IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE
FLOW OF LIQUIDS."-A communication from abroad by Jacob Schneuhr, of
St. Petersburg, in the Empire of Russia.
Sealed the 10th January 1865, and dated the 11th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th July 1864.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR
MEASURING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is intended chiefly for the use of brewers, and consists in
fitting the mash tun or other vessel with apparatus that will regulate the
admission of liquid thereto and the discharge of liquid therefrom, which
admission and discharge will be registered by a counting apparatus. The
mash or other liquid is admitted into the measuring vessel through a pipe or
opening, which is fitted with a vertical sliding valve for cutting off the supply.
This valve is attached to a long vertical sliding rod fitted at top and bottom
with disc valves, the upper one of which when raised admits steam to the
apparatus to heat the mash, and the lower one when depressed closes the

page_text: discharge opening for the mash. This valve rod is made buoyant by having
an adjustable cylindrical float attached to its lower end, which float when
depressed enters a recess in the bottom of the mash tun, in the centre of
which recess a seat is provided for the discharge valve. A projection on the
upper part of the valve rod works a rock lever in connection with the
registering apparatus, and thereby sets that apparatus in action at every rise
or it may be fall of the valve rod, which rise or fall by operating the slide
valve of the supply pipe indicates the flow of a measured quantity of the mash.
To ensure a sudden in contradistinction to a gradual action of this valve a
float pendent from a rock lever which operates a forked catch or its equivalent
that embraces the valve rod is employed to prevent the rod from rising until
the liquid attains a given height, when it will relieve the rock lever of the
weight of the pendent float, and thereby cause the valve rod to be freed from
the catch. The valve rod float will then force up the rod, and thereby close
the admission pipe, and simultaneously the discharge pipe will be opened. In
like manner, to prevent the valve rod from falling gradually as the liquid
discharges from the vessel, a weighted rock lever engages with the valve rod
and holds it up until the weight is overbalanced, when it will assist in bringing
down the valve rod.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE FLOW OF
LIQUIDS," being a communication from abroad by Jacob Schneuhr, of Saint
Petersburg, in the Empire of Russia, upon the condition (amongst others):
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention, as communicated to me from abroad, is intended chiefly for
the use of brewers, and consists in fitting the mash tun or other vessel with
apparatus that will regulate the admission of liquid thereto and the discharge
of liquid therefrom, which admission and discharge will be registered by a
counting apparatus. The mash or other liquid is admitted into the measuring
vessel through a pipe or opening, which is fitted with a vertical sliding valve
for cutting off the supply. This valve is attached to a long vertical sliding
rod fitted at top and bottom with disc valves, the upper one of which when
raised admits steam to the apparatus to heat the mash, and the lower one
when depressed closes the discharge opening for the mash. This valve rod is
made buoyant by having an adjustable cylindrical float attached to its lower
end, which float when depressed enters a recess in the bottom of the mash
tun, in the centre of which recess a seat is provided for the discharge valve.
A projection on the upper part of the valve rod works a rock lever in con-
nection with the registering apparatus, and thereby sets that apparatus in
action at every rise, or it may be fall of the valve rod, which rise or fall by
operating the slide valve of the supply pipe indicates the flow of a measured
quantity of liquor. To ensure a sudden in contradistinction to a gradual
action of this valve a contrivance is employed to prevent the rod from rising
until the liquid attains a given height, when it will be suddenly freed, and the
valve rod float will force up the rod, thereby closing the admission pipe, and
simultaneously opening the discharge pipe. In like manner, to prevent the
valve rod from falling gradually as the liquor discharges from the vessel,
provision is made for holding it up until the liquor has run out.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of the

page_text: apparatus; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a cross
section taken at right angles to Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a similar view shewing
the moving parts in a different position.
Inside the mash tun a copper pipe or channel is fixed, through which the
liquor is introduced into the mash tun. In this pipe or channel is fitted a
slide valve v, which is fixed to the vertical rod b; this rod b, which works up
and down in guides k, carries at its lower extremity the float c. When the
mash tun is empty this float rests in the recess p* at the bottom of the vat, at
which time the slide valve v will be below the pipe or channel A, and con-
sequently the channel will be open. When liquor has been admitted into the
mash tun the float c will rise, and after the liquor has reached a certain height
the slide valve v will close the pipe or channel A, and stop the supply; at the
same time the rod b rising will act by means of a tappet upon the lever q,
connected with an ordinary arrangement of counting apparatus p, and will
cause the latter to register the number of times the mash tun is filled. This
rise of the rod b will lift the valve r from its seat, and allow steam to enter
through the pipes, which valve so long as the float c remains at the bottom of
the tun closed. the steam pipe and prevented it from entering the tun and
heating the mash liquor. In order to cause the float c to rise suddenly
(instead of gradually) when the liquid has risen to a given height the following
arrangement is adopted :-The pipe A is combined with a box m, through
which passes a shaft h, which forms a fulcrum for the forked extremity p* of
the lever 1, and to this shaft within the box m is also connected a catch i
for holding down the rod 6; the other extremity of the rod 7 carries the float g.
As long as the liquid has not risen to the required height the weight of the
float acting upon the catch i will keep it in contact with the rod b. and prevent
it and its float from rising, and consequently closing the supply opening, but
when the liquid has risen to the desired height it causes the upper float g to rise,
and consequently the catch i to be withdrawn. The lower float c being now
free to act will raise the rod 6 together with its valve v, and stop the supply
of liquid; at the same moment the discharge pipe z will be opened by the
valve which closed it, being lifted from its seat by the rise of the rod b, to
the extremity of which it is attached. When the liquor has run out through
the pipe z, which is fitted with a stop-cock, the float c will descend, and the
valve v will open for the passage of a fresh. quantity of liquid, and the rod b
will be again caught and held fast by the catch i in the box m. In order that
the float c may descend suddenly instead of gradually as the liquid flows off, a
special apparatus is employed. In an oblong box f, which is attached to the
inuer side of the mash tun in the same vertical plane as the pipe A, so that

page_text: the rod may pass through, a crank lever d is mounted. One arm of this
&
lever is provided with a counterweight e, and the other arm comes between
the studs u, and serves to retain the rod 6 in an elevated position until all the
liquid has flowed out of the mash tun; but when the lower float is no longer
sustained by the liquid the counterweight e will be overbalanced and will
allow the rod 6 suddenly to fall, and consequently the discharge opening will
be closed by the valve x.
In consequence of these arrrangements the supply pipe A remains closed
until all the liquid has run out, and it is only then that it again opens to
allow fresh liquor to pass. The rod b is screwed at its lower end to fit a
female screw in the float c. This mode of coupling allows of the adjustment
of the float to any required height on the rod. The stem of the float g is also
provided with a series of pin holes for the purpose of adjusting its height in
connection with the lever l.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for Measuring the Flow of Liquids," as communicated to me from abroad,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,
the apparatus above described for indicating by the aid of a counting appa-
ratus the amount of liquid discharged into or from a mash tun or other
vessel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of January, in the year
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
5
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)