Improvements in Apparatus for Raising or Forcing Water or other Fluids.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Dec., 1892-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Raising or Forcing Water or
other Fluids.
I, JAMES ATKINSON, of No. 3 Nassington Road, Hampstead, London, N.W.
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention is for the purpose of more economically and conveniently pumping
water or other fluids and has special advantages for pumping thick fluids such as
sewerage, sludge, oils, tar, &c., also is of specially convenient form for using in
connection with plant for raising water from deep wells, mines &c.
In its simplest form it consists of duplex chambers of similar capacity, this
capacity being equal to the amount of water it is desired to discharge at once; these
chambers are preferably either sunk in the water to be lifted or as closely to it as
may be convenient, the highest point of them should however not be more than say
twenty-seven feet from the lowest level of the water; connected with the lower
part of each chamber are suitable inlet and outlet valves, (these valves, when used
for thick or impure fluids, I prefer to construct so that on each inlet and outlet the
fluid passes successively through two or more valves thus preventing risk of
leakage). Suction pipes are carried into the water and delivery pipes upwards, if
the apparatus is placed in a well, in such a manner that the suction and delivery
valves can be lifted up through these delivery pipes from above the highest level
to which the water in the well can rise, so that they may be removed for
examination even though the apparatus itself is drowned, beyond this level the
two discharge pipes may be run into one which may be placed in any convenient
direction.
Communicating with the top of each of these chambers is a pipe, through which
the air used for discharging the fluid passes and through which also this same air
is exhausted for the purpose of filling the chamber.
In each chamber there is placed a float, the rod or chain supporting this float may
be led up through the air pipe and in any convenient position, these chains or rods
are attached to a double ended lever, the one rod to one end of the lever, the other
rod from the duplicate chamber to the other end of the lever; the floats thus
balance each other, when neither of them is submerged, when however either of
them is submerged the lever is moved, and by means of a tumbler, movement is
suddenly communicated-to a valve, which may be similar to the ordinary ▷ valve
in a steam engine, this valve being used for the purpose of changing the direction
of the flow of air used for the purpose of filling and discharging each chamber of
the apparatus alternately.
In connection with the apparatus I use an air pump, preferably that known as
Atkinson's Air Compressor, the action of the whole being as follows:-
A certain quantity of air is enclosed between the surfaces of the water in the
chambers, filling the spaces not occupied by water, the air pipes, and the com-
munications to the air compressor; presuming that one chamber has just been
discharged by means of air compressed into it, this air being at the pressure
corresponding. to the head to which the water has been forced, this body of air
(which is used over and over again) has been exhausted from the duplicate
chamber, the exhaustion from which causes it to be filled with water drawn up
through the suction valve, when full, the float in it rises moving the double ended
lever which actuates the reversing valve, changing the suction of the air compressor
to the chamber recently emptied, and the delivery of the air compressor to the full
chamber, which will now commence to discharge, and when the pressure is
exhausted from the empty chamber, it will commence to fill, and on being filled it

page_text: will in turn automatically shift the reversing valve when it also will be
discharged.
It will be seen that the air compressor runs continuously, the delivery from it
heing at approximately constant pressure due to the head to which the water has
to be lifted, the pressure on the suction side however varying from this pressure
as a maximum, to the lower pressure at which water will flow into and fill the
chambers.
An air compressor will be (generally speaking) necessary for each pair of
chambers, and may be single or double acting, if double acting, one end of this air
compressor may be used for one pair of chambers and the other end for another
pair.
Instead of placing the chambers alongside each other, one of thein may be placed
at a higher level so as to divide the lift between them, the lower one, say down a
well, discharging into an upper one at the surface, and the upper one discharging
into the reservoir; in this arrangement it is desirable to make the lift of the upper
one slightly in excess of the lift of the lower one, and should any lower pressure at
any time be on the outlet from the upper one, a suitable valve should be placed on
the outlet pipe which will impose resistance on the water so as to bring it up to the
desired minimum pressure. In some instances for high lifts, the total lift may be
divided into four, the chambers working in pairs under either of the arrangements
above described, each pair independently or one set of floats in one pair may
reverse the valve changing the current to one or more pairs as well, acting in
conjunction with the controlling pair.
When a high air pressure is used, the air compressor may be arranged to
compress the air in stages.
Instead of using the double ended lever above described, a separate lever may
be used for each float, these two levers being suitably connected.
