IMPROVE- MENTS IN HYDRAULIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY ARTICLES, AND IN AN APPLICATION OF HYDRAULIC POWER FOR RIVETTING METALLIC STRUCTURES, AS IRON SHIPS' BOILERS, TANKS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Daniel Adamson, of Newton Moor Iron Works,
Hyde, in the County of Chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HYDRAULIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY ARTICLES,
AND IN AN APPLICATION OF HYDRAULIC POWER FOR RIVETTING METALLIC
STRUCTURES, AS IRON SHIPS' BOILERS, TANKS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES."
Sealed the 7th January 1859, and dated the 26th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by. the said Daniel Adamson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
July 1858.
I, DANIEL ADAMSON, of Newton Moor Iron Works, Hyde, in the County of
Chester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY
ARTICLES, AND IN AN APPLICATION OF HYDRAULIC POWER FOR RIVETTING METALLIC
STRUCTURES AS IRON SHIPS' BOILERS, TANKS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," to be as
follows:-
The nature of my Invention consists in an improved mode of constructing
bydraulic lifting jacks. The outer case or cylinder is, or may be made in one
piece, and receives the lifting ram or plunger; which ram or plunger contains
the pump ram, and is constructed hollow to contain oil, or water, or other
fluid, and to act as a cistern for the pump. The pump ram has an inverted

page_text: valve in the lower end, kept in position by a spring and screwed cover, and in
the lower end of the lifting ram is screwed a plug with an inverted clack or
valve fixed, as in the pump ram valve, and opening down and inwards to the
cylinder or ram case.
In the bottom, and to one side of the lifting ram, a "pass valve" is fixed
for the purpose of passing the fluid which has been pumped out of the ram
cistern into the cylinder, and back to the cistern again, without passing any
fluid through the pump valves. This is effected by the pump ram having a
projection on one side which presses down the pass valve and opens it when
the pump ram is pressed down below the required working position.
Motion is given to the pump ram by a hand lever and a tongue lever fixed
on a rocking shaft, passing through the top or cistern part of the ram. The
fluid is kept in the ram cistern by a head screw on the top, which forms the
top guide for the pump ram.
My Invention also consists in the application of hydraulic power for rivetting
ships' boilers, tanks, and similar articles, during the process of building or
making. In constructing the apparatus for rivetting by hydraulic power, a
power ram and a pump are employed, or two pump rams, a larger pump ram
to quicken the action of the rivetting ram before great force is required upon
it. The pump ram and valves may be placed in the power or rivetting ram as
in the lifting jack above referred to, or they may be placed at right angles to
each other. A suitable pass valve is employed to discharge the water, oil,
or other fluid from the power ram to the reserve cistern, ready to be used over
again. The power or rivetting rani is to be brought back into the starting
position by a lever or spring, or other suitable means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Daniel Adamson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DANIEL
ADAMSON, of Newton Moor Iron Works, Hyde, in the County of Chester,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said Daniel Adamson, Her special licence that I, the said Daniel Adamson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Daniel
Adamson, 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 HY-
DRAULIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY ARTICLES, AND IN THE
APPLICATION OF HYDRAULIC POWER POR RIVETTING METALLIC STRUCTURES, AS IRON
SHIPS' BOILERS, TANKS, AND SIMILAR ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Daniel Adamson, 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 Daniel Adamson, 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
(that is to say):-
The nature of my Invention consists,
First, in certain improvements in the construction of hydraulic lifting jacks.
Secondly, in the application of a separate valve which I call a 66 pass
valve" for the passage of the fluid from the cylinder into the ram cistern,
when it is requisite to lower the head of the ram or the weight.
Thirdly, in the mode of acting on the pass valve when the ram has to be
lowered.
Fourthly, in the application of hydraulic power for rivetting metallio
structures such as ships' boilers, tanks, and similar articles.
And, lastly, in certain improved modes of constructing hydraulic apparatus
for rivetting.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and
letters marked thereon..
Fig. 1 is a plan, in section, of the upper part of a hydraulic lifting jack;
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation; Fig. 3, a plan of the top plate; Fig. 4, an
elevation; and Fig. 5 a plan, in section, through the line A, B, in Fig. 2;;

