A PUMP, UPON AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION, FOR RAISING WATER IN VARIOUS SITUATIONS, BUT MORE PARTICULARLY ON BOARD SHIPS, AND WHICH MAY OCCASIONALLY BE CONVERTED INTO AN ENGINE FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE; IS NOT LIABLE TO CHOAK OB GO OUT OF REPAIR, BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AS TO PREVENT GRAVEL, DIRT, OR OTHER THINGS FROM CAUSING AN UNNECESSARY TEAR AND WEAR OF THE PARTS, OR FROM LODGING IN IT, AND HAVING ITS VALVES; WORK
Year: 1796

page_text: TO ALL AND SUNDRY TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
ROBERTSON BUCHANAN, Engineer, and Overseer or Manager of the Cotton
Mills of Rothsay, in the Island of Bute, in that part of Great Britain called
Scotland, sends greeting.
WHEREAS the King's most Excellent Majesty, by Letters Patent under
the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date the Eighth day of March,
in the thirty-sixth year of His reign, gave and granted unto the said
Robertson Buchanan, his executors, administrators, and assigns, His Majesty's
special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that he, the said
Robertson Buchanan, his executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of
them, by themselves, or by his or their deputy or deputies, servants or agents,
or such others as be, the said Robertson Buchanan, his executors, adminis-
trators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend his Inven-
tion of "A PUMP, UPON AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION, FOR RAISING WATER IN
VARIOUS SITUATIONS, BUT MORE PARTICULARLY ON BOARD SHIPS, AND WHICH MAY
OCCASIONALLY BE CONVERTED INTO AN ENGINE FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRE; IS NOT
LIABLE TO CHOAK OB GO OUT OF REPAIR, BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AS TO PREVENT
GRAVEL, DIRT, OR OTHER THINGS FROM CAUSING AN UNNECESSARY TEAR AND WEAR
OF THE PARTS, OR FROM LODGING IN IT, AND HAVING ITS VALVES SO SITUATED AS TO
BE WITHIN THE COMMAND OF A PERSON'S HAND, WITHOUT TAKING ANY PART OF IT
ASUNDER; MAY BE WORKED BY ANY OF THE METHODS PRACTISED IN WORKING THE

page_text: COMMON PUMP, AND IS CAPABLE OF RAISING A GREATER QUANTITY OF WATER, WITH
AN EQUAL GIVEN FORCE, THAN ANY OTHER MACHINE FOR THE PURPOSE HITHERTO
INVENTED," within that part of Great Britain called England, the Dominion
of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as to the said
Robertson Buchanan, bis executors, administrators, and assigns, or any of
them, should in their discretion seem meet; and that the said Robertson
Buchanan, his executors, administrators, and assigns, should and lawfully
might have and enjoy the whole profit, benefit, commodity, and advantage
from time to time coming, growing, accruing, and arising by reason of the
said Invention, for and during the term of years therein mentioned, to have,
hold, exercise, and enjoy the said licence, powers, priviledges, and advantages
therein-beforo granted or mentioned to be granted unto the said Robertson
Buchanan, his executors, administrators, and assigns, for and during and unto
the full end and term of fourteen years from the date of the said Letters
Patent, and immediately ensuing, and fully to be compleat and ended, ac-
cording to the Statute in such case made and provided; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that if the said Robertson Buchanan
should not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of his said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by au instrument in writing
under his hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within one calendar month next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent,
and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, should utterly
cense, determine, and become void, as by the said Letters Patent, relation
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robertson Buchanan, in compliance
with the said proviso in the said Letters Patent contained, and the purport
and true intent and meaning thereof, and of His Majesty's said most gracious
intentions, do by this Instrument in writing under my hand and seal, duly
executed, describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to lie performed, as follows, that is to say :-
This pump, like the common pump, acts by the pressure of the atmosphere,
but differs from it in some particulars hereafter expressed, and has the fol-
lowing advantages:-First, the water is discharged from this pump through
two valves, the one called the immer valve, situated on the bore of the suction
picco, through which the water, on raising up the piston, first passes, and from
thence is communicated, by means of an aperture in the side of the pipe, to
the second or outer valve, which is placed at the bottom of the cistern, from
whence it passes into the spont. Secondly, the onfer valve is not only within

