IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING FLUIDS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer & Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR RAISING FLUIDS."-A communication from abroad by
Pierre Léon St. Clair, Captain, Adjutant Major of the. Fire Brigade,
Paris
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
January 1861.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 59, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer & Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RAISING FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an hydraulic apparatus suitable for various useful
purposes, such as for a lift or force pump, and for rarefying liquids and gases.
The following description relates to an application of the apparatus as a
suction pump. It consists of a vessel having one high and one short branch
of communication; the higher branch has at its lower part a suction pipe
communicating with the liquid to be raised, the higher-branch-may discharge
its contents into a reservoir at its upper part, the higher branch and suction

page_text: pipe are both furnished with stop valves. The lower part or branch of the
vessel is filled with mercury & the higher branch with water; equilibrium is
established between the liquids by reason of their different densities; thus, if a
displacing body be introduced into the mercury in the shorter branch, it will
bave the effect of raising its level, and as a consequence the water in the
higher branch will be raised and part of the contents discharged into the
reservoir. The displacing body, when withdrawn from the mercury, will
produce a fall of the same, but the elevated liquid will be retained by means
of the upper valve and suction produced in the suction tube, in which the water
or other fluid ascends and enters the higher branch.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer &
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Clark, 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 "IMPROVED APPA-
RATUS FOR RAISING FLUIDS," a communication from abroad by Pierre Léon
St. Clair, Captain, Adjutant Major of the Fire Brigade, Paris, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a new system of hydraulic machinery for raising
water by utilizing the different levels obtained in vessels communicating with
each other containing liquids of different densities, as, for example, water and
mercury, of which the densities are as Ts. To illustrate the principle of
these new machines, I take, first, a bent tube of a U form, the branches of
which are of unequal length, containing mercury at the lower part as well as
in a certain part of the small branch, so as to balance a column of water
contained in the other branch, which, however, does not quite fill it. By
inclining this tube until the water is on a level with the upper edge, and by
closing the end, it will be understood that the column will not redescend when
the tube is again brought upright while thus closed, and the original level will
not be re-established in the tube until the end of the tube is again opened, so
that if, before opening it, the end of the tube is placed in communication with
a tube plunged in a vessel of water, there will be produced in this latter tube
suction or aspiration of a column of liquid corresponding to the difference of
level determined by the inclination of the bent tube; and further, as equili-
brium is not immediately re-established, the liquid column of the plunging
tube will be alternately driven out & aspirated so long as the oscillation of the
mixed column continues. As a practical result of these experiments, I cause a
column of mercury to act as a piston, which works a system of valves adapted
to the tube; but instead of producing oscillation by successive inclinations of
the apparatus, I employ a displacing body, sliding without friction in the
mercury contained in the small branch, and rising and falling alternately by
the effect of an oscillating movement imparted in any suitable manner to a
beam attached to the plunger. I have represented this arrangement of appa-
ratus in Figs. 1 & 2 of the Drawings annexed.
Fig. 1 shows an elevation of the apparatus complete; Fig. 2 shows in detail
one of the tubes in section. I have represented this machine as composed of
two exactly similar arrangements, connected together so as to produce a large
and continuous flow; but it will be sufficient here to describe one arrangement
only.
a, large branch, and b, small branch of communicating vessels, supported by
suitable framing, the lower part of the communicating vessels is occupied by

