IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY WEEDRATNING LAND
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Hamit, of Haddenham, in the County
of Cambridge, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY WEEDRATNING LAND "
Sealed the 30th May 1873, and dated the 11th December 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Hamit at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1872.
I, GEORGE HAMIT, of Haddenham, in the County of Cambridge,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY USED IN DRAINING LAND," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to draining fen lands by means of a scoop wheel.
which raises the water and discharges it into a river or main drain at a
higher level.

page_text: increase the diameter of the scoop wheel in order to obtain sufficient
dip into the water to be raised, the width of the wheel being con-
scquently lessened in proportion to suit the power of the engine by
which it is driven, thereby necessitating the reconstruction of the wheel
race.
The above are operations of a very expensive character and are
obviated by the use of my Invention, which consists in the application
of an auxiliary wheel at the entrance to the wheel race to feed the water
to the scoop wheel, the efficiency of which is moreover increased. This
auxiliary wheel is provided with curved blades and is rapidly rotated,
the water being admitted to it through a sluice protected by a grating.
The blades of the wheel may either extend quite across or the wheel
may be constructed with several heads between which blades are
arranged so as to be immersed successively.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Hamit in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HAMIT, of Haddenham, in the County of Cambridge, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Hamit, Her special licence
that I, the said George Hamit, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Hamit, 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 MACHINERY
USED IN DRAINING LAND," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said George Hamit, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: 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
5 next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Hamit, 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
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):
My Invention relates to the draining of fen lands by means of what is
known as a scoop wheel, by which the water is raised and discharged into
a river or main drain at a higher level. This method has long been
employed to drain the fen lands of Cambridge, Lincoln, Norfolk, and
Suffolk, where it has been found that the abstraction of the water by
draining produces a general subsidence of the level of the land to the
extent of perhaps /ths of an inch per annum, the consequences of which
are that many of the scoop wheels in use have lost half their dip, and the
land is not so well drained as formerly, the expense of draining being at
the same time considerably increased owing to the necessity for running
the wheels more frequently than when they were first erected and had a
full dip. To remedy this it has been found necessary to increase the
diameter of the scoop wheel and deepen the wheel race in order to give
the wheel sufficient dip, but to avoid exceeding the power of the engine
the width of the wheel had to be reduced, thereby necessitating the entire
reconstruction of the wheel race. These are operations of a very expensive
character and do not answer the purpose effectually, moreover in a high
water when the aid of the wheel is most required the power of the
engine is frequently insufficient to drive a wheel so altered.
The above are entirely obviated and the general efficiency of the scoop
wheel is increased by the use of my Invention, which consists in the
application of an auxiliary wheel to feed the water to the scoop wheel.
This auxiliary wheel is provided with curved blades and is rapidly
rotated, the water being admitted to it through a sluice protected by
a grating.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the scoop wheel and assistant wheel;
and Figure 2 is a plan of the same.
A is the scoop wheel of the ordinary construction mounted in suitable
bearings to rotate in a race B as usual. C is the auxiliary or assistant
wheel disposed at the tail of the scoop wheel, and as close as possible
thereto but not so as to interfere with the foundations. This assistant
wheel is mounted in suitable bearings and is placed as much lower than
the scoop wheel as is necessary for the proper drainage, the bottom of
the wheel race being of course lowered at that part as shown. The
diameter of the auxiliary wheel is regulated by circumstances, but its
width should in all cases be about three times that of the scoop wheel
although I do not confine myself to any particular proportions.
The race which is made of corresponding width is contracted gradually
towards the scoop wheel as shown.
The blades of the auxiliary wheel are preferably curved and arranged
as shown in Figure 1, which blades may either extend quite across the
wheel, or the latter may be made in two or more sections or widths (two
being shown) the position of the blades in the one section intersecting
that of the blades in the adjoining section or sections so as not to be
immersed simultaneously; but the wheel may be otherwise constructed
and be disposed at one side of the scoop wheel although I find the
arrangement above described the most efficient. The scoop wheel and
assistant wheel are driven in the direction indicated by the same motor
by the aid of suitable gearing.
In the arrangement shown the scoop wheel is driven by a pinion D,
on the main or driving shaft, gearing with an internal ring of teeth on
the scoop wheel, which in turn drives another pinion E on a short shaft
F, from which the assistant wheel is driven by belt or otherwise through
the meduim of the countershaft G, pinion H, and gear wheels K, L, the
latter of which is keyed on the shaft of the assistant wheel, or the latter
may be otherwise driven.
The action is as follows:-Both wheels are put in motion at the same

page_text: a large body of water is thrown up. The scoop wheel consequently
delivers a greater quantity of water, a full dip being maintained
although the water is much lower in the drain.
When the water in the river is very high the assistant wheel can be
thrown out of gear, and the scoop wheel be worked as originally erected
so that there is no fear of stoppage.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is, the combination with a scoop wheel for draining fen lands
of an auxiliary or assistant wheel arranged, applied, and operating
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Hamit, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.