page_text: and Fig. 6 is a plan of the upper part of the gland of the cylinder. a is the
cylinder or outer case of the lifting jack, which, together with the foot, I
construct of one piece of steel, wrought iron, malleable cast iron, or cast iron;
bis the plunger or lifting ram which works up and down in the cylinder a;
this ram with the head ¹ I also construct of one piece of steel, wrought iron,
malleable cast iron, or cast iron. The joint between the ram and the cylinder
being made tight by the leather c fitting in the gland d, which is screwed on
to the upper part of the cylinder a, by a screw key, similar to the one
shewn partly in Fig. 6, taking into holes formed in the gland d; within
the plunger b is the pump ram e, the upper end of which works in the cap
or top plate 62, and the lower end works in the lower part of the plunger b,
the joint between the two being made by a leather packing 63; the pump ram
is worked up and down by the hand lever f fitting on the square end of the
shaft g, which works in bearings in the head 6 of the plunger b, as shewn best
in Fig. 1; to this shaft is fixed the tongue lever f, fitting in a slot in the
pump ram e.
The inverted valve e¹ is applied to the lower end of the pump
ram e, and the inverted valve 6 is applied at the lower end of the plunger b;
both these valves are kept in position by a coiled spring and pin, or by a
screwed cover, or other suitable means.. At the bottom of the plunger or
lifting ram, and to one side thereof is placed the pass valve h; this valve is
also kept closed by a coiled spring and screwed cover having holes through it
and the spindle of the valve is taken upwards through the bottom part of the
plunger, as shown in Fig. 2, which represents the various parts of the lifting
jack in the positions they occupy when the plunger is down. The oil, or
water, or other fluid, by the action of which and of the apparatus described,
the requisite force is obtained for raising the lifting ram is contained in the
plunger b, and in the head b¹. When the lever f is worked within the limits
indicated by the upper dotted lines, and the full lines in Fig. 4, the stop piece
strikes against the head b¹ of the plunger b; at each up stroke of the lever
the valve e¹ allows a small portion of the oil or other fluid to pass, and at
the down stroke of the lever the same quantity of fluid is forced through the
valve 6* into the cylinder a, thereby raising the lifting ram in proportion to its
area. In order to prevent a vacuum being formed in the upper part of the
cistern within the plunger b, an air valve 65, shewn in Figs. 1 and 4, is applied;
this air valve is a screw with a flatfiled on it; consequently, when the head
of the screw is turned partly round by the screw driver at the end of the lever
f, the requisite quantity of air is admitted. When it is requisite to lower the
lifting ram, the lever f must be moved from the position it occupies in Fig. 3

