INPROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING VESSELS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli, of Paris, Rue
de Rome, No. 40, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "INPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING VESSELS."
Scaled the 20th May 1870, and dated the 23rd November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Eustache Crocé-
Spinelli at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 23rd November 1869.
I, JOSEPH EUSTACHE CROCÉ-SPINELLI, of Paris, Rue de Rome, No. 40,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING AND STEERING
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the construction of an improved form of
propeller and its application to nautical locomotion, and to the said
propellers I give the name of "hydrocycles." These propellers revolve
upon the water, a part of their diameter being always submerged, and
their form represents circular planes or rings, the section of which is
not generally circular. These wheels have in the centre an empty space,
in which is a bearing supported by radial iron or wooden rods, the outer

page_text: ends of which are affixed to the inner circumference of the hollow ring
of the propeller, the said bearing serving for the.reception of a shaft, on
which two of such propellers may revolve. On the outside of these
wheels are a certain number of floats for aiding or causing propulsion,
the outer ends of the said floats being united by an iron ring which
imparts the requisite amount of rigidity thereto. The circumference of
the propellers is also provided with iron tips or an iron band for the
protection of that part of the wheel which is most exposed to shocks or
collisions with hard substances, and which enables them to revolve upon
the bottom of shallow rivers in the same manner as an ordinary wheel
revolves upon the earth.
the earth. These propellers may be constructed of sheet
iron or any other metal, of wood, or elastic material such as india-rubber,
cloth, leather, and other similar substances, and the hollow rim or ring
may be of any sectional form, such as round, triangular, eliptical, or
otherwise. These wheels or propellers may be adapted either to vessels
propelled by manual power and called water velocipedes, or to vessels
propelled by steam or other motive power. For a vessel having only
two wheels abreast it is necessary that the centre of gravity should be
below the driving shaft, the person or persons propelling the vessel being
seated in a forked support attached to the shaft by two bearings, the
movement in this case being communicated to the shaft by either the
feet or hands, and the vessel being guided by an ordinary rudder; or
the shaft may revolve on a pivot and the direction of the propellers be
Chairs may also be
altered to change the direction of the vessel.
placed upon any suitable part of the vessel for the accomodation of
passengers.
Where my improved propellers are adapted to steam vessels several
pairs of wheels may be used coupled to the driving wheels by means of
metallic cords or other connections.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 30
filed by the said Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 23rd May 1870. -
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPIL
EUSTACHE CROCÉ-SPINELLI, of Paris, Rue de Rome, No. 40, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli, Her
special licence that I, the said Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli, 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 MEANS AND APPARATUS
FOR PROPELLING AND. STEERING VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Eustacho Crocé-Spinelli, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli, do
hereby declare the nature of my 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, reference being had to the
accompanying Shect of Drawings (that is to say) :-
My Invention has for its object the employment of a peculiar con-
struction of wheels or propeller and their application to nautical
locomotion, and to the said propellers I give the name of "hydrocycles."
These propellers revolve upon the water, a part of their diameter being
always submerged, and their form represents circular planes or rings,
the section of which is not generally circular. These wheels have in
the centre a space in which is a bearing supported by radial iron or
wooden rods, the outer ends of which are affixed to the inner circum-
ference of the hollow ring of the propeller, the said bearing serving for
the reception of a shaft, on which two of such propellers may revolve.
On the outside of these wheels are a certain number of floats for aiding
or causing propulsion, the outer ends of the said floats being united by

