A NEW AND USEFUL DEVICE OR INSTRUMENT FOR MARWADING THE AMOUNT OF & FLOWING LIQUID
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cyrus W. Baldwin, of Boston, in the County
of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, United States of America,
for the Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL DEVICE OR INSTRUMENT FOR
MARWADING THE AMOUNT OF & FLOWING LIQUID"
Scaled the 2nd October 1868, and dated the 3rd April 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Cyrus W. Baldwin at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 3rd April' 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CYRUS.
W. BALDWIN, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of
Massachusetts, United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention of "A NEW AND
USEFUL DEVICE OR INSTRUMENT FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE AMOUNT
OF A FLOWING LIQUID," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
mc, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent

page_text: for the same, and have made solemn declaration that I am the first
and truc Inventor of the same.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Cyrus W. Baldwin, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings making
part of this Specification, and in which Figure 1 is a vertical and
longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a horizontal section of such Invention;
Figure 3, a vertical and transverse section of the same; Figures 4, 5,
and 6 are respectively end, top, and side views of the sliding sleeve, to
-be herein-after described.
One object of this Invention is to produce an instrument or a device
for measuring and indicating the contents of a flowing liquid under
any conditions of such flow of liquid, whether escaping in a large body,
and under great or little pressure, or escaping drop by drop.
Another object of the Invention is to construct the apparatus in such
manner as to require no nice fitting or grinding or high finishing of
parts, and with no possibility of clandestine escape of liquid from it by
leakage, the apparatus under these conditions of things being simple and
cheap of construction.
The Invention consists in a hollow circular case or box of suitable
construction, divided at its centre into two separate chambers by an
clastic diaphragm, each of such chambers being constructed with an
inlet and outlet aperture or passage, the two outlets joining in one s
general outlet, and the inlet in like manner communicating with one
general inlet or supply throat and provided with valves connected with
the diaphragm for allowing the liquid to alternately escape from one
chamber and closing the escape from the opposite chamber in manner
and under conditions as herein-after explained.
In the Drawings above mentioned A denotes a circular case con-
structed in two halves or sections a, b, cach of which is formed with a
central elongation or extension c or d for accommodation of a portion
of the mechanism, the joint between such sections a, b, being sealed by
the edge of an clastic diaphragm e, which is enclosed between the two,
thus dividing the interior of the case A into two chambers f, g, of equal
dimensions and capacitics. The enlargements c or d of each section a
or are hollow, and are a part of the chambers fand g respectively, cach

page_text: enlargement having an attenuated passage or outlet port or i formed
in the metal composing it and leading out of it just below its centre,
cach of such passages h or joining at the bottom of the case in a
general outlet j below the diaphragm c. Ench chamber for com-
municates at top and above the diaphragın e with a general central inlet
or mouth by a port or passage or m made in or over the flange or
metal supporting the diaphragm, such ports being alternately opened
and closed by a spherical or cylindrical valve which lies loosely in a
valve chest formed within the supply pipe leading to the case A and
over the diaphragme, and which plays alternately between the passages
1, m. The diaphragm e carries at each of its opposite sides and centrally
of the case A and within the chambers for g a horizontal fork o or o³,
the armis p, q, of which straddle a sleeve sliding upon a horizontal
rods and support such sleeve by means of slots t, t, made in them, in
which are inserted pins u, u, extending from opposite sides of the sleeve,
thus allowing of free reciprocating rectilinear movements of such sleeve
upon the rod s to the extent of the length of the slots t, t, the remaining
necessary movements of the sleeve being effected by a triangular or
other shaped wiper fixed to its upper surface, against which a friction
roller bears and acts, such roller being supported by a vibrating arm x
pivoted to the upper wall or boundary of the extension d, the arm
being depressed by a spring y placed over it, as represented in the
Drawings. The inner end of each rod s, s¹, is pivoted to the lower
extremity of the vibrating lever or tripper or ', which is supported at
about its middle upon a fulcrum a' upheld by a bracket b' projecting from
the wall of cach chamber for g, the upper end of such trippers acting
in conjunction with the spherical or cylindrical valve n to throw it alter-
nately from one to the other of the ports or m. Furthermore, the outer ond
of each rod 8, 8, carries a ball or cylindrical valve c', which when such rod
is at the extreme of its outward movement lies over and closes the port i.
2°
In describing the operation of the above-described apparatus we will
suppose the diaphragm e to be distended to its fullest extent in one
direction or to the right, as shown in the Drawings, and with the
passage i of the chamber g closed by its valve c', the valve n being
at this time against and closing the port leading to the opposite
chamber and preventing entrance of liquid thereto, while the port mo
leading to the chamber is open for admission of liquid, it being of course
understood that both chambers f and y are filled and maintained full of
liquid, and the passage or outlet of the chamber is open, and with

