AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON CERTAIN MECHANICAL APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING OF WATER, AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
BRUNTON, of Park Square, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Esquire, and THOMAS JOHN FULLER, of the Commercial Road, Limehouse,
in the said County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the. Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of November now last
past, did give and grant unto us, the said Thomas Brunton and Thomas John
Fuller, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we,
the said Thomas Brunton and Thomas John Fuller, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Brunton and
Thomas John Fuller, our executors, administrators, or 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, our Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS ON CERTAIN
MECHANICAL APPARATUS APPLICABLE TO THE RAISING OF WATER, AND OTHER
USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso,
obliging us, the said Thomas Brunton and Thomas John Fuller, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to

page_text: F
be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto bad, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Thomas Brunton and Thomas John Fuller, do hereby declare that the nature
of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are described and ascertained by the Drawings, hereunto annexed, and as
follows, that is to say:
Fig. 1, A represents a side elevation of an eliptical wheel, with thirty-two
cogs formed on the periphery. B shews the position of the axis, which is
cranked, for the purpose of attaching a piston rod a to it, .by. the agency of
which a pump may be advantageously worked, or the crank may be employed
to move any rod or other appendage, and thereby communicate motion or apply
power to any suitable machinery, with the peculiar advantages to be described
hereafter. The centre, No. 1, of the axis B, in this Figure, is placed on the
transverse axis of the elliptical wheel; and if the portion of that axis contained
between the opposite parts of the pitch line of the cogs be divided into three
equal parts, as shewn by the line 1, 2, 3; the centre of the axis should be fixed
'exactly on the first division, as shewn at 1'; in this Figure the proportion of
'the distance of the axis B from the pitch line on each side of the wheel being
then as two to one, the advantages of which will be hereafter shewn. Fig. 2,
"C represents a side elevation of an eliptical' wheel similar to Fig. 1, and having
the same number of cogs; but instead of placing cogs upon the extremities
of the transverse and conjugate diameters, as in Fig. 1, spaces are here
substituted, by which means the two wheels when combined will gear and
"work pleasantly in every part of their peripheries. This wheel is used only
as a driver when combined with Fig. 1, therefore the axis D has no crank
formed upon it. Fig. 3 represents the crank wheel 'A and driving wheel C
combined, and in the position they assume when the driving wheel C is capable
or in a position to exert its greatest power on the crank wheel'A; the power
of the driver C'to the crank wheel being in this position as two to one, and
"that at the precise place when the greatest effort is required to lift the water or
overcome any other resistance, the motion being in the direction of the darts
shewn on each wheel. By continuing the motion, the crank having completed
its duty by raising the piston rod a to the highest point," it will be elevated
to the situation shewn in Fig. 4, in which position the leverage or power of
the two wheels are nearly equal, as may be seen by the dotted line b, c, d, the
point c being nearly equidistant between the axes B and D; and as the crank
"E descends to the position seen in Fig. 5, the radius of the driving wheel

page_text: increases, and by its action on, the reduced radius of the crank wheel A; causes
it to descend, with an increased velocity to repeat its stroke, and again raise
more water from the pump. Fig. 6. represents the position the.combined
wheels assume when the crank E and the, piston rod a are down,, and about
to return to the position shewn in Fig. 3. The radius of the driving wheel
being again reduced, its power to lift the crank is increased in the same pro-
portion, the two wheels acting in all positions in the manner of compound
levers whose lengths or proportions are. capable of being, varied in such a
manner as to increase or decrease their individual powers, so as to produce the
peculiar, advantages of producing, an increased power, where the greatest
effort is required,. and an increased velocity, where less power is found
requisite.
We shall now describe a combination of four such wheels and two cranks,
by which means two pumps may be worked with great facility and advantage,
the driving wheels being so arranged, and combined with the crank. wheels
that each driving wheel may have its shortest radius applied alternately, and
at the precise time the greatest power is required. Fig. 7 represents a plan
of a cistern, within which two pumps may be placed for the purpose of raising
water...B, B, are two axes, cach of which is cranked, as seen at F and G.
Upon each axis a crank wheel A, A, is fixed, which gears into the cogs of the
driving wheels C, C, fixed on the driving axis D. This axis rests and turns
in the brasses H, H, H. The axis, of the crank E moves in the brasses
I, I, and the crank Gis secured in the same manner by the brasses K; K, each
crank being capable of moving independent of the other. In this combina-
tion the crank F is represented in that position where the greatest, power is
required to lift it; and in order to effect this object with advantages superior
to any other combination of wheels, the shortest radius of the driving wheel
shewn at C, e, is made to act on the longest radius of the crank wheel reaching
from A to e, the power of the driving wheel being in proportion to the dif-
ferences of the two radii, and when the lift has been effected, the return of the
crank and piston rod will be accelerated by the reversed proportions or lengths
of the radius of each wheel, producing thereby either an increase of power or
velocity, according to the circumstances required. The crank G is shewn in the
position it assumes when descending with the greatest velocity, the lengths or
proportions of the radii of the driving and crank wheels being reversed, as will
be seen by comparing the, crank wheel and driving wheel A, f, C, with those
placed above, and which have been just described. By thus combining the
various parts, the power applied by the winch L, will have but one lift to
effect at the same instant, the cranks being so placed that while one is

