of Battersea and later Nine Elms Iron Works, London, and Reading.
1872 The Pulsometer steam pump, a piston-less pump, was invented by American Thomas Hall. The invention may have been inspired by the Savery steam pump invented by Thomas Savery. Around the turn of the century, it was a popular and effective pump for quarry pumping.
1875 John Eliot Hodgkin, a British engineer bought the patent rights of the Pulsometer and it was introduced to the market soon thereafter. This extremely simple pump was made of cast iron, and had no pistons, rods, cylinders, cranks, or flywheels. It operated by the direct action of steam on water. The mechanism consisted of two chambers. As the steam condensed in one chamber, it acted as a suction pump, while in the other chamber, steam was introduced under pressure and so it acted as a force pump. At the end of every stroke, a ball valve consisting of a small rubber ball moved slightly, causing the two chambers to swap functions from suction-pump to force-pump and vice versa. The result was that the water was first suction pumped and then force pumped.
The pump ran automatically without attendance. It was praised for its "extreme simplicity of construction, operation, compact form, high efficiency, economy, durability, and adaptability". Later designs were improved upon to enhance efficiency and to make the machine more accessible for inspection and repairs, thus reducing maintenance costs.
1876 See Hodgkin, Neuhaus and Co.
1878 Public company. The company was formed as The Pulsometer Engineering Company Ltd. The pump range was continually expanded and it was as a pump manufacturer that the Company became best known.
With this increase in product range and trade all over the world, a larger factory was found and set up in Battersea, London.
1886 Fog signal machinery for Ailsa Craig: 'The air for operating the sirens is compressed by air pumps having four cylinders 10 in. in diameter and 18 in. stroke, the power being given by 8 horse-power gas engines, of which there are five — four being used — the other remaining as a reserve. The gas is manufactured from crude oil in a small gas works erected for the purpose .... The work has been designed and carried out under the personal superintendence of Mr. Charles Ingrey, C.E., of 49, Queen Victoria-street. The contractors are the Pulsometer Engineering Company, London, who are the proprietors and manufacturers of the patent siren.'[1]. The Otto gas engines were made by Crossley Brothers [2]
c.1887 The Pulsometer Engineering Co bought the patents of Frederick Hale Holmes and took on Charles Ingrey, formerly of the Caloric Engine and Siren Fog-Signal Co as their senior engineer. [3]
1887 Description and engraving of a calorific beam engine. Two were supplied to the Northern Lights Commission for use on a lightship, to compress air for fog signals. Coke-fired[4]
1887 Description and engraving of a Deane bucket and plunger well pump[5]
1888 The 'Torrent' Filter for dealing with large quantities of water in the manufacturing process. [6]
1889 Ammonia Ice-making machine. [7]
1889 Deane pump shown at the RASE at Windsor. [8]
1890 Advert on this page for "Champion" Hand Ice Machine. [9]
1894 Description and engraving of brine-cooling plant for the Dublin Ice Co.[10]
1895 Advert for filters and pumps. [11]
1899 Advert for filers and a steam pump. [12]
1901 The Company moved from London to new premises at a site in Reading, UK. By now Pulsometer was a name well established and respected across the world as a leading manufacturer of pump equipment.
1905 Advert for steam pump and as feed water specialists. [13]
1908 Bought Easton, Anderson and Goolden/Easton and Co
1913 Advert for steam pumps, centrifugal and turbine pumps, refrigeration and filtration. [14]
1914 Engine for the West Gloucestershire Water Company (California Station).
1914 See 1914 Catalogue
1914 Listed specialities: the Pulsometer steam pump, direct-acting pumps, centrifugal and turbine pumps, ice-making and refrigerating machinery, water purification plants, installation of complete water work, sewage and drainage pumping. [15]
1917 Advert for steam pump for lifts up to 150 feet and centrifugal and turbine pumps. [16]
1919 Advert for steam pump for lifts up to 150 feet and centrifugal and turbine pumps. [17]
1927 Advert for steam pump for lifts up to 150 feet and centrifugal and turbine pumps. [18]
1940 Advert for centrifugal and turbine pumps. [19]
1945 Advert for centrifugal and turbine pumps. [20]
1951 Acquired Joseph Evans and Sons[21].
1956 Was part of the Camp Bird group[22]. Some shares owned by Dresser Industries, owners of Pacific Pumps with which Pulsometer had an arrangement to market their pumps. Other shares would be sold to enable others to own some of the company[23].
1957 Sold by Camp Bird to merchant bank Philip Hill, Higginson and Co[24]
1957 Acquired Skyhi and SPE[25]
1957 Acquired G S Tett and Co, maker of water softeners[26]
1960 Advert for centrifugal, turbine, reciprocating and high-vacuum pumps.[27]
1961 Pulsometer had maintained its reputation for products of exceptionally high quality and reliability for 60 years. Pulsometer Engineering Co was acquired jointly by Booker McConnell Group and G. and J. Weir Holdings; each purchaser took the parts of the company that they wanted[28]. Booker already owned another pump company, Sigmund Pumps of Gateshead; together with Pulsometer this created one of the largest pump companies in Europe which became known as Sigmund Pulsometer Pumps, or SPP for short.
1961 Manufacturers of centrifugal, reciprocating, rotary and high vacuum pumps. 1,000 employees. [29]
1986 After a number of changes in subsequent years, SPP acquired Henry Sykes[30]. This acquisition further expanded the product range with the addition of vacuum assisted self-priming pumps. It was around this time that SPP moved its manufacturing site from Reading to a more modern facility in Coleford, in the West of England.
See Also
Sources of Information
- [2] Wikipedia
- [3] SPP Web Site
- The Steam Engine in Industry by George Watkins in two volumes. Moorland Publishing. 1978. ISBN 0-903485-65-6
- ↑ Engineering 1886/07/30
- ↑ Engineering 1886/08/13
- ↑ 'Lost Sounds' by Alan Renton, Whittles Publishing, 2001
- ↑ Engineering 1887/01/07
- ↑ Engineering 1887/06/24
- ↑ The Engineer 1888/06/01 p463
- ↑ The Engineer 1889/01/25 p77
- ↑ The Engineer 1889/06/28 p546
- ↑ [1] History World
- ↑ Engineering 1894/09/14
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1895. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1899. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1905. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1913. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1917. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1919. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1927. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1940. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1945. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ The Times, 25 June 1956
- ↑ The Times, 11 May 1956
- ↑ The Times, 25 June 1956
- ↑ The Times, 1 February 1957
- ↑ The Times, Apr 14, 1958
- ↑ The Times, May 22, 1958
- ↑ Mechanical World Year Book 1960. Published by Emmott and Co of Manchester. Advert on two inside covers
- ↑ The Times, Jun 12, 1962
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE
- ↑ The Times, September 05, 1986