AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER METER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
an, for tlie Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER
METER." A communication.
Scaled the 15th May 1857, and dated the 25th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th March 1857.
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 "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER
METER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved construction of water meter, in which
a cylinder is fitted with two pistons connected together by a shaft so as to
divide the cylinder into three chambers or divisions, the central one of which
is an air chamber, and the end ones measuring chambers; between the air
chamber and a reservoir or exhaust chamber there is a constant communica-
tion. The water after it has passed through the measuring chambers is thrown
into the air chamber, whence it passes to the reservoir and is discharged from
the meter. Beneath the cylinder is a water space divided into two (outer
and inner) chambers, which communicate with each other. In the inner of

page_text: these chambers a valve operates, supplying water to and cutting it off from
the measuring chambers; the central passage of this valve communicates
through a port with the air chamber between the pistons, from which the
water passes to the reservoir behind the cylinder. For the purpose of moving
the valve suddenly at the termination of the stroke of the piston and of ensur-
ing its operation however slow may be the motion of the water through the
meter, the following device is employed:-A disc of india-rubber forms a
water-tight partition between the inner chamber and the reservoir, and has
attached to its centre a rod provided with a horizontal slot, in which plays a
crank pin carried by a rock shaft that receives its motion from the traverse
of the pistons. A forked arm pendent from the shaft embraces a sleeve or
spool that slides freely upon the shaft that connects the two pistons together.
From the cut off valve rises a slotted standard which receives a pin carried
by a pendént arm attached to the sleeve or spool. As therefore the water
passes into one measuring chamber and out of the other and causes the traverse
of the pistons in the cylinder, the valve will be shifted; and the rock shaft
before mentioned will cause the rod connected with the india-rubber disc to
rise or fall, it being assisted in its movement by a spring which is placed
below the disc, and gives an impetus to its movement. From this rod the
counting apparatus may be worked, its upper end passing for that purpose
through a stuffing-box in the meter case. The water supply pipe is furnished
with a two-way cock, so arranged that whenever the supply is cut off from the
meter, the water which it contains as well as that within all its passages and
chambers shall pass off through the cock, and thus prevent the frost from
injuring the meter.
It is evident, however, that when thus emptied the water will be replaced
by air which must be allowed to escape as the water is again admitted, other-
wise a correct measurement could not be had; this is accomplished by means
of float valves which cover small apertures in the top of the cylinder, and open
to discharge the air as the water fills the chambers.
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 19th September 1857.
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.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord 1857, in the twentieth 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, 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 of "AN IMPROVED CON-
STRUCTION OF WATER METER," being a communication from abroad, 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figured marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 is a plan, one half of the meter cylinder and the water chamber G
being removed to show the parts within; Fig. 2 a front view of the same;
Fig. 3 a transverse section upon the line A, A, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, detail which
will be referred to hereafter.
To enable others skilled in the art to understand this Invention, I will
proceed to describe the manner in which the Inventor proposes to carry it
out:-
In the said Drawings B is the cylinder to which are adapted two pistons
C, C', which are connected by a shaft D so as to divide the cylinder into three
chambers or divisions, E, E', being the measuring chambers, and F a central
or air chamber, between which and a reservoir or exhaust chamber M there
is a constant communication through the open passage d. The water after it
has passed through the measuring chambers E, E, is thrown into the air
chamber F, and is drawn off from the reservoir M by the pipe c. Beneath
the cylinder is the "full chamber" G, which extends back at G¹ beneath tho

page_text: exhaust chamber M, the two compartments G, G', communicating with each
other through the opening a.
The valve K operates in the chamber G, and is held up to the cylinder by
the pressure of the water, the springs b performing this office when the water
is drawn from the meter. The measuring cylinders E, E', are made to com-
municate with the chamber G and the valve K through the openings a, a³,
the former being shown in Fig. 2 in communication with the chamber G,
and the latter with the valve K. The central passage of this valve commu-
nicates through the port L with the air chamber F between the pistons, from
which the water passes through the opening d to the reservoir M bebind the
cylinder. For the purpose of moving the valve suddenly at the termination
of the stroke of the pistons, and of ensuring its operation however slow may
be the motion of the water through the meter, the following device is em-
ployed N is a disk of india-rubber which forms a water-tight partition
between the full chamber G and the reservoir M, and has attached to its
center a shaft O having a horizontal slot f, in which plays a pine projecting
from a crank I; this crank is attached to a rock shaft P, which passes througli
into the chamber F, and carries at its inner end an arm Q, the forked extremity
of which embraces a sleeve or spool R that slides freely upon the shaft D.
From the valve K rises a standard T having a slot g in which plays the pin i,
in the lower extremity of the arm S'; this arm is attached to the sleeve R and
vibrates back and forth with it. For the purpose of emptying the meter and
the pipes in connection therewith whenever there is danger of frost or for
other purposes, the supply pipe H is furnished with a two-way cock U so
arranged that whenever the supply is cut off from the meter, the water which
it contains as well as that within all its passages and chambers shall pass off
through the cock. w is a float valve in the bottom of the valve which is
retained closed when the meter is in operation; when the meter is emptied
as above, this valve falls, and the water within the valve and the passages in
connection therewith escapes. It is evident that when the meter is thus
emptied, the water which is drawn off will be replaced by air, and that this air
must be allowed to escape as the water is again admitted, otherwise a correct
measurement could not be bad. This I accomplish by means of float valves
which cover small apertures n in the top of the cylinder, and rise whenever
the water reaches them as the chambers fill; before this occurs the air passes
out through the openings.

