ment Attachments for Gas or other Fluid Meters.
Year: 1898

page_text: ment Attachments for Gas or other Fluid Meters.
A communication from abroad by HENRY G. THOMPSON, of Milford, HARRY
GRANT THOMPSON, and SAMUEL E. MOWER, both of New Haven, all in the
County of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, one of the United States
of America, trading under the Firm name of Henry G. Thompson & Son,
Manufacturers.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the production of a novel prepayment attach-
ment adapted to be applied to or to co-operate with a meter used to measure gas
and other fluids.
The attachment contains in itself a coin carrier and recording mechanism to
indicate the quantity of gas or other fluid passed through the meter and paid
for.
The coin carrier and the recording mechanism derive their movement from one
and the same shaft of the attachment, said shaft in turn deriving its motion from a
usual shaft of a meter.
The coin carrier has co-operating with it a locking device which enters an empty
pocket thereof and prevents the further movement of said coin carrier and the
further delivery of gas when the last of a series of coins put into said pockets has
been exhausted from said carrier, but this locking device does not act to instantly
stop the meter, but rather the flow of gas is temporarily reduced to lower the
light and give warning that the last coin has been exhausted, and if coin is not
soon supplied the flow of gas will be entirely stopped.
As a further security against any extra movement of the recording mechanism
with relation to the coin carrier, and to reduce the strain of the gearing on the
main shaft when the meter is not in action, an auxiliary locking device has been
provided, it being interposed between the main locking device and the shaft of the
attachment which actuates the coin carrier and recording mechanism, so that
when the main locking device enters a pocket of the coin carrier it acts to hold
said auxiliary locking device in the path of movement of a cam or projection
on said shaft and prevents it from further rotation until after the main locking
device has been pushed out of a pocket of the coin carrier by an incoming coin
to thus start the meter. and while so held the strain of the teeth of the gears on
the said shaft exerted on the coin camier and the recording mechanism is
relieved.
The recording device employed. may, and preferably will be made up from
a series of peripherally numbered discs. arranged on an axis common to all so
that the number of feet of gas used may be presented at the recording device by

page_text: figures arranged in a straight line, but the invention to be herein described is
not in all cases to be limited to that form of recording mechanism, but the
recording mechanism used will derive its motion from the same shaft used to
move the coin carrier.
The coin carrier used has pockets corresponding in diameter with the diameter of
the coin' to be used to feed and start it, and said carrier is of the thickness of the
coin used, the said carrier moving in a space, just wide enough to receive it,
between the inner side of the front plate of the attachment and a dividing wall
provided with a discharge opening through which the used coin is discharged
into a locked receptacle made between the rear side of said dividing wall and
the back plate of the attachment.
A discharging device acts to remove from the coin carrier the used coin after
it has started the meter mechanism.
The coin carrier may be composed of a wheel toothed at its periphery and
having a series of coin receiving pockets, the wheel having a continuous rotation
imparted to it by the meter mechanism so long as a pocket of the carrier opposite
the main locking device contains a coin.
The coin carrier is of the thickness of the coin to be used so it is not possible
to feed into the carrier a bent coin which will clog its motion and keep open the
gas supply.
The coins supplied to the machine are fed into the coin space in the front
plate, one at a time, by a coin feeder, and such coin once put into the said space
cannot be withdrawn, nor can a coin be put into the machine by or through the
feeder with an attached string or wire so that said coin may be withdrawn after
starting the meter.
The attachment herein to be described containing the means for determining the
supply of gas according to the amount of money put into the attachment, consists
essentially of a back-plate and a front plate, separated by a dividing wall.
This dividing wall has a slot in which works a main locking device, and a dis-
charge opening for the used coin, said coin passing through said opening from the
coin carrier and dropping it into the locked space in the back part of the coin
carrier, said locked space being closed by a lock plate.
The back-plate has a suitable hub or extension in which moves the stem or
outer end of the main locking device preferably inclined faced.
The acting end of this locking device has a shoulder.
