IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC PRESSES, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPERTAINING THERETO, AND REQUISITE IN WORKING THE SAME, PART OF SUCH IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE PUMPING MACHINERY ATTACHED TO HYDRAULIC PRESSES, AND THIS PART BEING APPLICABLE TO PUMPING MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Oldfield Ward, of No. 6, Hertford Street,
May Fair, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC
PRESSES, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS APPERTAINING THERETO, AND
REQUISITE IN WORKING THE SAME, PART OF SUCH IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO
THE PUMPING MACHINERY ATTACHED TO HYDRAULIC PRESSES, AND THIS PART
BEING APPLICABLE TO PUMPING MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
aled the 28th March 1862, and dated the 22nd October 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Oldfield Ward at
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
October 1861.
•
I, FREDERICK OLDFIELD WARD, of No. 6, Hertford Street, May Fair,
London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMP:OVEMENTS IN HYDRAULIC PRESSES, AND IN THE MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS APPERTAINING THERETO, AND REQUISITE IN WORKING THE SAME, PART
OF SUCH IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE PUMPING MACHINERY ATTACHED TO HY-
DRAULIC PRESSES, AND THIS PART BEING APPLICABLE TO PUMPING MACHINERY
EMPLOYED FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its principal objects to diminish the weight of metal.
and the number of working parts hitherto deemed necessary in hydraulic
presses and the apparatus connected therewith, and to combine increased
Price 8d.1

page_text: strength with easier and cheaper construction, more compact disposition, greater
portability, less risk of bursting, and generally more economy and efficiency
than have been heretofore attained in this manufacture.
The improvements by which it is sought to accomplish these objects form a
connected series, and they are believed to be novel, some of them separately,
some of them in combination with one or more of the rest, all of them when
taken as a connected whole. They are for the most part of a kind difficult
to describe clearly without entering into considerable detail, & they may be
enumerated as follows:-
I.
The first improvement of the series consists in a novel disposition of the metal,
and of the core holes in the head of the hydraulic press, whereby more strength
relatively to weight is obtained in this part than by any disposition heretofore
adopted. To accomplish this according to the present Invention, the core holes
or spaces for the removal of the cores may be formed in one or both of the
sides or ends of the head, instead of in the top as heretofore; thus, the top of
the head which by its position is the part best able to resist the tensile strain,
may be obtained in the condition of a solid continuous flange uninterrupted
by the weakening gaps heretofore made in it, while, on the other hand,
according to the present Invention, those gaps or apertures may be formed
in the web or webs extending between the top and bottom flanges of the
head, that is to say, at points situated at or near the neutral plane of the
beam, where the withdrawal of metal lessens weight without in a corresponding
degree diminishing strength. The word top is here to be understood with
reference to the usual vertical position of hydraulic presses, in the case of
presses horizontally disposed the word top must be taken as implying that part
or aspect of the head which is most remote from the cylinder and has to bear
the tensile portion of the cross strain.
II.
This second improvement is the counterpart of the foregoing, having reference
to the bottom instead of the head of the press, and being designed by a better
disposition of metal than has been heretofore adopted to secure in the press
bottom a superior combination of lightness and "trength. To accomplish
this, according to the present Invention, a deep cylindrical collar may be
formed for the cylinder to drop into, and from this collar four radiating arms
or lugs may extend to take the four columns of the press, the said collar and
arms being stiffened and strengthened by (1) an upper flange running around
the collar and along the arms above, and (2) by another flange running around
the collar and along the arms below, these two flanges acting like the flanges

page_text: compressional strain.
The depth and thickness of the collar and arms, and
the width and thickness of the flanges at each part of their course, may be
adapted according to the well known dynamic equations ad hoc, to bear the
exact amount of deflecting transverse strain telling against them at each point
during the operation of the press.
III.
The third improvement is designed to diminish the detrimental bursting
pressure against the interior of the cylinder without diminishing the beneficial
upward pressure against the ram, nor restricting the extent of its rise. To
accomplish this according to the present Invention, the leather groove and
leather heretofore placed at or above the middle of the depth of the turned
throat of the press may be placed below the middle of the depth of the throat,
preferably quite low down, say, within an inch or less of the lower end of the
throat. The mouth of the press, which is a part particularly liable to burst,
is thus relieved of many tons of bursting pressure without any diminution of
the useful upward pressure against the ram. In a 15-inch press, having a
throat 12 inches deep, and working at a pressure of 3 tons per square inch,
the detrimental bursting strain thus got rid of amounts to 164 85 tons, say
164 tons, 17 cwt. for each inch that the leather is lowered, or for 6 inches
lowering to no less than 989 tons. Whether the leather be thus lowered,
or be retained in its usual position, the upward pressure against the ram
remains unchanged, amounting, in both cases alike, to 618 tons, 8 cwt.,
2 qrs., and 18 lbs.
IV.
The fourth improvement is designed to rid the press of air by simpler and
more effectual means than any heretofore devised for this purpose. This may
be accomplished, according to the present Invention, by means of a novel
air vent, so disposed that it may be alternately turned on and off by the
working of the press itself, without the necessity for any tap, valve, or other
apparatus than a simple hole or holes, and without even weakening the walls
of the cylinder by making such vent hole or holes therein; to this end the
ram, which is cast with an axial cavity for lightness, may be perforated with
a small hole towards its upper end, this perforation being so disposed as to
form, when the ram is down, a horizontal passage just below the throat of
the press, joining the cavity of the cylinder to the cavity of the ram, which
latter cavity again communicates above with the air, as well by its open upper
extremity as by a second hole or canal drilled in that part of the wall or
shell of the ram, which never descends within the cylinder. By this simple

page_text: vent above the press leather, so as to put it out of operation, and to lower it
beneath the press leather; so as to bring it into activity exactly as required, in
such manner as that the air which interferes with the operation of the press
may be discharged, but the water necessary to its action retained, and this at
no cost beyond that of drilling the hole or holes described.
V.
The fifth improvement is designed to prevent the serious weakening of the
press cylinder occasioned by the usual mode of joining thereto the pipe which
conveys thereto the water from the pumps. Though the water hole itself
rarely exceeds half an inch in diameter, its outer end is usually enlarged at
the expence of the cylinder wall to form a cavity for the reception of the
washer, burr, and gland nut, by which the pipe from the pumps is joined to
it. This loss of substance seriously weakens the cylinder at the water hole,
at which point accordingly the rupture of presses is often observed to begin.
This evil may be obviated, according to the present Invention, by casting on
the cylinder, at the point where the water hole is to be bored, a prominent
boss, and forming therein the cavity for the junction of the water pipe, instead
of cutting this cavity, as heretofore, in the substance of the cylinder itself.
In some cases I find it advantageous to cast this boss on, and to form the
water hole in the hemispherical lower end of the press, which is itself strongest
part, practically if the cylinder be cast, as it usually is, bottom downward in
the mould.
VI.
The sixth and two following improvements may be taken together as
relating to presses made expressly with a view to easy conveyance from place
to place. To accomplish this, according to the present Invention, the columns
of a hydraulic press may be adapted to slide in their lower sockets, so that the
tread descending with them may be brought into proximity or contact with
the table of the press, while the columns themselves take their place alongside
of the cylinder; the press may thus be shortened for travelling without taking
it to pieces, while, to lengthen it out again for use, it is only necessary to
raise the head by pumping up the ram, and to refix the columns in their
place as before. The fixing and unfixing of the columns may be done in
various ways, as by the insertion or withdrawal of moveable pins or cotters;
but the mode I prefer is to substitute for the supporting collar, usually forged
and turned all round the lower end of each column, a segment or portion of
a collar, so disposed as to project inward, and to rest on the press bottom when
the column is required to be fixed up, but which may be brought to the outer

