IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC METERS PARTLY APPLICABLE TO GAS METERS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Toby Sprague of Green Lane Birmingham in the
County of Warwick Electrician for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
LETTERS PATENT to John Toby Sprague of Green Lane Birmingham in the
County of Warwick Electrician for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ELECTRIC METERS PARTLY APPLICABLE TO GAS METERS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Toby Sprague at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th June 1882.
JOHN TOBY SPRAGUE of Green Lane Birmingham in the County of Warwick,
Electrician IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC METERS, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO GAS
METERS
"
##
My improvements relate in the first place to the employment of such chemical
reactions set up by electric currents as set free a gas or gases, usually the decom-
position of water in presence of acids or other agents, to facilitate conduction and
electrolysis. Another portion of my improvements relates to measurement of
electric currents by means of the weight of a metal deposited.-I utilize the
measure of gas given off in various modes, according to the purpose intended-I
may employ an ordinary voltameter, in which both oxygen and hydrogen are given
off together, and pass them through a measuring apparatus continuously-But
I prefer to use electrodes giving each gas separately, and to measure only one gas.-
The electrodes may be metal plates in which the solution employed has no action
or they may be plates or rods of carbon or fragments of carbon contained in a
suitable vessel, as is well understood. Or I employ an apparatus which both
generates and measures the gas.-This I effect by means of a receiver of glass
or metal suspended over the electrode, and properly counterpoised so that it rises
as the gas collects.-I prefer to counterpoise it with a similar receiver with proper
adjustments for the weight of the receiver out of the liquid, so that the two act
alternately, and I fit them with tubes through which the gas can escape at the
proper periods. With such a pair I use a reversing cominutator and a recorder,
upon the same system as described for metallic deposit meters in my patents
No. 4762 of 1878 and 4454 of 1881-such reversers being actuated when the
receivers are filled or emptied by means of an electric contact, or by such mechanical
1/1

page_text: means as may obviously be actuated by the pressure of the gas.-Or I attach two
or preferably three such alternately acting receivers to a cranked axle or other
equivalent support, and I cause the rotation of this axle to actuate the commutator
and valves, setting each receiver in action in turn, as it reaches its highest and
lowest position. The electrodes from which the other gas is given off may be
either equal in number to the others, and form with them distinct voltameters, or
one electrode may be common to all the opposed electrodes.-When mixed gases
are given off, or when as in forms to be described only hydrogen is given off I
provide a means of igniting them, as by a ball of spongy platinum or a spark, and
allow them to burn under a receiver which will condense the vapor generated
and return it to the voltameter. I may place in the receiver a thermopile so as to
utilize the heat and re-convert it into electric energy to be returned to the circuit.
But the mode I prefer for these purposes is to cause the separate gases to pass into
receivers or gas holders suitably constructed to expand and contract in capacity as
required, each connected to one of a pair of electrodes in a suitable solution.-That
is to say I cause the gases to pass into a gas battery forming part of the circuit,
in which they shall recombine and restore to the circuit the energy abstracted in
the decomposition cells.-The water so reformed I restore to the meter or I
provide water mechanically to maintain the liquid level of the meter.-In some
cases I use as the gas producer a galvanic cell which liberates hydrogen from a
plate of metal or carbon, such as the cell known as "Smee."--I so construct
this that the negative electrode from which the gas is given off is enclosed and
the escape of gas prevented except from a tube provided for the purpose. In
another compartment which may be open I use a metal plate such as amalgamated
zine which dissolves in the liquid and must be renewed at proper intervals as
must also the liquid, which may be acid, alkaline, or the metal in solution according
to the reactions employed which do not form part of my Invention, which relates
only to the treatment of the gas, however generated. The gas I pass into a
measuring apparatus and the other appliances described previously. In any of
the forms described I graduate the recorder to show the current equivalent to the
gas in any suitable unit, and employ shunts as is understood to direct a determined
portion of the current into the meter if desired.-The second part of my invention
relates to the utilizing of metallic deposits in such a manner as to furnish a visible
indication of their weight and to ascertain their weight without removal from
the apparatus. I use any suitable metal or solution, but employ as a typical
illustration of my process the deposit of copper in sulphate of copper.-It is well
known that a pair of metal plates suitably arranged will afford the desired measure
of electrical currents by weighing either the metal deposited on the cathode or the
loss of metal dissolved from the anode, provided this be composed of pure metal,
which in the case of copper is obtainable by electrolysis I use either of these modes.-
I place the cathode horizontally at the lower part of the vessel where a denser
solution tends to be formed so as to secure more equal action and resistance.-The
anode may be either a cylinder or it may be a plate arranged horizontally over
the cathode and kept at uniform distance from it by proper stops or rests and one
or other of the plates may be rendered buoyant so as to press upward against such