The coin carrier is a toothed wheel having a series of pockets in which may
be received one after another a series of coins fed into a chamber in the front
plate, coins in said chamber being acted upon by a plunger movable in a cap
secured to the front plate, said plunger having an attached stem provided with a
head so that said plunger may be drawn out to insert coins into said chamber, a
spring normally acting to cause it to bear against the coin introduced, and put said
coin into said chamber, keeping the pile of coin pressed toward the face of the
carrier so that said coins will be taken up one by one as a pocket in the carrier
comes opposite a coin.
The coin feeder may be a metal plate of a thickness just equal to the coin having
a hole of substantially the diameter of the coin used.
This plate has a finger piece or ear at one end and a stop at its other end, and
it is laid upon a bed, say a removable plate, having a hole of the same size as the
coin, the hole being opposite the end of the plunger.
The cap on front plate has a projecting guard or foot which overlaps the coin
carrier.
The coins. fed into the chamber may be put one at a time in the opening of the
coin feeder against the bed, and the coin feeder will be pushed until the coin
arrives opposite the plunger, when the plunger, under the action of the spring will
remove the coin into the chamber.
Coins may be put in this way into the chamber and finally the coin feeder will
be left in its closed position, and the plunger will be released, so that its spring

page_text: will enable the plunger, acting on the coin supply, to force the same laterally
in the chamber and cause the endmost coin of the pile, or the coin farthest from
the end of the plunger, to act against the inner end of the locking device and cause
it to be pressed back out of the pocket in which it enters and stands when a coin
is absent from a pocket of the coin carrier, the pushing back of this con locking
device effecting the release of the coin carrier, so that it may immediately start up
and move under the action of its driving shaft.
The pushing back of this coin locking device out of the pocket of the coin carrier
by the entrance of a coin into said pocket, will effect the opening of the gas con-
trolling valve.
This coin carrier of the attachment is provided with a pinion fixed to a toothed
wheel, said wheel and pinion turning about a hollow stud projecting from the
front plate, a suitable headed stud screw keeping said gear and pinion on said
stud.
The said toothed gear derives its movement from teeth on a part of the main
or power shaft designated as the usual driving shaft of a meter, said shaft being of
different diameters.
This shaft has at its rear end a toothed wheel engaged by a pinion
on a second
shaft having also attached to it a small toothed wheel which is engaged by the
teeth fixed upon one end of a third shaft having a worm gear engaged and rotated
by a worm on a fourth shaft whose rotation is effected by or through the gas moving
through the usual bellows or equivalent part of the meter, the movement of said
bellows actuating links which effect the rotation in usual manner on the said
shafts.
This driving shaft has fixed upon it a cam and an attached bevel gear.
This bevel gear engages a second bevel gear on a shaft having attached to it a
toothed wheel which engages a smaller toothed wheel on a shaft forming part of
a recording or counting mechanism, say a series of wheels each figured from
1 to 0 on its periphery, the figures of said wheel showing through a suitable slot
in a cover plate fixed to the outer plate.
With this sort of recording or counting mechanism, one wheel being rotated ten
times, while the next wheel to it is rotated once, it is possible to show in a straight
line the quantity of gas which has passed through the meter.
The recording device referred to is one preferred to be used, but it does not
provide for showing exactly the quantity of gas measured and delivered, so an
auxiliary recording mechanism is sometimes provided consisting of a shaft having
at its front end a pointer which traverses a dial, suitably covered by a glass
cover.
The last named shaft is supported in both the back and front plates of the attach-
ment, and has at its rear end a pinion engaged by an intermediate pinion mounted
loosely, the said intermediate pinion being engaged and driven from a pinion
fast on the second shaft before described.
This auxiliary recording device is useful inasmuch as it acts when set accurately,
as a tally, and the main recording device must record a foot when the auxiliary
device records a foot of gas.
