IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS METERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Job Goulson, of 37, Ponsonby Place, Vauxhall
Bridge Road, Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
GAS METERS."
Sealed the 29th June 1860, and dated the 17th January 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Job Goulson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th
January 1860.
I, JOB GOULSON, of 37, Ponsonby Place, Vauxhall Bridge Road;
Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GAS METERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in gas meters. For these
purposes wet gas meters are each constructed with a chamber or rescrvoir
containing an extra supply of water to be raised into the measuring compart-
ment by the working of the meter in order to insure a constant water level in
the measuring compartment of the meter. The gas supply pipe enters the
valve box, and from it the gas enters into the upper part of the chamber or
reservoir containing the extra supply of water, and from such chamber or
reservoir the gas passes by a pipe into the measuring wheel, and in place
of the float, which acts on the admission valve, being external of the measuring
compartment of the meter, as is usually the case, it floats in the water con-
tained in the measuring compartment of the meter, so that it will be acted on
by the gas which has been measured, in place of being acted on by the gas
before it has entered the measuring compartment of the meter. The float is

page_text: attached by a rod to a lever, on one end of which is affixed the valve, and on
the other end, beyond the fulcrum or axis of the lever, a balance weight. The
rod by which the float is attached to the lever is caused to pass up a tube
through the float, and is arranged to admit of a screw nut regulating the
length of the rod, by which a correct adjustment between the float and the
valve may be readily obtained. Below the lever and the lower end of the rod
is attached a ball or weight which is of the specific gravity of water, and con-
sequently so long as it is immersed in the water contained in the chamber or
reservoir it will not be called into action, but so soon as the water of the
extra supply begins to uncover the ball or weight it commences to drag down
the float, and thus the valve will be closed when there is no longer a sufficient
quantity of water in the chamber or reservoir containing the extra supply.
The water in the chamber or reservoir containing the extra supply is raised
into the measuring compartment of the meter by a pump, the lower part of
the barrel of which is in the chamber or reservoir, and the upper part of which
comes just above the proper water level in the measuring compartment of the
meter. The plunger of the pump is attached at one end of a lever, which at
its other end beyond the fulcrum or axis is counterbalanced by a weight, this
lever is continually raised and lowered by means of a spiral on or around the
axis which gives motion to the registering apparatus which acts on the pro-
jection from the 'lever, which is between the plunger and the fulcrum of the
lever. At the lower end of the pump barrel is a valve through which a
wire attached to the piston works freely, this wire at its lower end has an
enlargement, which when lifted insures the lifting of the valve, and there is
provision made at the lower end of the piston or plunger to ensure the closing
of the valve; the water passes between the plunger and the barrel and over
the upper end of the barrel, where there is an overflow pipe, which brings back
AND AVANCE of seator to the reservoir
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Job Goulson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8
17th July 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOB
GOULSON, of 37, Ponsonby Place, Vauxhall Bridge Road, Westminster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 8
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Job Goulson, Her special licence that I, the said Job Goulson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Job
Goulson, 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 METERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Job Goulson, 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 Job Goulson, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in gas meters. For these
purposes wet gas meters are each constructed with a chamber or reservoir
containing an extra supply of water to be raised into the measuring compart--
ment by the working of the meter in order to insure a constant water level in
the measuring compartment of the meter. The gas supply pipe enters the
valve box, and from it the gas enters into the upper part of the chamber or
reservoir containing the extra supply of water, and from such chamber or
reservoir the gas passes by a pipe into the measuring wheel, and in place of the
float which acts on the admission valve being external of the measuring com-
partment of the meter, as is usually the case, it floats in the water contained in
the measuring compartment of the meter so that it will be acted on by the
which has been measured in place of being acted on by the gas before it has
entered the measuring compartment of the meter. The float is attached by a
rod to a lever, on one end of which is affixed the valve and on the other end,
beyond the fulcrum or axis of the lever, a balance weight. The rod by which
the float is attached to the lever is caused to pass up a tube through the float,
and is arranged to admit of a screw nut regulating the length of the rod by
which a correct adjustment between the float and the valve may be readily
obtained. Below the lever and the lower end of the rod is attached a ball or
weight which is of the specific gravity of water, and consequently so long as it
gas

