AN IM- PROVED CONSTRUCTION OF GAS REGULATOR
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Roper Mead, of Langdale Road, Peckham,
in the County of Surrey, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED CONSTRUCTION OF GAS REGULATOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Roper Mead
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th February 1855.
I, CHARLES ROPER MEAD, of Langdale Road, Peckham, in the County of
Surrey, Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF GAS REGULATOR" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to put an elastic pressure upon the gas
supplied to gas burners, and thereby to moderate the supply or render it
equable under varying circumstances. This I effect by the use of a weighted
diaphragm forming by preference the top of a chamber into which the gas
is conducted after it leaves the street main. Connected to the weighted
diaphragm (the edges of which are secured to the metal case of the chamber
by a suitable flexible medium) is a conical valve which commands the inlet
pipe, and leading from the chamber is another pipe for conducting off the
gas. When the pressure of the gas is excessive, the diaphragm will be forced

page_text: upwards or outwards, and the capacity of the gas vessel will thus be greatly
increased, and the valve moving with the diaphragm will throttle or close the
inlet pipe, & thereby cut off or check the supply of gas; but when the pressure
of the gas is lower than required, the valve will fall and open the inlet pipe to
its full extent.
By my improved construction of gas regulator I am enabled when the
pressure of the gas is excessive to act upon a comparatively large volume of
gas (the capacity of the vessel being greatly increased by the rising of the
diaphragm), and thereby to supply the required amount of gas to the burners
without giving it out in pulsations, which causes the flickering of the light.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Roper Mead in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ROPER MEAD, of Langdale Road, Peckham, in the County of Surrey, Gas
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Roper Mead, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Roper Mead, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Roper Mead, 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 IN-
PROVED CONSTRUCTION OF GAS REGULATOR," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Roper Mead, by an instrument in writing unto 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Roper Mead, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus for putting an
elastic pressure upon the gas supplied to gas burners, and thereby moderating
the supply or rendering it equable under varying circumstances. In con-
structing my improved gas regulator, I employ a weighted diaphragm which
forms by preference the top of the chamber into which the gas is conducted
after it leaves the street main. Connected to the weighted diaphragm (the
edges of which are secured to the metal case of the chamber by a suitable
flexible medium) is a valve which drops into a seat formed for it in a gas
supply pipe communicating with the pressure chamber. The gas entering this
pipe fills the chamber, and then passes off by the outlet pipe. When the
supply of gas to the regular is in excess of the requirements of the consumer,
the diaphragm will rise, and the capacity of the gas chamber be increased.
This movement will cause the depression of the supply valve, and consequently
the throttling or closing of the inlet pipe; but when the pressure of the gas is
lower than required, the valve will rise and open the inlet pipe to its full
extent.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a vertical section of my improved
gas regulator, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same taken in the line 1, 2,
of Fig. 1. It consists of a metal case a, the upper part of which is fitted with
a flexible diaphragm b, to form an expanding and contracting gas chamber c.
Attached to the centre of the diaphragm and standing up therefrom is a
vertical guide rod 6*, which passes through the top of the case a, and is
weighted to any required extent by means of removeable disc weights d. To
the under side of the diaphragm is jointed one end of a rock lever e, which
lever is supported in bearings carried by a cross bar f, and to the other end of
this lover the cut-off valve g is attached. The gas on its passage from the
main to the burners will enter the regulator at the inlet pipe h, and after
passing the valve g, will fill the chamber c, and press upon the under surface
of the flexible diaphragm, which being properly weighted will so far counteract
the upward pressure of the gas as to keep the valve g in the requisite position
with respect to its scat for ensuring the passage upwards to the outlet pipe i,
of the exact amount of gas required to be supplied to the burners whatever
may be the excess of pressure put on the gas at the works. When the

page_text: pressure is in excess, the diaphragm b will be forced upward and the valve g
depressed. The supply passage will therefore be reduced; but when the
pressure falls, the weights d on the rod of the diaphragm will force down
the diaphragm, and cause the valve g to rise and open up a larger passage
for the ascending gas.
The chief advantage of this construction of gas regulator is that by reason
of the comparatively large volume of gas contained in the chamber c, and
acted upon by the diaphragm, (the area of which greatly exceeds that of the
valve, and thus compensates for the friction of the working parts and the
resistance offered by the gas to the closing of the valve,) the supply of the gas
to the burners in pulsations, which cause a disagreeable flickering of the
lights, will be avoided. This object will be further assisted by bringing the
inlet and outlet pipes in a line with each other, as shewn in the Drawing.
To prevent the action of the regulator being tampered with, I enclose the
weights in a box k, at the top of the case a, and secure the lid of the box by
a padlock.
Another advantage which follows on the adoption of my novel construction
of gas regulator is, that the reduction of the pressure at the works to a giveri
extent may be made to act upon the gas regulator in such a manner as to cut
off the supply of gas to the pipes in connection therewith. This I effect by
attaching to to the valve lever a double instead of a single valve, and providing
two valve seats corresponding thereto. Fig. 3 shews in sectional elevation
my improved gas regulator thus modified, and capable, when employed in
connection with street lamps, for example, of extinguishing them on the
reduction below a certain amount of the pressure of the gas at the works.
On referring to this Figure, it will be seen that the rock lever e is provided
with a double-faced valve g, which works between two seats 9", 9", and thereby
governs the inlet and outlet pipes h and i. When the pressure is in excess,
the valve will descend as above explained and contract the inlet orifice; but
when the pressure of gas is unequal to the duty of counteracting the weight
put upon the flexible diaphragm b, the valve will be borne up to the seat g³,
and retained in that position, thereby shutting off the supply of gas to the
burner.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved Con-
struction of Gas Regulator," 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 general arrangement of parts as herein described,
whereby I am enabled to regulate the supply of gas to burners according to

page_text: the requirements of the consumer without interfering with the steady burning
of the gas. And particularly I claim, connecting the supply or cut off valve
with a weighted diaphragm by means of a rocking lever, for the purpose above
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Roper Mead, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
0
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
CHARLES ROPER MEAD. (L.S.)