Patent Model for a Feathering Paddle Wheel, 1877
date: label: Date made
content: 1877
label: patent date
content: 1877-04-03
name: label: patentee
content: Williams, Henry
notes: label: Description
content: This patent model accompanied Henry William’s patent application for “a new way to feather the floats of a paddle wheel” that received patent number 189164 on April 3, 1877. Each blade in Williams's design rides on the end of a shaft. T-levers at the ends of the shafts carry rollers set into grooves cut into a central, immobile cam. As the wheel rotates, the blades turn as the grooves direct, presenting knife edges to the water when entering and rising, but offering resistance to the water when in the optimal position to push the vessel forward.
label: Description
content: While the last generation of ocean paddle-wheel steamships emerged from European and American shipyards in the 1860s, paddle wheels remained the favored means of propulsion for steamers on the shallower waters of rivers and bays until the mid-twentieth century. Consequently, inventors like Henry Williams continued to suggest improvements to paddle wheel efficiency. For most of each turn, a paddle wheel slices ineffectively through the air. Then, when it enters the waves, it wastes energy pressing down on the water. After a brief passage moving the vessel forward, the paddles waste more effort churning the surface as they rise into the air once more. Feathering paddle wheels reduce this waste and, at the same time, cut noise and vibration in the boat. Never universally adopted, feathering wheels with their many moving parts are prone to damage and expensive to maintain. Williams's design, although particularly elegant, is not had no commercial success.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Associated Place
content: United States: Wisconsin, Milwaukee
topic: label: Subject
content: Patent Models
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
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content: Engineering, Building, and Architecture
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content: America on the Move
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content: Transportation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.325944
label: catalog number
content: 325944
label: accession number
content: 249602
label: patent number
content: 189164
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Propeller Blade
label: Object Name
content: paddle wheel, feathering
label: Object Name
content: paddle wheel, feathering, patent model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
label: Other Terms
content: Propeller Blade; Maritime
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (part material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 10 5/8 in x 6 1/4 in; 30.48 cm x 26.9875 cm x 15.875 cm