IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FUK COMPRESSI SING AIR OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS.
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Julius Ball, of New Bridge Street, in the
City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FUK
COMPRESSI
SING AIR OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS.
:
Scaled the 13th November 1874, and dated the 16th May 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Julius Ball at
⋅
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th May 1874.
I, CHARLES JULIUS BALL, of New Bridge Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING AIR OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus for compressing
air or other elastic fluid, and especially for compressing air to be after-
wards used for driving machinery, and has for its objects improved
methods of constructing and arranging such apparatus, so that it is
simpler, cheaper, and more effective than has heretofore been the case,

page_text: and can be applied and used in situations where its application heretofore
has been difficult or impossible.
The first part of my Invention consists of improved methods of con-
structing and arranging apparatus for compressing air by means of a
pump worked by a steam or other engine. For this purpose I use a
single acting pump consisting of a cylinder open at one end, and con
taining a piston actuated directly by a connecting rod driven by a crank
pin fixed upon a suitable heavy fly wheel. The cylinder is fixed to a
bed plate, which also supports the bearings in which the fly wheel
revolves, and to the same bed plate is fixed the cylinder of a steam
engine which causes the fly wheel to revolve by means of a connecting
rod working upon the same crank pin as that which drives the piston in
the pump. I arrange the cylinder of the pump and that of the steam
engine at such an angle relatively to one another (preferably sixty
degrees) that the steam engine is exerting its fullest force upon the
pump piston at the moment that the latter is at the end of its stroke,
and is consequently subject to the greatest pressure of the air. The
pump cylinder is surrounded by a cistern which is kept filled with cold
water, and the water having free access to the inside and outside of the
cylinder and piston, they are kept cool, and prevent the ill effect of the
heat given out by the air during compression. The closed end of the
pump is fitted with inlet and outlet valves (which may also be surrounded
by a water cistern) so arranged that little or no clearance is allowed
between them and the pump piston when the latter is at the end of its
stroke, and nearly the whole of the useful effect of the pump is thus
utilized. In order to keep the clearance described as small as possible I
make the bearing of the connecting rod which drives the piston
adjustable. The steam engine cylinder is fitted in the usual way with
slide or other valves, preferably worked from an excentric crank pin
outside the principal crank pin, and it may also be fitted with expansion
valves if desired.
1.
•
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The steam engine being
started causes the fly wheel to revolve, and thus to work the pump
piston, which being-single acting absorbs but little power during its up
stroke, and the speed of the fly wheel consequently increases. When
the pump piston commences its down stroke the resistance of the com-
pressed air gradually increases, and is overcome by the momentum of
the fly wheel aided by the pressure upon the steam piston, which is

page_text: exerting its greatest force at the moment when the resistance of the air
is greatest. By the arrangement described in which the connecting rods
of the steam engine and of the pump cylinder are connected to the same
crank pin, which is itself fixed to the fly wheel, the momentum of the
latter is directly utilized, and the shaft or axle supporting it may be
very light; or instead of having such shaft the fly wheel may revolve
upon a fixed pin, being fitted with a suitable bush or bearing.
In order more completely to absorb the heat evolved by the com-.
pression of the air I make the opening to the inlet valve in the form of
a tube, and I mix water in the form of spray with the inflowing air by
directing a small jet of compressed air (or other clastic fluid) into this
tube, such jet disseminating and carrying with it a sufficient quantity of
water, which is allowed to fall in front of it (or to be raised by it from a
small depth) through a pipe (or pipes) the end of which is immediately
in front of the jet, and at right angles to it. By this arrangement.
(which may be applied to any kind of air or gas pumping apparatus, as
well as to the novel apparatus first described) the inflowing air is.
saturated with moisture in a fine state of division, which absorbs a large
proportion of the heat given out by the air during compression, and
thus avoids the loss of power caused by the useless expansion of the.
.