page_text: mercury c, or other liquid of great density. The upper part of the large branch
a is occupied by a column of water d, or other liquid to be raised; e, displacing
body, which plunges into and rises out of the mercury in the small branch;
it is worked by a lever f, set in motion in any suitable manner; 9, aspirating
or suction tube, furnished with a valve h, opening upwards. This tube plunges
into the lower feed reservoir i; j, valve placed in the branch or tube d, also
opening upwards; k, reservoir in which flows the water raised by the branch a
in a continuous flow. The whole being arranged as described, when the beam
fplunges the displacing body e in the mercury of the branch b, the mercury
rises in that branch and also in the branch a to a height corresponding to the
extent of immersion of the said displacing body e, while the water in the
branch a raising the valve j, will rise to a height corresponding to the augmen-
tation which takes place in the mercury, and it may also empty itself into the
reservoir k. When the plunger e rises out of the tube b the displaced mercury
will tend to regain its original level, while the valvej will close & create a
vacuum in the branch a below valve j, the water of the reservoir i will then
rise by reason of the vacuum in the tube g and enter the tube a by raising the
valve h, which will close itself. when the vacuum has been produced, & so on.
the apparatus being actuated solely by the alternate up and down movement.
imparted to the column of mercury by the plunger e.
Such is the first appa-
ratus which I employ as an elevating pump or apparatus for creating a
vacuum. In the latter case, when the suction tube is put in communication
with the reservoir, or when it is wished to rarify the air during the working of
the apparatus, the piston indicates itself the degree of vacuum by the difference
of level which is established between the two columns. This machine, how-
ever, although working without friction, does not entirely answer the purpose
required by reason of the slopping & loss of mercury occasioned by the move-
ment of the plunger, this may be obviated by adjusting to the rod of the
plunger a very flexible material attached to the sides of the tube, which
reduces my system simply to that of an air pump, to which I have only to add
mercury, which would however be useless practically & very costly. For
these reasons I replace the plunger by compressed air or any suitable gas
acting on the surface of the mercury in the small branch, & I also enclose the
mercurial column c in a flexible tube m, n, Fig. 3, the open end n of which
may be raised and lowered alternately by hand (or in any other manner), while
the other extremity m remains fixed, as also the other parts of the apparatus.
The action of this apparatus will be easily understood; by raising the part n
the mercurial piston c rises in the tube m, n, until it reaches the valve h, j,

page_text: (see Fig. 4), which represents detail of the valve box, and thus produces
the supply through the tube a, while during the contrary movement it falls
below the valves & determines the suction in the tube g. This arrangement
gives far better results than the plunging apparatus before described. It is
especially of simple construction, the only part requiring adjustment being the
valve box, as with a flexible tube & a little mercury the machine is ready to
work, either as a pump or pneumatic machine. However, in displacing the
mercurial piston by the above means the weight of the flexible tube, added to
that of the mercury which it contains, is required to be directly supported, to
avoid which I effect the displacement of the liquid piston by the oscillations
of the apparatus itself, and to prevent oscillations of to great extent I fix the
ends of the suction and discharge pipes, and connect them by means of flexible
tubes with the oscillating part which contains the piston, which arrangement
allows of bringing the weight of the apparatus to bear on the point of oscil-
lation. In this case the form of the apparatus may be greatly varied; one
arrangement consists of an equilateral triangle a, b, c, Fig. 5, with rounded
angles, the mercurial piston m occupying the base b, c, & a part of each of the
other sides; the point of oscillation is at the upper part a, and the oscillating
part a, b, c, is connected by a flexible tube d to the valves j, h, & also to the
fixed part of the apparatus. Motion is imparted to the apparatus by any
suitable means. In this arrangement the apparatus can only work at a very low
speed, as at a greater speed the centrifugal force developed in the two sides
produce radiation, which interferes with the displacement of the piston. I
obviate this by reversing the position of the triangle, placing it in the position
represented at Fig. 6. The fixed parts i, h, j, k, of the flexible connecting
tube d are the same as in the previous arrangement; a, b, a, c, arms of the
communicating vessels. These branches are placed very wide apart, so that
the least oscillation determines a notable displacement of the mercurial piston
m, which they contain; m, liquid mercurial piston. When the motor inclines
the apparatus in the direction of the arrow, by turning on the point a the
piston advances in the branch a, c, and produces the discharge, while by
inclining it in the contrary direction the suction takes place. However, as
the weight of the piston at each stroke acts upon the extremity of a lever
arm with so much more force as the branch is inclined from the horizontal,
I attach a pendulum P to the oscillating apparatus, which also tends to
augment the weight of the lever during the movement, but in a contrary
direction to that of the piston. The pendulum also diminishes the continual
variations of weight of the branches. In the foregoing description I have