page_text: is immersed in the water contained in the chamber or reservair it will not be
called into action, but so soon as the water of the extra supply begins to
uncover the ball or weight it commences to drag down the float, and thus the
valve will be closed when there is no longer a sufficient quantity of water in
the chamber or reservoir containing the extra supply. The water in the
chamber or reservoir containing the extra supply is raised into the measuring
compartment of the meter by a pump, the lower part of the valve of which is
in the chamber or reservoir, and the upper part of which comes just above the
proper water level in the measuring compartment of the meter. The plunger
of the pump is attached at one end of a lever which at its other end beyond
the fulcrum or axis is counterbalanced by a weight. This lever is continually
raised and lowered by means of a spiral on or around the axis which gives
motion to the registering apparatus, this spiral acts on a projection from the
lever and situated between the plunger and the fulcrum of the lever. At
the lower end of the pump barrel is a valve, and the parts are so arranged
that the motion of the plunger insures the due opening and closing of the
valve. The water passes between the plunger and the barrel, and over the
upper end of the barrel, and there is an overflow pipe which brings back any
excess of water to the reservoir.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and

page_text: shown by dotted lines in the Drawings, to allow it to find its seat and shut off.
exactly should the lever contract or expand by change of temperature. .The
lever h turns on a fulcrum or axis i, and is counterbalanced by the weight;;
at k it is jointed loosely to the wire l, which passes up through the tube m,
and screws into the nut-n, by which means the float o and valve e' are easily
adjusted to suit the water line; the float o and parts connected therewith are
shewn in section in Figure 4, the float when adjusted is soldered on to
its stem.
By arranging the supply valve, as above described, to be acted on by a lever,
which is itself moved by a float placed between the valve and the fulcrum of
the lever, a smaller motion of the float is required to open and close the valve,
than when the valve and float are so connected together as to move through
the same space, and the float being placed under the pressure of the mea-
sured gas is not influenced to the same extent by changes of pressure in the
gas mains as when it is placed under the pressure of the unmeasured gas.
Beneath the lever h, and jointed loosely to it is the small metal ball p having
the specific gravity of water, and which so long as it is immersed in the water
does not act on the valve, but so soon as it begins to uncover it will hang upon
the float, and before the water is so low as to throw the pump, herein-after
described, out of action it will drag down the float and close the valve; should
any attempt be made to obtain gas from the reservoir by sucking or blowing
out the water, or should the screw be left out through negligence, the valve
will be shut by the ball p preventing any accident or fraud; q is the barrel of
the pump for raising water to the measuring compartment of the meter; this
pump
is shown in section in Figure 5, the barrel has a hole in the centre of
the bottom, serving as a seat for the valver; s is the plunger of the pump,
which at its lower end has a small tube or recess to receive the stem of the
valve r. On the top of this stem is an enlargement or knob r¹, by means of
which the plunger when it comes to the top of its stroke raises the valve a
short distance from its seat to allow the water to flow into the barrel of the
pump, and to prevent the valve from sticking to the plunger and being carried
up and down with it the small knob r², at the bottom of the valve stem is
used. At the upper end the plungers is hung freely by links to the end of the
lever t, which at its other end beyond the fulcrum or axis t, has a counter-
weight t³, and between the plunger and the fulcrum or axis is the projecting
arm t. is a spiral placed on the spindle of the index and turning with it as
it revolves it raises the lever t, by the projecting arm t³, and with it the pump
plunger until it arrives at the summit of the spiral, when the plunger falling
suddenly the valve closes, and the water being pressed upon by the plunger is

page_text: forced up the barrel and over the top into the measuring compartment of the
meter, the counterweight must have the plunger sufficiently heavy to press
up the water, but not so heavy as to cause unnecessary friction on the spiral;
the plunger should also have plenty of play in the barrel to prevent friction
and allow the water to flow up freely. is the pipe by which the meter is
filled with water; w is a pipe by which it overflows from the measured gas
compartment to the water reservoir; x is the overflow pipe of the meter.
In Figure 6 another mode of raising the lever is shown, viz., by means of
a bevil wheel 1, placed upon the index spindle and driving the bevel wheel 2,
the spindle passes through a bearing 3, and has upon its end a cam, which,
by rotating, alternately raises and releases the plunger. Figure 7 represents
a double spiral which may be used for meters of large size, or if the pump
used is only of small diameter. In the vertical section, Figure 8, the arrange-
ment of the valve e¹ is somewhat modified, the counterbalanced lever with the
float is placed under the pressure of the measured gas in a manner better
adapted for old meters. Figure 9 is a section, taken at the line w, w, of
Figure 8.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details which I have described, but what I claim is,—
First, the combination of the parts of a meter as herein-before described.
Secondly, the use of a supply valve mounted on a counterbalance lever and
actuated by a float so placed as to be exposed to the pressure of the measured
gas as herein-before described.
Thirdly, the use of a pump with a plunger or piston having a to-and-fro
motion as herein described for raising water to the measuring compartment of
the meter.
Fourthly, the use, as herein described, of a metal ball having about the same
specific gravity as water, for closing the valve when a deficiency of water
occurs in the reservoir.
°
In witness whereof, I, the said Job Goulson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Seventeenth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
T COUT SON