page_text: to that shewn in Fig. 1, in order to move the stop f¹ beyond the reach of the
head of the lifting ram; the lever f can then be depressed until the stop f2
comes in contact with the head of the lifting ram, at which time the pro-
jection e on the pump ram comes in contact with and depresses the pass
valve h, thereby opening it and allowing the oil in the cylinder a to return
again into the cistern formed in the lifting ram b without passing through the
pump valves.
By means of these improvements in apparatus for raising and lowering
heavy bodies, very powerful lifting jacks can be constructed, and the wear and
tear caused by friction is greatly reduced.
Fig. 7 is a detached view of part of the lifting jack shewing the packing
leather c placed in a recess in the lower part of the plunger b; and Fig. 8 is
another view, shewing the upper part of the cylinder a, with a flanged packing
leather c held on by a screwed gland somewhat similar to d, in Fig. 1; Fig. 9
is an elevation in section; Fig. 10 is a plan, and Fig. 11, a front clevation,
in section, of one mode of constructing a rivetting machine worked by hydraulic
power. The machine shewn in the Drawing is supposed to be a portable one,
but the application of hydraulic power for rivetting metallic structures is
equally beneficial when applied to stationary machines, and the details may be
considerably modified. In Figs. 9, 10, and 11, m is the body or block of the
rivetting machine, made of steel, wrought iron, malleable, cast, or cast iron,
which may be suspended by a chain when used for rivetting ships' boilers,
tanks, or other heavy metallic structures; within the body or block m is a
recess for the power ram n and for the packing leather o, by which the joint
is made good; in front of the ram n is the die n¹, and opposite to it is the
die p¹ fitting in the bush p, which is screwed into the block m; both the dies
n and p', are capable of being removed with facility, and others with different
sized recesses to suit rivets of various dimensions may be put in their places.
The power ram n is forced outwards so as to compress the rivet between the
dies by means of the two pump rams 9 and r, which can be worked together,
or independently of each other in the following manner :-The hand lever s
passes through a slot in the ram r, and when both rams are to be worked
together, the pin 7, see Fig. 11, is put through both the rams, and the
catch is thrown out of the groove in the ram q; but when the small ram
alone is to be worked, the pin ¹ is removed to disconnect the rams, and the
hook q is brought into the position shewn in the Drawing, to prevent the
larger ram working with the smaller one; the leathers q² and are to make
the joints between the ram q and body of the machine, and between the rams

page_text: 7 and r. The oil or other fluid is contained in the five cisterns, which aro
connected by suitable passages in the block m and by the valve ¹, which
forms the communication between the cisterns and the cylinder in which the
pump rams work; the valve answers the same purpose as the valve b', in
Fig. 2, and when the pumps are at work the fluid passes through this valve
into the cylinder of the power ramn. When the machine is first set to work,
the two pump rams q aud rare united so as to quicken the action of the
ram n before great force is required; but when the final compression has to
be given, the larger ram 7 is disconnected, as above described, and the smaller
ram is worked alone. As soon as the rivet is forced home, the "pass
valve" is opened by the attendant turning the hand wheel . The spring m²
acting on the rivetting ram then pushes it back into its recess, and at the
same time forces the oil or other fluid through the pass valve into the cisterns
ready for the next operation; the pump ram and the valves may be placed in
the rivetting ram, as in Fig. 2, if preferred; or the arrangement may be
otherwise modified. In stationary rivetting machines the pumps may be
worked by steam or other power.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performed the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the details herein set forth, as the same may be considerably varied. I would
also remark that I am aware attempts have been made to apply hydraulic
power to lifting jacks; I, therefore, do not claim the application of hydraulic
power to lifting jacks; but what I do claim, is,―
First, the constructing the cylinder and the foot of the cylinder of hydraulic
lifting jacks of one piece of steel, wrought iron, malleable cast iron, or cast
iron, as shewn in Fig. 2.
Secondly, the constructing the lifting ram and ram head of hydraulic lifting
jacks of one piece of steel, wrought iron, malleable cast iron, or cast iron, as
shewn in Fig. 2.
Thirdly, the improved mode of fixing the valves of hydraulic lifting jacks,
-as-shewn-and-described in reference to Fig. 2.
Fourthly, the improved mode of fixing the packing leathers in hydraulic
lifting jacks, as shewn and described in reference to Figs. 2, 7, and 8.
Fifthly, the application of a pass valve to hydraulic lifting jacks, by means
whereof the fluid is conveyed back to the cistern without passing through the
pump valves.
Sixthly, the mode of actuating the pass valve when the object raised has to
be lowered.

page_text: And, lastly, the application of hydraulic power for rivetting metallic
structures, as shewn and described, or any modification of machinery for
rivetting by bydraulic power.
In witness wheref, I, the said Daniel Adamson, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
II. B. BARLOW,
Manchester.
DANIEL ADAMSON. (L.S.)