IMPROVEMENTS IN FORCING OR DISTRIBUTING LIQUIDS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Mitchell, of Dykehead, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FORCING OR DISTRIBUTING LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 11th July 1854, and dated the 10th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Mitchell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
February 1854.
I, JAMES MITCHELL, of Dyke Head, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN FORCING OR DISTRIBUTING LIQUIDS" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an economical system of forcing, conveying, or
distributing water, sewerage, liquid manure, or other liquids by means of
hydrostatic pressure. This hydrostatic pressure may be derived from various
sources; a pipe, for example, from an elevated reservoir may afford the
necessary force. Such pipe is made to open into the bottom of a closed
chamber or cylinder containing a loose piston or shield. A corresponding
discharge pipe opens out from the top or reverse end of the cylinder, and
passes to the region where the liquid is to be discharged. At this end
also the pipe or channel conveying the liquid to be forced is brought into
the cylinder, whilst a fourth pipe at the lower or primary pressure end

page_text: answers for the periodical discharges of the actuating liquid. All the pipes or
ducts are fitted with suitable valves. When the apparatus is to be put in
action, the sewerage or other liquid to be raised or forced is admitted to the
operating chamber at the end, above the piston or shield, so that the latter is
pressed to the bottom or one end. This influx pipe is then closed, and the
liquid pressure pipe is opened. The pressure thus obtained then forces up the
piston or shield, and drives the superincumbent liquid out of the cylinder by
its discharge pipe. When the piston or shield has arrived at the top of the
cylinder, the influx of pressing liquid from the head pressure pipe is stopped,
and the pressure liquid beneath the piston is allowed to escape by its own
discharge pipe in readiness for the succeeding operation. Various forms of
chambers or receivers may be used for this purpose. Bags with central
divisions, for example, might be adopted. Such apparatus is obviously suitable
for conveying liquid matters of all kinds, and various stages of elevation may
be reached by it by so contriving sets of the apparatus that one set might
bring the conveyed liquids within reach of the operation of another elevated
reservoir or head pressure. Several such operating chambers may be used to
work in concert together, so as to keep up the liquid distribution with con-
tinuous uniformity.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Mitchell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MITCHELL, of Dykehead, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Mitchell, Her special license that I, the said James Mitchell,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
James Mitchell, my executors, administrators, 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 FORCING

page_text: OR DISTRIBUTING LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Mitchell, by an instrument in writing under hand and seal,
should particularly 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Mitchell, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 :-
My said Invention relates to an economical system of forcing, conveying, or
distributing water, sewerage, liquid manure, or other liquid by means of hydro-
static pressure. This hydrostatic pressure may be derived from various sources;
a pipe, for example, from an elevated reservoir may afford the necessary force.
Such pipe is made to open into the bottom of a closed chamber or cylinder
containing a loose piston or shield. A corresponding discharge pipe opens out
from the top or reverse end of this cylinder, and passes to the region where
the liquid is to be discharged. At this end also the pipe or channel conveying
the liquid to be forced is brought into the cylinder, whilst a fourth pipe at the
lower or primary pressure end answers for the periodical discharges of the
actuating liquid. All the pipes or ducts are fitted with suitable valves. When
the apparatus is to be put in action, the sewerage or other liquid to be raised
or forced is admitted to the operating chamber at the end, above the piston
or shield, so that the latter is pressed to the bottom or one end. This influx
pipe is then closed, and the liquid pressure pipe is opened. The pressure thus
obtained then forces up the piston or shield, and drives the superincumbent
liquid out of the cylinder by the discharge pipe. When the piston or shield
has arrived at the top of the cylinder, the influx of pressing liquid from the
head pressure pipe is stopped, and the pressure liquid beneath the piston is
allowed to escape by its own discharge pipe in readiness for the succeeding
operation. Various forms of chambers or receivers may be used for this
purpose. Bags with central divisions, for example, might be adopted. Such
apparatus is obviously suitable for conveying liquid matters of all kinds, and
various stages of elevation may be reached by it by so contriving sets of the
apparatus that one set might bring the conveyed liquids within reach of the
operation of another elevated reservoir or head pressure. Several such
operating chambers may be used to work in concert together, so as to keep up
the liquid distribution with continuous uniformity.

