IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, VESSELS, AND BOATS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Scott, of Tain, in the County of Ross, North
Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS,
WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS,
VESSELS, AND BOATS."
Sealed the 7th January 1859, and dated the 27th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Scott at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th July 1858.
I, JOHN SCOTT, of Tain, in the County of Ross, North Britain, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PUMPS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS,
VESSELS, AND BOATS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the pumping or forcing of liquids for various
purposes by the agency of a rotatory helical coil of piping or tubes. This coil
of piping or tubing is arranged upon a globular vessel or supporting surface,
having liberty to revolve upon a horizontal axis, and by reason of the globular
or spherical form of the carrying surface of the coil of piping, the coils at the
centre of the globe are the greatest in diameter, whilst those at the two
ends are the smallest, the diminution or taper being gradual from the centre
towards each end, where the piping is joined to stationary communicating
pipes by suitable stuffing boxes. These two ends of the coiled pipe are each

page_text: connected with a duplex branch pipe, two branches passing downwards to a
suction or lift pipe, and two upwards to the forcing or elevating pipe. With
this arrangement, as the apparatus is caused to revolve either continuously or
with a reciprocatory action, the water or liquid to be raised or forced is drawn
up from the reservoir or source of supply, and forced or elevated along the
upper lift pipe to wherever it is required to be sent. The coil of pipes is fitted
at each end, where the junctions with the branches occur, with a pair of valves
opening upwards for the admission and discharge of the liquid. When an
oscillatory or reciprocatory rotative movement is given to the apparatus the
gradual diminution in the size of the coils of the pipe from the centre towards
each end gives intensity both to the forces of compression, or forcing and
lifting, or suction. Various forms may be given to pipes or tubes acting on
this general principle, and the liquid may be admitted to and discharged from
the tubing at points having different distances from the axial line, so that
centrifugal force may in this way be combined with the force of liquid impact.
In setting this apparatus to work the coil of piping must first be filled with a
liquid, and when motion is given to it this liquid acts the part of a piston upon
the matter to be pumped. The liquid may either act alone or in combination
with an elastic fluid. The apparatus may be employed for raising or forcing
various fluids or liquids, and it may also be used as a marine propeller for
propelling vessels by ejecting the water on the reaction principle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Scott in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SCOTT, of Tain, in the County of Ross, North Britain, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto I,
the said John Scott, Her special licence that I, the said John: Scott, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the, said John
Scott, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR THE PROPULSION OF SHIPS, VESSELS, AND
BOATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the 'said John Scott,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Scott, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the pumping or forcing of liquids for various
purposes by the agency of a rotatory helical coil of piping or tubes. This coil
of piping or tubing is arranged upon a globular vessel or supporting surface,
having liberty to revolve upon a horizontal axis, and by reason of the globular
or spherical form of the carrying surface of the coil of piping, the coils at the
centre of the globe are the greatest in diameter, whilst those at the two ends
are the smallest, the diminution or taper being gradual from the centre towards
each end, where the piping is joined to stationary communicating pipes by
suitable stuffing boxes. These two ends of the coiled pipe are cach connected
with a duplex branch pipe, two branches passing downwards to a suction or
lift pipe, and two upwards to the forcing or elevating pipe. With this arrange-
ment, as the apparatus is caused to revolve either continuously or with a
reciprocatory action, the water or liquid to be raised or forced is drawn up
from the reservoir or source of supply, and forced or elevated along the upper
lift pipe to wherever it is required to be sent. The coil of pipe is fitted at
each end where the junctions with the branches occur, with a pair of valves
opening upwards for the admission and discharge of the liquid. When an
oscillatory or reciprocatory rotative movement is given to the apparatus, the
gradual diminution in the size of the coils of pipe from the centre towards
each end, gives intensity both to the forces of compression or forcing and
lifting or suction. Various forms may be given to pipes or tubes acting on
this general principle, and the liquid may be admitted to and discharged from
the tubing at points having different distances from the axial line, so that
centrifugal force may in this way be combined with the force of liquid impact.
In setting this apparatus to work, the coil of piping must first be filled with a

