IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUID METERS, WHICH IMPROVE- MENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND HYDRAULIC ENGINES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Wightman, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUID METERS, WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND HYDRAULIC ENGINES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Wightman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th October 1881.
ARTHUR WIGHTMAN, of Sheffield, in the County of York. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FLUID METERS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND
HYDRAULIC ENGINES."
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of meters for water,
gas, and other fluids, and is also applicable to steam, hydraulic, and other engines,
and it consists principally in the use of moveable cylinders acting as slide valves
and worked by the piston alone, whereby the use of eccentrics or other ordinary
means for working the slide valves is dispensed with, and also in the arrangement
of two or more cylinders working within one casing, as hereinafter described. In
carrying out my Invention as applied to a water meter (for example) having two
cylinders, I construct an outer casing or tank, by preference of cast iron, provided
with a cover and an inlet for the water supply. Near one end and attached by
preference to each side of the interior of the casing or tank, I form an enclosed
chamber which I call the discharge chamber, to the interior of which the outlet
pipe communicates and round which discharge chamber the water has free access.
Suitable circular openings are made in both ends of the discharge chamber in
which the cylinders are fitted, and which act as bearings for the cylinders to slide
in, the length of traverse being determined by suitable exterior projections or stops
at both ends of the cylinders.
Ports or waterways are cut through the periphery of the cylinders at each end,
and in such positions that when the ports at one end are open to the tank, those
at the opposite end are open to the discharge chamber, and vise versa.
Each cylinder is fitted with a piston, the rod being connected to a double throw
crank and the rotary motion is transmitted by wheels or equivalents to an index
or dial plate, figured to indicate the quantity of water discharged.

page_text: The action of the meter is as follows:-Water under pressure being admitted to
the interior of the casing or tank enters those ports of the cylinders which are open
to the tank (namely the front ports of one cylinder, and the back ports of the other)
and forces the pistons to the other end of each cylinder. The throw of the cranks
and consequently the length of stroke of the pistons being greater than the effective
stroke or distance traversed by the pistons within the cylinders, it follows that the
pistons strike the ends of the cylinders and force them forward till the ports which
were open to the discharge chamber are open to the tank; the water under pressure
in the tank now enters the exposed ports driving the pistons to the other end of
the cylinders, and expelling the water out of the cylinders into the discharge
chamber and again forcing the cylinders forward to their former positions.
The pressure of water acting on the cylinder heads, towards which heads the
pistons are advancing, holds the cylinders in place until they are moved forward
by the pistons striking them. The arrangement of the double crank avoids the
liability of stoppage on a dead centre.
In applying my Invention to a motive power engine, the apparatus is constructed
generally upon the same principle, the details being modified in a manner which
will be held understood.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Arthur Wightman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
April 1882.
ARTHUR WIGHTMAN, of Sheffield, in the County of York.. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
FLUID METERS, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO STEAM AND
HYDRAULIC ENGINES."
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of meters for water
and other fluids, and is also applicable to steam, hydraulic, and other engines, and
it consists principally in the use of two or more moveable cylinders working within
one casing, such cylinders acting as slide valves and being worked by the pistons
alone, whereby the use of eccentrics or other ordinary means for working the
slide valves is dispensed with.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the
several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 are vertical sections of an apparatus constructed according to
my Invention, the said sections being taken at right angles to cach other.
Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line 1, 2, Figure 1. I will describe the
said apparatus as a water meter having only two cylinders, and from this
description its adaptation as hereinafter described will be readily understood. The
working parts are enclosed in an outer casing or tank A, by preference of cast
iron, and provided with an inlet B for the water supply, and an outlet C³ for its
exit. Supported inside the outer casing or tank A is an enclosed chamber C,
which I call the discharge chamber, with the interior of which the outlet pipe C²
communicates, and round which discharge chamber the water has free access from
end to end of the outer casing or tank A. Two openings are made in both ends of
the discharge chamber, in bush pieces c in which the cylinders D are fitted, the
said bush pieces acting as bearings for the said cylinders to slide in water-tightly,
the length of the traverse of the said cylinders D being determined by the
projections or stops d projecting into the cylinders D at both ends thereof.
