Importance

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Abstract

A pair of inverted, concentrically mounted cups are lowered into a pool of liquid at the bottom of a well. The outer cup is a housing connected to atmospheric pressure via a capillary tube extending upwardly to the top of the well. The inner cup is a closed dome. Liquid passes through a check valve in the bottom of the housing and rises in the outer cup, since the capillary tube is open to the atmosphere and bleeds off the air inside the outer cup. Since the inner cup is closed, air is entrapped therein to limit the rise of liquid in it. When the capillary tube and, therefore, the two cups are pressurized, the check valve closes to prevent escape of liquid from the housing. The liquid rises in the dome to compress the air entrapped therein. When the capillary tube is suddenly opened again to atmospheric pressure, the compressed air entrapped in the closed dome of the inner cup drives the liquid violently up the capillary tube. Inertia carries a substantial amount of this liquid out the free end of the capillary tube and into a catch basin.

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First Claim