The beveled part of the main locking device, when said locking device enters
fully a pocket in the coin carrier due to the absence of coin in said carrier, meets
the upper end of a secondary locking device which may be a bar held in a suitable
guideway in the back-plate of the attachment, thus holding the said bar down in
said guideway so that its lower end is met by one of the projections of a cam,
either of said projections when meeting the said locking device immediately
arresting any further movement of the main shaft and relieving any strain of the
gears on the devices actuated by them, the shaft being normally acted upon at
all times by or through the force of the gas in the meter to turn said shaft when
it is not arrested by a locking device, chiefly the locking device used to arrest the
coin carrier in the absence of coin from its pockets.

page_text: The pockets in the coin carrier have their edges next the plunger. beveled so
that the coin may freely enter the pockets.
The space between the foot of the cap and the table is just equal to the thickness
of the coin feeder, so that a bent coin put into the opening cannot pass under
the guard nor can a string or wire be connected with the coin put in the opening,
and the coin feeder be thereafter removed far enough into the machine to enable
the plunger to act upon the coin and put it into the chamber, and consequently
the meter cannot be cheated by putting a coin in to start it and then pulling the
coin out, nor can a coin of the proper size and shape once put into the feeder and
pushed into position to be acted upon by the plunger, be thereafter abstracted from
the attachment.
The gas will be taken from the meter through a suitable outlet, and it will
enter the inlet of the meter. through a suitable inlet.
The inlet has connected with it a pipe in turn connected with another inlet,
said pipe being of T shape, and coupled into the attachment through a suitable
tube fitted over a projection extended from the back-plate.
The main furnishing the supply for the gas will be coupled onto part of the gas
inlet.
This inlet has a chamber at one end in which enters the gas controlling valve
attached to a stem extended into the pipe and provided with a head, against which
acts preferably a suitable spring surrounding the shank of the main locking device.
The stem of this valve is also passed through a collar controlling a suitable
packing surrounding the stem, the said stem between the said collar and head being
surrounded by a suitable spring, which serves normally to keep the packing sur-
rounding said valve firmly in contact with the valve seat.
It has been stated that the presence of a coin in a pocket of the coin carrier
always acts to move the locking device out from and so as to release the coin carrier
and let it start, and as said locking device is so moved by a coin, it acts on the
head of the stem and opens the valve, letting the gas flow through the meter.
The acting end of this main locking device has a shoulder, the cutting away of
said locking device reducing its width so that as an empty pocket in the coin
carrier in the movement. of the coin carrier, arrives opposite said locking device,
it may partially enter the said pocket through the action of the spring, thus
gradually closing the valve on its seat, such gradual closing of the valve diminish-
ing or lowering the light to indicate to the user of the meter that the gas will soon
be shut off if coin is not supplied to the meter, the gas not being fully shut off
until after the full width of the said locking device, including the shoulder, has
entered the pocket of the coin carrier, as it is only at that time that the valve is
closed fully to shut off the supply of gas.
By bevelling the edge left by making the notch, the entrance of the locking
device into the pocket may be made very gradual.
The locking device being just entered into the pocket, and there is a space
between the edge of the locking device and the edge of the pocket of the coin
carrier, the coin carrier must move sufficiently to close up that space and bring the
wall of the pocket against the edge, before the shouldered part of the locking
device can enter the pocket fully to thus fully shut off the gas.
When the valve is fully closed, and the gas is shut off, its periphery is acted upon
by the gas which forms a sediment upon the surface of the valve.
To provide that this valve shall always be cleaned effectually when opened so that
it may be shut firmly into the seat, there is a pocket in the end of the inlet pipe into
which said valve enters when it is fully opened, the entrance of the valve into
said pocket causing the valve to be scraped externally, to thereby remove from
its surface any sediment deposited upon it while the valve was in its closed condi-
tion, the sediment being also removed from the packing, so that it, when it enters
the seat the next time the valve is closed, will be absolutely clean so as to fit the
seat snugly and preclude the passage of gas into the meter.
The inner end of the plunger is provided with a slot, and the plunger has made
in it a groove entered by a guiding device made as a screw.

