IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUID METERS
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Denton Abel at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th November
1863. A communication from abroad by Friederich Klingenfeld, of
Nürnberg, in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Professor.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUID METERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that class of fluid meters in which the fluid is
made to effect the motion of pistons contained in cylinders into which the
fluid passes, the motion of which pistons is communicated to a registering
apparatus.
This Invention consists in arranging two cylinders opposite each other at
some distance apart, the axis of the one cylinder being in a line with the axis
of the other cylinder, and each cylinder being open at that end which faces
the other cylinder and closed at the other end. These cylinders are fixed to
a framing or plate, and are provided with pistons formed in any suitable
manner so as to work water-tight in the cylinders; these pistons are connected
together by means of a looped piston rod in such a manner that when the one
piston is at the end of its forward motion the other piston is at the end of its
backward motion. The looped piston rod works in guides formed or fixed on
the cylinders, so as to keep the same always in the required position. Between
the two cylinders on one side of the piston rod is fixed a four-way cock for
regulating the ingress and egress of the fluid to and from the cylinders, the

page_text: cock being for this purpose connected to four pipes, two of which communicate
respectively with the back end of each cylinder, whilst the other two com-
municate the one with the inlet pipe and the other with the outlet pipe. The
four-way cock may either be formed with two flat surfaces working against
each other, or with two conical surfaces, the one working within the other.
In either case the one part of the cock to which the four pipes before-
mentioned are fixed is stationary, whilst the other, containing the passages for
connecting the pipes from the cylinders alternately with the inlet and outlet
pipes, is made to revolve. Upon this portion of the cock are fixed or formed
four cogs or tappets, which are so formed and arranged in combination with
one or more fixed springs, that if a certain amount of motion be imparted to
the moveable part of the cock the springs press against the cogs in such a
manner as to cause the same to complete one-quarter of a revolution, and
then to remain stationary, the positions into which the moveable part of the
cock is thereby brought, being those required to effect the alternate communi-
cations between the cylinders and the inlet and outlet pipes. The requisite
motion for this purpose is imparted to the moveable part of the cock in the
following manner:-The moveable part of the cock is firstly provided with a
spindle that passes through between the two limbs of the looped piston rod,
and the end of this spindle works in a bearing fixed to the framing on the
opposite side of the piston rod to that where the four-way cock is situated.
Loose upon this spindle and close against the before-mentioned cogs on the
moveable part of the cock is placed a ratchet wheel with four teeth; this
ratchet wheel is at the same time situated inside the loop of the piston rod, and
motion is imparted to it from the latter by means of two stads fixed or
formed on the same, one such stud being on each limb of the loop, and they
are in such positions that the one moves the ratchet wheel when the one
piston has arrived at end forward stroke, whilst the other moves the. ratchet
wheel in the same direction; when the other piston has arrived at end
forward stroke the ratchet wheel communicates its motion to the moveable
part of the cock by pressing against a stud formed on the latter, so that when
the one piston arrives at end forward stroke it turns the ratchet wheel, and
with it the cock to a slight extent, and the before-mentioned springs acting
upon the cogs on the latter cause it to complete a quarter revolution, thereby
reversing the communications between the cylinders and the inlet and outlet
pipes. The ratchet wheel is always kept pressing against the stud on the
cock by means of a small spring connecting the two together, so that when
the studs on the piston rod press against the ratchet wheel on their backward
motion, and consequently move the same to a slight extent in a backward

page_text: direction, the before-mentioned spring draws the same against the stud on the
cock as soon as the studs on the piston rod have passed. In place of this
arrangement the ratchet wheel may be fixed to the moveable part of the cock,
and the studs on the looped piston rod made to yield by means of springs
when they pass against the ratchet wheel in a backward direction. The faces
of the fixed and moveable parts of the four-way cock are kept together in a
water-tight manner by the pressure of a spring against the latter. The
registering or counting mechanism may be of any known construction, and
motion may be imparted to the same from any of the before-mentioned moving
parts of the apparatus in a manner well understood, and forming no part of
the present Invention. The registering mechanism is attached to a casing
that encloses the above-described apparatus.