page_text: assumed that one single surface of the liquid piston acts, the other being in
immediate communication with the pressure of the atmosphere. But the
same effect may be produced on the free surface of the piston as on the other,
as by connecting the surface with a second series of valves I immediately
obtain a double-action pump, that is to say, one of the surfaces of the piston
operates the suction, while the other discharges, and reciprocally by the two
ascending columns being united in one tube before entry and after leaving the
valves, the flow being continuous in such tubes. The double action is appli-
cable to all my apparatus with the exception of the first (with the plunger), to
which a stuffing box should be fitted, as in ordinary pumps. To obviate the
variations of weight to be surmounted in apparatus of a V form, I make the
apparatus in the form of a ring, oscillating on its centre, Figs. 7 & 8; Fig. 7
shows an elevation of the apparatus complete; Fig. 8 shows a section of the
valve box seen in detail. a, a, annular bent tube containing the liquid piston
m, and communicating by its two branches with the valve box b; 1, fly wheel
of wood or metal carrying the tube a, the boss b of which forms the valve box.
This fly wheel turns on an axis c, which is also the axis of the other movable
parts; m, mercury piston enclosed in the lower part-of tube a while the rest
of the apparatus oscillates. This piston tends, by reason of its inertia, not to
quit its position in consequence of the position of the weight, and thus produces
at each extremity of tube a an alternate suction & discharge; g, suction pipe;
h, supply or discharge pipe. The parts of these tubes near the centre of the
apparatus are made flexible, while the rest are fixed and rigid. k, upper reser-
voir; 1, lower reservoir; s, frame or support of the oscillating apparatus; n, n,
handle for working the levers; o, o, stops serving to limit the amount of oscil-
lation; p, pendulum fixed to the fly wheel V, & oscillating with it. This
pendulum may be dispensed with if required; although supplying no force, it
however effects two objects, 1st, regulating by its length the speed most favor-
able for the oscillations; 2ndly, preventing the too sudden change of direction
too suddenly as (its motion is suspended at the moment of changing), while
at same time it attains its maximum power during the full play of the piston.
However, if the pendulum is employed as a regulator for the elevating machine
of this Invention it should be dispensed with when the machines are used as
ordinary pumps, that is to say, with a very rapid motion. I have also stated
that for the latter purpose the bearing point should be excentric and above a
vertical line passing through the centre. All the apparatus above described,
in principle, are based on the employment of a column of mercury performing
the part of a piston. This piston is particularly suitable by reason of the little

page_text: friction it produces, and also the hermetical nature of the joints it makes; but
as its employment presents certain disadvantages, I utilize (with a view to
dispense with its use) the effects of inertia obtained with the piston of the
circular oscillating pump, Fig. 7, in an arrangement of the apparatus repre-
sented at Fig. 9. In this apparatus the mercury and the lower part of the
annular tube are replaced by any mass a of solid matter (such as iron, lead,
stone, &c.), supported on rollers b, b, running on an iron concave guideway
m, m, which occupies the lower part of the exterior circumference of tho
annular tube. The ends of the mass a are connected by rods d, d, with two
pistons e, e, of soft material, such as those of bellows, which terminate the
tubular part. The other parts being the same as in the preceding machino,
I have not shown them in Fig. 9. It will be easily understood that if an
oscillating motion is imparted to the apparatus a by reason of its weight, which
is calculated according to the resistance of the ascending column of water, will
preserve its position at the lower part, and consequently will have a movement
in connection with the whole oscillating apparatus. This relative movement
is communicated to the two pistons c, e, by means of rods d, d, for the purpose
of working the pump by the alternate suction and discharge movements.
Instead of mercury I may use a liquid piston, of water for example, in which
case the effect of the oscillations should be transmitted to the valves and
the column of water be raised by the interposition of a column of air. In
certain cases the apparatus may be worked without a column of air for raising
water short distances only, while, to obviate the necessity of employing an
apparatus of immense size, I use a succession of columns of air and water.
Thus it will be easily understood that if a tube bent in the manner represented
in Fig. 10 contain a succession of columns of air and water, the partial columns
a, b, c, d, e, f, will balance a single column A, B, equal to their whole amount.
It thus suffices for raising water small distances to make the oscillating part
of the tube which contains the interposed columns of a spiral form, increasing
the number of spirals according to the height I wish to attain. I have repre-
sented at Fig. 11 an apparatus according to this arrangement; a, a, a, tubes of
any material wound spirally on a drum b, the lower part of the spirals contain
water or other liquid, the upper part contains air or other gas. The number
of spirals is regulated by the distance between the suction and discharge reser-
voirs; b, drum supporting the spirals, the boss of which forms the valve box,
the same as at Fig. 7; c, funnel furnished with a cock for introducing the
liquid piston into the apparatus; d, d, cocks of communication, which are
closed when the apparatus is in. action, and permitting, when- open, of csta-

