IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER BODIES THROUGH WATER OR AIR, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR TURBINES AND SUCH LIKE HYDRAULIC MOTORS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER BODIES THROUGH WATER OR
AIR, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR TURBINES AND SUCH LIKE HYDRAULIC MOTORS."
A communication from abroad by Julius von Binzer and Eduard Bentzen, both
of Salzburg in the Austrian Empire.
Sealed the 11th July 1879, and dated the 31st January 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 31st January 1879.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS
AND OTHER. BODIES THROUGH WATER OR AIR, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR TURBINES
AND SUCH LIKE HYDRAULIC MOTORS." [A communication from abroad by Julius
von Binzer and Eduard Bentzen, both of Salzburg, in the Austrian Empire.]
According to the present Invention apparatus for propelling ships and other
bodies through water or air is constructed as follows:
A number of discs or bosses having each one or more (by preference two) spiral
or volute shaped arms projecting therefrom, as indicated in the perspective view at
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings, are fitted upon each other, so that while the
axes of the bosses are in line with each other the arms of the second boss are turned
slightly in advance of those of the first one, those of the third slightly in advance of
those of the second, and so on. Assuming all these bosses with their arms to be
consolidated into a whole it will be seen that a body is formed in which one or more
combined helical and spiral stepped blades extend along and around its central axis,
and the steps being removed so as to form continuous smooth surfaces the body or
propeller so formed will assume the shape shewn in side elevation, and view and
longitudinal section respectively at Figs. 2, 3, and 4, where a, a, a, represent the
several discs with their arms as above described. The one end of this body being
closed by a disc b, either of conical or other suitable form, and the propeller being
rotated with its axis c in the direction of the arrow Fig. 3 it will be seen that the
action of the blades will be to grasp the water or air at their outer ends and to force
the same to move both inwards towards the axis and longitudinally outwards
D 0.71
.

page_text: towards the open end, so that assuming the water to be stationary and the propeller
moveable it will by its rotation, as before stated, be propelled in the direction of the
arrow, Fig-2,-or-if-it-be-rotated-in-the contrary direction it will also be-propelled
in the contrary direction. The above described mode of constructing the propeller
has only been adopted for the purpose of clearly explaining the peculiar formation
of the curved-blades. In-practice the whole-propeller may be cast, or formed of one
solid piece, or of two or more separate pieces fixed together in any convenient
-manner, the blades of which, as before stated there may be any desired-number,-may
either be of tapering thickness at the inner and outer ends as shewn, or they may
be of equal thickness.throughout. The central boss may either be solid, the shaft c
being attached in any convenient manner to the front end, or it may be made hollow
as shewn to receive the shaft, or there may be no solid boss at all, the blades being
made to extend inwards either until they meet at the centre, or.stopping short some
distance from the centre, as indicated at Fig. 5, the central space being closed either
by a small cylinder or by the insertion of the shaft c to which the ends of the blades
are fixed.
According to another modification solid transverse diapbgrams may be introduced
at distances apart along the propeller, dividing the spaces between the blades into
cells, each of which is made to communicate by apertures with a central passage,
the axis leading to the rear end of the propeller, so that the water caught up by the
blades is forced through the said apertures and escapes through the longitudinal
passage. The degree of curvature and pitch of the blades may be varied, and the
front end may; be tapered either to a conical form, as shewn; or to a spherical or
spheroidal form; or it may be made tapering at both ends, or it may be cylindrical
throughout its length.
When the apparatus is applied as a ship's propeller there may be provided two of
them with the blades curved in opposite directions, the one being driven for pro-
pelling forwards, and the other for propelling backwards, and the one may be at the
stern and the other at the bows..
According to another modification the propeller may be enclosed in a cylinder,
which may either be fixed to and revolve with the propeller, or it may be stationary
and the propeller revolve within it...
The apparatus may be constructed of any suitable material; if used for aerial pro-
pulsion it would of course be made of very light materials, such as canvas, stretched
on a frame.
It will be evident that the above described apparatus may be employed as a
hydraulic motor, such as a turbine, by causing a head or stream of water to flow
past or through it and thus effect its rotation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
July 1879.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS
AND OTHER BODIES THROUGH WATER OR AIR, ALSO APPLICABLE FOR TURBINES
AND SUCH LIKE HYDRAULIC MOTORS." A communication from abroad by Julius
von Binzer and Eduard Bentzen, both of Salzburg, in the Austrian Empire.
The apparatus for propelling ships and other bodies to which this Invention has
reference may as regards its geometrical form be described as being produced by
causing a curved line, by preference an archimedian spiral or volute, to travel
simultaneously along and around an axis at right angles to its plane, and situated
at the one end thereof, the result whereof will be the production of a curved helical
surface round such axis. If instead of a geometrical curve a body be taken formed
as shewn in plan at Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings, consisting of two curved
arms A, A, of exceeding thinness, each of which represents one of the before
mentioned curves, and which are connected to a central boss B representing the
before mentioned axis, the arms being narrowed down to an edge at the outer end
as shewn, and such body be caused to travel simultaneously round and along its
axis, a two bladed propeller will be produced of the form shewn in perspective at
Fig. 2. Or according to another mode of construction a number of bodies or
elements, such as shown in perspective at Fig. 3, are placed one upon the other so
that their bosses B are all in line, while the curved arms A of the second
body or element are turned slightly in advance of those of the first one, those
of the third slightly in advance of those of the second, and so on. Assuming
all these bodies or elements to be consolidated into a whole and the steps formed by
the projecting edges of the elements to be cut away so as to present continuous
inner and outer surfaces the result will again be a two armed propeller, such as
shewn at Fig. 2, in which the lines 1, 2, 3, represent the joints of the several
elements. If now, further, the end of C, Fig. 2, of such propeller be continued by a
formation the same as above described, but the length of the arms A being gradually
diminished so that the helical lines described by their outer ends instead of lying in.
a cylindrical surface as do those of the part from B to C, Fig. 2, lie in a tapering,
conical, or spherical surface; and if, lastly, such combination be made to terminate
at a certain point against a disc, such as shewn in perspective at D, Fig. 4,
connected to an axis E which passes through the boss A, then a propeller will
be produced of the form shewn in perspective at Fig. 5, in side elevation at
Fig. 6, in vertical section at Fig. 7, and in plan at Fig. 8, where the part from X
to Y represents the part-formed by the elements with arms of full length, the outer
belical edges of which lie in a cylindrical surface, while the part from Y to Z
represents the part formed by the elements with gradually decreasing arms, the
helical outer edges of which lie in a conical surface, and D, the before mentioned
disc, closing the front end of the propeller. It will be seen that in generating the
surfaces of the said propeller in the manner above described the motion of the
arms A, A, Fig. 3, round the axis while travelling from the rear end to the
front end will be in the direction towards the concave sides of the arms, so
that if the propeller thus formed he rotated by its axis E in the direction of
the arrow, Fig. 8, the action of the arms or blades A, A, will be to grasp the
water or air at their outer ends and to force the same to move both inwards
towards the axis and longitudinally towards the rear or open end, and thus,
assuming the water to be stationary and the propeller moveable, it will by its
rotation, as before stated, be propelled in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 6, or if it
be rotated in the contrary direction it will be propelled in the contrary direction.
The propeller may either be constructed by building it up of a number of
separate elements as described secured to each other and to the central axis, or it

