Improvements in Apparatus for Utilizing Waves for Compressing and Storing Air for Motive Power Purposes.
Year: 1895

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by TERENCE DUFFY, of Golden Gate Avenue and
Fillmore Street, in the City and County of San Francisco and State of
California, United States of America, Gentleman.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Utilizing Waves for Compressing
and Storing Air for Motive Power Purposes.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements made in apparatus for utilizing the force
or power of the waves for compressing and storing air for motive power to drive
machinery and to perform other work in the various arts and manufactures; and my
invention consists in certain novel construction and combination of stationary
frame-work, perpendicularly movable float in such frame, air-compressing pumps
of peculiar construction with pistons which are connected by piston-rods with the
said float, and a storage-chamber or accumulator to contain and distribute the
compressed air.
The stationary frame-work is formed of piles driven firmly in position in pairs
and united by horizontal timbers into a stiff frame-work; such a structure may be
a part of a pier or a wharf extending into deep water, or a part of a break-water,
where the same may be feasible. If located on a rough shore it will be better to
place the structure outside the line of breakers, in order that the float or moving
part in the frame-work may receive the full effects of the beats or pulsations of the
waves as they follow one another in towards the shore.
The stationary structure may be extended along the line of the shore for any
desired distance according to the magnitude of the power that is to be supplied;
and in such case the apparatus will consist of a number of separate unconnected
floats and a number of pumps in a gang or set attached to and operated each set by
its own float.
The movable part herein termed the float is a hollow rectangular structure
constructed with a flat bottom and perpendicular sides framed to secure suitable
strength and stiffness with proper buoyancy. The breadth of this structure in most
cases will exceed the length; and as the action of the float will be the most
successful when the distance from the front edge, or that side which is presented to
the waves, to the rear edge, or that side which is inshore, is less than the shortest
linear distance between the crests of two waves the length of the float should be
somewhat less than such distance or interval between the waves.
For the proper perpendicular or rising and falling movement of the float is
best secured when one wave or swell is caused to clear the in-shore end of the float
by the time that the following wave or swell reaches the front end of the float.
These dimensions will tend to secure the desirable uniform and even stroke and
action of all the pumps connected to the float.

page_text: Generally the distance before mentioned will be found to average about forty feet
under ordinary conditions of weather, and that measurement may be taken for the
average length to make the float.
The extent of lift or perpendicular movement of the float will vary with the
height of the wave or swell, and consequently the pumps are of such special
construction that they are operative under all variations in the length of stroke of
the piston. At every rise and fall of the float, whatever the extent of that movement
may be, the pumps always act to take in some air and to effect some degree of
compression and thus perform work to some extent at all times.
Each pump is constructed of a long cylinder fixed in upright position between
the piles of the frame-work and connected at the upper end by an elbow and flanged
joints with an air-chamber or an accumulator on the top of the frame-work; the
lower end of the cylinder being open.
The piston fitted into the lower portion of the cylinder is connected by its
piston-rod to the movable float and to horizontally fixed cross-bars on the top of
the float, the ends of which bars extend beyond the sides of that structure and are
fitted between the piles of the stationary frame-work to play up and down between
the piles without binding. Each one of such bars is finished round at the outer end
and is covered at that portion by a metal sleeve fitted loosely, so that it will
revolve on the bar when it comes in rubbing contact with either of the two upright
piles between which it plays, and the faces of the piles at such part are sheathed
with metal to prevent wear.
Such projecting bars at the top of the float thus act to keep the float in place and
cause its movements under the action of the waves to take place in a vertical direction
within the stationary frame-work.
The air-compressing cylinders are so placed in the stationary frame that one
cylinder is situated over the projecting end of the cross-bars before mentioned, and
the piston-rod of each cylinder is connected to the back of its piston by a ball-
and-socket coupling, and is attached to the cross-bar by a swivel-joint or other
similar loose coupling.
The interior space of each cylinder is divided into several compartments by a
number of horizontally set gridiron plates or valve-seats, each fitted in the cylinder
to move easily up and down, and each having slots or apertures through it, and
each having a disk valve of the same diameter fitted on the top and covering
the openings through the plate. Such disk valve is made of sheet rubber, or of
other similar flexible material, and is secured to the metal plate by a bolt or
screw in the center, but leaving the valve detached all round the edges, so that
it is free to rise and uncover the apertures in the metal plate under pressure of the
air from beneath.
