves to propel the vessel forwards, and each body of air expelled by that
stroke producing, in combination with the water pressure, and with the help of
the auxiliary pumps, a secondary thrust, which exerts a like propulsive effect
on the vessel. Care must of course be taken in setting the machinery to
work, so as to adjust the action of the pistons, that (after a stroke or two) each
discharge of air by the pump into either of the channels A, A, shall be
attended with simultaneous extrusion of water into the same channel from the
auxiliary pump in immediate connection with it.
From the preceding exemplifications it will be seen that the pressure of the

page_text: '
external water may be applied in a great many ways to assist in actuating the
propelling machinery of a vessel, but all dependant on the same general prin-
ciple, namely, that the pressure is as the height of the water line. I prefer
generally to lead the water into the vessel from some part afore the midship
line, and to terminate the watercourse in the hinder part of the vessel; but it
may be introduced at any part of the vessel, whether afore or abaft of the mid-
ship line, or it may even.be introduced from the bottom, as shewn separately
in Figure 3, Sheet III.
My Invention, in so far as regards propelling both on land and water, consists
in certain contrivances by which the rectilineal motion of the pistons and
piston rods of the steam or other cylinders employed in propelling may be
caused to produce a rotary motion of the propeller or other working shaft.
The nature of these contrivances will be seen from inspection of the engine
cylinders of the different propelling arrangements represented in the Drawings,
and before described.
In Drawings on Sheet III, the change of motion is effected by the following
arrangement:-C is the steam cylinder; D, an inner cylinder which is fixed
on the propeller shaft E, and has an endless spiral groove t, t, cut on the
outside of it, and is free to revolve within the steam cylinder; F is the piston,
which has no shaft, but has a loose projecting pin G, a plan of which is shewn
separately on an enlarged scale in Figure 4, which takes into the endless spiral
groove t, t, so that as the piston is moved from one end to the other of the
cylinder, by the pressure of the steam, the pin G working into the spiral groove
t, t, necessarily causes the cylinder D and the propeller shaft within it to
revolve; H is an outer casing of vulcanized caoutchouc, which is attached at
one end to the cylinder lid, and at the other to the bottom of the cylinder, being
intermediately made fast by a ring to the piston; I, I, are spiral springs, which
serve to keep the casing diametrically distended. In the double screw
arrangement shewn in Sheet II. of the Drawings, the mode of effecting the
change of motion is different from the preceding, but on the same principle.
The piston and piston rod of the engine are as usual, except that the piston
rod (R) is prolonged beyond the steam cylinder, and the prolonged part slides
in bearings T, T. From the piston rod two pins P1, P2, project, the former of
which takes into an endless spiral groove on the outside of the shaft of the
main propelling screw, and the latter into a similar groove on the outside of
the auxiliary shaft. A rotary motion being given to the auxiliary shaft by the
action of the inflowing water, as before explained, the power thus obtained is
transmitted to the piston of the engine through the action of the pin P², while
the engine piston transmits the power accumulated in it through the pin P',
to the main propelling shaft.

page_text: Another modification of the same mode of obtaining a rotary motion
from a rectilineal motion is shewn in the Drawings, Sheet IV., where
the vertical rod Y of the piston of the air pump and steam cylinder has a
loose projecting pin o, which takes into an endless spiral groove on the
inside of a cylindrical axis, to which a fly-wheel is attached, and by its
ascent and descent causes the fly-wheel to revolve. The manner in which
this sort of movement may be applied to a land wheel carriage is exemplified
in Figure 4, Sheet IV.; A is a steam cylinder, within which the axle (B)
revolves, and which is supported from the framework of the engine. The
axle is encased in a cylinder D, on the outside of which the endless spiral
groove is cut. E, E, are telescopic tubular casings, which serve the same
.purpose as the vulcanized casing before described, namely, to prevent the
steam from passing through the spiral groove from one side of the piston to
the other. These telescopic tubes have elastic packings at their points of
junction, to prevent them from being fractured by the velocity with which they
are necessarily brought together. As the steam is admitted alternately to the
opposite ends of the cylinder, the piston is thereby made to travel from the one
end to the other, being kept from turning round within the steam cylinder by
a small projecting pin on its outer periphery, which takes into a straight longitu-
dinal groove on the inside of the cylinder, while at the same time the other
pin, which is placed upon its inner periphery, taking into the spiral groove in
the piston cylinder, causes that cylinder to be turned round, together with the
shaft and driving wheels, and so to propel the engine carriage.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be employed, I declare that the Improvements which I
claim as constituting my said Invention are as follows:-
First, I claim the employment in the propelling of vessels on water of the
pressure of the external water, in aid of and in combination with the steam or
other power employed to propel the same, as before exemplified and described.
Second, I claim the employment in the propelling of bodies, both on land
and water, of the plan of causing the rectilineal motion of the engine piston or
piston rod, to produce a rotary motion of the wheel or propeller shaft, as also
before described.
And third, I claim, for the purposes of my Invention, the enclosing of
grooved shafts rotating within steam cylinders in tubular casings, as before
exemplified and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Johann Gottlob Seyrig, havo hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JOHANN GOTTLOB (L.S.) SEYRIG.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Johann Gottlob Seyrig came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Johann Gottlob Seyrig came before
our said Lady the Queeu in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Speci-
fication aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped accord-
ing to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord. One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.