A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE AND MEANS OR APPA- RATUS FOR COOLING AND LUBRICATING AIR OR GAS PUMPING MACHINERY
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Eaglesham, of Kilmarnock, in the County
of Ayr, North Britain, Coal Master, and Hugh Rigg, of Bonnyrigg,
in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Colliery Manager,
for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE AND MEANS OR APPA-
RATUS FOR COOLING AND LUBRICATING AIR OR GAS PUMPING MACHINERY.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Eaglesham and
Hugh Rigg at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 15th November 1875.
We, JAMES EAGLESHAM, of Kilmarnock, in the County of Ayr, North
Britain, Coal Master, and HUGH RIGG, of Bonnyrigg, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Colliery Manager, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for. "A NEW OR IMPROVED MODE AND MEANS
OR APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND LUBRICATING AIR OR GAS PUMPING MACHINERY,"
to be as follows:-
This said Invention consists essentially in the application and use of a

page_text: S
jet of water led in with the air, preferably in the form of a spray, to
the cylinders, chambers, or ducts of air or gas forcing and pumping
machinery through which it passes, so as to moisten and cool the
inflowing air, and thus cool the whole apparatus, as well as lubricate
the working surfaces of the cylinders and pistons.
The means or mechanism for effecting this consists in the application
of a valve and valve chest or jet apparatus connected to a water pipe at
its inlet branch, and at its outlet branch to the air cylinder or ducts
or chambers drawing in the air or gas thereto, so as to regulate the
volume or flow of the jet of water, which by a rose on the said outlet
branch forms it into a spray as it is drawn in by the suction of the air
to mix therewith, each stroke of the piston in the case of reciprocating
air pumps, but in rotatory pumps it may flow in a constant spray jet by
the regular motion of their rotating pistons. This water valve or jet
apparatus may be made of brass or any other suitable metal or mixture
of metals, or partly or wholly of india-rubber, or any other equivalent
suitable material.
Under one modification the jet apparatus consists of a valve chest or pipe
with valve seat, in which is placed a lift feathered or spindle valve dividing
the inlet and outlet branches, the lift of the valve being regulated by a
socketed nut and screw above its spindle within the entrance aperture
for the insertion of the valve. This jet apparatus however may be made
in any other equivalent manner adopted with valves at present in use.
At the outlet end or other portion of the valve seat or chamber, or duct
leading therefrom, is placed or formed a rose or perforated plate or
branch, through which the water is forced or drawn in the form of a
spray Jet, but in some cases the rose or perforated plate may be dispensed
with, and any of the well-known forms of nozzle or spray-producing
apparatus used instead. The end of this valve seat is attached to the
air pump on the one side and to a small pipe placed in water on the
other, and on each stroke of the piston or bucket of the air pump, this
valve being self-acting, admits as much water through it and the rose
or perforated plate or nozzle as will be sufficient to cool the air and
the cylinder and piston and lubricate the working surfaces of the
two latter in a most efficient manner. Or instead of the spray jet of
water being drawn in by the suction of the air it may be forced in
through the regulating valve or tap by gravitation or otherwise.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Eaglesham and Hugh Rigg in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 12th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
EAGLESHAM, of Kilmarnock, in the County of Ayr, North Britain, Coal
Master, and HUGH RIGG, of Bonnyrigg, in the County of Mid Lothian,
North Britain, Colliery Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said James Eaglesham and Hugh
Rigg, Her special licence that we, the said James Eaglesham and
Hugh Rigg, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as we, the said James Eaglesham and Hugh Rigg, our 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. " A NEW OR
IMPROVED MODE AND MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR COOLING AND LUBRICATING AIR
OR GAS PUMPING MACHINERY," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said James Eaglesham and Hugh Rigg, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said James Eaglesham and Hugh Rigg,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement in writing, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our said Invention consists essentially in the application and use of a

page_text: jet of water led in with the air, preferably in the form of a spray, to
the cylinders, chambers, or ducts of air or gas forcing and pumping
machinery, and in the means or apparatus to be employed for passing
the same through the said cylinders or passages, so as thereby to moisten
and cool the inflowing air, and thus cool the whole apparatus through
which the said moistened air or gas flows, and especially lubricate the
working surfaces of the cylinders and pistons.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing our
said Invention may be properly understood we shall now proceed to
describe the apparatus shown in longitudinal and transverse sections
in Figures 1 and 2 respectively of the Sheet of Drawings, which we
have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing the best mode of
and means or mechanism for putting the Invention into effect or
practice, the same reference letters indicating the same parts in both
Figures.
b
:
This arrangement or modification, Figures 1 and 2, consists of a
valve a and valve chest A (or it might be other equivalent jet apparatus)
connected or coupled to a supply water pipe B at its inlet branch A',
and at its outlet branch A" by the pipe B¹ leading to the air or gas
drawing and forcing cylinder to be cooled and lubricated, or into the
ducts or chambers drawing in the air or gas thereto. To regulate the
valve a and flow of the jet of water through the apparatus it is fitted
with a screw cap 6 (or it might be other equivalent) above the valve a,.
and which admits of its insertion and guides it by the top spindle a¹ so
as to control its lift and regulate the flow of water through between it
cand its seat a", each lift of the valve and suction stroke of the piston
in its cylinder, that is, in the case of reciprocating air engines or pumps,
the water enters in intermittent jets each suction of air, and in rotary
engines or blowers in a constant flow or spray jet with the irregular
suction of the air and motion of their rotating pistons. This water valve.
or jet apparatus a, A, may be made of brass or any other suitable metal
or mixture of metals, or partly or wholly of india-rubber, or any other
equivalent or suitable material.
The valve chest or pipe A has the short feather spindle of the valve
working down through its seat a¹¹ in a web dividing the inlet and outlet
branches A', and A", connected to the inlet and discharge pipes B, B¹,
shown as jointed to the ends of the valve chest A by screw couplings B",

page_text: but flange or faucet joints might be used. The lift of the valve, and
consequently the size of the passing jet of water, is regulated by the
screwing out and in of the plug or cover b, into which the top-spindle a¹¹
of the valve a works, and setting and fixing it water-tight by a thin
jamb nut or by the insertion of washers at b¹. A rose A² or other
equivalent is fitted on or at the outlet or discharge branch A" to
insure that the jet of water passing the the valve a will be formed into a
spray as it is drawn into the delivery pipe B' by the suction of the air
to mix therewith, and so moisten it and enter the air cylinder or pump
and lubricate the working surfaces of the piston and cylinder, whether
they are reciprocating or revolving. The rose or discharge end;A" of the
valve chest A is attaclied to the air pump on the one side, and the other
end A' by a pipe B placed in the supply water, so that at each stroke
of the piston or bucket of the air pump the valve a acts automatically
by the drawing in of the air to take in the regulated quantity of water
through it and the rose as will be sufficient to cool the air and the
cylinder and piston and lubricate the working surfaces of the two latter
in a most efficient manner, as before described.
This water jet apparatus might be made in any other of the equi-
valent methods adopted with other valves and valve chests at present
in use, and although the jet or spray of water has been described as
drawn in by the suction of the in-going air it is to be understood that
it might be forced or injected through the valve chest A, a, or through
a regulating tap in the form of a spray jet, by the force of a head of
water or pressure current of air forced in with the water; but the rose or
perforated plate A³ may be dispensed with and one of the well-known
forms of nozzle or spray producing or duplex nozzle or jet lateral action
apparatus used instead.
Having thus particularly described the nature of our said Invention
and the manner in which the same is or may be performed, we have to
state that we do not restrict ourselves to the precise details herein
described or delineated, but what we consider to be novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent is, the lubricating of the working parts
of air or gas blowing or pumping machinery by a jet or spray of water
admitted thereto with the air or gas, and the means or apparatus
employed therefor, all substantially as herein described in reference to

page_text: and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Eaglesham, on behalf of the
said Hugh Rigg and myself, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand 5
eight hundred and seventy-six.