IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY" PUMPING
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gill, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY"
PUMPING
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gill at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th October 1881.
JOHN GILL, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPING MACHINERY."
This Invention relates to pumping machinery working with vertically moving rods
or their equivalents, and it has principally for its objects to economise power and
obtain increased speed by obviating the loss of momentum ordinarily accompanying
reciprocating movements of heavy parts and by avoiding the concussive strains
ordinarily caused by sudden changes of motion.
The Invention is advantageously applicable wherever vertical pump rods of
considerable length or weight have to be employed, as for example in coal pits;
and in practically carrying it out the pumps are by preference arranged in pairs
and are single acting, and the pumping or forcing stroke of each pump is effected
by an upward movement of its rod, so that the rods may be subjected to tension
only. For this purpose the pumps may be inverted with their plungers working
through stuffing boxes at their bottom ends; or they may be placed horizontally
or in any convenient position and the rods may be connected to their plungers in
the ordinary way or through levers or pulleys. When the rods are thus subjected
to tension only, wire or other ropes or chains may be substituted for them.
The plungers of each pair of pumps always move in opposite directions, one
performing its forcing stroke when the other is performing its return stroke; and
the rods are connected to one or more drums or pulleys constructed and arranged
so that the momentum developed by one rod or set of rods or its equivalent in
descending is utilised in assisting the ascent of the other rod or equivalent. In
one modification the two rods of a pair of pumps are connected to the opposite
halves or sides of a single drum or pulley which is made with journals arranged
to roll on horizontal bearing surfaces. The periphery of the pulley is in a form

page_text: each half of which is the involute of the circle of the journals, the two halves being
drawn in opposite directions; and whilst the pulley moves with its journals rolling
on the horizontal bearing surfaces, the opposite parts of the periphery always pass
through the same points on a line coincident with the bearing surface. The rods
or their equivalents are attached to the pulley by belts, ropes, chains, or other
convenient means, and always move vertically, the form of the pulley being such
as to cause no lateral deviation; but as the journals of the pulley move backwards
and forwards along the horizontal bearing surfaces the leverages of the two sides
of the pulley are continually and gradually changing, and it is by this change of
leverage that the advantages aimed at are principally obtained. On the descending
side the leverage decreases, and on the ascending side it increases, so that the
momentum due to the descent of the rod or equivalent and parts attached thereto
on one side is communicated to and absorbed by the ascending parts on the other
side to be again given out when they in turn descend. At the turn of the stroke
the leverage is such that the ascended parts considerably overbalance the descended
parts which greatly favors the commencement of the next stroke. Precisely the
same action takes place alternately on each side or with each rod or set of rods
or equivalents; and the result is that little or none of the motive power is absorbed
in moving the parts but is almost wholly utilised in raising the water.
Instead of a single pulley or drum there may be two or more separate pulleys or
half pulleys fixed on the same shaft or on separate shafts connected together; and
when separate pulleys are used, or when in a single pulley the parts of the
involute-shaped periphery are not in the same plane, larger portions of the involute
curves may be used than those corresponding to half a turn of the pulley.
The pulley or drum or the combination of pulleys or drums is made to oscillate
by means of a crank pin or lever connected by a rod to a steam engine or other
motor or in any other convenient way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Gill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
April 1882.
JOHN GILL, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPING MACHINERY."
My said Invention relates to pumping machinery working with vertically
moving rods or their equivalents, and it has principally for its objects to economise
power and obtain increased speed by obviating the loss of momentum ordinarily
accompanying reciprocating movements of heavy parts, and by avoiding the
concussive strains ordinarily caused by sudden changes of motion.
My Invention is advantageously applicable wherever vertical pump rods of
considerable length or weight have to be employed, as, for example, in coal pits.
and in practically carrying it out the pumps are by preference arranged in pairs,
and are single acting. The pumps may be placed vertically, horizontally, or in
any convenient position, and the rods may be connected to the plungers in the
ordinary way, or through levers or pulleys. In some cases the pumps may be
inverted or otherwise arranged, so that the rods may be subjected to tension only,
and wire or other ropes or chains may be substituted for them. The plungers of
the two pumps of a pair always move in opposite directions, one performing its
forcing stroke when the other is performing its return stroke, and the rods are
connected to one or more drums or pulleys constructed and arranged so that the
momemtum developed by one rod or set of rods or its equivalent in descending is
utilised in assisting the ascent of the other rod or equivalent. The rods with the
parts moving with each are by preference made, as nearly as conveniently
possible, of the same weight, so as to act equally on the pulley or pulleys.
