US48771A - martin - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT )EEICEO BENJN. c. MARTIN, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIcNon To HIM- SELF, THOS. M. DAVIS, L. H. WALTON, AND VATSON SANFORD.

PAoDLE-WHEEL.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 48,771, dated July 1l, 1865.

To all lwhom it may concern Be it known that I, BENJAMIN G. MARTIN, ofthe city ofPhiladelphia, in the State ofPenn- Sylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvenient in Feathering Paddle-Vheels; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specication, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the inner half, and Fig. 2 a vertical transverse section of the lower halt', of the said improved wheel, like letters of reference indicating the same parts' when in both gures. My invention relates to that class of feathering paddle-wheels the paddles of which turn or oscillate on horizontal journals placed inline with the middle of the width ot' said paddles or floats, and it consists, substantially as herein` after described and specified, of a smooth-faced friction roller or slide on a journal projecting longitudinally from the upper inner edge or corner of the paddle, and of an irregularlycurved smooth-faced bearing suspended from the shaft ofthe wheel and xed rigidly to the side ofthe vessel, the said parts heilig' so arranged that during the forwarding rotary motion of the wheel the fa-ceof the said roller or slide willl'come'into contact with the face ofthe bearingjust previously to the time the paddle reaches the water, turn the said paddle into a position radial to the center of the wheel, and keep it in that radial or nearly radial position (by means ofthe said roller or slide moving on the rst portion of the said smooth curved face of the bearing) until the said paddle reachesa position directly under the shaft ofthe wheel, and then roll or slide on the second or eccentrically-curved portion of the face of the said bearing, and thus the roller and bearing, acting together, permit the paddle to continue to keep its vertical position in the water until'it leaves it and the curved bearings, when it passes freely round in an inverted swinging position on the wheel until it again encounters the curved bearin g.

In the drawings, A B is the wheel, C the shait, D D the paddles or floats and d' d their friction-rollers, and E the curved bearing.

The frame of the wheel A B and its paddles D D are intended to be made of iron, andthe former in the well-known skeleton or open form of construction, there being in this case two series of radial arms, aa and b b', each series being fixed upon the shaft 0 at a proper distance apart for the reception of the paddles D D between them, and having each a peripheral rim, a2 b2, connected together bythe cross-bars F F, and having also a stretcher, b3, of wood,-

around the shaft C, which serves as an abutment against which to secure the arms properly upon the shaft. The arms of each series are also connected together by intermediate pieces, a3 a3, (see Fig. 1,) which serve as bearing-supports for the journals of the paddles D D, the respective journals of the latter working freely in the middle of the same, so as to allow the paddles to oscillate freely thereon.

At one of the inner corners of each paddle a journal, d2, carrying a friction-roller, d', projects beyond the series of arms of the inner side of the wheel and the piece a3, while the open space between the said piece a3 and the two arms to which it is fixed allows a limited extent of oscillation to the paddle, its frictionroller d being conned to that side of the piece a3 which is nearest to the center of the Wheel. rlhe curved bearing E is suspended from the shaft G, and also bolted firmly to thc boat or ship, a section of which latter is represented at G. lhis curved piece E presents on its outer side a curved plane or bearing-surface,1a/,Which is concentric to the shaft C from its forward end, e2, to a vertical line passing through the center of the shaft C, and from said line it is made gradually eccentric to its opposite or rear end, e3. It is alsocounter-curved at its extreme ends, and is s0 placed as to turn the paddles D D (as their respective rollers d d are successively brought into contact with itduring the rotatory motion of the wheelA B) upward into radial or nearly radial positions before the said rollers can enter and move upon it, and 'so that when the rollers have successively mounted it it will, in connectio'n with the rollers, continue to keep the paddles D D firmly in radial or nearly radial positions while their said rollers are traversing the concentric portion of the said curved plane of bearing E; and so, also, that while the said rollers d are traversing` the eccentric portion of the said curved plane the paddles will be permitted to freely take and preserve a Vertical or nearly Vertical position until they have left the water, when the weight of the rollers and their journals will cause the paddles to tilt over into a proper position for being again operated by the curved bearing E. These different positions ofthe paddles are clearly represented in Fig. 1.

The intermediate rims, F F, correspond in size and form with the rims t2 b2, and are secured in positions equidistant from each other andthe said rims a2 and b2 by means of the cross-hars H, as seen in Fig. 2.

Operation: In the drawings the wh eei is represented as rotating, so as to propel the vessel forward in the direction of the arrow V, (see Fig. 1,) and it will therefore he readily understood that as soon as the friction-roller of either ofthe paddles is brought on the curved plane of the bearing E the paddle will then have been turned from its vertical to a radial position, and the roller will then tno-ve along ou the bearing E, holding thep'addle firmly in the radial position until the eccentric portion of the curve is entered upon by the roller, and consequently the paddle gradually allowed to take and preserve a Vertical or nearly Vertical position until it leaves the Water, thus effecting more perfectly the object of feathering paddlewheels.

The construction, it will be seen, is comparatively simple, entirely effective, and not liable to get easily out of orderin use. It will also he seen that lthe intermediate guard-rims, F F, will he very effective in preventing large pieces of ice and other large float-ing objects from getting into contact with the paddles-an important object to be effected.

Having thus fully described my improvement and pointedout its utility, what I claim as new therein of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The smooth-faced friction slide or roller d on each of the doats or paddles D D, and the smooth-faced irregularly-curved bearing E on the vessel, the said parts being constructed and arranged to operate together, substantially as and for the purpose described.

BENJAMIN GREEN MARTIN.

Witnesses BENJ. MomsoN, THOMAS M. DAVIS.

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