US115204A - Improvement in propulsion of vessels - Google Patents

Description

UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

BEUBllhT HEYWOOD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF j AND WARFIELD T. BROWNING, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPRQVEMENT IN PRoPuLsloN oFvEssELs.

Toall whom tm ay concern:

Be it known that I, REUBEN W. Hnrwoon, of Baltimore city, in the State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Propellersaand `Ido hereby declare the of the "boat, travels back and forth lengthwise' along the bottom of the boat, the said blades, whenY the carriage is moving in one direction, extending down into the water and communieatin g to the boat the motion derived from the resistance of the water, and said blades, when the carriage is` moving in the other direction,

folding up against thebottom of the boat, and consequently imparting no motion thereto.

Referring to the drawing, A is a canal-boat i having secured lengthwise of its bottom, one

at each side thereof, a pair of grooved guides,

a, between which is placed a carriage, b, the ends of which extend into the grooves of said guides. c are bladeshinged to the under side of the carriage b, crosswise of the boat. d d are rollers placed in orifices made in the bottom of the boat, and mounted in boxes located at the ends of said orifices. c is a horizontal shaft mounted in standards f, crosswise of the boat, at the stern thereof, and at a suitable height above itsbottom. g g are collars keyed upon said shaft. h is a cord fastened at its extremities to the ends of the carriage b, passing over the rollers d'and wound around one of the collars g. By means of this cord and the shaft e and collar g, when the shaft is ro- `tated the carriage is propelled along the bottom of the boat in one direction or the other. If the carriage moves sternward the blades c unfold and press against the water, thus propelling the boat forward. H `Sprin gs t are placed between the `blades and the carriage in order to keep the blades slightly open, so as to allow the water to unfold them. While the carriage between them.

moves forward the water folds the blades against the spring i, in which position they offer no hinderance to the motion of the boat. Cords j, fastened at their ends to the blades c, near the outer edges of the latter, and running through orifices made in the carriageb, and along grooves cut in the upper side of the latter, pass-upward over the rear roller d, and are fastened at their other ends to the exteriors of rings 7c that areplaced on and outside of the collars g, said rings being provided with pawls l that engage withbratchets formed in the perimeters of said collars. By disconnecting the pawls l from their ratchets the rings lc may be turned on the collars g so as to wind the cords j upon the latter. cords j may be wound up so far as to prevent the blades o from openin g to their full extent, and this is to be done when the boat is floating in water too shallow for the whole width of the blades. Two cogged wheels, n, are placed loosely on the shaft e, with a frictionfclutch, The wheels n are connected with cog-wheels p, which are rotated by the piston-rod of the engine. A small gear, r, is

vinterposed. between one of the wheels a and its driver p, in order 'that motion in opposite directions may be imparted to the wheels n, which motion is communicated to the shaft e from each wheel n alternately by means of the clutch o, the object being to reverse the motion of the shaft, and, by consequence, of the carriage b, every time said carriage arrives at either end of its throw. The clutch ois embraced by arms s, which spring from a block, t, that is secured to a sleeve, u, which is placed loosely upon a horizontal rod, c, mounted in standards crosswise of the boat, and at a suitable distance above its bottom. An endless cord, w, is tied to the block t, and runs thence in opposite directions, one branch passing over a sheave, mounted on a vertical pin that springs from the bottom of the boat, thence extending forward to a staple, y, that projects from a cylindrical block, z, which has journals projecting horizontally into boxes a', secured to the bottom of the boat; and the other branch of the cord lw passing over a sheave, b', mounted on a horizontal pin that extends from a block, o', fastened to the bottom l of the boat, thence back to the sheave 11',

By this means the j around which said cord is wound, and thence forward to the staple y, passing to the opposite side of the block z from the other branch of the same cord. The cord h passes through the staple y, and upon said cord are fastened two knobs, d', placed at such an interval apart that one or the other of said knobs strikes the staple y just a moment before the carriage b arrives at the end of its throw. The staple, being moved by the knob, turns the block z, and the block z, through the medium of the cord w, sheaves :r b', sliding sleeve u, and arms s, throws the clutch o out of gear with that one of the Wheels n with which it had previously been in, gear, thus stopping the carriage. The throwing of the clutch into gear with the other wheel n is effected by means of a springbar, e', that passes through two standards, f', stepped in the bottom of the boat, one at each side of the block z, said spring-bar pressing upon arib, g', that stands out from a semicylindrical block, h', which projects from one end of the block z. rEhe knob d turns the blocks z and h so far as to incline the rib g under the spring-bar e until the latter presses upon the side of the former, and is consequently able to turn the blocks by its own force far enough to throw the clutch o into gear. At the bow of the boat a lever, 7c', is hung vertically, the same extending downward into the water to any desired distance below the bottom ot' the boat. A cord, l', fastened to the lever k above its fulcrum, runs thence downward into the boat and backward along its bottom to the rear standard f', around which said cord passes, and runs thence forward to the rear end of a wedge, m', which is made with a slot, through which the front standard j passes, and through which, also, a pin extends upward from the bottom of the boat. If the lower end of the lever k should chance to strike a sand-bar it would thereby be moved backward while its upper arm would be moved forward, and, by means of the cord l/ and standard f', the wedge m would be drawn sternward under and against the block h. Then when either knob d next struck thc staple y, it would rotate it`far enough to throw the clutch 0 out of gear, but the wedge m would prevent the spring-bar e from continuing the rotation of the blocks z and h sufficiently far to throw the clutch o into gear with the other wheel a. The consequence would be that the shaft e would cease rotating, the carriage b would stop, and the boat lose headway, so that she would not be likely to run upon the sand-bar with any great force.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. The apparatus for throwing the clutch o out of gear, consisting essentially of the cord h, knobs cl, staple y, cylindrical block z, sheaves x b', cord w, and sliding arm s, arranged as de scribed.

2. The apparatus for throwing the clutch o into gear, consisting essentially of the block z h, rib g', spring-bar e, sheaves b', cord u', and sliding arms s, arranged as set forth.

3. The apparatus for stopping the carriage, consisting essentially of the lever 7c', cord l', standard j", 'wedge m', arranged as explained.

REUBEN W. HEYVOOD.

. Witnesses:

C. W. DoRsEY, W. H. HAYWARD.

Images