IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OF AIR, GAS, AND OTHER LIQUIDS, AND FOR GOVERNING THE SPEED OF STEAM OR OTHER ENGINES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Peace, of Haigh, near Wigan, in the
County of Lancaster, Mining Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGISTERING THE FLOW
OF AIR, GAS, AND OTHER LIQUIDS, AND FOR GOVERNING THE SPEED OF STEAM OR
OTHER ENGINES."
"
า
Sealed the 17th August 1854, and dated the 10th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Peace at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
March 1854.
I, WILLIAM PEACE, of Haigh, near Wigan, in the County of Lancaster,
Mining Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGISTERING THE
FLOW OF AIR, GAS, AND OTHER LIQUIDS, AND FOR GOVERNING THE SPEED OF STEAM OR
OTHER ENGINES," to be as follows:-
When my improved machinery is applied to measuring and indicating the
quantity of air entering a coal mine, or for other similar purposes, it consists
of a beam similar to a scale beam, to one end of which is attached a string or
wire, and to the other a counterweight; this string or wire is prolonged into
the current of air intended to be measured, and to the extremity thereof is
fixed a disk, cone, or other shaped body, the surface of which will be acted upon
with a force proportionate to the velocity of the current. To the centre of
this beam is fixed a pointer projecting through a box, case, or frame in which
the above-described machinery is fixed; the end of this pointer revolves round
a graduated circle, or a part of a circle. The disk, cone, or other shaped body

page_text: at the end of the string or wire must be accurately balanced by the weight at
the other end of the beam.
The action of the current of air on the disk depresses more or less the end
of the beam to which it is suspended, so as to move the pointer attached to
the centre thereof, thereby indicating the strength of the current. To the
centre of the said beam is affixed a counter beam or lever furnished with a
weight, or it may be acted upon by a spring; this counter beam moves with
the main beam, and is so arranged that when the instrument is in a still
atmosphere it hangs perpendicularly, and the pointer under the same circum-
stances is made to indicate zero. When the disk is acted upon by a current, the
beam is thereby moved, and the counter beam is deflected from the perpendicular,
the resistance of the weight or spring increasing in proportion to the increased
strength of the current. This machinery may also be constructed so as to indicate
the quantity of air, gas, and other fluids passing through pipes; for this pur-
pose it is generally preferable to attach the disk directly to a spring or balance
weight, so as to act upon them or either of them proportionately to the force
of the current. Now the registration of the quantities of air, gas, water, and
other fluids flowing in such current is performed by the adaptation of clock-
work attached to a cylinder or cylinders, round which cylinders are wound
sheets of paper, which sheets are so moved by the cylinders as to be constantly
in contact with the pointer before mentioned, or a marker attached to another
part of the instrument. As the pointer is moved by the action of the current,
it or the marker will be moved nearer to or further from one or other sides of
the sheets of paper, which sheets being in constant motion by the said clock-
work, and being marked into spaces of hours or other intervals, will shew the
strength of the current, and the volume thereof at any given time. When
my improvements are applied to governing the speed of steam engines, I dis-
pense with the pointers herein-before referred to, and connect a lever, fixed to
the axis of the disk, to the valve by which steam is supplied to the engine.
A slight modification of this arrangement may be applied to govern the quantity
of water admitted to a water wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Peace in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PEACE, of Haigh, near Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, Mining Engineer,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Peace, Her special license that
the said William Peace, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Peace, 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 MACHINERY FOR
MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OF AIR, GAS, AND OTHER
LIQUIDS, AND FOR GOVERNING THE SPEED OF STEAM OR OTHER ENGINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Peace, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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
I said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Peace, 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 state-
ment, that is to say :-
The nature of my Invention consists in causing air, gas, or other liquids,
the flow of which is to be measured and indicated, to impinge against a body
suspended to a balanced beam connected to an index.
Secondly, in registering the flow of liquids by means of a marker, to which a
varying motion corresponding to the flow of the liquid to be registered is given
by the balanced beam above referred to, the said marker being held in contact
with a paper or other surface, to which motion is given by clock-work; and,
Lastly, in governing the speed of steam or other engines by means of a lever
connected to the balanced beam above referred to, and to the valve or other
agent through which the steam or other fluid passes to the engine.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
the manner of performing the same.

