IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND PROPELLING STEAM VESSELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes and
Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND PROPELLING STEAM
VESSELS." A communication from abroad by Stephen Johnson Gold, of
Cornwall, Connecticut, and Henry James Weston, of Brooklyn, King's
County, New York. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1867.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND PROPELLING
STEAM VESSELS," a communication to me from abroad by Stephen Johnson
Gold, of Cornwall, Connecticut, and Henry James Weston, of Brooklyn,
King's County, New York, United States of America, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to decrease the weight and draught of water
of steam vessels, and consequently the resistance to their rapid motion, and
also to increase and make more available the effective power by which they
are driven, while at the same time they are made stronger and less liable to
sink or become disabled.

page_text: The Invention consists, first, in applying the power to drive the paddle
wheels of a side wheel steamer to the said paddle wheels at or near their
peripheries by means of gearing, teeth, or cogs on or near their peripheries,
into which the teeth of a driving wheel which is itself driven by a suitable
engine engage.
Second, in constructing the said driving wheel in two parts, viz., a rim on
which the teeth are formed and a central body or driving portion, and inserting
between the said body and rim india-rubber or some other elastic non-resonant
body.
Third, in applying heat to the gearing on the peripheries of the paddle
wheels (when it is necessary to do so to melt ice which may accumulate
thereon) by means of steam introduced into pipes set into or upon the wheels
for that purpose.
Fourth, in combination with the application of the power for driving the
vessel as above stated constructing and supporting the hull of the vessel with
transverse walls at frequent intervals (said walls being securely fastened to
the sides and bottom of the vessel, and connected together by means of a web
at or near their tops) and without ribs, thereby gaining great strength with
comparitively small weight of materials, which construction I am able to
employ by reason of the great saving of room which I make in the body of
the vessel by the use of the other features of this Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Thomas
Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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

page_text: make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF CONSTRUCTING AND PROPELLING STEAM VESSELS," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Stephen Johnson Gold, of. Cornwall,
Connecticut, and Henry James Weston, of Brooklyn, King's County, New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to decrease the weight and draught of water
of steam vessels, and consequently the resistance to their rapid motion, and
also to increase and make more available the effective power by which they
are driven, while at the same time I make them stronger and less liable to
sink or become disabled.
This Invention consists, first, in applying the power to drive the paddle
wheels of a side wheel steamer to the said paddle wheels at or near their
peripheries by means of gearing, teeth, or cogs on or near their peripheries,
into which the teeth of a driving wheel which is itself driven by a suitable
engine engage.
Second, in constructing the said driving wheel in two parts, viz., a rim on
which the teeth are formed and a central body or driving portion, and inserting
between the said body and rim india-rubber or some other elastic non-resonant
body, as herein-after set forth.
Third, in applying heat to the gearing on the peripheries of the paddle
wheels (when it is necessary to do so to melt ice which may accumulate
thereon) by means of steam introduced into pipes set into or upon the wheels
for that purpose.
Fourth, in combination with the application of the power for driving the
vessel as above stated, constructing and supporting the hull of the vessel with
transverse walls at frequent intervals (said walls being securely fastened to
the sides and bottom of the vessel, and connected together by means of a web

