US253946A - Propulsion of ships - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) V v J. B. ROOT.

' INVENTOR ATTORNEY N. PETERS. Phaxoulho n hen wmhingmn, D, (L

V UNITED S TE PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN-B. ROOT, OF PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK.

PROPULSION OF SHIPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,946, dated February 21, 1882.

Application filed December 6,1881. (No model.)

'method of applying screw-propellers to the stems of vessels; also, to obviate the necessity oflon g screw-shafts and their liability to break 5 also, to provide a way of applying the propelling power to vessels by two or more independ ent engines, thus reducing the risk of disablement of vessels by accidents to their engines.

The invention consists in the combination,

in a vessel, of a screw or equivalent device arranged to move 'the water transversely to the line of movement of the vessel and an inclined propelling-surface of the hull for receiving the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the transverse movement of the water, such surface being inclined to or at an angle with the fore-and-aft line or line of movement of the 2 5 vessel, whereby the vessel will be propelled in one direction by throwing the water against such inclined surface and in the opposite direction by drawing the water away from suchinclined surface; also, in a screw or screws working upon a shaft or axis placed substan tially at right angles to the line of movement of the vessel and constructed to move the water transversely to the line of movement of the vessel, in combination with an inclined propelling-surface of the hull for receiving the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the transverse movement of the water, such surface being inclined to or at an angle with the foreand-aft line or line of movement of the vessel, whereby the vessel will be propelled in one direction by throwing the water against such inclined surface and in the opposite direction by drawing the water away from such inclined surface, all substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vessel containing my improvement, the screws being entirely submerged at one end of the vessel and only partially submerged at the other end. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 illustrates an application of my improvement to the bow or stern of a vessel.

By reference to the drawings the application and operation of my improvement is described as follows:

In Figs. 1 and 2, A and B represent two pairs of screws, the screws of each pair being connected by their respective shafts or axes a and 1), extending across the vessel and provided with cranks c and d, to which the power is applied. The pitch of the screws A and B upon the one side of the vessel is opposite or opposed to their pitch upon the other side of the vessel-that is, their pitch is so arranged that the'screws acting upon one side of the vessel will throw or propel the water in a different and opposite direction from that in which the screws acting upon the opposite side of the vessel will throw it, and the water passed through the screws will be moved or propelled transversely to the line of the movement of the vessel. If the screws B are revolved so as to throw the water passed through them away from the vessel, the vessel would move to the right, as looked at in the drawings, this movement being caused by the diminishment of the pressure of the water upon the inclined sur faces of the hull adjacent to the screws B.- If

the screws B are revolved in the opposite direction, so as to throw the water passed through them against the inclined surfaces of the hull, the movement of the vessel would be to the left, as looked at in the drawings, this movement being caused by the impingement of the water passed through the screws against the inclined surfaces of the hull, thus increasing the pressure upon the inclined-wedge shaped portion of the hull adjacent to thescrews. If both pairs of screws A and B work in unison,'so that one pair diminishes the pressure against inclined surfaces at the forward end of the hull and the other pair increases the pressure against inclined surfaces at the after end, the vessel will move forward with a speed due to the power applied.

Fig. 3 shows a way of applying the same principle to the bottom of a vessel at either the bow or stern, or both, with a screw or screws having vertical axes, U representing the screw and 2 its shaft or axis. In this application the movement of the water will be vertically transverse to the line of movement of the vessel that is, the water will be moved upward or downward, instead of horizontally transverse, as is the case when the shaft or axis is horizontal, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It is evident that the axes of screws may be applied at any angle between the vertical and horizontal positionsshown in the drawings, it being essential that the pitch of the screws and their arrangement on their shafts be such as to move the water transversely to the line of movement of the vessel, and that the arrangement of the screws and the inclined surfaces of the hull be so related to each other that the increase of pressure of the water shall be against the inclined surfaces which converge toward the fore-and-aft line of the vessel at the end opposite the direction in which she is moving, and the decrease of pressure of the water shallbe against the inclined surfaces which converge toward the fore-and-aft line at the end of the vessel which points in the direction of her movement.

From the above description it is seen that the inclined surfaces of the hull of the vessel when acted upon by the water thrown against or drawn away from them by the transverse action of the screw or equivalent device become the propelling-surfaces, or means by which, in conjunction with the screw,the vessel is moved either forward or backward. The transverse action of the screw alone has no tendency to move the vessel in either of the directions named.

Although Ihave only shown in the drawings screws arranged upon shafts or axes substantially at right angles to the line of movement of the vessel as the preferable construction, I donot limit myself to such precise arrangement of the shafts, as it is evident that the position of the shafts can be considerably varied from that shown, and substantially the same results produced, by varying the angle of the propelling-surfaces of the bull or thepitch of the blades of the screw, or both; neither do I confine myself to the use of screws for throwing the water against or drawing it awayfrom the inclined propelling surfaces, as it is evident that other equivalent devices may be used for this purpose-as, for instance, sculling blades or paddles so constructed and arranged as to throw the water against or draw it away from such propelling-surfaces.

Itis evident that with the arrangement above described long screw-shafts can be dispensed with, and that each screw or pair of screws may be driven from a separate engine. By partially submerging the screws, as shown at A in Fig. 1, and giving them sufficient diameter, the friction of the blades in the water may be, in great part, converted into propelling force; also, the shaft may be brought above the water-line and made more accessible. This form of side screw is well adapted to shoal water. It isimportantthat the wed ge-like ends of the hull should be of such form as to best utilize the impact of the water. A hollow curve gradually approaching the center fore-and-aft line of the vessel is the best; also, the ends of the'hull should extend far enough beyond the screws to insure the full effect upon the hull of the momentum of the water putin motion by the screws.

This method of screw propulsion is particularly adapted for application to canal-boats.

What is claimed as new is- 1. In a vessel, a screw or other equivalent device arranged to move the water transversely to the line of movement of the vessel, in combination with an inclined propelling-surface of A the hull for receiving the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the transverse movement of the water, such surface being inclined to or at an angle with the fore-and-aft line or line ofmovem ent of the vessel, whereby the vessel will be propelled in one direction by throwing the water transversely against such inclined surface and will be propelled in the opposite direction by drawing the water away from such inclinedsurface, substantially as described.

2. In a screw propeller, a screw or screws working upon a shaft or axis placed at substantially right angles to the line of movement of'thevessel and constructed to move the wa-,

ter transversely to such'line of movement, in

combination with an inclined propelling-surface of the hull forreceiving the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the transverse movement of the water, such surface being inclined toor at an angle with the forc-and-afa line, or theline of'movement of the vessel, whereby .the vessel willbe propelled in one direction by throwing the water transversely against such inclined surface and in the opposite direction by drawing the water away from such 1nclined surface, substantially as described.

JOHN B. ROOT.

Witnesses:

R0131. H. DUNCAN, W. F. HAPGOOD.

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