IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY THE ACTION OF THE WIND
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Peabody, of Old Broad Street; in the City
of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR
OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY THE ACTION OF THE WIND."-A communi-
cation.
Sealed the 24th August 1855, and dated the 28th March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Peabody at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
March 1855.
I, JOSEPH PEABODY, of Old Broad Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invenion for "IMPROVED MACHINERY
FOR OBTAINING MOTIVE POWER BY THE ACTION OF THE WIND," to be as follows:--.
This Invention relates to a mode of equalizing the action of the wind upon
wind wheels employed in giving motion to pumps, mills, or other machinery.
Ca
In applying this Invention for working pumps, the wheel with its regulating
apparatus is placed at the top of a column, to which is secured a circular
trough, forming in effect the bed of a turn-table. This trough is-placed excen-
trically with respect to the column, as it is necessary that the pump rod should
descend from the centre, round which the wind or fan wheel revolves in a
horizontal plane. A cover, the counterpart of the circular trough, is connected
thereto, and by means of anti-friction rollers placed between the cover &
circular trough is made capable of turning freely upon-its bed.

page_text: The shaft, which carries at one extremity the wind or fan wheel, works in
bearings on the face of the turn-table. The vane, which serves the purpose
of balancing the weight of the wind wheel, and also to keep the face of the
latter always directed towards the wind, is attached to the other extremity of
the wind wheel shaft, and may be constructed either of sheet metal or of canvas
or other suitable substance stretched upon a wrought-iron frame. Upon the
wind wheel shaft-a-disc-of-wood-or sheet metal is mounted in any suitable
manner and caused to revolve with it. The wind wheel, which is provided
with inclined vanes, as usual, is fitted to its shaft with a feather, which allows
of the lateral movement of the wheel to and from the disc. An adjustable
ring or circular plate, connected with the boss of the disc by adjusting screws,
encloses between it and the boss of the wind wheel a helical spring; which
surrounds the shaft, and presses against the hub of the wind wheel and the
ring or plate just mentioned, for the purpose of keeping the wind wheel con-
stantly from the disc.
By this arrangement the disc acts as a regulator to the wheel, the helical
spring yielding whenever the force of the wind increases, by which means the
wheel is made to approach the disc, and the passage for the air between
two is contracted; the velocity of the wheel is thus checked or prevented from
becoming excessive, and as the wind decreases the spring again separates the
wheel and disc, and the wind is allowed to exert an increased power. The
pump rod is connected to the crank upon the wind wheel shaft in the centre
of motion of the turn-table. The arrangement for transmitting the rotary
motion obtained by the action of the wind may be varied to suit different
circumstances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Peabody in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
PEABODY, of Old Broad Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said Joseph Peabody, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Peabody,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Peabody, 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 "IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR OBTAIN-
ING MOTIVE POWER BY THE ACTION OF THE WIND," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Peabody, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Peabody, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The use of wind as a source of power, although very general, has, never-
theless, from the uncertainty of its force, limited its application. Various plans
have been adopted to obviate this difficulty; the furling and unfurling of sails,
turning the arms to and from the wind by aid of a regulator acting through
levers and springs, are the plans which have been most commonly used, but
they all complicate the machine, and materially add to its cost.
In the accompanying Drawing are several views of what the Inventor
denominates the "Essex wind wheel," the same having been designed to
obviate the above-mentioned inconveniences, and render wind wheels appli-
cable to the working of pumps, the driving of mills, and other machinery.
Fig. 1 is a front view of the improved wind wheel complete; Fig. 2 is a
sectional elevation, shewing somewhat of the internal construction; Fig. 3 is
a plan view of the turn-table which carries the wind wheel shaft; and Figures 4
shew the arrangement of anti-friction rollers employed for supporting the upper
part of the turn-table.
To enable others skilled in the art to understand the Invention, I will
proceed to explain the manner of carrying out the same, describing first the
method which is adopted by the Inventor for keeping the face of the wheel
turned constantly towards the wind, and then the device by which the wheel

