Improvements in Apparatus for the Propulsion of Boats.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 29th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 24th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for the Propulsion of Boats.
I, HENRY VAUGHAN 73 Berkeley Road Bishopston Bristol, Commission Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The
The propulsion of boats, by manual labour, by means of apparatus, driving
either single or twin screw propellers, side paddles, or stern driving wheel. The
handles or levers for working this apparatus are so arranged, that a person sits and
follows almost exactly the same motion that is now required in using oars.
apparatus can be worked sitting face to bows, and having full controll of rudder
under the feet. Arrangements are made by lengthening main bars of lever, and
adding a number of other handles, so that any number of persons can work direct
on to driving gear, so that in the case of life boats, or ships boats, a crew of men,
could sit and follow almost the exact motion, that oars would require, and the
whole power of the crew would be concentrated direct to the driving gear. By
these means vastly increased power and speed would be aquired over the old
fashioned mode of rowing with oars. A crew of men, could sit and work, either
faces to bows or, backs to bows, or, half one way and half the other. The only
parts of apparatus exposed outside the boat, would be the propeller or propellers,
or driving paddles as the case may be, so that a crew of men could work under a
covered, or hurricaned deck, protected from sea and wind, none of their strength
being wasted, but their whole energy going direct to the propeller. To enable me
to aquire these results, I fix at the sides and the bottom of boat, brackets and
carriages to carry my gear. I place on my main plate, or carriage, two toothed
wheels which will call A. & B. respectively, connected with these by means of
spindles and shafting are other wheels, of different sizes, necessary for getting
required speed, and working direct to main shaft of propeller.
To put my apparatus to work I have now to revolve the wheels A. & B. On the
faces of these wheels A. & B. is an outer and inner toothed ratchet, the ratchet
teeth on A. being cut exactly the opposite way to those on B. Over these
wheels A. & B. I place my lever, formed as a square, but each corner working
loose on a spindle, the ends of one bar of lever are placed on the spindles which
carry wheels A. & B. and becomes fixed in position on the spindles, but still
allowing the other three bars forming the lever to work freely backwards and
forwards. I then take another bar, on the one end of which is connected my
driving handle, and I pivot this to the middle of the fast bar of lever, and also to
the opposite bar of lever which works loosely, so by pushing driving handle back-
wards or pulling it forward, this lever works in a easy see-saw fashion over the
wheels A. & B. On each of the side bars of lever, I place two catches, over the
ratchets of each wheel, only the outer catches and ratchets are used for driving
forward, the inner catches and ratchets being held in position by a lever arrange-
ment, and used for reversing the gear when necessary, so that the ratchets being
cut reverse ways in wheels A. & B. the catches grip, and release themselves
alternately, as the lever is worked backwards and forwards, thus revolving
wheels A. & B. always in the same direction whichever way lever is being worked.
When necessary to reverse gear, a lever raises catches over the outer ratchets, and
allow those over the inner ratchets to come into play reversing the propeller, while
still continuing same motion with the lever. This same gearing is carried out on

page_text: both sides of the boat. The reverse action can be applied to either set of gear, or
to both, at the same time, one set working independently of the other.
Dated this First day of March 1893.
Improvements in Apparatus for the Propulsion of Boats.
I, HENRY VAUGHAN 73 Berkeley Road, Bishopston, Bristol, in the County of
Gloucestershire England, Commission Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an apparatus suitable for the propulsion of boats on the
water, or submarine or aerial by means of single or twin screw propellers, side
paddles or stern paddles. One feature of my invention, is that the handles or levers
for working this apparatus are so arranged that a person or persons sit and follow
almost exactly the same motion as that required in useing oars. The apparatus
can be worked sitting either face to bows or back to bows, and the rudder can be
controlled by the feet. Arrangements are also made by lengthening the main bars
of levers, and adding a number of handles, so that any number of persons can work
direct on to the driving gear, so that in case of life boats, and ships boats, a crew
of men can sit and follow almost the same motion as they would do in using oars,
and the whole power of the crew would be concentrated direct on the driving gear.
By these means vastly increased speed and power would be acquired over the old-
fashioned way of rowing with oars, my apparatus supplying a continuous rotatory
motion.
In Fig. 4. a plan of a life boat or ships boat is shewn fitted up in this manner,
where X is the driving gear, to be afterwards described, and R. Q. are the
lengthened bars of the levers, and K. the handles of levers. A crew of men could
thus sit, and work either face to bows, or back to bows, or, half the crew one way,
and half the crew the other.
The only parts of the apparatus exposed outside of the boat, would be the propeller,
or propellers, either single screw, twin screws side paddles, or stern paddle, as the
case may be, so that a man or a crew of men, as the case may be, could work under
a hurricane deck, or covered boat, protected from sea and wind, or in a suitably
constructed submarine boat, or in a suitably constructed aerial boat, and none of
their strength wasted, as their whole energy would be transmitted direct, by a
continuous rotatory motion to the propellers.
To enable me to acquire these results, I fix at the sides and bottom of the boat,
suitable brackets and carriages to serve as bearings for my gear, on the bed plate
which is carried by these brackets, fix and bolt two spindles S. S. (Fig. 1. plan
view) which carry wheels A. A. Fig. 1. on these spindles revolve the two toothed
and ratcheted wheels A. A. Fig. 1. which revolve together but in opposite
directions. Connected with these wheels A. A. Fig. 1 are other wheels, spindles
and shafting of suitable sizes for getting the necessary speed and connected to main
shaft of propeller or propellers.
Two preferable, but not absolutely necessary ways, of gearing up are shewn on
drawings Fig. 3 and 4. and explained hereafter.
On the upper surface of wheels A. A. I fix, or cast on, two concentric rings,
having ratchets cut on their upper surface, the inner ring having the ratchets cut in
an opposite direction to those on the outer rings these rings are shewn in Fig. 1.
and 2. at E. and E 1.
Over these wheels and ratchets, I place my lever formed as a square, working
loosely at the corners on the studs S. S. Fig. 1. The ends of one bar F. Fig. 1.

