IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WET GAS METERS."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hyam Jacob Hyams, of Holywell Street, in the City
of Westminster, Gas Meter Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WET GAS METERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hyam Jacob Hyams at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on
the 18th August 1859.
1, HYAM JACOB HYAMS, of Holywell Street, in the City of Westminster,
Gas Meter Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WET GAS METERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the means of maintaining the
water level in wet meters, and thereby insuring correct measurement of
the gas passed through the meter.
In carrying out my Invention, I use the waste box as the reservoir for
supplying water to the line reservoir to compensate for the loss by evaporation,
and the water I raise to the higher elevation by rotating buckets, or
reciprocating trough or troughs, or other equivalent lifting apparatus. When
I use rotating buckets, I mount them on the axle of the measuring drum and
thus actuate them without the intervention of gearing, and so also when adopting
the system of reciprocating troughs (a pair of which I prefer to employ) I
work them by the direct action of a crank arm on the drum axle. For
adjusting the water level in the chamber in which the measuring drum revolves
I form a sliding gate which, according to its adjusted height, gauges the
maximum level of the water in that chamber. The water to compensate for
evaporation may also be lifted by means of a rotating helical tube, or an

page_text: archimedean screw driven by gearing connected with the drum axle; or the
archimedean screw may be itself the drum axle. In this case the drum will
be set at an incline instead of vertically, and the axle will be inserted in a
fixed pipe, which forms a channel for the passage of the gas from the supply
pipe to the drum. Thus simultaneously with the rotation of the drum will
the small supply of water required to compensate for the loss by evaporation
be lifted from the waste box and discharged into the water level reservoir.
In order to prevent the level of the water being tampered with, I propose to
hang a clack valve so as to control the water supply, and overflow pipe, and
when suction or force is applied to such pipes, close the aperture of the same
and cut off access to the interior of the meter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hyam Jacob Hyams in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HYAM JACOB
HYAMS, of Holywell Street, in the City of Westminster, Gas Meter Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of August in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Hyam Jacob Hyams, Her special license that I, the said
Hyam Jacob Hyams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Elyam Jacob Hyams, 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WET GAS METERS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Hyam Jacob Hyams, 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 said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hyam Jacob Hyams do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
==
This Invention of "Improvements in the Construction of Wet Gas Meters"
relates to improvements in the means of maintaining the water level in wet
méters, and thereby insuring correct measurement of the gas passed through
the meter.
In carrying out my Invention, I use the waste box as the reservoir for
supplying water to a supplementary cistern, vessel, or chamber, which maintains
the proper water line or level, and thereby compensates for the loss of water
by evaporation. The water to supply the supplementary cistern, is raised
from the waste water reservoir to the supplementary cistern or chamber
placed at a higher elevation, by means of rotating buckets, or by a
reciprocating trough or troughs, or other equivalent lifting apparatus. When
I use rotating buckets, which is the plan I prefer, I attach them to the end
of arms which are mounted on the axle of the rotating measuring drum, and
thus the buckets are actuated, without the intervention of gearing, and so also
when adopting the system of reciprocating troughs (which I prefer to employ
in pairs,) I work them, by the direct action of a crank arm, on the drum axle.
For adjusting the water level in the measuring chamber, in which the
measuring drum revolves, I form a sliding gate in the supplementary
chamber or cistern, and which sliding gate, according to its adjusted height,
gauges the maximum level of the water in that chamber. The water to
compensate for evaporation, may also be lifted from the waste water
reservoir into the supplementary cistern by means of a rotating helical
tube, or an archimedean screw driven by gearing connected with the drum
axle. Or the archimedean screw may be itself the drum axle. In this latter
case the drum will be set at an inclination instead of being mounted on a
horizontal axle, and the axle of the inclined drum will be inserted in a fixed
pipe which forms a channel for the passage of the gas from the supply pipe to
the drum. Thus simultaneously with the rotation of the drum will the small
supply of water required to compensate for the loss by evaporation be lifted
from the waste water box, and be discharged into the supplementary cistern,
which forms the water level vessel or chamber.
