Purpose
Year: 1886

page_text: other Purposes.
RICHARD JAMES MEEK of No. 67, Warren Street Fitzroy Square in the Parish
of Saint Pancras in the County of Middlesex, Engineer do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows :—
The obtaining motive power from water waves, by pumping by the aid of the
wave power of the sea by providing a vessel which will float upon the surface of
the sea, and for convenience of this special feature I would choose it to be in the
form of a buoy in the figure of a ballon or peg top which is fixed by a jointed rod
of iron and to a lever arm which is pinned at the centre like the beam of a scale
and at the centre where it is pinned is a standard which is fixed into the bed of
the sea either by mushroom screws or as may be most convenient and at the other
end of the lever arm is attached a rod connected with and to a pump and this
pump is of sufficient length to allow beyond the rise and fall of the tide a play
more than sufficient to allow of the largest wave possible to occur-the result of this
arrangement is that at every passing wave the float or buoy rises and falls upon
such undulation and transfers a corresponding pulsation to the lever arm and also
to the pump lever &c.

page_text: A Mechanical Arrangement for Utilizing the Waves of the Sea
as a Means to Obtain a Motive Power for Pumping and for
other Purposes.
I RICHARD JAMES MEEK of No. 67 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square in the County
of Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
The object of this Invention is to utilize the waves of the sea for pumping and
as a motive power, and its construction is as follows:-To provide a float or closed
vessel of either metal or wood so constructed as to become buoyant and susceptible
to the waves of the sea and when specially made should take the form of a buoy
as shewn in Figure A in the accompanying Drawing and which from the bottom
point is attached a metal rod by means of four stays (a. a. a) or braces of metal
brought from the flange of the buoy or float for the purpose of keeping the said
buoy or float strongly steadfast to the vertical position, the metal rod B attached
to the buoy or float will be about 20 feet long, but varying in length according to
the position and other requirements and the lower end of this rod has either an eye,
link hook or bolt so as to fasten it to the horizontal beam C swung at the centre D
to an upright of a pier E, or, by a pile driven for the purpose, or to a standard
fixed in the bed of the sea, and having a motion akin to the beam of a scale
reversed to be fixed about 20 feet below low tide, and to the other end of this
beam is attached the fork F at the lower end of the force pump and which pump
may be used for either water or air. There is also fitted at the end of the team,
to which the buoy or float is attached, a weight (c) as shewn in the drawing and
this weight is to be sufficient to bear down the beam when the wave has passed
and the buoy or float sinks to its normal level and so to charge the pump prior to
its being forced by the next succeeding wave and the weight (c) will also have
the effect of correcting the momentum of inertia to which the float will be
subjected through wind or waves and tend also to keep the buoy or float in its
normal position and from it swaying beyong an angle of 45°, To guard against
side strains there is also to be provided guides G. G. near either end of the beam so
as to prevent any excessive strain upon the axis of the beam in consequence of
cross winds or currents. When this mechanical arrangement is to be applied upon
a fixed pier or staging the pumps will vary in their required length according to
the situation in which it is to be used and to the rise and fall of the tide, but
about 40 feet long will generally suffice; and the beam will also vary in length
under similar circumstances, say 40 to 60 feet from end to end and the buoy or
float will vary in size according to the power required, that is to say, if I had a
float with a displacement capacity of one cubit foot it will take 64 lbs weight
to completely submerge the float and for the reason that a cubit foot of sea water
weighs 64 lbs. bence as a forcing capacity of 64 lbs is thus obtained so by increasing
the size of the float (or buoy) and proportionately the strength of the rest of the
machinery any power required can be obtained. The action of this mechanical

page_text: arrangement is that with every passing wavo or swell on the surface of the sea the
buoy or float A will in proportion to its bouyant capacity rise and fall with such
wave or swell and will correspondingly move with the beam C as also the rod and
ram of the pump, the forcing capacity of the buoy or float A being in proportion
to the amount of water displaced by and it will also been seen that the quantity
required to be pumped can be increased to almost an indefinite extent by the
simple repetition of the above mechanical arrangements. The whole of this system
can also be arranged to work from a floating pier and thus obviate the length
otherwise needed of the pumps and to compensate for the difference in action
between high and low tides.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
The peculiar mechanical combination or arrangement of the various parts of my
said Invention as set forth in the above particulars and in the accompanying
drawing for obtaining a power as herein described.