In one modification the two rods of a pair of pumps are connected to the opposite
halves or sides of a single drum or pulley, which is made with journals arranged to
roll on horizontal bearing surfaces. The periphery of the pulley is in a form, each
half of which is the involute of the circle of the journals, the two halfs being
drawn in opposite directions, and whilst the pulley moves with its journals rolling
on the horizontal bearing surfaces the opposite parts of the periphery always pass
through the same points on a line coincident with the bearing surface. The rods
or their equivalents are attached to the pulley by belts, ropes, chains, or other
convenient means, and always move vertically, the form of the pulley being such
as to cause no lateral deviation; but as the journals of the pulley roll along the
horizontal bearing surfaces the leverages of the two sides of the pulley are con-
tinually and gradually changing, and it is by this change of leverage that the
advantages aimed at are principally obtained. On the descending side the leverage
decreases, and on the ascending side it increases, so that the momentum due to the
descent of the rod or equivalent and parts attached thereto on one side is commu-
nicated to and absorbed by the ascending parts on the other side, to be again given
out when they in turn descend. At the turn of the stroke the leverage is such
that the ascended parts considerably overbalance the descended parts, which greatly
favors the commencing of the next stroke. Precisely the same action takes place
alternately on each side, or with each rod or set of rods or equivalents, and the
result is that little or none of the motive power is absorbed in overcoming the
inertia of the moving parts, but excepting friction is almost wholly utilised in
raising the water.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, I hereunto append a Sheet of explanatory Drawings
to be hereinafter referred to, and representing various modifications of my improved

page_text: apparatus, the same reference numerals being used in these Drawings to mark the
same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is a side elevation of a modi-
fication of my apparatus, in which a single pulley 7 is employed in connection with
two oppositely moving pump rods 8, 9, the pulley and the rods being shown in
their middle positions. The pulley 7 is formed with journals 10 on each side of it
(only one journal being seen in the Figure), and each journal 10 rests on a
horizontal plate 11 fixed on a beam or other suitable support, there being teeth on
the journal 10 and on the bearing plate 11 for the purpose of maintaining the
correct position of the journal on the plate. Each half of the periphery of the
pulley 7 is in shape the involute of the circle of the journals 10, and the pump
rods 8, 9, are connected to the pulley by chains 12, which consist by preference of
plate links jointed to each other by means of transverse pins. The rods 8, 9, have
upper parts 13, 14, fixed to them, and from the tops of these there are chains 15
passing to the under parts of the pulley 7, the effect of the arrangement being such
that both upward and downward strains are transmitted between the pulley 7 and
the rods 8, 9. The surface at the periphery of the pulley 7 is made broad enough
to receive both sets of chains 12, 15, which may be either side by side, or the
chains 12 may be in two lengths, with the chains 15 passing between them. The
chains 12, 15, are by preference fixed to the pulley 7 at the parts where each
involute curve terminates.
The power for working the pumps is communicated to the pulley 7 from a
steam engine cylinder and piston, which is not shown in the Drawing, but which
may be conveniently placed horizontally, the piston rod being connected to the
pulley 7, either by a pair of connecting rods jointed to cranks or levers on the
pulley, or, as I prefer, by means of a pair of rack bars 16, one on each side of the
pulley, and gearing with pinion teeth 17, on the journals 10.
When the involute-shaped part of the pulley 7, for each rod 8, 9, extends only
half round the pulley, the two parts may be formed directly opposite to each other
on the same pulley, as shown in Figure 1; but if the involute-shaped parts are formed
a little to one side of each other, either on one pulley casting or on two castings fixed
together, or upon one shaft having the same journals 10, those parts may extend
more than half round, as shown in Figure 2.
Instead of a single pulley or drum 7, there may be two separate pulleys or half
pulleys 18, 19, as shown in Figure 3, these half pulleys being on separate journals 10,
and being placed with their involute-shaped peripheries facing each other. This
arrangement allows of the pump rods 8, 9, being placed closer together in the
space between the two half pulleys 18, 19. The two half pulleys 18, 19, are made
with similar journals 10, rolling each on a fixed horizontal plate 11, and they are
made to act in concert by being connected together by parallel rods 20, 21, just as
if they were the opposite halves of one and the same pulley, and so that the
leverages of the pump rods 8, 9, gradually vary in opposite and alternating
directions, as with the single pulley shown in Figure 1. A connecting rod 22 is
shown as connected to one 18 of the half pulleys for the communication of the
motive power from a steam engine, and the power is communicated between the
half pulleys by the connecting rods 20, 21. Or the half pulleys may be driven by
means of rack bars, as in the modification shown in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is an elevation of a modification in which a single pulley 7 (or a pair
fixed together and acting as one, being on the same shaft or journals) is provided
with journals 10, which do not roll on horizontal plates 11, but which obtain an
equivalent movement by being carried in bearing blocks 23, fitted to slide
horizontally on bearing plates 24. The journals 10 can consequently be of a size
different from that of the circle to which the involute corresponds, which will be
an advantage in many cases, particularly when the said circle is comparatively
small. This Figure 4 also illustrates the possibility of obtaining different extents
of variation of the leverages, relatively to the lengths of stroke, by employing

page_text: involutes derived from smaller or larger circles. The involute-shaped parts of the
pulley or double pulley 7, in Figure 4, correspond to relatively smaller circles than
the corresponding parts in Figure 1, and there is in consequence a smaller change
in the leverage for a given length of stroke.
