IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OF WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jan Anthony Muller, of Amsterdam, Holland,
at present of 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE FLOW
OF WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 7th November 1873, and dated the 17th July 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jan Anthony Muller
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th July 1873..
I, JAN ANTHONY MULLEB, of Amsterdam, Holland, at present of 123,
5 Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING
THE FLOW OF WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to an Invention for which Letters Patent-
were granted to me dated 8th September, 1869, and Numbered 2646,
) and consist,-
Firstly. In the use and application of a rectangular bore for the water>
nassage instead of a circular one, and having a piston of suitable material

page_text: are "cut off" simultaneously and in proportion to each other, according
to the extent to which the outlet cock or cocks are open or closed at the
time.
Secondly. In mechanism for working the said piston automatically.
The rectangular water passage is contracted to a suitable extent so as
to ensure the induced current of air being sufficiently powerful to move
the turbine and wheelwork of the meter, and near the point of greatest
contraction I introduce the air passages so that the piston in opening
and closing the water passage opens and closes at the same time the air
passages.
The regulating mechanism for working the piston consists of an india-
rubber cylindrical cup of requisite dimensions forming, with a metal
bottom to which it is fixed, an air-tight chamber. This regulator is
connected to the piston, and the whole is enclosed in a water or air-tight
metal casing. A small metal tube supplies this casing with water drawn
from the side of the main pressure, and is continued on the other side
up to the outlet cock or cocks.
The outlet cock or cocks are constructed and arranged in such manner
that according as they are turned "off" or "on" the bore of the small
supply tube is increased or diminished in the same proportion. In
shutting off the outlet cock or cocks the water is checked throughout all
the pipes and likewise in the casing of the regulator, and this causes an
adequate pressure which in operating upon the regulator will close in a
proportionate degree the water and air passages; in turning the outlet
cock or cocks on the pipes and regulator are relieved of the existing
pressure, and the compressed air inside the air-tight chamber being then
more powerful than the existing pressure in the casing the piston is
brought back and the water and air passages are opened accordingly.⠀⠀⠀
In order to ensure the proper distribution of water in the small supply
tube and to provide against the consequences upon it by the variations
of the main pressure I introduce another regulator consisting of two
india-rubber discs of different diameters with a piston between them.
The larger of the two discs receives the pressure from the casing and
transmits it by means of the piston to the smaller one, which conse..
quently closes either partly or entirely the bore of the small supply
tube

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jan Anthony Muller in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL, COME, I; JAN
ANTHONY MULLER, of Amsterdam, Holland, at present of 123, Chancery
Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Jan Anthony Muller, Her, special licence
that I, the said Jan Anthony Muller, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jan Anthony Muller, 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 MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OF WATER AND
OTHER LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Jan Anthony Muller, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Jan Anthony Muller, 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 figures and letters
on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, that is to say :—
These improvements relate to an Invention for which Letters Patent
were granted to me dated 8th September 1869, and Nod. 2648,' and
consist,―
Firstly. In the use and application of a rectangular bore for the water
passage instead of a circular one, and having a piston of suitable material

page_text: and arrangement to slide therein, so that the passages for water and air
are cut off simultaneously and in proportion to each other, according to
the extent to which the outlet cock or cocks are opened or closed at the
time.
And, secondly. In mechanism for working the said piston auto-
matically.
The rectangular water passage is contracted to a suitable extent so as
to secure the induced current of air being sufficiently powerful to move
the turbine and registering mechanism of the meter, and near the point
of greatest contraction I introduce the air passages so that the piston in
opening and closing the water passage opens and closes at the same time
the air passages.
The regulating mechanism for working the piston consists of an india-
rubber cylindrical cup of requisite dimensions forming, with a metal
bottom to which it is fixed, an air-tight chamber. This regulator is :
connected to the piston, and the whole is enclosed in a water or air-tight
metal casing, and a small metal tube supplies this casing with water
drawn from the side of the main pressure, and is continued on the other
side up to the outlet cock or cocks.
The outlet cock or cocks are constructed and arranged in such manner a
that according as they are turned "off" or "on" the bore of the small
supply tube is diminished or increased in the same proportion. In
shutting off" the outlet cock or cocks the water is checked throughout
all the pipes and likewise in the casing of the regulator, and this causes
an adequate pressure which in operating upon the regulator will close in
a proportionate degree the water and air passages; in turning the outlet
cock or cocks "on" the pipes and regulator are relieved of the existing
pressure, and the compressed air inside the air-tight chamber being then
more powerful than the existing pressure in the casing the piston is
brought back and the water and air passages are opened accordingly.
In order to ensure the proper distribution of water in the small supply
tube, and to provide against the consequences upon it by the variations
of the main pressure, I introduce another regulator consisting of two
india-rubber discs of different diameters with a piston between them.
The larger of the two discs receives the pressure from the casing and a
transmits it by means of the piston to the smaller one, which conse-

