Improvements in Air or Gas Compressors.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Nov., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 17th Aug., 1900-Accepted, 22nd Sept., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Air or Gas Compressors.
We, FINLAY ALEXANDER MCRAE, Contractor, of No. 577, St. Urbain Street,
and CHARLES EDWIN ROBERTSON, Mechanical Engineer, of No. 37, Metcalf Street,
both of the City of Montreal, in the District of Montreal and Province of Quebec,
Canada, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates particularly to hydraulic air compressors and it has for
its object to provide a plant that will give better results than have been
obtainable heretofore in plants for a like purpose and be less expensive to
construct.
To these ends, the invention may be said briefly. to consist of an inclined
water conductor communicating at its upper end with a body of water constituting
a water head, means for introducing air into the water while it is running through
said conductor, means for forcing air into said running water at a point where
its power of compression is greatest, said conductor communicating at its lower
end with a chamber wherein the air and water are separated by improved means,
and the air under the pressure of the said water head and the water in the con-.
ductor being utilized for the development of power and the water being inde-
pendently utilized for the development of power, or for other purposes, each for
instance as supplying water for consumption.
One of the most important features of this invention is the means for carrying
the air in comparatively large bodies to a point a considerable distance below
the surface of the water.
This means consists of a vertical travelling belt having a series of tilting
buckets thereon, and we have found it to be exceedingly efficient when used in
a water conductor and arranged to extend from above the water head to within
sufficiently close proximity to the separating chamber to deliver the bodies
of air into said chamber.
We have illustrated our invention as applied to a stream in which there is
a natural fall equal to the depth it is required that the lower end of the inclined
water conductor, be sunk.
When our invention is to be applied to a comparatively small stream it will
be found advantageous to construct (in any preferred manner) a dam, in order to
provide the required water head.
The inclined water conductor communicates at its upper end with the space
at the foot of this dam and at its lower end with an opening in the lower end
of a vertical cylinder. which constitutes a separating chamber.
The upper end of this cylinder is closed, and provided with an opening to the
edges of which an air conducting pipe is connected and a second opening is pro-
vided at the lower end of said cylinder and diametrically opposite to the first-
mentioned opening while a series of, preferably, five concavo-convex vanes are
provided and arranged in two tiers, three being in the lower tier and separated

page_text: .
from one another, and two in the upper tier and over the spaces between the
vanes in the lower tier.
The centre vane of the lower tier, is secured at one end to the lower side of
the lower end of the flume and extended upwardly within the separating chamber,
(formed by the said cylinder) in a compound curve, in order to accommodate a
gate or valve to be presently described; while the two side vanes, are secured
within the lower end of the flume and extended concentrically of the chamber,
on the same plane and to within a short distance of one another, the vanes of
the upper tier being also curved upwardly and towards one another.
The gate is located in suitable guideways, formed upon the interior of the
cylinder, on each side of the opening which opening, said gate is caused to con-
trol by means of a rod preferably screw-threaded for a portion of its length and
taking through a screw-threaded bearing in the top of the cylinder, and a boring
in the vane.
This gate serves primarily as a means for clearing out the bottom of the
cylinder which can be done by onening it to its fullest extent and shutting off
the air supply, thus the water being released of the friction due to the com-
pression of the air, will travel at its greatest velocity and carry with it the
dirt that will be precipitated, while the water is travelling at its normal rate
and compressing air.
This air supplied to the water passing through the conductor, by means of a
tube extending from a point above the level of the water head to preferably, a
short distance beyond the point of commencement of the greatest width.
The upper end of this tube is flared to provide a guiding surface on which á
valve or gate slides and opens or closes the upper end of said tube, this gate being
operated by a screw-threaded spindle. provided with a hand wheel and taking
through a screw-threaded bearing formed upon a brace extending across the flared
upper end of said tube and said spindle rotatably connected to a bracket secured
rigidly upon said gate.
