IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Bennett, of 42, Parliament Street,
Westminster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS."-A communication from abroad by
Edouard Servier, of Paris, in the Empire of France.
.Séaled the 8th November 1861, and dated the 18th May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION. left. by the said William Henry Bennett
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,, with his Petition, on the..
18th May 1861.
I, WILLIAM HENRY BENNETT,. of 42,. Parliament Street, Westminster, do..
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS.
FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object the maintaining of an uniform pressure of
gas at any given point in the distributing mains or pipes of a gaswork,.or in
the gas fittings of a house or factory, by means of a self-acting apparatus. fixed
between that point and the source of supply. The apparatus. consists of a
regulator or governor, with an inverted annular bell; the mouth of which is.
immersed in a liquid, and from the centre of which a cone is hung, whereby,.
as the bell rises or falls, the opening into the exit pipe is diminished or
.increased. A small pipe rising above the surface of the liquid of the outer
ring of the inverted bell is carried to the point in the distributing mains or
pipes, where an uniform pressure is desired. The effect; of maintaining, an

page_text: uniform pressure in the outer ring of the inverted bell is so to regulate the
pressure of the gas in the exit pipe as to maintain that uniform pressure in the
distributing mains and pipes at the point required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Bennett in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BENNETT, of 42, Parliament Street, Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
'said William Henry Bennett, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Bennett, my.executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Henry Bennett, 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 APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE SUPPLY OF GAS," being a com-
munication to me from abroad by Edouard Servier, of Paris, in the Empire of
France; upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry
Bennett, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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. .
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:
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NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Bennett, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
.following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing, and
to the letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
". This Invention relates to a combination of self-acting apparatus for main-
taining a nearly uniform pressure of gas at any given point in mains or pipes
used for distributing gas.

page_text: The accompanying Drawing represents the section of a gas regulator or
governor constructed according to this Invention, and suitable for a main or
pipe of twelve inches in diameter, the arrows on which Drawing represent the
direction in which the gas flows.
A is a tank or vessel, partially filled with water, in which is placed an
inverted cover or bell [B], such inverted cover or bell being made light
enough to float when the mouth is immersed in water, and the unimmersed
portion is filled with gas under the same conditions as to pressure under which
the regulator or governor is intended to be used. This inverted cover or bell
is divided into two chambers, that is to say, it consists of an inner compart
ment and of an outer concentric ring or compartment. Gas is admitted from
the gas holders into the said inner compartment by the inlet pipe (C), and it
escapes therefrom by the outlet pipe (D), from whence it passes into the
distributing mains or pipes; and in order to reduce the size of the apparatus,
the said inlet pipe is made concentric with the said outlet pipe, but if preferred
the former may be placed by the side of the latter. Within the said outlet
pipe (C) a cone (E) is suspended from the crown or top of the said inverted
'cover or bell, in such manner that the area of the orifice of the said outlet pipe
will be contracted as the said inverted cover or bell and cone rise, and will
'be enlarged as they descend, the ascent and descent of the said inverted cover
For bell being guided in the usual manner by a guide rod (F) fixed on the top
thereof, and-by three or more friction rollers (G) fixed round the lower edge
thereof; H is a pipe, the open orifice of which rises above the surface of the
water in the outer ring or compartment of the said inverted cover or bell, and
the said pipe is from thence carried to and connected with the gas-distributing
mains or pipes at the point at which it is desired that a nearly uniform pres-
sure of gas. shall be maintained in the said .mains or pipes, the effect of such
junction being to establish an equilibrium. between the pressure of the gas in
the said mains or. pipes at the point where the said junction is made, and the
pressure in the outer ring or compartment of the said inverted cover or bell of
the regulator or governor. The said pipe (H) constitutes an essential feature
of this Invention, inasmuch as the equilibrium which it establishes in the
manner above referred to, becomes the agent for regulating and adjusting the
initial pressure at which the gas will issue from the regulator or governor into
the distributing mains or pipes, and any disturbance of that equilibrium, either
by an excess or by a deficiency in the initial pressure, will be immediately
corrected by the rise or fall of the cone (E) till the equilibriumi is restored,
unless the pressure given by the gasholders should at any time fall below the
initial pressure required to maintain the equilibrium, in which case the

page_text: regulator or governor would cease to act. The capacity of the return pipe (H)
must be sufficient for the purpose of communicating or transmitting to the
regulator or governor the pressure in the distributing mains or pipes at the
junction thereof with the said return pipe (H) in such manner that the full
pressure may be at all times maintained in the outer ring or compartment of
the said inverted cover or bell of the regulator or governor, due allowance
being made for the difference in pressure arising from any difference in
altitude between the two extremities of the said pipe, according to the well-
known laws which affect the relative pressure of seriform fluids at different
altitudes.
Regulators or governors upon the system herein described, but of smaller
dimensions, may be employed to regulate the supply of gas upon the premises
of large consumers, by fixing the regulator or governor upon the gas supply
pipe, and connecting the return pipe (H) with the distributing pipes at any
point where it is desired that a uniform minimum pressure of gas shall be
maintained in the said distributing pipes while gas is being consumed on the
premises.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this Invention,
and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect,
I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to the
precise details or arrangements which I have described or referred to, as
variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or
main features of this Invention; but what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the construction of gas regulators or governors,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Bennett, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. H. BENNETT. (L.S.)