IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PROPELLERS, AND IN ARRANGE- MENTS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb
Hancock, both of Dudley, in the County of Worcester, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PROPELLERS, AND IN ARRANGE-
MENTS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS."
Sealed the 12th June 1868, and dated the 17th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Lamb Hancock
and Charles Lamb Hancock at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 17th December 1867.
We, FREDERICK LAMB HANCOCK and CHARLES LAMB HANCOCK, both of
Dudley, in the County of Worcester, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PROPELLERS, AND IN
ARRANGEMENTS FOR PROPELLING VESSELS," to be as follows:- .
The first part of our Invention consists in a particular construction or form:
of the blades of propellers, the curve or lines of which are obtained from a
hollow cone, as hereafter described. We divide the cone by a central vertical
line from the apex to the base, and we form each blade from one half of this"
cone. For this purpose we secure one of the straight edges of the half cone
to the propeller shaft or to a boss or ball on the shaft, the apex of the cone.
being towards the vessel; but before being so secured a portion of the half cone
at the back part may be removed. The angle at the apex of the cone from
which we obtain the lines of our blades may be a right angle or greater or less
than a right angle. We employ any desired number of blades.

page_text: The second part of our Invention consists in providing means or an arrange-
ment for altering the pitch of propeller blades. We cast each blade with or
key to it a worm wheel or toothed wheel at its inner end; adjoining the wheel
the blade has a neck or groove, and the wheel and neck are received in the
propeller boss. We carry transversely through the boss a rod with a worm
or pinion which gears into the wheel on the blade, so that by turning the rod
'the position or pitch of the blade is altered. To secure the blade at any
desired pitch we fit a split ring into the neck or groove before mentioned,
and we screw up this ring by screws passed through the boss.
The third part of our Invention consists in arranging one or more propellers
for ocean work at such a depth below the level of the vessel's bottom that the
propeller or propellers cannot be worked in shallow water, but must then be
placed athwart; also in arranging in connection with this propeller or these
propellers one or more smaller propellers at a higher level, and we drive the
smaller propeller or propellers in shallow water or when approaching the
shore when the larger propeller or propellers is or are placed athwart. When
we use two large propellers we work them as twin propellers, likewise when we
use two small propellers. The propellers may sometimes be fitted to work
partly out of the water.
The fourth part of our Invention relates to hydro-propulsion, and consists
in placing a screw propeller on a vertical shaft, the diameter of the propeller
being equal or nearly equal to the width of the vessel. The propeller is fitted
in a chamber into which the water enters at the bottom; the propeller forces
it along a channel in the vessel, and it is discharged from this channel into,
above, or upon the main body of water. Sometimes the water enters above
the propeller from the sides, and is discharged below on a line with the
keel.
The fifth part of our Invention consists in an arrangement or means for
preventing the increased velocity or "skidding" of propellers when the stern
is lifted out of the water by the pitching of the vessel. For this purpose we
employ a buoy or analogous appliance connected by a rod or cord to an
arrangement of levers or mechanical appliances for operating a break or for
cutting off or partly cutting off the steam of the engine. The buoy works in
a chamber or otherwise at the stern of the vessel, and when the stern rises the
buoy falls, and thereby acts on the levers or mechanical appliances and produces
the effect before described; the engine is thus prevented going at an injurious
Sueed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent; filed
by the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock.in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th June 1868..
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
LAMB HANCOCK and CHARLES LAMB HANCOCK, both of Dudley, in the County
of Worcester, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord'
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock, Her special licence
that we, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederick
Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock, our 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 Freland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PROPELLERS, AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR
PROPELLING VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles Lamb Hancock, or one of us, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or one of
our, 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 we, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock and Charles
Lamb Hancock, do hereby declare the nature of our 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
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The first part of our Invention consists in a particular construction or form
of the blades of propellers, the curve or lines of which are obtained from a
hollow cone as hereafter described. We divide the cone a, Figure 1, by a
central vertical line 6 from the apex to the base, and we form each blade from
one half of this cone (Figure 2 represents one of the half cones). For this
purpose we secure one of the straight edges of the half cone to the propeller,

