Improvements connected with Coin Freed Apparatus for the Sale of Gas in Fixed Quantities.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Apr., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 26th July, 1894-Accepted, 6th Oct., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements connected with Coin Freed Apparatus for the Sale of
Gas in Fixed Quantities.
We, RICHARD THOMAS GLOVER, and JOHN GEORGE GLOVER, trading as
Thomas Glover and Company, of 214 to 222 St. John's Street, Clerkenwell,
London, Gas Meter Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention has for object, the construction of an apparatus of relatively
small size for use in connection with gas meters, upon or to which it is fixed in
such a manner that a consumer wishing to obtain a supply of gas must prepay the
same by the insertion of a coin of given size and value, which acting as a key,
enables the consumer by turuing a handle to open a valve for the passage of a
proportionate quantity of gas to the service pipes.
The invention primarily consists in forming a circular plate with a number of
notches upon its periphery, and cutting, or otherwise forming a spiral groove upon
its under side from the centre to the edge of same, or any intermediate distance as
may be desired.
Above the before-mentioned circular plate and loosely mounted upon a central
spindle, is an arm having a handle, and money pocket so arranged that upon the
insertion of a coin of given size through the slot of the meter case, it falls into
said money pocket, and one of the notches of the circular plate onto a circularly
divided table, which is so placed as to cause the penny to be partly in the pocket,
and partly in the notch of the circular plate, thus acting as a key to lock said
money pocket and plate, and cause them to move together when the handle fixed
to the money pocket is turned.
A wheel pivoted to a sliding carriage suitably suspended upon guides, gears into
the spiral thread or groove on the under side of the circular plate, and also into a
similar spirally grooved or threaded plate arranged below the said wheel with its
thread or groove uppermost, in such a manner as to be capable of rotation by the
meter mechanism, its relative rate of rotation being governed by means of a train
of wheels interposed between said meter mechanism and spirally grooved bottom
plate. A push rod or connecting link is attached to the wheel carriage, which by
operating suitable bell cranks and levers, controls the gas valve to open or close
same as the case may be, and also to move a pointer over the indices of a dial to
indicate to the consumer the amount of gas prepaid, or remaining unconsumed.
A person wishing to obtain a supply of gas, inserts a coin, and by turning the
handle beforementioned, causes the spirally threaded notched plate to turn a given
distance, said distance being adjustable by turning the divided table and moving
the money pocket stop, and escape slot, through which the coin falls into the till
further from or nearer to the starting point of said money pocket according to
whether more or less gas is to be supplied for a given coin. The turning of said
spirally grooved or threaded notched plate operates as a worm to turn the wheel
which gears into the bottom spiral as upon a rack, and thus moves its carriage
outwards to operate the various cranks and levers to open the valve for the supply
of gas. The meter mechanism then operates the lower spiral to act as a worm to
turn the wheel in the opposite direction, which gearing into the top spiral as into a
rack, moves the carriage back and allows the valve to close, and cut off the supply
after a quantity equivalent to the value of the coin has passed to the consumer's
pipes.

page_text: Another essential feature of our invention, is loosely articulating the valve to its
stem, such as by a ball and socket, or universal joint, so that said valve can
accommodate itself to any irregularity of position of its seating to a tight joint, and
prevent the passage of gas to the consumer's pipe until said valve is lifted after
the insertion of a coin.
By loosely articulating the valve, or it may be the seating, no pressure is required
to be put upon the valve to tightly close it, such as is necessary in valves of
ordinary construction.
A spring may be used if desired to stiffen the valve, and keep same upon its
work
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements connected with Coin Freed Apparatus for the Sale of
Gas in Fixed Quantities.
