IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGULATING THE FLOW OR PASSAGE OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry James Hogg King, of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGULATING
THE FLOW OR PASSAGE OF LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 29th April 1870, and dated the 3rd November 1869:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry James Hogg
King at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd November 1869.
I, HENRY JAMES HOGG KING, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND
REGULATING THE FLOW OR PASSAGE OF LIQUIDS," to be as follows; that is
to say :-
This Invention comprises various improvements in apparatus for
measuring, indicating, and regulating the flow or passage of liquids.
The first improvement admits of a comparatively small meter being
used, as only a portion of the liquid to be recorded passes through the

page_text: meter. The supply pipe is fitted with a small branch, which leads a
portion of the liquid through the meter, whence it passes on by a small
pipe into a small cylinder provided with a piston and having an outlet
slit in its side. The piston moves a large valve, through which the main
portion of the liquid passes. When the liquid is being withdrawn the
more rapidly it issues the less will be the pressure on the outside of the
valve piston, and the further will it move outwards, in doing which it will
proportionately open the outlets from the meter and from the supply
pipe, so that the measurements of the meter will always be proportional
to the actual discharge, whilst the position of the valve piston will
afford an indication of the rate of dischargo at any moment.
The second part of the Invention consists in shifting the valve of a
reciprocating liquid meter by means of the alteration that takes place at
the end of each stroke in the pressure of the liquid in the port which is
at the time acting as outlet. For this purpose the ports are made to
communicate by passages with spaces on each side of a piston or
diaphragm connected by a rod to the valve and to a tumbling weighted
lever.
It is preferred to combine the first and second parts of the Invention
with a measuring chamber of a lenticular form and fitted with a flexible
diaphragm of vulcanised rubber or other suitable material; but the first
improvement is applicable with any accurate kind of liquid meter, and
the second with any reciprocating liquid meter.
The third part of the Invention comprises the adaptation of the valve
piston for recording or indicating the passage of tho liquid without a
separate meter, the arrangement constituting a meter in itself. The
liquid passes off through slots in the cylinder in which the piston works,
and the piston is moved along the cylinder against a weight or spring in
proportion to the rate of discharge. The piston is on a spindle passing
out through a stuffing box, and turns with the spindle from the action of
the liquid in passing through helical passages formed in it for the
purpose. The rotation of the spindle is communicated to a clock train
with escapement and pendulum or balance, and this train gives motion
to counting wheels by means of a disc acting upon a friction wheel on a
spindle which is in the line of the valve spindle. As the piston moves:
so as to increase the discharge outlets the friction wheel is shifted along
the face of the dise and further from the centre, so that it receives a
proportionately increased motion from the disc

page_text: By the fourth part of the Invention the clock train actuated by means
of the rotating valve piston or otherwise turns a notched disc or cam,
which when the notch comes round allows a lever to be moved by a
weight or spring into contact with a disc on the piston spindle. The
lever is connected by a link to or carries a pencil or marker which
periodically marks a disc, drum, or sheet of paper, and thus indicates
thereon the rate of discharge at the periods at which the lever is
arranged to act. These indications when taken for a sufficiently long
time may be assumed as showing the average rate of discharge, from
which the total discharge may be estimated.
By the fifth part of the Invention the clock train is arranged to adjust
its movements to the varying rates of discharge by appliances which
correspondingly alter the effective length of the pendulum. For this
purpose the discharge is made to take place through two chambers or
spaces, the communication between which is more contracted than the
outlet from the last one. There will in consequence be a difference of
pressure in the chambers, which difference will vary with the actual rate
of discharge. The pendulum is made tubular and in the form of an
inverted siphon, whilst a quantity of mercury is put in the lower part of
it. Flexible tubes are used to connect the two legs of the pendulum
with the chambers, and the difference of pressure in these causes the
mercury to rise more or less up one leg, thereby altering the position of
the centre of gravity, and in consequence the effective length and rate
of the pendulum. The same arrangement is obviously applicable in a
modified form to a balance instead of a pendulum.
In some of the modifications of apparatus comprised in the Invention
for regulating the flow or passage of water or other liquid a valve piston
is arranged in a cylindrical pássage so as to be acted upon by the water
entering or by that leaving the apparatus, and it is connected to a
regulating slide which closes more or less certain ports through which
the water has to pass. The piston is connected by a link and lever or
rack and pinion to a spindle passing out through a stuffing box, and the
spindle has a lever fixed on it externally to which a weight or spring is
applied.
In other modifications the water passes through ports in the sides of a
cylinder which are more or less closed by a cylindrical regulating slide.
The regulating slide is acted upon by a piston or diaphragm pressed in
one direction by the liquid and in the other by a weight or spring.

