IMPROVEMENTS IN SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THIS AND SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1868

page_text: of
LETTERS PATENT to James Lee Norton, of Belle Sauvage Yard,
Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, for the Invention
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN APPARATUS TO
BE USED FOR THIS AND SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 14th August 1868, and dated the 29th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Leo Norton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th February 1868.
I, JAMES LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard. Ludgate Hill, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN APPARATUS TO
BE USED FOR THIS AND SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in sinking or
forming wells, and in apparatus to be used for this and similar
purposes. In most situations water is very readily and advantageously
obtained by driving, forcing, or screwing into the earth an iron pipe
pointed at its lower end and perforated immediately above the
point and then pumping from the pipe so driven. Difficulty is
however experienced in drawing water in this manner when running
Price 8d.1

page_text: or fine sand is encountered, although the water may be abundant,
for the sand enters into the pipe and very rapidly chokes it.
According to the present Invention in making a pipe well in
running or fine sand the pointed pipe is perforated for a considerable
distance at its lower end, so that the total area of the perforations
may be, say ten or more times the area of the pipe, within this
pipe and extending along the perforated part an inner tube also
extensively perforated is inserted, and around this tube horsehair
cloth is wound in many convolutions so as entirely to fill the outer
tube. The horsehair cloth so applied effectually stops back the sand,
but it allows the water to filter into the inner tube, and from thence
it passes into the main well tube and is drawn up by the pump.
In place of horsehair cloth other fibrous or filtering material, either
woven or unwoven, may be employed to fill the space between the
perforated portion of the main tube and the inner perforated tube, but
I prefer to make the inner
tube with a flange which is shut in a joint between two lengths of
the main tube, this prevents the inner tube starting when the main
tube is driven; or the inner tube may in some instances be inserted
after the main tube has been driven. The same arrangements are
also applicable where in place of driving the tube a hole is first
bored in the ground to receive it. The inner perforated tube may
also be omitted and the perforated end of the well tube entirely
filled with filtering material, but this it is believed can only
advantageously be done when the water tends to rise a considerable
distance in the well tube, and when the pump is fitted with a
separate suction pipe passing down to the bottom of the well tube.
The clear water will in this case filter slowly into the well tube
until it is full to the natural water level, and this measure of water
can then be drawn off by the pump when required, after which the
well will require to stand for a time for a further supply of filtered
water to accumulate. Where the well tube which is driven, forced,
or screwed into the earth is of such a length above the water level
that the pump barrel has to be part of the way down it, I here
introduce a section of pipe somewhat stouter than the rest and about
of the same external diameter. I grind or otherwise turn this length
of pipe on the inside and fit the bucket within it, and the valve
seating I clamp in the joint between the length of pipe forming the
pump barrel and the next length of the main pipe,
horsehair cloth is the most suitable.

page_text: When producing a well by removing earth by boring, in place of
employing solid boring bars as is now practised, pipes are employed
according to this Invention, and at the lower end of the pipe close
to the boring bit or cutter is an opening or openings into the pipe
by which
the debris which the boring bit or cutter produces may
enter into the pipe or hollow boring bar and be drawn to the
surface. For this purpose a pump is applied to the pipe and worked
either continuously or at intervals so as to maintain a brisk upward
current of water sufficient to carry the debris into the pipe and to
the surface, or it may be allowed to accumulate within the pipe.
If the depth of the hole or well be such that it is not desirable to
strike the blow with the boring bit or cutter with the momentum of
the whole length of boring bar, a telescopic joint may be introduced
into the tube at a suitable distance from the bottom of the hole.
When working in this manner it is preferred to commence by driving
an open ended pipe well, and to remove the earth from the interior
of it by the boring bar and bit or cutter in the manner above set
forth.
In order to turn a boring bar partly round each time it is lifted,
so that the bit or cutter may form a circular hole, I operate in the
following manner-I place a collar or clamp on the boring bar and
another collar encircles the boring bar, and is worked up and down
by the engine or other motive power, being suspended from a
rocking lever actuated thereby. The suspension is so arranged either
by oblique connecting rods and springs or otherwise that when the
strain resulting from the weight of the boring bars comes upon the
moving collar its upward progress is checked for a moment, and then
the continued movement of the rocking lever brings the oblique
rods into a more upright position, partly rotating the collar
and the collar carries the clamp on the boring bar with it, the
surfaces of the moving collar and clamp being roughened or having
teeth to prevent the one moving on the other. When the rocking
lever returns the weight of the boring bar is
instant at the end of the stroke by the bit or cutter resting on the
bottom of the hole, or otherwise, and the moving collar resumes its
first position.
taken off it for an

