Improvements in and relating to Pumps and in Valves Suitable for use therewith.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Jan., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 10th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 23rd Dec.,
1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Pumps and in Valves Suitable for
use therewith.
I, FREDERICK EDWARDS, of 62, Bishopsgate Street Within, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to improvements in and relating to pumps parti-
cularly those of the kind described in the Specification of my former Application
for Letters Patent No. 18817 of 1897 and which are formed with valveless inlets
and are so constructed that water can flow through the pump barrel without its
direction being materially changed and so that its inertia will be used to assist in
causing water to travel in the desired direction, and to valves suitable for use
therewith.
In constructing a pump according to this invention the barrel may be arranged
horizontally and is formed with a stuffing box at one end through which the
reciprocating plunger passes and with an outlet at the opposite end. The inlet
to the barrel is near the end at which the plunger enters and it and the suction
pipe may conveniently be of greater cross sectional area than discharge pipe and
the passage between the plunger and the barrel of the pump.
The pump may be fitted with a discharge valve arranged in line with the pump:
The valve prefer to employ is formed with two seats formed on opposite sider
of a flattened and flared or widened inlet portion, which forms part of the dis-
charge pipe and extends into the valve casing, the discharge outlet from which
is opposite to and in line with the flared inlet portion and may be so arranged
that the water passes direct from the valve into the discharge pipe. The seats
which are inclined so as to approach each other towards the outlet are formed
with a number of ports or passages separated by tapering, diverging ribs that
extend from seat .to seat. Å sheet metal or other suitable valve is secured to
each seat near the inlet, for instance, by a guard. The valve has a very large
outlet area with a very small lift and the water in passing through such a valve
does not have its direction abruptly changed and the force stored in it is not
unnecessarily wasted as is usual with valves of ordinary constructions. The valve
seats may sometimes be so constructed that those ontlet edges of the valves that
are in the direct path of the water would, when closed, be in contact with each
other.
In some cases, one valve seat and valve may be dispensed with, or a group of
valves constructed as above described may be provided and arranged around a
single inlet.
In circulating pumps, although perhaps the mean pressure required to force
water through the condenser be small, it is found that at one particular portion
of the instroke of the pump plunger, considerable pressure is required in order to

page_text: start the water moving through the condenser, whereas, after the water has once
been started, less pressure is required to keep it moving during the rest of the
stroke. To enable this pressure to be obtained at the required moment, I accord-
ing to one arrangement construct a pump embodying the following features. The
plunger has an outwardly projecting ring or enlargement (hereinafter called the
plunger enlargement) and the barrel has internally projecting rings or parts
(hereinafter called barrel projections) the arrangement of the plunger enlargement
being such that it will come opposite the barrel projections at those periods of
the stroke when the greatest pressure is required. The plunger enlargement is
made so as to fit within the openings bounded by the barrel projections and be
capable of reciprocating within such openings but the external diameter of the
remaining portions of the plunger is considerably less than the internal diameter
of the remaining portions of the barrel which are or may be of varying diameter
and are of greater internal diameter than is the barrel at those parts where the
barrel projections occur. The pump has or may have a valveless inlet at the top
and an outlet with valves at the bottom. During the instroke, whilst the barrel
projections and plunger enlargement are in or practically in contact with each
other, water will be positively driven through the outlet and escape.back pre-
vented, whilst at all other parts of the stroke water may pass freely from the
inlet to the outlet.
Upon the commencement of the return stroke of the plunger, the pressure
on the underside of it will be reduced, and, as, in this position, no part of the
plunger fits the barrel, this reduction of pressure is at once communicated to the
suction pipe, the water in which is consequently set in motion, and the loss of
power which, if the plunger were a good fit, might occur owing to an excessive
reduction of pressure on the underside of the plunger before the water is set in
motion, is thereby partially, if not wholly, avoided.
'
'
The barrel may have more than two inward projections or parts of smallest
diameter or may have but one and the plunger may have more than one projection
such as referred to, so as to make the action of the pump positive, at one or several
parts of the stroke.
The barrel and the plunger are in one arrangement formed with annular pockets
or recesses the walls of which are or may be inclined upwardly so as to allow the
water to flow freely through the pump in the required direction, and to offer con-
siderable obstruction to the flow of water through it in the reverse direction.
In order to increase and regulate or control the speed of the water passing into
the pump and, in some cases, the quantity of the water. I sometimes connect with
the suction pipe a vessel, so constructed and placed that water can be stored in
it up to its natural level, and that the full pressure of the atmosphere can be
admitted to it, or the pressure be regulated as may be required to suit the work-
ing conditions, or the vessel, when required, be caused to serve as an air vessel.
