A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF PROPELLING VESSELS THROUGH OR ON THE WATER BY THE AID OF STEAM OR OTHER MEANS OR POWER, AND FOR ITS APPLICATION TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1827

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LEE STEVENS, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of December, in the eighth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Lee Stevens, His especial licence, that I, the said John Lee Stevens,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Lee Stevens, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also
in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OR METHODS OF PROPELLING VESSELS THROUGH OR
ON THE WATER BY THE AID OF STEAM OR OTHER MEANS OR POWER, AND FOR ITS
APPLICATION TO OTHER PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said John Lee Stevens, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,

page_text: and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Lee Stevens, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to
consist in working paddles, whether for the purpose of propelling by steam or
other power, or for communicating water power, by means of a triple crank
movement, as herein-after explained. And in further compliance with the
said proviso, I, the said John Lee Stevens, do hereby describe the manner
in which my said Invention is to be performed, by the following description
thereof, reference being had to the Drawings annexed, and to the letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawing, No. 1, represents a side elevation of my said Invention, as it
would appear in a paddle box when applied to the purpose of propelling
vessels by steam. A is the general centre of the axis of the triple crank
C, C, C; and B is one of the bearings of the said axis, which will be supported
on the side frame of the paddle box; D, D, is one of the longitudinal bars
which support the other bearings of the axis of the triple crank, as will
be better shewn when the next Drawing is under description; W, W, are
transverse beams to support the ends of the bars D, D; the dotted lines
represent the paddle box; E, E, E, are three sets of paddles, each set being
carried and worked by a division of the triple crank, while the peculiar motion
required for the paddles is given by means of the guide rods F, F, F, and the
radius rods G, G, G, which radius rods work on a bar or centre at H; J, J, J,
are spreaders, to keep the paddles more steady, and keep the work more firm.
By this arrangement it will be seen, that one set of paddles is always acting
against the water, and sometimes two sets at the same time. The parts marked
r are the paddles, and are fixed to vertical bars marked L, by hooks and nuts
in the ordinary way, the ends of the bars L being inserted in sockets cast in
the bar K, which I call the paddle carriage. The parts coloured blue I intend
to represent cast iron; the purple, wrought iron; yellow, brass; and brown,
wood; and this observation applies to both Drawings. The parts marked D
are also to be of cast iron. I have also used the same letters to denote
similar parts in both the Drawings. It will, of course, be necessary to make
a provision in the top of the paddle box to allow of the occasional rise of the
bars marked G and F above it, when the paddles are in action. From Q to

page_text: R is the water line. The manner in which the parts are keyed together, as
well as the joints, are so generally known, and so clearly shewn in the Drawing,
that it is not thought necessary to explain them by writing more in detail.
The Drawing, No. 2, represents a plan of my said Invention. M is the shaft
from the steam engine, or other power, communicating motion to the triple
crank. It will be seen by this Drawing, that the paddle carriages are hung to
each division of the triple crank by two bearings, marked N, N, in the inner
division; 0, 0, in the centre division; and P, P, in the outer division. It will
be seen that the triple crank has four supporting bearings, the inner of which,
S, is fixed to or in the vessel's side; the outer one, B, carried on the frame
of the paddle box; and the two intermediate ones, T and V, on the stays or
longitudinal bars D, which are fixed fore and aft to the transverse beams
W, W, or to the frame work of the paddle box. Each crank, or division of the
triple crank, carries a paddle or set of paddles, with which the carriage works
within the arms of the said crank, or division of the triple crank. It will be
seen by this Drawing that the bar or beam II extends from the side of the
vessel at one end, and is fixed to or in the outer frame of the paddle box at
the other. The circle of motion described by the triple crank is equally
divided between each division thereof, so that they nearly balance each other
on their mutual and general centre.
Now, whereas I claim as my Invention the application of paddles to a triple
crank, with guide and radius rods as herein-before described, whether for the
purpose of propelling vessels through water by steam or other power, or for
the purpose of an undershot wheel to receive motion from the current of
water beneath it; and such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge
and belief, entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His
said Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all
His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, I do hereby declare this
to be my Specification of the same; and that I do verily believe this my said
Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise,
with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent con-
tained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to
my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lee Stevens, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventeeth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.
J. L. (L.S.) STEVENS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Seventeenth day of June,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid John Lee Stevens came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in
that case made and provided.
Imrolled the same Seventeenth day of June, in the year above written.