IMPROVE- MENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS FOR STEAM BOATS AND VESSELS."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Rossin Parkhurst, of the City and State of
New York, United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS FOR STEAM BOATS AND VESSELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Rossin Parkhurst
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd June 1856.
I, STEPHEN ROSSIN PARKHURST, of the City and State of New York, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS FOR STEAM BOATS AND VESSELS," to be as
follows:-
The shaft, arms, rings, and braces of the wheel are to be of any desired
character or size, and the shaft is to be supported in suitable journals, and
propelled by competent power.
My Invention relates to the paddles or buckets that are attached on said
wheel and arms, and consists in forming the same of metallic or other plates,
bent alternately backwards and forwards or zig zag, and a pair of these plates,
united at the points of contact with each other, form each of the buckets or
paddles, which are to be placed at proper distances around the wheel, thereby
each bucket is composed of a series of diamond shaped openings, which, with
some characters of paddle wheels used in smooth water, I propose to extend
by suitable plates towards the shaft as tapering chambers open at both ends.

page_text: My paddle buckets on entering the water will produce no concussion; the
points of the diamond shaped plates entering first, and the water rising within
the openings as said diamond shaped plates pass edgeways into the water, is
held therein as a resistance against which to propel the vessel, and on coming
out of the water the same runs freely away.
The diamond shaped buckets form also excellent ico breakers, not being
damaged by the same, and breaking the ice into small pieces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Stephen Rossin Parkhurst in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
ROSSIN PARKHURST, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, ler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Stephen Rossin Parkhurst, Пer special license, that I, the said Stephen Rossin
Parkhurst, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Stephen Rossin Parkhurst, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS FOR STEAM BOATS AND VESSELS," upon condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Stephen Rossin Parkhurst, 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 per-
formed, 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 Stephen Rossin Parkhurst, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved paddle wheel; Fig. 2 is a side
elevation of the same at right angles to the shaft; Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4
is a vertical section of one range of buckets separately. Similar marks of
reference denote the same parts.
In the construction of paddle wheels diagonal and V-shaped buckets have
been used, and also a continuous series of diagonal plates, leaving diamond-
shaped openings around the whole wheel.
The nature of my Invention, as distinguished from all others, consists in
constructing ranges of diamond-shaped buckets at suitable distances apart, the
the same being formed of straight plates, bent or formed into a zig-zag shape,
and jointed in pairs at the apex, thereby each range of buckets enters and
leaves the water diagonally, preventing jar and vibration that is now expe-
rienced with the paddle wheel. The water remains comparatively quiescent,
and a large body of water is acted on by each range of buckets. The wheel
will act equally well in either direction, and very little back water is lifted, and
the buckets entering corner first will act to break up or chop ice with but
little injury to themselves.
In the Drawing, a is the main shaft, supported and propelled in any usual
manner; b, b, are the arms connected to said shafts by the hubs c; d, d, are
rings connecting said arms together, and diagonal braces may also be made
use of in the ordinary way; c, e, are bent or zig-zag plates, attached or formed
together at the apexes or points, thereby obtaining ranges of diamond-shaped
openings or buckets. Any desired number of these buckets may be placed
around a wheel according to its size; and when the angles of these buckets
are connected by tie rods or bolts, as at 1, 1, a very strong wheel is obtained.
The plates of which the ranges of buckets are composed are straight, so that
the buckets do not assume the rounded form of the wheel; but the sharp
projecting angle first enters and divides the water, avoiding all concussion on
the same, consequently the buckets can be put so much farther apart without
causing vibration to the vessel, giving a larger body of water for each bucket
to act on; and any ice that may come in contact with the wheels is broken
up by these diamond-shaped buckets.
For steam boats navigating smooth waters I make use of conical chambers f,
see Figs. 3 & 4, extending from the inuer edge of the diamond-shaped buckets e
towards the main shaft, from once to twice the width of these buckets (e), see
also dotted lines, Fig. 1. These chambers tend to retain the water and present
greater resistance to the wheel, at the same time the water is freely discharged
at the rising side of the wheel.
It will be apparent that both the construction and operation of my paddle

page_text: wheel are different from those that have preceded it, for my buckets do not
conform to the circumference of the wheel, but are a series of straight diamond-
shaped boxes, giving to the wheel (e) a polygonal instead of a circular form,
and said buckets always act in a straight line on the water in the best position
to propel the vessel; and as the buckets can be very large and some distance
apart, on account of not producing a jar on entering the water, a mass of
comparatively quiescent water is used as a resistance to the wheel.
What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, constructing the
separate buckets of paddle wheels of a series of diamond-shaped openings or
boxes with straight edges, acting in the manner and for the purposes specified;
and in combination with said diamond-shaped buckets, I claim the conical or
tapering chambers f, for the purposes and as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Rossin Parkhurst, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of October, A. D. One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witnesses,
LEMUEL W. SERRELL,
STEPHEN R. PARKHURST. (L.S.)
289, Broadway, New York.
THOMAS G. IIAROLD,
289, Broadway, N. Y.