IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO CONTROLLING THE SUPPLY OF COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS FOR LIGHTING OR HEATING PURPOSES."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Walter Hopkinson, of Hunter Street, Brunswick
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Scientific Instrument Maker, for an
Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING
THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO CONTROLLING THE SUPPLY
OF COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS FOR LIGHTING OR HEATING PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Walter Hopkinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th February 1880.
WILLIAM WALTER HOPKINSON, of Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, in the
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
County of Middlesex, Scientific Instrument Maker.
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY
APPLICABLE TO CONTROLLING THE SUPPLY OF COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS FOR LIGHTING
OR HEATING PURPOSES."
•
My Invention relates to means or apparatus for controlling the flow of liquids,
and has been specially designed for the purpose of controlling the supply of oil or
other combustible liquid to lamps or to heating apparatus when the oil or liquid
flows through a pipe or tube from a reservoir into a receiving chamber or vessel, '
My controlling
from which chamber it passes to the lamp or heating apparatus.
apparatus is constructed as follows:-The pipe or tube which protrudes into the
receiving chamber has a very small orifice, out of or through which the oil or liquid
flows into the receiving chamber. The said orifice is made small for the purpose
of diminishing the pressure of the oil or liquid. The said pipe or tube has its
outside diameter reduced or bevelled at the orifice end so as to leave its edge
almost sharp, that is, nearly to a cutting edge, for the purpose of preventing leakage
by offering as small a surface and as little resistance as is practicable to the india
rubber or other elastic material attached to the float to be next described.
The receiving chamber is provided with a float for the purpose of controlling or
stopping the flow of oil or liquid to the lamp. This float is an air chamber, or other
floating body, attached to one end of a lever which has a hole or slot to allow of
its being jointed or suspended to a rod or fulcrum. A weight is attached to the
other end of the lever for the purpose of nearly balancing the float, and thereby
rendering it very sensitive, so that it will act very readily.

page_text: India rubber or other elastic material is attached to the lever or to the float on
the side next to and opposite the small orifice in the pipe or tube.
When the oil or liquid flowing into the receiving chamber rises to a certain
level it causes the float to rise also, and the india rubber or other material is thus
pressed against the orifice in the pipe or tube, and controls the flow of oil or
liquid if the lamp is burning, or stops such flow if the lamp is not burning.
The india rubber should be attached to the lever or float in such manner as to
allow of its swelling, which it will do under the action of the oil, and the way in
which I prefer to attach it is as follows:-I take a strip of tin or other metal rather
wider than the india rubber and more than double its length. I fold one half of
this strip over the other, and in the upper half there is an aperture rather smaller
than the india rubber. I place the rubber between the two halves of the tin, and
then fold the edges of one half over those of the other, so as to securely hold the
rubber while allowing it to expand in area to the larger area of the folded strip.
This strip is soldered or otherwise fixed to the lever or float.
There should be a filter in the reservoir over the hole in the pipe or tube to
prevent small particles entering. There may also be a filter in the pipe or tube
itself near to the receiving chamber.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Walter Hopkinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th August 1880.
WILLIAM WALTER HOPKINSON, of Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Scientific Instrument Maker. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS
OR APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE
TO CONTROLLING THE SUPPLY OF COMBUSTIBLE LIQUIDS FOR LIGHTING OR HEATING
PURPOSES."
My Invention relates to means or apparatus for controlling the flow of liquids,
and has been specially designed for the purpose of controlling the supply of oil or
other combustible liquid to lamps or to heating apparatus when the oil or liquid
flows through a pipe or tube from a reservoir into a receiving chamber or vessel,
from which chamber it passes to the lamp or heating apparatus. The Invention
may, however, be applied for controlling the flow of liquids for other purposes.
I will first describe my apparatus as applied to control the supply of oil to a
lamp. Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a vertical section, Figure 2 a plan,
and Figure 3 a section through the line A, B, of Figure 1, of the apparatus.
a is the receiving chamber of the apparatus, which is supplied with oil from a
reservoir placed at any suitable position by means of a pipe or tube b, which pro-
trudes into the receiving chamber as shown. From the receiving chamber the oil
flows through a hole c (either directly or through a pipe) to the reservoir d of the
lamp or heating apparatus, which reservoir may be of any required capacity and
of any desired form. The orifice e of the pipe or tube b, out of or through which

page_text: the oil or liquid flows into the receiving chamber, is by preference made very small
for the purpose of diminishing the pressure of the oil or liquid. The pipe or tube b
has its outside diameter reduced or bevelled at the orifice end so as to leave its
edge almost sharp, that is, nearly to a cutting edge, for the purpose of preventing
leakage by offering as small a surface and as little resistance as is practicable to
the vulcanized india rubber or other elastic material attached to the float to be
next described.
The receiving chamber is provided with a float f for the purpose of controlling
or stopping the flow of oil or liquid to the lamp. This float is an air chamber or
other floating body attached to one end of a lever g, which has a hole or slot to
allow of its being jointed or suspended to a rod or fulcrum h. A weight i is
attached to the other end of the lever for the purpose of nearly balancing the float,
and thereby rendering it very sensitive, so that it will act very readily.
Vulcanized india rubber or other suitable elastic material k is attached to the
lever g (or it may be attached to the float f) on the side next to and opposite the
small orifice e in the pipe or tube.
When the oil or liquid flowing into the receiving chamber a rises to a certain
level it causes the float to rise also, and the vulcanized india rubber k is thus
pressed against the orifice e in the pipe or tube, and controls the flow of oil or
liquid if the lamp is burning, or stops such flow if the lamp is not burning.
The vulcanized india rubber k should be attached to the lever or float in such
manner as to allow of its swelling, which it will do under the action of the oil, and
one good way in which to attach it is as follows:-I take a strip of tin or other
metal (see, Figure 4) rather wider than the india rubber and more than double
its length, and having an aperture m rather smaller in area than the india rubber
which is shown at k, Figure 5. I turn up the sides of the strip, then fold one
half of the strip over the other, the aperture m being in the upper half. The lower
half is then soldered or otherwise fixed to the lever or the float.
I place the
rubber k between the two halves of the tin, then turn up the end of the strip
(see Figure 6), so as to securely hold the rubber while allowing it to expand in
thickness and also in area to the larger area of the folded strip.
Another way, which is represented in Figures 7, 8, and 9, consists in having two
pieces of metal 1, Figure 7, and 1, Figure 8. I fold over the edges 13 of the piece 7,
and fix it to the lever or float, then place the piece under the edges 12 with the
rubber between these two pieces, and turn up the edges 1, as seen in Figure 9, so
as to hold the rubber in place. I have stated that the rubber expands under the
action of the oil, it may therefore be found convenient to submit it to the action of
oil before placing it in the metal pieces, Figure 4, or Figures 7 and 8, and in this
case it will not be necessary to leave so much space for it to expand when held by
the metal pieces.
The reservoir which supplies the receiving chamber a with the oil should have a
strainer over the entrance of the pipe or tube b to prevent small particles entering.
There may also be a strainer in the pipe or tube itself near to the receiving
chamber a.
The pipe or tube, or that portion of it which protrudes into the receiving
chamber, may have its inside edge bevelled, or if it be made of thin metal it need
not be bevelled on either its outside or its inside edge, but as the flow of oil
from the pipe has to be stopped by the rubber the outside diameter of the pipe at
the orifice should be as small as practicable.
Any convenient size of pipe may, however, be used, but when the orifice e is not
amall a corresponding extra pressure is required from the float to cause the india
rubber to stop the flow of oil. It is therefore essential that the rubber shall
always remain flat. Now if the rubber be rigidly fixed to the lever or float before
being placed under the action of the oil for a sufficient time, it will swell so as not
to remain flat, and consequently if the orifice e be large the rubber may not stop
the flow of oil unless it be loosely attached. It is therefore important, particularly

page_text: when the orifice e is not very small, to attach the rubber loosely, and I prefer to
attach it by either of the means described.
The float being nearly balanced by the weight i it is exceedingly sensitive, the
result of which is that it acts most readily, and controls the flow of oil to a nicety.
The oil in the lamp reservoir d is thus kept at one uniform level, and therefore the
light does not diminish and the wick does not become charred to nearly the same
extent as when the oil level varies. There is no leakage of oil, and therefore no
waste pipe is required.
Figure 10 represents in vertical section the manner in which my Invention may
be applied to control the flow of water to a kitchen boiler, or to a filter, or other
apparatus in place of the ordinary ball cock. Similar letters to those in Figures 1
to 9 indicate corresponding parts. The bevelled pipe or tube b by which the
water enters the chamber a is supplied through the pipe 6', which may with
advantage be cast solid with the cover of the chamber a, and be then bored out
as shown
This pipe b¹ may be connected with the pipe leading from the cistern
or other source of supply by means of an ordinary plumber's or other suitable
joint; b represents a strainer placed in the pipe b¹ to prevent foreign matters
passing through the pipe b and depositing themselves upon the valve k. The
outlet c leading from the chamber a may be connected to the pipe or nozzle leading
to the boiler or filter likewise by an ordinary plumber's or other suitable joint.
The cover of the chamber a should be fixed thereto by screws at the corners or
otherwise. The chamber a should have an air hole at any suitable part above
the normal water level.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
The improved arrangement of apparatus, substantially as herein before described,
for controlling the flow of combustible liquid to lamps or heating apparatus, or of
water or other liquid to other apparatus; and I claim as essential features of such
improved arrangement the small orifice e of the pipe b, in combination with a
bevelled edge or very small external diameter of the said orifice; also the weight i,
in combination with the float f, which is nearly balanced by the weight, and is
therefore rendered very sensitive; also the fitting of the rubber or elastic material k
loosely to the float or lever in order that it shall be free to expand, and therefore
remain flat, all substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Walter Hopkinson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and eighty.
W. W. HOPKINSON. (L.S.)