IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER FROM WELLS OR OTHER PLACES, OR FOR RAISING OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cemer Thomas Colebrook, of Islington, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER FROM WELLS OR OTHER PLACES,
OR FOR RAISING OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 13th July 1875, and dated the 23rd January 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cemer Thomas Cole-
brook at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 23rd January 1875.
I, CEMER THOMAS COLEBROOK, of Islington, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER FROM WELLS OR
OTHER PLACES, OR FOR RAISING OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:―
This Invention relates to improved means or apparatus for raising
water from wells or other places, or for raising other liquids, either from
wells or from other places.
The raising of water from wells has hitherto been accomplished in
various ways, but most generally by placing a pump or set of pumps

page_text: close or near to or within a distance not exceeding 34 feet (in vertical
height) of the water to be raised, the water being conducted from the
pump through a main pipo or pipes to the desired height, the pump
being worked by a rod or rods leading to the top of the well, and there
connected to a crank or other equivalent mechanism, which gives the
rod and the bucket or buckets or plungers (as the case may be) thereto
attached a reciprocating motion, which has the effect (when a sufficient
degree of vacuum has been formed) of causing the water to rise into the
pump, by the continued action of which it is then forced up the main
pipe to the desired height, and thence in any direction, as required. This
arrangement has very many practical difficulties attending it, the working
parts (which are many) being quite inaccessible except by extreme
labour, and often great danger and loss of time are entailed.
The object of this Invention is mainly to overcome these difficulties
by causing the water to rise through or by a series of lifts or stages by
the herein-after described improved means or apparatus, by the use of
which is obtained the very great practical advantage of being able to
place the principal machinery above or at the top of the well, or in any
other desired position, or if more convenient and desirable in the well
itself.
In order to carry my Invention into effect I employ any suitable number
(according to the depth of the well or other place) of chambers or com-
partments, which I place at suitable or the most advantageous distances
apart. These chambers are attached to or may form part of a main pipe
(or pipes) which leads to the water or other liquid to be raised, and in
(or in connection with) cach of these chambers or compartments I
arrange a retaining valve (or other equivalent means) so as to allow the
water or other liquid to rise, but prevent it from returning, and leading
from each of the chambers or compartments. I also arrange and connect
an air pipe, which pipes I connect alternately to one or the other of
two main air pipes leading to or from an apparatus capable of producing
alternately a partial vacuum and a pressure, and which may consist of a
cylinder or cylinders fitted with a piston or pistons or plunger to
reciprocate therein, so as to cause at each opposite end of the cylinder
or cylinders alternately a partial vacuum and a pressure, or which may
consist of any known equivalent apparatus used to produce a like effect.
If, for example, we suppose say six chambers or compartments to be
used, then Nos. 1, 3, and 5 would be in connection by one of the main

page_text: air pipes with one end of the cylinder (or other mechanism producing a
like effect), and Nos. 2, 4, and 6 would be in connection by the other
main air pipe with the opposite end of the cylinder, and each of these
series of chambers would thus be alternately affected by the partial
vacuum and pressure produced in the end of the cylinder with which it
is in communication.
The action of the apparatus may be briefly described as follows:-
Upon moving the piston or plunger in one direction in the cylinder a
partial vacuum is produced or formed in the chambers or compartments
Nos. 1, 3, and 5, and the water or other liquid will rise firstly into
chamber No. 1, and upon the motion of the piston or plunger being
reversed the air that was drawn out from Nos. 1, 3, and 5 is pressed
back to them again, and at the same time a partial vacuum is formed in
Nos. 2, 4, and 6, and the water or other liquid will next riso into
chamber No. 2, and at each successive stroke of the piston or plunger
the water or other liquid will rise into the next higher compartment
until it reaches the top, whence it may be conducted as required. For
raising water or other liquids only a moderate height, or for removing
the same from one vessel to another one chamber only need be used,
with simply one main air pipe leading from one end only of the cylinder
or its equivalent.
For raising or removing acids or other similar liquids this Invention
is particularly useful, inasmuch as the liquid will not pass into the
cylinder as in an ordinary pump but simply through the main pipe.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Cemer Thomas Colebrook in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 22nd July 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CEMER
THOMAS COLEBROOK, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
0 send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty:

page_text: eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors
give and grant unto me, the said Cemer Thomas Colebrook, He
special licence, that I, the said Cemer Thomas Colebrook, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Cemer Thomas Colebrook, my executors, administrators, and assigns
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thercafter 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 "IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR
RAISING WATER FROM WELLS OR OTHER PLACES, OR FOR RAISING OTHER LIQUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Cemer Thomas
Colebrook, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Cemer Thomas Colebrook, 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 in writing, and on reference being
had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to improved means or apparatus for raising
water and other liquids from wells and other places.
The raising of water from wells has hitherto been accomplished in
various ways, but most generally by placing a pump (or set of pumps)
close or near to or within a distance not exceeding thirty-four feet (in
vertical height) of the water to be raised, the water being conducted
from the pump through a main pipe (or pipes) to the desired height,
the pump being worked by a rod (or rods) leading to the top of the
well, and there connected to a crank (or other equivalent mechanism),
which gives the rod and the bucket (or buckets or plungers as the caso
may be thereto attached a reciprocating motion, which produces a
partial vacuum in the pump, upon which by atmospheric pressure the
water is caused to rise thereinto to fill the vacuated space, and by the
continuation of the action of the pump the water is theu forced there-

