Improvements in Prepayment Gas Meters.
Year: 1894

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Prepayment Gas Meters.
I, JOHN TOURTEL, of 17 Sinclair Mansions, West Kensington Park, in the
County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in the design & construction of prepayment
gas meters whereby such gas meters are rendered more simple and reliable and are
so arranged that by a very slight readjustment they can be adapted to take any
desired coin. The meter case is also so designed that the register is separately
enclosed and the Government seals need not be disturbed when the coin freed
portion of the apparatus requires to be exposed for readjustment or repair.
For this purpose I provide a case divided into two or more compartments. The
first compartment containing the usual register. The other compartment or
compartments containing the coin freed device and the apparatus for controlling
both the valve which regulates the supply and the prepayment index..
I provide a shaft geared to the indicator in such a way as to have the same
period of rotation as or a proportionate period of rotation to one of the indicator
wheels preferably but not necessarily the wheel to which is attached the hand
registering one thousand cubic feet of gas per revolution. A ratchet or notched
wheel is fixed to the said shaft upon which shaft is pivotted a prepayment wheel
having two pawls or detents engaging with the said ratchet wheel only one pawl
being in full gear at a time. Upon the same shaft is also pivotted a cam which
upon being rotated in the manner hereinafter described engages alternately with
projections on the said pawls and lifts them out of gear and into gear in succession
so that each revolution of the cam causes the prepayment wheel to be moved back
relatively to the ratchet wheel through a distance of one tooth or notch of the said
ratchet wheel. The effect of so moving the prepayment wheel is to cause the con-
trolling valve to be opened by any suitable means and thus allow the gas to pass
through the meter the ordinary movement of which through the genring of the before
mentioned register, shaft, ratchet wheels, and pawls, causes the prepayment wheel
to return to its original position and by means of a projection on the said wheel
close the valve. The aforesaid cam is geared to a second or operating shaft
which projects through the case outside which a handle is provided for the operator
to turn. A ratchet wheel fixed to the operating shaft and engaging with a pawl
fixed to the case prevents the handle from being turned in the wrong direction.
Upon the said shaft are fixed two vertical discs so arranged as to allow a coin to
rest upon projections between them and when so resting to project beyond the
periphery of the said discs. One of the said projections is so devised that its
distance from the other projection can be adjusted by means of a screw and slot
to suit the size of the coin required to rest between the said discs. Any sm ller
coins drop between the two projections.
Above the discs is pivotted a lever from which a projection rests upon the
periphery of the discs. A hook fixed upon one disc is arranged to engage with
the said projection and prevents the handle from being turned round. If a coin
of the required size be inserted between the discs however then upon turning the
handle the portion of the coin projecting beyoud the periphery of the discs is
brought against the projection and lifts it clear of the hook. The handle may

page_text: now be turned through one complete, revolution and through the aforesaid gearing
moves the cam and lifts the hook the coin. dropping, out into a cash Box as the
discs are rotated. In order to regulate the size of the slot into which the coins
aro placed I provide outside the meter case a slotted hood within which is fixed a
roller having on its surface flats. of different sizes.. By turning the said ruller
the opening into the hood is varied according to which of the flats is made
operative:
The case is so constructed that without disturbing the first compartment the
other compartment or compartments may be exposed for the purpose of readjustment
or repair and so long as the first compartment is kept sealed it is impossible for the
register of the meter to be tampered with.
The before mentioned ratchet or notched wheel can be readily removed and
another substituted for it. The number of teeth or notches in the wheel determines
the amount of gas supplied for a particular coin the amount of gas varying
inversely as the number of the teeth or notches. I do not limit myself to the use
of a combination of all the improvements above described as one or more of these
improvements may be separately applied to any prepayment gas meter.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1894.
JOHN TOURTEL.
Improvements in Prepayment Gas Meters.
1; JOHN TOURTEL, of 17, Sinclair Mansions, West Kensington Park, in the
County of London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in the design and construction of prepayment
gas meters whereby such gas meters are rendered inore simple and reliable and are
so arranged that by a very slight readjustment they can be adapted to take various
coins. The meter case is also so designed that the register is separately enclosed
and the Government seals need not be disturbed when the coin-freed portion of
the apparatus requires to be exposed for readjustment or repair.
I shall describe apparatus according to my invention referring to the
accompanying drawings in all the figures of which like letters are employed to
denete like parts.
Fig. 1 is a front view and Fig. 2 an end view of the upper part of the meter,
Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are front views of the coin freed mechanism on different planes;
Fig. 6 is a front view and Fig. 7 a plan of the mechanism removed from the fixed
easing, Fig. 8 is a front view and Fig. 9 a plan of the casing with the mechanism
removed from it; the other figures shew separate details of the mechanism. The
coin freed mechanism is all carried on a plate A and front frame a supported
from A by two studs a'. The plate A is held against the back plate A' of the
casing by headed studs A³ which engage in slots and key holes of the plate A, in
such a manner that this plate and the mechanism attached to it can be raised a
little to clear the heads of the studs and removed from the casing, leaving
undisturbed the ordinary counter and dials A' which may be secured against
unwarranted interference by seals at A' applied over the screws that fix them.
To the back plate A is attached a shoot A for conducting the liberated coins to a
locked receptacle A' attached to the side of the meter. On the top of the casing
is fixed a hood AB in which is formed the slot for introducing the coin. When the
apparatus is intended to be worked with either of two coins such as a penny and a
shilling, I arrange the slot as shewn in Figs. 10 to 14 inclusive. Fig. 10 is an
external elevation, Fig. 11 is an elevation of the interior with one side removed so