page_text: the command of a person's hand, and may be at all times cleared, but is made
so as to afford a cominunication to clear the inner valve. Thirdly, these
valves, not being confined to any particular dimensions, are made large enough
to admit any body or substance through them that is capable of passing
through the suction piece, and being placed near to each other, and in an
inclined position, gravel, dirt, or other things cannot easily lodge in the pump,
and the water is thus resisted or wire-drawn as little as possible in passing
through the valves and the pump is thus also made not liable to choak, or to
have any unnecessary tear and wear of its parts; but the valves may also be
placed horizontally, or in any other position, when circumstances require it.
Fourthly, from the size and situation of the valves, they may be at all times
easily taken out, so that they may without difficulty be readily repaired or
renewed. Fifthly, this punip may be occasionally used as an engine for ex-
tinguishing fire.
These are the advantages which distinguish this pump; but the following
instructions in regard to its construction will more fully explain its nature and
principle, tho' the principle of the Invention in the particulars above men-
tioned may be attained by various modes of construction, provided the arrange-
ment and disposition of its parts here mentioned is preserved. This pump,
in its body and parts, is made of wood, copper, cast iron, or any other metal
or material suited to such purposes, or partly of wood and partly of metal, or
any other suitable material; but metal is recommended for the parts above
deck on board ships, and it is varied in form and divisions, as situation and
circumstances require. The valves best suited to the purposes of this pump
are of the kind called clack valves. Their apertures are made of any form or
shape, and of any dimensions; but the elliptical form is the best, because it
has been found that where the apertures are of this shape, the valves lose less
water at cach shutting than when the apertures are of a circular form; and the
apertures ought to be made as large as the bore of the suction piece, because
where the apertures of the valves are of the same dimensions with the bore of
the suction piece, the water will be thereby less resisted or wire-drawn in
passing through the valves. The valves may be made of any metal, but brass
is recommended as least liable to rust. A flat piece of leather is fixed on the
under part of the lid, to render it more elastic. The lid of each of the valves
turns upon two pivots, which have freedom in their sockets to rise a little
upwards, that any small substance which happens to intervene near the hinge
may not prevent the lid from lying close to the box. The bore of the lower or
suction piece may be made of any shape and dimensions, but, for the reason
above mentioned, it is best made of the same shape and dimensions with the

page_text: aperture of the valves. For the purpose of allowing a more easy passage to
the water, and for the better discharge of oblong pieces of wood and other
things which may be brought up along with the water, the bore of the
suction or lower pipe should, when the inner valve is inclined, receive a
bended or curved form as it approaches the inner valve, so as to make its ulti-
mate direction nearly at right angles to the inclined position of the inner valve.
From the lowest extremity of the suction or lower pipe a reticulated grate,
extending some feet upwards on the outside of the pipe, leaving a vacant space
between the outside of the pipe and the inside of the grate, may be fixed with
advantage in situations where there is any danger that large quantities of dirt,
chips, gravel, or such like substances may lodge in the well and choak the
lower extremity of the pipe, for where this grate is so placed, altho' tho lower
extremity of it should be choaked, the water will find a free passage through
the openings of the grate from above the dirt, gravel, or other substances so
lodging to the lower extremity of the pipe. The inner valve is placed below
the piston, that is, as near the lower extremity of its stroke as the nature of
the thing will admit, and is fixed by a rest or rabbet mado in the periphery of
the bore, or any other means most convenient; aud, when the pump is made
of wood, it is introduced to its place by an aperture in the side of the pipe, to
allow the water a passage to the outer valve. The outer valve is in this case
fixed in a frame or piece of wood which covers this aperture, to which the
outer valve is placed opposite. The frame or piece of wood containing the
outer valve is inclosed by a cistern, with or without a moveable lid, for the
purpose of keeping water above the outer valve when the pump is in action,
and the water is discharged froin the cistern by a spout placed at a height
sufficient to keep the outer value covered with water when the pump is in
action. A triangular piece of wood is fastened on each side of the inside of
the cistern, to secure or hold the frame or piece of wood containing the outer
valve, and the triangular pieces of wood so fixed on each side of the cistern
aro kept tight by interposing tar, tallow, or any other similar substance. These
triangular pieces of wood are casily removed, as occasion may require, and the
frame or piece of wood containing the outer valve may be taken off when the
inner is in need of repair, or when a more free access is wanted to it than the
aperture of the outer valve admits of.
The above is the mode of fixing the outer valve when the punrp is made of
wood, and when made of wood the working barrel should be lined with brass
to lessen friction; but when the pump is made of copper, cast iron, or other
metal, lining the working barrel with brass is unnecessary, and the outer valve
is fixed in the side of the pipe without being contained in a moveable-frame or

