IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of Southampton Buildings, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS
METERS." A communication from abroad by Dominique Jean Falconetti, of
Paris, France.
Sealed the 18th November 1879, and dated the 27th May 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th May 1879.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS." [A communication from abroad by
Dominique Jean Falconetti, of Paris, France.]
These improvements have for their object to maintain a constant water level in
wet gas meters.
For this purpose there is provided above the cylindrical casing of the meter a
closed reservoir of water which serves to maintain the water level in the meter.
This reservoir is filled by means of a funnel mouthed tube passing down some
distance into a second tube closed at bottom and communicating at top with the
reservoir, so that the water has to flow down the inner tube and up the outer tube
to pass into the reservoir, the interior of which is consequently prevented from
communicating with the atmosphere through the filling tube. When no water has
to be introduced the funnel mouth of the tube is closed by a screw cap. In order to
allow the gas contained in the reservoir to escape while it is being filled with water
a small tube leads from its top to below the level of the water in the overflow
chamber at the bottom of the front compartment of the meter; the reservoir commu-
nicates by means of a U shaped tube with a small chamber which communicates by
small holes both with the drum chamber and the front compartment of the meter,
so that when water flows from the reservoir through the open end of the U tube
into the said small chamber, it passes thence through the holes into the meter casing,
so as to maintain the water level therein. Above the reservoir is a small space
which communicates firstly with the said water level chamber by means of a pipe
reaching down to just below the normal water level therein, and, secondly, with the
reservoir by means of a pipe leading down considerably below the water level
Price 6d1

page_text: thereof. Thus, while the end of the first named tube remains sealed by the water
in the water level chamber, no water can pass from the reservoir into the latter, but
when the water in the meter sinks below its normal level, and thus unseals the tube,
gas will pass up the latter and down the second tube into the reservoir, permitting
a corresponding quantity of water to flow from the latter down the U shaped tube
into the chamber. By this means the water again rises to the normal level in the
meter, and, the end of the before mentioned tube becoming sealed again, the supply
of water from the reservoir is again stopped. By the above arrangement of the siall
water level chamber, and the pipes for establishing the communications between it
and the reservoir, any sudden rush of water from the reservoir into the meter casing
is prevented, only sufficient being admitted at one time to bring the water level to
the normal position. The apertures through which the water in the water level
chamber flows into the meter casing being made very small, in order that such flow
may be slower than the flow from the reservoir into the chamber, the portions of
the chamber in which such apertures are made are by preference formed of some
metal, such as tin, that will not oxidise. In order to prevent the water level in the
open end of the U shaped tube from descending below that in the meter casing,
which might occur on the contraction of the gas due to a decrease of temperature,
the lower part of the free limb of such tube is made to communicate, by a very small
tube, with the interior of the meter casing. The before described supply tube
through which the water is introduced into the reservoir is made of comparatively
large diameter, so that the filling may be effected rapidly, and so prevent the passage
of any appreciable quantity of water into the meter casing during that time.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
November 1879.
_CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS." A communication from abroad by
Dominique Jean Falconetti, of Paris, France.
These improvements have for their object to maintain a constant water level in
wet gas meters. For this purpose the construction of such meters is modified as
will be described with reference to the accompanying Drawings. Fig. 1 is a front
view partly in vertical section, and Figs. 2 and 3 are side views, partly in section,
of a meter with arrangements according to this Invention for maintaining constant
level of the water in the body of the meter. A is the casing containing the revolving
drum, and B is the front compartment receiving the gas supplied by the pipe C; the
outlet is by the pipe D. These parts, as well as the syphon E and the indicating
dials F, are all of the ordinary construction. For the purpose of this Invention the
following additions and modifications are made:-G is a reservoir fixed on the upper
part of the meter casing; H, a tube containing an inuer tube az open at the bottom
(which reaches nearly to the bottom of H) and having at the top a funnel mouth for
supplying water, which mouth can be closed by a screw plug b. The tube H. com-
municates with the reservoir G by a passage c at the top of H, which by preference
reaches somewhat above the top of G, so that G can be filled quite up from H. From
Ga pipe & descends into N, the lower part of the compartment B reaching nearly
to the bottom of N. This pipe & permits gas to pass from the upper part of G when
it is being charged with water, but it is sealed against return of gas by its immor-
sion in the water of N. At the side of G is a chamber K communicating with B
by an aperture k, and with the body A of the meter by the aperture 1. In K there
is a U tube g having its one branch connected to the reservoir G, and having its
other branch open at the top. A compartment L, L', formed above and in front of
one end of G, communicates with the chamber K by a pipe h, the lower end of which
dips into the water in K, and the compartment L, L', also communicates with G by
a pipe a dipping deeply into the water of G. When the water in the meter sinks a
little below its normal level gas can ascend the pipe h into the chamber L, L', and
the pressure being communicated through the pipe x to the contents of G, a portion
of the water flows by the pipe g into K, and thence by the apertures k and l into B
and A, and the level being thus again raised the pipe / becomes sealed again, and
the flow from G ceases. The surface of K being small a moderate flow of water into
it raises the level in it sufficiently to seal h, and thus the meter is supplied with
small quantities at intervals when they are needed to maintain the normal level.
The pipes a and H are made of large area in comparison with the apertures k and l
so that G may be rapidly filled while only a moderate quantity of the water supplied
passes into the meter and overflows thence. To prevent alteration of the apertures
k and I by oxidation they are bushed with tin or other metal not readily oxidisable.
There might, from reduction of temperature, be such contraction of the gas in the
upper part of G as to cause descent of water in the open limb of g down to the
bend. To prevent this there is a small passage q from B to supply the limb of g in
such cases. The réservoir G is made not to extend quite to the back of the meter,
so that for purposes of repair the back cover M may be removed without interfering
with G. A water guage n is useful to show the level in G. The chamber L, L', is
made of considerable capacity, so that when the pressure in the meter is changed by
the admission or stoppage of gas there may be no considerable change of the pressure
in L, L', or in the reservoir G, such change being only that which would result from
a change of water level in the pipes h and g due to the alteration of pressure in the
meter. The arrangements above described may obviously be applied to existing
meters.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
claim,-
First. In combination with a wet gas meter the supply reservoir G and chambers
K and L, L, with their connecting pipes g, h, and a, and the apertures k, l, and q,
arranged and operating so as to maintain constant water level in the meter, as
herein described with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Second. In combination with the supply reservoir G the feeding pipes H and a
and passage c, as herein described with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this
day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.