page_text: This groove when the last coin under the end of the plunger has entered a
Jocket or the coin carrier and has been carried out of the chamber will, as soon as
an empty pocket of the coin carrier comes opposite the plunger, receive in it the
end of the locking device.
Were it not for this groove, the locking device could not enter the pockel of the
coin carrier.
The side of the division wall has a guard to surround the gear, thus shielding it,
and preventing the coin dropped into the locked compartment of the attachment
from interfering with its movement.
As soon as a coin in a pocket has, in the rotation of the coin carrier, been
carried beyond the locking device, and that coin has done its work in providing for
opening the valve, said coin in the further movement of the carrier will arrive
opposite the discharge opening, and the face of the coin will at that point come in
contact with a discharging device connected with the front plate, a bent portion
of said discharging device meeting the coin and acting as a cam to force it out from
the pocket of the carrier through the said discharging device into the locked
receptacle.
By making the table detachable, it is possible to substitute a table either thicker
or thinner, and also to employ a coin feeder thicker or thinner to correspond with
the thickness of the coin to be used to actuate the meter.
The attachment composed essentially of the plates and their contained parts,
may be readily attached to any ordinary dry meter. The locking device may be
arranged in line with the stem of the valve, but the said locking device does not
form a connected part of the valve stem, although it is actuated thereby, and the
spring interposed between the head of the valve stem and the shank of the locking
device effectually acts to cause the locking device to enter a pocket of and check
the movement of the coin carrier even though the gas valve should not by any
reason be fully closed upon its seat.
The gas entering the supply inlet passes therefrom through a suitable opening
into the pipe already referred to connected thereto.
The inner end of the valve is reduced in diameter, and as the valve is gradually
closed the reduced diameter of the valve entering or approaching the said opening,
gradually closes up the space between the said valve and about its edge, so that the
quantity of gas which can pass is gradually reduced, the reduction being sufficient
to lower the pressure, and decrease the light.
1000
Improvements in and relating to Coin Freed Apparatus or Prepay-
ment Attachments for Gas or other. Fluid Meters.
A communication from abroad by HENRY G. THOMPSON, of Milford, HARRY
GRANT THOMPSON and SAMUEL E. MOWER, both of New Haven, all in the
County of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, one of the United States
of America, trading under the Firm name of Henry G. Thompson & Son,
Manufacturers.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and

page_text: in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:--
This invention has for its object the production of a novel prepayment attach-
ment adapted to be applied to or to co-operate with a meter used to measure gas
and other fluids.
The attachment contains in itself a coin carrier and recording mechanism to
indicate the quantity of gas or other fluid passed through the meter and paid
for.
The coin carrier and the recording mechanism derive their movement from one
and the same shaft of the attachment, said shaft in turn deriving its motion from a
usual shaft of a meter.
The coin carrier has co-operating with it a locking device which enters an empty
pocket thereof and prevents the further movement of said coin carrier and the
further delivery of gas when the last of a series of coins put into said pockets has
been exhausted from said carrier, but this locking device does not act to instantly
stop the meter, but rather the flow of gas is temporarily reduced to lower the
light and give warning that the last coin has been exhausted, and if coin is not
soon supplied the flow of gas will be entirely stopped.
As a further security against any extra movement of the recording mechanism
with relation to the coin carrier, and to reduce the strain of the gearing on the
main shaft when the meter is not in action, an auxiliary locking device has been
provided, it being interposed between the main locking device and the shaft of the
attachment which actuates the coin carrier and recording mechanism, so that
when the main locking device enters a pocket of the coin carrier it acts to hold
said auxiliary locking device in the path of movement of a cam or projection
on said shaft and prevents it from further rotation until after the main locking
device has been pushed out of a pocket of the coin carrier by an incoming coin
to thus start the meter, and while so held the strain of the teeth of the gears on
the said shaft exerted on the coin carrier and the recording mechanism is
relieved.
The recording device employed, may, and preferably will be made up from
a series of peripherally numbered discs, arranged on an axis common to all so
that the number of feet of gas used may be presented at the recording device by
figures arranged in a straight line, but the invention to be herein described is
not in all cases to be limited to that form of recording mechanism, but the
recording mechanism used will derive its motion from the same shaft used to
move the coin carrier.
