IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF Gas
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Keeling, of Aldershot, in the County of
Hampshire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF Gas."-
Sealed the 2nd June 1865, and dated the 6th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Keeling at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th.
December 1864.
I, JOHN KEELING, of Aldershot, in the County of Hampshire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS," to be as follows:-
These improvements consist in the mode of increasing or diminishing the
weight used to counterpoise the gasholder of an ordinary station governor,
and these are effected by suspending to the opposite end of the balance beam
to which the gasholder is hung a hollow vessel instead of metal weights. This
first vessel is placed in connection with another or second vessel of similar size-
and construction, a communication between the two being made by a piece of
flexible tube, one end of which is fastened to an orifice at the bottom of one
vessel, and the other end is attached to an orifice formed at the bottom of the
other vessel. This second vessel is suspended by means of a rope or chain,
which passes over a pulley or pullies affixed, to a wall or standard, and is
counterpoised by a common weight. The vessels so hung are adjusted to the
same height, and are each partially filled with water. When it is desired to

page_text: add to the weight of the first vessel [which acts as a counterpoise to the
gasholder], and thus reduce the pressure of the gas supply, it is only necessary
to raise the second vessel above the level of the first, whereupon the water
will flow from the second vessel into the other or first vessel, and thus
increase the weight. If on the contrary it is desired to reduce the weight of
the first vessel, and thereby increase the pressure of the gas, all that is
requisite is that the second vessel should be lowered beneath the level of the
first, the water will then run from the first vessel into the second, and thus
diminish the weight attached to the balance beam of the gasholder. By using
such vessels, and attaching to the orifices before named graduated taps or
valves, which can be opened or shut to any degree with precision, the weight
can be so altered that the pressure of the gas may be increased or diminished
in any given time almost imperceptably, or in the event of emergency may be
changed with great rapidity without the disadvantage of too sudden variations
which occur by the addition or subtraction of the weights in common use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Keeling in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th June 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
KEELING, late of Aldershot, in the County of Hampshire, but now of 12,
Bermondsey New Road, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Keeling, Her special licence that J, the said John Keeling, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Keeling,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY
OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Keeling,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be

page_text: 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 John Keeling, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in: what manner the same is to be per->
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and to the
letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
These improvements consist in the mode of increasing or diminishing the
weight used to counterpoise the gasholder of an ordinary station governor,
and by means of which the change from one pressure to another. may be
made to extend: over many hours, or it may be effected in a few minutes
without the disadvantage of too sudden variations, so liable to occur when
adding to or subtracting from the weights commonly used.
The apparatus consists of a hollow vessel made of tin plate, sheet copper,
or other suitable metal or material, marked A on the Drawing annexed hereto,
attached to the balance beam H of the governor. Another hollow vessel B
of similar size, form, and construction [but not necessarily so], is suspended
from the ceiling or roof of the governor house by means of a rope or chain,
which passes over, a pulley E, and thence to a small windlass F, to which a
ratchet and click are appended. The two vessels A and B communicate with
each other by means of a flexible tube G, one end of which is fastened to an
orifice at the bottom of one vessel, and the other end is attached to an orifice
formed at the bottom of the other vessel. The two vessels are partially filled
with water, and when it is deemed expedient to increase the pressure at the
outlet of the governor, all that is necessary is to lower the vessel B below the
level of the vessel A, whereupon the water from A will pass into B, and thus
lighten the counterpoise to the gasholder, which acting upon the conical
governor valve beneath it will open the passage for the gas, and give an increased
pressure. If, on the contrary, it is desired to diminish the pressure of the gas,
then all that is requisite is that the vessel B shall be raised above the level
of A, upon which the water from B will pass into A, increase the weight of
the counterpoise, and thus operate upon the governor valve in a proportionate
degree. In order to regulate the speed with which the change from one
pressure to another is effected, a valve is inserted internally at the point C of
the vessel A, the graduated scale and means of actuating the said valve being
seen at D. This valve.may be of different forms, or inserted at different
points of communication between the two vessels, or it may be attached to
the vessel B. By the extent to which this valve is either open or closed the

page_text: water in one vessel will flow into the other quickly or slowly, thereby,
increasing or diminishing the pressure of the gas in any given time almost
imperceptibly, or in the event of emergency with great rapidity.
A modification of the foregoing arrangement may be made applicable to
governors which have no balance beam by constructing the top of the gas-
holder of such form, and in such manner as shall permit of its containing
water, and taking the part of the vessel A, or a separate vessel may be made
and attached to the crown of the gasholder. These modifications are,
however, so simple, that it is not necessary to illustrate them.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have described or referred to,
as variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles
or main features of this Invention; but what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the construction of apparatus for
régulating the supply of gas, substantially as herein described.
'
In witness whereof, I, the said John Keeling, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord-One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOHN KEELING. (S.)