IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MOTION IN FLUIDS, APPLICABLE, FOR RAISING AND FORCING WATER, PROPELLING, AND OTHERWISE IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MOTION IN FLUIDS,
APPLICABLE, FOR RAISING AND FORCING WATER, PROPELLING, AND OTHERWISE
IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF MOTIVE POWER."-A communication from abroad
by Henry Louis Félix Worms de Romilly, of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris Chemist
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 13th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th May 1862.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 58, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR GENERATING MOTION IN FLUIDS, APPLICABLE
FOR RAISING AND FORCING WATER, PROPELLING, AND OTHERWISE IN THE DIS-
TRIBUTION OF MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an hydraulic apparatus in which steam is received
in a flexible chamber, which separates it from the water, its condensation
being also prevented thereby, while at the same time it is used for transmitting
movement to the liquid by utilizing the expansion of the steam for raising
columns of water in motion. I place a flexible ball or bag of india-rubber or

page_text: other flexible material in a receiver, which is closed on all sides, and furnished
with two lateral branches, one for the inlet of water, communicating by means
of a tube with the reservoir to be emptied, and the other connected to a tube
in communication with an air chamber from which the water is supplied.
Each branch is furnished with a valve opening in the required direction. The
receiver is previously filled with water, and a vacuum obtained in the ball.
This ball communicates alternately by means of a tube and slide valve,
1st, with a steam generator, 2ndly, with a condenser furnished with an air
pump (the method of condensation herein. adopted. being the same as in
ordinary steam engines, will require no further description. When steam is
introduced into the india-rubber ball it tends to expand it, and drives back
the water into the exit pipe, raising it to a sufficient height to balance the
pressure from the boiler. This pressure is thus communicated directly to the
water by means of the india-rubber, which being an imperfect conductor of
heat, isolates the steam from the liquid, and preserves its heat, at the same
time allowing it to act dynamicably as if in immediate contact with the water.
In this manner the water may be readily raised at pressures varying from 1
to 4 atmospheres, to heights of from 30 to 150 feet from the receiver, whence
it is forced by the pressure of the steam in the flexible ball. The receiver
may also be placed about 30 feet above the supply reservoir, as the steam
after having expanded the ball so as to raise the water in the exit tube, is
condensed in a refrigerator, the ball then rapidly collapses, and a vacuum
being produced, draws up the water from the inlet tube in communication
with the supply reservoir. The water would thus rise to a height of 30 feet,
which in practice might be reduced to 20, or even 25 feet; but as this
arrangement would often necessitate placing the apparatus at a height
requiring the erection of scaffolding for its reception, it will be sufficient to
only partially condense the steam, which I effect by means of a suitable
arrangement of the slide valve, and condensing only when the steam is at the
same pressure as that of the atmosphere, the ball will then be completely
flattened, but always remains at the same temperature internally as the fresh
supply of steam to be furnished, or in a smaller quantity than would have
been furnished had it been completely condensed. The apparatus may be
used, as first herein mentioned, for forcing water into the exit-tube to the
required height, but in this case there results a great loss of power, as the
steam would remain in the ball at a pressure corresponding in atmospheres to
the height to which the water is raised, or two atmospheres above the pressure.
of the atmosphere for elevating 20 yards, three atmospheres for 30 yards, and.
so on, and the steam would then become condensed without having utilized

page_text: the whole of the pressure of the steam on that of the air, in fact, all the effect
of expansion would bo.lost; the water, on leaving the receiver in which the
ball is placed, enters the air chamber by means of a tube of large diameter,
and of great length, which dimensions are calculated in such manner as to
contain so many times the quantity of water furnished by a single action of
the ball, so that the movement.communicated to the liquid shall be relatively
slow; the liquid once in motion forms a volume of water, which permits of a
limited jet of steam at a high temperature, introduced into the ball to
expand to the atmospheric pressure; at this instant the pressure of the steam
being equal to that of the air, the inlet valves of the water open, and the ball
becomes recompressed by the pressure of the atmosphere, at this moment if it
is not desired to utilize the expansion of the steam at a high pressure, but
only at that of the atmosphere, the slide valve is regulated so that the con-
densation may take place, which should be limited, as before stated. If the
expansion is to be utilized below that of the atmospheric pressure,, a tube
should be used of sufficient diameter and length not only at the exit orifice
of the water near the air chamber, but also at the inlet orifice of the water
on the first receiver, to allow of the time of expansion being lengthened is
desired. The water forced into the air chamber compresses the latter, and
the reaction of said compressed air furnishes a continuous jet, if the vessel is
sufficiently large, the water then rises in the elevating tube to a height pro-
portionate to the compression of the air. A valve prevents the water from
returning into the receiver from which it is drawn, but the compressed air
gradually disperses in the water, and until the air chamber soon becomes full
of water; to obviate this disadvantage I place a small sucker in the pipe,
which conveys the water a little in front of the valve, which is easily. regulated,
and so that the movement of the water in the tube draws up the necessary
quantity of air for replacing that which has become lost. I have described
the apparatus as being actuated by means of a ball, but the latter may be
replaced by means of a cylinder of cloth, india-rubber, or other flexible
material rendered water-tight. The upper end of this cylinder is bolted to
the cover of the water receiver, the lower end being closed by a rigid métal
plate having an interior bottom of wood or india-rubber floating freely in the
water. Sufficient space is left between the lower end of this .cylinder and the
sides of the receiver to prevent friction, and that when the cylinder is
distended it shall be surrounded by a liquid casing. This cylinder, being
required to contain steam, should be completely steam-tight.
The cylinder
collapses in such manner that the bottom end shall come against the upper
end during the alternate injection and condensation of steam; in order that the

