US1187810A - Chain propeller for boats. - Google Patents

Description

N. IVI. BUMPUS.

CHAIN PROPELLER FOR BOATS.

APPucATloNmEu sEPLz. 1945.

Patented June 20, 1916.

-3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Tm: coLUMmA vLANoaRApH co., wASHxNGToN, D. c.

N. VI. BUIVIPUS.

CHAIN PROPELLER FOR BOATS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2. 191s.

Patented June 20, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Y IIIIIIIII I+II .lill IL gag@ THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH C0., WASHINaToN. D. c.

N. M. BUMPUS. CHAIN PROPELLER FOR BOATS.

` APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2, 1915.

Patented June 2o, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- lldl. i

NATHAN M. BUMPUS, 0F CURTICE, OHIO.

CHAIN PROJPELLER BOATS.

...vm-m

Application filed September 2, 1915.

' 10 all whom t may concern.'

Be it lnown that I, NATHAN M. BUnPUs, citizen of the United States, residing at Cui-tice, in the county of Ottawa and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chain Propellers for Boats, of which the following is a speciiication.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in ships and more particularly to ships embodying continuous chain propellers, the primary object of my invention being the provision of a ships hull having a raceway extending longitudinally and centrally of the bottom of the ship for the endless chain propeller so constructed that the blades of the propeller'do not enter the water until they have reached their lowermost point of movement and are, therefore, vertical.

A further object of my invention consists in providing sprocket wheels of such size, and a propeller chain having` links of such lengths, that the blades will be inclined at an angle, when leaving the water, until they have passed above the water level and will, therefore, not raise any water into the raceway through which the blades move.

In this connection, a still further object of my invention consists in providing means for permitting escape of 'water from the raceway should any be raised into it as might occur when the boat was backing.

A. still further object of my invention consists in providing longitudinal guides along the sides of the raceway to support the upper and lower stretches of the propeller chain and insure proper movement of the chain and blades.

With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and then specifically pointed out in the claim which is attached to andv forms a part of this application. p

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a ship hull constructed in accordance with my invention, parts being broken away to disclose the raceway and propeller mechanism; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the ship with part of the bow broken away to disclose the propeller mechanism which is shown in transverse vertical. section; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the propeller chain and of the guides along which it travels; Fig. a is a view cor- Specification of Letters Patent.

ian-,einen .inne se,

Serial No. 48,672.

responding to Fig. 1, showing a slightly modified form of drive mechanism construction, particularly for boats having a deep draft. Y

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

ln the embodiment of my invention, as illustrated in the drawings, 1() indicates the hull of the vessel which may be of any usual or preferred type, with the exception of such modifications as are necessary for thev type of driving .mechanism which I employ. As best shown in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, the bottoni of the hull is provided with a centrally and vertically disposed, longitudinally extending raceway 11 terminating at its ends adjacent the bow and stern of the hull. Near the lower portion of this raceway, the sides of the hull are connected by a hollow partition 12 terminating at its` ends in slightly spaced relation to the ends of the raceway and provid- Ving a substantially rectangular chamber 13 ccmmunicating at its sides with the interior of the ship hull itself and therefore capable of receiving merchandise, whereby the carrying capacity of the vessel is not 'The bottom of the hull, at the bow, is provided with a rearwardly directed extension 18 spaced below the true bottom of the boat and extending rearwardly to a point somewhat behind the forward end of the partition 12, being closed at its bottom and sides but open at its rear end and forming in effect a continuation of the circular space or chamber 17 at the forward end of the vessel.

A drive shaft 19, journaled in suitable bearings 20 mounted within the hull of the vessel and at opposite sides of the raceway 11, extends transversely of the circular space 17 at the rear end of the raceway and substantially centrally thereof. Power from any Vsuitable source may be transmitted to this Vdrive shaft by arbelt 21 passed about a pulley 22uponl one endof the shaft or by means of Ya train; of gearing, a pitman rod and crank;` armor any other equivalent mechanism,as preferred.' lVithin the raceway this' drive' shaft carries spacedfsprocket wheels-23 ofequal diameter and having the same number of teeth correspondingly arranged. A similar shaft 24 1s correspondingly mounted in the forward circular space 17 and within the raceway is provided with spaced sprocket wheels 25 identical in construction and size with thefsprocket wheels A 23. ,These latter sprocket vwheels may,fhow

gever, beloosely ymounted to turn upon the e shaft 241V and the latterxed in its bearings 25,isthe endless drive chain, indicated asav `*or may vberkeyed-upon the shaft and the` kshaft journaled to rotate in its bearings.

