AN IMPROVED PUMP, APPLICABLE TO STEAM ENGINES OR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SOUTTER, of Limehouse, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Second day of March, in the ninth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Soutter, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said James Soutter, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Soutter, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alder-
ney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Planta-
tions abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED PUMP, APPLICABLE TO STEAM
ENGINES OR OTHER PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said James Soutter, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Soutter, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
My said improved pump is of the class called semi-rotative, and my improve-
ments therein have.relation.as. well. to, the mode of constructing as to the mode
of working the same. And, first, as to the mode of construction:-In order
the better to ensure a continuous' and copious delivery from such pumps,
especially when used in ships, I construct them in the manner represented in
Figures 1 to 6, both inclusive, of the Drawings annexed. Figure 1 represents
an external elevation of a pump embodying my improvements; Figure 2, a
sectional elevation on the line A, B; Figure 3, another sectional eleva-
tion on the line C, D; Figure-4, a-top-plan; Figure 5, a horizontal
section on the line E, F; and Figure 6, a horizontal section on the line G, H.
2, Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5, is the cylinder, which is furnished with four lugs
, b, b, b, two at each end, by means of which it is made fast in a horizontal
position to the four columns c, c, c, c; d, d, are the 'covers of the cylinder ends;
e, two stuffing boxes in the centres, of these covers, which are packed with
hemp or some other suitable material, so as to make a perfectly water-tight
oint round the two shafts f and g. The interior of the cylinder is divided by
means of four longitudinal plates h, h, h, h, and two transverse ones j, j, into
Lix separate chambers k, l, m, n, o, and p, of which chambers kand 1 extend the
whole length of the cylinder, but m, n, o, and p, merely extend from the ends
of the cylinder covers as far as the transverse division plates j, j, at the centre
of the cylinder. In the four chambers last mentioned work four pistons
q, r, s, and t, of which the two marked 9 and r are cast in the same piece with
and on opposite sides of the shaft f, and the two marked s and t are cast in
the same piece with and on the opposite sides of the shaft marked g. The
three outer edges of each piston, which work against the cylinder cover, and
the transverse division plate, also the inner edges of the horizontal division
plates h, h, h, h, where they come in contact with the piston shafts ƒ and g, are
made of water-tight by packing. I prefer for the purpose metallic packing.
At the inner end of the piston shaft f there is a circular toggle or projection u,
which fits into a corresponding recess. in the outer piston shaft g, the effect of
which is to cause the two shafts to work truly in the same centre line although
vibrating in different directions. On the outer ends of the shafts ƒ and g are
fixed cranked arms v'and w, by which motion is communicated through their
respective shafts to the pistons. Each of the four pistons is furnished with a

page_text: valve x which opens upwards. The two upper horizontal portions of the divi-
sion plates are also furnished, with four head or delivery valves y, y, y, y, and
the two, lower portions of the division plates with four foot or suction valves
2, 2, 2, 2; these delivery and suction valves likewise opening upwards. The
lower chamber of the pump communicates with the suction pipe a', and the.
highest chamber k, with the delivery pipe 6'. The pistons and valves act.
precisely in the same way as in the common forcing pump, each piston empty-.
ing the chamber in which it works every time that it rises; but motion being,
communicated to the cranks, so that one pair of pistons shall be moving rapidly
while the other pair are at their dead centre, there will always be one piston
rising, and consequently there will always be a uniform and continuous flow of
water from the delivery: pipe. The head valves y may be omitted, and the foot
valves z,only used, or vice versa, it not being absolutely essential to the effec-
tive working of the pump that, both should be employed. a¹ is the suction:
pipe of the pump, which is so constructed as that it may be connected with
any one of a number of pipes coming from different directions, as, for example,
from different parts of a ship or manufactory; p is a union joint; q¹ a short
piece of straight pipe; r an S shaped piece soldered on to the piece q'; the:
lower end of which piece (1) is fastened to a hole, in a plate s¹ which revolves
on the top of another plate t¹, in which are a number of: holes u¹, u', u', u',.
ranged round the centre at the same distance as the hole in the plate s².
From the centre of the plate; t¹ rises a screwed stud V₁, which passes through.
the upper plate s¹, and carries on the top. of it a nut w¹; which holds the two
plates together; is a handle, by the turning of which the nut can be turned
and the two-plates-be either tightened or slackened, as required. Round the.
edge of the plate s¹ are a series of cog teeth y¹, y¹, y', y', into which works a
small pinion 2, which is keyed, on to a spindle a", furnished with a handle 6".
The lower plate t¹ is fixed, and tlierefore, by working the handle 6, the upper
plate-s can be made to revolve, carrying with it the S pipe r until that pipe
comes immediately over the hole in the lower plate which is in connection
with the well or other place from which it is desired to draw the water.
Secondly, my improvements, in so far as regards the mode of working or.
giving motion, to such semi-rotative pumps, is as follows:m!, m¹, is a frame
or entablature mounted on the top of the four columns c before mentioned;
c, c; (Figures 1, 2, and 4,) are two handles fixed into the rims of two
fly wheels d', d, fixed on to the opposite ends of a shaft e¹, which revolves in:
bearings f, f, and is made without collars, so that it can slide sideways in its
bearings, and admit of either of two pinions-g; g', which are keyed to it, and of
different diameters, being thrown into gear with one of the corresponding

page_text: wheels h¹, h¹, on a second shaft j¹. When the shaft e¹ has been moved into
the required position, one of the two palls k¹, k, which had previously been
thrown back on the shaft j', is thrown forward between the pinion which is in
gear and the bearing f¹, in order to retain the shaft in that position. The
shaft revolves in bearings ', ' ; on the two ends of the shaft j
are fixed two cranks n¹, n¹, at right angles to one another. These cranks
give motion to two connecting rods o¹, o¹, the lower ends of which are
connected to the two crank arms v and w of the two piston shafts f and g,
before described. According as the small or the large pinion is thrown into
gear the pump will either work rapidly, and deliver the water at a low eleva-
tion and pressure, or slowly, and deliver it a high elevation and pressure; a
circumstance which renders this pump eminently adapted to fire engines.
When it is desired to apply this method of communicating motion to common
instead of semi-rotative pumps, the lower ends of the connecting rods o¹, o',
should be connected to the top of the pump rods. When it is not of import-
ance that the water should be delivered in an uniform stream, I modify the
arrangements of the pump in the manner represented in Figure 7, 8, and 9, of
the Drawings annexed. I omit the transverse division plate j in the interior
of the cylinder, so that it is divided into four chambers only instead of six,
and I employ a single shaft only passing through a stuffing box e, in one of
the cylinder covers, and resting in a recess in the other cylinder cover. On
the opposite sides of the shaft are cast two pistons or wings which work in
two of the chambers into which the cylinder is divided, in the same manner
as those before described in the case of the pump with four pistons. The
shaft and pistons are put in motion by a series of crank arms, connecting rods,
and cranks, in precisely the same manner as those of the pump with four
pistons before described, excepting only that I use but one crank, or if I use
two cranks I set them both at the same angle on the shaft. The two upper
portions of the division plate are furnished with two head valves, and the two
lower portions with two foot valves, constructed and acting in precisely the
same manner as those for the pump with four pistons before described.
this arrangement also, as in that with four pistons, I sometimes omit either
the head or foot valves, retaining the foot when I omit the head valves, and
vice versa.
In
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as the
improvements constituting my said Invention are,
First, the dividing of the interior of the cylinder of semi-rotative pumps into
six or four separate compartments, and the employment of four or two pistons,