AN IMPROVED PADDLE WHEEL
Year: 1871

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1871.-A communication from abroad by Elijah Pratt,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America,
Gentleman.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PADDLE WHEEL,' a com-
munication, to be as follows:-
"
The paddle wheel shaft has arms secured on it by hubs or other
suitable means. These arms are made of flat bars of iron. To strengthen
them laterally two rims of metal are secured thereon by suitable bolts,
and transverse braces or bars of iron are bolted to the ends of the arms,
thus holding the frame of the wheel firmly and securely together.
Two slots are made in the arms of the wheel some two feet in length,
more or less, according to the dip of the paddles and size of the wheel.
In these slots are inserted the ends of the paddles. Each of these
paddles are secured to the lower ends of sets of hangers secured at

page_text: .
their upper ends loosely upon a transverse rod. The ends of these rods
extend through the upper slot of the arms, and have on their outer
ends friction rollers. These rollers enter into channels or grooves formed
in metal plates solidly bolted to the side of the vessel and frame of the
wheel house on each side of the wheel. The outer groove is circular
throughout the lower half of its circumference, whilst its upper half
is flattened into an oval shape. The object of this construction is to
cause the paddles to dip in the water at the extremities of the arms as
the wheel rotates forward, and thus obtain the greatest effect on the
water to propel the vessel forward. To lift the paddle out of the water
immediately that it passes its vertical stroke in the water, an inclined
plane is formed in the said groove at its lowest part to cause the rod to
which the paddle is suspended to ride up its side, and thence by means
of a self-adjusting dog or tongue into the inner groove. This groove
is oval in shape vertically. The object of this shape is to cause the
rapid withdrawal of the paddles from the water immediately on passing
the vertical stroke, and thus prevent all tendency to lift water on the
afterpart of the wheel. Each half of the said groove is a duplicate of
the other half. The object of this is to admit of rotating the wheel
in either direction, and yet have the paddles work in the same manner.
To accomplish this reversal of motion in the paddles the upper end of
the said groove is left open and a self-adjusting transfer dog secured by
a centre pin to the face of the plate. When thus secured its outer
point will touch the upper ends of each side of the groove as it is trans-
ferred from side to side to reverse the dip of the paddles. To make
the transfer dog self-operating its point is made long enough to project
slightly above the line of the groove, so that the first roller on the rod
that comes in contact with it on a reversal of the wheel carries it over
to the opposite end of the outer groove. When thus shifted the rods
will follow the outer groove down till it comes upon the opposite side
of the inclined plane when it rides up its side and under the first-
mentioned dog, and thence up over another dog, which has been replaced
to cut off the outlet or transfer to the groove, into the inner groove to
complete the reversal of the working of the paddles.
It will be obvious that the several parts herein-before described may

page_text: The essential principle of the Invention consists in the conformation
of the grooves, the method of guiding and reversing the direction of the
motion of the paddles by means of the self-acting dogs in combination
with the grooves, and the paddles in combination with the slotted arms
3 of the paddle wheel.