Improvements in Paddles for Propelling Paddle Boats or Steamers.
Year: 1886

page_text: The Drawing of this Specification was, upon the 16th day of May, 1887, amended
under Sections 18 to 21 of the Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks Act, 1883.
Improvements in Paddles for Propelling Paddle Boats or
Steamers.
We WILLIAM FORSTER of Number 68, High West Street Gateshead in the
County of Durham Captain of Steamboat, JOHN CRAWFORD of Number 36 Leazes
Terrace Newcastle upon Tyne in the County of Northumberland, Gentleman,
and EDMUND ELKANAH HOYLE of Number 23 Grey Street Newcastle upon Tyne,
aforesaid, Solicitor do hereby declare the nature of our invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PADDLES FOR PROPELLING PADDLE BOATS OR STEAMERS and in what
manuer the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This Invention relates to Paddles commonly employed in propelling Steamers
and the invention consists of an improved method and construction in getting the.
Paddles in and out of the water so as to lift no backwater when leaving and to
give no resistance when entering the water..
It is well known that in practice the Palles used hitherto and employed in
propelling Steamers when entering the water must follow each other so as to form
a hole or trough which in this invention is not the case as the Paddles in our
invention do not go into a hole or place in the water already made by the pre-
ceding Paddle but strike the water when in a solid body with united forco
entering vertically and so minimising slip.
In our invention we support our paddles (which are built on a horizontal frame) :
on cranks placed on two separate centres on both sides of the Boat. These cranks
are connected by coupling or side rods, and are set at 180 degrees to each other, so
that on either side of the Boat, one set of Paddles is in the water while the other
set is in the air, Instead of the old arrangement of radial Paddles, the paddles in
our invention are always vertical (or may all be placed at an angle if we deem it
convenient) and occupy the space between the crank centres, By this arrangement
the height of the paddle box is diminished considerably, which as it is now, greatly
retards the progress of the ship when there is headwind, and we do this without
decreasing the area of the useful portion of the paddlewheel; the amount of dip
being fixed by the cranks, the total rise and fall of the paddles being equal to the
stroke of the cranks, also by using the said cranks and coupling rods there is not
so much wear and tear as in the Feathering paddle now in use, because in our
Invention, the paddles are made to enter and leave the water in a vertical position,
without moving or feathering them : we thus have no trouble with backwater
when the paddle is leaving, and all the paddles when in the water are doing useful
work.
The Paddles in our invention going into water and leaving it without any
trouble or backwater, paddles of any dimension can be used without interfering
with the stability of the Ship, For when a boat with radial paddles receives a
beam wind, her paddles on the off side sinking into the water find a difficulty in

page_text: leaving again on account of their forming a wedge: our paddles being vertical
offer no resistance to the righting of the ship.
During expansion of steam in the cylinder of the Engine, the paddles are all out
of the water, thus easing the engine during the worst portion of her stroke, and
serving as a balance weight, The old forms of paddle have always been a drag
during the expansion portion of the engine stroke, in ours, one complete set of
paddles, on both sides of the Boat, is ready to enter at the moment when the steam
is ready to give its full force to the piston, and wo thus give the best advantage
when the paddles are in the water only, getting speed with as little loss of power
as possible.
The crank shaft carrying the driving paddles is the engine shaft and passes
right across the Boat, while the cranks carrying what we call the coupled paddles
are only of length equal to the width of the paddle box, and do not go across the
boat, but
are supported entirely by the paddle box framing, we do provide
however that the Engine shaft may be connected to paddle cranks by flange or
other coupling.
In order to prevent any stoppage of cranks by interlocking, when in a horizontal
position by coupling rods getting across at an angle when using a single engine,
we provide an auxiliary coupling rod having an eccentric on the driving shaft and
a crank on the coupled shaft, This is placed within the boat.
Such being the nature and object of the said invention the foregoing is a
complete description of the same.
Referring to the accompanying drawings-
Figure 1 is a side elevation, and
Figure 2 is a cross section, a, is the driving or crank shaft, a. a. are the paddle
cranks, b, is the coupled shaft, and b. b. the cranks c. c. represents the coupling
rods, having any convenient arrangement at the eye for taking up wear; a pro-
tective strap d is placed round the ends, and also supports the paddle frame e with
end paddle (If necessary the frame may be stayed to coupling rod with diagonal
stays) The paddles are shewn at f. The lowered paddle box is drawn at g, and
the dotted circle shews where the box would reach were radial paddles used,
The
represents the auxiliary coupling rod with j the eccentric and the crank.
ends of the paddle frames serve as protectors for the paddles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim In steamers driven by paddles:
1. The driving of two or more sets of paddles on each side of boat by-coupling
rods and cranks, substantially as described and, for the purposes set forth.
2. The arrangement of paddles on a horizontal frame, and set vertically or at
any fixed angle; and with the protective strap as end support substantially as
described.
3. The application of an auxiliary coupling rod for the purpose set forth.
4. The lowered paddle box consequent on our arrangement, as hereinbefore
mentioned.
5. The setting of the paddle cranks in such a position as to be out of the water
during expansion of Steam in Engine cylinder, all as previously described.
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