IMPROVE- MENTS IN PROPELLING, STEERING, AND BALLASTING VESSELS, IN THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES, IN FIRE BARS OF FURNACES, AND IN SLEEPERS OF RAILWAYS
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
ERSKINE COCHRANE, of Cambridge Terrace, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, and HENRY FRANCIS, of Princes Street, Rotherhithe, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifth day of September,
(One thousand eight hundred and fifty), in the fourteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Erskine Cochrane and Henry Francis, our exors, adñiors, and assigns,
Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
William Erskine Cochrane and Henry Francis, our exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said William Erskine Cochrane and Henry Francis,
our exors, admors, and 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, our Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROPELLING, STEERING, AND BALLASTING VESSELS, IN THE PISTONS OF
STEAM ENGINES, IN FIRE BARS OF FURNACES, AND IN SLEEPERS OF RAILWAYS;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said William
Erskine Cochrane and Henry Francis, or one of us, should cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance. with the said proviso, we, the said
William Erskine Cochrane and Henry Francis, do hereby declare that the
nature of our said 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 .Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters. marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists, first, of improvements in propelling vessels.
Secondly, our Invention consists of improvements in steering vessels. Thirdly,
our Invention consists of improvements in ballasting vessels. Fourthly, our
Invention consists of improvements in the construction of pistons for steam
engines. Fifthly, our Invention has for its object improvements in the fire-
bars of furnaces. And, sixthly, our Invention relates to the formation and
construction of the sleepers or supports for the rails of railways.
We will now proceed to describe the first part of our Invention, which
relates to improvements in propelling vessels. Figure 1 shows a transverse
section, Figure 2 a side view, and Figure 3 a plan of part of a vessel, shewing
our improvements applied thereto. a, a, are blades or propellers, one or more
of which may be suspended on each side of the vessel, their upper ends being
connected by pin joints b, b, to arms or levers c, c; e, e, are segments which
have stops or projections d, d, on their upper surfaces; the segments e, e,
are attached to the shaft g, carried by bearings on the frame h, and admit of
adjustment by sliding on the shaft g; the shafts or stems of the blades or pro-
pellers pass up through the rings or sockets h', h', of the frame h, and are
supported by the collars and pins i, i. On either side of the lower socket h',
necks are turned to receive the straped joints of the forked connecting rod k,
from the steam engine or other power employed. The frames h, h, and pro-
pellers carried thereby, will be caused to move to and from the sides of the
vessel, and the form of the blades or propellers will cause them to cant or feather
by the resistance of the water, the angle the blades assume depending on the
adjustment of the segments e, e, on the shaft g.
The second part of out Invention, which relates to the steering of vessels,
consists, first, of apparatus applicable to vessels of the ordinary build, and to
steam vessels propelled by paddle wheels, or by propellers placed "amidships;"
and, secondly, our improvements in steering consists of apparatus suitable
for steering vessels having screw or other propellers placed at the stern.

page_text: Figure 4-shews a side view of part of a vessel having the first part of our
improvements in steering applied thereto. j is the rudder, at the lower end of
which is a pivot l, which rests in a recess or shoe m, attached by strong metal
bracket to the stern post of the vessel; or a socket.may be fixed to the keel,
which in that case must project beyond the stern post; the upper end of the.
rudder shaft works in bearings n, n, fixed within the vessel. Figures 5, 6,
and 7, show a side view, a plan, and stern view of part of a vessel having the
the second part of our improvements in steering applied thereto. It will be
seen, by reference to the Drawings, that in this case two rudders are used
instead of one, and are placed on either side of the quarter of the vessel; these
rudders, which we prefer to be of the peculiar form shewn in the Drawings,
have their bearings altogether within the vessel, and at their upper ends carry
levers o, o, which are connected to the arm p' of the tiller p by links q, q, the
tiller p turning in bearings » affixed to the deck of the vessel.
2°
We will now describe the third part of our Invention, which relates to
improvements in ballasting vessels, and are applicable to sailing vessels
employed in carrying coals, and consist in the construction of two or more
water-tight tanks or bunckers, constructed wholly or chiefly of iron, fitted and.
fixed to the sides of the hold or other convenient part of the vessel, so that
when ballast is required they may be filled with water, and on other occasions
with coals, for the admission and discharge of which we open a man-hole in
the top, and another at the bottom. The water may be filled in part by means
of a pipe through the side of the vessel, or wholly by a pump, and when
discharged it may be let out into the hold, and pumped out of the ship:
We will now describe the fourth part of our Invention, which relates to the
construction of pistons of steam engines. Figure 8 shows a plan of our
improved piston, with the follower removed; Figure 9 shows a section, and
Figures 10 and 11 a plan and side view of the rings, which act as a metallic
packing to the piston. a and b are two rings, which are cast with six, eight, or
other number of projections a¹, b', on their inner surfaces, which may of the form
shewn, or any other shape that may be found most suitable; the alternate parts,
a', 6', have slots or openings cut in them through the periphery of the rings, so
that the thickness of metal left shall have a slight degree of elasticity, and
they are then to be drawn together by clamps, whilst the rings are turned to
the diameter of the cylinder they are intended for; the clamps being then
removed, the rings a, b, are put on the piston block c, with the plain or uncut
surfaces a of the ring a placed over the cuts or openings 61 of the ring b, in
which position they will be retained by the stops or steadying pins d, fixed

page_text: in one of the rings which enter corresponding holes made in the other ring to
receive them; the parts a', b', which have cuts or openings in them, acting
as springs to separate or expand the packing.
The fifth part of our Invention consists in forming the fire bars of furnaces,
by making them partly of iron and partly of fire-proof materials, which we
accomplish in the following manner :-Having rolled the bars of iron in a V, U,
or other hollow shape, we fill them with a mixture of fire clay with sufficient
sand or ground fire-brick to keep the mixture from shrinking, or we fill the
grooves with bars of fire-brick made to fit tightly into them. We also cast
fire bars with grooves or recesses on their upper surfaces to receive fire-bricks
or fire-proof materials, as above described.
We will now describe the sixth part of our Invention. Figure 12 is a plan,
Figure 13 a side view, and Figure 14 a transverse section of apparatus shewing
our improvements in the sleepers of railways. Figure 15 is a longitudinal
section, & Figure 16 a transverse section of the plate or sleepers, shewn sepa-
rately. a, a, is a cast-iron plate, with vertical ribs or projections a', a', cast on
its upper surface, which form a trough on the plate a to receive the longitudinal
wooden sleeper b, upon which the rail c rests; a², a², are openings cast at
intervals in the sides of the ribs a', a', to receive the foot or angular projections
on each of the jaws d, d, which are securely retained in their position, as
shewn by the wooden sleeper 6 pressing against their inner surfaces; and the
jaws d, d, are caused to hold the rail e, e, between them by a wedge in like
manner to the ordinary railway chair, the peculiarity consisting in construct-
ing and fixing the jaws d, d, in combination with the longitudinal sleepers of
wood.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we do not
confine ourselves to the details as herein shewn and described, so long as the
peculiar character of any part of our Invention be retained. But what we
claim is
First, the improvements herein described in propelling vessels.
Secondly, we claim the improvements herein described in steering vessels.
Thirdly, we claim the improvements in ballasting colliers or sailing vessels
used to carry
coals.
Fourthly, we claim the improved means herein described of obtaining
elastic material packing of pistons.
Fifthly, we claim the improvements herein described of constructing fire
bars.

page_text: And, sixthly, we claim the improvements herein described in constructing
eepers or supports for rails of railways.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Erskine Cochrane and Henry
Francis, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth day of
March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-one.
day or Maren, the year
of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid William Erskine Cochrane and Henry Francis
came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one.