Ax IMPROVED FRICTIONLESS BEARING FOR GAS METERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Coulson Parkinson, of Cottage Lane, City
Road, London, Gas Meter Manufacturer, for the Invention of "Ax
IMPROVED FRICTIONLESS BEARING FOR GAS METERS."
Sealed the 7th January 1862, and dated the 9th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Coulson Parkin-
son at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 9th July 1861.
I, WILLIAM COULSON PARKINSON, of Cottage Lane, City Road, London, Gas
Meter Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED FRICTIONLESS BEARING FOR GAS METERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is, instead of having the crank, flag, wire, and
other moveable parts turned down at the end, so as to run in a socket or
bearing as in ordinary dry gas meters, I point the shaft and place a piece of
glass or other material, as flint, pot, china, stone, or earthenware, in place of
the socket for the point of the shaft or spindle to work upon, and in that case
it does away with all friction, and cannot get fouled as the ordinary spindles
and centres generally do by the dirt-that accumulates round them, as by my
present Invention the point of the shaft wears away the dirt as it accumulates.
This Invention can also be applied to wet gas meters.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Coulson Parkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
COULSON PARKINSON, of Cottage Lane, City Road, London, Gas Meter Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Coulson Parkinson, Her special licence that I, the said William Coulson Par-
kinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Coulson Parkinson, 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 FRICTIONLESS BEARING FOR GAS METERS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Coulson Parkinson, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 William Coulson Parkinson, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
Instead of having the crank, flag, wire, and other similar moveable parts
turned down at the end, so as to run in a socket or bearing as in ordinary dry
gas meters, I point the shaft and place a piece of glass or other material, as
flint, pot, china, stone, or earthenware, in place of the socket for the point of
the shaft or spindle to work upon, thus reducing the friction to a minimum;
also the bearing cannot get fouled as the ordinary spindles and bearings
generally do by the dirt that accumulates round them, as by my present
Invention the point of the shaft wears away the dirt as it accumulates.
And that the Invention may be better understood, I will proceed to describe
the Drawings hereunto annexed and forming part of this Specification.

page_text: Fig. represents an elevation of a dry gas meter with this Invention
applied thereto, and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the frictionless bearing.
In each Figure the same letters of reference indicate like parts.
A piece of glass, flint, pot, china, or other like material C is enclosed in a
metal casing A. The wire B is pointed at its lower extremity, and passes
through a hole D made at the top of casing A, and rests on the glass C. The
hole D serves to keep the wire in its position, but the whole weight and
consequently the friction is only on the point of the wire B, and the glass or
other similar material C, and it is therefore reduced to minimum.
Although I have only shown and described one application of the frictionless
bearing to gas meters it can be applied to other parts, such as the cranked
spindle, which gives motion to the valves and the index, and it can also be
applied to wet gas meters.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of the Invention, and
the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, what I claim is, the
application of the frictionless bearing, herein-before described and shewn, to
dry or wet gas meters.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Coulson Parkinson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
year of
Witness,
(L.8.) WILLIAM COULSON PARKINSON.
JOSEPH WILLCOCK,
Patent Agent & Engineer,
89, Chancery Lane, London.