stops, or the plate may be counterpoised.-I attach to one of the plates a weighing
apparatus of any convenient construction in such manner that the plate is not
ordinarily supported thereby and that the current does not pass through the
weighing apparatus or its connections to the plate but that the act of weighing
shall cut the current from the meter. Thus if the weight added to the cathode is
used, I arrange the weighing apparatus so that it shall be set in action by a lever,
or in other equivalent manner so as to lift the plate from its rests and at the samne
time cut off the whole current from the meter. If the anode is weighed I arrange
the measuring appliance to show the weight lost, and, if the electrode is a buoyant
one its increased pressure upwards will furnish the indication. When the anode
is a surrounding cylinder so arranged that a small motion will not appreciably
affect the resistance, the electrode may be counterpoised or given buoyancy

page_text: sufficient to just nearly float and then the measuring apparatus may give constant
indurations but in this case it must be of such a nature as to largely multiply
the motion produced in the plate itself.-The two electrodes may be made to
counterbalance each other at the first, so that both the gain and the loss shall
affect the weighing apparatus, and so double the influence exerted by the current
In order to reduce the actual weight of metal transferred I employ shunts as is
well understood.
The plates of metal may be removed at proper intervals and exchanged for
others of normal weight.-But I prefer to add to the meter a reverser which shall cut
the shunts or part of them out of the circuit, and allow a reverse current to pass
through a short circuit and quickly restore the metal to the anode this reverser being
accessible only to proper persons. In some cases I construct the cathode not of a
plate of the metal used but of a stratum of mercury into which the deposited metal
will be received. To this stratum of mercury I connect a tube so arranged that
any increase in the volume of the mercury will cause it to overflow.-The mercury
so expelled by the added metal is received either in a graduated tube, or into a
vessel attached to a balance of suitable construction, so that either the volume or
weight of the mercury will indicate the equivalent current. When large currents
are passed into electrolytic meters, the liquid is heated, and in order to dissipate
this heat and utilize it to cause circulation in the liquid, I so arrange the side of
the cell with a false inner side which may be the fixed electrode as to enclose a
film of liquid exposed to cooling by the external air, and connected to the whole
volume of liquid at the top and bottom, or a tube formed into a spiral may form
a connection between the upper and lower strata for the same purpose, and the
cooling surfaces may be moistened by a supply of water-When I desire to obtain
circulation without heat, I make a similar connection between the upper and lower
strata, and insert in it a pump worked by the current or mechanically, which will
draw away the lower part of the liquid, and deliver it at the top.
As the same quantity of gas occupies different volumes according to variation of
pressure and temperature, I compensate for these variations either by altering tho
capacity of the receiver, or by varying the action of the recording train.This may be
effected by means of various apparatus such as by a spring composed of two metals, so
that one end moves through a small space under the varying conditions. But I prefer
to use a receiver containing air, which will therefore vary in volume just as does
the gas A bulb may be used with an open stem at its lower part, and floating in
the liquid, of which more or less will enter-But it is better to plunge the stem
into a tube of mercury and then submerge the whole in the liquid of the cell, or of
a separate cell, so adjusted that the bulb will rise or sink as the air expands and
contracts and so move a rod attached to its upper part.-Or the stem may be
formed into a U tube and contain mercury or other unalterable liquid, which will
alter its level in the outer arm according to the expansion and contraction of the
air in the bulb.-A float in the mercury will rise or sink accordingly and as
before will give motion to rod correspondent to the changes of volume of the air.―
I utilize this motion in various modes.-If the gas as generated and measured sets
up a rotary motion in an axle to be recorded by a train, I do not connect the axle
to the train direct, but cause the motion of the axis to be imparted to a conical
wheel, and by it to the recording train, the cone acting as a frictional pulley of
varying size, the rate of motion of the train depending on the part of the cone in
contact with the first wheel.-I govern this position of the cone by means of
the motion or position to the rod actuated by the compensator described, the
rod of which may carry the conc, or a wheel traversing the length of the cone.-
When I desire to control the capacity of a gas receiver which alternately rises and
sinks in the liquid, 1 make this receiver of such height and such range of motion
as shall correspond to the extreme limits of variation of volume to be expected, and
I effect the control of its capacity by means of the contact point, through which as
before described, the motion of the receiver, and its action is reversed-Instead of
a fixed point as would be used in the case of metal deposit, I arrange the point

page_text: upon a movable frame or lever, which can play over a space corresponding to the
expected motions of the receiver, and I so connect it to the rod actuated by the
compensator that the motion given to this shall properly adjust the position of
the contact point. The gas receiver may be a vessel similar to an ordinary
dry gas meter, in which case the play of its action would be controlled in a similar
manner. These modes of compensating for changes of volume are applicable also
to measurement of gas generally
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Toby Sprague in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th December 1882.