page_text: side, so as no longer to rest on the press bottom by merely turning the column
half round on its axis. It will be understood that the lugs or arms of the
press bottom which receive the lower ends of the columns may be so formed
with an oblong aperture as to allow each column to slide down freely when
the above-mentioned segment is turned, in the manner just described, so as
to project outwards; thus, by half a turn of the columns in one direction, they
may be fixed up in their working position, and by half a turn in the other
direction they may be prepared for sliding down into their travelling position.
To facilitate the turning round of the columns, a bar or lever may be inserted
into a hole formed for the purpose in the thickened lower end of each column,
and to prevent the head and columns from sliding down too suddenly, they
may be upheld by means of tackle, which may be let out gradually as
required.
VII.
The seventh improvement consists in the adaptation of wheels to hydraulic
presses having sliding columns as above described, whether such wheels be
applied directly on axles attached to the press itself, or be adapted to a frame-
work analogous to a gun carriage, the arrangement, in either case, being such
that the press may be drawn along the ground, with its cylinder in a horizontal
or nearly horizontal position, like the body of a cannon. This improvement
is only claimed in combination with improvement No. 6. Such sliding column
presses on wheels may be adapted to work as well as to travel in a hori-
zontal position, but I prefer that they should work in the vertical position.
To this end the cylinder may be adapted to swing downwards, on the axle
of the wheels near its upper end, into a hole dug for its reception at the place
where it is intended to work, and, when done with at one place and required
to travel to another, the cylinder may be raised by means of tackle out of
the hole into its previous horizontal position, the columns being at the same
time slid in, so as to shorten the press for transport as before. The wheels
may be variously disposed; I prefer to place a pair of wheels near the open
end of the cylinder, and a single wheel, on a swivel near the closed or lower
end of the cylinder. To this swivel may be attached suitable means, such
as shafts or splinter bars, for harnessing the cattle employed in drawing the
press, and here also also may be placed a hook to take the tackle by which the
cylinder is lowered into or raised out of the hole in which it hangs during
1190

page_text: tercepting, let off, and change taps and valves.
IX.
The ninth improvement consists in a novel and very compact disposition
or grouping, of the water cistern, steam cylinder, force pumps, and their work-
ing gear, which, according to this Invention, may be arranged as follows:-
The cistern may be of an elongated, flattened form, its length being several
times greater than its width and depth, so that it may answer the purpose of
a horizontal bed plate. On the top of this cistern bed plate, towards one extre-
mity thereof, may be disposed horizontally the steam cylinder, with, further
on, its piston rod, crosshead, and guides, the crank end of the engine shaft
and its bearing, and, stretching from crank to crosshead, the connecting rod
which drives the crank; here also, on the top of the cistern bed plate, may be
placed, the governor, if one be needed. One end of the cistern bed plate, that
end, to wit, which is most remote from the steam cylinder, may be inclined
at an angle, preferably of 45°, to the top, and affords a convenient position and
firm basis for the pump crank shaft and its bearings, which shaft, according
to the present Invention, may extend from side to side across this end at a
lower level than the engine shaft above described, by which it is driven.
the opposite end of the cistern bed plate, which end may be vertical, the
lever of the safety valve may extend horizontally, in a plane parallel & near to
that of the cistern end itself. The sides of the cistern bed plate, in special
accordance with this Invention, may be reserved for the force pumps, which
may be bolted thereto horizontally in pairs, one pair at the front side, another
pair (if four pumps be needed) at the back side. At the back side also, in a
recess which may be formed there expressly for their reception, may revolve
the pinion and spur wheel by which the engine shaft drives the pump shaft.
Still further backward the engine shaft, prolonged about 2 feet 6 inches, may
reach its bearing in the wall or other firm support, near to which the fly wheel
may revolve, carried by the engine shaft, and having its circumference turned
At

page_text: to carry a driving belt, by which the spare power of the engine may be applied.
In the interval between the fly wheel and the driving pinion on the engine
shaft a pair of fast and loose pullies may be placed to enable the machine to
be driven by extraneous power whenever this is obtainable. At such times the
steam cylinder may be thrown off by detaching the connecting rod from the
crank which it drives, and the extraneous power, that of a water wheel for
example, may be applied to the above mentioned pullies by a belt in the usual
way. This arrangement enables the machine to be worked, during full water
seasons, by water power, and during short water seasons by steam power.
By the above described disposition, or grouping, of the mechanism, every part
of the cistern bed plate is utilized, its top, its two ends, and its two sides, to
afford bearing to the different working parts, its interior to contain water for
the supply of the pumps, and its bottom as the foundation of the whole. The
machinery may thus be packed within a smaller compass than has been hereto-
fore obtained while the elongated form of the cistern bed plate, and the peculiar
disposition of the working parts, afford to these latter a scope of movement
much more extensive relatively to the total space occupied than any arrange-
ment heretofore adapted has allowed. This improvement in the general dis-
position or grouping of the parts stands in close relation to, and may be said
to embrace a series of special improvements, which are set forth in the next
6 paragraphs.
X.
The tenth improvement relates to the mode of working the pumps, which
may be effected, according to this Invention, by the disposition of a sliding
piece or crosshead between the two pumps of each pair, the plungers of
the said pumps being fixed to the crosshead, one at either end, the cross-
head itself moving to and fro in a guide formed for it at the side of the
cistern bed plate, & its reciprocating motion being communicated to it by a
connecting rod worked by the above-mentioned pump crank shaft, which in
its turn is driven by the steam-engine shaft by the intervention of the pinion
and spur wheel above described. As this crosshead moves to and fro it
alternately draws forth and drives home the plunger of each pump, so that at
every revolution of the pump crank shaft both pumps of each pair perform a
double stroke out and home. Each stroke of the pumps should correspond to
several strokes of the steam piston, the proportion varying according to the
relative degrees of force and velocity required to produce a proper dynamic
equation between the driving power and the work. This is readily effected
by a suitable adjustment of the relative diameters of the spur wheel and pinion
above described; and it will be found advantageous, in ordinary cases, so to

page_text: guides employed in working a set of hydraulic press pumps, the number
formerly furnished to each separate pump suflicing according to the present
Invention for each pair.
XII.
This is a structural improvement economising expence and labour in making
the machine, and rendered feasible by the arrangements above described; it
consists in the substitution of a straight pump crank shaft of moderate diameter,
easy to forge and turn, and of one (or two) end cranks and crank pins, cheap
to form & fix, instead of the much heavier shaft with thickenings forged
on it at intervals, and a series of double cranks cut in it out of the solid at
those points, according to the costly method heretofore commonly employed.
In some cases a crank pin for driving the back side pair of pumps may be
cheaply obtained by simply enlarging and prolonging the key which fixes the
spur wheel on the pump crank shaft, and turning to the required form the
projecting portion of this key. In other cases the back crank pin may be
fixed wholly to the spur wheel, a crank being economised by either mode, so
that according to this Invention a set of four pumps may be driven by one
plain end crank and two crank pins instead of the costly four-throw double-
crank shaft, heretofore provided in such case.
XIII.
This improvement is a consequence of the last, and consists in the increased
length of crank, and consequently of pump stroke, rendered economically
attainable by the improved crank & crank pin arrangements above described.
In forming double cranks cut out of the solid the distance between the centre
of the shaft and that of the crank pin cannot be increased without a serious
augmentation in the cost of the work, but the usual length of the crank, and
consequently of the pump stroke, can according to the present Invention be
easily and economically doubled, or even, if requisite, be increased threefold
or more, an advantage of the highest importance, as reducing in like pro-
portion the number of valve beats and other reciprocating motions for a given
amount of work performed,

