IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAB
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Racster, of 28, Francis Street, Woolwich,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE
SUPPLY OF GAB."
Sealed the 20th February 1857, and dated the 23rd August 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Racster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28rd
August 1856.
I, WILLIAM RACSTER, of 28, Francis Street, Woolwich, do hereby declare.
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGU-
LATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a combination of certain mechanical parts which.
form an entire apparatus for governing and regulating the pressure of gas.
For this purpose, a case, made of tin or of any suitable material for the
holding of gas and water or any suitable fluid, is divided into two compart-
ments by a vertical partation, the horizontal sections or plans of these com-
partments being equal, an opening being left in the lower part of this partition.
In filling the case partially with any suitable fluid (by preference water), when
the fluid is poured into one compartment it will rise into the other compart-
ment in consequence of there being a hole in the lower part of the vertical
partition; this second compartment has a hole in the outside case, offering a
passage for air.
In each of the compartments above described is a float, each of which floats

page_text: is moveable about a spindle, placed at a convenient height from the base of the
case near to the vertical partition and parallel to it, these two floats move-
able each about its own spindle; one spindle and its float being in one com-
partment and the other spindle with its float being in the other compartment
have bent pieces of metal-attached to. them, one of which carries a catch and
the other a slot, so that by passing through the hole in the vertical partition
one of these bent pieces acts with the other, so that when sufficient water has
been poured into the case to give the floats a floating power the floats cannot
rise beyond a certain height, in consequence of the catch of one bent piece
pressing against the termination of the slot of the other bent piece, and when
the water is drawn out of the case the floats will descend, as the catch of the
bent piece of metal attached to one float will work through the slot in the
other bent piece attached to the other float. One of these floats carries a
valve attached to a wire, or carries,a valve by means of a wire and a rod, and.
this valve may be made to move as the float to which it is.attached moves,
either inside the compartment containing this float or outside, by means of a
bent piece of metal or wire working through a hole in the case and suspending
a valve by a valve rod, which valve works in a valve seat, through which gas
is supposed to pass before entering the chamber or part of the compartment
containing the float which supports the valve. The compartment holding the
float which carries the valves may be called the gas chamber, and the other
compartment may be called the chamber for atmospheric pressure, there being
a hole in the compartment for atmospheric pressure to allow the free passage
of air. Now, gas being admitted through suitable pipes into the gas chamber
will press upon the surface of the water in that cliamber, and there will be a
difference of level of the water in the two compartments, the float in the gas
chamber descending and the float in the chamber for atmospheric pressure
ascending as the water in each compartment respectively descends..and
ascends The float in the gas chamber, by descending, will act by means of a
wire, a bent piece of metal, or by a wire and rod, so as to make a valve close
up a valve seat; through which gas is admitted to the gas chamber, there being
suitable pipes to allow the gas to enter through the valve seat, thence to pass
to the gas chamber; and thence to the pipe supplying gas for use. The
chamber for atmospheric pressure should be of sufficient height only to allow
tue float in that compartment to move freely, the other compartment being
as large as possible in order to hold as much gas as the. size of the whole
apparatus will allow, so that the vertical partition need not reach to the top of
the case.

page_text: The floats may be of any convenient,shape so that they have a free motion.
in their compartments about their spindles.. A convenient form is that of the
sixth part of a cylinder, formed by the intersection of planes passing through its.
axis; or, to illustrate it by a common form, like the sixth part of a Cheshire
cheese. Whether it be a- sixth part, a fourth, an eighth, or any particular
portion, must depend upon the size of the whole apparatus and the size of the
floats. This apparatus, when water or the fluid employed is not supposed to
evaporate, or when we neglect the evaporation, may be constructed in a similar
manner to that described, except that there is only one spindle to one of the
floats, the other float being rigidly connected to the first or spindle-holding
float by a bent piece or pieces of metal. The float in the partition, which is
called the chamber for atmospheric pressure, has a wire attached, so that
weights may be placed on it so as to depress it in the water or fluid in that
compartment; the float in the other compartment will rise and open the
valve seat; thus the opening between the valve and valve seat will be regu-
lated by the weight placed upon the float in the chamber for atmospherie
pressure, and by the pressure of the gas in the gas chamber.
A convenient method for setting 'the governor, so that the valve and
valve seat may have any relative position we please to give them without
weights, is by allowing the float in the gas chamber to carry a tube, thro'
which the pipe for the inlet of the gas passes to a certain distance within it.
The top of this tube carries a valve seat, and by a spindle, which is made to
turn round by means of a tap or winch from the outside of the case; a valve
which is connected with this spindle is made to close up the valve seat as the
water sinks in the gas chamber; this valve may advantageously be placed
within the tube carried by the float. This method of setting the governor' by
hand through a mechanical contrivance is not confined for its application to
the particular governor above described, but may be applied to other governors
by making the gas to pass through a float carrying a valve seat, while 'the
valve itself can be set by a screw passing through a stuffing box, or by a
winch with a toothed wheel and rack, or by any mechanical equivalent. Thus
will be obtained the union of a valve seat moving by the motion of a float,
and the valve itself moveable by a mechanical contrivance in the same
direction. A similar effect may be produced by making the valve seat
moveable by a screw or a winch while the float carries the valve.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Racster in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd February 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RACSTER, of 28, Francis Street, Woolwich, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Racster, Her special licence that I, the said William Racster, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Racster, 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, use, exercise, and
vend,-within-the-United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Racster, 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
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 William Racster, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 thereon (that is to say) :-
of
1
This Invention consists of a combination of certain mechanical parts which
form an entire apparatus for governing and regulating the pressure of gas.
For this purpose, a case, made of tin or of any suitable material for the holding
gas and water or any suitable fluid, is divided into two compartments by a
vertical partition, the horizontal sections or plans of these compartments being
equal, an opening being left in the lower part of this partition. In filling the
case partially with any suitable fluid, by preference water, when the fluid is
poured into one compartment it will rise into the other compartment in con-
sequence of their being a hole in the lower part of the vertical partition; this
second compartment has a hole in the outside case, offering a passage for air.

