IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING AND AUGMENTING MOTIVE POWER
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hugh Forbes, of 184, Euston Road, N.W., Parish.
of St. Pancras, County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING AND AUGMENTING
MOTIVE POWER."
Sealed the 4th October 1867, and dated the 9th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugh Forbes at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th April.
1867.
I, HUGH FORBES, of 184, Euston Road, N.W., Parish of St. Pancras,.
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING AND AUG-
MENTING MOTIVE POWER," to be as follows:-
These improvements are based upon others having both resemblance and
relation to them, and for which Letters Patent have already been granted to
me (No. 2598, October 9th, 1866), the Complete Specification for which is
due this day, and in which I state as follows:-"And it is self-evident that
the arrangement which, after deducting the drawback from friction, enables
the water from the discharge tube of the apparatus to turn the axles and
revolve the drums thereof is equally applicable as a power to move machinery,
which is not here further described, as it forms a seperate application."

page_text: These improvements I therefore now describe as consisting in propelling or
forcing water (or other fluid) by means of a rotary pump (or more than one),
and in applying the water thus propelled or forced in such a manner that it
shall communicate motion to machinery, and that it shall act upon the same
with a degree of power superior to that which is required to work the said
The
rotary pump itself, and further, that it shall maintain that movement.
rotary pump which I prefer for this purpose is that improved apparatus for
which I have obtained Letters Patent (No. 2598 of 1866), and which I
describe in the Specification (due this day) as being "to a certain extent self
acting and maintaining." In that Specification or description I give full
details in respect to its action on its own drums, but I do not enter into expla-
nations about its capabilities as a mover of machinery other than its own
drums, lest that might be construed as constituting a distinct Invention, and I
therefore now treat of it seperately as being serviceable for the movement of
machinery in general. The method which I employ to make the rotary pump
available for the above purpose is by diminishing to the utmost the pressure of the
water acting in the sense contrary to the rotation of the drums, and at the same
time retaining all that is possible of the pressure which is favourable to the said
rotation, whereby comparatively little physical strength is required to make
the drums of the pump revolve on their axles and deposit in the upper chamber
of the casing successive troughs filled with water. Moreover I augment the
efficiency and power of the pump by checking leakage from the upper chamber,
so that water (or other fluid) therein emptied must, as more continues to be
supplied by the successive revolution of the drums, find its way out through
the sole orifice at the top of a tube, though that height be considerable. The
last rotary pump patented by me (No. 2598 of 1866) having these advantages
I prefer to use that one, though I might (very far less well) manage with that
patented by me (No. 137) in 1864, or even with some other substitute. The
water deposited in the upper chamber by the drums, and thence forced by the
same drums to the top of a high tube can (as in the said Patent, No. 2598, of
1866) be so directed as to flow upon a wheel (or wheels) of suitable size,
which will consequently move and revolve, whereupon the whole or part of
the power thus obtained can be made to act upon and move those drums or
other machinery; and it is worthy of note that the increase of power is con-
siderable. The rotation of the drums of the rotary pump could in connection
with a small wheel (or wheels) instead of a large one be rendered to some
extent available; but the direct motion to machinery I decidedly prefer to
give in another manner, that is, instead of allowing the water raised (or forced)
to flow from the top of a high tube (in accordance with the Specification of

page_text: said Patent, No. 2598, of 1866), that water forced towards or through the
outlet orifice of the upper chamber shall be made to move a piston (or pis-
tons), thus dispensing with the incumbrance of a wheel, large or small. The
piston raised by the rush of water consequent upon the (rapid) rotation of the
drums in one sense will of course be drawn back upon that action being
reversed; or pistons may be male to act in correspondence up and down from.
separate pumps. The piston has the additional advantage over the large wheel
that it need not work in the perpendicular, but may be used in the horizontal
(or any other) position. I do not pretend that this arrangement of apparatus
or machinery is capable of putting itself in motion any more than could a
clock unless it had been wound up and set going. The large wheel must be
properly prepared by filling the recipients with water (or otherwise), and then
motion can be communicated by merely withdrawing a bolt or other stay. Tho
piston movement, however, requires that the drums be constantly rotated by
some motor, but when in motion it communicates to the machinery a force
superior to that which caused the rotation of the drums; and for these reasons
I prefer (when space and circumstances permit) to employ the rotary pump
combined with a large wheel (or wheels) as the first motor, and the rotary
pump combined with a piston (or pistons) for any intermediate or repeating
power between the first one and that machinery to which it is intended to
communicate motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hugh Forbes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HUGH
FORDES, of 184, Euston Road, N.W., Parish of Saint Paneras, County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Hugh Forbes, Her special licence that 1, the said Hugh Forbes, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hugh
Forbes, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING AND AUGMENTING MOTIVE POWER," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Hugh Forbes, 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 Hugh Forbes, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement
These improvements are based upon certain others having both resemblance
and relation to them, and for which Letters Patent have already been given
to me (No. 2598, October 9th, 1866), in the Final Specification for which I
stated as follows:-" And it is self-evident that the arrangement which, after
deducting the drawback from friction, enables the water from the discharge
tube of the apparatus to turn the axles and revolve the drums thereof is
equally applicable as a power to move machinery."
These improvements I therefore now describe in their relation to the move-
ment of machinery, which I effect by employing for that purpose the rotary
pump (2598 of 1866) above referred to, and engrafting therein the further
ameliorations contained in my application for Letters Patent dated 24th
September 1867, and bearing the number 2686; and the reason why I
employ that rotary pump embracing those improvements and ameliorations
referred to is, that thereby I protect to the utmost the teeth of the drums
from the pressure of water in the sense contrary to that of their rotation in
lifting and forcing. Were the pressure of water in lifting and forcing per-
mitted to weigh or drag on those teeth which are on the sides of the
drums opposite to their point of gearing contact the effect would be an
absolute resistance to their necessary rotation, which inconvenience does not in
the pump combining these improvements and ameliorations referred to exist to
an extent worthy of consideration. The leakage from the casing ends and the
ends of the rollers also is checked by suitable plates, while that between the
teeth in gear is restricted by the adoption of soft flexible bottoms at the lower
parts and roots of the spaces. I do not pretend that under a very heavy
pressure of water from the outlet orifice no reflux, ever so slight, can happen,
because the drums would if made to fit so tight become unmoveable, unless

