Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1886.
Complete Left, 25th Jan., 1837.
Complete Accepted, 25th Feb., 1887.
I SYDNEY PITT of Sutton in the County of Surrey Gentleman do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements in hydraulic and pneumatic lifts and
traction apparatus.
.
The power whether it be applied by air or water under pressure is made to act upon
a piston contained within a tube. The tube has a slit or opening formed in it
longitudinally from end to end. A continuous flexible valve is provided to close the
opening in the tube. The tube is made in lengths bolted together and it is stiffened
by flanges so as not to opon under the pressure. The piston is provided with an arm
which projects out through the opening in the side of the tube and is attached to the
load to be moved.
The valve is displaced in front of the arm and then passes into the interior of the
tube leaving a space sufficient for the arm to pass; afterwards the valve is returned to
its place.
The valvular closing is composed of three essential parts-the seat the valve proper
and the connecting arm.
The seat of the valve is formed by the side walls of the longitudinal slit formed
continuously from end to end of the tube; and with this object a thapezoidal form has
been given to the slit as shewn in section upon the drawing, figures 1. 2. and 3 this
allows of the valve being wedge form which prevents risk of leakage.
The valve proper is composed of an interior part A figures, 1. 2. 3 and 4 formed of
two continuous bars of iron a a' between which a band of wood a" is carried between
the upper plate of iron and the wedge a strip of leather bis held the margins of which
come upon the two sides of the valve the lateral faces of which have exactly the form
of the seat in the tube this first part of the valve which forms the stopper is connected

page_text: at suitable distances by stems CC to an exterior parallel blade of iron B,-this is
broader than the slit in the tube and has the effect of preventing the valve when it is
not supported by the pressure of water or air from falling to the bottom of the tube at
the same time it prevents foreign bodies from entering, being thus formed the valve
can easily bend without twisting or straining of the part forming the joint so that the
valve can occupy simultaneously at points not very far apart the three positions
represented by the figures 1. 2 and 3.
The connecting arm is composed essentially of two cheeks of wrought iron D, D,
figures 2.4 and 5 fixed to the rod L of the piston M and brought together on the
outside upon a small guide carriage with rollers E or slides travelling upon two
longitudinal rails F, F, fixed upon the tube on either side of and parallel to the slit,
these cheeks have such a form that they can pass by the space vacated by the valve
when it occupies the intermediate position Figure 2. rollers G G¹, figures 2 and 4
fixed the one to the piston and the other to the exterior carriage sustain the valve at
the desired height to allow of the passage of the connecting arm. Finally the piston
rod is supported in the axis of the tube either by a second piston placed on the other
side of the connecting bar or as the drawing shews by rollers H H rolling along
against the interior face of the tube. The distance between the piston and the
connecting bar should always be sufficiently large to allow the valve to bend without
strain between these two points.
It will be readily understood that the piston being submitted to the pressure of
water or of compressed air will be put in movement, driving before it, by means of its
rod, the connecting arm and the exterior carriage In this case the valve whether it
has been raised by a second Piston placed in the front of the connecting arm or
.whatever position it occupies will first be led by the rollers G G into the position
required to give free passage to the cheeks of the connecting arm-Then it will be
raised immediately by the piston itself and will pass to its sent where it will remain
supported after the passage of the piston by the pressure of the water or of the air acting
upon it, and it will securely close all the part of the tube which is exposed to pressure
on the return when the piston comes back in consequence of force exerted upon the
carriage, or is in turn forced back by the second piston upon which the pressure of
water or air may come to act, things will go on in the same manner, the valve being
always closed in the parts of the tube where the pressure is exerted and being suitably
open for the passage of the connecting arm.
This valve and its accessories being thus arranged it is possible to give to the tube
any inclination between the horizontal and vertical positions whilst the piston is able
to act upon an exterior part intimately connected with it and which follows in all its
movements This part can thus transmit to the exterior of the tube all the work
transmitted to the piston itself by the water or compressed air admitted into the tube.
