AN IMPROVED ROTATORY PUMP OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND FORCING FLUIDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Clement Joseph Ortmens, of Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
ROTATORY PUMP OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND FORCING FLUIDS, AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 16th September 1876, and dated the 22nd May 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Clement Joseph
Ortmans at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd May
1876.
$5
VICTOR CLEMENT JOSEPH ORTMANS, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Civil Engineer. AN IMPROVED ROTATORY PUMP OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND
FORCING FLUIDS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to a novel construction and arrangement of rotatory pumps
or apparatus for raising and forcing cold or hot water or other liquids, or for
exhausting and forcing or compressing air or gas, which apparatus is also applicable
us a motor or a meter.
The said rotatory pump or apparatus consists of a circular case or shell mounted
on a suitable frame or bed plate. The inner part of the said case or shell forms a
chamber of suitable size, provided with an inlet and an outlet passage or pipe. The
body or shell of the apparatus is wider at its periphery than at its centre, having in
transverse section the form of a double conc. From the central part of the said
body projects on each side a stuffing box, which stuffing boxes are traversed by a
shaft, upon which is affixed the nave of a central circular disc or plate made of cast
iron or other suitable metal, which disc or plate extends from the said central shaft
to the periphery of the chamber, forming a partition which divides the said
chamber into two parts, and by its periphery fits into a depression or groove
formed round the said chamber. In the said disc or plate are formed four or a
suitable number of depressions or cavities, each of which is fitted with a butterfly
valve mounted upon a pivot or axis traversing the middle of the said depression or
cavity radially to the centre of the said plate.
The depressions or cavities in the plate or disc arc formed so that the butterfly
valves mounted upon their axes as herein-before described may be turned in one
direction, so as to lie in and fill the said depressions or cavities and be completely
embedded therein; and the said butterfly valves are formed so that when caused to

page_text: rotate partially upon their axes in another direction they will extend on each sido
of the said plate or disc as far as the inner sides of the body of the apparatus, and
will forn a series of moveable radial partitions dividing the inner chamber of the
apparatus into as many compartments.
The advanced or foreside of the said butterfly valve is heavier and of larger area
than its rear or trailing side, so as to produce a tighter joint as the pressure upon it
increases.
In order to avoid any injurions friction caused by the unequal surfaces of the two
sides of the butterfly valves the said valves are provided with shoulders, which
when the valves are open to their full extent rest against abutments formed upon
the said plate or disc.
If when the butterfly valves are open as described the said disc or plate be
caused to rotate, it is evident that the said butterfly valves would force before then
the fluid contained in the apparatus, and draw or suck in the fluid behind them;
but as it is essential that the fluid actuated by the butterfly valves should not pass
entirely round the apparatus so as to return to the inlet passage, I provide inside
the apparatus and between the inlet and outlet passages an obturator formed of two
solid partitions projecting one from each side of the chamber to the central disc or
plato, and leaving between them only sufficient space for the contral disc or plate to
pass when its butterfly valves are closed and embedded in the depressions heroin-
beforo described. The ends of the said partitions are curved so as to act upon and
close or shut down into the depressions or cavities of the central plate or disc; the
butterfly valves as their ends come in contact with the said curved parts, and it is
to be remarked that from the peculiar arrangement of the parts of the apparatus,
the said butterfly valves have no strain upon them at that part where the inlet and
the outlet of the fluid takes place, they are therefore free to rotate partially upon
their axes; the opening of the said butterfly valves is effected, and they are kept
closed when required by means of a cam or projection upon each of the said valves,
which cam or projection when the butterfly valve passes through the obturator
takes into a groove formed to receive it. As soon as the butterfly valve passes out
from the obturator the said cam coming in contact with the end of the said groove is
actuated thereby to open the butterfly valve by causing it to perform about one-
eighth of a revolution round its axis. To render the obturator perfectly fluid tight
on each side of the said plato or disc I let into the side of the said obturator a small
plate of metal; a suitable passage opening at one end behind the said obturator,
and at its other end behind the said plates causes the fluid in the apparatus to press
the said plates against the central disc or plate, and thus to make a tight joint.
The said apparatus is provided with suitable lubricators.
It will be readily understood that according to the nature of the fluid acted on
my apparatus may be used as a suction and force pump for liquids, or as an
apparatus for exhausting and forcing or compressing air or gas; and by reversing
the action of the fluid my said apparatus may be used as a motor, or as a meter for
measuring the flow of fluids.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Victor Clement Joseph Ortinans in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4
16th November 1876.
VICTOR CLEMENT JOSEPH ORTMANS, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Civil Engineer. "AN IMPROVED ROTATORY PUMP OR APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND
FORCING FLUIDS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to a novel construction and arrangement of rotatory pumps 5
or apparatus for raising and forcing cold or hot water or other liquids, or for
exhausting and forcing or compressing air or gas, which apparatus is also applicable
as a motor or a meter.

