Improvements in Apparatus for Raising Liquids by Means of Direct Air or Gas Pressure.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Dec., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Aug., 1899-Accepted, 7th Oct.,
1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE INGERSOLL SERGEANT DRILL COMPANY, a
Corporation organized under the Laws of the State of West Virginia, and
having its principal business office, at No. 26, Cortlandt Street, in the
Borough of Manhattan, in the City of New York, and State of New York,
United States of America.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Raising Liquids by Means of Direct
Air or Gas Pressure.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus such as are commonly known as compressed
air or gas pumps, for raising water or other liquid by the direct action upon
it of compressed air or gas having a pressure greater than that of the atmosphere.
The apparatus will be described as for raising water by the pressure of com-
pressed air.
Two chambers or compartments of one chamber are set up and secured water-
tight upon a hollow base which, together with the said chambers or compart-
ments hereinafter referred to as water chambers are intended to be submerged
in a well or body of water whence the water to be raised is to be taken. The
hollow base is freely open at the sides and is provided with a wire screen or
strainer and on one side of it a valve box which has no direct communication
with its interior. The said valve box is divided by a partition into two com-
partments one of which has an always open communication through an opening
with the one of the water chambers and the other has a similar communication
through a similar opening with the other water chamber. Between the hollow
base and each of the water chambers there are water inlet valves opening upwards
to said chambers. Each of the compartments of the valve box has in it an up-
wardly or outwardly opening delivery valve or both of these delivery valves
opening to the water delivery pipe or rising main.
A passage-box is arranged upon the water chambers or compartments and
divided by a partition into two compartments of which one is always in free
communication with one of the previously mentioned chambers or compart.
ments, and the other is always in free communication with the other previously
mentioned chamber or compartment, the said second compartments being practi-
cally parts of the first mentioned chambers respectively. To one side of the
said passage-box is secured a cylindrical valve chest containing the two-faced
inlet valve of the puppet class for the introduction to the chambers, of the com-
pressed air supplied by a pipe for the purpose of expelling the water from said
chambers, the said valves working between two seats provided in a cylindrical
brass lining with which said valve-chest is fitted, the inlet pipe communicating

page_text: with the valve-chest between said seats. To the other side of said passage-box
is secured a similar valve chest containing a two-headed outlet valve also of the
puppet class, for the eduction from, the chambers through the exhaust pipe of
the air which, has done its work therein, the two heads of the said valve. closing
respectively against the two seats provided in the cylindrical lining of the valve
chest, the exhaust pipe communicating with the said valve-chest betwen the
said chests.
The inlet valve chest is always in communication outside one of its seats
through a side port with one of the water chambers and also always in com-
munication outside of its other valve seat through another but similar port
with the other water chamber. The outlet valve chest is always in communica-
tion outside of one of its valve seats by a side port with one of the water chambers
and also always in communication outside of its other valve seat through another
but similar side port with the other water chamber.
The stems of the valves are each provided with two pistons one at each end
working air-tight in the portions of their respective valve-chests outside of the
valve seats, in which portions of both of said chests there are at one end
openings for communication with the atmosphere through a pipe and at the
other end openings for communication with the atmosphere through another pipe.
The communication between the openings in the two valve chests and the pipes
is. by means of cross passages, the two openings at each end of both chests
communicating through curved passages with the said cross passage which extends
through the upper parts of the valve chest and the passage-box the pipes being
connected with the said cross passage at an opening in. the top off the passage-
box.
The pipes are each fitted at its. outer end with an air escape valve, these
two valves being automatically normally closed by the pressure of air in the ends
of the valve chests but being each opened and permitted to close at proper times
by the action of a float in its respective water chamber. The connection between
these floats and their respective valves is as follows: The stem of the valve
protrudes (downwards) beyond the pipe and over a cam-toe on a shaft which
passes through the passage-box and is furnished therein with an arm to which
the float is attached by a rod. When the water in either chamber is above a
certain level the float therein brings its cam-toe to a position to allow its valve
to remain closed, but when the water in the chamber falls below that level,
the weight of the float causes the cam-toe to open the valve.
In the operation of the apparatus described, the water chambers are caused to
be alternately filled and discharged by the alternate shifting of the valves to
admit the compressed air to one of the said chambers and exhaust it from the
other, the shifting of said valves being effected by the opening of one or other
of the escape valves to the atmosphere and thus disturbing the equilibrium
of the pressure on the pistons. To explain this operation we will first suppose
the valves to have moved to the right so that the compressed air introduced by
the pipe is passing to the chamber and is driving out the water therefrom through
the exhaust pipe. The air which had previously done its work in the second
chamber will then be exhausting and the latter chamber be filling with water.
The weight of the float now holds the escape valve of the pipe open and the
buoyancy of the other float holds the cam-toe on its shaft out of the way of the
escape valve of the pipe so that the latter valve remains closed and the valves
are held to the right by the pressure on their pistons. As the first float rises it
will soon permit the escape valve of the pipe to close, but this will not disturb
the valves, the pressure from the pipe still holding them in the same position,
until the water in the first chamber falls so low, that the float losing its buoyant
effect descends by its weight and, by its action on the arm, opens the escape valve
of the pipe, when the outer faces of the pistons being relieved of pressure, the
valves are instantaneously moved to the left by the pressure on the outer faces
of the pistons of compressed air which may have escaped more or less past the