page_text: This improvement is intimately connected with the last, but requires
separate description on account of the special advantage it entails. It consists
in the increased length which, according to the present Invention, may be
given to the connecting rod (or rods, as the case may be), by which the
pumps are driven, and in the consequently more direct and advantageous
application of the driving power relatively to a given degree of compactness
of the machine, and to a given weight of framing required. This threefold
advantage of a long connecting rod, a compact machine, and light framing,
may be secured according to the present Invention by means of the above-
described peculiar arrangement or grouping of the steam cylinder force
pumps and shafting respectively upon, beside, and at the end of the elongated
cistern bed plate. For each pair of pumps may evidently be fixed to the side
of the cistern bed plate in such a position as to bring the intervening sliding
crosshead by which they are worked at a mean distance of only one pump
length and a half from that end of the cistern bed plate which is opposite to
the end carrying the pump crank shaft, and the length of the connecting rod
may be, of course, that of the extended distance thus gained from crank pin to
crosshead pin. By way of example, to make this clearer, taking the case of
a three-inch pump crank, a 6-inch pump stroke, and an 8-foot cistern bed plate,
and allowing the length of each pump, with its valves and gland, to be about
2 times the length of its stroke, or say, 15 inches, we have 8 feet, less
2 feet 6 inches, or no less than 5 feet, being above five-eighths of the whole
length of the cistern bed plate, as the length of connecting rod readily
obtainable (in the case assumed) according to the present Invention, without
either extra framing or diminished compactness.
XV.
This improvement, which includes several distinct advantages, is rendered
feasible by the horizontal disposition of the pumps, and is believed to possess
novelty and importance, particularly in combination with other of the improve-
ments comprised in the present Invention. It consists mainly in the
disposition of both the pump valves, the outlet as well as the inlet valve at
the same end of the pump, at that end, to wit, towards which the plunger
travels during its instroke. By this arrangement of the valves the necessity
for an annular waterway along the pump, as heretofore provided between the
barrel and the plunger, is done away with. The barrel and plunger may, there-
fore, in accordance with the present Invention, be turned to fit each other, so that
no space may be left for air to accumulate in, as it does in pumps of the
ordinary construction. It follows, that the plunger instead of being employed

page_text: Tess only the per-centage lost by back slip through the valves, a per-centage
which may be rendered quite trifling by duly restricting the lift of the valves,
which ought not to be allowed to rise from their seats more than 32nd of an
inch or thereabouts.
XVI.
This improvement, like that last described, relates to the pumps, and it
consists in the adaptation of a screw-down let off tap between the inlet and
outlet valves mentioned in the last paragraph. The result of this arrangement
is that when the let off tap thus disposed is unscrewed, it opens a waterway
from the pump to the cistern, but not from the press to the cistern. Thus the
further delivery of water by the pump to the press is arrested, but the quantity
already thrown in is retained, so that the ram remains up under pressure, and
may be kept so as long as required. By screwing the tap tight upon its seat,
the outlet from pump to cistern is closed, the escape of water in that
direction is stopped, and its injection into the press re-commences. In working
a single press this simple arrangement answers as well in every respect for
throwing the pumps off and on as the more complicated massive and costly
two-way change taps heretofore employed for this purpose, those for example
respectively patented by Bellhouse, Norbury, and Maguire, Oram, and others.
XVII.
The object of this improvement is in some degrée similar to that of the last,
and it will be found useful when a series of presses are to be worked by
means of one set of pumps. For this purpose the above-mentioned costly
change taps have been heretofore employed, but according to the present
Invention a simple back pressure valve may be adapted to each of the branch
pipes, by which the several presses are respectively connected with the water
main coming from the pumps. Each of these back pressure valves may be
provided with an apparatus for screwing it down close upon its seat; such
apparatus consisting preferably of a screw formed on a spindle, working
through an ordinary leather to prevent leakage, and governed by an ordinary
handle or key, the arrangement being such that when the screw is turned
so as to shut down the valve, the passage of water from the main along the
branch pipe to the press is intercepted, white by reversing the motion of the
screw, the valve is set free to play, and allows the passage of water along the

page_text: "
branch pipe towards the press, but prevents its flow in the opposite direction.
I term this arrangement an intercepting valve tap." At some point of the
waterway on the press side of this intercepting valve tap should be placed
the usual press discharge tap to let the water out of the press & return it
back to the cistern; and as two joints may be saved by combining this
discharge tap in one casting with the intercepting valve tap, I adapt this
combination as one of my improvements, which I term an "intercepting and
press discharge valve tap." Again, at some point or points of the waterway, on
the pump side of the intercepting valve tap, there should be a pump let off tap,
by which the water supplied by the pumps may be diverted from the water main
back to the cistern. I find the let off tap interposed between the pump valves,
as described in paragraph 16, answers this purpose very well. But it is often
convenient to have such a means of throwing off the pumps within immediate
reach at each press. In such cases a pump let-off tap may, like the press
discharge tap above mentioned, be combined in one piece or casting with the
intercepting valve tap above described. The arrangement thus assumes a
threefold character, comprising an intercepting valve tap in the middle, with a
press discharge tap on one side of it, and a pump let off tap on the other.
This triple combination accordingly constitutes one of my improvements; and
I call it a compound press and pump discharge and intercepting valve tap.
On the other hand, all these taps may be put in separately, if preferred;
indeed, even the above described valve tap may be divided; and a plain back.
pressure valve with a separate screw down tap to close or open at pleasure;
the waterway between the said back pressure valve and the main may be sub-
stituted for the combined arrangement, and will equally fulfil the conditions of
this Invention. I prefer, however, the above-described combination as saving
joints with their cost and their liability to leakage, and also as economising
metal; the combined valve and taps weighing very much less than as many
separate ones with all their extra junctions. In either case the characteristic
feature of the plan remains the same. This consists in subjecting each press
of a series to isolation from the general system by two means, one self-acting,
viz., the back pressure valve preventing the egress of water from the press,
the other under the operator's control, viz., the screw down intercepting tap
(whether combined with or separated from the back pressure valve), prevent-
ing the ingress of water to the press. By this cheap and simple arrangement
the waterflow may be diverted from one press to the next as promptly and
securely as by the above-mentioned costly change taps of Bellhouse and
others; and, moreover, any press of a series may be worked alone, or any two
or more presses, or all of them, at the operator's choice, may be worked simul-

page_text: taneously; which facility the change tap arrangements of Bellhouse and others
do not afford. Moreover, any press or any number of presses of a series may,
according to the present Invention, be kept standing under pressure, or be let
down, as the operator may desire, without interfering with the working, or
standing under pressure, or discharge of the rest of the series, so that the
workmen at various presses of a series will not have, as heretofore, to wait on
each other's operations. The economy in wages thus effected will in many
cases, it is believed, prove even more important than the saving in first cost by
the new plan.
XVIII.
It is obvious that the above described improvements in hydraulic presses,
pumps, and connected apparatus may be carried into effect under various
modifications of form and mode, without departing from the destructive and
essential characters of the present Invention. I do not therefore confine
myself in respect of details, but claim the said improvements under all in-
essential variations of form and mode, so long as their peculiar features charac-
teristic of the present Invention be in each case substantially retained; always,
however, subject to the limitations herein-before set forth, as to improvements
claimed only in certain specified combinations. It is also obvious that the said.
In
improvements, so far as they relate to the grouping and construction of
pumping apparatus may be employed not only in pumps used for working
hydraulic presses, but also in pumps used for other purposes; as, for example,
in pumps used for extinguishing conflagrations, and in various sorts of feed
pumps and force pumps required in different branches of manufacture.
some such cases it may be convenient to use pistons instead of solid plungers,
as above described, or double-acting instead of single-acting pumps. All such
essential modifications may be introduced without departure from the charac-
teristic features of the present Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Oldfield Ward in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
OLDFIELD WARD, of 6, Hertford Street, May Fair, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Frederick Oldfield Ward, Her special licence that I, the said Frederick
Oldfield Ward, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Frederick Oldfield Ward, 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 HYDRAULIC PRESSES, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS
APPERTAINING THERETO, AND REQUISITE IN WORKING THE SAME, PART OF SUCH Iм-
PROVEMENTS RELATING TO THE PUMPING MACHINERY ATTACHED TO HYDRAULIC PRESSES
AND THIS PART BEING APPLICABLE TO PUMPING MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR OTHER
PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Frederick
Oldfield Ward, 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 Frederick Oldfield Ward, 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, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object to diminish the weight of metal and the
number of working parts hitherto deemed necessary in hydraulic presses and
the apparatus connected therewith, and to combine increased relative strength
with easier and cheaper construction, more compact disposition, greater porta-
bility, less risk of bursting, and generally more economy and efficiency than
have been heretofore attained in this manufacture. The improvements by
which it is sought to accomplish these objects form a connected series, and they
are believed to be novel, some of them separately, some of them in combination
with one or more of the rest, all of them when taken as a connected whole..
They are, for the most part, of a kind difficult to describe clearly without
entering into considerable detail, and they may be enumerated as follows:-
I.
1. The first improvement of the series consists in a novel disposition of the
metal and of the core holes in the head of the hydraulic press, whereby more
strength, relatively to weight, is obtained in this part than by any disposition
heretofore adopted. To accomplish this, according to the present Invention,

page_text: the core holes, or spaces for the removal of the cores, may be formed in one
or both of the sides or ends of the head, instead of in the top, as heretofore.
Thus the top of the head, which by its position is the part best able to resist
the tensile strain, may be obtained in the condition of a solid continuous flange
uninterrupted by the weakening gaps heretofore made in it; while, on the
other hand, according to the present Invention, those gaps or apertures may be
formed in the web or webs extending between the top and bottom flanges of
the head, or in the end plates of. the head; that is to say, at points situated at
or near the neutral plane of the beam, where the withdrawal of metal lessens
weight without in a corresponding degree diminishing strength. The word
top is here to be understood with reference to the usual vertical position of
hydraulic presses; in the case of presses horizontally disposed the word top
must be taken as implying that part or aspect of the head which is most remote
from the cylinder and has to bear the tensile portion of the cross strain.
II.
2. This second improvement is the counterpart of the foregoing, having
reference to the bottom instead of the head of the press, and being designed,
by a better disposition of metal than has been heretoforo adopted, to secure in
the press bottom a superior combination of lightness and strength. To accom-
plish this, according to the present Invention, a deep cylindrical collar may be
formed for the cylinder to drop into, and from this collar four radiating arms
or lugs may extend to take the four columns of the press, the said collar and
arms being stiffened and strengthened by (1) an upper flange running around
the collar and along the arms above; and (2), by another flange running
around the collar and along the arms below; these two flanges acting like the
flanges of a rail or beam, the lower one to resist tensile strain, the upper one
to resist compressional strain. The depth and thickness of the collar and
arms and the width and thickness of the flanges at each part of their course
may be adapted, acording to the well known dynamic equations, ad hoc, to
bear the exact amount of deflecting transverse strain telling against them at
each point during the operation of the press.
III.
3. The third improvement is designed to diminish the detrimental-bursting
pressure against the interior of the cylinder without diminishing the beneficial
upward pressure against the ram, nor restricting the extent of its rise. To
accomplish this, according to the present Invention, the leather groove and
leather heretofore placed at or above the middle of the depth of the turned
throat of the press may be placed below the middle of the depth of the throat,
preferably, quite low down, say, within an inch or less of the lower end of the

page_text: throat. The mouth of the press, which is a part particularly liable to burst, is
thus relieved of many tons of bursting pressure without any diminution of the
useful upward pressure against the ram. In a 15-inch press, having a throat
12 inches deep, and working at a pressure of 3 tons per square inch, the
detrimental bursting strain thus got rid of amounts to 164'85 tons, say,
164 tons, 17 cwt. for each inch that the leather is lowered; or, for 6 inches
lowering, to no less than 989 tons. Whether the leather be thus lowered or
be retained in its usual position, the upward pressure against the ram remains
unchanged, amounting, in both cases alike, to 618 tons, 8 cwt., 2 quarters,
and 18 lbs.
IV.
4. This improvement is designed to rid the press of air by simpler and more
effectual means than any heretofore devised for this purpose. This may be
accomplished, according to the present Invention, by means of a novel air
vent so disposed that it may be alternately turned on and off by the working
of the press itself, without the necessity for any tap, valve, or other apparatus
than a simple hole or holes, and without even weakening the walls of the
cylinder by making such vent hole or holes therein. To this end the ram,
which is cast with an axial cavity for lightness, may be perforated with a small
hole towards its upper end, this perforation being so disposed as to torm, when
the ram is down, a horizontal passage just below the throat of the press, joining
the cavity of the cylinder to the cavity of the ram, which latter cavity, again,
communicates above with the air, as well by its open upper extremity as by a
second hole or canal drilled in that part of the wall or shell of the ram which
never descends within the cylinder. By this simple arrangement the ram, as
it rises and falls, is made alternately to raise the air vent above the press
leather, and so put it out of operation, and to lower it beneath the press leather,
and so bring it into activity, exactly as required, in such manner as that the
air, which interferes with the operation of the press may be discharged, but
the water necessary to its action may be retained, and this at no cost beyond
that of drilling the hole or holes described.
V.
5. The fifth improvement is designed to prevent the serious weakening of
the prace culinder occasioned by the usual mode of ioining thereto the nine

