Thomas Savery - 1650? - 1715 -
In 1698 Thomas Savery made a practical (please see the animation) steam pump by using steam to fill a large container. Then the steam valve was closed and a stream of cold water was run onto the metal container. The steam inside condensed.
This produced a partial vacuum and water was sucked up into the container from the coal mine.
Opening again the steam valve, the water was pushed up (higher) by the steam that again filled the container.
This first steam pump (see figure) was constitued by two container (one was filled while the other was cleared out).
In 1698 Savery obtained a patent for his invention named "Miner's friend" for "suck up the water by the fire".
The patent was valid for any other engine based on fire use.
This fact will damage Newcomen when he invented his engine.
With low steam pressure the Savery pump was not efficient and this was his limit.
The boilers, the pipes and the containers of his times were tin soldered and could not work with the hight pressure needed to push water from mine as height as the situation asked.
Notwithstanding many effort to improve it, the Savery pump was little used and soon abandoned.