152 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



a cylinder, fitted for the purpose, within the upper air chamber; 

 which, we think, must be a great improvement, as stuffing is so 

 liable to be deranged and to leak under a strong pressure, to say 

 nothing of the great loss by friction incident thereto. It has also 

 two air-chambers — the one as before mentioned surrounding the 

 upper cylinder and communicating with the pump above the 

 valves, the other surrounding the lower or working cylinder, and 

 communicating below the valves ; thus the action of the valves is 

 cushioned upon both sides by air — preventing water-hammer and 

 vacuum thump, and enabling a much smaller and less expensive 

 pipe to supply the pump. The valves are very accessible, and 

 simply and cheaply repaired. [A Iroiize medal awarded. 



Tower''s Patent Elastic Ball Valve Pump and Fire Engine. 



^Webster & Tower, 124 Broadway, New- York. 



The great object of the inventor in this improvement has been 

 to construct a pump, which, while it serves all the purposes of 

 the ordinary lift and force pump, may also be used at any moment 

 as an efiective Fire Engine : as such, it requires to be substan- 

 tially made, and to be free from liability to disorder, whether by 

 choking or the wearing of the parts. 



This pump is furnished with ball valves, 1 1 — double ball valves 

 would be a more suitable term, which is composed of India rubber, 

 or other suitable elastic substance. In consequence of their elas- 

 ticity, the balls always fit their seats closely, while the rush of 

 the water causes the valves partially to revolve at every stroke, 

 so that the surface contact of the valves, with their seats, is con- 

 tinually changing. Hence the wear ol the valves is even and 

 very slight. 



The raised seats and elasticity of the valves are safeguards 

 against the choking of the pump. The valves being free from 

 hinges and other appurtenances, it is plain that foreign substances 

 can find no lodgment; even if they did, it would matter little, 

 since the valves are self-adjusting, and their elasticity would per- 

 mit their accommodation to the seats, and to any foreign matter 

 that happened to be left upon them. 



The plungers, C, are hollow; the stuffing-boxes, J, and the 

 screws are made of brass or composition, by which mode of con- 