page_text: is rendered self-regulating, and by which it adjusts itself to the varying force
of the wind. The wheel with its regulating apparatus is placed at the top of
the column H. F is a circular trough, secured to the top of the column H
by means of the socket G, and forming the bed for the turn-table. This
trough F is placed excentrically with respect to the post H, as it is necessary
that the pump rod should descend from the centre, round which the turn-table
revolves in a horizontal plane. The trough F is stayed to the column by
suitable braces I, and upon it rests the annular cover or turn-table E which
carries all the moving parts, and is similar in form to the trough F. The two
are so formed as to shed the rain from the annular space inclosed between
them, and are kept slightly separated by means of the anti-friction rollers u,
shewn at Figures 4 as mounted in a ring frame t. Upon those rollers the
upper portion of the annular table E revolves, and it is preserved from being
blown off its bearing by three ears or clamps o, see Fig. 3, two of which are
cast with the trough F, the third being applied by means of a dovetailed groove
after the parts are put together; this clamp is then secured by a pin. The
parts thus explained form a complete turn-table, the upper portion moving
upon the lower with but little friction. K is the shaft which carries the wind
wheel and its vane; it runs in boxes N upon the top of the annular table E.
The caps M, which confine the shaft in its place, are secured by pins L, which
pass through grooves in their upper surface. The vane or counterpoise S,
which serves the purpose of balancing the weight of the wind wheel, and
also of keeping the face of the latter always directed towards the wind, is
attached to the opposite end of the shaft K to that which carries the wheel.
It may be constructed either of sheet metal, or of canvas or other suitable
substance, stretched upon a wrought-iron frame.
I will now describe the wind wheel, and the device by which the force of
the wind is graduated. A is a disc of wood or sheet metal, secured to the
shaft K in any suitable manner and revolving with it; B is the wind wheel,
constructed of sheet metal or otherwise, the inclined vanes being permanently
secured to the rim and hub C. The wheel is fitted to the shaft K with a
feather, so that the two revolve together, while the wheel is allowed to move
to and from the disc A. q is a ring or circular plate, which slides freely upon
the shaft K, and is adjusted to a greater or less distance from the disc A
by the screws R. P is a helical spring, which surrounds the shaft K, and
bears against the hub of the wind wheel and the plate q. The wheel is
thus pressed constantly from the disc, the force of the spring being adjusted
by the screws R.

page_text: By this arrangement the disc A acts as a regulator to the wheel, the spring
P yielding whenever the force of the wind increases, by which means the
wheel is made to approach the disc, and the passage for the air between the
two is contracted; the velocity of the wheel is thus checked or prevented from
becoming excessive, and as the wind decreases the spring expands, and again
separating the wheel and disc, the wind is allowed to exert an increased power:
thus a variable wind is allowed to exert a constant power upon the pump. the
rod of which is connected to the crank upon the shaft K in the centre of
motion of the turn-table.
As a modification of this arrangement, the helical spring may be applied to
act upon the vanes of the wind. wheel, and cause them to close or open some-
what like shutters, and thereby increase or diminish (according to the force of
the wind) the action of that agent upon the wind wheel. This modification
is shewn in side elevation at Fig. 5 (the wheel being partly in section). and
in front view at Fig. 6. a* is the shaft of the wind wheel, the vanes b* of
which are pivotted to the ring c*. and to a moveable head or boss d*, which
slides freely upon the shaft; e* is the coiled spring, one end of which bears
upon the moveable head d*, and the other against a disc or head f*, which
is secured to the shaft. The vanes are connected with the stationary disc
by means of paralled rods g*, the rods being hooked into eyes * upon
one side of the pivots on which the vanes turn. As the wind increases
its pressure forces the moveable head d* back upon the shaft against the
action of the spring, and the vanes are thereby feathered, so as to present
a diminished surface to the action of the wind. When the force of the wind
decreases, the head d is thrown by the spring towards the end of the shaft.
whereby the vanes are returned to the position approaching that represented
at Fig. 6, and the wheel then presents an increased surface to the wind.
The velocity of the wind is thus rendered uniform, however varying may be
its force.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Machinery
for Obtaining Motive Power by the Action of the Wind," as communicated to
me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,
First, the employment of a wind wheel which is capable of sliding upon
its shaft by the pressure of the wind, and thereby with the aid of a counter-
acting spring of contracting or enlarging the passage for the wind, in the
manner and for the purpose above described.

page_text: Second, I claim securing the wind wheel to its support by means of a
turn-table, constructed and operating in the manner substantially as set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Peabody, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.