page_text: Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of an outlet cock.
The corresponding parts in the different Figures are indicated by.
similar letters.
A, A, represents the water passage, having near the parts where the
greatest contraction exists the air passages a, which air passages lead to
the enclosure a¹, and thus are in connection with the registering parts of
the meter. B is the piston free to move up and down, said piston being
made of ebonite, metal, or other suitable material, and properly con-
nected by means of the framework 6 to the regulator C. The upper
part of the water passage A, A, and the top of the piston B may if
desired be so constructed as to have the jet of water passing over the
piston top contracted on four sides instead of only two as shown. The
india-rubber disc b¹ serves to prevent the main pressure entering through
possible leakages around the piston into the regulator casing D, D. The
regulator C is formed of a hollow metal cylinder c, over which a cylinder
d of india-rubber is fixed securely so as to form the two together, the
air-tight chamber C with one flexible side d, d. In the india-rubber a
piece of metal e, e, is moulded to receive the rod f, f, the said rod
working in the guides 9, 9, and connected by means of the framework b
to the piston B. An outer metal cylinder / prevents the india-rubber
bulging out when pressure is brought to bear upon it. The regulator O
is enclosed in the air or water-tight casing D, D. The tube i supplies
this casing, with the necessary water to work the regulator, and the
tube leads off all water passing through the regulator casing to the
outlet cocks.
E is another regulator serving to ensure a proper distribution of water
to the regulator casing D, D, and to provide against the consequences
upon it by the variations in the main pressure, and it consists of the two.
india-rubber discs k and k¹ of requisite dimensions and the piston

page_text: between them. The casing E is connected as shown, on the one side
with the regulator casing D, D, by the opening m, and on the other side
with the supply tube i.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section of one of the outlet cocks showing the
passage A³, which serves as the outlet of A, and the passage
serves as
the outlet of the tube 2¹. The two passages A2 and 2 being in the same
plug it is evident that every alteration in the area of the one will be
accompanied by a proportionate alteration in the area of the other.
F represents part of the meter as described in the Specification of
my Patent bearing date 8th September 1869, No. 2648.
-
The arrangement as now described serves to ensure a free flow of
water passing by the air passages a, a, and acts in the following manner:
-In partly opening the outlet cock or cocks the flow of water is checked
to a certain degree, and a proportionate pressure is caused throughout
the water passage A and the tube 2¹. This pressure by means of the
tube ¹ is communicated to the regulator casing D, D, and to the regu-
lator C. The disc d is pressed in to a certain extent, and this motion
being communicated through the framework 6 to the piston B the latter
is raised, and consequently the quantity of the water passing by the air
passages is reduced to what the outlet cock or cocks can discharge; and
although the pressure is kept up in the tube a free flow of water is
ensured in the water passage A. The water in flowing freely induces a
current of air through a³, the said induced current of air serving to set
the turbine and further registering parts of the meter in operation, as
described in my Patent before referred to.
In setting the outlet cock or cocks wider open the pressure is lowered
in the tube, and consequently in the regulator casing, and the com-
pressed air in the chamber C being now more powerful than the reduced
pressure on the outside of the disc d expands and carries the piston B
back, thus allowing the water passage A to open according to the opening
of the outlet cock or cocks.
The regulator E is acted upon by the pressure in the casing D, and
serves to counterbalance the ill effects on the working of the regulator C,
which would result in cases where through faulty arrangements a wide
difference is shown in the main pressure between the outlet cock or
cocks being fully open or shut. It regulates the quantity of water

page_text: entering the casing so as to prevent the regulator C working with jerks
or in a very irregular and uncertain manner, but it can be dispensed
with in all arrangements where there is the true proportion between the
inlet pipe A¹ and the water passage A. The manner in which this
regulator E operates explains itself. The pressure rising in the regulator
casing D moves the piston 7 in the direction of the arrow and diminishes
the quantity of water entering the regulator casing D, this pressure
being lowered the reverse action takes place.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section, and represents a modification of the
arrangement to regulate the water passage A automatically, and likewise
a modification in the arrangement to regulate the pressure in the
casing D.
The first of these two modifications consists in using, instead of the
regulator C of Fig. 1, an india-rubber disc d¹ of sufficient strength and
elasticity and requisite diameter properly fixed to the piston rod f¹.
It is evident that in originating a pressure in the regulator casing D,
as before described, this pressure will act in the same way upon the
disc d', as before mentioned, on the regulator C, with exactly the same
desired results. Upon the pressure being diminished the piston is
lowered by the action of the main pressure on the disc 6¹ being then
greater than the pressure on the disc d working against it.
The second modification consists in fixing to the tube 2, Fig. 4, a
regulator E¹ of the same arrangement as the regulator E of Fig. 1. The
spring n is here required to counterbalance the pressure of the column
of water standing in the pipe A. The tube 2 has a free outlet in the
water passage A, and the regulator E³ is acted upon by the pressure in 22
or any other convenient point of A. This arrangement ensures the same
effect as the long tube and the peculiar outlet cock of Figs. 1 and 3,
for the moment the outlet cock or cocks of the ordinary description is
or are turned off so as to create a certain pressure in the water passage A
this extra pressure is brought to bear throug the tube i upon the regu-
lator E', and consequently in thus diminishing the outlet of the
regulator casing D the pressure in this casing is raised in proportion,
with the same result of reducing the quantity of water passing through
A, as before described. In turning the cock or cocks
on the reverse
action takes place in the several parts just named. Sieves are fixed in
proper places so as to prevent as much as possible all grit and other
the
"

page_text: hard substances in the water entering the pipe A or the tube i. Two or
more of these regulators can be used conjointly, or one can be so
arranged as to measure only part of the quantity of water flowing.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of my said Invention
I claim the improvements in apparatus for measuring and registering
the flow of water and other liquids substantially as herein described and
shown on the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jan Anthony Muller, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.