An Improved Automatic Feed for Supplying Oil or other Liquids in Regulated Quantities for Burning, Lubricating, or other Purposes.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 14th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Automatic Feed for Supplying Oil or other Liquids
in Regulated Quantities for Burning, Lubricating, or other
Purposes.
WILLIAM REYNOLDS Pen-y-Park House Keresley Coventry Engineer
LEONARD GETHIN ASTLEY Broadgate Coventry Oil Merchant do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The feed is intended for regulating the supply of any liquid in varying
quantities as the duty to be done may require and to automatically and absolutely
stop the supply for any indefinite period when the work to be done is in abeyance.
It is intended to act as an intermediary between a tank of any size and the point
where more or less minute quantities of the liquid used may be required.
The principle involved in the invention is the balancing the weight of the liquid
to be dealt with by a smaller quantity of a heavier liquid. This may be done by
inserting the end of the pipe conveying the liquid into a tube or vessel containing
the heavier liquid.
When the submergence of the tube brings the weight of a column of the heavier
liquid above the mouth of the pipe, equal to the force or weight of the lighter
liquid, equilibrium will be established and the lighter liquid will cease to flow, but
if the depth of the submergence is lessened, the liquid will again flow.
When the improved feed is arranged for controlling the supply of oil or spirit
to burners from a tank at some distance from them, the tank will usually be at a
higher level. In this case it will be convenient to place the feed in a box
capable of holding a certain supply of the oil or spirit. The burners may be
attached directly to this feed box or they may be connected by tubes but in any
case they will draw their supply of oil or spirit from the feed box. This box
contains a float arranged to rise and fall with the level of the liquid in the feed
box. The float carries a tube or a receptacle, or a cavity may be made in it
to contain the heavier liquid. The end of the conducting pipe from the tank
is thrust into this tube or cavity, preferably in a vertical position, and when the
submergence brings the weight of a column of liquid in the float tube equal to
the weight or pressure of the fluid from the tank none will flow. The burners
being fed from the float box will draw off what oil or spirit they require and
so lower the float..
As this upsets the equilibrium, oil or spirit will flow through the heavier
liquid to replenish the float box and when the burner is extinguished the rising
of the float will effectually seal the further flow of the oil or spirit.
For lubricating machinery or supplying oil to oil or petroleum engines where
increase in the speed of the machinery requires a more copious flow of the
lubricating or explosive fluid, instead of a float the receptacle containing the
heavier liquid may be controlled by rotating balls or any other form of governor
so that an increased speed will draw down the receptacle and so cause a larger
flow of the lubricating or explosive liquid.
The heavier liquid as described may be quicksilver or an amalgam of quicksilver

page_text: or it may he a non-metallic liquid, care being taken that it be of a nature that is
not chemically affected by the lighter liquid being dealt with.
Dated this 13th day of February 1896.
WILLIAM REYNOLDS.
LEONARD GETHIN ASTLEY.
COMI LEID DIMOIFICATION.
An Improved Automatic Feed for Supplying Oil or other Liquids
in Regulated Quantities for Burning, Lubricating, or other
Purposes.
WILLIAM REYNOLDS West Orchard, Coventry Lamp Manufacturer LEONARD
GETHIN ASTLEY Broadgate Coventry Oil Merchant do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to-be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention has for its object an improved automatic feed for supplying oil
or other liquids in regulated quantities for burning lubricating or other purposes
without using cocks or taps.
There are numerous operations where an automatically regulated supply of some
liquid is desired but for the purpose of describing our invention the controlling the
flow of oil or spirit to lamp burners which are to be constantly fed will be
convenient and to make the nature of our invention clear we have prepared
drawings.
Referring now to Figure 1. This is a sectional elevation of our improved feed
as applied to a lamp, chandelier or wall bracket showing also how a supply cistern
or tank may be placed.
The improved feed consists of a vessel C containing a float D. It is necessary
that the float should keep in an upright position and to secure this we make it with
a tube passing through it. The vessel C also has a tube passing through it and
extending some distance below the bottom (G). This last tube is open at the top
and closed at the bottom. The float is placed in the vessel C with the tube G
passing through it and easily slides up and down. On the top of the float is
a wire ring or cage F which supports the tube E. As this tube rests on the float
cage F and passes down through the inner tube G it will rise and fall with the
float.
The supply pipe B from the cistern A is made straight at its end and may be
reduced in size. The end of the pipe is passed down into the tube E allowing
room between the end of the pipe and the bottom of the tube for the rise and fall
of the tube as controlled by the float. The tube E is partially filled with some
liquid heavier than the oil or spirit being dealt with the object being to balance
the weight of the oil or spirit in the pipe B and the cistern A. by the smaller
quantity of heavier liquid in the tube E.
-
We do not bind ourselves to use any particular liquid for this purpose but we
find quicksilver very convenient. Having placed a suitable quantity of the heavy
liquid in the tube E, oil or spirit may be placed in the cistern A. This will flow
down through B into the tube E and bubble up through the heavy liquid until it
overflows into the vessel C. As C becomes filled the float will rise and carry the
tube E with it until the pipe B becomes so far submerged that the weight of the
heavy liquid above the orifice of the pipe B equals the bead of oil or spirit in
the cistern A when the flow will cease.
In our drawing we place a pipe H to convey the oil or spirit to a cup I to which
a burner may be attached.

page_text: As the oil or spirit in the cup is consumed the level of the oil or spirit in the
vessel C will be lowered and the float and tube E will sink, when the flow from
the pipe B will recommence and continue until equilibrium is restored.
It will easily be seen that any number of pipes and cups H, I, may be made to
radiate from the feed vessel C to form a chandelier and that any number of cups
may be attached to the pipe H and all equally fed so long as they are on the
same level.
Referring now to Figure 2 we illustrate by a sectional elevation the manner in
which our improved feed may be applied for lubricating machinery or controlling
the supply of explosive fluid to oil or spirit mo:ors.
As in this form no float is required the vessel D, C need only be a tube with a
funnel top large enough to catch the overflow from the tube E and to convey it to
where it is wanted.
The supply pipe B is carried down into E as described in Figure 1 and the
tube E is filled up with quicksilver or other heavy liquid until the flow from the
pipe B stops. The tube E is secured by a collar to the bar F which is hinged to
and is operated by the lever G. It will now be. seen that moving the lever G will
cause the tube E to either rise or fall and so lessen or increase the submergence
of the supply pipe B. When the tube E is lowered a flow of oil or spirit will
occur which flow will increase in volume the more E is depressed. When it is
raised the flow will decrease as before described.
In the drawing the lever G is attached to a ball governor. This is only to show
how the feed may be operated by moving machinery and forms no part of our
invention.
Referring now again to our improved feed as operated by a float (Fig. 1)
although we have described it as it may be applied to lamps yet it will be
easily seen that it can be used for the supply of liquid fuel for heating and in
fact for many other purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is,
1st. The overcoming and balancing the weight and pressure of any liquid in
a supply pipe by immersing the said pipe in a liquid of a greater specific gravity
contained in a movable vessel, which vessel may be raised or lowered by floatation
or by mechanical means for the purpose of causing or stopping the flow of
liquid from the said supply pipe.
2nd. An improved feed regulator consisting of a float carrying a tube con-
taining a heavy liquid into which a supply pipe is immersed substantially as
described.
3rd. An improved feed regulator consisting of a tube containing a heavy liquid
into which a supply pipe is immersed and which tube can be raised or lowered
by mechanical means substantially as described.
Dated this 13th day of November 1896.
WILLIAM REYNOLDS.
LEONARD GETHIN ASTLEY.