AN IMPROVED ROTARY PUMP
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED ROTARY PUMP."-A communi-
cation.
Sealed the 21st October 1856, and dated the 20th May 1856.,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th May 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for AN IMPROVED ROTARY PUMP, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of pump, which will permit of
water and other fluids being raised with facility, and discharged in a copious
and continuous stream. The barrel of the pump is a horizontal cylinder, fitted
at both ends with a hollow plunger, and mounted so as to be capable of turning
on a central pivot. The hollow plungers are connected together by rods or
bracings, to insure their steady and simultaneous reciprocating action. A cross
partition divides the cylinder at the middle of its length into two parts, and
communicating with. both compartments through openings closed by valves, is
a central and vertical shaft, which conducts the fluid upwards, and acts as

page_text: discharge pipe. The hollow plungers are open at both ends, to permit of
water passing through them, but the opening at their inner ends is closed by a
valve opening outwards. Cross heads are provided at the outer ends of these
plungers, and carry antifriction rollers, which bear against the inner face of an
excentric semicircular guide. On rotary motion being communicated to the
cylinder or barrel through the hollow vertical shaft, the antifriction rollers will
´be caused to traverse the face of the excentric guide, and thus a reciprocating
motion will be given to the plungers."
The fluid, besides passing through the plungers to the barrel; may enter
through holes which are left uncovered when the plungers have completed
their outward stroke.
When this pump is submerged, the plungers will require no packing, but
when otherwise used, stuffing boxes must be provided. It should be remarked
that the plungers may be made solid, the water entering the holes in the
cylinder; or these holes may be dispensed with when the plungers are made
hollow.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
.of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
'thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED ROTARY
PUMP," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst
'others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: 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 calendár
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This improved rotary pump, forming the subject of the Invention communi-
cated to me by my foreign correspondent, consists of a cylinder with a par-
tition at the middle of its length, a plunger fitted in each end, and a valve
leading from each side of the partition into a pipe which is attached to the
middle of the cylinder, and stands perpendicularly to the axis thereof, so as to
form a hollow shaft, to which the two parts of the cylinder are radial. The
pistons are connected together by rods outside the cylinder, in order that they
may move together, and the cylinder is placed in a horizontal position, or
nearly so, within a stationary curved frame below the surface of the water in
the well, or other source from which water is to be obtained, with the pipe or
hollow shaft standing in a vertical position and leading to the mouth of the
well, or to any other convenient point. The pipe or hollow shaft has a rotary
motion imparted to it by a hand crank or other means, and by that means the
two parts of the cylinder with their pistons are caused to revolve around it,
and the ends of the plungers are caused to work in contact with the curved
frame in such a way, that the pistons receive a simultaneous reciprocating
motion within the cylinders, and thus act alternately to fill the two parts of the
cylinder with water through valves in the pistons or other inlets, and then
force the water up the pipe or hollow shaft.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a vertical section of the improved pump arranged within a well; Fig. 2 is
a plan of the pump, with the driving gear and upper water basin P (shown in
Fig. 1) omitted; similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
both Figures. A is the cylinder or barrel of the pump, which may be of cast
iron or other metal, having the partition a, which divides it into two parts,
cast with it. It is bored out truly from each end for some distance inward,
to receive the cylindrical plungers B, B', and beyond this truly bored part
the casting is of somewhat larger diameter. On opposite sides of the par-
tition a, two openings b, b', are provided, and fitted thereto are valves c, c¹;
both opening into the same valve box C, which is bolted to the side of the
cylinder, and which has secured to it the perpendicular or hollow shaft D. A

page_text: number of holes d, d, are formed in the cylinder, near each end. The under
side of the cylinder A is furnished with a cone journal p, (see Fig. 1,) to be
received in a step-bearing q, provided for it near the bottom of the well or
other source from whence the supply of water is derived, so that the cylinder
will always be entirely submerged in the water. In Fig. 1 the pump. is repre
sented as in a well, and the bearing q is supported by a transverse beam E
built into the well. The pipe or hollow shaft D is kept upright by having its
upper part received in a bearing consisting of a tubular socket cast in the
centre of the upper water basin P, which is supported on feet f,f, on the cover
M of the well. The shaft being kept upright sustains the cylinder A in a
horizontal condition..
.
The cylindrical plungers B, B¹, may be of cast iron or other metal, hollow,
with openings y, g, at the outer ends, and with valves h, h', at their inner ends,
opening from them into the cylinder, as shewn in Fig. 1. They are provided
at their outer ends with cross beads i, ¹, which may be cast with them, and
the two cross heads are connected together by a pair of side rods j,j, (see
Fig. 2,) which pass through lugs k, k, cast on the sides of the cylinder, and
thereby prevent the plungers turning in the cylinder, and keep in the proper
position the two rollers F, F, which are carried by the outer extremities of
the plungers, and run in contact with the stationary curved frame G, from
which the pistons derive the reciprocating motion in the cylinders when the
cylinder has imparted to it a revolving motion by the rotation of the shaft or
pipe D.
The stationary curved frame G is a part of the same casting as the flat bed
plate H, on which is cast the step bearing 9 for the cylinder before mentioned,
it being connected at its ends, and also by a central stay I to the bed plate.
The inner face of the frame G, with which the rollers F, F, run in contact,
takes the form of a curve, the distance of which from the axis of rotation of
the shaft D and cylinder A increases in regular progression from the end me to
the end n, as is illustrated in Fig. 2, the said curve making half a revolution
round its centre.
The head or upper extremity of the pipe or hollow shaft D is fitted with a
cap J, on one side of which is a bib K, which hangs over the upper bearing r
of the pipe or 'sbaft, for the discharge of water into the basin P. The above
cap and bib for a hand pump may be cast with a crank handle L, by which
rotary motion is imparted to the shaft. The basin P is provided with a
discharge spouts.
.
The operation of the pump is as follows:-Rotary motion being given to the
shaft or pipe D in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2, the cylinder A

