IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING MATERIALS AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Edwards, of No. 4, Park Road Villas
Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING MATERIALS AND
OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 2nd June 1865, and dated the 29th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th December 1864.
I, GEORGE EDWARDS, of No. 4, Park Road Villas, Battersea, in the County
of Surrey, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING MATERIALS AND
OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention is for an improved means of raising minerals, water, and
other materials in shafts or tubes by means of compressed and exhausted air,
together with the pneumatic pumps I prefer for this purpose, which pumps
are also useful for other purposes. A piston is made to nearly fit the shaft,
and is furnished with suitable conveniences for depositing the material and
for drawing the water. For the descent, I close by suitable doors the top or
Price 8d1

page_text: bottom of the shaft, and regulate the speed by valves in the piston or in the
shaft. For the ascent the atmospheric air is used by rarifying the air
above the piston, or compressed air is used below the piston. At the top and
bottom of the shaft is an air-tight space in which the piston, on arriving,
compresses the air and stops itself, and the space at the bottom serves also as
a well for collecting water from which the buckets of the piston take it. The
water bucket is furnished with a valve which discharges the water into a
syphon arranged so as to prevent the escape of air from the shaft.
The pump I prefer for rarifying or compressing, and which is also suitable
for other purposes; is of a hollow, spiral, or screw shape placed in a vessel
divided into two compartments by a partition through which the screw or
spiral passes. This vessel contains water or other liquid which enters the
lower portion of the screw or spiral when made to revolve, and pushes the air
from one compartment to the other. The joint in the partition and those of
the screw shaft are made air-tight by india-rubber or other flexible material
generally protected by plates of metal or hard material. The spirals or screws
are simple or compound, and each one makes several or less than one revo-
lution according to the density and quantity required. The liquid having
been screwed through from one compartment to the other, returns by an
opening at the bottom of the partition, and in cases where high pressure is
required, I use a syphon and sometimes mercury, and in other cases a valve
worked by a float to regulate the height of the water in the two compart-
ments. When the same pump is used for rarifying and compressing air
without changing the direction of the motive power, both its compartments
are made air-tight, and a valve in the air passages is made to stop or admit
alternately the atmosphere; otherwise the same effect is produced by changing
the direction of the motive power, in which case only one compartment need
be made air-tight, and the aforesaid valve is rendered unnecessary.
The
shafts or tubes may be partly or entirely occupied by the pneumatic appa
ratus, and it may be divided into more than one working compartment, and
of any convenient sectional shape. This arrangement is also useful for
ventilating mines or pits by drawing from or forcing air into them.
The air passages in the screw pumps-may be of any convenient sectiona
form and size, but that I prefer is rectangular, coufined between two cylinders,
and sometimes of less sectional area at one end than at the other. The pump
are made to revolve on shafts or rollers by any suitable motive power.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
•
by the said George Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
EDWARDS, of No. 4, Park Road Villas, Battersea, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing datethe Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Edwards, Her special licence that I, the said George Edwards,
iny executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Edwards, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PNEUMATIC APPARATUS FOR RAISING MATERIALS AND OTHER PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.George Edwards, my.
executors or administrators, 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 George Edwards, do hereby declare.
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be.
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
'T'his Invention consists of "iniproved means of raising minerals, water, and
other material in shafts or tubes by means of compressed and exhausted air,
together with the pneumatic pumps I prefer for this purpose, which pumps
are also useful for other purposes, and this system is so combined that the
movement of the air used for raising the materials serves for ventilating

