IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR FORCING LIQUIDS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Green, of Crawshaw Booth, near Rawtenstall,
in the County of Lancaster, Joiner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RAISING OR FORCING LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 16th March 1858, and dated the 3rd October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Green at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
October 1857.
I, ROBERT GREEN, of Crawshaw Booth, near Rawtenstall, in the County of
Lancaster, Joiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR FORCING LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
The nature of this Invention consists in an improved mode of applying
steam for producing the requisite pressure to raise or force liquids. The
mode of operation is as follows:-The liquid to be raised or forced enters a
closed vessell, with which the off-pipe is connected by a valve; when the liquid
has entered the closed vessel to within a few inches of the top, steam is admitted,
the action of which on the air above the liquid forces the liquid from the
closed vessel through the valve and into the off-pipe; as soon as the steam is
shut off air is admitted to the closed vessel, and the liquid to be raised or
forced enters the closed vessel and is again expelled by the action of the steam
as before. The relative areas of the closed vessel and of the off-pipe, and the
pressure of the steam, depend upon the height to which the liquid is required
to be raised or forced.

page_text: By causing the steam to act on the air above the liquid in the closed vessel
the condensation of the steam is avoided, and in order to produce a continuous
stream in the off-pipe an air vessel is or may be applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Green in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
GREEN, of Crawshaw Booth, near Rawtenstall, in the County of Lancaster,
Joiner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of October, in the year of our. Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Robert Green, Her special licence that I, the said Robert Green,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Robert Green, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
RAISING OR FORCING LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Robert Green, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature 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 calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
4
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said: Robert Green, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement (that is to say) :-
:-
The nature of my Invention consists in an improved mode of applying
steam for producing the requisite pressure to raise or force liquids (; and in
order that my said Invention may be fully understood and readily carried into
effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference being

page_text: had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation in section of an apparatus suitable for carrying my
improvements in raising or forcing liquids into practical operation; Figure 2 is
a side elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a plan, in section, of the upper part
of the apparatus; and Figure 4 is a plan, also in section, of the lower part
thereof. a, a, are two closed vessels or cylinders, within which are the
spindles b, b¹, and the floats c, c¹. The cross bars d, d¹, and shoulders e, e¹,
are fixed to the spindles 6, 61, and the floats c, c¹, rise and fall within the said
shoulders and cross bars, as will be explained hereafter. The spindles b, b',
pass through stuffing boxes in the lids of the cylinders a, a', and they have
each an open slot, as shewn in Figure 2; these spindles give motion to the
beam g, by which the steam valves h, h¹, are opened and closed; the spindles
b, b, also open and close the air valves i, ', by means of the rods j, j', the
upper ends of which enter into the slots of the said spindles. The steam
producing the requisite pressure on the liquid to be raised or forced enters the
apparatus at the orifice k, see Figures 1 and 3, and the liquid itself enters
the apparatus at 7, and is discharged at the orifice m into the off-pipe n. The
valves o, o¹, are to admit the liquid into the cylinders a, a', and those marked
P, p², convey it to the discharge pipe n. On referring to Figure 3 it will be
seen that the branch pipes q, q', convey a portion of the discharged water into
the cylinders a, a¹, to produce a vacuum when required; each branch pipe
q, q, has a small valve opening towards the inside of the cylinder, as shewn
in Figure 3. The section Figure.1 represents the various parts of the appa-
ratus in the positions they occupy when the float c is down and the float c¹ is
up. The mode of operation is as follows:-When the apparatus is in a state
of rest, both the cylinders a, a, are full of the liquid to be raised or forced up
to level of the air valves i, i, both the floats c; c¹, are up and all the
valves are closed; the valve h¹ is then opened to admit steam to the upper
part of the cylinder a', and the pressure of the steam acting on the air in the
upper part of the cylinder a¹ causes the air to act on the column of liquid in
the cylinder a', thereby forcing a portion of this liquid through the valve p',
through the orifice m, and into the off-pipe n. The float c being held up by
the liquid in the cylinder a', it is evident that it will begin to descend as soon
as the level of the liquid is lowered, and the float c¹ continues its descent
until nearly all the liquid is displaced from the cylinder a¹. When the float
c in descending comes in contact with the cross bar d¹ it draws down the
spindle b', thereby causing the beam g to assume the position indicated by
the dotted line in Figure 1, thereby closing the valve hand opening the

page_text: valve h. As soon as the steam is shut off by closing the valve h', the injection
water enters the cylinder a¹ through the valve in the pipe q'; because the
valve in the said pipe is no longer held closed by the pressure of steam within
the said cylinder. When the valve h is opened the steam acts on the air in
the upper part of the cylinder a, and the float c descends in the same manner
and during its descent the liquid to be raised rushes into the cylinder
through the opening and valve o', owing to the vacuum which had been
formed therein by the introduction of the injection water, as above described.
When the float c¹ in rising comes against the shoulder. e¹ it lifts the spindle b',
and in so doing raises the valve , to admit air into the upper part of the
cylinder a¹, and to prevent the liquid, rising above the level of the said valve i'.
While the float c is descending, the liquid is forced through the valve p to the
off-pipe n, and these operations are repeated as long as the apparatus remains
at work, each up and down motion of the floats producing the requisite
changes in the position of the parts to admit air and steam to the cylinders
a, a¹ alternately; the air being admitted before the steam prevents the con-
densation of the steam, which would take place if the steam were admitted
to the cylinders without having previously admitted air. The liquid will be
raised or forced to a height proportionate to the pressure of steam employed.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described an apparatus
suitable for carrying the same into practical operation, I wish it to be, under-
stood that I do not limit myself to the use of such an apparatus, as the same
may be greatly modified or varied, according to the particular object for which
it is intended. I would also remark that I do not claim any of the parts
shewn and described when taken separately; but what I do claim is, the
application of steam acting on air in a closed vessel or cylinder in which a
vacuum is produced to raise the liquid into the said closed vessel or cylinder,
and from which the liquid is forced by the pressure of the steam and air.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Green, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
H. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
ROBERT GREEN. (L.S.)