Improvements in Vessels, Boats, and other Structures which are Supported on the Water by means of Rollers.
Year: 1892

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Vessels, Boats, and other Structures which are
Supported on the Water by means of Rollers.
I, ERNEST BAZIN, of 32 Rue Guillaume Tell, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the 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 accompanying sheet of
drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The object of the present invention is to provide practical arrangements whereby
the friction of rotatory multiple keels or rollers can be substituted for the friction
of a hull with a single fixed keel, slipping or sliding in and through the water,
thereby replacing sliding ships by what may be called "roller ships."
Rollers ships have heretofore failed for want of sufficient stability of the structure
and because the rolling parts have been made to act as the propellors. These
latter being provided with floats like paddle wheels which, geared as it were, with
the water and neutralised the proper rolling effect of the rollers. In some cases
rollers have been placed along the sides of the ship, or in its interior but these
arrangements have produced sliding and rolling effects combined; and the result
is that no practical and useful effect has been obtained up to the present, so far as
I am aware.
The rollers should be free from any resistance to rotation, and from any other
obstacle that would cause them to slide in the water instead of to rotate therein or
thereon; and they should be independent of the propelling machinery. They may
be of any suitable and convenient form and smooth in order to roll on the water
like the wheel of a locomotive on a rail. They should have a special rotatory
motion imparted to them corresponding with the thrust of the propellors but by
distinct and independent motive power arranged to co-operate with the propelling
power in order to produce a single progressive action.
These rollers should further be arranged in such a manner that the whole
structure is stable, and that the rolling motion of the ship does not neutralise or
destroy the effects and advantages of the rollers.
The essential features of the present invention are the following:
First, securing the stability of the floating body by the use of rollers arranged in
such a manner as to establish between them channels or bodies of water that offer
resistance to the transverse rolling of the ship and to the action of cross seas or
swells; second, causing the rollers to rotate by means of independent motive power
at a speed corresponding to the speed of the ship due to the thrust of the screws or
other propelling organs.
In principle the rollers should be arranged somewhat like the wheels of a
locomotive, keyed or otherwise secured on suitable driving shafts and performing
the office of displacement wheels or circular movable keels. Their number trans-
versely should be two at least but there may be three, four or more according to
circumstances, and lengthwise of the platform they may likewise vary in number
according to the length of the ship and other conditions.
In the drawing hereto annexed
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of a model type of my roller ship;
Figure 2 is a plan view, and Figure 3 a transverse section of the same.
and 7 are views of modifications to be hereafter described.
Figures 4, 5,
The type of vessel shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 comprises four split or divided
rollers at each side, one behind the other, that is to say a vessel with eight divided
rollers. The form of the rollers I prefer for the high seas is that shown in