In order to prevent the level of the water from being tampered with, I
adapt a clack valve to the supply and overflow pipe, so as to control the flow
of water, and when suction or force is applied to such pipes, the clack valve
will close the aperture of the same and will cut off access to the interior of
the meter.

page_text: In Sheet .I. of the accompanying Drawings I have shewn several views of a
wet meter with my improved contrivance for maintaining the level of the
water in the measuring cistern adapted thereto. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of
one form of my improved apparatus adapted to a water meter, the front part of
the casing being removed in order that the internal arrangement may be more
clearly shewn; Fig 2. is a plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is.a side elevation
with part of the outer casing removed and some of the parts shewn in section,
so as to expose the internal mechanism.. A modification of the arrangement
of parts represented in the former Figures is shewn in Fig. 4, which is a
transverse vertical section of a meter shewing the principal novel parts. In
all these Figures a, a, is the outer case; b, b, is the waste water cistern which
forms a reservoir to supply the small semicircular supplementary cistern,
chamber, or vessel c above; d is the axle of the measuring drum, which is not
shewn in the Drawing, but is contained in the cylindrical part a of the case as
usual. An endless screw or snail-e, on the axle d, gears into and drives a
horizontal worm wheel f, whereby the indicating apparatus.not shewn in the
Drawings, but contained in the box a*, (Figures 1 and 3), is actuated in the
usual manner. A short shaft g is jointed. to the, end of the shaft d, on which
the measuring chamber is mounted, and in fact forms a continuation of the
shaft d, and consequently rotates therewith; this short shaft 9 passes through
a stuffing box g*, fixed to the front of the supplementary cistern or chamber c;
and shewn detached in section at Fig. 5. The short shaft g. carries at its
outer end two arms h, h, at the extremities of which are fixed the buckets
or small vessels i, i. The ends of these arms h, h, are cranked or bent at
right angles as,shewn in Figures 2 and 3, so that as the shafts d. and g
together with the measuring chamber rotate, they will carry round the
arms in front of the supplementary chamber. or vessel c, and the vessels or
buckets i, i, at the end of the arms 'h, will be thereby carried over the open top.
of the vessel c, and in so doing will discharge into that vessel the water they.
have taken up by dipping into the waste water at the bottom of the vessel b, b,
as shewn in Fig. 3. It will of course be understood that a supply. of: water
should always be kept in the waste water box or reservoir.b, b, so that the
buckets i, i, as they rotate may be enabled continually to take up a small
quantity of water and discharge it into the chamber: or vessel c, from whence
it will flow into the measuring chamber through the opening c shewn by dots
in. Fig. 1, and thereby the water in the measuring chamber is always kept at
the
proper level. As the buckets are always.raising or delivering water into
the supplementary cistern, or chamber c, when the meter is in action it will be
easily understood that there will be an excessive supply of water to the

page_text: vessel c, and the measuring chamber which communicates with it. This ex-
cessive supply will not, however, interfere with the proper action of the meter
as any excess of water discharged into the supplementary cistern or chamber ċ
will run over the adjustable water gate j, and fall back into the waste water
reservoir 6 to be again lifted up by the buckets i, i. It will be seen that the
water gatej is arranged to move vertically in guides adapted to the vessel c,
so that by raising or lowering this gate the level of water in the vessel c, and
consequently in the measuring chamber that communicates therewith, may be
regulated with accuracy. Water is supplied to the meter through the pipe k;
(Figures 1, 2, and 8,) and is conducted by this pipe into the measuring
chamber a, from whence, when the water has risen therein to a proper level;
the surplus will flow out through an aperture into the vessel c, until the latter