page_text: In another modification the slide has fixed in connection with it one
or more helical vanes, and the water passing through and acting on
them tends to turn the slide so as to close the ports, whilst this action
is resisted by a weight or spring. Or the slide is connected to one end
of a coiled Bourdon tube fixed in the casing with its interior in com-
munication with the atmosphere, and the pressure of the liquid on the
outside of the tubo tends to make it coil up, in doing which it closes the
ports, which are consequently more or less closed in proportion to the
pressure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry James Hogg King in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd May 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JAMES HOGG KING, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, lid, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry James Hogg King, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry James logg King, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry James Hogg
King, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING, INDICATING, AND REGULATING THE
FLOW OR PASSAGE OF LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry James Hogg King, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry James Hogg King, 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 accom-
panying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention comprises various improvements in apparatus
for measuring, indicating, and regulating the flow or passage of
liquids.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet
of explanatory Drawings, to be herein-after referred to and representing
examples of apparatus embodying my improvements.
The first improvement admits of a comparatively small meter being
used, the supply pipe being fitted with a small branch which leads a
portion only of the liquid through the meter, whence it passes on by
a small pipe into a small cylinder provided with a piston and having an
outlet slit in its side. The piston moves a large valve through which
the main portion of the liquid passes, and proportionately opens the
outlets from the meter and from the supply pipe.
The second improvement consists in shifting the valve of a recipro-
cating liquid meter by means of the alteration that takes placo at the
end of each stroke in the pressure of the liquid in the port which is at
the time acting as outlet.
I prefer to combine the first and second improvements with a measuring
chamber of a lenticular form and fitted with a flexible diaphragm of
vulcanised rubber or other suitable material, as shown in the accom-
panying Drawings; but my first improvement is applicable with any
accurate kind of liquid meter, and my second with any reciprocating
liquid meter.
Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections as at right angles to each other;
Figure 3 is a plan of the sole plate of the apparatus; and Figures
4 and 5 are detached views of parts of the valve forming part of the
improved apparatus.
The measuring chamber is a vessel 1 of a lenticular form fitted with a
diaphragm 2 of vulcanised rubber; and the spaces 3, 4, on the two sides

page_text: of the diaphragm communicate by passages and ports 5, 6, with a valve
chamber 7, in which there is a common slide valve 8 to control
the movement of the liquid. The valve 8 is moved by a rod 9, which
is connected to a piston 10 in a small cylinder 11, the opposite ends of
which communicate by passages 12, 13, with the ports 5, 6, but in
reversed order, that is, the left-hand port 6 being in communication
with the right-hand end of the cylinder 11, and the other port with the
other end. The valve rod 9 has also in connection with it a weighted
lever 14, which completes the shifting of the valve whenever the latter
gets just beyond its middle position. These parts are arranged as
described and shown for the purpose of availing of the alteration of
pressure in the exhaust passage 15 for shifting the valve whenever tho
diaphragm 2 reaches either end of its stroke. When the diaphragm 2
is moving and not at the end of its stroke, the difference between the
pressure in the passage 5 or 6 then acting as inlet, and that in the
other passage (6 or 5) then acting as exhaust is too slight to move the
weighted lever 14 by acting on the piston 10, but on the diaphragm 2
reaching the end of its stroke against the side of its chamber 1 the
pressure in the exhaust becomes momentarily considerably reduced, and
there is in consequence a sufficient difference of pressure in the two
ends of the cylinder 11 to move the piston 10, and through it the
valve 8. The valve 8 is made with its ends just the breadth of cach
port 5, 6, but a minute notch is filed in the outer edge of one end and in
the inner edge of the other end, so that even if the meter happens to
have been stopped with the valve exactly in its middle position there
will still be a slight communication, which will cause sufficient pressure
on the valvo piston 10 to make it move the valve and so start the meter.
A flexible diaphragm may be used instead of the piston 10, and the
other details and arrangements may be modified, the main feature of
this part of the Invention being the using of the temporarily diminished
pressure in the exhaust passage at the end of the stroke to effect tho
shifting of the valve.
In the modification shown the liquid enters the valve casing 7 by a
small inlet pipe 16, and the counting mechanism contained in a casing