page_text: liquid, and when motion is given to it, this liquid acts the part of a piston
upon the matter to be pumped. This liquid may either act alone or in
combination with an elastic fluid. The apparatus may be employed for
raising or forcing various fluids or liquids, and it may also be used as a
marine propeller for propelling vessels, by ejecting the water on the reaction
principle.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several illustrative Figures on the explanatory
Sheet of Drawings, which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of
showing certain modifications under which my Invention may be carried out
in practice.
The improvements in pumps enunciated in the preceding description arise
from that part which performs the function of a piston, consisting of a fluid or
fluids, which act by means of the momentum communicated to the said mass
by giving a reciprocating, oscillating, or alternately accelerating and retarding
motion to the tube or vessel which contains the fluid or fluids. This fluid
piston can be applied as the proximate instrument in the raising of liquids,
forcing them through apertures or along pipes in the condensing and exhaust-
ing of elastic fluids, and in the propulsion of ships, vessels, and boats by the
reaction resulting from the drawing and discharging of water.
As the shape
of the vessel or tube which contains the fluid employed to effect these results
may be varied indefinitely, the diagrams and explanation which follow must
be understood in a general and not in an individual and particular sense.
That shown in Figure 1 consists of a tube in the form of a helix or spiral,
constructed round a solid or sphere of revolution, with the threads or coils
near each extremity, diminishing in diameter until the ends of the tube are
brought to the axis of the solid, where they enter revolving joints, as at A
and B, Figure 1. These joints are connected to pipes extending between the
position from which the fluid is drawn and that where it is discharged, and
corresponding to the suction and force pipes of other pumps; see C, D, and
E, F, Figure 1. Instead of the two ends of the spiral being turned so as to
discharge the fluid in opposite directions, as A and B, Figure 1, they can
be so turned as to discharge it in the same direction, and the one may be
made to pass into the interior of the other, as represented by Figure 2.
When the motion of the wheel is reciprocating, the revolving joint may be.
dispensed with by connecting the spiral to the suction and force pipes by
means of elastic or flexible tubes having sufficient length to allow the wheels
to perform the requisite angle of vibration.
In the former illustration the fluid which has to be raised or expelled is

page_text: both admitted into the spiral and discharged from it at the axis of the wheel,
but by the latter contrivance the fluid may be admitted and discharged at
different points in the spiral any distance from the axis. This can also be
effected by two other methods, either enclosing the revolving wheel in an air-
tight case like that in which the fans of centrifugal pumps revolve, or
immersing the spiral wheel in the fluid. If the fluid, by the above or similar
methods, be discharged from the spiral at some distance from the axis, the
force of fluid impact may be made to act in combination with centrifugal
force. The bore of the spiral tube may have any form, and be uniform or
variable in section. It may be so enlarged near each extremity as to form a
cistern, or may enter a vessel of that kind attached to the reciprocating wheel,
a form of construction well adapted for the condensing and exhausting of
elastic fluids. If, on the contrary, the bore of the spiral is gradually contracted
toward each extremity, the force with which the fluid is discharged will be
increased, and the same effect results when each end of the tube is uniform in
section, and resembles that shown in the accompanying Drawing. The
reciprocating vessel or tube may be of any length, if straight, and when
curved may consist of any part of a single coil, or be composed of one or
more coils; and the contiguous one may either be some distance apart
or in immediate contact like a thread wound on a reel. Instead of.
a single tube with a large bore, several with smaller bores may be con-
structed round the same solid, and their extremities may be united at the
revolving joint, or they may first discharge the fluid into a cistern at each end
of the axis. Pumps constructed in the manner described will generally act
most efficiently by reversing the direction of the motion, but they will act on
the same principle when the velocity is alternately accelerated and retarded,
though the wheel moves always in the same direction. The arc of vibration
through which the wheel passes may consist of one or more circumferences,
or be only a part of a single circumference, and the angular velocity of the
motion can be similarly varied, to increase or regulate the velocity of discharge.
This velocity depends on the length of the reciprocating tube, the time in
which each vibration is performed, and the rapidity with which the motion is
reversed. The reaction of a spring or impact against an elastic medium will
diminish the quantity of work lost by reversing the motion. An air chamber
placed near the reciprocating wheel will generally increase the efficiency of
pumps raising or discharging water on the aforesaid principle.
In addition to the preceding illustrations it may be added that pumps acting
by means of fluid momentum differ from the centrifugal, in possessing the
property of discharging fluids at the axis of revolution, as well as at any

page_text: distance from it, and also from the circumstance that the former cannot
discharge fluids if the revolving parts move with a uniform velocity. Unlike
the Zurich machine of Wirtz in principle, they also differ from it in results,
by possessing the power of discharging fluids without the intervention of air or
any elastic fluid in the spiral; but the addition of an elastic fluid in the
spiral may in some cases be employed to regulate the discharge. It is obvious
that this apparatus may also be employed with effect as an air condenser or
blowing engine.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, that particular and
especial application of fluid momentum which renders it applicable for
pumping or forcing operations, namely, the momentum produced by a
reciprocatory, oscillatory, or alternate quick and slow motion of the vessel or
tube, whether straight or curved, containing the fluid or fluids.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Scott, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-second day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.