IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND HAND PUMPS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Burnet Robins, of No. 1, Upper Gordon
Street, Euston Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND HAND PUMPS."
Sealed the 29th August 1871, and dated the 14th March 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Burnet Robins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th March 1871:
I, WILLIAM BURNET ROBINS, of No. 1, Upper Gordon Street,
Euston Square, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND HAND
PUMPS," to be as follows:-
:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in portable and hand
pumps, and relates especially to instruments made with a plunger in
lieu of a piston and with the outlet through such plunger as is described
in the Specification of the Patent granted to me and dated the Ninth
of April One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, No. 1196.

page_text: I construct the stuffing boxes of such portable or hand pumps in the
following manner:-The upper end of the cylinder is surmounted by
a box suitably constructed for the reception of a flat leather washer.
It has a circular internal shoulder on which the washer is placed, and it
is open at the front end for its insertion. The flat leather washer is cut
The
out of such diameter as to fit snugly down on to this shoulder.
diameter of the hole cut through the centre of the leather is somewhat
less than that of the hollow plunger which is to be passed through it.
The leather thus pressed down to its bed on the box shoulder is next
firmly clamped down thereon by a tubular screw working into a corre-
sponding internal screw thread cut on the inner surface of the box
above the shoulder. The lower portion of the box between its base where
it joins the cylinder and the shoulder on which the leather rests is flared
outwardly, so that the diameter of the box at the shoulder is considerably
greater than at its base. The flat leather washer being thus at its rim
firmly clamped the end of the plunger is pushed through the central
hole in the leather. By so doing the leather washer is raised from the
flat to a conical form. In this condition a backward and forward
movement of the plunger would roll up, displace, and destroy the
leather, and cause speedy leakage and air admission. To prevent
these effects I employ an adjustable screw supporting ring which
surrounds the plunger and fills out and sustains the distended part of
the leather above described. The flat leather is thus held firmly in
good position for securing a durable water and air tight joint without
any need of being shaped before it is applied. During the inward
stroke of the plunger the water pressure supplementing the central grip
of the leather around the plunger supports the leather, and during the
outward stroke it is supported by the supporting ring. The ring is also
formed at its front or outer end into a cup shape around the plunger
for pouring in lubricating oil, and its interior is scooped out and cut
away to form therein a central chamber from which the oil that has
found its way thereto from the cup readily passes on to the leather but
cannot readily flow back again to the external cup. I sometimes fill the
chamber with sponge or other equivalent porous oil-holding material for
more complete retention of the oil and lubrication of both the plunger
and the leather. The projections to limit the outward stroke of the
plunger I construct with an external screw thread working into an
internal screw in the plunger end or into a more solid lining tube inserted
therein, which lining tube I usually shape at its central and upper parts

