Certain Improvements in Prepayment Gas Meters."
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Sept.. 1894-Accepted, 17th Nov., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Certain Improvements in Prepayment Gas Meters."
I, WILLIAM NEVE MILSTED of 508 West 22nd Street, in the City of New
York, State of New York, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to certain improvements in gas meters in which automatic
vending mechanism is used, so that a consumer may purchase a certain amount of
gas by simply placing a coin in a receiver, so connected to the meter as to
allow a certain number of feet to be used for the amount. For instance, in
the mechanism which I shall describe, the apparatus is arranged to receive silver
quarter dollars, and the apparatus is so connected to the meter mechanism that,
for instance, if the gas is selling at one dollar and twenty-five cents a thousand
feet, the mechanism would be so timed that upon the insertion of the quarter
dollar, two hundred feet of gas could be used before stoppage of the mechanism,
and the meter shown in the drawings is so arranged that five quarters can be
fed into the apparatus, so that one dollar and twenty-five cents' worth of gas,
or one thousand feet, can be paid for at one time. Thus a person can pay for
gas in small instalments, rather than wait until the sum accumulates, and is likely
to take more care in using gas.
In the accompanying drawings
Fig. 1 is a front view of a meter illustrating my invention.
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan on the line 2-2, of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation on the line 3-3, of Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is a sectional plan on the line 4-4, of Fig. 3.
Figs. 5 and 6 are perspective views of details and
Fig. 7, 8 and 9 shew modifications of portions of the apparatus.
A is the meter casing of the usual construction, having a dial plate B ou
which are the dials for the feet, indicating the measurement by thousands, tens
and hundreds of thousands; I also provide an extra dial, showing by the
hand c on shaft C the number of cubic feet paid for but not used.
Although the dial b is shewn extending only to one thousand feet, it may obviously
include more or less than one thousand feet. The shaft C has at its opposite
end, within the meter casing, an arm C bearing against a sliding worm Dou
a spindle D' squared or polygonal or provided with a feather, mounted in
bearings a a on the index plate. This worm D gears with a pinion e on the
shaft E of the indicator of the one thousand feet dial shown in Fig. 1. The
shaft D is turned by a coin controlled mechanism, so that when a quarter
dollar is placed in position and the coin controlled mechanism turned, it turns
the shaft D', and the worm D is fed forward, the pinion e acting as a fixed nut
for the worm.
:
By introducing suitable wheels between the spindle K² and D', the latter might
be turned in the reverse direction when necessary.

page_text: As the worm is fed forward in the direction of the arrow Fig. 3, it moves the
arm C¹ in the direction of the arrow, and as this arm is on the spindle C, the
hand c is moved in the direction of its arrow to the two hundred point. When
this amount of gas is used, the spindle E of the indicator mechanism pushes the
worm D back to its normal position, and the arm C₁ follows, being pressed by a
spring always against the end of the worm D.
In order to arrest the operation of the meter when the worm has reached the
limit of its rearward movement, 1 pivot an arm F on a bracket a projecting from
the index plate and one end of this arm is urged by a spring to fall in front
of the worm D, the other arm f' extends into the path of an arm g of the rod G
a piu f³ on the arm f¹ checking the movement of the arm g and consequently checking
the movement of the rod, which carries one of the heads of the bellows of the
meter, thus the bellows cannot move their full distance, and the valve mechanism
controlled by the rod cannot make its full throw and consequently the meter is
stopped and the supply of gas is cut off.
A spring pawl pivotted to the arm of the lever F, yields when the
spindle D' is turned on the insertion of a coin, and the arm of the lever F being
pushed out by the worm D, the arm is moved clear of the arm 9 allowing the
meter to measure again.
While I do not confine myself to the use of any particular construction of coin
receptacle and contained mechanism a form of coin operating mechanism which
may be used but which I do not here claim is shown in Fig. 3 and consists of a
box H, secured to one side of the meter having in its bottom a money receptacle /
confined to the box by a bar h', which is pivotted at h², and receives a staple /³
for a padlock. The money receptacle might obviously be otherwise secured.
In the upper part of the box is a coin slot i and directly under the top is a disc I,
having a coin slot, and provided with a handle 2 by which it is turned. This
disc is mounted on a vertical stud J carried by a bracket J¹, attached to the side
of the box H. When a coin is inserted in the slot in the disc I, the disc must be
moved in the direction of the arrow to the discharge point to register, and then
must be moved back. It cannot be turned a full turn as it is stopped by a
projection on the casing, meeting a projection J* on the disc.