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Lee Norton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LEE NORTON, of Belle Sauvage Yard, Ludgate Hill, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Lee Norton, Her special
licence that I, the said James Lee Norton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Lee Norton, 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 SINKING OR FORMING WELLS, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE
USED FOR THIS AND SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Lee Norton, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Oflice within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Lec Norton, 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:
This Invention has for its object improvements in sinking or forming
wells, and in apparatus to be used for this and similar purposes. In
most situations water is very readily and advantageously obtained by
driving, forcing, or screwing into the earth an iron pipe pointed at its
lower end and perforated immediately above the point and then
pumping from the pipe so driven. Difficulty is however experienced

page_text: in drawing water in this manner when running or fine sand is
encountered, although the water may be abundant, for the sand enters
into the pipe and very rapidly chokes it.
According to the present Invention in making a pipe well in running
or fine sand the pointed pipe is perforated for a considerable distance
at its lower end so that the total area of the perforations may be say
ten or more times the area of the pipe within this pipe, and extending
along the perforated part an inner tube also extensively perforated is
inserted, and around this tube horsehair cloth is wound in many
convolutions so as entirely to fill the outer tube. The horsehair cloth
so applied effectually stops back the sand, but it allows the water to
filter into the inner tube and from thence it passes into the main well
tube and is drawn up by the pump. In place of horsehair cloth other
fibrous or filtering material, either woven or unwoven, may be employed
to fill the space between the perforated portion of the main tube and the
inner perforated tube, but horsehair cloth is the most suitable.
I prefer
to make the inner tube with a flange, which is shut in a joint between
two lengths of the main tube, this prevents the inner tube starting
when the main tube is driven; or the inner tube may in some instances
be inserted after the main tube has been driven.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of the lower part of a well
tube adapted to draw water from sand, and arranged in the manner
which I prefer.
a, a, is a wrought-iron tube with a pointed end welded to it; it is
such as is now commonly used as a well tube.
This tube is made in
sections or parts connected by sockets as at a³. The lower part of the
tube a is perforated for the admission of water as the Drawing indicates.
b is an inner tube, it may be of brass; it is perforated throughout, and
its lower end is closed by a cap. To its upper end a flange is fixed
which enters into the socket at a and is nipped and held between
the sections of the tube a. c is cloth of woven horsehair tightly
wound around the tube b so as completely to fill the space between
the tubes a and b. In place of using horsehair cloth loose horsehair
may be rammed into the space between the tubes a and b, or other
material may be used, but horsehair cloth is the most suitable. If it
be desired to introduce the filtering parts after the outer tube is driven,
it is best to make the lowest section of the pipe a slightly smaller
internally than the sections above, so that the tube with the horse-

