A NEW METHOD A RECIPROCATING ACTION BY MEANS OF ROTATORY MOTION TO. BE APPLIED TO THE WORKING OF ALL KINDS OF PUMPS AND OTHER MACHINERY IN OR TO WHICH RECIPROCATING ACTION IS REQUIRED OR MAY BE APPLIED
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
PARR, of Union Place, City Road, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
and JAMES BLUETT, of Blackwall, in the said County of Middlesex, Ship
Joiner, Mast and Block Maker, and Pump Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of December,
now last past, did give and grant unto us, the said William Parr and James
Bluett, His special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we,
the said William Parr and James Bluett, our exors, adññiors, and assigns,
and such others as we, the said William Parr and James Bluett, our exors,
adiñiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His. said
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Invention of "A NEW METHOD
A RECIPROCATING ACTION BY MEANS OF ROTATORY MOTION TO. BE
APPLIED TO THE WORKING OF ALL KINDS OF PUMPS AND OTHER MACHINERY IN OR
TO WHICH RECIPROCATING ACTION IS REQUIRED OR MAY BE APPLIED;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging us, the said William Parr
and James Bluett, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Parr and James Bluett, do hereby declare that the nature of our
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is
described and ascertained by the Drawings hereto annexed and as follows (that
is to say):
The rotatory motion of sufficient power for the purpose required is to be
supplied or furnished by machinery, or animal power, or any other convenient
means, to none of which this Patent is intended to extend, and to be com-
municated to an axis or spindle placed in a proper situation for the use of the
reciprocating action to be produced, as herein-after described; upon this axis or
spindle are placed two similar toothed wheels, which may turn freely either way
on the axis or spindle, unless when fixed by a catch, bolt or tongue, in manner
herein-after described. Acting with each wheel, but on the opposite side, is a
straight rake, or rack with teeth, acting in the respective wheels; the two rakes
or racks are to be similar to each other, and to be firmly fastened together at
their ends, so as to be kept parallel to each other in parallel planes, forming
at a side view a parallelogram, and the whole to be moved by the same wheel
or power. The rakes or racks are to move in a framework, or upon a stage or
plane, and their motion is to be kept in the same lines or planes by means of
grooves, studs, or guides, adapted for that purpose. By means of the frame-
work, or stage, or plane, the wheels are to act alternately upon the rakes or
racks, the one wheel to move them forwards or raise them (as the case may
be), the other to move them backwards or depress them; this is accomplished
by means of catches, bolts, tongues, or arms, which alternately lock or fix each
wheel with the axis or spindle, so that when one wheel is so locked or fixed,
and, consequently, moves the rakes or racks, the other wheel revolves freely on
the axis or spindle, and is moved by the racks or rakes. The point at which
the catch, bolt, tongue, or arm shall lock or fix the wheel may be regulated
either by means of the framework in which the spindle and rakes or racks
act, or by means of the rakes or racks themselves, and the catch, bolt, tongue,
or arm must lock or fix each wheel alternately, as each extremity of the rakes
or racks alternately closely approaches the wheels. The wheel thus locked or
fixed, with the axis or spindle acting by its teeth upon the rake or rack in
contact with it, moves the two racks or rakes so fastened together as before
described forwards or upwards, until that wheel is set free and the other fixed

page_text: or locked with the spindle, which in the same manner moves the racks or
rakes in an opposite direction until that wheel is set free and the other fixed,
and so on alternately acting on the racks or rakes, by which means a recipro-
cating action is produced to the racks or rakes; or the ends connecting them is
to be attached in a convenient manner, the pump-rod, machine, or thing
required to be moved by the reciprocating power; the diameter of the wheels,
and the length of the racks or rakes, must depend upon the object to which
they are applied and the length of the reciprocating action required; when it
can be conveniently so arranged, it is better that half a rotation of the wheel
shall move the racks or rakes the whole length of the stroke or reciprocating
action required. The length of the racks or rakes must be just greater
than the length of the stroke or action required added to the diameter of the
wheel. The best materials for this machinery will generally be iron, but
sometimes other metals and wood may be used. The method above described
may be more clearly explained and described by means of the Drawings
annexed, and the following references and descriptions:-Figure 1 represents
a side elevation of the Invention, as applied to the working of pumps;
a, a, a, a, one side of a frame made of cast iron (but may be made of any
other metal; h, h, h, h, is a similar side, the two being fixed together parallel
to each other by four pillars or stretchers, with screws and nuts, as seen at
c, c, c, c; d, d, are two metal rakes or racks fixed firm and parallel to each
other in parallel planes, by two end pieces e, e; these ends are made to pass
freely within the two sides of the frame a, a, a, a; and h, h, h, h, are made to
move in a direct line, parallel with the rakes or racks, by means of the studs
ff, which studs move, as hereafter described, from f, f, to g, g, and from g. 9,
to ff, alternately. h, h, Figure 1, shews a part of one of the wheels, which
moves the rakes or racks, and the dotted marks the other wheel, which being
within the frame cannot be seen, but is described in h, h, Figures 2 and 6;
these wheels have each of them a pall i, j, working freely in mortises upon an
axis or pin, as seen in Figures 2 and 6. k, k, Figures 2 and 3, is a spindle
wheel, which is best described in Figure 3, with two bearings 1, 1, for the
wheels h, h, and two bearings m, m, which work in the frame as seen at m,
Figures 1, 4, 5 and 6.
n, n, are squares on which the handles are fixed, as
seen in Figure 6, or on which wheels may be fixed when the pump is worked
by machinery. 0, 0, Figures 3 and 6, is a steel catch worked firm into the
spindle. Now, when the handles are fixed upon the squares, as seen at n, n,
Figure 6, and the spindle is turned upon its axis, it moves freely in the sides
of the frame at m and also in the two wheels h, h; but the catch o is so placed
as to meet the palls i, j, alternately by means of the ends of the palls p, q,

