IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS OR VESSELS, Their ENGINES AND PROPELLERS FOR PROPULSION, SAID ENGINES AND PROPELLERS BEING APPLICABLE TO OTHER CONSTRUCTIONS OF VESSELS.
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Joseph Betteley at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 26th January 1881.
JOSEPH BETTELEY, of No. 40, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Marine
Architect. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS OR VESSELS, Their
ENGINES AND PROPELLERS FOR PROPULSION, SAID ENGINES AND PROPELLERS
BEING APPLICABLE TO OTHER CONSTRUCTIONS OF VESSELS.".
The first part of my Invention relates to the form and construction of screw
propeller steam vessels in iron or steel, and consists in making them with one bow
and with two after ends or sterns, each of these sterns tapering in a similar manner
to those of ordinary ships, and provided with keels and stern posts to each. These
sterns are at a distance apart, and leave a space between them, which is contracted
at the inner and expanded at the outer end; the lower part of the space is wider
than the top to admit the free passage of water to and from the propeller. These
two after ends are connected to and start from the inner stern post secured to the
main keel of the ship.
The outer sides of these after-ends form part of the outer sides of the vessel,
forming the runs to their respective stern posts. They have keels extending to
and past the inner stero post, and are attached to the main under body of the
ship.
These after ends, with the water space between them, are connected by transverse
beams, which are deeper at the inner stern post end of the space than at the outer
end to form a tapering roofing to the space, as well as a wider portion at the rear
than at the front of it. On the underside of these beams I place an iron plating
to form a covering to the water space, and on the upper sides I place a wood or
an iron deck.
By means of this enlarged outer end of the water space I am able to employ a
screw propeller of large diameter. The blades when working act against the
inclined planes of the two inner sides or runs of these after ends, thus tending to
give a forward motion.
The inner stern post has a hole in it with bushes, through which the screw shaft
is passed, the screw being arranged in the largest portion of the water space and
between the outer stern posts. A stuffing box is fitted on the shaft at the inner
side of the stern post, and the shaft is cranked to enable it to be turned by the
engine

page_text: The second part of my Invention relates to the construction of steam engines
for the propulsion of the above and other construction of screw ships or vessels.
These I form with one cylinder and piston (oscillating by preference), which is
securely fixed to a frame or to a bed plate. This works or rotates a shaft with a
single crank upon it, and I place a spindle or shaft, over it working in sliding
blocks on standards. On these spindles or shafts I place friction wheels or
pullies (one on each), which connect the two together. On this extra shaft I am
enabled to place a fly wheel of greater diameter than when placed on the main
shaft; this method enables the crank to pass freely over the centres.
The third part of my Invention relates to the construction of screw propellers.
These I form with cast metal bosses and malleable rolled or hammered flat steel
blades with bevilled edges. On these bosses I form projections with flat surfaces
to receive the blades, which are broader at the inner end than at the outer. When
making these propellers I first form the blades with holes at their inner end; these
I place then in a mould to given angles, and the metal for the boss is cast over
them, thus securing the blades in their respective places. By this means I am
enabled to form a screw propeller with thin malleable steel blades, thereby offering
less resistance to their rotations compared with cast metal blades.