The vessel is or may be fitted with a valve.
In some cases I so construct the suction and delivery seats of the working
valves (or the seats of the auction and delivery valves), that the latter, can be
rapidly moved from their working positions to another or accessible position,
when the valves can be renewed, and the seat and valve put back to the original
position and while the pump is going.
For this purpose, according to one arrangement, the valve spindle is extended
through the valve casing, where it is fitted with means for moving it inward or
outward, and through the valve seat which is so arranged as to be held down
over the opening to he controlled by the spindle. Below the valve seat thero
is attached to the spindle a plate formed with an upwardly projecting rim, pre-
ferably of V-section. The valve seat itself is provided with a similar rim and
the arrangement is such that by raising the valve spindle the plate at its lower
nd will close the openings through the valve seat and will then raise the sent 5
until its rim comes in contact with and makes a joint with the upper part of the
casing, the cover of which can then be removed and access be gained to the valves

page_text: without escape of water and while the pump is working. In some cases the
V-shaped rims may be formed on the under side of the valve seat and the top of
the casing, or they may be dispensed with.
In one construction of double acting pump the discharge passages are arrangèl
at such an angle with each other where they meet in a common discharge that
the water discharged from one end of the pump, will be caused to pass the end
of the discharge passage from the other end of the pump, in such a direction, and
at such a velocity, that it will tend to reduce the pressure in that end of the
pump which is not discharging; in other words, the inertia of the water will
tend to induce a current from the other end of the pump.
The suction and discharge stop valves are in some cases constructed after the
manner of a double-seated valve so that one valve does for both ends of the
pumps, ie, one valve controls both suctions and one both deliveries.
My invention may be carried out in various forms adapted to suit circumstances
and some features may be employed without others. „
.
Improvements in and relating to Pumps and in Valves Suitable for
use therewith.
I, FREDERICK EDWARDS, of 62, Bishopsgate Street Within, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to improvements in and relating to pumps.(parti-
cularly those of the kind described in the Specification of former Letters Patent
No. 18817 of 1897 granted to me, and which are formed with valveless inlets, and
are so constructed that water can flow through the pump barrel without its direc-
tion being materially changed and so that its inertia will be used to assist in
causing water to travel. in the desired direction) and to valves suitable for use
therewith.
Referring to the accompanying illustrative drawings—
Fig. 1 shows, in central longitudinal section, a pump of the kind referred to
constructed according to my present invention one of my improved delivery
valves (Figs. 3 and 4) being indicated as applied to the pump..
Fig. 2 shows an end view of the pump.
Fig. 3 shows to a larger scale a longitudinal section of the delivery valve;
and Fig. 4 a view at right angles to Fig: 3, with the cover removed, the guard
and valve being also removed from the upper half of the figure.
The pump comprises a barrel 1 having a valveless inlet 2 to which the suction
pipe is connected and a valveless outlet 3 to which the discharge pipe is con-
nected; arranged coaxially within the barrel is a reciprocating plunger 4 which
is made of less external diameter than the bore of the barrel so that around the
plunger there is a free passage which extends from the inlet 2 to the outlet 3
and through which passage water can flow during both the inward and outward
strokes of the plunger as also when it is at the ends of its strokes. With a

page_text: continuing curve designed to facilitate the flow of water the inlet joins the barrel,
near the end at which the plunger enters, and both the inlet and the suction
pipes are in this example of greater cross sectional area than the discharge pipe
and the passage between the plunger and the barrel of the pump although in some
cases I make the inlet of relatively smaller diameter, as for example in the modifi-
cation represented in Fig. 1" wherein the cross sectional areas of the inlet, of the out-
let, of the plunger, and of the passage between the plunger and the barrel respec-
tively, are equal to one another or approximately so, the object being to avoid
as far as possible fluctuations in the speed of the water during its passage through
the pump. 5 is a stuffing box and 6 a guide tube through which the plunger 4
extends. The pump is designed with the view of supplementing the action of
the plunger during its inward stroke by the action of water previously set in
motion in the suction pipe by enabling such water to continue to flow into the
barrel around the plunger and to travel at a high speed with and in the same
direction as the plunger so as thereby to co-operate with it in driving water
through the outlet as if so to say, the water surrounding the plunger constituted
a lateral extension of the plunger increasing its effective area to one equivalent
more or less to the cross sectional area of the barrel.