page_text: its valve and mechanism to the extreme right of their movement.
Upon opening the outlet of the apparatus the liquid will begin to flow
into the chamber g, and simultaneously therewith begin to discharge
from the chamber f, thus forcing the diaphragm e in the direction of
the red arrow thereon, it being borne in mind that the pins ", ", pro-
jecting from the sides of the sleeve (upon one side or half of the
apparatus, or the right in the Drawings) are resting against the inner
terminus of the slots t, t. As the fork o is fixed to the diaphragm it
moves with it without actuating the sleeve until the outer ends of
the slots t, t, bring up against the pins u, u, when the continued move-
ment of the fork will carry the sleeve with it, sliding upon the rod s
until such sleeve arrives at the point of union of the rod s when it strikes
such lever and forces the rod in the same direction and starts the
valve coff its scat. At this point the triangular wiper has moved
under and forced upward the roller to until such roller rests upon
the apex of the wiper. The force of the spring y acting through the
arm and roller was a medium throws the rod s suddenly inward to
the extreme of its movement. At the same time by a like means and
with equal velocity the ball of the opposite chamber is forced outward
to the extreme of its movement, closes the passage h, and cuts off the
flow of liquid from such chamber f, the movement of the rods at its
extreme inward movement actuating the vibrating lever and carrying
it away from contact with the port m; at the same time the lever in
the opposite chamber f strikes the valve n and throws it suddenly in
contact with and closes the port m, and consequently shuts off the flow
of liquid to the chamber g, this act being simultaneous with the move-
ment of the valves c' and c". A collar or shoulder d is fixed upon cach
rods in such manner as to bring up when such rod is at its extreme
inward position in contact with the outer end of the sleeve 1, for the
purpose of allowing such sleeve on its return movement to complete the
remaining movement of the rods and cause the valve c¹ to close the
port i. The liquid now begins to flow into the chamber f and through
the inlet, and at the same time to discharge from the chamber a
through the passage i, and the diaphragm e by the pressure or movement
of the liquid begins to contract and move in the direction of the blue
arrow thereon, the pins u, u, of the sleeve r being at this time at the
extreme inner end of the slots t, t, of the fork o. The fork by the action
of the diaphragm is moved outwardly without actuating any of the
mechanism until the inner end of its slots t, t, bring up against the

page_text: pins u, u, of the sleeve 7, when it moves the sleeve in the same direction.
This movement of the sleeve by means of the collar d' carries the
rods in the same direction with it and until the roller 10 has mounted
the inner inclines of the wiper and rests upon its apex, when the
pressure of the spring y upon the opposite incline of the wiper completes
the outward movement of the rod s with a sudden snap and throws the
valve c' upon and closes the passage i, at the same time forcing the upper
end of the lever inward and throwing the valve n from the port
m, so as to close the port 1, the same movement also forcing the
opposite rod & inward and opening the passage h.
As the mechanisms upon both sides of the diaphragm e are counterparts
of each other the above description of their operation, although confined
for the most part to one of them, will yet enable a good mechanic with
the aid of the accompanying Drawings to understand the Invention
perfectly, the Drawings in fact in this respect giving the most insight into
the Invention and would alone enable him to understand and construct
it. I would call attention to the fact however that the whole
power of
the pressure of water upon as well as that of the contraction of the
diaphragm itself operates to start the valves c', c", from off their scats,
which being accomplished the movement of the liquid aids the spring y
in completing the movements of these valves or their supporting rods.
It will be evident that the purpose of the slots t, t, in the arms of tho
fork o is to allow of the comparatively long movements of the diaphragm
without actuating the valves c', c", until the proper time. It may be
found in practice desirable to employ a cage or grid to confine the
extreme outward movements of the elastic diaphragm, but experiments
thus far made would show that this will not be necessary. The amount
of liquid displaced by cach extreme movement or alternation of the
diaphragm being ascertained, and the number of such movements regis-
tered by a suitable indicating mechanism attached to the apparatus,
enable the quantity of liquid passing through it to be accurately noted.
A great obstacle to be surmounted heretofore in experiments with
liquid meters have been the differences of pressure upon the liquid in
different localities. My Invention enables the liquid under any con-
dition of pressure, as before observed, to be measured accurately, and a
drop cannot escape that is not measured or registered.
Another advantage of my Invention, as before observed, consists in
the fact that no nice fitting or adjustment of parts or grinding of valve

page_text: scats is necessary, as the entire apparatus is or may be made of cast
metal with the exception of the clastic diaphragm e and ball valves,
which preferably are to be made of vulcanized india-rubber. The only
point at which leakage could occur is the joint between the two halves
or section of the case A, but as this joint is perfectly sealed by the
enclosure of the clastic diaphragm no escape of liquid at this point can
possibly occur. Added to these is the important advantage that no
wear which can come upon the mechanism will impair its efficiency.
I have contemplated constructing the apparatus, with the exception
of the clastic diaphragm and the ball valves, of the material known as
hard rubber, in order to enable such apparatus or meter to be used for
measuring acids.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is, the employment in a liquid meter of an elastic diaphragm for the
purpose of determining the amount of liquid passing through such
meter.
Second. I claim the combination in a meter, such as described, with
the valve rods and valves for regulating the flow of liquid through the
meter of the flexible diaphragm and spring devices, or their equi-
valents, for operating the said valves under such an arrangement that
while the valves and valve rods are partially actuated by the said
diaphragm they shall be caused to complete their movement in either
direction by the action of the said spring devices, substantially in the
manner set forth.
Third. I claim the combination with the flexible diaphragm, slotted 2
forks o, o', and sleeves,, which carry the triangular wipers of the
valves c¹, c", valve rods 8, 1, and spring devices for completing the move-
ment of the said valves, in manner and for the purposes shown and
specified.
Fourth. The combination with the flexible diaphragm valves for 3
closing the outlet ports and mechanism for actuating said valves of the
vibratory arms, , and valvon for closing the outlet port, substantially
as shown and for the purposes described.
Fifth. I claim the combination and arrangement with the valves c', c",
and n, and mechanism for actuating the same; of the ports for the admis- 3

page_text: sion and discharge of the liquid into and from the meter, substantially
as herein shown and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cyrus W. Baldwin, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this 12th day of March, in the
year of our Lord 1868.
CYRUS W. BALDWIN. (L.s.)