IMPROVE- MENTS IN HAND PUMPS OR SYRINGES AND IN OTHER PUMPS SUITABLE TO BE USED FOR WATERING FLOWERS AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Burnet Robins, of No. 23, South Molton
Street, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN HAND PUMPS OR SYRINGES AND IN OTHER PUMPS SUITABLE TO BE
USED FOR WATERING FLOWERS AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
Sealed the 19th October 1869, and dated the 1st May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Burnet Robins
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 1st May 1869.
I, WILLIAM BURNET ROBINS, of No. 23, South Molton Street, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HAND PUMPS OR SYRINGES AND IN OTHER PUMPS SUITABLE
TO BE USED FOR WATERING FLOWERS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hand pumps or
syringes and in other pumps suitable to be used for watering flowers
and for other similar purposes.

page_text: I construct a pump or syringe. capable of delivering a constant stream
in the following manner-The apparatus consists of a barrel in which
a piston works; this piston has a tubular rod, through which the delivery
takes place; it terminates in a jet or rose at which the water escapes.
The rod works through a stuffing box at the end of the barrel, aud
has a handle upon it which is grasped by the hand in working it to and
fro. The inlet or suction pipe is connected with the barrel at or near
the stuffing box end, and the water is drawn into the barrel during
the inward stroke. When the outward stroke, commences this water
being prevented from returning by the suction valve is allowed
to pass from the front to the back of the piston by passages in
the piston rod over which the piston which is loose on the rod plays,
acting like a valve. During the inward stroke the piston stands over
these passages, closing them, but as soon as the outward stroke of
the piston rod commences the stop on the rod which had been propelling
the piston leaves it, and the rod slides through the piston until another
stop comes against it and causes it to commence its return. This
motion of the piston rod independently of the piston opens the passages
in the rod and then the water by them passes to the back of the piston.
Similarly when the next inward stroke commences the passages in the
piston rod are again closed, and then whilst the suction goes on as
before the water at the back of the piston is compressed. Some of
it passes up the hollow piston rod and escapes at the jet or rose, whilst
some also is forced by the pressure into, an air vessel fixed on the
under side of the barrel, from whence it again escapes during the next
outward stroke, and so a continuous delivery is maintained.
nection with the air vessel may be furnished with a stop-cock, by closing
which an intermittent delivery of greater force than the continuous
delivery may be obtained. I also make intermittent delivery machines
on the same principle by omitting the air vessel and stop-cock.
The con-
In some cases I construct a continuous action hand pump or syringe
of a barrel with a suction valve and connection at one end, and at the
other a stuffing box through which a hollow plunger works; the plunger
has a handle upon it by which it is operated, and it has a jet or rose at
the end through which the water is expelled. Fixed to the barrel and
passing out through one side of it into an air vessel such as is employed
in the instrument first described is a pipe, and this pipe also within

page_text: the barrel has a valve opening into it from the barrel, and it also enters
into the plunger through a stuffing box or guide at its end. It will
be seen that it results from this construction that during the inward
stroke whilst some of the water escapes by the jet or rose some also
enters the air vessel, and this is delivered during the outward stroke,
so as to maintain the constant flow.
The instruments which I have described so far are suited to be held
in the hand during use. I construct a hand pump adapted to stand
on the ground in the following manner:-Attached to a small foot
in a vertical position is the barrel of the pump containing piston
worked by a rod with a handle upon it. The suction pipe enters
the barrel on one side, and immediately above the entrance is the
'suction valve. Above this valve the outlet pipe branches off from
the barrel; it has a valve in it, and opens into an air vessel forming
a casing around the barrel. The delivery pipe provided with a suitable
jet or rose passes out of the air vessel. The piston I have so loosely
packed as to work almost without friction, and consequently the water
in a degree leaks past it. This water passes through slots cut for
its escape in the upper end of the barrel, and is collected in a receiving
cup at the top of the air vessel, from whence by a descending pipe it
is taken back into the suction pipe. To prevent air entering the suction
pipe by this passage a valve is placed in the descending pipe. The
valve is attached to a float, and when there is water in the pipe the
float keeps the valve open, but when the water has run off the valve
closes. In order when desired to be able to throw a rain-like spray in
place of a stream or number of streams I provide an air tap on the
suction, by which I am able to admit to the barrel a regulated quantity
of air when it is required together with the water sufficient to break up
the stream as it issues. I prefer to use an annular jet provided with a
moveable screw stopper to regulate the breadth of the annular outlet,
especially when admitting air into the suction pipe. I also apply these
air taps and annular jets in my hand syringe pumps.
In making the long stuffing boxes which are required in some of
these and such-like instruments to guide the plunger I make the
tube which forms the box to screw off the end of the barrel. This
enables me to apply the packing more conveniently and efficiently.
I wind it regularly around the plunger, then I pass the box over