page_text: descending the other is in the position to be lifted, and so on alternately at
each revolution of the winch or other means that may be applied, to put the
driving axis in motion. In this combination two cranks only are shewn,
combined with the driving axis, but it will be evident that any number of
cranks and wheels may be combined as occasion may require, so as to be
lifted altogether or alternately as may best suit the purpose to which they are
applied.
The method of constructing the wheels, and of pitching or forming the cogs,
will be best understood by the following Figure or Diagram, Fig. 8:-Let g, I,
be an ellipse, whose semi-transverse and conjugate diameters are to each other
in point of length as 15 is to 16. The curve should be produced by a tramel,
or any other very accurate means; this curve is to be used as the pitch line of
the cogs.
Also let hand i be two ellipses exactly parallel, and at equal
distances from the pitch line; these two will form the tops and bottoms of the
cogs from the centre or intersection of the transverse and conjugate diameters,
and with a radius equal to the external ellipse produce a circle k, and divide
it into 32 equal parts, as shewn in the Figure, in which case the transverse
and conjugate diameters will each pass exactly through the centre of a cog.
Through each division draw radial lines to the centre of the circle, cutting the
pitch line in 32 points, each of which is to be used as the centre of a cog; and
if a proper distance be set off on each side of each division, the cogs and
spaces may be very accurately formed, so as to work with great perfection. If
the crank wheels be thus constructed, the driving wheels must be laid off in
the same manner, but with this exception, namely, that instead of cogs being
placed upon the transverse and conjugate diameters, spaces must be substituted,
and then if the wheels are combined in the manner described in the preceding
Figures, they will be found to gear and work pleasantly in every part of their
revolutions. Elliptical wheels combined in the manner and way above
described may also be applied to other mechanical purposes with great advan-
tages, as may be seen in Drawing 2. Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of a
combination of mechanical apparatus constituting the principal part of a press
for punching holes in or through iron or other metal plates, and to which our
improvement is applied. A represents a cam wheel, which is fixed to and
revolves with the axis B; is a cam, fixed on the axis B; C is the driving
wheel, and D is its axis; m is a friction roller, turning on the axis n, fixed in
the longest end of the lever M; o is the fulcrum of the lever M upon which
it moves, and N is an upright bar or frame, to the bottom of which the
punches are attached; one of these is seen at p; q represents an edge view of
an iron plate to be perforated. Fig. 1 is represented in that state when the

page_text: am is out of action, and when the power of the driving wheel C is at its
inimum; but as the wheels continue to move in the direction of the darts,
hey will cause the axis B to revolve, and thereby raise the cam l until it
ssumes the position shewn in Fig. 2, by which means the lever M will have its
ongest end raised, which will force down the punch p through the iron plateq;
nd as the motion is continued, the lever will descend at the longest end, and
hereby raise the punches, and so on alternately, as long as the axis of the
driving wheel is made to revolve, which of course may be effected by applying
any suitable power to it. By carefully examining the elliptical wheels of
Figure 2 it will be seen that the driving wheels C is in the exact position to
produce the greatest effect upon the cam wheel at the precise instant when
the cam is making its greatest effort to raise the longest end of the lever M,
the power decreasing as the lever descends to the position shewn in Fig. 1.
These Figures will be sufficient to shew that if a wiper, or any other suitable
mechanical contrivance or apparatus, be combined with either the axis B or
the cam wheel A, stampers may be raised or resistances overcome by com-
bining either cams, cranks, wipers, or any other well-known mechanical
apparatus or means, with our improvements herein described, by which means
great lifts may be advantageously effected, weights raised and pressure pro-
duced, with greater ease and facility than by the means now made use of for
such purposes.
Wheels of this description may be made of various sizes,
according to circumstances, and the number of cogs may be increased, provided
that such numbers are chosen as will allow them to gear in a similar manner
to those above described; and although the position of the axes may be varied
to suit particular purposes, yet the proportion we have here given will be
found most convenient for general adaptation, our Invention producing the
advantage of condensing into one power in one revolution what was before
divided into two, on account of the axes of the two wheels being placed exactly
in the centre of each wheel, or where the transverse and conjugate diameters
intersect each other. And we hereby declare that we do not claim the sole
use of elliptical wheels for effecting the purposes above described, such wheels
having been used before with axes fixed in the centres, or at the point where
the transverse and conjugate axes intersect.
Our Invention consists in fixing the axes of our elliptical wheels at any
5 convenient point on the transverse axis between the centre or intersection of
the two axes of the ellipse and the point where the transverse axis cuts the
pitch line, by which means, when they are fixed in or near the positions
shewn in the various Figures above described, and combined with each other
in the manner there shewn, either an increase of power or velocity may be

page_text: Inrolled the same Fifteenth day of May, in the year above written.