A NOVEL SYSTEM OF PROPULSION, APPLI- CABLE TO LAND AND WATER
Year: 1856

page_text: application for Letters Patent was not given within the time prescribed
by the Act.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred Vincent Newton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1856.-A communication from François Garnier, Merchant,
of Clermond Ferrand, in the Empire of. France..
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for A NOVEL SYSTEM OF PROPULSION, APPLI-
CABLE TO LAND AND WATER, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly to a novel system of locomotion upon land,
wherein compressed air (or water) is employed as the propelling power, and
which the Inventor denominates as Garnier's aerial railway. The carriage
to be propelled, instead of running upon a railway upon vertical wheels in the
ordinary manner is mounted upon six horizontal wheels, the peripheries of
which run in grooves made in the outsides of the masonry of the road, which
is raised some distance from the ground. These horizontal wheels (of which
there are four in front, and two behind,) are coupled together, and actuated
in such a manner as always to preserve their parallelism with the body of the
carriage. The road upon which the carriage runs is provided with an
atmospheric tube, the upper extremity of which terminates in plates of a double
V form, and which are pressed together by means of pads furnished with counter-
weighted rods. The atmospheric valve is opened by means of a series of
jointed arms outside the road or way, connected by means of an arrangement of

page_text: levers with the counterweighted levers above mentioned; or instead of counter-
weighted levers, the atmospheric valve may be kept closed by means of springs,
which will be acted upon from the outside, and open the valve in a similar
manner. When therefore these jointed arms are depressed, by means of a
sliding lever acted upon by the driver, they will raise the counterweights and
allow the valve to open, the compressed air will then rush into a collapsible air
chest underneath the carriage, and thus tend to lighten its draught, and the
air passing from this chest will act upon inclined wings mounted at the sides of
the carriage and propel it forward. When it is required to reverse the direction
of motion of the carriage or to stop it, it is only necessary to alter the
inclination of the wings by means of a crank, under the command of the driver.
When the motion has been thus reversed and it is required to stop, this is
effected by opening a valve in the air chest, thus allowing the air to escape
.without producing any effect. For the purpose of ascending, inclines, an
arrangement is provided, by which the driver is enabled to act upon the air
chest and raise its hinder jointed end, the forward end retaining its former
position, by which means a larger quantity of compressed air will be caused to
'act
upon'
the hinder than on the forward end of the air chest, thus bringing it
into a horizontál position, by which means the draught of the carriage will be
as easy as if it were running on a level. For descending inclines, the action
must be reversed; or instead of this arrangement, the air chest may, be jointed
to the carriage in such manner as to be capable of rocking vertically on its
axis, so that by means of apparatus under the command of the driver, it may
.be brought into a horizontal position when required. The atmospheric tube
should be of larger diameter where inclines occur than on levels.
In order to apply this principle to the propulsion of vessels on water, the
[vessel is suspended in a rectangular tubular frame, to which it is attached by
links in such a manner as to be capable of rising and falling therein. The
>vessel is provided at its lower part with an air chamber, and on compressed
air being forced therein by means of a steam engine above, the vessel will be
caused, to rise in the frame; the air flowing through this chamber will make
its exit at the back in larger quantity than in front, and will consequently
propel the vessel forward. For this purpose an engine of only half the power
required to work a screw will be required. This arrangement the Inventor
calls "Garnier's hydro carriage."