IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS, AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PUMPS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, of Essex Street
Wharves, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS, AND
IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER PUMPS."
Sealed the 22nd August 1862, and dated the 29th April 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Eglinton Anderson
Gwynne, at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th April 1862.
I, JAMES EGLINTON ANDERSON GWYNNE, of Essex Street Wharves, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS,
AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO OTHER PUMPS," to be as follows:-
My improvements relate to the construction of centrifugal pumps, some
parts of which are applicable to other pumps.
1st, in the construction of the discs or revolving wheels of centrifugal
pumps by curving the arms or impelling blades forward at the centre of the
wheel where they meet the water tapering towards the shaft in the form of
a screw, and inclined backwards when they approach the periphery or cir-
cumference or curved from the direction of rotation. Again, in sloping or

page_text: inclining the blades at a tangent to the central boss and curving them off at
or towards the circumference. These forms are best adapted for comparatively
low lifts. For high lifts, or great pressures, I make the blades of a curved
form, but curved throughout their entire length, sharper near the circum-
ference, and the curve turned in the opposite direction from those previously
described, in other words curved towards the direction of rotation.
2nd, the cases of the pumps I construct so as to give to the waterways a
gradually increasing area from the stop or division plate which I insert to
prevent any rotation of the water in the pump case. This stop I form of a
curved shape so as to give the entrance to the discharge pipe a bell-mouthed
form. On the revolving shaft on which the disc or wheel is keyed I fix
adjustable collars, rings, washers, or other contrivances for balancing and
compensating the wear in the disc or in the case of the pump. In the
arrangement of the cases of the pumps I so construct them that the discharge
pipe may force its contents into a pipe or passage of larger area. If the
water at a high velocity from the pump is driven into the larger pipe (also
kept filled with water) a comparatively large body of water may be raised to
a low level simply by the velocity communicated to the water in the larger
pipe by this arrangement small pumps may be made to raise large bodies of
water. I arrange for the lubrication of all the bearings by a small supply
drawn from the fluid the pump is acting on, & which may be passed through
a filtering medium if necessary before going to the bearings. The fluid after
lubricating may be carried back to the source of supply by small pipes or
channels so that no loss can arise. I also construct the pumps for working
under the fluid to be raised & thus doing away with the use of valves. I
arrange them so that they may be fixed on any ordinary foundation under the
water level, the discharge pipe being carried to the required elevation & the
driving shaft rising vertically & driven by bevil gearing or direct or by belt
from the motive power. I also arrange them so that the driving shaft passes
through the centre of discharge pipe & also with only one-sided suction or
supply entrance, & so that they may be suspended from above & driven either
by an engine direct on to the shaft or as may otherwise be found convenient.
3rd, I construct the valves of pumps so that they can be casily removed,
this I do by fixing my flaps or valves in a conical or wedge-shaped plug or
framework, containing the seating for the valves of the required dimensions.
This plug or framework fits into a cavity of corresponding dimensions in the
pipes or body of the pump, & when properly fitted can with the valve or
valves it contains be immediately withdrawn, the valve or valves examined,
repaired, or cleaned & returned to its seat or situation again in a very short

page_text: time. The plug or conical seat can be secured in its place by a screw and
fastening as required.
My improvements in the application of centrifugal pumps consist, 1st, in
the arranging them on board ship, so as by the reaction of the water dis-
charged to cause the ship or floating body to turn in any required direction;
this is effected by opening certain waterways corresponding with the direction
in which the vessel is required to move; 2nd, in indicating the revolutions of
engines, or the speed of locomotives or steam ships by the velocity of a sniall
centrifugal pump driven from the crank shaft or other convenient part of the
engine, which pump acts on an indicator constructed on the principle of a
steam gauge, but graduated to the required work. The pressure com-
municated by the centrifugal pump to the gauge is as its speed, & this can
be calculated so as to shew the miles a locomotive travels per hour, or the
number of revolutions of an engine or other piece of mechanism.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 28th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM. THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EGLINTON ANDERSON GWYNNE, of Essex Street Wharves, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,,
the said James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, Her special licence, that I, the
said James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, 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, aud vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS, AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PUMPS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing, under my or their, or one of

