AN IMPROVED VERTICAL PADDLE WHEEL."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Franklin Hiron, of Chipping Campden,
Gloucestershire, and Richard Fell, of No. 16, Albion Place, Walworth,
Surrey, Civil and Mechanical Engineers, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED VERTICAL PADDLE WHEEL."
IMPROVED VERTICAL PADDLE WHEEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Franklin Hiron
and Richard Fell at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 20th June 1860.
We, HENRY FRANKLIN HIRON, of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, and
RICHARD FELL, of No. 16, Albion Place, Walworth, Surrey, Civil and Me-
chanical Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED VERTICAL PADDLE WHEEL," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of a paddle wheel, constructed to maintain the floats
in a vertical position by means of two centres, the outside frame of the wheel
revolving upon a bearing, the centre of the frame being on one side of the
axle. The floats by this arrangement are made to enter and leave the water
in a vertical position, whereby the loss of power occasioned by the floats of
paddle wheels striking the water obliquely, and the opposition to vessels' pro-
gress caused by the back or tilt water, are entirely obviated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Franklin Hiron and Richard Fell in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 20th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
FRANKLIN HIRON, of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, and RICHARD FELL,
of No. 16, Albion Place, Walworth, Surrey, Civil and Mechanical Engineers,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Henry Franklin Hiron and Richard Fell, Her special licence that we,
the said Henry Franklin Hiron and Richard Fell, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Franklin Hiron
and Richard Fell, our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED VER-
TICAL PADDLE WHEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Henry Franklin Hiron and Richard Fell, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Henry Franklin Hiron and Richard
Fell, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being made to the Drawing and
letters of reference therein, that is to say:-
The paddle wheel being composed of three frames of the same dimensions,
the axle passing through the centres of two frames and made solid. The side
frame revolves upon a bearing or excentric, the centre of which is above the
shaft, the axle passing through it. Attached to the bearing is a cog wheel,
which, on turning the screw by means of a handle, is caused to revolve and
carrying with it the bearing or excentric, and thus shifting the frame which is
attached to the floats by means of arms, which are also attached to the axle

page_text: carrying the floats. Thus, by the revolving of the bearing they are made to
feather the water at any required angle, and so capable of being adapted to any
draft of water.
Fig. 1, side elevation of the paddle wheel, shewing the working of the floats
in a vertical position, by which means we gain the power; lastly, the floats
striking the water obliquely and carrying back or tilt water, as in the case of
the ordinary wheels.
Fig. 2, a front elevation, shewing the floats in a vertical position and the
means employed for regulating the floats at any required angle.
Fig. 3, a section across the wheel, the floats vertical, and the section of the
bearing or excentric and cog wheel.
Fig. 4, inside elevation, showing the floats feathering the water in a hori-
zontal position.
Fig. 5 is the bearing or excentric, drawn to a larger scale, upon which the
frame revolves, showing by the dotted lines the position of the bearing when
the floats are feathering the water, as shown in Fig. 4.
A, A, A, represents the outside frame of the wheel in Fig. 1, made solid to
the shafts C; D, D, D, &c., are floats in a vertical position, made solid to
their axles E, E, E, &c., which rotate during the revolution of the wheel;
F, F, F, &c. are arms attached to the axles carrying the floats, and so jointed
to frame B, B, B, as to give freedom in its action, the centre of the bearing
or excentric G to the centre of the shaft C, being the same distance as the
length of the arm measuring from the centre of the axle E, E, E, &c., to the
centre of the arm connected with the frame B, B, B. Attached to the bearing
or excentric is a cog wheel H, revolving on the shaft C, carrying with it the
bearing or excentric upon which the frame B revolves. On turning the screw
by means of handle (6), which works the cog wheel H, the frame B, B, B, is
either carried forward or backward, so that the floats require different angles
to suit the draft of the ship.
Fig. 4 shows the floats parallel to the water while the vessel is sailing under
canvas; Fig. 5 shows the position of the excentric when the floats are vertical,
and the dotted lines when they are parallel with the water.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, with the particulars
connected therewith, showing how the same is worked, we beg to state, we do
not confine ourselves to the precise details of construction herein set forth, or
do we confine ourselves to any number of floats; secondly, we can have on the
other side an additional frame to correspond with the frame B, B, B, with
bearing or excentric, for the purpose of strengthening the wheel, if required;
thirdly, we do not confine ourselves to the screw and cog wheel; we can substi-

page_text: tute a lever attached to the bearing or excentric for the purpose of shifting the
frame B, B, B, and feathering the floats; in this case there must be notches
to receive the lever at different angles for it to fit in; therefore, we claim,-
First, the use of the paddle wheel herein described, even with more or less
floats.
Secondly, the means employed for the purpose of shifting the frame and
feathering the floats for steaming or sailing.
Thirdly, the construction of the paddle wheel, as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Franklin Hiron and Richard Fell,
have hereunto set their hands and seals, this Fourth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
RICHD. FELL. (L.S.)