In order to utilize the water discharged through the opening, to generate
power, or to be supplied as before mentioned for consumption, we enclose that
portion of the exterior of the cylinder on each side of and adjacent to said opening,
and from the bottom of the cylinder to within a short distance of the top thereof,
by a plate having its top and side edges respectively inwardly set-off and con-
nected preferably by rivetting to the outside surface of the said cylinder; while
the lower edge of this plate and the lower edge of the cylinder are rigidly con-
nected in any desired manner to a base section. A series of hydraulic rams,
are connected to the water chamber, intermediate said plate and the cylinder,
by pipes and by additional pipes, to a delivery pipe, through which the water
is forced by said rams, preferably back to the water head, although if desired
it may be converted into power for commercial purposes or supplied for consump-
tion as beforementioned, the overflow from the rams being allowed to run away,
through a ditch, to the lower level of the stream.
At different seasons, as is well known, all streams vary in depth or volume,
and therefore if provision is not made to counteract this variation, a constant
supply of air cannot be maintained, as the water pressure in the flume and the
speed of the water therethrough will increase or decrease according as the water-
liead increases or decreases, and consequently the force of suction exerted by the
water flowing through the flume, upon the air in the tube, will, at times, be
reduced until it will be hardly sufficient to draw said air and convey it to the
separating chamber.
To obviate this difficulty we provide a second air supply pipe, and extend same
inside of the flume and from a blower or fan, (of any preferred construction) to
within a short distance of the lower end of the flume.
This blower or fan may be driven in any approved manner but we prefer to
drive same, by means of an endless belt or loop, carrying a series of tilting
buckets pivotally connected to said belt.

page_text: This belt takes over a sprocket wheel mounted rigidly upon a shaft carried in
bearings extending above the level of the water and mounted upon the dam
timbers, and a sprocket wheel carried upon a shaft mounted preferably adjacent to
the mouth of the flume, a pulley being rigidly secured upon said shaft and
operatively connected to the pulley of the blower by a belt.
It is obvious that the action of the water as it nows downwardly through the
flume, will cause the buckets on one side of the loop to tilt out to a position at
right angles thereto, and thereby draw that portion of the belt down, while the
same action of the water will tilt the buckets on the other side of the loop flat
against the belt, and the belt is in this manner caused to rotate, the rotary move-
ment being imparted to the blower through the abovementioned belt.
Other means than the blower illustrated for introducing air into the water
at a point near the completion of its face are provided as beforementioned by
extending the endless belt with the tilting buckets from a point above the water
level to a point near the lower end of the fall, which will accomplish the last
mentioned result owing to the fact that the bodies of air contained in the buckets
are not allowed to escape therefrom into surrounding water until the buckets
reach the lower turn in the belt, and this modification of the construction can be
made by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of our
invention.
Dat the 17th day of Vocambi 1900
We, FINLAY ALEXANDER MCRAE, Contractor, of No. 577, St. Urbain Street,
and CHARLES EDWIN ROBERTSON, Mechanical Engineer, of No. 37, Metcalf Street,
both of the City of Montreal, in the District of Montreal and Province of Quebec,
Canada, 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:-
-
Our invention relates particularly to hydraulic air compressors and it has for
its object to provide a plant that will give better results than would have been
obtainable heretofore in plants for a like purpose and be less expensive to
construct.
To these ends, the invention may be said briefly, to consist of an inclined
water conductor communicating at its upper end with a body of water constituting
a water head, means for introducing air into the water while it is running through
said conductor shaft or chute, means for forcing air into said running water at
a point where its power of compression is greatest, said conductor shaft or chute
communicating at its lower end with a chamber wherein the air and water are
separated by improved means, and the air under the pressure of the said water
head and the water in the conductor shaft or chute) and the water independently
utilized for the development of power, or for other purposes, such for instance
as supplying water for consumption.
For full comprehension, however, of our present invention, reference must be
had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which like
symbols indicate the same parts and wherein, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical

page_text: sectional view of a hydraulic air compressing plant embodying our invention;
Figure 2 a part horizontal sectional view, taken on line 2, 2, Figure 1 and part
plan view thereof; Figure 3 a detail cross section illustrating one of the vanes
for facilitating the separation of the air from the water in the receiving chamber:
Figure 4 an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the separating chamber taken
on line 4, 4, Figure 1, and Figures 5 and 6 detail sectional and face views, respec-
tively of the buckets and a portion of their carrying belt.
We have illustrated our invention as applied to a stream in which there is
a natural fall equal to the depth it is required that the lower end of the inclined
water conductor, be sunk.