The obtainment of a variation of leverage with reciprocating pump rods by
means of a horizontally moving fulcrum which forms an essential feature of my
Invention may be secured with a somewhat simplified construction of certain parts,
which although perhaps not in all respects so perfect or satisfactory as the involute-
shaped pulleys herein before described has the advantage of dispensing with the
chains (12, 15). One modification of such simplified parts is shown in the diagram
Figure 5, and in this modification a pair of pulleys on rollers 25 corresponding to
the rolling journals (10) of the other modifications, and supported on parallel
horizontal surfaces or plates 11 on which they roll, being kept correctly in position
by teeth, is formed or fitted with two arms 26, 27, instead of the involute-shaped
parts of the pulleys (7). These arms 26, 27, are fixed between the two rollers 25,
and are relatively placed so that when one is horizontal the other is directed
downwards, as shown. The horizontal position or a very little above it is the
highest position which each arm in turn assumes, and the leverage on the rollers 25
is then greatest, being less for each arm as it descends. The arms 26, 27, may
have jointed to their ends rods which are connected directly to the pump rods 8, 9,
but in Figure 5 the arms 26, 27, are shown as connected by links 28, 29, to levers
30, 31, centered at their outer ends in fixed bearings, and having the pump rods 8, 9,
connected to their inner ends. This arrangement with the levers 30, 31, is suitable
for pump rods which are near each other, and it can be adopted with pulleys (7)
like those shown in Figures 1, 2, and 4. The pair of rollers 25 may be driven by
means of a connecting rod 22, as indicated, or by means of a rack bar (16). The
positions of the arms 26, 27, relatively to each other may be varied in different
cases, but I prefer in all cases to have the highest and lowest positions of the end
of each arm in the same vertical line or nearly so, and to this end when the angle
between the arms has been fixed upon the rollers 25 must be proportioned, so that
in rolling through an angle equal to the difference between that angle and two
right angles, the rectilinear length rolled over will be equal to the versed-sine of
the angle rolled through, measured for a radius equal to the length of the arm from
the centre of the roller.
Figure 6 is a diagram of a modification which is similar to that shown in
Figure 5, but having two connected pair of rollers 25 instead of one, the arms
26, 27, projecting from the sides of the pairs of rollers which face each other.
These arms 26, 27, might be connected by links to the pump rods, but are shown
as connected to those rods through intervening levers 32, 33, and parallel-motion
links 34 by which the upper ends of the pump rods 8, 9, are made to move in
vertical lines. The parallel-motion mechanism shown or any other suitable
mechanism for the same purpose may be used in either of the modifications shown
in Figures 5 and 6. In Figures 5 and 6 the rollers 25 are represented as complete
circles, but in practice they may consist of semicircular or other portions.
The application of my method of varying the leverages of the connections
between reciprocating pump rods in order to utilize the momentum by means of a
horizontally shifting fulcrum is not limited to the precise forms of parts shown on
the accompanying Drawings and hereinbefore described. The bearing surfaces or
plates 11 may be curved instead of straight, and the rolling surfaces of the
journals 10 or rollers 25 may be made with elliptical or other curvatures instead
of being circular, whilst the curvatures of the pulleys 7, such as are shown in
Figures 1 to 4, may be modified to suit the particular form of journal 10 and
bearing surface 11 adopted in each case.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise details
herein described or delineated, but that what I believe to be novel and original

page_text: and claim as the Invention secured to me by and in terms of the hereinbefore in
part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The combination with alternately acting and vertically reciprocating pump
rods or their equivalents, of pulleys having involute-shaped or similar peripheries,
and journals or centres which roll or otherwise move horizontally, substantially as
and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
2. The carrying of the pulley or pulleys on sliding blocks, substantially as
hereinbefore described, with reference to Figure 4 of the accompanying Drawings.
3. The use of a horizontally moving fulcrum, substantially in the manner and
for the purposes hereinbefore described.
4. The modifications of parts herein before described with reference to Figures 5
and 6 of the accompanying Drawings, in which a horizontally moving fulcrum is
combined with arms to which the pump rods are connected.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gill, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOHN GILL (LS)