page_text: comparatively small weight of materials, which construction I am enabled to
employ by reason of the great saving of room which I make in the body of
the vessel by the use of the other features of my Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of one of the wheels and the adjacent portion of
the hull of a steam vessel constructed according to this Invention, the engines
and boiler, and the construction of the hull being indicated thereon; Figure 2
is a vertical longitudinal section showing the parts above the line x, x, Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a vertical cross section of the hull, showing the parts to the left
of the line z, z, Figure 2; Figure 4 is a cross section of the rim of the paddle
wheel, showing the parts above the line y, y, enlarged; Figure 5 is a side view
of the steam pipes for melting the ice from the paddle wheels, the said pipes
being entirely detached in order to show their form more distinctly; Figure 6
is a section shewing the parts above the line w, w, Figure 5; Figures 7, 8,
and 9 are views in detail of the parts of the driving wheels.
A is the bottom of the vessel; B, the keel; C, C, are the vertical transverse
walls, and D is the deck. The walls C, C, are connected together at the top
by a web E; between the web E and deck D are transverse timbers F, F,
and passages or hatchways G, G, are made through both the deck and web
to give access to the compartments between the walls C, C, for stowing away
freight and baggage, or for other purposes. The deck is made double and
thus increased in strength and stiffness at the portion occupied by the wheels
and engines, and between them, as shown at D¹. A longitudinal wall or
partition H divides the vessel from stem to stern, said wall being directly over
the keel and securely fastened to the bottom of the vessel and wall C, C, as
well as to the web E; I, I, are the sides of the vessel. The keel B is "V"-
shaped and is rivetted to the bottom A. The web E, walls C, C, wall H,
sides I, I, and bottom A are all securely fastened together by means of angle
irons a, a, a, a; these parts with the deck D being made of iron or steel
plates rivetted together. The paddle wheels being alike it is unnecessary to
show more than one. J is the shaft of the paddle wheel; K, K, are the
arms, and L, L, are the floats or buckets. The rim shown on an enlarged
scale in Figure 4 consists of the toothed segments M, the wooden backing N
in which the steam pipe O is embedded so as to be protected from contact
with cold water and an iron support or strengthening rim P, the whole being
secured to the arms K, K, in the usual manner. The pipe O extends entirely
around the wheel resting against and in a slight depression in the toothed

page_text: rim M, the main body of it being buried in the wooden backing N; this
pipe O is supplied with steam from the radial pipes Q, Q, the steam being
taken from the boiler the conveyor R, which enters the end of the shaft J
of the paddle wheel, as seen in Figure 6. The pipe R should be suitably
packed at its entrance into the shaft J to prevent the escape of the steam.
The surplus steam and products of condensation are discharged outward
through the radial pipes T. The rim U of the driver should be of steel in
order to make it more equal in durability with the segments M; being cast
separate from the body or driving centre V it will be much stronger and more
durable than if cast entire, as it will cool more evenly and not be subjected to
so great strain by shrinkage in cooling. It has teeth or projections b, b, cast
on its inner surface, and the centre piece V has corresponding projections c, c,
on its periphery, so that when put together these projections prevent either
piece from turning without the other. Pieces of india-rubber or other elastic
non-resonant substance, of the form seen in Figure 9, are inserted between
the adjacent radial faces of these teeth or projections to receive any shock or
jar which may be communicated to the gearing by stopping or starting the
engines by the paddle wheel striking an obstruction, or by other cause, and
the noise as well as the shock to the machinery, which would otherwise ensue,
is thereby prevented or much reduced. The centre piece V is keyed to the
shaft S, and rings or discs may be bolted to either the rim U or the centre
piece V to keep the parts in place. d indicates the boiler, of which the smoke
stack is indicated at e; the dome at f, and the fire-box at g; h, h, are the
engines, the pistons i, i, being connected to the cranks on the shaft S in the
usual manner.
The engines and boiler which I prefer to use in my improved boat are the
well-known high-pressure locomotive engine and boiler, the tender and wheels
being removed, and other necessary alterations made to fit it for the position
it is to occupy in front of the wheel and the work it is to do. By prolonging
the shaft S inward and setting the cranks in the proper position the engines
and boiler may be set within the guards in any desired position which would
perhaps be desirable if the boat were likely to encounter heavy seas.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention as communicated to
me, I claim,
First, applying the power to turn the paddle wheels of steam vessels directly
to the paddle wheels at or near their peripheries by means of gear cogs on
said paddle wheels which mesh into the teeth of a suitable pinion, which pinion
is driven by the engine, substantially as berein-above set forth.
Second, separating the rim of the pinion U from the inner portion V with

page_text: which it turns by interposing between them india-rubber or some other elastic
non-resonant body, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Third, the combination with the gearing on the paddle wheels of the pipes O,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth, the combination with the pipes O and R of the openings through
the shaft J for supplying the said pipes O with steam, substantially as and to
the effect set forth.
Fifth, the combination of paddle wheels turned by means of cog gear on
said paddle wheels at or near their peripheries, and suitable pinions operated
by steam machinery, substantially in the manner set forth, with the hull of a
vessel constructed with numerous transverse walls or bulkheads connected
near the top thereof by a web in such manner that the said walls will
sufficiently stiffen and strengthen the vessel without the use of ribs, substantially
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord 1868.