Double sets of ports or waterways f are cut through the periphery of the
cylinders near each end, in such positions that when one set of the ports at one
end is open to the interior of the outer casing or tank A, another set of ports at
the opposite end of the cylinder is open to the interior of the discharge chamber C,
and vice versa.
Each cylinder is fitted with a piston G, the rods g thereof being connected to a
shaft H, having two cranks set at right angles to each other to which the
connecting rods g² of the said pistons are respectively connected, and the rotatory
motion is transmitted to an index or dial plate I figured to indicate the number of
revolutions of the crank shaft, and consequently the number of times the cylinders
have been filled and emptied and the quantity of water which has passed through
the apparatus.
Above and beneath each set of ports is a flange like projection d', each pair of
which form a double beat valve, the seatings for which are the top and bottom
faces or edges of the bush pieces c.
The parts of the apparatus may be supported in the outer casing or tank A in
any convenient manner which will allow the fluid to occupy the said outer casing
or tank A from end to end. As shewn in the Drawings the discharge chamber Ō
is screwed to flanges projecting for the purpose into the interior of the said outer
casing or tank A.
The bearings for the crank shaft H are inside the said outer casing or tank A,
being carried by the support L fastened to the discharge chamber C. On this
support L is also carried the guide piece in which the piston rods g are guided.
The action of the meter is as follows: -Water under pressure being adinitted to

page_text: the interior of the outer casing or tank A by the inlet B, the said water enters the
cylinders D by those ports f of the said cylinders which are open to the said outer
casing or tank A, that is to say, those of the said ports which are in the portions
of the said cylinders which project beyond the bush pieces c to the outside of the
discharge chamber C.
The said water forces the pistons G to the other ends of the cylinders, expelling
at the same time the water which is in the cylinders D (at the ends towards which
the pistons are advancing) out by those ports f which are open to the discharge
chamber C from whence it passes away by the outlet C². The throw of the
cranks of the shaft H being equal to the effective stroke of the pistons G within
the cylinders, plus the travel of the cylinders themselves, it follows that the pistons
strike the stops d at the ends of the cylinders and move the said cylinders
longitudinally until the ports f which at the commencement of the stroke were
open to the discharge chamber C, are opened to the outer casing or tank A, and the
ports which at the commencement of the stroke were open to the outer casing or
tank A are opened to the discharge chamber C; the water under pressure in the outer
casing or tank A now enters the newly exposed ports f driving the pistons G to
the other ends of the cylinders D, and expelling the water out of the said cylinders
into the discharge chamber C, and thence from the exit C, and again forcing the
cylinders D forward to their former positions, and so on continuously so long as
water under pressure is admitted to and drawn from the apparatus.
The cranks of the shaft H are constructed at right angles to each other in order
to enable the one piston when a little before arriving at midstroke to give the
necessary movement to the other piston which is then at the end of its traverse
within the cylinder, in order to cause such last mentioned piston to move its own
cylinder into the proper position.
The pressure of water acting on the cylinder heads, towards which heads the
pistons are advancing, holds the cylinders in place until they are moved forward
by the pistons striking their projections. Should such pressure for any reason be
insufficient to accomplish this, I affix reversing springs to the cylinder heads to
keep them in the required positions until moved forward as aforesaid.
It will be understood that more than two cylinders may be employed if desired,
the number of cranks on the shaft H being correspondingly increased.
In applying my Invention to a motive power, steam, or other hydraulic engine,
the apparatus is constructed essentially as hereinbefore described, the details being
modified in a manner which will be well understood, the crank shaft being
continued to the outside of the casing to transmit the motion of the engine to the
place where it is to be utilized.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in
part recited Letters Patent is,―
The bereinbefore described apparatus for use as a fluid meter, or a motive-power
engine, wherein the essential feature is the utilization of the cylinders as slide
valves operated by the pistons alone, whereby the use of eccentrics or other means
of working slide valves is dispensed with.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Wightman, have to this my Specification
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty two