AN IMPROVED FEATHERING PADDLE WHEEL
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS. PATENT to George Augustus Keene, of Newburyport, in the
'County of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, of the United States of
America, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED FEATHERING PADDLE
WHEEL."
Sealed the 2nd January 1866, and dated the 18th September 1865.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Augustus Keene at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 18th September 1865, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
AUGUSTUS KEENE, of Newburyport, in the County of Essex, and. State of
Massachusetts, of the United States of America, send greeting.
"AN IMPROVED
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for
FEATHERING PADDLE WHEEL," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn declaration that I am the first and true
Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Augustus Keene, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one of my paddle wheels,
representing one paddle (c) as entering the water, and another (6) as
emerging, x, x, being the water line; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the same;
Fig. 3 is a side view; and Fig. 4 is an end view representing a different
method of constructing the body of the wheel, and connecting the paddle rods
with it. Like parts are indicated by the same letters in all the Figures.
The nature of my Invention consists in arranging the floats of a paddle-
wheel in pairs at an angle to each other, one at each end of a shaft or rod
passing freely through the centre of the wheel, and so as to present more area
on one side of the shaft or rod than on the other, in order that the one float
entering the water flatwise may in passing through the same be gradually
turned and emerge edgewise, while at the same time it is turning the opposite
float so that it shall enter the water flatwise, whereby I am enabled to pro-
duce a very simple and efficient feathering paddle wheel, in which the floats
are moved into the required position solely by the action of the water, and
without the interposition of any mechanical device.
: To enable others skilled in. the art to make and use my improvement, I
will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.
A is the driving shaft or axle of the wheel projecting from the sides of the
vessel, and connected with the engine or engines in the usual manner; B are
the paddle rods or shafts, of iron or steel, passing through the centre of the
wheel from the rim G on one side to the opposite, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,
In
or extending beyond the arms or hangers I, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.
either case these rods B turn freely on their own axes, as in Figs. 1 and 2, in
suitable bearings in the rim G and the expanded hollow end D of the driving
shaft A, and in Figs. 3 and 4, in suitable bearings in arms ör, hangers I;
ff, being thimbles fast upon said rods to keep them from sliding longi-1
tudinally. The rim G is made of. flat iron or steel, and is bent or waved, as
represented in Fig. 2, to, correspond with the ends of the different paddle rods,
which are arranged at different distances from the side of the vessel, so as to-be
straight, and yet pass each other freely at their centres, By-thus-waving the
rim to accommodate the ends of the different paddle rods, it may be narrower
and lighter than would otherwise be required. The object of this rim G is to
stay the ends of the rods B which turn in it, and also to operate as a pro-
tection to the paddles or floats in passing through or striking against ice and
other obstructions. In many cases, however, the rim G may be dispensed
with, and the body of the wheel may be constructed as represented in Figs. 3

page_text: and 4, where two or more cast or wrought-iron wheels or rings H provided.
with arms or hangers I, I, are used, being arranged side by side, and con-
nected together by means of bolts or links K, or their equivalents, and
fastened to the iron disk J on the ends of the driving, shaft A, as represented
in Fig. 4. a, b, c, d, (there may be more of these if required, as shown in
Fig. 3,) are the paddles or floats, either of wood or metal, and of any,
desirable shape, arranged in pairs at an angle with each other of from 45 to
90 degrees, or thereabouts, one at each end of a rod B, to which they are
confined by means of screws, or in any other obvious manner. Each paddle
is so-attached to the rod B as to present somewhat more surface-to the water.
on one side of the rod than on the. other, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, so that
though it enter the water flatwise it will leave it edgewise or feathering, and
turn its opposite mate in the air into the proper position to enter the water
flatwise. If the float presented to the water exactly the same area each side
of the rod to which it is attached, the said rod would have no axial motion,
and the float would not turn in passing through the water, but would leave it
as it entered it, flatwise. If, however, there be more area on one side of the
rod B than on the other, the equilibrium is destroyed, and the float will be
turned by the action of the water, and more or less rapidly according to the
comparative area on either side of the said rod. When the one paddle of the
pair is arranged at an angle of 45 degrees with the other, the one paddle
leaving the water edgewise will turn the opposite one into a position to enter
the water flatwise, or in a plane parallel with the driving shaft; but when the
said paddles are arranged with reference to each other at any angle other than
a right angle, the one paddle on leaving the water edgewise will obviously
turn the other into a position to enter the water more or less obliquely, or
feathering. In either of the above cases, however, the greater area and con-
sequent weight of the floats on one side of the rod B will when both floats
are out of the water naturally turn them into a position to enter the water
more or less obliquely or feathering, so that practically the floats will both
enter the water and leave it at the most favourable and desirable angle for a
feathering paddle wheel.'
Having thus described the construction and operation of my Invention,
what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, arranging the
floats of a paddle wheel in pairs at an angle to each other, one at each end of
a shaft or rod, passing freely through the centre of the wheel, and in such a
manner as to present more area on one side of the said shaft or rod than on
the other, in order that the one float entering the water flatwise may, in
passing through the same be gradually turned and emerge edgewise, or

page_text: feathering, while at the same time it is turning the opposite float so that it in
turn shall enter the water flatwise, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand & seal, this Sixteenth
day of August AD 1865.
Witnesses,
DAVID ROBERTS.
GEO. R. CLARKE.
GEORGE AUGUSTUS KEENE.. (L.S.)