IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS."-A communication from abroad by George
Günther Hartwick, of Jersey City, Hudson County, State of New
Jersey, and Hermann Geyer, of the City, County, and State of New
York, both in the United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 4th March 1875, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patant Amant cond annating

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been com-
municated to me from abroad by George Günther Hartwick, of Jersey
City, Hudson County, State of New Jersey, and Hermann Geyer, of the
City, County, and State of New York, both in the United States of
America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
.statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a new and simple construction of pump,
having for its object to avoid the loss of power by friction, which is
experienced in the use of pumps of ordinary construction, and to reduce
the expense of the pump.
The Invention consists principally in the application of a hinged
tongue or diaphragm to and within a segmental pump chamber; the
diaphragm being hinged in the centre or axis of the segment, serving
as it is moved up and down, i. c., vibrated in the said chamber to draw
water into the same through the inlet apertures and to eject it at the
outlet. In this manner it is only necessary to vibrate the diaphragm in
order to operate the pump, and the system of plungers usually employed,
and its consequent friction, necessity of tight packing, close fitting of
cylinder &c., are entirely dispensed with.
Another feature of this Invention has reference to the mechanism by
which power is transmitted from a rotary driving shaft to the reciprocating
pump rod, and consists in the use of two oval cog-wheels gearing into
one another, and hung eccentric to their supporting shafts. Power
imparted to one shaft causes its oval cog wheel to revolve and to turn
thereby the other oval wheel, which in turn moves the pump rod. Now
in a single acting pump more power is required in forcing the water
upwards than in drawing water into the pump chamber, and with the
improved oval cog wheels greater power is obtained when the water is
lifted, and more speed but less power when the water is drawn into the
chamber.
In the accompanying Drawing Figure 1 represents a vertical central

page_text: line C, C, Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a vertical central section of a single-acting pump made on
the improved plan.
Figure 4, a face view of the oval cog wheels employed in the working
of the single-acting pump.
Figure 5 is a side view on a reduced scale of a modified form of said
pump.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the
› Figures.
The double-acting pump, represented in Figures 1 and 2, will first be
described. In these Figures the letter A represents the segmental
pump chamber; B, the vibrating tongue or diaphragm pivoted at a
in or near the centre of apex of the segment; C is the pump rod;
and D the water discharge pipe. The pump chamber in use is to be
submerged; it has an aperture 6 above and another aperture d below
the diaphragm, both said apertures being closed by self valves, as shown.
At or near the periphery of the segment are two openings in the same,
once near the lower, the othe f near the upper part of the chamber,
both said openings leading into the discharge pipe D, as shown, and
both closed by valves.
When by means of the rod C, which is reciprocated by a suitable
crank on a rotating shaft E or otherwise, the tongue or diaphragm B
is swung upwards, the valve in the lower opening & will be opened and
water drawn into the lower part of the chamber A. When after-
wards the diaphragm is swung down the valve in d will at once be closed
and the water will be discharged by the downward pressure of the
diaphragm, through the aperture e into the pipe D. The same downward
movement of the diaphragm will open the valve b and draw water into
the chamber A from above. The next upward movement of the
diaphragm will open the valve d, close e, open f, and close b, and
thus a continuous stream of water will be discharged from the pump.
A single-acting pump is shown in Figure 3 to have the same seg-
mental chamber A and vibrating tongue B, but discharging only into
one aperture , and drawing through one aperture i. If h and i arc
at opposite sides of the diaphragm, the latter must be perforated and

page_text: have a valve to close its aperture. But when the holes and i are both
on the same side of the diaphragm, as in Figure 3, they will each have
a valve and the hole in the diaphragm will not be needed; although a
small air pipe j will be advisable. The single acting pump will require
more power for the upward stroke of the diaphragm than for the down-
ward stroke, and to provide even action it is advisable to use the two
oval cog wheels and m, shown in Figure 4, for transmitting motion to
the pump rod C. The one cog wheel is mounted on the driving shaft E
and gears into the wheel m which carries the crank g whereby the rod C
is moved. This will by varying distances of the cogs from the axes of
their respective shafts give the required distribution of power and
speed at the times when either will be most effective in operating the
pump.
Figure 5 shows a modification of the pump where the chamber A is
represented with its broader end downwards, and with the pump rod C
connecting at the fulcrum with the vibrating diaphragm. This arrange-
ment will be still simpler than that shown in Figure 1, and less expensive.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as new
and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
1st. The segmental pump chamber A made to contain the vibrating
tongue or diaphragm B, as described.
2ndly. The combination with each other of the oval cog wheels
and m, gearing into cach other, as and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.