US424078A

US424078A - Buoyant propeller

Info

Publication number: US424078A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1890-03-25
Anticipated expiration: 1907-03-25

Description

(No Model.)

G. H. POND.

, BUOYANT PROPELLBR. No. 424,078.

N. PETERS. Phoia-Ulhsgnphw. Wnhlnglurg .C.

Patented Mar.- 25, 1890.

' UfNiTnD STAT-ns PATENT OFFICE.

GOLDSBURY HA-RDEN POND, OF GIiENS FALLS, NEN, YORK.

'BUOYANT PROPELLER.

SPECIFICA'IION forming part of 4Letters Patent N0.'424 ,O78, dated March 25, 1890.

Application filed October l1, 1887. i Serial No.v252,005. (No model.)

To LZ whom it mayconcern.-

Be it known that I, GoLDsBURY HARDEN POND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glens Falls, in the county of Varren and State of kNew York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Surface-Tater Locomotives, with which locomotion is made on and over the surface of the water, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in surface-water locomotives, with which locomotion is made on and over the surface of the water.

The object of my invention is to provide an endless flexible boat or buoyant belt adapted to be taken up and laid down upon water by suitable wheels, and serving for 'a pathway and track forthe .wheels and carriage of a surface-water locomotive to move in and on either forward or back over the surface of the water; also to obviate any friction from the water on either the bottom or sides of the liexible boat, and thereby prevent any loss of the powernsed in propelling the'locomotive by such friction, as occurs in the ordinary mode of vessels moving through the water; and to this end my invention consists in having an endless iiexible belt stretched into shape over two or more drums or wheels at each end of the boat, and having the lower side of the endless boat that rests on the water remain motionless until the upper side passes over it and is laid down on the water at the forward end or raised up at the rear end by the movement' of the drivingwheels. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure lis an elevation and side view. Fig. 2 is a plan View, partly in section. Fig. of is a sectional view through the center of either pair of driving-wheels ofV the locomotive. Fig. 4 is an illustration of the lower side of the iiexible boat, remaining nearly or practically motionless while the upper side and the frame or carriage and wheels pass over it.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a section of the boat and the groove to hold the ribs. Fig. 6 is a midship section of the flexible boat. Fig. 7 is a midship section of a iiexible boat made in the ordinary shape.

The sides A A and the cross-pieces B B constitute the frame-work of the carriage. In the side pieces A A are the boxes of the axles O O, on which thedriving-wheels turn. The endless flexible and buoyant belt or boat E, provided with inclined sides F, is made of duck or other flexible material and provided with sides or fianges F F, and has its ends securelyfastened together. It may be of one or more thicknesses of duck and held together with india-rubber, they same as ordinary rubber belting is made; or it may be fastened together with rivets.

The sides F F of the boat are held in posi-I tion by the ribs G G, each of which extends across the bottom and up the inclined sides, and the ends of the ribs move in the groove H, which firmly holds them in position. With the sides thus formed the endless belt is an endless boat. placed thereon-one at each end-andas many Two drivingwheels D D are in the intermediate space as may be required p to keep the boat in line and move it easily.

yThe wheels D D rest upon the bottom of the .ing the track, until the wheel iny its forward movement has passed over it and begins to lift it at the rear from the Water to carry it forward and lay it down on the water again. Thus each portion of the belt in succession rests on the water until it is lifted at the rear, when it is immediately carried forward by the movement of the Wheels and then laid down upon the water at the front. The bottom can be of any form and the drivingwheels made to fit it, as shown in midship section in Figs. 6 and 7.

