IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
CHARLES VICTOR COULLON, of Auxerre, in the Kingdom of France, Boat
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of November, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jean Charles Victor Coullon, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Jean Charles Victor Coullon, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Jean Charles Victor
Coullon, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Ma-
jesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING
VESSELS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said Jean Charles Victor Coullon, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her 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, 1, the said
Jean Charles Victor Coullon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said In-
vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
In order to propel boats or small vessels, sailors and nautical men frequently
make use of an operation which is called "sculling;" that is, a single oar is
placed in the water at the stern of the vessel, and by rapidly moving the oar
by hand backwards and forwards from right to left, and vice versa, the boat or
vessel is propelled through the water. The object of the present Invention is
to propel boats, ships, and other vessels by mechanical means, by the applica-
tion of a scull or sculls, or blades, either singly or in pairs, or in any convenient
number, such sculls or blades being by mechanical arrangement always made
to act upon the water in a similar manner to the ordinary scull when used by
hand in the well-known manner. The mechanism hereafter described and
shewn in the accompanying Drawings is so constructed and arranged as to
actuate two blades at one and the same time, in order to obtain greater pro-
pelling power; but it will be easily understood that it may be simplified and
made to actuate one blade only, or, if thought desirable, the number of blades
may be increased.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a plan view of the stern
part of a vessel, with the propelling apparatus adapted thereto, some of the
parts being shewn in section, in order that their construction may be more
clearly seen. A, A, are the sculling or propelling blades, composed, as shewn
in the Drawing, of a thin blade B, made of wood or other suitable material.
The lower extremity of this blade, which acts in the water, is protected by an
iron shoe c, secured thereto by screws or in any other convenient manner. The
wcoden blade B is firmly secured to the iron rod C, which is shewn detached at
Fig. V., and is divided at the lower part in two arms x, y, that are connected
together at their lower extremities by a flat rectangular hoop that is made to
embrace the wooden blade B, and is secured thereto by screws or otherwise, as
seen in the Drawing. The upper part of the rod C carries a spherical ball p,
which works in a suitably formed bearing D, and acts as a fulcrum or vibrating
point for the propeller. This bearing D, which is shewn detached at Fig. IV.,
is composed of two hemispherical bearings, made of brass and connected together
by bolts, and fixed to the post or wooden framing E. The upper extremity of
the rod C enters a hole or socket at the end of the double armed lever F, and
is firmly secured therein by a dowel or wedge q. The double armed lever F

page_text: is composed of two branches F and F*, one of which (that marked F*) is
jointed at K. The outer ends of these arms or branches are egg-shaped, and
enter sockets or holes made in the arms of the wheels M, N, which actuate the
propeller. One of these wheels is seen detached at Fig. II., shewing the hole
to receive the end of one of the arms of the lever F, the end of the other
arm being inserted in a socket in one of the arms of the other wheel. By
this means the scull blade or propeller is made to perform a motion in
the water somewhat resembling the Figure 8, and in order to do this the
arms F and F are at one part of their revolution farther apart than
at other times, and it is for the purpose of obeying these variations in the
distance of the arms from one another that the arm F* is made with a joint.
Fig. III. is a Diagram representing the position of the arms F and F* at
different points of the revolution of the wheels M and N which actuate them.
The bevil-toothed wheels M and M are themselves put in motion by two bevil
wheels P, Q, which are mounted on their axles. The wheel Q on the axle V
carries on its boss or hub a pinion R, which gears into a wheel S mounted
upon the main driving shaft T, to which motion is communicated from any con-
venient motive power. The several shafts of this machine are mounted upon
an iron framing X, which is for this purpose furnished with five bearings. The
arrangement of arms or supports to secure this framing to the vessel must
necessarily vary and depend upon the construction of the vessel. I would
observe, that the several parts of the machine, as shewn in the Drawing, are
not precisely in the true positions they would occupy when in work, but have
been drawn in the machine shewn in order that their arrangement and con-
struction may be more clearly understood, but it is easy to give the propellers
their proper inclination by bearing in mind that they should make an angle of
45° with the water in which they work, and that they should dip nearly the
whole length of the blade into the water. The Diagram Fig. VI. shews the
angle at which the blades should enter the water and act therein. When my
improvements are applied merely as an auxiliary power to sailing vessels, and
the propellers are not required (as would be the case when there is sufficient
wind to propel the vessel), the jointed arm F is removed by pulling out the pin
or bolt y, and then the propeller or blade will not interfere with or retard the
progress of the vessel, as it will immediately assume a vertical position, and
offer no impediment to the water.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I would wish it to be understood, in conclusion, that I do not mean
or intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement or construction
of parts herein shewn and described, nor to the strength and dimensions of the

page_text: several parts of the apparatus, as all these must depend upon circumstances,
and may be varied without departing from the nature and object of my Inven-
tion; but that which I consider to be new, and therefore wish to claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,
is, the application of one, two, or more propelling blades, such as those herein
shewn and described, and actuated by mechanical means, as shewn, for the
purpose of propelling boats, ships, or vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Charles Victor Coullon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.