page_text: as to shew the slot a; Fig. 12 is a front view. having the slot a reduced in height
by a set screw a so as to adapt the slot for admission of a shilling; Fig. 13-is a
side view shewing by dotted circles the outlines of a penny. and a shilling. Fig. 14
is a front view with the slot of full height for admitting a penny. B is a central
spindle shewn in end view and side view in Fig. 15. Its outwardly projecting end
is squared to receive a handle. B' shewn in plan by Fig. 16. and. in front view by
Fig. 17, this handle being usually held on the spindle B by a screw. B³ which enters
the end of the spindle; by removing this screw the handle B' can be drawn off
and then the front A of the casing can be folded down on hinges A10 giving access
to the mechanism within. Immediately under the hood As there is fixed. on the
spindle B the coin wheel B³ shewn in elevation and in plan by Fig. 18 as adapted
to receive a penny and in Fig. 19 as adapted to receive a shilling, the slot in its
upper edge being in the latter case reduced in width by a set screw b. In either
case the coin lodges in the slot in such a position that a part of it, or ³ projects
beyond the circumference of the wheel B³. The normal position of the wheel is
that shewn in Figs. 18 and 19 presenting its coin slot upwards; for each coin
introduced it has to be turned once round by the handle B', but should it be
turned not quite to the normal position, it is brought to that position by a spring
roller entering a recess B formed on the lower edge of the middle part of the
wheel, or by a spring S entering a V shaped notch in a disc S¹ fixed on the
spindle B. A pawl S engaging with a ratchet wheel on the spindle B prevents it
from being turned backwards. Fig. 20 is a front elevation and sectional plan of
the wheel B³, the plan being inverted relatively to the plans in Figs. 18 and 19.
When there is no coin in the wheel B³ it is prevented from turning by a stop B
upon it meeting a pawl, Be shewn in elevation and plan by Fig. 21, but when
there is a coin in the wheel, its projecting part or b² acting on a pin 68 projecting
from the side of the pawl B lifts the pawl allowing the stop B to pass it, and so
permitting the wheel to be turned quite round until the stop again meets the pawl.
During the revolution of the wheel the coin drops from it into the shoot A and
descends to the receptacle A'. Free on the spindle B is mounted a disc C shown
in front view in Fig. 22 in back view in Fig. 23 and in side view in Fig. 24; on its
face are pivotted two pawls cl 2 which have pins passing through slots of the disc
and are urged inwards towards the centre by springs on the other side of
the disc bearing on those pins. In front of the disc C free on the spindle B is
mounted a ratchet wheel D (shewn in elevation and plan in Fig. 25) the teeth
of which are engaged by the pawls c¹² on the disc C. The ratchet wheel D is
driven by one of the wheels of the counter. As shewn in elevation and plan
in Fig. 26, the ratchet wheel is fixed on the boss of a toothed wheel D' which
gears with a wheel D² on the spindle of the counter index which registers up to
1,000 cubic feet. This gearing and the ratchet wheel D are arranged for the
introduction of pence into the slot. When shillings are to be introduced, the
gearing may be as shewn in Fig. 27 where a pinion D on the counter spindle
gears with a large wheel D³ attached to the ratchet D. Instead of thus employing
an inconveniently large wheel such as D³, the ratchet wheel D might be geared to
another spindle of the counter, such for instance as that which registers up to
10,000 cubic feet. The number of teeth in the ratchet wheel D and the
proportions of the gearing by which it is connected to the counter have obviously
to be determined so as to suit the price of the gas and the value of the coins used.
The coin wheel B³ has on its side as shewn in Fig. 20 a cam B7 which, when the
wheel B³ is caused to revolve, acts upon the pawls c' and c of the disc C causing
them to engage successively with the teeth of the ratchet wheel D is such a
Dianner as to turn the disc to the extent of one tooth of the ratchet for each
revolution of the coin wheel; an index C' carried by the disc points to the number
of cubic feet corresponding to the extent through which the disc is turned on a
scale which is graduated with two sets of divisions, the outer set indicating the
quantities when shillings are used, the inner set indicating the quantities when
pence are used as the actuating coins. As the disc C is turned step by step as

page_text: above described from its initial position shewn in Fig. 4 a notch C² of the dise
which has engaged in it a pin of a lever E moves this lever aside, as indicated by
the dotted line E' in Fig. 4, and thus opens a valve in the gas pipe to which the
lover E is connected. Gas being thus admitted to the meter, the spindles of the
counter A revolve and the ratchet wheel D which is geared to. one of them is
caused to revolve in the direction of the arrow d Fig. 4 and turning, back the
disc C until the notch C2 again engages the lever E and moves it back closing the
gas valve and so stopping the farther movement of the meter until coins are again
introduced and the handle B' is again turned.
As the price of gas or the value of the coins employed vary so the number of
teeth in the ratchet wheel D and the proportions of the gear connecting it to the
counter of the meter can be readily altered to suit, as the coin freed mechanism
can be easily removed from its casing, to have a fresh ratchet wheel and fresh
gearing substituted for those previously employed. Also the size of the slots in
the hood A and coin wheel B³ can also be varied to suit different coins to which
the mechanism generally can be adapted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
claim is :-
:-
1. A prepayment gas meter constructed and operating substantially as described
with reference to the drawings.
2. The combination of the coin wheel B³ its cam B' the pawl disc C, the ratchet
wheel D and the gearing connecting it to the counter, arranged and operating
substantially as described.
3. The combination of the pawl disc C its notch and the valve lever E,
substantially as described.
4. The arrangement of the coin freed mechanism in one frame readily detachable
from the meter, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1895.
ADEL & IMRAI,
Agents for the Applicant.