When the chambers are nearly as high in level as the air compressors, I prefer
to make the float close the air pipe when at its highest point, so as to prevent water
being drawn over into the air compressor.
It may be desirable to place a relief valve on the discharge pipe from the air
compressor, so arranged that any excess of pressure beyond the desired maximum
will lift this valve, and allow air to pass into the suction pipe. This valve may
also be operated by a float in the sump to suit intermittent working.
A small air compressor or other suitable means may be employed to deliver
fresh air into the body of air used as the working medium thus replacing any loss
which may take place.
Dated this 22nd der of Mouch 1802
JAMES ATKINSON.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Raising or Forcing Water or
other Fluids.
I, JAMES ATKINSON, of 3 Nassington Road, Hampstead, London, N.W. 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 is for the purpose of more economically and conveniently pumping
water, or other fluids, and has special advantages for pumping, raising, or forcing
thick fluids, such as sewerage, sludge, oils, tar, &c. also is of specially convenient
form for using in connection with plant for raising water from deep wells, mines, &c.
it may also be economically and conveniently employed for forcing sewerage,
sludge, sugar cane juice, and such like semi-fluids through filter presses.
In its simplest form it consists of duplex chambers of similar capacity, this
capacity being equal to the amount of fluid it is desired to discharge at once; these

page_text: chambers are preferably either sunk in the fluid to be lifted, or as closely to it as
may be convenient, and in any case should not be more than say 27 feet above the
lowest fluid level; the two chambers are shown in Fig. 1, Sheet I, and are
lettered A and B ; connected with the lower part of each of the chambers A and B
are suitable inlet and outlet valves which may be of any desired construction, those
for the chamber A being contained in the valve box C, and those for the chamber B
in the valve box D. Suction pipes are attached to the lower part of these valve
boxes and either separately, or as shown in the drawing combined into one, carried
downwards or otherwise into the fluid to be pumped; similarly a delivery pipe or
pipes may be led upwards or otherwise; if the apparatus is placed in a well and is
liable to be covered with water the suction and delivery valves may be drawn up
through the delivery pipes which may be carried vertically upwards to the highest
water level for this purpose, at this level they may be joined into one rising main,
or, if preferred the rising main may be joined to the two vertical pipes close down
at the chambers A and B, the vertical pipes above this level will then form air
vessels.
Communicating with the top of each of the chambers A and B is an air pipe, E
communicating with A, and F with B; also in the upper part of the chamber A
there is a float H, a similar float being placed at the top of the chamber B, these
floats are hung from rods which pass through stuffing boxes and by means of links
or chains to a double ended lever I, fixed in any convenient position; the floats
thus balance each other, but for the purpose of causing the lever I to move suddenly
from one extreme position to the other extreme position the lever has attached to it
a balance weight J, which tends to resist motion at first, but assists it afterwards.
The lever I by means of suitable mechanism is attached to a suitable valve G, this
valve may be either a revolving plug, or a slide valve, or of any other suitable
form; in one position of the valve G the air pipe E will be in communication with
the pipe K, at the same time the pipe F will be in communication with the pipe L;
on reversing the valve G, F will be connected with K whilst E communicates
with L M is a suitable air-compressor, the pipe K being, say, the suction pipe,
and L the delivery pipe.
The air-compressor M. may be of any description, and driven in any suitable
manner.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-The air-compressor M being in
motion, the suction pipe K being placed by means of the automatic valve G
in communication with the pipe F and so with the chamber B, air is drawn from
the chamber B, as this chamber B is in connection with the suction pipe, water will
be drawn up into it until filled, when the float in its upper part is more or less
immersed, thus disturbing the balance of the lever I, so as suddenly to reverse it
and consequently the valve G; the air-compressor M will now draw air from the
chamber A and force it into the chamber B, the water will now pass through
the delivery valve of the chamber B into the rising main, the air in B will be
compressed until at a sufficient pressure to force the water against the resistance
due to the lift, or otherwise, and being thus forced at the same time the chamber A
is being exhausted and filled with another supply of water to be pumped, until it in
its turn being filled the lever I and valve G are reversed to their former position,
when the previously described action will again take place.
To enable the chambers A and B to be fully discharged it will be necessary to
admit a sufficient amount of air to fill one of these chambers at a pressure sufficient
to discharge the water, this additional air may be admitted by opening a cock on
the suction pipe K at a time when there is no pressure in it. A little air will also
be required to be admitted from time to time to make up for any leakage or for
any that may be absorbed by the water, this may be done automatically by means
of a snifting valve so arranged as to admit a regulated quantity just before each
reversal; or a small air-pump may be employed delivering a small quantity of air
continuously.
