Year: 1888

page_text: I NATHAN RICHARDSON, residing at Little Falls, in the County of Morrison and
State of Minnesota United States of America Gentleman do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention is a new bilge-water pump and it consists primarily in the employ-
ment of a tube or barrel fixed in the bottom of a vessel and a sliding rod carrying at
its lower end two pivoted valves which when the vessel is at rest close the lower end
of tube but when the vessel is in motion said rod is drawn upward within the tube
whereby the valves fall together to allow the bilge water to flow downward through
the tube by reason of the suction produced at the lower end of the tube by the vessel
when in motion the discharge of the bilge water therefore taking place during the
whole time that the vessel is in motion. When the vessel again comes to rest there
will be no downward suction produced at the lower end of the pump barrel and
consequently the sea water will tend to rush upward through the tube and will press
the valves apart to close the tube and thereby prevent said water from passing up into
the vessel.
The invention also consists in the employment of a guard fixed upon the bottom of
the vessel to prevent damage to the projecting pump barrel; in the employment of
means to hold the rod carrying the pivotted valves in the proper position, in the
peculiar manner of arranging the valves at the lower end of the valve rod and in other
features of construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter fully described.
The various parts of my said Bilge Water Pump are shewn in the accompanying
drawings in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of my pump placed in the bottom of
a vessel.
Fig. 2 is an elevation of my pump removed from the vessel. Fig. 3 is a rear
sectional view of Fig. 2 cut on the line ww. Fig. 4 is an edge view of the valve bar
provided with the valves and stop plates.
Fig. 5 is a top view of Fig. 2 the same being cut off at the line x-x.
Fig. 6 is a view of the valves and stops looking down on them through the tube A
said tube being cut off at y—y.

page_text: My invention is described as follows
A is a round tube of desired diameter and length and of substantial material such as
copper, steel or gutta percha which, when in place, stands upright in and through the
bottom of a vessel, and which may or may not reach into the water below; the lower
end of the tube is turned in sufficiently to form a shoulder a against which the valves a¹
on the inside of it may be pressed down and entirely close it up on the bottom; and
that portion of it which extends above the vessel is perforated so that the water inside
the vessel may pass into said tube and out of the vessel.
B is a tube just large enough to slide on over said tube A easily; is cnt square
across at the upper end; the other cut diagonally downwardly from near the upper
end to a point about double its diameter on the front side, regardless of its size.
It might vary somewhat from this proportion in the length of the two sides, for
instance if the tuhe B should be four inches in diameter, the longer side when cut
ready for use, should be nearly eight inches longer than the short side; however, the
longer the hevel the greater would be its power.
This tube B has fastened to it, two rods C passing up through the flange Done
attached to its short and the other to its long side by which rods it is drawn up when
not in use, so that no part of it is below the guard Jor the bottom of the boat if the
guard is not used; when in use it is pressed down nearly its whole length into the
water below the said guard or bottom of the vessel with its longest side toward
the bow of the vessel, in which position it is firmly held by said rods until such timo
as it is desired to draw it up out of the water. This tube may also be made of any
suitable material.
D is a flange to which is firmly attached tube A near its upper end and which is
screwed down on the top of the pump house E and some flexible water-tight material
is placed under it.to prevent leakage and through which the two rods pass.
F is a flat bar of iron, or of other suitable material, as broad as the diameter of the
tube A and of sufficient thickness to make it sufficiently strong for the use to which it
is put and sufficiently narrow that it may pass into said tube.
At the lower end of said bar are hinged two valves a' each a half circle which are
so arranged that when drawn up a proper distance from the bottom of the tube they
fall open and when they are pressed against flange a said tube is entirely closed.
They are self-acting, opening when water is passing out of the vessel and closing
watertight when the vessel is not in motion. The said valves are hinged one on each
side of said bar F and have attached to their upper face, arms a² the extreme ends of
which turn over the stops a³ on bar F said stops having shoulders a' by which the
valves are prevented from falling close together but are held at an angle, so that
when the water presses up against them they shut upwards and close the said tube.
CC are two rods which pass through the flange D and are made fast to the tube B
below and serve to lower and raise the same to the desired position and on which
small stops e are placed to prevent said rods from being run down too far and at the
point where these rods pass through flange D packing is secured in proper packing
boxes to prevent leaking and to sustain said rods from dropping down of their own
weight.
Gare stops held by a spring g and rest against the upper plate K and prevent the
said bar F from being drawn up too far, or coming out of the tube, but by holding
said spring back, said bar may be taken entirely out.
H is a pivoted rod on which is secured two arms / h, the upper one catches under
the inclined shoulder 2 on the har F and holds said bar and valves a¹ up above
shoulder a in the lower end of tube A and the lower one h¹ catches over the upper
incline shoulder and holds the said bar down and presses said valves down tightly
against said shoulder.
The said valves al are self acting and are pivoted to the flat bar F at its extreine
lower end and are opened and closed by the action of the water upon them; opening
when raised from the bottom of the tube when the vessel is in motion and closing
when the vessel is at rest.
It would require a considerable blocking up in a thin bottom vessel to make room