We, RICHARD THOMAS GLOVER, and JOHN GEORGE GLOVER trading as
Thomas Glover and Company, of 214 to 222 St. John's Street, Clerkenwell,
London, Gas Meter Manufacturers, 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 :-
This invention has for object, the construction of an apparatus of relatively
small size for use in connection with gas meters upon or to which it is fixed in such
a manner that a consumer wishing to obtain a supply of gas must prepay the same
by the insertion of a coin of given size and value, which acting as a key, enables
the consumer by turning a handle to open a valve for the passage of a proportionate
quantity of gas to the service pipes.
Our invention will be thoroughly understood upon reference to the accompanying
sheets of drawings in which
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the apparatus as applied to the top of a meter,
the inlet pipe and enclosing case of which is in section.
Figure 2 is a plan of the same with the handle and top of the meter case
removed.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the apparatus, the meter case being represented
as broken away.
Figure 4 is a part sectional elevation on line 1-2 of Figure 2 looking to the left
to clearly show the action and position of the gas inlet valve.
Figure 5 is a part sectional elevation more clearly showing the position of the
coin when inserted.
Figure 6 is an elevational view of Figure 5 taken at right angles showing the
coin in a position to fall through the escape slot when the handle has been turned
to the position represented by the dotted lines in Figure 5.
Figure 7 is an under plan of the bell crank lever and crown wheel shown in top
plan in Figure 2.
Figure 8 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus on the line 3-4 of Figure 2
but upon an enlarged scale.
Figure 9 is a sectional plan taken upon the line 5-6 of Figure 8.
Figure 10 is a cross section on line 7-8, Figure 9.
Figure 11 is an external front elevation of a complete prepayment gas meter.
The invention primarily consists in forming a circular plate A with a number of
notches B upon its periphery, and cutting, or otherwise forming a spiral groove C

page_text: upon its under side from the centre to the edge of same, or any intermediate
distance, as may be desired.
Above the beforementioned circular plate A, and loosely mounted upon a central
spindle D is an arm E and coin pocket F so arranged that upon the insertion of a
coin of given size through the slot G of the meter case H, it falls through the
slot G1 of the shield S¹ into the coin pocket F, and one of the notches B of the
circular plate A and onto the upturned edge I of what is herein termed a divided
table J which is marked off into a given number of divisions, in this case fifty, and
has a corresponding number of holes K for the reception of a spring pin L that is
fixed at one end to the pillar M. A slot N is cut in the upturned edge 1 of the
divided table J, and immediately contiguous to it is a stop P, against which the
coin pocket F strikes when turned, as shown more particularly in Figures 5
and 6.
Each division or hole K in the table J is equivalent to a cubic foot of gas, so
that the amount of gas to be delivered for a given coin can be easily determined,
or varied to suit the varying prices of gas in different districts by withdrawing
the spring pin L and turning the table J round to move the escape slot N and
stop P a greater or less number of divisions away from said pin L, thereby
regulating or determining the amount of turning movement of the plate A. -
If the holes K in the table J are numbered consecutively from the escape slot N
round to the stop P, the number of cubic feet of gas to be passed for a given coin
will correspond to the number of the hole in which the spring pin is inserted.
The table J is so placed as to cause the penny to rest upon its edge I and to be
partly in the coin pocket F and partly in one of the notches B of the circular
plate A, thus acting as a key to lock said coin pocket F and plate A and cause
them to move together when the handle Q fixed to the square end R of the coin
pocket boss S is turned.
A wheel T pivoted to a sliding carriage U suitably held between guide bars V, V,
as shown in Figure 10 gears into the spiral thread or groove C cut or formed on
the under side of the circular plate A, and also into a similar spiral groove or
thread C' which is cut or formed upon the top of a plate X arranged below the
said wheel T. The plate A is free to revolve upon the central spindle D but the
bottom plate X is fixed thereto and revolves with it when operated by the meter
mechanism, its relative rate of rotation being governed by means of a train of
wheels Z, Z, interposed between said meter mechanism and spirally grooved or
threaded bottom plate X, the connection between the meter registering mechanism
and this train of wheels being effected by means of the slotted bar a.