page_text: by an extraordinary and wasteful expenditure of power; but I repeat that
the reflux, even under very considerable pressure of water, is not such as to
cause a serious inconvenience. Were I to use a pump not possessing the
main features of the above improvements I might, it is truc, raise and propel
water to some beight, yet the force I should be compelled to employ would.
render my efforts of little or even no avail in procuring an augmentation of
motive power superior to that devoted to raise the water. The effect of the
pressure of the water from the outlet is more elaborately explained in my Final
Specification 2598 of 1866, now open to inspection, and some further obser-
vations will be recorded in that of 2686 of 1867 so soon as the regulations of
the Patent Office require it to be deposited and allow it to be seen.
Having explained what description of rotary pump I employ, together with
my reasons for so doing, I now show how I adopt it. I place my rotary
pump (or pumps) in or above a cistern, from which I cause it to draw water
(or other fluid heavy or light), and to force the same into an upper cistern,
whence (or direct from the top of the tubing) it is allowed to flow upon the
floats of a large wheel (or wheels), or into troughs, cans, or other receptacles,
or into buckets attached to an endless chain, or any ordinary and suitable.
appliance of that sort, which I.so arrange as to cause the wheel (or wheels)
to revolve through the weight or force of the said water raised by my pump
from a lower to a higher level; or it may be propelled through a nozzle or
from the upper cistern or top of tubing; or it may be made to issue against
any suitable part of the wheel (or wheels), first descending through a pipe, so
as to attain impulsion from its gravitation; or it may be propelled by another
pump devoted to that service; or more than one of these methods may be
adopted upon the same wheel. As comparatively little physical effort is
required to rotate the drums of the pump having my improvements above
referred to a column of water raised to a considerable height by the apparatus
can turn a large wheel, so as to acquire a power superior to that employed to
rotate the drums of the said pump, and all or a portion of that power can be
devoted to the movement of machinery. The pump can be set and kept
going by hand, horse, or other power, or when once in action it may maintain
that motion by means of a band and pulley, cogged wheel (or wheels), or
other connection between the said pump and the large wheel revolving by
the water raised. The speed can be regulated by widening or restricting the
outlet of the upper cistern or of the tube. I do not pretend that this apparatus
is of itself capable of putting itself in motion; the large wheel must be put in
motion by hand or other power till the downward cans be full; or the whole
must be properly prepared by sufficiently filling the cisterns, pump, tubing,