JOHN TOBY SPRAGUE of Green Lane Birmingham in the County of Warwick
Electrician "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC METERS, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO GAS
METERS
My improvements relate in the first place to the employment of such chemical
reactions set up by electric currents as set free a gas or gases, usually by the
decomposition of water in presence of acids or other agents, to facilitate conduction
and electrolysis and the objects of my improvements are to avoid the absorption
of energy from the circuit, or to restore to the circuit the energy absorbed in the
act of decomposition, and to obtain uniform measurement of current notwith-
standing the variation of volume of gas generated. In some cases I use as the gas
producer a galvanic cell, which liberates hydrogen from a plate of metal or of
carbon, such as the cell known as the Smee; 1 so construct this that the negative
electrode from which the gas is given off is enclosed and the escape of gas prevented
except from a tube provided for the purpose; in another compartment which may
be open I use a metal plate such as amalgamated zinc which, dissolves in the
liquid and must therefore be replaced by new at proper intervals, as must also the
liquid which may be acid, alkaline or the metal in solution according to the
reactions employed which do not form part of these my improvements, which as
to this portion of them relate to the treatment of the gas however generated.
Thus I may employ an ordinary voltameter in which both oxygen and hydrogen
are given off and effect their measurement together and I may cause them to be
delivered as a fine jet into a receiver and ignited by a heated wire, or by a spark
obtained by means of the current, in this case I direct the heat against the fuce
of a thermopile traversed by the current, which effects the decomposition so that
it shall add to the electro motive force, and also restore the water which was
decomposed. Where hydrogen gas is given off alone, it may be similarly treated,
but with access of air. But the mode in which I prefer to regenerate the electro
motive force is to cause the separate gases to pass into receivers suitably formed to
expand and contract as in the case of generators each connected to one of a pair
of electrodes in a suitable solution-That is to say after the gases have been

page_text: generated and measured, I cause them to pass into a gas battery forming part of
the circuit in which they shall recombine and restore to the circuit the energy
abstracted in the decomposition, and also restore the decomposed water to the
solution. In the decomposition cell I use electrodes contained in receivers appro-
priated to each gas the electrodes are of metal not acted on by the solution, or
carbon, and I prefer to effect the measurement of the gas by the receivers them-
selves. I effect this by using a receiver of glass or other suitable material
suspended over the electrode and properly counterpoised, so as to rise as the gas
is produced. The counterpoise may be a similar receiver with proper adjust-
ments for weight if any part of them projects out of the liquid so arranged that
the two act alternately and I fit them with tubes, through which the gas can
escape at intervals, controlled by the apparatus itself. With such a pair I use a
reversing commutator and a recorder upon the same system as is described for
metallic deposit meters in my patents No. 4762 of 1878 and 4454 of 1881, such
reversers being actuated by the motion of the cylinders closing an electric circuit
or actuating such mechanical appliances as may obviously be operated by the
pressure of the gas, and I cause the same apparatus to control the issue of the gas
from the receivers. Or I attach two or preferably three such alternately acting
receivers to a cranked axle or other equivalent support and cause the motion of
the axle to actuate the commutator and valves, setting each receiver in action as it
reaches its highest and lowest positions.-The mechanical arrangements of these
apparatus may be greatly varied and are obvious matters which are not part of
my improvements, being already applied for various purposes in the arts.-The
electrodes at which the other gas is generated may be either one common to all,
or one to each to form a distinct voltameter of each pair.-Or this other electrode
to which the second gas will pass may be of such material as to absorb the gas
instead of setting it free, thus it may be of lead which will absorb oxygen or of
palladium, which will absorb hydrogen, or other materials and solution may be
used which will produce the effects which are the object of this improvement, and
which will produce an equivalent reaction in the next stage of recombination.-I
have described this as being effected in a gas battery by which term I do not
mean merely two cells with oxygen and hydrogen gases, but any combination of
reactions by which the gas which has been generated for measurement can be
recombined. I have also described this as effected by means of two distinct
operations and batteries opposed, one generating and the other absorbing gases,