Trained aboutthe sprocket wheels 23 and wholeV by the numeral 2 6, the upper and f lower stretches of which run in the passage 116 and channel 15, respectively, of the raceway-11.VV This chain propeller or driving chain'includes Vparallel series of; links 27 con- Apivotally. connected to form an endless vfasf chain. The endsof Ytheshafts extend beyond the outer 'faces ofthe links 27 and thel f chann'el'l5V and passageway 16 are provided V*engage 'against the outer faces of the sprocket wheels: 23 and 25V and are held at either-side with longitudinally extending `uideway's 29 Ll-shaped in cross section to oringuide Ychannels to receive the ends of the shafts. The links 27 are so spaced as to fagainst outward -movement'toward the ends of the shafts 28 by collars 3Q or other suitable means. It will of course Vbe appreciated that ,.theserlinks are of Vsuch length that the teeth of the sprocket-wheels will successivelyV engagesuccessive shafts of the chain 1n suchV a manner that driving o f the sprocket wheels` Y k 5o 23`1will cause a continuous movement of the jchain about the frontV Yand rear ,sprocket i wheels. Preferably, these links are relaftivelylong and the sprocket wheelsuare provided Vwith correspondingly Vfew teeth, the

wheelsjshown in the drawings each having lfour teeth vto engage the shafts 28 of the chain,in "the` manner shown. This chain t Vcarries a plurality of transversely extending propeller blades31, eachl of which lis Yprovided at its-inner edge with spaced collars 32 for attachment to the'shafts 28. vPrefer- Y `ably,thesepropeller VbladesV are'secured to 1 alternate shafts-.as clearly indicated in the drawings-in sucha manner that when the .section of chain carryingthem is in a .hori- .-water into such portion.

zontal position, the blades extend vertically. Braces 33k are connected by eyes 34 to thc central outer portions of the rear faces of the blades and at their opposite ends are formed with sleeves 35 which surround the intermediate portions of adjacent shafts 28. It will, therefore, be seen 4that these propeller blades are held against any angular movement relative to the links connecting the shaft upon whichV the blade is mounted and the shaft to which its brace is connected. y Thesev blades extend substantially the full width of the raceway .11 and are of such length as to just clear the outer walls of such raceway when the chain is in movement. llt-will of course be understood that their inner edges at the ends are cut-away, as shown .at 3G toV cleary the links and guides 29.

- From the foregoing description, the operation of my improved endless chain pro- '.peller will be readily understood. Assuming that power is applied to the shaft 19 to turnit in a. counterclockwise direction, looking at it from the direction in which it is shown in Fig. 1, the upper stretch of the .chain will be moved forwardly through the passage 16, while the lower stretch of the chain will be moved rearwardly through the channel 15, its blades 31 projecting below the bottom of the vessel and into the water. This forcing of these blades through the water will, of course, due to the resistance of the water, force the vessel ahead. It should be noted that by providing the extension 18, the blades in passing about the sprocket wheels 25 will reach a vertical position before they meet the water as the successive passage of the blades through the extended portion 18 will prevent entrance of Of course, if the boat is ybeing driven backward, the movement of the chain `about the sprockets will -beV reversed and water will be drawn in through the extension 18. This water can, however, escape back through the circular chamber at the forward end of the boat and will not, therefore, How through the passage 16. It should be further Anoted at this point; that the chain. links are so proportioned with y respect to the side of the sprockets, over which they operate, that the propeller blades,as they pass upwardly through the circular space 17 at the rearof the boat, will passpabove the .water line before they reach a horizontal position and will not, therefore, draw water into the passage 16.

In Fig. 4 of the drawings, I have illustrated a construction which is identical with that previouslyv described with but one exception. This construction is intended for use with vessels having a relatively deep draft and merely consists in enlarging the vend chambers 37 which correspond to the may be positioned below the sprockets 23 and 25 to properly bring the lower stretch of the chain below the bottoni of the boat and still permit the drive chain 19 to be sufficiently elevated in the boat for convenient application of power. As the increasing in size of these chambers and the provision of the rollers, whichv are idly mounted upon shafts 39 are the only changes in construction, no further description of this form is necessary. It might be well to note, however, that the parts shown in this figure, where they correspond with the form shown in the previous figures are given the same reference numerals.

Although I have illustrated and described my invention 'with considerable detail, it will of course be understood that the pr0- peller chain may be made in many different ways and power transmitted to the chain in many different ways. For this reason l do not wish to be limited to suoli details but reserve the right to make various minor changes, within the scope of the appended claim, without in the slightest degree departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described the invention, what' is claimed as new is:

In ship construction, a hull formed with a. longitudinal raceway opening through its bottom, sprocket wheels at the front and rear ends of the raeeway, means for imparting power to one of the sprocket wheels, an endless chain trained about the sprocket wheels and carrying propeller blades, and means for keeping water from the blades as they pass about the forward sprocket wheel until they have assumed a vertical position, said means including,- a rearward extension formed upon the bottom forward portion 'of the hull and projecting horizontally throughout its length, opening at a point at the rear of the forward sprocket wheel.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature.

NATHAN M. BUMPUs. [L a] Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Intenta, Wanihlnmon, E). C.

Images