IMPROVEMENTS IN BEER ENGINES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO PUMPS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Holmes, of Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield, in
the County of Warwick, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN BEER ENGINES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO PUMPS
FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES."
Sealed the 5th July 1867, and dated, the 3rd May 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Holmes at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd May
1867.
I, JOHN HOLMES, of Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield, in the County of
Warwick, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BEER ENGINES, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE
TO PUMPS FOR VARIOUS. PURPOSES," to be as follows:--
My Invention consists of the improvements hercin-after described in beer
engines and other pumps, by which improvements great accuracy in the
action of the said beer engines and pumps is obtained combined with simplicity
of construction.
I
I will describe my improvements in connection with a beer engine.
arrange the two valves at the bottom of the pump cylinder, the ingress valve
Dmine & 1

page_text: being in the axis of the cylinder, and carried by a chamber screwed to the
bottom of the cylinder. The exit valve is carried by a chamber connected to
the pipe communicating with the ingress valve, and is situated near the bottom
and at the side of the cylinder. I make the piston in two parts and of the
figure of a hollow closed cylinder, having a stem in its axis extending from its
bottom nearly to its top, and also a short stem on is under side. The latter
stem is only for convenience of turning the piston during its manufacture.
The cylinder has at its top a chamber of larger diameter than the cylinder,
and through a stuffing box in this chamber the piston rod passes; this chamber
is closed, and is filled with air, the liquid never entering it. In order to avoid
the expansion and contraction of the air in this chamber during the lowering
and raising of the piston a pipe in its side communicates with an india-rubber
or other flexible or elastic bag, which expands and contracts as the piston
rises or falls. By thus limiting the quantity of air which comes into contact
with the moistened cylinder and piston the corrosion of the said parts and con-
sequent injury to the beer or other liquid is prevented. The piston is raised
and lowered by the ordinary lever or handle, the short end of which is connected
to the top of the piston rod in the following manner:-A forked end is fixed
on the top of the piston rod, and the end of the lever plays between the lower
part of the arms of the said fork. A connecting link is jointed at top to the
top of the fork and at bottom to the end of the lever, and forms a parallel
motion, by which the curvilinear motion of the end of the lever is converted
into a rectilinear motion in the piston rod without injurious strain on the said
piston rod; the piston rod is connected to the piston by its lower end passing
through the top of hollow piston and bearing against the top of the stem in
the said piston. The said lower end of the piston rod is expanded so that it
cannot rise out of the piston; by this method of connecting the rod to the
piston there is a slight play between them, so that any strain on the piston rod
is not communicated to the piston. The short end of the lever works under a
stop which can be raised and lowered by means of a slot and screw pin; by
means of this stop the amount of liquid delivered at each stroke of the pump
is regulated with nicety. The chambers in which the valve seats are made
and in which the valves work may be enamelled to preserve them frou
corrosion.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent; filed
by the said John Holmes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th
October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HOLMES, of Wylde Green, Sutton Coldfield, in the County of Warwick,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Holmes. Her special licence, that I, the said John Holmes, my executors,
administrators. and assigns, or such others as I. the said John Holmes, 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 BEER ENGINES. WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO PUMPS FOR VARIOUS PURPOSES,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Holmes, my executors 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE that I, the said John Holmes, 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
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in beer
engines and other pumps, by which improvements great accuracy in the action
of the said beer engines and pumps is obtained combined with simplicity of
construction.
I
I will describe my improvements in connection with a beer engine.
arrange the two valves at the bottom of the pump cylinder, the ingress valve
being in the axis of the cylinder, and carried by a chamber screwed to the
bottom of the cylinder. The exit valve is carried by a chamber connected to

page_text: the pipe communicating with the ingress valve, and is situated near the bottom
and at the side of the cylinder. I make the piston in two parts and of the
figure of a hollow closed cylinder, having a stem in its axis extending from its
bottom nearly to its top, and also a short stem on its under side: the latter
stem is only for convenience of turning the piston during its manufacture.
The cylinder has at its top a chamber of larger diameter than the cylinder,
and through a stuffing box in this chamber the piston rod passes; this chamber
is closed by an air-tight lid or cover (which is fixed on when the piston is at
the bottom of the cylinder), and the air contained in the chamber and hollow
piston on the raising of the piston is carried through a pipe in the side of
the cylinder into a flexible or elastic bag, and on the return stroke to deliver
the liquid the air again returns into the chamber and piston, and the elastic
bag collapses and so continues as the pump is worked, the liquid never rising
above the bottom of the piston. The piston rod is raised and lowered by
the ordinary lever or handle, the short end of which is connected to the top
of the piston rod in the following manner:--A forked end is fixed on the
top of the piston rod, and the end of the lever plays between the lower part of
the arms of the said fork; a connecting link is jointed at top to the top
of the fork and at bottom to the end of the lever, and forms a parallel motion
by which the curvilinear motion of the end of the lever is converted into a
rectilinear motion in the piston rod without injurious strain on the said piston
rod. The piston rod is connected to the piston by its lower end passing
through the top of the hollow piston and bearing against the top of the stem
in the said piston: the said lower end of the piston rod has an iron collar
rivetted on it so that it cannot rise out of the piston; by this method of con-
necting the rod to the piston there is a slight play between them, so that any
strain on the piston rod is not communicated to the piston. The short end of
the lever works under a stop which can be raised and lowered by a slot and
screw pin; by means of this stop the amount of liquid delivered at each stroke
of the pump is regulated with nicety. The chambers which carry the valve
seats and in which the valves work are of cast iron and are enamelled.
.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure represents in vertical section a beer engine constructed according
to my Invention; Figure 2 represents in elevation a beer engine constructed
according to my Invention, arranged so as to be able to draw or raise one or
other of two liquids, or both liquids at the same time; Figures 3 and 4 are

