IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE QUANTITIES OF FLOWING LIQUIDS, WHICH INVENTION MAY BE USED AS A RAIN. GAUGE OR AS A LIQUID METER, AND FOR MEASURING THE STRENGTH OF LIQUOR RUN OFF FROM A STILL OR OTHER APPARATUS OR VESSEL
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Beckley, of Richmond, in the County of
Surrey, and James Joseph Hicks, of Hatton Garden, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR
APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE QUANTITIES OF FLOWING
LIQUIDS, WHICH INVENTION MAY BE USED AS A RAIN. GAUGE OR AS A LIQUID
METER, AND FOR MEASURING THE STRENGTH OF LIQUOR RUN OFF FROM A STILL
OR OTHER APPARATUS OR VESSEL."
Sealed the 11th May 1869, and dated the 14th November 1808.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Beckley and
James Joseph Hicks at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 14th November 1868.
We, ROBERT BECKLEY, of Richmond, in the County of Surrey, and
JAMES JOSEPH HICKS, of Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE QUANTITIES OF
FLOWING LIQUIDS, WHICH INVENTION MAY BE USED AS A RAIN GAUGE OR AS A

page_text: LIQUID METER, AND FOR MEASURING THE STRENGTH OF LIQUOR RUN OFF FROM A
STILL OR OTHER APPARATUS OR VESSEL," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in means or apparatus
for measuring and registering the quantities of flowing liquids, which
Invention may be used as a rain gauge or as a liquid meter, and for
measuring the strength of liquor run off from a still or other apparatus
or vessel.
For a rain gauge we employ apparatus constructed in the following
manner: The rain is conveyed to a measuring chamber, which is
supported by a float working in a chamber having a suitable quantity
of quicksilver therein. Through the bottom of the measuring chamber
is passed the longer leg of a syphon, the shorter leg of which nearly
touches the bottom, whilst the bend of the syphon is coincident with
the top of the measuring chamber, and is contracted so as to ensure the
rain passing away from the measuring chamber by the longer leg of the
syphon at a practically uniform level. The measuring chamber rises
and falls according to the quantity of rain it contains, and is guided in
its motion so as to ensure its rising and falling in a vertical line and
preventing its turning on its axis. The measuring chamber carries a
suitable hood or cover to protect the chamber in which the float works
from the entrance of any foreign matter, and a suitable marking instru-
ment mounted on a spring is fixed thereto in position to mark upon a
cylinder the rising and falling of the measuring chamber. This cylinder
is mounted on an axis to which rotary motion is given by a clock enclosed
in an air-tight case, and having motion given thereto by preference by
means of a weight. The clock is wound by means of a handle mounted
on a shaft passing through the case, and in order to prevent the entrance
of moisture into the clock case we employ a mercurial joint or stuffing
box at such part. When from any cause the clock stops, or is allowed
to run down, we set the pendulum again in motion by means of a lever
operated by a suitable axis passing through the clock case and having a
handle or knob fixed thereon, so that by turning such handle or knob
the lever is caused to strike against the pendulum and set it in motion,
a mercurial joint or stuffing box being employed to seal the part where
such axis passes through the case.
The apparatus above described we by preference sink below the level
of the ground, and we make the recording cylinder of ground glass or

page_text: other suitable material unaffected by moisture, and we divide such
cylinder by preference into twenty-four parts by suitable marks thereon,
so that by means of the curve or line produced thereon by the marking.
instrument in the rise and fall of the measuring chamber the rainfall
within any given time may be readily ascertained. In some cases when
very great accuracy of measurement is required we employ an inter-
mediate vessel or funnel to receive the rain before it is allowed to fall
into the measuring chamber, and we place a valve in the bottom of such
funnel or vessel, which is closed by means of suitable connections put in
motion by the weight of the rain water passing out of the measuring
chamber, and opens so soon as the measuring chamber is emptied.
The apparatus above described may be used as a liquid meter in cases
where it is desirable to ascertain the quantity of liquid passing into and
through the measuring chamber within any given time. In dry situations
the clock will not however require to be placed in an air-tight case, as before
described. In cases where it is only necessary to ascertain the quantity
of liquid passing through the measuring chamber without reference to
any particular time we dispense with the recording cylinder and clock,
and attach to the measuring chamber a catch or driver, which gives
motion to a train of gearing, giving motion to hands working around
suitable dials, as will be well understood. When the apparatus is
employed for measuring liquors run off from a still or other apparatus
or vessel the strength or specific gravity of such liquors may be
ascertained by the depth to which the measuring chamber falls
when full.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Beckley and James Joseph Hicks in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th May 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
0 BECKLEY, of Richmond, in County of Surrey, and JAMES JOSEPH HICKS,
of Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the

