IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFTS OR MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gjers, of Middlesbrough, in the North Riding
of the County of York, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LIFTS OR MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING WEIGHTS."
Sealed the 6th May 1864, and dated the 22nd December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gjers at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
December 1863.
I, JOHN GJERS, of Middlesbrough, in the North Riding of the County
of York, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LIFTS OR MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND
LOWERING WEIGHTS," to be as follows:-
For the purposes described I make use of one or more cylinders or tubes
placed vertically, and of a length equal or proportionate to the distance
through which the weights to be moved are required to be raised or lowered,
such cylinder or cylinders at the same time constituting the main framing of
the apparatus. Each cylinder so employed is bored and fitted with an air-
tight piston, to which is or attached one or more cords, belts, or chains, each
passing upward over a drum or pulley situated at or above the top of the
cylinder, and attached at its opposite or contrary end to a platform or other
contrivance intended to receive or carry the weights requiring to be raised or
lowered. Each cylinder or tube is open at its upper end, and at its lower
end is in communication, by means of a suitable pipe or passage or pipes or

page_text: passages, with an air pump or other apparatus whereby the air may be
exhausted from beneath the piston contained in the cylinder. The length of
each cord, belt, or chain attached to the piston or pistons is such, that when
the platform or weight to be operated upon is at the highest point of the lift,
the piston or pistons to which it is attached is or are at its or their lowest
level, and vice versa.
Assuming the platform or weight to be raised to be at its lowest point, the
piston or pistons (connected to it by cords, belts, or chains, as described) will
then be in its or their highest position, so that by more or less exhausting the
air from beneath the piston or pistons, it or they will be pressed downward
with a force corresponding to the degree of vacuum formed in the cylinder or
cylinders, and in its or their descent will, by means of the cords, belts, or
chaius referred to, raise the weight as required. The rate at which the
pistons are caused to descend may be conveniently regulated by varying the
extent to or rate at which the air is exhausted from beneath the piston or
pistons.
When it is required to lower a weight by means of this apparatus, it will
only be necessary to reverse the operation by admitting air into the cylinder
or cylinders beneath the piston or pistons, when the rate of such admission
will regulate the velocity of its or their ascent and of the consequent descent
of the platform or weight to be lowered.
In constructing the apparatus I prefer to make use of wire, cords, or ropes
for the purpose of connecting the piston or pistons with the platform or weight
to be raised, and to make the weight of the piston or pistons such as nearly to
counterbalance that of the platform or part or parts made use of to receive or
support the weight.
In some cases, where the apparatus is employed for raising minerals for a
blast furnace, it may be found desirable to conduct the air abstracted from
beneath the piston or pistons to the blast main for the purpose of assisting the
blowing engine; but I should in most cases prefer allowing it simply to
escape into the atmosphere. The exhaustion of the cylinder or cylinders may
either be effected by means of a small engine specially constructed for the
purpose or by any other convenient er saitable means. Otherwise, instead of
exhausting the air from beneath the piston or pistons, as described, for the
purpose of producing the necessary vacuum, I introduce steam beneath the
piston or pistons, and when it is required to raise the platform or weight
I open a communicationewhereby such steam is allowed to escape into a surface
condenser, whereby it is condensed and the necessary vacuum produced.
According to another arrangement of my Invention I make the piston br

page_text: pistons considerably heavier than necessary to balance the platform or other
part or parts intended for supporting the weight to be lifted, so that on the
air being exhausted or steam condensed from beneath the piston or pistons, I
obtain the advantage of such excess of weight in increasing the elevating
power of the apparatus.
When it is required that the platform or other part or parts supporting the
weight should descend, 1 pump air or admit steam into the cylinder or
cylinders beneath the piston or pistons, thereby causing it or them to rise
and the platform or other supporting part or parts to descend as required.
It will be understood that when the piston or pistons is or are at the
bottom of the cylinder or cylinders, and every passage whereby air or steam
can enter beneath them is closed, the piston or pistons will be retained in its
or their respective position or positions by the pressure of the atmosphere
above it or them, and that the platform or other supporting part or parts with
or without any proportionate weight intended to be lowered will safely retain
its or their position at the top of the lift until air or steam is admitted
beneath the piston or pistons, the rate or stoppage of such admission of air or
steam enabling the rate or distance of descent to be readily and perfectly
regulated. Thus it will be seen that in cases where the apparatus is to be
employed only for lowering weights, no steam engine or other motive power
is required.
For further security in retaining the piston or pistons at the top or bottom
of the lift, it may be found desirable to turn a groove into the periphery of
the same, so that by having pins or catches passing air or steam tight through
suitable openings, situated respectively at the top and bottom of the cylinder
or cylinders, and capable of being pushed forward into the groove or grooves
formed in the piston or pistons, it or they may be retained either at the top or
bottom of the lift, as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Gjers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GJERS, of Middlesbrough, in the North Riding of the County of York,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the
year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Gjers, Ier special licence that I, the said John
Gjers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Gjers, 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
LIFTS OR MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING OR LOWERING WEIGHTS," пpon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gjers, 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 Gjers, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
For the purposes described I make use of one or more cylinders or tubes
placed vertically, and of a length equal or proportionate to the distance
through which the weights to be moved are required to be raised or lowered,
such cylinder or cylinders at the same time constituting the main framing of
tlie apparatus. Each cylinder so employed is bored and fitted with an air-
tight piston, to which is or are attached one or more cords, belts, or chains,
each passing upward over a drum or pulley situated at or above the top of
the cylinder, and attached at its opposite or contrary end to a platform or
other contrivance intended to receive or carry the weights requiring to be
raised or lowered. Each cylinder or tube is open at its upper end, and at its
lower end is in communication by means of a suitable pipe or passage, or
pipes or passages, with an air pump or other apparatus, whereby the air inay
be exhausted from beneath the piston contained in the cylinder. The length
of each cord, felt, or chain attached to the piston or pistons is such that when
the platform or weight to be operated upon is at the highest point of the lift
the piston or pistons to which it is attached is or are at its or their lowest level,
and vice versa.
Assuming the platform or weight to be raised to be at its lowest point, the

