IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS FOR Ships and other PURPOSES, AND IN Apparatus FOR WORKING THE SAME
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Kimmins M'Minn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th October 1875.
I, WILLIAM KIMMINS M*MINN, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declaro the nature of the said Invention for
« IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS FOR Ships and other PURPOSES, AND IN Apparatus
FOR WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, firstly, to a novel construction of double acting
force pump arranged with reversable valves so as to work either way,
that is, to raise water out of a ship's hold or well, and deliver it some
ten to forty feet above the level of the water in the hold or well. By
reversing the valves the opposite action will be produced, so that by
connecting a hose pipe to the inlet nozzle of the pump with its opposite
end over the vessel's side and a little below the surface of the water the
water will be pumped into the hold or well; and by disconnecting the
nozzle from the suction or tail pipe leading into the vessel's hold or well
and connecting a hose pipe thereto, the water may be delivered at any
part of the vessel with great force. In like manner air may be forced

page_text: into the vessel for the purpose of ventilation and for the preservation of
cargoes that are subject to heating and sweating.
Carbonic acid gas or other suitable gas may be forced by this pump.
through a vessel for the purpose of extinguishing fires, as will bo
understood.
The pump may also be applied for the purpose of sounding signal
whistles, fog horns, or for other similar purposes.
A pump constructed according to my Invention consists of a casting
or chamber divided into a valve box and plunger chamber, the valve box
communicating with inlet and outlet passages. The plunger chamber
consists of a box communicating with the inlet and outlet valves, the
centre of which chamber is provided with a flange, and attached to this
flange there is a flexible diaphragm which is worked by a pump spear
or rod, which passes through a suitable stuffing box in the cover of the
pump. The valves are four in number, namely, two inlet and two
outlet respectively, communicating with the pump chamber, that is,
above and below the flexible diaphragm, that is, an inlet and outlet
valve communicate with the upper portion of the pump chamber above
the diaphragm, and an inlet and outlet valve communicate with the
lower portion of the pump chamber below the diaphragm. The action
is that as the diaphragm works up and down by the action of the pump
spear, the water is drawn into and expelled from the respective divisions
of the pump chamber formed by the flexible diaphragms.
The action of the pump can be reversed by changing the valves,
which are made suitable for this purpose, namely, by substituting the
inlet or suction valves for the outlet or discharge valves, and the outlet
or discharge valves for the inlet or suction valves.
The second part of this Invention relates to a novel form of gear
or driving wheel for working the herein-before described pump. This
driving wheel is of two distinct and separate speeds and powers, which
can be readily changed to suit the power applied, whereby the rotary
motion of the ordinary crank or winch handles are converted into a
direct vertical or horizontal motion with an increase of power, which
can be applied with great advantage to pumps and for other purposes
requiring a direct vertical or horizontal action.
A driving wheel constructed according to my Invention consists of a
disc, ono side of which has an eccentric action and the other side a

page_text: 1
concentric action. The eccentric action is produced by a groove formed
on the face of the disc and passing round and eccentric with the centre
of the disc. The head of the pump spear is provided with an antifriction
roller which works in the eccentric groove on the face of the disc, and
the pump spear is made to travel vertically or horizontally between
guides mounted on the pump box, the spear head being kept in position
by two antifriction rollers working in the before-mentioned guides.
The concentric action is produced by a groove formed on the opposite
face of the disc and passing round and eccentric with the centre of the
disc and leading into a groove formed round the outer rim of the disc,
the grooves developing into each other at the circumference of the disc.
Where the grooves join they are provided with points or switches.
worked by a lever on the face of the disc, and so arranged that the
action of the roller on the spear head is to travel round the eccentric
groove, automatically open one switch and close the other, and then
travel round the groove on the circumference of the disc, and repeating
the action automatically working the switches as the disc is rotated, the
action of the spear being in a vertical or horizontal direction in the
before-mentioned guide.
) The concentric or eccentric motion is obtained by reversing the
roller on the spear head to the respective sides of the disc as the case