I prefer to carry out this feature of my invention as shown in Figs. 1,2, and 3, wherein it will be seen that the flat bottom E of the flexible boat on its inner surface is the same as a belt on a pulley on which it runs, and that it is carried over the drivin g-wheels in the same manner, with this difference, that the `drivingwheels in the boat are not stationary and that the edges of the belt are turned over the ends of the wheels D D for the sides F Fand are folded into the position to move'round easily with the driving-Wheels as they are turned,

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and are held there while passing around the wheels when the fold straightens out into line on the straight part of the boat between the driving-wheels on the ends of it. The endless boat, after it is placed on the driving-wheels, is stretched to the required tightness by screws behind the ends of the axle-boxes in the ordinary way. Two of these boats, Fig. 3, are placed parallel to each othr and fastened together with the cross-pieces B B, forming a water-locomotive that can be moved over the surface of the water by either steam, wind,- or other power. The cross-pieces B B are made as long as required for deck-room and beam, and when steam is used the boiler and engine rest upon this deck, and the engine may be connected by belt to the pulley on the axles C C, as illustrated in Fig.

The ilexible endless boat can be of any width and length required proportionate to the strength of material. When in motion,there is no friction of the water upon the sides or bottom of the boat, as it does not move through the water at any time, but is unrolled at the forward end as the wheels turn, and is dropped nearly vertically down into the water and lies there motionless until the wheels at the rear end roll along in the boat over it, raising it up out of the water, as illustrated in Fig. 4. If the frame and wheels are conceived as in motion toward the left part of the belt, (or a boat,) 1 is carried forward in the direction of 1 2 remaining stationary until the rear driving-wheels move along nearly up to 2, as shown by the dotted lines on the right hand of Fig. 4. l is carried over to l', and is then laid down into the water, and as soon as the rear wheels roll over 2 it is raised up and carried over the driving-wheel and takes its place on the upper or moving side of the boat, and is carried over as 1 has been, while 1 takes a position on the stationary side which rests on the surface of the water motionless, and so on as long as the boat is in motion, forming an endless track for the wheels, with the load thereon, to run in. The cross-boards or buckcts L, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 5, serve to hold the boat from slipping in either direction through the water. They do not act as propellers, nor move at any time through the water in either direction, but hold the boat from slipping as the wheels are turned round on their axles until said buckets or cross-boards begin to be lifted and are moved upward and forward by the forward motion of the wheels.

The resist-ance to be overcome by the motive power, besides the friction of the axles,

is the displacement under the end driving. wheels as they move forward or backward, which is shown by the perpendicular line O, Fig. 1, and the line P representing the draft of the boat, and N the surface of the water. This resistance, as illustrated, is very near the surface of the water and is exceedingly small, and as the boat does not move through the water, thereby removing all the friction of the water on either the bottom or sides, the motive power has but a small amount of resistance to a forward or backward motion to overcome, so that it is possible to attain a very high speed on the surface of the water with a small amount of power. The drivingwheels maybe incased, so as to be water-tight. Then in case the boatis broken they will act as buoys to the locomotive.

My application for patent for improvements in construction of vessels, Serial No. 186,283, Iiled December 25, 1885, and application for patent for improvements in water-craft for locomotion on the surface of the water,- Serial No. 245,552, filed July 28, 1887, are modifications of my invention as applied to locomotion on the surface instead of through it'.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a surface-water locomotive, an endless iiexible belt having inclined sides or edges, in combination with a frame or car; riage surrounding said belt and provided with grooves adapted to receive said edges, and drivingwhcels journaled in said frame, the belt passing around the wheels, substantially as described.

2. ln a surface-water locomotive, the open endless belt having inclined sides or edges and provided with ribs, to which the bottom and inclined sides of the belt are secured, in combination with a frame and with wheels journaled therein, the belt passing around the wheels and adapted to be driven thereby, substantially as described.

3. In a surface-water locomotive, the com bination of the frame-work of the carriage, having,r the driving-wheels journaled therein, with the endless belt passing around said wheels and adapted to be driven thereby, and provided with buckets or cross-boards, and having its inclined edges movably supported on the frame, substantially as described.

GOLDSBURY HARDEN POND.

Witnesses:

L. C. FOSTER, II. M. POND.

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