IMPROVE- MENTS IN RAISING WATER, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN RAISING WATER, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Benjamin Barnes, of
Melbourne, in the Colony of Australia.
Sealed the 6th December 1864, and dated the 21st June 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st June 1864.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING WATER, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by Benjamin Barnes,
of Melbourne, in the Colony of Australia, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of raising water from great depths without
the aid of pump rods, and consists in employing water as the means of com-
municating power in lieu of pump rods for raising water, and in the application
of the following arrangement of the hydraulic ram for lifting water from any
depth, advantage being taken of the principle of balancing the larger column
of water by the smaller one, which is used for communicating the power.
In carrying out this Invention two hydraulic cylinders are employed, placed

page_text: by préference one above the other, the upper one being inverted, and both
cylinders permanently secured and connected together in any convenient
manner. In each cylinder works a large hollow plunger, the usual packing
being employed to keep them tight. These plungers are connected together
by rods or long bolts, and consequently move simultaneously, the one entering
its cylinder whilst the other is leaving it, and vice versa. Into each plunger
is fitted a stationary hydraulic ram made water-tight by the usual packing;
and through the longitudinal axis of each ram a passage is made communi
cating with and regulated by a four-way cock or other equivalent valvular
contrivance. A small pipe passing vertically upwards communicates at its
lower end with one of the ways in the four-way cock, whilst its upper end is
connected with a hydraulic pump or other suitable or well-known contrivance
for forcing water down the pipe. When the four-way cock is properly adjusted
the water in the ascending pipe passes through the upper fixed ram and
enters the upper hollow plunger, causing such plunger to rise and enter its
cylinder, the water in such cylinder being consequently forced out through a
side pipe into one of two branches of a vertical discharging pipe. Inside this
branch of the vertical discharging pipe there are fitted two lift valves of any con-
venient construction, both opening upwards, one being situate above the orifice
of the side pipe and the other below, and therefore when the water is forced
out of the upper cylinder it lifts the upper valve and rises up the discharge
pipe, to be delivered from the upper end thereof. In the meantime the
plunger of the lower cylinder has been receding, and the space left in the
cylinder is filled with water, which enters therein through a side pipe and
valves similar in all respects to those of the upper cylinder, but communicating
with a parallel branch of the main discharging pipe, this branch opening into
the first branch again above and below the two sets of lift valves. When the
water enters the lower cylinder the lower one of the lower pair of lift valves
opens and allows it to pass. The position of the four-way cock or valve is
now changed so as to bring the small ascending pipe into communication
with the lower fixed ram, and consequently the pressure of the column of
water therein will force down the lower plunger and expel the water from the
lower cylinder back again through its side pipe into the discharging pipe, and
so on continuously. Whilst the upper plunger is descending, the water,
which was previously forced therein in order to raise it, escapes by a pipe and
passage in the four-way cock or valve into the lower cylinder, and is thence
discharged with the contents of that cylinder. A precisely similar arrange-
ment of escape pipe and passage is applied to the lower plunger for the escape of
the water therefrom when the upper plunger is being forced upwards or into

page_text: its cylinder. The working of the four-way cock or valve is automatic, and is
accomplished by the aid of a double-acting clutch on the axis of the plug of
the four-way cock and a balance weighted lever attached to the clutch. This
clutch is turned partially round at each stroke of the plungers by a chain
which is attached to the periphery of the clutch, and has its two ends respec-
tively secured to the upper and lower plungers. At the termination of the
stroke of the plungers the chain will have raised the balance weight over the
centre, and the weight will consequently fall forwards by its own gravity, and
through the double-action clutch will partially turn or reverse the position of
the plug of the four-way cock.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and. successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that. I, the John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, adininistrators, or 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 RAISING WATER,
AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to
me from abroad by Benjamin Barnes, of Melbourne, in the Colony of
Australia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry.
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under.
my band and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should par-.
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to a mode of raising water from great depths
without the aid of pump rods, and consists in employing water as the means
of communicating power in lieu of pump rods for raising water, and in the
application of the following arrangement of the hydraulic ram for lifting water
from any depth, advantage being taken in this Invention of the principle of
balancing the larger column of water by the smaller one, which is used for
communicating the power.
In carrying out this Invention two hydraulic cylinders are employed, placed
by preference one above the other, the upper one being inverted, and both
cylinders permanently secured and connected together in any convenient
manner. In each cylinder works a large hollow plunger, the usual packing
being employed to keep then tight. These plungers are connected together
by rods or long bolts and consequently move simultaneously, the one entering
its cylinder whilst the other is leaving it, and vice versa. Into each plunger
is fitted a stationary hydraulic ram made water-tight by the usual packing;
and through the longitudinal axis of each ram a passage is made communi-
cating with and regulated by a four-way cock or other equivalent valvular
contrivance. A small pipe passing upwards to the surface communicates at
its lower end with one of the ways in the four-way cock, whilst its upper end
is connected with a hydraulic pump or other suitable or well-known con-
trivance for forcing water down the pipe. When the four-way cock is properly
adjusted water is forced down this pipe and through the upper fixed ram, so
as to enter the upper hollow plunger, causing such plunger to rise and enter
its cylinder, the water previously contained in such cylinder being forced out
through a side pipe into one of two branches of a vertical lift or discharging
pipe. Inside this branch of the vertical discharging pipe there are fitted two
lift valves of any convenient construction, both opening upwards, one being
situate above the orifice of the side pipe and the other below, and therefore
when the water is forced out of the upper cylinder it lifts the upper valve and
rises up the discharge pipe, to be delivered from the upper end thereof. In
the meantime the plunger of the lower cylinder has been receding, and the
space left in the cylinder is filled with water, which enters therein through a
side pipe and valves similar in all respects to those of the upper cylinder, but
communicating with a parallel branch of the main discharging or lift pipe,