The pump may be fitted with a discharge valve and such valve may be of any
suitable kind; at 7 in Fig. 1 is indicated by dotted lines a valve of the improved
construction represented in Figs. 3 and 4 arranged in line
with the pump,
whereas in Fig. 1ª a clack valve is shown. The valve represented in Figs. 3 and 4
is constructed with two seats 8 formed on opposite sides of a flattened and flared
or widened inlet portion 9, so that its cross sectional area at all points through-
out its length may be nearly the same. When the construction is as in the
example illustrated and the valve is applied as indicated in Fig. 1, the flattened
and flared inlet portion 9 of the valve constitutes part of the discharge pipe of
the pump. The inlet portion 9 extends into the valve casing 10 which is formed
with covers 11 and has its discharge outlet 12 opposite to and in line with the
inlet portion 9. The seats 8 which are inclined towards each other as shown, are
formed with a number of ports as shown in Fig. 4, the ports being separated by
ribs or bars that extend from seat to seat and diverge from the direction of flow
through the valve; a sheet metal or other suitable valve 13 is secured to each
seat at 13 by a guard 14. As will be seen from the drawings the valve has a
very large outlet area with a very small lift and the water, in passing through
such a valve, does not have its direction abruptly changed and the force stored
in it is not unnecessarily wasted as is usual with valves of ordinary constructions.
In some cases the parts 15 of the valve seats may be dispensed with, in which
cases the extreme outlet edges of the valves, when closed, would rest against each
other.
In some cases, one valve seat and valve may be dispensed with, or a group of
valves, constructed as above described, may be provided and arranged around a
single inlet.
In circulating pumps, although perhaps the mean pressure required to force
water through the condenser be small, it is found that at one particular portion
of the instroke of the pump plunger, considerable pressure is required in order
to start the water moving through the condenser, whereas, after the water has
once been started, less pressure is required to keep it moving during the rest of
the stroke. In some cases, to enable this pressure to be obtained at the required
moment, a pump according to this invention may be constructed as illustrated
in central vertical section in Fig. 5. The plunger 4 has an outwardly projecting
ring or enlargement 4 (hereinafter called the plunger enlargement) and the
barrel 1 has internally projecting ring or part 1* (hereinafter called barrel pro-
jection), the arrangements of the plunger enlargement 4 being such that it will
come opposite the barrel projection 1* at that period of the stroke when the
greatest pressure is required. The plunger enlargement 4° is made so as to nearly
fit or to fit within the opening bounded by the barrel projection and be capable

page_text: of reciprocating within such opening but the external diameter of the remaining
portions of the plunger is considerably less than the internal diameter of the
barrel projection 1. The pump has or may have a valveless inlet 2 and an
outlet 3 with a valve 16.
During the instroke, whilst the barrel projection 1 and plunger enlarge-
ment 4 are in, or practically in, contact with each other, water will be more or
less positively driven through the outlet 3 and escape back past the plunger 4
prevented, or more or less prevented, whilst at all other parts of the stroke water
inay pass freely from the inlet 2 to the outlet 3. The distance between the
barrel projection 1" and the plunger enlargement 4* and also the lengths of said
parts may, in each case, be made to suit the conditions and pressures at which
the pump has to work, and, if required, the barrel may be formed with more
than one projection such as 1ª and the plunger may have more than one enlarge-
ment such as 4 so that the water will be more or less positively driven at more
than one part of the stroke. The forward ends of the plunger and its enlarge-
ment are formed with recesses 4b designed to retard backward flow of water. The
plunger enlargement is formed with a rearwardly tapering back part and the
barrel is formed on the discharge side of its projection 1ª with an annular pocket
or part of greater internal diameter 1, the arrangement being such that during
the outward stroke of the plunger, its enlargement 4" instead of tending to drive
the water through the opening bounded by the projection 1ª will, owing to its
tapering back part, tend to cause it to flow into the pocket 1b.
Fig. 5 illustrates a construction of horizontal pump in which valves are entirely
dispensed with, the barrel 1 and the plunger 4 being formed with annular
pockets or recesses 1*, 4* respectively, which are or may have their walls inclined
as shown or may be of such other form as may be found most effective in allow-
ing the water to flow freely through the pump in the required direction and in
offering considerable obstruction to the flow of water through it in the reverse
direction.
Both the suction and delivery passages are formed with vanes adapted to act
in a similar manner.
