IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO PUMPS
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Vincent Fosbery at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th April 1878.
GEORGE VINCENT FOSBERY, at present residing at Beckenham, in the County of
Kent, Lieutenant Colonel of Her Majesty's Bengal Staff Corps. "IMPROVEMENTS
IN AND RELATING TO PUMPS."
This Invention relates chiefly to an improved pump of novel construction, and
which is applicable for pumping water, air, and other liquids or fluids. The said
pump is so constructed that it takes up a very small space relatively to the
amount of work which it is capable of performing, and its use is therefore highly
advantageous on board ship, and in boats, also under all circumstances where it is
necessary or desirable to make use of a pump of small dimensions and of large
capacity.
Owing to its novel construction a pump made according to my said Invention
may be placed, and will operate easily in confined and small spaces, such as would
not be sufficient to receive a pump of any of the ordinary forms now in use, and of
anything like the same power as my improved pump.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I provide a vessel which may be of
iron, brass, or other material, and I prefer that the said vessel should be in the form
of a round basin, open at top and bottom. To the bottom or lower part of the said
vessel I attach a suction pipe which should be of suitable length to dip into the
water or other liquid or fluid to be pumped. This pipe need be only a few inches
in length in cases where the liquid to be pumped can be reached with such a length
as is the case on board ship and in other places.
In combination with the said vessel I provide a disc or diaphragm of india-rubber
or other suitable flexible materials which will exclude the entry of air through the
same, and I securely attach the said disc or diaphragm to the edges of the top of
the said vessel by rings, and screws, and nuts, or by other suitable means, so that
the junction between the edges of the vessel and the elastic diaphragm may be
air-tight.
Through the centre of the said flexible diaphragm I pass a rod, to the lower end
of which is fastened a piece of metal or other hard substance. This piece is curved

page_text: or rounded on its upper side, and fits into the space formed by the rising of the
flexible diaphragm in the act of pumping. The said piece thereby forms a solid
support to the said diaphragm when the latter is raised. To the aforesaid rod which
passes through the diaphragm and just above the latter another piece of metal or
other hard substance is fastened, also of a curved or rounded form, and the curved
part is placed downwards, that is to say, it is presented towards the said flexible
diaphragm, so that when the latter is pressed downward in operating the pump this
piece fits into the diaphragm and forms a support for it at its upper surface. At the
lower part of the said vessel I provide a suitable valve, which may be a disc of
india-rubber, fastened centrally by a rivet, or pin, or otherwise, which disc will
yield upwards at its sides when a vacuum is created above it by the action of the
said flexible diaphragm, and the water will thus enter the aforesaid vessel, to be
thrown out at an outlet pipe suitably provided in the side of the vessel by the
downward action of the diaphragm and inner and outer curved pieces; or the exit
and entrance pipes may enter the said vessel and be provided either within or with-
out it with suitable valves; or one pipe may enter the vessel in a curved or other
suitable form, and communicate with the water or other fluid in the vessel by an
aperture or apertures.
The rod which passes through the flexible diaphragm may be attached at it
upper end to a crank handle working in suitable bearings to operate the pump, or
the said rod may be worked in any other suitable manner.
The to-and-fro movement of this rod alternately raises and depresses the said
flexible diaphragm, the upward stroke causing a vacuum within the said vessel,
and the water consequently to enter through the valve at the bottom of the vessel,
and the downward stroke forcing this water out through the outlet pipe. The
curved or rounded surfaces aforesaid serve to strengthen and support the flexible
diaphragm when the latter is distended in its extreme upper and lower positions.
The said vessel is attached firmly to a base plate or frame which may be of
wood or metal.
In a modification of my said Invention I make the said pump double acting,
that is to say, I place the flexible diaphragm in the centre of the vessel, and so
construct the latter that the water or other liquid or fluid will enter on both
sides of the diaphragm, so that at each stroke of the rod liquid or fluid will be
drawn in and expelled from the said vessel, that is to say, when the rod moves in
one direction liquid or fluid will enter on one side of the diaphragm, and the liquid
or fluid which was by the previous stroke drawn into the vessel at the opposite
side of the diaphragm will be expelled, and so on, at each stroke.
In another modification of my said Invention I provide a flexible tube with
entrance and exit valves. This tube is placed within the vessel constituting the
body of the pump, and on any extraordinary force being used, will expand and
dilate in harmony with the varying pressures and movements of the water con-
tained in the vessel, relieving the diaphragm from any dangerous pressure, and at
the same time adding by its action to the flow of the fluid it may contain. By these
means also a body of water contained in a closed vessel may be made to pump
through a flexible tube; other fluids, or two separate fluids, may be pumped by the
action of a single pump.
When using my improved pump on board ship I provide in connection there-
with an attachment for operating the same, which will always be attached to the
pump and ready for use at any moment, but which, when the pump is not in use,
will be quite out of the way. For this purpose I fix the pump in the position it is
to occupy under the thwarts of the ship, and I securely bolt or otherwise fasten
to the thwart just over the pump a circular plate which has a slot or groove in
its place, and extending all round it; I prefer this slot or groove to be of dovetailed
form in cross section. Below the said plate I provide another plate or piece having
upward projections fitting into the said grooves or slots. The lower plate or piece
is therefore capable of rotating, and I attach to it a lever of suitable length, which
is pivotted to any convenient part of the said lower plate. This lever rotates with

page_text: the plate to which it is attached, and may therefore be moved to any point of the
circle within which it rotates. Extending from the lower plate are rods which are
carried down to the rod of the pump, and are attached thereto by means of a loose
collar. The aforesaid lever passes through a space between these rods, and is so
connected thereto that when the said lever is raised and depressed the rod attached
to the diaphragm of the pump is also raised and depressed, and the pump is operated.
The lever may be turned round at once to any position in which it may be most
convenient to operate it, and will be ready for work immediately it is placed in this
position without any other adjustment.
When the pump is not in operation the said lever is turned round and fastened
up under the thwart quite out of the way.
I may, if desirable, construct the inlets and outlets of my improved pump in
spiral form to give the water a circular motion and so facilitate the entrance and
delivery of the liquids or fluids.
When a pump constructed according to this Invention is used for the purpose of
pumping air, gas, or other similar fluids, valves will preferably be used which will
be actuated by employing a cylinder filled with a suitable fluid in which a per-
forated disc will actuate a valve of short stroke, the two ends of the rod actuating
the pump itself, permitting the rod to take its full stroke after having placed the
valve in position.