page_text: it and screw the box on to the end of the barrel, thus compressing the
When the box has been screwed
adjusted by the ordinary screw
the packing is compressed from
packing against the end of the barrel.
home the pressure on the packing is
cap or plug at the other end; thus
each end, and consequently the box is better filled. I form the piston's
of wads of felt or similar material cut or compressed to the size
required.
In order to draw a supply of water from a distance for the supply
of a hand pump or syringe or for a similar purpose I employ a portable
pail-like reservoir, in the centre of which is fixed a pump barrel. A
suction pipe leads from the source of supply at a distance to the bottom
of the barrel. The suction valve I prefer to be a cylindrical cap closed
at its upper end and covering loosely the end of the suction pipe, which
it closes when the pressure is inwards by resting with its lower edge
on a flange arranged for it around the suction pipe. The piston is
mounted on a hollow piston rod, on which it is able to move as already
described in respect to a hand pump or syringe. At the upstroke it
draws the water into the barrel and at the same time discharges the
water already in the barrel over the piston. The water flows out of
the barrel through a number of holes around its upper end into the
reservoir in which the barrel is contained, and from which the supply
for a hand syringe may be drawn. At the commencement of the down-
stroke the piston shifts on its rod so as to uncover passages by which
the water passes from below to the upper side of it. The piston is
forced down by the foot placed on a pedal at the upper end of the
piston rod, and the upstroke is caused by a coiled spring around the
piston rod, which is compressed during the downstroke.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Burnet Robins in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BURNET ROBINS, of No. 23, South Molton Street, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto I, the said William Burnet Robins, Her special licence
that I, the said William Burnet Robins, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Burnet Robins, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HAND PUMPS OR SYRINGES AND IN OTHER PUMPS SUITABLE TO BE USED FOR WATERING
FLOWERS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES,' upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Burnet Robins, my executors. or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Burnet Robins, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in hand pumps or
syringes and in other pumps suitable to be used for watering flowers
and for other similar purposes.
I construct a pump or syringe capable of delivering a constant stream
in the following manner:-The apparatus consists of a barrel in which a
piston works; this piston has a tubular rod, through which the delivery
takes place; it terminates in a jet or rose at which the water escapes.
The rod works through a stuffing box at the end of the barrel, and has a
handle upon it which is grasped by the hand in working it to and fro. The
inlet or suction pipe is connected with the barrel at or near the stuffing
box end, and the water is drawn into the barrel during the inward
stroke. When the outward stroke commences this water being pre-

page_text: .
vented from returning by the suction valve is allowed to pass from the
front to the back of the piston by passages in the piston rod over which
the piston which is loose on the rod plays, acting like a valve. During
the inward stroke the piston stands over these passages, closing them,
but as soon as the outward stroke of the piston rod commences the stop
on the rod which has been propelling the piston leaves it, and the rod
slides through the piston until another stop comes against it and causes
it to commence its return. This motion of the piston rod independently
of the piston opens the passages in the rod, and then the water passes by
these passages to the back of the piston. Similarly when the next
inward stroke commences the passages in the piston rod are again closed,
and then whilst the suction goes on as before the water at the back of the
piston is compressed. Some of it passes up the hollow piston rod and
escapes at the jet or rose, whilst some also is forced by the pressure into
an air vessel fixed on the under side of the barrel, from whence it again
escapes during the next outward stroke, and so a continuous delivery is
maintained. I form the piston of wads of felt or similar material cut or
compressed to the size required. The connection with the air vessel
may be furnished with
a stop-cock, by closing which an intermittent
delivery of greater force than the continuous delivery may be obtained.
I also make intermittent delivery machines on the same principle by
omitting the air vessel and stop-cock.
barrel, closed at one end and
through which a piston rod b
Figure 1 is a continuous delivery hand pump or syringe constructed
according to my Invention. a is the
having at the other a stuffing box a',
works; it is hollow and also serves as the delivery pipe, having at its
outer end a rose or jet b'. On the piston rod is a handle & by which
it is grasped when at work and moved in and out, whilst the barrel a is
held by the operator in his other hand. c is the piston made up of a
number of perforated discs of felt sewn together and to metal discs at
either end. The piston is able to slide on the piston rod between the
stops ³, and in so doing it covers and uncovers the side openings 6 into
the piston rod. d is a pipe leading from the barrel into the air vessel e ;
it has a stop-cock d' upon it. The suction pipe f opens into the barrel
near its upper end, and is provided with a suction valve f'. g is a nozzle
to receive a jet or rose when out of use. As the piston rod is forced
inwards water enters by the suction into the upper end of the cylinder

