IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Humphrys, of Deptford, in the County of
Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS."
Sealed the 21st April 1863, and dated the 3rd November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Humphrys at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd November 1862.
I, EDWARD HUMPHRYS, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the manufacture of rotary or
centrifugal pumps. It has hitherto been the practice to cast the case of such
pumps, either in two pieces with the joint vertical to the axis of the wheel
spindle, or to cast the case in one piece. In the former mode of manufacture
the wheel cannot be introduced or removed without separating the vertical
joint, and in the latter, two man-holes with their doors have to be provided, the
one for the admission or removal of the wheel, and the other for the admission
of a cutter to face up that part of the case which forms the extremity of the
two suction pipes to enable the wheel to work smoothly therein, and of the nut
for securing the wheel on its spindle.
Now my improvements consist in casting the case in two pieces, the joint

page_text: being made in a line passing horizontally through the axis of the wheel spindle
and its stuffing box, and in casting the wheel and its spindle in one piece.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Humphrys in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HUMPHRYS, of Deptford, in the County of Kent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Humphrys, Her special licence that I, the said Edward
Humphrys, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
the said Edward Humphrys, my executors, administrators, and 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Humphrys, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 Edward Humphrys, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the manufacture of rotary or
centrifugal pumps. It has hitherto been the practice to cast the case of such
pumps, either in two pieces with the joint vertical to the axis of the wheel
spindle, or to cast the case in one piece. . In the former mode of manufacture
the wheel cannot be introduced or removed without separating the vertical

page_text: joint, and in the latter two man-holes with their doors have to be provided, the
one for the admission or removal of the wheel, and the other for the admission
of a cutter to face up that part of the case which forms the extremity of the
two suction pipes to enable the wheel to work smoothly therein, and of the nut
for securing the wheel on its spindle; these arrangements are therefore incon-
venient and disadvantageous. Heretofore also the wheel has been made
separate from its spindle, and has afterwards been keyed thereon; this con-
struction entails a good deal of labour and expense in fitting.
Now my improvements consist in casting the case in two pieces, the joint
being made in a line passing horizontally through the axis of the wheel spindle
and its stuffing box, and in casting the wheel and its spindle in one piece; in this
manner the use of covers is avoided, the fitting is simple and easily accom-"
plished, and in consequence of the line of the joint passing through the axis of
the wheel spindle, the wheel is readily introduced or removed when necessary,
the upper part of the case being unbolted and lifted for the purpose.
Figure 1 is a transverse section of a rotary or centrifugal pump constructed
according to my Invention; the wheel with its spindle is not shown in this
Figure; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the parts shown in Figure 1, and
Figure 3 is a plan of the lower portion of the case of the pump.
The case of the pump, as will be seen, is cast in two parts, which are fitted
together at the line X, X. The two surfaces to make the joint are planed or
faced truly, and for this purpose but one setting of each piece in the machine is
necessary; (one of these surfaces is tinted pink in Figure 3); this being done
the internal projection at A in each casting is chipped and filed accurately to a
half circle concentric with the general form of the casting. The two castings
are now bolted together so as to bring the two semicircles true the one with the
other, and the case is set in a lathe for boring the central hole to receive the
bushes B, B, and the gland C of the stuffing box. The boring is effected by
means of a self-acting boring bar, one end of which fits and runs truly in the
hole at A, and the other is bolted to the revolving face plate of the lathe. The
bushes B are conveniently made of brass and lined with lignum vitæ, and D, D,
are pipes to maintain a flow of water through the bearings. The portions of
the case at E, E, which form the extremities of the two suction pipes, and
between which the wheel fits accurately are faced by a cutter actuated by the
boring bar. The Figures 4 show a section, a side view, and an external view
of the wheel and its spindle; these parts are cast in one piece; the spindle is
turned where it enters the bearings, and the wheel is faced on the two sides,
where it works in contact with the case at E, E. F is a clutch at the end of

page_text: the spindle, by means of which it is driven; other convenient means of driving
may however be resorted to:
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Humphrys, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
TAIKY.
ED
ALLT
HU
תחת
HUMI HIVID.