The coin carrier used has pockets corresponding in diameter with the diameter of
the coin to be used to feed and start it, and said carrier is of the thickness of the
coin used, the said carrier moving in a space, just wide enough to receive it,
between the inner side of the front plate of the attachment and a dividing wall
provided with a discharge opening through which the used coin is discharged
into a locked receptacle made between the rear side of said dividing wall and
the back plate of the attachment.
A discharging device acts to remove from the coin carrier the used coin after
it has started the meter mechanism.
The coin carrier herein shown is composed of a wheel toothed at its periphery and
having a series of coin receiving pockets, the wheel having a continuous rotation
imparted to it by the meter mechanism so long as a pocket of the carrier opposite
the main locking device contains a coin.
The coin carrier is of the thickness of the coin to be used so it is not possible
to feed into the carrier a bent coin which will clog its motion and keep open the
gas supply.
The coins supplied to the machine are fed into the coin space in the front
plate, one at a time, by a coin feeder, and such coin once put into the said space
cannot be withdrawn, nor can a coin be put into the machine by or through the

page_text: feeder with an attached string or wire so that said coin may be withdrawn after
starting the meter.
Fig. 1 is a plan view of a meter with its top removed, the meter having applied
to it the prepayment attachment the subject of this invention, the gas conducting
pipe, and the pipe having the valve being partially broken out to show its con-
tained valve and stem and part of the locking device;
Fig. 1, is a detail showing the gas valve fully open, it being supposed that the
main locking device is being held back by a coin in the coin carrier.
Fig. 1, shows the main locking device as having partially entered a pocket of
the coin carrier, the gas valve having been but partially closed to thus let the
lights down to indicate that the gas will soon be cut off if the meter is not properly
supplied with coin:
Fig. 2 is a front view of the attachment removed from the meter:
Fig. is a section taken through the attachment on the line, Fig. 2, the pipe
containing the gas valve being omitted; the locking device being shown as holding
the coin carrier, the coin being absent from the pockets of the carrier:
Fig. 4 is a rear side elevation of the attachment:
Fig. 5 shows separately the division wall which is located between the front and
back plates:
Fig. 6 shows an inner side view of the back plate of the attachment with the
main and the auxiliary locking devices, the shaft of the attachment for actuating
the coin carrier being in section, the cam or projection thereon being in elevation;
Fig. 7 is an inner side view of the front plate of the attachment with the coin
carrier and its actuating train, the main shaft being in section;
Fig. 8 is a partial section on the dotted line, Fig. 7:
Fig. 9 shows detached the main locking device which enters a pocket in the coin
carrier, and part of the coin carrier:
Fig. 10 shows part of the casing enclosing the recording device and its actuating
parts;
Fig. 11 is a sectional detail on the line of Figs 6 and 7, the locking device
being shown as pressed back by a coin to open the valve, as in Fig. 1:
Fig. 12 is a face view of the plunger co-operating with the coin feeder to put
the coin into the pockets of the said carrier.
The attachment herein to be described containing the means for determining
the supply of gas according to the amount of money put into the attachment,
consists essentially of a back plate B and a front plate B, separated by a dividing
wall 132, shown separately in Fig. 5.
This dividing wall has a slot 61, in which works a main locking device 2, to be
described. and a discharge opening for the used coin, said coin passing through
said opening from the coin carrier to be described, and dropping into the locked
space in the back part of the coin carrier, said locked space being closed by a
plate c. having a suitable lock ď.
The back plate has a suitable hub or extension b. in which moves the stem or
outer end of the main locking device best shown in Fig. 3, and partially in Fig. 1,
said locking device having as represented an inclined face 66.
The acting end of this locking device, see Fig. 9, is reduced in width to leave
a shoulder and preferably the edge of said locking device from said shoulder
towards its end will be somewhat tapered.