page_text: 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 James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne, 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My present Invention relates chiefly to improvements in the construction
and arrangement of centrifugal pumps, and in their application to new and
useful purposes, as briefly referred to in my Provisional Specification, and will
be more clearly understood from the following description and the two Sheets
of Drawings hereunto annexed.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, on Sheet I. of my Drawings, represent improve-
ments in the construction of the discs or revolving wheels of centrifugal pumps.
In Fig. 1 the arms or impelling blades are curved forward at the centre of the
wheel A, where they meet the entering water tapering towards the shaft B in
the form of a screw and inclined backwards, where they approach the periphery
or circumference, as at C, i.e. curved from the direction of rotation; Fig. 2 is a
section of disc Fig. 1. In Fig. 3 the arms or impelling blades are sloped or
inclined at a tangent to the central boss D, and are curved off at or near the
circumference, as at C; Fig. 4 is a section of disc, Fig. 3. These two im-
proved discs are best adapted for raising or forcing fluids to comparatively
low lifts. For high lifts or great pressures I make the blades or arnis either
straight or slightly curved throughout their entire length, and of a sharper
curve at their extremities as they approach both to the centre and the circum-
ference, see Fig. 5, A, A, and C, C; but the curves in this instance are turned
in the opposite direction to those previously described (Figs. 1 and 3), in other
words curved towards the direction of rotation. The arrows indicate the
direction in which the discs should revolve. The bosses or centres of these
improved dises are strengthened by increasing their diameters at the middle,
as shewn in the sections, Figs. 2, 4, and 6, and also by carrying the blades
downwards from the direction in which they revolve, this does not in the
slightest degree interfere with the free entrance of the water, and at the same
time gives great increased strength to the disc. The cases or receivers of the
pumps I construct so as to give to the waterways a gradually increasing area
(see Figs. 7 and 8, Sheet 1) from the top or division plate E, which is
inserted to prevent any rotation of the fluid in the pump case; this stop I
construct of a curved shape, so as to give the entrance of the discharge pipe

page_text: a bell-mouthed form; I cut a passage at F for the escape into the discharge
pipe G of any air or gas that may gather in the upper portion of the pump
case, where the sides of the case meet inside the section pipe; I construct
them with a sharp or knife edge A, Fig. 8, so as to offer no resistance to the
entering water or fluid. The suction and discharge pipes I arrange in various
ways, as represented in Figs. 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, and 20. I also adapt the
pumps to be worked by one or more pulleys, as shewn by Figs. 13 and 15.
On the revolving shaft on which the disc is keyed I fix adjustable collars,
rings, washers, or other contrivances for balancing and compensating the wear
in the disc or case of pump I, I, Fig. 8, or more plainly shown on a larger
scale, I, I, Fig. 12.
Fig. 13 represents my improvements in lubricating the bearings of centri-
fugal or other like pumps, and this I effect by allowing a small quantity of the
fluid the pump is raising, and which can be graduated by a cock K to drop on
the bearings, and gland L is a filter through which the fluid can be first
passed, if desired, before going to the bearings. The tubes N and P convey.
the waste fluid to its original source, aud no loss or inconvenience can arise.
Figs. 17, 18, and 19 represent other modifications of my improvements in
centrifugal pumps, and adapted for working under the fluid to be raised, thus
doing away with valves, besides offering other advantages for many situations.
Fig. 17 shows the pump body X fixed to any ordinary foundation under the
water level; the discharge pipe R, R, is carried to the required elevation, and
the driving shaft S, S, rises vertically, and may be driven by bevil gearing, as
shown, or direct from an engine, or by belt from the motive power.
Fig. 18 represents a modification of the same arrangement with the discharge
pipe rising vertically, and the shaft S passing through and supported in this
pipe; the top suction entrance Z may be carried down, as per dotted lines,
which will enable the pump to discharge all the water to a level with the
bottom of case. The pump is arranged in Fig. 19, so that it can be suspended
if desired from above high water line, and it may be driven either by an engine
Tattached direct to the shaft S, as sketched, or as may otherwise be
found most convenient. In this arrangement I show a screw E, E, attached
to, the driving shaft S, having a diameter nearly equal to that of the pipe; this
screw also acts on or elevates the water, and by its use a less speed of the main
shaft is required, or the same speed will raise to a greater height. The screw
can be applied to the pumps, Figs. 17 and 18 also. In Figs. 17 and 18 the
disc receives its water or other fluid on both sides, but in Fig. 19 it takes it
on one side only.
Fig. 20 represents one of my improved pumps mounted on wheels and

