IMPROVEMENTS IN GIVING MOTION TO BARGES AND OTHER VESSELS ON CANALS
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ROBINSON PALMER, of Great George Street, Westminster, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster the Twentieth day of October, in the first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry
Robinson Palmer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, my exors, adññiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, my exors, admiors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GIVING MOTION TO
BARGES AND OTHER VESSELS ON CANALS;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately 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
Henry Robinson Palmer, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The object of my improvements in giving motion to barges and other vessels
on canals is, the reduction of the cost of conveying goods, minerals, and other
materials and things which do not require great expedition. I have ascer-
tained that, when the traffic on a canal between two places exceeds a given
amount, the motion to the barges and other vessels will in most cases be more
economically produced by giving motion to the water, and thus creating an
artificial stream, than by drawing said barges and other vessels through the
water in a state of rest, as has hitherto been done in canals. The causing an
artificial current in canals is then the subject of the improvements for which
my Patent is granted.
The manner in which I propose to attain the object referred to, and the
nature of the improvements for which my Patent is granted, consists in
forming two separate channels parallel to each other or otherwise, which are
united at both ends, so that when they are supplied with water, and motion
is given to that water in one of the channels, it shall pass in a continued
current into the other channel, and then return to the place in the first
channel referred to in which the motion was originally given. Thus a con-
tinued circulation of water will be produced capable of carrying barges or
other vessels in one direction or the contrary according to the channel in which
they may be placed.
The means by which I propose to carry my improvements into effect are,
with the Drawings annexed, described as follows, but I do not confine my
claim to the use of any particular form or material to be used in the construc-
tion of the parts of my improvements; the nature of such parts must be
determined by the circumstances attending each particular case. I herein
only describe one method of construction which appears to be most generally
applicable to the purposes intended. Two channels are to be formed of brick-
work or masonry embedded in the ground or otherwise supported, their bases
forming inverted arches abutting against each other, so that there is but one
intermediate wall between the two channels. A transverse section of the
two channels so fornied is represented in the Drawing by the Figure
marked Figure 1. The walls are to be coped with timber. In the centro
wall I propose there shall be posts or piles driven or otherwise inserted in the

page_text: A
ground below, and morticed into the coping at the heads of them.
ground plan of the two channels is represented by Figure 2, and they are
distinguished by the letters A, A, A, A, and B, B, B, B. These, from the
want of space, are represented as being broken off about the centre of the
Figure. In Figure 3, C, C, represents a lock, of which C, C, are the gates,
which are to be constructed in the ordinary way, or in such a manner as
may be thought most convenient. The sluices of the lock are to be placed
in the side wall, as at a and b. D, D, represents a side channel which is
to communicate with the channel A, A, at D, D. This side channel I pro-
pose shall be formed of brickwork or masonry, but the bottom of it should
be flat. Figure 4 represents a part of a longitudinal section of the side
channel, in which E represents a dam, which should be composed of masonry.
F in the same Figure, and also in Figures 2 and 3, represents a water or float
wheel constructed in the same manner as those used in the drainage of the fens,
and which it is intended shall be turned or worked by a steam engine or other
power. When the channels are charged with water, and the wheel is made
to revolve in a direction towards the dam from the lower portion of the wheel,
it will raise the water over the dam, and the water by its weight will descend
along the channel A, A, Figures 2 and 8, and return through the channel B, B,
and again arrive within the side channel and be continually raised and cir-
culated, thus producing two streams in opposite directions.
Other means for raising the water over the dam may be used, but I prefer
those which have been described.
The depth of the lock or the height of its walls above the level of the
bottom of the canal must be such as to sustain the water to the height to
which the wheel will raise it. A barge or other vessel arriving at the entrance
of the lock at G, the lower sluice at a is to be opened, and subsequently the
lower lock gate. The barge or other vessel having been conducted into the
lock, and the sluice and gate referred to having been closed, the upper sluice H
is to be opened, and by thus communicating with the water in the side chan-
nel, where it is at the greatest height, the lock will be filled therefrom, and the
water in the lock will rise to a level somewhat higher than that at the junction
of the side channel with the main channel at g, and hence the upper gate will
be opened with great facility, and the barge or other vessel will readily receive
motion in the direction of the stream.
The velocity of the streams will be in proportion to the head of water raised
by the wheel, and the cost of obtaining the motion will depend on the velocity
to be required. These circumstances will determine the length of channel to
be operated upon by one engine only. When, therefore, the whole line of

page_text: communication exceeds that length which can be beneficially operated upon
by one engine, a series of pools must be adopted, each having its separate
moving power, and each acting in the manner herein-before described.
Assuming that the land in which the canal is to be constructed is level or
nearly so, the Figure No. 2 shews in what manner this can be done; the
only remark that appears necessary to be made upon it is, that, in a series of
circulations, the barges moving in the channel B, B, B, B, will have one
continued descent without interruption.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Robinson Palmer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 19th day of April One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-eight.