page_text: of my lever, are placed on the fixed spindles S. S. which carry the wheels A. A.
and the bar becomes fixed in position on the spindles, but still allowing the other
three bars G. G. and N. and handle bar H: forming the lever, to work freely'
backwards and forwards.
I then take another bar H. Fig. 1. on the one end of which is fixed my driving
handle K. Fig. 1. and pivot the other end M. Fig. 1. to the centre of the fast.
bar F. of the lever, and also the bar H. Fig. 1. to the bar N. Fig. 1. both of which
pivots work loosely, so that by pushing the driving handle K. backwards, or
pulling it forward, the lever works In an easy see-saw manner over the
wheels A. A.
On each of the side bars of lever G. G. Fig. 1. I place two catches over each
wheel, one on either side of the bars G. G. these catches are shewn in Fig. 1. 2
and 3. letters O. O 1.
:
Only the two outer catches O1. and the two outer ratchets E 1. are used for
driving forward, the other two catches O. are held up meanwhile by the lever
arrangement P. P. worked by the reversing handle R. and connecting rod R 1.
The catches O. are used for reversing.
On moving the handle R. Fig. 1. in towards the driving handle K. the levers P
are thrown on the top of the snugs, or horns, left on the catches and raise these
catches O1. and at the same time allow the catches O. to fall and grip the inner
ratchets, thus reversing the whole gear while the motion of the handles continue
the same.
In Fig. 1. the whole action is shewn reversed, the catches O. gripping, and
catches 1. being held up by lever P. P. which lever when not reversing is kept
in position by a suitable spring. During the driving either backwards or forwards
the pair of catches working together, catch into the ratchets on the wheels A. A.
alternately, the teeth on the outer ratchet E 1. wheel A. being cut in an opposite
direction to those on the other wheel A. so that on pulling the driving lever
forward one catch grips, the other running free, the instant lever is pushed
backward the other catch grips and the first one runs free, thus keeping up a
continuous rotatory motion, which, as said before is transmitted to the propellers
by suitable shafting, wheels and connecting rods.
In Fig. 2. a side elevation, I shew one of the methods, I prefer, as referred to
before. A. A. are the two main wheels, and, EE the ratchets. Wheel A. has a
bevelled wheel, cast or bolted on underneath, so as to turn with it, this wheel Y
gears in with a bevilled wheel Z having a crank fixed on to it, this crank works
round a suitable wheel connected to the paddle wheel at the stern of boat, this
connection is most suitable for driving stern paddles.
:
Fig. 3. a detail view shews the other method of connecting up, most suitable for
working single or twin screw propellers. Instead of a crank I gear in a small wheel T
into the bevelled wheel Y and key into this wheel a slopeing shaft, having a bevilled
wheel at the lower end, into this works another bevilled wheel which is keyed onto
the main propeller shaft. U. shews a side view and U 1. end view, looking from
stern to bows.
This apparatus as shown in drawings Fig. 1. 2 and 3 is fixed on each side of boat
and either side apparatus can be worked independantly of the other.
Some of the advantages of my apparatus as described above, are as follows,
With a small boat and a stern paddle, very shallow and narrow water-ways may
be traversed.
For pleasure boats it will be a great advantage on crowded rivers not to have
long pars in the way when passing and re-passing other hoats, and at the same time
retain almost the same graceful movement as in useing oars.
In the case of life boats the crew could be protected from wind and water and
therefore be better able to battle with a rough sea in putting out to a vessel in
distress.
The same advantages would also be to hand in the case of boats carried by all
our ocean steamers and sailing vessels.

page_text: For submarine boats it would be very valuable, no part of the apparatus being
-exposed outside the boat but the propellers themselves.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven
tion, and in what manner the same may be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An apparatus suitable for the propulsion of boats by manual labour, driven by
a backward and forward lever movement by handles and without the use of oars,
substantially as described.
2. An apparatus suitable for the propulsion of boats in which a backward and
forward lever movement is converted into a continuous rotatory motion, substantially
as described.
3. An apparatus suitable for the propulsion of boats in which a backward and
forward lever movement is used in combination with wheels having ratchets on
their surfaces and levers and catches for converting this backward and forward
motion into a continous rotatory motion, either forward or backward substantially
..as described.
4. An apparatus worked by levers formed as a square, with loose corners and
.capable of having its main bars lengthened so that a number of persons may work
at one and the same time, substantially as described.
5. An apparatus by which this continuous rotatory motion is, with the assistance
of wheels, cranks, and shafting, applied for the propulsion of boats, substantially as
.described.
6. An apparatus composed of a combination of all these parts for the propulsion
of boats, either on the surface, as submarine, or ariel, substantially as described.
Dated this 28th day of -November-1893.
HENRY VAUGHAN,
Applicant.