IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SAME
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tyrrill Humphris, of Church Street, Walton-
on-Thames, in the County of Surrey, Pump Maker and Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING
THE SAME."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tyrrill Humphris
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th February 1865.
I, GEORGE TYRRILL HUMPHRIS, of Church Street, Walton-on-Thames, in
the County of Surrey, Pump Maker and Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, AND APPARATUS
FOR WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in pumps and apparatus for
working the same. In pumps, which are worked by cranks and ordinary spur
gear, the speed of the piston or bucket in the up and down stroke is the same,
whereas the power required to make the one may be several times that
required for the other.
In order to equalize the work I employ the following arrangement of
gear: On the driving axis I mount eccentrically an elliptical spur wheel, and
I arrange in gear with it, and on opposite sides, two other similar elliptical
wheels mounted on the axes of two cranks, which each give motion to one of
a pair of pumps. Each cranked axis is thus rotated at a varying speed with

page_text: a maximum and minimum at half a revolution apart, and the cranks are so
placed on the axis that the minimum speed comes at, or by preference some-
what before, the middle of the up-stroke of the pump. If preferred, instead
of employing one elliptical wheel on the driving axis gearing with the two
elliptical wheels of the crank axes, there may be two similar elliptical wheels
on the driving axis, gearing each with one of the wheels on the crank shafts.
Or, in place of this arrangement, I mount on the main driving axis an ordi-
nary spur wheel and gear it with another spur wheel, the axis of which is
carried in a frame capable of rocking 'freely on the driving axis. On the
rocking axis is also a pinion, and this gears with two elliptical wheels, one on
each side of it; these elliptical wheels are mounted eccentrically on the axes of
the
pump cranks, which are thus caused to give to the pumps a rapid down-
stroke and a slow up-stroke, as in the former case. In order to keep the
pinion properly in gear with the elliptical wheels, and prevent it locking too
deeply into the teeth on one side or the other, a bearing ring or disc is formed
upon it, and this runs upon similar bearing rings or discs formed on the
elliptical wheels. When an exact adjustment is required, rendering the strain
on the prime mover uniform throughout the revolution, I mount on the crank
axis of each pump, in place of an elliptical wheel, a toothed wheel of irregular
shape, the radii being made proportional to the strains which come on the
wheel at the extremities of the said radii respectively; with this wheel a
pinion on a rocking frame is caused to gear, and it is kept constantly in gear
to the proper depth by a ring on the periphery of the irregular wheel, on
which guide pulleys in connection with the rocking frame run. The rocking
frame centres on the main driving axis, and from this the pinion may be
driven, either by spur gear or by a pitch chain, as is most convenient. I
prefer to employ, in cases in which the pump rods are short, oscillating pumps,
which I arrange in the following manner :-I apply at the lower end of the
pump barrel a casting on which are trunnions; this casting is divided into two
compartments, one of which is an inlet, and communicates with the lower end
of the barrel, and the other an outlet, and communicates with a passage
leading to the upper end of the barrel over the bucket. In the base plate,
which has the bearings of the trunnions formed on it, and immediately over
which the casting at the lower end of the barrel rocks, there are also two com-
partments for the inlet and outlet respectively, and these are both closed
at the top by diaphragms of leather or other flexible material clamped firmly
down over them. In the centre of each diaphragm an opening is formed, and
the edges of the openings all round are clamped to nozzles fixed to the
rocking casting, and communicating with its inlet and outlet compartments

page_text: respectively, which are thus put into connection with the corresponding com-
partments in the base plate, whilst the barrel is left free to rock.. Tlie.
compartments of the base plate are put in connection with a valve box, in
which are suction and supply valves. The bucket of the pump with its valve
may be of ordinary construction. In order to prevent leakage of water at the
stuffing boxes of pump barrels, which is frequently very inconvenient,. I divide
the packing into two parts, and I separate the upper from. the lower by a
hollow metal ring with openings into it on the inner and outer sides, then any.
water which comes up with the rod through the lower part of the packing
enters the hollow metal ring, and from thence it flows through the openings
in the other side of the ring into a groove or passage formed around the
inside of the box on a level with the hollow ring, and this groove or passage is
connected by a pipe with a small aperture or passage into the barrel near its
upper end, so that at each stroke the water passing into this ring is drawn
back into the barrel. The aperture or passage into the barrel is fitted with a
small valve opening inwards, so that water may not be forced from the barrel
back to the stuffing box..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tyrrill Humphris in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TYRRILL HUMPHRIS, of Church Street, Walton-on-Thames, in the County of
Surrey, Pump Maker and Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Tyrrill Humphris, Her special licence that I, the said George
Tyrrill Humphris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Tyrrill Humphris, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, AND APPARATUS FOR WORKING THE SAME," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I,, the said George Tyrrill Humphris, my