page_text: bottom shall move parallel, I apply a system of guides under the movable
bottom, and to insure regularity in the folds of the flexible cylinder it is
supported at suitable distances apart by means of metal rings. The lower
end of the cylinder has at its centre a branch, to which is applied an india-
rubber tube communicating with a slide valve; the tube should be of sufficient
length to permit of the movements of the cylinder, and strong enough to
resist the pressure required. As it may happen that too great a quantity of
steam is introduced into the cylinder, when it will be expanded beyond its
limits and burst, I prevent this by limiting to a certain point the motion of
said cylinder by a solid piece fixed on the side of the receiver, forming an
inner collar projecting a few fractions of an inch only, against which the
movable end of the cylinder abuts on arriving at its maximum degree of
expansion. The bottom and the collar form together a perfectly tight circular
joint by an india-rubber washer applied thereto. Thus if too great a quantity
of steam be injected, the cylinder collapsing in the collar would preserve an
annular lining of water around it, which would protect it from bursting, and
prevent its coming in contact with the sides of the receiver. In order to
render the apparatus self-acting, it is only necessary when using a ball to fix
a small cylinder on the upper cover of the apparatus communicating with the
water, in which a piston works, which receives a to-and-fro motion from the
alternations in the pressure communicated to the water by the ball, which
transmits rotary motion to an axis furnished with a fly wheel, which also
regulates the position of the side valve. When using a cylinder I obtain the
same movement by means of a rod fixed in the centre of the lower end of the
former, and passing through a stuffing box in the corner of the said cylinder;
this rigid rod has a to-and-fro motion imparted to it, by means of which the
slide valve is regulated. It will be understood that the movement com-
municated to the water by means of this apparatus may be utilized as well for
propulsion as for simply raising or elevating water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
Said William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
AIENTS IN GENERATING MOTION IN FLUIDS, APPLICABLE FOR RAISING AND FORCING
WATER, PROPELLING, AND OTHERWISE IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF MOTIVE POWER," a
com". to me from abroad by Henri Louis Félix Worms de Romilly, of 29,
Boulevart St. Martin, Paris, Chemist, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Clark, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
-
This Invention relates to an hydraulic apparatus, in which steam is received
in a flexible chamber, and by it separated from the water; its condensation
being also prevented, while at same time it is used for transmitting move-
ment to the liquid by utilizing the expansion of the steam for raising columns
of water in motion.
The Invention is represented in the accompanying Drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal elevation, partly in section, and Fig. 2 a central
vertical section of the apparatus, modified as herein-after described.
I place a flexible ball a of india-rubber or other flexible material in a
receiver b, which is closed on all sides, and furnished with two lateral
branches c, d, one c for the inlet of water communicating by means of a tube
with the reservoir to be emptied, and the other d connected to a tube in com-
munication with an air chamber e, from which the water is supplied. Each
branch is furnished with a valve ƒ and g opening in the required direction.
The receiver is previously filled with water, and a vacuum obtained in the

page_text: ball. This ball communicates alternately by means of a tube h, and slide
valve i, 1st, with a steam generator, 2ndly, with a condenser furnished with
an air pump; the method of condensation herein adopted being the same as
in ordinary steam engines will require no further description. When steam
is introduced into the india-rubber ball it tends to expand it, and drives back
the water into the exit pipe, raising it to a sufficient height to balance the
pressure from the boiler. The pressure is thus communicated directly to the
water by means of the india-rubber, which being an imperfect conductor of
heat, isolates the steam from the liquid, and preserves its heat, at same time
allowing it to act dynamically, as if in immediate contact with the water. In
this manner the water may be readily raised at pressures varying from 1 to 4
atmospheres to heights of from 30 to 150 feet. from the receiver, whence it
is forced by the pressure of the steam in the flexible ball.
The receiver may
also be placed about 30 feet above the supply reservoir, as the steam, after
having expanded the ball, so as to raise the water in the exit tube, is con-
densed in a refrigerator, the ball then rapidly collapses, and vacuum being
produced draws up the water from the inlet tube in communication with the
supply reservoir. The water would thus rise to a height of 30 feet, which, in
practice, might be reduced to 20, or even 25 feet; but as this arrangement
would often necessitate placing the apparatus at a height requiring the erec-
tion of a scaffolding for its reception, it would be sufficient to only partially
condense the steam, which I effect by means of a suitable arrangement of the
slide valve i, & condensing only when the steam is at the same pressure as
that of the atmosphere, the ball will then be completely flattened, but always
remains at the same temperature internally as the fresh supply of steam to
be furnished, or in a smaller quantity than would have been furnished had it
been completely condensed. The apparatus may be used, as first herein men-
tioned, for forcing water into the exit tube to the required height; but in this
case there results a great loss of power, as the steam would remain in the ball
at a pressure corresponding in atmospheres to the height to which the water is
raised, or two atmospheres above the pressure of the atmosphere for elevating
water 20 yards, 3 atmospheres for 30 yards, and so on, and the steam would
then become condensed without having utilized the whole of the pressure of
the steam on that of the air, in fact, all the effect of expansion would be lost;
the water on leaving the reservoir b; in which the ball a is placed, enters the air
chamber by means of a tube d of large diameter and of great length, which
dimensions are calculated in such manner as to contain so many times the
quantity of water furnished by a single action of the ball, as that the move-
ment communicated to the liquid once in motion forms a volume of water,

