Improvements in Electric Meters.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 7th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 7th Sept., 1895
Improvements in Electric Meters.
I, CLEMENT JOHNSON BARLEY, of The Kensington and Knightsbridge Electric
Lighting Company, Ltd., Chapel Place, Brompton Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in electric meters.
According to my invention I provide a meter having two pendulums which are
caused to swing continuously between the poles of permanent or electro magnets by
means of clockwork or any other suitable device. Each pendulum is furnished
with one or more coils.
The pole pieces are so shaped that the magnetic field varies considerably in
intensity within a very short distance; for example the pole pieces may be made
conical in which case the field is very intense in the middle and very weak at a
short distance away from the middle.
The coils are so secured to the pendulums and so placed with reference to the
poles of the magnets that the coils swing in a magnetic field of increasing and
diminishing intensity.
I conduct the current to and from the swinging coils as follows, that is to say,
each pendulum is suspended from two or more flexible strips or wires of conducting
material insulated from one another and which are attached to insulated blocks
on the head of the pendulum and also to insulated blocks on the frame of the
meter case; the said flexible strips are also connected to insulated conductors
passing down the pendulum rods to the swinging coils, and to insulated conductors
leading to the terminals of the meter.
The two pendulums are constructed to make the same number of vibrations in
a certain interval of time when no electric currents are passing around the coils
attached to them.
The coils are so wound that when a current passes through them it causes one
pendulum to make fewer vibrations and the other pendulum to make more
vibrations in a certain interval of time than they make when no current is
passing.
Moreover the amount of increase or decrease of the vibrations depends upon the
strength of current passing. The integration of the electrical energy passed
through the meter is recorded by a differential or other convenient gear suitably
connected with a set of dials and counting mechanism.
The coils on the pendulum may be connected with the source of energy either
in series or in parallel, and into the circuit of the coil or coils, on one or both of
the pendulums, may be inserted a compensating resistance for the purpose of making
the readings of the meter, as a whole, of equal value throughout the range of the
meter; that is to say: for either large or small currents passing through the meter
the readings on the meter will be equally accurate.
I
I may insert a resistance as above stated for the purpose of giving the readings
on the meter dial, at different rates of registration, such values as may be desired.
may sometimes put a different number of turns in the coil or coils on one of
the pendulums than on the other to effect the same results with or without the use
of a resistance.

page_text: A fraction only of the total electrical energy to be recorded is to be passed
through the meter when large quantities are to be measured, the fraction so passed
being a measure of the total quantity.
In such case the terminals of the meter are connected to two points on the con-
ductor conveying the total electrical energy to be continuously recorded, in such
a manner that the meter and its connections act as a shunt to the main path of the
electrical energy.
It is desirable that that portion of the main conductor which is shunted by the
conductors leading to and contained in the meter, be composed of a conducting
material whose electrical resistance increases or diminishes in the smallest possible
increments with large increments of temperature.
I also use the meter as a series meter, without the shunt arrangement above
described, to continuously measure and record such quantities of electrical energy
as its parts are capable of conducting.
By suitably arranging the coil or coils I may adapt my improved meter so that
it will record either ampere-hours or watt-hours as desired.
1
Namban 1001
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Пиргоѵешению 11
1, CLEMENT JOHNSON BARLEY, of The Kensington and Knightsbridge
Electric Lighting Company, Ltd., Chapel Place, Brompton Road, in the County
of Middlesex, 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 electric meters.
According to my invention I provide a meter having two pendulums carrying
coils at the lower ends thereof which are caused to swing continuously between the
poles of permanent or electro magnets by means of clockwork or other suitable
devices. The whole or a known part of the current to be measured is passed in
suitable directions through the said coils whereby the one pendulum is caused to
make more oscillations and the other fewer oscillations in a given time than when
no current is passing, and in this manner a measure is afforded of the amount of
current flowing through the instrument, and consequently of the current in the
circuit to which the instrument is applied.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I will now describe the
same with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved meter, the case thereof being in
section.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of the meter with the case in section, and
Figure 3 is a plan of the same with the top board of the meter case removed.
Figures 4 and 5 are detail views on a larger scale of portions of the pendulums
and their connections.
A is the meter case; B B are two pendulums; C C are coils which are prefer-
ably wound on bobbins C¹ C¹ carried by the ends of the pendulums. D D are two
permanent or electro magnets furnished with pole-pieces D', D' which are preferably
conical so that the magnetic field varies considerably in intensity throughout the
path described by the swinging coils C C, the field being intense in the middle of
the path and weaker at a short distance away from the middle. The said pole
pieces are movable so that the central points between them may be adjusted so as
to lie midway between the ends of the arc of swing of the pendulums. Set