These results have many applications for example
1. The construction of lifts for private houses workshops and warehouses also for
mines.
The tube being placed vertically the piston below the connecting arm and valve
suspended in its intermediate position on the upper part of the tube it is possible by
sufficiently prolonging the connecting arm and giving it suitable connections to make
this arm serve as a bracket to support a platform upon which may be placod the load
to be raised to different heights. Thus a lift or clevator can be worked by means of
water for ordinary heights or by means of compressed air where the lift is greater.
With two vertical tubes and valves placed opposite the one to the other the con-
necting arms can be fixed together and a much larger platform placed upon them-
This can be done when the dimensions are such as to render the simple bracket
unsuitable.
Again, with four tubes, and more if they be needed-The connecting arms being all
connected together a platform of very large dimensions can be provided on which
heavy loads such as locomotives and loaded Waggons can be raised.
This arrangement of vertical elevators to be worked by water or air (whatever be
the number of tubes) would have over arrangements at present employed the great-

page_text: advantage of not requiring any mechanism below the surface of the ground and a
heavy ram being no longer used, heavy counterpoises will become unnecessary, and
these at present are often the cause of accident.
2. Traction upon inclined plane.
The tube being placed in an inclined position it is easy to attach the connecting
arm to a truck or motor wagon pushing or drawing other waggons travelling upon
rails placed on each side of and parallel to the tube-such an inclined plane can be
worked by means of water or compressed air and will be applicable in many cases
particularly in mines where the use of ropes is very inconvenient and where the
employment of compressed air for ventilation provides a inotor ready to hand..
3. Traction in underground galleries.
The tube being placed between the rails of a railway of normal inclination the piston
being double and the piston carriage attached to the ordinary rolling stock a means of
traction is provided which avoids all inconvenience from smoke-it permits the more
advantageous employment for this traction of air compressing apparatus which has.
been provided to supplement an insufficient ventilation and which has become
uscless.
4. Inclined plane canal lift to be worked by water under pressure.
Thus applied the invention surmounts a difference of level between two consecutive
reaches of a canal supersedes locks and accelerates the working of inland navigations.
The arrangement proposed and which is shown by the Figures 6 and 7 of the
drawings annexed is based upon the principle of the equilibrium of fluids under equal
pressure and comprises―
1. An inclined plane with four parallel rails.
2. A metallic propelling tube.
3. A rolling or waggon lock.
4. An accumulator or accumulators with variable load.
The road m of the inclined plane serves to guide and support the waggon lock.
The locks is formed of a rectangular caisson travelling upon the inclined plane and
furnished at its two ends with doors which permit of its being put in connection cither
with the upper or lower reach of the canal, with which it is alternately brought into
communication.
.
In travelling upon the inclined plane the lock remains horizontal, for the hinder
part is raised to a height sufficient to compensate for the inclination. This arrange-
ment permits of boats being transported while floating from one reach of the canal to
the other. There is also a brake acting upon all the wheels on which the travelling
lock is carried.
The propelling tube is parallel to the rails and occupies the centre of the road.
Its piston transmits to the travelling lock, through the intervention of a piston carriage,
the pressure of the water.
The accumulator a placed at the bottom of the incline outside the road is in com-
munication by means of piping with the propelling tube.
This apparatus (which, by way of precaution, is adapted to supply a quantity of
water under pressure somewhat greater than the quantity requisite for the course of
the propelling piston) is intended:-
1. To furnish the necessary pressure in the propelling tube to raise the lock:
2. To store up for a subsequent operation the work done by the descent of the lock.
The piston of the press p of the accumulator is loaded with a fixed weight either of
masonry or iron and also with a variable load. This last is furnished by a weight of
water drawn from the upper reach of the canal-the object of this load is to determine
the movement of the lock in one direction or the other. Besides it is also employed
to regulate the speed of the descending lock.
A force pump worked by any motor serves to raise and fill the press p when in
time of frost or repair this has been emptied.
