IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS An DRADE ASHED PRO
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Fletcher Wiles, of Sun Court, Cornhill, in
the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS
An
DRADE
ASHED
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fletcher Wiles
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th February 1874.
I, JOHN FLETCHER WILES, of Sun Court, Cornhill, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS,"
to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in means or apparatus
for propelling ships and other vessels.
For this purpose instead of employing a screw formed of metal as
heretofore I dispense therewith, and employ, as has heretofore been
proposed, water as the propelling means, the action of the water,

page_text: according to my Invention being so governed as to form in the progress
of the vessel a water screw.
For this purpose I employ a hollow shaft, on the end of which I fix
a hollow boss having slots or openings cut or formed therein. I force
water through this hollow shaft, and give rotary motion thereto, so that
the water issuing therefrom shall in the progress of the vessel act upon
the water in which the vessel floats in a somewhat similar manner to a.
screw.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Fletcher Wiles in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th August 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FLETCHER WILES, of Sun Court, Cornhill, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Fletcher Wiles, Her special
license that I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Fletcher Wiles,
my 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING SHIPS AND OTHER
VESSELS," upon the condition [(amongst others) that I, the said John
Fletcher Wiles, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
The Invention has for its object improvements in means or apparatus
for propelling ships and other vessels.
For this purpose instead of employing a screw formed of metal as
heretofore I dispense therewith, and employ water, as has heretofore
been proposed as the propelling means, the action of the water
according to my Invention being so governed as to form in the progress
of the vessel a water screw.
For this purpose I employ, according to one arrangement, a hollow
shaft, on the end of which I fix a hollow boss, having slots or openings
cut or formed therein. These slots or openings may be formed in the
hollow boss, either in the ends thereof or on the periphery, and they
may be either straight or curved. Or instead of employing a hollow
shaft a solid shaft may be employed, on which the hollow boss is fixed,
and in such case the hollow boss would have connected therewith a tube
or tubes to conduct water thereto, the parts being fitted with stuffing
boxes as required. Into the hollow shaft or into the hollow boss I force
water by any suitable means, and I give rotary motion to the shaft, so
that the water issuing from the slots in the hollow boss shall in the
progress of the vessel act upon the water in which the vessel floats in a
somewhat similar manner to a screw.
In order to enable the vessel to be driven either ahead or astern as
desired the hollow boss is provided with two sets of slots or openings,
one set being in the direction of the stern and the other being in the
direction of the head of the vessel, and I direct the water by the aid of
slides or valves to the one set or the other of these openings so as to
cause the water to issue therefrom in the desired direction to drive either
ahead or astern.
I would here remark that the proportions of the slots or openings, the
rotary speed given to the shaft, and the pressure at which the water is
forced may be varied according to requirements; and I would further
remark that I have not thought it necessary to give Drawings to
illustrate my said Invention, as such, aided by the description above
given, will be readily understood by a competent mechanic.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,
the employment of means or apparatus for propelling ships and other
vessels, in which water is forced out through openings formed in a hollow
boss, to which rotary motion is communicated as herein described, by
which means the water is caused to issue therefrom and act somewhat
in the manner of a screw.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
JOHN F. WILES. (L.S.)