US3191538A - Bilge pump - Google Patents

Description

June 29, 1965 R. ADAMS 3,191,538

BILGE PUMP Filed Nov. 5, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

RUSSE L L ADAMS.

A TTORNE).

R. ADAMS BILGE PUMP June 29, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 5, 1961 RUSSELL ADAMS l 1 l a l v WZW ATTORNEY R. ADAMS June 29, 1965 BILGE PUMP 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 5, 1961 INVENTOR. RUSSELL ADAMS.- BY f4V .fl

ATTORNEY R. ADAMS BILGE PUMP June'29, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed NOV. 5 l 1961 A T TORNE )f United States Patent 3,191,538 BILGE PUMP Russell Adams, Somers Point, NJ. Filed Nov. 3, 1961, Ser. No. 149,907 1 Claim.' (Cl. 103-70) The present invention relates to certain and useful bilge pump, for use in automatically pumping out the bilge of a boat while the boat is in dock or anchored or adrift.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic bilge pump which is not dependent on a powersource to operate it, but which will be operated by the motion of the anchored boat in relation to the water in which the boat floats. s

A further object of the present invention is to make the bilge pump independent of any mooring ropes or guides and to minimize the extent to which the bilge pump extends outwardly beyond the boat, so that it does not get in the way of the dock or the dock pilings or other boats entering or leaving an adjoining dock or slip.

With the above objects in View the present embodiment of the invention comprises cylinder-supporting and rodguiding bracket adapted to be detachably secured to the stern of the boat by one or several C-clamps, a generally upright cylinder carried by said support and having its upper end open to the atmosphere and having an intake at its lower end from which a hose extends over the top of the stern of the boat and downward into the bilge and having an inwardly-opening check-valve at its bilgeend, a piston in said cylinder having a water-passageway therethrough and check-valve associated therewith, a piston-rod extending upwardly from the piston and through the upper open end of the cylinder, a rod-yoke secured to the upper end of the piston-rod and a pair'of piston: actuating float-rods extending downwardly from said rodyoke on either side of the piston-rod and generally parallel thereto and equidistant therefrom and having their upper ends secured to said yoke and guidingly extending through said cylinder-support or otherwise guided thereby for up and down motion parallel with the axis of the cylinder, and a float secured to the lower ends of said float-rods, whereby any rise and fall of the stern of the boat in relation to the water in which it is floated, will cause the float to fall and rise correspondingly and thus cause the piston to be alternately lowered and raised within the cylinder thereby drawing water from the bilge through the aforementioned intake check valve at the end of the bilge hose on the upstroke of the piston and discharging it through the check valve in the piston on the downstroke thereof, and also dumping the so-pumped water out through the upper open end of the cylinder on the upstroke of the piston.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate like parts,

FIGURE 1 represents a perspective view of a bilge pump exemplifying an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 represents a side elevational view of the same.

FIGURE 3 represents a vertical cross-sectional view of the same on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 represents a cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 represents a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view of the cylinder and piston of the pump and of the valve therein, shown in its open position as on the downstroke of the piston-rod.

FIGURE 6 represents a bottom view of the movable valve-disc at the bottom of the piston.

FIGURE 7 represents a cross sectional view of an intake valve at the bilge end of the pump-hose.

3,191,538 Patented June 29, 1965 ice FIGURE 8 represents a bottom plan view of the intake valve shown in FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 represents a vertical cross-sectional view of the stern end of a boat with the bilge pump of the present invention operatively applied thereto.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings, the cylinder supporting and rod guiding means may comprise one or several shelf-like or bracket-like supports 1 extending from a suitably inclined mounting plate 2, which may be permanently secured to the stern 3 of the boat, or may be secured thereto by One or several C-type clamps 4 at the top of the mounting plate 2, embracing the upper marginal portion of the stern 3 and is secured thereto by a clamping screw 5.

Within vertically aligned cylinder-receiving openings 6 and 7 in the shelf-like members 1, a cylinder 8 is mounted and secured. The upper end of the cylinder 8 is open. To the lower end of the cylinder 8 an inlet-cap or closure 9 is secured in sealed relation to the lower end of the cylinder, having a hose-receiving nipple or fitting 10, to which a suitable hose 11 is secured. The hose 11 extends over the top of the stern 3 and has an inlet valve housing 12 at its intake end. The free end of the housing 12 is provided with a perforated cap 13 to the inner face of which the valve-disc 14 is movably secured by the pin or rivet 15. The valve-disc 14 may be a flexible rubber disc which will lie flat against the inner face of the cap 13 and overlap the perforations therein so as to close them off against the exit of water when the pressure is from within, but to be unseated by being flexed away from the inner face of the cap 13 when the pressure inside the inlet housing 12 is slightly less than atmospheric, thereby permitting the ingress of water from the bilge into the inlet-valve housing 12.