The sluice cocks v conveniently placed to the hand of the engineer who controls the
working serve to regulate the load of the accumulator and to intercept all communication
between the press and the propelling tube.

page_text: Finally pressure gauges indicate the pressure of the water and an indicator shews
the movement of the lock. These parts complete the apparatus required.
A vessel of say three hundred tons having arrived by the lower reach is got ready
to pass the stage which separates it from the upper reach, this vessel is introduced into
the travelling lock and the doors are closed.
The wagon lock now occupies the dry pit at the bottom of the incline, the sluice
cock connecting the accumulator with the propelling tube is closed, the accumulator is
charged.
At this instant the sluice cock is gradually opened, water under pressure is intro-.
duced from the press into the propelling tube the plunger with its load descending.
The propelling piston is at the same time driven forward and takes with it the
travelling lock along the road.
This movement continues until the press of the accumulator on the one hand and
the propelling piston on the other have completed their respective courses. Things
remain in this state until the necessary operations (opening of the gates, passage out
of the boats &c. have taken place, the necessary pressure of the head of the lock
against that of the entrance to the canal reach being preserved during these different
operations.
The lock now at the upper end of the incline has been put into communication with
the upper reach and the ascending boat has given place to a descending boat.
The weight of the lock has not changed the line of flotation remaining the same.
The Doors are closed and the lock is ready to descend.
Part of the variable load of the accumulator is now allowed to flow away into the.
lower reach of the canal until the two pistons are no longer in equilibrium. Then
the lock of itself commences to move by its own weight; in descending it forces back
the propelling piston and this forces out the water contained in the tube which then
raises the plunger of the accumulator bringing it back to its original position.
These operations go on without any risk of shock because the speed of the lock is
regulated by an addition of load and not by the sluice cock connecting the press with
the propelling tube this only serving for long stoppages of the lock, either at the top
or at the bottom of the inclined plane.
The quantity of water consumed for a double journey that is to say for a boat raised
and another boat brought down will be the amount of load taken off the accumulator
for the difference between the load in rising and that in descent represents the motive
force equivalent to the passive resistance of the system.

page_text: I, SYDNEY PITT of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, (a communication
to me from abroad by Louis Gonin of Lausanne, Switzerland, 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:-
This invention has for its object improvements in hydraulic and pneumatic lifts and
traction apparatus.
The power whether it be applied by air or water under pressure is made to act upon
a piston contained within a tube. The tube has a slit or opening formed in it
longitudinally from end to end. A continuous flexible valve is provided to close the
opening in the tube. The tube is made in lengths bolted together and it is stiffened
by flanges so as not to open under the pressure. The piston is provided with an arm
which projects out through the opening in the side of the tube and is attached to the
load to be moved.
The valve is displaced in front of the arm, and then passes into the interior of the.
tube leaving a space sufficient for the arm to pass; afterwards the valve is returned
to its place.
The valvular closing is composed of three essential parts-the seat, the valve proper,
and the connecting arin.
The seat of the valve is formed by the side walls of the longitudinal slit running
continuously from end to end of the tube; and with this object a trapezoidal form has
been given to the slit as shewn in section upon the drawing left with the provisional
specification, Figures 1, 2 and 3; this allows of the valve, being wedge form which
prevents risk of leakage.
The valve proper is composed of an interior part A, Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, formed
of two continuous bars of iron a, a' between which a band of wood a¹¹ is carried.
Between the upper plate of iron and the wedge a strip of leather b is held the margins
of which come upon the two sides of the valve, the lateral faces of which have exactly
the form of the seat in the tube. This first part of the valve which forms the stopper
is connected at suitable distances by stems C, C, to an exterior parallel blade of iron B.
this is broader than the slit in the tube and has the effect of preventing the valve
when it is not supported by the pressure of water or air from falling to the bottom of
the tube; at the same time it prevents foreign bodies from entering. Being thus
formed the valve can easily bend without twisting or straining of the part forming
the joint so that the valve can occupy simultaneously at points not very far apart the
three positions represented by the Figures 1, 2 and 3.
