FABRICA- COMPTE MATERI
Year: 1895

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by LA COMPAGNIE ANONYME POUR LA FABRICA-
TION DES COMPTEURS ET MATERIEL D'USINES À GAZ, of 31 Rue Claude-
Vellefaux, Paris, France, Manufacturers.]
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved construction of liquid meter of the following
arrangement.
A vertical cylinder in which works a heavy piston, communicates at 'bottom with
the liquid supply by a lateral opening and by a central opening closed by a valve
with a discharge passage leading up along one side of the cylinder and communi-
cating with the space in the cylinder above the piston, and having also a discharge
branch near the upper end. The entering liquid under pressure forces upward
the piston, which forces out the liquid above it through the discharge channel
and brauch, such discharged liquid being equal to that entering below the piston.
The piston is connected to the valve at the bottom of the cylinder by means of
a helical spring, to the upper end of which a stem projecting up from the valve is
attached, so that as the piston rises it exercises a gradually increasing pull upon
the valve by the compression of the spring, until such pull is capable of overcoming
the downward pressure on the valve by the entering liquid, combined with the
weight of the valve, whereupon the latter will be first slightly raised so as to
remove the disc-shaped upper end of the valve from its seat and thus allow the
liquid pressure in the cylinder to act on the underside thereof.
The area of this disc being greater than the area of the opening closed by the
valve proper and which is still subject to the downward pressure, the upward
pressure will force the valve open, which will now be drawn upward by the spring
against the underside of the piston. The valve is made of cylindrical form
entering the opening of the seat, the lower end being tapered, so that as it is
drawn up or descends, it effects the gradual opening or closing of the discharge.
The spring is so adjusted that during its compression its coils are not in contact,
so as not to interfere with its proper action, and when the valve is open, the spring
is only subject to the compression strain due to the weight of the valve.
As soon as the valve is opened, the pressure decreases below the piston, and it now
descends by its own weight. The liquid which it thus forces out of the cylinder,
together with that still eutering through the lateral inlet, will now pass through
the valve opening and up through the before mentioned side passage, in which is
contained a small turbine which is consequently rotated, this motion being
communicated by a spindle to a counter, so that by means of this turbine the
quantity of liquid flowing in through the inlet during the time the valve is open,
plus the quantity discharged from the cylinder by the piston, is measured. This
latter quantity will pass into the upper part of the cylinder as the piston descends,
while the first named quantity will pass out directly through the discharge branoh,
following immediately after the quantity which had been previously discharged
from above the piston during its upstroke as above described, so that there will be
a continuous flow of liquid from the meter.

page_text: .
As the piston approaches the end of its downstroke, the tapered end of the valve
enters the valve-opening and thus gradually restricts the same, and it is eventually
drawn down on its seat by the restricted current of liquid passing through. The
liquid entering through the supply opening now forces up the piston again, and
the above operations are repeated.
pressures.
The before mentioned turbine is made very light so as to be sensitive to small
The cylinder is by preference provided with a lining of copper or
ebonite, and the seat of the valve is also lined. The spring is made of nickel or
other elastic non oxidisable metal.
The turbine is carried in a cylindrical lining suspended from the cover and fitting
into the side passage, so that the meter can be separated into three main `parts;
the cylinder with supply and discharge passages, the piston with spring and
discharge valve, and the cover with counter and turbine.
The arrangement of these several parts can be variously modified, thus in one
modification, instead of connecting the valve stem to a spring, the latter may be
replaced by a piston working within a cavity in the main piston, and on the latter
having risen to a certain point, the inner piston may come in contact with a spring
at the bottom of the cavity in which it works, so that on the farther ascent of the
main piston, the spring is compressed and the valve is pulled open as before. On
the descent of the main piston, the liquid pressure entering the cavity through
openings will push up the inner piston and prevent the closing of the valve until
the proper moment.
According to another modification, the discharge opening and valve are arranged
at the upper end of the cylinder instead of at the bottom, and the discharge branch,
instead of being in the side passage containing the turbine, communicates directly
with the upper end of the cylinder. The lower end of the latter is open to the
iulet branch, which is situated in the side passage. The action is precisely the
same as in the first described arrangement, only reversed. With this arrangement
also, the spring may be replaced by an inner piston as before described, or by
a plunger working in a liquid, such as mercury, contained in the main piston
cavity.
According to another modification, instead of arranging the turbine in a side
passage it may be contained in a cylindrical casing hanging down from the cover
in the axial line of the cylinder and piston, which has a central cavity into which
the said casing enters as the piston rises. There is no lateral passage in this case,
and the liquid flows from the inlet at bottom up through the central passage of
the piston and through the casing of the turbine. The valve in this case closes
the lower end of the passage through the piston, and is acted on by a spring
bearing with its upper end against the lower end of the turbine casing, so that as
the piston rises, the spring is compressed and eventually forces open the valve.
The action is otherwise the same as in the preceding constructions.
In place of the spring may be employed a vertically sliding weight carried by
the turbine case and projecting into the piston cavity, so that when the piston with
its valve has risen to a certain height, the stem of the valve raises the weight from
its seat, and is then forced open thereby. Or the weight may consist of a chain
hanging down from the turbine casing and resting on the valve, on which it
consequently accumulates so as to increase the pressure as the piston rises. The
closing of the valve on the descent of the piston is effected by providing round the
inlet orifice at the bottom of the cylinder a cylindrical projection, into which the
valve enters as it descends with the piston.
The cylindrical projection being filled with liquid flowing up through the inlet
orifice, this gradually effects the closing of the valve against its seat on the
piston.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chaucery Lane,
in the County of London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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 :-
This invention relates to an improved construction of liquid meter as I shall
describe referring to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section and Fig. 2 is a plan of one form of meter according to
this invention.
A is a vertical cylinder fitted with a heavy piston B and communicating by a
lateral passage C with the liquid supply and by a central opening having a valve D
with a vertical passage H, leading to a discharge E and to the upper part I of the
cylinder. The entering liquid under pressure forces upward the piston B, which
forces out the liquid above it through the discharge E the quantity discharged
being equal to that which enters below the piston.
The piston B is connected to tbe valve D by a rod a having a head bearing or a
helical spring F so that as the piston rises it exercises a gradually increasing pull
upon the valve D by the compression of the spring, until the pull is sufficient to
overcome the weight of the valve and the pressure on it whereupon the valve is
first slightly raised so as to allow the liquid pressure to act on the annular area
under the flange of the valve.
The downward pressure on the valve being thus to a great extent balanced, the
spring Fraises the valve, drawing it up close to the piston. The part of the
valve which enters the opening is of taper form so that as it ascends and descends
it effects gradual opening and closing of the outlet.
The spring F is such that when compressed its coils are not in contact, so that
there is no interference with its proper action, and when the valve is open, the
spring is subject only to the weight of the valve.
As soon as the valve D is opened, the pressure decreases below the piston, which
then descends by its own weight. The liquid which it thus forces out of the
cylinder, together with that still entering through the inlet C passing through the
valve opening and up through the passage H in which there is a small turbine G.
This is caused to rotate by the upwardly flowing liquid and the motion is
communicated to a counter at the top of the apparatus by which the quantity of
liquid flowing in through the inlet while the valve D is open, plus the quantity
discharged from the cylinder by the piston, is measured. The quantity discharged
from the lower part of the cylinder passes into the upper part as the piston
descends, and the quantity which enters at C passes out directly through E following
immediately after the quantity previously discharged from above the piston during
its upstroke so that there is a continuous flow of liquid from the meter.
As the piston approaches the end of its downstroke, the tapered end of the
valve D enters the opening gradually restricting the passage until the valve is
seated.
The liquid entering through C then forces up the piston again, and the operations
are repeated.
The turbine G is made very light so as to be sensitive to small pressures. The
cylinder is by preference provided with a lining d of copper or ebonite and the seat
of the valve D has also a lining b.
The spring F is made of nickel or other elastic non-oxidisable metal.

page_text: The turbine G is mounted in a cylindrical lining suspended from the cover and
fitting into the side passage, so that the meter can be separated into three main
parts; the cylinder with its supply and discharge passages, the piston with its
spring and discharge valve, and the cover with the counter and turbine.
According to a modified arrangement shewn in Fig. 3. instead of connecting the
valve D to a spring, the stem a may be attached to a piston disc working within a
cavity in the piston B, so that when the piston rises a certain distance, the piston
disc comes in contact with a spring F so that by the farther ascent of the piston B,
the spring is compressed and the valve is pulled open as before. On the descent of
the piston B the liquid entering the cavity of the piston through openings in its
bottom pushes up the piston disc and prevents the closing of the valve until the
proper time arrives.
According to another modification shown in Fig. 4 the valve D is arranged at
the upper end of the cylinder and the discharge branch E communicates directly
with the upper part of the cylinder A. The lower end of which is open to the
inlet C which situated in the side passage H. The action is the same as in the
first described arrangement. This construction may be farther modified by
employing the arrangement shewn in Fig. 3. Or, as shewn in Fig. 5, a plunger e
working in a liquid, such as mercury, contained in the piston cavity may be
attached to the valve D. Fig. 6 shews an arrangement such that the valve D is
not opened until the spring Facts upon it.
According to another modification shewn in section at Fig. 7 and in plan at
Fig. 8 instead of arranging the turbine G¹ in a side passage it may be contained in
a cylindrical casing H' hanging down from the cover concentric with the cylinder A
and piston B which has a central cavity into which the casing H¹ enters as the
piston rises. There is no lateral passage in this case, but the liquid flows from the
inlet C up through the central passage of the piston and the casing H¹ of
the turbine G¹. The valve D' in this case closes the lower end of the passage 61
through the piston, and is acted on by a spring F which at its upper end bears
against the lower end of the casing H₁ and at its lower end on a disc attached to
the valve stemt so that as the piston rises, the spring is compressed and eventually
forces open the valve. The action is otherwise the same as in the preceding
constructions.
Instead of a spring F of such length that it is being compressed during the
whole ascent of the piston, a short spring indicated by the dotted lines F2 may be
used so as to open the valve D¹ only as the piston approaches the upper extremity
of its stroke.
Instead of a spring may be employed as shewn in Fig. 9 a hollow weight P
fitted to slide vertically in the casing Hi and projecting down into the piston cavity
so that when the piston with its valve has risen to a certain height a disc on the
stem of the valve raises the weight P from its seat, and the valve D is thus
forced open. The weight may consist of a chain hanging down from the casing H'
and resting on the valve stem on which it accumulates weight so as to increase the
pressure on the valve as the piston rises.
The closing of the valve D on the descent of the piston is effected by providing
round the inlet orifice at the bottom of the cylinder a cylindrical projection finto
which the valve enters as it descends with the piston, displacing liquid which issues
by lateral openings M, and creating a pressure which gradually effects the closing
of the valve against its seat on the piston.
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 I
claim is :-
1. A liquid meter constructed and operating substantially as described with
reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3.
2. The modified constructions of meter, substantially as describe 1 with reference
to Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

page_text: 3. The modified constructions of meter substantially
to Figs. 7, 8 and 9.
as described with reference-
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.