Improvements in Apparatus for Measuring Liquids.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Jan., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 8th May, 1889-Accepted, 29th June, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Measuring Liquids.
We THE NATIVE GUANO COMPANY Limited of No. 29 New Bridge Street in the
City of London Sewage Contractors and CHARLES EDWARD ROBINSON of Richmond
Lodge Torquay in the County of Devon Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature
of this Invention to be as follows:-
The apparatus constituting this invention consists of a rotatory measure formed
substantially as hereinafter described and mounted in a pit formed substantially as
hereinafter described into which pit the liquid to be measured is allowed to flow and
from which the said liquid passes after being measured the said pit being provided
with an inlet for the said liquid on one side of the said measure and an outlet for the
said liquid on the opposite side of the said measure.
The form of the rotatory measure is essentially that of a cylinder mounted on a
horizontal axis and having cavities or chambers formed in it which are open at the
peripheral part of the cylinder and extend from the said part towards the axial part
of the cylinder.
The pit in which the rotatory measure herein before described is mounted is formed
so that a considerable portion of the said measure is below the surface of the liquid to
be measured and the portion of the said pit in which the said measure is mounted is
so formed and is of such dimensions relatively to the said measure that no appreciablo
quantity of the liquid entering the said pit can pass to the outlet between the
measure and the contiguous faces of the pit and the said part of the pit is also so
formed that the several cavities or chambers of the measure will each in turn
become completely filled with the liquid to be measured when the apparatus is in
action.
The action of the said apparatus is as follows:-
When liquid is admitted to the said pit it flows into the chambers or cavities
on the inlet side of the rotatory measure and causes the said measure to rotate until
the liquid which has entered the said chambers is carried by it to the outlet side
when the said liquid is free to escape from the said measure and pass to the outlet of
the pit.
Thus the quantity of liquid which passes through the said pit at each rotation of
the said measure is practically the same as the sum of the capacity of the several
chambers thereof. Therefore the capacity of the said chambers being known the
quantity of water passing through the apparatus may be ascertained by noting the
number of revolutions of the measure which number may be conveniently
recorded by connecting any suitable counting apparatus with the said measure.
Where (as in the chemical treatment of sewage) it is required to add matters
to liquids in certain proportions relatively to the bulk of the latter this may be
conveniently effected by the use of the apparatus hereinbefore described. Where
the said apparatus is to be thus used the liquid to which the matters are to be added
is passed through the said apparatus and the addition of the said matters to the
said liquid is effected or controlled by other suitable apparatus the action of which
may be controlled or which may he actuated by connection with the rotatory
measure herein before described.
The aforesaid rotatory measure may be conveniently constructed by securing two
discs at some distance apart on a shaft passed through their centres so as to project
from their outer faces and dividing the space between the said discs by arranging
partitions in the said space parallel to the said shaft the said partitions being of such
dimensions and being secured to the said discs in such positions as to extend from
the said shaft or from near the centres of the said discs to their peripheries. The

page_text: spaces between the said partitions when thus arranged and secured constitute the
aforesaid chambers which are closed at their inner ends and open at their outer
ends and the parts of the shaft which project from the outer faces of the said discs
form the trunnions which support the measure in the bearings in which it works
when the apparatus is in action. The said partitions may be of such depth as to be
in contact with each other or with the said shaft at their inner ends or they may bo
of less depth in which latter case the bottoms of the said chambers are formed by a
cylindrical shell or a shell of other suitable form arranged concentrically around the
aforesaid shaft and secured to the inner sides of the aforesaid discs and the inner
ends of the said partitions. Air holes may be formed in the said partitions to
facilitate the passage of the liquid into and from the said chambers when the
apparatus is in action and where there is risk of solid matters being accidentally carried
into the aforesaid pit by the stream of liquid to be measured the outer portions of the
partitions may be formed of flaps or strips of suitable material hinged to the other
portions of the said partitions and normally retained in the required position by
springs which yiold when the said flaps come in contact with any matter which
would otherwise obstruct the motion of the measure.
Dated this 14th day of January 1889.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Measuring Liquids.
We THE NATIVE GUANO COMPANY Limited of No. 29 New Bridge Street in the
City of London Sewage Contractors and CHARLES EDWARD ROBINSON of Richmond
Lodge Torquay in the County of Devon Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature
of this Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The apparatus constituting this invention consists of a rotatory measure formed
substantially as hereinafter described and mounted in a pit formed substantially as
hereinafter described into which pit the liquid to be measured is allowed to flow and
from which the said liquid passes after being measured the said pit being provided
with an inlet for the said liquid on one side of the said measure and an outlet for the
said liquid on the opposite side of the said measure.