page_text: And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I shall now
proceed to describe the several explanatory Figures on the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto attached. Figure 1 on the Sheet of Drawings is a vertical longitudinal
section of a cylinder, as constructed and arranged for forcing and distributing
liquids according to my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of four similar cylinders,
arranged in connection with each other; and Figures 3 and 4 are end eleva-
tions of two of the cylinders, looking on opposite ends; Figure 5 is a vertical
section; and Figure 6 is a plan of the arrangement of inclined planes which
I adopt for preventing the deposition of sediment in the pipes. The cylin-
⚫ders A may be either of wrought or cast iron, but I have represented them as
made of the latter material. Being of considerable size the cylinders are cast
in sections, and are bolted together by flanges B, which are extended down-
wards to form supports for the cylinders, or for bolting them to the floor. A
piston C is arranged to work inside each of the cylinders A, and this piston
consists of two discs of metal connected by a rim, so as to form a hollow drum,
which is made of such a capacity as partly to float in the liquid contained in
the cylinders. The piston is made to work tight, or nearly so, in the cylinders
by cup leathers D, and it is supported and guided by rails E fixed or cast
upon the inside of the cylinder, the piston carrying pulleys F which run upon
these rails. The circumference of the cylinders is indented, where necessary,
for the passage of the rails, and the leathers D are suitably shaped at these
points to lic upon the sides of the rails, and so prevent leakage or the inter-
communication of the liquids on opposite sides of the piston. With these
arrangements the piston will move along the cylinder in obedience to the fluid
pressure with the least possible friction, whilst little or no leakage past the
piston will take place. The pressure water from an elevated reservoir is con-
veyed to the four cylinders A by the main pipe G, and by a branch H to each
cylinder. Each pipe H is provided with a sluice or valve I for shutting off or
admitting the pressure water, and these valves communicate with their
respective cylinders, near the tops of the latter. The spent pressure water
passes off by the pipe J, which communicates with the cylinders at their lower
parts by a series of small branches K, provided with sluices or valves L for
regulating the egress. The liquid manure, sewerage, or other liquid to be
forced or distributed by the apparatus is conveyed from the tanks in which it
.ss collected by a pipe M running along the tops of the cylinders A at one end,
and it is admitted to the cylinders through suitable valves N, capable of being
opened or closed, as required. The liquid is conveyed away from the cylinders
by branch pipes O, which all communicate with the main discharge pipe P,
and which are each provided with a clack valve Q, to prevent the re-entrance

page_text: of the liquid into the cylinders. In working this apparatus the cylinders are
made to operate in pairs, or at different times, so that as the piston of one is
performing its discharging stroke, that of another is receding and receiving a
supply of liquid for a subsequent stroke. The action of the apparatus is as
follows: The pressure-supplying valve I of the cylinder being closed, whilst
the egress valve L at one end, and the entrance valve N for the liquid at the
other end, are open, the liquid flows into the cylinder, and the spent pressure
water of the previous stroke passes off by the valve L and pipe J, the piston C
receding towards that end of the cylinder. On the cylinder becoming full of
the liquid the valves L and N are closed, and the valve I is opened to admit
the pressure water, which entering the cylinder acts upon the piston C, and
pushing it forward forces the liquid off by the valve Q and branch pipe O to
the main discharge pipe P. On the contents of the cylinder being discharged,
the valves are reversed, and the operation is repeated. The valves may be
rendered self-acting by employing mechanism to open and close them by the
action of the piston as it reaches each end of its traverse. In some cases it
will be advisable to couple the pistons of two cylinders together by piston rods
and chains passing round pulleys or other suitable arrangement, in such a
manner that the forward movement of one piston, as produced by the head
pressure, will cause the retrogression of the other piston, so as to be in readiness
for a fresh stroke, when this is not effected with sufficient rapidity by the mere
ingress of the liquid and egress of the spent pressure water. When the liquid
is to be elevated to a considerable height, separate sets of apparatus, similar to
that which I have just described, are employed, so that the lower set raises the
liquid to within the range of a higher set, and this again raises it still higher.
And, in some cases, common centrifugal or other pumps may be employed in
combination with my apparatus, so that such pumps may act upon the liquid at
points where my apparatus is not applicable, so as to carry it through the first
or other portion of its course, whilst my apparatus conveys it through the
remainder. The contrivance I employ for preventing the deposition of
sediment in the pipes, and for causing the thorough mixing of the liquid
passing through them, consists of a series of inclined plates or bars R placed
in the pipes, so as to divert the current of liquid. Two or more sets of
these inclined plates or bars are used, the inclinations of each set being in
different directions, so as to act more efficiently on the passing liquid, and
cause it to be well mixed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to

page_text: the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my Invention; but 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 arrangement and construction of machinery, apparatus,
or means for forcing or distributing liquids, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of forcing or distributing liquids through pipes
or channels by means of the hydrostatic pressure of a fall of water or other
liquid acting upon the liquid to be forced in a closed chamber or vessel through
the intervention of a moveable piston, shield, or diaphragm, as herein-before
described.
Third, the system or mode of combining together two or more sets of hydro-
static forcing apparatus, or of combining hydrostatic forcing apparatus with
ordinary pumping machinery, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use, in pipes or channels for the conveyance of
liquids containing matters in suspension, of inclined bars or plates, for the
purpose of agitating and mixing the passing liquid, and preventing the
deposition of sediment, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Mitchell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
(“c་ཀ)
MITCHELL.
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