IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS METERS, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH FOR REGULATING THE PRESSURE AND FLOW OF GAS TO THE SAME
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Walter Friend, of Freemantle, Southampton, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS METERS, AND
IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH FOR REGULATING
THE PRESSURE AND FLOW OF GAS TO THE SAME."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Walter Friend at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 26th August 1863, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WALTER FRIEND, of Freemantle, Southampton, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS METERS, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
CONNECTION THEREWITH FOR REGULATING THE PRESSURE AND FLOW OF GAS TO THE
SAME," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have
made solemn Declaration that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Walter Friend, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal:
fully describes and assertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement and.
the Drawings herein referred to (that is to say):
My Invention has reference to the construction and employment of dry

page_text: fluid gas meters, as also to an apparatus to be used in connection therewith
for regulating the pressure and flow of gas to the same, whereby greater
accuracy and uniformity of action is obtained than by the system at present in
use, and consists in employing in lieu of the ordinary measuring drum or
chamber a vessel of a cylindrical form mounted vertically upon a suitable
stand or base; in which an inverted hollow vessel or piston is fitted, and
caused to work freely within the same, and admit of being actuated by the
pressure of the gas in its passage through the meter, the said piston being
packed with mercury and provided with a piston rod passing through a stuffing
box on the top or cover of the cylinder, to which also are affixed two vertical
plates arranged parallel to each other, carrying an horizontal spindle which
receives motion through the medium of toothed wheels, balance weight, and
pulley gear direct from the piston rod, a four-way tap being employed in con-
nection therewith, as also a small gravitating lever and alternating stop stud
notion, by the rising and falling of which the plug of the tap is carried round
to the quarter port, and again on the reverse side in like manner at each up-
and-down stroke of the piston, whereby the gas is admitted and regulated to
the meter, and the indicators set in motion.
And in order that my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say) :-
Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of my improved gas meter; Fig. 2, a
side view thereof partly in section; Fig. 3, a corresponding view showing the
opposite side of the works; Fig. 4, a top or plan view; Figs. 5 & 6, transverse
horizontal sections taken through the lines respectively 1 and 2, as represented;
Fig. 7, a detached top view of the piston or gas holder; Fig. 8, back view of
the works showing the upper portion in connection with the counterbalance
weight and lever; Fig. 9, a side view of the apparatus or regulator shown in
connection with the meter for equalizing the pressure of gas to the same;
Fig. 10, a top or plan view thereof with the cover removed; Fig. 11 a trans-
verse vertical section through the dotted line in Fig. 10; Fig. 12, an under-
neath view; and Fig. 13, an enlarged detail view of the conical valve by which
the regulation of the gas to the apparatus is effected. In each Figure the
same letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, gas cylinder; B, B, stand or base supporting the same vertically
within an outer case, which is shown removed in the Drawing; C, C, an
inverted hollow vessel or piston forming the moveable partition by which the
gas is measured; D; D, recess, opening, or channel, charged with fluid

page_text: mercury, into which the said piston is caused to work by the pressure of the
gas above or below the same; E, E, mercury; F, F, piston rod, forming also
a guide F' for maintaining the piston in a central and vertical position within
the gas cylinder, as also in enabling the same to communicate motion to the
works; G, G, stuffing box; H, H, cylinder cover; I, I, screws for securing
the same; J, J, pipe for supplying gas to the meter; K, K, pipe in connection
with the burner; L, L, tubes conducting the gas above and below the piston;
M, M, four-way valve communicating with the inlet and outlet passages in
such manner as to admit of the gas being supplied and cut off as required;
N, N, union joints; .O, O, reacting spring clip for exerting an inward pressure
on the plug and maintaining it in position; P, P, spindle passing loosely
through the centre of the plug, supported in bearings Q, Q, in the upright
standard plates R, R, which carry the works; S, S, toothed wheels ;
S', finger gear; T, T, chain and pulley wheel receiving motion from the
piston rod and counterbalance weight through the medium of the snail wheel
T&T, and spindle in gear with the dial plates U, U, which are made to
revolve in place of the indicators in one direction from right to left; V, V,
fixed indicators or hands; W, W, toothed wheel spindle and pinion gear giving
motion to the dials through the medium of the star motion wheel X, X,
which is caused to revolve by the action of the alternating finger gear upon
the shaft or spindle P, P, upon which the gravitating lever Y, Y, works in
connection with the plug of the four-way valve through the medium of the
stud motion pins Z, Z, the said lever Y, Y, being free upon the shaft by
which it is enabled, by acting independently thereof when brought up by the
pins upon the front motion plate Z to the point or centre, to fall over upon
the projecting studs or pins upon the valve plug, so as to carry the said plug
round with it in its descent and change the ports. a, a, gas regulator;
b, b, cover to same; c, c, piston working therein; d, d, circular channel into
which the same works; e, e, mercury surrounding the same; f, f, spindle
guide; g, g, conical valve through which the gas is admitted to the apparatus;
h, h, passages through which the gas is discharged, as represented by the
arrows,
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-On a passage being opened
with the burner the gas admitted to the opposite side of the exhausted
chamber forces the piston into the vacant space, whilst the piston rod moving
therewith in connection with the chain and pulley wheel in. gear with the
toothed wheels and horizontal spindle, causes the gravitating lever to rise and
fall over, so as to change the direction of the ports by the instantaneous action
of which the gas is alternately supplied and cut off at each up-and-down

page_text: stroke of the piston, whereby great accuracy and uniformity in the measure-
ment of the gas is obtained, at the same time enabling the said gravitating
lever by its rising and falling action to be employed as a medium for detecting
any leakage or otherwise in the meter when not in use.
In conclusion to the foregoing description it may be here necessary to note
that glass or other suitable material may be used in the construction of the
vessels containing the mercury, and the arrangement or form of the same
modified as may be found desirable, substituting in lieu of the measuring
cylinder or chamber, a chamber of rectangular form.
And it may be here also necessary to note that in place of the said
gravitating lever a float may be employed, so as to work within the said
mercury in connection with a fluid four-way valve in like manner.
Having now described the nature of this my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise details herein-before set forth and
described, as the same may be varied without departing from the general
principle of this my said Invention; nor do I claim as of my Invention the
exclusive use of the several parts herein-before mentioned, except when the
same are employed in and for the purposes of my said Invention, which I
hereby declare to consist in the general construction and arrangement of the
several parts in connection with the employment of dry fluid packings of
mercury for sealing the inverted hollow piston or measuring partition in gas
meters, together with the gravitating lever, four-way tap, and alternating stud
motion, in conjunction with the conical gas valve regulator, in the manner and
for the purposes herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Walter Friend, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN WALTER FRIEND. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE TAYLOR,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.