Improvements in and Relating to Prepayment Meters.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th May, 1897-Accepted, 20th May, 1898
Improvements in and Relating to Prepayment Meters.
I, SIEGFRIED SILBERBERG, of 79 W. 118th Street, in the City and State of New
York, United States of America, Merchant, 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:-
This invention relates to prepayment apparatus for fluid meters of that class in
which it is necessary to insert or deposit a coin or other token, in order to get a supply
of the fluid commodity.
It is desirable to operate such devices with a token otber than a coin, for the
temptation to dishonest persons to break into the receptacle is not then so great.
The token whatever it may be, will be worth a certain amount of money, but as it
is not a legal tender, the temptation to secure it by breaking into the apparatus is not
great.
It has heretofore been proposed to operate gas meters by means of a coin, the
insertion of the coin permitting the quantity of gas to flow which the coin pays for.
In all such devices, as generally constructed, however, the apparatus is constructed to
operate by a coin of a single denomination, as for instance, by a silver twenty-five cent
piece. If more gas or water is desired than a single twenty-five cent piece will pay
for, it is necessary to insert a second or a third before it can be obtained. It is also
found in practice that coins of the same denomination vary in size, due to wear, or to
the fact that they belong to different series. In accordance with my invention, I
propose to use for a token a metal plate of peculiar design, which may be regarded as
a key, and to construct the apparatus to be operated by keys of several designs. In
this way any quantity of the fluid may be obtained by inserting a key of corresponding
design or value, the several keys representing different values.
The invention consists of the construction and combination of parts hereinafter
described and pointed out in the claims. In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a
side elevation of the meter showing the casing containing my improved apparatus
applied to the outside thereof: Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the apparatus constituting
my invention, the cover plate of the case being removed: Fig. 3 is a section on
line x, x, of Fig. 2: Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the apparatus with the end of the casing
removed: Fig. 5 is a section through the counting mechanism in the upper part of
the casing: Fig. 6 is a front view of the key cylinder: Fig. 7 shows three different
designs of key: Fig. 8 is a diagram of the circuits; Figure 9 is a perspective view of
a weighted arm or quadrant attached to the valve stem of the gas inlet pipe.
A represents what we will designate a gas meter, B is the casing containing the
apparatus constituting my invention, which is securely fastened to that wall of the gas
meter in which appears the dials indicating the amount of gas consumed. a is the
inlet pipe, which for the purpose of my invention is passed first into the case B and
through the same, then out by pipe a' and into the meter A, the exit to the consumer
being by pipe a². The section of pipe that passes through the case B is provided
with a valve as by which the flow of gas may be permitted or cut off. On the outside
of the case B is a crank handle 6 on the end of a shaft b¹ extending transversely
through the casing mounted in a suitable frame b². Upon this shaft is a pinion b³
engaging with a rack c¹ on the carriage c. This carriage is mounted upon a dovetail

page_text: guide c² formed in the frame and upon a rod c³ mounted parallel to the guide. This
carriage is adapted to reciprocate from one end of the guide to the other in the case,
it being moved in one direction by means of the crank and pinion, and returned by a
spring c surrounding the rod. The carriage is provided with two lugs c and c
standing opposite each other with a space between them, the lug c being on the end
of an angular bracket c' offset from the carriage. In the front end of the casing B is
set a key cylinder d provided with a key hole d¹: this is adapted to rotate in a barrel
or sleeve d² fixed in the end wall of the casing. A radial bolt. d³ is provided to lock
the cylinder in the sleeve and prevent its rotation, by entering the notch d in the
sleeve. The projection d' from this bolt extends into the key way or hole d¹. The
key cylinder has attached to it inside the case a weight d' which tends to hold the key
hole in its normal vertical position, and this weight carries a bracket ³ upon which is
placed a spring dog d⁹.
