IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES OR APPARATUS PRINCIPALLY DESIGNED FOR PUMPING WATER
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of February, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Edward Newton, my exors, adiiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully night make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ENGINES OR APPARATUS PRINCIPALLY
DESIGNED FOR PUMPING WATER," being a communication from abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William
Edward Newton, by an Instrument in writing, under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be

page_text: enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and
at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say :-
This Invention of Improvements in Engines or Apparatus principally designed
for Pumping Water, and for which I have obtained Letters Patent as afore-
said, is described by my Foreign Correspondent nearly as follows, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings.
In the ordinary arrangements of a direct action pumping engine, the
momentum of the moving parts or the action of a spring has heretofore been
depended on for carrying the steam valve across the steam ports or openings,
in order to admit steam to the opposite end of the cylinder, and change the
motion. In slow motions momentum has been found to be insufficient, as its
tendency is to push or draw the valve over the ports and stop the machine.
The spring, too, varies in its tension, and is subject to mechanical derangement
and uncertainty. To produce the motion of the steam valve in the improved
engine, I make two openings into each end of the pump or water cylinder,
instead of the ordinary water-way for a double-acting pump. These two
openings are shewn at A, A, in Fig. 1, which represents a longitudinal vertical
section taken near the middle of the apparatus. The two openings A, A, join
together and form one main opening E. Now when the piston, in moving
from right to left, arrives nearly at the end of the stroke, the resistance is
suddenly removed, for the reason that the piston passes between the two
openings, and allows the fluid pressed before it to pass without obstruction
behind it in the direction of the arrow, as seen at Fig. 1 in the Drawings.
When the resistance thus suddenly ceases, the momentum of the moving parts
and the expansion of steam within the cylinder continues to act on the piston P,
and the arm K. on the piston rod is carried forward and made to act against
the stops or tappets L, upon the valve rod R; and the effect of this is to push
the steam valve V with quickness and certainty entirely across the ports or
openings into the position shewn in the Drawing at Fig. 1, and detached 'upon
an enlarged scale at Fig. 2. Several ways for thus relieving the resistance

page_text: will occur to a mechanic; as, for example, the cutting of longitudinal grooves
or flutes in the pump cylinder over which the piston may pass, or by connecting
the two ends of the pump chamber together by a pipe, in which a cock shall be
opened and closed at the proper time by the motion of the engine, or a valve
may be put in the piston, itself so contrived as to let the fluid pass through it.
The method first described is however preferable from its simplicity, and has
been found to answer well practically. Any other convenient arrangement of
parts may be employed for relieving or reducing the resistance against the
pump piston at or near the end of the stroke, so as to allow the momentum
and expansion to act upon the steam valve in the manner above stated, as this
is the result I wish to attain, and is what I claim as one of the principal and
distinguishing features of the Invention. The ordinary slide valve is well
known to admit steam in such a way as to drive the piston in a direction
contrary to that in which the valve itself moves; therefore, if a valve of this
construction be used on a direct-action pumping engine, it would be necessary
to employ an intermediate lever to actuate it, inasmuch as when the piston is
moving from right to left, the valve rod should be moved from left to right, in
order to reverse the motion of the piston.
In the new and improved construction of valve, instead of one cavity in the
face of the valve I make two, as shewn in the Drawing at B, B, and cut out
two recesses C, C, from the valve scat, over which recesses the valve traverses far
enough to admit the steam under either end as may be required. An enlarged
view of this valve, which may be called a "B" valve, is shewn with the same
letters of reference in section at Fig. 2, and in plan at Fig. 3. When the
valve is carried from right to left (or into the position shewn in the Drawing at
Figs. 1 and 2), the steam will pass under it and into the cylinder, as shewn
by the arrow 1, while the exhaust will go out in the direction of the arrow 2.
The improved pump valves, which may be called "radial" valves, consist of
four flat plates of brass or other material arranged round a common centre, and
their seats form the radii of a circle. The centre piece or spider which forms
the valve scats is cast separate, so as to allow of the faces being planed up and
properly fitted, after which it is secured into the external ring or case D, D,
as shown at Fig. 1. The passages are carried up to the centre as seen at E, E,
in order to keep the lower or suction valves covered with water, even though
the valves themselves should be leaky. The water is drawn in at F through a
flange cast on to one of the covers or caps of the valve box, as shewn in the
side view, Fig. 4. The water on entering the case D lifts one of the suction
valves G, and passes through the openings E and A into the pump cylinder,

page_text: while at the same time the water forced out by the piston Q passes through
the opposite openings A, A, lifts one of the force valves H, and escapes through
the force pipe I. On reversing the motion of the piston the contrary effect
takes place, as in any double-acting pump. By unscrewing the nut N on the
bolt that passes from side to side through the centre hole J, an attendant may
instantly and easily get at all the valves of this pump, thus avoiding the
inconvenience and delay usually attending the performance of this important
duty.
In constructing the pumping engine I dispense with the frame or bed plate
upon which the two cylinders are usually bolted, and in its place adopt a semi-
cylindrical cradle, to cach end of which the cylinders are bolted, as shewn in
the side elevation Fig. 5. Allowing that the two ends of the cradle are
properly faced up, as also the ends of the cylinders, it is plain that the work
must come together in line and keep so as the strain is directly through the
fastenings. In the smaller sizes of engines the two cylinders and cradle are
cast all in one piece, and the stuffing boxes are screwed in, as shewn at S in
the Drawing.
Having thus described the Invention that has been communicated to me by
my Foreign Correspondent as aforesaid, I would observe, in conclusion, that I
do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise arrangement of parts
Lerein shewn and described, as they may doubtless be varied without departing
from the nature and object of the improvements; but that which I consider to
be new, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, removing or reducing the resistance
against the piston of the pump at the proper time in the stroke, in order to
allow the momentum of the moving parts and the expansion of the steam
already within the cylinder to act as explained, so as to throw the steam valve
across the ports with certainty, whether at high or low speeds; and this I
claim under any of the arrangements herein contemplated, or any other,
substantially the same, by which this accelerated motion of the piston at or
near the end of the stroke may be produced.
.
I claim also arranging pump valves upon seats that radiate from a common
centre, substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
W. E. (L.B.), NEWTON..

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of August, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Edward Newton came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.