page_text: may be cast or formed of one solid piece in a similar manner to ordinary propellers.
The blades A, of which there may be any desired number, may either be of tapering
thickness-at-the-inner-and-outer-ends,-as-shewn, or they may be of equal thickness
throughout. The central boss may either be solid, the shaft E being attached in
any convenient manner to the front end, or it may be made hollow, as shewn, to
receive the shaft. Or there may be no solid boss at all, the blades. being made
to extend inwards either until they meet at the centre, or stopping-short-some
distance from the centre, the central-space-being-closed-either-by-a-small-cylinder-
or by the insertion of the shaft E to which the ends of the blades are fixed.
According to another modification solid transverse diaphragms may be introduced
at distances apart along the propeller, dividing the spaces between the blades into
cells, each of which is made to communicate by apertures with a central passage
in the axis leading to the rear end of the propeller, so that the water caught up by
the blades is forced through the said apertures and escapes through the longitudinal
passage. The degree of curvature and pitch of the blades may be varied, and the
front end may be tapered either to a conical form as described, or to a spherical or
spheroidal form, or it may be tapered at both ends, or it may be constructed without
any such tapered or reduced end and the front end be closed by a disc of a diameter
equal to the full diameter of the blades. Or again, the blades may be tapered in
their radial length from the rear to the front end of the propeller. When the
apparatus is applied as a ship's propeller there may be provided two of them with
tlie blades curved in opposite directions, the one being driven for propelling forwards
and the other for propelling backwards, and the one may be at the stern and the
other at the bows. According to another modification the propeller may be enclosed
in a cylinder which may either be fixed to and revolve with the propeller, or it may
be stationary and the propeller revolve within it. It will be evident that the abové
described apparatus may be employed as a hydraulic or aerial motor, such as a
turbine, by causing a head or stream of water or air to flow past or through it, and
thus effect its rotation: In this case the generation of the helical surfaces would be
effected in the contrary manner to that above described, that is, the arms A, Fig. 3,
would move round the axis B in the direction of their convex side while travelling
from the front to the rear end. The apparatus may be constructed of any suitable
material; if used as an aerial motor for windmills and the like it would of course be
made of very light material, such as canvas, stretched on a frame. The said appa-
ratus may furthermore vary in its construction, firstly, as regards the number of
its blades; secondly, as regards the length of the helical surface in the axial direction
in proportion to the diameter of the apparatus, thirdly, as regards the pitch of
the helical surfaces, or the relation between the motion of the generating arms A
round the axis and their motion along such axis; and, fourthly, as regards the cur-
vature of the generating arms, such curvature being of a greater or less degree. As
before stated the curve employed by preférence for this purpose is the archimedian
spiral. As by means of the above described-construction of propeller à firmer grasp
is obtained on the water, preventing its lateral escape to a much greater extent than
in propellers of ordinary construction such improved construction will work with
greater useful effect than in ordinary propellers; it will also work more smoothly,
and requires for producing the same effect a less number of revolutions per minute
and a less diameter, so that ships provided with such propellers can be efficiently
propelled with a less draught of water than with ordinary propellers.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents,
I claim,
First. The construction of apparatus for propelling through or being propelled by
water or air wherein the propelling surface is generated by causing one or more
curves or curved arms to travel simultaneously along and around an axis consti-
tuting the axis of rotation of the propeller, thereby producing one or more helical
surfaces which are at the same time concave, substantially as herein described.
Second. In apparatus constructed as set forth in the preceding claim, forming the

page_text: blade or blades at the front end of tapering or decreasing diameter, substantially as
herein described.
Third. In apparatus constructed as set forth in the preceding claims, closing the
front end of the blades by a disc, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. The peculiar construction of propeller herein described with reference to
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 25th day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
CHA. D. ABEL. (L.S.)