page_text: an iron ring which imparts the requisite amount of rigidity thereto.
The circumference of the propeller is also provided with iron tips or an
iron band to protect that part of the wheel which is most exposed to
shocks or collisions with hard substances, and which enable them to
revolve upon the bottom of shallow rivers in the same manner as an
ordinary wheel revolves upon the earth. These propellers may be
constructed of sheet iron or any other metal, of wood, or elastic material,
such as india-rubber, cloth, leather, and other similar substances.
The
Before entering into an explanation of their various applications I will
describe the three principal kinds of propellers that I employ.
wheel A, seen in vertical section Fig. 1, is of sheet iron and is specially
adapted for a 4-wheel velocipede intended to carry two persons. It
revolves upon the water and serves both as a propeller and as an aid to
flotation. It is constructed as lightly as possible and with a view to
displace as much water as possible, but at the same time it is necessary
to give it a certain sharpness at its periphery so that it may cut the
water and thus enable the vessel to advance more rapidly. The two
sides a and b of the ring form two arcs of circles united at their ex-
tremities by a band of iron c serving as a protection to the wheel and
enable it to revolve upon shallow bottoms. The inner side d is curved
to give greater displacement to the wheel, to increase its elegance, and
to facilitate the passage and friction of the water and air. The central
bearing receives the shaft g, by which means two wheels are coupled
together, and is secured in the centre of the propeller by rods of iron
h, ', rivetted and soldered at their outer extremities to the inner side
of the hollow ring. The floats P for producing propulsion are placed
upon the outer side a, and are sufficiently long (horizontally) for this
action not to be diminished by the agitation of the water produced by its
contact with the surface a. It will be also seen that where the floats
are attached to the side a they are narrower to diminish still more these
eddies. The extremities of the floats are united by a circular rod of iron
which keeps them rigid and also receives a certain part of the shocks
and preserves the surface a of the propeller. The floats are narrow and
add thereby elegance to the wheel and increase the useful effect of the
propeller. To add to the strength of the wheels partitions may be formed
therein, so that if a current were passed its effect would be local and
would not generally affect the course of the vessel. The wheel B scen
in vertical section, Fig. 2, only differs from the first in the sectional
form of its hollow ring. It is constructed in a strong and thick set

page_text: manner, and is not intended to produce great speed, but to preserve the
vessel to which it is attached from the effect of shocks by receiving them
itself. It is constructed of strong wooden strips fixed upon wooden
partitions, which being very numerous considerably facilitate the pro-
pulsion of the vessel. It is also strongly bound with iron at its periphery
to enable it to roll on shallow bottoms, the remaining parts of the wheel
being similar, except in dimensions, to the one just described. The
wheel C, seen in vertical section, Fig. 3, is constructed of india-rubber
cloth, and is in the form of a ring the section of which is hollow, this
shape being produced by pumping air therein. The wheel thus formed
is light, clastic, and is not liable to be injured by shocks; it may be a
fixture in the case of large craft, and in this case may be taken from its
supports and placed inboard.
The numerous nautical purposes to which these propellers can be applied
may be divided into two main classes, the first comprising vessels where
hollow wheels rolling upon the water and acting as propellers are employed,
but in which human power only is used as the motive power; and the second
class comprises vessels using the same class of wheels put in motion by
steam or other inanimate power. The vessels propelled only by manual
power may be again subdivided into two classes, videlicet, those that use
hollow wheels rolling upon the water not acting as propellers but as
means for assisting flotation and those that use the same class of wheels
as propellers and auxiliaries to flotation, but not only for the latter
purpose. The vessels using hollow wheels. as auxiliaries to flotation only
according to my system are composed of a certain number of wheels
arranged in pairs upon shafts, two, four, six, or eight wheels being used
according to requirement. The vessel having two wheels abreast (the
bicycle having one wheel following in the wake of the other being little
adapted for water navigation by reason of its instability) has its centre
of gravity lower than the shaft, which may be casily attained; the person
propelling being carried upon a seat in the shape of an inverted fork
suspended from the shaft by means of two bearings. The movement is
in this case communicated to the shaft either by the feet or the hands,
and the course of the vessel is regulated by the aid of an ordinary
rudder.
Water velocipedes constructed according to my Invention and having
unalind unfomables with whools similar to the whool A

