A NEW OR IMPROVED LIQUID METER."
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bell Muschamp, of Kensington, in the
County of Middlesex, Paper Maker, for the Invention of "A NEW
OR IMPROVED LIQUID METER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bell Muschamp
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 23rd March 1872.
I, JOHN BELL MUSCHAMP, of Kensington, in the County of Middle-
sex, Paper Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
"A NEW OR IMPROVED LIQUID METER," to be as follows (that is to
for
say)
:-
This Invention relates to a new or improved liquid meter for
measuring and recording the flow of liquids of any description, such
for example as water, oil, and spirits, and the following is a description
of a simple form of meter constructed according to this Invention :--
The case or body of the meter consists of a vertical cylinder with a
horizontal partition or division plate of suitable thickness at or about

page_text: the middle, and with the top and bottom ends provided with covers
suitably connected therewith so as to render the whole an enclosed
vertical cylinder of two chambers, the supply pipe leading to the upper
chamber, and the outlet pipe from the lower. The said partition has
formed in it, in a diagonal direction, any required number of borings or
waterways for the passage of the liquid to be measured from the upper
to the lower chamber, for the purpose herein-after described, and is
made perfectly smoothe on its under surface so that a revolving disc
or valve, herein-after described, may work freely against it, the water
or other liquid acting as a lubricant. This disc or valve is attached to.
a vertical spindle supported in suitable bearings, and is made buoyant
by any suitable means, so that by keeping the lower compartment of
the cylinder full of the liquid passing through the meter, which may
be always assured by having both the sectional area of the inlet pipe
and the sum of the sectional areas of the said diagonal borings or water-
ways greater than that of the outlet pipe, it (the disc) will be kept firm
against the under side of the said partition whatever be the pressure
within the meter, and as the liquid to be measured streams from the
upper to the lower chamber through the said diagonal borings the
said streams impinge on the vertical sides of cavities formed radially
around and on the upper surface of the said revolving disc, and thereby
impart to it a rapid rotary motion, and as the said cavities always
present the same area of surface to be acted upon by the said streams
a definite number of revolutions will always be made for a definite
quantity of liquid passed through, and thus if the vertical spindle of
the said revolving disc be provided with suitable counting and recording
mechanism the quantity of liquid passing through the meter may thus
be registered.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Bell Muschamp in the Great Seal Patent 3
Office on the 23rd September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BELL MUSCHAMP, of Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, Paper
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Bell Muschamp, Her
special license that I, the said John Bell Muschamp, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Bell
Muschamp, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED LIQUID METER," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Bell Muschamp, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Bell Muschamp, 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 thereof (that is to say):
This Invention relates to a new or improved liquid meter for
measuring and recording the flow of liquids of any description, such
for example as water, oil, and spirits.
And in order that my Invention may be clearly understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe the same with
the aid of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the
letters and figures marked thereon, and in which Figures 1 and 7 are
1 vertical sections; Figure 2 a plan with the top cover and index box
removed, and Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, views of-detached portions thereof.
In each case the same letter wherever it occurs indicates the same or
corresponding parts.
The case or body of the meter consists of a vertical cylinder (A)
having a horizontal partition or division plate (B) of suitable thickness
dividing it into two compartments, and its top and bottom ends provided
with suitable covers (C, D,) connected therewith by any convenient and

page_text: suitable means so as to render the whole an enclosed vertical cylinder
of two chambers, the supply pipe (E) leading to the upper chamber,
and the outlet pipe (F) from the lower. The said partition plate (B)
has formed in it in a diagonal direction any required number of borings
or waterways (G) for the passage of the liquid to be measured, for the
purpose herein-after described, and is made perfectly smooth on its
under surface in order that a revolving disc or valve (H) may work
freely against it, the water or other liquid acting as a lubricant. This
disc (H), which is shewn in plan at Figure 3 and in elevation at
Figure 4, is attached to a vertical spindle (I) supported in suitable
bearings (J), and is made buoyant by having attached to it an air
chamber (K) made strong enough to resist whatever pressure of liquid
it may have to be subjected to, and of such shape as to present the least
possible resistance to its rotary motion in the water or other liquid.
Two methods are shewn at Figures 1 and 7 of the accompanying
Drawings of sustaining the buoyancy of the said valve (H) during
the action of the meter. The method shewn in Figure 1, where the
I said air chamber (K) is in the lower compartment of the meter, is by
keeping the pressure of the liquid throughout both compartments, and
this is accomplished by having both the sectional area of the inlet pipe
and the sum of the sectional areas of the said diagonal borings greater
than that of the outlet pipe. In the method shewn at Figure 7, where
the said air chamber (K) is in the upper compartment of the meter,
it is only necessary to maintain the pressure therein, and this is done
by having the sectional area of the inlet pipe greater than the sum of
the sectional areas of the said diagonal borings, whilst the outlet pipe
may be made of sufficient size to permit the water to run freely away
and thus have no pressure in the lower compartment of the cylinder.
By thus sustaining the buoyancy of the disc (H) it will always have a
tendency to press against the under surface of the said partition
plate (B), and thus their two surfaces will be kept well together
whatever be the pressure of the liquid within the meter or the quan-
tity thereof passing through. Thus the liquid in passing through the
meter will stream through the said diagonal borings and impinge on
the vertical sides of the cavities (L) formed around and on the upper
surface of the said revolving disc, and will thereby impart to it a rapid
rotary motion, and as the sides of the said cavities always present the
same area to be acted upon by the said liquid streams a definite number
of revolutions will always be made for a definite quantity of liquid

page_text: passed through, and thus by ascertaining the number of revolutions
made by the passage of any given quantity of the liquid and supplying
the said spindle (I) with or actuating thereby or therefrom an index of
any suitable and well-known construction the quantity of liquid passing
through the meter may thus be registered. The index box (M) is pro-
vided with a glass cover (N) in order that the registration may be
observed.
When it is necessary that the speed of the said revolving disc (H)
should be regulated or modified to suit any standard index I attach
to the said spindle (I) a flyer (O) so made that its arms may be fixed
in any position varying between the two positions shewn at Figure 5,
the one by whole and the other by broken lines, and representing the
minimum and maximum resistance to the rotary motion of the said
disc (H) to be obtained by or from the said flyer (O). A face view of
the said flyer (O) is shewn at Figure 6.
Having therefore thus particularly described and ascertained the
nature of this my said Invention, and the manner in which the same
is to or may be performed, I would observe in conclusion that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may
be modified in various ways without departing from the principle or
main features of the Invention; but what I claim as my Invention and
desire to secure by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,
"the buoyant disc or valve (H) formed and used or applied substantially
as and for the purpose or purposes herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bell Muschamp, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-third day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.