AN APPARATUS OR MACHINE FOR REGULATING THE COURSE AND ACTION OF FLUIDS AND LIQUIDS, WHICH MACHINE OR APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS PURPOSES
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, COLIN
SMITH, of Great Saint Helens, Bishopgate, in the City of London, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at. Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the second year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Colin Smith, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Colin Smith, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Colin Smith, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
the Invention of "AN APPARATUS OR MACHINE FOR REGULATING THE COURSE AND
ACTION OF FLUIDS AND LIQUIDS, WHICH MACHINE OR APPARATUS IS APPLICABLE TO
VARIOUS PURPOSES," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner. residing
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
Colin Smith, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in
His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as
in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully, and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Colin Smith, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof (reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon),
that is to say:-
The means by which it is here proposed to regulate the course and action
of liquids and fluids are characterised by a strict and mathematical application
of the laws of equilibrium, and by a new mechanical organization susceptible
of sure and convenient use. This new application of the laws of equilibrium
consists in isolating the constantly varying action of the reservoir in which
the fluid or liquid may be placed from the fluid or liquid which is flowing, by
interposing between them an intermediate power incapable of being influenced
by the variable power of the reservoir. It is this regulating power which
constitutes the real principle of the mechanism. Example.-A reservoir of
liquid, a, Fig. 1, which escapes through a cock under a uniform pressure.
The liquid will not pass directly from a to the cock i, but will come first by the
canal 6 into a second and smaller reservoir e, where it is introduced through the
valve c.
In the centre of the secondary reservoir is adjusted a float fattached
to a rod or shank d, terminating at the bottom in a cone c. It is evident that
the water rising in the space e up to f will there support the float, and that the
latter, dragging the rod and cone in its ascending movement, will close the
opening by which the water was introduced, stop the action of the column b,
and that on opening the cock the pressure communicated to the streamn
of liquid will depend solely on the column e. This column itself, however,
would lose its weight if it did not again come into immediate communication
with the great reservoir a, from whence the supply must correspond exactly
with the loss sustained by the escape of the liquid through i, and this is
attained by the fall which the float experiences in the slightest diminution of
the column which supports it. In falling it opens the valve c, and the water
from the reservoir a hastens through it, from which results a new ascending
movement on the part of the float and the cone. It must not be inferred
from this analysis, however, that the liquid is to be introduced from a into e
in an intermittent manner. The float and cone losing more and more their
oscillating motion, discover almost instantly the extent of the valves' aperture
which is to furnish a quantity of liquid corresponding to the consumption of
the cock. All intermission ceases, and the liquid flows regularly under the
pressure of the column which supports the float f. As the great reservoir a
however, becomes exhausted, and the pressure which it exercises upon the

page_text: But
valve c is diminished, while the pressure of the intermediate colunin on the
point of escape remains uniform, the valve must open more and more to
supply the stream, and as this can be effected only by the fall of the float, a
very slight decrease in the regulating column would seem to ensue.
here a natural means of compensation exists, and the float, if its propor-
tions correspond with those of the valve and the possible overplus in the
height of the column, must fall without producing any change in the level of
the column which supports it. Indeed, the column of the reservoir a intro-
duces itself through the valve by a liquid current, more or less rapid, which
tends incessantly to drag up the cone, and which supports a part of the weight
of the float, and keeps it suspended in the column e higher than it would
naturally sustain itself. This current represents in its action the surplus
depression of column a in column e, and as this surplus continually diminishes
the action becomes more and more feeble, and the float, at first sustained in a
very sensible manner, gradually resumes a position in accordance with its real
weight, opening by degrees the valve without varying in the least the level of
the column which supports it. But to make the compensation arising from
the descent of the cone and the elevation of the float exact, it is necessary,
first, that the form of the cone be parabolical, if that of the float be cylindrical,
as in Fig. 1, or else that the form of the float be conical in the same degree
as that of the cone, if the latter be simply conical. This disposition is abso-
lutely indispensible, in order that from the beginning to the end of the
cone's descent the opening should enlarge by a gradation perfectly regular, and
always in proportion to the progress in each of its smallest divisions. Secondly,
that the diameter of the float must be equal to the square root of the surplus
height of the column multiplied by the diameter of the valve, and divided by
the extent of the cone's movement. These proportions, once ascertained as a
basis, it is very easy to apply them to every case in which levers may be
substituted, either to augment or diminish the action of the float upon the cone.
