AN IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS."—A com-
munication.
Sealed the 21st April 1857, and dated the 19th November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1856.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention, of an improvement in centrifugal pumps, is to
obviate as far as possible all unnecessary friction, and consequent resistance
and loss of power, occasioned by the changes in the direction of the water that
takes place in centrifugal pumps.
To effect this, the Invention consists in an improved mode of constructing
the pump and arranging its induction and eduction passages. The water
is made to enter the pump in the direction of a spiral of gradually diminishing
pitch, commencing from a straight line, and leave it in the direction of a spiral
of gradually increasing pitch terminating in a straight line.

page_text: The pump is provided with a rotating hub in the shape of a truncated cone,
with wings attached to its periphery of a gradually increasing width as they
approach its base, placed within a shell or casing of a conical form, whose
generating lines correspond in form to the outer edges of the wings. Induction
passages of a spiral form, gradually diminishing in pitch to their point of
delivery, and eduction passages of a spiral form, of a pitch gradually increasing
till they attain a straight line, are made, whereby the water is made to pass
without sudden change of direction or eddies in an unbroken volume through
the pump; and upon communicating rotary motion to the pump, by means of
a band or strap passed round a pulley on the main shaft, the water in the spiral
passage will by the centrifugal force be thrown from the centre of rotation, and
will consequently be caused to ascend the spiral passage, and ultimately run
out at the exit aperture. A vacuum being thus formed in the interior of tho
pump, water will rush in from below to fill this vacuum, and will by the con-
tinued rotation of the pump be thrown out from the exit aperture above, and
this will continue as long as the pump is kept in motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patout, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Edward Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN CENTRIFUGAL PUMPS," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an
iustrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe

page_text: 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, of "An Improvement in Centrifugal Pumps,"
is to obviate as far as possible all unnecessary friction, and consequent resistance
and loss of power, occasioned by the changes in the direction of the water that
takes place in centrifugal pumps.
To effect this, the Invention consists in an improved mode of constructing
the pump and arranging its induction and eduction passages. The water is
made to enter the pump in the direction of a spiral of gradually diminishing
pitch commencing from a straight line, and to leave it in the direction of a
spiral of gradually increasing pitch terminating in a straight line.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is an elevation of a pump, with half the exterior, portion of the outer stationary
shell or casing cut away to expose the rotating portions and the passages;
Fig. 2 is a plan of the pump; Fig. 3 is a plan of all the stationary portion of
the pump below the line a, a, of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an inverted plan of all the
stationary portion above the line x, x; Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in section,
of the rotating portion; and Fig. 6, a plan of the same. Fig. 7 is a central
section of the upper portion of the stationary shell or casing. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A is a hollow open-bottomed vessel, of the form of an inverted truncated'
cone, constituting the lower portion of the outer shell or casing of the pump,
and containing within its lower part a stationary centre piece C, of the form of
an inverted cone. This piece C is connected with the casing A by thin
partition pieces 6 (see Figures 1 and 3) of spiral form, with a pitch gradually
diminishing in an upward direction. These partition pieces divide the spaco
between the shell and centre piece into eduction passages of corresponding
form, (that is to say,) gradually changing from a vertical to a horizontal
direction. The number of partition pieces represented is three, making three
passages, but any other convenient number may be used.
The centre piece C carries a central point g (see Figures 1 and 3), which
constitutes the lower bearing of the rotating shaft D that carries the hub E,

page_text: whose form is that of an inverted truncated cone, the generating lines of which
correspond with those of the stationary centre piece C. This hub fits close or
nearly so to the top of the centre piece, so that the two form a complete cone,
tho generating lines of the said cone forming an angle with each other so much
greater than that of the generating lines of the conical casing A as to make
the space botween the conical hub E and the casing A so much narrower, as its
circumference increases, that its different horizontal sections are of the same or
nearly the same area. The hub E has attached to its periphery a number
of wings a, a, occupying planes parallel with its centre, extending radially as
near to the interior of the casing A, as they can without touching, and longi-
tudinally from the lower end of the hub to a short distance above its upper
end, as shown in Fig. 1. The arrangement represented in the Drawing
is supposed to have three of these wings, but any other number may be used..
The upper portion of the outer casing of the pump (which is secured to the
lower portion of the casing A by, flanches I, I', (see Figures 1, 8, and 4,) and
bolts d, d.) consists of a plato F, which fits nearly close to the top or base of
the rotating conical bub E. This plate has a spiral pipe G (of gradually
increasing diameter, and gradually increasing pitch in an upward direction),
connected with it by a circular passage c, (see Figures 1, 4, 7), which forms
a continuation into the said pipe of the conical passage between the rotating
aub E and the lower portion A of the casing. This passage c contains spiral
artition pieces e (see Figures 1, 4, and 7), which divide it into spiral eduction
assages of gradually increasing pitch. These partition pieces. extend below
tho passage c into the outer portion of the passago between A and E, as shewn
in Fig. 1. The gradually increasing pitch of the pipe G in an upward
direction till it assumes a straight line causes it to change its. direction
gradually from a horizontal to a vertical,one. The plate F has in its centre a
stuffing box H, which forms an upper bearing or guide for the shaft, D. Tho
induction pipe is connected with the bottom of the vessel A, and the discharge
pipe attached to the pipe G.
The operation of the several parts is as follows:-The pump being filled.
with water, motion is communicated, in the direction of the arrows shewn in
Fig. 1, through the shaft D to the conical hub E and wings a, a, which,
by imparting centrifugal force to the water, will cause it to flow up the spiral
passages c into the pipe G, and thence out at the discharge pipe., The
discharge of the contents of the pump by this means creates a vacuum within
it, which is filled by water rushing in through the induction pipe and spiral
passages, formed by the partition pieces b, b, in the hub C and the casing A.
The water passes through the pump in a continuous unbroken volume in, an

page_text: easy spiral course, and thereby avoids all sudden turns and eddies incident to
different constructions of the centrifugal pump. It must be observed, however,
that all the passages must be so constructed as to have the same area as the
inlet pipe and discharge pipe. The extension of the wings a, a, above the hub
E is for the purpose of creating a vacuum between the top or base of the said
hub and the plate F, by which means the hub is relieved of the pressure of the
head of water above, thereby obviating unnecessary friction upon the lower
bearing of the shaft D.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of the Invention that
has been communicated to me, as aforesaid, and the means of carrying the same
into effect, I desire it to be understood that I do not intend to confine myself
to the precise details of construction or positions of the parts herein set forth
and described, as the same may doubtless be varied in some particulars without
departing from the principle of the Invention; but I claim as new, and desire
to secure by Letters Patent, as aforesaid, the constructing centrifugal pumps
with a rotating hub in the shape of a truncated cone, with wings attached to
its periphery, and placed within a shell or casing of a conical form, provided
with induction passages of a spiral form, gradually diminishing in pitch to their
point of delivery, and also with eduction passages of a spiral form, of a pitch
as shewn and described, whereby the water is made to pass, without sudden
change of direction or eddies, in an unbroken volume through the pump.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my
hand and seal the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.B.)