Each metal plate is provided with a seat that determines its position in the
cylinder, and while capable of being moved upward in the cylinder-space above the
point where such seat is located, the valve-plate can not drop below that point.
The cylinder is composed of a number of sections of different diameters each
increasing in diameter regularly over the next one from the lowest section to the
highest section of the cylinder, and the seats for the metal valve-plates are formed
at the junction of one cylinder section with another by the difference in diameter
between such sections, so that there is a metal valve-plate located in the lower end
of each section.
Each plate being fitted to play up and down in its own section comes to a seat
on the circular ledge at the bottom of such section where the section of smaller
diameter next below is joined to it.
Thus the cylinder is divided by the before-mentioned valves into separate
chambers or sections that communicate one with the other from the bottom to
the top through the openings in the metal-plates that are covered by the flexible
valve disks.
By virtue of this construction the working length of the air-compressing cylinder
is increased or reduced according to the changes of the tides and the consequent

page_text: variation in the working height or position of the movable float; for, as the tide
sets in, the working position of the float in the stationary frame-work is elevated,
and when the tide sets out such working level necessarily falls and the float must
move up and down in the frame at a lower level.
And as the piston is directly connected to such float by a rigid rod it is obvious
that the piston will reciprocate at one time in one portion of the cylinder, and
at another time in the variation in the p ition of the float under the effects of
a high or a low tide the piston will play in another portion of the cylinder.
In these different changes of the piston, therefore, the metal valve-plate at the
bottom of the section is lifted by the piston as that moving part is raised and
brought into position to work in a higher section, and such plate is carried on the
top of the piston during its work, sufficient space being provided around the rim
of the piston for the air to pass on the down-stroke between the rim of the piston
and the surrounding sides of the cylinder-section and so pass through the openings
of the metal valve-plate resting on and carried by the piston. But on the up-stroke
the air above the piston is forced into the section next above through the valve-
plate in the bottom of that section, because the valve-disk on the plate carried by
the piston in the up-stroke is held down against the openings in that plate and
it also fits up to the sides of the cylinder and the air cannot pass the piston for that
reason.
By this means and peculiar construction I secure a continuous action of the
air-compressing cylinder in all the rising and falling movements of the float in the
stationary frame, and some degree of compression under all variations in the length
of stroke; so that practically there is no loss of power even under the smallest
swell that is capable of lifting the float. Under ordinary strokes of the piston the
lowermost valve-plate will be raised and carried by the piston; but as the tide
rises and the piston is moved up to a higher position for work the next one of
the valve-plates above will be lifted from its seat in its cylinder-section and carried
by the piston. Thus each section will be bangba to play for the piston to work
in as the float is elevated in the frame more and more by the rise in the tide ; and
the same conditions are reversed as the float is lowered as to the working position,
at which time of change the valve-plates which have been lifted are restored one
after the other to their seats.
Under the strokes of the piston the compression of air in the lower sections
increases until it becomes sufficiently great to lift the flexible valves and pass
through the valve-plates in the upper cylinder-sections, and in this manner operating
on the valves the pressure passes upward from one section into another and fiually
into the receiving tank or chamber on the frame-work.
Under the roughest sea or the heaviest swell to which the float may be exposed
this compressing cylinder will work without injury to the apparatus, for the reason
more particularly that the cushion of air maintained above the piston at all times
exerts a resistance that increases as the piston reaches the top of its stroke and
thereby takes up any abrupt stroke or violent shock to the float or the piston at
such times.
This peculiar construction of compressing cylinder contributes materially to the
successful working of apparatus of this character.
The tank or chamber that is common to all the cylinders of the float is connected
by a pipe with a receiver or an accumulator on the shore.
Dated this 5th day of Sentember 1895
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Utilizing Waves for Compressing
and Storing Air for Motive Power Purposes.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to improvements made in apparatus for utilizing the force
or power of the waves for compressing and storing air for motive power, to drive
machinery and to perform other work in the various arts and manufactures; and
my invention consists in certain novel construction and combination of stationary
frame-work perpendicularly movable float in such frame, air-compressing pumps
of peculiar construction with pistons which are connected by piston-rods with the
said float, and a storage-chamber or accumulator to contain and distribute the
compressed air as hereinafter explained, reference being had to the accompanying
drawing forming part of this Specification.