page_text: joined to it. This loss of substance seriously weakens the cylinder at the
water hole, at which point accordingly the rupture of presses is often observed
to begin. This evil may be obviated, according to the present Invention, by
casting on the cylinder at the point where the water hole is to be bored a
prominent boss, and forming therein the cavity for the junction of the water
pipe, instead of cutting this cavity, as heretofore, in the substance of the
cylinder itself. In some cases I find it advantageous to cast this boss on and
to form the water hole in the hemispherical lower end of the press, which is
its strongest part, particularly, if the cylinder be cast, as it usually is, bottom
downward in the mould.
VI.
6. The sixth and two following improvements may be taken together as
relating to presses made expressly with a view to easy conveyance from place
to place. To accomplish this, according to the present Invention, the columns
of a hydraulic press may be adapted to slide in their lower sockets, so that
the head descending with them may be brought into proximity or contact
with the table of the press, while the columns themselves take their place
alongside of the cylinder.
without taking it to pieces; while to lengthen it out again for use it is only
necessary to raise the head by pumping up the ram, and to refix the columns
in their place as before. The fixing and unfixing of the columns may be done
in various ways, as by the insertion or withdrawal of moveable pins or cotters;
but the mode I prefer is to substitute for the supporting collar usually forged
and turned all around the lower ends of each column, a segment or portion
of a collar, so disposed as to project inward, and to rest on the press bottom
when the column is required to be fixed up; but which may be brought to the
outer side, so as no longer to rest on the press bottom, by merely turning the
column half round on its axis. It will be understood that the lugs or arms
of the press bottom, which receive the lower ends of the columns, may be so
formed with an oblong aperture as to allow each column to slide down freely
when the above-mentioned segment is turned in the manner just described,
so as to project outwards. Thus, by half a turn of the columns in one direc-
tion they may be fixed up in their working position, and by half a turn in the
other direction they may be prepared for sliding down into their travelling
position. To facilitate the turning round of the columns, a bar or lever may
be inserted into a hole formed for the purpose in the thickened lower end of
each column, and to prevent the head and columns from sliding down too
suddenly, they may be upheld by means of tackle, which may be let out
gradually as required.
The press may thus be shortened for travelling

page_text: 7. The seventh improvement consists in the adaptation of wheels to
hydraulic presses having sliding columns, as above described, whether such
wheels be applied directly on axles attached to the press itself, or be adapted
to a framework analogous to a gun carriage; the arrangement being in either
case such that the press may be drawn along the ground, with its cylinder, in
This
a horizontal or nearly horizontal position, like the body of a cannon.
improvement is only claimed in combination with improvement No. 6. Such
sliding column presses, on wheels, may be adapted to work as well as to
travel, in a horizontal position; but I prefer that they should work in the
vertical position. To this end the cylinder may be adapted to swing down-
ward on the axle of the wheels near its upper end, into a hole dug for its
reception at the place where it is to work; and when done with at one place,
and required to travel to another, the cylinder may be raised by means of
tackle out of the hole into its previous horizontal position, the columns being
at the same time slid in, so as to shorten the press for transport as before.
The wheels may be variously disposed. I prefer to place a pair of wheels
near the open end of the cylinder, and a single wheel on a swivel near the
closed or lower end of the cylinder. To this swivel may be attached suitable
means, such as shafts or splinter bars, for harnessing the cattle employed in
drawing the press; and here also may be placed a hook to take the tackle
by which the cylinder is lowered into or raised out of the hole in which it
hangs during use.
VIII.
8. The eighth improvement, which is only claimed in its combination with
the two that precede, is designed to give to wheeled hydraulic presses, with
sliding columns, more than ordinary strength in proportion to their weight,
and it may be effected by one or both of the two following modes, viz.,
(1), by strengthening the cylinder of such presses with a wrapping of steel or
iron wire, or ribbon; (2), by substituting steel for iron as a material in some
or all the parts of such presses.
The foregoing improvements all relate to the hydraulic press itself. Those
which follow relate to the machinery and apparatus by which the press is
worked, including the water cistern, steam cylinder, and force pumps, with
their crank shafts, connecting rods, and other working gear; also the inter-
cepting, let off, and change taps, and valves.
IX.
9. The ninth improvement consists in a novel and very compact disposition
crowning of the water cistern steam cylinder force pumps, and their

page_text: working gear, which, according to this Invention, may be arranged as follows;
-The cistern may be of an elongated flattened form, its length being several
times greater than its width and depth, so that it may answer the purpose of
a horizontal bed plate. On the top of this cistern bed plate, towards one
extremity thereof, may be disposed horizontally the steam cylinder, with
further on its piston rod, crosshead, and guides, the crank end of the engine
shaft and its bearing, and, stretching from crank to crank, the connecting rod
which drives the crank; here also on the top of the cistern bed plate may
be placed the governor, if one be needed. One end of the cistern bed plate
(that end, to wit, which is most remote from the steam cylinder) may be
inclined at an angle, preferably, of 45° to the top, and affords a convenient
position and firm basis for the pump crank shaft and its bearings, which
shaft, according to the present Invention, may extend from side to side across
this end at a lower level than the steam engine shaft, above described, by
which it is driven. At the opposite end of the cistern bed plate, which end
may be vertical, the lever of the safety valve may extend horizontally in a
plane parallel, and near to that of the cistern end itself. The sides of the
cistern bed plate, in special accordance with this Invention, may be reserved
for the force pumps, which may be bolted thereto horizontally in pairs, one
pair at the front side, another pair (if four pumps be needed) at the back
side. At the back side also, in a recess which may be formed there expressly
for their reception, may revolve the pinion and spur wheel by which the
engine shaft drives the pump shaft. Still further backward the engine shaft,
prolonged about 2 feet 6 inches, may reach its bearing in the wall or other
firm support, near to which the fly wheel may revolve, carried by the engine
shaft, and having its circumference turned to carry a driving belt by which
the spare power of the engine may be applied. In the interval between the
fly wheel and the driving pinion, on the engine shaft, a pair of fast and loose
pullies may be placed, to enable the machine to be driven by extraneous
power whenever this is obtainable. At such times the steam cylinder may be
thrown off by detaching the connecting rod from the crank which it drives,
and the extraneous power--that of a water wheel, for example,-may be
applied to the above-mentioned pullies by a belt in the usual way. This
arrangement enables the machine to be worked, during full water seasons, by
water power, and during short water seasons by steam power. By the above
described disposition, or grouping of the mechanism, every part of the cistern
bed plate is utilized; its top, its two ends, and its two sides, to afford
bearing to the different working parts; its interior to contain water for the
supply of the pumps; and its bottom as the foundation of the whole, The

page_text: machinery may thus be packed within a smaller compass than has been here-
tofore obtained, while the elongated form of the cistern bed plate, and the
peculiar disposition of the working parts, affords to these latter a scope of
movement much more extensive, relatively to the total space occupied, than
any arrangement heretofore adopted has allowed. This improvement in the
general disposition or grouping of the parts stands in close relation to, and
may be said to embrace a series of special improvements, which are set forth
in the next six paragraphs.
✗.
10. The tenth. improvement relates to the mode of working the pumps,
which may be effected, according to this Invention, by, the disposition of a
sliding piece or crosshead between the two pumps of each pair, the plungers
of the said pumps being fixed to this crosshead, one at either end, the cross-
head itself moving to and fro in a guide formed for it at the side of the
cistern bed plate, and its reciprocating motion being communicated to it by a
connecting rod worked by the above-mentioned pump crank shaft, which in its
turn is driven by the steam engine shaft by the intervention of the pinion and
spur wheel above described. As this crosshead moves to and fro, it alter-
nately drives home and draws forth the plunger of each pump, so that at
every revolution of the pump crank shaft, both pumps of each pair perform a
double stroke out and home. Each stroke of the pumps should correspond
to several strokes of the steam piston, the proportion varying according to the
relative degrees of force and velocity required to produce a proper dynamic
equation between the driving power and the work. This is readily effected by
a suitable adjustment of the relative diameters of the spur wheel and pinion
above described; and it will be found advantageous, in ordinary cases, so to
lay out the working parts that they may be driven with the spur wheel and
pinion geared together at about 3 to 1.
ΧΙ.
11. The eleventh improvement is involved, as a corollary, in the tenth, but it
demands separate mention, on account of the economy it effects in first cost,
wear and tear, and working charges. It consists in the reduction by one-
half of the number heretofore deemed requisite of cranks, connecting rods,
and guides employed in working a set of hydraulic press pumps, the number
formerly furnished to each separate pump sufficing, according to the present
Invention, for each pair.
XII.
i