page_text: is caused to revolve, and the rollers F, F¹, to run in regular alternate succes-
sion round the curved frame G, from n to m, and by that means their respective
plungers are alternately pushed into the cylinder, 'the one being pushed
inward as the other moves outward by means of the side rod connections j, j..
In this way a regnlar reciprocating movement of the pistons is produced:
Each piston in moving outwards produces a vacuum in its respective portion
of the cylinder on one side of the partition a, into which the water rushes
through its opening g or g¹, and through its valve h or h', which it forces
open. The plunger moves out so far, that its inner end opens the holes d, d,
as shewn, to the left hand of Fig. 1, and if the vacuum behind should not
have been quite filled before it passes these holes, the said holes admit a
plentiful supply of water to fill it. When the plunger moves in again, the
resistance of the water in the cylinder closes the valve, and as soon as the front
end of the plunger passes the holes d, d, the water in the cylinder receives from
the plunger a sufficient pressure to open its respective valve b or b', and is
forced up the pipe or shaft D. This is illustrated in Fig. 1, where the roller F
of the plunger B is just commencing to be acted upon, and the said plunger is
beginning to move inwards, and its valve h is closed, and the valve c is just
opening to allow the discharge of water from the left-hand side of the partition
a of the cylinder up the shaft or pipe D; at the same time the plunger B¹ is
moving outward, and forming a vacuum in the cylinder on the right-hand
side of the partition a; the valve c¹ is closed by the pressure of the water in the
pipe or tube D, and the valve ' is opened by the pressure of the water from
the well which rushes through the plunger to fill the vacuum in the cylinder.
By the alternate action of the two plungers, an almost continuous discharge of
water may be obtained through the shaft or pipe D, without an air vessel in
the said pipe or shaft, though to make it continuous, or for a forcing pump, an
air vessel may be employed. The water overflows the top of the pipe or
shaft D through the bib K and into the basin P, from whence it runs off
through the spouts into any receptacle placed below the said spout.
In a pump for foreing, as for a fire engine or other purpose where a forcible
discharge of water is required, it will be necessary to provide the cylinder with
stuffing boxes to receive the plungers, but in a hand pump to be employed
simply for raising water from a well, like that represented in the Drawing,
stuffing boxes and packing may be dispensed with, and the pistons may be
turned to fit quite easily to the cylinder, so as to work with very little friction,
and at the same time reduce the cost of the pump. It is proper to remark
that it is not absolutely necessary to provide the cylinder with the holes d. d, in
addition to the openings and valves in the plungers. Again, it is not absolutely

page_text: necessary to use hollow plungers with valves, as when holes d, d, are provided
in the cylinder, solid plungers without valves might be used, but in the latter
case the plungers would require good stuffing boxes, as a vacuum would be
formed in the cylinder, which would not receive any water till the strokes of
the plungers were nearly completed. If solid plungers are used, it would be
better to provide the cylinder with valves communicating directly from its
interior with the surrounding water of the well, and opening inwards to the
cylinder.
Having thus set forth the nature and object of the Invention of "An
Improved Rotary Pump," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited
Letters Patent I claim the cylinder or barrel A, having a partition a, and
having a pipe or shaft D connected with it, as herein described, and com-
municating with it on opposite sides of the partition a through valves c, c', and
being provided with two connected pistons B, B', the whole being arranged
substantially as described in relation to a stationary curved frame G, so that
by a rotary movement of the shaft D, the plungers are caused to receive a
reciprocating movement by working in contact with the said curved frame,
and thereby to cause an upward flow of water through the pipe D, as herein
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my band and seal, the Twentieth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)