IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDMILLS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustin, Vrain Adrien Laugère, of Orleans (France),
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDMILLS."
Sealed the 19th March 1858; and dated the 24th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustin Vrain Adrien
Laugère at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th September 1857.
I, AUGUSTIN VRAIN ADRIEN LAUGERE,. of Orleans, (France,) do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDMILLS," to be as
follows:
These improvements relate to the species of windmills called horizontal
windmills they consist in having two horizontal frames forming a cross, the
center of which is fixed to a vertical axis. To these frames are fixed vertical
spindles, round which vanes or paddles are allowed to turn horizontally in one
direction, and to a certain extent the wind acting on these vanes or paddles
causes the horizontal framework to turn, by which the vertical axis is set in
motion, which motion may be transmitted to any suitable machinery which
the mill is intended to drive.
15 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTIN
VRAIN ADRIEN LAUGERE, of Orleans, France, send greeting..

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère, Her special licence, that I,
the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN WINDMILLS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère, 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère, 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 :-
The Invention relates to the kind of windmills called horizontal windmills,
and has for its object to utilize the full power of the wind, and have the same
constantly usefully applied as a motive power for mills without being under
the necessity of turning the mill according to the variation of the wind, as is
the case with vertical windmills, the wind blowing in a horizontal direction;
the apparatus is constructed in such manner as to receive the direct impulse
of the wind from whatever quarter the same is blowing, proper arrangements
being applied for obtaining a suitable regularity in the action exerted by the
wind on the apparatus, which latter offers the advantage on vertical windmills
of being easily applied in situations where it would be rather difficult to make
use of these latter, such, for instance, as on the top of existing manufactories or
other buildings; besides these horizontal windmills cost but very little in com-
parison to vertical windmills, thus making them very proper and usefully,
suitable in circumstances where only a comparatively small moving power is
required, such, for instance, as for working pumps, &c., although the force of
my horizontal mills may be augmented by increasing the dimentions of the

page_text: wings or surfaces on which the wind exercises its power. In the annexed
Drawings, Fig. 2 gives a perspective elevation view of my horizontal windmill,
only two of the wings being shown, viz. the two situated opposite to each.
other; the remaining four are not indicated, they being entirely similar to
those shown in the Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a top view of the mill; Fig. 5 is a perspective elevation view of
the apparatus which I call the regulator; Fig. 6 being a top view of the
wings of this latter; the Fig. 3 and 4 show detached parts of the mill. In
the various Figures corresponding parts are indicated by the same letters of
reference. The apparatus consists of a vertical or main moving shaft A, re-
ceiving a more or less rapid revolving motion by the wind acting on wings,
B fixed to this shaft A; the motion of which latter may be transmitted by any.
suitable means to the machinery to be driven thereby. The shaft A turns at
the upper end in collars suitably fixed, and the lower end of the shaft A turns
in like manner in a suitable cup or socket. To the upper part of the shaft A
are fixed two or more wings B, each formed of two horizontal girders C, C',
firmly united together and kept apart by means of vertical cross stays D,
situated at proper distances from each other, and fixed round the shaft A by
means of two collars E, provided with double-legged projecting branches e,
between which the ends to the girders are rivetted or fixed in any other
suitable manner. A certain part F of each wing round the shaft A is left
open for the wind to pass through freely, whereas the remainder is divided in
one, two, or more partitions by means of vanes G turning in suitable hinges,
collars, or sockets, each of which vanes consists of a frame, over which is
spread oiled cloth or any other suitable light material; the size and number
of the vanes G may be varied according to circumstances. In order to pre-
vent the vanes G turning further than would be required, stops H are fixed
at right angles to the girders C, C', against which stops the vanes G come to
lay when fully opened; the stops H of each girder are held together by means
of a cross bar I; the girders C, C', are in the same manner steadied round the
main shaft A by tie-rods J. As it would result from this arrangement that
when the wind should have been blowing. very hard the mill would.turn with
too great volocity, I make use of an apparatus, which I call the moderator, for
suitably moderating this effect of the wind by causing the vanes to be turned
more or less in an obliqué or slanting direction. when required, and thereby
offer less surface to the direct action of the wind, in such manner that when
this latter is blowing with more than ordinary velocity the vanes are brought to
the position in which the wind exerts comparatively but little effect on them,
whereas when the wind resumes again its normal speed the vanes return, to

