AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armand Gilbee, Trading under the
Name or Style of L. de Fontainemorcau, of the General Patent
Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
RAISING WATER." -A communication from abroad by Jan Barend
Hendrik Van Royen, of Utrecht, in the Kingdom of Holland.
Sealed the 1st June 1869, and dated the 8th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Armand Gilbee
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th March 1869.
I, WILLIAM ARMAND GILBEE, Trading under the Name or Style of
L. de Fontainemoreau, of the General Patent Office, 4, South Street,
Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING
WATER," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved apparatus
for raising water, so-called a pump wheel. This pump wheel consists
of one or two hollow cylinders closed to the water and furnished with

page_text: a small number of paddles. It is suspended on its shaft and enclosed
between three walls of masonry, so as to form a partition separating
directly the up water from the down water. In turning on its shaft
the circumference of its outer cylinder forms the moveable side of a
pump body, the three other sides formed by the masonry being fixed,
thus forming a pump with rotary pistons, which, without pipes, valves,
or other accessories, drives the down water into the up water without
any unnecessary elevation, whatever be the levels and the speed of
the wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Armand Gilbee in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ARMAND GILBEE, Trading under the Name or Style of L. de Fontaine-
moreau, of the General Patent Office, 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Armand Gilbee, Her special
licence that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Armand
Gilbee, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING WATER" (a communication to
him from abroad by Jan Barend Hendrik Van Royen, of Utrecht, in the
Kingdom of Holland), upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Armand Gilbee, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under or their, or one of their hands 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
,

page_text: 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 Armand Gilbee, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same.
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained: in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the construction of
improved apparatus for raising water, so-called pump wheels, which
are driven by steam, wind, or by other motive power, and propel the
water through a channel or chase of an improved form from the lower
to the higher level. This apparatus or pump consists of a wheel fur-
nished with one or more hollow cylinders, closed or not to the water,
and with a number of paddles or arms. It is suspended on its shaft and
enclosed between three walls or partitions of masonry or other suitable
material, and separates directly the up water from the down water when
no valve is placed before the wheel on the side of the up water. In
turning on its shaft the circumference of its outer cylinder forms the
moveable side or partition of a pump body; the three other sides formed
by the masonry are fixed, thus forming a pump with rotatory pistons,
which, without pipes, valves, or other accessories, raises the down water
into the up water without any unnecessary elevation, whatever be the
levels and the speed of the wheel.
To make the Invention better understood I will now proceed to
describe the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is an elevation partly in section, and Figure 2 a plan partly in
section of the improved apparatus or pump wheel.
The wheel consists of a hollow cylinder C, C, strengthened by the
curved ribs C, C¹, or by straight ribs; this cylinder can be closed at its
two ends h, h, and i, i, as shewn, so that the water can only enter by
leakage. The cylinder, or drum thus formed is furnished with arms or
blades k, k, which may be straight or curved and turns on the shaft D,
to which the ribs C', C', are fixed by solid spokes 9, g. The shaft D
turns in the bearings D¹, D', let into the two side walls or partitions e
and f, between which the wheel is suspended, being placed above the
lower curved partition a, b.. When the wheel turns it has with its
arms or blades only sufficient play between these three walls or par-

page_text: titions to turn freely, and the wheel itself then forms the partition
which separates the up water from the down water when no valve is
placed between the wheel and the up water or when this valve is
opened. When the wheel revolves on its axis it forms with the three
walls or partitions a rotatory piston pump, the capacity of which (that is
to say, the section of the body of the pump) may be varied at will. It
will thus be seen that the pump body B, Figure 1, of this pump is
curved and has four sides, three of which are fixed and formed by the
three walls or partitions e, f, and a, b, and the fourth side is formed by
the circumference of the cylinder C, C, and is moveable. The elevation
of the extremities a and b of the curved partition a, b, of the pump
body B, should be adapted to the levels of the up water and down water.
It is preferable to make the section c, d, of the pump body B quadran-
gular, other forms may however be adopted. The arms or blades k, k,
form the rotatory pistons which force the down water into the up water
through the pump body B; these arms or blades may be formed and
placed in different manners; their number must be so regulated that
when the wheel turns there must alway be at least one arm or blade in
the pump body B. To increase the size of the pump, that is to say, the
section of the pump body, one or more smaller cylinders E, E, E, can
be constructed in the cylinder C, C; the cylinder E, E, E, is especially
used where the level of the down water may rise to a great height; also
in proportion to the level of the up water, as shewn at 1, 1, 1, 1, Figure 1;
in such cases the exterior cylinder C, C, is taken off the ribs C', C³, the
arms or blades k, k, extend up to the cylinder E, E, E, and the latter
can serve as the moveable partition to the enlarged pump body. When
in such cases the level of the up water is ordinarily sufficiently under the
axis of the wheel, the interior cylinder E, E, E, and the exterior cylinder
C, C, are both unnecessary and need not be constructed. The pump
wheel and the pump body are preferably so constructed that the upper
part of the cylinder is always sufficiently above the level of the highest
up water, and the pump body B is ordinarily completely immersed. The
distance between the walls e and f of the pump body B should increase
immediately behind and before the pump body, that is to say, they
should recede from one another in order to facilitate the arrival of the
water, replacing the water raised, and also the flow of the raised water
into the up water, and in such a manner as to enable the arms or blades
of the pump wheel to pass freely through the up water as soon as they
are beyond the pump body, as shewn in the Drawing. The wheel

page_text: consisting of the cylinders C, C, and E, E, E, in combination with the
arms or blades forms a partition between the down water and up
water even when the levels of the up water are higher than the axis of
the wheel, and this partition allows the down water to be raised above
this axis, as shewn in Figure 1. Instead of this arrangement other
kinds of partitions between the arms or blades of the wheel may he
employed. The arms or blades may also be curved and joined, so that
they may take the place of the cylinders C, C, and E, E, E, and cause
the wheel to form a partition between the up water (whatever may be
its level) and the down water.
Having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to
mc, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein laid down
and shewn in the Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing
from the principle of the Invention, but what I claim and intend to
be protected by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is,-
Firstly. The general arrangement or construction of apparatus for
raising water, consisting of a wheel formed by one or more closed or
open cylinders C, C, and E, E, E, having arms or blades k, k, the said
wheel turning on a shaft in a channel or chase e, f, a, b, the bottom of
which is of a curved form concentric with the wheel, and the sides e, f, of
which chase recede from one another, the whole substantially as herein-
before described and represented in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly. The forming and joining the arms or blades k, k, in such
manner that the cylinders C, C, and E, E, E, may be dispensed with, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armand Gilbee, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Third day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.