page_text: said pistons into the right hand ends of the valve boxes: The first chamber
now fills with water and the second chamber is discharged until the float again
descends far enough to open the escape valve of the pipe when the valves resume
their previous positions and the second chamber and the first is discharged.
These operations are repeated indefinitely so long as water remains in the well
or source and compressed air is supplied through the pipe.
In carrying out this invention I generally make the valves and their stems
and the bodies of their pistons of vulcanite, that material rendering them capable
of adapting themselves closely to their seats and, by reason of its lightness,
rendering them more sensitive to the action of the air by which their operation
is produced.
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant,
Improvements in Apparatus for Raising Liquids by Means of Direct
Air or Gas Pressure.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 relates to apparatus such as are commonly known as compressed
air or gas pumps, for raising water or other liquid by the direct action upon
it of compressed air or gas having a pressure greater than that of the atmosphere.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 represents a plan partly in section, of
an apparatus embodying the invention. Figure 2 an elevation of the same
also partly in section. Figure 3 a central vertical section of the valve-chest
containing the inlet valve for the compressed air or gas, Figure 4 a central
vertical section of the valve-chest containing the exhaust valve for the compressed
air or gas, Figure 5 a vertical sectional view of a supplemental valve by which
the action of both the inlet and exhaust valves are controlled; Figure 6 a
transverse sectional view of the valve-chests of the inlet and exhaust valves taken
on the line 6-6 of Figures 3 and 4, and of an intermediate passage-box,
showing the passages in said chests and box controlled by said supplemental-
valves.
The apparatus will be described as for raising water by the pressure of com-
pressed air.
A A¹ are two chambers or compartments of one chamber set up and secured
water-tight upon a hollow base B which, together with the said chambers or
compartments hereinafter referred to as water chambers, are intended to be
submerged in a well or body of water whence the water to be raised is to be
taken. The hollow base B is freely open at the sides but is represented as pro-
vided with a wire screen or strainer b, and has on one side of it a valve box C
which has no direct communication with its interior. The said valve box is
divided by a partition c, shown by dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, into two
compartments a a¹ one of which has an always open communication through an
opening d (see Figure 1) with the water chamber A and the other has a similar
communication through a similar opening (not shown) with the other water

page_text: chamber A. Between the hollow base B and each of the water chambers A A¹
are water inlet valves e e opening upwards to said chambers. Each of the
compartments a a¹ of the valve box C has in it an upwardly or outwardly.
opening delivery valve for f¹ (see Figure 1), both of these delivery valves
opening to the water delivery pipe or rising main E.
F F designates a passage-box arranged upon the water chambers or compart-
ments A A¹ and divided by a partition 8 (Figure 1) into two compartments F
and F, of which F is always in free communication with the chamber or
compartment A, and F¹ is always in free communication with the chamber or
compartment A¹, the said compartments being practically parts of the
chambers A A¹ respectively. To one side of the said passage-box F F¹ is secured
a cylindrical valve-chest Ġ containing the two-faces inlet valve g of the puppet
class for the introduction to the chambers A A¹, of the compressed air supplied
by the pipe h for the purpose of expelling the water from said chambers the
said valve working between two seats i ¹ provided in a cylindrical brass lining j
with which said valve-chest is fitted, and the inlet pipe h communicating with
the valve-chest between said seats. To the other side of said passage-box F F
is secured a similar valve chest H containing the two-headed, outlet valvek k¹
also of the puppet class, for the eduction from the chambers A A' through the
exhaust pipe, of the air which has done its work therein, the two heads of
the said valve closing respectively against the two seats m m³ provided in a
cylindrical lining n* of the valve-chest, and the exhaust pipe 7 communicating
with the said valve-chest between the said seats. The valve-chest G is always in
communication outside of the valve seat i, with the compartment F of the
passage-box through a side port n and in communication outside of the valve
seat i, with the compartment F of the passage-box through a side port n and
in communication outside of the valve seat with the compartment F¹ of said
box through a similar port n', the said ports being shown in Figure 1 and
in dotted outline in Figure 3. The valve-chest H is always in communication
outside of its valve seat m with the compartment F of the passage-box, and
consequently with the water chamber A, by a side port q, and in communication
outside of the valve seat m¹ with the compartment F of said box and with
the water chamber A', through a similar port 7, the said ports being shown in
Figures 1 and 4.
The stems of the valves g and are each provided with two pistons o o¹
one at each end working air-tight in the portions of their respective valve-chests G
and H outside of the valve seats, in which portions of both of said chests there
are at one end openings rr for communication with the atmosphere through a
pipes and at the other end openings for communication with the atmosphere
through a pipe s¹. The communication between the openings and ¹ in
the two valve chests and the pipes and s is illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 6,
the two openings at each end of both chests communicating through curved
passages (see Figures 3 and 4) with one common straight cross passage u
(see Figure 6) which extends through the upper parts of the valve chests and
the passage-box F F¹, as shown in Figure 6, and the pipe s or s¹ being con-
nected with the said cross passage at an opening in the top of the passage-box.
The pipes s s¹ are each fitted at its outer end with an air escape valve v, such
for example as is shown in Figure 5, these two valves being automatically
normally closed by the pressure of air in the ends of the valve chests but being
each opened and permitted to close at proper times by the action of a float I or I
in its respective water chamber A or A¹. The connection between these floats and
their respective valves is illustrated in Figures 2 and 5. The stem of the valve
protrudes downwards beyond the pipe and over a cam-toe w on a shaft which
passes through the passage-box and is furnished therein with an arm y to which
the float is attached by a rod 2. When the water in either chamber A or A¹
is above a certain level the float therein brings its cam-toe to a position to allow
its valve y to remain closed, but when the water in the chamber falls below that