page_text: purpose I take a helical tube formed or built up or bent into a helix
of sufficient diameter, and arranged to revolve horizontally on suitable
bearings. One end of this helical tube is open, and is so arranged that
as the tube revolves it dips into a vessel or reservoir of water or other
fluid, within which the tube revolves. The other end of the tube is
brought into a line with the axis of the apparatus, and is connected by
means of a stuffing box or other suitable arrangement with a pipe
leading to a reservoir within which the air is to be compressed, or with
the reservoir itself. As the helical tube revolves at each successive
revolution it takes up a quantity of water through its open end, which
water travels gradually along the tube until it is discharged through the
centre opening at the other end into the air receiver, whence it can be
discharged when necessary through a valve which may be regulated by
a float. As the water travels along the helical tube in the way described
it forces before it and compresses the successive volumes of air which
enter the open end of the tube at the times when it is not dipping into
the water. The tube may be of a circular or any other convenient
section, and it may be made so as gradually to decrease in section as it
approaches the end whence the air and water are discharged, and the
successive circles or bends which form the helix may be made to decrease
or increase in diameter. The helical tube described may be made to
revolve by any convenient power, but I prefer to arrange it so as to be
driven by the water of a running stream, for which purpose I form the
bearings in which it revolves upon a floating platform so arranged as to
rise and fall with the height of the water in the stream, and I form upon
the axis of the helical tube a water wheel of the kind ordinarily used,
so that the water wheel is made to revolve by the action of the steam
upon its floats or buckets, and in its revolution it drives the helical tube
arranged as described. The water wheel may be separate from the
helical tube instead of being formed upon the same axis as the latter.
The water which is discharged from the condensed air receiver as described
may be directed into the stream which drives the water wheel so as to
aid its effect upon the latter.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Julius Ball in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
JULIUS BALL, of New Bridge Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS. Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Charles Julius Ball, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Julius Ball, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Julius Ball, 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
APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING AIR OR OTHER ELASTIC FLUIDS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Julius Ball, my exc-
cutors 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 Charles Julius Ball, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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) :-
This Invention relates to improvements. in apparatus for compressing
air to be afterwards used for driving machinery, and has for its objects.
improved methods of constructing and arranging such apparatus, by
which greater simplicity, cheapness, and efficacy are obtained than in
apparatus for the purpose as ordinarily constructed, and it can be.
applied in situations where heretofore its use has been difficult or
impossible:

page_text: The first part of my Invention consists of improved methods of con-
structing and arranging apparatus for compressing air or other clastic
fluid by means of a pump worked by a steam or other engine.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are in illustration of
this part of my Invention, Figure 1 shewing a section and Figure 2 an
end view of the apparatus.
The
a is the cylinder of a single-acting pump open at its upper end and
containing a piston b, which is actuated by the connecting rod c, the
lower end of which is jointed to the piston and the upper end works
upon the crank pin d, which is fixed to the heavy fly wheel e.
pump cylinder a is bolted or otherwise fixed to the bed or foundation
plate f, which also supports the bearings g, g¹, on which the fly wheel
revolves, and to the same bed plate is fixed the cylinder h of a steam
engine, which drives the fly wheel e in the usual way by means of the
eonnecting rod i, the upper end of which works upon the same crank
pin d as the pump connecting rod c. The pump cylinder a and the
steam engine cylinder h are arranged at such an angle relatively to one
another (preferably about 60°) that the steam piston is at or near the
point where it is exerting its greatest force upon the crank pin d when
the pump piston is at the bottom of its stroke and has the greatest
pressure of the air to overcome. The pump cylinder a is surrounded by
a cistern k, which is kept filled with cold water, which has free access to
the inside and outside of the cylinder and piston, which are thereby kept
cool and the ill effect of the heat given out by the air during compression
is avoided. The closed end of the pump a is fitted with suitable inlet
and outlet valves and m (which may be kept in their seats by springs,
and which may also be surrounded by a cold water cistern) so arranged
that little or no clearance is allowed between them and the pump piston
when the latter is at the bottom of its stroke, and nearly the whole of
the useful effect of the pump is thus utilized. In order that this clear-
ance may be as small as possible I prefer to make the bearing of the
connecting rod c adjustable so that it may be lengthened or shortened
as required. The steam engine cylinder h is fitted in the usual way with
slide or other valves, preferably worked from an excentric crank pin n
outside the principal crank pin d, and it may also be fitted with expansion
valves and with a governor.
The action of the annaratus is as follows
The steam anxina