but this is in order clearly to define the nature and principle of my improvements.-
In practice, it is not necessary to employ two completely distinct systems. A pair of
receivers may act alternately for one or the other purpose according as the reversing
commutator is arranged, or hydrogen may be generated at one electrode, being
the one at the moment active out of the sets or systems described, and it may be
passed through a tube to the hydrogen electrode of the gas battery, being measured
in transit if it has not been so measured as generated. But these two hydrogen
electrodes, positive and negative, may be both inserted in a reservoir of liquid
common to both, and so that the current shall pass from one to the other as in the
case of a metal in a solution of itself-In order to assist this action, I place
between them an electrode common to both systems, composed of a material which
will freely take up and deliver oxygen, such as lead either in a spongy form, or in
thin plates placed parallel to the current, so as to form a sort of porous division
between the two halves of the liquid, but sufficiently open to permit the liquid to
circulate and maintain its level.—This oxygen electrode may be either a single one
acting uniformly with all the hydrogen electrodes, or it may be divided into
intermittently acting parts, each appropriated to its own hydrogen pair. It is
preferable to use hydrogen for measurement because of its greater volume but the
process may be reversed, oxygen generated, and palladium or other absorber of
hydrogen employed as the intermediary. As the same quantity of a gas occupies
different volumes according to variation of temperature and pressure, compensato
for these variations either by altering the capacity of the receiver or varying the
-

page_text: action of the recording train.-This may be effected in various ways. A compound
spring may be used, made of two metals of different expansive properties so that
its end will move through a small space as conditions vary. But I prefer to use a
receiver containing air, which will therefore vary in volume in the same ratio, as
the gas itself does. A glass bulb may be used with an open stem in its lower
part floating in the liquid, of which more or less will enter the stem.-But it is
better to plunge the stem into a tube containing mercury or other unalterable
liquid, and to place the whole either in the liquid in a separate vessel, adjusted
so that the bulb will rise or sink as the gas expands or contracts, and will give
motion to a rod corresponding to the changes of volume, or the stem inay be
formed into a U tube containing mercury or other suitable liquid, which will
alter its level in the outer arm as the air in the bulb expands and contracts.―
A float in this mercury will give the required motion to the compensator
rod. I utilize this motion in various ways.-If the gas as generated or
measured gives motion to a rotary axis to be recorded by a train, I do not connect
the axis and train direct, but through an intermediary conical wheel or integrator,
the position of which is controlled by the motion of the compensator rod described.-
When measurement is effected by the rise and fall of a receiver whose range of
motion is controlled by the action of a reverser as described, I do not set the
contact point or point of reversal in a fixed position, as in the case of the metallic
deposit meters described in the patents referred to but I make the upper point
movable. I make the receiver of such diameter and height as shall correspond to
the volume of the unit quantity of gas within any expected range of expansion
and I arrange the possible play of the contact or reversal point to correspond to
the expected variations of volume. That is to say, I so arrange it as to rise when
the gas in the receiver expands, and to descend when it contracts, so as to be
always at that level which corresponds to unit weight of gas contained in the
receiver. The motion of the point over this space is controlled by that of the
compensator rod. The reversal point may be carried by this rod itself if the bulb
and receiver are proportioned so that the motions correspond, or it may be carried
by a lever, the action of which is proportioned to the ratio of the motions of the
receiver and compensator rod.-It is evident that these modes of compensation for
change of volume may be applied to meters for measuring any kind of gas such as
ordinary gas meters-The compensator may also be used as a separate instrument
for correcting the measure of a gas to the normal conditions of temperature and
pressure, by extending the outer arm of the U tube stem, and fitting it with a
scale. The zero would correspond to normal conditions, and the scale reading
would furnish the correction to be applied to any measure of gas under the same
conditions A little water inserted in the bulb above the mercury also causes the
instrument to compensate for vapour tension. In any of the forms described, I
graduate the recorder to show the current equivalent to the gas in any suitable
unit, and may employ shunts as is understood to direct a determined part of the
current into the meter.
