IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING THE POWER FOR DRIVING THE PUMPS OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Goodfellow, of Hyde, in the County of
Chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING
THE POWER FOR DRIVING THE PUMPS OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES."
Sealed the 28th August 1855, and dated the 14th March 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Goodfellow at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th March 1855.
I, BENJAMIN GOODFELLOW, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REGU-
LATING THE POWER FOR DRIVING THE PUMPS OF HYDRAULIC PRESSES" to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in regulating the power communicated to pumps,
according to the resistance of the objects to be compressed; various combina-
tions of machinery may be employed for this purpose, the object being to
obtain a uniform speed in the engine, notwithstanding the variations in the
power required to be exerted; one mode of accomplishing the object is by
increasing the leverage for working the pumps in proportion to the increasing
resistance of the ram. I prefer to use two pumps worked by a double lever,
one end of which is in connection with the motive power. At the com-
mencement the point of attachment of the motive power is nearest to the
fulcrum of the lever, but as the resistance increases the distance of the
point of attachment is increased by means of a self-acting apparatus, con-

page_text: sisting of a small ram held down by a regulating spring or weight, and influ-
enced by the fluid that actuates the ram of the press. A single pump or a
series of pumps may be worked in the same way. The pumps may also be
worked by a pair of cones: the power being communicated to one of the cones
imparts thereto a uniform motion, but the cone strap being connected to the
small ram above referred to, is gradually moved from one end of the cones to
the other, thereby causing the pumps to work quickly when little power is
required, and gradually diminishing the velocity as the resistance increases.
The length of the stroke of the pump may also be diminished in proportion to
the resistance, by driving the pump by a crank, the length of which is gradu-
ally diminished as the resistance increases'; various other combinations of
machinery may be applied for effecting the same object.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Goodfellow in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
GOODFELLOW, of Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me; the said Benjamin Goodfellow, Her special license that I, the said
Benjamin Goodfellow, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Benjamin Goodfellow, 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 REGULATING THE POWER FOR DRIVING THE PUMPS OF
HYDRAULIC PRESSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Benjamin Goodfellow, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE; that I, the said Benjamin Goodfellow, 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
Specification thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say) :
The nature of my said Invention of Improvements in Regulating the Power
for Driving the Pumps of Hydraulic Presses consists in diminishing the length
of the stroke, or the speed of the plungers or rams of hydraulic press pumps,
in proportion to the resistance of the articles to be compressed. I have in the
said Drawings shewn how my improvements may be constructed.
Figure 1 is an elevation of a set of hydraulic press pumps, to which one mode
of constructing my Invention is applied. A represents the' cistern; B, one of
the pumps, of which any convenient number may be employed; and C, the
crank shaft, supported in bearings in the framing 'D, which also supports
the bearings of the counter-shaft E, driven by a strap from the steam engine,
or in any other convenient manner. F is the connecting rod, the upper end
of which is connected to the crank shaft C, and the lower end is connected to
a radial slot in the lever G, whose fulcrum is in the standard K. The pump
ram B¹ is connected to the lever G by the links I; which fit on a pin passing
through the head of the pump ram, and to the pin H, passing through the
lever G. L is a small ram, which is acted upon by the water forced by the
pump B to the hydraulic press through the pipes V; the ram L in rising acts
on the lever M, which is in communication with the lower end of the connect
ing rod F, by means of the link N, elbow lever O, link P, lever Q, and link
R, as clearly shewn in the Drawing. To the end of the lever M is suspended
the link N, around which is coiled the spiral spring S, the tension of which
can be adjusted according to the pressure required by the thumb-screw nut T.
U is a safety valve, with lever and spring balance of the ordinary construction.
When the pumps are first set in motion, the connecting rod F is in the position
shewn by the dotted line, that is to say, the lower end of the connecting rod-is
at that end of the radial slot nearest to the fulcrum of the lever G; conse-
quently the lever G and the pump ram B' perform at that time the longest
stroke. The connecting rod remains in this position until the pressure in the
pipe V, reaching from the pump to the hydraulic press, overcomes the resist-
ance of the spring S on the ram L, at which time the ram L in rising gradually
moves the lower end of the connecting rod F towards the outer end of the
radial slot in the lever G, thereby gradually reducing the length of the stroke
of the pump ram B'. When the lower end of the connecting rod F arrives at
the outer end of the radial slot in the lever G, the stroke of the ram B¹ is

page_text: reduced to the greatest extent, and the crank shaft is stopped or allowed to
work until the requisite pressure has been given to the articles in the press.
As soon as the water in the hydraulic cylinder is let off, the spring S, acting on
the lever M, brings the ram L and levers O and Q, and links P and R, into
the proper positions for the subsequent operation. By the machinery above
described, the leverage on the pump ram B₁ is increased in proportion to the
resistance to be overcome.
In Figure 2, I have shewn another combination of parts for effecting the
same result; the parts marked A, B, C, D, E, and F, are similar to those shewn
in Figure 1; in this instance, G represents links suspended above to the crank
shaft, and below to one end of the radial slot piece H, which is connected
to the lever R by the link K; the short lever Q is connected by the link P to
the double lever O, one arm of which is in communication with the ram L by
the link N and lever M, similar to those described in reference to Figure 1. In
this arrangement of parts, the regulating spring S and thumb-screw T are
placed to act on the upper side of the lever M. The mode of operation is as
follows: When the pumps are first set to work, the links G and connecting
rods F are in the positions shewn by the dotted lines G¹ and F", thereby com-
municating nearly the full throw of the crank to the rams B'; but as soon as the
resistance of the articles to be compressed increases so much that the pressure
in the pipes V overcomes the resistance of the spring S, the slot piece H is
gradually moved in the direction of the arrow by the lever M, link N, lever O,
link P, levers Q and R, and link K, thereby increasing the leverage and
reducing the length of the stroke of the rams B¹.
Another modification of my Invention is shewn in Figure 3, in which A is
the cistern; B, B, the pump rams; C, the crank shaft, supported in the framing
D; to the counter-shaft E is fixed a cone G; this shaft is driven by a cone
G' on the main shaft G2, and communicates motion to the crank shaft C and
connecting rods F by the pinion H and spur wheel H'. The small ram L acts
on the lever M, whose fulcrum is at I; near the outer end of this lever is the
standard K, furnished with the regulating spring S and thumb-screw T. To
the end of the lever M is suspended the link N, connected below to the lever
O, which is fixed to the same shaft as the lever P, the upper end of which is
connected to the strap guide R by the link Q. The Drawing represents the
various parts in the positions they occupy when the pumps are set to work;
that is to say, the strap G³ being at the larger end of the driving cone G
imparts the greatest speed to the cone G and to the pump rams B, but as soon
as the pressure in the pipes V increases sufficiently to raise the ram L and
lever M, the strap guide R is gradually moved in the direction of the arrow

page_text: thereby moving the strap towards the larger diameter of the cone G, and dimi-
nishing the velocity of the pump rams in proportion to the power required for
overcoming the resistance of the articles to be compressed. The same result
may also be obtained by driving the pumps by a face plate with a crank pin,
the distance of which from the fulcrum of the crank shaft is gradually
diminished according to the resistance to be overcome; various other com-
binations of machinery may also be applied, but the foregoing are sufficient
to illustrate my Invention.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described several modes
of carrying it into effect, I declare that I claim diminishing the length of the
stroke, or the speed of the plungers or rams of hydraulic press pumps in
proportion to the resistance of the articles to be compressed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Goodfellow, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
B. GOODFELLOW. (L.S.)