page_text: which ends traverse in semicircles r, Figure 4, and r, Figure 5, being the two
şides of the frame. Now, it is obvious, if the two ends of the palls p and q,
Figure 6, were moved to: the dotted marks's and t, the catch o would move
the spindle perfectly free of the palls, and the wheels would remain stationary
with the rakes or racks; but the tooth or cog u, Figure 1, being placed in the
space of the rake or rack at v, and the tooth or cog w, in the other wheel
falling into the space in the rake or rack x, the axis or spindle with the catch
o cannot revolve without taking one of the palls i, j, and its wheel with it, the
ends of the palls being governed by the semicircular passages r, r. Figure 4
shews the rakes or racks at their extreme descent, with the end of the pall p,
at the extent of the semicircle r, which has met the conductor y, which carries
the end p to s, as seen in Figure 6, so as to release the pall i from the catch o,
by which means the wheel being unrestrained, but with its pall i again ready
to meet the catch, will return with the rake or rack to the other end of the
semicircle r, as seen at p, o, Figures 4 and 6, and the conductor y will be
restored to its place by the spring behind acting on it; but it will be seen that
on the release of the pall i, which is beveled at the edge to make it pass the
catch o easily, as seen at i, Figure 2, the catch o meets the pall, which is also
beveled, connected to the end q, as seen in Figures 5 and 6, which it moves
back until it meets the conductor, Figure 5, when it is also released,
being conducted from q, o, to t, o, as seen in Figure 6, when the pall i
again meets the catch, during which course through the semicircle the wheel
has raised the rakes or racks, as seen in Figure 5. The rakes or racks
in Figure 5 are placed in a contrary direction to those seen in Figure 1, in
order to shew that they may be placed either way; for instance, in Figure 1
the near rake or rack is to the left, and the relief by the conductor is at the
upper end of the semicircle, but in Figure 5, the near rake or rack is to the
right, and is relieved by the conductor, at the lowest end of the semicircle.
Now it will be seen that immediately one pall is released from the catch o, the
other pall meets it, so that the catch with the spindle keeps a constant rotatory
motion, while the wheels, by means of their palls, make the rakes or racks to
reciprocate regularly, each wheel alternately taking half a revolution and re-
turning, that is, one wheel lifts the rakes or racks with half a revolution, which,
when done, it is set at liberty and returns unrestrained, excepting being pre-
served in its position, while the other wheel with half a revolution depresses the
rakes or racks, so that they continue to act reciprocally, making half a revolution
and returning, while the spindle revolves continually. 7 is the connecting rod
to the bucket of the pump, on which the apparatus is placed; 8, 8, 8, 8, are
holes for bolts, by which the apparatus is fixed to the top of the pump. If