The coin carrier consists essentially of a toothed wheel having a series of
pockets in which may be received one after another a series of coins fed into
a chamber in the front plate, said coins in said chamber being acted upon by a
plunger movable in a cap e², secured to the front plate by suitable screws 400,
said plunger having an attached stem provided with a head so that said
plunger may be drawn out as in Fig. 3 when desired to insert coins into said
chamber, a spring e normally acting on said plunger to cause it to bear against the
coin introduced by the coin feeder to be described and put said coin into said

page_text: chamber, keeping the pile of coin pressed toward the face of the carrier d', so that
said coins will be taken up one bŷ one as a pocket in the carrier comes opposite
a coin.
The coin feeder, herein shown, consists essentially of a metal plate 82, preferably
of a thickness just equal to the coin to be used, said plate having a hole 81 of
substantially the diameter of the coin used.
This plate has a finger piece or ear 84 at one end and a stop 85 at its other end
and it is laid upon a bed c shown as a removable plate, held in place by a suitable
pin 86, said plate having a hole of the same size as the coin to be used, the hole
in the plate being located exactly opposite the end of the plunger e³.
The cap has a projecting guard or foot 83 which overlaps the coin carrier.
The coins to be fed into the chamber 2 will in this instance of the invention
be put one at a time in the opening 81 of the coin feeder against the bed, and
the coin feeder will be pushed to the left in the direction of the arrow thereon
Fig. 2, until the coin in said opening arrives exactly opposite the plunger, when the
plunger, under the action of the spring will remove the coin into the chamber n².
As many coins as desired may be put in this way into the chamber n², and finally
the coin feeder will be left in its closed position, and the plunger will be released,
so that its spring e will enable the plunger, acting on the coin supply, to force
the same laterally in the chamber and cause the endmost coin of the pile,
or the coin farthest from the end of the plunger, to act against the inner end of
the locking device ", and cause it to be pressed back out of the pocket in which
it enters and stands when a coin is absent from a pocket of the coin carrier, the
pushing back of this coin locking device effecting the release of the coin carrier,
so that it may immediately start up and move under the action of its driving
shaft A to be hereinafter described.
The pushing back of this coin locking device out of the pocket of the coin carrier
by the entrance of a coin into said pocket, will effect the opening, as will be
described, of the gas controlling valve 101.
This coin carrier d' of the attachment is provided with a pinion f³ fixed to a
toothed wheel f, said wheel and pinion turning about a hollow stud 3 projecting
backwardly from the front plate, a suitable headed stud screw 4 keeping the said
gear and pinion on said stud.
The gear derives its movement from teeth A. in this instance of this invention
cut directly upon a part of the shaft A', said shaft being of different diameters.
This shaft A is called the main or power shaft of the attachment, and it has
connected to it at iis rear end a toothed wheel A2, which is engaged by a pinion g
on a shaft g, said shaft having also attached to it a small toothed wheel g', which
is engaged by the teeth Fig. 1 fixed upon one end of a shaft h having a worm
gear engaged and rotated by a worm f on a shaft e, the rotation of said shaft
being effected by or through the gas moving through the usual bellows of the
meter, the movement of said bellows actuating links a, b, c and d, which effect
the rotation in usual manner common to gas meters on the said shafts e and h.
The shaft A is herein designated as the usual driving shaft of a meter.
This shaft A has fixed upon it just back of the toothed gear A³ a cam A³,
and at its end farthest from the centre of the meter, said shaft has an attached
bevelled gear A+.
This bevel gear engages a bevel gear on a shaft 2 having attached to it a
toothed wheel which engages a smaller toothed wheel h on a shaft forming
part of a recording or counting mechanism, composed, as herein shown, of a
series of wheels 4, each figured from 1 to 0 on its periphery, the figures of said
wheel showing through a suitable slot in a cover plate B° fixed to the outer
plate B¹.
With this sort of a recording or counting mechanism, one wheel being rotated
ten times, while the next wheel to it is rotated once, it is possible to show in a
straight line the quantity of gas which has passed through the meter.