Two points, however, it is essentially necessary to observe :-First, that the pres-
sure of the reservoir must be superior to the regulating intermediate pressure;
and second, that considering the difference of pressure, the size of the valve
which communicates from the reservoir to the regulator must be calculated to
supply more than escapes by the cock. The regulating action of the columu
which supports the float may be produced equally by a solid weight so adjusted
as to exercise a pressure upon the liquid which is to flow, say Fig. 2, 6, the tube
by which the. liquid comes from the reservoir a; c, the valve and sucker by
which the liquid is introduced into the regulator. This sucker, and the rod or
shank to which it is attached, are fixed to a metallic weight of cylindrical

page_text: form f. This, weight, by movements analagous to that of the float, is to open
and shut the valve. It is besides, by its own force, to exercise upon the flow
the same pressure which in the first instance was exercised by the column of
liquid alone, so that it should perform a double office. To give this result the
weight is covered with a tube of prepared caoutchou, impervious and elastic, r
which stretches to the external and lower extremity of the tube p, to which it
is fitted with such exactness that no outlet is left for the air enclosed in the
space n between the weight and, the level t of the liquid. With this disposi
tion, if the cock i is open, the liquid ine being diminished by the stream, the
air compressed by the weight will usurp the place of the liquid escaped. The
weight itself will descend in the same proportion, and by this movement, the
valve being opened, the reservoir will supply the quantity of liquid cor-
responding to the consumption of the cock. The nature and disposition of the
flexible impervious tubes must be proportioned to the length of their move-
ments, and to the pressure which they may have to support. A compensation
takes place here analagous to that which I have demonstrated in the preceding
example, and subject to the same calculation. The action of the weight and
of the float is so intimately connected that they may be thus combined. The
float may be employed to open and shut the valve, whilst the weight will exert
the desired pressure, as in the example, Fig. 3, f represents the weight;
f, the float; h, the upper level of the liquid; c, the valve and cone; i, the
tube through which the liquid flows.. Again, the weight employed singly may
be placed between two liquids of different weight, and without affinity to each
other, as in the example, Fig. 4, where I suppose it floating between a column
of water impregnated with sulphate of zinc and a column of oil, whose weight
much lighter is to the heavier liquid as one hundred to one hundred and
fifty-six. To effect, this the float must possess a specific weight superior to
that of the oil, and inferior to the heavy liquid. The latter a, which joins the
base of the column of oil, constitutes a syphon, and re-ascends through the
tube 6 to a certain height, from whence it bears with the entire weight of its
larger column (making allowance for the little arm of the syphon) upon the
.column of oil c, and thus sustains the oil elevated up to the level d.
If a part
of the oil be now withdrawn, the column closes its force of equilibrium, and the
heavy liquid, sinking from 6 to a, will elevate the float, by which the valve will
be opened, until the reservoir shall have furnished the quantity of oil necessary
to replace the loss of the column c and restore the equilibrium. The Figs. 5
and 6 represent the principle applied to the course and action of fluids. In
Fig. 5, 6 is the canal by which the fluid arrives from a reservor in e, where it
exercises the pressure required upon the liquid, whose level is indicated by the

page_text: line t. By a syphonic effect part of this is made to pass into n, until the
level t sinks to the point where the float which follows it shuts the valve c'to
the degree necessary to make the introduction of fluid into the regulator
correspond with the consumption at the point of its escape i. Thus the fluid
passes under the uniform pressure of the surplus of the column of liquid n
upon the column which supports the float'f. As in the case of the escape of
liquids the pressure produced by the column of liquid n may be here replaced
by a weight of solid matter, as shewn by Fig. 6, in which the application of
the principle is carried to such a degree of perfection that the mechanism no
longer contains any kind of liquid. The fluid is introduced into the regulator
by the valve c, where it sustains the solid weight fitted on a tube of prepared
caoutchou, which is attached by its other end to the tube p, as in 'Fig. 2.