A rod 6 is attached to the wheel carriage U at one end, the other end being
connected to a bell crank d which when moved causes the sliding rod e to move to
and fro to effect by means of the lever g and rod h the opening or closing as the
case may be of the gas valve i which is loosely articulated to its stem j by a ball
and socket, or universal joint k. The bell crank d is formed with part of a crown
wheel that gearing into a pinion m fixed to the small spindle n rotates same to
cause the pointer p, Figures 2, 3, and 11, to move over the indices of the dial g to
indicate to the consumer the amount of gas prepaid, or remaining unconsumed.
A person wishing to obtain a supply of gas inserts a coin, and by turning the
handle Qbefore mentioned causes the spirally threaded notched plate A by the
engagement of the coin in one of its notches to turn a given distance said distance
being determined by the position of the coin pocket stop P and escape slot N
through which the coin falls into the till r, said position varying according to
whether more or less gas is to be supplied for a given coin, as before explained.
This turning of the notched plate A causes its spiral thread to act as a worm to
turn the wheel T which gears into and moves over the bottom spiral C¹ as upon a
rack, and thus moves the carriage U to which the wheel T is pivoted inwards upon
the guide bars V, V, to operate the bell crank d and sliding rod e and allow the
valve to open for the supply of gas. The gas now enters by the inlet pipes which
is partitioned at t as shown more particularly at Figure 1, and passes from thence

page_text: through a hole u in the meter side to the valve box v, Figure 4, and through the
valve orifice to another hole to into the pipe s but below the partition t, and then
into the meter and through the outlet s¹ to the consumers pipes, the registering
mechanism of the meter during the passage of the gas operates the slotted bar or
tangent a to rotate the train of wheels Z, Z, and the plate X. Said turuing of the
plate X causes its thread C₁ to act as a worm to turn the wheel I which then gears
into and moves across the top spiral thread Cas upon a rack, and thereby moves
the carriage U back to its original or starting position. During such return
movement the rod b pushes the bell crank d and causes it to turn upon its centre
and move the pointer p over the dial 7 by means of the wheel and pinion, it also
moves the sliding rod e which in turn pushes the lever g outwards to turn the rod h
that passes through the stuffing box wol and is attached to the valve lever a to move
the gas valve i up against its seating and cut off any further supply until the
insertion of another coin. When the valve has closed upon its seating, the
pointer is at zero.
Any number of coins may be inserted one after the other until the carriage U is
moved to its inmost position and an equivalent value in cubic feet of gas will be
returned to the consumer.
To prevent the plate A being turned in the wrong direction, a pawl A¹ and
spring B is provided to engage in the notches B.
By loosely articulating the valve i, no pressure is required to be put upon the
valve to tightly close it such as is necessary in valves of ordinary construction.
A springy is used to stiffen the valve i and keep same upon its work.
A dummy dial g' is provided, the pointer of which on being set indicates to the
consumer the number of cubic feet which will be supplied for, say, a penny.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination of two spirally grooved plates with a valve governing pinion
in gear, one of said plates being movable after receipt of a predetermined coin
without affecting the other of the two plates but over which the pinion can travel
as on a rack bar, as set forth, and substantially as shown.
2. Fitting two circular plates spirally grooved on their inner faces, one of said
plates being fixed on an axle piu, and the other loose, said plates having a pinion in
gear which is revolved in one direction by the rotation of either plate when moved
by the coin, or meter registering mechanism, whereby the said pinion is caused to
alternately travel over the other plate as on a rack, the pinion serving to actuate
the gas inlet valve and index finger, as described and shown.
3. In a prepayment meter, the combination of a notched and spirally grooved
plate with a coin pocket, and divided table having an escape slot and stop arranged
in the manner and for the purpose as described and shown.
The 26th der of July 1801
R. CORE GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said Richard Thomas Glover and John George Glover.