IMPROVEMENTS IN POWER METERS FOR REGISTERING THE DUTY OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1884

page_text: I WILLIAM ASHTON of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for IMPROVEMENTS
IN POWER METERS FOR REGISTERING THE DUTY OF STEAM ENGINES to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to a former invention for which Letters Patent dated the
tenth day of April 1869 and numbered 1097 were granted to myself in conjunction
with a certain John Henry Storey. In the power meter constituting the subject
matter of the said invention a wheel was moved to and fro on the face of an
oscillating disc by the action of the steam pressure upon a piston contained in a
cylinder which was in communication with the cylinder of the steam engine.
The contact between the said wheel and disc was partly a sliding and partly a
rolling contact. The object of my invention is to obtain a contact which is
entirely rolling and thereby to remedy some of the defects of the former invention;
To this end: I employ a cone and roller instead of a wheel and disc. To obtain the
most correct results the said cone should be a hyperbolic conoid. The axes of
the cone and roller are at right angles one to the other and the axis of the cone is
moved by the said piston the roller being moved in the direction of its axis by the
engine connection or the roller is moved along the cone side by the piston and is
at the same time moved in the direction of its axis by the engine connection or
the cone is moved by the engine connection at right angles to the axis of the
roller, the roller in such case not being moved by the engine connection. In
the first named arrangement I mount the cone in a frame which is connected with
the piston, the axis of the cone being suitably inclined. Upon the cone spindle is
a wheel which gears with a long faced wheel which is connected with the registering
apparatus. The roller is mounted in a swivel frame which is fitted to slide and is
connected by means of a cord or of cords or is suitably connected with a moving
part of the engine. The roller is kept in contact with the surface of the cone.
I prefer to use a plate spring held in position by means of vibrating links instead
of the spiral spring used in the former apparatus and I prefer to make the surfaces
of the roller and cone so that there shall be a positive driving connection. To
this end I provide the said surfaces with fine teeth similar to the teeth of card
clothing but short and set close together or one of the surfaces may be so provided,
the other being of a material sufficiently yielding to enable the teeth on the other
surface to obtain a driving hold or contact.
Dated this eighth day of January A D 1884
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
(Agent for the Applicant).

page_text: I WILLIAM ASHTON of the City of Manchester in the County of Lancaster
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN POWER METERS FOR REGISTERING THE DUTY OF STEAM ENGINES," and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
My Invention relates to a former invention for which Letters Patent dated the
tenth day of April 1869 and numbered 1097 were granted to myself in conjunction
with a certain John Henry Storey. In the power meter constituting the subject
matter of the said invention a wheel was moved to and fro on the face of an
oscillating disc by the action of the steam pressure upon a piston contained in
a cylinder which was in communication with the cylinder of the steam engine.
The contact between the said wheel and disc was partly a sliding and partly
a rolling contact. The object of my invention is to obtain a contact which is
entirely rolling and thereby to remedy some of the defects of the former invention.
To this end I employ a cone and roller instead of a wheel and disc. To obtain
the most correct results the said cone should be a hyperbolic conoid. The axes of
the cone and roller are at right angles one to the other and the one is moved
by the engine and the other by the steam pressure acting upon a small piston the
roller acting as a driver to cause the rotation of the cone.
of the
The accompanying drawings illustrate one of the several arrangements which
may be adopted when carrying my Invention into effect. In the said drawings
Fig 1. represents an elevation partly in section of the apparatus and Fig: 2. a view
of the important parts taken on a plane at right angles to that of Fig: 1. In the
said Figs a is the cone, b is the roller, c is the cylinder and d is the spring. The
cone is made in the form of a hyperbolic conoid as hereinbefore stated. It can be
demonstrated that the hyperbolic conoid that is to say a solid generated by the
revolution of a hyperbola about one of its asymtotes will furnish more accurate
indications than the true cone but I do not confine myself to any particular form
of cone so long as the part in question tapers from one end to the other. The
spindle e of the cone is mounted to revolve in bearings in a frame f which is fitted
to slide upon two parallel rods, g, g. Attached to the frame are two rods h. h.
which pass out through the casing i and are connected with a reciprocating part of
the engine to which the apparatus is applied so that at each "stroke
engine the frame carrying the cone is moved to and fro in a plane at right angles
to its axis. The roller b. is carried by a frame k. which is jointed to a vibrating
standard l. which is hinged by its lower end and is acted upon by a spring m
which tends to keep the roller in contact with the cone. Fig 3 is a plan of the
said frame. The frame k. is connected by means of links n. with a piston rod o
which is attached by one end to the spring d and by the other end to a piston
which works in the cylinder c. The cylinder is connected at the top and bottom
with the two ends of the cylinder of the engine so that the piston moves to and
fro against the resistance of the springs as in the former invention the roller
moving to and fro in proportion to the steam pressure acting on the piston. In
the drawing the roller is represented in the central position, assumed when there
is no pressure acting on the piston of the engine. The spindle of the cone is
provided with a worm q. which gears with a long spur wheel r which is connected
in any suitable manner with a registering apparatus as in the case of the long
pinion in the former Invention. As the cone moves to and fro it rolls on the
roller and as a consequence rotates on its axis. To prevent slip and to render more