page_text: which permits of a limited jet of steam at a high temperature introduced into
the ball to expand to the atmospheric pressure; at this instant the pressure of
the steam being equal to that of the air, the inlet valves of the water tend to
open, and the ball becomes recompressed by the pressure of the atmosphere;
at this moment, if it is not desired to utilize the expansion of the steam at a
high pressure, but only at that of the atmosphere, the slide valve is regulated
so that condensation may; take place, which should be limited as before stated.
If the expansion is to be utilized below that of the atmospheric pressure a
tube should be used of sufficient diameter and length, not only at the exit
of the water near the air chamber, but also at the inlet orifice of the water
in the first receiver to allow of the expansion being lengthened, as desired.
The water forced into the air chamber compresses the latter, and the reaction
of said compressed air furnishes--a continuous.jet,-if- the vessel is sufficiently
large, the water then rises in the elevating tube to a height proportionate to
the compression of the air. A valve prevents the water from returning into
the receiver from which it is drawn, but the.compressed air gradually dis-
perses in the water, until the air chamber soon becomes full of water; to.
obviate this disadvantage I place a. small cock: k in the pipe which conveys
the water a little in front of the valve, which is easily regulated, and so that
the movement of the water in the tube draws up the necessary quantity of
air for replacing that which has become lost.
I have described the apparatus as being actuated by means of a ball, but
the latter may be replaced by means of a cylinder à of cloth, india-rubber, or
other flexible material rendered water-tight, as seen in section at Fig. 2.
The upper end of this cylinder is bolted to the cover of the water receiver,
the lower end being closed by a rigid metal plate m, having an interior
bottom n of wood or india-rubber floating freely in the water. Sufficient
space is left between the lower end of this cylinder and the sides of the
reservoir to prevent friction, and that when the cylinder is distended it shall
be surrounded by a liquid casing; this cylinder being required to contain
steam should be completely steam-tight. The cylinder collapses in such
manner that the bottom end shall come against the upper end during the
alternate injection & condensation of steam. In order that the bottom shall-
move parallel I apply a system of guides under the movable bottom, and to
ensure regularity in the folds of the flexible cylinder it is supported at suitable
distances apart by means of metal rings o. The lower end n of the cylinder
has at its centre a branch p, to which is applied an india-rubber tube h, com-
municating with the slide valve; the tube should be of sufficient length to
permit of the movement of the cylinder, and strong enough to resist the

page_text: pressure required. As it may happen that too great a quantity of steam is
introduced into the cylinder, when it will be expanded beyond its limits and
burst, I prevent this by limiting to a certain point the motion of said cylinder
by a solid piece q fixed on the side of the receiver, forming an inner collar
projecting a few fractions of an inch only, against which the movable end of
the cylinder abuts on arriving at its maximum degree of expansion. The
bottom and the collar form together a perfectly tight circular joint by applying
an india-rubber washer thereto. Thus, if too great a quantity of steam be
injected the cylinder collapsing in the collar would preserve an annular lining
of water around it, which would protect it from bursting, and prevent its
coming in contact with the sides of the receiver. In order to render the
apparatus self-acting it is only necessary when using a ball to fix a small
cylinder on the upper cover of the apparatus communicating with the water
in which a piston works, which receives a to-and-fro motion from the
alternations in the pressure communicated to the water by the ball, which
transmits rotary motion to an axis furnished with a fly wheel, which also
regulates the position of the slide valve. When using a cylinder I obtain the
same movement by means of a rod fixed in the centre of the lower end of the
former, and passing through a stuffing box in the cover of said cylinder;
this rigid rod has a to-and-fro motion imparted to it, by means of which the
slide valve is regulated. It will be understood that the movement communi-
cated to the water by means of this apparatus may be utilized as well for the
propulsion as for simply raising or elevating water.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred & sixty-two.
Witness,
W. G. E. SWINNOCK,
58, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK. (L.B.)