AN IMPROVED FEATHERING SCREW PROPELLER WITH FIXED BLADES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Livingstone, of 51, Glengall Road, Poplar,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of ." AN
IMPROVED FEATHERING SCREW PROPELLER WITH FIXED BLADES."
Sealed the 20th May 1864, and dated the 11th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Livingstone at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1863.
I, WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, of 51, Glengall Road, Poplar, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED FEATHERING SCREW PROPELLER WITH FIXED BLADES," to be as
follows:-
Instead, as is at present the case, of fastening the boss of the screw propeller
on the shaft, and of making the blades moveable, I intend to make the boss
and the blade solid, and to fasten the boss on the shaft in such a manner that
the whole screw may be turned on the shaft, either by making the boss with a
groove around the circumference traversing the length of the blades, and
making the shaft forked, which fork will be fitted with bearings for the
reception of the groove of the boss, and properly secured when the propeller

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Livingstone in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LIVINGSTONE, of 51, Glengall Road, Poplar, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Livingstone, Her special licence that I, the said William
Livingstone, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Livingstone, 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 "AN
IMPROVED FEATHERING SCREW PROPELLER WITH FIXED BLADES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Livingstone, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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
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.
was to be
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Livingstone, 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:-
:
The qualification of the screw propeller as an auxilliary power for sailing
vessels being generally admitted, various constructions of the same have been
introduced, with a view of ascertaining the most effective dimensions for
length, diameter, and pitch, and the number of blades. The difficulty of

page_text: shipping and unshipping the screw propeller has produced various kinds of
feathering propellers more or less effective, but nearly all of them constructed
on the principle of making the blades moveable on the boss, so as to allow
them to be set at different angles to each other, or (instead of unshipping the
screw) both blades in a line with the dead wood. The complication of
mechanism required to work the moveable blades, the difficulty of working
the apparatus when at sea, and insufficient strength of the whole are among
the many reasons why the application of a feathering screw propeller is so
very limited, nevertheless it is certain that it is a desideratum of very great
importance.
My Invention is to supply a feathering screw propeller having all the
advantages of a feathering and fixed screw propeller, for the propeller in
itself is one solid easting or forging; the apparatus for feathering the same
consists of very few parts, and I believe that it will act with speed and accuracy.
The accompanying Drawing, made to the scale of a quarter of an inch to
the foot, will explain my Invention, and I have used the same letters for the
corresponding parts in the different views, of which letters I will make use
in my description of the Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan of a ship's stern, showing
the position of the propeller when working under steam only, and representing
the feathering apparatus at the moment when the engines are stopped for the
propeller to be turned into another position; Fig. 3 is an elevation, and Figure 4
is a plan of a ship's stern showing the position of the propeller, either not
working, or working under steam and canvass, and by comparing Figure 2
and Figure 4 together, it shows itself plain that the position of the propeller
in Figure 4 offers far less resistance to the propulsion of the vessel under
canvass as in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a longitudinal, and Figure 6 is a horizontal
section of the propeller and feathering apparatus showing the propeller locked
in its place; Figure 7 is a horizontal section of the propeller when unlocked.
and ready to be turned; Figure 8 is a plan of deck, showing the respective.
positions of the turning lever and the moveable fulcrum, by which means the
propeller may be unlocked and locked again with one motion of the lever.
A is a two-bladed screw propeller, blades and boss cast or forged in one
piece; the boss itself, instead being bored out for the reception of the driving
shaft, has a circular groove in the centre for the reception of the bearing B
and B'; Figure 5, B, is one half of the bearing, and is fitted and keyed on the
driving shaft C; B' is the other half of the bearing fitted into B, and fastened.
to it by screw bolts b, b, forming at the same time an after bearing for the

