A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR RAISING, SUSTAINING, PROPELLING, AND STEERING HEAVY BODIES IN ANY DIRECTION IN THE ATMOSPHERE OR AIR SURROUNDING THE EARTH."
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Robert Stevenson at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 24th November 1880.
ROBERT STEVENSON, Civil Engineer, of Dashwood House, No. 9, New Broad
Street, in the City of London. A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR RAISING,
SUSTAINING, PROPELLING, AND STEERING HEAVY BODIES IN ANY DIRECTION IN
THE ATMOSPHERE OR AIR SURROUNDING THE EARTH."
I construct a vessel of any convenient shape or size, which for high velocities
would be torpedo shaped, but for slower speeds, and greater capacity, might be
made cylindrical, oblong, or spherical.
And as I do not claim any particular shape or size of vessel, as my Invention,
but only those parts of the machine attached to the vessel which by their motion
and power tend to raise and propel it and its contents, I will now proceed to
describe the new and improved moving parts, which I wish to Patent. To raise
the vessel and its contents I use a centrifugal exhausting fan or paddle, and the
use of these in the improved manner I shall describe; (and for the purpose of
raising weights, bodies, or vessels, in, and by the air, and for communicating
motion to these weights, bodies, or vessels, in any direction in and through the
aforesaid atmosphere or aerial ocean surrounding the earth; or in shafts, tunnels,
or anywhere the air penetrates, and where the machine may be worked without
material support of any kind from the earth, unless that which the air itself, or the
energy of the moving weights, bodies, or vessel produces) is what I claim as one
part of my Invention.
The simplest form of this fan or paddle is that of two blades or vanes, curved
or straight, radiating in one plane from a centre or axle, and driven so as not to
exert any screw action on the air.
The axle passes through the machine upwards, and the blades or vanes are
fixed to it, or driven by it, immediately above and contiguous to the closed
upper surface of the vessel if the vessel is closed; but if the vessel is not closed
above next the under part of the fan, then the under part of the fan or paddle
must be closed, so that the fan blades or paddle vanes, running open, can only be
fed with air from above, not from beneath them. And although a ballanced
centrifugal fan or paddle of two blades is the simplest method I would use, I do not
restrict myself to two blades, or any number of blades or vanes, nor do I restrict
myself to open blades or vanes, but I may use partially closed blades or vanes,

page_text: when the covering is necessary for strength or stability, so long as the partial
covering does not cause the fan or paddle to draw its air from beneath, or prevent
it from receiving a full supply of air from above. To propel the vessel and its
contents in any horizontal direction, I use a similar fan or paddle to the afore
mentioned, with this difference in position, that whilst the former for raising the
vessel revolves in a horizontal plane above the vessel to be raised, the fan for
propelling the vessel revolves in a vertical plane, and whilst the former receives its
air from above only, this fan receives its air in front, and tends to create a vacant
space next the front of the body of the vessel to be moved or propelled; in every
other respect the two fans might be made from one model, although I do not bind
myself in this Specification to do so. To drive these centrifugal fans I employ an
engine or any other motive power found most convenient; but for the purposes of
this Invention I do not claim any special engine or motive power.
To assist the lifting power of the fans or paddles, and to transmit the energy of
the motive power, I drive the fans or paddles by revolving cylinders or tubes,
shaped like a wheel within a wheel, moving in a horizontal plane on a vertical axle.
These tubes or cylinders may contain oil, water, air, gas, or any substance which is
necessary for supplying the engines or motive power with energy.
I may also cause other bodies or weights to revolve in a horizontal plane, so as
to increase their energy in that plane, and reduce their weight in the centripetal
plane of gravity.
'
To guide or steer the vessel I may use a common helm, or as an improvement I
prefer to use two flat plates of vulcanite, papier mache, tinplate, or any other suitable
substance, extending from the centre of the vessel on each side towards the stern,
where they are connected, and the least motion sideways of these plates (when the
vessel is moving) gives the front of the vessel a turn in that direction. The
machine and the improvements above described will be fully shewn by Drawings
and models in the Complete Specification.