page_text: so as to form in one and the same piece of metal the outlet valve bed
and box. Sometimes I construct the upper end of the plunger tube
under the handle with a separable screw joint. The short section of
smaller tubing on which the handle is placed projects back a short
distance into the fore end of the plunger tube and is screwed into the
said open end or into a more solid metal lining placed in it. These
parts form with the base cup separating the handle and the plunger
tube a close socket or bed for the entrance of the plunger end.
In double-acting instruments I place along the axis of the cylinder
a metal rod which is attached to or passes through a central hole in the
stop plate of the inlet valve and is fixed to the inlet valve. On the rod
above the stop plate I place a spiral spring. The forward part of the
rod passes through the piston, which being screwed off from the piston
forcing tube the latter can be taken out of the cylinder. The outlet
valve I place within this removable piston so that the rod slides back-
wards and forwards through the valve when the piston forcing tube
is moved. The internal rod may be applied to single-acting instruments,
and in this case a knob upon it serves as the stop to limit the stroke of
the plunger. I sometimes omit the stop on the plunger end, and I
affix to the plunger half of the machine a socket to receive a flexible
cord or chain passing to a like socket on the cylinder half of the instru-
ment. I sometimes use an clastic ligature, by preference made partially
or wholly of vulcanized caoutchouc. I so arrange it that an ample
outward stroke unimpeded by a distension of the ligature precedes the
projectile effect of the succeeding distension, which effect being thus:
superadded to the ejecting force of the pull action projects the water to.
a great distance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said William Burnet Robins in the Great, Seal Patent,
Office on the 14th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,.. I; WILLIAM
BURNET ROBINS, of No. 1, Upper Gordon Street,, Euston Square, in the:
County of Middlesex, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Burnet Robins, Her special
licence that I, the said William Burnet Robins, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Burnet
Robins, 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 Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PORTABLE AND HAND PUMPS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Burnet Robins, my exc-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
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 same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Burnet Robins, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in portable and hand
pumps, and relates more especially to instruments made with a plunger
in lieu of a piston and with the outlet through such plunger, as is
described in the Specification of the Patent granted to me and dated
the Ninth day of April One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight,
No. 1196.
I construct the stuffing boxes of portable and hand pumps in the
following manner:-The upper end of the cylinder is surmounted by a
box suitably constructed for the reception of a flat leather washer; it
has a circular internal shoulder on which the washer is placed, and it is.
open at the front end for its insertion. The flat leather washer is cut
out of such diameter as to fit snugly down on to this shoulder. The
diameter of the hole cut through the centre of the leather is somewhat
less than that of the hollow plunger which is to be passed through
it. The leather thus pressed down to its bed on the box shoulder is
next firmly clamped down thereon by a tubular screw working into a

page_text: corresponding internal screw thread cut on the inner surface of the box,
above the shoulder. The flat leather washer being thus at its rim
firmly clamped the end of the plunger is pushed through the central hole
in the leather. By so doing the leather washer is raised from the flat
to a conical form. In this condition a backward and forward movement
of the plunger would roll up, displace, and destroy the leather, and
cause speedy leakage and air admission. To prevent these effects I
employ an adjustable screw supporting ring which surrounds the
plunger and fills out and sustains the distended part of the leather
above described. The flat leather is thus held firmly in good position
for securing a durable water and air-tight joint without any need of
being shaped before it is applied. During the inward stroke of the
plunger the water pressure supplementing the central grip of the leather
around the plunger supports the leather, and during the outward stroke
it is supported by the supporting ring. This ring is also formed at its
front or outer end into a cup shape around the plunger for pouring
in lubricating oil, and its interior is scooped out and cut away to form
therein a central chamber, from which the oil that has found its way
thereto from the cup readily passes on to the leather, but cannot readily
flow back again to the external cup. I sometimes fill the chamber with
sponge or other equivalent porous oil-holding material for more com-.
plete retention of the oil and lubrication of both the plunger and tho.
leather.
a is:
A longitudinal section of the stuffing box is shewn in Figure 1.
a portion of the plunger, and is part of the cylinder or barrel of the
instrument; c is, a box fixed upon the barrel to receive the leather.
packing ring or washer d. This washer when first placed in the box
is flat, and the hole through it is one-eighth of an inch less than the
diameter of the plunger. The washer takes the form which the Drawing:
shews when the plunger is thrust through it. e is a screw ring which
clamps the leather washer against the shoulder in the box c; f is the
supporting ring which keeps the leather washer in form during the
outstroke of the plunger and prevents it being turned inside out or
becoming inverted. It is made of a conical or convex shape the better
to support the leather; g is a screw cap which presses down the sup-.
porting ring and retains it in its place; f¹ is a prolongation of the:
supporting ring which serves as an oil cup, and also as a stop to limit,
the inward stroke of the plunger; f is a cavity containing the lip of