Directly under the disc I is a disc K having a coin slot k, which must coincide
with the slot in the disc I, and with the slot i in the casing before a coin can be
inserted, and when a coin is inserted, as shown in Fig. 3, the coin itself locks the
dise to the disc K, and they both travel forward together to the point of
discharge, which in the present instance, is in the opposite side of the casing, as
shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. This disc K is fixed to the hollow shaft K¹, to
which is attached the bevel wheel k' gearing with a bevel pinion k³ on the spindle K².
This spindle extends into the meter, and has on it a wheel h³ which gears with a
wheel d on the spindle D', so that when the disc K is turned the shaft D' is also
turned to an extent dependent upon the manner in which the disc is geared to the
spindle, so that the worm D is fed forward the required distance.
On the boss of the wheel is a ratchet wheel k with which is engaged a spring
pawl k pivotted on the bracket J. This pawl prevents the wheel from turning
back with the disc K. The disc K is connected to the hollow shaft K', by the
pawl carried by the disc, engaging a ratchet carried by the shaft, so that while
the shaft K' must travel forward with the disc K, it is prevented from returning by
the pawl A, the pawl of the disc passing freely over its ratchet.
The depending portion i³ of the disc. I on its return movement, strikes against the
projection on the disc K, so that the disc K is turned back with the disc I, and
both are stopped in proper position directly under the slot i in the case, by the
stop h, as shown in Fig. 4.
M is a plate mounted on the shaft K', and fixed to the casing by a pin j¹ tapped
into the bracket J¹ and extending into one of the holes m in the plate, as shown
in Fig. 5.
This plate has a coin slot m² and a lug m² adapted to stop the rotation of the

page_text: disc K, a lug on the disc coming in contact with the lug m³ when the discs 1 and K
are turned, so that when their coin slots coincide with the coin slot m' the coin is
released from the discs I and K, and falls into the receptacle through the slot m¹.
On the upper face of this plate M are ratchet teeth m² with which the lower
edge of the coin engages, so that as it is moved forward, it passes over these ratchet
teeth but cannot return. Thus the disc cannot be turned backward and forward.
The plate M can be adjusted by setting the pin j' in any one of the different holes,
according to the price of gas. If the plate is now set for gas at one dollar and
twenty-five cents a thousand feet, and if the gas is less than one dollar and twenty-five
cents a thousand feet, the plate is turned so that the distance between the coin slot i
and the coin slot m' is greater, but if it is more than one dollar a thousand feet, the
plate is moved so as to shorten the distance between the two coin slots.
On the edge of the plate M, as shown in Fig. 5, are a series of numbers, indicating
prices of the gas and in the casing H is a glazed sight hole through which can be
seen the division at which the plate M is set.
In Fig. 7 I have shown a modification of the mechanism within the meter,
dispensing with the travelling worm D and substituting a fixed worin D2 on the
spindle D, which engages with a worm wheel n, having an internal gear n' engaging
with a pinion on a segment q which is loose on the spindle E, this pinion gearing
with a toothed wheel fixed on the shaft E. The spindle C carrying the hand c is
geared to q' by the segment y, thus when the spindle D' is driven, the segment q'is
driven in one direction by the gears nn', but when the meter is working, the
segment is moved in the opposite direction, the teeth n² acting as a stationary
rack.
The pivoted lever F is actuated by an independent segment attached to q'.
In Fig. 8 I have shown a modification of this gearing, in which the arm P¹
carries two sets of gear secured together, one less in diameter than the other,
and the larger gearing with a pinion on the spindle E, while the smaller gears
with a larger wheel driven by a worm D2 on the spindle D'.
In Fig. 9 I have shown a similar arrangement, using bevel gear, the arm pl
carrying the bevel gear wheel p², and this wheel gearing with the wheels n
and nt, the wheel n³ being driven from the spindle D₁ through the bevel pinion n³,
and the wheel wheel n being driven by the spindle E.
Although I have described the apparatus as being adapted for dollars, obviously
the same mechanism can be adapted for any other coinage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said iuven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of the coin receptacle, mechanism therein driven on insertion
of the coin, the spindle K2 geared to said mechanism, the spindle D' geared
to K, the worm D sliding on and turning with D¹, the registering spindle E
geared to the worm, the arm C₁ bearing against the worm, and the hand c
arranged to travel over dial b, substantially as described.
2. In combination with the mechanism referred to in the preceding claim,
the lever F engaging with the flag wire arm so as to stop the meter and cut
off the supply of gas, substantially as described.
Dated this 18th day of September 1894.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for Applicant.