page_text: the position in which they present the greatest surface to the action of the
wind. This moderator consists of two' vertical rods L, to be moved from
below by suitable handles M. The end of each rod is connected to proper lever.
arms N, which cause to turn vertical stay rods O provided with small projecting.
arms n, which latter, on forcing against the vanes, cause them to shift their
position. Each of the vanes G is in this manner acted upon by one end of
each of the lever arms N, which latter have their fulcrum in the girders C; C¹;
the other end of these lever arms N are connected by a cross bar P, the end of
which is acted upon by a bell crank lever p fixed to the top of the vertical rod
L, to 'the lower end of which is fixed the handle M, turning over a' circle Q, on
which the same may be fixed in any suitable point by a set screw 9, in this
mode making the position of the vanes entirely depend on the handles M, of
which latter. I prefer having two, whereas each of the: bell crank levers p' is
provided with three arms p, p, p, each of which is connected with a corre
sponding cross bar P, and consequently with the corresponding vanes of each
of the three wings 1, 2, 3, of the mill, whereas the other rod Lacts in a
similar manner on the vanes of the wings 4, 5, 6. In order to make this
arrangement better understood, the cross bars P and lever arms N are
marked in red lines in. the Drawing. In the position shown by Fig. 1,. the
three wings 1, 2, 3, have their vanes entirely free, which are consequently
turned by the wind blowing in the direction indicated by the arrow R, whereas
the three other wings 4, 5, 6, by means of the moderator, have their vanes
arrested against their respective stops H. In Fig. 2 the vanes of the wing
B¹ are what may be called closed, whereas those of the opposite wing.B are
what may be called opened, that is to say, in this position the wind, blowing
in the direction indicated by the arrow of Fig. 1, acts with its full power
against the vanes of the wing B', whereas no effect is produced on the vanes
of the opposite wing, the latter being laid against their respective stops H by
means of the moderator. The rods L pass through suitable guide bosses S;
enclosing the main shaft A, on which latter. they may be fixed at any suitable
height by means of a set screw; the said guide bosses S serve as pivots for
turning in suitable collars, as shown in Fig. 3. The circular parts Q, on which
turn the handles M for moving the rods L, äre situated in an excentric posi
tion in respect to the main shaft A. Each guidé boss S has at the bottom
an iron plate, and is divided in four parts, each provided with a wooden chair T,
which by a set screw are brought to bear against the main shaft A, introduced
and held between these chairs, in order to steady the revolving motion of this
shaft. On the top is fixed another iron plate, bolted to the boss S.
Fig. 5 is an elevation view, and Fig. 6 a top view of the apparatus I call

page_text: the regulator, consisting of a pulley U, connected by means of a strap U¹ with
a moving pulley fixed on the main shaft A of the mill, so as to transmit the
motion of this latter to the regulator, which latter consists of a vertical shaft
K, provided with two pair of wings V. On the arms of each pair is fixed a
short lever arm a, and opposite to it another short lever arm b, provided with
a counterweight d; the end of the lever arm a is connected with the descending
rods e of an ordinary regulator, such as are commonly made use of in steam
engines for regulating the entrance of the steam in the cylinders. It will be
understood that in this arrangement, whenever the speed of the revolving
motion of the pulley U increases, the vanes or wings V are turned towards
the vertical position, in which, being acted upon by the wind, they will cause
the revolving motion to diminish in the same ratio, whereas, on the contrary,
when the revolving motion of the pulley U, and consequently of the shaft K,
diminishes, the vanes V are turned by the regulating apparatus towards the
horizontal position (as shown in Fig. 6), in which position they do not offer
any notable impediment to the revolving motion of the shaft K. It will be
readily understood that the counterweights d serve for counteracting the action
of the regulator rods e.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe
or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as my Invention, consists of the
general arrangements of the above-described horizontal windmill, and the
modes for moderating and regulating its motion and force.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustin Vrain Adrien Laugère, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
A. SAINTON.
A. V. A. LAUGÈRE. (L.S.)