AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE FLOW OF GAS THROUGH PIPES TO GAS BURNERS, WITH A VIEW TO THE UNIFORMITY OF SUPPLY
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Huon
FORD BACON, of Christ College, Cambridge, in the County of Cambridge,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of April now last past,
did give and grant unto me, the said Hugh Ford Bacon, His especial licence,
full power, solo privilege and authority, that I, the said Hugh Ford Bacon,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hugh
Ford Bacon, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING
THE FLOW OF GAS THROUGH PIPES TO GAS BURNERS, WITH A VIEW TO THE
UNIFORMITY OF SUPPLY;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Hugh Ford Bacon, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Hugh Ford Bacon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained-in and-by the Drawing hereto annexed, and the
following description thereof (that is to say) :-
In my said apparatus for regulating the flow of gas through pipes to gas
burners, I effect the greater uniformity of its supply by a novel mode or modes
of employing the varying pressure of the gas in its passage through the
apparatus from the gasometer to the burner, so as to open or close the aperture
or apertures through which it is made to pass more or less, and in propor-
tion to the said varying pressure.
One method of effecting this object is shown at Fig. 1 in the Drawing
annexed, in which Figure A, A, represents a front section of a vessel made
either of glass, metal or other fit and proper materials, and closed or
shut up except at the passages B and C, B for the entrance, and C
for the escape of the gas. To the tube or pipe C a balanced arm or
lever D is affixed, which moves or turns upon a pin or axis E, screwed
into the side of the tube C. A slit F communicates with. the bore: G
(shewn by dotted lines) in this tube (the lower end of which is closed);
through a flattened outside part or surface of the tube, and a flat piece
of metal or governor H, which is formed in one with the arm or lever D, is
fitted immediately in front of the slit F, and, by means of its curved edge,
shuts off or opens the said slit more or less, according as the arm of the lever D.
is depressed or raised, as shewn by the dotted lines. I is the counterbalance of
the lever D. J, J, is a membrane or piece of oiled or varnished silk, or other
flexible and air-tight material. This is tighthly bound or secured as evenly as
possible round the outer side of the large part of the ring K, K, (but without
being strained tight over it) which ring K, K, is fitted within the vessel A, A,
so as to prevent all escape of gas below it and the membrane J, J. L, L, is a
convex metal disc which is hung or jointed to one end of the lever D by
means of the metal rod or wire M, which is screwed and passed through the
dise L, L, and membrane J, J, and secured by a screwed binding nut N, so as to
be gas-tight. A belical metal spring O is placed underneath the disc L, and
acts against it, so as to raise it up, whilst the other end of the spring is sup-
ported upon a metal plate P, which has three holes in its outer part, whereby
it is held upon three metal screwed wires, two of which are shewn at. Q, Q,
as affixed into the ring K, K, and by means of screwed nuts placed above
and below the plate P, the same may be raised and lowered,. and adjusted as
required. The membrane J, J, is not stretched or strained tight over the ring

page_text: K, K, as. before stated, by reason whereof it is capable of a certain degree of
elevation or depression. When the disc L, L, is raised by the action of the
helical spring O, the membrane J, J, is elevated with much evenness and
smoothness on the convex. surface of the disc L, L, pressed against it into the
position shewn at Fig. 1. The gas, entering by the passage B, presses upon
and has a tendency to depress the membrane J, J, more or less according
to the greater or less degree of pressure of the gas. The membrane J, J,
communicates the pressure so received by means of the disc L, L, equally to
the spring O, which is thereby depressed or shortened more or less in proportion
to the pressure of the gas and its own strength or power of resistance. The
rod M, by the same movement, lowers the end of the lever D, and the plate or
governor His advanced over the upper part of the slit F, so as partially
to shut off or close the same, and thereby restricts, in a fitting degree, the
issue of the gas to the burners. When the pressure of the gas in the vessel
A, A, becomes from any cause diminished, the spring O lengthens or rises up
again, and, by means of the rod M, elevates the end of the lever D, and the
plate or governor H is drawn back from the face of the slit F, whereby
a larger aperture is exposed, and a freer passage allowed to the issue of
the gas to the burner or burners, as the case may require. Fig. 2 is a side
view of some of the above-mentioned parts of the apparatus, and Fig. 3 a plan
thereof, the same letters of reference indicating the similar parts already
described.
Fig. 4 represents in a front section part of the vessel A, A, of the lever D, the
rod or wire M, and the membrane J, J, in its depressed state, by the action of
the gas upon it, as above mentioned, and also shows the disc L, L, .as lowered
by the pressure of the membrane J, J, upon it; but here, instead of the
helical spring O, shewn in Fig. 1, a bent lever R, turning upon an axis S,
affixed to the arm T, secured to the ring K, K, and jointed to the metal rod or
ivire M, and having 2 sliding and adjusting weight U upon it, is substituted in
place of the said helical spring O.
Fig. 5 is a front section of another apparatus for regulating the flow of gas
through pipes to gas burners. In this apparatus, besides the vessel A, A,
there is an inner vessel or cylindrical ring V, V, mounted gas-tight to the top
or cover of the vessel A, and to the bottom of which said inner vessel or ring
the metal ring K, K, is firmly affixed, and round the, outer side of this ring
K, K, the membrane J, J, is secured or bound tightly, but without being
stretched or strained over the ring, for the reasons above, given. A hollow
ruetal or glass bulb or float W is screwed or otherwise affixed to the lower
end of the wire M. The slit X, connected with the hore G. of that passage, is

