AN Improved Fluid METER
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Walker, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN Improved Fluid METER.”
ed the 20th April 1877, and dated the 24th October 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Walker at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th October 1876.
JAMES WALKER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer.
"AN IMPROVED FLUID METER."
This Invention relates to a fluid meter of an improved and simplified construction,
and not liable to get out of order.
The improved meter comprises a cylinder having in it a piston which has no rod
attached to it. The cylinder is mounted on a; journal or cylindrical bearing so as
to oscillate thereon, and stops are provided on the fixed framing to limit the
oscillating movement to a few degrees above and below the horizontal or middle
position. The cylinder passages are led to the part of the cylinder casting embracing
the journal, and the inlet and outlet pipes are connected to two passages in the journal.
The passages in the journal have ports situated so as to communicate with the
ports of the cylinder passages, and arranged so that the inlet always communicates
with what is for the time the lower end of the cylinder. The water or other fluid
entering the lower end of the cylinder forces the piston up to the other end; and
the piston being made sufficiently heavy tends to make the cylinder tilt over into
the reversely inclined position. The cylinder is however prevented from tilting
until the piston reaches the end of its stroke by a catch which is moved away by a
pin or rod acted on by the piston as it reaches the end of its stroke. The cylinder
in tilting reverses the communications between the inlet and outlet ports on the
journal and the ports of the cylinder passages, in consequence of which the piston
is moved back again to what has now become the higher end of the cylinder.
In another modification the cylinder is made stationary whilst the valve (corre-
sponding to the stationary journal in the first modification) is arranged to oscillate.
The pins or rods acted on by the piston as it approaches each end of its stroke act
on levers connected by springs to a rod or piece which tilts the valve, but this piece
is at each stroke prevented by a catch from acting on the valve until the piston
Prine 6d1

page_text: reaches the end of its stroke, whereupon the catch is released, and the spring tilts
and reverses the valve.
In either modification the counting mechanism, which may be of any suitable
known kind, is acted on by the oscillating part of the meter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said James Walker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st April
1877.
JAMES WALKER, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer.
"AN IMPROVED FLUID METER."
My said Invention relates to a fluid meter of an improved and simplified
construction, and not liable to get out of order.
My improved apparatus comprises a cylinder mounted on a journal or bearing so
as to oscillate to a limited extent. An external catch engaging with a snug formed
on the cylinder cover, holds one end elevated until the pressure of the water forces
a piston in the cylinder from the lower up to the raised end, whereupon the piston,
which has no rod attached to it, causes a pin passing through a nipple in the
cylinder cover to release the catch and so allow the cylinder to be tilted by the
weight of the piston. A similar contrivance at the other end of the cylinder then
operates and holds the cylinder in its reversely inclined position until the piston
returns and liberates the catch. Water or other fluid to be measured is led into the
cylinder through ports formed in the journal and communicating with the cylinder
passages, outlet ports being also provided in the journal. A pawl attached to any
convenient part of the cylinder acts on a train of ordinary counting gear.
In a second modification of my improved fluid meter, the cylinder is stationary,
and the counting mechanism is actuated by the movement of the valve (which
corresponds to the stationary journal in the first modification). The valve is moved
by a rod or piece connected by springs to levers moved by pins or rods acted on by
the piston as it completes each stroke. Each rod or piece is prevented by a catch
from acting on the valve until the piston reaches the extreme end of its stroke,
whereupon the catch is released and the spring reverses the valve.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing the same
may be properly understood, I hereunto append two sheets of explanatory Drawings
to be berein-after referred to, and representing two modifications of my improved
fluid meter. In these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the
same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
Figure 1, on Sheet 1 of the Drawings, is a plan; Figure 2, an elevation (with the
counting details incomplete); whilst Figures 3 and 4 are vertical sections as at right
angles to each other. The cylinder 1 is mounted on a journal 2, fixed to blocks 3,
and so that the cylinder can oscillate upon it. The cylinder passages 4 are led to
the part of the cylinder casting embracing the journal 2, and communicate with
ports in the journal 2. Inlet and outlet pipes 5, 6, are connected to passages 7, 8,
in the journal 2, and these passages 7, 8, have ports 9, 10, which by alternate
tilting of the cylinder 1 are made to communicate with the cylinder passages 4, the
ports in the journal 2 being arranged so that the inlet port 9 always corresponds to
what for the time being is the lower end of the cylinder 1. The inlet pipe 5 is
continued into a chamber 11 at the end of the journal 2 which is divided by a
diaphragm 12 of rubber or other suitable flexible material, the outer part forming an
air chamber 13. A small valve 14 opening inwards keeps the chamber supplied with
air. The journal 2 is formed of a slightly conical or tapered shape, and is screwed
to receive an internally screwed ring or gland 15, by means of which it is kept
water-tight. A heavy piston 16 without any rod attached to it is placed in the in-
terior of the cylinder 1, and by the water entering the lower cylinder passage 4 is forced

page_text: up to the raised end of the cylinder 1. When near the completion of its stroke, it
comes into contact with a pin 17 projecting through a nipple 18 formed in the
cylinder cover 19 and causes it to act on the lower end of a catch 20 swinging
on a support 21. The swinging catch 20 engages with a snug formed on the
cover of the cylinder 1, and holds the cylinder in an inclined position until the pin
17, moved by the piston 16, releases the swinging catch 20, and allows the cylinder
1 to tilt by the weight of the piston 16. Stops 22 are provided to limit the extent
of oscillation. The tilting of the cylinder 1 reverses the communications between
the inlet and outlet ports 9, 10, on the journal 2 and the ports of the cylinder
passages 4, in consequence of which the piston 16 is moved back again to what has
now become the higher end of the cylinder 1, and acting on a pin 17 and swinging
catch 20 causes the cylinder to tilt back again. The pin 17 has a metal tube
screwed on its head or outer end, and to this metal is attached a short piece of
rubber tube 23, which being also attached to the nipple 18 serves to make a water-
tight connection, and also moves the pin 17 inwards again on the piston leaving
the end of the cylinder. The rubber tube 23 is strained for this purpose, and its
tension can be adjusted to suit the internal fluid pressure by screwing the pin 17 in
its metal tube. A pawl 24 is jointed to any convenient part of the cylinder 1, and
acts on a ratchet wheel 25 and train of counting gear of any suitable known kind.
The second modification of my improved fluid meter is shown in plan in Figure 5,
on Sheet 2, of the Drawings, in longitudinal and transverse section in Figures 6
and 7, and in end elevation in Figure 8. The cylinder 1 is stationary, whilst the
valve 2 (corresponding to the journal (2) in my first modification) is placed above
the cylinder 1, and is caused to oscillate by means of a crank 26 jointed to
an arm on a bar 27, running the length of the cylinder 1, and carried by
brackets 28. This bar 27 is connected by rubber or other suitable springs 20 to
levers 30, centered on pillars 31. Pins 17 pass through nipples 18 formed in the
cylinder covers 19, and are alternately forced outwards by a piston 16, when
completing its stroke at either end. Each pin 17 acts by its outer end on the
lever 30, but the bar 27 is prevented from moving and shifting the valve 2 until
the piston 16 has fully completed its stroke by a lever 32, which is centered on a
stud on the end of the cylinder 1, and which has one end against the end of the
bar 27. The other end of the lever 32 rests on a conical part formed on the pin 17,
and as that pin is moved outwards its conical part moves the lever 32, so as at
length to clear the end of the bar 27, which then, by the action of the spring 29
just stretched by the lever 30 suddenly shifts the valve 2 and interchanges the inlet
and outlet ports. After this reversal of the valve 2 the piston 16 is forced by the
incoming water or other fluid to the other end of the cylinder 1, and there acts
upon a pin 17 and on levers 30 and 32 in the manner herein-before described with
reference to the other end of the cylinder, but so as to move the bar 27 and valve 2
back again. Inlet and outlet passages 5 and 6 are formed in the part of the
cylinder casting embracing the valve 2 and communicate with the valve, the inlet
by one port and the outlet by two diametrically opposite ports. The valve 2 is
constructed so that the inlet port 9 is always opened to that cylinder passage 4
which communicates with the end which the piston 16 has just reached, whilst one
of the two outlets 10 is open for the discharge of the measured water or other fluid
through the cylinder passage 4 from the opposite end. To ensure the pins 17 being
water tight caps 33 of rubber or other elastic material are fastened to the interiors
of the cylinder covers by flat rings. A pawl 24, attached to the end of the
oscillating valve 2 acts upon a train of ordinary counting gear as in my first
modification. The valve 2 is made slightly conical or tapered, and is secured and
tightened by means of a ring or gland 15 screwed upon its smaller end.
Instead of the tapered plug valve 2, shown in the Drawings (sheet 2) of my second
inodification there may be substituted a common slide valve or any other suitable
valve or combination of valves, my Invention not having reference to the valves or
passages of fluid meters but to the mode of shifting the valves, or as in my first
modification of moving the cylinder in an equivalent manner, my arrangements

page_text: being such that the long piston rod of ordinary cylinder and piston meters is dis-
pensed with, and the apparatus thereby rendered more compact. The pins 17, by
which the piston is made to act on the external mechanism may be arranged to
work through stuffing boxes, if prefered, and either the pins themselves or parts in
contact with them at the opposite ends of the cylinder may be connected so that
the outward movement of one may cause the inward movement of the other.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise details
herein described or delineated, but that what I believe to be novel and original, and
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
1. The arrangement of fluid meter in which a cylinder having a piston unattached
to a rod oscillates on a journal formed with inlet and outlet passages and changes
the connection of those passages by its oscillation, its alternate movements being
caused by the weight of the piston acting at the completion of each stroke and
on the release of catches by pins or short rods encountered by the piston,
substantially, as herein-before described with reference to Sheet 1 of the accom-
panying Drawings.
2. The arrangement of fluid meter, in which a stationary cylinder having a piston
unattached to a rod has its valve or valves moved by springs strained on the piston
approaching the end of its strokes, and held by catches which are released on the
strokes being completed, the springs and catches being acted on by pins or short
rods encountered by the piston, substantially as herein-before described with
reference to Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Walker, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
•
JAMES WALKER. (L.S.)