This weight in ascending shuts the valve to the extent required, and the fluid
escapes by the two tubes i, which reunite higher up. It is assumed that the
tube extends beyond the point at which in the figure it breaks off,
and that it affords an outlet to the fluid by an opening corresponding to
the pressure of the regulator, the diameter of the valve, and the pressure
of the reservoir. Here, again, the compensation is effected in the same
manner as in the liquids. The action of the weight may be seconded,
and even in a great measure replaced, by that of a spring. But then
it will be necessary, in calculating the compensation, to include the loss of
power which the spring will experience. We can also, instead of giving
a passage to the fluid proceeding out of the regulator through the two
conducting pipes i, Fig. 6, make it pass out even by the centre of tle
cylindrical weight by means of a second flexible tube, which should never be
more than one fourth the diameter of the former tube. I shall merely add
to the explanation already given in the Figures 1, 2, 3, and 6, that the space
in which the floats or the weights move must communicate with the external
air. This is indicated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 6, by the holes s.
The same
letter also indicates a communication with the external air in Figs. 5, but
the holes are situated in a part of the box which does not contain the float:
Figs. 7, 8, and 9, represent levers on different systems, intended to multiply,
or, if necessary, to reduce the force either of the floats, the weights, or the
springs, in circumstances where either the liquid or fluid to be régulated
arrives at the entrance of the regulator with a considerable pressure, as we
shall see exemplified in the regulator applicable to the portable gas, and also
to some oil lamps. Fig. 7 is a simple lever. a, indicates the shank of
the float or weight (which I have thought it useless to represent); 6 is
the longer arm of the lever; b, its smaller arm; c, the "point d'appouy;"

page_text: d, the cone or point of resistance; three small pins or pegs, indicated by the
three points...should unite the three pieces between them, and to the fixed
picce c.
Fig. 8 represents a lever of superior power. The arm 6, put in motion
by the shank a, instead of acting immediately upon the shank of the cone,
enters by its end into a solid and cylindrical piece d, placed across, to which
the lever and the shank impart a movement on its axis of one fourth or
one sixth of a circle. This piece terminates in a cone at one end, and in a
screw of more or less quickness at the other. The nut of the screw, the
valve of the cone, and the director f are formed by the piece e, which commu-
cates with the reservoir thus arranged; the piece d, turning on its axis,
approaches or recedes from the valve by the effect of the screw; it consequently
opens and shuts the cone, &c. Fig. 9 also causes the cone to open and
shut by putting in motion a screw h, which acts in a nut fixed crossways
upon the middle tube e¹, which is itself soldered on the piece e, which contains
the valve. This screw is put in motion by a rotatory movement imparted
to the piece d, to which the screw is fixed. This piece is a cylindrical tube,
in which are placed two elongated spiral screws of half a turn or more in case
of need. Through these two screws the tube is traversed by a cylindrical
rodi, attached by its two ends to the great tube k. This is fixed to the
weight or float. The cylindrical cross bar i passes besides into two right
and parallel grooves, cut longitudinally in the fixed tube e¹. It will be
perceived that the ascending or descending motion of the float or weight
makes the cross bar i glide directly and vertically into the two grooves of
the tube e, and imparts to the tube da circular movement, which it commu-
nicates to the screw, and which impels the whole piece as well as the cone
c, &c. Fig. 10 represents a double cone, the object of which is to com-
pensate by itself, either wholly or in part, the action of the pressure exercised
by the reservoir. This mode of compensation may be useful whenever the
power to be regulated is considerable, and a limited space for the float or
weight does not admit of giving them a great diameter. These double cones
may also, in case of need, be seconded by the action of the levers. In this
Figure the liquid or fluid is conducted from the reservoir into the space b
between the two valves, from thence it passes into e on one side through
the valve c, and on the other through the valve c' by means of communi-
cating tubes d. This double current, exerting a pressure in an inverse sense
upon each of the cones, the compensation is thereby produced. There remains
only to establish a correct proportion between the two diameters of the cones
and the power of the float or of the weight, according to the basis laid down
at the commencement. I give these adjustments of the lever here merely as

page_text: examples to shew that all mechanical means of a like nature may be adapted'
with facility to the regulator. It will now be understood how the regulators.