page_text: from up the main pipe to the desired height, or where required. It will
thus be seen that in the cases of deep wells the pump has in addition to
its work of raising the water from below its surface to bear the weight
of all the water in the main pipe above it, which has thus to be put in
motion and lifted at each alternate stroke of the pump, and at each
stroke in double-acting pumps, and thus much power is lost. Moreover
this arrangement has very many practical difficulties attending it, the
working parts being many and inaccessible for necessary adjustment and
repairs, except by extreme labour, and further, great danger and loss of
time are entailed, and the repairs are necessarily very costly.
The object of this Invention is principally to overcome these difficulties
by effecting the raising of water and other liquids especially from deep
wells or similar localities through or by a series of lifts or stages by
producing or creating alternately a partial vacuum and a pressure in
alternate chambers of a series of chambers arranged at intervals apart,
not exceeding thirty-four feet in vertical height between the water to be
raised and the motive power, the vacuum being produced in one series
of alternate chambers simultaneously with the production of the pressure
in the other series of alternate chambers, and vice versa, and by the use
of the improved means or apparatus herein subsequently more fully
described.
By these improved method and means I obtain the very great practical
advantages of being able to dispense with the ordinary lifting or forcing
pumps, which when required to return in water raised a good per-
centage of the power expended are of an intricate and costly construction,
and to use apparatus of the most simple construction, as the work to be-
performed is considerably lessened, and to place the motive power and
all principal machinery close and compactly together, and above or at
the top of the well, or in any other desired position, or if more con-
venient or desirable a little way down the well.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to
be or may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in order
that the same may be distinctly understood I have annexed hereunto
one Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same
with Figures of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof, that is to say:-
On the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation

page_text: of a single-acting arrangement of apparatus adapted for producing an
intermittent flow of water from the upper chamber at each alternate
stroke or movement of the water; and Figure 2, a similar view, but of a
double-acting arrangement, adapted for producing a continuous flow of
water from the upper chamber at each successive stroke or movement
of the water. In both Figures the full red arrows indicate the direction
or flow of the water, and the dotted red arrows the direction or flow of
the air.
In carrying my Invention into practice I employ or make use of any
suitable, therefor, a variable number depending upon the depth of the
well or other place of chambers 1, 1, 12, 13, &c., which I place at
suitable stages or lifts, or the most advantageous distances apart,
generally about twenty feet, or any less number or higher number not
exceeding from thirty-three to thirty-four feet. These chambers 1, 1,
12, 13, &c., are attached to or may form part of or are connected with a
main pipe (or pipes) 2, which from the lowest chamber 1 leads to the
water or other liquid to be raised, and which from the highest chamber 1°
leads to where the water or other liquid is required to be delivered.
Each chamber is divided by a partition 3 into compartments which com-
municate with each other through a port bore or opening 4 in the
partition 3 and the port 4 of each chamber 1, 1', &c., I provide with a
retaining valve 5 (or other equivalent means), which valves allow the
water or other liquid to rise through the ports 4 into the chambers from
those below to those above successively, but prevent any return of
the water. The compartment of cach chamber in which the valve 5 is
situated is provided with an opening closed by a door 12 (Figure 2),
through which the valve can be got at, if or when necessary.
In connection with each chamber 1, 1', &c., I also arrange and
connect a branch air pipe 6, and these pipes 6 I connect alternately to
one or the other of two main air pipes 7, 8, leading to or from an appa-
ratus capable of producing alternately or simultaneously at different
parts a partial vacuum and a pressure, and which may consist of a
cylinder (or cylinders) 9, fitted with an air-tight piston (or pistons) or
`plunger 10 to reciprocate therein, so as to cause alternately at each end of
the cylinder 9, to which the pipes 7, 8, lead, alternately a partial vacuum
and a pressure, or which may consist of any known equivalent appa-
ratus used to produce such effect. For example, supposing the depth of
the well requires the arrangement of seven chambers 1, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,

