IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING OR FORCING FLUIDS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hale, of No. 9, Edith Terrace, Edith Grove,
Fulham Road, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING OR FORCING FLUIDS."
Sealed the 13th August 1867, and dated the 21st February 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the
21st February 1867.
I, WILLIAM HALE, of No. 9, Edith Terrace, Edith Grove, Fulham Road, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING OR FORCING FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
My improvements in propelling vessels are affected by the use of a propellor
composed of two blades or portions of a screw set at right angles to each other
and affixed at or about an angle of 45 degrees to the propellor shaft; this
propellor is intended to revolve in a box formed from a circular tube of the
same internal diameter or nearly so as that of the propellor, and in length a
little exceeding that diameter; this tube is divided longitudinally into two
equal parts by a partition or diaphragm between the two half tubes, and having
a circular aperture in it equal to the diameter of the propellor. The half tubes
are placed at right angles to each other, and on each side of the partition,
thereby forming four semicircular apertures, two of which serve as inlets to
the box, and the other two as outlets. The shaft works in the same plane as
the partition or diaphragm across the centre of the circular aperture, and at an

page_text: angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts to the longitudinal lines of the half tubes.
From each of the semicircular apertures a channel way is formed, leading
through the sides or bottom of the vessel for admitting and discharging the
water; two of these apertures are for the admission, and are placed in a
direction towards the head of the vessel, and two are for the discharge, and
are placed in a direction towards the stern. The motion of the vessel may be
reversed at pleasure by reversing the action of the propellor. By this
arrangement when power is cominunicated to the propellor shaft the whole of
the water acted upon by the blades will be projected from the box freely and
direct without having any rotatory motion, and thus a great amount of
propelling force is obtained.
Apparatus thus arranged is also applicable to raising and forcing fluids, and
may be used in various ways, as, for example, when required to discharge water-
from a ship or vessel, in which case I place the propellor and box in a tank
perforated with holes serving as a strainer, somewhere about the lowest part
of the hold, to which box suitable pipes are affixed to the egress apertures of
the propellor box, so that when the propellor is put in motion by steam or other
power the water may be thereby discharged over or through the sides or
bottom of the vessel at any convenient place. In other cases when required
to raise or force water from a low to a higher level valves may be used as in
ordinary pumps.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st August 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HALE, of 9, Edith Terrace, Edith Grove, Fulham Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hale, Her special licence that I, the said William Hale,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said
William Hale, 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,

