A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRU- MENT OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING HYDROSTATIC AND PNEUMATIC PRESSURE, WHICH SAID INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO PRESSURE GUAGES, SAFETY VALVES, THERMOMETERS, PUMPS, AND OTHER LIKE MACHINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Webster, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRU-
MENT OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING HYDROSTATIC AND PNEUMATIC PRESSURE,
WHICH SAID INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO PRESSURE GUAGES,
SAFETY VALVES, THERMOMETERS, PUMPS, AND OTHER LIKE MACHINES."
Sealed the 28th April 1857, and dated the 6th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Webster, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th November 1856.
I, JAMES WEESTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED
INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING HYDROSTATIC AND PNEUMATIC
PRESSURE. WHICH SAID INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO PRESSURE
GUAGES, SAFETY VALVES. THERMOMETERS, PUMP AND OTHER LIKE MACHINES," to be
as follows:-
My Juvention consists of a piston working loosely in a cylinder, a rod from
the said piston working loosely in a hole in the closed top or end of the
cylinder. Around the piston rod a helical or coiled spring is placed, one end
of which bears against the piston, and the other end bears against the closed
Price Sd.1

page_text: end of the cylinder. A tube of vulcanized caoutchouc surrounds the piston
rodand spring, and is secured at one end to the piston,and at the other to the
cap closing the end of the cylinder. Pressure being applied to the interior of
the cylinder, the piston and piston rod are raised until the resistance of the
spring balances the pressure. The caoutchouc tube acts as a packing without
friction, and permits of the motion of the piston under the slightest change of
pressure.
My Invention may be applied to the construction of pressure gunges, safety
valves, thermometers, pumps, and machines in general where pressure has to
be transmitted, or where the motion of a piston in a cylinder with a minimum
amount of friction is required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WEBSTER, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Webster, Her special licence that I, the said James
Webster, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said James Webster, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING
HYDROSTATIC AND PN ATIC PRESSURE, WHICH SAID INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS
IS APPLICABLE TO PRESSURE GUAGES, SAFETY VALVES. THERMOMETERS, PUMPS, AND
OTHER LIKE MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Webster, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their lands 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

page_text: 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 James Webster, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :—
My Invention consists of a new or improved instrument or apparatus
for transmitting hydrostatic and pneumatic pressure, constructed in the
manuer herein-after particularly described, andillustratedintheaccompanying
Drawings.
Around the piston
of which bears
Figure 1 represents. in vertical section, an instrument or apparatus, con-
structed according to my Invention, for closing a valve or damper by the
pressure of the steam in a steam boiler. It consists of a piston a working
loosely in a cylinder; a rod c from the said piston passes through and works
loosely in a hole in the closed top d of the cylinder b.
rod ca helical or coiled spring e is placed, the lower end
against the piston and the upper end bears against the top of the cylinderb.
a tube of vulcanized caoutchouc f surrounds the piston rod c and spring c.and
is secured at bottom to the piston a, and at top to the cap d. closing the end
of the cylinder b. The pressure of the steam in the interior of the cylinder
raises the piston a and piston rod until the resistance of the springe balances
the pressure upon the piston a. The caoutchouc tube facts as a packing
without friction, and permits of the motion of the pistona under the slightest
pressure. The top of the piston rod c acts upon the quadrant or sector g, in
the manner which will be understood by reference to the Drawing. The said
quadrant or sector y operates through the pinion and pulley i upon the
damper or valve chain. The piston rod c may be weighted by a lever and
weight m, so as not to rise until the pressure exceeds that of the weight mon
the rod.
Figure 2 represents. in elevation, and Figure 3, iu vertical section, a modi-
fication of my Invention. In this modification n is the caoutchouc tube,
situated within the coiled or helical spring o; the said caoutchouc tube is tied
at its upper end to the rod p. and secured at bottom to the tube 7; the
whole of the parts described being contained in the said tube W which screws
on to the top of the cylinder s. The pressure of steam, air, or water in the
cylinder s raises the rod, and with it the rack t, which acts through a pinion
on a pulley and damper cliain, as herein-before explained.
Figure 4 represents, in elevation, and Figure 5, in vertical section, the
application of my Invention to a thermometer. is a chamber or reservoir,

page_text: filled. with any gaseous or liquid substance, and closed after having been
filled with a screw plug at '; c is a caoutchouc tube situated in the coiled
spring a. The bottom end of the tube w is connected by means of a chain y,
with the index finger working on the dial 1.
Figures 6 and 7 represent. in elevation, the application of my Invention to
the opening and closing of windows or valves of hot-houses, conservatories, or
rooms when the temperature of the same rises above or falls below the
desired point. The cylinders 2, 3, are reservoirs filled with water.similar in
The
every respect, excepting size, with the reservoir », Figures 4 and 5.
rods 4, 5, are connected with parts similar to those represented in Figures 1,
3, and 5, and to which the sector g, rack t, and chain y are respectively
connected. The rising or falling of the rods 4 and 5 effects the opening or
closing of the windows or valves through the rols or lines 6, 7.
When using my Invention as a pump. I use it in the manner which I will
illustrate in reference to Figure 1. If all the parts above the top of the
cylinder were removed and a handle were connected with the top of the rod c,
then by raising and depressing the rode by hand or otherwise the capacity of
the cylinder would be alternately increased or diminished,and by connecting
with the cylinder 6 the valves commonly employed in a lifting and forcing
pump the apparatus would be converted into a lifting and forcing pump.
Figure S represents in detail, in vertical section. the method which I prefer
to employ in connecting india-rubber tubing to pistons. S is a flange on the
.piston rod.
On the screwed bottom of the piston rod the piston 10, in two
parts, is screwed, as represented; the india-rubber tube 11 being secured
between the flange 8 and the upper flange of the piston 10. Washers 12, 12,
occupy the space between the two flanges of the piston.
My Invention may be applied to the construction of pressure guages, sufety
valves, thermometers, pumps, and machines in general whore pressure has to
be transmitted, or where the motion of a piston in a cylinder with a minimum
amount of friction is required.
Elaving now described the nature of my said Invention, and the mauner of
carrying the same into effect, I. wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my said Invention; but
I claim as my Invention the new or improved instrument or apparatus for
transmitting hydrostatic and pneumatic pressure, herein-before described,and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, an instrument or
apparatus in which a piston or moveable part works loosely in a cylinder
r fixed part, the two parts being connected by a tube of caoutchouc sup-

page_text: ported within or without with a helical coil of wire, and the application of
the same to pressure guages, safety valves, thermometers, pumps, and other
like machines.
In wituess whereof, I, the said James Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.
JAMES WEBSTER. (L.S.)