Patent GB-191019617-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Methods of Raising or Forcing Liquids and in Apparatus therefor.
Inventor: HUMPHREY HERBERT ALFRED
Filed: 1910-08-22
Granted: 1911-08-17
Abstract: 19,617. Humphrey, H. A. Aug. 22. Direct explosion apparatus.-In apparatus of the type described in Specifications 20,736/06, 18,594/07, 18,595/07, 19,341/07, 25,638/07, and 15,820/10, the intake of fresh liquid is effected at a point of the play pipe remote from the combustion chamber during the inward flow of the column of liquid therein, or partly during the outward flow and partly during the inward flow. Fig. 1 shows the invention applied by way of example to apparatus of the type described in Specification 18,595/07, in which there is a single combustion chamber 1, and there are two outward and two inward movements of the liquid column per cycle. The inlet valves 4 for fresh liquid are placed in close proximity to the outlet valves 5 at the further end of the play-pipe 2, the extreme end of the play-pipe serving as an air cushion for effecting the return strokes. The admission of fresh liquid from the supply tank 7 occurs during the back flow of the liquid column in the pipe 2 as soon as the pressure at the valves 4 falls below that existing in the supply tank. Where the level a a of the supply liquid is below the play-pipe 2, as illustrated in Fig. 4, the air space at the end 3 of the pipe must be greater in order that the amount of energy necessary to raise the water to the desired extent may be stored. To regulate or synchronize the volumetric changes of the gas in the combustion chamber and air-vessel, scavenging-air may be introduced into the combustion chamber, or a measured quantity of combustible may be introduced in the manner described in Specification 7824/10, while a dip pipe operating in the manner described in Specification 22,646/07 may be introducd into the air-vessel 3, or a second air-vessel 12, Fig. 4, provided above the airvessel 3, to which it is connected by a pipe 13 with a valve 14 closed by the impact of the liquid as it rises in the chamber 3. When applied to a four-stroke-cycle pump, the valve 14 may be locked during the first return flow of liquid which sweeps out the products from the combustion chamber, and opened during the second return flow so as to effect a high compression of the next charge. The volume of the air-vessel 12 may be varied by the introduction of liquid through the pipe 15. Fig. 5 shows an arrangement for dealing with widely divergent conditions as regards level of liquid supply. When the level of liquid is well above the end of the pipe 3, as shown at A, the airvessels 3, 6 are emptied of air bv means of the pipes 18, 19, the back flow being produced in that case by the head of liquid in the supply tank. When the supply level is lower, a greater or smaller quantity of air is introduced into the air-vessels, which act as described above. When the combustion chamber 1 is permanently below the supply level, as shown in Fig. 6, air-vessels may be dispensed with, and the play-pipe 2 and discharge pipe 9 can be so proportioned that there is a continuous discharge in the latter while the column of liquid in the play-pipe 2 is reciprocating in the manner necessary for the proper working of the combustion chamber.