page_text: described. It consists in the substitution of a straight pump crank shaft, of
moderate diameter, easy to forge and turn, and of one (or two) end cranks
and crank pins, cheap to form and fix, instead of the much heavier shaft with
thickenings forged on it at intervals, and a series of double cranks cut in it
out of the solid at those points, according to the costly method heretofore
commonly employed. In some cases a crank pin for driving the back side
pair of pumps may be obtained by simply enlarging and prolonging the key
which fixes the spur wheel on the pump; crank shaft, and turning to the
required form the projecting portion of this key. In other cases the back
crank pin may be fixed wholly to the spur wheel a crank being economised
by either mode, so that, according to this Invention, four pumps may be
driven by one plain end crank and two crank pins, instead of the costly four-
throw double crank shaft heretofore provided in such case.
XIII.
13. This improvement is a consequence of the last, and consists in the
increased length of crank, and consequently of pump stroke, rendered econo-
mically attainable by the improved crank and crank pin arrangements above
described. In forming double cranks; cut out of the solid, the distance
between the centre of the shaft and that of the crank pin cannot be increased
without a serious augmentation in the cost of the work; but the usual length
of the crank, and consequently of the pump stroke, can, according to the
present Invention, be easily and economically doubled, or even, if requisite,
be increased threefold or more, an advantage of the highest importance, as
reducing in like proportion the number of valve beats, and other reciprocating
motions, for a given amount of work performed.
XIV.
14. This improvement is intimately connected with the last, but requires
separate description on account of the special advantage it entails. It consists
in the increased length which, according to the present Invention, may be
given to the connecting rod (or rods, as the case may be) by which the
pumps are driven, and in the consequently directer and more advantageous
application of the driving power relatively to a given degree of compactness
of the machine, and to a given weight of framing required. This three-fold
advantage, of a long connecting rod, a compact machine, and light framing,
may be secured, according to the present Invention, by means of the above-
described peculiar arrangement or grouping of the steam cylinder, force
pumps, and shafting respectively upon, beside, and at the end of the elongated
cistern bed plate; for, each pair of pumps may evidently be fixed to the side
of the cistern bed plate in such a position as to bring the intervening sliding

page_text: crosshead by which they are worked at a mean distance of only one pump
length and a-half from that end of the cistern bed plate which is opposite to
the end carrying the pump crank shaft, and the length of the connecting rod
may be, of course, that of the extended distance thus gained from crank pin
to cross head pin. By way of example, to make this clearer, taking the case
of a 3-inch pump crank, a 6-inch pump stroke, and an 8 foot cistern bed
plate, and allowing the length of each pump, with its valves and gland, to be
about 2 times the length of its stroke, or say, 15 inches, we may obtain 8 feet.
less 2 feet 6 inches, or no less than 5 feet, being above five-eighths of the
whole length of the cistern bed plate, as the length of connecting rod readily
obtainable (in the case assumed), according to the present Invention, without
either extra framing or diminished compactness.
XV.
15. This arrangement, which includes several distinct advantages, is ren-
dered feasible by the horizontal disposition of the pumps, and is believed to
possess novelty and importance, particularly in combination with other improve-
ments comprised in the present Invention; it consists mainly in the disposition
of both the pump valves, the outlet as well as the inlet valve, at the same end
of the pump, at that end, to wit, towards which the plunger travels during its
instroke. By this arrangement of the valves the necessity for an annular
waterway along the pump, as heretofore provided, between the barrel and the
plunger, is done away with; the barrel and plunger may, therefore, in
accordance with the present Invention, be turned to fit each other, so that
no space may be left for air to accumulate in as it does in pumps of the
ordinary construction. It follows, that the plunger, instead of being employed,
as heretofore, during the first, third, or thereabouts, of each stroke in uselessly
compressing an air spring or cushion, so that its effective delivery of water
only corresponds to the remaining two-thirds of its stroke (a fact which I have
repeatedly verified) may now, as newly arranged according to the present
Invention, force out the full complement of water due to its entire stroke,
less only the per-centage lost by back slip through the valves, a per-centage
which may be rendered quite trifling by duly restricting the lift of the valves,
which ought not to be allowed to rise from their seats more than 2nd of an
inch, or thereabouts.
XVI.
16. This improvement, like that last described, relates to the pumps, and it
consists in the adaptation of a screw down let off tap between the inlet and
outlet valves mentioned in the last paragraph. This let-off tap, when
unscrewed, opens a waterway from the pump to the cistern, but not from the

page_text: press to the cistern,. thus the further delivery of water by. the pump to the
press is arrested, but the quantity already thrown in is retained, so that
the ram remains up under pressure, and may be kept so as long as required.
By screwing the tap tight upon its seat the outlet from pump to cistern is
closed, the escape of water in that direction is stopped, and its injection into
the press recommences. In working a single press, this 'simple arrangement
answers as well in, every respect for throwing the pumps off and on as
the more complicated, massive, and costly two-way change taps heretofore
employed for this purpose, those, for example, respectively patented by Bell-
house, Norbury, and Maguire, Oram, and others.
XVII.
17. The object of this improvement is in some degree similar to that, of
the last, and it will be found useful when a series of presses are to be worked
by means of one set of pumps; for this purpose the above-mentioned costly
change taps have been heretofore employed, but, according to the present
Invention, a simple back pressure valve may be adapted to each of the branch
pipes, by which the several presses are respectively connected with the water
main coming from the pumps. Each of these back pressure valves may be
provided with an apparatus for screwing it down close upon its seat, such
apparatus consisting, preferably, of a screw formed on a spindle, working
through an ordinary leather to prevent leakage, and governed by an ordinary
handle or key, the arrangement being such that when the screw is turned so
as to shut down the valve, the passage of water from the main along the
branch pipe to the press is intercepted, while, by reversing the motion of the
screw, the valve is set free to play, and allows the passage of water along
the branch pipe towards the press, but prevents its flow in the opposite
direction. I term this arrangement an intercepting valve tap. At some point
of the waterway on the press side of this intercepting valve tap should be
placed the usual press discharge tap to let the water out of the press and
return it back to the cistern, and as two joints may be saved by combining
this discharge tap in one casting with the intercepting valve tap, I adopt this
combination as one of my improvements, which I term an "intercepting and
press discharge valve tap." Again, at some point or points of the waterway on
the pump side of the intercepting valve tap there should be a pump let-off tap,
by which the water supplied by the pumps may be diverted from the water
main back to the cistern. I find the let off tap interposed between the pump
valves, as described in paragraph 16, answer this purpose very well; but it is
often convenient to have such a means of throwing off the pumps within
immediate reach at, each press; in such cases a pump let off tap, like the