Another part of my Invention relates to the utilizing of metallic deposits in
such manner as to furnish a visible indication of their weight without removal
from the liquid. I use any suitable metal or solution, but employ copper in
sulphate of copper as a typical illustration.-I weigh either the metal deposited, or
the loss of metal dissolved.-I place the cathode horizontally at the lower part of
the vessel, where a denser solution tends to be formed, so as to secure more equal
action and resistance.-The anode may be a cylinder arranged vertically, and open
at the two ends, or a plate arranged horizontally over the cathode, and kept at a
uniform distance from it by stops or rests, and the electrodes may be rendered
buoyant so as to press upwards against the stops or may be counterpoised.-I
attach a weighing apparatus in such manner that the current does not pass through
it to the plate, and that the act of weighing shall cut off the current from the
meter. If the weight added to the cathode is to be used the plate rests upon three
blocks of insulating material, one of which is hollow and contains incrcury, connected

page_text: to the exterior, and by which connection is made to the cathode when resting in
the blocks, but broken as soon as it is raised.-The cathode is attached by cords of
non absorbent material to a frame suspended from the weighing apparatus, which
may be a spring balance to be lifted by a lever or screw. -The anode is smaller
than the cathode, so as to move freely within the supporting cords, and it rests upon
the cathode below it by three small insulating feet It also is fitted with a incans
of lifting, so as to be clear of the other plate while weighing, and the current is
conveyed to it by a wire bent over to the outside of the cell, and dipping into a
mercury cup. This wire may also carry a bridge between two cups, which when
raised will cut off the whole meter and shunt system from the circuit during the
act of weighing.
When I desire to weigh the anode instead of the cathode, the arrangement for
lifting is required only with this upper plate, and the cathode remains always
connected. If the upper plate is made buoyant, the upward pressure will afford the
means of measurement. When the anode is a cylinder so arranged that a small
motion will not materially affect the resistance, I give it buoyancy so as to nearly
float, and then it may be attached to a weighing apparatus such as will largely
multiply the motion and give constant indications.-The two electrodes may be
suspended as counterpoises over an axle carrying an indicator, in which case they
will have a double effect, and give constant indications. In these various forms, the
plates may be removed at intervals, and exchanged for new ones, but I prefer to add
to the meter, a reverser accessible only to the proper authorities, which can be so
arranged as either to reverse the action of the meter, or to send a large reverse
current through it for a time sufficient to return the metal to the anode when it
can be again replaced in proper position for work.-In some cases, I construct the
cathode not of a plate of the metal in solution, but of a stratum of mercury, into
which the deposited metal will be received-To this layer of mercury I connect a
tube, so adjusted that any increase of volume will cause the mercury to overflow
into a receiver, which may be graduated, or may be attached to a balance suitably
constructed, so that either the weight or volume of the displaced metal can be
used as the measure of the current.-When large currents are passed into electrolytic
meters, the liquid is heated, and in order to dissipate this heat, and utilize it to cause
circulation of the liquid, I construct the sides of the containing vessel with a second
inner side or plate, which in some cases may be the electrode, not reaching to either
the top or bottom of the liquid. In this manner I enclose a film of liquid, which
being cooled by the external air will sink and cause displacement and circulation
of the whole liquid-Or a tube formed into a helix may form an external connection
between the upper and lower strata for the same purpose, and water may be supplied
to cool the surface. When 1 desire to obtain circulation without heat, I make a
similar connection between the bottom and upper portion and include in it a pump
worked by the current or mechanically for the same purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and object of
the said Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed or put in
practice, I hereby declare that I claim irrespective of mere details of construction,-
(1.) The construction of electric meters in which gas arising from decomposition
is caused to reenter combination so as to regenerate the electro motive force expended
in the decomposition, substantially as described.
(2.) The combination of an electrolytic decomposition cell or voltameter with a
gas battery in the same circuit, for the purpose of electric measurement.
(3.) The modes of compensation for variation of volume of a gas, substantially
as described, either in electric meters, or in gas meters.
(4.) The modes described for weighing electrodes without removal.
(5.) In an electrolytic ineter, the arrangement specially as described of the
cathode horizontally at the bottom of cell.
(6.) In an electrolytic meter the use of a reverser controlled from the exterior
for the purposes described.

page_text: (7.) The use in electrolytic meters of a cathode of mercury substantially as
described.
(8.) The modes of producing cooling and circulation in an electrolytic meter,
substantially as described.
In Witness whereof I the said John Toby Sprague have hereunto set my
hand and seal this sixteenth day of December in the year of our Lord
one thousand eight hundred and eighty two.