IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Livesey, of 3, Park Cottages, Park Village
East, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WET GAS METERS."
Sealed the 26th December 1861, and dated the 29th June 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Livesey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th June 1861.
I, WILLIAM LIVESEY, of 3, Park Cottages, Park Village East, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to connect the meter direct to the iron
service pipes without the use of lead or other flexible pipes; to regulate the
opening and closing of the inlet and outlet pipes simultaneously; to ascertain
the level of the water inside the meter without putting the meter out of
action; to diminish the evaporation of the water inside the meter and prevent
the oscillation of the lights from any sudden increase or irregularity in the
pressure; to prevent any injurious effect upon the registration from the meter
being tilted or placed out of its level, and to simplify the index.
To connect the meter to the iron service pipes without the use of lead or
other flexible pipes, I form the inlet and outlet tubes on the same so as to be
in a line with each other, both being situated at the back of the meter, and I
provide each tube with a main cock, which opens horizontally, and to which

page_text: the service pipes are directly connected.
To regulate the inlet and outlet
pipes simultaneously, I connect the before-mentioned cocks in such a manner
that they are both opened or closed by moving one and the same handle. To
ascertain whether the water inside the meter is at the proper level without
putting the meter out of action, I fix in some convenient part of the meter, on a
level with the water, a short tube communicating at one end with the interior
of the meter, the other end being closed, but provided with two small holes
situated at a slight vertical distance from each other, the lower hole being
slightly below and the upper hole slightly above the proper level of the water
in the meter. These holes are kept closed with plugs or in any other con-
venient manner, and on opening them according as gas or water issues from
them it may be ascertained whether the meter is in proper order. To diminishi
the evaporation of the water inside the meter and also to prevent the oscillation
of the lights from any sudden increase or irregularity in the pressure
I first see that the meter is properly charged with water, and then I withdraw
a certain quantity of the water and supply its place with an equal quantity of
oil, which floating on the surface of the water prevents the evaporation of the
same and also keeps the surface in a perfectly quiescent state. To prevent any
undue interference with the registration from tilting the meter, or placing it out
of level, I provide a float having vertical rods passing up through an opening
in the inlet chamber through which the gas issues into the meter; upon these
rods I fix two valves one situated above and the other below the aforesaid
opening in the inlet chamber so that if the water is lowered beyond its proper
level the float in sinking will bring the upper valve on to the opening, and thus
shut off the ingress of the gas into the meter, and if on the other hand the
water in the meter is raised above its proper level the float in rising will close
the aforesaid opening by bringing the lower valve against it, and thus likewise
shut off the supply of gas. Furthermore, instead of as is now the case, letting
the gas pass into the measuring drum from the valve chamber through a tube
passing down through the water, and the openings of which rise slightly above
the level of the same, I pass it up a tube pending from the top of the meter
at one side of the same to within a short distance of the water, the gas passing
first into this tube through the space between the edge of the same and the
level of the water and then down another tube placed inside the first named
one and descending below the water; this last tube passes along the bottom of
the meter rising up again in the centre of the same, and eventually passes into
the measuring drum. When the gas has passed through the body of the meter
it passes out of the same through another tube, also reaching down to within a
short distance of the water. These tubes are capable of being adjusted in