page_text: "
certain the driving action of the roller upon the cone the surface of the latter is
milled or is corrugated or fluted with fine ridges and grooves the roller being
turned or formed with similar ridges which are concentric with its axis or the
surfaces are provided with fine teeth similar to the teeth of card clothing or one of
the surfaces may be so provided the other being of a material which will yield
sufficiently to enable the teeth on the other surface to obtain a driving hold or
contact. As the cone revolves the worm rolls in the teeth of the long wheel which
are "rifled or inclined to the extent required to prevent the worm from turning
the wheel when the roller is at zero that is to say is in the central position as
indicated, being the position of rest assumed when there is no pressure acting on
the piston of the engine. Supposing for example that the cone when moving from
end to end of its traverse makes exactly one revolution with the roller at zero then
the teeth of the long wheel must be spiraly inclined or rifled to the extent of one
tooth in the length of traverse of the cone. When however the steam is acting on
the piston the roller is moved first toward one end of the cone and thon toward the
other the extent of each movement from the zero line being proportionato to the
steam pressure as in the case of the friction wheel in the former Invontion
Supposing the cone to make its traverse without revolving, the wheel r would
vibrate backward and forward to the extent of one tooth without permanently
registering any movement. Supposing again that the cone is traversing in the
direction indicated by the arrow in Fig 2. and that the roller is moved by the
steam pressure toward the smaller end of the cone it will be obvious that the cone
will revolve more rapidly than when the roller is at zero this acceleration being
proportionate to the steam pressure. As the worm slides along the wheel r. the
latter is turned in the indicated direction to an extent proportionato to the
acceleration of the cone's revolution and it will be seen that the movement of
the said wheel will bear a proportion to the movement of the roller multiplied by
the traversing movement of the cone or in other words to pressure multiplied
by speed and as a consequence will represent the duty of the engine during one
stroke. At the commencement of the return stroke of the engine the steam
pressure will move the roller from the zero point toward the larger end of the cone
which will then be traversing back in the contrary direction to the indication It
will be seen that the velocity of rotation of the cone will be reduced and that the
wheel r. will again revolve in the same indicated direction the movement being
again proportionate to the duty of the engine. The movement of the wheel 7. for
cach stroke of the engine piston is transmitted to the registering and recording
clock work which is connected with the wheel r. by means of gearing which is
proportioned to the area and stroke of the engine piston. The duty of the engine
during any required interval is ascertained and indicated in any suitable manner
as in the said former Invention. In the forgoing description the term pressure
includes vacuum in cases wherein a vacuum takes place and the terms acceleration
and reduction of velocity mean increase and reduction of what may be termed the
normal speed of revolution of the cone produced by the roller when at zero.
details of the apparatus may be greatly varied so long as the cone and roller are
used and the cone and roller may be combined together in several different ways
to obtain the same end as for example the cone may be mounted in a frame which
would be moved to and fro in a direction which would be vertically up and down
in Fig 1. the roller being moved to and fro in the direction of its axis by the engine
or the cone might revolve upon a stationary axis and the roller be moved up and
down by the steam pressure as in the example illustrated and be at the same time
moved to and fro in the direction of its axis by the engine.
The
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is.
1. The apparatus substantially as and for the purpose set forth and indicated
hereinbefore and in and by the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 2. In a power meter the use of a conoidal drum mounted to revolve and to be
traversed to and fro in a direction at right angles to its axis at a speed
proportionate to the engine piston speed in rolling contact with a roller which is
mounted with its axis parallel with the direction of traverse of the cone and which
is moved to and fro by means of a piston which is exposed to the same propelling
forces as the engine piston substantially as set forth and indicated.
3. In a power meter the employment of a conoidal drum connected with the
registering and indicating mechanism in combination with a roller which is kept in
driving contact with the drum the parts being actuated substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and indicated.
4. The method of obtaining a driving action of the roller upon the conoidal
drum by milling the surfaces and by other means substantially as set forth.
5. The use of hyperbolic conoids for the purposes set forth.
كيم
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent.