AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING OR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF GAS OR OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING OR CONTROLLING THE FLOW
OF GAS OR OTHER FLUIDS." A communication from abroad by Moses G.
Wilder, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America, Machinist.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th January 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING
OR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF GAS OR OTHER FLUIDS." [A communication from
abroad by Moses G. Wilder, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America,
Machinist.]
This Invention relates to an improved regulator for controlling the flow of gas
and other fluids under pressure; and the object is to construct the said regulator
in such a manner that it shall maintain a constant delivery of a pre-determined
quantity of gas or other fluid in a given time whatever changes may occur either
in the degree of pressure under which the gas or fluid is supplied, or in the size of
the nozzle through which the same is discharged from the regulator. This regulator
is more especially designed for regulating and controlling the supply of illuminating
gas to gas-burners, but it may also be applied with like effect for regulating the
supply of various other fluids under pressure so as to maintain a constant rate of
delivery notwithstanding changes in the degree of pressure under which the fluid
is supplied, and variations in the size of the discharge-nozzles from which it is
emitted.
For this purpose I employ a check made in the form of a disc, having perforations
through which the gas or other fluid passes towards the burner or place from
whence it is discharged, which check fits and works in the interior of the chamber
of the regulator in connection with inlets, through which the gas or other fluid
passes from the supply pipe, the said check being arranged in such a manner
that whenever the degree of pressure in the chamber is sufficient to force the

page_text: predetermined quantity of gas through the perforations in the check the latter by
reason of said pressure will be lifted and sustained; and whenever the outer
pressure (or volume) is increased the check will rise and thereby partially cover the
inlets and diminish the supply; and on the other hand whenever the pressure falls
below that degree the check will descend and thereby uncover the inlets, and con-
sequently increase the supply into the chamber. The said check may consist of a
single perforated disc, with a valve plug depending therefrom that works in con-
nection with a valve to admit the gas or fluid; but a preferable form is that of
two parallel perforated discs connected by a stem or neck (so that it is balanced),
the lower disc working in connection with the inlets to increase or diminish the
supply as the check descends or rises respectively, and the said inlets being located
in the sides of the chamber.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
July 1880.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING
OR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF GAS OR OTHER FLUIDS." A communication from
abroad by Moses G. Wilder, of Brooklyn, New York, United States of America,
Machinist.
This Invention relates to an improved regulating apparatus or regulator for
controlling the flow of gas and other fluids under pressure; and its object is to
construct the regulator in such a manner that it will maintain a constant delivery
of a predetermined quantity of gas or other fluid in a given time whatever changes
may occur either in the degree of pressure under which the gas or other fluid is
supplied, or in the size of the nozzle through which the same is discharged from the
regulator.
This apparatus is more especially designed for regulating and controlling the
supply of illuminating gas to gas-burners, but it may also be applied with like
effect for regulating the supply of various other fluids under pressure so as to
maintain a constant rate of delivery notwithstanding changes in the degree of
pressure under which the fluid is supplied, or variations in the size of the discharge
nozzles from which it is emitted.
For this purpose I employ a check made in the form of a disc, and having
perforations through which the gas or other fluid passes toward the burner or place
from whence it is discharged, which check fits and works in the interior of the
chamber of the regulator in connection with inlets through which the gas or other
fluid passes from the supply pipe, the said check being arranged in such a manner
that whenever the degree of pressure in the chamber is sufficient to force the
predetermined quantity of gas through the perforations in the check, the latter by
reason of said pressure will be lifted and sustained; and whenever the outer
pressure (or volume) is increased, the check will rise, and thereby partially cover
the inlets and diminish the supply; and on the other hand, whenever the pressure
falls below that degree the check will descend and thereby uncover the inlets, and
consequently increase the supply into the chamber. The preferred form or con-
struction of the said check is that of two parallel perforated discs connected by a
stem so that it is balanced, the lower disc working in connection with the inlets to
increase or diminish the supply as the check descends or rises, and the said inlets
being located in the side of the chamber.
My improved regulating apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing,
which I will now proceed to describe.
Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of my improved regulator, and
Figures 2 and 3 are detail views of portions of the same hereinafter referred to.
Figure 4 shews a modified form of my improved regulator hereinafter described.
A is the main body of the regulator, the lower end or ingress a of which is
connected with the supply pipe; to the upper end or egress 6 the gas burner or
discharge-nozzle is attached. B is the check which fits and works in the gas
chamber, and which preferably consists of two parallel discs c, c', connected at their
centre, and having perforations through them of suitable diameter; through these
perforations the gas passes on its way from the supply-pipe to the burner or
nozzle. The said check is shewn detached in Figure 2. A convenient mode of
fitting this check in the regulator is by means of a cup C having inlets d, through
which the gas passes to and through the check, an annular space e being formed
around the said cup between it and the body of the regulator for the passage of the
gas. This cup is shewn detached in Figure 3. The inlets d, d, are arranged in

page_text: relation to the check in such a manner that when the latter is at its lowest position
their whole area will be uncovered to admit the largest supply of gas or other fluid
into the chamber, and so that as the check rises the inlets will be gradually closed
by the lower disc c¹ of the check coming opposite thereto.
The weight of the check and the size of the perforations in its upper disc are to
be proportioned to the pressure at which the gas is expected to enter and the
quantity to be discharged in a given time, and the check being supported by the
flow of gas or other fluid through it and the pressure under it rises or falls with
every variation of pressure (or of volume), however small, the supply being increased
when it falls and diminished when it rises; the flow through its perforations is
moreover constant, because the pressure equals but never exceeds the weight of
the check itself, inasmuch as the inlet is controlled by the said check, which
diminishes the supply as it rises, and thereby maintains the equilibrium and
increases the supply to maintain the pressure when it falls.
The said check constructed and operating as above described also maintains a
constant rate of delivery with discharge-nozzles of different sizes, because it is
sustained by the pressure under it, and this pressure will always exceed the
pressure above the check by the weight of the check itself, so that if the one
pressure changes, as would be the case if the size of the nozzle were changed, the
other pressure changes also so as to maintain the equilibrium; consequently the
rate of delivery is not changed because the velocity of the gas in passing through
the nozzle is always in proportion to the pressure. The flow of gas will be
constant through the perforations of the check, and the pressure at the nozzle will
be such as to force out the constant amount in a given time at a velocity
proportioned to said pressure, and therefore the flow from the nozzle will be
independent of the size of the nozzle.
In the modification of my Invention represented in Figure 4 the cup C is
dispensed with, and the check is fitted and works in the cylindrical chamber of the
regulator, the gas being admitted through ways m into an annular groove p cut in
the said chamber; this groove answers the same purpose as the inlets d above
referred to, and the mode of operation is in all respects similar to that of the
regulator above described.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim,-
First. The perforated check fitted in the chamber of the regulator, and adapted
to be sustained by the pressure of the gas or other fluid below it, and arranged to
operate in connection with suitable inlets, substantially in the manner and for the
purposes specified.
Second. The perforated check in combination with the cup having the inlets d,
the annular space, and the ingress a and egress b, substantially as above set forth
and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.