IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS." —A
communication from Theodore W. Phinney, of Newport, Rhode Island.
Sealed the 12th May 1859, and dated the 19th March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th March 1859.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to the propulsion of vessels by means of reciprocating
propellers. On each side of the vertical plane of the keelson and as near
the bottom as convenience will permit, a hollow cylinder is provided, the two
being alike and properly secured with their rear ends extending back so far
that the portion nearest the stern post may be flush with the outside of the
vessel, and the other portions projecting out so far that the rear end of both
may be in a vertical plane at right angles to the keel, although this may be
varied. To the inside of the cylinders are properly fitted two solid cylinders or
plungers which should be of such length that their rear surface shall extend
out back of the rear end of the cylinders to the full or nearly full length of their
stroke or reciprocating motion, and yet leave a portion of their length within
the cylinders; they should fit the cylinders so as to work therein freely and at

page_text: the same time prevent the passage of water; and the better to secure this
result the surfaces may be packed in the manner of a piston. The inner end
of these pushers are provided each with a piston rod, the two being connected
to the ends of a horizontal working beam by suitable joint links or other well-
known means, that the vibrations of the beam on its central fulcrum may not
affect the line of motion of the plungers. And it will be obvious that if the
pushers be made of sufficient length to be efficiently guided by the cylinders
instead of piston rods, their inner ends may be directly connected with the
beam by connecting rods. The steam engine by which power is to be applied
to these pushers may be directly connected with the beam. By the vibration
of the beam the plungers will be moved back and forth, one moving back or
outward from the rear end of its cylinder, while the other moves forward or
inward, and vice versa. At each stroke one of the said pushers presents its
entire rear face to the water, and by the resistance there presented propels the
vessel forward, the water all around the other which is moving inward rushing
in to prevent the formation of a vacuum which otherwise would present a
serious resistance to the forward motion of the vessel. In this way all the
power is applied directly in the line of motion of the vessel, and will therefore
be more efficient than if applied obliquely. The inner end of the cylinders is
open to the atmosphere so as to avoid unnecessary resistance.
For the purpose of backing the vessel a similar but smaller pair of cylinders
and plungers is placed forward of the two above described; these cylinders
pass through the bottom of the vessel at an inclination, and are arranged with
their outer ends pointing towards the bow of the vessel; or, instead, these
cylinders and plungers may pass at an inclination through the sides of the
vessel, the object being to get a reverse action. The inner ends of the smaller
plungers are to be connected with a working beam in the same manner as the
other plungers, and the working beams are to be connected with the engine in
any suitable manner, so that either can be connected or disconnected at
pleasure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Séal Patent Office on
the 17th September 1859.
:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County S
of Middlesex, Mechanical, Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 PROPELLING VESSELS," being a communication from
Theodore W. Phinney, of Newport, Rhode Island, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference. being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to the propulsion of vessels by means of mechanism acting below the surface
of the water, although in some instances a portion of the propelling surface
may extend above such surface, but with a loss of propelling action. It is
well known that side paddle wheels are objectionable as a means of propelling
vessels, particularly for sea or occan purposes, mainly on account of the
indirectness of their action on the water, and of the varying depth of
immersion of the paddle surface, one of the wheels being frequently carried
entirely out of the water by the rolling or pitching of the vessel. The vast
surface which the paddle boxes present to the wind, the room occupied by
the wheels and by their connection with each other and with the engine or
engines, and the great weight above the water line, all present serious
objections which have long been admitted, and have induced the introduction,
in various forms and modifications, of propellers placed at the stern, and acting
below the water line; but these have been but partially successful, and mainly

page_text: 'on account of the loss of power or propelling energy due to the obliquity or
*screw-like direction of the blades or paddles.
The Invention of a propeller simple and strong in construction, and which
should have a direct action on the water in the line of propulsion, and placed
below the water line to act on the water at the greatest practical depth,
and for naval purposes to be beyond the reach of shot has long been desired.
The object of this Invention is to accomplish the required results above
'pointed out.
The following is a full and exact description of the mode of construction
and operation of the apparatus forming the subject of the present Invention.
: In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the rear portion
of a vessel with the improved method of propulsion applied, and Fig. 2 is a
sectional plan view taken at the red line A, a, of Fig. 1. The same letters
indicate like parts in all the Figures.
.
a represents the rear or stern portion of a vessel, which may be of any
desired construction. On each side of the vertical plane of the keelson, and
as near the bottom as convenience will permit, a hollow cylinder 6 is secured,
the two being alike, and properly fixed, with their rear ends standing back so
far that the portion nearest the sternpost may be flush with the outside of
the vessel, and the other portions projecting out so far that the rear end of
both may be in a vertical plane at right angles to the keel, although this may
be varied.
To the inside of the cylinders are properly fitted two solid cylinders or
plungers c, c, which the Inventor denominates "pushers." They should be of
a length proportioned to the size of the vessel, and the power to be applied;
and the velocity at which the vessel is intended to be propelled; but they
should be of such length that their rear surface shall extend out back of.the
rear end of the cylinders to the full or nearly full length of their stroke or
reciprocating motion, and yet leave a portion of their length within the
cylinders. They should fit the cylinders so as to work therein freely, and at
the same time prevent the passage of water; and the better to secure this
result the surfaces may be packed in the manner of a piston, or any other
known mode of preventing the entrance of water may be employed. The
rear face of these pushers, which act against the water in propelling, may be
either flat or slightly concave, or convex, at the discretion of the constructor.
The inner end of each of these pushers is provided with a piston rod d,' the
two being connected to the ends of a horizontal working beam e by suitable
joint links or other well known suitable means, that the vibrations of the
beam on its central fulcrum may not affect the line of motion of the plungers.

