IMPROVEMENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS OF STEAMBOATS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Bateman, of Bradford, Yorkshire, Card
Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS OF
STEAMBOATS."
Sealed the 16th September 1864, and dated the 27th April 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Bateman at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th April 1864.
I, SAMUEL BATEMAN, of Bradford, Yorkshire, Card Maker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS
OF STEAMBOATS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of paddle
wheels of steamboats.
On account of the paddles being set in a permanent manner on the shaft, it
is easy to understand that they meet with a resistance when they turn forward;
this resistance impedes the speed of the boat, and at the same time lays great
strain on the several parts of the engine. This defect arises from the length
of the paddles acting as levers. Theoretically, as well as practically, the
power of the lever increases with its length, it follows therefore that the lever
of a paddle having a length of about 6 feet, and carrying at its lower end a
float board of about 20 inches long by about 14 inches wide, meets with a
considerable resistance in its play..
By my Invention these defects are obviated. The paddle wheel is .con-

page_text: structed in a similar manner to those hitherto employed, but instead of having
the paddles fixed permanently on the shaft, I cause them to move in sockets
fixed on the arms of the paddles. On each end of the shaft an excentric is
fixed to the framing of the drum by means of bolts. It is provided with a
groove into which the paddles run, these carry at their lower extremity a pin.
The shaft of the wheel turns freely in the excentric. When the wheel rotates
the paddles being maintained in the direction of their length by the socket and
in a centre relative to the shaft by means of bolts, they follow a movement
from fore to aft, therefore when they have arrived at the end of their course,
that is to say, at the moment they touch the water the arm of the lever is
shortened of half of its length, whilst the opposite lever is increased of the same
length. By this means a greater force is obtained as soon as the paddle
reaches the water, and the resistance of the backwater is therefore lessened on
account of the lever being shortened when it rises out of the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Bateman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BATEMAN, of Bradford, Yorkshire, Card Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
the said Samuel Bateman, Her special license that I, the said
Samuel Bateman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Samuel Bateman, iny executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PADDLE WHEELS OF STEAMBOATS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Bateman, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or
under the hand and seal of one of them, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to. be filed in the Great Seal Patent

page_text: Olice within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Sammel Bateman, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed and to the
figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:
My Invention relates to certain improvements in the construction of paddle
wheels of steamboats.
On account of the mode by which the paddles are set in a permanent
manner on the shaft, it is easy to understand the resistance they meet when
they turn forward; such resistance, which impedes the speed of the boat, bas at
the same time a very great strain on the several parts of the engine. This
arises from the length of the paddles acting as levers. Theoretically, as
well as practically, the power of the lever increases with its length, it
follows, therefore, that the lever of a paddle having a length of about six
feet, and carrying at its lower end a float board of about twenty inches
long by about fourteen wide, meets with a considerable resistance in its
working.
By my Invention these defects are removed, and the nature of the Invention
will be at once understood by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in
which Figure 1 represents an elevation of the paddle wheel; Figure 2 is the
plan; Figure 3 represents a view of the excentric on each side of the wheel,
shewing at the same time a paddle with its bolt sliding into the groove; and
Figure 4 is a side view of the excentric.
The paddle wheel is constructed in the same manner as those hitherto
employed, except, however, that instead of having the paddles fixed perma-
nently on the same shaft I cause them to move in the sockets A fixed on the
arms of the paddles. On each side of the shaft an excentric B is set to the
framing of the drum by means of the bolts a, b, Figures 1 and 3.
It is pro-
vided with the groove C into which the paddles run, these carry at their lower
extremity the pin D, as shown in Figure 4. The shaft of the wheel turns
freely in the excentric. When the wheel rotates, the paddles being maintained
in the direction of their length by the socket A and centrically relatively to
the shaft by means of the bolts D, they follow a movement from fore to aft,
and fall in the positions shewn in Figure 3 by the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6, therefore when they have arrived at the end of their range, that is
to say, at the moment they meet with the water, the arm of the lever c is
shortened of half of its length, whilst the opposite lever d is increased of that

page_text: said length. By this means a superior force is acted as soon as the paddle
reaches the water, and the back water resistance is of course lessened on
account of the lever being shortened as it rises out of the water.
Figures 5 and 6 represent a modification of the herein-before described
improvement in the construction of paddle wheels; Figure 5 being a side
elevation and Figure 6 a plan of the said modification, in which each arm of the
lever, the number of which is eight, carries with it a paddle, and is jointed to a
cranked shaft A provided with a coil spring. The cranked shaft A carries on
one side a cog wheel B, gearing with a cam C, represented in Figure 6, and
this cam is provided at its lower part with two cogs D and excentric part E,
serving to maintain the paddle in the position it has received from the rotative
motion, that is to say, nearer the centre, but when the paddle has passed over
that excentric part and returned in the water, it draws back to its longest
position to give the impulse to the boat. The paddles work in a slide to avoid
the resistance during the rotative movement of the cranked arms.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the sanie is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that I do not confine
myself to the precise details herein laid down, so long as the peculiar character
of my Invention be retained, but what I claim is, the general construction of
the mechanism as herein-before described for the purpose of doing away with
the resistance of the back water, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Bateman, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
H*. GILBEE,
10, Rue de la Fidélité,
Paris.
SAM. BATEMAN. (L.S.)