page_text: The shaft constructed in the usual manner, or specially for the application
of this system, may be vertical or inclined. The case selected for explanation
is a vertical shaft or coal pit, represented by the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5;
Fig. 1, vertical section of shaft at top; Fig. 2, vertical section of shaft at
bottom; Fig. 3, plan at bottom of shaft; Fig. 4, plan at top of shaft above
the tramway; Fig. 5, plan at top of shaft at the tramway. A, A', piston
arranged to support waggons, skips, material, and persons; this piston nearly
fits the shaft B, and is guided therein by the angle rails F and the wheels
or gallies G. The bottom of the shaft B₁ (Fig. 2) being sunk below the
tramway, serves as a well or reservoir for the water and also to stop the
piston.
Attached to the lower part of the piston (when required) is a bucket C
furnished with a self-acting valve D, which opens by the force of the water
until the bucket C is full, when it closes by its own weight, as shewn in
Fig. 2.
When the piston arrives at the top of the shaft the valve D is
opened by the lever D¹ being brought in contact with any suitable part of the
shaft, and the water flows into the syphon I, as shewn by Fig. 1. The top
of the shaft is closed, as shewn by Fig. 1; the doors E are arranged in any
suitable manner to close the inlets to the shaft.
When the piston is required to be raised from the bottom to the top of the
shaft the doors E are closed and the air is exhausted from the shaft through
the air pipe J which communicates with the pneumatic pumps; thus air
being rarified in the upper part of the shaft the piston is pushed and raised
by the atmospheric air below it. When the piston has passed the air pipe J,
Fig. 1, the air remaining in the top of the shaft B" becomes compressed
and stops the piston; the position of the air pipe J regulates the stoppage in
such a manner that the piston rises above the position shewn in the Drawing,
and in redescending takes its seat upon suitable catches fixed to the side of
the shaft; the doors E may thus be opened, and the waggons and material
removed.
The descent is effected by the gravity of the piston, and the speed is regu-
lated by closing the doors E, Figures 1 and 5, and thus effecting a rarification
of the air above the piston. A valve in the piston serves to regulate the
speed by allowing the air to pass from below the piston. On arriving at the
bottom of the shaft the lower part of the piston enters and compresses the air
in the well B', and thus stops itself a little above the position shewn by Fig. 2,
and afterwards it gradually descends to its proper seat by the escape of the air
round the piston.

page_text: I prefer arranging the air valves for regulating the descent as shewn in
Figures 1 and 2. An air pipe L traverses the upper and lower discs of the
piston; in this pipe is arranged a throttle valve K, opened or closed by the
lever L', and another valve K'. The valve K' is so balanced as to be always
open except when in the well B', when it is relieved of the weight of the
float M by its floating on the water, and is allowed to close by its balance
weight, and by depressure of the air. In cases where there is no water the
float M may be replaced by a weight, which falls on the bottom of the well,
or the valve K' may be closed by any other self-acting means.
The upper and lower discs of the piston may be kept apart by a tube, as
shewn, or by any suitable framing.
In some cases I close the bottom of the shaft by doors E' (Figures 2 and 3)
for double security during the descent, and in this case the air is dilated above
and compressed below the piston.
Fig. 13 shows the means I employ for packing the piston. k, top or bottom
disc of piston; j, side of piston; l, vegetable or other fibre, arranged in form
of a brush; o, fibrous pad, which is kept in contact with the walls of the
shaft p by the pressure of the air which enters by the openings n, and acts
upon the elastic material m, as shewn by the arrows.
Sometimes Iemploy these two kinds of packing together,and in other cases
separately.
Each time the piston is raised by the means described above a quantity of
air equal to the contents of the shaft is pumped out. An air shaft or pipe is
arranged for the admission of pure air in the usual way to supply the vacancy
produced, and thus the ventilation of the mine is effected by the air used for
raising the materials.
In some cases I prefer to raise the piston and its contents by means of
compressed air forced in at the bottom of the shaft. In this case I employ
for the descent a valve at the bottom of the shaft, through which the fresh air
is forced into the mine by the descending of the piston.
Any kind of air pumps may be employed for exhausting or compressing the
air, but that I prefer and claim as my own Invention is shewn by the
Figures 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
The principal feature in this part of the improvements consists in the intro-
duction of an inner cylinder to the Archimedean screw, and its application to
compressing and exhausting air in the manner described as follows:-
The construction of this screw is shewn by Figure 6, which is an elevation of.
the inner cylinder a and the spirals b, and a section of the outer cylinder c

