IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOATS AND VESSELS, MAKING APPLICABLE THE POWER OF THE STEAM ENGINE TO NEW AND USEFUL PURPOSES OF NAVIGATION
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
NEEDHAM TAYLER, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, a Post Captain in
the Royal Navy, send greeting.
1.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and forty, and in the third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Needham
Tayler, Her especial licence that I, the said Joseph Needham Taylor, my
exors, adors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Needham
Tayler, my exors, adinors, 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
that part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM BOATS AND VESSELS, MAKING APPLICABLE
THE POWER OF THE STEAM ENGINE TO NEW AND USEFUL PURPOSES OF NAVIGATION;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Joseph Needham Tayler, 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 Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six month's
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the saine, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large-
annear
else

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in pursuance of the said proviso, and in compliance
therewith, I, the said Joseph Needham Taylor, do hereby declare the nature
of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereto annexed, and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, firstly, in the construction and application of a
shield, to guard or protect the paddle wheels of steam boats and vessels from
the shock or action of the sea, when riding or lying at anchor, or when sailing
or scudding under canvass, when the steam power is not applied; and also to
enable such boats and vessels to veer or tack with greater facility, and in less
space and time.
And secondly, my Invention consists of a means of applying or communicating
the steam power of boats and vessels for the purpose of working the windlass.
The following is a description of the Drawing annexed hereto (and which
is to be considered as part of this my Specification), and I thus describe the
nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which my said Invention is
to be performed.
First, as to my shield. A, Figure 1, in the annexed Drawing, represents the
main paddle shaft; B, the paddle wheels; C, my shield, which is formed by
any segment of a circle that may be found most beneficial in practice; but in
this Drawing I have represented it as semicircular. This shield works free
inside the paddle box, and is of such dimensions that the paddle wheels may
revolve freely without touching the same; this shield is mounted on the main
paddle shaft A, by any number of arms marked D, which are bolted to the
naves or bosses E, E, they being loose on the paddle shaft, the latter being at
liberty to revolve freely in the naves or bosses E, E, when the shield is at rest.
The semicircular periphery of the shield is formed by plates of iron, or any
other suitable material, by being bolted to the cross bars F, F, which connect
the inner and outer set of arms D, D. In order to raise or depress the shield
to any required position either before or abaft the paddles, I employ a
segment of a cogged wheel G, G, which is firmly bolted to the inner rim of the.
shield, into which the toothed pinion I works, and which is fixed on the shaft
I, I. This shaft lies across the upper part of the paddle box, as shewn in the
Drawing at I, I, in Figure 1. On the centre of this shaft I place a grooved
wheel or pulley K, over which a strong chain L passes, which is bolted or
shackled at the extremities of the shield to insure greater strength and steadiness
thereto when in action; and for the same purpose I have two cogged wheels
or rollers M, M, bolted to the vessel's side, which work in the cogged segment

page_text: G, G. The shaft I, I, is worked by the two cogged wheels N, N, in Figure 2,
by a perpetual lever winch or any other well-known contrivance, so that the
shield can be thrown in and out of action from the deck of the vessel by manual
labor, without stopping the engines and independent of the engineer. Figure 2
shews a plan of the shaft I, I, and the wheels N, N; and the letters marked
thereon refer to the same respective parts described in Figure 1..
As this description of my shield will be readily understood by practical men,
I will now, in further particularizing the nature of my Invention, describe its
application and uses. When riding at anchor the shield may be lowered before
the paddles to guard them against the shock of the sea. When scudding the.
shield may be lowered abaft the paddles for the same object. In veering or
tacking, one of the shields only, that is, the starboard or the larboard shield
only, is to be lowered (as the case may be), thereby rendering the action of that
one paddle wheel over which the shield is so lowered negative whilst the other
is in operation.
I now proceed to the description of the Drawing, as relates to the windlass,
and to describe the manner in or by which the steam power is communicated
or applied for working the windlass. A, Figure 3, in the annexed Drawing,
represents a perspective elevation of a windlass; B, the bitts; and C, the pall
bitt. The barrel of this windlass is in two halves, or separate parts or pieces,
they being loose on the main spindle D, D, so that either side or half may be
worked independent of the other; thus, when one side or half is heaving in the
cable, the other side or half may be used for veering it out for the purpose of
mooring. On either side of the pall ring E there are strong toothed wheels
F, F, securely keyed on the windlass spindle D, D; from the outer rim of these
wheels a number of palls or clutches marked G, G, project, which fit into
corresponding holes or mortices H, H, in the ends marked I, I, of the windlass
barrels, and which barrels are at liberty to move in and out of gear of the
clutches G, G, and either barrel is kept in gear by the semicircular breaks
K, K. L, L, are two spur wheels, which work below deck, and drive the
wheels F, F, and cause the windlass spindle to revolve. M, M, are two bitts
fitted between decks with oblong slots or mortices N, N, in which the spindles
of the spur wheels L, L, and also the spindles of the pinions O, O, work, and
which latter drive the wheels L, L; between these pinions is a pitched wheel
or grooved pulley P, round which the endless chain or messenger Q, Q, works;
but should it to be found convenient to have this messenger amidships, I
recommend a similar pulley R to be placed on the end of the pinion spindle.
The wheels L, L, and 0, 0, are to be thrown in and out of gear by raising or
lowering them with a lever, and when in gear are to be kept so by chocks or

page_text: keys in the slots or mortices N, N, and by withdrawing said chocks the wind-
lass can be immediately thrown out of action. The chain or messenger Q, Q,
is supported by the friction rollers S, S, which are bolted to the deck beams
T, T, and conveyed round the pitched wheel or grooved pulley U, which is fixed
on the main paddle shaft A, thus communicating a rotary motion to the
windlass by means of the steam power. And in order that the anchor may be
hove up without working the paddle wheels, the latter are to be mounted on a
hollow iron cylinder, as is shewn in the plau, Figure 4; B being the cylinder
in or through which the main paddle shaft A works. This cylinder comes
inside the vessel, and motion is communicated to it by powerful clutch or
coupling boxes marked C, Figure 4; these are thrown in and out of action
in the usual manner by the levers D, Figure 4. The operation and con-
struction of these clutch boxes or couplings being well known, I deem any
further description of them unnecessary; and in order that this windlass may
be worked at times when the steam power is not available, I recommend
that it be made and constructed with the usual mortice holes for receiving
handspikes, so that it may be worked by manual labour on such occasions;
and in such cases the chain Q, Q, ought to be thrown out of action, or
detached or removed. Figure 5 represents a geometrical elevation of the
windlass and machinery described in Figure 3, and the letters marked thereon
refer to the same respective parts as described in that Figure 3.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Needham Tayler, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
1
hundred and fanter