Iм- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY BODIES, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO THE LIDS OF GAS PURIFIERS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Holman, of 10), Laurence Pountney
Lane, in the City of London, Engineer, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY BODIES,
Sealed the 15th April 1873, and dated the 13th January 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Holman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th January 1873.
I, STEPHEN HOLMAN, of 10, Lawrence Pountncy Lane, in the City
of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY
BODIES, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO THE LIDS OF GAS PURIFIERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists according to one arrangement as applied for
example to the lifting of the lid of a gas purifier of a hollow ram or
plunger working under a vertical hydraulic cylinder, such ram being
connected at its upper end by pipes or otherwise with a cistern and
pump carried or supported either directly or indirectly by the ram, The

page_text: lid or cover to be lifted is also carried by the ram. By forcing liquid
into the hydraulic cylinder down through the ram the said ram with
its cistern and pump (which may be fitted either directly to the ram or
to the purifier lid) will be raised to any height required, carrying the
lid and operator along with it. If preferred flexible pipes may lead
from the ram to pumps situate in any convenient position. By this
means all connections are made above, and, with the ascending ram,
leaving the cylinder free from any pipe connections.
According to another modification of apparatus also suitable for
lifting the lids of gas purifiers I attach the lid to an outer ram working
in a hydraulic cylinder. An inner ram works within the above mentioned
outer ram and carries at its upper end a load, which may bear any
relative proportion to the weight of the lid or load which is carried by
the outer ram. The areas of the two rams may also bear any relativo
proportion to each other. The lid may be lifted either by increasing
the load on the inner ram or by causing the same to descend in any
convenient manner. By this arrangement all pipes and pumps may
be dispensed with, as the apparatus may be so balanced on the fluid
contained in the hydraulic cylinder (which fluid may be either incom-
pressible or elastic) that by a slight additional power or purchase
applied either to the inner or outer ram or both a preponderance of
weight may be given to either ram at pleasure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Stephen Holman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th July 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
HOLMAN, of 10, Laurence Pountney Lane, in the City of London,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the 36th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Stephen Holman, Her special license that
I, the said Stephen Holman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or

page_text: such others as I, the said Stephen Holman, my executors, administrators
or 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 APPARATUS FOR
RAISING AND LOWERING HEAVY BODIES, PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO THE LIDS
OF GAS PURIFIERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Stephen Holman, my executors or administrators 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 performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Stephen Holman, 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, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:―
My said Invention consists according to one arrangement as applied
for example to the lifting of the lid of a gas purifier of a hollow ram or
plunger working in a vertical hydraulic cylinder, such ram being con-
nected at its upper end by pipes or otherwise with a cistern and pump
carried or supported either directly or indirectly by the ram.
The lid
or cover to be lifted is also carried by the ram. By forcing liquid into
the hydraulic cylinder down through the ram the said ram with its
cistern and pump (which may be fitted either directly to the ram or to
the purifier lid) will be raised to any height required, carrying the lid
and operator along with it. If preferred flexible pipes may lead from
the ram to pumps situate in any convenient position. By this means
all connections are made above, and, with the ascending ram, leaving
the cylinder free from any pipe connections.
According to another modification of apparatus also suitable for
lifting the lids of gas purifiers I attach the lid to an outer ram working
in a hydraulic cylinder. An inner ram works within the above mentioned
outer ram and carries at its upper end a load which may bear any

page_text: relative proportion to the weight of the lid or load which is carried by
the outer ram. The areas of the two rams may also bear any relative
proportion to each other. The lid may be lifted cither by increasing
the load on the inner ram or by causing the same to descend in any
convenient manner. By this arrangement all pipes and pumps may
be dispensed with as the apparatus may be so balanced on the fluid
contained in the hydraulic cylinder (which fluid may be either incom-
pressible or clastic) that by a slight additional power or purchase
applied either to the inner or outer ram or both a preponderance of
weight may be given to either ram at pleasure.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a vertical section of a gas purifier
with one arrangement of my improved raising and lowering apparatus
applied to the lid thereof; and Figure 2 is a corresponding plan of the
central portion of the lid with a part broken away to show the arrange-
ment of cistern and pumps for working the lifting ram. A is the main
body of the gas purifier, which may be of the ordinary construction, and
B is the lid or cover thereof, which in this modification of my Invention
I attach directly to the head of a hydraulic ram a, through the inter-
vention of the platten c formed with a central boss for fitting over the
ram, as is clearly shown in Figure 1. The lid may however be attached
in any other convenient manner to the ram a. This ram works within
a hydraulic cylinder d, which is supported by a flange e, e, resting upon
the top edge of the central hollow column or support f, which is pro-
vided with lugs for the purpose of supporting the purifier shelves, or
the cylinder d may be fitted in any other convenient manner within the
said column f. This column may be provided with a base plate g resting
upon brickwork or masonry, or otherwise secured in position. The
length of the ram and cylinder will depend upon the height to which
the purifier lid is to be elevated, a lift of six to eight feet will in most
cases be found sufficient to afford free access to the interior of the
purifier for the purpose of removing and recharging the same with
purifying material. On the platten c, secured to the head of the ram,
there is mounted a pump or pair of pumps h, h, (Figure 2), which I

