Power of Tides, and for similar Purposes.
Year: 1886

page_text: Power of Tides, and for similar Purposes.
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex 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 :-
This invention relates to a means of utilizing moderate heads of water,
particularly tidal heads, for the purpose of obtaining power.
In the accompanying drawing.
Figure 1 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation, of an apparatus
constructed according to this invention.
Figure 2 is a modified form of the apparatus embodying the same principle.
Like letters indicate like parts in both Figures.
In Figure 1 between a and b is supposed to be a water space in which tide
water rises and falls, the highest level being at a and the lowest at b. A masonry
wall A is erected along the border of the water, and a pit B is made in the bank
or shore at a short distance from the water a second pit of much greater size being
made at C, a short distance off. The two pits B and C are connected by a channel
or passage D, which is controllable by a valve d; and another passage E leads
from the water space into the pit B at a low level, and is controlled by the valve e.
Beneath the pit B is a smaller pit F, the same being provided at its top with a
stuffing box G and communicating with the water space outside by the pipe H
controlled by a check-valve h, and with a reservoir by another passage I controlled
by a check-valve ȧ. The valve h opens towards the pit F and the valve i opens
from it.
A float K, having a plunger k below it, which plunger k fits tightly the stuffing
box G, is placed in the pit B, and the plunger extends into the pit E through the
stuffing box G. The float and the plunger should together weigh a little less than
the water they displace. This can readily be accomplished by making them hollow

page_text: and loading them with water or other load. If now the water is at the head a,
the float K at its lowest position and the plunger k, of course, at its lowest position
the valve e open and the valve d shut, water will be admitted through the pipe E
so that the plunger and float will be buoyed up on the surface of the water, and
will rise to the top of the pit to a level with the water outside, drawing in some
water through the pipe H which runs to the low level of water in the sea or river
through the bed of the sea or river as indicated at L.
The valve e being now shut and the valve d opened, the water beneath the
plunger k will run off into the larger reservoir C, which should be of sufficient size
to hold all the water necessary to be used during a tide, and to be readily emptied
at low tide. As the water runs off into the pipe D past the valve d, the plunger k
and its float K will fall, exercising the pressure due to their weight upon the water
in the pit F, and forcing it out through the check valve i into the reservoir. This
operation being repeated will serve to pump water.
The valves de may be moved by hand, and for the purpose of this application
this is all that is necessary, or two small motors may be employed to actuate these
valves, as indicated in Figure 1. These motors are lettered respectively e¹ d'; and
the stroke of the motor in one direction opens the valve by an ordinary crank
action, and in the other shuts it. The water for these two motors d¹ e², is supplied
by pipes, dd, which are governed by valves d' do; and these valves are worked
by the rise and fall of a plunger D in a cylinder D³, which is actuated in any
desirable manner of working the valves of direct steam pumps by the water thrown
by the descent of the plunger k. This method of automatically working or
operating the valves de by a portion of the water raised is, however, no essential
part of this invention.
In Figure 2 is shown a modification of this device. The pit B and its connecting
pipes D and E and relieving pit C, are all substantially similar to those shown in
the drawing figure 1, but, in lieu of a single acting plunger pump, there is a double
acting piston pump M, placed above the float K and actuated from it. The water
to be forced is drawn through the pipe H' into the reservoir H³ and thence into
the piston pump M, from which, through the pipe I, it is forced into the
cylinder D³ in which is the plunger D. A water motor N, of any desirable form,
is employed to utilize the power obtained by this apparatus, and it can readily be
seen that the pressure upon this motor can be made very great, and that high
speeds can be obtained, the power obtainable being such as is due to the weight of
the float K, and its fall in feet.
The part designated the pump M, with its induction and eduction pipes and
valves, is obviously a mere substitution of a double acting piston pump for its
exact mechanical equivalent as a water raising engine, the plunger pump K F with
its induction and eduction pipes and valves.
This apparatus is, in substance, a contrivance for converting the foot pounds of a
large quantity of water of small head into the foot pounds of a smaller quantity of
water with a larger head, by means of a force pump actuated by a float of
comparatively great area weight and buoyancy.
In proportioning the size and weight of parts it should be remembered that the
area of the plunger k being greater than that of the pipe leading to the reservoir,
the pressure to hold up the plunger and float will be as many times the weight of
the water in the pipe leading to the reservoir as the area of the plunger k is times
the area of the pipe to the reservoir. The combined weight of float and plunger
must exceed this. The area must be sufficient to give it buoyancy when the
valve e is open and the valve d is shut.
Probably no practically economic results in the raising of water for power
purposes can be accomplished unless the area of the float is at least five times the
area of the plunger, so that the falling power of a given quantity of water shall be
stored at a higher level in about one-sixth its bulk, and probably, also, higher
economic advantages will be reached by greater concentration of energy by still
larger discrepencies of areas.

page_text: But the rule of proportion is, as already stated; the weight absolute of the float
and plunger must be greater than the weight of water in the force main, plus its
frictional resistance, multiplied by the ratio between the areas of the force main
and the plunger. The water displaced by the float and plunger must weigh more
than the combined weight of float and plunger, plus a certain allowance for friction
of the plunger in its stuffing box, which will be less, comparatively, for a plunger
of a larger diameter than for one of smaller.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign Correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
First. The combination with a source of water supply and a drainage area of
considerable size C, the pit B, channels D, E and valves d e, all operating together,
and with the float and plunger K k, said float and plunger being proportioned to
each other and to the work to be done, substantially as described.
Second. The combination of the pit B, the source of water supply, the drainage
area, the channels D, E, and the valves de, with the pressure regulator D', D³,
substantially as described.
Third. The combination, for storing the power of a large quantity of water at a
small head, or a smaller quantity of water at a greater head, of a float of large
diameter and buoyancy in a water pit, a suitable drainage area, and pipes and
valves adapted to connect and disconnect said water pit with the source of water
supply, and with the drainage area, with a force pump of much less capacity than
the weight of the float and moving parts of the pump, substantially as described.
DL: CIL 1
T11000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.