IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Oswald Papengouth & Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann,
both of Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
T
"
Sealed the 23rd July 1861, and dated the 20th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Oswald Papengouth and
Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 20th May 1861.
We, OSWALD PAPENGOUTH & LAURENZ IGNATZ LEHMANN, both of Black-
friars Road, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROPELLING VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
THE SAME," to be as follows:-
Our Invention of improvements in propelling vessels consists in the par-
ticular application of cylinders opening outwards to the water at the stern of
the ship, such cylinders (we prefer two or more) being furnished with suitable
pistons, the rods of which are in connection with the pistons of steam cylinders
placed in line with the cylinders open to the water. These steam & water
cylinders are placed at a little distance apart, and are strongly braced together;
their rods have rack teeth midway of their length, which take into toothed
quadrants mounted on axes, to which they communicate an oscillating motion;
these axes are furnished with beanis or levers, which work the valves of the

page_text: steam cylinders and the pumps. The ends of the cylinders towards each other
are open; suitable boilers are provided to furnish steam, which is admitted
between the cover of the steam cylinder & its piston, that is to say, at the
forward end, which forces the piston towards the opposite end, at the same time
forcing the piston of the water cylinder from the forward to the rear end, &
thereby expelling the water; this expulsion of the water impels the vessel for-
wards. Having completed the backward stroke the steam is cut off from the
steam cylinder; the valve now opens a communication therewith to the con-
denser, into which the steam rushes from the cylinder, & creating a vacuum
therein the return stroke of the piston is thereby effected, and water again
entering the water cylinder gives impulsive force to its piston, the pressure on
the square inch being according to the column of water produced by the depth
of the cylinder below the surface; this also impels the vessel.. The operation is
then repeated. The beam or lever before mentioned works the air and force
pumps of the engines, as also a pump or apparatus for injecting a given
quantity of water into the condenser at each stroke.
We sometimes continue the piston rods beyond the ends of the water
cylinder, and apply expanding & contracting surfaces, which propel the vessel
by a reciprocating motion & in the manner of the duck's foot, or in combi-
nation with a screw or other rotary propeller, to give motion to which we
connect the water and steam cylinder pistons by two rack rods instead of one,
as before, & place a wheel between them having teeth on half of its circum-
ference. This wheel performs a rotary motion by reason of one rack rod
actuating it while the pistons are moving in one direction, & the other one
actuating it during the opposite stroke; the length of the racks and the number
of teeth & diameter of the wheel being such that the one rack releases it just
previously to its gearing with the other, which gears with it at the return
stroke. The shaft of this-wheel-is-geared with the screw propeller shaft to
which it communicates motion. The motions of the valves and pumps are
also derived from the rotary shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Oswald Papengouth and Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th November. 1861,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, OSWALD
PAPENGOUTII and LAURENZ IGNATZ LEHMANN, both of Blackfriars Road, in the 3
County of Surrey, send greeting,

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Oswald Papengouth & Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann, Her special licence
that we, the said Oswald Papengouth & Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said. Oswald
Papengouth & Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann, our 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 law-
fully 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 PROPELLING VESSELS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME,
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Oswald Papengouth &
Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 we, the said Oswald Papengouth & Laurenz
Ignatz Lehmann, do hereby declare the nature of our 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
Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, & to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
Our Invention of improvements in propelling vessels consists in the par-
ticular application of cylinders opening outwards to the water at the stern of
the ship, such cylinders (we prefer two or more) being furnished with suitable
pistons, the rods of which are in connection with the pistons of steam cylinders
placed in line with the cylinders open to the water. These steam and water
cylinders are placed at a little distance apart, and are strongly braced together;
their piston rods have rack teeth midway of their length, which take into
toothed quadrants mounted on axes, to which they communicate an oscillating
motion. These axes are furnished with beams or levers, which work the
valves of the steam cylinders & the pumps. The ends of the cylinders towards
each other are open. Suitable boilers are provided to furnish steam, which is
admitted between the cover of the steam cylinder and its piston, that is to say,
at the forward end, which forces the piston toward the opposite end, at the
"