page_text: In each of the compartments above described is a float, each of which floats is
moveable about a spindle, placed at a convenient height from the base of the
case near to the vertical partition and parallel to it, these two floats move-
able each about its own spindle; one spindle and its float being in one compart-
ment and the other spindle with its float being in the other compartment
have bent pieces of metal attached to them, one of which carries a catch and
the other a slot, so that by passing through the hole in the vertical partition
one of these bent pieces acts with the other, so that when sufficient water has
been poured into the case to give the floats a floating power the floats cannot
rise beyond a certain height, in consequence of the catch of one bent piece
pressing against the termination of the slot of the other bent piece, and when
the water is drawn out of the case the floats will descend, as the catch of the
bent piece of metal attached to one float will work through the slot in the
other bent piece attached to the other float. One of these floats carries a valve
attached by a wire, or carries a valve by means of a wire and a rod, and this
valve may be made to move as the float to which it is attached moves, either
inside the compartment containing this float or outside, by means of a bent
piece of metal or wire working through a hole in the case and suspending a
valve by a valve rod, which valve works in a valve seat, through which gas is
supposed to pass before entering the chamber or part of the compartment con-
taining the float which supports the valve. The compartment holding the
float which carries the valve may be called the gas chamber, and the other
compartment may be called the chamber for atmospheric pressure, there being
a hole in the compartment for atmospheric pressure to allow the free passage
of air. Now, gas being admitted through suitable pipes into the gas chamber
will press upon the surface of the water in that chamber, and there will be a
difference of level of the water in the two compartments, the float in the gas
chamber descending and the float in the chamber for atmospheric pressure
ascending as the water in each compartment respectively descends and ascends.
The float in the gas chamber, by descending, will act by means of a wire, a bent
piece of metal, or by a wire and rod, so as to make a valve close up a valve
seat, through which gas is admitted to the gas chamber, there being suitable
pipes to allow the gas to enter through the valve seat, thence to pass to the
gas chamber, and thence to the pipe supplying gas for use. The chamber for
atmospheric pressure should be of sufficient height only to allow the float in
that compartment to move freely, the other compartment being as large as
possible in order to hold as much gas as the size of the whole apparatus will
allow, so that the vertical partition need not reach to the top of the case.
The floats may be of any convenient shape so that they have a free motion

page_text: in their compartments about their spindles. A convenient form is that of the
sixth part of a cylinder, formed by the intersection of planes passing through its
axis; or, to illustrate it by, a common, form, like the sixth part of a Cheshire
cheese. Whether it be a sixth part, a fourth, an eighth, or any particular portion,
must depend upon the size of the whole apparatus and the size of the floats.
This apparatus, when water or the fluid employed is not supposed to evaporate,
or when we neglect the evaporation, may be constructed in a similar manner
to that described, except that there is, only one spindle to, one of the floats, the
other float being rigidly connected to the first, or spindle-holding float by a bent
piece or pieces of metal. The float in the partition, which is called the
chamber for atmospheric pressure, has a wire attached, so that weights may be
placed on it so as to depress it in the water or fluid in that compartment; the
float in the other compartment will rise and open the valve seat; thus, the
opening. between the valve, and valve seat, will be regulated, by the weight
placed upon the float, in the chamber for atmospheric pressure and by the
pressure of the gas in the gas chamber.
A convenient method for setting the governor so that the valve, and
valve seat may have any relative position, we please to give, them without
weights, is by allowing the float in the gas chamber to carry a tube,
through which the pipe for the inlet of gas passes to a certain, distance
within it. The top of this, tube carries a valve seat, and by a spindle which
is made to turn round by means of a tap. or winch from the outside of the
case, a valve which is connected with this spindle is made to close up the
valve seat, as the water sinks in the gas chamber; this valve may advan-
tageously be placed within the tube carried by the float. This method of
setting the governor by hand, through a mechanical contrivance, is not confined
for its application to the particular governor above described, but may be
applied to other governors by making the gas to pass through, a float carrying
a valve seat, while the valve itself can be set by a screw, passing through a
stuffing box, or by a winch with a toothed wheel and rack, or by any me-
chanical equivalent. Thus will be obtained the union of a valve seat moving
by the motion of a float, and the valve itself moveable by a mechanical con-
trivance in the same direction. A similar effect may be produced by making
the valve seat moveable by a screw or a winch, while the float carries the
valve.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional elevation of the apparatus, as
first described. A, B, G, is the outside case; B, C, the vertical partition;
C, F, the hole in this partition; D, K, L, H, M, N, two floats, moveable about
spindles at D and H;,L, P, T, a bent piece of metal, having a slot which ter-