page_text: the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROPELLING VESSELS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO RAISING OR
FORCING FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Hale, 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 William Hale, 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, that is to say:-
My improvements in propelling vessels are effected by the use of a propeller
composed of two blades or portions of a screw set at right angles to each
other, and affixed at or about an angle of 45 degrees to the propeller. shaft.;
this propeller is intended to revolve in a box formed from a circular tube of
the same internal diameter or nearly, so as that of the propeller, and in
length a little exceeding that diameter; this tube, is divided longitudinally
into two equal parts by a partition or diaphragm between the two half tubes,
and having a circular aperture in it equal to the diameter of the propeller.
The half tubes are placed at right angles to each other, and on each side of
the partition, thereby forming four semicircular apertures, two of which serve
as inlets to the box, and the other two as outlets. The shaft works in the
same plane as the partition or diaphragm across the centre of the circular
aperture, and at an angle of 45 degrees, or thereabouts, to the longitudinal
lines of the half tubes. From each of the semicircular apertures a channel
way is formed leading through the sides or bottom of the vessel for admitting
and discharging the, water; two of these apertures are for the admission, and
are placed in a direction towards the head of the vessel; and, two are for the
discharge, and are placed in a direction towards the stern. The motion of
the vessel may be reversed at pleasure by reversing the action of the propeller;
by this arrangement when power is communicated to the propeller shaft the
whole of the water acted upon by the blades will be projected from the box
freely and direct without having any rotatory motion, and thus a great amount
of propelling force is obtained.
But that the nature of the Invention may be fully understood I will
by the aid of the accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means pursued
by me in carrying the same into effect.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side view, and Figure 2 a plan of apparatus for propelling
vessels constructed according to my Invention; Figures 3 and 4 are sections
taken in opposite directions, and Figures 5, 6, and 7 are detail views of one
arrangement of the propeller separately. In each of the views the same
letters indicate corresponding parts wherever they occur.
a, a, is the case or box in which the propeller revolves, and which is formed
from two circular half tubes or cylinders a¹, a², placed at right angles or
thereabouts to each other, and baving a diaphragm or partition 6 placed
between them, thereby forming four semicircular passages c, c', and d, d¹.
The two passages c and c¹ serve as inlets for the passage of the water to the
inside of the box, whilst the other two passages d, d', serve as outlets for the
same; each of the passages c, c', and d, d', is provided with a channel way e
for admitting and discharging the water through the sides or bottom of the
vessel. In the centre of the diaphragm or partition 6 is an aperture 6¹ of
sufficient capacity only for the propeller f to revolve in without touching the
edges. The diaphragm b not only divides the box into two equal parts, but
also prevents the rotation of the water within the box. The propeller f is two
bladed, as shown more clearly by the separate views at Figures 5, 6, and 7.
The pattern for casting the propeller f may be made in the following
manner Turn in wood to the size required a double cone, the sides being
quarter circle curves, the height of each cone being equal to the radius of the
base; then if the double cone is cut in two in a straight line from one apex to
the apex of the other by moving one-half a quarter of a circle round and
bringing the two parts into contact with each other the bases of the divided
double cone will at each end of the semicircle terminate at the apex of the
opposite half double cone, and being secured together will form the two-bladed
propeller f. The propeller f is represented as solid, but it may be cored out
to reduce its weight. f is the propeller shaft placed at an angle of 45 degrees
to the line of the apertures of the box and to the two semicircular half bases
of the double cone which act as the propelling blades, motion being commu-
nicated to the propeller f from a steam engine or other suitable power by
means of the shaft f. If the propeller is in operation and the water enters
into the box through the apertures c, c¹, it will by the action of the propeller
be discharged simultaneously from the apertures d, d', in the same line or
nearly so in which it was admitted without revolving in the box, thus
avoiding the expense of power by tangential escape incurred by other pro-
pellers in having to produce rectilinear pressure by the rotary. motion of the

page_text: water, which pressure only is effective to propel. The propeller box is placed
near the bottom of the vessel with the propeller shaft over and parallel
with the kelson, so that the ingress apertures c, c¹, open in a direction towards
the head of the vessel, and the egress apertures d, d¹, towards the stern. In
this arrangement the half-round passages c, c³, are converted into a round, as
shown in the Drawing. The converting curves commence at the line of
intersection of the semicircular pipes, but they may commence otherwise, and
they terminate in the round pipes or channels e which conduct the water to
the sides or bottom of the vessel. The channels or pipes e are carried
through and secured to a base plate 9; each pair of channels or pipes e opens
into a half-round tube or trunk secured to the under side of the vessel on each
side of the keel, having a partition to divide the length into two parts to
prevent the water passing directly through it. One end of each half tubé
presents its opening towards the head of the vessel, and the other end towards
the stern, whereby the water necessary to supply the propeller enters at onė
end of each half tube or trunk in a line parallel with the keel; it then passes
up through one pair of the pipes or channels e to the interior of the box, and
after being acted upon by the propeller is forced out through the other pair of
pipes or channels e in the same line, or nearly so, at the opposite ends, con-
sequently the force of the stream expelled from the aft apertures will propel the
vessel forward with a force equal to the power of the stream, and the ingress of
the water will be facilitated with a force corresponding to the vessel's motion;
and the contrary effect will be produced when the motion of the propeller iś
reversed.
Figure 8 is a plan of the apparatus, showing the half tube or cylinder a¹
and parts connected therewith removed. The diaphragm or partition b is
divided in two parts 62, 63, and each half is formed in the same casting with
the upper portion of the pipes or channels e, e, and it is connected to the
box a by bolts and nuts, as shown; this, however, may be varied if desired.
The half tubes or cylinders a¹ and b¹ are formed with flanges, and are also
connected together as shown by bolts and nuts.
Figure 9 is a side view, Figure 10 a plan, and Figures 11 and 12 sections
of another modification of my Invention. In this case the propeller box is
formed of two troughs a¹ and a of a hemispherical form, in which the aper-
tures c, c, and d, d'; for the admission and discharge of the water to the box
commence to be converted from a semicircular form into a round from the
vertical plane that passes through the centre of the two hemispheres, and at
right angles to the plane where the hemispheres join each other. The two
halves of the box are bolted together so that the straight passage through for

