IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, AND GEARING AND APPLIANCES FOR WORKING THE SAME
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Winstanley and Joseph Kelly, of Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, Hydraulic Engineers, for the Invention of
Sealed the 27th October 1859, and dated the 30th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Winstanley and
Joseph Kelly at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition,. on the 30th April 1859.
We, WILLIAM WINSTANLEY and JOSEPH KELLY, of Liverpool, in the County.
of Lancaster, Hydraulic Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS, AND GEARING AND APPLIANCES FOR
WORKING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
Our improvements consist of the application of a chamber or vacuum vessel
placed on a level with or above the top of the pump cylinder or cylinders.
We cause the suction pipe attached to such cylinder or cylinders to enter
the vacuum vessel at or near the top of such vessel, while the passage
connecting the vacuum vessel with the cylinder or cylinders of the pump
are attached to and enter the vacuum vessel at or near the bottom of such
vessel; or the suction pipe may be attached to to the vacuum vessel
in any position above the bottom of such vessel, but it is preferred that
it should be higher, as by that means the cylinder or cylinders of the pump
may be always charged with water, obviating the necessity for charging or
priming the same with water when the pump has been out of action for any
time, and doing away with the annoyance caused by the pressure of air in the
chamber and cylinders; the water in this arrangment cannot pass away, if even

page_text: the lower valves are defective, as the space or vacuum vessel, into which the
water flows, will always retain a certain quantity of water above the working
level of the buckets, which water on the pump or pumps being put in action
will enter the chambers or cylinders of the same and expel the air lodged
therein. In this particular arrangement the vacuum vessel will cause a con-
tinual flow of water up the suction pipe when the pump is in motion, as the
water will be taken away from the vacuum vessel by the action of the buckets
or plungers, as the case may be, with a velocity and quantity greater than that
of the flow up the suction pipe at the time of stroke or strokes of the buckets
or plungers, consequently the water will flow into the vacuum vessel until such
time as the pressure of the atmosphere and the level of the water in the
vacuum vessel are equalised. The flow into the vacuum vessel being constant
when the pump or pumps are in operation, while the power required to raise
the water is considerably reduced as the column of water is in continual
motion, saving the power required to move it from a state of rest to a state of
motion, also equalising the vacuum nearly to the weight of the column of
water.
The second part of this Invention consists of a means by which the water,
after it has been pumped through the barrel or barrels, can be partially retained,
so as to allow for a sufficient charge to be always on or above the working
bucket or plunger, while a large amount of air is obtained to act as a cushion,
as in ordinary force pumps. This is accomplished by attaching a pipe or
casting a passage around the top of such air vessel from a point at or near the
level of the water in such barrel or barrels. This pipe or passage to be joined
to another pipe or passage, cast on or attached to the lower divivision of the
pump or pumps. The lower or foot valve is arranged to fit on a perforated
grating, cast in the barrel of the pump, the said grating being on a raised
annular surface, and of a diameter equal to that of the chamber, or there-
abouts; the lower end of the chamber round the valve seating is cast wider
than the other parts of the barrel, forming a circular recess, extending down
to the foot or lowest part of the annular surface on which the above described
valve rests. The valves are made of any pliable material, india-rubber being
preferred, and are screwed or fastened down to the centre or other part of the
perforated grating, and entirely covering the same. The working buckets, if
vibrating, we propose to work on a ball and socket connection, which will
allow for the vibration of the beam or crank which gives motion to the afore-
said bucket. We place a trap or hinged door, kept closed by atmospheric
convenient part of the pump casing, to serve for clearing or
repairing the same. We propose giving motion to the pump by means of a
in
pressure, any

