US317890A - Propulsion of ships - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

D. S. TROY.

. PROPULSION 0F SHIPS,&c.

No. 317,890. Patented May 12, I885.

INVENTOR:

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED Srarns Parana Oriana DANTEL S. TROY, OE MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

PROPULSION OF sales, as.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 317,890, dated may 12, 1885.

Applicalion filed March 5, 1384. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL S. TROY, of Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Propulsion of Ships and Boats, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide ships or boats of improved construction without requiring the vessels to carry steam-boilers or other power-generating apparatus on board.

The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure l is a perspective view of the vessel constructed in accordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation of the vessel drawn to an enlarged scale.

My improvements may be applied to ships and boats of any size or model to be used for short trips in any service; but the invention may be employed to special advantage in constructing small or medium-sized vessels for pleasure-boats or in ferry service, where the power for compressing the air stored in the vessels hull may always be accessible at various points along the route.

The drawings show one example of the application of my invention to a vessel, A, the hull of which at the sides and bottom B is made hollow to receive tubes or pipes O, which range fore and aft'and connect with an air reservoir or chamber, D, at the bows, and another air-reservoir, E, at the stern. The airtubes 0 are incased between the inner and outer walls, F G, of the hull, so that the vessel presents the usual appearance of a metal or wooden boat. The casings F G may he stayed to each other in any approved way, and are sufficiently heavy to preserve the form into which they are molded, and to support the tubes 0 firmly against ordinary shocks of use.

The vessel A shown may be classed as an ordinary ships launch or pleasure-yacht in dimensions and model; and as a means of propelling the vessel by the compressed airstored in the reservoirs of the hull, the vessel is fitted with a screw-propeller, H, driven by a shaft, I, from one or more engines, J, which latter, for economy of space and a suitable substantial support, are shown fixed to a chamber, K, which also forms an air-reservoir, and from which the compressed air passes to the valves and cylinders of the engines.

The reservoir K may connect with either end reservoir, D E, or with one of their connecting-tubes O. I have shown it connected to the stern reservoir E by a pipe, L, which has a valve, Z, which may be opened or closed to control the air-supply to the engines, as required.

Any suitable pressuregage, M, and safetyvalve, N, may be fitted to the air-reservoir K, as shown, or to any other part of the compressed-air receivers in the hull.

Side or stern paddle-wheels, or other means of direct propulsion by the air stored in the hull, may be used, instead of the stern propeller H shown in the drawings.

In the operation of my invention, the airreservoirsin the hull of the vessel are charged with air compressed to any desired degree from any shore station provided with suitable air-compressing apparatus, the pressure of the air depending on the size of the vessel, the distance to be run, and the desired rate of speed, and the air is admitted to the engines to apply as expansive power to propel the vessel.

It is evident that the form of the air tubes, chambers, or reservoirs in the hull, and their location or disposal in the hull, may vary with the requirements of any particular caseas,

for instance, the tubes 0 may have a square or other cross-sectional form and be disposed athwart ships in the hull instead of fore and aft, as shown.

My improvement will increase the buoyancy of a vessel, and also its carrying capacity, as the room required for the usual steam-generators may otherwise be utilized, and ,the labor of skilled engineers on the vessel may be dispensed with, and on pleasure-boats the labor of rowing or the objectionable presence of hired oarsmen or sailors may be avoided; and, furthermore, the dangers attending travel by Water may largely be reduced and the vessels be propelled swiftly at a minimum cost.

I am aware that life-boats and other vessels have been constructed with airtight metal and other chambers and tubes in the sides and bottoms connected and disconnected, rendering the boat or vessel more buoyant and adding to its safety and strength, and I therefore do not claim Letters Patent for the invention of such air chambers or tubes in the sides or bottom of boats or ships; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1's

1. The combination, with the hull of a ship or boat, A, of the air-reservoirs 0, arranged between the walls of the sides and bottom, the air-reservoirs D E, arranged at the bow and stern, respectively, and communicating with the air-reservoirs O, and means for connecting the said air-reservoirs with the propelling mechanism, substantially as herein shown and described.

2. The hull ofa ship or boat provided with the tubular airreservoirs 0, arranged between the walls of the sides and bottom, the bow and stern reservoirs, DE, and the central reservoir, K, connected With the stern reservoir, in combination with the propeller-shaft I and the engines J, connected with the central reservoir, substantially as herein shown 0 and described.

DANIEL S. TROY.

WVitnesses:

HENRY G. TOMPKINS, LEsTER 0. SMITH.

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