CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF THE ENGINES AND THEIR APPENDAGES FOR PROPELLING VESSELS ON WATER
Year: 1842

page_text: GRANTHAM'S SPECIFICATION AND DISCLAIMER.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GRANTHAM, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of December, in the sixth year of Her reign, and in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Grantham, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John
Grantham, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the
said John Grantham, my executors, administrators, and 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, and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
in all the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also within
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF THE ENGINES AND
THEIR APPENDAGES FOR PROPELLING VESSELS ON WATER;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Grantham, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be enrolled 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 apper.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
John Grantham, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the Drawings hereto annexed, and the following expla-
nation thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the arrangements employed for propelling vessels by
the application of the reciprocating engine to work any screw, spiral, or other
propeller, placed in the stern or run of the vessel. The shafts of such pro-
pellers are at present driven by the intervention and employment of spur
wheels, friction wheels, or straps and pulleys, or other similar machinery and
apparatus, whereby the motion of the piston of the steam engine is transferred
modified, and applied to drive such propeller with a suitable velocity. I have
discovered that such machinery and apparatus may be dispensed with, and
the constructions and arrangements of the engines and their appendages for
propelling vessels simplified, by placing the crank shaft of the reciprocating
engine and the shaft of the propeller in the same axis, or, in other words,
making one common shaft serve both purposes, so that the piston rod of the
engine may communicate notion directly to the shaft of the propeller. The
advantages to be derived from dispensing with the above-mentioned machinery
and apparatus, by reason of the less number of parts, and the saving in weight
and in room, are obvious, and will be found of peculiar value in those cases in
which the propeller is used as auxiliary to sails, as well as when used in vessels
propelled almost entirely by steam.
Such being the nature of my Invention, I will now proceed to describe, by
reference to the annexed Drawings, in what manner the said Invention may
be performed.
✰ DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents front and side views of an engine, intended to be applied
to such vessels as have a considerable depth of hold, such as ships of war, and
other sea-going vessels. The cylinders a, a, are made to oscillate in the
manner now very generally used, and are placed in a diagonal position, so that
both piston rods are attached to the same crank b. These cylinders are
supported in the usual way, upon pedestals c, c, which pedestals may stand on
a foundation plate d, to which is also attached the condenser at e. The crank
6 is attached to a shaft f, and causes it to revolve. This shaft f is supported
on frames g,g, which stand on the foundation plate d, and is continued from
the engine, along the centre of the vessel, through a stuffing box at the stern;
on this shaft is keyed or fixed, in the usual manner, the screw, spiral, or other

page_text: propeller, as to which I have no direction to give, and would only remark,
that when a condensing engine or air pump is employed, I make the screw of
as large a diameter as can be conveniently used, in order to render the velocity
requisite to propel the vessel as small as possible; and with respect to the
propeller shaft, I may observe that when required to be of any great length, it
may be formed of two or more pieces, connected together by clutch boxes or
other means, as is well understood. The air pump or pumps may be worked
by a counter-shaft h, having a crank, from which a connecting rod i leads to
a small working beam k, to the ends of which beam the pump rods are attached,
as seen by dots in the end view. Figure 2 represents similar views of another
arrangement which may be advantageously employed in shallow vessels. It is
on a somewhat similar construction to the last, excepting that the position of
the cylinders and shaft are reversed, to allow of the latter being placed nearer
the bottom of the vessel, than can easily be accomplished by the plan repre-
sented at Fig. 1. The plan shewn in Fig. 2 needs no particular description,
as the principles in both are exactly similar, the same letters of reference
denoting corresponding parts. Figure 3 is an arrangement which, like Fig. 2,
is peculiarly applicable to shallow vessels. The cylinders a, a, are placed
vertically over the shaft f, and are attached to separate cranks b, b, having an
intermediate shaft m, as in marine engines with paddle-wheels; on this inter-
mediate shaft m is made a crank n, shewn by dots in the side view, which
crank gives motion to the air pump or pumps 7, by means of a connecting rod
and beam k, as in plans 1 and 2. Fig. 4 shows another arrangement, some-
what similar to Fig. 3, but adapted to deep vessels. In this arrangement "the
cylinder is placed immediately beneath the propeller shaft, instead of above,
as in Fig. 3. The same letters of reference denote corresponding parts, and
therefore no further description of this arrangement will be required. Figure
5 is another arrangement, the engine being constructed on the oscillating
principle, and may be employed for shallow vessels. In this Figure the
cylinders are placed horizontally, and have an intermediate shaft, as in Figures
3 and 4. The other parts are the same as in the preceding Figures. The five
arrangements above alluded to, and shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, arc, as
before mentioned, all constructed on the oscillating principle, which, from its
compactness, I much prefer to the stationary cylinder for most purposes. The
stationary cylinder may, however, be advantageously employed in some cases;
and I will now proceed to describe the manner in which I arrange the parts,
and apply the power of engines constructed on this principle.
Fig. 6 is one of my methods of applying the power derived from the piston
rod of a stationary cylinder direct to the shaft of the stern propeller. In this