page_text: and the recipients on the downward side, after. which the weight of the filled
cans will cause the wheel to revolve when a bolt or stay is removed, the cans
on the upward side being empty and light. Each empty can in its regular
turn will on reaching the top (or other suitable spot) receive water from the
upper cistern or tubing, while each successive can as it reaches the bottom
(or other suitable spot) will come into collision with a pin or other obstacle,
by which it will be tilted so as to deposit its contents into the lower cistern.
The movement can be stopped by a break.
The pump (or pumps) need not be above the surface of the water in the lower
cistern, it is indifferent whether it be so or if it be partly or wholly immersed, it
may even be at a considerable height above the lower cistern; the water may
indeed be pumped from the lower to the higher cistern by stages, employing two
or more pumps. I prefer to use one pump of sufficient capacity, and that it be
partly immersed or be a very little above the surface of the water in the lower
cistern. It is evident that inasmuch as the rotary pump with my improvements
above referred to can with comparatively little expenditure of physical effort
cause water (or other fluid) to accumulate in the upper part of the casing, so as
to raise to a great height a heavy column of water, so likewise it could and
would displace an obstruction in the orifice, otherwise the fluid accumulating
faster by the rotation of the drums than the leakage could relieve the pressure
must burst the casing, and the same result would happen were the fluid
accumulated heavy or light, mercury, air, or any other description. Hence
it follows that this (moveable) obstacle, if so constructed and situated in the
outlet tubing as to render it water-tight, becomes practically a piston, which
of course will be pushed upwards by the accumulating fluid and will descend
when relieved as the water beneath is withdrawn through the action of the
rollers being reversed or the water beneath the piston being let out. By the
movement of a piston (or pistons) vertically, horizontally, or in any other
position motion with augmentation of power may be communicated to
machinery by crank or any of the usual methods, but the movement cannot
in this mode be maintained unless in connection with the large wheel and its
recipients above described. Motion can be transmitted by means of one of
my rotary pumps (fixed or oscillating) with one single piston or by a pair (or
more) moving cranks, or by a pump (or pumps) having two (or more)
pistons. The motor by which rotary motion is communicated to the drum
of the above-described piston pumps can be hand, horse, steam, or other
power; but I prefer the large wheel with cans, or one of the water wheel
modes already described based upon the raising of water from a lower to a
higher level through the action of my improved pump as the first motor

page_text: and that arranged with a piston (or pistone) for any
my augmenting power
between the first motor and the machinery to be kept in motion. Inas-
much as the accumulation of water in the upper part of my improved rotary
pump (above referred to) produces a force greater than that required to
accumulate such amount of water in that spot, it is evident that the power
produced from a small pump could be employed to give rotary motion to the
drums of a larger pump, and so forth.
between the first motor and the machinery to be kept in motion. Inas-
much as the accumulation of water in the upper part of my improved rotary
pump (above referred to) produces a force greater than that required to
accumulate such amount of water in that spot, it is evident that the power
produced from a small pump could be employed to give rotary motion to the
drums of a larger pump, and so forth.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood I proceed.
to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents the apparatus connected with a large wheel, practically
a water power.
A shews the lower cistern; B, my improved rotary pump; C, the tubing,
through which the water is forced by the said rotary pump into the upper
cistern D, which has in its lower part an orifice E, through which the water
pouring or dropping perpendicularly feeds the cans, or the water could be made
to shoot out from the side, as in Fig. 2. F, F, shews the large wheel upon short
rods or bars, attached to which are slung the several cans; G is one of the
pillars supporting the axle H of the large wheel, on which wheel the cans are,
slung; I is the upper can (on the wheel F, F,) receiving water from the
upper cistern D, and J is the lower can, which coming in contact with a
projecting pin is made to tilt and empty its contents into the lower cistern ;
the cans (shaded) from I to J represent those charged with water descending
with the revolving wheel, and those drawn in mere outline from J to I
indicate those which have been emptied and are mounting with the revolving
wheel, each of these being in consecutive order filled as it reaches the top and
passes beneath (or within the play of) the orifice E of the cistern D; K is
the intermediate wheel connecting F, F, with the pulley L of the
pump B, to
which it transmits rotary motion; M shews the waste pipe whereby the
overflow in cistern D passes into the lower cistern A.
Figure 2 shews part of an endless chain carrying buckets, which chain
could be arranged so as to describe a circle, elongated, oval, or other suitable
form. D is the upper cistern; E its orifice, which might (as in Figure 1) be
so constructed as to let the water run straight down through a hole in its
bottom; is the axle of the wheel F rotated by the weight of the water in
the buckets; V, V, and V are buckets.
Figure 3 shows a portion of a wheel having cups or troughs not slung, but
forming part of the wheel F. T is a nozzle, through which water is pro-

page_text: pelled from the upper cistern, or from the tubing, or from a pump dedicated
to this service.
Figure 4 describes a pair of my improved pumps B and B', which are cach
furnished with its respective piston, each of which pistons is connected with
its separate crank on the same shaft; B and B are the two pumps; N is the
shaft; O, the elevated, and P, the depressed cranks; Q is the elevated piston
pushed beyond the outlet R by the accumulated water in the upper part of
the pump B; S is the outlet of pump B', the piston therein being drawn
inwards by the action of the receding water. The arrows a, a, shew the inlet
and direction of the water when raising the piston.
Figure 5 shews a piston-power rotary pump with two pistons. Q, the
upraised one from the outlet R, and P, the rim of the depressed one drawn
down into the orifice S.
Having thus described the nature and object of my Invention, and the
method of carrying it into practice, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the mere verbatim details herein shewn and described so
long as the peculiar character of my Invention is retained; but what I do
claim is the application of the rotary pump having my improvements (2598 of
1866 and 2686 of 1867) or any portion of those improvements to maintain or
to augment motive power and to the movement of machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Forbes, have hereunto set my band
and seal, this
day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
HUGH FORBES. (L.S.)