US3371637A - Paddle wheel boat - Google Patents

Description

March 5, 1968 J. w. WOODALL 3,371,637

PADDLE WHEEL BOAT Filed June 6. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JA MES W Waaonu I N VEN TOR.

A TTORNEYS March 5, 1968 J. w. WOODALL IADDLE WHEEL BOAT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1966 JAMES W Woamu. INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,371,637 PADDLE WHEEL BOAT James W. Woodall, Rte. 2, Box 235A-1, Angleton, Tex. 77515 Filed June 6, 1966, Ser. No. 555,416 Claims. (Cl. 114-58) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A boat is disclosed that is particularly adapted for use in shallow water. The boat is propelled by a paddle wheel mounted at the back of the boat. The paddles on the paddle wheel do not extend below the bottom of the boat so the depth of water in which the boat can operate is limited only by the amount of water the boat draws. To supply the paddle wheel with sufiicient water for it to operate efficiently, a water tunnel extends longitudinally of the bottom of the boat to permit water to flow through the tunnel from the front of the boat to the paddle wheel. To further increase the water flowing through the tunnel to the paddle wheel, the bottom of the boat is inclined upwardly from the outboard edge of the hull to the water tunnel. This causes the water displaced by the hull, as the boat travels through the water, to tend to flow into the water tunnel rather than away from the boat.

This invention relates to paddle wheel boats generally, and, in particular, to paddle wheel boats for operation in relatively shallow water.

There is a need for a boat to navigate shallow ponds, lakes, tidal flats, etc. With boats that operate in shallow water, however, if the propelling means is located above the bottom of the boat, there is very little water for it to operate on. If it is located where it extends below the bottom of the boat, it limits the depth of water in which the boat can operate. A paddle wheel is one method of propelling a boat that can function in very shallow water.

. If the paddle Wheel is located at the back of the boat,

however, its efficiency is hampered because the boat tends to divert the water around it. If located in front of the boat, the water forced backward by the paddle wheel acts against the boat hull and reduces the paddle wheels efficiency.

It is an object of this invention to provide a paddle wheel boat that is propelled by a paddle wheel mounted at the back of the boat that is supplied with ample water for eflicient operation.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a paddle wheel boat having a hull that is so designed that the water displaced by the hull will tend to flow laterally to the center of the hull where it can be concentrated in a water tunnel and supplied to a stern mounted paddle wheel to maintain a suflicient supply of water to the paddle wheel for elficient operation of the same, even though the paddles of the paddle wheel do not extend below the hull in their lowermost position.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a boat having a paddle wheel mounted at the back which will supply the paddle wheel with suflicient water for it to be operated efiiciently at high speeds even though each blade of the paddle wheel does not extend below the hull of the boat when in its lowermost position.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a paddle wheel for a boat having its paddles so mounted and arranged that the paddle wheel can be operated at high speeds efliciently.

These and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of tln's specification and attached drawings.

3,371,637 Patented Mar. 5, 1968 The invention will now be described in connection with the attached drawings in which,

FIGURE 1 is a bottom plan view of the preferred embodiment of the paddle wheel boat of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-sectional View taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary portion of FIGURE 2 on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 is a side view partially in elevation and partially in section of the boat shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a side view on an enlarged scale of the preferred embodiment of the paddle wheel of this invention; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top view on an enlarged scale of one of the paddle wheel of FIGURE 5 and a portion of its drive mechanism.

Hull 10, as shown in FIGURES 1-4, has a generally fiat bottom 10a. Adjacent the rear or stern of the boat, the hull is provided with a chamber 12, in which paddle wheel 13 is mounted.

The paddle wheel is provided with a plurality of blades 14, the embodiment shown having five. Preferably, the blades are long enough to extend substantially across the width of chamber 12, so the blades will engage the full stream of water flowing through the chamber. Also, preferably, the paddle wheel is mounted so the outer edge of each blade, when it is in its lowermost position, is even with or above the bottom of the hull. This allows the paddle wheel to provide thrust to the boat, even though the boat is aground.

To provide ample water to the paddle wheel, in accordance with this invention, water tunnel 11 extends longitudinally of the hull. Top side 11a is generally horizontal and the tunnel is of substantially uniform depth throughout its length, except where the bottom of the hull slopes upwardly to form the bow of the boat. The tunnel, preferably, is as wide as chamber 12 and is in line with it to allow water to flow from the front of the boat to the chamber to supply the paddle Wheel with water.