page_text: and 1º, at distances of (say) thirty feet apart to be used, then the branch
air pipes 6 of the chambers 1, 1³, 1', and 1ª would be in connection and
communication with the main air pipe 8 which leads to one end of the
cylinder 9, and the branch air pipes 6 of the chambers 11, 13, and 15,
would be in connection and communication with the main air pipe 7,
which leads to the other end of the cylinder 9. Each of these series of
alternate chambers would thus be affected alternately by the partial
vacuum and the pressure produced in the end of the cylinder, with
which it is in communication, simultaneously with the other series of
alternate chambers, being affected contrarily from the other end of the
cylinder. Thus upon actuating the piston 10 in its cylinder 9 in the
contrary direction to that indicated by the arrow 11 a partial vacuum is
or would be produced or formed in the end of the cylinder from which
the piston would be receding, and in the pipe 8 and chambers 1, 12, 1*,
and 1°, into the first (1) of which the water from the well by the action
of the atmospheric pressure would simultaneously rise and be retained
by the valve 13, and upon the return stroke of the piston 10 in
the direction indicated by the arrow 11, the air that its first stroko
drew from the chambers 1, 12, 14, and 1º, is pressed back to them again
(see Figure 1) and simultaneously a partial vacuum is being formed
in the chambers 1', 13, and 15, the air which this return stroke of the
piston forces into the chamber 1 forces the water therefrom into the
chamber 1, wherein it is retained by the valve 5 of the chamber 1, upon
the next stroke the chambers 1, 12, 14, and 1º, are again exhausted of air,
and the atmospheric pressure causes the water from the well again to
fill the chamber 1, and the pressure exerted through the pipe 7 forces
the water from the chamber 1' into the chamber 12; at the fourth stroko
the chambers 1', 1³, and 15, are exhausted and the pressure is upon tho
chambers 1, 12, 14, and 1º, the water from the chamber 1 is then forced
into the chamber 1', and then from the chamber 12 into the chamber 1³,
and similarly at cach successive stroke of the piston or plunger the
water or other liquid will rise into the next higher chamber or stage until
it reaches the top whence it may be conducted in an intermittent flow as
required.
For obtaining the continuous supply the chambers 1, 11, 12, &c., and
main pipes 2 are duplicated, as shown in Figure 2, they need not
necessarily be arranged, as shewn in Figure 2 (nor in Figure 1) as theso
Figures are intended to give at a glance the modus operandi of the
Invention, and are not intended to act as illustrations of the practical

page_text: construction of the apparatus though they serve as sufficient and
complete guides to any practical man used to this description of work to
enable him to construct the apparatus entire; and in addition to this
duplication all else that is necessary is the duplication of the branch air
pipes 6, and the communication by means thereof of the pipes 7, 8,
alternately with the alternate duplicate chambers as shown. Thus the
pipe 7 communicates with the chambers 11, 13, and 15, and with the
duplicates of the chambers 1, 12, 14, and 1º, so that a partial vacuum may
be created in them simultaneously with the production of a pressure in
the chambers 1, 12, 14, and 1º, and in the duplicates of the chambers 1',
1³, and 15, with which the pipe 8 is in communication, with vice versa.
The capacity of the cylinder, air pipes, and chambers are so proportioned
that at all times the creation of the succeeding partial vacuums and
pressures shall not be sufficient to destroy a continuous column of water
in all the main pipes between the chambers so that there is practically
a continuous column of water held in sections and retained at the
different stages by the valves as described, the vacuating mechanism
being relieved of its weight.
For raising water and other liquids only a moderate height, or for
removing the same from one vessel to another a simplified modification
may be employed in which there is one chamber only with one main air
pipe leading from one end of the cylinder or its equivalent, a partial
vacuum and a pressure being alternately created in the chamber.
I would here remark that this Invention is particularly useful for
raising oils from oil wells and for raising or removing corrosive liquids
of all descriptions, inasmuch as the liquid does not pass into the cylinder
or vacuating mechanism (which will therefore not require to be lined, a
costly process) as in an ordinary pump, but passes simply through the
main pipe (or pipes). It will consequently be of especial advantage for
raising acids in chemical works, paper pulp in paper mills, tan liquor in
tan yards, sewage in town drainage works, and ammoniacal liquor in gas
works, and in the draining of mines and other places in which corrosive
or mineral water has to be raised continuously in considerable quantities
a considerable height, and it thus possesses many important advantages
over other lifting or forcing apparatus hitherto in use for effecting the
primary objects of this Invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
obiects of my said Invention, together with the manner in which the

page_text: same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention the methods
of effecting the raising of water and other liquids, especially from deep
wells or similar localities through or by a series of lifts or stages by
producing or creating alternately a partial vacuum and a pressure in
alternate chambers of a series of chambers arranged at intervals apart
not exceeding thirty-four feet in vertical height between the water to be
raised and the motive power, the vacuum being produced in one series of
alternate chambers simultaneously with the production of the pressure
in the other series of alternate chambers, and vice versa, for an inter-
mittent flow or supply, and by producing or creating alternately a
partial vacuum and a pressure in the alternate duplicate chambers of a
duplicated series of similar chambers, the vacuum being produced in onc
alternate series of chambers and in the duplicates of the other alternato
series of chambers simultaneously with the production of the pressure in
the remainder of the duplicated series of chambers, and vice versâ, for a
continuous flow or supply, and the modification described for raising the
water only a moderate height, a partial vacuum and a pressure being
alternately created in one chamber, and by the use of the improved
mcans or apparatus herein-before fully described, substantially in the
manners and for the purposes that is to obtain the objects and advantages
herein described, and as illustrated on the accompanying Drawings, and
the application and use of these improvements for raising or removing
oils and corrosive liquids of all descriptions, and particularly in the
special instances mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cemer Thomas Colebrook, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-first day of July,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five
Witness,
CHAS. AUDREY DAY,
Draughtsman,
95, Navarino Road,
Dalston Rise, E.
C. T. COLEBROOK. (L.S.)