page_text: press discharge tap above mentioned, may be combined in one piece or casting
with the intercepting valve tap above described. The arrangement thus
assumes a threefold character, comprising an intercepting valve tap in the
middle, with a press discharge tap on one side of it, and a pump let off tap on
the other. This triple combination accordingly constitutes one of my improve-
ments, and I call it a compound press and pump-discharge and intercepting
valve tap. On the other hand, all these taps may be put in separately, if
preferred; indeed, even the above described valve tap may be divided, and a
plain back pressure valve, with a separate screw tap to close or open at
pleasure the waterway between the said back-pressure valve and the main,
may be substituted for the combined arrangement, and will equally fulfil the
conditions of this Invention. I prefer, however, the above-described com-
bination, as saving joints, with their cost and their liability to leakage, and
also as economising metal, the combined valve and taps weighing very much
less than as many separate ones, with all their extra junctions. In either
case the characteristic feature of the plan remains the same; this consists in
subjecting each press to isolation from the general system by two means, one
self-acting, viz., the back pressure valve, preventing the egress of water from
the press the other, under the operator's control, viz., the screw down inter-
cepting tap (whether combined with or separate from the back pressure valve)
preventing the ingress of water to the press. By this cheap and simple
arrangement the water may be diverted from one press to the next as promptly
and securely as by the above-mentioned costly change taps of Bellhouse and
others; and, moreover, any press of a series may be worked alone, or any two
or more presses, or all of them, at the operator's choice may be worked simul-
taneously, which facility the change tap arrangement of Bellhouse and others
do not afford. Moreover, any press or any number of presses of a series may,
according to the present Invention, be kept standing under pressure, or be
let down, as the operator may desire, without interfering with the working,
or standing under pressure, or discharge of the rest of the series, so that the
workmen at various presses of a series will not have, as heretofore, to wait on
each other's operations. The economy in wages thus effected will, it is
believed, prove even more important than the saving in first cost by the new
plan. In some cases, when fitting up pumps to work a series of presses, I
substitute for the pump let off tap above described as fitted up between the
inlet and outlet valves of each pump, and as arranged to be worked by hand,
a well understood self-acting arrangement of levers, operated by the rising of
the safety valve, and disposed so as to lift the inlet valves of the pumps when
the safety valves rises, and so to stop the delivery of water by the pumps to

page_text: the press. The disposition of levers for this purpose is old and well known,
and I make no claim thereto; but to work these levers 1 sometimes substitute
for the ordinary safety valve a novel arrangement, which I term a safety
spindle. This is a spindle working water-tight through a cup leather, and
kept down, like a safety valve, by a lever and weight, or by a spring, the
adjustment being such that when the pressure exceeds a determinate amount
the spindle is raised so as to operate the levers which lift the pump valves, and
so stop the delivery of water to the press.
XVIII.
18. It is obvious that the above-described improvements in hydraulic
presses, pumps, and connected apparatus may be carried into effect under
various combinations of form and mode, without departing from the distinctive
and essential characters of the present Invention. I do not therefore confine
myself in respect of details, but claim the said improvements under all inessential
variation of form and mode, so long as their peculiar features, characteristic
of the present Invention, be in each case substantially retained; always, how-
ever, subject to the limitations herein-before set forth as to improvements
claimed only in certain specific combinations. It is also obvious that the said
improvements, so far as they relate to the grouping and construction of pump-
ing apparatus, may be employed, not only in pumps used for working hydraulic
presses, but also in pumps used for other purposes; as, for example, in pumps
used for extinguishing conflagrations, and in various sorts of feed pumps and
force pumps required in different branches of manufacture. In some such
cases it may be convenient to use pistons instead of solid plungers as above
described, or double-acting instead of single-acting pumps. All such inessential
modifications may be introduced without departure from the characteristic
features of the present Invention.
The annexed Drawings are intended to elucidate the nature of the above-
described improvements, and to show the best means I have as yet devised for
carrying them into effect.
Figs. 1 to 5 embody the principal improvements relating to presses; Figs. 6
to 8 comprise the principal improvements in pumping machinery; Fig. 9 is a
sectional view of the combined press and pump discharge and intercepting
valve tap. It will be observed that the columns of the press, Fig. 1, are inter-
rupted, to afford room in the Sheet for Fig. 2, also that the columns of the
press Fig. 3 are shown broken off, to avoid extending the Figure beyond the
border line of the Drawing.
A, A, Fig. 1, is a front view of the head of a hydraulic press, and A, A,
Figure 3, is a cross section of the same, showing the solid top (a, a,) and the

page_text: side core holes (b, b, b,) formed in the webs at or near the neutral plane of the
beam, as described in paragraph I. above. It will be observed, that the webs
may be thickened as at (c, c, c,) around the core holes, to compensate for the
diminution of strength which these occasion. Figure 4 shows a front view,
and Fig. 5 a horizontal section of a press head, having a solid top (a, a,) with
core holes formed in the ends at (b, b, b, b,) instead of in the lateral webs.
Letters (d, d, d,) in Figs. 3 and 5 indicate transverse ribs, designed to strengthen
the bottom plate of the head.
I have been informed, since I deposited my Provisional Specification, that
press heads had been cast with solid tops before the date of the present Patent,
I therefore claim this plan, not generally, but only so far as the method shown
may be an improvement upon previous attempts of the same kind.
B, B, Figs. 1 and 3, show the press bottom in longitudinal and transverse
section respectively, with the improvements described in paragraph II. (e, e.)
is the deep cylindrical collar; (, f,) are the radiating arms; (g, g,) is the top
flange; and (h, h,) the bottom flange running around the collar and along the
arms, as described. (i, i,) in Figs. 1 and 2 show the leather groove, which the
draughtsman has erroneously represented somewhat above the position in
which I prefer to place it. Its lower border I prefer to have at the level of
the dotted line (k, k,) Fig. 1, or as near as may conveniently be to the lower
border of the turned throat of the press embracing the ram. This is the
improvement referred to in paragraph III. as relieving the press. of hundreds
of tons of unnecessary bursting pressure while retaining undiminished the
effective upward pressure.
(1) and (m) Fig. 1 show how the small holes described in paragraph IV.
may be disposed, so as to constitute a self-acting vent, adapted to retain the
water necessary to the action of the press, but to discharge the air which inter-
feres with its economical operation. It will be understood that the air can
pass out in the direction of the small arrows; also, that in the case of a ram
cast solid a longitudinal hole may be drilled in the ram, so as to connect the
transverse hole or canal (1) with the hole (m), or with some other exit to the
outer air.
(n) Fig. 1 shows the improvements referred to in paragraph V., viz., firstly,
the prominent boss cast on to the cylinder of the press to contain the cavity for
the reception of the gland (o) and burr (p), by which the water pipe (q) is
attached; and, secondly, the position of this junction at the hemispherical lower
end (r) of the press, which end being (for equal thickness) twice as strong as
the cylindrical portion (s, s,) thereof, can better bear the weakening effect of
the water hole (t) drilled through it.