In the said drawing :-
Figure 1 is a perspective-view of an apparatus constructed according to my
invention, with eight pumps.
Figure 2 is a plan or top-view ;
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section ;
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section through one of the pumps on an enlarged
scale.
The stationary frame-work is formed of piles B B driven firmly in position in
pairs and united by horizontal timbers A A into a stiff frame-work; such a
structure may be a part of a pier or a wharf extending into deep water, or a part
of a break-water, where the same may be feasible. If located on a rough shore
it will be better to place the structure outside the line of breakers, in order that
the floats or moving part in the frame-work may receive the full effects of the
beats or pulsations of the waves as they follow one another in towards the shore.
The stationary structure may be extended along the line of the shore for any
desired distance according to the magnitude of the power that is to be supplied;
and in such case the apparatus will consist of a number of separate unconnected
floats C and a number of pumps D D in a gang or set attached to and operated
each set by its own float.
The movable part herein termed the float C is a hollow rectangular structure
constructed with a flat bottom and perpendicular sides framed to secure suitable
strength and stiffness with proper buoyancy. The breadth of this structure in
most cases will exceed the length; and as the action of the float will be the most
successful when the distance from the front edge, or that side which is presented
to the waves, to the rear edge, or that side which is in-shore, is less than the
shortest linear distance between the crests of two waves the length of the float
should be somewhat less than such distance or interval between the waves.
For the proper perpendicular or rising-and-falling movement of the float is best
secured when one wave or swell is caused to clear the in-shore end of the float by
the time that the following wave or swell reaches the front end of the float.
These dimensions will tend to secure the desirable uniform and even stroke and
action of all the pumps connected to the float.

page_text: Generally the distance before mentioned will be found to average about forty
feet under ordinary condition of weather, and that measurement may be taken for
the average length to make the float.
The extent of lift or perpendicular movement of the float will vary with the
height of the wave or swell, and consequently the pumps are of such special
construction that they are operative under all variations in the length of stroke
of the piston. At every rise and fall of the float, whatever, the extent of that
movement may be, the pumps always act to take in some air and to effect some
degree of compression and thus perform work to some extent at all times.
Each pump is constructed of a long cylinder fixed in upright position between
the piles of the frame-work and connected at the upper end by an elbow E and
flanged joints with an air-chamber or an accumulator G on the top of the frame-
work; the lower end of the cylinder being open.
The piston F fitted into the lower portion of the cylinder is connected by its
piston-rod F to the movable float and to horizontally fixed cross-bars H on the top
of the float, the ends of which bars extend beyond the sides of that structure and
are fitted between the piles of the stationary frame-work to play up and down
between the piles without binding. Each one of such bars is finished round at the
outer end and is covered at that portion by a metal sleeve L fitted loosely, so that
it will revolve on the bar when it comes in rubbing contact with either of the
two upright piles between which it plays, and the faces of the piles at such part
are sheathed with metal as indicated at M M to prevent wear.
Such projecting bars at the top of the float thus act to keep the float in place
and cause its movements under the action of the waves to take place in a vertical
direction within the stationary frame-work.
The air-compressing cylinders are so placed in the stationary frame that one
cylinder is situated over the projecting end of the cross-bar before mentioned, and
the piston-rod of each cylinder is connected to the back of its piston by a ball-and-
socket coupling *, and is attached to the cross-bar H by a swivel joint h³ or other
similar loose coupling.
The interior space of each cylinder is divided into several compartments by a
number of horizontally-set gridiron plates or valve-seats D³ D₁ fitted in the
cylinder to move easily up and down, and each having slots or apertures through
it, and each having a disk-valve of the same diameter fitted on the top and
covering the openings through the plate. Such disk-valve is made of sheet
rubber N or other similar flexible material, and is secured to the metal plate by a
bolt or screw n in the center, but leaving the valve detached all round the edges,
so that it is free to rise and uncover the apertures in the metal plate under pressure
of the air from beneath.
The piston has similar openings in its head for passage of air and is fitted with
a flexible disk or flap N* attached to the center.
Each metal plate is provided with a seat that determines its position in the
cylinder, and while capable of being moved upward in the cylinder-space above
the point where such seat is located, the valve-plate can not drop below that
point.
