IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC ENGINES FOR RAISING WATER, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR DRAINING MINES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Spear, of New Haven, Connecticut,
United States of America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PNEUMATIC ENGINES FOR RAISING WATER, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR
DRAINING MINES."
Sealed the 11th February 1870, and dated the 23rd December 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Robert Spear at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 23rd December 1869, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
SPEAR, of New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PNEUMATIC ENGINES FOR RAISING WATER, MORE ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR
DRAINING MINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the.
same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and first
Inventor thereof..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Spear, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following.
statement:-
The nature of my Invention consists in the construction and arrange-
ment of a hydraulic engine to be used for draining mines or other
purposes.
E
In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my Invention
appertains to make and use the same I will now proceed to describe its 1
construction and operation, referring to the annexed Drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the said Invention, a portion of the
cylinder being broken away to show the piston; Figure 2 is a side
elevation, and Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the same.
A represents the cylinder made very strong and capable of sustaining
a pressure of several hundred pounds when it is required to raise the
water to a great height or of sufficient strength to correspond with the
required elevation of the water for whatever purpose it may be used.
In the side of the cylinder near or at its bottom is a man-hole B for the
purpose of cleaning the cylinder of any dirt and sediment settling within
the same from the water, said man-hole being closed in any suitable
manner. Near the bottom on one side of the cylinder is the inducting
water valve C, and on the opposite side at the same height is the educting
water valve D connected with the pipe E to carry or raise the water to
any desired height. The inducting valve O is so constructed as to open
inwards and allow free ingress to the water, but will close to any
pressure from the inside preventing the water from passing out through
the same. The egress valve D is just the reverse, opening outward so
as to allow the water to be forced through the same. Within the
cylinder A is placed the piston G, which is of such size as to leave a space
between its outer circumference and the inner surface of the cylinder, as
shown in Figure 3. The piston G is guided in its motion up and down
within the cylinder by means of two ribs or tongues a, a, placed vertically
in the sides of the cylinder and projecting into notches or suitable
grooves made for that purpose in the edge of the piston. The piston
rod H secured to the centre of the piston G passes upward through a
stuffing box in the upper head of the cylinder. In the upper head of
the cylinder A are two pipes I and J, the pipe I being the inducting

page_text: force pipe and J the exhaust pipe, both being provided with valves b
and & respectively, and said valves or stop-cocks are connected by means
of a rod e so as to be operated simultaneously; they are, however, so
arranged that when one is open the other is closed, and vice versa. To
the valve connecting rod e is attached a vertical rod f which passes up
through a horizontal plate K secured to the pipes I and J, and through
which the piston rod H also passes. On the opposite side of the piston
rod H from that on which the rod f moves is placed a standard L
between the cylinder and the cross head K. This standard is provided
with a groove i vertical in the centre and curved at both ends, and around
each end of said standard is placed a spiral spring g. Around the
standard L between the spiral springs 9, 9, is placed a loose collar h,
which moves up
and down on the standard and is guided by a pin or
feather on its inside fitting in the groove i. From the outside of the
collar / projects a pin m, as seen in Figure 1. Upon the piston rod H
at a suitable point is secured a collar & having an arm n extending out-
ward towards the standard L and another arm o extending in the
opposite direction, that is, towards the rod f, upon which are placed two
adjustable collars p, p, at suitable distance apart.
The engine is operated by being placed at the lowest point from which
it is desired to elevate the water, and in such a manner that the water
can flow around and as high or higher than the top of the cylinder,
which is filled by the flow of water through the valve C. The piston G
is so constructed that it floats in the water in the cylinder and is raised
as the water flows into it. The piston is guided clear of the cylinder by
means of the ribs or tongues, as above mentioned. The use of the piston
is to alternately open and close the stop-cocks b, d, in the force and
exhaust pipes I, J, and is accomplished in the following manner :-Near
the close of the upward stroke of the piston G the arm n on its rod H
meets the pin m on the sliding collar h, which acting upon the spiral
spring above tends to retard the ascent of the piston and depress it in the
water in the cylinder. The collar h, however, following the curvature at
the upper end of the groove i gradually turns away from the arm n and
becomes at the proper point disconnected from the same. At the same
time the short arm o strikes the upper collar p upon the rod f, which is
suddenly elevated by the depressed piston rising in the water. This
action closes the exhaust valve d and opens the force stop-cock b,
allowing the compressed air to pass through the force pipe I and act
directly with its full force upon the water, expelling the same through

page_text: the educting valve D and pipe E. At the instant when the pin m upon
the slide becomes disengaged from the arm n as above described the
slide falls down along the standard L, following the groove i until it
rests upon the spring 9 ready to be acted upon at the descent of the
piston. The piston G contains an amount of gravity, together with its
own weight, corresponding with its lifting power or buoyancy, by which
in its descent it is made to reverse the action of the stop-cocks by a
sudden motion in precisely the same manner as described for its ascent,
thus opening the exhaust and closing the force pipe.
It is of course understood that the machine should be so constructed
that when the piston descends it will under no circumstances come
below the inducting and educting water pipes.
The reason of the devices for checking the piston in its ascent and
descent is that the stop-cocks operated by its action require to be opened
suddenly, as it is obvious that if otherwise worked as soon as the cocks
were opened to a limited extent there would be force admitted sufficient
to check the rise of the piston, but not enough to expel the water, so
that the action of the engine would become neutralized, which difficulty
is entirely obviated by the sudden action of the reserved or accumulated
force of the piston, which can be so constructed without in any manner
injuring the action of the engine that any desired amount of force
required for this purpose can always be obtained.
From what has been said it is obvious that to complete the com-
bination an air-condensing engine is required, which is connected with
the hydraulic engine by the force pipe or conduit I, which is of sufficient
size to act as a reservoir, or to be supplied with force from a reservoir
into which air is forced by the condensing engine. The air exhausted
at the upward stroke of the engine may be utilized for ventilating the
mine in which the hydraulic engine is placed. As a conduit for
transmitting force from the condensing engine to the hydraulic engine I
intend to employ the means recently patented by me, by which means
the condensing engine may be placed at any desired distance from the
mine.
I do not confine myself to the exact construction or arrangement of
the mechanism composing the engine herein described, as the principle
embraced is susceptible of other embodiments or modifications, and yet
employ substantially the Invention which I desire secured by Letters
Patent.

page_text: 1st. A. pneumatic engine into which condensed air is admitted, and
from which it escapes through alternating cocks automatically operated,
substantially as described.
2nd. A plurality of cocks connected by a crank or cam arrangement
and operated by the ascent and descent of the float stem, substantially
as described.
3rd. I claim an engine constructed and arranged as described so that
it will work automatically for ejecting the water when a given quantity
thereof shall be received into the engine, and by which means the power
is admitted to expel the water, substantially as described.
In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
PORERA SDEAD