1, 2, 3, and 4 of the mouth of the pipe by which the liquid escapes be
below the level of the regulator's pressure a jet d'eau, and how, on the contrary,
if the tube i be extended so far as to contain a column of liquid which might
constitute an equilibrium to the regulator, it would, with the addition of
the necessary apparatus for combustion, prove an excellent oil lamp. But
in this latter application it is requisite, for the complete efficacy of the
regulator, that the ascent of the oil should be unobstructed and attended with
the least possible friction. The burners now in use possess a great incon-
venience in this respect, in the moveable interior tube which gives motion'
to the wick holder. The circular space, already very narrow, which separates
the internal and external tubes, is almost filled by the thickness of this additional
tube for the wick and its supporter. I have therefore suppressed this tube
as well as the ring which moves it, and I have replaced its action by the
motion of one of the two tubes which enclosed it, the other remaining fixed.
This movement can be effected without any escape of oil by a conic adjust-
ment, which unites the two tubes at their lower extremity, an adjustment
resembling that which unites the two parts of a cock. The Figures 11, 12,
13, & 14, represent the new lamp burner. In Fig. 11 it is the interior
tube which is to move, the external one being stationary. This tube i contains
a cone reversed a, and adapted exactly to the interior of the socket b, which
forms its counterpart. It then extends lower to afford a handle by which it
may be set in motion. In order to preserve a constant union between the
two tubes, besides the proper weight of the interior tube, I have added a
little spring placed in the circular groove c. This groove is formed in the
ring upon which the large tube and the socket are soldered. The wick
supporter g, being caught internally by the projecting spiral e, and externally
by a thin metallic plate f, fixed longitudinally in the great tube, the circular
motion of the interior tube impels it upon the spiral along the thin plate
of metal, which here performs the office of the moveable tube in the ordinary
This arrangement permits farther the application of a regulator
to the air current, of which I present the section Fig. 11 and the projection
Fig. 12. It consists of a small tube h, which enters the interior tube, and is
kept there by the little ring i These two pipes have each at the point
of their union three apertures k, of a size equal to half their circumference,
and in moving the little tube circularly by the button 7 the current of air can
be kept more or less open by the point of meeting to which the vacant and full
parts of the two tubes are fixed. Fig. 12 represents the air current half open.
burners.

page_text: .
By these dispositions the form of the cup, which serves as a receptacle m for any
drops of oil from the burner, becomes also changed. It is fitted by a screw
upon the lower part of the socket b,' and allows the current of air to pass
through its centre. I have also been obliged to alter the chimney frame,
now no longer supported by the claws which attached it to the ring and
the interior moveable tube. The vertical section of the new chimney frame
will be remarked on the piece Fig. 11. Its base consists of a'tube n, internally"
cylindrical, which slides closely on the great tube of the burner, on the outside
of which is a strong conical ring o, upon which are cut two turns of a strong
screw. The piece which forms the chimney frame, properly so called, contains
in its inside the counterpart of this screw, and presses by its action on the
tube o. By means of several longitudinal cuts in this tube and in the ring, its'
different sections are compressed upon the burner, and the chimney frame
becomes firmly fixed. To vary the height, it is sufficient to loosen the screw by
turning the chimney frame. Fig. 13, which represents the projection of the
moveable tube of the chimney frame, completes this description. This frame
will possess the advantage of permitting the flame to be regulated by means of
the glass itself, and of employing for that purpose the glass which I have described
in Fig. 17 'and 18 as contributing to the regulation of the gaslight in its final
action the combustion. Fig. 14, represents a modification of the burner, Fig.
11. Here it is the larger tube which moves, and the small one which is fixed.
This involves the necessity of reversing the two conic parts. The oil will then
arrive at the burner through the cone of the air current by the two channels r.
As the regulators, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, form an excellent basis for the new oi!
lamps, so the regulator, arranged as in Figs. 5, 6, becomes an equally excellent
means of regulating the course of the gaslight at high and low pressure, by
adding some modifications in the necessary fittings. The regulator thus
applied to gaslights regulates perfectly the course of the gas up the point
where the latter leaves it to enter the 'burner; but here its course, and espe-
cially. its final action, the light may yet be deranged by the apparatus required
for combustion. Thus the burners now in use emit the gas through a
circular series of small holes, which are easily obstructed, the operation of
cleaning which is very delicate, and can be well performed only by means of
an instrument which is continually enlarging the diameter of the holes, and,
not unfrequently breaking in one of them, closes it up entirely. These holes
possess the additional inconvenience of being placed in the middle of a rather
wide circle, so that the external and internal air reaches them only in a very
heated state. Lastly, the internal current of air of these burners being cylin-
drical; the air comes upon the flame with too great force, and produces a

page_text: visible agitation therein. All these causes of irregularity are avoided by the
disposition of the new burner, the section of which is represented in Fig. 15.