A cup-like piston 16 (made of rubber or the like) is mounted within the piston 8, and a piston-rod 17, having its upper end secured to the yoke 18, has its lower end extending through a water-passageway 19 in the piston 16 and has riveted or otherwise secured thereto a metallic valve-disc 20 and also a multi-pronged piston-connector 21, as shown in FIGURES 3 to 6. The valve-disc 20 is scalloped or has an otherwise notched or recessed pe riphery, so that water may flow freely past the outer periphery thereof. The central portion of the valve disc 20 covers the water-passageway 19 when it is raised upwardly by the upward motion of the piston-rod 17, thereby to close said water-passageway in the piston.

The piston-connector 21 may be in the form of a disc having three prongs extending upwardly therefrom through the water-passageway 19 of the piston, with their upper ends 22 bent outwardly to overlap the bottom of the cup-like piston 16 near the periphery of the waterpassageway 19 therethrough, so that as the piston-rod 17 moves downwardly (as indicated in FIGURE 5), and the valve-disc 20 separates from the bottom of the piston 16, the piston-connector 21 will pull the piston 16 downwardly, in spaced relation to the valve-disc 20, as indicated in FIGURE 5.

A pair of float-rods 23 having their upper ends secured to the rod-yoke 18, extended downwardly on either side of the cylinder 8 parallel to the axis thereof and equidistant therefrom, and extend through rod-guiding holes 24 and 25 in the shelf-like members 1.

A float 26 is secured to the lower ends of the float-rods 23. The float may be sealed in a hollow vessel, but is preferably a piece of lightweight cellular plastic material which will not absorb water and whose water-displacement is several times its own weight, as, for instance. styrene foam.

As the boat rides at anchor or tied to a pier or adrift, any slight up and down motion of the stern of the boat in relation to the water in which the boat is floating, will cause the float 26 and piston-rod 17 to move down and up in relation to the cylinder 8 and hence will cause the piston 16 and valve-disc also to move correspondingly. As the stern of the boat rises slightly in the water, the piston-rod 17 will move downwardly in relation to the cylinder 8 and will first cause the valve-disc 20 to be unseated from the piston 16 and will then move the piston 16 downwardly. During this downward motion the intake valve-disc 14 (FIGURE 3) remains seated or in its closing position and water in the cylinder 8 passes upwardly through the passageway 19 of the piston 16.

When the stern of the boat moves downwardly in relation to the water, the piston-rod 17 moves upwardly in relation to the cylinder 8 and first moves the valve-disc 20 against the bottom of the piston 16, thereby closing off the water-passageway 19, and then moves the piston 16 upwardly of the cylinder 8 so as to raise the water above the piston and to discharge the topmost portion of the water column (above the piston) over the upper open end of the cylinder 8 and at the same time drawing in some more water from the bilge of the boat past the intake valve disc 14 which is unseated by the upward motion of the piston 16 in relation to the cylinder 8.

The bilge-pump of the present invention will keep the bilge pumped out while the boat is at anchor or at a dock. By the construction of the bilge pump of the present invention, the total extension of the bilge pump outwardly of the boat can be kept at a minimum so as to minimize its etfect as an obstruction to other vessels, 'pier-pilings or dock, and the bilge pump of the present invention is free and clear of all mooring lines, so that it can be used under all conditions under which a boat may be tied to a dock 'or tied to a float or submerged anchor or freely drifting.

Moreover, the bilge pump of the present invention does not require any attention whatsoever either to put it into operation or otherwise.

Having described the invention, the following is claimed:

A bilge-pump including cylinder-supporting and rodguiding means for attachment to the stern of a boat, a cylinder supported by the aforementioned means in a generally upright position and stationarily with respect to said means, said cylinder having its upper end open to the atmosphere and having an intake closure at its lower end, a hose having one end operatively connected with said intake closure and communicating with the cylinder and its other end portion adapted to extend over the top of the stern of the boat anddown into the bilge thereof, an inlet housing at the terminal of said other end portion of said hose, an inwardly opening checkvalve in said inlet housing, a piston operatively disposed within said cylinder and having water-valving means therein for passing water past said piston on the downstroke thereof and barring passage of Water past said piston on the up-stroke thereof, a piston-rod con nected with said piston and extending upwardly therefrom substantially beyond the upper end of the cylinder, a rod-yoke secured to the upper end of said piston-rod, a pair of float-rods guided by the aforementioned rodguiding means on either side of said cylinder and parallel to the axis thereof for up and down motion with respect to said cylinder-supporting and rod-guiding means, said t float-rods having their upper ends secured to said yoke,

and a buoyant float secured to the lower ends of said float-rods.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 961,401 6/10 Bonney l03-68 1,594,050 7/26 Connor 103-70 1,763,191 6/30 Sealy et a1. 10370 FOREIGN PATENTS 566,691 1/45 Great Britain.

801,263 9/58 Great Britain.

JOSEPH H. BRANSON, 111., Primary Examiner. LAURENCE V. EFNER, Examiner.

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