Device for Manually Propelling a Body Through the Water. Page: 2 of 3
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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.
CYRIL HOPKINS WYCHE, OF DALLAS, TEXAS.
DEVICE FOR MANUALLY PROPELLING A BODY THROUGH THE WATER.Specification of Letters Patent. Pt.iented Mar. 10, 1914.
Application filed May 13, 1913. Scri'al No. 767,469.To (l(Uh(li t it may concern:
Be it known that I, CYRIL I. Wcin, a
citizen of the United States, residing at Dal-
las, in the county of Dallas and State of
S Texas, have invented new and useful Im-
proviements in Devices for Manually Pro-
pelling a Body Through the Water, of
which the following is a specification.
An object of the invention is to provide a
10 (CevW tc manually propelling a body
through the water.
1.he invention embodies, among other fea-
tires, a device which can be used by a per--
son in swimming to aid in propelling him-
15 self through the -ater but can also be used
in the same manner as an oar for the pur-
pjo e of propelling a boat through the water.
In the further disclosure of the invention
refeieuce is to be had to the accompanying
20 drawings, constituting a part of this speci-
fication, in which similar characters of ref-
erence denote corresponding parts in all the
views, and in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of one
25 form of my device, showing the same in
open position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of
the device in closed position; Fig. 3 is a
horizontal transverse sectional view taken
on the line 2-2 in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a per-
30 spective view of my device when used as an
oar for rowing; and Fig. 5 is a plan view
showing the oar in position for rowing.
Referring more particularly to the views,
i provide a stem 10 on which a plurality of
35 semi-circular paddle members 11 are
mounted to swing, the said paddle members
being adapted to swing in opposite direc-
tions and arranged on the stem 10 so that
they can be either swung into closed posi-
40 tion as shown in Fig. 2 so that the paddles
will lie in parallel relation, or into open po-
sition so that they will lie in the same plane
and operate like a circular body. The ends
of the stem 10 project beyond hinges 12, by
45 means of which the paddle members 11 are
mounted to swing on the stem 10, and a
handle 13 has connection with the projecting
ends of the stem so that the handle' will lie
between the paddle members 11. Now it
50 will be apparent that when a swimmer
grasps the handle 13 and moves the device
forwardly in the water, the paddle members
will assume a closed position, whereas when
he pulls rearwardly on the handle the
5' paddles will be swung into open positionand will aid in pushing the body of the per-
son forwardly in the water.
Tlle outer curved ends of the semi-cir-
cular paddle members 11 are preferably
flared in opposite directions, as shown, so 60
that when the paddle members are in closed
position, owing to the forward movement
thereof in the water, and are moved rear-
wardly, the water, rushing in between the
flared portions of the paddle members, will 65
tend to throw the same outwardly into open
position very quickly so that the paddle
meml)ers will take innediate effect upon
the water, thus resulting iin the body of the
person being forced ahead and propelled 70
through the water at each stroke of the de-
vice.
In Figs. 4 and 5 1 show my device used
as an oar and in which instance the handle
13 is dispensed with and one end of the stem 75
is continmied and terminates in a handle 14.
A plurality of spaced rings 15 encircle the
stem 10 and between these rings there is
adapted to be received the usual rowlock
16 mount ed to turn on a semi-circular plate 80
17 having the ends thereof secured to a boat
or the like and including two reinforcing
members 1S secured to the boat and project-
ing to the point of connection of the row-
lock 16 with the plate 17. 85
It will be apparent that the device shown
in Figs. 4 and 5 is used in the same manner
as the device disclosed in the other views,
and which has been described, and that in
the instance where the device is used as an. 90
oar it is not necessary to remove the paddle
members 11 from the water each time that a
stroke is made, in that on the forward stroke
of the handle of the oar the paddle members
will be opened, whereas when the oar is 95
reversed and the handle end moved rear-
wardly without lifting the paddle end of the
oar from the water, the action of the water
on the said paddle members will close the
same, thus greatly reducing the energy re- 100
quired to return the oar into position for
further propelling the boat through the
water.
I-aving thus described my invention, I
claim: 105
As a new article of manufacture, a. device
for propelling a body through the water,
comprising a stem, a plurality of similar
semi-circular paddle members having their
curved edges flared in opposite directions 110I,090,004.
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Wyche, Cyril Hopkins. Device for Manually Propelling a Body Through the Water., patent, March 10, 1914; [Washington D.C.]. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth858442/m1/2/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.