page_text: blishing the level of the pistons in the spirals. The other parts, such as the
suction and discharge pipes, pivot, and pendulum, are the same as already
described. The action is also the same, and the double action provided for at
the two extremities of the spirals in connection with the valve box. In order
to obviate disadvantages attending the employment of the pump represented
at Fig. 3, I counteract the weight required to be supported by disposing a
second system exactly similar to the first, and cause the weight to bear in
cach, part on the valve box and part on the extremities of a balance lever or
beam with arms of equal length; by applying the double action of this appa-
ratus I obtain a four-throw pump, which gives remarkable results as regards
the amount of water elevated in relation to the power expended. Fig. 12
represents one of the pumps; a, a, are circular of spiral flexible tubes disposed
on fixed points b, b, these tubes contain a liquid piston, either simple or mixed,
as before described; c, d, beam or balance lever oscillating at its centre e; f.f
rods or bars connecting the tubes a, a, to the balance lever c, d, and jointed to
the points of connection; g, suction pipes; h, discharge pipes. These tubes
may be independent for each side of the apparatus, or united two and two, and
then unite into a single column. I would here remark, that in this arrange-
ment the valve box or compression and suction chamber is fixed, while in the
other arrangements of oscillating apparatus this chamber is connected to the
movable part; the valve box may, however, be fixed in all cases and placed
in the lower reservoir, as represented at Fig. 14. The suction and forcing of
the water being also effected by the successive levels of the liquid contained in
the tube a and communicating with the valve boxes b, b, by the intermediation
of the column of air contained in the tubes c, c; as the tubes only contain air
they may be of very small size. The discharge pipes represented by the
letters d, d, unite in one tube, which empties itself in the upper reservoir.
The facility of setting in action the different arrangements of oscillating
apparatus above described, and to which I have applied the pendulum as a
regulator, has enabled me to utilize in a novel manner the motive power
furnished by manual labor. For this purpose, instead of working the pump
by means of a lever or crank, a man may serve at once as the pendulum and
motor by balancing himself on a swing frame forming part of the oscillating
apparatus, Fig. 18, which arrangement will produce, without much fatigue,
considerable effect. These hydraulic swings may also be applied to pumps
requiring great power by uniting the exertions of several individuals. These
improved apparatus may be applied to all purposes where pumps are required,
such as for elevating or exhausting liquids, for rarifying gases, fire-engine

page_text: pumps, or garden engines, or other industrial, agricultural, horticultural, and
domestic purposes.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the different
arrangements of machinery or apparatus above described, particularly the
employment of pistons formed of liquid columns, either of a homogeneous
or heterogeneous nature, with or without the interposition of any kind of
air or gas working in tubes of any form or material, in the manner and for the
purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred & sixty-one.
177 CLADI