page_text: their position by means of screws formed upon them, which arc worked outside
of the meter.
To simplify the index I provide one large dial, the revolution of the hand of
which shall register 100,000 cubic feet, with two smaller dials inside the
larger one to register respectively units and hundreds of cubic feet, and if
required further provide another small dial outside the large one to register
higher quantities. The dials are provided with hands, receiving their respec-
tive motion by means of suitable speed reducing gearing from the motion
of the measuring drum spindle, and which are so arranged as to revolve all in
one and the same direction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Livesey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, WILLIAM
LIVESEY, of 3, Park Cottages, Park Village East, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant. unto me, the
said William Livesey, Her special licence that I. the said William Livesey,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Livesey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man. an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WET GAS METERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Livesey, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Livesey, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof. reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention has for its object to connect the meter direct to the iron
service pipes without the use of lead or other flexible pipes or soldered joints;
to regulate the opening and closing of the inlet and outlet pipes simultaneously;
to ascertain the level of the water inside the meter without putting the meter
out of action; to prevent the oscillation of the lights from any sudden increase
or irregularity in the pressure; to prevent any injurious effect upon the
registration from the meter being tilted or placed out of its level, and to
simplify the index.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing shews a front elevation of the
meter Figure 2 shews the same with the dial of the index removed;
Figure 3 shews a plan of the meter and section through the index box:
Figure 4 shews the back of the meter, with the casing removed; and
Figure 5 shews a transverse section through the centre of the meter. Similar
letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
To connect the meter direct to the iron service pipes without the use of lead
or other flexible pipes, I fix the inlet tube A and outlet tube B both at the
back of the meter, and in a line with each other. To the top of each tube
I attach a cock a, b, of which both the plugs and the openings are horizontal,
and to these the service pipes are connected directly by a socket screwed on to
the cocks, thus forming a rigid joint, and preventing the tilting of the meter
or other interference with it when it is once fixed.
To regulate the opening and closing of the inlet and outlet pipes simul-
taneously, I arrange the cocks a, b, in a line, so that one and the same handle c
fits upon and actuates the plugs of both the cocks at the same time. The
handle is so arranged that it can also actuate only one cock at a time, and it
is fixed in position for opening and closing both cocks at once by means of a
pin c. which can be removed at pleasure.
By the above arrangement when the gas is turned off, the meter is isolated
with gas inside, which prevents the injurious action of the atmosphere on the
metal of the interior, as also the decrease of the water level by evaporation.
To ascertain whether the water inside the meter is at the proper level
without putting the meter out of action, I fix at some convenient part of the
interior of the meter, and
meter a short tube D, communicating with the
closed at the end; this tube is provided with two small openings, closed with
plugs d, d, and is placed at such a level that the small opening d is a little
above, and the opening a little below the proper water level, so that on

page_text: removing one plug or the other it can be ascertained, according as water or
gas passes out of the opening, whether the water is at the proper level.
To prevent any injurious effect upon the registration from the meter being
tilted or placed out of its level, and to prevent the oscillation or putting out of
the lights from any sudden increase or irregularity in the pressure. I attach
to the float E a double valve e, e', of which e closes the opening F, through
which the gas passes from the inlet pipe A into the chamber G, when the
water level is too low or when the meter is tilted forward whilst the valve e¹
closes the opening F when the water level is too high or when the meter is
tilted backwards. By this arrangement the registration is secured within the
limits allowed by the Sale of Gas Act. By the gas being caused to pass from
the inlet pipe A first into the lower small chamber H and thence into the
chamber G through the valve opening F and upper small chamber I, as
indicated by the arrows, the pressure of the gas has a tendency to raise
the float instead of depressing it, as is at present the case. By this arrange-
ment, also, the supply may be augmented and the pressure increased to any
extent without putting out the lights. I do not restrict myself to the exact
form of double valve, as shewn on the accompanying Drawing, as the same
may be variously modified without departing from the principle of this part of
my Invention.
In some cases, and particularly where the wheel or drum of the meter is so
arranged as to admit of a greater margin of float than those in general use,
instead of employing the just described double valve arrangement I only have
the ordinary single valve, and I construct the outlet tube J so as to come
down very near to the proper water level, whilst the inlet tube K is covered by
another tube L, which is suspended from the top of the box, and which also
passes down very near to the proper water level. By this arrangement, if the
water is too high in the meter the inlet and outlet tubes will dip into the
water, and shut off the supply of gas.
The water under the outlet pipe J being shut off in the compartment M
from the other parts of the meter, prevents the water from being drawn off
and the gas being passed through the meter without registering, in case of the
water level being first lowered and the meter then tilted to give an undue lift
to the float.
In no case, however, do I employ the double valve arrangement and the
just described one together in the same meter, and they are only shewn
together in the Drawing to avoid unnecessary increase of Figures.
To simplify the index, I construct the same with the usual number of
multiplying wheels and pinions, but I only attach hands and dials to those

page_text: spindles which turn from left to right, by which arrangement I obtain one
dial N registering units of cubic feet, one O registering hundreds, and one
large one P registering 100,000 cubic feet, the hands of which three dials all
turn in the same direction, by which the reading of the same is much
simplified.
As it frequently occurs in repairing the indices of meters, that through
carelessness new wheels are put in which have not got the same number of
teeth as the other wheels, and that by this means the index does not register
correctly. I construct the index box so as to project from the meter, as shewn,
and make the sides a, a, of the same of glass, so that the several wheels and
pinions may be examined to ascertain whether they have the proper number
of teeth.
In witness whereof. T, the said William Livesey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
C. D. ABEL.
WILLIAM LIVESEY. (L.s.)