IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR MEASURING LIQUIDS AND GASES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of 35, South-
ampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR MEASURING LIQUIDS
AND GASES." A communication from abroad by William Hamilton,
of Toronto, Canada, and Hiram Kimball, of Randolph, in the State
of Vermont, United States of America, Mechanical Engineers.
Sealed the 9th November 1869, and dated the 5th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph
Barnard Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with.
his Petition, on the 5th August 1869.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 35, Southampton Buildings,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR MEASURING LIQUIDS
AND GASES," communicated to me from abroad by William Hamilton, of
Toronto, Canada, and Hiram Kimball, of Randolph, in the State of
Vermont, United States of America, Mechanical Engineers, to be as
follows:-

page_text: The meter in its preferred or complete form consists of a piston
working in a chamber or cylinder communicating through suitable
ports with supply and discharge pipes. Suitable valves arranged in said
ports and shifted at the proper moment alternately connect the
respective ends of said cylinder with the inlet and discharge pipes by
the motion of said piston acting through suitable media, the piston
being propelled by the registering fluid and a suitable mechanism for
conveying the motion imparted by the fluid to a registering mechanism.
The piston and valve mechanism are adapted to move without
appreciable friction or consumption of power, the throw of the valves is
accomplished instantaneously at the proper moment, and the apparatus
operates with uniform accuracy under variations in the pressure and
volume of the fluid to be measured. A tight case or shell is employed
having provision for the attachment of the inlet and discharge pipes, and
within it, in suitable relative position, a supply and discharge chamber,
a horizontal measuring chamber or cylinder, suitable ports connecting
the measuring chamber at its respective ends with the supply and
discharge chambers, and the requisite provisions for the reception of the
operative parts of the apparatus.
A piston of suitable construction is arranged in the measuring
chamber to separate the measured and measuring fluid, and by its
movement received therefrom to operate the registering mechanism.
This piston is of sufficiently less diameter than the measuring chamber,
to enable it to work freely therein; it is supported by one or more
guide rods attached rigidly to it, and working loosely in chambers
in the ends of the measuring chamber, or attached to the ends of
the measuring chamber and working in suitable chambers in its ends;
and to enable it to perfectly separate the two ends of the measuring
chamber it is connected at its ends to the interior of said chamber by
means of annular diaphragms adapted to fold freely between it and the
walls of the chamber in its movements. All necessity for packed or
frictional surfaces in connection with the piston is thus obviated. The
space between the diaphragms connecting the piston and cylinder is in
communication with the discharge chamber to balance said diaphragms.
The ports leading to and from the measuring chamber open laterally
into the supply and discharge chambers, and suitable valves are arranged
in these ports between these openings, such valves being seated on and
closing each port alternately as the fluid is being received or discharged

page_text: from the end of the measuring chamber; the two valves closing
(always except at the instant of shifting) respectively the openings
or ports communicating with the supply and discharge chambers at
alternate ends.. The two valves are mounted on a common rod working
loosely in chambers in the ends of the case; they are balanced between
the fluid in the supply and discharge chambers, and are shifted instan-
taneously at the ends of the strokes of the piston through suitable media.
The piston is provided with a rack, which is taken into by a toothed
quadrant on a shaft at right angles to the axis of the piston, which
therethrough receives an oscillating motion by the motion of the piston.
This shaft is mounted at one or both ends in suitable bearings within
the case, similarly to the piston guides and valve stem, so as to avoid the
necessity of packing. An eccentric hub is mounted loosely on this shaft
or on a bearing concentric therewith, and connected with the valve
stem by means of a pair of rods, with which it forms knuckle or toggle
joints. This hub is provided with two lateral arms, through which it is
operated to throw the valves. A weight of suitable form is also-mounted
loosely on said oscillating shaft or a concentric bearing in suitable
proximity to the device last described to engage with said arms, and is
connected with said shaft by a suitable clutch joint, so constructed as
to limit its movement, independant of the shaft, to an arc of about
90 degrees. It is therethrough lifted to slightly past a vertical position
by the motion of the piston in either direction, and falling freely from
said position it strikes one or the other of the arms of the eccentric hub
before described, oscillating said hub, and through it and its connecting
rods throws from right to left, or vice versa, the valve rod actuating
both valves simultaneously, and pressing each on to the opposite seat
from that before occupied with great force, when the end of the
measuring chamber from which the fluid has just been discharged is
again filled, that just filled now discharging, and the piston moving in
an opposite direction. The throw of the valves is thus rendered
absolutely instantaneous. The motion for the registering mechanism
may be taken from any convenient part of the apparatus, a recipro-
cating rectilinear movement being readily obtained. This is converted
into an intermittent rotary motion for operating the index by means of
a pair of ratchet racks or pawls, facing each other and having their
teeth bevilled on opposite sides, being pressed together if necessary by
one or more suitably applied springs or weights. The registering motion
is preferably taken from the oscillating shaft through which the valves

page_text: are operated, which for this purpose is projected through a suitable
stuffing box, and provided on its outer end with a pinion gearing with
a sliding rack, which is thereby reciprocated, and to which the notched
pawls or racks for converting the motion may be attached.
The oscillating weight through which the valves are operated is pre-
ferably constructed with a transverse chamber or cavity supplied with a
quantity of quicksilver, and with water sufficient to fill the remaining
space. The object of this provision is by the flow of the quicksilver
back and forth in said chamber on its ends being depressed in the move-
ments of the weight to render the weight more sensitive, and those
portions of its movements in which it operates the valves more rapid
and powerful. The water is to lessen the diminution of the specific
gravity of the weight, which would result from the space for the move-
ments of the quicksilver,
The piston is made of either wood or metal, in the latter case being
made hollow, and its interior connected with the discharge chamber.
The valve operating mechanism is all arranged in the discharge
chamber, and thereby the necessity for openings for the passage of any
of its parts through which leakage might occur are obviated. The
parts in contact with the fluid are completely balanced by it, and
packing is entirely dispensed with, the apparatus being thus adapted to
operate with very slight power or pressure. Its results are positive and
absolutely accurate by reason of the instantaneous shifting of the valves
at the termination of each stroke of the piston,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 5th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of 35, Southampton Buildings, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
of August, in the year of
sixty-nine, in the thirty-
Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills;
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR
MEASURING LIQUIDS AND GASES," a communication to me from abroad by
William Hamilton, of Toronto, Canada, and Hiram Kimball, of Ran-
dolph, in the State of Vermont, United States of America, Mechanical
Engineers, upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said
Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors or administrators, 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 Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This meter is constructed with a piston and valve mechanism, which
move without appreciable friction or consumption of power, the throw
of the valves is instantaneous when the stroke is to be changed, and the
apparatus is adapted to operate with uniform accuracy under variations
in the pressure and volume of the fluid to be measured.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of the apparatus in the
planes indicated by the line x, x, Figure 3; Figure 2, a vertical longi-
tudinal section of the same on the line y, y; Figure 3, a vertical
transverse section on the line z, z, Figures 1 and 2; Figures 4 and 5
are sectional elevations of detached parts of mechanism employed for
shifting or reversing the valves; Figure 6 is an elevation of mechanism

page_text: employed for converting oscilating or reciprocating rectilinear into
intermittent rotary motion to operate the index.
The fluid entering at the port I, and flowing into the course indicated
by the, arrows in Figure 1, presses against a piston A mounted upon a
guide rod or rods B. Annular diaphragms C, C, connected to the
respective ends of the piston A and to the inside of the cylinder K,
within which the piston works loosely, serve to separate the ends of the
said cylinder while dispensing with the necessity for packed or frictional
surfaces. It is immaterial whether a single guide rod is employed
running through and attached rigidly to the piston, and working loosely
in chambers in the cylinder heads, or two rods attached rigidly to the
respective heads of the cylinder, and entering separate chambers in the
ends of the piston. G, G, are valves attached to a valve rod G¹, and
employed to place the inlet. port I and the discharge port H respectively
in communication with opposite and alternate ends of the cylinder K.
Attached to the piston A is a rack a gearing with a quadrant D, which
is keyed to the shaft O. E represents a weight mounted upon the upper
end of an arm E', which is fitted loosely on the shaft O, but is so con-
nected with the said shaft by means of the clutch joint represented in
Figure 5, or by any other suitable device, as to limit the revolution of
the arm E', independently of the shaft O, to an arc of about 90 degrees.
Mounted loosely on the shaft O are also a pair of arms F, F, connected
rigidly to a hub F', which forms on each side a knuckle or toggle joint
with a rod P, which rods, as each is alternately thrown up from its
oblique to its horizontal position by the motion of the connected
arms F, F, drives the valve rod G¹ from right to left, or vice versa,
actuating bothe valves G, G, simultaneously, and pressing each on to
one or the other of its seats with great force. The Drawings shew the
piston at about half stroke, the weight arm E' having risen 45 degrees
from its horizontal position. As the piston reaches the end of its stroke,
the arm E¹ being carried slightly beyond a vertical position, the weight E
falls suddenly and instantaneously shifts the valves so as to throw the
respective ports H and I into communication with the opposite ends of
the cylinder K. The piston then moves in the opposite direction. The
piston A may be made of wood or metal, in the latter case being made
hollow, and its interior in communication with the discharging end of
the cylinder. The mechanism D, E, E', F, P, and the accessories thereof

page_text: also work in the discharging water. The weight E may preferably be
constructed, as represented in Figure 5, with a transverse chamber or,
cavity e containing a quantity of quicksilver and water sufficient to fill
the remaining space, the object of which is, by the flow of the quicksilver
back and forth in said chamber on its end being depressed in the move-
ments of the weight, to render those portions of the movements of said
weight in which it operates the valves more rapid and powerful, the
weight being also thus rendered more sensitive. The water is to lessen
the diminution of the specific gravity of the weight which would result
from the space for the movement of the quicksilver. The outer end of
the oscillating shaft may be connected with the registering mechanism
by suitable means, a preferred form of which is represented in Figure 6:
A pinion L is keyed fast to said shaft O, and is taken into by a rack M;
to one end of which is hinged a pair of ratchet racks or pawls m, m;
facing each other, and having their teeth bevelled on opposite sides,
which engaging respectively with opposite sides of a ratchet wheel or
pinion N on a shaft o¹ of the registering mechanism impart in the same
direction to said shaft the movement resulting from each stroke of the
piston as transmitted through the rack a, quadrant D, and shaft O. The
shaft O may be connected with the shaft or shafts of one or a train or
series of indexes in any usual or suitable manner. The lower or both of
the pawls m, m, may be pressed in contact with the ratchet wheel N
by one or more suitably applied springs or weights. The rack M is
supported in suitable guides. The registering motion may be taken
from any suitable moving part of the apparatus other than the shaft O
if preferred, and the nature of the converting mechanism modified
accordingly. Thus where motion is taken from the piston the pinion L
and rack M may be dispensed with, and a rod projecting longitudinally
from the piston take the place of the latter.
It will be observed that the parts in contact with the water are
completely balanced by it, and packing is entirely dispensed with. The
apparatus is thus adapted to operate with very slight power or pressure,
and its results are positive and absolutely accurate by reason of the
instantaneous shifting of the valves at the termination of each stroke of
the piston.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the mode
in which the same is carried into effect, I would have it understood

page_text: that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein shown and
described; but what I do claim is,-
First. The combination and arrangement, substantially as described, of
the balanced reciprocating piston A, C, C, and balanced valves G, G,
constructed and operated substantially in the manner described and for
the purpose set forth.
Second. The combination with the valves G mounted on a common
rod G¹ of the oscillating "arms" F, F, F, constructed and operated
substantially as described for the purpose set forth.
Third. In combination with the piston A and the oscillating shaft O
actuated by said piston the weight E', E, and arms F, F, F, constructed
and operating substantially in the manner described for the purpose of
instantaneously shifting the valves at the ends of the strokes of the
piston, as set forth.
Fourth. In combination with the reciprocating rack M actuated by
the piston as described the pawls m, m, and ratchet wheel N, employed
and operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
B. J. B. MILLS. (L.S.)
Witness,
CHAS. M. WHITE,
Clerk to Messrs. Harris & Mills, ⚫
Patent Agents,
35, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
London.