page_text: thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said Robert Beckley and James
Joseph Hicks, Her special licence that we, the said Robert Beckley and
James Joseph Hicks, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said Robert Beckley and James Joseph Hicks, our exe-
cutors, 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
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE QUANTITIES OF
FLOWING LIQUIDS, WHICH INVENTION MAY BE USED AS A RAIN GAUGE OR AS A
LIQUID METER, AND FOR MEASURING THE STRENGTH OF LIQUOR RUN OFF FROM A
STILL OR OTHER APPARATUS OR VESSEL," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Robert Beckley and James Joseph Hicks, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 Scal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Joseph Hicks, on behalf of
myself and the said Robert Beckley, 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 statement
thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention has for its object "improvements in means or apparatus
for measuring and registering the quantities of flowing liquids, which.
Invention may be used as a rain gauge or as a liquid meter, and for
measuring the strength of liquor run off from a still or other apparatus
or vessel.
For a rain gauge we employ apparatus constructed in the following
manner― -The rain is conveyed to a measuring chamber, which is
supported by a float working in a chamber having a suitable quantity
of quicksilver therein. Through the bottom of the measuring chamber
is passed the longer leg of a syphon, the shorter leg of which nearly
touches the bottom, whilst the bend of the syphon is coincident with
the top of the measuring chamber, and is contracted so as to ensure the

page_text: rain passing away from the measuring chamber by the longer leg of the
syphon at a practically uniform level. The measuring chamber rises
and falls according to the quantity of rain it contains, and is guided in
its motion so as to ensure its rising and falling in a vertical line and
prevent its turning on its axis. The measuring chamber carries a
suitable hood or cover to protect the chamber in which the float works
from the entrance of any foreign matter, and a suitable marking instru-
ment mounted on a spring is fixed thereto in position to mark upon a
cylinder the rising and falling of the measuring chamber. This cylinder
is mounted on an axis to which rotary motion is given by a clock enclosed
in an air-tight case, and having motion given thereto by preference by
means of a weight. The clock is wound by means of a handle mounted
on a shaft passing through the case, and in order to prevent the entrance
of moisture into the clock case we employ a mercurial joint or stuffing
box at such part. When from any cause the clock stops or is allowed
to run down we set the pendulum again in motion by means of a lever
operated by a suitable axis passing though the clock case and having a
handle or knob fixed thereon, so that by turning such handle or knob
the lever is caused to strike against the pendulum and set it in motion,
a mercurial joint or stuffing box being employed to seal the part where
such axis passes through the case.
The apparatus above described we by preference sink below the level
of the ground, and we make the recording cylinder of ground glass or
other suitable material unaffected by moisture, and we divide such
cylinder by preference into twenty-four parts by suitable marks thereon,
so that by means of the curve or line produced thereon by the marking
instrument in the rise and fall of the measuring chamber the rainfall
within any given time may be readily ascertained. In some cases when
very great accuracy of measurement is required we employ an inter-
mediate vessel or funnel to receive the rain before it is allowed to fall
into the measuring chamber, and we place a valve in the bottom of such
funnel or vessel, which is closed by means of suitable connections put in
motion by the weight of the rain water passing out of the measuring
chamber, and opens so soon as the measuring chamber is emptied.
And in order that our Invention may be more clearly understood
and readily carried into effect, we will proceed, aided by the accom.
panying Drawings, more fully to describe the same.

page_text: Figure 1 is a vertical section of a rain gauge constructed according
to our Invention; Figure 2 is a section of parts on the line 1, 1; Figure 3
is a section of parts on the line 2, 2; and Figure 4 is a section of parts
on the line 3, 3.
a, a, is a funnel or receiver, which may be of any desired area, to
receive the rain as it falls, and a' is a tube to conduct the rain water to
a measuring chamber b, which is supported by a float c working in a
chamber d, having a suitable quantity of mercury therein. Through
the bottom of the measuring chamber 6 passes the longer leg e of a
syphon, the shorter leg e¹ of which nearly touches the bottom of the
measuring chamber, which at that part is provided with a well b', into
which the water drains, and from which it passes away by the shorter
leg e¹ of the syphon when the water in the measuring chamber has risen
to the height of the bend e²; and in order to prevent such water passing
away in drops through the syphon we contract such bend in height, and
extend it in width, as shewn at Figure 5, which is a section thereof at
that part, by which means the water is prevented running off until the
bend of the syphon is completely filled, whilst the area of the passage
through the bend is maintained at equal or nearly so to that through
the longer leg e, thereby ensuring the rain water passing away from
the measuring chamber at a practically uniform level; and in order to
ensure all the water passing out of the longer leg of the syphon we
prefer to make holes therein at the lower end as shewn. We also con-
tract the measuring chamber 6 at the upper part so as to ensure the
minimum amount of variation in the contents of such chamber previous
to the emptying thereof by the syphon. The float c we by preference
form of Derbyshire spar, but iron, vulcanite, or other suitable material
may be employed, and we provide such float c with a hood or cover c¹ to
protect the chamber d from the entrance of any foreign matter, whilst
we place on the top of the mercury in the chamber d a small quantity of
glycerine or other suitable fluid to protect the mercury from oxidation,
and at the same time to prevent it from adhering to the surface of the
float c. The float c is also provided with a tube c³, which is connected
thereto at the upper part, whilst its lower part passes down through the
tube d', and is guided by guide rollers de, d³, to ensure the float rising
and falling in a vertical line. A pencil for other suitable marking

page_text: l
instrument carried by a spring f', connected to a bar f, fixed to the
hood or cover c', serves to mark on a suitable recording cylinder g the
rising and falling of the measuring chamber c, and such bar f' is guided
by means of rollers f³ in order to permit the float c and parts carried
thereby turning on its axis, or any other suitable means may be employed
for this purpose. The cylinder g is mounted on an axis h, to which
rotary motion is given by bevilled wheels i driven by a clock j, enclosed
in an air-tight case k, and having motion given thereto, by preference by
means of a weight as shewn. The clock is wound by means of a handle
(shewn by dotted lines) mounted on the upper end of the shaft or axis h,
and in order to prevent the entrance of moisture into the clock case at
the part where the axis h passes through it we employ a mercurial
stuffing box h', as shewn. When from any cause the clock stops or is
allowed to run down we set the pendulum again in motion by a lever m
mounted on an axis m', to which a bevilled pinion m² is also fixed, such
bevilled pinion m² receiving motion from a bevilled pinion n' mounted
on the lower end of the axis n, the upper end of which passes through
the case k, and is provided with a knob n³, so that by turning such
knob n the lever m is caused to strike against the pendulum, and set it
in motion. A mercurial joint or stuffing box n³ is also employed to seal
the part where the axis n passes through the case k. The periphery of
the recording cylinder g, which may be of any suitable material un-
affected by moisture, is by preference divided into twenty-four parts by
suitable marks or lines thereon so that by means of the curve or line
produced thereon by the marking instrument fin the rise and fall of the
measuring chamber 6 the rainfall within any given time may be readily
ascertained. The entire apparatus is enclosed in a box x, the top of which
is removeable when it is desired to take a reading or to wind the clock.
.
If desired instead of employing an annular float cas shewn in the
Drawings a solid float may be employed, in which case it would have
connected thereto a cross head, from which depend rods or bars to
support the measuring chamber below, suitable guides being employed
to ensure the rising and falling of the float and parts carried thereby in
a vertical line, or if desired two or more solid or other floats may be
employed, which may be connected together by a cross head carrying
the measuring chamber, by which means the parts may be more com-
pactly arranged than in the last described plan.
In some cases when very great accuracy of measurement is required

