IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC WATER-ELEVATING ENGINES
Year: 1868

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred Vincent Newton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
4th November 1868.-A communication from abroad by Andrew
Jackson Reynolds, of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, and James
John Newell, of Adrian, in the State of Michigan, United States of
America.
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ATMOSPHERIC
WATER-ELEVATING ENGINES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the elevation of water by atmospheric
pressure through the agency of a vacuum superinduced in part by the
action of the discharging column, and in part by the condensation of
steam after it has exerted its pressure on a float or piston to aid in
expelling the water.
The Invention consists, firstly, in constructing such engine with a
double, that is to say, with an upper and a lower cylinder, the latter of
which is, properly speaking, the condensing cylinder.

page_text: The Invention also includes certain devices for condensing the steam
(which is let into the upper cylinder to destroy the vacuum and allow
the water to fall to the level of the discharge valve) by the momentum
of the falling water which enables it to pass through a floating piston
of the upper cylinder into the water in the condensing cylinder.
Likewise the Invention consists in the means for discharging the
surplus steam, air, or gases through a valve in the head of the upper
cylinder by means of the momentum or concussion of the water forced
up by atmospheric pressure and exerted on the piston, the upper cylinder
being several feet less in height than the atmosphere would raise the
water.
r
Furthermore the Invention consists in an arrangement of three valves
on a main operating rod within the cylinder, by means of which the
effects herein-before stated are produced.
Also the Invention includes a duplicate arrangement of upper and
lower cylinders with floats or pistons to the upper cylinders geared to
work in unison and in reverse directions for the purpose of keeping up a
continuous discharge, the main or general principle of action being the
same as in the single engine herein-before referred to, but the main
operating rods which pass through the upper cylinders being made to
have a continuous motion with the pistons which are attached to them
instead of having a limited and intermittent motion at the opposite ends
of the stroke as in the single engine arrangement.
The upper and lower cylinders are connected together by bolts passing
through their flanges, a ring composed of some bad conductor of heat
being interposed between them. The bottom of the lower cylinder is
connected with a water supply pipe, the openings to which are closed by
valves fitted to the cylinder and opening inwards and leading from the
side of the cylinder in the discharge pipe, the end of which.is. turned
upwards and fitted with a valve that is capable of closing it. The
floating piston is fitted to the upper cylinder, and it is pierced with
openings forming passages of communication between the upper and
lower cylinders. This piston slides freely on a central rod which carries
below the piston a floating valve designed to close at proper times the
openings in the piston. To ensure this valve following the piston it is
contained in a cage attached to the floating piston, and below the cage
the rod carries a stop through which the rod receives the downward
thrust of the piston. Above the piston is a second valve which is free

page_text: to slide on the central rod, upon which a shoulder is made to receive
it; this valve is also intended to close the openings in the piston at
certain periods of its action. The upper end of the rod projects upwards
through the closed cover of the top cylinder, and to it a rock lever
is connected which is weighted to balance the weight of the rod; affixed
to this rod within the cylinder is a valve for closing and opening, made
in the cover of the cylinder, and thereby stopping the action of an escape
valve with which this opening is fitted. The top cylinder is provided
with a steam pipe leading from a boiler, and a slide valve worked by
the weighted rock lever is used to open and cut off the supply.
To set this engine in action the valve of the discharge valve is
first screwed down and the engine is then filled with water; the
central rod is then lifted by hand, and steam is admitted to the upper
cylinder, and the valve of the discharge valve is then released. The
water being now free to escape the operations above detailed will then
take place in their proper order and a large discharge will be rapidly
and economically effected.
With a double-action engine constructed according to this Invention
a continuous discharge will be obtained, the pistons of the duplicate
cylinders acting alternately to effect the discharge, slight modifica-
tions from the arrangement just described will in this case be required.
Thus, for example, the valves provided in the top of the cylinders for
allowing of the escape of superfluous steam and of air will be weighted
to prevent the escape past them of the incoming steam supplied to the
cylinders, the valve carried by the central rod in the single arrangement
for performing this duty being dispensed with.