IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER BY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER BY
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE."-A communication from Mess Delettrez Perè
& Company. of Passy. in the Empire of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th September 1856.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER
BY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus for raising water
by the pressure of the atmosphere to any required height. The power of a
steam engine is employed for exhausting an air trunk, connected by branch
pipes with a series of exhaust vessels arranged one above the other at suitable
distances apart. These exhaust vessels or air-tight tanks are all similarly
furnished with an inlet pipe (for the water to be raised), which passes up
through the bottom and reaches to near the top of the tank; this pipe is closed

page_text: at its upper end with a double clack valve.
Mounted on a fulcrum at the
upper part of the tank is a lever, which carries two valves, the one for closing
the branch pipe communicating with the air trunk, and the other for admit-
ting air at certain periods to the tank. A float, mounted loosely on a rod
pendent from the end of the valve lever, governs the movements of the lever,
and thereby causes the opening and closing of the valves; this float rises and
falls with the water that is drawn into and expelled from the tank, and in
sliding over the pendent rod it strikes against one or other of two stops on that
rod, and raises or depresses the lever. An outlet pipe rises from near the
bottom of the tank, and passes through the top of the tank, for the purpose
of conducting the water upwards into the next succeeding tank, or dis-
charging it into the chamber intended to convey it away. Supposing the
apparatus to be applied to a mine shaft, and the last of the series of inlet
pipes to dip into the body of water to be raised, the steam engine, when
set in motion, will, by means of an ordinary exhaust pump, create a partial
vacuum in the several tanks; the water will then rise into the first tank until
the float lifts the valve lever and cuts off connection with the exhaust pipe;
at the same time air will be admitted above the water in the tank, and the
water will then be forced by the pressure of the atmosphere into the next suc-
ceeding tank, where it will in like manner be discharged, and so on, until the
water has attained the required elevation. When the discharge from any air
tank is sufficient to allow the float to drop and draw down with it the valve
lever sufficient to close the air inlet valve and open the exhaust, a fresh supply
of water will rise to the tank, and this process will be repeated so long as the
engine is in action and there is water to be raised.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th March 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said Alfred Vincent

page_text: Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "IM-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER BY ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE," being a
communication from Messieurs Delettrez Perè and Company, of Passy, in
the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents,
relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus adapted to raising water to any
required height by the pressure of the atmosphere, the chief object being to
discharge large volumes of water from mines with great rapidity and with a
smaller consumption of power than is at present required to obtain the like
result. When applying the Invention to the pumping out of water from mines,
a series of exhaust vessels or air-tight tanks is provided, and set one above the
other at suitable distances apart. These tanks are connected with each other
by means of pipes, so as to form a water channel extending from the bottom of
the mine to the elevation at which the water is required to be discharged.
Connected to each of these tanks, by means of branch pipes, is an exhaust
pipe, which leads to and connects with an exhaust pump actuated by the motive
power engine at the top of the main shaft. By the action of the exhaust pump
a partial vacuum is obtained and kept up for the requisite period in the several
tanks, and the water which has access thereto by induction pipes will thereby
be caused to flow upwards, filling first the lower tank, the contents of which
will be discharged into the tank immediately above it by the downward pres-
sure of the air, which is at the proper time admitted into that tank, and so in
like manner the water will be caused to mount to the top of the series of tanks,
and flow from the last of the series by the discharge pipe provided for the pur-

page_text: pose; a suitable arrangement of valves being employed to stop the flow of
water up the induction pipes, and also to admit air to cut it off from the tanks,
and to stop and renew the action of the exhaust pipe.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents, in side eleva-
tion, the apparatus employed for raising water according to this Invention;
Fig. 2 is a front view of the same; Fig. 3 is a top or plan view; Fig. 4 is a
sectional elevation of one of the air and water-tight tanks; and Fig. 5, a plan
view of the same. Similar letters of reference denote corresponding parts in
all these Figures.
The exhaustion in this apparatus may be effected by the use of steam or
other available motive power. A, Fig. 1, represents a steam engine used for
this purpose, and B, C, is the gearing for transmitting a reciprocating motion
to the pistons of the pumping cylinders D, D', which are mounted horizontally
upon suitable framing. Connected with both these cylinders is the exhaust
pipe E, which is connected by branch pipes with a series of metal tanks
F, F, F, set one above another, or at different elevations, in the shaft of a
mine, at distances apart somewhat less than thirty-two feet, which, as is well
known, is the height that water will rise under atmospheric pressure. The
tanks F, F, F, are severally provided with water induction pipes G, G¹, G",
these pipes being provided at their upper extremities with two hinged
valves II, II, set slanting at the mouth of the tube; the lower extremities of
these tubes extend down to nearly the bottom of the next tank, as seen at
I, I, I, the lowermost one extending down to the water to be raised, and the
upper extremity of the topmost one extending to the exit orifice K.
An arm L (Figures 4 and 5), having its fulcrum at M, carries at certain
distances two valves N and N1, the one N serving for the re-admission of the
external air, and the other N' for arresting the action of the vacuum produced
in the tanks by the exhaust cylinders D, D¹. The arm L carries at its
extremity a pendent rod O; this rod, which is of iron and is of a round form,
is provided with stops or shoulders P and P¹, and it slides up and down in an
opening Qin the stuffing box R; S is a hollow metal float filled with air, and
having an opening S¹ through its centre, which will allow of its sliding upon
the rod O, without imparting any motion to it.
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-Motion being communicated
to the steam engine, it will, by means of the pneumatic or exhaust cylinders,
create a partial vacuum in the tanks F, F, &c., through the air pipe E; at
this stage of the operation all the exhaust valves N¹ are open, and the valves N,
for admitting air, are closed, the lever arm L being in a lower position than
that represented in Fig. 4, and the stop or shoulder P' of the rod O bearing