page_text: The water being admitted to the meter by the pipe II fills the chambers G
&G'; thence (the parts being in the position represented in Fig. 2) it flows
through the opening a into the chamber E, the air passing out through the
openings. n. When the water reaches the top of the cylinder the valves
rise and close these openings. The pressure of the water now exerted upon
the piston C forces it and the piston C in the direction of the arrow, until
the adjusting screw h bears against the sleevo R and carries it with the
pistons, the pin i noving freely along the slot g in the standard T. As the
sleeve R moves it vibrates the shaft P, and the pin e-traverses its slot f
(Fig. 4), thereby depressing the shaft O and disk N. It is evident that when-
ever water is being drawn from the air chamber F or réservoir M, there will
be a greater pressure upon the lower than upon the upper side of the diaphram
N, and that the shaft will be pressed up with a force which results
from the difference of these two pressures; I have therefore styled this diaphram
a differential piston, the object and operation of which will now be explained.
As before stated the pin è in its motion through the slot f depresses the differ-.
ential piston, and as soon as this pin has passed the center of the slot, the
pressure upon the bottom of the diaphram forces the pin to the end of the slot,
and vibrates the crank I and shaft P, by which means the pin i is thrown
against the end of the slot g, and the valve K is moved in the direction of its
arrow, the opening a being brought into cominunication with the interior
of the valve K, and the opening a with the full chamber G.. The water now
commences to flow into the chamber E' and out of the chamber E through
the valve K and port L into the air chamber F and reservoir M, and thence
to the service pipes. It will be seen that the shaft O is depressed and raised
each time the motion of the pistons is reversed whether this be at longer or
shorter intervals, and this motion of the shaft O is made to act upon the regis-
tering mechanism by means of the small rod p which passes through the
stuffing box q, and is connected with the register in any suitable manner.
The opening a must be closed before the opening a is open; the valve K may
therefore at times be left in a position where both the openings a, a', are closed;
this may happen at the instant after the service cock is shut off. There will then
be an equalibrium of pressure upon the opposite sides of the differential piston
and the valve K will remain motionless. If now the two-way cock be turned
to let off the water from the meter, it is evident, the openings, a, a being shut,
that the water will be retained within the meter, and the latter will not empty
itself. To remedy this, a light spring y is used to complete the throw of the

page_text: valve should it be left in the position above referred to, and this it will easily
accomplish, as the pressure is all taken from the valve by the closing of the
service cock; this spring, however, could by no means be depended upon to
move the valve when the meter is in operation, but only after the service cock
as before stated is closed. The distinguishing feature of the differential piston,
when employed as above explained, is this, that the force which it exerts
increases in proportion as the work to be done increases. For instance, when
there is a light pressure within the supply pipe, the valve K will require but a
small force to move it, and this will be furnished by the pressure upon the under-
side of the diaphram; but should the pressure within the main and consequently
upon the valve be very great, a corresponding pressure will be exerted upon
the diaphram which will still be able to move the valve; the meter is thus
adapted to any head of water under which it may be desirable to work it.
It will be perceived that by the above described arrangement and con-
struction, I obtain, 1st, an air chamber within the cylinder itself, whereby
an entire uniformity of flow from the service pipes is obtained. 2nd, but a
single stuffing box is required, and this for the passage of a rod having no
duty but the actuation of the register to perform, so that it can be made very
small, and the friction and leakage from this cause almost entirely done away
with, the connections between the pistons and the valve being entirely within
the water space. 3rd, the differential piston for throwing the valve, being
entirely surrounded by water, is noiseless in its action, and removed from tho
danger of being tampered with by design, or put out of order by ignorance or
carelessness. 4th, the meter and the service pipes may at any time be emptied
by the act of shutting off the supply whenever danger of freezing is appre-
hended or repairs become necessary. 5th, any air that may accumulate in
the cylinder is at once drawn off by the action of admitting the water to the
meter, whereby accurate register of the water passing through the meter is
obtained. The screws h, which actuate the sleeve R and throw the valve K,
are made adjustable that the quantity of water delivered by the measuring
chambers may be made to correspond with that indicated by the registering
apparatus.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above recited Letters Patent I claim,-
1st, the two pistons operating in a single cylinder, and actuating the valve K
without outside connections, in the manner substantially as set forth.
2nd, I claim the air chamber F between the pistons C, C', operating in the
mammer substantially as set forth.

page_text: 3rd, I claim the differential piston with its spring y, constructed and
operating in the manner substantially as herein described, for the purpose of
completing the throw of the valve, as set forth.
4th, I claim the method, herein described, of emptying the meter and its
dependent chambers and pipes whenever the supply is shut off, as set forth.
5th, I claim the openings n with their float valves for the purpose of per-
mitting the escape of air from the cylinder, as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)