IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPENSATING GAS METERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Small Cathels, of Shrewsbury, in the
County of Shropshire, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN COMPENSATING GAS METERS."
Sealed the 18th February 1862, and dated the 19th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Small Cathels
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 19th August 1861.
I, EDMUND SMALL CATHELS, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Shropshire,
Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPENSATING GAS METERS," to be as follows:―
This Invention relates to a new mode of maintaining a constantly uniform
water line or level in gas meters, by compensating for the loss of water in the
meter by evaporation or otherwise, and is effected in the following manner :-
To the ordinary float which works the inlet valve is attached a water valve,
placed at or near the bottom of a reservoir formed by partitioning off the
upper part of front chamber of the meter. When the water level in the meter
is lowered, by evaporation or otherwise, the water valve is opened, and water
from the reservoir, formed as above described, descends into the meter until
the float is again raised, and the valve closed. The valve rod may pass
through the water to the float beneath, or through a water-tight tube; in the
first case the gas is conducted by a tube to the waste water chamber, thence
to the syphon pipe; in the second case the gas passes down the water-tight
tube through the reservoir.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Small Cathels in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
SMALL CATHELS, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Shropshire, Gas Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, 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 Edmund Small Cathels, Her special licence that I, the said Edmund
Small Cathels, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Edmund Small Cathels, 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 COMPENSATING GAS METERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edmund Small Cathels, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Edmund Small Cathels, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of maintaining a constantly
uniform water line or level in gas meters, by compensating for the loss of
water in the meter by evaporation or otherwise, which is effected in the
following manner:-The upper part of the front chamber of the meter is.
partitioned off by a horizontal partition, and is thereby converted into a spare
water supply tank or fountain. In the partition plate, which forms the bottom
of this supply tank or fountain, there is a valve seat fixed perpendicularly under
the
gas inlet valve, the spindle of which passes through this valve seat, and on
which spindle there is fixed a plug or valve that fits water-tight into the valve
scat. The position of this water valve is so arranged that when the water in

page_text: the meter is at the correct line (and consequently the gas inlet valve is open)
the bouyancy of the float (the float being common to both valves) keeps the
valve in the bottom of the tank closed, and prevents any water descending
therefrom; but when the water in the meter falls below the proper level, the
float descends, and slightly opens the water valve, and allows the water to
flow gently into the meter until it has regained its proper height, when the
float shuts the valve, and prevents any further descent of water.
The gas s inlet valve box has a horizontal partition in which the valve seat is
fixed, the valve spindle passing through a small hole in the bottom of the box,
and the gas on entering through the valve is conveyed by a pipe down to the
waste water box, from which it passes through the syphon pipe into the
measuring wheel or drum. The top of this pipe (which is inside the front
cover of the drum in the usual way) is at the correct water line; or, if made
above the water line, a separate overflow pipe is employed, the top of which is
at the correct water line or level.
Another modification is the use of a separate float to regulate the water
valve, in which case the following arrangement is preferred:-A partition
divides the front chamber of meter vertically into two unequal parts, the
smaller part being of just sufficient width to enclose the float and gas valvo
box, which is of the usual construction, and there is a communication under
the water line between this float chamber and the drum case. The gas on
entering this chamber through the valve is conveyed by a pipe down to the
waste box, from which it passes into the drum, as already described. The top
of this pipe may be at the correct water line, or it may be higher, and the top
of the syphon pipe be at the correct height. The upper portion of the
remaining part of the front chamber is partitioned off for supply fountain, and
the water valve is fixed in the partition plate, which forms the bottom of the
fountain, and is acted on by the rising and falling of a float in the front
chamber to which it is attached, in a manner similar to that herein-before
described. The usual communication is provided between the front chamber
and drum case, allowing the water to rise equally in both.
In the first described arrangement the hole in bottom of gas valve box,
through which the spindle passes, answers the purpose of a vent and overflow
to the fountain, and the same object is effected in the latter plan by a com-
munication between the top of fountain and gas valve box. In both cases the
water is supplied to the tank by a pipe kept constantly sealed.
What I claim is the general arrangement and combination of parts for
maintaining a constantly uniform water level in gas meters by means of a
water supply valve connected to a float in the meter, and regulated by the

page_text: rising and falling of such float, constructed substantially in the manner herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Small Cathels, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
EDMUND SMALL CATHELS. (LS.)