page_text: +
Figures 1 to 6 because it is the best suited for displacement and offers the least
resistance to the seas.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 show two double or divided rollers a, a, b, b¹, keyed on the
same transverse shaft d, leaving two resistance or stability channels cc' and a third
channel e formed by the space of water existing between the two double rollers,
that is to say three resistance or stability channels c, c', e.
Figure 4 shows three rollers f, f, f, on one shaft forming two channels only g g
This arrangement gives very great stability by reason of the two spaces of
water g g and of the heavy weights being necessarily placed at each side of the
central rollers f¹, the other rollers ff' forming as it were equilibrium crutches or
supports.
This type with twelve rollers, namely three rollers secured on each of four shafts
will have a sufficient displacement to carry a tolerably heavy load; the bolder but
cheaper type with eight double rollers shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 can be used for
the special transport of passengers, and for the postal service for example; as a
ship of war it would be useful as a reconnoitring vessel.
For river navigation the forms may be simpler, and the number of rollers may
be varied but care should be taken that there are several intervals between them so
as to form the necessary resistance or stability channels. Figure 7 shows an
arrangement and form of rollers h, h¹, h², h³ suitable for this purpose. With four
rollers three resistance and equilibrium channels are obtained.
The useful distance passed over by one revolution of a roller is about sixty per
cent. of its circumference and I estimate that a roller of 25 metres diameter will
pass over 45 metres per revolution made in three seconds, and thrust forward in
any suitable or convenient way by its screw propellor, paddle wheel or other
propelling device.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 show the general construction. The vessel proper is carried
on the four shafts d, d', d', d³ of the rollers, which shafts may be equidistant or not.
Brackets m at the bottom of which are arranged the bearings for the shafts of the
rollers, carry beams m' and support them normally above the line of flotation.
The sides n are constructed on the beams m' and determine the external shape of
the ship in which suitable spaces are provided for the machinery, store rooms,
cabins, etcetera.
In the longitudinal axis are placed on each side of the medial stringer or wale-
piece, ribs or directing bulkheads o o' intended to receive, direct and deaden the
effect of the cross seas and thus protect effectively the bottom or the beams m¹ of
the ship.
The shafts of the rollers are coupled together in pairs, each pair receiving
rotatory motion from motive power engines M M. Each of the shafts d, d', d', d³.
receives motion from endless chains q q¹ the first q being actuated directly by the
connecting rod of the engine which is coupled to a crank pin on the first chain
wheel Q.
.
Figure 6 shows that the roller may be turned by a large toothed wheel * driven
directly by a toothed wheel r¹ on the driving shaft of the engine.
A separate engine M³ is provided for turning the screw propeller H by gearing
as clearly shown in Figure or by other arrangements if preferred.
For steering I prefer to employ a hydraulic rudder fed with water by a pump P
driven by an engine M². The lateral movement of the rudder may be effected by
hand or by means of any suitable motor.
The shafts of the rollers are braced together by tension rods t, t¹, t³, and to the
front and rear of the structure by other tension rods tt, so as to obtain a structure
all the parts of which co-operate to strengthen and support one another.
The screw propeller H has its frame H¹ braced to the ship by tension rods ss, s¹ s¹
both longitudinally and transversely.
It will be understood that in the arrangement shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 three
stability channels are formed. In that shown in Figure 4 two such channels and

page_text: in that shown in Figure 5 one such channel, that is to say water spaces that
prevent or diminish by their resistances the inclinations of roller vessels or boats,
whilst an ordinary sliding ship's hull with a single keel rolls violently because it is
not supported by any similar resistance.
If twelve plain, undivided rollers were arranged six at each side the single
channel or space of water between them would offer a smaller resistance to the
action of cross seas than if they were disposed in four groups of three each, each
group keyed on one shaft, or in six groups of two divided rollers each, that is to
say with six divided rollers on each side producing multiple channels of resistance
to the rolling of the ship.
All these arrangements are to some extent equivalent to ships having several
keels of considerable depth.
The agreement of the rotation of the rollers with their thrust is indispensable
for the solution of the problem, as the rollers would not turn by the mere forward
thrust of the propelling machinery, but by giving them an independent rotatory
motion at a speed corresponding to that thrust the resistance is neutralised and
their adhesion on the water is established somewhat as if on a fictitious hydraulic,
rail, on which they are ready to roll when thrust forward or backward.
This independent rotation of the rollers should be arranged so as not to expend
useless motive power; turning them too quickly would produce objectionable.
gyroscopic effects and an exaggerated adhesion which would retard forward
progress instead of facilitating it. It is therefore necessary to arrange that the
rotation of the rollers shall be in harmony with the thrust of the propellors in order
to obtain the maximum of useful effect and speed in vessels of this kind.
The above described arrangements are also applicable to aquatic machines or
velocipedes as well as to vessels or boats properly so called.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First In roller vessels or boats the employment of divided rollers each of which
constitutes a double roller the two halves of which are separated and have between
them a channel containing water which offers lateral resistance and secures
stability, as herein before described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Second In roller vessels or boats the formation of resistance channels for securing
stability by means of two or more rollers whether divided or not, secured on the
same shaft, as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the drawings.
Third In roller vessels or boats causing the rollers to rotate by means of
independent machinery at a speed corresponding with that due to the forward
thrust of the propelling machinery substantially as hereinbefore described, and
illustrated in the drawings.
Fourth-The application of the improvements hereinbefore claimed, or any of
them, to aquatic velocipedes, or to any other structure supported on the water by
means of rollers.
Dated this 13th day of August 1892.