IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Dubois and Edward Casper, both of
No. 101, Cannon Strect, in the City of London, Merchants, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS." -A com-
munication from abroad by Onésime de Morgny, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, Chief Inspector of Meters in the Service of
the Parisian Gas Company.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Dubois and
Edward Casper at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 11th April 1868.
We, ERNEST DUBOIS and EDWARD CASPER, both of No. 101, Cannon'
Street, in the City of London, Merchants, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS," a com-
munication, to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to gas meters constructed with a reservoir or
fountain from which water is supplied to the measuring drum or
cylinder in such a manner as to maintain the proper level in the same.

page_text: The nature of the said Invention consists in the peculiar arrangement
of the inlet tube and valve chamber; in the novel construction and
arrangement of the valve, float, and syphon, whereby the gas is admitted
from the said valve chamber to the measuring drum or cylinder; in the
peculiar construction and arrangement of a regulating device for main-
taining a proper water level in the said drum; and in the peculiar mode
of adjusting the said device to vary the height of such water level. The
inlet tube is placed upon the front compartment of the case which
forms the reservoir or fountain, and in such a position that no
fraudulent communication can be effected through the said tube with
the measuring drum. The valve chamber is divided into two com-
partments one above the other. The plate or partition which separates
these two compartments carries the seat of the valve whereby the gas
is admitted to the lower compartment. The valve is fixed on the
upper end of the rod or spindle of the float, which is entirely submerged
in the water contained in the reservoir. The said float is constructed
with its upper part spherical and its lower part conical, and its centre of
gravity is thereby so placed as to ensure the float keeping naturally a
vertical position without the aid of guides or supports which produce
friction, while the tube in which the rod of the float is enclosed is made
of such a diameter as not to interfere with the free movement of the
said float. To the bottom of the lower compartment of the valve
chamber is attached the syphon or pipe which conducts the gas from
the valve chamber to the measuring drum. The syphon or pipe is
soldered to the lower compartment of the said chamber, and passes
through the partition dividing the reservoir from the said drum.
Our improved regulating device for maintaining the proper water
level in the measuring drum is constructed to be readily adjustable
vertically, and is kept perfectly air or gas tight at all the joints or
connections of the tubes or pipes without the use of stuffing boxes. A
box or chamber is connected with tubes which communicate with the
upper part of the fountain or reservoir, with the measuring drum, with
the syphon, and with the waste water chamber. The first of these tubes
extends vertically from the top of the regulating chamber, and is
provided with an aperture at its upper end communicating with the
upper part of the reservoir, while its lower end which extends inside
the said chamber is made conical. A hole or orifice of this form 8
is made in the side of the said tube just above its conical end. The
upper part of this tube is provided with a regulating screw, which

page_text: extends through the top of the meter and is provided with a head which
by means of a key or other device may be turned to adjust the height
of the tube and chamber. Another tube extends from the bottom of
the regulating chamber to the measuring drum, and serves to maintain
the water at the same level in both. The waste pipe extends from the
side of the regulating chamber to the waste water chamber, and is
provided with a funnel or trough over which the water flows to keep
the water in the measuring drum from rising above its proper level.
The orifice in the side of the vertical pipe and the funnel of the waste
pipe determine the height of the water level, which cannot sink below
the first or rise above the second. Another tube connects the top of
the regulating chamber cither with the syphon pipe or directly with the
measuring drum. All of these pipes or tubes are made of lead, and are
curved or bent in such a manner as to be flexible and yield readily
when the chamber is adjusted by its regulating screw. When the
water in the measuring drum, by evaporation or otherwise, begins to
sink below the top of the orifice in the side of the vertical tube the
gas in the regulating chamber passes up the said tube to the top of
the reservoir and causes the water to flow from the same into the
chamber of the measuring drum till the proper level of the water is
restored. The said orifice is then again closed or scaled by the water
which rises to the same level in the drum and regulating chamber.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Ernest
Dubois and Edward Caspar in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th November 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ERNEST
DUBOIS and EDWARD CASPER, both of No. 101, Cannon Strect, in the
City of London, Merchants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Ernest Dubois and Edward Casper,
Her special licence that we, the said Ernest Dubois and Edward

page_text: Casper, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, tlie said Ernest Dubois and Edward Caspar, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others
from time to time and 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS
METERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that wc, the said
Ernest Dubois and Edward Casper, our exccutors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under
the hand and scal of one of us or them, 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 seven calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Casper, on behalf of
myself and the said Ernest Dubois, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings
forming a part of this Specification :--
Our Invention relates to gas meters in which the water is supplied
from a reservoir or fountain to the measuring drum or cylinder in such
a manner as to maintain the proper water level in the same.
The nature of the said Invention consists in the peculiar arrangement
of the inlet tube and valve chamber; in the novel arrangement of the
valve float and syphon, whereby the gas is admitted from the said valve
chamber to the measuring drum or cylinder; and in the peculiar
construction and arrangement of a regulating device whereby a proper
water level is maintained in the said drum and whereby the height of
such water level may be varied or adjusted to make the measuring
capacity of the meter accord accurately with the index. The inlet
tube is placed upon the front compartment of the case which forms
the reservoir or fountain, and in such a position that no fraudulent
communication can be effected through the said tube with the measuring
drum. The valve chamber is divided into two compartments one above
the other. The plate or partition which separates these two compart-
ments carries the seat of the valve whereby the gas is admitted to the