When our invention is to be applied to a comparatively small stream it will
be found advantageous to construct (in any preferred manner) a dam 5, in order
to provide the required water head.
The inclined water conductor communicates at its upper end with the space
at the foot of this dam and at its lower end with an opening 7 in the lower end
of a vertical cylinder 8, which constitutes a separating chamber.
The upper end 9 of this cylinder 8 is closed and provided with an opening
to the edges of which an air conducting pipe 9" is connected, and an opening 10
is provided at the lower end of said cylinder and diametrically opposite to the
opening while a series of preferably five concavo-convex vanes are provided
and arranged in two tiers, three being in the lower tier and separated from one
another, and two in the upper tier and over the spaces between the vanes in the
lower tier, (see Figure 4).
The centre vane 11 of the lower tier is secured at one end to the lower side
of the lower end of the flume and extended upwardly within the separating
chamber, 12, (formed by the cylinder 8) in a compound curve, as shown in
Figure 1 in order to accommodate a gate or valve 15 to be presently described;
while the two side vanes 13 are secured within the lower end of the flume and
extended concentrically of the chamber 12 on the same curved plane and to within
a short distance of one another, the vanes 14 of the upper tier being also curved
upwardly and towards one another, see Figure 2.
The gate 15 is located in suitable guide-ways 16 formed upon the interior of
the cylinder 8, on each side of the opening 10, which opening said gate is caused
to control by means of a rod preferably screw-threaded for a portion of its
length as at 18, and taking through a screw-threaded bearing 19 in the top of
the cylinder and a boring in the vane 18.
This gate serves primarily as a means for clearing out the bottom of the cylinder
which can be done by opening it to its fullest extent and shutting-off the air
supply, thus the water being released of the friction due to the compression
of the air, will travel at its greatest velocity and carry with it the dirt that will
be precipitated, while the water is travelling at its normal rate and compressing
air.
The air is supplied to the water passing through the conductor, by means of a
tube 20, extending from a point above the level of the water-head to preferably
a short distance beyond the point 6.
The upper end of the tube 20 is flared to provide a guiding surface 21, on
which a valve or gate 22 slides and opens or closes the upper end of said tube,
this gate being operated by a screw-threaded spindle 25, (provided with a hand-
wheel 26) taking through a screw-threaded bearing 23, formed upon a brace 24,
and rotatably connected to a bracket 27, secured rigidly upon said gate.
In order to utilize the water discharged through the opening 10, to generate
power or to be supplied as beforementioned, for consumption, we enclose that
portion of the exterior of cylinder 8 on each side of and adjacent to said open-
ing 10, and from the bottom of the cylinder to within a short distance of the top
thereof, by a plate 31, having its top and side edges 32 and 33 respectively,
inwardly off-set and connected, preferably, by rivetting to the outside surface of
the cylinder 8, while the lower edge of this plate and the lower edge of the

page_text: evlinder are rigidly connected in any desired manner to a base section 35. A
series of hydraulic rams, indicated at 36 are connected to the water chamber 37,
intermediate said plate 31 and the cylinder 8, by pipes 38, and by pipes 39 to
a delivery pipe 40, through which the water is forced by said rams, preferably,
back to the water head, although if desired it may be connected to any suitable
hydraulic plant where it may be converted into power for commercial purposes
or supplied for consumption as beforementioned the overflow from the rams being
allowed to run away, preferably, through a ditch 41, to the lower level of the
stream.
At different seasons, as is well known, all streams vary in depth or volume.
and therefore if provision is not made to counteract this variation, a constant
supply of air cannot be maintained, as the water pressure in the flume and the
speed of the water therethrough will increase or decrease according as the water-
head increases or decreases, and consequently the force of suction exerted by the
water flowing through the flume, upon the air in the tube 20, will at times be
reduced until it will be hardly suficient to draw said air and convey it to the
chamber 12.
To obviate this difficulty we provide a second supply pipe 42, and extend same
inside of the flume and from a blower or fan (of any preferred construction.
mounted and located preferably as indicated at 43) to within a short distance of
the lower end of the flume.
This blower or fan may be driven in any approved manner but we prefer to
drive same, by means of an, endless belt or loop 44, carrying a series of tilting
buckets 45 (preferably of the form shown in Figures 5 and 6) pivotally connected
to said belt, preferably as at 46.