page_text: peculiarly shaped cam or excentric, acting on friction rollers or otherwise, or
by means of a roller on a crank pin working on a roller on a beam, or by any
modification of the same.
We claim as new, 1st, the principle of holding or retaining water in the
pump or pumps, as before described, thus dispensing with the necessity of
priming or charging the same with water went the pump or pumps have been
out of action.
2nd, the recess round the lower valve seating for the purpose, of receiving
any accumulation of sand, or other extraneous matter, and of allowing free
action to the valve.
3rd, the principle of casting in the barrel of the pump the perforated valve
seat or grating, and annular raised surface above described.
4th, the application of a ball and socket arrangement for working the
bucket.
5th, the application of a door working on hinges or otherwise, and kept
closed by atmospheric pressure, for the purpose of cleansing or repairing the
pump, with the general arrangement of machinery and parts, as herein
described and set forth, and which will be more particularly described in our
complete Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Winstanley and Joseph Kelly in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 29th October 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
WINSTANLEY and JOSEPH KELLY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Hydraulic Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto us
the said William Winstanley and Joseph Kelly, Her special licence that
we, the said William Winstanley and Joseph Kelly, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Winstanley and
Joseph Kelly, our 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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PUMPS AND GEARING, AND APPLIANCES FOR WORKING THE SAME,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Winstanley
and Joseph Kelly, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Winstanley and Joseph Kelly
do hereby declare the nature of our 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) :-
The objects of this our said Invention, are improvements in the arrangement
and construction of single and double action force and lift pumps, and the
apparatus incidental thereto for the purpose of keeping the pump valves at all
times ready primed or charged, and consequently in a condition to be brought
into effective action at once. Also improvements in the construction of the
lift valves for pumps, and in the means of connecting the same to their rods,
and an arrangement for preventing the valves being injured or choked by chips
or other foreign substances drawn up the suction pipe, and also in a peculiar
application of the fog horn, or other like instrument, to pumps, for the pur-
poses of marine alarm signals.
To apply this our said Invention to a single-action lift pump, we enclose the
head of the suction pipe within an air-tight jacket or chamber which is in
communication with the lower end of the pump barrel, which, by preference,
we fit into, or on one side of, the chamber, in such a way that the lower end
of the pump barrel will open into it a little above the bottom. And we prefer
to construct the lower end of the pump barrel of larger diameter than the
upper portion where the lift valve works, so as to form an annular space
around the lower valve, to allow the water to flow freely through it. The
air-tight chamber which encloses the head of the suction pipe, has the effect
of equalising the flow of water from the head of the pipe. The valves we
prefer to use, are those formed by an india-rubber disk, placed above a perfo-
rated plate of metal, as now commonly used in air pumps for "condensing
steam engines," but we construct the upper or lift valves with an inverted conical
hole through the centre for the insertion of the pump rod, which is attached
to the valve by a semi-spherical nut or washer, which takes into and works
within a concave recess in the lower side of the valve plate. The object of

page_text: this arrangement being to allow the pump rod to have a certain amount of
play, and thereby obviate the necessity of using a connecting rod between the
pump rod and the end of the crank lever or beam, by which the pump is
worked. We prefer to use a cupped leather washer for making good the joint
between the lift valve and the pump barrel.
The top of the chamber in which the head of the suction pipe is enclosed is
provided with an air-tight lid or cover, and which will be found of great utility
for sounding the pump well, which, in these, our improved pumps, is done
without the removal of the valves. A little below the head of the suction
pipe we surround it with a grating, through which the water, as it flows over
the head of the suction pipe, passes, but preventing chips or other foreign
substances getting to the valves, and which may be removed at convenience
by opening the lid at the top of the chamber.
When it is desirable to use a fog horn, or other like wind instrument, by
the action of one of the improved single action pumps herein-before described,
we invert the sounding reed, and connect the horn with the interior of the
chamber which surrounds the head of the suction pipe by an india-rubber or
other flexible tube; we then pump out the priming water, which can be
readily done by opening a tap and allowing the air to pass through the
sounding instrument and flexible tube into the chamber, and by keeping the
pump in motion, the horn will continue to sound the alarm signal, which can
be modified by pressure applied to the flexible connecting tube.
A double action pump (say) suitable for a ship's fire engine, constructed
according to this Invention. The suction pipe is carried up to or above the
highest point of the up stroke of the lift valves, and is furnished in the interior
with a moveable grating, for the purpose of trapping chips or other foreign
substances, and preventing their admission into the air-tight chamber (and is
also enclosed within the air-tight chamber) which we prefer to construct
between the two pump barrels, and into which the lower ends of the pump
barrels open. The tops of the pump barrels open into another enclosed
chamber, which is constructed immediately above them, and in which works
a balance lever, to the ends of which the pump rods are connected, and the
axle of which extends through the sides of the chamber, to which the power
for working the pump is applied through a lever, crank handle, or other con-
venient mechanical contrivance. The exit port is of a syphon form, and
extends from the chamber immediately above the pump, barrels (at a line near
the axis of the lever beam of the pump rods), and is divided.at its lower end
into two branches, for the purpose of avoiding contact with the horizontal
transverse axle of the lower beam, and is carried over the top of the chamber,