page_text: around the piston rod, and the water below the piston passes in part up
the hollow rod to the rose or jet, and in part into the air vessel e.
When the piston rod is drawn outwards the suction valve closes, and the
water over the piston passes beneath it by the passages 6', which are
then uncovered, whilst at the same time the pressure in the air vessel
maintains the flow through the rose or jet. By turning the cock d¹ the
delivery of water is rendered intermittent, and it is also rendered more
forcible. As before mentioned where a continuous delivery is not
required the air vessel may be omitted.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the construction, sub-
stantially as above described, of hand pumps or syringes with a hollow
piston rod, which is also the delivery pipe, and with a moveable piston
thereon acting as a valve, and either with or without an air vessel to
maintain a continuous flow.
According to another part of my Invention I construct a hand pump
adapted to stand on the ground in the following manner-Attached to
a small foot in a vertical position is the barrel of the pump containing a
piston worked by a rod with a handle upon it. The suction pipe enters
the barrel on one side, and immediately above the entrance is the suction
valve. Above this valve the outlet pipe branches off from the barrel; it
has a valve in it and opens into an air vessel forming a casing around the
barrel. The delivery pipe provided with a suitable jet or rose passes out
of the air vessel. The piston I have so loosely packed as to work almost
without friction, and consequently the water in a degree leaks past it.
This water passes out from the upper end of the barrel, and is collected
in a receiving cup at the top of the air vessel, from whence by a
descending pipe it is taken back into the suction pipe. To prevent air
entering the suction pipe by this passage a valve is placed in the
descending pipe; the valve is attached to a float, and when there is
water in the pipe the float keeps the valve open, but when the water has
run off the valve closes. In order when desired to be able to throw a
rain-like spray in place of a stream or number of streams I provide an
air tap on the suction, by which I am able to admit to the barrel a
regulated quantity of air when it is required together with the water
sufficient to break up the stream as it issues. I prefer to use an annular
jet provided with a moveable screw stopper to regulate the breadth of
the annular outlet, especially when admitting air into the suction pipe ;

page_text: I also apply these air taps and annular jets in my hand syringe
pumps.
Figure 2 is a side view, and Figure 3 is a vertical section of a hand
pump constructed according to my Invention. a is the base on which
is fixed the casting 6 forming the lower end of the barrel and receiving
the several valves in connection therewith; c is the upper part of the
barrel screwed into the casting b; d is a piston fixed upon a solid rod d
which is worked up and down by the handle d; e is the suction pipe;
it is shewn held up by the side of the instrument in a spring clip; this
is a convenient way of disposing of it when out of use. The suction
pipe is flexible and is attached to the casting b; from it during the
upstroke water enters the barrel past the suction valve b. f is an air
vessel surrounding the upper part of the barrel, and during the down-
stroke water enters it past the delivery valve 63; g is a pipe by which
the water escapes from the air vessel in a continuous stream to the jet
or rose, which is fixed upon a flexible prolongation of the. pipe g. As
the piston d is fitted very loosely to the barrel a small leakage of water
past it will occur; this water is discharged into the vessel h over the air
vessel, and it flows from thence down the pipe i until it reaches the
valve 63, which is also a float, being in part a cork with metal rings upon
it to keep it in form and place. As the water accumulates this, valve
floats up and allows it to pass into the suction, but when the water is
exhausted from the pipe i the valve closes and prevents air entering
the barrel. The cap at the top of the vessel h serves as a guide for the
piston rod. is a pipe perforated at its upper end and connected with
a stop-cock k¹ adapted to an opening in the casting immediately
beneath the valve 6'; it serves when open to admit air in regulated
quantity to the barrel when it is desired to deliver from the pump a
spray-like jet. The pipe is carried up sufficiently far to prevent an
escape of water taking place through it. I is a spare rose; it is screwed
on to a nozzle at the side of the instrument.
Figures 4 and 5 are longitudinal sections of annular jets with adjust-
able screw plugs such as I prefer to employ when admitting air in
regulated quantity to the barrel of the pump by an air cock on the
suction. I employ them either in combination with pumps adapted
to stand on the ground like those just described, and also in combination
with hand pumps or syringes.