page_text: same time forcing the piston of the water cylinder from the forward to the
rear end, and thereby expelling the water. This expulsion of the water impels
the vessel forwards. Having completed the backward stroke the steam is cut
off from the steam cylinder; the valve now opens a communication therewith
to the condenser, into which the steam rushes from the cylinder, and creating
a vacuum therein, the return stroke of the piston is thereby effected, and water
again entering the water cylinder gives impulsive force to its piston, the
pressure on the square inch being according to the column of water produced
by the depth of the cylinder below the surface; this also impels the vessel.
The operation is then repeated. The beam or lever before mentioned works
the air and force pumps of the engine, as also a pump or apparatus for
injecting a given quantity of water into the condenser. at each stroke.. We
sometimes continue the piston rods beyond the ends of the water cylinder, and
apply expanding and contracting surfaces, which propel the vessel by the
reciprocating motion, and in the manner of the duck's foot, or in combination
with a screw or other rotary propeller, to give motion to which we connect the
water and steam cylinder piston by two rack rods instead of one, as before, and
place a wheel between them having teeth on half of its circumference. The
wheel performs a rotary motion by reason of one rack rod actuating it while
the pistons are moving in one direction, & the other one actuating it during
the opposite stroke the length of the racks. The number of teeth and diameter
of the wheel is such that one rack releases it just previously to its gearing
with the other, which gears with it at the return stroke; it therefore performs
a rotary motion. The shaft of this wheel is geared with the screw propeller
shaft, to which it communicates motion. The motion of the valves and pumps
are also derived from the rotary shaft.

page_text: water is admitted for the condensation of the steam, as in ordinary..engines.
The cylinder C is open to the water at the stern of the vessel; it follows,
therefore, that when the pistons c, c, recede within the cylinders, those vessels
will fill with water, which will, in fact, exert a pressure on the pistons, & assist
in propelling the vessel, as before explained. The cylinders B & C may have
their ends open that are next to each other, steam being admitted between the
cover of cylinder B and its piston b, it will be forced sternwards and so drive
down the piston c, c, & expel the water contained in the cylinders C, the
discharge of which propels the vessel. At the termination of the stroke the
position of the valves is changed, and the steam has a communication forward
with the condenser where it rushes, and the steam piston 6 returns in readiness
to make another stroke. The gearing that works the valves is so arranged &
put in connection that the strokes operate alternately, that is to say, the one
cylinder C discharges the water & propels while the other is being filled, and
so maintains a uniforn effect. We sometimes apply this apparatus in com-
bination with other propellers, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, and detached
in Figs. 4 & 5, Fig. 4* being a side view, and Fig. 5 an end view of the
propeller; expanded it imitates the duck's foot, and is fixed to a continuation
of the piston rods & the propelling cylinders. Its action and effect will be
readily understood; it consists of several main claws or ribs over which a
flexible diaphragm is stretched, which allows of the expansion and contraction
of the propeller, and thus presenting a large surface when expanding and
propelling, while it collapses & is readily drawn through the water in the
return stroke. We sometimes gear our cylinder propelling apparatus with an
ordinary screw propeller, or it may be paddles, &, as before mentioned, for
which purpose we connect the pistons 6 & c with double piston rods h, i, see
Fig. 6, having toothed racks taking alternately into a semi-toothed wheel k,
which converts the reciprocating into a rotary motion, which is communicated
to such wheel, which may be on the paddle shaft or in suitable communication
therewith, to transmit the power from the engine to the paddles. The wheel k
is substituted for the quadrant L of the other arrangement, the shaft of such
wheel furnishing the motive power for the pump valves & other gear
required. For connection with a screw propeller the shaft of K communicates
of necessity with the shaft of the propeller by bevil gear, as seen in Fig. 7.
Figs. 8, 9, 10, & 11 represent some of the parts detached, which will
require no separate description. Instead of taking in and discharging the
water at the end of the cylinder C in propelling, as described, we sometimes
arrange valves and passages in connection with such cylinders so as to take in
the water at or near the bow of the vessel, and discharge it at the stern, by

page_text: which a better propelling effect is produced, the engine and other apparatus
being the same as before.
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, we declare that what we claim as our Invention to be protected by
the herein-before-in part recited Letters Patent is the combination, arrange-
ment, and application of apparatus herein-before described, and represented in
the Drawings annexed for the propulsion of vessels..
In witness whereof, I, the said Oswald Papengouth, on behalf of myself
and the said Laurenz Ignatz Lehmann, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
OSWALD PAPENGOUTH. (L.S.)