page_text: the rings have been allowed to collapse they may be placed on board,
a land velocipede being the result; this class of apparatus is, therefore,
adapted to work either on the water or on land.
Whatever may be the form of the wheels, the substance of
which they are constructed, and their size, their mechanism, pro-
ducing propulsion by means of two men, acts as follows (see Fig. 4).
The wheels are coupled together in pairs by means of two cranked
shafts, the throw of the cranks being from 0 15 to 20, the two
cranks being furnished with treddles in two parts joined together by
bolts. These shafts ; and j revolvo in bearings held in forks k, the
said shaft being turned laterally by two pivots supported in collars m
fixed to the frame n of the vessel. The two persons who drive this
vessel seat themselves back to back upon the saddles fixed upon springs
secured to the frame. The course of the vessel is directed by turning
the pivots by means of a spindle fixed above the two pivots, and
having at its upper part a steering bar o, it being understood that only
one person steers at a time, so that he who does not steer maintains
the wheels in a line parallel with the frame by means of a vertical
cotter or bolt p passing through a claw q, which turns with the steering
spindle and through a piece of metal r fixed to the frame. A small
casy chair for one or two passengers may be placed in the middle of the
frame. The velocipede with four wheels can be driven by more than two
persons, as two can act on one sufficiently large crank shaft and two on
the other.
A water velocipede driven by manual power and not using its wheels
as floats only, is composed of a small boat very long and narrow
relatively to its breadth, having on each side two hollow wheels revolving
on the water and acting both as propellers and balances to the boat but
not as floats only. This form of vessel is only useful for assisting the
wheels, and consequently permitting a diminution of diameter and size
to be used as well as diminishing their displacement.
The vessel seen in plan, Fig. 5, is constructed with two wheels s, 8,
revolving upon a shaft having two cranks t, t, large enough to receive two
fect entering opposite cach other. The crank shaft n is held by an inverted
fork supplied with a pivot turning in a collar x fixed to the body D, the
two drivers' seats, as well as the chairs for passengers, being carried by
iron rods fixed to the body of the boat, so that the drivers by means of

page_text: a steering bar with four handles placed on the spindle actuating the
fork can guide the vessel. The boat itself as well as the wheels can be
of sheet iron, wood, or any other flexible material. Many instances
could be mentioned in which these hollow wheels revolving on the water
as floats and propellers could be acted upon by steam or other inanimate
power; in some cases the wheels act as floats only, or may be assisted
by a central boat placed between the pairs of wheels, or the wheels may
be placed at the side of boats to act both as balancing floats and as
propellers.
The water locomotive illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 corresponds with
the first of these three cases. It has a certain number of pairs of
floating and propelling wheels R united by shafts, to which the body
of the vessel M is suspended in the same way as land carriages, and in
this body can be placed the boilers, engines, and passengers. The wheels
supplied with the necessary amount of paddles are coupled together by
metallic bands passing around the pulleys N, an ordinary rudder being
used for steering. In the second case the apparatus comprises a vessel
very long relatively to its breadth, which assists the flotation of the
wheels and diminishes their diameter and displacement. In the third
case numerous methods of employing wheels serving both for propellers
and balances to increase the stability of the vessel could be mentioned.
They might replace the paddle wheels of the steam boat B, the annexed
Drawing shewing in Figs. 8 and 9 wheels very little different (except
in their dimensions, which can be as large as required for the heaviest
class of vessel) to the wheel A before described in Fig. 1.
Figs. 10 and 11 represent a steam tug B of about 10 to 15 horse
power, the wheels being here shewn applied to a vessel of very shallow
draft. The steadiness of this vessel is augmented by four floating, pro-
pelling, and balancing wheels. The peripheries of the wheels R are less
sharp in section than those before described, steam tugs not being
required to travel at a great speed; the submersion of the wheels is also
very small, thus diminishing the resistance to their rotation, in which
case the wheels ought to be similar to that shewn in Fig. 3 at c, so that
any amount of strength can be relied upon.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my Invention, I

page_text: steering vessels, as herein described and illustrated on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
J. E. CROCÉ-SPINELLI. (L.S.)
Witness,
СH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
Paris,
Boulevard de Strasbourg, 23.