page_text: one bolt be taken out, the apparatus may be let down as by a hinge, so as to
be able to draw the bucket,. &c., at pleasure.. 9 is a bolt, which runs through
the piece e, by which the rod 7 is fastened. When required, this apparatus will
work two pumps by the same motion, by means of a centre piece between the
two pumps, the head of which is seen at 2, Figure 1, into which is placed a
lever 8, 8, which is connected with the stud f, and a similar stud on the other
side, the said studs being made to project through the frame to receive the
ends of the lever 3, as seen at 4. On the opposite end of the lever is seen the
head of the rod 5, connected to the bucket which works the other pump;
and 6 is a balance weight, equal in weight to the racks h; h, and ends e, c. The
rod 5 may be worked by parallel motion when necessary. When the recipro-
cating action is required to be of greater length of stroke than can be con-
veniently accomplished by half a rotation of the wheel, it may be produced of
any length in the following manner: for instance, let the two rakes or racks,
as seen in Figure 7, be five feet long, and they may be made. of any other.
length or number of cogs; the rakes or racks may have each twenty-eight
cogs or teeth, and the wheels a and h have each cight cogs or teeth;
so that the axis c, on which the wheels are placed; makes three and a
half revolutions for each return of the rakes or racks. The wheels have
each of them a fast stud d and e, which are alternately acted upon by the
tongue or arm f; the opposite end of the said tongue or arm acts upon an in-
ternal spring in the axis c, as seen in Figure 8, and the tongue or arm,
Figure 9. The tongue or arm runs free in a mortise, upon a pin o, o,
Figure 8, the opposite end of which, operating upon the spring, is formed as
seen in Figure 9, so that the spring pressing upon the lower end of the tongue
or arm, which has two sides formed at a convenient angle, will always keep the
tongue or arm steady to the stud it is pressing upon. When the tongue or arm
meets the stud d, the wheel a, in which the stud d is placed, is carried three
and a half revolutions, during which action the rake g is moved until. the
tongue or arm meets the inclined plane h, by which it is turned off the stud d,.
and at the same point meeting the stud e, in the wheel h, that wheel becomes
locked with the spindle by the tongue or arm and stud, and the rakes or racks
are returned by them until the tongue or arm meets the inclined plane i, when
it is turned off the stud e, and again meets the stud d, with which it proceeds
as before, alternately fixing and freeing each wheel at the inclined planes
and i. It will be easily observed, that while the rakes or racks are
moved by one wheel, which is. held by the tongue or arm and stud,
that the other wheel moves back unrestrained until the inclined plain
removes the tongue or arm from. the one stud to the other, when it becomes

page_text: locked, so that the rakes or racks keep alternately reciprocating, while the axis
continually revolves, always carrying one wheel locked by the tongue or arm
and stud, while the other wheel remains at liberty. As the said Invention is
applicable not only to pumps, but also to other kinds of machinery where a
rotatory motion is required to produce a reciprocating action, the reciprocating
power may be directed so to act horizontally or at various degrees of inclination;
in such cases it is sometimes better that the rakes or racks, particularly when
they are long or heavy, should move or be supported on a stage or plane, either
horizontal or inclined in the degree required. A mode in which this effected is
shewn in Figure 7. k, h, k, are rollers, upon which the rakes or racks move;
1, 1, are guides, fixed upon the plane, to make the rakes or racks move in a direct
line; m, m, are supports for the spindle or axis c. Where the rakes or racks are
required to be other than horizontal, it is sometimes necessary (dependent
upon the use to which the machinery is applied) to provide that they should not,
either by their own weight or the weight of the machinery to which they are
attached, cause the toothed wheels with which they act to revolve faster or
more frequently than the spindle or axis on which the wheels move. Thus,
when the pall is locked or fixed by the catch, as in Figures 1 and 6, and con-
sequently the spindle or axis may act on the toothed wheel, unless the descent
of the racks or rakes is opposed by the work to be performed, there is nothing
to prevent the pall and the toothed wheel on which it is placed revolving faster
than the spindle, and the racks or rakes rapidly descending. Where the work
requires the action of a constant power this is immaterial, but, when necessary,
to prevent this, the toothed wheel, when alternately locked or fixed with the
spindle, as before described, must be so locked or fixed that it can move neither
faster nor slower than the spindle or axis on which it is placed. A mode by
which this is effected is shewn in Figure 7. Two wheels, with ratchet teeth, are
fixed firm on the sides of the barrel of the spindle c, Figure 7, as seen at n,
adjoining, but free of the wheel a; also the dotted lines n, represent the
ratchet teeth on the other side of the spindle c, adjoining the wheel, but
which, in the position of the Figure, could not be seen. 0, 0, are two clicks or
palls, working each freely upon the screws by which they are fixed on the sides
of the wheels a and h; the opposite ends of each pall being springs, and
operating upon the pins p, p, keep the points of the palls in the ratchet teeth
when the racks or rakes are descending. It will be seen that, when the tongue
or arm is operating upon the stud d, in the wheel a, and carrying that
wheel to move the rake or rack g, the click or pall o, is firm in the ratchet
teeth, but when the tongue or arm moves from the stud d to c, to carry the
wheel h, the wheel a is then at liberty, and the ratchet passes freely in the

page_text: contrary direction, by means of the form of the ratchet teeth admitting the
point of the pall or click to pass over them. This apparatus may be adapted
and attached in various ways to any suitable machinery as required.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Parr and James Bluett, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, the Twentieth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.