IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEAM PUMPS."
A communication from abroad by William Gooderham, the younger, of
Toronto. in the Dominion of Canada. Gentleman.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th November 1878.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of.
Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN STEAM PUMPS." A communication from abroad by William Gooderham,
the younger, of Toronto, in the Dominion of Canada, Gentleman.
The Invention consists of a peculiarly, constructed injector pump so designed that
a small quantity of steam will raise a large body of water. The Invention
is more specially intended for filling locomotive tenders or tanks, and for that pur-
pose is supplied with suitable pipes and couplings. The improvements are to be
performed by the action of a steam jet producing a vacuum within a vessel of
chamber attached to suitable pipes in communication with the tender or tank at
one end, and a well, river, or reservoir of water at the other. The vessel is spheri-
cally shaped, and of metal, furnished with inlet and outlet ports, steam pipe, and
suction and discharge pipes.

page_text: In all injectors with which I am familiar the amount of steam required to raise a
given quantity of water is so excessive as to render them impracticable for lifting a
large body of water in a limited space of time.
As my injector is designed for a service in which time is a main object, and
economy in steam necessary, all the details in its construction have been directed
toward accomplishing the desired ends. The injector itself is formed by a spheri-
cally shaped vessel A, having an inlet port bas nearly opposite to the outlet port d
as the required position of the steam pipe a permits, the said steain pipe being
relatively of small diameter, and projecting within the vessel A beyond the entrance
of the port b.
This arrangement of the ports b and d and steam pipe a permits the free passage
of the water, and does not, as in other injectors, present any angle or obstruction to
check the velocity of the water passing through. Consequently, as the full effect of
the velocity is retained, the amount of steam necessary is considerably lessened, the
desired effect being further assisted by the steam pipe a projecting within the
vessel A beyond the port b.
The requisite vacuum is thus better maintained. The pipe B is attached to the
port d, and connects the injector to the tank C. The jet a is supplied with steam
from the boiler D by the pipe E, which is furnished with a cock F placed in any
suitable position convenient for the driver in charge of the locomotive. In Figure 1
I show the suction pipe G coupled to the inlet port b, and an elbow pipe H, which
leads into a tank I below the level of the rails.
This latter pipe is optional, as the suctional pipe G could be lengthened and made
to serve the whole purpose. I prefer, however, using an elbow-pipe H as a per-
manent fixture to ground tanks or wells when used.
Although it will, of course, be adviseable to provide frost proof tanks at convenient
points of the road, one of the many advantages of my Invention is that in case of
necessity the locomotive can draw water for the tender from an adjacent river or
well, the distance being regulated by the length of the suction-hose supplied, and

page_text: the law of pneumatics which governs the height to which water can be raised by
atmospheric pressure.
The joint employed to connect the detachable suction pipe G is of novel construc-
tion, and was designed with the view of making an air tight joint capable of
instantanious connection and disconnection. The said joint is formed by a tapered
nozzle fitting into a socket g bored out to a corresponding taper, and having a
rubber ring inserted into a groove, as shewn in Figure 4.
In the commencement of the description I refer to the fact that my water
elevator can be attached permanently to a stationary tank. This arrangement I do
not think necessary to exhibit in the Drawing, as any mechanic seeing the applica-
tion illustrated will understand how to apply it. I may merely state that the tapered
joint herein described is employed in connecting the discharge pipe. When a rail-
way is already equiped with elevated tanks it may in some instances be thought
undesireable to incur the expense of building underground tanks.
In such cases I
advise the adoption of my water elevator permanently attached to the locomotive
and tender, as illustrated in Figure 1, the only addition necessary being an
auxilliary discharge pipe K (in dotted lines); this pipe may be carried on the
locomotive, or each water station can be provided with one. This auxilliary
discharge pipe K has attached to its straight end a short piece of rubber pipe holding
a nozzle (Figure 4), which can be slipped into a socket g made in the discharge
pipe B.
The rubber pipe referred to permits ready adjustment of the connection between
the two pipes B and K, which, when made, and the pipe K properly directed,
conveys the water to the elevated tank instead of into the tender. The elbow or
turn pipe B is fitted into the socket g formed in the end of the pipe B when the
pipe K is not so connected. The other end of this elbo pipe B₁ connected with
the tank C, and is pivoted thereon, a rubber or ground joint being formed between
the two.
The foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying Drawing,
is sufficient to enable any engineer to understand the application and operation of
my Invention.
I will therefore merely add that the steam rushing through the
jet a produces a vacuum in the injector A; causing the water to rush through the
pipe B into the tank C, the water thus supplied being of course raised in tempera-
ture by the steam which accompanies it.
It is not necessary to specify the dimensions or the material used, as the know-
ledge of the purpose for which the Invention is used will enable any competent
engineer to determine them. But I wish particular notice to be taken of the
position in which the elevator is placed, as the successful working of the apparatus
is in a great measure influenced thereby.
All water elevators with which I am familiar discharge a vertical stream direct
from the mouth of the vessel, and as a consequence the steam employed in raising
water has to act against the dead weight of the column of water the moment it
enters the body of the vessel or injector, and therefore, apart from other reasons, a
much greater quantity of steam is consumed in injectors of this description than is
required to raise the same voluine of water by my water elevator, which discharges
its contents through a horizontal pipe or neck sufficiently long to permit the water
to get well away from the steam jet before commencing its ascent.
I have described my Invention as used in the water service of railways, having
been designed specially for this purpose, but of course it may be employed in any
service it is applicable to. I have also spoken of the water being discharged through
a horizontal pipe, but I do not wish it to be understood that the pipe must be
absolutely horizontal, but sufficiently so to allow the water discharged to maintain
its velocity after leaving the injector.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,—
1. A horizontal water elevator arranged so that the velocity of the water rushing
into the vacuum produced within the vessel by the action of the steam jet is not

page_text: checked until after it leaves the body of the said elevator, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
2. Permanently attached to a locomotive, an injector arranged as described, for
the purpose of filling the locomotive water tank.
3. A spherically shaped vessel A, having inlet and outlet ports and a steam pipe,
all arranged as described, and provided with suitable suction and discharge pipes,
combined with a locomotive boiler for the purpose of raising water to the locomotive
tank, substantially as set forth.
4. An injector permanently connected to a stationary tank, and provided with a
detachable discharge pipe connected by a nozzle and a socket joint, as described, in
combination with a locomotive and its tank C, as specified.
5. An injector having a suction pipe provided with a joint constructed as
described, and a tender supply pipe and connections combined with and arranged
in relation to a locomotive boiler, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
6. An auxilliary pipe K connected to the discharge pipe B by a nozzle and socket
joint as described, and arranged in connection with an injector A, as and for the
purpose specified.
7. A socket g, provided with a rubber ring h, in combination with a tapered
nozzle f, forming an easily detached air tight joint for the purpose specified.
8. An injector A, having an inlet port 6 nearly opposite to the outlet port d, as
the required position of the steam pipe a will permit, the said steam pipe being
relatively of small diameter, and projecting within the vessel A beyond the entrance
of the port b, as illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twelfth day of May, A.D. 1879.