page_text: the leather ring d. I sometimes omit the separate screw clamping
ring e, its duty then being performed by a flange f³ upon the supporting
ring as shown in Figure 2. The oil cup and chamber in the pro-
longation f¹ of the supporting ring I also sometimes omit.
Another part of my Invention relates to the construction of the inner
end of the plunger. The plunger of hand pumps of this description has
heretofore been so constructed that, the plunger could not be drawn out
of the stuffing box or gland on the cylinder or barrel and removed, there
being fixed projections on the inner end of the plunger to guide it and
limit the stroke. The projections to limit the outward stroke of the
plunger I now construct with an external screw thread working into an
internal screw in the plunger end, or into a more solid lining tube
inserted therein, which lining tube I usually shape at its central and
upper parts so as to form in one and the same piece of metal the outlet
valve, bed, and box. By thus making the stop projections removable a
close fitting leather or gland can be placed on a plunger.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of a hand pump in which the
plunger is thus constructed. a is the plunger, and at its inner end a
thicker lining tube a' is inserted into it and soldered in its place. The:
lining tube forms the box for the ball delivery valve h; it is kept near its
seat by a pin a², which also aids in securing the lining tube a' in the end
of the plunger a. The lining tube is formed with an internal screw
thread to receive the piece i, having the guide stops i¹, i¹, formed upon:
it. The parts are screwed firmly together by means of a turnscrew
inserted into the notches k. The removable piece i may be made with
the screw thread cut on its interior surface in place of its exterior, and
screw on to the plunger end, or on to the end of its more solid lining
tube, made to project for the purpose. Sometimes I construct the
upper end of the plunger tube under the handle with a separable screw
joint for getting a leather or gland to its place in a stuffing box. The
short section of smaller tubing on which the handle is placed projects
back a short distance into the fore end of the plunger tube, and is
screwed into the said open end, or into. a more solid metal lining placed
in it. These parts form with the base cap separating the handle and the
plunger tube a close socket or bed for the entrance of the plunger end.
In some cases I employ an internal rod to limit the stroke of the
.plunger. Such an arrangement is shewn at Figure 3, where 1 is a rod
fixed to the suction valve m, and passing through the delivery valve h,

page_text: and also through the pin or stop a²; l¹ is a knob at the upper end of the
rod, which serves as a stop to the plunger by coming against the
stop a when the plunger is drawn out to its full extent; n is a leather
washer on the rod 1, to insure an air-tight joint between the rod and the
› valve / during the outward stroke.
Also according to my Invention I in some cases dispense with the
stops at the inner end of the plunger, and substitute an exterior flexible
ligature stop, an arrangement which enables me to reduce the size of the
barrel, the plunger then fitting it as nearly as is compatible with casy
motion. I construct the machine with suitable sockets, eyes, hooks,
grooves, or their equivalents for applying and working the ligature
stop.
Figure 4 is a section of a hand pump thus made. The valve scat i
has no external projection, and the stroke of the plunger is limited by a
cord o; it passes through two eyes p and q, the one on the plunger and
the other on the barrel, and knots on the cord which cannot pass through
the eyes prevent the plunger moving outwards beyond its proper stroke.
The eye on the barrel may be made with a side slot. By pulling the
cord laterally through this slot it is detached, and the plunger may be
wholly withdrawn from the barrel; is a hook, on which a loop of tho
cord is placed to hold the plunger in the barrel when the instrument is
not in use. In addition to the cord o a cord of india-rubber may be
similarly attached, so as to be extended in the outward stroke, and to
aid by its contraction the inward stroke by which the jet of water
is thrown.
The above-described stuffing box, removable stop piece, separable
screw joint, rod stop, and flexible ligature stop I apply also to portable
pumps constructed with a platform base to rest on the ground, as well as
to instruments held in the hand.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that
I claim,―
First. The construction of the stuffing box of plunger, hand, and
portable pumps, substantially as described in respect to Figures 1 and 2
of the annexed Drawings.
Second: The construction of the inner end of a plunger with a re-
movable stop piece, substantially as described in respect to Figure 2 of

page_text: the annexed Drawings. Also the construction of the outer end of a
plunger with a separable screw joint, substantially as described.
Third. The methods of limiting the outward stroke of a plunger,
substantially as described in respect to Figures 3 and 4 of the annexed
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Burnet Robins, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-
one.
WILLIAM BURNET ROBINS. (L.S.)