page_text: and down to a line near the bottom of the pump barrels, where it opens into
the discharge pipe.
In the double action pumps constructed according to our Invention, we
prefer to use the same kind of valves as those herein-before described as
applied to the single action lift pump.
One or more fog horns may be applied to our improved double action
pumps by connecting the same to the upper chamber thereof by an india-
rubber or other flexible tube, by which the sound can be modified, and by
turning on a small stop cock placed above the water level. in the vacuum
chamber to admit the air, the necessity for disconnecting the supply pipe from
the pump
will be obviated.
That this our said Invention may be the more readily seen and understood,
we have hereunto annexed Drawings, in partial illustration of one modification
of our improved arrangements for a lift pump, and a double action pump
constructed according to our Invention, like letters and figures marked thereon
are used to denote similar parts.
Figure 1 (Sheet A) is a vertical sectional elevation of a lift pump, the
head of the suction pipe, air chamber, and pump barrel being cast in one
piece; Figure 2 (Sheet B) is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional elevation of a
double action pump; Figure 3 (Sheet B) is a transverse sectional elevation
of the same; and Figure 4 (Sheet B) is an horizontal sectional plan, taken
from a to b, Figure 2.
A, the pump barrels; B and B', the air-tight chamber which encloses the
head of the suction pipe C; B, air-tight chamber or cover above the double
pump barrels; C, the suction pipe; D, an air-tight lid on the head of the
chamber B (Sheet A), for convenience in sounding the pump well, and re-
moving chips, and so forth; E, a grating on the head of the suction pipe,
through which the water passes, and which traps chips, or other foreign sub-
stances which may be drawn up the suction pipe, and prevents them from
getting into contact with the valves; F, perforated metal valve plate, upon
the top of which is fitted G, a flexible india-rubber disc; H, cupped-leather
packing on lift valve; I, the semi-spherical nut, for connecting the lift valve,
with K, the pump rod; k, an inverted, truncated, conical hole in the lift
valve, to allow the rod to have a slight oscillating motion without disturbing
the valve; L, the delivery pipe; M (Sheet B), lever beam, to which the
pump rods are jointed; N (Sheet B), horizontal transverse axle, to which the
power for working the pump is applied by levers, crank handles, or in any
other convenient way; O (Sheet B), screw plugs, closing (when not in use)
the orifices for attaching the flexible tube connected to the fog horns.

page_text: Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this our said
Invention, and the means by which we believe it may be best put into prac-
tice, we wish it to be understood, that we do not confine ourselves to the precise
details or relative dimentions herein-before described and set forth, as it will
be readily seen by those practiced in the art, that the same may be considerably
varied without departing from the Invention, but what we do claim, is,-
First, surrounding the head of the suction pipe with an air-tight chamber
or casing, and elevating the discharge orificice of the suction pipe to a point
above the level of the lower valves of the pumps, substantially and in the
manner herein-before described, or any mere modification of the same.
Secondly, the application to pumps, of the peculiar syphon-shaped discharge
port herein-before described, or any mere modification of the same.
Thirdly, the peculiar arrangements for connecting or jointing together the
lift valve and pump rod, as herein-before described.
Fourthly, connecting fog horns, or other like wind instruments used for
oral marine signals, to the air vessels of pumps by india-rubber or other flexible
tubing, as herein-before described.
And, lastly, the peculiar arrangement and combination of the various parts
herein-before described and set forth for the construction of pumps, or any
mere modification of the same.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Winstanley and Joseph Kelly,
have hereunto set our hands and affixed our seals, this Twenty-seventh
day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
Witness,
WILLIAM (L.S.) WINSTANLEY.
JOSEPH
WILLIAM WALKER,
of 44, Castle Street, Liverpool.
(L.S.) KELLY.