INVENTION OF AN ENTIRE NEW MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR THE MORE EASILY DIVIDING OF HARD SUBSTANCES, AS WELL AS FOR RAISING ALL KINDS OF HEAVY WEIGHTS, AND DRIVING ALL SORTS OF MACHINERY
Year: 1800

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
MILLER, of the Parish of Saint Marylebone, in the County of Middlesex,
Engraver, send greeting.
WHEREAS Ilis most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourth day of February, in the fortieth year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Miller, His especial licence that I,
the said Samuel Miller, during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my "INVENTION OF AN ENTIRE NEW
MACHINE AND PROCESS FOR THE MORE EASILY DIVIDING OF HARD SUBSTANCES, AS
WELL AS FOR RAISING ALL KINDS OF HEAVY WEIGHTS, AND DRIVING ALL SORTS OF
MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Samuel Miller, by an Instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within one calendar month after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had,
may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Miller, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described in the
annexed Drawings and the following description thereof (that is to say) :-

page_text: First, near to the sea or some river where the tide rises from seven to
twenty feet and upwards, select a situation most convenient for forming a
bason or reservoir for the reception of loaded ships, or a tide mill pond. In
digging or forming the bason, the following method for raising the ground and
conveying it to the banks will be found useful:-Let A, Figure 1st, represent
shears, to be erected on the sides of the bank, secured by the guys C and D,
which guys are to be shifted by the tackle sliding on the ropes E and F; the
bucket G being filled, and the power applied to the fall E, the bucket will be
raised to I, where the dog K will catch and hold the bucket; the fall H
being now let go, at the same time that a man at the empty bucket M
disengages the rope N, the full bucket G will descend, and draw up the
empty one M by the rope O; being fasten'd to the two travelling blocks
P and Q, the tail of the dog striking the discharge R, the empty bucket
will descend ready to receive its load, and so altornately. This inclined
plane by the ropes might be placed in a right line with the cutt, or at
right angles; the ropes E and F to be applied where the horse-barrow is found
convenient. As pumps are required to free the water from the diggers, Fig. 2d
represents a pump not liable to choak. A, the chamber; B, the suction pipe.
The capacity of the pump at C is encreased for the purpose of gaining a larger
watercourse, as well to fill the sand, gravel, &c. D, the piston; E, the lower box,
whose upper edge is made thin and to incline from the sides of the pump. By
this means the gravel, &c. cannot lodge on that part of the box on which the
valve F shuts; the top edge of the lower box E makes a considerable angle
with the chamber A, that when the piston D descends the velocity of water
that passes out at the discharging or upper valve G washes the sand, &c. out of
the cavities between the lower box E and the sides of the pump into the trunk H.
When any y considerable quantity is lodged in the bottom of the trunk H, by lifting
the valve I it will be washed out again. Thus the working parts are kept
free, which is principally effected by the discharging valve G being placed
below the receiving or lower valve F, contrary to the ordinary mode. As it is
likewise desirable to encrease or decrease the quantity of water thrown by the
same pump, let your pump be made to throw the greatest quantity intended,
then make a communication between the piston and lower box to the trunk H,
as at K; this communication to be opened or shut. By the screw L forcing up
or down the valve M the water will pass from the trunk into the pump, and at
the same time the top of the piston being loaded with water from the cock N
in proportion to the opening at K, the equilibrium between the lifting and
forcing is by this means preserved, and the process might be carried on till the
two columns in the trunk and pump become a perfect balance. The reason
up

page_text: for being particular with regard to a pump arises from the great inconvenience
attending an apparatus of this kind that is liable to choak where a number
of men are employed in digging, the water being constantly kept thick and
muddy. It is evident, to, that the success of an undertaking often depends
upon the fitness of the subordinate parts. The banks of the bason being
finished, and the water let into high-water mark, and the gates then shut, a
steam engine, horses, or any other power, by means of pumps or any other
method, is immediately to begin lifting the water from the outside of the banks
into the bason, in order to fill the bason one, two, or more feet higher than high-
water mark; this operation to be begun just about high water. The bason
being thus surcharged, a communication is to be opened with the wharf that is
to receive the heavy articles as represented in Fig. 3d; A, a hatch or valve,
which is opened to let the water into the receiver B; this receiver is to
prevent too large a quantity of water running, which might be the case by
inattention; the hatch A is then shut, and the hatch C opened, which conveys
the water into the vessel D, a little more than is equal to the weight E, and
the friction of the pullies, counterweight, &c.; the vessel D will then descend
to its required distance, and is checked by the rope F. If descending too quick,
the crane G is then turned on the wharf, and a person discharges the vessel D,
by means of the line H, into the drain I. The counterweight K raises the
vessel D up again to receive the water a second time. The hatch or valve A
should always be opened before the vessel D descends, that the receiver B may
be filling during the time the goods are landing. In cases where the height
to raise the goods be greater than the water has to descend, let the rope in
Fig. 4, fastened to the water vessel, turn round the small barrell A, and the
rope fastened to the goods turn on the large barrell B; or it may be accom-
plished by means of a tackle with the goods fastened to the end of the fall, as
in Fig. 5th. In this case the water vessel is required to be larger, for the pur-
pose of unloading the largest ships, as well raising the goods into the upper
floors of the warehouses. In the particular case of discharging the goods into
barges, the following method is to be adopted, as represented in Fig. 6th :-The
rope A is to pass through the block B, and from thence through the block C
into the ship; the goods being raised by the means already explained, and the
block B being placed on the further side of the foot of the direct, will cause
the goods to swing over the ship's side into the barge. When the article is
coals or corn in bulk to be raised, the direct is to be fixed as in Fig. 7th. All goods
are to be shipped or taken out of the warehouses by the same means, the water
acting as a counterweight to the descending article. When the goods are lodged
safe, the water is discharged, as before, except in some cases it will be thrown

page_text: back into the bason, as represented in Fig. 8th: Fig. 9 represents the drain for
taking off the water to a reservoir, from whence it is to be raised by a steam
engine or water wheel. At low water or against the tide the circulation may
be made entirely by a steam engine filling the pipes, as represented in Fig. 10.
A; A, A, represents the pipes leading from the engine, and B, B, B, B, the
upper and lower drains to the engine. Thus the same water might be kept
constantly in motion, or it' may be raised to the top of the warehouses, or into
a reservoir, by a steam engine, or water wheel, or supplied by some distant
fresh-water stream; but the apparatus' immediately attached to the lifting of
'the goods will be the same in all cases, as the idea is to raise goods from
out of the ships on to the wharfs, or into barges or warehouses, or otherwise
to lower goods from the warehouses on to wharfs, and from thence into ships,
all to be managed by the gravity or weight of water, a contrivance unknown
to our commercial ports. Further, the second application of the surcharged
bason or reservoir is for the turning water wheels, or to be let fall on the back
of the valves of a chain pump, for raising water or driving all kinds of
machinery, as well for draining of lands; &c., it being evident that a steam
engine working two hours at high water into a bason will create as much
power by consuming only three or four bushells of coals as by consuming four
or five and twenty bushells in the ordinary way. By this encrease of power
it is evident that all hard substances might be acted upon to advantage, as
well all kinds of machinery drove with increased velocity, or for a longer time
than by ordinary tide mills..
-
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Miller, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred.
SAM MILLER. (L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Third day of March, in the