page_text: In this view the dial plate is removed, in order to show the construction of the
interior. Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a front
view of the same; a is a beam fixed on the axis b, supported in bearings
attached to the case c. To one end of the beam a is attached the string or
wire d, and cone e; this cone or other shaped body is suspended in the down
shaft of the mine at a distance of twenty feet, or more or less, from the surface
of the bank. To the other end of the beam a is attached the string or wire f,
To the
and weight g, which counterbalance the string or wire d, and cone e.
axis of the beam is fixed the toothed segment h, which gears into and gives
motion to the pinion i, fixed on the same axis as the pointer j. Upon the axis
bis also fixed the counterbeam or lever k, and weight/; the office of this counter-
beam or lever k, and weight l, is to hold the pointer; at zero. When the parts
are in a state of rest a spring or springs may be used in place of the weight /;
but I prefer a weight, as it is more positive in its action. The mode of opera-
tion is as follows:-The various parts are drawn in the positions they occupy
when the pointer is at zero, or when little or no air is descending the down shaft;
as soon as the current of air descending the down shaft acting on the cone e
is sufficiently strong to depress the said cone, the counterbeam or lever k is
deflected from the perpendicular, and at the same time the segment h and
pinion i move the pointer j in the direction of the arrow in Figure 3. When
the pointer points to the figure 10,000, it indicates that the flow of air de-
scending the down shaft is supplying ten thousand feet of air in a minute to
the mine, and as the quantity of descending air increases, the pointer gradually
approaches the figure 120,000. It is evident, that as the current increases in
the down shaft, so does the deflection of the counterbeam or lever k, and the
resistance of the weight 1; consequently the graduations on the dial plate are
nearer together in proportion to the increased strength of the current. By
means of this machinery, which is intended to be placed in some conspicuous
position at the top of any pit or shaft, any person on looking at the pointer j
may ascertain the quantity of air descending into such pit or shaft, and con-
sequently the efficiency or otherwise of the furnace or other means of producing
ventilation.
When my improved machinery is employed to indicate the flow of air, gas,
and other liquids passing through pipes, I attach the body against which the
liquid impinges to a lever fixed on the shaft of the beam a, which shaft would
require to be prolonged and carried through a stuffing box into the pipe
through which the liquid is passing.
My improvements in machinery for registering the flow of air, gas, and
other liquids, consist in attaching a marker to the pointer i, or to any other

page_text: part of the machinery above described, that is put in motion by the cone or
other body marked e; this marker is held in contact with the circumference
of a cylinder, around which is wound paper or other suitable material; this
cylinder is made to revolve by clock-work. As the marker is moved by the
action of the liquid whose flow is to be registered, and the cylinder is moved
by clock-work, it is evident that if the paper or other material on the cylinder
be divided into spaces of hours or other intervals, the varying motion imparted
to the marker will register the strength of the current and the volume thereof
at any given time.
My improvements in machinery for governing the speed of steam engines
consist in fixing a lever to the axis of the beam a, and in connecting this
lever to the valve by which steam is supplied to the engine; in this instance
the pointer j and parts connected therewith are not required. When my
provements are applied to govern the quantity of water supplied to a water
wheel, the lever fixed to the axis of the beam a is connected to the machinery
by which the water gate or clow is raised and lowered.
im-
per-
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
forming the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the
details set forth; but what I do claim is,-
First, the general arrangement of the machinery herein-before described
and shewn in the Drawing for measuring and indicating the flow of air, gas,
and other liquids, and particularly the body e, and counterbeam or lever k.
Secondly, the combination of the machinery described, and the cylinder on
which the marker acts for registering the flow of air, gas, and other liquids.
And, lastly, the combination of machinery described for governing the speed
of steam or other engines.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Peace, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
WILL PEACE. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named W Peace in the presence of
H. B. BARLOW,.
Patent Agent,
Manchester.