page_text: to draw up the tube B that is slid down and drawn up out of the water, so that the
water would be quite a depth in the bottom of a vessel before it could run out through
perforated holes over the flange D and near the top of the tube. So I have thought
best to have the tube A perforated down as low as the inside surface of the bottom of
the vessel and leave a gateway e in the pump house E at its bottom so the water can
pass in and out through the said perforations. In order to protect the said tube A and
the perforations therein, a sliding gate e' is dovetailed in said gateway to be opened
and closed at will.
I place on the bottom of the vessel an iron guard J that leaves a hollow place
between it and the vessel; the end towards the bow is brought to a point and it
widens as it runs back leaving a space under it and an opening at the end in front of
and nearly underneath the tube A. This iron guard will suck the water from the
boat the same as the beveled tube B and may be used in connection with or without it.
This guard should be very strong and firmly fastened to the bottom of the vessel by
heavy screws or bolts so that it would stand to run through a sand bar or to run over
logs or snags in a river.
When I deem it necessary and particularly where my pump is to be used on
shallow waters I protect the lower end of the pipe A by a wire screen and the gateway
in the pump house may be protected in the same way. For river boats and vessels
used in shallow waters I use my pump as above described, except the tube B.
In such boats I bring the lower end of the tube A no lower down than the lower
surface of the bottom of the boat and in place of the tube B, I use a bar N of spring
steel or other material that is flexible. 1 fasten one end to the bottom of the boat in
front of the tube A, the other end extending downward a short distance into the
water which will create a vacuum and cause the water to run out of tube A.
This bar of
This spring represented by the dotted lines N is thus left free so that when it
strikes a bar or other obstruction it is pressed back up against the bottom of the boat
and springs back into position when the obstruction is passed over.
spring steel may be hinged to the bottom of the boat and made to stand straight down
by the use of any springing contrivance generally used for such purposes.
When said spring is used the tube A used in such boats may not extend quite to
the lowest surface of the same but room sufficient may be left that enough may be cut
out of the bottom to allow the said spring and other material attached to it to bury
itself when the boat is aground, passing over a sand-bar or other obstructions or
instead of taking any portion out of the bottom of the vessel for said spring to bury
itself into, pieces of plank may be secured along each side of said spring lengthwise
the boat, of sufficient length and thickness for the spring to bury itself between.
Now, when I use this spring instead of the tube AI may or may not use the
guard J.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is:
1. A bilge-water pump consisting of the perforated tube A provided with the
shoulder a at its lower end; the short tube B fitting over said tube A and adapted to
slide up and down on the same; rods C secured to said tube B and adapted to move
said tube up and down; bar F provided with the stop plate K, inclined shoulders, h² h³
and hinge valves at having the arms a bent over the circular stops a³ said bar stop
plate and valves adapted to nove up and down in said tube A and pivoted rod H
having the arms adapted to catch under and over the shoulders *, * on bar F
substantially as shown and described and for the purpose set forth.
2. A bilge-water pump consisting of the perforated tube A provided with the
shoulder a at its lower end, the short tube B fitting over said tube A and adapted to
slide up and down on the same; rods C secured to said tube B and adapted to move
said tube up and down, bar F provided with stop plate K, inclined shoulders ³ ³ and
hinge valves a having the arnis a² bent over the circular stops a³, said bar, stop-plate
and valves adapted to move up and down in said tube A, substantially as shown and
described and for the purposes set forth.

page_text: 3. A bilge-water pump consisting of the perforated tube A provided with the
shoulder a at its lower end, the short tube B fitting over said tubo A and adapted to
slide up and down on the same; rods C secured to said tube B and adapted to move
said tube up and down; bar F provided with the stop plate K, inclined shoulders h³ h*
and hinge valves a' having the arms a², bent over the circular stops a said bar, stop
plate and valves adapted to move up and down on said tube A and stops G adapted to
impinge against the upper face of plate K and spring g secured to the outer face of
said tube A and carrying said stops G, substantially as shown and described and for
the purposes set forth.
4. In a bilge-water pump as above described, the bar F having secured on its lower
end the circular stops a³ having the stop shoulders a' and the valves a¹ hinged to the
lower end of said bar, having the arms a³ turned over said stops and adapted to catch
against said stop shoulders a substantially as shown and described.
5. The pump-house E built around the tube A and secured in the bottom of the
vessel to protect said tube, covered with the flange D and having the grooved
gateway e leading to the perforations in said tube and tongued gate e fitting in said
gateway substantially as shown and described.
6. The combination of the pump house E, the flange D secured on the top of said
pump house and said pump secured to said flange and passing down through said
boat, guard J secured to the bottom of the vessel in front of said pump, all
substantially as shown and described and for the purposes set forth.
7. The combination with the vessel of the pump house E secured in the bottom of
the vessel; bilge water pump as above described, secured in the bottom of the vessel
by means of the flange D and spring bar N or guard J secured to the bottom of the
vessel in front of said pump, substantially as shown and described and for the purposes
set forth.
Dated this 18th love of D
han 1000