IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Wood, of 14, Rumford Street, Oxford Street,
Manchester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL
MACHINES."
Sealed the 15th September 1854, and dated the 7th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Wood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
April 1854.
I, THOMAS Woon, of 14, Rumford Street, Oxford Street, Manchester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES" to be as follows:-
I construct and arrange apparatus, consisting of moveable wedges or other
equivalent mechanism, by means of which the basket or drum in centrifugal
machines is made to change in position on the shaft in order to equalize the
weight revolving round it. I also arrange vessels on the drums of centrifugal
machines capable of holding water or other liquid, and adapt an arrangement
of springs or other suitable apparatus in a position to be acted upon by the want
of balance in the load of centrifugal machines, by ineaus of which I am enabled
to determine which of the particular vessels requires filling to produce the
desired balance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WOOD, of 14, Rumford Street, Oxford Street, Manchester, Engineer, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Wood, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Wood,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Wood, my executors, administrators, and 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
CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Wood, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be perforined, 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 Thomas Wood, 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 state-
ment:-
My Invention has for its object the balancing or steadying the cylinders of
centrifugal machines or hydro extractors when the same are in motion. The
different methods I adopt for accomplishing this object will be understood from
the following description thereof, and the Drawings hereunto annexed. Figure
1 is a sectional elevation of a machine, shewing one method for balancing the
cylinders; and Figure 2, a plan of the dome and boss, shewing the wedges. A
is the cylinder or basket; a', the dome, in the centre of which a boss a² is fixed;
B, the goods in the basket; C, C, is a shaft, by means of which the basket
revolves; d', d², d³, d*, are 4 keys or wedges, moving in grooves cut in the boss
a². The keys d' and d² are connected to the catch box or block F by means
of the rods G, G. The keys d³, d, are connected to the catch box L by
means of the jointed rods j, j. The levers K, K, are to elevate and depress
the rods and keys by means of the screws 1, l. Thus, supposing the basket to
be heaviest loaded on the side marked 6, the keys d¹ and d² would require
to be elevated, thus drawing the heaviest side of the basket nearer to the shaft,
the hole in the boss being much larger than the shaft, (as shewn,) to allow of
the basket moving. As the machine will be found to vibrate considerably if
one side of the cylinder be heavier loaded than the other, the workman will

page_text: under such circumstances elevate two of the keys by means of the screws, and
will immediately find that the working of the machines is either improved or
made worse, and will thus be able to determine which of the wedges require
altering.
Another plan I adopt to produce the same effect is, by introducing water or
other suitable liquid into vessels fixed on the cylinder. Figure 3 is a sectional
elevation of a cylinder, shewing this part of my Invention; and Figure 4, a
plan of the separate chambers. A is the pan carrying the centre piece B,
forming the top bearing of the spindle b' of a centrifugal machine; C is a dome
fixed to the spindle b', carrying the cylinder D; c', c, c³, c', are circular troughs
fixed in the inside of the dome C; c, c, c, c³, are pipes for conducting the
water from the troughs into the distinct chambers d', d², d³, d, formed on the
bottom of the cylinder D; e', e², e, e, are pipes fixed to the centre piece B,
and projecting into the troughs, as shewn, for the purpose of conducting water
from the outside of the machine into any of the separate chambers found in
working to require the same. When the machine is brought to a state of
rest the water thrown into the chambers will run out of its own accord. The
particular chamber into which water is to be introduced for the purpose of
balancing the machine will be determined by the effect produced by letting
water into one of the chambers.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same may be performed, I declare that what I claim as of the said
Invention is,―
First, the employment of wedges for the purpose of varying the centre of
gravity of the cylinders of centrifugal machines, and also for altering and fixing
the position of the cylinder in relation to the shaft for the purpose of balancing
the same.
And second, the employment of liquids, introduced at the discretion of the
workman into distinct chambers on the cylinders of centrifugal machines, for
the purpose of balancing the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Wood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty four
THOMAS WOOD. (L.S.)
Witness,
THOS. W. HARRISON.