The recording device referred to is one preferred to be used, but it does not

page_text: provide for showing exactly the quantity of gas measured and delivered, so I
have shown in Figs. 2 and 8 an auxiliary recording mechanism, consisting
essentially of a shaft m³ having at its front end a pointer m*, which traverses a
dial m, suitably covered by a glass cover me, said dial being herein represented
as having two numbers 2 and 1, the starting position for the pointer being at 2.
One foot of gas will be consumed as the pointer moves from the number 2 to the
number 1, and two feet of gas will be consumed when it completely traverses
the dial, the intermediate marks between 1 and 2 representing the exact fraction
of feet of gas.
The shaft m³ is supported in both the back and front plates of the attachment,
and has at its rear end a pinion m which is engaged by an intermediate m
mounted loosely on a stud m³, the said intermediate me being engaged and driven
from a pinion m10 fast on the shaft g before described.
This auxiliary recording device is useful inasmuch as it acts when set accurately,
as a tally, and the main recording device must record a foot when the auxiliary
device records a foot of gas.
The bevelled part 6 of the main locking device when said locking device enters
fully a pocket in the coin carrier due to the absence of coin in said carrier, meets
the upper end of a secondary locking device m¹, shown as a bar held in a suitable
guideway in the back plate B of the attachment, thus holding the said bar down
in said guideway so that its lower end is met by one of the projections of a
cam A5, either of said projections when meeting the said locking device immediately
arresting any further movement of the shaft A', and relieving any strain of the
gears A3 and A' on the devices actuated by them, it being understood that the
shaft A is normally acted upon at all times by or through the force of the gas
in the meter to turn said shaft when it is not arrested by a locking device,
chiefly the locking device used to arrest the coin carrier in the absence of coin
from its pockets.
The pockets in the coin carrier have their edges next the plunger bevelled as
at d³, see Fig. 11, so that the coin may freely enter the pockets.
The space between the foot of the cap and the table is just equal to the
thickness of the coin feeder, so that a bent coin put into the opening 81 cannot
pass under the guard 83, nor can a string or wire be connected with the coin put
in the opening 81, and the coin feeder be thereafter removed far enough into
the machine to enable the plunger to act upon the coin and put it into the
chamber n, and consequently the meter cannot be cheated by putting a coin in
to start it and then pulling the coin out, nor can a coin of the proper size and
shape once put into the feeder and pushed into position to be acted upon by the
plunger, be thereafter abstracted from the attachment.
The gas will be taken from the meter through the outlet 110, and it will enter
the inlet of the meter through the inlet 105.
Herein the inlet 105 has connected with it a pipe 104 in turn connected with an
inlet 103, said pipe being of T-shape, and coupled into the attachment through a
suitable tube 640, fitted over a projection 6' extended from the back plate B.
The main furnishing the supply for the gas will be coupled onto the part 10:3
of the gas inlet.
This inlet has a chamber at one end in which enters the gas controlling valve 101
attached to a stem 100, extended into the pipe 640, and provided with a head 107,
against which acts preferably a suitable spring 60 surrounding the shank b³ of
the main locking device.
The stem 100 of this valve is also passed through a collar 106 controlling a
suitable packing 641 surrounding the stem, the said stem between the said collar
and head being surrounded by a suitable spring 108, which serves normally to keep
the packing 6 surrounding said valve firmly in contact with the valve seat 102.
It has been stated that the presence of a coin in a pocket of the coin carrier
always acts to move the locking device 6ª out from and so as to release the coin

page_text: carrier and let it start, and as said locking device is so moved by a coin, it acts
on the head 107 of the stem 100 and opens the valve, letting the gas flow through
the meter.
The acting end of this main locking device, see Fig. 9, is cut away at t to
leave a shoulder t, the cutting away of said locking device reducing
its width SO that as all empty pocket in the coin carrier in the
movement of the coin carrier, arrives opposite said locking device,
it may partially enter the said pocket through the action of the spring 108, thus
gradually closing the valve on its seat, such gradual closing of the valve diminish-
ing or lowering the light to indicate to the user of the meter that the gas will be
soon shut off if coin is not supplied to the meter, the gas not being fully shut off
until after the full width of the said locking device, including the shoulder, has
entered the pocket of the coin carrier, as it is only at that time that the valve is
closed fully to shut off the supply of gas.