page_text: level, the weight of the float causes the cam-toe to open the valve as shown in
Figure 5.
In the operation of the apparatus described, the water chambers are caused to
be alternately filled and discharged by the alternate shifting of the valves g
and to admit the compressed air to one of the said chambers and exhaust
it from the other, the shifting of said valves being effected by the opening of
one or other of the escape valves to the atmosphere and thus disturbing the
equilibrium of the pressure on the pistons o o. To explain this operation we
will first suppose the valves g and kk to have moved to the right as shown in
Figures 1, 3, 4, so that the compressed air introduced by the pipe h is passing
to the chamber A and is driving out the water therefrom through the pipe E,
the level of the water in A being about the line 10 of Figure 2. The air which
had previously done its work in the chamber A' will then be exhausting to the
pipe and the latter chamber be filling with water, which may be supposed to be
now at the level of the line 11 in Figure 2. The weight of the float 1 now holds
the escape valve of the pipe s open and the buoyancy of the float I holds
the cam-toe on its shaft out of the way of the escape valve of the pipe s so
that the latter valve remains closed and the valves g and k kare held to the
right by the pressure on their pistons o o. As the float I' rises it will soon
permit the escape valve v of the pipe s¹ to close, but this will not disturb the
valves g and kk, the pressure from the pipe h still holding them in the same
position, until the water in the chamber A falls so low, say to about the line 12
in Figure 2, that the float I losing its buoyant effect descends by its weight
and, by its action on the arm y, opens the escape valve of the pipe s, when the
outer faces of the pistons o 0 being relieved of pressure, the valves g and kk
are instantaneously moved to the left by the pressure on the outer faces of the
pistons oo of compressed air which may have escaped more or less past the
The chamber A now
said pistons into the right hand ends of the valve boxes.
fills with water and the chamber A¹ is discharged until the float I again
descends far enough to open the escape valve v of the pipe s¹ when the valves g
and resume the positions shown in Figures 1, 3 and 4, and A' again fills
and is discharged. These operations are repeated indefinitely so long as water
remains in the well or source and compressed air is supplied through the
pipe h.
In carrying out this invention I generally make the valves 9 and k¹ and
their stems and the bodies of their pistons o o¹ of vulcanite, that material
rendering them capable of adapting themselves closely to their seats and, by
reason of its lightness, rendering them more sensitive to the action of the air by
which their operation is produced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. In a compressed air or gas pump, the combination of a water chamber
provided with valves for the entrance and discharge of water, two valves and
separate valve chests therefor, one of the said valves being an induction valve for
the admission of compressed air or gas to said chamber and the other an eduction
valve for the exhaust of the air or gas from said chamber, pistons attached to
said valves within their chests, air escape valves at opposite ends of said valve
chests and common to both of them for opening and closing communication with
the atmosphere, and floats in the water chamber for controlling the operation of
said escape valves and thereby producing the operation of said induction and
eduction valves, substantially as herein described.
2. In a compressed air or gas pump, the combination of two water chambers
provided with valves for the entrance and discharge of water, an air induction
valve and an air exhaust valve both common to both chambers and a separate
chest for each valve, two pistons for each valve working in their respective chests

page_text: one on each side of the valve, an air inlet to the induction valve chest between its
pistons, an air outlet from the exhaust valve chest between its pistons, air escape
valves at the ends of the valve chests outside of the pistons, and floats, one in
cach of the water chambers, for controlling the operation of the said escape
valves, substantially as herein described.
3. In a compressed air or gas pump, the combination with the water chamber,
of a passage-box having two compartments which are separately in free com-
munication with the said chamber, valve chests one on each side of said passage-
box each having communication with said box, one of the said chests containing
a valve for the induction of compressed air through said passage-box to the water
chamber and the other one containing a valve for the eduction of air from said
chamber, pistons connected with said valves on opposite sides of each and working
in said valve chests, and an air escape pipe common to the two valve chests and com-
municating with both through a cross passage traversing the said passage-box,
substantially as herein described.
Dated this 22nd day of August 1899.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.