page_text: started causes the licavy fly wheel e to revolve in the direction shewn by
the arrow in Figure 1, and thus to drive the pump piston b, which being
single-acting absorbs but little, power during its up stroke, and the speed
and momentum of the fly wheel become considerable. When the pump
piston commences its down stroke the resistance of the compressed air
gradually increases, and is overcome by the momentum of the fly wheel
e, aided by the pressure above the steam piston which is exerting its
greatest force at the time when the resistance of the air is greatest.
By the arrangement described in which the connecting rods c and i
work upon the same crank pin d, which is itself fixed to the fly wheel e,
the momentum of the latter is directly utilized and the shaft or axle
supporting it may be made very light, or instead of having such shaft
the fly wheel e may revolve upon a fixed pin, being fitted with a suitable
bush or bearing.
When it is not required to compress air the pump piston 6 may be
disconnected and the engine used for driving any other kind of
machinery.
In order more completely to absorb the heat evolved by the air or
other clastic fluid which is being compressed I make the opening to the
inlet valve in the form of a chamber or tube o, and I mix water in the
form of spray with the inflowing air by directing a jet p of compressed
air (or other clastic fluid) into the tube o, such jet disseminating and
carrying with it in the form of spray a sufficient quantity of water,
which is allowed to pass in front of it from the pipe 7. By this arrange-
ment (which may be applied to other forms of apparatus for compressing
air or clastic fluids as well as to the novel arrangement of apparatus
just described) the inflowing air is saturated with moisture in a fine state,
of division, which absorbs a large proportion of the heat given out by
the air during compression, and thus prevents the loss of power caused
by the useless expansion of the latter. The fly wheel may be driven by:
a belt or gearing for the purpose of working the pump if desired, th
steam engine being disconnected or removed.
I claim the general arrangement of the apparatus as described and
shewn in the Drawings.
Also the arrangement of a single-acting pump immersed in cold water
and driven by a connecting rod working on a crank pin fixed to a heavy-
J

page_text: the Drawing.
Also the combination of the steam engine and the pump cylinder
connected together at an angle to the same crank pin fixed in a heavy
fly wheel, the pump cylinder being preferably arranged in a cistern of
cold water, substantially as described and shewn in the Drawing.
:
Also the apparatus for producing spray and mixing it with the
inflowing air or other elastic fluid in apparatus for compressing air or
other elastic fluid.
Another part of my Invention consists of a novel method of com-
pressing air or other elastic fluid by the force of steam without the
intervention of a steam engine and pump. For this purpose I take a
jet of steam of sufficient pressure, which I direct to the centre of the
open end of a suitably formed pipe or tube, the other end of which
communicates with a receiver or reservoir, into which the air is to be
compressed. The jet of steam carries with it into the tube a current of
air, which is thus forced into the receiver, within which the steam may
be condensed, and then allowed to escape in the form of water through
a suitable opening and valve by gravity or by the pressure of the air.
A valve opening inwards may be provided in the pipe, through which
the air is forced into the receiver, to prevent the escape of the compressed
air when the jet of steam is stopped; or a regulating stop valve may be
used for the same purpose. I claim the method substantially as
described of compressing air or other clastic fluid by means of a jet of
steam.
Where water power is to be used for the purpose of compressing air
or other elastic fluid I use the novel arrangement for the purpose
illustrated in Figures 3 and 4 in the accompanying Drawing; Figure 3
being a side view, and Figure 4 a cross section of apparatus constructed
according to my Invention. A is a helical tube formed, or built up, or
bent into a helix of sufficient diameter, and arranged so that it can
revolve freely about its central axis in bearings B, B'. One end of this
helical tube is open at C, and is arranged so that it dips into a stream
or reservoir of water, in which the apparatus revolves. The other end
of the tube at D is connected by the hollow passage E and the stuffing
box F or its equivalent with the tube G, which is in a line with the axis
of the apparatus. The tube passes to a reservoir for the compressed air.

page_text: (not shown in the Drawing). As the helical tube A revolves, partially
immersed in water, at each successive revolution it takes up a quantity
of water through its open end, which water forces before it and com-
presses the air which enters the open end of the tube when out of the
water, and eventually the compressed air and water are delivered
through the pipe G into the reservoir, whence the water is discharged
as requisite through a valve, preferably actuated by a self-acting float.
The helical tube A may be rectangular, circular, or of other convenient
shape in cross section, and it may be made to decrease in sectional area
as it approaches the end D, and the successive parts or coils of the helix
be made to increase or decrease in diameter.
may
The apparatus may be made to revolve by any convenient power, but
I prefer to drive it by arranging it in a running stream of water, which
impinges upon buckets I, I, I, I, &c., which are fixed outside the
helical tube A, or by means of a separate water wheel connected to the
same axis directly or by means of gear..
Sometimes I arrange the bearings, in which the apparatus revolves,
upon a floating platform so constructed as to rise and fall with the
height of the water in the stream; or the apparatus may be arranged so
as itself to float in and to rise and fall with the stream, its bearings
working in fixed guides, and suitable provision being made in either
case for the necessary movement of the delivery pipe G. The water
discharged from the receiver as described may be directed into the
stream which drives the water wheel, so as to aid its effect upon the
latter.
I claim the arrangement and use of a helical tube made to revolve
partially immersed in water for the purpose of compressing air, sub-
stantially as described and shewn in the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Julius Ball, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four