IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREFOR, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Flowers Bentley, of Peterborough, in the
County of Northampton, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MODE OF SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE
USED THEREFOR, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jolin Flowers Bentley.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th December 1868.
I, JOHN FLOWERS BENTLEY, of Peterborough, in the County of
Northampton, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREFOP, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
"APPLICABLE FOR THE SINKING OF CYLINDERS OR CAISSONS FOR OTHER PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates primarily to sinking or forming wells in places
where the strata are composed of silt, sand, or other finely divided
Price Sd 1

page_text: earthy matter containing water, and to separating the water from such
earthy matter.
In carrying out my Invention I employ a cylinder the lower end of
which is conical. The bottom of the cone is screw threaded or chased
internally to allow passage to a correspondingly threaded or chased pipe,
which is carried up through another opening in the top of the cylinder
to the surface of the ground. The threaded portion of the pipe is formed
with apertures. There are also apertures round the upper or other part of
the cylinder, preferably over a surface extending to, say, 3 or 4 inches
from the top. The cylinder or the perforated part thereof is surrounded
by a filter, or the cylinder itself or part thereof may be made of porous
or filtering material and in that case it is not perforated. The upper
part of the pipe is fitted with an ordinary pump. An air tube provided
with a valve is also carried up from the top of the cylinder.
The action is as follows:-A hole of sufficient width is dug into the
ground until the wet silt or sand is reached. The apparatus is then
lowered into the hole to allow the conical end thereof to enter the
'silt. Water is admitted into the cylinder by the air tube to increase
the weight thereof. The pipe is lowered through the end of the cylinder
into the silt to allow of communication through the apertures; the pump
is then set to work, when the wet silt will pass through these apertures
into the pipe and be so raised to the surface, thereby forming a kind of
vacuum or space below and round the conical end of the cylinder; the
cylinder will thus sink in the silt and the work proceeds until the
cylinder reaches the required depth. The pipe is then raised to
withdraw the portion formed with apertures within the cylinder so
that no more silt can enter. The pump being again worked will draw
out the water previously admitted through the air pipe; water will now
begin to flow or filter from the surrounding silt into the cylinder, from
which it can be pumped up through the pipe as required. To increase
the supply of water to the cylinder I lead any desired number of radial
or lateral pipes from the upper end thereof; these pipes are perforated
and covered with gauze and straining material or otherwise arranged
so as to act as filters; they may be laid in trenches made for the purpose
and they act as feeders of water to the cylinder.
The mode and means herein-before described for sinking wells may
also be employed for sinking cylinders or caissons in forming
foundations, piers, and other purposes, the lower end of the cylinder

page_text: being fitted internally with a cone for the pipe to pass through, as
before explained. The cone may be bolted to a flange in the cylinder,
so that when rock or a firm stratum is reached a man may go down
the cylinder and detach the cone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Flowers Bentley in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FLOWERS BENTLEY, of Peterborough, in the County of Northampton,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Flowers Bentley, Her special
licence that I, the said John Flowers Bentley, iny executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Flowers
Bentley, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREFOR, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE
FOR THE SINKING OF CYLINDERS OR CAISSONS FOR OTHER PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that 1, the said John Flowers Bentley, 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 John Flowers Bentley, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
"
My Invention relates primarily to sinking or forming wells by the
employment of cylinders with conical ends, which are caused to enter
into finely divided silica or other kinds of earthy matter commonly
called "silt" "quick silt," running silt," "sand, quicksand," or
running sand, or by any other local name or term the intent and
meaning of which is to express or define the character or condition of
such strata in which water is contained.
The Invention will be fully understood by the accompanying Drawings
in connection with the following description:
The apparatus, as shewn in Figure 1, consists of a cylinder a made or
constructed of iron or other suitable material of any required size and
strength. The bottom of the cylinder is fitted with a cone b, or is
provided with a conical end to which a socket c is attached; the socket
is screw-threaded or chased so as to admit of the passage of the threaded
end of the tube or pipe d. There are also a series of holes or perforations
in the threaded portion through which the water is admitted as hereafter
described. The tube d is capable of being raised or lowered by being
turned round in the usual way by hand or otherwise. The use of the
tube is first to draw up the silt or sand by means of pumping; for this
purpose the tube is screwed down until the perforations are below the
conical end of the cylinder. A free passage for the silt or sand mixed
with water into the tube is by this means provided, and when a pump
which is fixed upon the top of the tube, as represented in Figure 2, is
set in motion, the silt or sand and water, are raised to the surface, and
secondly, the tube, which is perforated at the bottom, serves to convey the
water from within the cylinder to the pump. To effect this the tube is
screwed back or raised up, so that a collar or plug e is brought in
contact with the conical end of the cylinder, whereby a water-tight joint
is formed. This is done after sufficient silt or sand has been pumped up
to allow the well cylinder to sink to the required depth. All the
perforations are thereby brought-up and raised within the inside of the
conical end of the cylinder, thereby cutting off the connection between the
bottom of the cylinder and the silt or sand and water outside. The tube, d
passes up the centre of the cylinder a and through an opening provided in
the top or cover thereof. This opening is packed or closed round the