page_text: The improvements described in paragraph VI. and VII. for facilitating the
transport of presses from place to place by forming them with columns adapted
to slide telescopically so as to shorten the press, and with wheels upon which
they may be drawn along the ground like ordnance, may be executed as
shown in Figure 1, 2, and 3. Figure 1 represents a press extended to its full
length from A, A, to C; Figure 3 is a side view in section of the same press
shortened by the sliding in of its columns, so as to bring together the head
A, A, and the table or riser D, as herein-before described; (E, E, E, E,)
Figs. 1 and 3, respectively show the positions of the columns when extended
and when shut up or slid in.
The dotted lines F, F, Fig. 1, show in front view the position of the press
head when the press is shortened up for removal. The mode described of
fixing the columns up by a quarter turn (or a half turn, as the case may be),
causing a step piece (or two step pieces) to bear upon the press bottom, is
illustrated at (u, u, u, u,) Fig. 2, where (v, v,) show two of the columns in trans-
verse section, (g, g, g, g,) the press bottom, and (u, u,) the step pieces of the
columns so placed as to rest on the press bottom. It will be observed that a
quarter turn would bring these step pieces into a position permitting their
passage through the long-shaped apertures (w, w). When one step piece only
is formed in each column the aperture (w) need not extend inward (towards
g) so far as here represented, but may on that side embrace the column quite
closely. In this case, however, a half turn of the column will be requisite
(instead of a quarter turn) to bring it from its fixed to its sliding position, or
vice versa.
The letters (G, G,) in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 indicate a pair of wheels, and the
letters H, H, their axle, which may be fixed to the press bottom by bolts, one
of which is shown at (x, x,) Fig. 3. I, Fig. 3, shows a guide wheel turning
on an axle (K), which runs in an upright L, pivotted to the press at M), so
that the guide wheel may be directed to the right or left as the press is drawn
along. (N) Figs. 1 and 3 is a ring, to which cattle may be attached by
harness, to draw the press. This ring is shown in the Drawing as attached to
the press by a pin. I prefer, however, to attach it to a cross piece fixed to the
pivot M, so that the direction of the guide wheel may adapt itself spontaneously
to that in which the cattle draw.
Fig. 6 represents in elevation, and Fig. 7 in plan, the mode I prefer for
grouping together the water cistern, steam cylinder, and force pumps, of a
hydraulic pumping machine, according to the ninth and following improvements
herein-before set forth. The letters indicate the same parts in both Figures.
A*, A, A¹, is the cistern bed plate; B, the steam cylinder, with its steam

page_text: chest (a, a,) and its stuffing. box. (b). C is the piston rod; D, the cross
head; E, E, E, E, the guides; F, the connecting rod; G, the crank it works;
H, H, H, the shaft it turns; I, I, the fly wheel, carried by that shaft K, one
of the bearings thereof; L, the driving pinion; M, the spur wheel, thereby
driven; N, the pump crank shaft, carrying that spur wheel, and crossing the
inclined extremity A¹ of the cistern bed plate, on which it rests by bearings
(0, 0); P is a crank, and (p) a crank pin at one end of this shaft; Q is a
pin fixed, in the boss of the spur wheel M, at the other extremity of the shaft.
R and R' are two connecting rods, which by, the centre pins S,. S', move to and
fro.the slides T and T in the guides U,,U, the upper parts of which respectively
may be moveable and adjustable by the set screws (c, c, c,); V, V, V, V, are
the pumps, and (d, d, d, d,) their pistons or plungers, which may be socketted
in the slides T and T, and fixed: thereto by set screws. This disposition
allows of. the slide and pistons being detached from each other, and from the
machine, when the pumps. require releathering. Each pump has a suction or
inlet valve (e) through which water is admitted from the cistern, and a rising
or. outlet valve (i) through which water passes to the press; it may also have
a let off tap, placed between these valves, and governed by the wheel or
handle. f: W is a safety valve, with its lever (g) and weight (h) which I
sometimes dispose, for compactnesss sake, across the extremity A° of the
cistern bed place; for this valve I. sometimes substitute a safety spindle as
above described. X is the handle of a let-off tap, by opening which the press
is discharged into the cistern; K, K, K, K, are receptacles cast on the cistern
top to catch oil. from the guides E, E, E, E. l, a similar receptacle beneath
cach slide T; (m) another, for the drip from the stuffing box (b); s and s¹ are
openings by which access is afforded to the interior of the cistern, in which
opening dishes may be kept fixed by set screws, to keep out dust, &c., from
the water; t, t, t; t, are the connecting rod, with its guides and eccentric, by
which the D valve of the steam cylinder is worked; (w) is a junction piece at
which the pipes (u, u, u, u,) from the several pumps meet and deliver water
by the pipe (a) to the press, and by the pipe (y) to the pressure gauge.
Figure 8 shows, on an enlarged scale, in longitudinal section, a pump, with
its valves arranged according to the mode which I prefer, the plunger being
omitted for clearness sake. A is. the cylindrical body of the pump; B, B, are
the flanges by which it is bolted to the cistern bed plate; C, C, is its expended
mouth containing the leathers. (a, a, a, a, a, a); the washer (b, b, b,) between
them and the gland:D, by which these parts are screwed tightly in their places;
d is a hole communicating by a pipe with the cistern, and admitting water

page_text: therefrom to the pump during the outstroke of the plunger; (e) is the suction
or inlet valve, with its stop () above it; (g) is the rising or outlet valve,
having also its stop (h); (i) is the exit by which the water passes from the
pump to its destination.
E is a screw down tap with its handle (K), its
leather (, ) and its gland (m, m); by screwing up which tap the water in the
pump obtains a free passage through the aperture (s) back to the cistern.
In concluding the description of this pumping machine, I would observe
that in some cases I cast in one piece the bed plate of the steam engine, its
steam cylinder, and the guides for the cross head of its piston rod, the junction
places of these parts being thin enough to allow of either part, if originally
defective, or when afterwards worn out, being detached by means of a chisel,
and another one fixed in its place; this latter being bolted on in the ordinary
way. This plan economises much labor in fitting when all the parts of
the combined casting turn out well, without in the opposite event rendering
it necessary (as in previous attempts of this kind) to condemn the whole
casting on account of a defect or failure in one of its divisions. I accordingly
make special claim to this mode of executing the plan or system set forth in
my Provisional Specification.
Figure 9 shows, in section, the plan on which I prefer to construct my com-
bined press and pump discharge, and intercepting valve taps. The pipe
bringing water from the pump is screwed to the aperture A, the discharge
pipe conveying water back to the cistern is screwed to the aperture B; while
C is the passage through which water entering at A goes on to the press;
D is the piece herein-before described as acting alternately as a back pressure
valve, and as an intercepting tap, accordingly as it is left free to play or
screwed down tight upon its seat; E is a screw-down spindle by which D is
governed, becoming a free valve when E is screwed up, a closed tap when E
is screwed down. When the valve D plays freely, it allows water to pass into
and raise the corresponding press; when D is screwed down (as represented
in the Drawing) it prevents water from passing in either direction, so that the
stream from the pump, which had previously flowed to this press, may thus be
diverted to some other press of the series. When there is no press of the
series requiring to be worked, the water flow may be directed back to the cistern
by the pump discharge tap F, the unscrewing of which, it will be observed, opens
an escape for the water from the pumps, through the aperture (a), from the
inlet A to the outlet B, and so back to the cistern. Again, the press discharge
tap G, when unscrewed, affords an egress for the water from the press, back
through the outlet B to the cistern. Each spindle, it will be observed, is fitted

page_text: up in the usual way, with cup leather, washer, and gland; and the handle (H)
is made moveable, so as to serve for working E and G alternately as required.
(a) is merely a vacancy cored out to lighten the casting.
In conclusion, I would observe that the remarks in paragraph XVIII. as
to the possibility of modifying the form, dimensions, and disposition of the
mechanism herein described, without deviating from the essential features
characterising my Invention, are as applicable to the Drawings and descriptions
of this my definite Specification, as to any provisional deescriptions previously
enrolled; and that I claim my improvements under all such inessential
modifications, subject only to the limitations herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Oldfield Ward, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
F. O. WARD. (L.S.)