page_text: executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tyrrill Humphris, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in pumps and apparatus for
working the same. In pumps which are worked by cranks and ordinary spur
gear the speed of the piston or bucket in the up and down stroke is the same,
whereas the power required to make the one may be several times that
required for the other.
In order to equalize the work, and at the same time to avoid concussion at
the ends of the stroke, and to render the flow of water in the suction pipe
more uniform in speed, I employ the following arrangement of gear:-On the
driving axis I mount excentrically an elliptical spur wheel, and I arrange in
gear with it, and on opposite sides, two other similar elliptical wheels mounted
on the axes of two cranks, which each give motion to one of a pair of pumps.
Each cranked axis is thus rotated at a varying speed with a maximum and
minimum at half a revolution apart, and the cranks are so placed on the axis
that the minimum speed comes at, or by preference somewhat before, the
middle of the up-stroke of the pump.
This arrangement of gearing is shewn at Figure 1. a is the main axis
with a crank handle 6 fixed upon it, and by which it is turned, or it may be
otherwise driven; c is an elliptical wheel mounted on this axis, and driving
two other elliptical wheels d and è on the two cranked axes f and g. The
cranks on these axes actuate connecting rods h and i, which are connected
with the rods of the pistons in the pump barrels. In the Drawing the wheels
are shewn so proportioned as to vary the speed of the cranks in the ratio of
one to two, and this is the proportion I prefer.
Figure 2 is a front view, and Figure 3 a side view, both partly in section,
of a convenient form of pump with gearing, such as above described.
In this arrangement a, a, is a box or casing containing the suction valves;
it forms a pedestal for the columns b, b, containing the pump barrels; a', a³,
are covers, which can be removed to give access to the valves; they are
secured by the cross piece a² and the screw and nut a³. The buckets in the

page_text: pump
barrels have rods attached to them, and projecting downwards through
guides, and the connecting rods c, c, are jointed to the upper side of the
buckets; 6, 6, are covers, which can be removed to allow of the buckets
being taken out; d is a casing at the top of the columns b, it contains the
gearing as is shewn, and the supply pipe e is fixed on its top. One end (or it
may be both ends) of the driving axis is made to pass through a stuffing box
to receive a crank handle and fly wheel; the crank axes are carried in bearings
within the casing. If preferred, instead of employing one elliptical wheel on the
driving axis gearing with the two elliptical wheels of the crank axes, there may
be two similar elliptical wheels on the driving axis gearing each with one of
the wheels on the crank shafts. Or, in place of this arrangement, I mount on
the main driving axis an ordinary spur wheel, and gear it with another spur
wheel, the axis of which is carried in a frame capable of rocking freely on the
driving axis. On the rocking axis is also a pinion, and this gears with two
elliptical wheels one on each side of it; these elliptical wheels are mounted eccen-
trically on the axes of the pump cranks, which are thus caused to give to the
In
pumps a rapid down-stroke and a slow up-stroke, as in the former case.
order to keep the pinion properly in gear with the elliptical wheels, and
prevent it locking too deeply into the teeth on one side or the other, a bearing
ring or disc is formed upon it, and this runs upon similar bearing rings or discs
formed on the elliptical wheels.
Figure.4 is a side view, and Figure 5 a front view, partly in section, of
pump gear thus arranged. a is the main axis, on which is the crank handle b
and the spur wheel c, gearing with another spur wheel d on the axis e, which
is carried the frame f; and this frame is capable of rocking on the axis a; g
is a pinion also on the axis e, and it gears with the elliptical wheels h and i on
the crank axes k and 7; the elliptical wheels h and i, as shewn in the Drawing,
will give maximum and minimum speeds in the ratio of two and a half to one,
and this is a convenient proportion with this description of gear; g¹, h', and i¹
are bearing rings on the pinion g and the wheels h and i respectively; the
ring g' of the pinion g is constantly retained between the rings h' and i¹ of
the wheels, so that the pinion has but little play, and its teeth cannot lock too
deeply into those of the wheels. The connecting rods m and n give motion
to rocking levers o and p, from which rods 9 and 1 descend to the pump
5 buckets. It will be seen that the elliptical wheels are so placed on the crank
axes as to give the minimum speed somewhat before the middle of the up-
stroke, so that the first half of the up-stroke is performed more slowly than the
latter half; this is important, particularly where the lift is considerable, and
is a novel feature in my Invention. When an exact adjustment is required,