The connecting arm is composed essentially of two cheeks of wrought iron, D, I),
Figures 2, 4 and 5, fixed to the rod L of the piston M and brought together on the
outside upon a small guide carriage with rollers E, or slides travelling upon two

page_text: longitudinal rails F, F, fixed upon the tube on either side of and parallel to the slit.
These checks have such a form that they can pass by the space vacated by the valve
when it occupies the intermediate position, Figure 2. Rollers G, G, Figures 2 and 4,
fixed the one to the piston and the other to the exterior carriage sustain the valve,
at the desired height to allow of the passage of the connecting arm. Finally the piston
rod is supported in the axis of the tube either by a second piston placed on the other
side of the connecting bar, or as the drawing shews by rollers H, H, rolling along
against the interior face of the tube. The distance between the piston and the
connecting bar should always be sufficiently large to allow the valve to bend without
strain between these two points.
It will be readily understood that the piston being submitted to the pressure of
water or of compressed air, will be put in movement, driving before it, by means of
its rod, the connecting arm and the exterior carriage. In this case the valve, whether
it has been raised by a second piston placed in the front of the connecting arm or
whatever position it occupies, will first be led by the rollers G, G, into the position
required to give free passage to the checks of the connecting arm-then it will be
raised immediately by the piston itself and will pass to its seat where it will remain
supported after the passage of the piston by the pressure of the water or of the air
acting upon it, and it will securely close all the part of the tube which is exposed to
pressure. On the return, when the piston comes back, in consequence of force exerted
upon the carriage, or is in turn forced back by the second piston upon which the
pressure of water or air may come to act, things will go on in the same manner, the
valve being always closed in the parts of the tube where the pressure is exerted and
being suitably open for the passage of the connecting arm.
This valve and its accessories being thus arranged it is possible to give to the tube
any inclination between the horizontal and vertical positions whilst the piston is able
to act upon an exterior part intimately connected with it and which follows in all its
movements. This part can thus transmit to the exterior of the tube all the work
transmitted to the piston itself by the water or compressed air admitted into the-tube.
These results have many applications, for example :-
--
1. The construction of lifts for private houses, workshops and warehouses, also for
mines.
The tube being placed vertically the piston below the connecting arm and valvo
suspended in its intermediate position on the upper part of the tube, it is possible by
sufficiently prolonging the connecting arm and giving it suitable connections to make
this arm serve as a bracket to support a platform upon which may be placed the load
to be raised to different heights. Thus a lift or elevator can be worked by means of
water for ordinary heights or by means of compressed air where the lift is greater.
With two vertical tubes and valves placed opposite the one to the other the con-
necting arms can be fixed together and a much larger platform placed upon them.
This can be done when the dimensions are such as to render the simple bracket
unsuitable.
Again, with four tubes, and more if they be needed, the connecting arms being all
connected together, a platform of very large dimensions can be provided on which
heavy loads such as locomotives, and loaded waggons can be raised.
This arrangement of vertical elevators to be worked by water or air (whatever be
the number of tubes) would have over arrangements at present employed, the great
advantage of not requiring any mechanism below the surface of the ground and a
heavy rain being no longer used, heavy counterpoises will become unnecessary,
these at present are often the cause of accident.
2. Traction upon inclined planes.
and
The tube being placed in an inclined position-it is easy to attach the connecting
arm to a truck or motor waggon pushing or driving other waggons travelling upon
rails placed on each side of and parallel to the tube-such an inclined plane can be
worked by means of water or compressed air and will be applicable in many cases
particularly in mines where the use of ropes is very inconvenient and where the
employment of compressed air for ventilation provides a notor ready to hand.

page_text: igations.
The arrangement proposed and which is shown by the figures 6 and 7 of the
drawings left with the provisional Specification is based upon the principle of the
equilibrium of fluids under equal pressure and comprises :--
1. An inclined plane with four parallel rails.
2. A metallic propelling tube.
3. A rolling or waggon lock.
4. An accumulator or accumulators with variable load.
The road M of the inclined plane serves to guide and support the waggon lock.
