AN IMPROVED GAS REGULATOR
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Stephen Dudgeon, of Sheffield, in the County of
York, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED GAS REGULATOR."
Sealed the 7th June 1859, and dated the 11th December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Stephen Dudgeon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1858.
I, STEPHEN DUDGEON, of Sheffield, in the County of York, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED GAS REGULATOR,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a combination of mechanical parts for regulating
or governing the supply of gas to the burners or places of combustion. For
this purpose the gas or other aeriform fluid is introduced by a supply pipe
into one chamber or compartment of the regulator, which may be called the
inlet or high-pressure chamber; from this chamber the gas passes into a
second chamber or compartment, called the outlet or low-pressure chamber,
the passage of the gas being regulated by means of a valve suspended from a
cover or disk, and which is caused to rise or fall from its seat according to the
pressure of the gas in the chambers, the cover or disk having turned-down '
edges, so as to sink into a trough containing a fluid (by preference mercury);
in these particulars the apparatus does not differ from those formerly
constructed..
One method which I adopt for operating the disk or cover is to suspend it.

page_text: upon centres or axes, or other suitable bearings placed near one of its ends,
the points of these centres or axes resting against bosses or pads, and in which
the points of the centres or axes work, thereby preventing the pressure on the
disk or cover, which, if screwed too tight by means of the centres, breaks the
joint, and causes an escape of gas. Flanges are also fixed on the outside
cover, by which means the centres or axes are protected from being tampered
with by any casual observer; below the gas 'outlet pipe, where it proceeds to
the burners, I place a reservoir for the condensed gas to accumulate in, and
thus obviate a difficulty which is experienced with the present ordinary
regulators, the outlet pipes of which are obstructed by the accumulation of
condensed gas; I also attach the regulator by means of a union joint or joints,
so that when repairs are required to be done to the meter, by unscrewing the
union joint or joints the regulator is thus detached, and can be removed without
putting it out of order.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Stephen Dudgeon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th June 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
DUDGEON, of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Stephen Dudgeon, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Her
special licence that I, the said Stephen Dudgeon, of Sheffield, in the
County of York, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Stephen Dudgeon, of Sheffield, in the County of York, 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 "AN IMPROVED GAS REGULATOR,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Stephen Dudgeon,
of Sheffield, in the County of York, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or
under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said

page_text: 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 Stephen Dudgeon, of Sheffield, in the
County of York, 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 and accompanying Drawing,
that is to say:-
a
This Invention has for its object improvements in governing or regulating
the supply of gas to the burners or places of combustion. For this purpose.
the gas is introduced by supply pipe into one chamber or compartment of
the regulator; from this chamber the gas passes into a second chamber or
compartment, but the amount of gas passed or passing from one chamber to
the other is regulated by means of a valve which is caused to open or close a
passage between the compartments more or less as circumstances may
require.
In these particulars my improved regulator does not differ materially from
other gas regulators. The valve for regulating the passage of the
gas between
the inlet and the outlet chamber or compartment of the regulator is carried
by a disk or cover, which is similar to others in use, having turned-down
edges which enter a trough containing quicksilver or other fluid.
One arrangement which I adopt for operating the disk or cover with the
valve attached is to suspend it upon centres or axes, or other suitable bearings,
placed near one of its ends, the points of these centres or axes resting
against bosses or pads in which the points of these centres or axes work,
thereby preventing undue pressure on the cover, which, if screwed too too tight
by means of the centres, breaks the joint, and causes an escape of gas.
Another arrangement which I adopt for operating the valve is to remove
the disk, and to place loose weights on the top of the valve cover; the amount
of pressure can thus be regulated at pleasure, a cap being provided in the top
surface of the regulator, in which cap the valve and cover, with the super-
imposed weights, can rise or fall, and the aperture being more and more
closed by the lifting of the valve and cover by the pressure of the gas in the
apparatus; by this means the supply of gas to the burners is regulated and
maintained uniform under every variety of pressure in the main supply.
Such being the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed to describe in
what manner the same may be operated and performed by reference to the
accompanying Drawing.
:
"

page_text: Fig. 1, A, is a longitudinal section of the regulator; Fig. 2, A; is a cross
section in the line A, B; Fig. 3, A, is a cross section in the line C, D ;
Fig. 4, A, is a plan of the regulator, the top cover and disk being removed';
Fig. 5, A, is a side elevation; Fig. 1, B, is a longitudinal section of the
regulator; Fig. 2, B, is a cross section; Fig. 3, B, is a plan. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
: In the first arrangement, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, A, A is an inlet or bigli-
pressure chamber; B is an outlet or low-pressure chamber, communicating
with A by means of the aperture C; D is a cover with turned-down edges E, E,
:sunk sufficiently in the quicksilver to form a gas-tight joint; H is a valve
attached to the cover D by means of the spindle I and the two small nuts J, J,
or in any other convenient way; K is the top or cover of the regulator, which
is provided with flanges or lugs at each side to prevent the screws at F, F, from
being tampered with or damaged by accident or design; L is a reservoir in which
the condensed gas may accumulate, thereby preventing any obstruction to the
outlet, an objection which has been experienced in former regulators; M, M.,
are bosses or pads against which the points of the centres at F, F, rest, thus
strengthening that part of the disk or cover to resist the pressure of the screws
or centres; N is a flange, the purpose of which is to prevent the quicksilver
which is in the regulator from flowing into the meter.
The action of the regulator is as follows:-The gas being admitted from the
main by an convenient inlet Q, Fig. 1, A, passes by the valve H to the outlet
chamber B, the gas passing from the outlet P to the burners, the cover D
being fixed upon centres at F, rises or falls according to the pressure of the
gas in the inlet chamber; on the pressure in A being increased, the disk or
cover is elevated on its axis or centres at F, thereby closing the aperture C
by means of the valve H, and thus the supply of gas from the main and the
chamber A to the chamber B and the burners is regulated.
In the second arrangement similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures. In Fig. 1, B, A is the inlet or high-pressure
chamber; B is the outlet or low-pressure chamber, communicating with A by
means of the aperture C; D is a valve attached to the cover E; on this cover
loose weights F are placed, so that the valve can be loaded, and thus adapted to
any required amount of pressure; G is the regulator cover, which is provided
with a cap H, in which the valve cover may rise or fall; this cap is screwed on
to the regulator cover, so that the valve can thus be easily examined; J is the
reservoir for the condensed gas. The operation of the regulator is as follows:-
The gas enters from the main into the high-pressure chamber A, Fig. 1, B,
from which it passes by the valve D to the outlet or low-pressure chamber B,

page_text: the pressure in the chamber B being regulated by means of the adjustable
weights F, the gas passing to the burners through the outlet K, and the valve
and weights rising or falling according to the pressure, the said weights being
adjustable to any amount of pressure which may be required.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or to refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the berein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
Firstly, the arrangement and combination of the parts of the regulator
shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, A, constructed and operated substantially as
herein described and for the purposes set forth.
Secondly, I also claim the combination of the reservoir L, shewn in Fig. 1,
A, with the flange N, the pads or bosses M, M, and the outside flanges 0, 0,
all shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, A, the whole of these parts being disposed with
respect to the other parts of the regulator substantially as herein described
and set forth.
Thirdly, I also claim the arrangement and combination of the parts of the
regulator shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, B, the same being operated and constructed
substantially as herein described and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stephen Dudgeon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
M. HUNTER, Patent Agent,
131, Fleet Street.
S. DUDGEON. (L.S.)