is also filled. The water will then run over the water gate j, and fall into the
waste water reservoir b, which may be provided with a waste opening 1, as
usual, to allow the water to run off when it reaches a certain level in the
vessel b. The gas enters the meter through the pipe m, and enters a small
chamber m, in which is an opening provided with a valve attached to the
upper end of the stem of a float n, which floats on the water in the waste
water reservoir b, so that when the water in this reservoir sinks below a given
level, the valve at the upper end of the stem of the float will drop on to its seat
until it is again raised by supplying the meter with more water. The gas
having passed into the vessel b, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, fills this
space and then passes down the pipe o (Figures 1 and 2) into the measuring
chamber. On referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that this pipe o extends
down through the bottom of the vessel 'c, and is open at its lower extremity,
and the gas passes from the pipe o through a branch pipe as shewn by dots in
Figure 2. It will now be evident that if too much water be supplied to the
meter, so as to raise the level of the water in the vessel b, it will run up the
pipe o, and ultimately close the opening of the branch pipe that conducts the
gas from the pipe o, into the measuring chamber. The action of the meter
will therefore be stopped until the surplus water be drawn off, so as to open
the passage to the gas. It will be evident that the float whereby the inlet
valve is regulated may, if desired, be placed in the vessel c; instead of in the
waste water vessel as shewn in the Drawings.
i
The gas after having passed through the measuring drum, and been
measured, will issue therefrom and escape from the meter through the pipe p;
as usual. It will be seen on referring to Fig. 3, that the water upon being
poured into the pipe k, enters a small chamber or box k*, in which is a clack
valve., which is suspended immediately in front of the end of the pipe k.

page_text: The use of this valve is to prevent any water from being surreptitiously drawn
out of the measuring chamber, as immediately such an operation is attempted
by suction the valve q will fall against the end of the pipe k, and by closing
the same will prevent the water from running out.
A modification of this contrivance is shewn in Fig. 4. In this instance the
chamber or vessel c is closed at top by a plate c', at the centre of which is a
small hole to allow the water that is deposited thereon by the buckets i, i, to
run into a box k*, which is provided with a clack valve q, as in the former
instance. It will be perfectly evident that by this arrangement it would be
impossible by suction or tilting to draw out or remove the water from the
measuring chamber.
Figures 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, in Sheet II., represent another form or arrange-
ment of parts for maintaining the water level in the measuring chamber. In
this arrangement the water is raised from the waste-water reservoir by means
of an archimedean screw contained within the central axle of the measuring
drum. Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section of the meter. Fig. 7 is a side
elevation of the principal internal parts, the side casing of the meter having
been removed in order that they may be clearly seen. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal
section of the measuring drum, which is divided into four compartments by
means of inclined partitions as shewn. Fig. 9 is a partial transverse section
of the same; and Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of the hollow axle of the
measuring drum, shewing the archimedean screw contained therein. On
referring to Fig. 6, it will be seen that the meter is divided into two parts by
an inclined partition r, r, which is provided with an adjustable water gate j,
whereby the height of the water in the chamber a, a, may be regulated as in
the former instance. The hollow axle d of the measuring drum d* is placed
in an inclined position as seen in Fig. 6, its lower end being supported in a
step d', and its upper end passing through a stuffing box g. A toothed wheel c,
keyed to this axle d, drives the indicating apparatus in the usual manner.
The hollow axle d is open at its lower end, and is provided internally with an
archimedean screw h (Fig. 10) which rotates with it, and in so doing conveys
a small quantity of water up the screw, and delivers it from an aperture i, into
the open part a, in which the measuring drum rotates. It will be seen that
whenever the drum is in motion the archimedean screw will raise a small
quantity of water at each revolution; and will thereby constantly maintain the
proper water level in the chamber a, any excess of water being discharged
over the water gate j; into the waste-water reservoir. The water is supplied
to the chamber a of the meter, in the first instance, through an opening and
syphon pipe k, (Fig. 7), at the top of the meter, and when the chamber a is

page_text: filled up to the level of the water gate j, the water will run over into thé
waste water reservoir b, until it reaches the top of the syphon pipe l, from the
outer end of which it will run out when the meter has received a proper
quantity of water. The gas is supplied to the metre through a pipe m,
and is conveyed by a horizontal channel m³, to the valve box m², in which is
an opening provided with a valve attached to the upper end of the stem of a
float n, as in the former instance. The gas on passing from the box m², enters
a chamber m*, which communicates with an annular space m* surrounding
the hollow spindle d. After passing up the annular space m as indicated by
the arrows in the Figures, the gas enters a chamber a*, which encloses the
measuring drum, and passes into the interior of the drum through openings s;
and as the gas enters the compartment of the drum it causes the latter to
rotate until the openings, passes below the surface of the water, when no
more gas can enter that compartment. In the meantime an opening s, of
another compartment has risen above the surface, and gas will enter the second
compartment, and so on with all four compartments until the axle has made
a complete revolution, the gas in the meantime having escaped from the
several compartments in succession into spaces t, from whence it issues into
the space a of the meter, and ultimately passes out through the exit pipe as
is well understood.
Fig. 11, Sheet III., is a sectional view of another modification, in which
the supplementary cistern c is supplied with water from the waste-water
reservoir, by means of reciprocating scoops or bent pipes connected to and
actuated by a crank mounted on the end of the axle d of the measuring drum.
h, h, are the scoops or bent pipes, which are mounted on centres u, u, fixed on
the front of the supplementary cistern c; the inner ends of these scoops or
bent pipes are connected by means of the links or bars h*, h*, to the crank g*,
on the end of the axle d; it will, therefore, be evident that as the axle d and
crank g* rotate they will draw down the inner ends of the scoops or bent
pipes h, h, and raise up their outer ends into the position indicated by dotted
lines in the Figure. Now as the outer ends of the scoops are bent, and
thereby form a sort of bucket, it will be evident that when they are depressed,
as shewn in the Figure, so as to bring their open ends below the surface of
the water, a small quantity of water will run in, and when the scoops are
raised on their centres, as indicated by the dotted lines, the water contained
therein will run out at the opposite ends of the pipes, and be discharged into
the supplementary cistern or vessel c. In order to facilitate this discharge and
to make room for the end of the axle d and the crank 9* with the rods h*, a
portion of the front of the supplementary vessel or cistern c is made to project

page_text: beyond the rest, as shewn at c* in the Figure.. The water will, therefore, run
out of the scoops h, h, into this part of the cistern, and will thereby maintain
the water level therein as well as in the measuring chamber which communicates
with it.
It will be observed that in all the arrangements above described for main-
taining the water level in the measuring part of the meter the instruments or
contrivances whereby this object is effected are connected directly with the
axle of the measuring drum, instead of being actuated by means of intermediate
appliances, as has heretofore been the case.
A convenient arrangement whereby the introduction of too great a quantity
of water into the meter may be prevented is shewn in sectional elevation at
Fig. 12, in which k is the supply pipe, open at bottom and enclosed within
another pipe k', which passes through and carries the float. As water is poured
through the pipe k it escapes from the bottom thereof, and rises up the pipe k¹
from whence, by means of the branch pipe k, it falls into the vessel c, and
from thence runs into the measuring chamber. When the water in the measur-
ing chamber and the chamber c has run to the proper level the excess will run
over into the waste-water reservoir b, and on rising therein will lift the float
and bring the disc ³ at the bottom of the pipe ke against the lower end of the
pipe k, and close the same, so as to prevent the entrance of any more water.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Construction
of Wet Gas Meters," and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as new in the above-described Invention the means herein
shewn and described of maintaining the proper water level in the measuring
chamber and supplementary cistern c; I also claim the means shewn and
described of preventing the surreptitious abstraction from the meter of water
by suction, tilting, or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hyam Jacob Hyams, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
HYAM JACOB HYAMS. (L.S.)