AN APPARATUS FOR GIVING MOTION TO VESSELS EXPLOYED IN INLAND NAVIGATION
Year: 1825

page_text: BROWN'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BROWN, of Saville Row, Burlington Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Commander in the Royal Navy, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of March, in the sixth year of His reign,.
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said"
Samuel Brown, His especial licence that I, the said Samuel Brown, my exors,..
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Brown, my exors,..
admors, or 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, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN APPARATUS FOR GIVING MOTION TO
VESSELS EXPLOYED IN INLAND NAVIGATION;" in which said Letters Patent there
is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Samuel Brown, 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 in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within four calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Brown, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist in an
apparatus for giving progressive motion to boats, barges, or other vessels, along
canals, rivers, or channels, and which may be applied to towing or drawing
along boats, barges, or other vessels, which may be for that purpose attached
thereto. And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, tho said Samuel
Brown, do hereby describe the manner in which I perform my said Invention
by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and the Figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
:-
A, A, is a chain, by which the vessel or vessels are to be drawn forward;
it is to be stretched or laid down in the most convenient direction at the
.bottom of the canal, river, or channel, and fastened at both ends; a rope
properly adapted may also be used, but a chain is evidently the best calculated
for the purpose. It may either be extended on one continuous chain the
whole length of the canal or river, and pass over all the locks as far as they
are navigable or it is desirable to use it, or it may be divided into separate
lengths to reach from one lock to another. The chain so arranged may be
denominated the passive power. The Drawing represents a vessel containing
a steam engine having two barges in tow. B is the wheel which receives the
chain above mentioned; it is shewn in the centre of the vessel fixed by a strong
davit to the stem, but it may also be fixed on either bow if required. The rim
of the wheel is shaped into a sharp angular groove, which will prevent the
chain from slipping by the close adhesion to the sides of the groove; its
retaining power may be assisted, if necessary, by cutting sockets or cavities
in the side of the rim to receive the shoulders of the links which take the
horizontal position as they are drawn into the wheel. The upper part of the
rim on each side without the diameter of the chain will spread to a flange or
bell-mouth shape, to form an easy round and prevent the friction of the chain
as it inclines on either side in rounding the points of the canal. C is a band
wheel fixed to the chain wheel; D is a corresponding band wheel, which is
turned by the steam engine; E the band, which may either be rope or chain,
which communicates the motion to the chain wheel. In operation the chain
causes no incumbrance on board, because as fast as it is drawn over the fore
part of the wheel it drops to the ground from behind, and as the rim of the
wheel is so constructed that the chain cannot slip, and as it cannot be
drawn towards the vessel, her progressive motion will just be in proportion
to the velocity of the wheel. In conclusion, I have to observe, that vessels

page_text: proceeding in opposite directions may use the same chain; as they approach
each other one of them, according to the rule of the canal, must throw the
chain off the wheel, when it will fall to the ground; having passed, it will be
grappled up, and thrown into the groove as before. The parts that are lettered
in the Drawing annexed and the descriptions thereof constitute or represent
my said apparatus for communicating motion to vessels employed in inland
navigation. And such apparatus being to the best of my knowledge and belief
entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, nor in any of His said
Majesty's Colonies or Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of my said apparatus, and that I do verily believe this my said
Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise,
with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and
privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Brown, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five