AN IMPROVED COMBINED SHIP'S PROPELLER AND STEERER
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMBINED SHIP'S PROPELLER AND
STEERER." A communication from abroad by Frank G. Fowler, of
Springfield, State of Illinois, United States of America.
-
Sealed the 10th December 1867, and dated the 4th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th July 1867.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMBINED SHIP'S PROPELLER AND
STEERER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a combined ship's propeller and steerer, and
consists of a vertical steel shaft supported in bearings at a suitable depth in
the water. From this shaft proceed two or more tiers of radial arms arranged
with their edges horizontal so as to afford little resistance to the water.
lower arms are to be somewhat shorter than the upper so as to give the
The

page_text: complete outline of the propeller the shape of an invested truncated cone; to
the extremities of these arms are hinged rectangular or rhomboidal blades or
paddles of steel or other suitable material, the hinges or pivots being placed
on their vertical central line. A tube or sleeve shaft surrounds the upper
portion of the paddle wheel shaft and is free to revolve around it; this sleeve
shaft is connected by means of suitable gearing with the tiller or other steering
apparatus. In order to enable the paddles to feather as the wheel rotates
there is fitted to the foot of the sleeve shaft an excentric, around which is a
strap free to revolve, and to this strap are attached radial excentric rods.
or arms having their other extremities pivoted to the steel blades or paddles
out of the central line thereof. The upper end of the vertical paddle shaft
above the sleeve connects by a crank or shaft or other suitable device with
the source of power.
The mode in which the propeller is operated is the following:-The tiller
being turned by the helmsman until the long arm of the excentric is in a
right line with the vessel's keel and furthest from the vessel, and the paddle
wheel being driven by the motive power, the vessel will be propelled. To
reverse the motion the tiller is turned half round, thereby carrying the
excentric with it, so that the long arm thereof is still in a right line with the
vessel's keel, but the short arm is now the furthest from the vessel. To turn
the ship on the centre of her keel the excentric is turned 90° to port or star-
board according to the direction desired to be given. To steer the ship to port
or starboard and backwards or forwards at same time, turn the excentric into
a position between any of those above named according to the direction
desired. By releasing the tiller the friction between the paddle shaft and the
sleeve shaft will cause the sleeve tiller and excentric to revolve with shaft
when the blades will cease to feather and the propeller will cease to exert any
propelling force, except that there will be a slow revolution by the boat on
its axis in a direction opposite to that in which the propeller is turning. By
arresting the tiller at any desired point any proportional part of the propelling
power may be exerted, and the vessel caused to move slowly or rapidly, as
desired; this propeller may be placed in a horizontal position or inclined, and
so adapted to submarine boats as to enable it to exert a force upward, down-
ward, forward, or backward, or in any direction combined of these.
Besides the methods of feathering above described there is a third method
produced by a variable rotary motion.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of. Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her reign,
did, for. Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence, that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at 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 Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED COMBINED SHIP'S PROPELLER AND STEERER," being a communication to
me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain 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 Office, within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, relates
to a novel construction of paddle wheel combining the properties of a ship's
propeller and steerer; this propeller consists of a vertical shaft supported in
bearings at a suitable depth in the water. From this shaft proceed two or
more tiers of radial arms arranged with their edges horizontal, so as to afford
little resistance to the water. The lower arms are made somewhat shorter
than the upper, so as to give the complete outline of the propeller the shape

