Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Automatically Supplying Liquids to Vessels.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th June, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 5th Apr., 1900-Accepted, 5th May, 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Automatically
Supplying Liquids to Vessels.
We, CHARLES MCROBIE TURRELL, of Malmaison, Chester Road, Erdington,
in the County of Warwick, and JAMES GEORGE ACCLES, of Holford House, Perry
Barr, in the County of Stafford, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus for automatically feeding liquids to
vessels and relates especially to apparatus for automatically regulating the
admission of oil or spirit to the carburetters used with oil or gas engines for
motor-cars, so that such oil or spirit is kept at an approximately constant level.
Most forms of the apparatus at the present time used for this purpose are pro-
vided with a float whose position varies with the level of the oil or spirit in the
carburetter and by so doing actuates a needle valve and opens or closes the
same. With apparatus of this description however there are certain ob-
jections, one of which is the liability of the oil or spirit to find its way into
the float (which is usually made hollow and of metal) and, by thus altering the
buoyancy of the float, render the apparatus unreliable.
It is the chief object of our invention to overcome these objections and
instead of depending on a float for actuating the said valve, to so construct
the apparatus that the rise and fall of the oil or spirit therein will cause the
volume of air above the oil to be reduced or increased so that a variation of the
air pressure in the apparatus will take place, such variation imparting motion
to a suitable movable part connected with the valve, and so opening or closing
the same.
For this purpose we may employ a chamber of any suitable shape, which we
term the regulating chamber and which is connected respectively with a supply
tank and the carburetter, its communication with the latter being by a suitable
lateral outlet situated at or about the level at which the oil in the said car-
buretter is to be maintained. The oil passing from the supply tank enters the
said regulating chamber at the bottom thereof and rises therein to the height
of the outlet communicating with the carburetter, through which it flows until
the level of the oil in the latter coincides with that in the said regulating
chamber. By reason of the pressure to which the oil is subjected by the fall
from the supply tank, it continues to rise in the said regulating chamber a
distance sufficient to cover the aforesaid outlet to the carburetter and in so
doing compresses the air above it in the said regulating chamber and acts upon
a flexible diaphragm, one side of which is exposed to the pressure of the air
in said regulating chamber and the other side of which is exposed to the pres-
sure of the external atmosphere. When the said diaphragm is thus acted upon
it imparts movement to a sliding rod connected, with the aforesaid needle valve
by appropriate means and thereby transmits movement to the valve in a
direction to cause the latter to close the inlet to the regulating chamber from

page_text: the supply tank. The means employed for transmitting the movement of the
aforesaid rod to the needle valve may consist of a toggle lever, an inclined plane,
or any other convenient device. When the level of the oil falls in the car-
buretter it also falls in the regulating chamber whereby the air pressure therein
is diminished owing to the space above the oil in said chamber increasing; the
said diaphragm therefore then tends to change its position, under the atmo-
spheric pressure and by so doing opens the needle valve and allows a further
quantity of oil to enter the regulating chamber until the air pressure therein is
again increased by the rise of the oil as already explained.
Although we have more particularly described our improved feed apparatus
in connection with the supply of oil to a carburetter for an oil engine, we wish
it to be understood that it is applicable to the control of liquids other than oil,
passing to vessels other than carburetters.
Dated this 5th day of June 1890
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,.
Agents for the Applicants.
༽ང་
Improvements in and relating to Apparatus for Automatically
Supplying Liquids to Vessels.
We, CHARLES MCROBIE TURRELL, of Malmaison, Chester Road, Erdington,
in the County of Warwick, and JAMES GEORGE ACCLES, of Holford House, l'erry
Barr, in the County of Stafford, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to apparatus for automatically feeding or supplying
liquids to vessels and relates especially to apparatus for automatically regulating the
admission of oil or spirit to the carburetters used with oil or gas engines for
motor-cars, so that such oil or spirit is kept at an approximately constant level.
Most forms of the apparatus at the present time used for this purpose are pro-
vided with a float whose position varies with the level of the oil or spirit in the
carburetter and by so doing actuates a needle valve and opens or closes the
same. To the use of apparatus of this description however there are certain ob-
jections, one of which is the liability of the oil or spirit to find its way into
the float (which is usually made hollow and of metal) and by thus altering the
buoyancy of the float, renders the apparatus unreliable.
It is the chief object of our invention to overcome these objections and
instead of depending on a float for actuating the said valve, we so construct the
apparatus that the rise and fall of the oil or spirit therein will tend to cause
the volume of air above the oil to be diminished or increased and a variation
of the air pressure in the apparatus to take place, whereby motion will be
imparted to a suitable movable part connected with the valve, and so open or
close the same.
In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect we will proceed to describe the same more fully with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and
Figure 2 a plan of an apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention:
in the latter figure the upper part of the apparatus has been removed so as to
expose the internal mechanism.

