CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF PADDLE WHEELS AND WATER WHEELS
Year: 1840

page_text: Game Day
WINKLES, of Northampton Street, in ne
the County of Middlesex, Steel and Copper Plate Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing, date at
Westminster, the Eleventh day of June, in, the third year of. Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin
Winkles, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Benjamin Winkles, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said Benjamin Winkles, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in all Her Majesty s Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF PADDLE
WHEELS AND WATER WHEELS;" in which said Letters Patent, is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Benjamin Winkles, 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 Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Benjamin Winkles, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
These improvements in the arrangement and construction of paddle wheels
and water wheels are designed,-first, in reference to propelling wheels for
navigation, to enable the paddles, when in the act of propelling, to present
their broad surfaces to the resistance of the mass of water, and as the wheel
revolves, afterwards to fall down and pass out of the water edgeways; and,
secondly, in reference to these wheels of water mills, which are called breast
wheels, to construct the buckets' by means of falling flaps, which flaps shall
assume the forms of buckets at their horizontal positions on the breast side as
the wheel goes round, and afterwards gradually collapse as they proceed towards
the lowest part of their rotation, and ultimately pass through and out of the
stream of water edgeways, the object in both adaptations being that of prevent-
ing any retardation of the rotary action of the wheels by the backwater. The
nanner-in-which I carry these objects into effect will be fully understood by
reference to the Drawings hereto annexed, and--the-following_description
thereof (viz):-
Fig. 1 is a side view or elevation of my improved propelling wheel, supposed
to be attached to the side of a vessel. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.
is the main shaft or axle of the wheel; b, b, b,-the arms and rims or framing;
c, c, c, are the paddles, which I prefer to form in a curve corresponding to that
of the outer rim of the wheel. These paddles are severally mounted upon axles d,
which enables them to turn over freely. The outer edges of the paddles may
bear against the edge of the outer ring, against which they will be thrown by
their centrifugal force, or they may fall by their own gravity. But in order to
bring them successively into the proper propelling positions, a curved excentric
or snail-formed bar e, e, e, is to be fixed to the interior of the paddle box or
side of the vessel, as shewn in Fig. 1, and a tail lever f, extending from the
back of each paddle, carries an antifriction roller or boss g, which, as the wheel
goes round, coming in contact with the said curved bar e, causes the paddle
to be forced, as represented, into the proper position, ready to perform the
propelling stroke; and in order that the paddle may be confined in that posi-
tion, its extremity or inner edge is by these means brought against and firmly
taken hold of by a spring catch or latch affixed to the inner ring of the
framing. When the paddle has passed the lower part of its rotatory course, a

page_text: stud on the side of the spring catch h comes in contact with an inclined bar i
(or any other suitable contrivance), which causes the latch to be raised and
the paddle to be released, so as to enable it to fall (as at 2), and to pass through
the water edgeways. A modification of this construction of propelling wheel
is shewn at Fig. 3, which is a side view of the wheel and its appendages; but
in this case I dispense with the, spring, catches. The main shaft or axle is
shewn at a, as before; b. are the arms and framing of the wheel; c, the paddles
mounted upon axles d, with tail levers f, and carrying antifriction rollers g.
In this instance the curved excentric or snail bar e is continued round in front
of the wheel and under the lower part of its rotatory course. The boss or anti-
friction roller g, as the wheel revolves, continues acting against the curved bar
which keeps the paddle in its proper position until it has passed through the
niost effective part of its propelling stroke, when: the boss escaping from the
curved bar, as shewn by red lines in this Figure, falls back into the position
shewn at . It must here be remarked, that in order to afford the means of
backing or giving a retrograde movement to the paddle wheel, in this instance
the tail lever f must be attached to the paddles by a joint, which sets fast
against a shoulder when in the propelling position, but is made to collapse when
the wheel turns in a retrograde direction by striking against the end of the
curved bar, as shewn by dots at y in the Figure. The water-mill wheel is shewn
in vertical section at Fig. 4.. a is the main shaft; b, b, b, the arms of the wheel
attached to a broad flange or rim on each side; c, c, c, are flaps forming buckets,
which are mounted on axles d, set in a circular frame affixed to the flanges of
the wheel. These flaps hang loosely upon their axles, and are dished or curved
in order to hold the water as it flows down from the breast or wear, for which
purpose the edges must fit tolerably close against the side flanges of the wheel.
A series of stops e, e, e, are set in the flanges near their edges, for the purpose of
supporting and confining the flaps in proper positions to form buckets to hold
the water. As the wheel goes round, the buckets in descending discharge the
water, and hang down by their own gravity until, as they rise on the other
side, they collapse on to the circular frame, and fall over to receive the water
again when they pass the breast or wear. Fig. 5 shews another manner of
applying the excentric snail bar for the purpose of directing the propelling
stroke of the paddles. In this arrangement the excentric snail bar e is mounted
on a pin or axle h at its upper end, the reverse extremity being attached to an
upright rod i, which may be connected to a rod in the engine room, so as to be
under the command of the engineer. In this Figure the tail lever fof the paddles
is not jointed thereto as in the former Figure, but is rigid, and forms part of
he paddle itself. The paddles are mounted upon axles d as before, and when