IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Smith, of the Free Town of Hamburg,
Germany, Gas Meter Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN GAS REGULATORS."
Sealed the 24th January 1868, and dated the 26th July 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Smith at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th July 1867.
I, EDMUND SMITH, of the Free Town of Hamburg, Germany, Gas Meter
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to regulate the supply of gas as it issues
from the main to the burner, in order to prevent variation in the height of the
flame, notwithstanding any difference that may occur in the pressure of the
gas in the main; an additional illuminating power is also given to the light
by means of a reflector, all as hereafter described.
The Invention primarily consists in placing the passage for the gas inside
the regulator; a valve is placed in the base of the regulator, the upper end of
which is weighted according to the quantity of gas to be consumed per hour,
and connected to a diaphragm formed by preference of leather made from
goat's skin, but any other flexible material may be used; the space between the
diaphragm and the base of the regulator forms a chamber for the reception of

page_text: gas from the supply pipe which it enters by the valve, the pipe for conveying
the gas from this chamber to the burner leading into the same. A reflector
made by preference of silvered glass is placed round the tube leading to the
burner, and may be corrugated or formed of any desired shape as fancy or
taste may dictate; it is screwed or fixed at top to a metal cap holding the
burner, which latter I make by preference of lava or steatite, and at bottom
it fits into or is attached to the chamber containing the diaphragın, which
latter chamber is made by preference of metal composed of antimony and tin,
and known as Britannia metal. Gas passing through the supply pipe enters
the chamber by the valve, which always has a tendency to fall by reason of the
weight on the diaphragm until sufficient gas has entered to fill the chamber;
the diaphragm then rises, the valve is closed, the supply is shut off, and no
more gas can pass through the valve to the chamber than is being actually
consumed at the burner, consequently an even flame is always maintained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edmund Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th January 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
SMITH, of the Free Town of Hamburg, Germany, Gas Meter Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edmund Smith, Her special licence that I, the said Edmund Smith, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund
Smith, 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
GAS REGULATORS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edmund
Smith, 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

page_text: Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Smith, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention is to regulate the supply of gas as it issues
from the main to the burner in order to prevent variation in the size of the
flame, notwithstanding any difference that may occur in the pressure of the
gas in the main; an additional illuminating power is also given to the light
by means of a reflector, all as hereafter described.
The Invention primarily consists in placing the passage for the gas inside
the regulator; a valve is placed in the base of the regulator, the upper end of
which is weighted according to the quantity of gas to be consumed per hour,
and connected to a diaphragm formed by preference of leather made from
goat's skin, but any other flexible material may be used; the space between
the diaphragm and the base of the regulator forms a chamber for the reception
of gas from the supply pipe which it enters by the valve, the pipe for con-
veying the gas from this chamber to the burner leading into the same. A
reflector made by preference of silvered glass is placed round the tube leading
to the burner, and may be corrugated or formed of any desired shape as fancy
or taste may dictate; it is screwed or fixed at top to a metal cap holding the
burner, which latter I make by preference of lava or steatite, and at bottom
it fits into or is attached to the chamber, containing the diaphragm, which
latter chamber is made by preference of metal composed of antimony and tin,
and known as Britannia metal.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate how the Invention may be con-
veniently carried into effect, Figure 1 being a vertical and Figure 2 a
O horizontal section of the regulator.
a is the inlet for the gas; 6 is the conical valve by which the gas coming
from the inlet a passes to the regulator; c is the valve seat; d is the gas
chamber; e is the elastic diaphragm, which through the varying pressures of
gas will be more or less elevated, and thereby have the eutire control of the
gas passing through the regulator; f is the tube through which gas passes to
the burner; g is the weight on the valve 6 for regulating the pressure to any
certain quantity; h is the bottom part or base of the regulator made of
Britannia metal; i is the steatite or lava burner; k is a brass cap for fixing
the reflector to the regulator; 1 is a wire to support the tube f; and m is the

page_text: reflector, which is made of silvered glass or other desirable material, and of
any shape as fancy or taste may dictate.
The action is as follows:-Gas passing through the supply pipe a enters the
chamber d by the valve b, which always has a tendency to fall by reason of
the weight g on the diaphragm, until sufficient gas has entered to fill the
chamber; the diaphragm then rises, the valve 6 is closed, the supply is shut
off, and no more gas can pass through the valve b to the chamber d than is
being actually consumed at the burner i, consequently an even flame is always
maintained.
Figure 3 is a view of a smaller regulator for gasaliers and single burners,
the internal construction is similar to that before described, and therefore
requires no further description.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction of gas regulators with a passage for the gas inside
the regulator, the gas being conveyed from the supply pipe to the passage,
substantially in manner herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Second, the employment in gas regulators of a reflecting surface outside the
regulator, as herein-before described.
Third, the employment in the manufacture of gas regulators of a metal
consisting of antimony and tin, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the general construction and arrangement of gas regulators,
including the method of attaching the diaphragm, the simplicity of the manu-
facture, and the facility for connecting the parts together, all substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof I, the said Edmund Smith, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
EDMUND SMITH. (L.S.)