CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR RAISING AND FORCING FLUIDS
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WHITE, of Noel Street, Islington, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Second day of March, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
White, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles White, my exors, aduiors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles White, my exors, adñors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of Her
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR RAISING AND FORCING FLUIDS;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said
Charles White, shall cause a particular description of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, under my hand and seal,
to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 a side elevation of my improved
machine for raising and forcing fluids. A, A, is a fixed rising main, of any
suitable form and dimensions, having an enlarged cylindrical base, within
which a short cylinder B fits, so as to slide freely up and down. Attached to
the lower end of the cylinder B is a conical or other shaped chamber C,
having a valve D at its base. The construction of this valve is herein-after
described. e, e, e, e, are forked slings, the lower ends of which are attached to
the conical valve chamber C, while the upper end is connected with a crank
or eccentric, to which a rapid rotary motion is communicated from any suitable
prime mover. The rapid alternating movement thus given to the valve raises
the water or other fluid in which it is immersed, and forces it in a continuous
stream up the rising main A, A, with a velocity proportioned to the momentum
communicated to the valve chamber. The ascending power given to the
column of water in the rising main causes a fresh quantity of fluid to pass
through the openings in the valve during its descent, which fluid is forced
upward by the returning stroke of the valve, and an additional impetus
thereby imparted to the uprising column, thus causing a constant stream to
issue from the nosel E. I find it most advantageous to work the neck of the
valve chamber within the base, of the rising main. It may, however, be
effectively worked upon the exterior of the same; or the valve only may work
within the fixed base of the rising main. I prefer to move the valve through
a space of not more than two inches, and work it at a speed of about two
hundred strokes per minute; but I do not confine myself to either of these
limits, as both may sometimes be varied with advantage according to circum-
stances. When the lift is short, and the rising main perpendicular, the valve
may be worked by a single rod passing internally down the rising main, and
attached to the centre of the valve or otherwise, in lieu of the forked slings.
But if the whole power is situated below the point at which 'the water or other

page_text: fluid is to be delivered, I employ the forked slings, and deflect the rising main,
so as to pass up clear of the crank throw. Figure 3 is a plan of one form of
my improved valves, which I call the gridiron valve. It consists of two parts,
the base and the rising bars or covers, both of which may be of a circular,
oval, or other convenient form. In the base of the valve there are a number
of openings f,f,ff, each of which are closed by a separate bar or cover.
These bars or covers are retained in their places by two pins, placed one
at each end, which guide and limit their movement. Figure 4 shews. the
upper surface of one of the bars or covers detached; and Figure 5 is a side or
edge view of the same, shewing the form and position of the guiding pins and
stops. Figure 6 is a plan, and Figure 7 a vertical section of another of my
improved valves, which I call the annular or concentric valve. There are two
rings of metal g, h, which project a little way above the general surface or
table of the valve, and enclose an annular orifice, which constitutes the water-
way through the valve, when the cover i is raised from off the rings g, h. The
cover i works freely upon a guide pin; which rises centrically from the base of
the valve. In cases where the annular cover i cannot conveniently rise upon
a central guide pin, the cover may be guided and retained in its place by pins
passing down through the base, as in the case of the gridiron valve, shewn in
Figure 5. In some cases it may be convenient to employ a circular valve,
with two or more annular openings and covers, in which case the covers will
be guided and held by descending pins, as in Figure 5. In each of these
valves the rise of the covers is limited to one fourth of an inch, and the water
passages so arranged as to be fully equal in the aggregate to the capacity of
the rising main.
Note, that though I have shewn and described my improved valves, as
employed in the apparatus for raising and forcing fluids secured to me by the
before-recited Letters Patent, these valves are applicable to and may be used
with great advantage in all kinds of hydraulic machinery wherein valves are
ordinarily employed.
What I claim as my Invention is,
Firstly, the mode of raising and forcing fluids in fixed tubes by momentum
imparted to such fluid by the rapid pulsations of a valve, as herein-before
described.
Secondly, I claim the machinery for raising and forcing fluids, as herein
described and shewn in Figures 1 and 2.
Thirdly, I claim as my Invention the peculiar form of valve for hydraulic
machinery, which I call the gridiron valve, herein-before described and shewn
in Figures 3, 4, and 5.