page_text: And it will be obvious, that if the pushers be made sufficiently long for the
cylinders in which they work to act as guides instead of using piston rods, their
inuer ends may be directly connected with the beam by connecting rods. The
steam engine by which power is to be applied to these pushers may be directly
connected with the beam e in many of the well-known modes of forming such
connections, and as such mode of connection makes no part of the Invention,
it is deemed unnecessary to give any particular description thereof. By the
vibration of the beam e, it will be seen that the pushers will be moved back
and forth, one moving back or outward from the rear end of its cylinder while
the other moves forward or inward, and vice versa. At each stroke one of
the said pushers presents its entire rear face to the water, and by the resistance
there presented propels the vessel forward, the water all around the other,
which is moving inward, rushing in to prevent the formation of a vacuum,
which otherwise would present a serious resistance to the forward motion of
the vessel. In this way all the power is applied directly in the line of motion
of the vessel, and will therefore be more efficient than if applied obliquely.
The inner ends of the cylinders are open to the atmosphere, so as to avoid
unnecessary resistance, as it will be obvious that if closed air-tight in moving
outward a vacuum would be induced which would waste power to the extent
of about fourteen pounds to every square inch of the propelling surface of the
pusher during its propelling stroke, but by leaving the inner end of the
cylinders open to the atmosphere no such resistance will take place.. As it
is well known that water at a considerable depth presents a much greater
resistance to a moving body than at or near the surface, particularly at high
velocities, not by reason of a greater density, but for the reason that the
superincumbent column of water must be raised before the water below can
yield to the propelling surface, it follows from this that the area of the rear
face of the pushers will not require to be so large as if applied at or near the
surface of the water. For this reason, and also to insure their submersion at
all times, the pushers are to be placed as near to the bottom of the vessel as
convenience will permit. It will be found important not to have the rear
end of the pushers extend to any considerable distance within the cylinders
when moving inward, for the reason that in such case that portion of their
stroke which is within the cylinders is not efficient to propel, as will be
presently explained.
For the purpose of backing the vessel two similar but smaller cylinders g, g,
fitted with two pushers h, h, are placed forward of the two above described.
These cylinders pass through the bottom of the vessel at an inclination, as
represented by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and are arranged with their outer ends

page_text: pointing towards the bow of the vessel, or instead, these two cylinders with
their pushers may pass at an inclination through the sides of the vessel, the
object being to have the pushers in these cylinders act in the reverse or nearly
reverse direction of the pushers first described, for the purpose of propelling
the vessel backwards, when the pushers at the-stern are stopped.
The inner ends of the pushers h, h, are to be connected with a working
beam i in the same manner as the pushers c, c, and the working beams are to
be connected with the engine in any suitable manner known to engineers, so
that either can be connected or disconnected at pleasure. The pushers h, h;
are not required to be as large as the others c; c, for the reason that vessels
in backing are not required to move as fast as when going ahead.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improvements in
propelling vessels, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that I am aware it has been proposed to propel vessels by means of
pistons or plungers working within cylinders inside of the vessel, and open
at the stern; but in such cases the pistons worked wholly within the length of
the cylinders in the manner of the piston of a pump, alternately forcing out
and drawing in the water, a mode of operation which is wholly different from
the present Invention, and inefficient for the reason that the in-moving piston
by drawing in water into the cylinders from the stern in the line of propulsion
consumes nearly as much power as the outgoing piston, and the two forces
being in opposite directions nearly neutralize each other, whereas by the
present plan, as one of the pushers moves inward the surrounding water
rushes in from all directions to prevent a vacuum behind, and as the filling up
of this space is by water rushing in from all directions, the resistance to the
onward motion of the vessel becomes very small.
And I am also aware that what are termed duck foot paddles have been
placed at the stern and at the bottom, and also at the sides of vessels, and so
arranged as to reciprocate in the line of motion of the vessel; but these
paddles were made to open when striking against the water, to propel and to
fold up on the return motion, and by reason of this necessarily lost much of
their propelling efficiency, for the reason that a considerable portion of the
stroke was lost in opening or unfolding them.
I do not wish therefore to be understood as making claim broadly to the
use of submerged reciprocating paddles or pistons working in cylinders for the
propulsion of vessels. But what I do claim as this Invention, and desire to
secure by the herein-before. in part recited Letters Patent is the employment
of reciprocating pushers substantially such as herein described, working in

page_text: open cylinders and with the propelling surface of the said pushers acting
directly against the water beyond the ends of the cylinders substantially as and
for the purpose specified.
And I also claim the employment of a reversed set of such pushers
substantially as described for the purpose of backing the vessel as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
0 Witness,
J. W. MOFFAtt,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)