page_text: upon
the box R, the float S also resting upon the top of the shoulder P¹.
When a sufficient amount of exhaustion has been produced in the tank, the
water will rise from the bottom of the mine, as at T, and fill the tank F; on
arriving at the level U, the float, which the water has caused to rise, will strike
against the upper stop P of the rod O, and will communicate motion to the
arm L, thereby closing the exhaust valve N', and opening the valve N for the
admission of air. The atmospheric pressure thus created on the water con-
tained in the tank F will cause it to rise into the tank F¹, through the induction
pipe G¹, which connects the two tanks together, and has its lower opening at I¹
in the tank F; and in like manner the water will pass to the other tanks of
the series until it arrives at the discharge pipe K.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings, a modification of the air and water-tight
tank, with its appurtenances, is shewn; Fig. 1 being a vertical section taken in
the line X, Y, of Fig. 2, through the middle of the tank, but shewing both the
induction pipe H and the forcing pipe H¹; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same.
A, A, are vertical cylinders, which may be made of cast iron, and communi-
cating with each other form a common cylinder; B is a cover, provided with
two valve boxes a and b, and carrying the guide rods for the valves C and D.
The valve C serves for the introduction of air from the atmosphere into the
tank;
it is fitted with three wings or feathers, which fit into and work up and
down in the valve box a. The valve D serves for the discharge of the air
from the tank to the pipe c, which communicates with the air pump; d, e, are
brackets or supports, cast on to the cover B. The bracket d carries bearings
for the axle of a weighted crank lever E, which is intended to raise the valve c
from its seat, and the bracket e carries at its upper part g a guide piece for the
rod h of the valve C; i is the guide rod of the exhaust air valve D. These
two valve rods h and i are provided at their lower parts with rectangular
openings, through which passes the lever arm F, which rocks upon the fulcrum
pin or axle k, carried by the pendent bearing 1; G is a hollow metal float,
adjusted so as to slide up and down on the pendent rod m, provided at its upper
extremity with a shoulder or stop n, and at its lower extremity with another
stop o for the float to bear against. The lower extremity of the pendent rod m
works in a box p, cast on to the lower part of the reservoir. The water rises
into the reservoir through the pipe II, which is provided at its upper extremity
with a double hinged valve I, J, working on an axle at q. The discharge of
water from the tank into the tank above is through the pipe E', which is
provided at its lower extremity with a conical valve K, having its seat at r, r.
The pipe II is fixed to the bottom of the tank by a bridle piece s, t, and the
pipe II to the top of the tank by the bridle pieces u, v.

page_text: The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-On setting it to work the
arm F is at its lowest position, the float G bearing upon the stop O, the
valve D is open and the valve C is closed, the rod E, carrying the ball, being
in a vertical position. On putting the air pump into operation, a vacuum will
be produced in all the tanks of the series, whatever may be their number, by
means of the pipes c, c', c¹, communicating with them all. When the equi-
librium between the air contained in the tank and the external atmosphere has
been destroyed, the atmospheric pressure will act upon the surface of the water
below, and will cause it to ascend into the tank immediately above it. The
water on entering this tank through the double valve I, J, will raise the
float G, and cause it to slide upon its rod m, and when the water has reached
the level shewn by the dotted line L, M, the float will act upon the lever E
with a force proportioned to the volume of water displaced by it, and cause it to
rise, by which means the vacuum valve D will be closed, and at the same time
the weighted arm of the lever E will fall from its vertical position (describing a
portion of a revolution on its axis f), and thereby open the air inlet valve C.
Air will thus be allowed to enter the tank, and, pressing upon the surface of
the water contained therein, it will cause the water to pass off by the valve K,
and ascend into the tank immediately above. From this apparatus, which is
caused to act in precisely the same manner as the preceding one, the water is
in like manner discharged, and so on, until it has arrived in the uppermost
tank, whence it escapes freely through the weighted exit valve N (shewn in
red in Fig. 1). This valve is set at an angle of forty-five degrees, and the
weighted rod upon its hinge is vertical during the ascent of the water in the
reservoir to which it belongs, which position it retains until an increase of
pressure is caused by the readmission of the external air into the reservoir,
whereby the valve is opened and the weight forced back. On falling back-
wards it presses upon a spring P, which causes it to resume its vertical
position when the water has passed out.
In order to ensure regularity in the working of the apparatus, the weighted
lever E should have sufficient power to maintain the arm in the position repre-
sented in Fig. 1, whilst the float descends on its rod m, following the level of
the water which is flowing out; and it is necessary that as soon as the float
bears upon the stop O, its weight should overcome the weight of the crauk
lever E, and cause the instant closing of the valve C and the opening of the
valve D.
The advantages of this improved mode of raising water over the apparatus
ordinarily employed for the like purpose, are, that whereas in the latter the
weight of the column of water is permanent upon the pistons of the pumps

page_text: (which column becomes heavier in proportion as the mine or the well is
deeper), and necessitates the employment of very powerful machinery, this
improved apparatus may be worked with comparatively little power, as it is
only necessary to create a vacuum, and the simple pressure of the atmosphere
will cause the water to ascend. Moreover, an increase of the height to which
the water is to be raised does not necessitate the employment of apparatus
constructed with greater strength and weight of material, but simply the
employment of one or more additional tanks with their appurtenances. And,
further, by making the pipes for the ascent of the water of sufficiently large
diameter, results may be produced which could not be obtained with the
ordinary apparatus.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for Raising Water by Atmospheric Pressure," as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim the means herein described, or any mere modification thereof,
whereby, through the application of the well-known principles of exhaustion
and atmospheric pressure, I am enabled to cause water to flow upwards and
discharge itself at any required elevation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)