AN IMPROVED PUMP FOR RAISING AND FORCING WATER."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Griffiths, of Madeley, Shropshire, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED PUMP FOR RAISING AND FORCING WATER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Griffiths at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th September 1854.
I, THOMAS GRIFFITHS, of Madeley, Shropshire, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PUMP FOR RAISING AND FORCING
WATER" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of an hydraulic machine or apparatus for pumping
or forcing and raising water out of mines or otherwise. At the bottom of the
apparatus I place a suction main, at the top of which there is a moveable iron
or zinc light hollow shell, attached to a collar or clips suspended by rods from
an engine or lever beam. This shell is furnished with a valve in the bottom,
and in the lower lift the shell is fixed to the under pipe or suction main. In
the upper lifts the suction mains terminate in heads (tree heads); in the inside
of these heads the shells are raised and lowered by the suspending rods before
mentioned. The rising mains or pipes are fixed, and are each fitted with
valves at the lower end immediately above the stroke of the shell. Instead of
having plungers, pistons, or buckets, the shells are made to work water-tight
by a collar and stuffing box on the lower part of the rising mains, which are

page_text: turned true to work in the stuffing box of the shell. As the shells are lowered in
the tree heads, the water in the rising main above is prevented from descending
by the valve above the collar; the valve in the bottom of the shell opens, and
the water in the tree head enters and fills it, when, by the up-stroke of the
suspending rods, the water is prevented from escaping by the valve closing,
and as the shell rises it lifts the water into the tree head above, from whence
it is lifted again by the next shell, and so on, to the discharging trough at the
top of the entire lift.
In the bottom lift I make a side pipe on the same principle, so that it can
be fitted to the suction main tree head in case of any accident or stoppage in
the lower lift; and I also provide each lift with one of these side pipes or
riding mains, which are so constructed that they can be attached to or detached
from any of the lifts to maintain their action or supply their place while under
repair; these riding mains, however, are not necessary to any but the bottom
lift. The said apparatus may be fixed either in a vertical or other position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Griffiths in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GRIFFITHS, of Madeley, Shropshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Griffiths, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Griffiths, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas
Griffiths, 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 "AN IMPROVED PUMP FOR RAISING
AND FORCING WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Griffiths, 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

page_text: 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 Thomas Griffiths, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
and description thereof, and in and by the Drawings accompanying this Speci-
fication, together with the explanation applying thereto herein contained,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists of an apparatus or machine for raising water or other
liquids, and is adapted for steam or other power. The apparatus is constructed
so as to divide the column of water or other liquid into sectional lifts, each lift
except the lower one being open at the top to the atmosphere. By these
divisions of the entire column into sectional parts, the pressure of the water
upon the rising mains is reduced and in a great measure equalized, thereby
requiring pipes of less strength and consequently less weight and cost. By
dividing the column into a number of open lifts, cach being fitted with separate
valves and covers (where the total column or lift is of great altitude), the said
division affords great facility for repairs in case of accident, as in the event
of any injury occurring to any one of the lifts, by attaching a riding main
(which will be hereafter described), the lift above and below the one out of
order could be connected, & the apparatus might be in action, even while
repairs were being executed.
The rising mains or pipes through which the water is lifted by the engine
or other power, (except the bottom or suction main,) are all stationary, being
supported by platforms or other contrivances usually adopted for that purpose.
The rising mains may be fixed in a perpendicular or inclined position, the
inclined position merely requiring a slight modification in the form of the
open tree heads. The tree heads are open cisterns secured to the tops of
the sectional rising mains.
The apparatus compises a number of shells, which are suspended from an
engine beam or other lifting medium (at the top of the lift) by means of suspen-
sion rods, there being one rod attached to clips or other fastenings on one side
of the shells, and another rod on the opposite side thereof, and passing down the
sides of the rising mains to the bottom shell, and attached to each shell_at_
the top of each sectional lift, so as to raise all the shells simultaneously. The
lower end of each rising main is turned smooth to work air-tight through a
stuffing box, which is fixed at the top of the shell (so as to close the same); by
this stuffing box the shells work up and down upon the pipes the length of the
stroke water-tight. Immediately above this turned part, which I denominate