page_text: minates at T; N, W, R, a bent piece of metal, having a catch at W, R';- or
these bent pieces may be made like Figure 2, W, R; having a hole through
which P, Q, passes; and having a nut at T, which cannot pass through a hole
at W, R; V, a valve, attached to G, K; L, by a wire; S; S, the valve seat; the
gas enters by a suitable pipe to I, passes through S, S, and goes out for use
through Q; weights can be placed on the' wire Y; which will cause the
float .H, N, M, to sink and allow G, L, K, to rise; the hole E opens a free
passage for air; and X is a tap for the level for the fluid which is in the case
when first filled:
Figure 3 shews' the connection of the floats when the evaporation is neglected,'
in which case there is a spindle at D but none at H, and the wire joining 'L, N,
is rigid; the partition is C, B, E, which allows more space for the gas chamber.
The other parts of this do not differ from Figure 1.
Figure (IV.) shews how to set the governor. The float G; K, L, has a
tube a, B, S; S passing through it, and S, S, is a valve seat. The gas enters by*
suitable pipes through O and the pipe O, &, it then passes through S, S, and
depresses the water in the gas chamber, the float G, K, L, sinks, and the valvė
seat S, S, is closed by coming near to the valve V; the valve V is moved by
means of a bent piece of, wire V, I, Z, which is acted on by a tap from the out-
side of the case, and thus V will describe the 'arc of a circle about the axis;
which the tap turns.
Figure (V.) shews an application of the method of setting a governor by hand
as applied to Milne's governor, in which the gas is admitted through E, F, and
through a float G, H, which has a tube K, L, through it. At the top of this
tube I place a valve seat. S, S, and the valve V is moveable up or down by
means of a wire V, T, passing through a stuffing box X, and in which is a
female screw, a male screw being on the wire, as in practice it is found that
there is less friction when the two floats move about a common center.
Figure (VI.) represents a section of the floats and vertical partition parallel
to the base and passing through the spindles when the floats turn about the
the same axis, that is to say, the line A, B, E, F, is the axis of motion;
A, B, C, D, E, F, is the edge of the float A, M, and G, H, I, J, K, the edge of
the other float G, R; S, T, U, V, is the section of the vertical partition; the
float A, L, M, F, moves about points at A, F, and the float G, N, R, K, about
points at I, J.
Figure (VII.) represents the mode of attaching the valve to the float in the
gas chamber, by means of a suspended valve rod, suspended outside the com-
partment. D, K, L, is a front view of the float in the gas chamber, supposed
to be behind A, B, C, D; a wire or bent piece of metal F, G, H, R, is fastened

page_text: at F to the float F, G, being supposed to be behind A, B, C, D; G, H, to pass
through a hole in the compartment, and H, R, to be in front of the compart-
ment; R, V, a rod suspended at R. to the wire F, G, H, R; S, S, a valve seat;
V, a valve; A, B, C, D, Q, T, a case, made gas-tight, except at E, the inlet
for gas; O, the outlet; and the hole through the wire G. H, passes from the
outside of the case to the inside of the compartment for gas.
It is evident that the floats in Figures I. will each take a position. as high as
the bent wires will allow,.whether, the water or fluid is a little higher or a little
lower than the spindles, so long as there is sufficient water to give a floating
power to each of the floats, and that when there is not sufficient water that
then the valve V will close up the valve seat S, S.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of improvements in appa-
ratus for regulating the supply of gas, I wish it to be understood that I do not
_claim the employment of two-floats instead of one, nor the use of a spindle
action, nor dividing a case into two compartments for the rising and sinking of
two portions of fluid; but what I claim is, the employment of two floats, each.
of which works upon its own spindles in separate chambers, which floats have
wires or bent pieces of metal attached to them, and are by them prevented from
separating beyond a certain distance, and which offer no hindrance to the floats
sinking a certain distance, as shewn in Figures 1, 2.
I also claim, as applied to gas governors, as shewn in Figures IV. and V.,
the employment of a valve seat attached to a tube passing through a float in
combination with a valve, moveable either by a tap, a winch, or a screw; I.
do not claim the employment of the valve seat attached to a tube passing
through a float, but the combination as described above, and as shewn in
Figures (IV.) and (V.)
In witness whereof, I, the said William Racster, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM RACSTER. (L.s.)
Witness,
CHARLES DICKER,
25, Alfred Street, City Road, Islington,
London.