AN. IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER METER."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Taylorson Jopling, of Bishop's Wearmouth,
in the County of Durham, Ironfounder, for the Invention of "AN.
IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER METER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Taylorson Jopling
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th February 1856.
I, THOMAS TAYLORSON JOPLING, of Bishop's Wearmouth, in the County of
Durham, Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER METER, to be as follows:--
The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of water meters
and to remedy the defects hitherto pertaining to reciprocating meters when
employed for measuring water at a high pressure. To this end I employ two
measuring cylinders, which are each provided with a working piston, the rods
of which severally carry a slide valve frame. These cylinders I prefer to
enclose in a water-tight case, into which the supply liquid flows, and from
which the cylinders receive the liquid to be measured, and I so arrange the
cylinders with respect to each other that the ports of the one for letting water
into the cylinder (at opposite sides of the piston alternately) will be covered
by a loose slide valve, which is carried by a valve frame attached to and
actuated by the piston rod of the other cylinder. The lead-off passages of the

page_text: two cylinders all connect with a common discharge pipe, and as the apparatus
is double acting, a continuous discharge will take place. The action of the
one piston is so dependent on the other that all tendency to create shocks,
or produce sudden and unequal pressure, will be avoided. On the frame of
one of the slide valves, I form a rack for driving a toothed wheel connected
with a counting apparatus, and I thus obtain an indication of the number of
strokes made by the pistons, and consequently of the amount of liquid passed
through the meter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Taylorson Jopling in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 27th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
TAYLORSON JOPLING; of Bishop Wearmouth, in the County of Durham, Iron-
founder; send greeting.....
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Taylorson Jopling, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Taylorson Jopling, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Taylorson Jopling, 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, use; exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland; the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF WATER METER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Thomas Taylorson Jopling, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Thomas Taylorson Jopling, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what inanner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say).:-

page_text: The object of this Invention is to simplify the construction of water meters,
and to remedy the defects hitherto pertaining to reciprocating meters. when
employed for measuring water at a high pressure. To this end I employ two
measuring cylinders, which are each provided with a working piston, the rods
of which severally carry a slide valve frame. Or, in lieu of the piston, a
flexible diaphragm may be used. These cylinders I enclose in a. water-tight
case, into which the liquid to be measured first flows before entering the
cylinders, and I thus provide for the deposit of stones and other extraneous
matters that enter with the liquid instead of allowing them, to flow into the
measuring cylinders or chambers. These cylinders I so arrange, with respect
to each other, that the ports of the one (for letting water into the cylinder at
opposite sides: of the piston alternately) will be covered by a loose slide valve,
which is carried by a valve frame attached to and actuated by the piston rod
of, the other cylinder. The lead-off passages of the two cylinders all connect
with a common, discharge pipe, and as the apparatus is double-acting a
continuous; discharge will take place. The action of the one piston. is so
dependent on the other, that all tendency to create shocks or produce sudden
and unequal pressure will be avoided. On the frame of one of the slide
valves.I form teeth for driving a toothed wheel connected with a counting
apparatus, and I thus obtain an indication of the number of strokes made
by the pistons, and, consequently. of the amount of liquid passed through the
meter.
In the accompanying, Drawing my, improved meter is shewn in several views.
Fig. 1, being a plan view, with the outer case in section; Fig. 2 a sectional
elevation taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1: Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view,
shewing the arrangement of the inlet and outlet passages and valves, and
Fig.4 is a cross section taken at the line 3, 4, of Fig., 1. a, a, is a cast-iron
water-tight case, composed of two parts bolted together, and enclosing two
cylinders or, measuring chambers b,,b. In these chambers work pistons c,,c*,
the piston rods of which, are arranged parallel to each other, and severally
carry at their outer ends,a frame d for supporting and operating the valves e,.e,
which govern the supply and discharge passages f and g of the cylinders b, b*
The valve of the cylinder. b, it will be seen, will be, operated by the reci-
procating motion, of the piston rod of the cylinder 6, and the valve, of the
cylinder, 6 by, the piston rod of the cylinder b. his the pipe for ,admitting
water to the case a: and i is a pipe, connected to, the cylinders band b* by
their respective pipes and *, and intended to. discharge the water, from the
meter as it is measured. When the valves are in the position shewn in the
Drawing, the filling of the space 1 of the cylinder will have been just

page_text: completed, and in that completion the piston will (through its rod and the
frame which it carries) have shifted the valve of the cylinder *, and thereby.
have cut off the supply of water to the space 1 of that cylinder and brought
the other end 2 in communication with the outer case a. The end 2 will
therefore now be filling, and when the filling is on the point of completion, the
piston (by reason of the frame which its rod carries) will cause the valve
of the cylinder to assume the position indicated by the red lines, Fig. 3, 'and
thereby cut off the supply from the space 1, and let on the water to the other
end 2 of that cylinder. From this explanation it will be understood that the
valve of the one cylinder is shifted just previously to the completion of the
stroke of the piston of the other cylinder, and by the direct action of that
piston communicated through the piston rod and the frame which it carries.
Each frame is fitted with turned-up or flanged ends, which act as tappets, and
strike respectively the opposite ends of the valve, and cause it to open and
cover the passages f and g alternately. For the purpose of keeping the valves e
close up to their seats, I provide fixed springs l, l, which press lightly against
the back of the valves. The valve frame of the cylinder 6* is furnished at
. back with two teeth or chamfered ribs m, m, which during the reciprocating
motion of the frame alternately take into the teeth of a wheel n keyed to a
shaft o, in connection with any suitable counting apparatus, and thus cause the
number of traverses made by the pistons to be marked on the counting
apparatus, which number indicates the amount of liquid that has passed
through the meter. The passages of the cylinder 6, it will be seen, are very
similar in their arrangement to those for admitting steam to a steam engine
cylinder, but those of the cylinder * are arranged so as to cross each other.
Their course may be best traced in Fig. 2, where the port, shewn open, is that
for admitting water to the end of the cylinder marked 2 (Fig. 3), and the
closed port is that for admittnig water to the space marked 1 (Fig. 3) of
the cylinder 6. The working of this meter, it will be understood, must be
smooth or without jerk, as the pistons may be said to float in a body of water,
the pressure being equal, or nearly equal on both sides of the pistons; the
pressure of the water being sustained by the outer case, the internal parts of
the meter may be made comparatively light, and there will be little liability of
leakage. When I apply diaphragms, in place of pistons, I construct them in
any well-known and approved manner, and connect them at their centre to the
reciprocating rods which carry the valve frames.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "an
improved construction of water meter," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to claim

page_text: for the measuring of fluids the use of reciprocating slide valves and of pistons
working in cylinders, irrespective of the means above set forth for rendering
such apparatus efficient in its action, but what I claim under the above in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general arrangement of the parts, as above described, whereby I
am enabled to measure fluids under great pressure with great facility, and by
the simultaneous action of a pair of pistons or their equivalent, working in their
respective cylinders, to discharge the same in a continuous stream from the
meter.
Secondly, the use of a water-tight case, in which the measuring chambers
are contained, for ensuring an equal pressure of the fluid to be measured on the
interior and exterior of the measuring chambers, and permitting of the
deposit of extraneous matters contained in the water outside the measuring
chambers.
Thirdly, mounting the slide valves in guide frames carried by the piston rods
of the measuring chambers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Taylorson Jopling, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
THOMAS TAYLORSON JOPLING. (L.S.)
66, Chancery Lane.