In addition, bottom 10a of hull 10 is inclined upwardly from the outboard edge thereof toward the water tunnel. In other words, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, portions 15 and 16 of the bottom of the hull, which are located on opposite sides of the tunnel, are inclined upwardly from the intersection of these portions with sides 17 and 18 of the hull. The angle of inclination of these portions is shown exaggerated in FIGURE 3. By inclining these portions in this manner, as the hull is moved through the water by the paddle wheel the water displaced by the hull will be deflected laterally toward tunnel 11. Thus, the paddle wheel will not only be supplied with the water that would normally pass through the tunnel to the paddle wheel chamber as the boat moves through the water, but also with at least a portion of the water that is displaced by the rest of the hull. Thus, the paddle wheel receives an ample supply of water even though it is located at the stern and'does not extend below the bottom of the hull.

Preferably, the depth of water tunnel 11 is equal to or less than the amount of water the boat will draw, when loaded with its normal complement of people and gear. For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the tunnel has a depth of approximately 3 inches, whereas the boat is designed to draw about 5 inches of water when loaded with a normal complement of people and gear.

Paddle wheel 13 is designed to be operated at high speeds, i.e., 200 r.p.m. To rotate at such speed and maintain its efliciency, each blade 14 is mounted on paddle support plates 13!; so it lies in plane that is tangent to a circle having as its center the longitudinal axis around which the paddle wheel rotates. In one embodiment, the planes of the blades are tangent to a circle having a radius of about 1% inches and the diameter of the paddle wheel is 21 inches. Further, the blades are mounted to lead their point of tangency. Mounted in this manner, they will be close to vertical when they bite into the water, much like a hand operated paddle. In this way, the blades will not tend to slap the water as they enter it, as would be the case if they extended radially from the longitudinal axis of the paddle Wheel. Also, as the blades move to their lowermost position, they are inclined upwardly in a direction toward which the boat is moving giving them more of a tendency to carry water up with them. Since they are not extending very far into the water, however, and since they are rotating at relatively high speed, any water carried with the blades will be thrown off quickly. Thus, there will be little tendency for this carried water to drag down the blades.

With this type paddle wheel, five blades have been found to be the most efficient number. The efficiency of the wheel drops off rapidly after the number of blades is increased to eight. The same occurs, when the number is reduced to three.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the top of chamber 12 is enclosed to protect the occupants from water splashed by the paddle wheel. Rudder 19 is mounted to engage the water flowing from the paddle wheel to steer the boat. The rudder, like the paddle wheel does not extend below the bottom of the hull. As shown in FIGURE 6, the paddle wheel is mounted in chamber 12 with its center shaft 13a etxending through the side Walls thereof. Suitable bearings 21 rotatably support the shaft. On one end, sheaves 22 are mounted and driven by V-belts 20. The V-belts are driven by an engine (not shown).

From the foregoing, it will be seen that this invention is one well adapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereina-bove set forth, together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to the apparatus and structure.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are of utility and may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of the claims.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the invention without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed 1. A paddle wheel boat comprising, a hull having a generally fiat bottom with an open-ended longitudinally extending water tunnel therein, having sides that extend upwardly from and intersect the bottom at an angle thereto said hull bottom, on each side of the tunnel, being inclined upwardly from the outboard edge of the hull bottom laterally to the tunnel to cause at least a portion of the water, displaced by the hull as it moves therethrough, to flow laterally into the tunnel, said tunnel having section of increased depth at its rear end to provide an enlarged chamber, a paddle wheel having a plurality of paddles for sequentially engaging the water, means rotatably mounting the paddle wheel in said chamber So the paddles engage the water passing through the tunnel into the chamber, and means for rotating the paddle wheel to engage the water passing into the chamber from the tunnel to move the boat through the water.

2. The paddle wheel boat of claim 1 in which the lower edges of the paddles are even with or above the bottom of the tunnel when the paddles are in their lowermost position.

3. The paddle wheel boat of claim 2 in which each paddle lies in a plane that is tangent to a common circle which has the axis of rotation of the paddle wheel as its center, each paddle being mounted to be perpendicular to the water before the paddle reaches its lowermost position in the water and inclined upwardly in the direction of travel of the boat when the paddle is in its lowermost position.

4. The boat of claim 3 in which the tunnel is generally rectangular in vertical cross-section with a generally horizontal top surface, said tunnel further having a depth equal to or less than the amount of water the boat draws when carrying its normal complement of persons and gear.

5. The boat of claim 3 having means to rotate said paddle wheel above r.p.m.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 126,701 5/1872 Hilgerd 53 FOREIGN PATENTS 896,775 11/ 1953 Germany.

ANDREW H. FARRELL, Primary Examiner.

MILTON BUCHLER, Examiner.

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