AN IMPROVE- MENT IN AND APPARATUS FOR WITHDRAWING WATER OR OTHER FLUIDS IN AS PURE & CONDITION AS POSSIBLE FROM WELLS, CISTERNS, AND OTHER PLACES WHERE THE WATER OR OTHER FLUID IS MIXED WITH FOREIGN MATTER; ALSO TO PREVENT THE CHOKING UP OF THE PUMPS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS USUALLY USED FOR DRAWING OFF WATER AND OTHERDS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Andrew Middlemiss, of Sunderland, in
the County of Durham, Architect, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN AND APPARATUS FOR WITHDRAWING WATER OR OTHER FLUIDS IN AS
PURE & CONDITION AS POSSIBLE FROM WELLS, CISTERNS, AND OTHER PLACES
WHERE THE WATER OR OTHER FLUID IS MIXED WITH FOREIGN MATTER; ALSO
TO PREVENT THE CHOKING UP OF THE PUMPS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS USUALLY
USED FOR DRAWING OFF WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Andrew
Middlemiss at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 11th October 1869.
I, GEORGE ANDREW MIDDLEMISS, of Sunderland, in the County of
Durham, Architect, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN AND APPARATUS FOR WITHDRAWING WATER OR OTHER
FLUIDS IN AS PURE A CONDITION AS POSSIBLE FROM WELLS, CISTERNS, AND OTHER
PLACES WHERE THE WATER OR OTHER FLUID IS MIXED WITH FOREIGN MATTER; ALSO

page_text: TO PREVENT THE CHOKING UP OF THE PUMPS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS USUALLY USED
FOR DRAWING OFF WATER AND OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
This improvement relates to the employment of a nozzle on the end
of a flexible pipe, which is kept just below the surface of the water and
rises and falls with it, whereby the water is withdrawn from the vessel
or tank in a clear state without disturbing the impurities which be
floating on the surface or may have settled on the bottom.
may
And the Invention consists in fitting a nozzle on the end of a flexible
pipe or tube. The nozzle or the tube is provided with a float to keep the
nozzle just below the surface of the water or other fluid in which it is
immersed, and with which it rises and falls. The other end of the pipe
or tube is in connection with the outflow pipe leading from the cistern
or tank, or if the flexible tube and nozzle are fitted in a well the other
end of it is secured to the suction tube of a pump by which the fluid
is lifted. The flexible tube may be composed of vulcanized rubber or
other material or of pipes jointed to one another, so that they rise and
fall with the fluid. The nozzle may be provided with a grating or a
straining medium to prevent any impurities or bodies passing into the
outflow nive
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Andrew Middlemiss in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 11th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ANDREW MIDDLEMISS, of Sunderland, in the County of Durham,
Architect, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said George Andrew Middlemiss, Her special licenco
that I, the said George Andrew Middlemiss, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Andrew
Middlemiss, 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, exercisc, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN AND APPARATUS FOR WITHDRAWING WATER OR OTHER
FLUIDS IN AS PURE A CONDITION AS POSSIBLE FROM WELLS, CISTERNS, AND OTHER
PLACES WHERE THE WATER OR OTHER FLUID IS MIXED WITH FOREIGN MATTER ;
ALSO TO PREVENT THE CHOKING UP OF THE PUMPS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS USUALLY
USED FOR DRAWING OFF WATER OF OTHER FLUIDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Andrew Middlemiss, 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 George Andrew Middlemiss, 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 thercof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
These improvements relate to the employment of a nozzle on the end
of a flexible pipe, which is kept below the surface of the water and rises
and falls with it, whereby the water is withdrawn from the vessel or
tank in a clear state and without disturbing the impurities which may
be floating on the surface or may have settled on the bottom.
And the Invention consists in fitting a nozzle on the end of a flexible
pipe or tube. The nozzle or the tube is provided with a float to keep the
nozzle a distance below the surface of the water or other fluid in which
it is immersed, and with which it rises and falls. The other end of the
pipe or tube is in connection with the outflow pipe leading from the
cistern or tank, or if the flexible tube and nozzle are fitted in a well the
other end of it is secured to the suction tube of a pump by which the
fluid is lifted. The flexible tube may be composed of vulcanized rubber
or other material or of pipes jointed to one another, so that they rise
and fall with the fluid. The nozzle may be provided with a grating or
a straining medium, concave or otherwise, to prevent any impurities or
bodies passing into the outflow pipe.
The manner in which my improvements may be carried into effect is
represented in the accompanying Drawings. Figure 1 is a sectional
elevation of a well in which a set of pipes are fitted leading up to a

