IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS."
-A communication from abroad by Alfred Colburn Loud, of San
Francisco, in the State of California, United States of America.
Scaled the 6th April 1869, and dated the 14th November 1868.

page_text: (more or less), so that the inner faces of such wheels or discs shall
approach or meet each other upon one side and diverge from each
other on the other side, the two or more discs forming (when thus
secured to the shaft) a single wheel, which in general outline is in
the form of a wedge.
wedge. Propellers constructed in this manner are
mounted on the paddle wheel shaft in place of the ordinary paddle-
wheels,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Newton, Her special licence
that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Edward Newton, 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 PROPELLING VESSELS," being a communication to me from abroad by
Alfred Colburn Loud, of San Francisco, in the State of California, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that me, the said
Henry Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
The object of this Invention is to provide an improved device for
propelling vessels, whereby, as compared with other methods now
known or in use, greatly increased speed is obtained, as well as other
important advantages.
To this end the Invention consists in the employment of one, two,
four, or any other practical number of circular discs or annular rims or
wheels, mounted obliquely, and in different directions, upon a shaft,
and connected together either at their edges or along common chords
or diametrical lines. The angle which represents the obliquity of the
discs or rings with relation to their supporting shaft is preferred to be
about fifteen degrees, but may be varied should any other inclination be
required.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent a side
elevation and a perspective plan view of one form of the improved wheel
in which two discs or rims are employed connected together at their
edge on one side of the shaft.
Fig. 3 represents another form in which the two discs or rims
intersect each other along a common diametrical line.
Fig. 4 represents another form in which four discs or rims are
employed each of which intersects all the others at regular intervals
around the perimeter of the wheel, the coincident lines of any intersecting
pair being diametrical.
Fig. 5 represents a method of bracing the discs or rims.
A represents the shaft, and B the wheel, the latter being composed
either of discs or annular rims b,-61, 62, 6, arranged as above described,
and connected to the shaft directly or by hubs and spokes, whichever is
preferred, and according to the service required of the propeller. The
oblique arrangement of the discs or rings with reference to their
supporting shaft and their inclination to each other when more than
one are employed are clearly shown in the Drawings, and need no further

page_text: description. The discs or rings when two or more are used either touch
each other at their outer edges as at a, a, Figs. 1 and 2, or intersect
along lines common to pairs as seen at o, o, Figs. 3, 4, and 5, and are
intended to be smooth on both sides or faces. They may be made of
wood or metal, as thin as consistent, with strength and durability. It
is proposed to make them about the same diameter as the ordinary steam-
boat paddle wheel, so that they may be mounted on the common shaft
and may be revolved in the ordinary wheel houses. The discs or rims
composing each pair are united at the points a oro (as the case may
be), by bolts, rivets, screws, or in any other suitable manner, so that
when united they form a single wheel. In the wheel shewn in Figures 1
and 2, the diverging points E, F, are designed to be distant from each
other about the length of the paddle wheel buckets or floats. The
dotted lines indicate the position of the wheel when it. has made half a
revolution. G represents the water line, it being designed to sink the
wheel a little deeper in the water than the ordinary paddle wheel.
From the lateral swaying of this wheel during its rotations its action on
the water approaches nearly to that of the tail of a fish in its effect, or
to that of an oar when used in sculling. It enters the water as a wedge
and lifts little or no water in rising. The propelling force is exerted
constantly during the revolutions of the wheel, therchy giving a steady
and uniform motion to the boat, with an impetus greatly exceeding that
imparted by the common paddle wheel from the application of a given
power. In the wheel represented in Fig. 3, the discs or rims are united
along a common diameter whereby the wheel occupies less lateral space
in the wheel house, while the effect upon the water is equal to or perhaps
greater than that of the device shown in Fig. 1. Both wheels are the
same in principle, however, and their effect upon the water is nearly
the same. When either this form of wheel or that represented in
Figures 1 and 2 is used, braces m', n', (Fig. 5) may be employed to
strengthen and support the discs or rims, said braces either connecting
the edges of the discs as at m², or extending from such edges to the
shaft as at n¹. The best form of wheel however is that shewn in Fig. 4
consisting of four annular rims b, b', b, b, attached to a hub h by
spokes i, i, and intersecting each other at o, o, o, o, at which points the
rims may be soldered, bolted, or otherwise firmly. fastened together, or
may simply pass each other without being thus attached together. By
this peculiar construction a system of diamond shaped spaces or
buckets z, z, z, z, will be arranged around the middle of the periphery.

page_text: of the wheel, and alongside of such series of buckets on either side
thereof a system of triangular or half diamond spaces or buckets v, v, v,
the acute terminal angles of the side buckets coming opposite to the
obtuse lateral angles of the central buckets. By this construction the
wheel not only has the full advantage of the lateral swaying motion
herein-before referred to, but it also has the full effect of a system of
direct-action buckets formed by the intersection of the rings; said
buckets enter and leave the water with the smallest amount of friction
or back action, and exert their power to the best advantage. In addition
to this advantage in operation the several rims interlaced together,
mutually brace and strengthen each other, thus forming a very strong
and most durable propelling wheel. Besides all those advantages the
buckets are arranged uniformly around the perimeter of the wheel, so
that the. propelling action is even smooth and uniform. Instead of
annular rims a series of entire discs may be employed (see Fig. 5),
such a wheel however is a mere modification of this Invention.
Any number of spokes and hubs, and any form and construction
thereof, may be employed. By reason of the inclination of the rims or
discs the outline of the entire wheel is not strictly circular bus has
excentric protuberances upon its several sides depending upon the
number of rims or discs employed. The perimeter of the wheel may
however if preferred be turned or cast to a perfect circle. A cylinder,
whether solid or hollow, attached to the shaft and occupying the space
between it and the rims, the latter being fastened to or supported by the
cylinder, is an obvious modification of this Invention.
The rings may also be made of continuous pieces of metal, or each
may be made up of segments so arranged that their outline will cor-
respond with that of the wheel represented in the Drawings.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention as communi-
cated to me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that
I do not intend to limit myself to the precise details of construction
herein shewn, but desire to be at liberty to avail myself of the same
arrangement of one or more oblique discs or rims, whether attached to
the shaft in one or another way, whether each disc or rim be in one
piece or several pieces, and whether or not the several discs be united at
their edges or along their cominon chords.
I claim, therefore, a propeller wheel, consisting of one, two, or more

page_text: oblique propelling rims or discs, either united at one edge or intersecting
each other at a common chord or diameter as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT.
66 Chancery Lane.
H. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)