page_text: outside of the tube to stop the entrance of the silt or sand into the
cylinder. The tube is continued upwards to the surface of the ground,
and a common suction pump is attached thereto. Immediately below
the top or crown of the cylinder and extending downwards a few inches
are a series of perforations. Through these perforations or openings the
water flows into the interior of the cylinder or reserve chamber. The
top and bottom of the cylinder, is provided with rims or flanges f, f, and
the same provision may be made about half-way down the cylinder, as
shewn. The rims or flanges serve to support and secure the filtering
arrangement, which consists of a sheet or sheets g of perforated metal,
wire netting, or gauze, galvanized or otherwise prepared, which is wound
round the cylinder covering the space between the rims or flanges.
Between the perforated plates or wire a layer or layers of suitable material
is interposed to prevent the flow or passage of the silt or sand into the
cylinder; this material may be composed of porous earthenware or any
other substance found suitable. The external material or materials
which acts or act as a filter is provided with a series of rods, bars, or
tubes suitably arranged and secured to the inner surface thereof, or to
the outer surface of the cylinder, so as to form a space and to prevent
its coming into contact with the well cylinder or reserve chamber, or the
space may be wholly or partially filled with charcoal, coke, coarse
gravel, or other material. The space thus formed between the two
surfaces, i.e. the reserve cylinder and the filtering arrangements, allows
the passage of the water upwards till it reaches the openings or per-
forations in the top of the cylinder (as before described). The well
cylinder, or reserve chamber is also provided with a tube or pipe h
screwed or otherwise connected to the top thereof, and communicating
with the inside and carried upwards to the surface of the ground and
provided with a self-acting air valve. The object and use of this tube
is to allow the air to escape out of the well cylinder when it is filling
with water, and also to serve as a channel to convey water into the
cylinder to act as a weight in order to facilitate the sinking thereof. In
some cases I fit radiating or lateral-tubes i; i, to the upper part of the
cylinder, which tubes are to be used as feeders to the main cylinder.
The tubes are perforated and provided with an external filter arrange-
ment similar to that used in the well cylinder. They are to be arranged.
in trenches dug to receive them, and may be held in position by being
suspended to a cross bar of wood or iron. inserted into the ground above.
The tube or tubes when laid at a small incline towards. the well. will

page_text: allow the water collected by them to flow into the well through openings
in the top or crown thereof, where the end of the tube will be secured by
screws or otherwise.
"
"
My mode of sinking cylinders or caissons in forming foundations,
piers, &c. in "
silt," "
quick silt," "running silt," "sand," "quick
sand,' running sand," or similar strata by the employment of my
cone and central tube d is represented in Figure 3. The lower length
of the cylinder or caisson is provided with an internal flange upon
which the cone is fitted and by which it is supported. The cylinder or
caisson is filled with water to weight the same in order to facilitate the
sinking thereof to the required depth in the silt, sand, or other material.
At the same time the silt or sand is pumped up from below the conical
end, and when a suflicient depth is attained or a firm stratum is reached
the tube is turned so as to bring its perforations within the cylinder; the
water may then be pumped out of the cylinder. The conical bottom can
be removed and the caisson be used for the purpose for which it has
been sunk: When the site has been selected where the well or caisson
is to be used the surface of the soil is dug out until a sufficiently large
opening is made, as shown in the Drawings, and the natural water level
is reached, when the conical end of the well cylinder or caisson is lowered
down to the silt or sand, and water is admitted as before explained.
The pump tube is then screwed down below the conical end of the
cylinder and the pump set in action. The silt or sand mixed with
water is pumped up to the surface, the effect of which is to produce or
form a space by the removal of the silt or sand into which the well
cylinder or caisson gradually subsides so long as the pumping is con-
tinued. When the well cylinder or caisson has reached the desired
depth the pumping is discontinued. In the case of a well the cylinder
is stayed or fixed in its place and is ready for use.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First. The sinking of cylinders or wells in all kinds of loose earthy
matter, such as silt, sand, &c., for the purpose of obtaining water, sub-
stantially in the manner herein-before described and represented in
Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The construction of a cylinder with a conical end through
which a perforated central tube passes, in the manner and for the
purposes herein-before described and shewn in the Drawings.

page_text: Third. Fitting the outside of the cylinder with a filtering arrange-
ment, as and for the purpose described.
Fourth. The employment of an air tube and valve to the upper part
of the cylinder for the purposes herein-before described.
Fifth. The employment of radial filtering tubes, for the purposes
herein-before described and represented in the Drawings annexed.
Sixth. I claim sinking caissons or cylinders for foundations, piers, and
other purposes, substantially as herein-before described and represented
in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Flowers Bentley, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
J. F. BENTLEY. (L.S.)