page_text: piston or pistons (connected to it by cords, belts, or chains, as described) will
then be in its or their highest position, so that by more or less exhausting the
air from beneath the piston or pistons it or they will be pressed downwards
with a force corresponding to the degree of vacuum formed in the cylinder or
cylinders, and in its or their descent will by means of the cords, belts, or
chains referred to, raise the weight as required. The rate at which the
pistons are caused to descend may be conveniently regulated by varying the
extent to or rate at which the air is exhausted from beneath the piston or
pistons.
When it is required to lower a weight by means of this apparatus, it will
only be necessary to reverse the operation by admitting air into the cylinder
or cylinders beneath the piston or pistons, when the rate of such admission
will regulate the velocity of its or their ascent and of the consequent descent
of the platform or weight to be lowered.
:
In constructing the apparatus, I prefer to make use of wire cords or ropes
for the purpose of connecting the piston or pistons with the platform or weight
to be raised, and to make the weight of the piston or pistons such as nearly to
counterbalance that of the platform, or part or parts made use of, to receive
or support the weight.
In some cases, where the apparatus is employed for raising minerals for a
blast furnace, it may be found desirable to conduct the air abstracted from
beneath the piston or pistons to the blast main, for the purpose of assisting
the blowing engine, but I should in most cases prefer allowing it simply to
escape into the atmosphere. The exhaustion of the cylinder or cylinders may
either be effected by means of a small engine specially constructed for the
purpose, or by any other convenient or suitable means. Otherwise, instead of
exhausting the air from beneath the piston er pistons, as described, for the
purpose of producing the necessary vacuum, I introduce steam beneath the
piston or pistons, and when it is required to raise the platform or weight I
open a communication whereby such steam is allowed to escape into a surface
condenser, whereby it is condensed and the necessary vacuum produced.
According to another arrangement of my Invention I make the piston or
pistons considerably heavier than necessary to balance the platform or other
part or parts intended for supporting the weight to be lifted, so that on the air
being exhausted or steam condensed from beneath the piston or pistons. I
obtain the advantage of such excess of weight in increasing the elevating
power of the apparatus. When it is required that the platform or other part
or parts supporting the weight should descend, I pump air or admit steam
into the cylinder or cylinders beneath the piston or pistons, thereby causing it

page_text: or them to rise, and the platform or other supporting part or parts to descend
as required.
It will be understood that when the piston or pistons is or are.at the
bottom of the cylinder or cylinders, and every passage whereby air or steam
can enter beneath them is closed, the piston or pistons will be retained in its
or their respective position or positions by the pressure of the atmosphere
above it or them, and that the platform or other supporting part or parts, wit
or without any proportionate weight intended to be lowered will safely retain
its or their position at the top of the lift until air or steam is admitted beneath
the piston or pistons, the rate or stoppage of such admission of air or steam
enabling the rate or distance of descent to be readily and perfectly regulated.
Thus it will be seen that in cases where the apparatus is to be employed only
for lowering weights, no steam engine or other motive power is required.
For farther security in retaining the piston or pistons at the top or bottom
of the lift, it may be found desirable to turn agroove into the periphery of the
same, so that by having pins or catches passing air or steam tight through
suitable openings situated respectively at the top and bottom of the cylinder
cr cylinders, and capable of being pushed forward into the groove or grooves
formed in the piston or pistons, it or they may be retained either at the top or
bottom of the lift as required.
The manner in which my said Invention may be conveniently carried into
effect will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying Sheets of
Drawings, and the following description therof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 (Sheet 1) represents an elevation of a lift or raising and lowering
apparatus constructed according to my said Invention, and applied for the
purpose of raising or lowering minerals and other weights to and from the
summit of a blast furnace; Fig. 2 is a plan, having some parts omitted in
order to shew other parts lying beneath with greater clearness; and Fig. 3,
an elevation (partly in section) viewed at right angles to Fig. 1.
a, a', represent two cylinders fitted with air-tight pistons b, b, to which are
attached the wire or other cords, ropes, chains, or belts c, c', c², c³, passing
over the drums or pullies d, d; i, d³, carried by spindles e, e', e2, 63, working
in bearings carried by brackets formed on or attached to the upper parts of
the cylinders a, a. The cords, bolts, or chains after passing over the drums
or pullies d, d¹, d², d³, are attached to the platform f, provided with railsf,
corresponding with other rails laid from the summit of the lift to the point or
points where the minerals or other materials are required to be delivered, so