It will be seen that in this system of pumping a certain quantity of air is enclosed

page_text: in the chambers A and B above the surfaces of the water, in the various air pipes,
and in the compressor, and I wish it to be clearly understood that this body of air
being used over and over again, being drawn from one chamber for the purpose of
filling it, and forced into the other one for the purpose of discharging it, and then
automatically reversed for the purpose of filling the chamber previously discharged
and discharging the chamber previously filled, is the distinctive feature of this
invention.
The air-compressor M runs continuously, the delivery from it being 'approxi-
mately at a constant pressure, this pressure being equal to the height or head to
which the fluid has to be forced; the pressure on the suction side however varying
from the delivery pressure as a maximum to the pressure at which the fluid will
How into and fill the chambers.
An air-compressor will be (excepting as will be hereinafter explained) necessary
for each pair of chambers, and may be single or double-acting, if double-acting one
end of the compressor may be used for one pair of chambers, and the other end for
another independent pair of chambers.
Instead of placing the chambers alongside each other one of them may be placed
at a higher level so as to divide the lift between them; the lower one say at the
bottom of a well and the other one at a higher level; with this arrangement it is
desirable to make the lift of the upper one slightly in excess of the lower lift.
When arranged in this manner, the bottom chamber delivers into the upper one,
and the upper one completes the lift, it will therefore be seen that the delivery of
fluid would be intermittent, and it might be desirable to employ two chambers at.
the bottom and two at the upper level.
This subdivision of the total lift may be carried still further and the total lift
divided into three, four or more stages; the multiplication of these stages however
causes some little difficulty in dealing with the final lift, which has to be pro-
portionately increased to a great extent this difficulty may be got over by placing
the delivery valves of the upper chambers at a considerably lower level than the
chambers themselves so as to prevent the upper chambers being completely
discharged and thus allowing the escape of the air which otherwise might take
place before the chambers lower down have been discharged into their corresponding
upper ones. This arrangement of dividing the lifts is shown in Figs. 2 and 3
diagramatically. In Fig. 2, four stages of single chambers are shown, in which
chamber a delivers into b, whilst c delivers into d, on reversal would deliver
into c, whilst d completes the lift and during the time that a is being filled with a
fresh supply. Fig. 3 shows a similar lift in four stages with double chambers, so
as to give a more continuous flow; in this instance e delivers into f whilst f
delivers into y, ginto h¹, to the surface whilst e is being filled with a fresh
supply; on reversal e delivers into ƒ whilst f' delivers into g', g into h, h¹ to the
surface whilst e' is being filled.
When the chambers are nearly as high in level as the air-compressor, as shown
in Fig. 1, Sheet I, I prefer to make the floats when at their highest points close
the airpipes so as to prevent water being drawn over into the air compressor. This
arrangement is shown in the upper part of the float H, which forms a valve closing
the communication to the airpipe E.
It may be desirable to place a relief valve on the discharge pipe, from the air-
compressor, so arranged that any excess of pressure beyond the desired maximum
will lift this valve and allow air to pass into the suction pipe: This valve may
also be operated by a float in the sump to suit intermittent working.
Having now particularly described and ascertained. the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. An apparatus for raising or forcing water, consisting of an air-compressor, a
suitable automatic valve, and a pair (or pairs) of pumping chambers; all in con-
nection, the working medium being a constant body of air which is alternately

page_text: drawn from one of the chambers for the purpose of filling it, and forced into the
other for the purpose of discharging it; operating substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated.
2. In an apparatus for raising or forcing water or other fluid, consisting of an
air-compressor, a suitable automatic valve, and a pair (or pairs) of pumping
chambers, all in connection, the working medium being a constant body of air which
is alternately drawn from one of the chambers for the purpose of filling it, and
forced into the other for the purpose of discharging it, operating the automatic
valve suddenly by means of floats and a tumbler weight or any mechanical
equivalent, substantially as herein before described and illustrated.
3. The general arrangement and construction of pumping apparatus as herein-
before described and illustrated.
JAMES ATKINSON.
Date is word day of December 1992.
Witnessed by
JOHN WAIGHT,
24, Roderick Road, Gospel Oak, London, N.W.