page_text: prefer to construct, arrange, and operate in the manner described in the
Specification of my Patent, No. 3428, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, although I do not confine or
restrict myself thereto. Each pump barrel h, h, is connected by a
pipe i, i, with the interior of the upper part of the hollow ram a, such
ram being open at the bottom as shown clearly in Figure 1. The pump
barrels h, h, may either be fitted into the ends of the tank or cistern k,
which should be made of a sufficient capacity to contain the water
requisite for supplying them, as described in the Specification of my
said Patent, such cistern and pumps being either mounted on the
platten c, as shown in Figure 1, or mounted on the top of the purifier
lid; or (and which I prefer) the cistern may be formed by constructing
a water-tight compartment in the lid itself in the space marked 1, 2, 3,
and 4 (Figure 2), or otherwise, and the pumps placed therein, as shewn
in Figures 1 and 2, or in any other convenient manner, a communication
being established between the outer water-tight compartment and the
pumps through holes or a pipe or pipes in the sides of the small pump
cistern k. is the handle for working the pumps; it is actuated in this
arrangement by the operator standing on the lid of the purifier. On
forcing water or other fluid into the hydraulic cylinder d down through
the hollow ram a the pressure of the fluid upon the transverso area of
such ram will elevate the same, and with it the purifier lid or other body
to be lifted.
On opening the discharge cock 6 the water or other fluid will be
forced back again through a passage at 61 by the weight of the lid or
other load, and runs into the water-tight compartment of the lid or into
the cistern of the pumps, thus allowing the lid or other load to be
gently lowered again into its place.
If desired the pumps may be detached from the ram and the lattor
supplied with fluid from above by a flexible pipe leading to stationary
pumps, or to an accumulator or other source of water pressure in any
convenient situation.
Figure 3 is a vertical section shewing such an arrangement of
apparatus and a modified arrangement of ram whereby a smaller
quantity of fluid will be required to obtain a given lift than by the
arrangement of ram shewn in Figure 1. The source of supply may be
situate in any convenient part of the works, and is connected with the
hollow ram a by a flexible pipe m, secured by a union or other joint to

page_text: the top of the ram. This ram works within the cylinder d, which in
this case serves only the purpose of a guide, but may be supported
within the central column f in a manner similar to that shewn in
Figure 1. Inside the hollow ram there is by preference inserted a brass
drawn tube of comparatively small diameter, which slides along the
stationary solid ram n secured to the bottom of the guiding cylinder d.
The flexible pipe m may be one of a series branching from a main pipe o,
a stop cock p situate either near the main pipe o or on the ram a itself
serving to disconnect any one of the series of rams. On forcing water
or other fluid into the hollow of the ram a it will cause such ram to
move up or along the stationary ram n, and will lift the purifier lid
or other load attached through the platten c or otherwise to the
ram a.
Figure 4 of my Drawings represents another modification of the
before mentioned apparatus as applied to the lifting of a gas purifier lid.
In this arrangement the lid or other weight to be lifted is attached as
described with reference to Figure 1 to a platten c mounted on the
upper end of a ram a working within a hydraulic cylinder d, supported
inside the central column fby a shoulder or collar e as before described.
All pipes and pumps are dispensed with in this arrangement, an inner
ram a working fluid-tight inside the outer ram a being substituted
therefor. This inner ram a¹ carries at its upper end a load or weight q,
bearing any desired relative proportion to the weight of the lid or other
load to be lifted, or its weight may be equal to that of the load to bo
lifted. The areas of the two rams a and a¹ should also bear a corre-
sponding relative proportion to each other, and if the weight q and load
to be lifted are equal the acting areas of both the rams a and a¹ should
also be equal. By this arrangement of the loads and areas of the two
rams the lid or other weight to be lifted will, without taking friction
into account, be exactly balanced, and may therefore be lifted or lowered
with the least application of power. The cylinder d and ram a remain
constantly charged with water or other fluid, and when it is required to
lift the lid or other load it is simply necessary to increase slightly the
downward pressure of the inner ram a¹, which may be accomplished
either by adding to the weight 9 or by hauling down the ram a¹ by
means of tackle, as shewn at », or otherwise. As the ram a descends
the ram a with the lid B or other load ascends, and vice versa.
Provision may be made for supplying the cylinder with water bỷ

page_text: constructing a passage through the ram a¹ to permit of water being
forced through it, or the cylinder may be otherwise charged before the
ram is inserted therein.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The combination and arrangement of apparatus for raising and
lowering heavy bodies, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
Second. The combination of a hollow ram carrying its own pump or
pumps with a hydraulic cylinder when arranged and caused to operate,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated
by Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings annexed.
Third. The combination of a water-tight compartment or pump cistern
with the lid of a gas purifier, substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described.
Fourth. The combination of a hollow ram with a flexible pipe attached
to the upper end thereof and leading to a pump or pumps or to an
accumulator or other source of supply placed in any convenient situation,
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
Fifth. The combination of a weighted ram fitted to work within a
second ram, which carries the load to be lifted, and working within a
hydraulic cylinder when arranged and caused to operate together, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and illustrated
by Figure 4 of the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Holman, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of July One