page_text: rendered portable for works of drainage, irrigation, &c. The pump case is
widened at the base, so as to avoid a bed plate; the body is kept low, the
suction pipe rendered convenient to get at, and the details so carried out as
to ensure lightness, strength, and durability.
Fig. 16 represents one of my improved applications of the centrifugal pump.
A, A, is a syphon of the ordinary construction, but having a flap valve B
opening upwards attached to the inner end, (this valve will prevent the water
flowing back again) and C a valve opening outwards, and in the Drawing
shewn closed by the chain D; F is one of my improved centrifugal pumps,
shown attached to the syphon with a separate suction pipe and valve dipping
into the water, and its discharge pipe secured to and emptying into the
syphon A; G is a portable engine for giving motion by a belt to the pump.
To start the syphon the centrifugal pump is made to revolve in the direction
of the arrow, the air cock E is opened, and the syphon getting filled with
water all the air is quickly disloged. The air valve E is then closed, and if
the chain D is unfastened, the valve C will open, and the syphon will dis-
charge water in the usual way and at the ordinary velocity, and if the pump
F is kept on working, an increased discharge of water will be obtained through
the syphon, the increase being in proportion to the velocity of the water dis-
charged by the pump F, this increased quantity is in addition to the actual
water forced into the sypton by the pump. By this arrangement the syphon
can be made to act when the water on each side of the bank is at the same
level. One pump may be made to charge or fill a number of syphons if
placed near each other, and the pump itself can be driven by hand, horse,
wind, or other power, or by a turbine or other water wheel worked by the
discharge water from one of the syphons where the difference in the levels of
water warrent such an application.
Fig. 21 represents another modification of this application; F is a centri-
fugal pump with an independent suction pipe and valve having its discharge or
forcing pipe D, opening into a pipe A of much larger area, if the water
at a high velocity from the pump F is discharged into the larger pipe A, a
comparatively large body of water or other fluid may be raised to a low level
simply by the velocity communicated to the water in the large pipe A, the
valve B prevents any water returning, and pumps of small capacity may thus
be employed to raise large bodies of water or other fluids, for all the force,
momentum, or velocity left in the water coming from the pump is turned to
useful account; this arrangement is particularly applicable to cases where
water mixed with sand, stones, mud, sewage, or other substances have to be
passed or raised comparatively clean, or partially filtered water may be driven

page_text: through the small pump F, and the large pipe A will carry off matter which
could not possibly be passed through any pump without injury, if at all. The
same principle may be applied in a variety of ways, also for increasing the
velocity of fluids or gasses through pipes, orifices, &c., but from what I have
described my meaning can be understood.
Fig. 11 represents my improved centrifugal pump A as applied on board a
ship, floating dry dock, or other floating body, so that by the re-action of the
water discharged from the orifices when the pump is in action, the ship or
floating body is caused to turn round in any required direction, this is effected
by opening certain waterways corresponding with the direction in which the
vessel or floating body is required to move. B, B, are a pair of engines
attached direct to the shaft of pump A, the pipes O, O, and P, P,
communicate with the discharge or forcing pipe of pump, and are opened
or shut with valves as desired. The suction pipe, which may be placed
in any way most convenient, communicates with the water in which the
vessel floats. If the pump is put in motion, and the orifices D, D,
are opened, the ship or floating body will be turned round in the
direction of the arrow
No. 1, and if these are closed and the
orifices C, C, are opened, the floating body will be turned in the direction
of the arrow
No. 2. Also, if any pair of the orifices C and D
are opened the ship will be propelled back or forward, depending on which
end of the vessel the openings are made, for instance, if the orifices at the
stern are opened the vessel will go forward, and if at the bow the vessel will
be sent backwards; and to effectually enable the ship to be guided or
manoeuvred without a helm, it is only necessary to open one or other of the
orifices at the stern to bring the ship's head round in any way desired, the
action will be more rapid still if the opposite orifice at the bow is also opened.
For ships of war when the helm is liable to be shot away, or when it may get
damaged in other cases, this arrangement offers great advantages. The pump
can be used also for partly flooding the ship and extinguishing fires, pumping
the ship dry in case of leakage, washing the decks, &c. The pump may, if
desired, be attached to the engines of the ship, and the water propelled may
be used for condensing, either when the ordinary or surface condensation
arrangements are used. The pump, &c., can be placed in any situation found
most convenient. I have represented it in the centre of the ship simply for
more easy explanation.
Figs. 9 and 10 represent an application of my centrifugal pump which
will indicate the number of revolutions of engines, &c., or the speed of
locomotives or steam ships; and this I effect by employing the velocity of a

page_text: small centrifugal pump which can be driven from the crank shaft or other
convenient part of the engine. The pump A, A, communicates with an indicator
B, B, constructed on the principle of a steam gauge, but graduated to the
required work; C is a small reservoir containing oil, water, or other suitable
fluid which keeps the pump always full, the pressure given to the fluid acting
on the guage by the pump is in proportion to its speed or velocity; this can
be easily calculated and the dial of indicator marked for the required
purpose, such as to show the number of miles a locomotive is travelling per
hour, the number of revolutions of any piece of mechanism, or the approximate
speed of a steam ship; a loose or idle hand D will show the highest point
The gauge may be placed any desired distance from the pump, as
the water pressure will be communicated through a tube of any length.
attained.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details and arrangements of construction as herein
set forth, as these may be varied, the peculiar characteristics and main
features of my Invention being at same time retained.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Eglinton Anderson Gwynne have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this 24th day of October One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.