It consists of two concentric; tubes, of which the smallest (the interior tube) is
conic, and the second, ;a larger one, cylindrical. These two tubes, each
furnished with a circle of platinum at their upper end, approach each other so
near as to leave between them a circular aperture of only one forty-eighth to
one sixtieth part of an inch for the coal gas, and even less for that of oil.
Through this opening the gas flows to be burned, and the result is a much
more regular flame, because formed of one continuous ring, and because the
air which supplies it internally flows at once into the light, after having lost
part of its power by dilation in the upper region of the interior tube; because,
also, the gas which escapes through this new orifice enters into immediate
contact with the external air by a surface three times larger; because; finally,
the mode of cleaning this burner and keeping it in order is so simple, that a
bit of card, or a small plate of metal, thin and pliant, is sufficient to clean it
well and easily, without ever being liable to break the instrument in the
orifice. Lastly, the action of the light will be completely regular if on this
tube is placed the new-shaped glass chimney, represented by a section,
Figure 16, and intended to produce upon the flame of gas the same effect as
do the common chimnies on that of oil lamps, without the inconvenience
arising from a contraction of the chimney. The conic part a of Fig. 16 may.
be removed and placed under a simple chimney, such as that indicated in
Fig. 17. In all cases its upper end ought, by the relative position of the frame
upon which it is placed, to be raised a little higher than the mouth of the
burner. However narrow or contracted may be the passages through which
the gas at high pressure escapes, the force necessary to restrain it is such, that
it requires the columns of liquid or the solid weights to be of much greater
power than for the pressure of general gas. It follows, that the aperture of
the cock, which is to be placed above the portable gas regulator, ou ht to
be much narrower than those in general use for gas. It often happens, too,
with the present form of these cocks, that the movement to be imparted to the
key or handle, for the purpose of obtaining the suitable opening, is so short,
that the proper point is often passed in one way or other, and even the light
extinguished in the attempt to diminish or increase it. To obviate this incon-
venience, I have constructed a new cock, Fig. 18, 19, and 20. The fluid,
instead of passing through a hole made in the middle of the key of the cock,
follows its circular form into a channel cut on its circumference, which channel
decreases gradually in width and depth as it proceeds. Fig. 18 represents
the longitudinal section of the cock. The gas enters by a into the groove
and escapes by c. through the same groove, now diminished in its extent.
b,

page_text: Fig. 19 is the section of the handle of the cock through the bottom of the
groove, and Fig. 20 is the external view of the key and groove. With this
final and very simple improvement the gas cocks have a much longer and
more commodious play. Applied to portable gas, the groove ought to be
lengthened so as never to close entirely, in order to avoid extreme pressure
either in the regulator or conducting pipes.
The portable gas fittings demand yet another modification rendered necessary
by the employment of the regulator. The cocks placed upon the iron reservoirs,
in which the gas is enclosed and carried, are then subject to the whole pressure
of the reservoir, and become, under the existing arrangement, absolutely inca-
pable of supporting this pressure without permitting the gas to escape by the
I have made a new cock to shut and open the reservoir, of which the
design is given in Fig. 21. This cock possesses a double cone b, which, by
the effect of the spring f, is constantly pressed upon the orifice of its valve. At
the same time, however, it may receive by the key inserted into the square
part d, a circular movement, which it communicates to the cone a by its rod e,
into which the shank of the cone a enters by a square part. By this move-
ment the cone a advances or retreats in its nut.
The principle of the Invention is not limited to the applications which I
have here indicated, nor is it my intention that to such alone it should be
confined. It may be employed in numerous experiments of physic, as well as
in many applications of mechanicis fluids and liquids to the arts, to handi-
craft, and to manufactures.
In witness whereof, I, the said Colin Smith, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One