IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING FLOWING LIQUIDS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis George Fleury, of No. 24, Merrick
Square, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING
FLOWING LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 7th July 1871, and dated the 15th April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis George Fleury
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 15th April 1871.
I, FRANCIS GEORGE FLEURY, of No. 24, Merrick Square, Southwark,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING
FLOWING LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to meters of that class in which the liquid to
be measured in passing through the apparatus acts against suitable
vanes, thereby giving rotatory motion to a shaft or spindle, whose

page_text: rotations are recorded by indicators or counting mechanism, so as to
indicate the quantity of liquid passed through the meter.
The object of my improvements is to render such meters more efficient
I make the vanes
and reliable in their operation than heretofore.
epicycloidal or similarly curved in horizontal section, and construct the
meter in such manner that the positions of the parts may be regulated
according to the velocity at which the liquid flows through it, so as to
indicate accurately the quantity of liquid passed through the apparatus,
for which purpose the footstep and upper bearing of the shaft or spindle
are situated eccentrically to the main vessel or casing, so that the
position of the shaft or spindle and its vanes can be adjusted to a greater
or less distance from the main way or course through which the liquid
flows in passing through the meter.
-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis George Fleury in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
GEORGE FLEURY, of No. 24, Merrick Square, Southwark, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francis George Fleury, Her special
licence that I, the said Francis George Fleury, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis George.
Fleury, 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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING FLOWING LIQUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis George
Fleury, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, tho said Francis George Fleury, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof (that is to say): :-
This Invention relates to meters of that class in which the liquid
to be measured in passing through the apparatus acts against suitable
vanes, thereby giving rotatory motion to a shaft or spindle whose
rotations are recorded by indicators or counting mechanism, so as to
indicate the quantity of liquid passed through the meter.
The object of my improvements is to render such meters more efficient
and reliable in their operation than heretofore.. I make the vanes
epicycloidal or similarly curved in horizontal section, and construct the
meter in such manner that the positions of the parts may be regulated
according to the velocity at which the liquid flows through it, so as to
indicate accurately the quantity of liquid passed through the apparatus,
for which purpose the footstep and upper bearing of the shaft or spindle
arc situated eccentrically to the main vessel or casing so that the
position of the shaft or spindle and its vanes can be adjusted to a
greater or less distance from the main way or course through which the
liquid flows in passing through the meter.
In the accompanying Sheet of Drawings I have illustrated the manner
in which I prefer to construct meters or apparatus for measuring flowing
liquids, according to my Invention, the same letters of reference being
used to denote similar parts in all the views.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through the lines A, B, of Figs. 3
and 4; Fig. 2, a section at right angles to the foregoing through the
lines C, D; Fig. 3, a sectional plan through the lines E, F, of Figs. 1
and 2; Fig. 4, a section through the lines G, H; Fig. 5, an under
view of the indicating or counting mechanism, and Fig. 6, a front view
of the indicating dial.

page_text: a is the main vessel containg the epicycloidal or similarly curved
vanes & formed with or attached to the boss carried by the vertical
shaft or spindle c, whose footstep d is provided with an eccentric
circular part d' fitting accurately within a corresponding circular recess
formed in the lower part of the main casing a as shewn. The upper
bearing e of the shaft or spindle c is also provided with an eccentric
circular part e¹ formed with a flange which rests upon the inner
casing a formed with a circular aperture situated over and concen-
trically with the circular recess in the main casing a, and which circular
aperture receives the lower part e¹ of the bearing c. The inner casing a¹
contains and supports the indicating or counting mechanism which is of
the ordinary construction, as shewn in the Drawings, and is made to run
in oil and water within the cup or receptacle as usual The chamber a³
within which the epicycloidal vanes revolve is lined as shown with
gun metal and contains a filling piece 7 cast, by preference, in one
with the under part of the casing a'.
The construction of the other parts of the apparatus will be readily
understood from the Drawings. The liquid to be measured enters the
chamber as by the opening a³, and in flowing through causes the
epicycloidal vanes with their boss and spindle c to rotate, thereby
giving motion through the worm on the end of the spindle to the
counting mechanism by which the rotations of the spindle are counted
and indicated, the rotation of the liquid in the chamber a' being
prevented by the action of the filling piece g.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, I desire to state that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details shewn in the accompanying Drawings, as the
same may be more or less modified without deviating from the principles
or main features of my Invention. I would also remark that I lay no
claim to novelty in respect of the several mechanical parts when the
same are used separately or otherwise than in combination with the
epicycloidal or similarly curved vanes and adjustable eccentric footstep
and upper bearing, but I hereby declare that what I consider to bo
novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the peculiar
combination of parts forming the improved meter or apparatus for

page_text: measuring flowing liquids constructed, arranged, and operating sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis George Fleury, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of Sep-
tember, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one.
FRANCIS G. FLEURY. (L.S.)