page_text: Figure 3 is a vertical section, and
Figure 4 a plan of a modified construction of the apparatus.
In all the figures like reference letters indicate similar parts.
A is a chamber which we term the feed-regulating chamber and which is
connected at B with the carburetter and at C with the oil supply tank. The
said carburetter and supply tank being well known do not require to be speci-
fically described or illustrated. D is a flexible cover or diaphragm which con-
stitutes the aforesaid movable part of the apparatus and E is the valve which
this flexible cover or diaphragm is adapted to operate as the volume of air
within the apparatus increases or diminishes in accordance with the fall and rise
of the oil level therein.
In the construction of the apparatus illustrated by Figures 1 and 2 the out-
let B is arranged laterally and is situated at or about the level at which the oil
in the said carburetter is to be maintained. The oil passing from an elevated
supply tank enters the chamber A at the bottom through the inlet C, which is
adapted to be closed by the valve E. The oil rises in such chamber to the
height of the outlet B and then flows into the carburetter until the level of the
oil in the latter coincides with that in the chamber. By reason of the pressure
to which the oil is subjected from the elevated supply tank, it continues to rise
in the chamber A untu it has entirely covered the outlet B to the carburetter, and
compresses the air above it in the chamber A. The air thus partially compressed
acts upon the flexible diaphragm which it therefore moves outwardly against
the atmospheric pressure to which it is subjected on its outer side. When the
diaphragm D is thus acted upon it imparts movement to a sliding rod e con-
nected with the valve E (which is here shown in the form of a needle valve) and
so causes the latter through the intervention of lever mechanism hereinafter
described to close the inlet C, to the chamber A from the supply-tank. The
valve rode is guided by a gland or bush c¹ fitted in a partition A which extends
across the said chamber A. This partition serves to prevent the oil when the
apparatus is shaken by the jolting of the motor-car from coming into direct
contact with the flexible cover D which if made of india-rubber would be liable
to be detrimentally affected by contact with the oil. The partition is so arranged
however that the air within the space below it will have ready access to the
space above the said partition through the clearance existing between the valve
rode and its gland e¹ or otherwise.
The diaphragm 1) is secured to the upper end of the chamber A by a collar
or loop d and the motion of the said diaphragm is transmitted to the valve rod e,
through the intervention of lever-mechanism. This mechanism comprises in
the example illustrated, a forked rocking lever F connected at one end with
the upper extremity of the said valve rod e by a pin f passing through a slot f¹
in said rocking lever. The other end of said rocking lever is connected with
a short link pivotally suspended from a suspension stud f3 which is screwed
through a central boss of the flexible diaphragm D and firmly secured in
position by a lock nut. ft.
Obviously this lever mechanism for transmitting the movement of the flexible
diaphragm to the valve may be varied in construction.
Referring to the modified form of the apparatus illustrated by Figures 3
and 4, the flexible diaphragm D. is formed of thin corrugated metal and acts
directly upon the valve E without the interposed lever mechanism illustrated in
the previous figures. For this purpose the valve rode is centrally disposed
relatively to said diaphragm and is formed with a shoulder e and with a screw
threaded end e adapted to be secured to the diaphragm by a screw-nut . The
diaphragm is secured to the chamber A by a ring D¹ held in place upon the
The chamber A is
flange A of the chamber A by screws or similar means.
preferably disposed in such a manner that its floor A3 is slightly below the
normal level of the oil in the carburetter. Thus the oil arriving from the oil
tank flows through the inlet C and valve E (which normally remains open) and

page_text: enters the chamber A, whence it passes away through the outlet B into the
carburetter and gradually fills the same until the level of the oil rises above the
floor of the chamber A so covering the outlet B and afterwards compressing
the air in the interior of the chamber A as already explained with reference
to Figures 1 and 2. This pressure causes the diaphragm D to move outwardly
and close the valve E and thus temporarily cut off the supply of oil. When
the level of the oil falls in the carburetter it also falls in the chamber A, whereby
the air pressure therein subsides, owing to the increased space above the oil
in the said chamber and the external atmospheric pressure is permitted to depress
the diaphragm D. This depression of the diaphragm causes the re-opening of
the valve E which allows a further quantity of oil to enter the chamber A.
Although we have more particularly described our improved feed regulating
apparatus in connection with the supply of oil to a carburetter for an oil-
engine, we wish it to be understood that it is applicable to the control of liquids
other than oil, passing to vessels other than carburetters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
1. Apparatus comprising a chamber provided with a movable or flexible cover
or diaphragm which is connected with a valve controlling the supply of liquid
to a carburetter or other vessel and is adapted to be shifted by the action of the
air within the apparatus substantially as and for the purpose specified.
2. Apparatus having its parts constructed arranged and operating substantially
as described with reference to either of the examples illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings, for the purpose specified.
Dated this 5th day of April 1900.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.