page_text: driving shaft C turning on the bracket F, properly secured by screws or rivets
to the rudder post R. The inner periphery of the bearing B and B' is fitted
with two half brass bearings a and a, to reduce the friction of the propeller in
its bearing; both bearings Band-B', with their brasses, when fitted into the
groove of the boss and screwed together will hold the propeller like a strap
around an eccentric, and carry it round with the driving shaft together;
besides allowing the propeller to be turned around its longitudinal axis. The
half bearing B has two holes opposite each other, in which 2 feathers or lock
pieces are sliding, c and c, Figure 6, which may be moved into corresponding
recesses e, e, e, e, of the boss, whereby the propeller can be locked into its
required position (and kept there until the feathers c and c are withdrawn
from the recesses). The other end of the feathers c and c fits loosely into a
grooved disc D, which disc will remain stationery while the feathers are
revolving with the driving shaft. This disc has on its outer periphery,
diametrically opposite, two pivots moving in two inclined slots of the frame E.
The inner width of the frame E is little larger than the diameter of the
disc D, so as to allow the disc and the feathers c, c, to slide into or out of the
recesses without friction against the sides of the frame E. The inner length
of the frame E is equal to the diameter of the disc D plus the length of the
inclined slots, so that the frame can be raised or lowered (the length of the
slots); the consequent action of the inclined slots against the pivots of
the disc D will be that the feathers c and c will be pushed into the recesses
when the frame E descends, and withdrawn when the frame rises. From the
deck vertically down through the stern frame P, Figure 5, in a line with the
longitudinal axis of the propeller when in vertical position goes a-rod G of
sufficient thickness, turning in glands g, properly packed to prevent the
entrance of water. This rod carries on the end projecting out of the stern
frame a square piece of iron slotted out at the bottom, sufficient deed and wide
as to fit into the blade like a spanner, Figure 1. The end of the rod G above
deck is jointed with the turning lever L, its fulcrum m being 1-shaped, moves
in a 1-shaped circular groove n, Figure 5 and Figure 8. The bottom end of
the rod G which forms the spanner carries a ring o in a groove. This ring is
jointed with the lever K, having its fulcrum in f, Figure 1 and Figure 3, and
the other end of the lever K is jointed to the frame E. The working of the
apparatus will be this:-When the lever L, Figure 8, is lifted at one end up,
the other end, with the rod G and the spanner will go downward to lay hold
of the propeller blade; at the same time the rod G will press one end of the
lever K. down, while the other end with the frame E will be lifted up, and

page_text: the action of the inclined slots against the disc D will withdraw the feathers c, c,
from the recesses in the boss, consequently the propeller will be unlocked at
the same time, when the spanner bas laid hold of the blade, and merely. by
altering the vertical, motion of the lever, L into an horizontal one from N to O,
Figure 8, or vice versa, the propeller will make the required turning on its
longitudinal axis in the bearing B and B. This being done, the motion of
the lever L is altered again to a downward one, whereby the rod G is raised,
the spanner loses its hold of the blade, and the end of the lever K jointed to
the rod G will rise, and the other end with the frame E will go down, and the
inclined slots push the feathers c, c, again into the recesses of the boss, thereby
locking the propeller in the required position.
Having said this much to make the accompanying Drawing and the
principle of my Invention better understood, it remains for me to show what
advantages I believe may be gained thereby.
Firstly, the greatly reduced resistance of the propeller against the pro-
pulsion of a vessel by sails only, by turning the screw into the position shown
in Figure 4.
Secondly, the possibility of avoiding what is called the "draging of the
screw" when the ship runs under sails and steam, by turning the propeller
into the position shown in Figure 4, whereby the screw is made to revolve
with a coarser pitch, and the body of dead water carried against the screw
offers less resistance.
Third, if running under steam only the alteration of the propeller from a
fine pitched one, Figure 2, to a coarse pitched one, Figure 4, may be very
useful at sea.
Fourth, if by chance the engines could not be reversed, the vessel can be
made to go astern while the engines are running ahead, merely by turning the
propeller.
Fifth, in case the rudder being carried away by a heavy sea, the propeller
may be used as a substitute for it if the engines are stopped, by keeping the
rod G down, and the spanner on the blade.
Having thus described the nature and object of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is or may be carried into effect, I would observe in
conclusion, that I have mentioned a two-bladed screw, but I do not confine
myself to that number, or to the precise details herein given, as they may be
varied as circumstances may require without departing from the general
principles of my Invention; but what I claim and desire to be secured under
the herein-before recited Letters Patent, is, the improved feathering screw

page_text: propeller with fixed blades, to revolve around its longitudinal axis by means of
a groove turned in the centre, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated on the Drawings, or any mere modification or imitation thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Livingstone, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord!
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE. (L.S.)