page_text: the stalk of the rising main, there is a valve, which admits the water to pass
thro' the same in an upward direction, but prevents it from descending or
returning through the same in a downward direction; in the bottom of the
shell there is a similar valve, also opening upwards only, and which closes
the shell at the bottom. At the top of each sectional lift there is an open
enlarged head, which I denominate a tree head; in this, the water as it is
raised has its surface open to the atmosphere. These tree heads are sufficiently
large and deep to admit of the shell descending therein the full depth of the
stroke, and as the shell moves air-tight upon the stalk, the valve first above
mentioned prevents the water in the rising main above the shell from
descending, and the bottom of the shell being always sufficiently immersed
in the tree head to prevent the ingress of air, it follows, that as the shell is
lowered into the tree head, the pressure of the atmosphere forces the water
into the same thro' the second above-mentioned valve, to make good the
vacuum in the shell caused by the downward stroke. When at the end of
the said stroke the valve last mentioned at the bottom of the shell closes by
its own weight, and prevents the regress of the water; the up-stroke then
causes the water in the shell to ascend and displace an equal column of the
water or liquid in the rising main or sectional column above, and lifts the same
into the tree head, and so on, with each sectional column of the whole lift
simultaneously. The bottom lift may be made by attaching a pipe (the
length of which to the top of the said lift, however, must not exceed the
height that the pressure of the atmosphere will balance a column of water in
vacuum) to the shell, which pipe must rise and fall therewith, the lower end
of the pipe being always immersed in the water or liquid to be raised; or in
place of attaching a pipe to rise and fall, as above stated, a short pipe may be
fixed to the shell, turned smooth, and being a little longer than the length of
the stroke, so as to work through a stuffing box at the top of a stand pipe,
(fixed with the bottom end in the water or liquid to be raised,) provided the
height does not exceed the limit above mentioned.
The tree heads may be made of metal or wood or other suitable material;
the shells, of wrought iron or other metal; the rising mains and suspension
rods, of such materials as are usually employed.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawings are laid down to a geometrical scale of one inch to a foot,
with the exception of Fig. 1, Drawing 2, which is drawn to a like scale of
eight feet to an inch. For convenience of reference, similar letters are used in
each Fig., so that where the same letter is repeated in the different Figs. in

page_text: the same Drawing, it still applies to the same part of the apparatus, which is
shown in different ways for the better description of its form and use, so that
the following alphabetical reference and explanation of Drawing 1 applies to
each illustration thereon.
Drawing 1 a is the water to be raised; b, a rising valve at the bottom of
the suction main; c, the suction main, attached to the lower shell, and rising
and falling therewith; d, d, guide rods for keeping the suction main in proper
position; e, a rising valve at the bottom of the shell; f, tho shell; g, the
stuffing box at the top of the shell; h, the clips by which the shell is attached
to the suspending rods; i, i, the suspending rods; j, the stalk or turned part
of the rising main; k, the valve at the lower end of the rising main; 1, bonnets
capable of being removed to examine or repair the valves; m, sectional rising
main, the top of which terminates in the tree head; n, the treo head open at
the top; o, the shell shown as lowered into the tree head; p, the discharging
head or landing where the water is discharged at the top of the lift; g, the
cross head which carries the suspension rods; r, the link by which the cross
head is attached to the engine beam; s, the engine beam or lever.
Drawing 2: this Drawing shows a section of a shaft of a mine at Fig. 1,
and a mode of applying the apparatus or pump. a is the shaft; b, the
water to be raised; c, the suction main; d, the shell attached thereto; e, the
stalk of the first rising main f; 9, the first tree head; h, the second rising
main; i, the second tree head; ;, the stalk of the third or upper rising main;
k, the discharging head; 1, the cross head; m, the suspending rods; n, the
clips to which the respective shells are attached. The apparatus is shown as
it would appear at the bottom or end of the down-stroke ready to commence
the lift. Figs. 2 & 3 on this Drawing show the second mode herein above
mentioned of fixing the suction main. a, the water to be raised; b, the
stand pipe or suction main fixed; c, a rising valve at the bottom of the same;
d, the head of the stand pipe, down inside of which the short pipe under the
shell works; e, the stuffing box; f, a short pipe attached to the shell, turned
similar to the stalks, and rising and falling with the shell, to obviate the
necessity of lifting the suction main. The riding mains are loose pipes, which
are to be attached when necessary, so as to con two lifts together in case of
leakage or accident.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invetion,
and illustrated the same, to the best of my ability, it must be understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise mode of forming and applying the
same as herein described and illustrated upon the accompanying Drawings,
but include in the said Invention all such modifications thereof in form and

page_text: otherwise as may be, so long as the same are in accordance with the principle
of my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Griffiths, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, A.D. 1855.
THOMAS (L.B.) GRIFFITHS.