IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS METERS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEгn
GRAY, of Red Cross Street, Southwark, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventeenth day of August, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Joseph Gray, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph Gray, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Gray, my exors, admňors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
METERS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the
said Joseph Gray, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said.
Joseph Grey, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to the construction of what are called dry gas meters.
Within the last few years this description of gas meter has been progressively
coming into use, and they are made with varying numbers of moveable
partitions, which are alternately pressed on either of their sides by gas, and
thus are they moved, first in one direction and then in another, the flexible
partitions being differently constructed and applied in the gas meters of
different manufactures. Now my Invention consists of so arranging and
applying the moveable partition, that in whatever position it may be, there
will be no tendency to move unless pressed on by the gas, which is very
important, as by such means the partition having no sudden motion, such
as is consequent on gravitation, there will be no flickering of the lights,
which has in many dry gas meters heretofore constructed resulted from the
moveable partitious suddenly moving by gravitation, the moveable partitions
of such former meters being so constructed and applied that immediately
the gas has pressed them beyond a certain position the gravitation of the
moveable partitions comes into play in addition to the pressure of the gas on

page_text: myself thereto, as these parts may be varied without departing from my
Invention, so long as the mode of arranging the moveable partitions and their
axes be retained as herein described, and the shape of the moveable partitions
may be varied; Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken through the meter and
the moveable partition, and Figure 4 shews a section of one of the double
valves and the passages which it covers. a is the moveable partition, which I
make of sheet metal, tho' other material might be used; this partition it will
be seen is vertical, and is affixed to the vertical axis b, which turns in suitable
bearings at c, c, d, as is shewn. The meter (the shape of which may be
varied) is divided into two compartments, No. 1 and No. 2, and it will be seen
that the upper part of the meter is so arranged that the apparatus which
gives motion from the axis 6 to the valves and to the index is so partitioned
off from the valve chambers that the gas does not come in contact with
such apparatus. The shape of the moveable partition which I prefer is
shown in the Drawing, the part a being of suitable flexible material all
round the moveable part of the partition, and a' is the fixed portion of the
partition, which, together with the moveable part a, and the flexible material
a², constitute the partition which divides the meter into two compartiments,
No. 1 and No. 2. At the upper end of the axis 6 are fixed the two fingers
ff, which being on pin joints are capable of being moved to and from
each other to adjust the extent of movement of the partition, so that the
space moved through may offer a correct measure of gas, which will be regis-
tered as heretofore by the index employed, and in order to adjust the fingers f
simultaneously, a left and right handed screw is employed on the same stem as
is shewn. On the fingers f are studs f', which, coming against the rod g, move
it to a certain distance, and then the weight h moves it the remainder of
the distance. The rod 9 and the weight h are carried by the arm i, on the
axis j, such axis turning in bearings as is shewn. On the upper end of the
axis b, is affixed the arm o, to which is attached one end of the connecting rod
p, the other end of which is carried by the swinging arm 7, so that the link p
may have a parallel motion given to it. On the link p there is a projection p²,
which gives motion to a small arm r projecting from the axis ¹, which passes
through a stuffing box to the index chamber, and has an arm with a clawker,
the weight of which keeps the armır against the projection p³; and such
clawker will take into ratchet teeth on a wheel, the axis of which gives motion
to a train of wheels in the box t, which constitutes the index, as is well under-
stood. k, k, are the inlet valves, the dotted lines in the plan indicating the
passages into the compartments No. 1 and No. 2 of the meter, and it will be

page_text: seen that the chamber of the valves k is separate or partitioned off from the
other part of the upper compartments of the meter. I, 1, are the eduction
valves from the compartments No. 1 and No. 2 of the meter; and it will
readily be seen that as the valves are all on the same axis, one inlet valve k
and one outlet valve will at all times be closed and open; hence, when the
gas is flowing into No. 1 compartment by its valve k it will be flowing off from
the compartment No. 2 by its valve l; and in order to give motion to the
axis m, which turns in bearings at m³, m³, as is shewn, there is affixed on the
axis m the forked instrument C, which I find to act better when the arms t
(as is more clearly seen in Figure 5) are formed so as to have a degree of
elasticity; and on the axis m is also carried a cylinder v, containing quick-
silver, by which arrangement, as the rod g suddenly moves the forked instru-
ment and then commences to move back, the cylinder v will prevent the axis
again moving till the forked instrument is again acted on by the rod g. And
in order to render the axis band m gas-tight where they pass through
partitions, flexible air-tight tubes n are used, which are each at one end bound
air-tight on the axis, and at the other end each flexible tube is bound tightly
on a projection on the partition, as is shewn.
In order to prevent, as much as may be, the flickering of the lights at the
time of changing the direction of the partition, I apply to gas meters a regn-
lating apparatus, which I will now describe.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING B.
Figure 1 is a vertical section; Figure 2 is a transverse section; and the
other sections are taken at points marked on the Drawing. This gas meter is
precisely similar to the one above described, and the parts are therefore
marked with the same letters of reference, and the description above given will
apply thereto. But in addition to the parts before described, this meter is
provided with a regulating apparatus; at the lower part of the meter is formed
a chamber A, the upper part of which is enclosed by a flexible partition B,
which is weighted to such an extent that the gas in flowing in when the meter
is in use will just cause it to rise up and be upheld by the pressure of the gas,
and the gas, in passing out of the meter, having passed the eduction valve i,
in place of at once escaping by the eduction pipe z, first descends by the pipe r
into the chamber A under the partition B, and thence it passes up the pipe s
into the upper part of the chamber y, which, in this meter, is divided into two
compartments, and thence the gas passes away by the eduction pipe = to the
burners. By this arrangement it will be seen that the tendency which the

page_text: partition in the meter has when changing its direction of motion to prevent an
uniform passage of gas through the eduction valve will be compensated for
by the descent of the partition B, and the eduction of the gas will be rendered
uniform.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I make no claim to any of the parts separately as
being new; but what I claim is the mode herein described of arranging and
applying moveable partitions of dry gas meters on vertical axes, whereby the
moveable partitions have no tendency to move, in whatever position they may
at any time be placed, unless pressed on by gas, as herein described. And I
also claim the application of a regulating partition B to gas meters, in the
manner herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Gray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
JOSEPH (L.S.) GRAY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Joseph Gray came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.