page_text: rendering the strain on the prime mover uniform throughout the revolution, I
mount on the crank axis of each pump, in place of an elliptical wheel, a toothed
wheel of irregular shape, the radii being made proportional to the strains which
come on the wheel at the extremities of the said radii respectively. With this
wheel a pinion on a rocking frame is caused to gear, and it is kept constantly in
gear to the proper depth by a ring on the periphery of the irregular wheel, on
which guide pullies, in connection with the rocking frame, run. The rocking
frame centres on the main driving axis, and from this the pinion may be
driven either by spur gear or by a pitch chain, as is most convenient.
Figure 6 is a side view of an arrangement, such as above described.
Figure 7 is a vertical section of the same. a is the main axis driven by a
band passing over the pulley b, or in other convenient manner; c is a frame
capable of rocking on the axis a, and carrying at its end another axis & driven
by a pulley e fixed on its end, a driving band passing around this pulley, and
also around the pulley f on the axis a; 9 is a pinion on the axis d, it gears
with and drives the irregular wheel h on the crank axis i, from which the pump
is worked in the manner already described in referring to Figures 4 and 5. The
pinion is kept properly in gear with the wheel h by the small pulley k
running within the ring h¹ formed on the wheel h; the pulley k turns on a
stud axis carried by the arm l, which at its upper end is mounted so as to be
able to rock on the axis d, and at its lower end is forked to embrace the crank
axis i, and by this means the centre of the pulley k is kept constantly in a line
joining the centre of the wheel h and pinion g; the teeth of the wheel and
pinion are prevented gearing too deeply by the guide ring g' on the pulley
running on the exterior of the ring h'. It will be seen that the ring h¹ will
vary in thickness at the different parts to compensate for the varying inclina-
tions at which it passes between the ring g¹ and the pulley k. In place of
driving the axis d by a driving band a pitch chain passing around chain
wheels may be employed. Figures 8 shews a chain such as I prefer to
.employ.
The arrangement above shewn is adapted especially for working deep-well
.double-action pumps.
Figure 9 shews an arrangement in which, in place of the irregular wheel h
of Figures 6 and 7, a circular wheel h mounted eccentrically is employed; the
pinion g is then kept properly in gear simply by linking its axis to the centre
.of the wheel h, as is shewn. In order to prevent leakage of water at the
stuffing boxes of pump barrels, which is frequently very inconvenient, I divide
the packing into two parts, and I separate the upper from the lower by a
hollow metal ring with openings into it on the inner and outer sides, then any

page_text: water which comes up with the rod through the lower part of the packing
enters the hollow metal ring, and from thence it flows through the openings
in the other side of the ring into a groove or passage formed around the inside
of the box on a level with the hollow ring, and this groove or passage is con-
nected by a pipe with a convenient outlet.
Figure 10 shews a stuffing box thus constructed. a is the piston rod passing
through the cover b of the barrel; it has a socket 6' cast upon it to receive the
stuffing box c, which is fitted truly into it; is space or chamber formed in
the socket to receive any water which may pass up around the piston rod;
d is a pipe connected with this chamber to lead away the water from it to any
place where its escape will not be inconvenient; e is the packing, it is placed
in the box c in the usual way, except that it is divided into two parts by the
metal ring shewn separately at Figures 11; as will be seen, it separates the
upper part of the packing from the lower, and allows any water which comes
up through the lower part of the packing to pass freely into the chamber 62;
g is the gland, it is pressed down upon the top of the packing by the cap h,
which is passed over it and screwed on to the top of the socket b'.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tyrrill Humphris, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE TYRRILL HUMPHRIS. (L.B.)