IMPROVEMENTS IN REGULATING THE PRESSURE OF GAS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert William Hart, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN REGULATING THE PRESSURE OF GAS."
Sealed the 27th July 1858, and dated the 29th January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert William Hart
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th January 1858.
I, HERBERT WILLIAM HART, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN REGULATING THE PRESSURE OF GAS," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in regulating the pressure of gas relates to
regulating the pressure of gas in its transmission to gas burners by the intro-
duction of a regulator (herein-after described) in the main pipes through
which the gas passes, whereby it is so regulated that a steady uniform pressure
is maintained at the burners, whatever may be the pressure from the source
of supply.
This regulator consists of a chamber of a diameter or capacity according to
the number of lights to be supplied. I fill this capacity with a fibrous
material, so that the gas in its passage must pass through amongst the fibres.
In preparing this permeable fibrous body I take layers of felt or other fibrous
material, and make up a sufficient thickness according to the initial pressure
of gas, the fibres being disposed transversely to the passage of the gas, and
held together by perforated or other porous plates by means of suitable con-
nections; between these porous plates I cause the fibres to be compressed
more or less according to the density of the body required, which will also be
according to the initial pressure of the gas. The fibrous materials being held

page_text: .somewhat loosely together, the pressure of the gas produces this effect:-The
greater the initial pressure 'becomes, the more the fibres are compressed
together, rendering it more difficult for the gas to permeate; thus by the self-
action of the gas on the regulator the exit pressure is regulated and rendered
uniform. In order to separate the grosser impurities of the gas before passing
through the regulator, I place a little loose wool between the ingress passage
and the body of fibrous material before mentioned, which latter also has a
similar effect in filtering and purifying the gas.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Herbert William Hart in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HERBERT
WILLIAM HART, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gas Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Herbert William Hart, Her special licence that I, the said Herbert
William Hart, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Herbert William Hart, 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 REGULATING THE PRESSURE OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Herbert William Hart, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Herbert William Hart, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: My Invention of improvements in regulating the pressure of gas relates to
regulating the pressure of gas in its transmission to gas burners by the intro-
duction of a regulator (herein-after described) in the main pipes through
which the gas passes, whereby it is so regulated that a steady and nearly
uniform pressure is maintained at the burners, whatever may be the pressure
from the source of supply. This regulator consists of a chamber of a diameter
or capacity according to the number of lights to be supplied; I fill this
capacity with a fibrous material, so that the gas in its passage must pass
through amongst the fibres. In preparing this permeable fibrous body, I take
layers of felt or other fibrous material, and make up a sufficient thickness
according to the initial pressure of gas, the fibres being disposed transversely
to the passage of the gas, and held together by perforated or other porous
plates by means of suitable connections; between these porous plates I cause
the fibres to be compressed more or less according to the density of the body
required, which will also be according to the initial pressure of the gas. The
fibrous material being held somewhat loosely together, the pressure of the gas
produces this effect:-The greater the initial pressure becomes, the more the
fibres are compressed together, rendering it more difficult for the gas to
permeate; thus by the self-action of the gas on the regulator the exit pressure
is regulated and rendered uniform. In order to intercept the grosser im-
purities of the gas before passing through the regulator, I place a little loose
wool between the ingress passage and the body of fibrous material before '
mentioned, which latter also has a similar effect in filtering and purifying
the gas.
In practice I prefer to use one of these regulators for each light, and
introduce it immediately below each burner.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents an external view of my improved regulator in elevation,
an argand burner being dotted abové, and a part of a pillar below; Fig. 2, a
plan, Fig. 3 a vertical section, and Fig. 4 a horizontal section of the same.
a, a, is a small chamber, enclosed at bottom by a screw cap b, b, each of which
parts are furnished with screws suitable for fitting to ordinary gas pipes.
I make the chamber a slightly conical, as seen; I insert in this chamber a the
fibrous material c, which is separately represented in section at Fig. 5, and in
plan at Fig. 6. c is the fibrous material, consisting of one or more layers of
thick woollen felt punched or cut out of a circular form to fit the chamber a;
these layers have a small bolt d passed through them, and perforated discs e, e¹,
of metal. The bolt d is furnished with a nut f; this bolt has a square neck

page_text: fitting a square hole in the upper disc e', separately represented at Fig. 7, by
which it is readily held and prevented turning when tightening the felt c
by means of the nut f, which is easily effected by the fingers, very slight
pressure only is required to compress the wool c; according to the initial
pressure of the gas the wool c is compressed more or less, that is, if the gas
pressure is low, the wool is very slightly compressed (if any), whereas if the
initial pressure is high, I compress it a little more by the pressure of the
screw bolt and nut d, f. At the greatest, pressure, this felt is a soft resilient
substance, so that the varying pressure of the gas has the effect of condensing
it more or less according to such pressure, which condensation by the pressure
of the gas has the effect of rendering it more impervious to the passage of the
gas, and thereby regulates the pressure of emission. 9 is a little loose wool
placed in b, through which the gas first passes and becomes partially filtered,
which. is also the case in passing through the wool c in addition to being
regulated in pressure. If the wool c becomes clogged and dirty from being
long subject to the action of the gas, it is readily removed and renewed, when
the regulator is effective as before..
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that I claim as my Invention to be secured by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, the chamber a enclosing felted
wool c or other suitable fibre through which gas passes in its progress to the
burner, for the purpose of regulating the pressure and emission of the gas, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert William Hart, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
HERBERT WILLIAM HART. (L.S.)
WILLIAM CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.