IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Webster, of 22, Bunbill Row, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS."-
A communication from Ambrose Tower, of New York.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Webster at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd
July 1856.
I, WILLIAM WEBSTER, of 22, Bunbill Row, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PUMPS" (a communication) to be as follows:-
To construct and operate the improved pump I employ two barrels with
plungers working through stuffing boxes. Connecting rods are attached to
the bottom of the plungers. If the packing in the stuffing boxes become
loose, it is easily tightened by screws without removing the plungers. The
passage of the water or other matters through the pump is effected in the
usual manner, and I employ elastic ball valves, which fit their seats closely,
and in conjunction with projecting seats and ebbed water-ways will operate
freely and without choaking.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Webster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WEBSTER, of 22, Bunhill Row, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, 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 William
Webster, Her special license that I, the said William Webster, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Webster, my
exccutors, administrators, or 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 PUMPS," a cominunication
from Ambrose Tower, of New York, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Webster, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and scal, 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 William Webster, do hereby declaro 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
The said Invention relates to an improved construction and arrangement
of pump, serving all the purposes of the ordinary lift and force pump, and
applicable as an effective fire engine if found requisite.
The improvements consist in the employment of projecting or raised
circular valve seats in combination with elastic ball or spherical valves, which
fit on to their seats closely, and operate freely without danger of choking,
since the projection of the valve seats effectually prevents such an occurrence.
In constructing a pump, according to this Invention, I employ either one or
more pump barrels, as found desirable, with or without an air vessel, each
barrel being fitted, if found desirable, with a plunger, working through a
stuffing box, capable of being tightened up to any desired extent with facility,

page_text: without in any way deranging the pump. A connecting rod may be jointed
to the bottom of each plunger, and connected at its other end with a lever
or vibrating beam, working on a fixed centro on the top of the air vessel, to
which beam may be attached the handles for working the pumps. The
passage of water or other matters through the pump is effected in the usual
manner of lift and force pumps.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I
shall refer to the figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout both
figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a completo side elevation of the
improved pump; and Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same
taken through the centres of the pump barrels. A, A, are two pump barrels,
situated on opposite sides of the air vessel B. The plungers C, C, which aro
nearly of the same diameter as the barrels of the pumps, are made hollow or
in the form of trunks, and in place of carrying packing to fit the interior of
the pump barrels, they are packed tightly by passing through the stuffing
boxes D, D, at the top of the pump barrels, by which means the packing
may easily be tightened without removing tho plungers. I may here observe,
however, that I lay no claim to any particular form or arrangement of
plungers, but the arrangement I have herein-before described I have found
most convenient in practise. The connecting rods E, E, are jointed at F, F,
to the bottoms of the plungers, and are jointed at their upper ends to the
vibrating lever G, which works on a fixed centre H on the top of the air
vessel, and may be driven by hand or by power, as found most convenient.
It is proposed to make the plungers of brass or other alloy not liable to
oxidation from sea water, so that the pump may be found applicable on
board ship as a bilge or head pump. I is tho supply pipo; and J, J, are
branch water-ways leading to the two elastic ball or spherical foot valves K, K.
These valves may either be composed of solid india-rubber, or of metal, or
any other suitable material, covered over or enclosed in a casing of india-
rubber or other suitable elastic or flexible material. The valve seats L, L,
are raised considerably above the level of the water-ways, the water or other
liquid having to pass through the valve and then to ebb or flow down the
outside of the valve seat, by which arrangement tho liability to clogging or
choking is obviated, since there is no space afforded for the lodgment of any
foreign solid matter which the water may contain upon the valve or seat,
and as the valve seat is raised considerably, any solid matter which has passed

page_text: through the valve will be prevented from returning back again or becoming
deposited in the opening of the valve. In consequence of the elasticity of the
balls they always fit their seats closely, and as the rush of water at each
stroke imparts a rotatory motion to the balls, the points of contact between
the valves and their seats are continually changing; bence an even and very
slight wear of the valve takes place. M, M, are wires for preventing the
balls from rising too far from their scats. The water-ways N, N, conduct
the water to the second set of valves O, O, opening into the air vessel. These
valves and their seats are similar in every respect to those herein-before
described, the wires M', M', controlling the motion of the balls. A hose P
can be screwed on to the lower part of the air vessel when used as a fire
engine. The air vessel being supplied alternately from the two pump barrels
by working the lever G.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the application and use to and in pumps of clastic spherical or ball
valves, composed either of solid india-rubber or other suitable clastic material,
or of any suitable material for a nucleus, enclosed in an india-rubber or other
clastic casing, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use to and in pumps of raised valve seats, as
herein-before described.
Third, the application and use to and in pumps of spherical or ball valves,
composed as herein-before described, in combination with raised valve seats,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Webster, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Seventh day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM WEBSTER. (L.S.)