US117437A - Improvement in propulsion of canal-boats - Google Patents

Description

PATENTE JUL 25 i871 f/zifeizfar UNITED STATEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK. M. MAHAN, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT TO PRIMUS EMERSON.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROPULSION OF CANAL-BOATS.-

Spccification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,437, dated July 25, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK. M. MAHAN, of Memphis, in the county of Shelby and in the State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improveinentsin Canal-Boat; and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon making a part of this specification.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction and arrangement of a canal-boat, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in whicht Figure l is a bottom view, and Fig. 2 is a lon- V gitudinal vertical section of my canal-boat. Fig.

is a plan view ofthe stern ofthe boat.

A represents the hull of the canal-boat, the bow of which is made square, or nearly square. The sides of the bow are perfectly straight, while the under side of the bow is provided with or shaped so as to form a kind of funnel, B, with one side (the bottom) open, and the other three sides curved, so as to gather the water and convey it toward the center of said funnel, from which it passes, through a tube, O, to the Wheel D, said wheel being situated at any suitable point within theA hull of the boat. The tube O passes longitudinally through the hull from the funnel B to the Wheel D. The funnel B, at the same time that it gathers the water at the bow of the boat, also allows the air to pass in with the water and through the tube, so that the motion of the wheel will necessarily tend to create a vacuum in the tube, and, as a natural Aconsequence, the speed of the water through said tube will be largely in excess ofthe speed of the boat through the water. In fact, it has been` demonstrated by experiments that the water passes through the tube three times as fast as the boat through the water 5 and hence, if the tube is made in the proper proportion, all the water displaced by the bow of the boat will pass through vthe tube, and consequently avoid any swell of the water on the sides of the boat. The tube or water-way O may be made in any suitable shape to answer the purposes desired. The air carried through said tube or water-passage of course escapes at the wheel through openings left for that purpose, avoiding the commotion always caused by passingI through the water under the hull. The wheel D may be of any suitable construction 5 but I prefer to use the Emerson paddlewheel, patented September 22, 1868, as the buckets of said wheel are in a vertical position, lifting no water in coming out, and throwing the water straight backward. From the forward part of the wheel aft to the stern the hull A may be considered as a double hull, with a smoother, E, inserted between them in rear of the wheel. The hulls in rear or' the wheel are straight on the inside, while the under side of the smoother is curved, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the water stirred by the wheel is smoothed before leaving the stern ofthe boat, and hence obviating all danger of swells which would injure the banks. The smoother E may either be stationary or it may be self-adjusting, as shown in Fig. 3. In this case it is provided with suitable guides or projections moving in grooves on the inside of the hull, whereby it is allowed at all times to loat on the water, and hence, whether the boat is empty or loaded, will smooth the water.

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

l. In a canal-boat, a funnel-shaped bow, as herein described, in combination with a central passage, O, for collecting and carrying backward both air and water, substantially as herein specilied.

2. In a canal-boat, a self-adjusting smoother arranged in a channel extending from the wheel backward, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this 8th day of July, 1871. Witnesses: FRANK. M. MAHAN.

A. N. MARE, C. L. EVEET.

Images