page_text: The spirals are arranged and fixed between the two cylinders a, c, so as to
form several spiral tubes, each of which forms one complete turn round the
axis, as shewn in Fig. 6. Sometimes these spiral tubes form more or less than
one turn round the axis, and for some purposes only one spiral tube is used.
The inner cylinder is sometimes made like a spiral cone, as shewn by the
Fig. 6. These screws are placed in cisterns or vessels containing water or
other liquids, as shewn by the Figures 7, 8, and 9, sometimes horizontally, and:
sometimes inclined. These screw pumps are made to revolve by any suitable.
motive power acting directly upon their shafts, or by toothed wheels similar to.
those shewn by the Figure 8, where e indicates a toothed wheel fixed.to the
outer cylinder of the screw, and f, f, indicate pinions to communicate the
motive power, or the power may be otherwise communicated. While this
screw revolves the upper portion of its hollow spiral tubes is occupied by air,
and the lower by water, both of which are pushed from one end to the.
other of the screw. by the spirals b, Fig. 6. The air is retained in the.closed
compartments.Q (Figures. 7, 9, and 10,) by the water, while the excess of
water returns, as shewn by the arrows. The air is conducted from the com-
partments Q by suitable pipes or channels d. I sometimes place two of these
screws on the same shaft with their spirals constructed in opposite directions,
as shewn by the Figure 9, and in this case the air and water are forced by the
two screws into one compartment Q. The excess of water returns, as indicated
by.the direction of the arrows, while the air is retained by the water and the
joints S, S.
The Drawings referred to indicate the screw pumps arranged for com-
pressing air. They may be converted into exhausters by simply reversing
their rotary motion, or by enclosing the compartments, as indicated by the
dotted lines g, Figures 7, 8, and 9, in which case the air is drawn through
suitable channels h, and escapes at d.
The inner cylinder a (Figures. 6, 7, 8, 9, aud 10) is made water-tight and
of such proportions as to displace a sufficient quantity of water to float the
whole screw with its shaft, and thus relieves the bearings of all friction arising
from weight. It also admits of employing hollow spiral tubes forming.only
one or less than one turn round the axis. This is explained by the Figure 8.
The air in the closed chamber, which presses upon the water in the spiral
tube.at i cannot return by the spiral tube until its pressure is sufficient to
force the water below the bottom of the inner cylinder. The difference of
level between the surfaces of the water i and i' is due to the difference of
pressure of the air in the closed and open compartments. The quantity of

page_text: water necessary is therefore determined by the degree of pressure required,
measuring from the bottom of the cylinder a to the surface of the water i'.
Fig. 11 details of joints S, Fig. 9, in the partition; P, external cylinder of
the screw; T, circle or web; U, partition; U', india-rubber or other flexible
material; U", circle of metal, to protect the india-rubber from the effects of
friction.
When a high pressure is required I close the compartment Q entirely
instead of having its lower partition open, as shewn in Figures 9 and 10, and
I connect by syphons of sufficient depth the closed and open compartments.
In this case each spiral tube is constructed so as to have several turns round
the cylinder, and the air is thus compressed to a greater degree by each
revolution of the screw.
In some cases I use mercury and other liquids instead of water in the
cistern and syphon. In other cases I substitute a valve for the syphon
between the closed and the open compartments; this valve is opened and
closed by a float to regulate the height of the water.
To utilize the force of the water in its return from the closed compartment
Q (Figure 9) I sometimes place in its passage water wheels or turbines of
any suitable description.
The shafts or tubes employed for these improvements maybe of any suitable
sectional shape and size; they may be wholly or partially occupied by the
improved system, and sometimes they are divided into more than one working
compartment.
The pneumatic apparatus for compressing and exhausting the air are made
of the material, size, and proportions most suited to their application. The
sectional form of the hollow spiral tubes which form the screw pump may be
rectangular, as shewn, or any other suitable form.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I do hereby declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is,―
First, the general arrangement and combination of shafts, pistons, valves,
doors, and other apparatus herein described for raising minerals, water, and
other materials from mines.
Second, the combination by which the ventilation of mines is effected by
the air used for the extraction of the materials.
Third, the means for packing and preventing the escape of air round the
pistons.
Fourth, the hydro-pneumatic apparatus for compressing and exhausting air

page_text: by means of hollow screws or spirals of any shape and size, revolving in
water or other liquids, which hydro-pneumatic apparatus I also claim as
applicable for compressing and exhausting air and gases for other purposes.
In witness whereof, I,. the said George Edwards, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
JOHN MANBY, C.E. Mem. Inst.
7, Viâ Lagrange,
Turin.
.
GEORGE EDWARDS. (L.s.)