page_text: admission and discharge in each half are at right angles to each other, and
the diaphragm b and central opening wherein the propeller revolves, which is
an entire circle, is formed by the union of the two hemispheres a², a³, shown by
the plan view, Figure 13, where the upper half of the box and the propeller
is removed to show the interior. Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17 show views of
a propeller adapted to this arrangement of box; in this case the blades of the
propeller fare formed of two spiral planes f, f, the peripheries of which are
rounded off, so that in revolving the propeller describes a sphere. The
blades f,, are set at right angles or nearly so to each other, and are formed
upon a cylinder f* secured to the shaft f, and at or about an angle of
45 degrees to such cylinder and shaft. The space between the two spiral
planes may be filled up after the manner represented in Figures 5, 6, and 7,
which will serve the purpose of equalizing the motion of the water acted upon
by the propeller, and avoid to a considerable extent the dead water that
attends the use of ordinary screw propellers where the motion of the water
near the axis is much less than it is near the periphery.
In the arrangement of box shown by Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, when
the propeller represented in Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17 is used, there needs no
other diaphragm or aperture for the propeller to revolve in than that formed
by the union of the two halves of the box, as the hemispherical form gives an
opening of an entire circle corresponding with the figure described by the
propeller in revolving. If the propeller shown in Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17
is employed in the box shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8 the opening in the
diaphragm should be an entire circle, because the spiral planes describe in the
plane of the diaphragm an entire circle; and if the propeller shewn in
Figures 5, 6, and 7 is employed in the hemispherical box Figures 9, 10, 11, 12,
and 18 there should be a diaphragm and an aperture therein conforming to
the diaphragm and aperture represented in the box shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4,
and 8, and by red lines in Figure 13.
If the two lengths or troughs forming the box a were of an oblong cur-
vilinear shape the two spiral planes need not be rounded at the periphery, as
in Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17, to suit the half-round lengths of the box, but
they may be of parallel width, so that in revolving they might answer to the
form of the troughs, and be as two ordinary screw planes twisted round a
cylinder or shaft, and in that case the central aperture in the diaphragm would
be a square, and if the troughs are rectangular the box propeller, diaphragm,
and central opening should correspond with each other after the same manner
as is herein described. The conducting pipes may be shaped in any way suited
to the propeller box, and may be placed vertically or in an inclined position, or

page_text: may lead horizontally through the sides of the vessel, as may be desired, as the
conducting pipes form no part of my Invention. Apparatus thus arranged is
also applicable to raising and forcing fluids, and may be used in various ways,
as, for example, when required to discharge water from a ship or vessel, in
which case I place the propeller and box in a tank perforated with holes
serving as a strainer somewhere about the lowest part of the hold, to which
box suitable pipes are affixed to the egress apertures of the propeller box, so
that when the propeller is put in motion by steam or other power the water
may be thereby discharged over or through the sides or bottom of the vessel
at any convenient place. In other cases when required to raise or force water
from a low to a higher level valves may be used as in ordinary pumps.
Having thus described my Invention, and means which I adopt in carrying
the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details shown and described, as these may be varied without
departing from the peculiar character of the Invention; but what I do claim
is the adaption or combination of means for propelling vessels by the use of
bladės or portions of screws arranged and acting as a propeller within a box
divided by a partition or diaphragm, and having a passage above and below
the axis of the propeller shaft for the ingress of the water, and like passages
in the same line for the egress in order that the water may have a free and
direct passage through the propeller box without being compelled to rotate in
manner substantially as described in respect of Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
and 8.
Also, I claim the adaptation or combination of means for propelling vessels
by the use of blades or portions of screws arranged and acting to draw the
water into a box or chamber by two or more openings, and to eject it there.
from in manner substantially as described in respect of Figures 9, 10, 11, 12,
13, 14, 15, 16, and 17.
Also, I claim the use of blades or portions of screws with parts acting there-
with, in manner substantially as herein described when applied to raising or
forcing fluids.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hale, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August; in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
TUM HATE