page_text: pump so that water can be drawn therefrom. The lower length of
piping a is fitted with a collar b, to which is attached a flexible tube c of
such a length that it is capable of rising to a good height in the water
when the well is comparitively full, and also to sink with the water as
it becomes low. The flexible tube is fitted at its free end with a
nozzle d, which is caused to fall downwards, so that its opening is always
kept at a depth below the surface e, e, of the water. The nozzle end of
the flexible tube has a short length of chain f connected to it, and a
float g to make it buoyant and to keep it in proper position for instant
action under all conditions of water level. The mouth of the nozzle
may be quite open, or it may be provided with a perforated plate or
grating to act as a straining medium. This precaution will hardly be
necessary, because the mouth is at all times below the surface, but to
provide for straws or other such bodies finding their way into the water
it is preferable to employ some method of keeping the pump valves clear
of foreign matters. The tube I prefer to employ is one made of vul-
canized india-rubber or other similar waterproof material; but. I do not
limit myself to the employment of such substances, as in some cases it
will be found advisable to joint a series of pipes at their ends one to the
other, as shewn in Figure 2. Here the pipes are only flexible at their
joints, but it gives sufficient freedom of action for the nozzle to follow
the rise and fall of the water. I do not in all cases allow the nozzle too
much free action, as it may be found necessary to guide it in its up-and-
down movements, and in order to do this I arrange eyes or guides / on
the nozzle and pass them over rods or cords i, j, as seen in Figures 3 and 4.
In these Figures I have shown the nozzle and float in one piece, and in
many instances this plan would be advisable, particularly where the
water is drawn from a thin strata, such as would be the case when the
water got very low in the well or other reservoir in which the nozzle
may be placed. The nozzle can be made of any material which is light
in weight, and I prefer to make it of gutta percha and mould it into the
required shape. Figures 5 and 6 represent in section and elevation a
nozzle to which a strainer or perforated ring is fitted loosely, so that it
can slide up and down the nozzle freely, that is to say, when the nozzle
is falling to the bottom of the well or reservoir the strainer touches it.
first, and as the nozzle sinks further the strainer slides up the nozzle.
These views also show how the nozzle can be raised out of the water to
clear away the straws or other impurities which may be found clinging
to it. Of course although I have described my nozzles as being.

page_text: employed in wells they are equally valuable for use in all kinds of
cisterns or reservoirs, and whether such vessels be used for containing
water or other liquids, such as acids, etc., etc. When the nozzles are
moulded I prefer to make the mouths hollow and form perforations in the
crown or arch so that the liquid can find its way to the suction pipe of
the pump. I do not limit myself to the form or shape of the float or
buoyant body, nor to the way of connecting it to the nozzle, but, the
mode of connection which I have shewn is the one I have found the
most suitable and the most economical for the purpose.
It will be understood that although I have mentioned that the flexible
tube or the pointed set of pipes with the nozzles are arranged to the
suction pipe of a pump in the foregoing description, I do not confine
myself to the employment of them in that manner, as I can also employ
them in cisterns, vats, reservoirs of all kinds, and whether the liquid
contained in them is to be drawn off by a pump or not, as they are
equally applicable for the ordinary house supply and other water
pipes.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
The employment of a nozzle on a flexible pipe which is kept suspended
just below the surface of the liquid in which it is placed by a float, as
herein-before described and represented in Fig. 1 of the Drawings.
Secondly. I claim the employment of a jointed pipe to which a nozzle
is fitted for the same purpose, as herein-before described and represented
in Figure 2 of the Drawings annexed.
I also claim the combination of the air vessel or float and the nozzle
in one piece, whether made with a grating or a series of perforations,
substantially as herein-before described and shewn.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Andrew Middlemiss, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.