Year: 1894

page_text: DICCIFIC Liquidator.
WILLIAM BLENHEIM Station Road Egham Electrical Engineer do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
:―
The use of the apparatus is to shew, at a distance, the depth of any liquid
contained in some vessel.
In the vessel containing the liquid to be guaged is a float attached to a chain
which works over a wheel. On this wheel is fastened a spring making contact with
a metallic ring cut into segments.
To each segment is connected a resistance coil and so arranged that the rising or
falling of the liquid will put in or take out more or less resistance. For instance a
rise of the liquid to the amount of one foot may put in 10 units of resistance, a
two feet rise 20 units and so on in proportion.
At the station where the information is required to be given, is arranged a similar
set of resistances provided with a spring pointer which by being turned round by
hand, puts in or takes out more or less resistance. This pointer works on a dial
which is numbered so as to shew feet &c. A differential or ordinary galvanometer
is used at the station to shew when the resistances at the station and the tank are
equal in the same way as an ordinary Wheatstone balance does.
The indication station and tank containing the liquid are connected by a line
wire.
Dated this 19th day of November 1894.
WILLIAM BLENHEIM.
WILLIAM BLENHEIM Egham, Surrey, Electrical 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 :-
The use of the apparatus is to show at a distance, the depth of any liquid
contained in some vessel; for instance the quantity of water in a reservoir may be
ascertained at the pumping station, which may however be some miles distant from
the reservoir.
The method followed is similar to that known as the Wheatstone bridge or the
balancing of an electric current by means of resistances. (Fig. 2) on drawing is the
arrangement of apparatus fixed at the vessel containing the liquid to be guaged and
consists of a Hoat (a) which rises and falls with the increase and decrease of the
liquid. To this float is attached a chain (b) which passes over a pulley wheel (c).
A small counter-weight (d) is fastened to the end of the chain opposite to the float
to keep the requisite tension. The pulley wheel rotates in a direction dependent
on the rising and falling of the liquid in the vessel. A spring-arm (e) is attached
to the pulley wheel, the end of which passes over and makes contact with a metallic
ring (f) cut into segments. To each segment is attached a coil of wire (9) of a
certain electrical resistance. This resistance is added to or taken from the electric

page_text: circuit by the movement and contact of the arm with the different segments, thus,
when the vessel is empty, all the resistances may be taken out of the circuit, but
when, say one foot of liquid is added, one coil of resistance wire is also added by
means of the contact made by the movement of the arm, and so on till the vessel is
filled. If the vessel contains ten feet of liquid, ten coils would be added to the
circuit. It may be arranged to insert the resistances at any other distances than
the foot, say three or six inches.
The above apparatus is connected with the pumping station or other required
position where the indications are to be given, by means of an ordinary telegraph
wire.
At the pumping or other required station (Fig. 1) is arranged a similar set of
resistances (9) and spring-arm (e) passing over a ring and making contacts with
the segments into which this metallic ring is divided. In this case the spring arm
is turned round by haud instead of by the rising and falling of the float and the
resistances are arranged and numbered in the same manner as those in the apparatus
fixed in the vessel containing the liquid which is to be guaged.
The apparatus at the pumping or other required station consists, in addition to
the above resistances, of an ordinary or differential galvanometer (h), a contact
key (i) and battery (j). The current from the battery passes through the key, and
divides into two circuits, one passing through the local resistances (Fig. 1. g) and
the other through the line (k) and the resistances at the tank (Fig. 2. g). The two
circuits are bridged by an ordinary galvanometer, or if a differential one is used,
each coil forms a part of each circuit.
The apparatus is used as follows:-If the reservoir contains five feet of water,
and the spring-arm has put in five coils of resistances, on making contact by the
key (Fig. 1, 2) the needle of the galvanometer is deflected in consequence of a
greater current passing along the circuit on one side of the galvanometer than along
the other, through the resistances being unequal. If the spring-arm (Fig. 1) be
turned round the metallic ring, gradually putting in additional resistances equal to
the resistance in the circuit to and in the apparatus at the tank (in this case five
coils, indicating five feet) the current on either side of the galvanometer will be
balanced, and this result shewn on the galvanometer by the needle pointing to
The fact that five feet of liquid is in the tank is now shewn at the pumping
or other required station.
zero.
The great advantage of this method over existing methods is its great simplicity
of mechanism in the apparatus used and the necessity of one line wire only being
required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The method of indicating at a distance by the balancing of resistances, of the
quantity of liquid contained in any vessel.
2. The use of the apparatus herein described to obtain this result.
WILLIAM BLENHEIM.