IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC MACHINERY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Brown, of 23, Sidney Street, Commercial
Road East, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"
Sealed the 3rd February 1863, and dated the 13th December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
December 1862.
I, JOHN BROWN, of 23, Sidney Street, Commercial Road East, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC MACHINERY," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a box containing a piston for preventing accidents
in hydraulic machinery in the event of the main pressure pipe breaking or
engine stopping. This box I place above the relief valve now in use, con-
necting the said box by means of a pipe to the lifting cylinder or cylinders.
In the event of the main pressure pipe breaking or engine stopping as afore-
said, the pressure contained in the lifting cylinder or cylinders will at once
act upon the piston and cause the rod thereof to press upon the relief valve,
thereby preventing the water escaping from the lifting cylinder or cylinders,
and thus stop the running down of any weight the machinery may be lifting.
My box and piston may be fixed at any other convenient place instead of
above the relief valve now in use; but in such case I fix to my piston rod a

page_text: mitre stop valve or clack, which will act in the seat of my piston box and
have the effect as above described; or I connect the said piston rod with the
existing relief valve.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BROWN, of 23, Sidney Street, Commercial Road East, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Brown, Her special licence that I, the said John
Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Brown, 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 HYDRAULIC MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Brown, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Brown, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
· My Invention consists of a box containing a piston for the prevention of
accidents in hydraulic machinery in the event of the main pressure pipe
breaking or engine stopping, This box I place above the relief valve now in
use, connecting the said box by means of a pipe to the lifting cylinder or
cylinders. In the event of the main pressure pipe breaking or engine stopping

page_text: as aforesaid, the pressure contained in the lifting cylinder or cylinders will at
once act on the piston and cause the rod thereof to press upon the relief valve,
thereby preventing the water escaping from the lifting cylinder or cylinders,
and thus stop the running down of any weight the machinery may be lifting.
My box and piston may be fixed at any other convenient place instead of
above the relief valve now in use; but in such cases I fix to my piston rod a
mitre stop valve or clack, which will act in the seat of my piston box and
have the effect as above described; or I connect the said piston rod with the
existing relief valve.
In order that the above description may be more clearly understood, I will
now proceed to describe the best means for carrying my Invention into
practical effect, and the different ways in which my said piston box may be
constructed and applied, referring for that purpose to the annexed Drawings.
The piston box is represented by A in Figure 1, and is shown as being
fixed above the relief valve D, and connected by means of the pipe E with
the lifting cylinder F, in order that the pressure existing in the said lifting
cylinder. F may cause the rod of the piston B to descend. and press upon the
relief valve D whenever. the pressure. should be taken off the said relief
valve D, either through the engine stopping or the breaking of the main
pressure pipe C. Another piston box G, Figure 3, may be used and fixed at
any other place than above the relief valve, and used even where there is no
relief valve. This piston box G, Figure 3, I connect with the lifting cylinder F
by means of the pipes I and J, connecting also said piston box G directly with
the connection pipe L, and by means of the pipe K connecting said piston
box G further with the main pressure pipe C. The piston rod of the piston H
carries a valve M, which is always kept in a lifted position by means of the
pressure conveyed by the pipe K from the main pressure pipe C to the
piston H, thereby allowing the water to enter the lifting cylinder F or to run
out of the same so long as no accidents happen; but as soon as the engine
should stop whilst in the act of lifting, or the main pressure pipe C break,
then, the pressure ceasing to exist in the pipe K, the piston H would instan-
taneously descend by means of the pressure existing in the lifting cylinder F,
which pressure would then be conveyed to the said piston H by means of the
pipe J, and the valve M fixed to the rod of the piston H would at once prevent
the water running out of the lifting cylinder F, and the weight then being lifted
would remain stationary. The pressure valve N, which is shown in Figures
1 and 3, is used for the purpose of allowing the water to enter from the main
pressure pipe C into the lifting cylinder F; and the exhaust valve O, also
shown in said Figures 1 and 3, is used to discharge the water from the lifting.

page_text: cylinder F by means of the pipe P. The Drawing, Figure 3, represents the
.piston H and valve M in the position it would be in the event of engine
stopping or main pressure pipe C breaking. Figure 2 is a top view of the
valve box and piston box A, and Figure 4 is a front view of the piston
box G.
.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be carried into
practical effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details, shape, or size herein contained or shown by the
annexed Drawings, as the above-described piston boxes may be made and
applied in various ways without deviating from the main features of my
Invention, but what I claim as my Invention is, the application of a piston
box or boxes, made and applied in manner above described, for preventing
accidents in hydraulic machinery, which sometimes occur either through the
stopping of the engine or the breaking of the main pressure pipe, as above
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Brown, have hereunto set my hand
: and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
• One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
GEO. WHITE.
JOHN BROWN. (L.B.)