page_text: lower compartment. The valve is fixed on the upper end of the rod
or spindle of the float which is entirely submerged in the water in the
reservoir. The said float is constructed with its upper part spherical
and its lower part conical, and its centre of gravity is thereby so placed
as to ensure the float keeping naturally a vertical position without the
aid of guides or supports which produce friction, while the tube in
which the rod of the float is enclosed is made of such a diameter as
not to interfere with the free movement of the said float. To the
bottom of the lower compartment of the valve chamber is attached
the syphon or pipe which conducts the gas from the valve chamber
to the measuring drum. The syphon or pipe is soldered to the lower
compartment of the said valve chamber and passes through the partition
dividing the reservoir from the said drum.
Our improved regulating device for maintaining the proper water
level in the measuring drum is constructed to be readily adjustable
vertically, and is kept perfectly air or gas tight at all the joints or
connections of the tubes or pipes without the use of stuffing boxes.
A box or chamber is connected with tubes which communicate with
the upper part of the fountain or reservoir, with either the measuring
drum or with the syphon or other portion of the inlet passage and
with the waste water chamber. The first of these tubes. extends
vertically from the top of the regulating chamber, and is provided with
an aperture at its upper end communicating with the upper part of
the reservoir while its lower end extends inside the said chamber. A
hole or orifice is made in the side of the said tube just above its lower
end. On the upper part of this tube is a regulating screw which
extends through the top of the meter and is provided with a head to
receive a key or other device whereby the said screw may be turned to
raise or lower the tube and chamber. Another tube extends from the
bottom of the regulating chamber to the measuring drum, and forms
a communication between the two vessels so that the water level is
the same in both. The waste pipe extends from the side of the
regulating chamber to the waste water chamber, and is preferably
provided with a funnel or trough over which the water flows when it
rises above its proper level in the drum. The orifice in the side of the
vertical pipe and the funnel of the waste pipe determine the height of
the water level which cannot remain below the first or above the
second. The other tube is preferably arranged to connect the top of
the regulating chamber with the syphon pipe or other portion of the

page_text: the chamber is adjusted by its regulating screw
DESCRIPTION OF TILE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through the reservoir of our
improved meter; Figure 2 is a transverse section of the said meter. Like
letters indicate the same parts in both of the Figures.
The outer casing a is constructed of thin metal in the ordinary
manner. The inlet and outlet tubes b and c are made of the
proper size
to give free passage to the gas as it enters and leaves the meter. The
inlet tube opens into the valve chamber d, which is arranged in the
upper part of the fountain or reservoir e. So long as there remains
sufficient water in the said reservoir to keep the measuring drum properly
supplied the float f keeps the valve 2 open and admits the gas into the
lower compartment d' of the valve chamber, whence it passes through
the syphon pipe gas indicated by the arrows into the measuring drum
where it is measured in a series of rotating chambers as in other wet gas
meters, the measured gas passing from these chambers through the
exit pipe. c. When the water level in the measuring drum has been
properly adjusted the quantity of gas which passes through these
chambers in a given time will be correctly indicated upon the index
which is enclosed in the casc a', and is connected in the usual manner with
the axis of the rotating chambers. The meter will continue to indicate
correctly so long as the capacity of the rotating chambers remains the
same, but if by evaporation or otherwise the water in the measuring
drum is diminished the capacity of the said chambers is increased and
the quantity of gas passing through them will not be correctly indicated.
It is therefore of great importance that the meter should be self-
regulating and that this automatic adjustment should be incapable of
derangement or interruption, and these objects are accomplished by our
improved method of construction.
The regulating chamber is connected by the tube i to some con-
venient portion of the inlet passage. We prefer that the said pipe
should communicate directly with the compartment as shown in
Figure 1, but if desired it may be connected with the syphon pipe g.
The tube j connects the chamber with the measuring chamber. The
tube extends from the said chamber to the upper part of the

page_text: reservoir or fountain e. The orifice in the top of the pipe is always
open, but the orifice at the bottom of the said pipe is sealed or
covered by the water, while the same remains at the proper level in the
measuring drum. The rising of the water above such level is prevented
by the waste pipe or tube l, which conducts the surplus water into the
waste box m. It will be seen by referring to Figure 1 that the top of
the orifice is at or near the same level as the lip or edge
trough which forms the upper part of the waste pipe 1.
of the
The tubes i, j, k, and are formed of lead or some other metal
sufficiently flexible to allow the chamber h to be readily adjusted. By
means of these flexible pipes we are enabled to dispense entirely with
the stuffing boxes which would otherwise be necessary to connect the
tubes with the adjustable regulating chamber. The construction of the
meter is thus greatly simplified, while any possibility of leakage between
the regulating chamber and the tubes is prevented. The adjustment of
the regulating chamber his effected by turning the screw n which
projects through the top of the case or is otherwise conveniently
arranged for the purpose. The reservoir e is filled with water through
the tube o. By admitting the inlet gas to the regulating chamber in
the manner above described the automatic adjustment of the meter is
rendered less liable to derangement than has heretofore been found
practicable. When the water in the measuring drum by evaporation or
otherwise begins to sink below the top of the orifice in the side of the
vertical tube, the gas in the regulating chamber h passes up the said tube
to the top of the reservoir e and causes the water to flow from the same
into the chamber of the measuring drum till the proper level of the
water is restored. The said orifice is then again closed or scaled by
the water which rises to the same level in the drum and regulating
chamber.
Our improvements can be readily and advantageously applied to
existing wet gas meters of any ordinary construction.
Having thus fully described our said Invention as communicated to
us by our foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, we claim,-
First. The inlet pipe b, the valve chamber d, valve d³, float f, and
syphon pipe g, arranged together and in relation to the measuring
drum and supply fountain for the purposes and substantially as set
forth.

page_text: Second. The adjustable regulating haber-, connected with the top
of the reservoir, the measuring drum, fire waste box, and the inlet
passage by flexible tubes or pipes which require no stuffing boxes,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Casper, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Tenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
EDWARD CASPER. (L.S.)
Witness,
Tuo. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Messrs. Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.