page_text: The said rotatory pump or apparatus consists of a circular casc or shell mounted
on a suitable frame or bed plate. The inner part of the said case or shell forms a
chamber of suitable size provided with an inlet and an outlet passage or pipe. The
body or shell of the apparatus is wider at its periphery than at its centre, having in
transverse section soniewhat the form of a double conc. From the central part of
the said body projects on each side a stuffing box, which stuffing boxes are traversed
by a shaft, upon which is affixed the nave of a central circular disc or plate made of
cast-iron or other suitable metal, which disc or plate extends from the said central
shaft to the periphery of the chamber forming a partition which divides the said
chamber into two parts, the periphery of the said disc fitting into a depression or
groove formed around the said chamber. In the said disc or plate are formed four
or a suitable number of depressions or cavities, each of which is fitted with a
butterfly valve mounted upon a spindle or axis traversing the middle of the said
depression or cavity radially towards the centre of the said plate.
The depressions or cavities in the plate or disc are formed so that the butterfly
valves mounted upon their axes, as herein-before described, may be turned in one
direction so as to lie in and fill the said depressions or cavities, and be completely
embedded therein, and the said butterfly valves are formed so that when caused to
rotate partially upon their axes in another direction they will extend on each side
of the said plate or disc as far as the inner sides of the body of the apparatus, and
will form a series of moveable radial partitions, dividing the inner chamber of the
apparatus into as many compartments as there are valves.
The advance or fore side of each butterfly valve is heavier and of larger area
than its rear or trailing side, so as to produce a tighter joint as the pressure upon it
increases.
In order to avoid any injurious friction caused by the unequal surfaces of the two
sides of the butterfly valves the said valves are provided with shoulders which when
the valves are open to their full extent rest against abutments formed upon the
said plate or disc.
If when the butterfly valves are open as described the said disc or plate be caused
to rotate it is evident that the said butterfly valves would force before them the
fluid contained in the apparatus, and draw or suck in the fluid behind them; but
as it is essential that the fluid actuated by the butterfly valves should not pass
entirely round the apparatus, so as to return to the inlet passage, I provide inside
the apparatus and between the inlet and outlet passages an obturator formed of
two solid partitions projecting one from each side of the chamber to the central disc
or plate, and leaving between them only sufficient space for the central disc or plate
to pass when its butterfly valves are closed and embedded in the depressions herein-
before described. The ends of the said partitions are curved so as to act upon and
close or shut down into the depressions or cavities of the central plate or disc the
butterfly valves as their ends come in contact with the said curved parts, and it is
to be remarked that from the peculiar arrangement of the parts of the apparatus the
said butterfly valves have no strain upon them at that part where the inlet and the
outlet of the fluid takes place; they are therefore free to rotate partially upon their
axes. The opening of the said butterfly valves is effected, and they are kept closed
when required by means of a cam or projection upon each of the said valves, which
cam or projection when the butterfly valve passes through the obturator takes into
a groove formed to receive it. As soon as the butterfly valve passes out from the
obturator the said cam coming in contact with the end of the said groove is actuated
thereby to open the butterfly valve by causing it to perform about one-eighth of a
revolution round its axis. To render the obturator perfectly fluid tight on each side
of the said plate or disc 1 let into the side of the said obturator a small plate of
metal. A suitable passage opening at one end behind the said obturator and at its
other end behind the said plates causes the fluid in the apparatus to press the said
plates against the central disc or plate, and thus to make a tight joint. The said
apparatus is provided with suitable lubricators.

page_text: It will be readily understood that according to the nature of the fluid acted on
my apparatus may be used as a suction and force pump for liquids, or as an apparatus
for exhausting and forcing or compressing air or gas, and by reversing the action of
the fluid my said apparatus may be used as a notor or as a meter for measuring the
flow of fluids.
Having described 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 1 represents in horizontal section a pump constructed according to my
Invention for elevating and forcing liquids; Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section of the same.
Figure 3 represents in elevation the interior of one side of the body or case of the
pump; and Figure 4 represents in elevation the interior of the other side of the
body or case of the said pump.
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 represent parts of the said pump separately, as
herein-after described.
Similar letters of reference are used to indicate like parts where they occur in
the different Figures of the Drawing.
G is the body or case of the pump, which is supported by a suitable bed plate.
The said pump is provided with an inlet or suction tube or passage J, and an outlet
passage K, and also with stuffing boxes F, F, traversed by the driving shaft D,
which shaft receives rotatory motion from a driving pulley E, and is carried by
suitable bearings, one of which is represented at H, Figure 1. Upon the driving
shaft D at D is keyed or otherwise affixed a circular cast-iron plate or disc A
extending to the circumference of the inner chamber of the pump G, and fitting
into so as to be capable of rotating in a groove formed around the said chamber.
In the said plate or disc A are formed depressions or cavities A', the sectional
shape of which is seen best in Figure 7, which is a section of a portion of the said
pump at that part where the butterfly valves herein-after described are open, and
in Figure 8, which is a section of a portion of the said pump where the said butterfly
valves are closed into the said depressions or cavities A. In the said depressions
or cavities A¹ are mounted butterfly valves B, B¹, upon steel spindles or axes C,
each of the said axes or pivots traversing a hole in the said plate or disc radially to
the centre thereof, and being affixed in position by a pin C. The said butterfly
valves B, B¹, have in section the shape represented in Figures 7 and 8; their
advance or fore side B is heavier, and of rather larger area than their rear or
trailing side B, so as to increase the pressure of the fluid on that side, and to render
the joint tighter as the pressure increases, and in order to avoid any injurious
friction caused by the unequal surfaces to the two sides B, B³, of the said butterfly
valves each of the said butterfly valves is formed with shoulders B2, B², which rest
against the plate or disc A when the said valve is open to its full extent, as repre-
sented in Figure 7.
I and P, Figure 8, represent two projecting blocks forming the obturator. The
ends of the said blocks are curved so as to cause the butterfly valves to deviate
and turn into their cavities or depressions A¹ in the plate or disc A, when in the
rotation of the said plate or disc Â they come in contact with the curved ends of
the obturator. The two blocks I, I, which are represented separately in section
and elevation in Figures 5 and 6 and 9 and 10 respectively, fill up the space
between the sides of the pump and the plate or disc A, so as to prevent the fluid
from passing. L, L, are cams, one on each of the butterfly valves B, B¹, for the
purpose of keeping the said valves closed in the disc or plate A when passing
through the obturator, and also to cause the said valves to open when they issue
therefrom, and to keep them open until they again come round to the obturator.
M is a groove formed in the side of the pump, and in the path of the cams L. The
ends of the said groove M are inclined so as to form inclined planes, down and up
which the cams L slide on entering and leaving the said groove.

page_text: The butterfly valves B, B¹, coming in contact with the ends of the obturator
blocks I, I, are closed thereby, and at the same time the cams L, L, pass into the
said groove just as the butterfly valves B, B¹, close, and keep the said valves closed
until they pass out from the obturator. The cam L then slides up the inclined
plane m at the end of the groove M, and in so doing causes its butterfly valve B, B¹,
to open the said valve, performing about an eighth of a revolution round its axis C.
The cam L then continues to inovo with the disc or plate A sliding over a plane
surface until its butterfly valve B, B¹, again comes in contact with the curved end
of the obturator, when the action just described is repeated. The obturator has
similar curves at each end so as to enable the action of the pump to be reversed.
N, N', are plates or strips of metal fitting into corresponding depressions or slots
formed one in cach block of the obturator; the said plates or strips N, N¹ are
pressed against the disc or plate A by the fluid in the pump, which fluid passing
through the passages N presses upon the back of the said plates or strips N, N.
The respective positions of the plates or strips N, N', are indicated by dotted lines
in Figure 2. O is a self-acting lubricator; P, P, are bolts by which the two halves
of the body of the pump are fixed together; Q, Q, are bolts fixing the pump to its
bed; R is a curved part of the shell or body of the pump for preventing any solid
matters from getting in between the plates or disc A and the body of the pump.
The action of the said pump is as follows:-When the pump is at rest, as repre-
sented in Figure 2, it will be seen that three of tho butterfly valves B, B¹, are open,
and form partitions in the body of the pump, the fourth butterfly valve being
closed and embedded in the disc or plate A. between the projecting blocks I, II,
which constitute the obturator. None of the fluid therefore can pass between the
outlet K and inlet J in that direction.
As soon as rotatory motion is communicated to the disc or plate A. the butterfly
valve embedded therein on issuing from the obturator opens and forms a partition
in the body of the pump, and driving before it the fluid in front of it forms a
vacuum, and draws in the fluid behind it. The said butterfly valve continuing to
be carried round by the plate or disc A finally forces the fluid before it through
the outlet pipe K, and then closes and passes through the obturator, as hercin-
before described. The action of all the butterfly valves is similar to that just
described.
It will be observed that in the rotation of the central disc or plate A the butterfly
valves open and close. They open on issuing from the obturator, and they close
on entering the said obturator. The opening of the said valves is effected by the
cams L, L, rising out of the groove M, and they are kept open by the said cams
L, L, sliding over a plane surface more elevated than the groove M, and by tho
difference of area and weight of the two sides B and B¹ of the said butterfly valves.
The shutting down of the said valves into the disc or plate A is effected by their
coming in contact with the curved ends of the obturator. The parts of the said
pump subject to friction, such as the groove M and its inclined surfaces, the cam L,
and the central part and periphery of the plate or disc A are continually lubricated,
thus preventing the introduction of carthy matters between the parts, and the wear
which would be produced thereby.
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 confine myself to
the precise details berein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my said
Invention, but I claim as my Invention of an improved rotatory pump or apparatus
for raising and forcing fluids and for other purposes,
Firstly. The general combination and arrangement of parts constituting the said
pump or apparatus, essentially as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The central disc or plate provided with butterfly valves, also the
obturator and devices for opening and closing the said butterfly valves, essentially
as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Thirdly. The application of the said pump or apparatus as a motor and as a
meter.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Clement Joseph Ortmans, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
VICTOR CLEMENT JOSEPH ORTMANS. (LS)