and to Apparatus or Means therefor.
Year: 1886

page_text: and to Apparatus or Means therefor.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to boats or vessels having propeller or paddle wheels and
cases or chambers for the same, and it has for its object to so construct and locate
the chambers or the wheel casings that the wheels operate effectively without
loss of power, without materially agitating the water, without noise perceptible
from above, without being affected by the back draft of water from the sides of
the bottom of the hull and without being exposed to danger or injury.
In the accompanying drawing
.
Figure 1 represents a bottom view of a ship's hull provided with propeller or
paddle wheels and casings or chambers for the same, embodying my invention.
Figure 2 represents a section thereof, drawn to an enlarged scale, on the line x-x
figure 1, and
Figure 3 represents a transverse section on the line y-y figure 2.
A A represent horizontally arranged chambers or casings in which the
propeller or paddle wheels B are placed.
These chambers or casings are on opposite sides of the keel of the vessel, as
shown, and are preferably circular in cross-section and of a cylindrical form, to
correspond with the outline of the wheel or propeller so as to be as compact as
possible, but they may be of any desired form and construction. The said casings
or chambers are located within the hull of the vessel and have open bottoms to
communicate with the water, and their heads or ends are provided with suitable

page_text: bearings for the propeller or wheel shafts, suitable stuffing boxes being provided
for the shafts and bearings to prevent leakage of water from the casings to the hold
of the vessel.
Power is communicated to the shafts in any suitable manner.
The sides A¹ of each chamber or casing A extend below the bottom line of the
hull, to form guards A' and leave passages or channels A³ between the keel of the
vessel and the adjacent guards A³, or these guards depend from the ends of
the casing openings, when the length of the casings is longer than that of their
bottom openings.
By the provision of the guards A2, the back-draft of water at the sides of the
bottom of the hull and particularly around the keel is directed in the main through
the passages or channels A³, and the wheels B are not materially affected by such
draft and operate, therefore, more effectually upon, or in, the water.
The opening in the bottom of each casing or chamber is preferably made about
equal to a quarter of a circle described by the wheel, and the latter is shown as a
paddle wheel having four blades, whereby but one blade enters or passes through
the said opening at one time; each blade fully leaving the opening before the next
or succeeding blade enters the same, thereby avoiding the resistance usually
incident to having two or more blades entering the water at the same time.
A blade, after being in action, re-enters the casing just as the next following blade
leaves the same and begins its action.
As the wheels rotate within the chambers or casings A, their blades enter the
water below the bottom line of the hull and they act effectively, without
materially agitating the water, and are so located that they are not exposed to
injury by floating or other moving or stationary objects, and their noise when in
action cannot be heard from above. The chambers A are preferably air-tight, or
closed, excepting where they communicate with the water or at their bottoms,
to prevent leakage into the hold, and, in this case, the air in said chambers is more
or less compressed, but, if desired, a vent or air pipe may be provided for each
casing to relieve such air pressure.
While I have shown a wheel having four blades, yet I do not confine my
invention thereto, as a larger or smaller number of blades or paddles may be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is
Firet. A ship's hull, or a boat or vessel, having a wheel case or chamber on each
side of the keel, the ends of which case or chamber extend below the bottom of the
hull to form guards, substantially as set forth.
Second. A ship's hull, or a boat or vessel, having on each side of the keel a
wheel case located within the hull or vessel and having an open bottom, the ends
of which have depending flanges or guards, substantially as set forth.
Third. A ship's hull having a cylindrical wheel case on each side of the keel,
said cases having both their inner and outer sides extending below the bottom of
the hull, as set forth.
Fourth. A wheel case having its bottom provided with an opening about equal
to the distance between the adjacent blades of the wheel, and having at its inner
and outer ends depending flanges or guards, as set forth.
Fifth. A wheel case, located within the hold or hull of a vessel, having an open
bottom equal in width to the distance between the adjacent blades of the wheel,
and having its inner and outer sides or ends extending below the bottom of the
hull, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. In a vessel having a wheel casing or casings located within the hull, the
method of preventing back draft of water interfering with the effective action of
the wheel or wheels working in the water through the bottom opening of said
casing or casings, which method consists in directing such back draft mainly into

page_text: channels or passages formed between the keel and the ends of the casing opening
or openings adjacent to the keel, as set forth.
Seventh. In combination with a ship's or a boat's hull, casings located within the
hull, having bottom openings, and wheels or propellers having a series of blades,
each one of which enters and passes through said opening before the next or
succeeding blade enters the opening, as set forth.