IMPROVEMENTS IN SYPHONS."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Devereux, of Lamb Terrace, London
Fields, Hackney, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SYPHONS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Henry Devereux
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th October 1864.
. I, GEORGE HENRY DEVEREUX, of Lamb Terrace, London Fields, Hackney,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SYPHONS," to be as follows :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in syphons. In con-
structing syphons, in order to render them self-acting, I make the descending
leg telescopic, and combine therewith a cylinder and piston in such a manner
that by drawing out the leg to its greatest length a partial vacuum will be
produced in the cylinder; and to supply this vacuum the liquid passes up the
ascending leg; and is so drawn over and the syphon set in action.
The following is the arrangement I adopt :-The first or upper portion of
the telescopic 'descending leg is made in one piece with the ascending leg, and
at its lower end a piston is fixed; this fits a cylinder, which at its lower end
has a stop-cock, and at its upper a cap, with a hole in the centre, through'
which the tube passes. This cap serves as a guide for the cylinder as it
slides on the piston; and also as a stop to prevent its being drawn entirely
off the piston. When the cylinder is drawn down, the stop-cock at its end

page_text: being closed, a partial vacuum will be formed in the cylinder, as before
mentioned, and the liquid will come over. On pushing the cylinder up again
the liquid will be returned from the syphon into the vessel from which it was
being drawn.
If it be wished that the liquid should be kept out of contact with the
cylinder, which is sometimes desirable, as when the apparatus has to work
with acid, or a liquid which would corrode a metal cylinder, I adopt another
construction, and fix the cylinder on the upper part of the descending leg,
which descends down through it nearly to its lower end. The lower portion
of the descending leg is made to slide over the upper portion and within the
cylinder, and it has the piston fixed at its upper end, and a stop-cock at its
lower to put the syphon in action; this lower part of the leg is drawn down,
and when it is desired to stop the action it is pushed up again. In this
arrangement the piston, as will be seen, moves up and down in the fixed
cylinder in place of the cylinder moving on the piston as before. The principle
of action is the same in both cases.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Henry Devereux in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th April 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, GEORGE
HENRY DEVEREUX, of Lamb Terrace, London Fields, Hackney, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Henry Devereux, Her special licence that I, the said
George Henry Devereux, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Henry Devereux, 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 SYPHONS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Henry Devereux, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands

page_text: 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 George Henry Devereux, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in syphons. In con-
structing syphons, in order to render them self-acting, I make the descending
leg telescopic, and combine therewith a cylinder and piston in such a manner
that by drawing out the leg to its greatest length a partial vacuum will be
produced in the cylinder, and to supply this vacuum the liquid passes up the
ascending leg, and is so drawn over and the syphon set in action.
The following is the arrangement I adopt :-The first or upper portion of
the telescopic descending leg is made in one piece with the ascending leg,
and at its lower end a piston is fixed, this fits a cylinder, which at its lower
end has a stop-cock, and at its upper a cap, with a hole in the centre,, through
which the tube passes. This cap serves as a guide for the cylinder as it slides
on the piston, and also as a stop to prevent its being drawn entirely off the
piston. When the cylinder is drawn down, the stop-cock at its end being
closed, a partial vacuum will be formed in the cylinder as before mentioned,'
and the liquid will come over. On pushing the cylinder up again the liquid
will be returned from the syphon into the vessel from which it was being
drawn. This arrangement is shewn at Figure 1 of the Drawing hereunto
annexed, which is a section of such a syphon.
a, a, is a tube forming the ascending leg of the syphon and a portion of the
descending leg thereof, at its end is fixed a piston b, which is made tight by a
hempen packing wound around it; c is a cylinder into which the piston 6 fits, and
in which it is able to slide; d is a cap screwed on to the top of the cylinder c,
and the pipe a passes freely through a hole in the centre of this cap, which thus
acts as a guide.to make the cylinder c work, truly with its piston; e is a cock
at the lower end of the cylinder c. It will be seen that if when the ascending
leg of the syphon is immersed in liquid and the stop-cock is closed, the
oylinder c be drawn down so as to lengthen the descending leg, that a partial
vacuum is formed in the part of the cylinder under the piston, and liquid will
come up the ascending leg to supply it; then, on opening the stop-cock e the
liquid will flow from the syphon. To stop the flow the stop-cock is closed,
and if it is desired to discharge the syphon the cylinder c is pushed up, and

page_text: then the stop-cock is re-opened, when the whole of the liquid in the syphon
will return to the vessel from which it was being drawn.
If it be wished that the liquid should be kept out of contact with the
cylinder, which is sometimes desirable, as when the apparatus has to work
with acid or a liquid which would corrode a metal cylinder, I adopt another
construction, and fix the cylinder on the upper part of the descending leg,
which descends down through it nearly to its lower end. The lower portion
of the descending leg is made to slide over the upper portion and within the
cylinder, and it has the piston fixed at its upper end and a stop-cock at its
lower;. to put the syphon in action this lower part of the leg is drawn down,
and when it is desired to stop the action it is pushed up again. In this
arrangement the piston, as will be seen, moves up and down in the fixed
cylinder in place of the cylinder moving on the piston as before. The prin-
ciple of action is the same in both cases.
Figure 2 is a section of a syphon thus constructed. a, a, is the tube
forming the ascending leg and the upper part of the descending leg of the
syphon; 6 is a cylinder fixed to it as shown in the Drawing, it screws air-tight
into a cap c,.which is soldered to the tube a; d, is the tube forming the lower
part of the descending leg of the syphon, it slides loosely over the tube a, and
has a piston e at its upper end which fits the cylinder b air-tight, and is able
to slide up and down therein; f is a cap screwing on to the lower end of the
cylinder b, and having a hole at the centre, through which the tube d is able
to pass freely; g. is a stop-cock at the lower end of the tube d. The syphon
is worked in the same way as that first described; when the tube d is pulled
down a vacuum is formed in the-cylinder 6 over the piston e, and liquid comes
over from the vessel, into which the ascending leg of the syphon is introduced
to supply this vacuum.
What I claim is the rendering syphons self-acting by making the descending.
leg telescopic, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Devereux, have here-
unto set my hand' and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEORGE HENRY DEVEREUX. (L.S.)