page_text: here made circular or curved, instead of straight, as before described. Water
or other proper liquid is to be poured into the outer vessel A, A, through holes
made in that part of its top or cover which lies between its sido and the
outside of the inner vessel V, V, (which holes also serve to allow a passage for
the entrance and escape of the common or atmospheric air) until the float or
bulb W becoming partly immersed, is buoyed up or caused to ascend to the
position shewn in Figure 5. The upper part of this float (marked L, L, is made
convex, similar to the disc L, L, in Fig. 1, and to answer a similar purpose;
and when the lower part (by preferenco mado conical, in order to obtain a
more facile adjustment,) is depressed by the action of the gas as it passes
through the apparatus (as shewn in Fig. 6), it will cause the said liquid to
rise in the outer vessel A, A, with a continually increasing resistance, varying
according to the increased pressure of the gas, as is effected by the helical
spring O in Fig. 1, and by the weight U in Fig. 4. The movements of the
float are communicated by means of the rod M to the plate or governor Y
moving over the slit X, and thereby the more equal flow of the gas to the
burner is obtained in a manner similar to that before described, the plates
or governors II and Y opening and closing the slits F and X more or less,
according to the varying pressure of the gas in passing through the vessels
A, A, Fig. 1, and V, V, Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 is constructed with two vessels A, A, and V, V, like the apparatus
shown in Fig. 5, but without the membrane J, J, and the disc L, L, or the
ring K, K. The rod M of the float or bulb W is jointed to a lever D, with
a governor H, similar to that shewn in Fig. 1. N, in Fig. 7, is a screwed
nut affixed to the float W, by means of which it may be adjusted upon the
screwed rod M, as required in use. In the float W there are three pins fixed,
two of which are shewn at a, a, Fig. 7, to prevent the sides of the float from
coming in contact with the inner vessel V, V, which is brought down much
nearer to the bottom of the outer vessel A, A, than in Fig. 5, but room is left
between them sufficient for the free passage of the liquid from one vessel to the
other, the liquid always remaining at a sufficient height in the inner vessel V, V,
to float the bulb W. In this apparatus the gas in its passage through it acts
by its pressure directly upon the surface of the liquid in the inner vessel V, V,
instead of upon the membrane, as in Figs. 5 and 6, and the float or bulb W
rises and falls with the rise and fall of the liquid itself, under the varying
pressure of the gas, instead of acting upon the liquid by being forced or driven
into it by the pressure of the gas on the membrane J, J, in the manner before
described in Figures 5 and 6. The rising and falling of the liquid in the vessel
A, A, in the space between it and the inuer vessel V, V, at the same time

page_text: that it falls or rises in the inner vessel V, V, performs the office of the helical
spring O, in Fig. 1, and of the lever and weight U in Fig. 4, in producing a
continually increasing or decreasing resistance, according to the varying pres-
sure of the gas, the end of the lever D being, by means of the rod M, raised
or lowered as the bulb or float W rises or falls with the rise or fall of the
liquid in the vessel V, V. The plate or governor H has a corresponding
movement over the slit F, opening or shutting it off, more or less, according
to the varying pressure of the gas in passing through the vessel V, V, to the
burner, in a manner similar to that before described.
But inasmuch as the quantity of gas which is required for the supply of any
given burner is greater or less according as the height of flame which the gas
consumer thinks it desirable to support is higher or lower, and also as in different
burners of the same kind (that is to say, of the same number of jet holes,) it is
found that there is a considerable variation in the quantity of gas required to
support equal heights of flame, according as the particular burner is of a better
or worse construction, it is, therefore, desirable to provide some means of regu-
lation or adjustment, within certain limits, for the different quantities of gas
which may be required to flow through the apparatus under the circumstances
above stated. This is accomplished in the apparatus Figure 1 in manner
following (that is to say):-The lower part of the rod M is made square at Z,
and a key can be applied thereon whereby it can be turned round and be
screwed more or less in a female screw affixed underneath the disc L, L.
The upper end of the rod M is made to turn in the joint of the lever D, and a
circular hole is made in the plate P to permit the key to pass. When the
rod M is turned round in the female screw under the disc L, L, the said
disc is placed in a different situation on the rod M, higher or lower, as the
case may be; but as the disc is maintained in the same position by the spring
O, the end of the lever D is thus raised or lowered, and the edge of the plate
or governor H brought nearer to or drawn further from the edge of the
slit F, and consequently when the membrane J, J, begins to be depressed by
the influx of the gas, the plate or governor H begins to shut off the said slit
a little sooner or later, as the case may be. In Figures 5 and 7 a similar
regulation or adjustment may be effected by pouring in or taking out a small
quantity, more or less, of the liquid in the outer vessels A, A, as the case may
require. The lower part of the vessel A, A, Figure 1, is made to take asunder,
and holes are also to be provided in the lower part of that vessel in Figure 1,
to suffer the common or atmospheric air to enter and escape, and also in the
top or cover of the vessel A, A, Figure 7, as described in Fig. 5.

page_text: : I do not mean or intend hereby to claim as my Invention the general appli-
cation of the varying pressure of the gas to regulate its supply in. its passage:
through the apparatus, but only the particular methods of employing it,. herein
shewn and described; neither do I mean or intend to claim the use of any of the
the various parts of the apparatus, but only in their combination; neither do
I mean or intend hereby to limit or confine myself to the employment of any
particular material or materials in the construction thereof, but to use any which
are fit and proper for the purpose; nor do I mean or pretend hereby to limit or
confine myself to any particular size of this apparatus, but to proportion the
size of each apparatus to the greater or lesser number of the burners
intended to be regulated by it.
gas
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Ford Bacon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-five.