IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Bruce Peebles, of the Fountainbridge
Works, Edinburgh, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS."
Sealed the 12th March 1872, and dated the 16th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Bruce Peebles
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th September 1871.
I, DAVID BRUCE PEEBLES, of the Fountainbridge Works, Edinburgh,
5 in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Engineer, do hereby
1. declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
REGULATORS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
:―
This Invention has for its object to improve the class of gas regulator
in which a flexible diaphragm connected to a valve is acted on on one

page_text: side by the gas passing through the valve whilst the other side is acted
on by the atmosphere.
One improvement consists in securing the edge of the diaphragm by
gripping it between the surfaces of the joint by which the two parts of
the casing are attached, such surfaces having one or more grooves and
counterparts formed not only round the chamber but also round the
meeting orifices of the side passage by which the gas passes from beneath
the diaphragm to the burner tube above. One or more finger holes are
formed in the covering part of the casing to give easy access for adjusting
the weight on the diaphragm, and a cover or hood is provided for closing
the holes, such cover being by preference formed with a hollow projecting
lip at its lower edge to admit air whilst excluding moisture.
A second improvement consists in making the diaphragm of bladder
skin, or similar animal membrane, such membrane being kept from
hardening by being impregnated with glycerine or with a suitable
diliquescent salt, and from decomposing by being treated with carbolic
acid, creosote, or other suitable antiseptic.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said David Bruce Peebles in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
BRUCE PEEBLES, of the Fountainbridge Works, Edinburgh, in the
County of Mid Lothian, North Britain, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said David Bruce Peebles, Her special licence
that I, the said David Bruce Peebles, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said David Bruce Peebles, 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

page_text: exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the 'said David Bruce Peebles, 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 David Bruce Peebles, 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 in writing, reference being had to
the accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object to improve the class of gas
regulator in which a flexible diaphragm connected to a valve is acted on
on one side by the gas passing through the valve whilst the other side is
acted on by the atmosphere.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood I hereunto append a Sheet of
explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
two modifications of gas regulator as made with my improvements. In
these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the same
or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of one of my improved gas regulators,
and Figure 2 is an elevation, but showing it without the cap. Figure 3
is a plan corresponding to Figure 2. Figure 4 is a plan of the lower
part as separated from the upper part, and Figure 5 is a side elevation of
the cap.
The body or case of the regulator is made in two parts 1, 2,
and by preference of cast iron. The lower part 1 is made with a nozzle
to be screwed upon the supply pipe, and is formed with a cup-shaped
cavity 3, into which the gas has access through a valve aperture bushed
with block tin and more or less opened or closed by a conical valve 4
of block tin. This valve 4 is suspended from a flexible diaphragm 5,
which is fixed by being held between the two parts 1, 2, of the case.
Weights 6 are put on the diaphragm 5 to correspond to the pressure to

page_text: which the gas passing through the valve 4 is to be limited; and the gas
acting beneath the diaphragm whilst the atmospheric pressure acts on
the upper side causes the valve to open or close more or less so as to
regulate the quantity of gas passing. This arrangement' for regulating
the passage of gas so far as herein-before described is well understood,
and forms no part of the present Invention.
'
One of the present improvements consists in making a gas-tight joint
where the diaphragm 5 is fixed across the cavity 3' by forming a groove
7 in the joint surface, extending round the lower part 1 of the case, as
best seen in Figure 4; and by forming a counterpart projection or ring
on the upper part 2 of the case, which projection compresses the flexible
material of the diaphragm down into the groove 7. Or instead of
forming the counterpart projection on the upper part 2 of the case it is
more convenient to employ a separate ring 8 of lead or other suitable
compressible material, and the screwing together of the two parts 1, 2,
of the case causes the ring 8 and with it the diaphragm 5 to be com-
pressed into the groove 7. It is important to notice that the groove 7 is
extended round the aperture 9, through which the gas passes onwards
from the cavity 3, and the flexible material of the diaphragm is also
extended over the aperture 9, a small hole being made through it for the
passage of the gas; by which means a gas-tight joint is easily and con-
veniently formed for the gas connection between the two parts of the case.
The upper part 2 of the case is made partly dome-shaped, but with two
finger holes 10 at the sides, to give access for adjusting the weight on
the diaphragm 5. This conformation leaves a middle arched piece 11,
in one side of which a passage 12 is cored for the passage of the gas,
whilst a nozzle 13 is formed at the top to receive the burner tube 14.
The two parts 1, 2, of the case are screwed together by means of lugs
15, and a cap or hood 16, of comparatively thin metal is provided for
covering the finger holes 10, the bottom edge of the cap reaching beneath
the openings 10 so as to exclude moisture, whilst access for air is provided
without admitting moisture by forming a small hollow projecting lip or
inverted spout 17 on the lower edge of the cap. The cap or hood may
fit on like a box lid without hinges or fastenings, or it may be hinged to
the case, or be fastened by a pin or screw.
Figure 6 is a vertical section of a modification of the gas regulator
suitable for larger sizes, and in this case the flexible diaphragm 5 is
covered and enclosed by a plate 18 fixed in the upper part 2 of the case;

page_text: t
as in some regulators already in use. The valve spindle passes through
a central hole in the plate 18, and the weights 6 are applied to it' above
the plate, a cover 19 being screwed over them. A union nozzle 20 is
fixed in the plate 18 for the attachment of a pipe or tube for putting
the space above the diaphragm in communication with the atmosphere,
and this tube may be led to the outside of a house so as to carry off any
gas accidentally leaking through the diaphragm. The upper part 2 of
the case may be made with two or more ribs 11, and one, two, or more
hollow passages for the gas may be formed in these..
'
An important improvement comprised in my Invention and applicable.
to all forms of gas regulators having flexible diaphragms consists in
making the diaphragms of bladder skin, gut skin, or other similar animal
membrane impermeable to gas, such membrane after being distended and
dried being.impregnated with glycerin or with a suitable deliquescent
salt which will keep it from hardening whilst its decomposition is pre-
vented by combining with the glycerin or deliquescent salt a little
creosote, corrosive sublimate, or other suitable antiseptic. When the
diaphragm is of comparatively large size the membrane may
be
strengthened by being combined with a ply of leather.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to
the precise details herein described or delineated, but that what believe
to be novel and original and claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The combining together of the parts of gas regulators in the im-
proved manner substantially as herein-before described.
2. The forming of the joint between the two parts of the case so that
the material of the diaphragm may be indented into a groove formed in
one of the parts when the parts are screwed together, substantially as
herein described and delineated.
3. The forming of the upper part of the case with one or more finger
holes to give access for adjusting the weights, and the providing of such
finger holes with a cap or hood constructed so as to exclude moisture,
substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: 4. Making the diaphragm of bladder skin, gut skin, or other similar
animal membrane impervious to gas, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Bruce Peebles, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
D. BRUCE PEEBLES.. (L.S.)