page_text: hair cloth around it may pass readily down to the lowest section into
which it is then forced. The tube having first been well cleared of
sand the flange of the tube b in this arrangement does not project,
but is only sufliciently deep to keep the fabric in its place. The
same arrangements are also applicable where in place of driving the
tube a hole is first bored in the ground to receive it, and in some
formations of rare occurrence it is convenient to operate in this manner,
that is to say, by first making a bore hole by means of ordinary boring
tools, removing the earth or material to form the hole, then dropping
the well tube into the hole so formed, and applying a pump to it in
the same way as with the driven well tube so that the pump when
at work partially exhausts the well tube, and so draws the water from
the surrounding strata. The filtering arrangements may be similar to
those shown in Figure 1, the well tube however need not be pointed.
The inner perforated tube may also be omitted and the perforated
end of the well tube entirely filled with filtering material. In this
case, however, as the filtration will in most instances be slow, it is
requisite to provide a receptacle or space in the well into which the
water may slowly filter while the pump is standing, and from which
receptacle or space when the pump is set to work a supply may be
promptly drawn. For this purpose the pump is not applied directly to
the well tube, but to a separate suction pipe of smaller diameter inserted
down inside the well tube, and then the space between the suction pipe
and the well tube, furnishes the required capacity for the reception of
the water, and in which it gradually collects whilst the pump is out of
action. The pump when at work by drawing the water from the water space
produces a partial vacuum in the well tube (or reduces the pressure
therein below the atmospheric pressure) which, as in all tube wells (made
under other Patents granted to or belonging to me), tends to assist the
inward filtration of the water. The joint between the well tube and the
suction or pump tube may advantageously be made by means of an india-
rubber ring, as is suggested in the Provisional Specification of my
Patent dated the 23rd day of October 1867, No. 2081, the india-rubber
ring should be shut in between flanges. I would here remark, that
although the said Provisional Specification (No. 2981, 1867), contained
words in which the pumping by means of a pump with an inner suction
pipe connected by an air-tight joint to the well tube was alluded to, I
did not claim this arrangement in the Complete Specification of the said
Patent, as I preferred to make this claim under my present Patent, the

page_text: arrangement being especially applicable when filters are employed, which
check more or less the entrance of the water into the tube; the arrange-
ment, however, is also applicable in cases where the water percolates
but slowly in consequence of the closeness of the surrounding strata and
when no filter is employed within the well tube. The pump barrel
when the well is deep will be some distance down the well tube, or it
may be at the bottom thereof, but I have used the words suction
pipe "to include in its meaning the whole length of the inner or pump
tube from top to bottom of the well tube.
Figure 2 shows a diagram of a well tube a with a smaller pump pipe b
within it. The well pipe at its lower end a¹ is fitted with horsehair or
other filtering material if fine sand has to be stopped back. The point
of the pipe a will be variously formed according as the pipe is driven
into the ground or screwed in or put into a hole bored or formed for
it. The pipes a and b are connected at their upper ends by flanges
between which an india-rubber ring is interposed; the pump bucket in
this case is arranged to work in the pipe b at b' at some distance from
the surface of the land, as is necessary in deep wells.
The space
between the pipes a and b is the capacity into which the water filters
more or less slowly.
Figure 2 shows a diagram similar to Figure 2, but with the pump
cylinder at the surface and with the lower end of the suction pipe
perforated all around and lapped round with horsehair cloth. Where
the well tube which is driven, forced, or screwed into the earth is of
such a length above the water level that the pump barrel has to be part
of the way down it, I here introduce a section of pipe somewhat
stouter than the rest and about of the same external diameter. I grind
or otherwise true this length of pipe on the inside and fit the bucket within
it; and the valve seating I clamp in the joint between the length of pipe
forming the pump barrel and the next length of the main pipe. 'A'
longitudinal section of a portion of a well tube with the pump barrel
thus formed within it is shown at Figure 3. a and a¹ are two
sections of a well tube connected by a screw socket as is usual.
a is the section forming the pump barrel; it is somewhat smaller in
internal diameter than the other sections, so that the pump bucket b
may pass freely down the well tube till it enters this section in which
it fits truly. The barrel is bored or ground out, and care is taken not
fo leave any shoulder which might impede the entry of the bucket

page_text: into the barrel. The seating for the lower valve is clamped in the
socket between the parts a and a' as is shown, and there is also a valve
in the bucket, ball valves are used by preference.
When producing a well by removing earth by boring in place of
employing solid boring bars as is now practiced, pipes are employed
according to this Invention, and at the lower end of the pipe close
to the boring bit or cutter is an opening or openings into the pipe by
which the debris which the boring bit or cutter produces may enter
into the pipe or hollow boring bar and be drawn to the surface.
For
this purpose a pump is applied to the pipe and worked either con-
tinuously or at intervals, so as to maintain a brisk upward current of
water sufficient to carry the debris into the pipe and to the surface, or
it may be allowed to accumulate within the pipe.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the lower end of such a hollow
boring bar; it is made of wrought-iron tube, the lengths of which
are put together with screw coupling sockets, and into its lower end
a steel cutter is welded. On each side of the cutting edge passages
lead into the interior of the tube. The boring bar is lifted and dropt
in the usual manner of boring, and by steam power or otherwise, from
the upper end of the hollow bar a flexible pipe passes to the pump,
so that the pump is able to draw a rapid stream of water up the hollow.
bar whilst it is at work. Where the hole does not yield water the
water should be poured down it. If the depth of the hole or well be
such that it is not desirable to strike the blow with the boring bit
or cutter with the momentum of the whole length of boring bar a
telescopic joint may be introduced into the tube at a suitable distance
from the bottom of the hole. When working in this manner it is
preferred to commence by driving an open ended pipe well and to
remove the earth from the interior of it by the boring har and bit or
cutter in the manner above set forth. In order to turn a boring bar
partly round each time it is lifted, so that the bit or cutter may förm
a circular hole, I operate in the following manner:-I place a collar
or clamp on the boring bar, and another collar encircles the boring
bar and is worked up and down by the engine or other motive power,
being suspended from a rocking lever actuated thereby. The suspension
is so arranged by oblique connecting rods and springs that when the
strain resulting from the weight of the boring bars comes upon the
moving collar its upward progress is checked for a moment, and then

page_text: the continued movement of the rocking lever brings the oblique rods
into a more upright position partly rotating the collar, and the collar
carries the clamp on the boring bar with it, the surfaces of the moving
collar and clamp being roughened or having teeth to prevent the one
moving on the other. When the rocking lever returns the weight of
the boring bar is taken off it for an instant at the end of the stroke by
the bit or cutter resting on the bottom of the hole, or otherwise, and
the moving collar resumes its first position.
A side view of this arrangement is shown at Figure 5, and a horizontal
section of the same at Figure 6. a is the boring bar; b, a clip fixed
upon it and roughened on its under side; c is a collar capable of moving
freely on the bar a; it is worked up and down by a rocking lever
actuated by a steam engine or otherwise; c' is a face on the collar c
of vulcanized india-rubber or other soft material on which the teeth
of the clip will not slip; d, d, are short lifting chains passing to the
rocking lever, at their lower ends they are connected with links, e
jointed to the collar c and furnished with springs f, tending to draw
them into the inclined position in which they are shown. Then, as
before-mentioned, when the collar c rises and comes against the clip b
the links e are drawn into a more upright position, and so a partial
rotation is given to the bar.
What I claim is the combining with well tubes an interior perforated
tube with horsehair cloth or other filtering material in the space
between the two, and also the forming wells with such tubes.
I also claim the filling the lower end of well tubes with horse-
hair or other filtering material, and the forming of wells with such
tubes.
I also claim the constructing tube wells with an inner or suction
pump tube passing down within the well tube, so that a
water space
or reservoir is enclosed between the two tubes, the said two tubes
being connected air-tight, so that when the pump is in action it may
as in other tube wells produce a partial vacuum in the well tube, or
reduce the pressure therein below the atmospheric pressure.
I also claim the arranging the pump barrel to work within a section
of the well tube, which thus serves as the barrel of the pump.
I also claim in boring wells or holes the use of a hollow boring rod
in connection with a pump, in such manner as to draw the debris from
the hole into or through the hollow rod.

page_text: I also claim the working a boring bar by means of a collar rising and
falling upon it, and with oblique connecting rods and springs, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lee Norton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
J. L. NORTON. (L.S.)