The cylinder is composed of a number of sections of different diameters each
increasing in diameter regularly over the next one from the lowest section to the
highest section of the cylinder, and the seats for the metal valve-plates are formed
at the junction of one cylinder section with another by the difference in diameter
between such sections, so that there is a metal valve-plate located in the lower end
of each section.
•
On the inside of each cylinder-section are longitudinal ribs or feathers m'
extending the full length of the section and located at equal distances apart
around the inner circumference to form guides for the valve-plate which said part
is formed with slots or recesses in the edge of proper size to fit closely on the
upright ribs mand by such means each plate is guided and caused to move evenly
up and down in its cylinder-section.

page_text: Each plate being fitted to play up and down in its own section comes to a seat
on the circular ledge at the bottom of such section where the section of smaller
diameter next below is joined to it.
Thus the cylinder is divided by the beforementioned valves into separate
chambers or sections that communicate one with the other from the bottom to the
top through the openings in the metal plates that are covered by the flexible
valve-disks.
By virtue of this construction the working length of the air-compressing
cylinder is increased or reduced according to the changes of the tides and the
consequent variation in the working height or position of the movable float; for,
as the tide sets in, the working position of the float in the stationary-frame work
is elevated; and when the tide sets out such working level necessarily falls and
the float must inove up and down in the frame at a lower level.
And as the piston is directly connected to such float by a rigid rod it is obvious
that the piston will reciprocate at one time in one portion of the cylinder and at
another time in the variation in the position of the float under the effects of a high
or a low tide the piston will play in another portion of the cylinder.
In these different changes of the piston, therefore, the metal valve-plate at the
bottom of the section is lifted by the piston as that moving part is raised and
brought into position to work in a higher section, and such plate is carried on the
top of the piston during its work, sufficient space being provided around the rim
of the piston for the air to pass on the down-stroke between the rim of the piston
and the surrounding sides of the cylinder-section and so pass through the openings
of the metal valve-plate resting on and carried by the piston. But on the
up-stroke the air above the piston is forced into the section next above through
the valve-plate in the bottom of that section, because the valve-disk on the plate
carried by the piston in the up-stroke is held down against the openings in that
plate and it also fits up to the sides of the cylinder and the air cannot pass the
piston for that reason.
By this means and peculiar construction I secure a continuous action of the
air-compressing cylinders in all the rising and falling movements of the float in
the stationary frame, and some degree of compression under all variations in the
length of stroke; so that practically there is no loss of power even under the
smallest swell that is capable of lifting the float. Under ordinary strokes of
the piston the lowermost valve-plate will be raised and carried by the piston ; but
as the tide rises and the piston is moved up to a higher position for work the next
oue of the valve-plates above will be lifted from its seat in its cylinder-section and
carried by the piston. Thus each section will be brought into play for the piston
to work in as the float is elevated in the frame more and more by the rise in the
tide; and the same conditions are reversed, as the float is lowered, as to the
working position; at which time of change the valve-plates which have been
lifted are restored one after the other to their seats.
Under the strokes of the piston the compression of air in the lower sections
increases until it becomes sufficiently great to lift the flexible valves and pass
through the valve-plates in the upper cylinder-section, and in this manner operating
on the valves the pressure passes upward from one section into another and finally
into the receiving tank D or chamber on the frame-work.
Under the roughest sea or the heaviest swell to which the float may be exposed
this compressing cylinder will work without injury to the apparatus, for the reason,
more particularly, that the cushion of air maintained above the piston at all times
exerts a resistance that increases as the piston reaches the top of its stroke and
thereby takes up any abrupt stroke or violent shock to the float or the piston at
such times.
This peculiar construction of compressing cylinder contributes materially to the
successful working of apparatus of this character.
The tank or chamber G that is common to all the cylinders of the float is
connected by a pipe with a receiver or an accumulator on the shore.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, 1 declare that what I claim is
The combination, with the stationary frame-work composed of upright piles in
pairs that form guides for a float, the float having projecting bars working between
the guides, the pump-cylinders fixed in upright position in the frame over said
bars, the vertically movable pistons connected to the float by rigid piston rods and.
the movable valve-plates dividing the cylinders into chambers or compartments
and having openings covered by flexible upwardly acting valve-disks; the said
cylinders being composed of sections increasing regularly in diameter one over the
other from the bottom to the top of the cylinder, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Dated 11th day of December 1895
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicaut.