IMPROVEMENTS IN THERMOMETERS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THERMOMETERS."-
A communication from abroad by Jean Baptiste Napoleon Fournier.
and Charles Armand Lemaire, both of Rue St. Sebastien,, Paris, in
the Empire of France.
Sealed the 16th February 1869, and dated the 4th September 1868..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William - Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his.
Petition, on the 4th September 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare tho
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THERMOMETERS," to be
as. follows:-
The object of this Invention is to construct a thermometer which will
not only indicate the temperature of the surrounding air on a graduated.
scale like ordinary thermometers, but will also serve to regulate and

page_text: produce a signal when the temperature rises or falls suddenly from any
cause.
This object is effected by means of a double instrument composed of
a tube and graduated vertical scale on which the liquid will indicate
the temperature as usual; and in addition to this there is at the
upper part of the instrument a graduated metallic sector, the divisions
on which correspond to those on the vertical scale. The index or needle
which indicates on this sector is actuated by the expansion or contraction
of a compound metal rod. The sector scale is slotted or grooved so that
two small metal blocks or clectric armatures may be made to slide
therein. These metal blocks correspond to or are connected with the
two poles of an electric pile or battery, and when the metal index or
needle is brought against one or other of these metal blocks an electric
circuit is completed and is connected with any suitable signal apparatus.
It will be evident that the metal blocks or armatures may be placed at
any point along the groove or slot in the graduated sector, so that the
signalling apparatus may be brought into operation at any desired degree.
of temperature..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said William. Edward Newton in the Great Seal
Patent Office-on, the 4th March, 1869..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL, COME, I,, WILLIAM.
EDWARD NEWTON,, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex,, Civil Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-second
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence
that I, tho said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward
Newton, 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 time therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THERMOMETERS," being a communication to me from
Jean Baptiste Napoleon Fournier and Charles Armand Lemaire, of Paris,
in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, 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 Scal 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 Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is
to say):-
:-
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents,
relates to certain well-known thermometers (composed of a compound
metal body) for shewing the changes of temperature by variations of
form and position.
These improvements consist in the combination and application to the
above-mentioned apparatus of special arrangements having for their
object to indicate automatically and at any distance changes of tem-
perature within greater or less limits. For this purpose electric currents
are employed, which are set up or broken by the movements of the
thermometer proper, and which actuate bells, dials, or other indicating
apparatus, thus shewing the variations of temperature which may arise
from various causes. In certain cases electric currents are employed
(controlled by the thermometer) for regulating gas or other heating
apparatus, and thus obtaining automatically regular and determined
temperatures in apartments, shops, hothouses, &c.
The nature and object of the Invention will be fully understood by
the following description, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is an exterior clevation of a signalling thermo-
meter shewing the temperature on a dial, and capable of signalling at a
distance depressions or elevations of temperature within limits which
may be regulated at pleasure; Fig. 2 shows the internal arrangement

page_text: the instrument; Fig. 3 is a partial section taken through the axis of the
index or pointer.
It will be seen in these Figures that the compound metal rod A carries
at its moveable extremity a toothed sector a; it is fixed at b, and is regu-
lated by means of the screw v. The sector a takes into another toothed
sector c, attached to and working on the axle of the pointer C (see Fig. 3).
A graduated dial is mounted behind the pointer, and upon this dial are two
moveable runners or stops D and D¹. The shaft of the needle is mounted
in a socket of some insulating material, and is in contact with the bridge
piece E, upon the tail of which is the conducting wire leading from the
negative pole of the battery. The stops D, D', which are isolated from
the needle, are constantly in contact with the dial B, which is connected
with the positive pole, and they are furnished with a projecting tube x,
the use of which will be hereafter explained. The whole mechanism is
mounted upon a plate K of some insulating material, enclosed in a box L
of cast iron or other suitable material.
The instrument is employed in the following manner :-Suppose it
be required to maintain a temperature of from ten to twenty degrees,
the stop D is placed upon ten and the stop D¹ upon twenty; the
pointer C being kept between these two points as long as the temperature
is nearly regular; if it should vary beyond the prescribed limits (from
ten degrees to twenty degrees) the pointer C will come in contact with
one of the projections 2, and will complete the electric circuit which
operates the signalling apparatus, which may consist of a bell or other
similar apparatus.
In certain cases the stops may be insulated the one from the other
so as to give one signal for elevation of temperature and another for
depression. The modifications required to be made in the instrument for
this purpose will be readily understood by any competent person.
This last arrangement may be combined with a gas-heating apparatus,
regulated by means of electric mechanism, instead of the signalling
apparatus, for elevation of temperature and communieating conse-
quently with the stop D'. The stop D will be inoperative or remain in
communication with an ordinary signalling apparatus.
Figures 4 and 5 shew the apparatus arranged suitably for regulating
gas-heating apparatus by the thermometer; it is composed of a gas
pipe G, in which is a valve s operated by the clectro-magnets F. When
the temperature is suitable the parts are in the position represented in

page_text: the Drawing, but on the temperature being raised above the limit fixed
by the stop D' the electric circuit will be completed, the electro-
magnets F will be brought into action and will attract the soft metal
plate (or armature) f. This latter is mounted upon a flexible steel
blade 2, which carries with it the valve 8, and draws it into its seat in
the gas pipe; this will stop the passage of the gas and consequently
extinguish the flame. Care must be taken to have a gas tube inde-
pendent of the apparatus for the purpose of keeping up a small burner
which serves to relight the heating apparatus when the valve s is opened,
in consequence of the lowering of the temperature and of the inter-
ruption of the electric circuit resulting therefrom, the parts resuming
their primitive position by the action of the spring l.
Figures 6 and 7 shew an arrangement of bobbin or coil, the central
iron fof which is hollow and serves for the passage of the gas. When
the electric current is established the valve s will by magnetic attraction
be drawn into its seat and impede the passage of the gas, and on the
electric circuit being broken the valve will be caused to open by means
of a spring or by its own weight if the bobbin be placed vertically, and
the gas will thus be again allowed to pass. The iron pipe f may be
replaced by a copper tubet (Figures 8 and 9) provided at its exterior
with soft iron wires soldered on to it. The magnetic action would be
more efficacious in this arrangement.
Figures 10 and 11 shew, in front and side views, an arrangement
of signalling thermometer which is capable of giving several signals
of elevation or depression of temperature. The compound 'metal
blades A, A', which may be two or more in number, carry at their extre-
mities thin steel blades a, a', which by variations of temperature come
in contact with screws v, v', the position of which is regulated to
correspond to determined limits of temperature. This contact will set
up an electric current, which may be utilized as in the former instance.
The apparatus is employed as follows:-The screws are regulated the
one at ten degrees and the other at twenty degrees, for example, and the
screws v', ', the one at eight degrees and the other at twenty-two
degrees. The blade A, which corresponds to the screws v, will therefore
first give a signal of elevation or depression when required; if the
elevation or depression of temperature continues the blade A' will signal
in its turu. The first signal may be given to the overlooker who has
charge of the heating department, and the second to the head of the

page_text: establishment, or these two signals may be utilized in any other manner
according to circumstances.
Figures 12 and 13 shew, in section and outside view, an instrument
arranged in a manner somewhat different from the preceding. The
compound metallic blade A carries at its extremity two thin steel
blades a, a, which by variations of temperature are caused to come in
contact with one or the other of the cams C, C', and thereby complete
an electric circuit. For this purpose these cams are mounted upon the
same axis as the graduated dials B, B', and are insulated from the
blade A. It will be understood that this instrument, like the preceding
ones, may indicate elevations and depressions of temperature, the dials B
and B' being for that purpose set to the degrees which arc to serve as a
limit to the temperature required.
The apparatus represented at Figures 14 and 15, in vertical section
and plan, only gives one signal, viz. that of elevation of temperature.
It is composed of a tube pierced with holes K, in which is the compound
'metal tube insulated from the said tube. A cam C is mounted upon
the same axis as a graduated plate B, and is of the same form as those
shewn at Fig. 6. The two stops b, b', are in communication, the one
with the blade A and the other with the cam, and respectively carry the
wires leading from each pole of the battery. The whole is mounted
upon a plate P of some insulating material (such as slate or horn, for
instance), so that on an elevation of temperaturo taking place which
shall exceed the limit determined by the plate B, the blade A will come
in contact with the cam C and complete the electric circuit, setting in
action either a signalling apparatus or a heat regulator, such as that
shewn at Figures 10 and 11.
It will be understood that these various arrangements of signalling
apparatus may be variously modified and combined according to the
purposes for which they are intended to be applied. They may be
advantageously applied as well for indicating the temperature of air and
gases as for liquids of all kinds, and even for solid matters, such as
agglomerations of organic matters which are susceptible of fermentation
in the mass without its being perceptible outside. One of these instru-
ments buried in a mass of solid matters, such as those above mentioned,
will immediately indicate with precision any elevation of temperature
which always accompanies fermentation, and may prevent considerable
accidents and losses.

page_text: Having now described the nature of these "Improvements in Thermo-
meters," and having explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, I desire
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,―
First. The combination and construction of thermometers with com-
pound metallic blades indicating visibly the temperature of solid liquid
or gaseous masses. in the same manner as ordinary thermometers, and
signalling at a distance the elevations or depressions of temperature
beyond determined limits..
Secondly. The various. arrangements of mechanism by means of which
the limits within which the heat is. to be maintained may be regulated at
pleasure.
Thirdly. The combination of signalling thermometers with a regulating.
apparatus for heating by gas, as hercin set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)