IMPROVE- MENTS IN WET GAS METERS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WET GAS METERS."-A communication from abroad by Joseph
Sealed the 6th January 1863, and dated the 8th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th July 1862.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WET GAS METERS," a communication from abroad by
Joseph Jean Marcais, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Engineer, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in wet gas meters with a
view to the prevention of fraud on the part of the consumer. In order to
prevent the fraudulent discharge or extraction of water from the meter by the

page_text: well-known practice of tipping the meter from a horizontal to an inclined
position, it is proposed to employ a pipe, which is connected to the water
outlet, and is carried round or partly round the meter, so that on elevating
one side, or the front or back of the meter, one or other of the two ends of this
pipe must be elevated above the water line, hence the impossibility of pouring
out or discharging any water from the meter by that source. This tube or
pipe should be of larger bore than that of the nozzle or orifice for the escape
of the water, so as to prevent a syphon action arising. The same system of
pipe surrounding a portion of the meter is equally applicable to the gas
syphon pipe for accomplishing the same object. In order to prevent the
extraction of water through the water supply pipe by means of a small pump,
a filter or grating is inserted therein, which will effectually obstruct the passage
of any apparatus therethrough, but will at the same time leave the water free
to enter the meter when supplying the same. A valve may also. be inserted
inside the gas outlet pipe, opening upwards, so as to allow the gas to pass
freely, but closing instantly should any attempt be made, to force the water
out by blowing into the meter. A baffle plate or obstructor may also be
placed inside the gas outlet pipe, with a view to preventing the introduction of
any piercer or perforating instrument intended for puncturing the surface
of the measuring drum. Any of these adaptations for the prevention of fraud
may be used separately, or any two or more may be combined in one meter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her' Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should

page_text: 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN WET GAS METERS," a communication from abroad by Joseph Jean
Marçais, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Engineer, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under
the hand and seal of one of them, 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, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to certain improvements in wet gas meters, with
a view to the prevention of fraud on the part of the consumer. In order to
prevent the fraudulent discharge or withdrawal of water from wet gas meters
by the well-known practice of tipping the meter from a horizontal to an
inclined position, it is proposed to employ a pipe, which is connected to the
water outlet, and is carried round or partly round the meter, so that on
elevating one side or the front or back of the meter, one or other of the two
ends of this pipe must be elevated above the water line, hence the impos-
sibility of pouring out or discharging any water from the meter by that source.
This tube or pipe should be of larger bore than that of the nozzle or orifice
for the escape of the water, so as to prevent a syphon action arising. The
same system of pipe surrounding a portion of the meter is equally applicable
to the gas syphon pipe for accomplishing the same object. In order to prevent
the extraction of water through the water supply pipe by means of a small
pump or filter, a grating is inserted therein, which will effectually obstruct the
passage of any apparatus therethrough, but will at the same time leave the
water free to enter. the meter when supplying the same. A valve may also
be inserted inside the gas outlet pipe, opening upwards, so as to allow the gas
to pass freely, but closing instantly should any attempt be made to force the
water out by blowing into the meter. A baffle plate or obstructor may also

page_text: be placed inside the gas outlet pipe, with a view to preventing the introduction
of any piercer or perforating instrument intended for puncturing the surface of
the measuring drum.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall:
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents an elevation and Figure 2 a plan of a
wet gas meter constructed according to this Invention.
'
a is a horizontal pipe, which is connected at A with the overflow pipe or
nozzle in the front portion of the meter, which pipe a passes round the three
sides of the meter, as shown in Figure 2, and is closed at B by any con-
venient stopper. The gas syphon pipe, which is employed for. conveying the
gas to the interior of the measuring drum, may also be provided with a pipe or
tube passing horizontally round the meter before it is bent vertically, in order
to prevent any fraud that might be perpetrated, though less easily, in this part
of the meter. In the Drawing an arrangement is illustrated at Figure 3,
which will accomplish this end, and which consists in fitting or forming a bent
pipe F
upon the pipe E. If the consumer should incline the meter forward
passage of the gas would be completely intercepted, as the mouth of the
bent pipe F would be sealed by the liquid. The horizontal pipe, a will
effectually frustrate all other attempts at fraud by tilting the meter. In those
meters wherein the surplus water nozzle is situate below the level of the
water, which is regulated by an internal partition or chamber G, it is pro-
posed to carry the pipe a upwards as high as the level of the liquid, (as shown
by the red lines in Figure 1,) and then to continue it round the meter in a
horizontal direction.
the
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the general construction and arrangement of wet gas meters, as
herein-before described.
Second, the application and use to and in wet gas meters of a pipe sur-
rounding the meter, and of a diameter larger than the orifice of the overflow
nozzle or aperture with which it is connected, substantially as herein-before
described.

page_text: Third, the application and use to and in the gas syphon pipes of wet gas
meters of a pipe surrounding the meter, or of an inclined or bent pipe, as
herein-before described, and for the purpose herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)