Improvements in Gas Governors.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Dec., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 8th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 17th Oct., 1896
Improvements in Gas Governors.
We JAMES MILNE and HENRY O'CONNOR, Milton House Works, Edinburgh,
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The nature of our invention is the rendering of gas governors automatic, whereby
when an increased consumption renders an increased pressure advisable the
governor will at once respond and give an increased pressure and again reduce
the pressure when the demand declines. Our invention consists in the use of a
chamber fixed to the regulating bell of a gas governor and connected with the
water in which the bell is sealed by means of a syphon tube, but not immersed in
water. When the governor is put into use water would be filled into this chamber
and the syphon brought into action, both ends of syphon being long enough to be
water-sealed. As the bell is lowered water will be syphoned into this chamber
from the tank, thus increasing the weight of the bell, and as the bell rises the
water will be syphoned back into the tank diminishing the weight of the bell.
This chamber can be made large enough in area in the first instance to meet any
practical desired variation of pressure and can have its area at different levels
diminished by means of solid material, the weight of which would always remain
constant whatever the height of the bell might be, by which means the weight
of the bell plus the weight of water in the regulating chamber can be adjusted
to what is necessary to give the required pressure at the various rates of
consumption.
Dated this Tenth day of December 1895
JAMES MILNE.
HENRY O'CONNOR.
We JAMES MILNE, Engineer, Milton House Works, Edinburgh, and HENRY
O'CONNOR, Civil Engineer, Milton House Works, Edinburgh do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement::-
The nature of our invention is the rendering of station or other gas governors
automatic, whereby when an increased consumption renders an increased pressure
advisable the governor will at once respond and give an increased pressure and
again reduce the pressure when the consumption diminishes.
In ordinary gas governors the bell is supported partly by the counterbalance
weights and partly by the pressure upon its under side of the gas which has passed
through the cone or other valve.
Immediately increased consumption takes place this pressure diminishes, and the
bell with its pendant cone falls, thus giving a larger area for the passage of gas so
as to raise the pressure again to that for which the governer is set. As the
consumption of gas increases it is necessary to increase the pressure to enable a
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proper supply of gas to be maintained to the points of the main furthest distant
from the governor.
In the ordinary gas governors to obtain this increase of pressure it is necessary
either to load the bell of the governor by means of weights, or to diminish the
counterbalance weights, which operations require to be done by hand and at the
discretion of the attendant.
By means of our invention any decrease of the pressure on the outlet side at once
automatically gives the necessary increased pressure above referred to, and likewise
reduces the pressure as the demand diminishes.
We now proceed to describe the various means whereby we propose to
accomplish this object.
In the drawing, A represents the bell of the governor which rises and falls according
to the outlet pressure, and to which is connected by chain, rod, lever or other means,
the valve or cone B which regulates the flow of gas. CC represents the tank of
the governor made in a concentric form as shewn, water being in the portion D.D.
E represents the ordinary weights used to wholly or partially counterbalance the
bell A, and FF are the floats (shewn in dotted lines) which are also frequently
used for the same purpose, either alone or in conjunction with the weights E.
G is a water chamber fixed to and forming part of the bell, and consequently rising
and falling in and out of the chamber H. K. K. is one or more syphon tubes
passing from the bottom of the water chamber G over the top of the bell to
the bottom of the same on the outside. As the bell falls, due to an increased
consumption, the water from the tank passes through the syphons K into the
water chamber G in such quantities as to keep the surface of the water of the
tank and that in the chamber G at the same level. In this way the lower the bell
falls the greater the quantity of water passed into the chamber G and in consequence
the weight of the bell is increased, occasioning the desired larger pressure of gas
to counterbalance it.
We may make the chamber G of such form, either cylindrical, square, conical,
or of varying diameters at different heights, or we may insert solid or hollow
bodies of various shapes and dimensions as to vary the quantity of water which
the chamber G will contain at different parts of its travel, and thus regulate the
pressure at which the gas passes from the outlet of the governor.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
(1.) In a station gas governor the application to the bell of a water chamber fed
from the water in the tank by one or more syphon tubes in such a manner that
on the opening of, the valve consequent on an increase of consumption the
quantity of water in the chamber is automatically increased, thus proportionally
increasing the weight of the bell and causing an increase of pressure as required;
all as and for the purposes herein before set forth and as illustrated by the annexed
drawings.
(2.) Our hereinabove described apparatus applicable to station gas governors for
automatically increasing and decreasing outlet pressure as required by any increase
or decrease of the consumption; all as described in the foregoing specification and
illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Fifth day of September 1896.