page_text: that upon reaching the required level the carriage. g wherein the minerals, or..
other materials are raised may with facility be moved from the platform, and
conveyed to its destination. The exhaustion of the air or steam from beneath.
the pistons. b, b, as required for the purpose of raising the platforin f to, the.,
position represented, is effected by means of an air pump or other suitable..
exhausting apparatus communicating with the pipe or passage / opening into
h
the lower ends of the cylinders. In the position of the apparatus as re-
presented, the platform has been raised to its highest position by the
formation of a partial vacuum beneath the pistons b, b', and may be there
securely retained by means of grooves turned in the pistons, and pins or
catches taking into them, as previously explained. In order to lower the
platform f, it will only be necessary to admit air or steam beneath the
pistous 6, 61, when its excess of weight over that of the pistons will cause it
to descend at a velocity proportionate to the rate at which the air or steam is
admitted.
Fig. 4 (Sheet 2) represents an elevation of a lift differing somewhat in
construction from the foregoing, and likewise adapted for raising minerals, &c.
for blast furnace purposes; Fig. 5 being a plan; Fig. 6 (Sheet 3) a vertical
section; and Fig. 7 a horizontal section of the same.
In this case the apparatus is shewn situated between two blast furnaces,
and is constructed with only one cylinder a fitted with a piston b, to which are
attached four ropes, cords, chains, or belts c, c¹, c², c³, passing over four freely
revolving drums or pullies d, d³, d², d³, situated at the upper part of the lift,
as in the former instance. The platform f,on which the weight to be raised is
carried, in this case surrounds the cylinder a, and is guided in its ascent and
descent by wheels i, which bear against suitable rails attached to the outside
of the cylinder. The pipe communicating with the lower end of the
cylinder is in this case provided with a slide valve j, for regulating the
admission to and exhaustion of air or steam from the cylinder. At each
side of the pipe h beneath the valve face are openings k, l, the one of which
(k) is for supplying air under pressure or steam to the under side of the
piston, and the other (2) communicates with the appatatus for exhausting the
air or steam from the space beneath the piston. The valve face is provided
with three ports, one forming a communication with the opening k, another
with the opening 1, and the third with the pipe h. The slide j, actuated by a
segmental rack, enables a communication to be established between the pipe /
and either of the openings k, l, or allows it to be shut off from both of them.
A rod m extending vertically from a lever fixed on the spindle of the segmental
rack to the top of the lift euables the valve to be moved so as to regulate the

page_text: velocity,
or arrest the progess of the platform at or from any point of the
ascent or descent, and gives a perfect command over its movements. In
constructing lifts according to this arrangement (as also at times in other
cases, I make the piston considerably heavier than the platform, and in
working the apparatus I admit air or steam at a pressure of, say, 5 or 6
pounds per square inch beneath the piston, thus causing it to ascend and the
platform to descend; and when it is required that the platform shell ascend, I
open the communication with the exhaust pipe 1,and either by a surface con-
denser when steam is employed, or by an exhausting engine when air is used,
I create a partial vacuum beneath the piston, thus obtaining a corresponding
atmospheric pressure upon its upper face, which, added to the excess of weight
of the piston over that of the platform, deducting the friction, gives the lifting
power of the macliine.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same may be performed, I desire to point
out that the same is obviously susceptible of numerous modifications without
departing from its general features of novelty, I do not therefore confine
myself to the precise arrangements or details represented; but I claim,
Firstly, the construction of machinery or apparatus for lifting and lowering
weights with cylinders open at their upper ends to the atmosphere, and having
one or more pistons directly connected by cords, ropes, chains, or belts with
the platform or weight to be raised or lowered, the ascent or descent of such
pistons being regulated by the admission to or withdrawal from the under
surfaces of air or steam, substantially as described.
Secondly, the construction of machinery or apparatus for the purposes
described, in such manner as that the cylinder or cylinders made use of for
causing or regulating the ascent or descent of the weight to be raised or
lowered is or are made to constitute the principal framework of the apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gjers, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOHN (L.S.) GJERS.