page_text: piece of wood, and the triangular pieces of wood mentioned above are unne-
cessary; but in order to introduce the inner valve, and afterwards to get at it
when in need of repair, the barrel is fastened immediately above the valves by
means of a flanche. For the purpose of letting such part of the air escape
which is collected in what is called fetching the water as does not find its way
through the outer valve, a small air valve is placed either in the piston or be-
tween the lower extremity of its stroke and the inner valve; but it is placed in
the piston with best effect for the purpose of letting up a little water to assist in
keeping the piston air-tight. This air valve, however, is not absolutely
necessary in either situation, for the piston may be made so pliant as to allow
the remainder of the air so collected to escape round its circumference, and in
all cases where the water is to be raised ouly a little height this air valve is
unnecessary. Motion may be given to this machine by means of the common
brake, or by what are commonly called bell ropes, or by ropes led horizontally
from a bender lever, or by any other method practised in working the common
pump, which it resembles, excepting in the particulars above stated. In order
to raise this pump, occasionally useful as an engine for the purpose of extin-
guishing fire, it is only necessary to make the piston air-tight in descending as
well as in ascending, and to fix to tho cistern an air vessel communicating with
pipes, in such manner that the cistern is made air-tight in every part excepting
where it communicates with the air vessel. No particular method of rendering
the piston air-tight is essential to this pump; all or most of the nethods in
common use may therefore be applied to it. The air vessel may, without any
inconvenience, remain fixed to the cistern at all times, which will be an
advantage, as the pump can thus, when necessary, be instantly applied to the
extinguishing of fire.
For the more fully understanding the construction of this machine, both in
its operation as a pump, and as an engine for extinguishing fire, Drawings are
annexed, having references to the different parts, the paper containing which
Drawings is signed by me as relative thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robertson Buchanan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, at Rothesay, in the County of Bute, this Twenty-
first day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand seven
hundred and ninety-six.
ROBERTSON (L.s.) BUCHANAN.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, in the
presence of
JAMES DALZIEL.
GEO. MOTAGGART.

page_text: James Dalziel, Cotton Spinner, of the Borough of Rothesay, in the Island
of Bute, in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, maketh oath and saith,
that he did sce Robertson Buchanan in the Deed Poll hereunto annexed, sign,
scal, and as his act and deed in due form of law deliver, the said Deed Pull, an'l
at the same time subscribe and indorse bis name on the Paper of Drawings men-
tioned and referred to in the said Deed Pool, in presence of George McTaggart,
a Clerk in the Custom House of Rothesay, and this Deponent; and that the
names Robertson Buchanan, appearing to be set and subscribed at the foot of
the said Deed Poll as the party executing the same, and indorsed on the said
Paper of Drawings referred to in the said Deed Poll, and James Dalziel and
Goorge McTaggart, set and subscribed to the said Deed Poll as witnesses
attesting the duc execution of the same, and the said Robertson Buchanan,
subscribing and indorsing his name on the said Paper of Drawings, are of the
respective proper hands writing of the said Robertson Buchanan, George
McTaggart, and this Deponent.

page_text: Ka Gullender which is necessary when
the water is mexed with any extraneous
mailer to prevent the ajutage pipe from
being choked
ba Screw for securing down the Air valve
where the piston is wanted airtight in
descending
Fig
od
is a side dvahon of the
pump
with as much only of the suction piece
as it was thought necessary to represent
in Fig 1st
LOR Fig 3d
the Suction piece by the Line O.P. Fig/st
and the dotted lines in the same figure
is a horizontal section of
| rejaresint; a horizontal Section by the line
MN Figs These horizantal sections
represent the Suction piece and valves as
Eliptical
Figs 4th and 5th are a frent View and
Section of the Stopple commonly used for
plugging up the Spout when the water
is to be discharged by the ajutage pipe
This Stopple is covered on the edge with
leather or some soft material and is
made with a bevel inwards so that when
admitted by its val form within the
Cistern it presents its lesser surface out-
wards and is pressed tight by the Water
ue the list T
Fig 6th represents the Grote used in some
Situations round the lower end of the suche
which be either reticulated as
piece
described in the body of the Specification
may
or perforated with round holes as here
represented
MB These drawings represent the pump
as it was made of metal with every part
executed in the manner that was most
convenient and they give so clear an idea
of the construction of the Pump. as to
render any further description in words
unnecessary.