page_text: we employ an arrangement similar to that shewn at Figure 6, in which the
fluid first falls into an intermediate vessel or funnel o before it is allowed
to fall into the measuring chamber b, a valve o¹ being employed in the
bottom of the intermediate vessel or funnel o to prevent the passage of
the fluid therethrough whilst it is passing out of the measuring chamber b.
The valve o' is operated in the following manner-At the bottom of the
longer leg e of the syphon is placed a vessel or receiver p, which is carried
by one end of a lever q mounted on a centre of motion q', the other end
of which lever is by a wire q' or other suitable means connected to one
end of a lever r, the other end of which is by a cord, chain, or other
convenient means connected to the valve o¹, thus as the fluid passes out
of the measuring chamber 6 its weight causes the vessel or receiver p to
fall, which by the connections already referred to causes the valve o' to
fall, and thereby close the passage through the intermediate vessel or
funnel o, by which means the fluid entering the apparatus during the
time it is passing out of the measuring chamber is retained in the
vessel o until the chamber 6 is emptied, when the valve o' rises to allow
the fluid again to pass into the measuring chamber 6; or if desired two
measuring chambers may be employed, and the liquid may be caused
to flow alternately into one and then into the other by means of an
intermediate vessel or funnel o, which is provided with two spouts, one
directed over each measuring chamber, and a tumbling action being
given to such funnel by the liquid passing out of a measuring chamber
acting upon suitable connections in a somewhat similar manner to that
before described, so as to direct the flow of the liquid into the other
chamber as will be well understood.
By the employment of a suitable measuring chamber the apparatus
heretofore described with but slight modifications, as will be readily
understood, may be employed as an evaporation gauge, the chamber
being filled when the apparatus is started, and by its rise indicating
upon the recording cylinder the amount of evaporation taking place
during any given period.
The apparatus above described may be used as a liquid meter in cases
where it is desirable to ascertain the quantity of liquid passing into and
through the measuring chamber within any given time in dry situations,
the clock will not however require to be placed in an air-tight case as
before described.
In cases where it is only necessary to ascertain the quantity of liquid

page_text: passing through the measuring chamber without reference to any par-
ticular time we dispense with the recording cylinder and clock, and
attach to the measuring chamber or other suitable part of the apparatus
a catch or driver, which gives motion to a train of gearing, giving motion
to hands working around suitable dials as will be well understood.
When the apparatus is employed for measuring liquors run off from a
still or other apparatus or vessel the strength or specific gravity of such
liquors may be ascertained by the depth to which the measuring chamber
falls when full. In this case the syphon will not be required, but instead
thereof we employ a tube fixed in the measuring chamber in a similar
position to the longer leg of the syphon, but open at its upper end, which
is fixed at the measuring level of the chamber b, and such tube is larger
in area than the pipe delivering the liquor into the measuring chamber
from the still or other apparatus or vessel.
Having thus described the nature of our said Invention, and the mode
in which we carry the same into effect, we would have it understood that
we do not confine ourselves to the precise details herein shewn and
described, as such may be varied without departing from the peculiar
character of our Invention; but what we do claim is, the novel com-
binations and arrangements of means or apparatus for measuring and
registering the quantities of flowing liquids, which Invention may be
used as a rain gauge or as a liquid meter, and for measuring the strength
or specific gravity of liquor run off from a still or other apparatus or
vessel, substantially as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Joseph Hicks, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
JAMES JOSEPH HICKS. (L.S.)
Witness,
B. J. B. MILLS,
35, Southampton Buildings,
Patent Agent.