page_text: screws E E or other convenient means are provided for securing the pole-pieces in
position when adjusted.
Each pendulum is suspended from and swings on two or more flexible strips or
wires FF (see Figures 4 and 5) of conducting material, insulated from one another,
and attached at one end to insulating blocks G G on the head of the pendulums
and at the other end to other insulating blocks H H carried by the meter case A.
The said flexible strips F F are also electrically connected by connecting pieces
passing through the blocks G, G, to insulated conductors I 11 which pass down
the hollow pendulum rods and are connected to the coils C C. J J are insulated
conductors connected at one end to the terminals K K' respectively of the meter
and at the other end to the beforementioned flexible strips F F', by connecting
pieces passing through the blocks H, H.
The two pendulums are constructed to make the same number of oscillations in
the same interval of time when no electric currents are passing around the coils
carried by them, and are provided with movable weights L L to effect the necessary
final adjustment in order to obtain exact synchronism.
The coils C C are so wound that when a current passes through them it causes
one pendulum to make fewer oscillations and the other pendulum to make more
oscillations in any given interval of time than they make when no current is
passing. This effect will for example be obtained if the current be caused to
pass round the coils of the two pendulums in the same direction, while the
magnetic lines flow round the magnets D D in the directions indicated by the
arrows on the drawing.
The variation of the number of oscillations depends on the strength of current
passing, and is employed in the usual manner to operate any suitable differential
or other convenient mechanism for the purpose of indicating on the dial plate M
the electrical energy passing through the meter.
The coils on the pendulums may be connected with the source of electrical
energy either in series or in parallel and into the circuit of the coil or coils on
one or both of the pendulums may be inserted compensating resistances P, P¹ for
the purpose of making the readings of the meter as a whole of equal value
throughout the range of the meter, that is to say so that for either large or small
currents passing through the meter the readings of the meter may be equally
accurate. I sometimes so proportion the resistances P, P that the readings on
the dial at different rates of registration may have such values as may be desired.
I sometimes provide the coil on one of the pendulums with more or fewer turns
than that on the other pendulum to effect the same result either with or without
resistances such as P, P¹.
When the meter and its connections are arranged as a shunt to the main path
of the electrical energy to be measured I may insert a resistance P in series with
the meter and its connections for adjusting the readings of the dial to the exact
values desired.
With the connections as shown in the drawing, which are arranged for a shunt
meter, the current is supposed to enter the meter by the conductor N, from which
it passes to one of the terminals K as indicated by the arrows where it divides and
thence passes in parallel to the coils C C on the pendulums by way of the
conductors J J and the flexible strips F F, and returns by the flexible strips F¹, F¹
and the inductors J¹ J', the one portion of the current flowing through the com-
pensating resistance P in series with the coils on the one pendulum B and the
other portion flowing through the compensating resistance in series with the
coils on the other pendulum B¹. The two portions of current unite again at Q
and thence pass through the resistance P an out of the meter by way of the
conductor N¹.
The course of the current is clearly indicated on the drawings by arrows.
A fraction only of the total electrical euergy to be recorded is passed through
the meter when large quantities are to be measured, such fraction being a measure
of the total quantity. In such case the terminals of the meter are connected to

page_text: two points on the conductor conveying the total electrical energy to be continuously
recorded in such a manner that the meter and its connections act as a shunt to
the main path of the electrical energy.
It is desirable that that portion of the main conductor which is shunted by the
conductors leading to and contained in the meter be composed of a conducting
material whose electrical resistance varies but slightly with large variations of
temperature.
I may use the meter as a series meter, without the shunt arrangement above
described, to continuously measure such quantities of electrical energy as its parts
are capable of conducting.
By suitably arranging the coil or coils I may adapt my improved meter so
that it will record either ampere-bours or watt-hours as desired.
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. An electric meter having two pendulums carrying at their lower extremities
coils through which the whole or part of the current to be measured passes and
which swing in a constant but not uniform magnetic field substantially as
described.
2. The coils suspended and connected to the conductors J, J', substantially as
described.
3. An electric meter constructed substantially as described with reference to
the accompanying drawings and operating as specified.
Dated this 7th dow of
1905
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.