page_text: vertical sections of the beer engine, Figure 2, the said sections being taken in
planes at right angles to one another; Figure represents a plan of the top
of the pump with the lever or handle removed, and Figure 6 is a plan of the
under side of the bottom of the pump; Figure 7 is a vertical section illus-
trating the way in which the piston may be packed, as herein-after explained;
and Figure 8 is a plan of the top of the plunger or piston.
I will first describe the construction of the beer engine represented in
Figure 1, the corresponding parts of the other beer engine, Figures 2, 3, and 4;
being marked with the same letters.
a is the cylinder of the pump, and b, b, is the piston; c is the ingress valve
and d the egress valve. The ingress valve c is in the axis of the cylinder a
and its seat c and parts connected therewith are screwed to. the tube a³ at
the bottom of the cylinder a. The egress valve d works in the chamber d
situated at the side and near the bottom of the cylinder a. The said chamber de
is connected with the pipe e communicating with the chamber containing
the ingress valve c. The piston b, 63, is made of two parts; the part b is a
hollow cylinder closed at bottom and furnished with the internal stem ƒ and
an external stem g. The hollow piston b is closed by a cap 13, the said cap
being perforated, as represented. is a chamber at the top of the pump
cylinder a, the piston rod i working through a stuffing, box at the top of the
said chamber h. A pipe I opens into the chamber h, and an elastic or flexible
india-rubber or other bag m is fixed on the pipe by tying or otherwise. As
the piston b, b2, rises the air above it passes through the chamber and pipe!
into the bag m which expands, and as the piston b, b, descends the air from
the bag m passes back through the pipe 1. into the chamber and upper
part of the cylinder a. The air coming in contact with the moistened
parts in the interior of the pump is thus limited to that contained in the
hollow piston b, b, chamber h, pipe 1, and bag m. n, n, is the ordinary
lever or handle by which the piston rod is raised and lowered.. The short
curved end n of the said handle is connected by means of the links o to the
forked end of the piston rod, as best seen in Figures 2 and 3. The manner
in which the said links o are jointed to the short arm n of the handle n and
the fork of the piston rod will be readily understood by an examination of
the Drawings. By means of the links o the curvilinear motion of the arm n³
gives, rectilinear motion to, the piston rod i without any injurious strain on the
said piston rod. The piston rod i is not rigidly connected to the piston b, b².
but is connected thereto in the following manner-The lower expanded end
of the piston rod is situated between the cover 2 of the hollow piston and the

page_text: top of the stem f, and there is a slight play between the piston rod i and
cover b², so that any strain on the piston rod is not transmitted to the piston.
The short arm n of the lever works under the stop p, the said stop being
capable of adjustment on the fixed part q by the slot r and the screw pin 8;
by means of this adjustment the amount of liquid delivered at each stroke of
the pump may be regulated with nicety. The pump cylinder a is lined with a
thin metallic cylinder made of tubing, which having been drawn upon a
mandril is sufficiently accurate in figure to fit the piston b, b, without packing.
For greater security, however, a packing may be employed, as represented in
the section of a piston, Figure 7. The packing consists of two slit or open
jointed rings of metal t, u, between which and the part of the piston on which
they are fitted is a spring v, which by its elasticity combined with that of the
metallic rings t, u, makes an effective packing.
I will now describe the arrangement of the parts of the beer engine repre-
sented in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8, for drawing or raising at pleasure one
or other or both of two liquids. The pump mechanism is constructed in the
manner described with respect to Figure 1, excepting that the ingress valve c
is situated on the top of a doubled branched pipe w, w, to which pipes x, ³,
connected with the two liquids to be raised arc respectively screwed. In each
of the branch pipes w, ², is a stop-cock y, y, having handles or levers 2, 2.
By turning the said levers 2, 3, into the respective positions either of the stop-
cocks y, y, may be opened at pleasure, and liquid drawn by the action of the
pump up either or both of the pipes x, . The chambers in which the valves
are situated may be enamelled to preserve them from corrosion.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as the same may
be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as
my Invention,
Firstly, the general arrangement and combination of the parts of beer
engines and other pumps herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
Secondly, closing the top of the pump cylinder so as to make a chamber
communicating with an elastic or flexible bag for the purpose of limiting the
quantity of air entering the pump, substantially as described and illustrated in
the Drawings.
Thirdly, the manner described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings
of constructing the piston of the pump and connecting it to the piston rod.

page_text: Fourthly, the arrangements of parts substantially as described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings for connecting the lever or handle of the pump
with the piston rod and for limiting the range of motion of the said lever or
handle.
Fifthly, enamelling the chambers in which the valve seats of beer engines
and other pumps are situated, as herein-before described.
Lastly, the double-branch pipe for drawing or raising one or other of two
liquids or both liquids at the same time, as herein-before described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Holmes, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
JALUTAM
JOHN HOLMES.
(U.S.)