In order to increase and regulate or control the speed of the water passing into
the pump, I sometimes connect with its suction pipe a vessel, so constructed and
placed that water can be stored in it up to its natural level, and that the full
Pressure of the atmosphere can be admitted to it, or the pressure be regulated as
may be required to suit the working conditions, or the vessel, when required, be
caused to serve as an air vessel and for these purposes I fit the vessel with a
valve. In the case of a pump such as a circulating pump on board ship, the
vessel 17 is arranged between the pump 18 and the sea inlet valve 19 (for instance,
in the position shown in Fig. 6) so that the speed of the water moving into the
pump may not be retarded by friction in the valve 19; 20 is the valve by which
communication with the atmosphere may be regulated. If the vessel be open to
the atmosphere, the latter can act directly on the water therein and drive it at a
high speed, into the barrel at the required time.
In some cases it is advantageous to be able to examine or renew the valves of
pumps whilst they are at work, for instance in the case of pumps which are
driven for long periods without stoppage.
For this purpose I so construct the suction and delivery valves and seats of a
pump provided with more than one suction valve or more than one delivery
valve, that a suction valve and its seat or a delivery valve and its seat can be
rapidly moved from their working positions to other or accessible positions, and
the seat and valve be put back to their original positions without stopping the
pump, provision being made for temporarily arresting the flow of liquid through
the valve seat or passage the valve normally controls.
In the arrangement illustrated in section in Figs. 7 and 8, which show the parts
in position for working and in position to allow removal of the valve respectively,
(certain parts being omitted in Fig. 8) the valve spindle 21 is extended through

page_text: the valve casing 22, where it is formed with a screw threaded part working in a
fixed nut and is fitted with a hand wheel by means of which it can be moved
inward or outward; the spindle 21 also extends through and is a sliding fit
within apertures in the valve seat 23 and valve guard 24. The inner end of the
spindle carries a nut 25 which when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 7,
holds down the valve seat over the opening 26 to be controlled. Below the valve
seat there is attached to the spindle a plate or casting 27 formed with an upwardly
projecting rim preferably of triangular section. The opening 26 is provided with
a flanged bush 26" formed with an upwardly extending rim, and the valve seat 23,
which fits within said bush, has a flange which normally seats itself upon the
said rim. The plate or casting 27 is of the same diameter as the bore or aperture
of the bush.
The arrangement is such that by raising the valve spindle 21 the plate or cast-
ing 27 will enter the bush 26" and close the openings through the valve seat 23,
its upwardly projecting rim making a joint with the lower edge of the valve seat.
Continued upward movement of the spindle will then raise the seat 23 until a
rim around it comes in contact with and makes a joint with the upper part of
the casing 22 around an aperture therethrough; upon removal of the cover 28,
which is provided with a test cock 28", access can be gained to the valve or
valves without stopping of the pump, without materially reducing its efficiency
and practically without escape of water.
Pumps having valves constructed in this manner may be provided with one
more suction and one more delivery valve than are necessary to enable the pump
to work satisfactorily so that the putting out of use of one suction and one
delivery valve will not necessitate a reduction of the speed of the pump.
My invention may be carried out in various forms adapted to suit circumstances,
and some features may be employed without others.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The improved construction hereinabove described with reference to and illus-
rated in Figs. 1, 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings of pumps according
to my former Patent No. 18817 of 1897.
2. My improved valve with grid-like seats or seat and casing having inlet
and outlet apertures arranged in line, the inlet being extended into the valve
casing, and flattened and widened towards the outlet aperture so that its cross
sectional area at all points throughout its length is substantially the same, and
water can flow through it without abrupt change of direction substantially as
described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawings.
3. The combined arrangement comprising a pump according to Claim 1 with
a valve of the kind referred to in Claim 2 substantially as described.
4. My improved pump wherein the plunger and the pump barrel are formed
each with one or more projecting rings or enlargements so arranged that the
plunger ring or enlargement or rings or enlargements will come opposite that or
those of the barrel at the period or periods of the stroke when greater pressure
is required substantially as and for the purpose described with reference to Fig. 5
of the drawings.
5. My improved pump wherein both barrel and plunger are formed with annular
pockets or recesses substantially as and for the purpose described with reference
to Fig. 5 of the drawings.
6. Providing the suction pipe of a pump with a vessel or vessels in which water
can be stored up to it natural level and the full pressure of the atmosphere or a
regulated pressure allowed to act upon it as required, substantially as described
with reference to Fig. 6 of the drawings.
7. In a pump providing substantially as described for rendering the valves and

page_text: their seats readily accessible and enabling a valve to be removed and replaced
or another valve substituted without arresting the operation of the pump.
8. In a pump the combination and arrangement of parts shown in and described
with reference to Figs. 7 and 8 for the purpose specified.
TAL: 10th Namba 1900
FRED EDWARDS.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent,
Agent for the Applicant.