CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS METERS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,. I,. RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, late of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, now of
Paris, in the Kingdom of France, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Third day of November, in the ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself,. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard: Archibald Brooman,, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her
especial licence,, full power; sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, armors, and assigns, or. such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, adññors, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
METERS," being a communication from abroad; in which Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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. Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months-next and immediately.

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby declare that the said Invention has
relation to the class of gas meters commonly known by the name of dry gas
meters, and that the nature of the same, and in what manner it is to be
performed, are fully described in and by the present Specification, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :—
Figure 1 of Sheet I is a front elevation partly in section of a dry gas meter,
constructed according to the said Invention; Figure 2 a side view of it, and
Figure 3 a top plan. In each of these Figures so much of the external
casing as covers the parts represented in it is supposed to be removed. A is
a partition which divides the meter horizontally into two nearly equal com-
partments, C and C. The area of each compartment is reducible by a
certain constant quantity by means of an expandible vessel D, placed in an
inverted position (with its mouth downwards as it were) and attached to a
ledge 7, which projects from the sides of the compartment, all round, a little way
above the bottom. Each of these vessels consists of a circular ring m¹ and
a circular plate m³, of larger diameter than the ring, connected together by a
flexible expanding belt n. I is the inlet pipe for admitting the gas from the
main into the hood B, and O the outlet pipe for conveying it to the burners.
B² is a valve box, and p¹, p², p³, p*, pipes communicating between it and the
compartments C', C, one set of these pipes conveying the gas to the under
parts of the compartments, where they open into their respective expanding
vessels D, and the other set conveying it to the part which is above or
external to the expanding vessels. V' and V₂ are two sliding valves which
command the passages p¹, p², p³, p*, and are worked in manner following.
The upper vessel D' is connected by a vertical link d, passed up through the
centre of it, as shewn separately in Figure 4, with two horizontal and parallel
levers L' and L, one above and the other below the vessel, the former of
which is connected to a balance weight W¹, and the latter is connected by
means of a vertical spindle T, carried through a stuffing box y¹ (see Figure 8)
to a compound lever L³, which lever L¹ is connected by its longer arm and: á
connecting rod R³ to a crank K, and by its short arm to the sliding valve V¹.
The under vessel D2 is in like manner connected with and works the crank
K. and the valve V* through the medium of the lever L³, link L', the spindle T
(carried through a stuffing box y³), and the lever L' (with weight W attached
to it). Z is a screwed shaft connected with the crank 'K, the thread of which
acts on the train of wheels of the registering index X. The gas being admitted

page_text: into the compartments C, C, alternately beneath and above, or inside and
outside, of the two inverted vessels, it expands these vessels in the one case:
and compresses them in the other, and as each vessel by its expansion dis-
places one constant quantity of gas, and each expansion is communicated>
to the index through the medium of the levers, connecting rods, &c. before:
described, the instrument becomes an unerring register of the quantity of gas.
consumed. The flexible sides of these vessels do not touch the external case!
of the meter in any part, so that they are not subject to any wear from
friction, and are under all circumstances perfectly free and unimpeded in their
action. They may be made either of leather, or of any other membranous
substance sufficiently strong and flexible, or of vulcanized caoutchouc or
gutta percha, either sulphurized or unsulphurized, or of any textile fabric:
rendered impermeable to gas under all ordinary pressures by some coating or
varnish, such as a solution of gutta percha, not liable to be affected by the
gas; but of whatever material they may be composed, they should be without:
seam or side joint, and this in the case of leather may be effected by cutting
them out of the solid, or in the case of gutta percha by casting them in moulds,
or forcing the gutta percha in a plastic state through tubular dies, or in case
of the textile fabrics, by weaving them after the manner of looped fabrics.
The office of the weights W', W³, is to balance the weights of the vessels
D' and D, and this they should do exactly. Between the two sliding valves
V and V, a small piece of sponge, saturated with oil, may be fixed, for the
purpose of keeping the seats of the valves constantly lubricated. S (Figure 1)
is a tube or syphon for drawing off any liquid deposited which might interfere
with the action of the meter. When it is opened at bottom for this purpose,
by unscrewing the plug s, there is a spindle with a lever hinge attached to this
plug, that carries at its upper extremity, a valve plug, which closes simul-
taneously the upper orifice of the pipe, and prevents any escape of the gas
while the liquid deposits are being drawn off. The spindle of the plugs has
also a metal stop s attached to it, which must effectually defeat any attempt
that might be made by a dishonest consumer to introduce a service pipe through
the syphon. The meter, constructed as before described, will register for a
long time with great exactness the quantity of gas passed through it, but its
durability may be encreased by preventing the gas from coming into contact
with the levers, crank, and other like motive parts of the apparatus, and this
may be effected by either of the two following methods. In the first, which
is represented in Figure 5, the valves and valve box are enclosed in a gas-
tight case e, e, into and from which the inlet and outlet pipes I and O are