page_text: )
I claim as respects this part of my Invention the construction, sub-
stantially as above described, of hand pumps adapted to stand on the
ground.
.I also claim the combination with pumps and syringes of a pipe or
channel leading back any water that may escape past the piston, so that
it may re-enter the barrel, such pipe or passage being furnished with a
float valve opening when the water accumulates, and closing to prevent
air passing by it into the barrel.
I also claim the combination with pumps or syringes in which, air
is admitted in regulated quantity into the barrel of annular jets, sub-
stantially as above described.
Another part of my Invention relates to the stuffing boxes of some
descriptions of hand pumps. In making the long stuffing-boxes which
are required in some of these and such-like instruments to guide the
plunger, I make the tube which forms the box to screw off the end of
the barrel. This enables me to apply the packing more conveniently
and efficiently. I wind it regularly around the plunger, then I pass the
box over it and screw the box on to the end of the barrel, thus com-
pressing the packing against the end of the barrel. When the box has
been screwed home the pressure on the packing is adjusted by the
ordinary screw cap or plug at the other end; thus the packing is com-
pressed from each end, and consequently the box is better filled.
Figure 6 is a longitudinal section of a stuffing box constructed
according to my Invention. a is the end of the barrel; b is a portion
of the plunger with the packing wound around it; c, the box, which is
passed over the packing and then screwed upon the barrel a 80 as to
compress the packing from the bottom; d is the gland or cap, which is
afterwards screwed up to complete the compression of the packing from
the top to the extent necessary to make a water-tight joint.
I claim as respects this part of my Invention, the construction of the
stuffing boxes of hand
pumps or syringes, substantially as
described.
above
Another part of my Invention relates to apparatus for drawing a
supply of water from
distence
to
supply a
hand numn or syringe

page_text: In order to draw a supply of water from a distance for the supply
of a hand pump or syringe or for a similar purpose I employ a portable
pail-like reservoir, in the centre of which is fixed a pump barrel. A
suction pipe leads from the source of supply at a distance to the bottom
of the barrel. The auction valve I prefer to be a cylindrical cap
closed at its upper end and covering loosely the end of the suction
pipe, which it closes when the pressure is inwards by resting with its
lower edge on a flange arranged for it around the suction pipe. The
piston is mounted on a hollow piston rod, on which it is able to move
as already described in respect to a hand pump or syringe. At the
upstroke it draws the water into the barrel, and at the same time
discharges the water already in the barrel over the piston. The water
flows out of the barrel through a number of holes around its upper
end into the reservoir in which the barrel is contained, and from which
the supply for a hand syringe may be drawn. At the commencement of
the down stroke the piston shifts in its rod so as to uncover passages by
which the water passes from below to the upper side of it. The piston
is forced down by the foot placed on a pedal at the upper end of the
piston rod, and the upstroke is caused by a coiled spring around the
piston rod, which is compressed during the downstroke.
Figure 7 is a vertical section of an instrument constructed according
to my Invention to draw a supply of water from a distance to feed a
syringe or hand pump. a is a pail-like vessel with a cylinder b fixed
in it; is a piston within the cylinder capable of sliding on its piston
rod d, which by a spring e coiled around it is constantly pressed upwards.
As the piston descends in the cylinder water enters the cylinder by the
suction pipe f lifting the cup valve g. When the piston rod is depressed
by the foot of the operator placed in a stirrup at its upper end, the
spring e being overpowered, the piston rod first moves independently
of the piston until the side openings in the rod are uncovered, and then
as the further motion of the rod causes the piston to descend with
it the water passes from below to the top of the piston. When the
piston rod is again allowed to rise it first moves independently of the
piston until the side openings in the rod are closed, and then as before
the suction takes place, and the water already over the piston is dis-
charged into the outer pail from which the supply for the hand pump
or syringe is drawn.

page_text: I claim as respects this part of my Invention the construction of
pump-like apparatus, substantially as above described, for drawing from
a distance a supply of water for hand pumps or syringes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Burnet Robins, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
WILLIAM BURNET ROBINS. (L.S.)