page_text: of an inverted truncated cone; to the extremities of these arms are hinged
rectangular or rhomboidal blades or paddles, the hinges or pivots being placed
on their vertical central line. A tubular or sleeve shaft surrounds the upper
portion of the main shaft and is free to turn upon it; this sleeve shaft is
connected by means of suitable gearing with the tiller or other steering
apparatus. In order to enable the blades or paddles to feather as the wheel
rotates there is fitted to the foot of the sleeve shaft an excentric, around
which is a strap free to revolve, and to this strap are attached radial excentric
rods or arms having their other extremities pivotted to the steel blades or
paddles out of the central line thereof. The upper end of the main shaft
(above the sleeve shaft) connects by a crank or other suitable device with
the source of power..
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a view of the improved propeller
attached to the stern of a vessel; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same,
and
Fig. 3, a vertical section thereof taken at line x, x, of Fig. 2. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts..
.
A is a vertical shaft (of steel preferred) bearing on the prolongation of. the
keelson or other bottom frame of the vessel and supported vertically. by
suitable bearings; from this shaft A extend the flat radial arms a, a¹, having
their edges horizontal, so as to afford the least resistance to the water. The
lower arms it will be seen are somewhat shorter than those immediately.above
them, and thus the completed outline of the propeller receives the shape of
an inverted truncated cone. To the extremities of the arms a, a', are hinged
rectangular or rhomboidal plates B (of steel. preferred), the hinges b, b¹,
and being both in the vertical central line of B. A tubular or sleeve'
shaft C surrounds the upper portion of the shaft A, leaving the latter free to
revolve; this sleeve shaft is connected at its upper extremity with the. tiller h
or other steering apparatus, through s, or by other suitable gearing, and
operates to steer the vessel, as herein-after described. The sleeve shaft C
carries at its foot the excentric D; fitted to the, excentric is a strap d which
revolves freely around it; to this strap dare, attached the radial arms E
pivotted to the upper part of the blades B at e and out of the vertical central
line thereof by about nine-fourteenths, of the throw of the excentric D.; this
distance may be increased or diminished according as it is desired, to increase
or diminish the feathering of the blades B, as herein-after described; or the
feathering may be effected by means of a sun-and-planet gearing in lieu of
the excentric arms E, the feathering so produced. being, rotary instead of
oscillating. The upper end of the shaft A connects above the sleeve shaft C

page_text: by a crank or other suitable device with the driving. power, and receives a
rotary motion therefrom. ", r, are stays which serve to give strength and
inflexibility to the arms a..
The mode in which the propeller is operated is the following:-The tiller is
first turned by the helmsman until the long radius of the excentric.D is in a
right line with the vessel's keel and furthest from the vessel; the shaft A is
then driven by the motive power, and as the blade B passes the point m
(Fig. 2) it is edgewise to the current of water produced by the motion of the
vessel. In passing from m to p, carrying with it the excentric rod E attached
to it and the revolving strap d attached to the rod E, the rear edge of blade B
is gradually drawn in by the excentric rod E. In passing from p to n it is
gradually forced out till it is at right angles to the arm as at m.
In passing
from n to q its rear edge is further forced out, and from q to'm again drawn
in, exerting a propelling force throughout its entire course, except at the two
dead points m, n, at which time the other two blades are exerting their force
to the greatest advantage. To reverse the motion the tiller is turned half
round, thereby carrying the excentric with it, so that the long arm thereof is
still in a right line with the vessel's keel, but the short arm is now the furthest
from the vessel. To turn the ship on the centre of her keel the excentric is
turned ninety degrees to port or starboard according to the direction desired
to be given. To steer the ship to port or starboard and backwards or forwards
at same time the excentric must be turned into a position between any of
those above named according to the direction desired. By releasing the tiller
the friction between the shaft A and the sleeve shaft C will cause the sleeve
shaft tiller and excentric to revolve with the shaft A, and the blades will then
cease to feather and the propeller will cease to exert any propelling force,
except that there will be a slow revolution by the boat on its axis in a direction
opposite to that in which the propeller is turning. By arresting the tiller at
any desired point any proportional part of the propelling power may be
exerted, and the vessel caused to move slowly or rapidly as desired; this pro-
peller may be placed in a horizontal position or inclined, and so adapted to
submarine boats as to enable it to exert a force upward, downward, forward,
or backward, or in any direction combined of these.
Besides the methods of feathering above described there is a third method
produced by a variable rotary motion.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved Com-
bined Ship's Propeller and Steerer," and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above described '

page_text: Letters Patent I claim, the feathering paddle wheel constructed and operating
as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.).