page_text: Figure, the cylinders a, a, are placed above the shaft f, and the air-pumps b,
and condensers l, are placed beside it. This arrangement, is like Figures 2 and
3, intended to be employed for shallow vessels; and in order to avoid useless
repetition, I may here observe, that when the propeller shaft f is situated above
or higher in the vessel than the cylinders, whether oscillating or stationary,
this arrangement is more peculiarly applicable to vessels having considerable
depth of hold, as in ships of war, or large merchant vessels, but when the pro-
peller shaft f is below the level of the cylinders, whether stationary or other-
wise, then the arrangement is more particularly intended for shallow vessels.
Fig. 7 represents another arrangement, in which the cylinders are stationary,
but mounted in an oblique direction. The connecting rods of both these
cylinders are attached to the same crauk, thereby obviating the necessity of
having an intermediate shaft, as at m, in Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6. Fig. 8
represents a method of working the propeller shaft, by means of a connecting
rod attached to a vibrating beam of a small engine, as shewn by dots at o; in
this instance, the propeller shaft is above; but Figure 9 represents another
method of working it from the. beam, the shaft being placed below, and the
beam o above. Fig. 10 represents another construction, in which the pro-
peller shaft is worked from the beam of a small ordinary marine engine, which
is placed across the vessel. The cylinder acts upon one end of the beam
(which is mounted in bearings at its centre), and a rod at the opposite end of
the beam is connected to the crank of the propeller shaft f above, and causes
it to revolve. Fig. 11 is an arrangement constructed on a similar plan to
engines usually employed on land for stationary purposes. In this Figure, the
propeller shaft is placed below, and the beam above the level of the cylinder,
this arrangement being intended for a different kind of vessel to that shewn in
Fig. 10. Figures 12 and 13 represent front and side views of two other
arrangements of engines known among engineers as the grasshopper and steeple
engines.
The manner of applying my Invention will be so perfectly evident upon
inspecting the Drawings, that no further description is necessary.
The arrangement shewn at Fig. 14 is somewhat similar to that represented
at Figure 6, except that the piston rods work out of the top of the cylinders,
and the power is transferred to the propeller shaft, by means of connecting rods
and cross heads.
In order to avoid complexity, I have, in the accompanying Drawings, repre-
sented various of the moving parts (such as the beam, connecting and side rods)
by dotted lines, but any ordinary mechanic will readily understand how these
various parts act; and it may be here observed, that altho' I have described

page_text: and shewn in the accompanying Drawings two cylinders only as being employed,
yet it is perfectly evident that, if required, one only or more than two may
be used.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same may be performed, I,wish it to be understood, that I lay no claim
to any of the separate parts of the engines and propellers herein described and
referred to, but what I claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application of the power of the
reciprocating engine to drive the propeller shaft directly, as above described.
And I also claim the several arrangements whereby my Invention is carried
into effect, as herein-before set forth.
'
In witness whereof, I, the said John Grantham, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forth three
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the sixth day of June, in the sixth
year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John Grantham
came before, our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of his late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the highth day of Tung One thousand eight hundred and forty-

page_text: In the Matter of a Patent granted to John Grantham, of Liverpool, in
the County of Lancaster, Engineer, for his Invention of "Certain
Improvements in the Constructions and Arrangements of the Engines
and their Appendages for Propelling Vessels on Water," bearing
date at Westminster, the Eighth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.
-
DISCLAIMER proposed to be entered by John Grantham with the Clerk of
the Patents of England, pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King William Fourth, entitled "An
Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
I, the said John Grantham, at the time of obtaining such Letters Patent,
and when preparing the said Specification, imagined that I was the first to
propose, and practically to apply, a screw, and such like stern propellers, to the
first rotary motion obtained from reciprocating steam engines, and I did claim the
application of the power of the reciprocating engine to drive the propeller shaft
directly; and I did also claim several arrangements described respectively with
reference to the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of the
Drawings, whereby the propeller shaft might be put in motion by the first
rotatary motion obtained by reciprocating steam engines. Since the enrolling
my said Specification, I have discovered that a Mr. Winshurst experimented on
the River Thames, just previously to the granting of my said Letters Patent,
with a certain arrangement of reciprocating steam engines combined with the
propeller shaft, that the power was applied direct to such shaft, and an account
of such experiments was published in scientific works, and I have been advised
that such experiments and publication might be held in a Court of Law to
destroy the validity of my said Patent, for which reasons I wish to disclaim,
and I do hereby disclaim, that part of the Invention which was intended to be
secured by the following words of the claiming clause, "the application of the
power of the reciprocating engine to drive the propeller shaft directly, as above
described." And I do for the same reasons also disclaim the particular
arrangement described with reference to Figure 6 of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Grantham, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
JOHN GRANTHAM.
(L.S.)

page_text: To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify, that the above-named John Grantham, of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Engineer, has applied to me for leave to enter with you
the above written Disclaimer of part of the Specification of a certain Invention
which Letters Patent were granted to him under the Great Seal of Great
Britain, dated at Westminster, the Eighth day of December, in the sixth year
of Her Majesty's reign, and to which a Specification was duly enrolled, and
having considered of the said application, and no objection having been made
to the same, I hereby grant leave to the said John Grantham to file his said
Disclaimer, pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth and sixth years of the
reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entitled "An Act to
amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions.
Temple, March 14th, 1846.
FRED. THESIGER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of March, in the
ninth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said John Grantham
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Fifteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-six