The form of the rotatory measure is essentially that of a cylinder mounted on a
horizontal axis and having cavities or chambers formed in it which are open at the
peripheral part of the cylinder and extend from the said part towards the axial part of
the cylinder.
The pit in which the rotatory measure hereinbefore described is mounted is formed
so that a considerable portion of the said measure is below the surface of the liquid to
be measured and the portion of the said pit in which the said measure is mounted is
so formed and is of such dimensions relatively to the said measure that no appreciable
quantity of the liquid entering the said pit can pass to the outlet between the measure
and the faces of the pit contiguous thereto and the said part of the pit is also so
formed that the several cavities or chambers of the measure will each in turn become
completely filled with the liquid to be measured when the apparatus is in action.
The aforesaid rotatory measure may be conveniently constructed by securing two
discs at some distance apart on a shaft passed through their centres so as to project
from their outer faces and dividing the space between the said discs by arranging
partitions in the said space parallel to the said shaft the said partitions being of such
dimensions and being secured to the said discs in such positions as to extend from
the said shaft or from near the centres of the said discs to their peripheries. The
spaces between the said partitions when thus arranged and secured constitute the
aforesaid chambers which are closed at their inner ends and open at their outer ends
and the parts of the shaft which project from the outer faces of the said discs form

page_text: the trunnions which support the measure in the bearings in which it works when
the apparatus is in action. The said partitions may be of such depth as to be in
contact with each other or with the said shaft at their inner ends or they may be of
less depth in which latter case the bottoms of the said chambers are formed by a
cylindrical shell or a shell of other suitable form arranged concentrically around the
aforesaid shaft and secured to the inner sides of the aforesaid discs and the inner ends
of the said partitions. Air holes may be formed in the said partitions to facilitate
the passage of the liquid into and from the said chambers when the apparatus is in
action and where there is risk of solid matters being accidentally carried into the
aforesaid pit by the stream of liquid to be measured the outer portions of the
partitions may be formed of flaps or strips of suitable material hinged to the other
portions of the said partitions and normally retained in the required position by
springs which yield when the said flaps come in contact with any matter which
would otherwise obstruct the motion of the measure.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a plan and Figure 2 is a vertical
section (taken on the line A Figure 1) of apparatus for measuring liquids constructed
according to this Invention. The construction of the rotatory measure shown in the
said Drawings is that hereinbefore described in which discs are secured to a shaft
and the space between the said discs is divided by means of partitions into chambers
open at their outer ends and closed at their inner ends by means of a cylindrical
shell secured between the said discs around the said shaft and concentrically therewith.
In the said drawings the air holes and hinged flaps and springs herein before referred
to are also shown. In the following description of the said Drawings the parts
thereof are referred to by the letters marked thereon. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in both the Figures of the Drawings.
a a are the aforesaid discs is the shaft to which they are affixed c is the cylindrical
shell which is secured at its ends to the said discs and dd are the partitions
herein before referred to. The said parts a b c d constitute tho principal parts of the
rotatory measure and the spaces between the partitions d d constitute the measuring
chambers. ee are flanges formed at the ends of the said partitions by which they
are secured to the inner faces of the discs a a and ff are flanges formed at the
inner edges of the said partitions by which they are secured to the cylindrical shell c.
99 are webs or brackets secured to the said partitions and to the cylindrical
shell the object of which webs or brackets is to support and stiffen the said
partitions. hh are the flaps herein before referred to which are connected to the outer
edges of the said partitions by means of hinges i i. jjare the springs which retain
the said flaps in their normal positions and kk are the air holes hereinbefore referred
to. The ends of the shaft b which project from the outer faces of the discs a a are
supported and work in bearings ll mounted on walls m m forming the sides of the
pit in which the rotatory measure works. n is the part of the said pit into which the
liquid to be measured is admitted. o is a wall over which the said liquid passes to
the rotatory measure and p is another wall over which the liquid passing from the said
measure flows away the said wall p being of the same height or nearly the same
height as the wall o. The face of the said wall o which is contiguous to the rotatory
measure and the faces of those parts of the walls m m which are contiguous to the
said measure are so formed as to act as a seal to close the mouths of the chambers
of the measure as they are carried past the said faces of the said walls and prevent
passage of the liquid from the inlet portion of the pit to the outlet portion thereof
without causing the measure to rotate. That is to say the said parts of the said walls
are of such configuration that practically none of the liquid entering the pit can pass
from the portion on the inlet side of the measure to the portion on the outlet side
of the measure except by first passing into the chambers of the measure.