page_text: shaft, as shown in Figure 3, or to a boss or ball on the shaft, the apex of the
cone being towards the vessel; but before being so secured a portion of the
half cone at the back part may be removed, as shown by the dotted lines in
Figure 8, and by the forms of the several screws shown in the Drawings.
The angle at the apex of the cone from which we obtain the lines of our blades
may be a right angle or greater or less than a right angle. The angle at the
apex of the cone shewn in Figure 1 is a right angle, which we prefer.
Figure 2 shows the half of a cone, the angle at the apex of which is less than a
right angle. We employ any desired number of blades, Figure 4 is a back
view and Figure 5 a side view of a propeller with two blades, the blades
being obtained from a cone the angle at the apex of which is less than a
right angle. Figure 6 represents a propeller the blades of which are obtained
from a cone the angle at the apex of which is more than a right angle;
Figure 7 represents a propeller with four blades obtained from right-angled
cones. The blades of the propellers shown in Figures 9. to 13 are also all
obtained from right-angled cones.
->
The second part of our Invention consists in providing means or an
arrangement for altering the pitch of propeller blades. This part of our
Invention is represented in Figure 8. We cast each blade a with or key to it
a worm wheel or toothed wheel 6 at its inner end; adjoining the wheel the
blade has a neck or groove c, and the wheel 6 and neck c are received in the
propeller boss d; we carry transversely through the boss a rod e with a
worm for pinion which gears into the wheel b on the blade so that by turning
the rod the position or pitch of the blade is altered. To secure the blade at
any desired pitch we fit two half rings g into the neck or groove c, and we
screw up this ring 9 by screws h passed through the boss.
The third part of our Invention consists in arranging one or more propellers
for ocean work at such a depth below the level of the vessel's bottom that the
propeller or propellers cannot be worked in shallow water, but must then be
placed athwart; also in arranging in connection with this propeller or these
propellers one or more smaller propellers at a higher level, and we drive the
smaller propeller or propellers in shallow water or when approaching the shore
when the larger propeller or propellers is or are placed athwart. When we
use two large propellers we work them as twin propellers, likewise when we
use two small propellers. This part of our Invention is represented in Figures
9, 10, and 11. In Figures 9 and 10, a is a propeller of large diameter fitted
to work partly below the bottom of the vessel and up to about the surface
of the water; 6 is a propeller of smaller diameter fitted at a higher level
for the purpose of being worked in shallow water when the propeller a

page_text: is placed athwart, as shewn in Figure 10. In Figure 11 a is a propeller
of large diameter; and b, b, are twin propellers of smaller diameter to be
worked when the propeller. a is placed athwart. Our object in using
screw propellers of so large a diameter as to work from the surface of the
water to below the bottom of the vessel is to avoid the great amount of slip
which takes place in all small screw propellers, and in order to enable the
engine to attain the same given number of revolutions per minute we make
our large diameter propellers with narrow blades, as seen in Figures 9, 10,
and 11; we thereby obtain an increased speed with the same engine, or by:
making the blades a little broader the engine works more slowly but the
vessel attains the same speed as with a propeller of the ordinary diameter.
The fourth part of our Invention relates to bydro-propulsion, and consists
in placing a screw propeller on a vertical shaft, the diameter of the propeller
being equal or nearly so to the width of the vessel where the propeller
works. Figure 12 shows this arrangement. a is the propeller; it is fitted
on a vertical shaft 6 and works in a chamber c into which the water enters
at the bottom at d; the propeller forces it along a channel è in the vessel, and
it is discharged from this channel into, above, or upon the main body of water;
f is a second channel to be used when backing,, the channel e being then
closed; is the keel. Sometimes the water enters above the propeller from
the sides and is discharged below on a line with the keel. By this arrangement
we are able to introduce the economy obtain from a screw propeller of large
diameter into a shallow boat or vessel.
The fifth part of our Invention consists in an arrangement or means for
preventing the increased velocity or "skidding" of propellers when the stern
is lifted out of the water by the pitching of the vessel. For this purpose we
employ a buoy or analogous appliance, as represented at a in Figure 13,
connected by a rod or cord b to an arrangement of levers or mechanical
appliances c, c, for operating a break d or for cutting off or partly cutting off
the steam of the engine. The buoy a works in a chamber e or otherwise
at the stern of the vessel, and when the stern rises the buoy falls and thereby
nets by its own weight on the levers or mechanical appliances c, c, and
produces the effect before described; the engine is thus prevented going at an
injurious speed.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as our
improvements in and connected with propellers and in arrangements for
propelling vessels,―
First. Constructing the blades of propellers as herein-before described, that

page_text: is to say, blades the curve or lines of which are obtained from a hollow cone;
as herein-before explained.
Second. The arrangement or combination of parts substantially as herein-
before described for altering the pitch of propeller blades and securing them at
the desired pitch.
Third. The combination or arrangement in vessels substantially as herein-
before described of one or more propellers of large diameter working below
the bottom of the vessel and up to about the waterline, and of one or more
propellers of smaller diameter to be worked. in shallow water when the larger
propeller or propellers is or are placed athwart, as herein-before explained..
Fourth. The arrangement for hydro-propulsion substantially as herein-before,
described of a screw propeller on a vertical shaft and being of a diameter
equal or nearly so. to the width of the vessel where the propeller works.
Fifth. The arrangement or combination of parts substantially as herein-.
before described for preventing the increased velocity or skidding of propellers
when the stern is lifted out of the water.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Lamb Hancock, for myself
and on behalf of the said Charles Lamb Hancock, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-eight.