The lock S is formed of a rectangular caisson travelling upon the inclined plane and
furnished at its two ends with doors which permit of its being put in connection either
with the upper or lower reach of the canal, with which it is alternately brought into
communication:
In travelling upon the inclined plane the lock remains horizontal, for the hinder
part is raised to a height sufficient to compensate for the inclination. This arrange-
ment permits of boats being transported while floating from one reach of the canal to
the other. There is also a brake acting upon all the wheels on which the travelling
lock is carried.
The propelling tube T is parallel to the rails and occupies the centre of the road. Its
piston transmits to the travelling lock, through the intervention of a piston carriage,
the pressure of the water.
The accumulator a placed at the bottom of the incline outside the road is in coin-
munication by means of piping n with the propelling tube.
This apparatus (which, by way of precaution, is adapted to supply a quantity of
water under pressure somewhat greater than the quantity requisite for the course of
the propelling piston) is intended:-
1. To furnish the necessary pressure in the propelling tube to raise. the lock.
2. To store up for a subsequent operation the work done by the descent of the lock.
The piston of the press p of the accumulator is loaded with a fixed weight either of
masonry or iron and also with a variable load. This last is furnished by a weight of
water drawn from the upper reach of the canal-the object of this load is to determine
the movement of the lock in one direction or the other. Besides it is also employed
to regulate the speed of the descending lock.
A force pump worked by any motor serves to raise and fill the press p when in time
of frost or repair this has been emptied.
The sluice cocks v conveniently placed to the hand of the engineer who controls tho
working, serve to regulate the load of the accumulator and to intercept all communica-
tion between the press and the propelling tube.
Finally pressure gauges indicate the pressure of the water and an indicator shews
the movement of the lock. These parts complete the apparatus required.
A vessel of say three hundred fons having arrived by the lower reach is got ready
to pass the stage which separates it from the upper reach, this vessel is introduced into
the travelling lock and the doors are closed.
The waggon lock now occupies the dry pit at the bottom of the incline, the sluice
cock connecting the accumulator with the propelling tube is closed, the accumulator
is charged.
"
At this instant the sluice cock is gradually opened, water under pressure is intro-
duced from the press into the propelling tube the plunger with its load descending.

page_text: The propelling piston is at the same time driven forward and takes with it the
travelling lock along the road.
This movement continues until the press of the accumulator on the one hand, and
the propelling piston on the other have completed their respective courses. Things
remain in this state. until the necessary operations (opening of the gates, passage out of
the boats &c.) have taken place, the necessary pressure of the head of the lock against
that of the entrance to the canal reach being preserved during these different
operations.
The lock, now at the upper end of the incline, has been put into communication
with the upper reach, and the ascending boat has given place to a descending boat.
The weight of the lock has not changed the line of floatation remaining the same.
The doors are closed and the lock is ready to descend.
Part of the variable load of the accumulator is now allowed to flow away into the
lower reach of the canal until the two pistons are no longer in equilibrium. Then the
lock of itself commences to move by its own weight; in descending it forces back
the propelling piston and this forces out the water contained in the tube which then
raises the plunger of the accumulator, bringing it back to its original position.
These operations go on without any risk of shock because the speed of the lock is
regulated by an addition of load and not by the sluice cock connecting the press with
the propelling tube; this only serving for long stoppages of the lock, either at the top
or at the bottom of the inclined plane.
The quantity of water consumed for a double journey, that is to say, for a boat
raised and another boat brought down, will be the amount of load taken off the
accumulator; for the difference between the load in rising and that in descent
represents the motive force equivalent to the passive resistance of the system.
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 :-
1. The improvements in hydraulic and pneumatic lifts and traction apparatus
consisting in the use therein of a tube with a longitudinal slit and a continuous flexible
valve substantially as described.
2. Hydraulic and pneumatic lifts and traction apparatus substantially as herein
described and illustrated by the drawings.
CARPMAEL & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.