required configuration of the said faces of the walls m m and o may be produced by
covering the said faces with cement and smoothing the surface of the cement by means
5 of a gauge secured to a shaft mounted in the bearings the said gauge being of
the exact size of one half the longitudinal section of the rotatory measure and the
said bearings being first permanently secured in the positions they are required to
The

page_text: occupy when the rotatory measure is mounted in them.
liquid to be measured passes into the aforesaid pit.
aforesaid measure rotates when it is in notion is
Figure 2.
The action of the said apparatus is as follows:-
is a pipe from which the
The direction in which the
indicated by the arrow in
When liquid is admitted to the inlet portion of the aforesaid pit and has risen
therein above the top of the wall o it passes over the said wall and flows into the
chambers on the inlet side of the rotatory measure and causes the said measure to
rotate until the liquid which has entered the said chambers is carried by the rotation
of the said measure past that face of the wall o which is contiguous] to the said
measure when the liquid passes freely from the measure into the outlet portion of the
pit (ie. the portion enclosed by the walls m m o p) where the said liquid accumulates
until it has risen above the level of the wall p when it flows over the top of the said
wall and passes from the apparatus. After the pit is once filled the quantity of liquid
which passes from the inlet to the outlet portion thereof at each rotation of the said
measure is practically the same as the sum of the capacity of the several chambers of the
said measure. Therefore the capacity of the said chambers being known the quantity
of water passing through the apparatus may be ascertained by noting the number of
revolutions of the measure which number may be conveniently recorded by con-
necting any suitable counting apparatus with one of the ends of the shaft b which
project beyond the discs a a or with any other convenient part of the said measuro.
It is important that the walls o and p he of such height as to ensure submergence
of the rotatory measure to such a depth in the liquid in the measuring pit that the
measuring chambers may become filled with the said liquid as the measure revolves.
The level of the tops of the said walls should therefore not be below the level of the
bottoms or inner ends of the measuring chambers when the said chambers are in their
lowermost position. The said walls may however be higher than the bottoms or inner
ends of the measuring chambers as shown in the accompanying Drawings but it is not
advantageous to carry the said walls above the level of the axis of the rotating
measure.
The holes k k permit free escape of air from the inner part of the chambers of the
measure when the mouths of the said chambers are closed or nearly closed by the
liquid entering them and the said holes also permit air to enter the said chambers
freely as the liquid passes from them when the partitions d d are rising above the
surface of the liquid in the outlet portion of the pit.
Should the stream of liquid passing over the wall o to the measure carry with it
any matters or things which will not pass freely into and from the chambers of the
measure the springsjj yield and allow the flaps h h to turn on their hinges ii while
passing the obstruction.
Where (as in the chemical treatment of sewage) it is required to add matters to
liquids in certain proportions relatively to the bulk of the latter this may be con-
veniently effected by the use of the apparatus herein before described. Where the said
apparatus is to be thus used the liquid to which the matters are to be added is passed
through the said apparatus and the addition of the said matters to the said liquid is
effected or controlled by other suitable apparatus the action of which may be controlled
or which may be actuated by connection with the shaft b of the rotatory measure
herein before described or with any other suitable part of the said measure.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :—
First Apparatus for measuring liquids constructed and acting substantially as
herein before described that is to say apparatus consisting essentially of a rotatory
measure mounted in a pit through which the liquid to be measured is caused to pass
the rotation of the said measure being produced by the flow of the liquid to be
measured and the form of the said measure being essentially that of a cylinder mounted
horizontally and having cavities or chambers formed in it which are open at the

page_text: peripheral part of the cylinder and extend from the said part to or towards the axial
part of the cylinder and the pit being formed so that a portion thereof acts as a seal
to the mouths of the several cavities or chambers of the measure as they are suc-
cessively carried past the said portion of the pit by the rotation of the measure and so
that the liquid to be measured enters the said cavities or chambers before they become
sealed and passes from them when they have travelled past the portion of the pit by
which they are sealed and the said pit being also so formed that the liquid after passing
from the measure is caused to accumulate in the pit on the outlet side of the measure
until the level of the liquid on that side is the same or nearly the same as the lovel
of the liquid on the inlet side.
Secondly The apparatus for measuring liquids hereinbefore described with reference
to and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.