page_text: this branch opening into the first branch again above and below the two sets
of lift valves. When the water is entering the lower cylinder the lower one
of the lower pair of lift valves opens and allows it to pass. The position of
the four-way cock or valve is now changed so as to bring the small ascending
pipe into communication with the lower fixed ram, and consequently the
pressure of the column of water therein will force down the lower plunger and
expel the water from the lower cylinder back again through. its side pipe into
the discharging pipe, and so on continuously. Whilst the upper plunger is
descending, the water, which was previously forced therein in order to raise it,
escapes by a special pipe and passage in the four-way cock or valve into the
upper cylinder, and is thence discharged with the contents of that cylinder at
the next stroke of the plunger. A precisely similar arrangement of escape
pipe and passage is applied to the lower plunger for the escape of the water
therefrom into the lower cylinder when the upper plunger is being forced
upwards or into its cylinder. The working of the four-way cock or valve is
automatic, and is accomplished by the aid of a double-acting clutch on the
axis of the plug of the four-way cock and a balance weighted lever attached
to the clutch, or by any other suitable contrivance. This clutch is turned
partially round at each stroke of the plungers by a chain, which is attached to
the periphery of the clutch, and has its two ends respectively secured to the
upper and lower plungers. At the termination of the stroke of the plungers
the chain will have raised the balance weight over the centre, and the weight
will consequently fall forwards by its own gravity, and through the double-
action clutch will partially turn or reverse the position of the plug of the
four-way cock.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Fig. 1 of the Drawings is an elevation of the apparatus (part of which is in
section, taken along the line 1, 2, in Fig. 4); Fig. 2 is a section of the same
on the line 3, 4; and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan along the line 5, 6, in Fig. 1.
A, A', (Figs. 1 and 2) are cylinders, one of which rests upon a prepared
foundation and is securely bolted to the same, the other is inverted and
secured in its position by the distance pieces B, B, and cotters C, C. Into
these cylinders the plungers D, D', are fitted, and are made tight from
leakage by the leathers E, E', (or a packing box and gland may be used if
preferred); these plungers are connected together by the bolts F, F. The
plungers are made hollow and are fitted to slide along the stationary bydraulic

page_text: rams G, G¹, and are made tight from leakage by leather or packing a, a¹
Through the centre of each hydraulic ram there is an aperture 6, 61, com-
municating with and regulated by the valve H in the centre; J is a tube
running up to the surface, and connected to a force pump at its upper end;
whilst its lower end communicates with the valve H; K, K¹, are tubes, also
communicating with the valve H and with the cylinders A, A¹; L is a double-
acting clutch, to which is attached the balance weight M; this balance weight
is worked by the chain N, which is attached to the clutch and the plungers;
O, O¹, are branch pipes, which communicate respectively with the lift pipes
R, R', shown detached in elevation at Fig. 4. These pipes 0,0¹, transmit
the action of the plungers to the valves P, P1, P2, P3, in the lift pipes R, R¹,
which pipes open into each other above and below the valves, as shown.
QQ, are doors for access to these valves.
The action of the apparatus is brought about in the following manner :-
Water from a hydraulic pump (or any other means of giving pressure) being
forced down the pipe J at a sufficient pressure forces up the plunger D, the
water which previously filled the cylinder A will be at the same time forced
through the pipe O, and thence through the valve P in the pipe R towards
the place of discharge, whilst the plungers being connected by the bolts F, F,
the lower plunger will be withdrawn; the result of this will be the valve P³
will rise and allow the vacant space caused by the withdrawal of the plunger D¹
to be filled with water from below. At the termination of the stroke of the
plungers, the chain N having raised the balance weight M over the centre,
the weight will fall forwards and reverse the valve H, which at once reverses
the action of the plungers; the communication with the pipe J will then be
opened to the lower ram G¹, and exercising its pressure will force down the
lower plunger D¹. The water in the lower cylinder will then be forced through
the pipe O¹ and the valve P* in the pipe R' towards the place of discharge,
whilst the water which was previously used for forcing up the upper plunger D
will escape through the pipe K into the upper cylinder A, and this will be
again repeated at the return of the stroke.
I do not confine myself to the precise form or details contained in this
arrangement, as the apparatus may be made to work in a vertical, horizontal,
or angular position, as may be required, and will be found particularly effective
in the draining of mines, the emptying of docks, and for such other works
where water is required to be raised: The materials of which the parts are
made may be varied, and the proportions of the rams to the plungers may be
increased or diminished to compass the work to be performed. The apparatus
may also be made either single or double acting, and be provided with one or

page_text: more cylinders. The valve H may be either a slide valve, circular valve, or
drop valve, and one or more of such valves may be used. The valve or
valves H may be worked either by tappets, springs, or chain and pulley, as
herein-before described and illustrated by the Drawings.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus
for raising water substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use to and in the raising of water of a column
of water as the means of communicating power in lieu of pump rods, substan-
tially in the manner herein-before described.
Third, the application and use to and in the lifting of water from any depth
of the peculiar arrangement of bydraulic ram herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.B.)