page_text: space 21 into which the liquid enters by a large or main inlet pipe 22,
and the latter leading into an inner cylinder 23 fitted with a piston 21
which works upon a central fixed tube 25. The piston 24 is pressed
downwards by a weight 26 connected to it by a rod 27. The upper part of
the cylinder 23 which is shown in section in Figure 4 is formed with
apertures or ports 28, by which the liquid has access from the surround-
ing space 21 to the inside, and thence upwards to the main outlet pipo
29. The passage through these ports is controlled by a cylindrical
valve 30, shown in plan in Figure 5, and carried by arms 31 formed on
a piece fixed to the piston 24. The central tube 25 on which this
piston works is formed with slots or ports 32, by which the liquid that
has passed through the meter has access up through the piston and by
openings 33 just above it into the space communicating with the main
outlet 29. The liquid from the meter exerts a pressure on the under
side of the piston 21 in opposition to the weight 26 and to the pressure
of the liquid on the upper side. The pressure of the liquid on the upper
side of the piston becomes less or more in proportion as the liquid is
withdrawn more rapidly or more slowly by the outlet 29, and the piston
24 moves in obedience to any difference of pressure. When moving
upwards it enlarges the ports 32 and 28, and whilst thus allowing a freer
direct passage from the main inlet space 21, at the same time causes a
proportionately increased flow through the meter. The opposite action
takes place whon the piston 24 moves downwards. Thus tho total
flow by the outlet pipo 29 being always in proportion to that pass-
ing through the meter may be calculated therefrom, or the counting
mechanism of the meter may be arranged to indicato it. For the purpose
of adjusting the relative flow through the larger ports 28 a crank 34 is
fitted in the cover and has a long 'pin projecting down through a hole
in the weight 26. This crank can be turned from the outside and will
cause the turning of the weight 20, rod 27, and valve 30, so that the
latter will close the ports 28 laterally to a greater or less extent indepen-
dently of the vertical movement of the valve in connection with the
piston 2-1.
By the third part of my Invention (designated the fifth part in my
relative Provisional Specification) a clock train of any convenient kind

page_text: length of the pendulum. For this purpose the discharge is made to
take place through two chambers or spaces 35, 36, shown in the
sectional clevation, Figure 6, of the accompanying Drawings, and
communicating with cach other through an opening 37 which is morc
contracted than the outlet from the last space 36. There will in con-
sequence be a difference of pressure in the chambers, which difference
will vary with the actual rate of discharge. The only parts of the clook
train shown are the escapement wheel 38, the escapement 39, and the
pendulum 40. The pendulum 40 is made tubular and in the form of an
inverted siphon, or (what is equivalent) with a central tube open at the
bottom, and dipping down into a larger tube. Flexible tubes 41, 42',
are used to connect the two tubes of the pendulum with the chambers
35, 36, the inner chamber 35 being connected with the tube of smaller
arca, and the lower part of the tubes being filled with mercury. The
difference of pressure in the chambers 35, 36, causes the mercury to rise
more or less up one tube of the pendulum, and owing to the difference in
the areas thereby altering the position of the centre of gravity, and in
consequence the effective length and rate of the pendulum. The same
arrangement is obviously applicable in a modified form to a balance
instead of a pendulum.
A modification of apparatus comprised in my Invention and designed
for regulating the flow or passage of water or other liquid is shown in
vertical section in Figure 7. In this apparatus a valve piston 41 with
openings through it is arranged in a cylindrical passage 42 so as to be
acted on by the water passing through; and it is connected by an
arm 43 to a regulating slide 44 which closes more or less a port 45
through which the water has to pass before acting on the piston 41.
The piston is connected (by a link and lever or) rack and pinion 46 to a
spindle passing out through a stuffing box; and the spindle has a
lever 47 fixed on it externally to which a weight or spring is applied.
Figure 8 is a vertical section of a simplified modification in which the
external weighted lever is dispensed with. The piston 41 with openings
through it is on the same spindle as a smaller piston 44 acting as a
valve in connection with ports 45 in a cylindrical space 18 of smaller
arca than that of the space 42 in which the other piston 11 works.
The apparatus is adjusted for different rates of discharge by turning a
plate 19 that is on the top of the piston 41, and is shown in plan in
Figure 9, so as to cover the openings in the piston more or less. This

page_text: plate 19 is formed with a square spindle to be turned by a key 50 which
does not prevent its vertical movement and which is on a spindle passing
through the cover and fitted with a handle 51 externally.
Figure 10 is a horizontal section of a modification in which the liquid
passing through acts on helical vancs 52 on the same spindle 40 as a
disc valve piece 44 controlling ports 45, the spindle 40 passing out
through a stuffing box and having a lever 47 on it to which a weight or
spring is applied. The inclination of the helical vanes 52 is so arranged
in relation to the valve 44 and ports 45 that an increase of pressure on
the vanes tends to close the ports.
In my Provisional Specification lodged with my application for the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent I described certain other
improvements besides those hercin-before described, but I do not now
include them in my Invention, nor make any claim in respect of them
in consequence of my not having as yet been able to carry them out so
as to be practically useful.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated; but
that what I 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 adapting of proportional valves to liquid meters so that only a
proportion of the liquid requires to be measured, substantially as hercin-
before described.
2. The arranging of the valve of a reciprocating liquid meter so as to
be shifted by the action of the alteration of pressure at the end of each
stroke in the port which is at the time acting as outlet, substantially as
herein-before described.
3. The combining of the various parts of a liquid meter in the manner
heroin-before described with reference to Figures 1 to 5 on the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
4. The indicating of the flow of liquids by means of a clock train with
a pendulum or balance, the rate of which is made to vary substantially
in the manner herein-before described.

page_text: And, 5. Regulating the flow or passage of liquids by improved
apparatus substantially such as is herein-before described with reference
to Figures 7 to 10 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry James Hogg King, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day of
April, in the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
II. J. H. KING. (L.S.)