This belt takes over a sprocket wheel 47, mounted rigidly upon a shaft 48,
carried in bearings 49, extending above the level of the water and mounted upon
the dam timbers and a sprocket-wheel 50, carried upon a shaft 51, mounted pre-
ferably adjacent to the mouth of the flume in bearings 52 and in a perforation
in the dam timbers, a pulley 53, being rigidly secured upon said shaft 48 and
operatively connected to the pulley 55 of the blower by a belt 56.
It will be obvious by reference particularly to Figures 1. 5 and 6 that the action
of the water as it flows downwardly through the flume, will cause the buckets 45
on one side of the loop to tilt out to a position at right angles thereto and thereby
draw that portion of the belt down, while the same action of the water will
tilt the buckets on the other side of the loop flat against the belt, and said belt
is in this manner caused to rotate the rotary movement being imparted to the
blower through the belt 56.
Other means than the blower illustrated for introducing air into the water
at a point near the completion of its face are provided by extending the endless
belt with the tilting buckets from a point above the water level to a point near
the lower end of the fall, which will accomplish the last mentioned result owing
to the fact that the bodies of air contained in the buckets are not allowed to
escape therefrom into the surrounding water until the buckets reach the lower
turn in the belt, and this can be done by any person skilled in the art without
departing from the spirit of our invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of 'the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
First. In combination with a suitable water-head, an inclined water conductor
communicating at its upper end with said water-head, means for introducing air
into the water while passing through said conductor, and means for separating
said air and water, for the purpose set forth.
Second. In combination with apparatus for compressing air by a descending
body of water, means for injecting air into said body of water at a point where its
power of compression is greatest,

page_text: Third. In combination with a suitable water-head, a water conductor communi-
cating at its upper end with said water head, means for introducing air into the
water while passing through said conductor at a point near the lower end thereof,
and means located at the lower end of said conductor for separating said air and
water, for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. In combination with a suitable water-head, a water conductor com-
municating at its upper end with said water head, means for forcing air into the
water while passing through said conductor at a point near the lower end thereof.
and means located at the lower end of said conductor for separating said air and
water, for the purpose set forth.
Fifth. In combination with a suitable water-head, an inclined water conductor
communicating at its upper end with said water-head, means for introducing air
into the water while passing through said conductor, a cylinder, an inlet opening
thereto, the lower end of said conductor being connected to and communicating
with said opening, a series of upwardly extending deflecting vanes independent
of one another, located within said cylinder at said opening and arranged in two
tiers, the vanes of the upper tier being over the spaces between the vanes of the
lower tier, an air conducting pipe communicating. with the upper end of said
chamber and a water discharge opening from said chamber, for the purpose set
forth.
Sixth. In combination with a suitable water-head, an inclined water conductor
communicating at its upper end with said water-head; a cylinder, an inlet open-
ing to said cylinder, the lower end of said conductor being connected to and
communicating with said inlet opening, a series of upwardly extending deflecting
vanes independent of one another and located within said cylinder at said opening,
air forcing means consisting of a blower, an air conducting pipe leading from
said blower to a point within the conductor in close proximity to said water
cylinder, means operated by the flowing water of said water head for actuating
said blower said cylinder having a water discharge opening and an air outlet
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Seventh. In combination with a suitable water-head. an inclined water con-
luctor communicating at its upper end with said water-head, a cylinder, an inlet
opening thereto, the lower end of said conductor being connected to and com-
municating with said opening, a series of upwardly extending deflecting vanes
independent of one another located within said cylinder at said open-
ing, a blower or the like for forcing air into said cylinder, an ait
conducting pipe leading from said blower to a point within said conductor
and in close proximity to said cylinder, a suitably mounted shaft located above
the surface level of the water-head a pulley mounted upon said shaft, an endless
belt taking over said pulley and extending to within a short distance of the upper
end of the conductor; a series of tilting buckets pivotally secured to said belt,
a second pulley mounted upon said shaft and an endless belt operatively con-
necting said second pulley to said blower, a water discharge opening from said
evlinder and an air outlet from said cylinder, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
Dated this 17th day of August 1900