page_text: respectively conducted, and through stuffing boxes in the sides of which the
rods which connect the valves with the working levers are passed. According
to the second method, which is represented in Figures 6 and 6, there is a
chamber or box G, G, placed alongside the valve box B, which is closed at
top and bottom, and likewise at one end, but opens at the other end into the
outlet pipe O, and to each section of the valve box' there are two additional
compartments added (marked 1 and 2), which are so placed that they cap
only deliver into the side box G; G, the consequence of which is that the gas,
when expelled from the chamber by the action of the measuring vessels D' and
D³, has no other means of escape but through these additional compartments
(1 and 2) into the side box G, and thence by the outlet pipe to the burners,
and is thus prevented from coming into contact with any other part of the
meter. A meter on the same principle as that before described, but worked
by four measuring vessels, is represented. in the Drawings, Figures 7, 8, and
9 (Sheet II.), Figure 7 being a front elevation of it, partly in section,
Figure 8 a side view of it, also partly in section, and Figure 9 a plan of the
interior, the outer casing being in each Figure supposed to be removed.
The measuring vessels 1', 13, 13, I, are placed horizontally, as before, and in
pairs side by side, and the vessels of each pair are placed one' above the other,
and the whole enclosed in a case A². S¹ is a horizontal spindle, which turns
in two bearings a¹ (Figure 8), and carries an upright lever N' and horizontal
lever K. The lever K¹ consists of two arms, by one of which it is connected
to the opposite measuring vessels I and Is. Z, Z, are rods for ensuring the
parallel motion of the two vessels, and which are connected at one side by the
vertical links t, t, passed from the inside of these vessels, through the bottom
thereof, to the ends of the arms of the lever K, and at the other side by hinge
joints to an upright N³, raised on the bottom of the meter. The upright lever
N¹ is connected by a rod O¹ with a three-throw crank P, which works the two
valves V, V, by means of the connecting rods e¹, (Figure 9). In the
upper divisions of the meter there are duplicates of all the parts just described
for the purpose of working the upper set of measuring vessels I, I, namely
a horizontal spindle S³, an upright lever N2, a two-armed horizontal lever
K, parallel rods Z, Z, with links t, t, and crank connecting rod O³. The
inode of action is as follows:-The gas entering from the main d into the
hood B (which is divided horizontally into two parts) passes through a pipe
C and valve E¹ into a chamber F, and thence through a pipe G into the
lower division H¹ of the meter which contains the measuring vessel I', and by
compressing that vessel causes the vessel I³ on the opposite side to expand

page_text: through the action of the connecting lever K¹. The gas displaced by the
expansion of the vessel I* from the chamber H³ passes through the pipe G² into
the compartment F of the valve box,, from which it is delivered by the
outlet pipe M to the burners. While the chamber H³ has been thus dis-
charging itself, the upright lever N¹, which is connected, as before explained,
with the three-throw crank N¹, closes by its action the valve E¹, and opens
at the same time E, whereby the gas is admitted into the chamber H² through
the compartment F* of the valve box (Figure 9). The measuring vessel 1ª of
the chamber H then acts by means of the lever K, or the opposite vessel
I, to cause the discharge of the gas from the chamber H*, in the same way
as before explained, and whilst the chamber His being thus discharged, the
continuing rotation of the crank closes the valve E, and at the same time
opens the valve E¹, when the same results as before are repeated. The crank
P is supported by and turns on two upright bearings Q, Q, and carries a
worm W, by which it communicates its movements to the wheelwork in the
index case, and so registers the quantity of gas delivered. Any liquid which
may collect in the upper portion of the hood B is drawn off from time to time
by opening a plug or valve V in the dividing partition by means of the bent
thumb screw U and connecting rod Y, without in the least interfering with
the action of the meter. The liquid on the plug being opened drops into
the lower half of the box, and flows out thence through a pipe which
encloses one arm of the connecting rod Y. As the two measuring vessels
on the one side balance the two on the other, no counterpoise weights
(as W, W¹, used in the meter first before described) are in this case
required.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements in gas
meters which are claimed as comprehended under the said Invention are,―
First, the employment in dry gas meters of measuring vessels placed
horizontally, and acting by alternate expansion and compression, without any
contact between the moving parts thereof and the sides of the meter, as before
described, whether two or four such measuring vessels are employed, as before
exemplified, or any other convenient number, and whether they are acted upon
by the precise combination or combinations of levers, cranks, &c. before
described, or by any other suitable and equivalent combination or combi-
nations.
Second, the two methods before described of protecting the levers, cranks,
&c. of dry gas meters from contact with the gas.

page_text: And, third, the application of vulcanized caoutchouc and gutta percha to the
formation of expanding measuring vessels in dry gas meters.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
This is the Specification referred to in the Affidavit of Benedict Gobey,
sworn before me, this 2nd day of May, 1846.
J. E. DOWDESWELL.
Benedict Gobey, of 12, Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane, in the City of
London, Law Stationer, maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with the
manner and character of the handwriting of Richard Archibald Brooman, late
of 116, Fleet Street, in the City of London, but now residing in Paris, in the
Kingdom of France, Gentleman; and this Deponent further saith, that the name
or signature "R. A. Brooman," set, subscribed, or written at the foot' of the
Specification, marked A, hereunto annexed, and dated the Twenty-ninth day
of April now last past, and purporting to be acknowledged by him, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, before Thomas Pickford, Esquire, Her Britannic
Majesty's Consul at Paris aforesaid, is of the proper handwriting of the said
Richard Archibald Brooman; and this Deponent further saith, that he is also
acquainted with the manner and character of the handwriting of the said
Thomas Pickford, and that the signature "Thomas Pickford," set, subscribed,
or written in the margin of the said Specification, whereby it is stated that the
said Specification was acknowledged by him, the said Richard Archibald.

page_text: Brooman, before the said Thomas Pickford as Her Britanic Majesty's Consul
at Paris, on the said Twenty-ninth day of April, is of the proper handwriting
of the said Thomas Pickford.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the oath of Benedict Gobey, the
Specification aforesaid was enrolled word for word as above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.