The stem of the valve as carries a weighted arm a separately illustrated in
perspective, Figure 9, having an angular projection as normally standing directly
behind the space between the two lugs and ce. The end of this angular extension
bends forward and is provided with a hook a' which engages with the spring dog do and
prevents the arm of the valve from moving. The arm is also provided with a pin a
and it is adapted to swing into the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 2, where it
is caught and held by a spring hook e to which is attached the armature e¹ of an
electro-magnet e². f represents a reciprocating rack bar mounted to slide parallel with
the key carriage c in a guide f¹; the forward end of the rack has a downward
projection which stands immediately in front of, and in the same plane with the
lug c on the carriage. This rack engages with a pinion g having the same number
of teeth as the rack. The pinion in turn engages with an idle wheel g¹ which
engages with another pinion g² placed loosely upon a sleeve 93. The sleeve is
mounted in bearings g₁ g₁ and projects through the outer casing where it is
fitted with a disc go. It also carries a ratchet wheel 96 and another disc g at
its opposite end. The ratchet wheel is located close to the pinion 92 and the
latter carries a pawl 98 that engages with the ratchet. h represents a shaft
having bearings at h¹ and passing loosely through the sleeve g³. The outer end
of this shaft carries an index finger h² and adjacent to the disc g7 it carries a
disc h³. These two discs each carry a contact lug i and ¹ which when together
close an electric circuit, as will be hereinafter described. Upon the shaft h is
also a gear wheel h meshing with a wheel of similar size h³ on a shaft j.
shaft is an extension from one of the registering shafts of the meter, say for
instance, the shaft which, in rotating once, indicates a thousand feet of gas. All of the
shafts of the registering device will be extended to indicate on dials in the
frame B on the outside of the frame B, in which is also located the disc g³ and
the index finger h².
The
The token for operating this mechanism is in the form of a key shown in Figure 7.
It consists of a metal plate K having a cam groove k extending throughout its length
and provided near its forward end with two notches k¹ and the former of these is
always of the same size and fits the lug c carried by the carriage. The other notch
varies in length in accordance with its value or the quantity of gas it is capable of
permitting to flow. In the cavity in the side of the carriage immediately back
of the lug is a spring hook o the function of which will be referred to in the
description of the operation which follows.
Let us assume the price of gas to be one dollar per thousand feet and that a
consumer may procure at his pleasure keys K that cost either one dollar, fifty cents,
or twenty-five cents a piece. Such keys will entitle him to one thousand, five hundred
and two hundred and fifty feet of gas, respectively. If he wishes a dollar's worth of
gas he will use key number one in the group Figure 7. He passes the key into the
hole d' and as it moves in, cam groove k¹ engages with the bolt ds and unlocks the
key cylinder. The key is forced inward until it passes between lugs co and co and is
stopped by the angular projection as on the valve handle. He then rotates the key
a quarter turn thus bringing its notches k¹ and k² into engagement with the lugs c

page_text: and and the notch k² also into engagement with the projection f2 on the rack f.
When the key reaches its horizontal position, it springs under the hook o and cannot
be rotated in the reverse direction by the weight on the cylinder. In thus rotating
the cylinder the spring dog do is carried out of engagement with the hook on the end
of the angular extension of the valve handle and releases the latter. The customer then
rotates the crank b and moves the carriage c as far as possible. By reason of the
engagement between the key and the lugs on the carriage, and between the key and
the rack f, both the key and the rack move with the carriage, the key being drawn
into the casing out of the reach of the customer and the rack rotating pinion g. The
end of the key is also abutting against the angular projection as on the valve stem,
and in consequence, the valve stem is swung upward until its pin a catches over the
hook e.
This opens the valve in the pipe and permits the gas to flow. Now
in-as-much as the notch k² in the key just fits over the two lugs and 2, the rack f
commences to move as soon as the key and valve and thus makes a full stroke
rotating pinions g and g² a full rotation. A full rotation is consequently given to the
ratchet wheel ge, and the sleeve g³, and the contact lug i is carried from its position
in front of the lug ¹ around to a position immediately back of it. When the handle b
is released, the spring c* carries the carriage c and the rack f back to their normal
positions. Manipulation of the crank will now accomplish nothing, as the valve arı
is in its raised position and the apparatus cannot be interfered with.
As the gas is consumed it is registered foot by foot by the shaft j. The motion of
this shaft is communicated uniformly to the shaft h and as soon as the contact lug i
on the disc 3 has made a complete rotation and connected with the lug i¹ on disc g
an electric circuit, including battery P and magnet e², will be closed, as shewn in
Fig. 8, and the hook e will be drawn away from the pin on the valve arın and the latter
will fall by its own weight to its normal position. In falling, the valve arm opens
the circuit again at r, in which condition it remains until the arm is again lifted. The
consumer, by observing the disc g³ and the index h², may note the consumpsion of
the thousand feet of gas he has paid for, and be prepared to insert another key as soon as
the valve closes. A fifty cent key is formed with a notch such that after the extension f²
on the rack has been struck by the end of the notch, the rack will commence to move
and turn the sleeve g³ a half rotation, at which time the key will fall into the receptacle
and the valve arm will have been carried up into engagement with the hook e.
Likewise a twenty-five cent key will not commence to operate upon the rack f until
the key has only one third of its length remaining in the key cylinder, which length
will suffice only to move the rack and rotate the sleeve g³ a quarter turn and the con-
sumer will obtain only two hundred and fifty feet of gas. The keys fall upon the
bottom of case B which is provided with a locked door B for removing them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a shaft adapted to
register the consumption of material flowing, a contact point carried by said shaft, a
second contact point whose position may be set with respect to that of the first, and
means whereby a key or token may be used to fix the relative position of the two
contact points, substantially as described and as illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.
2. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a shaft adapted to
register the consumption of material flowing, a contact point carried by the said shaft,
a second contact point capable of being set at various positions with respect to that of
the first, and means whereby a series of tokens designed with reference to certain
values respectively, are adapted, when used, to respectively fix the relative positions
of the two contacts substantially as described, and as illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.
3. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a shaft adapted to
register the consumpsion of material flowing, a contact point carried by said shaft, a

page_text: second contact point whose position may be set with respect to that of the first, means
whereby a token designed with reference to a certain value is adapted, when used, to
fix the relative positions of the two contact points, a valve, and an electromagnet
apparatus in the circuit opened or closed by the contact points, for controlling the
said valve, substantially as described, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
4. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a shaft adapted to
register the consumption of material flowing, a contact point carried by. said shaft,
a second contact point capable of being set at various positions with respect to that
of the first, means whereby a series of tokens designed with reference to certain
values respectively are adapted, when used, to respectively fix the relative positions
of the two contacts, a valve and an electromagnetic apparatus in a circuit controlled
by said contact points, for controlling said valves, substantially as described.
5. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a valve and valve
handle or arm, a latch for retaining the same in its open position, a registering
device, means whereby the movement of the registering device will release the latch
and permit the valve to close, a setting mechanism for determining when the
registering device shall so act and means whereby a key or token may act simul-
taneously to open the valve and to set the setting mechanism, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
6. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a valve and valve
handle or arm, a latch for retaining the same in its open position, a registering
device, means whereby the movement of the registering device will release the latch,
a setting mechanism for determining when the registering device shall so act, means
whereby a key or token may act simultaneously to open the valve and set the setting
mechanism, and a manually operated shaft through which the key or token is
moved to so act upon the valve and setting mechanism, substantially as described
and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
7. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a key carriage, a
valve handle standing in the path of movement of the key, a setting mechanism for
determining when the valve shall be closed, and means whereby a series of keys of
varying design may each move the valve handle a full stroke while at the same
time moving the setting mechanism a portion of a stroke depending upon the
design of the key, substantially as hereinbefore described and as illustrated by the
accompanying drawings.
8. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a registering shaft
carrying an electrical contact, a second shaft carrying a corresponding contact,
gearing for rotating the second shaft to set its contact in a certain position with
respect to the other and means whereby a key or token may be manually operated to
engage with and move said gearing, substantially as described and as illustrated by
the accompanying drawings.
9. In a prepayment apparatus for meters, the combination of a registering shaft
carrying an electrical contact, a second shaft carrying a corresponding contact, gearing
for rotating the second shaft to set its contact in a certain position with respect to the
other, means whereby a key or token may be manually operated to engage with and
move said gearing, an electric circuit of which the said contacts are the terminals, a
magnet in the said circuit, and a cut off valve controlled by the said magnet,
substantially as described.
10. In a prepayment apparatus for meters the combination of a carriage for a
key or token, a rack bar adapted to engage with said key or token and means
whereby the key or token is moved co-extensively with the carriage, but differentially
with respect to the rack bar in accordance with the characteristic of the key or
token, substantially as herein before described and as illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.