As the main locking device is moved by its actuating spring to enter a vacant
coin space in the coin carrier it also enters a transverse notch or slot 2 at the inner
end of the plunger, said slot being marked in Fig. 12 & also shewn in Fig. 11.
By bevelling the edge left by making the notch t, the entrance of the locking
device into the pocket may be made very gradual.
Viewing Fig. 9, it will be seen that the locking device has just entered the
pocket, and that there is a space between the edge of the locking device and the
edge of the pocket of the coin carrier d', and the coin carrier must move sufficiently
to close up that space and bring the wall of the pocket against the edge t3, before
the shouldered part of the locking device can enter the pocket fully to thus fully
shut off the gas.
When the valve 101 is fully closed, and the gas is shut off, its periphery is acted
upon by the gas which forms a sediment upon the surface of the valve.
To provide that this valve shall always be cleaned effectually when opened so
that it may be shut firmly into the seat there is provided a pocket 650, in the end
of the inlet pipe, see Figs. 1 and 1", into which said valve enters when it is fully
opened, the entrance of the valve into said pocket causing the valve to be scraped
externally, to thereby remove from its surface any sediment deposited upon it
while the valve is in its closed condition, the sediment also being removed from
the packing, so that it, when it enters the seat 102 at the next time the valve is
closed, will be absolutely clean so as to fit the seat snugly and preclude the passage
of gas into the meter.
The inner end of the plunger e is provided with a slot. 2, and the plunger has
made in it a groove, as f, which is entered by a guiding device f made as a screw.
This groove 2 when the last coin under the end of the plunger has entered a
pocket of the coin carrier, and has been carried out of the chamber n; will as soon
as an empty pocket of the coin carrier comes opposite the plunger, receive in it the
end of the locking device 63.
Were it not for this groove 2, the locking device could not enter the pocket of
the coin carrier.
The side of the division wall B2 has a guard 6' to surround the gear f, thus
shielding it, and preventing the coin dropped into the locked. compartment of the
attachment from interfering with its movement.
As soon as a coin in a pocket has, in the rotation of the coin carrier, been
carried beyond the locking device b², and that coin has done its work in providing
for opening the valve, said coin in the further movement of the carrier will arrive
opposite the discharge opening, and the face of the coin will at that point
come in contact with a discharging device, shown as a spring 610, connected
with the front plate, a bent portion of said discharging device meeting the coin
and acting as a cam to force it out from the pocket of the carrier through the
said discharging device into the locked receptacle.
The chamber n³ may be of any desired depth.

page_text: By making the table detachable, it is possible to substitute a table either
thicker or thinner, and also to employ a coin feeder thicker or thinner to corre-
spond with the thickness of the coin to be used to actuate the meter.
The attachment composed essentially of the plates and their contained parts,
may be readily attached to any ordinary dry meter. The locking device 6 is
herein shown as arranged in line with the stem of the valve, but the said locking
device does not form a connected part of the valve stem, although it is actuated
thereby, and the spring 6 interposed between the head of the valve stem and the
shank of the locking device effectually acts to cause the locking device to enter a
pocket of and check the movement of the coin carrier even though the gas valve
should not by any reason by fully closed upon its seat.
The gas entering the supply 103 passes therefrom through the opening 653 into
the pipe 104.
The inner end of the valve 101 is reduced in diameter at 1, and as the valve is
gradually closed, as in Fig. 1", it will be noticed that the reduced diameter 651 of
the valve entering or approaching the opening 6, gradually closes up the space
between the said valve and about its edge, so that the quantity of gas which can
pass is gradually reduced, the reduction being sufficient to lower the pressure,
and decrease the light.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame containing
a shaft adapted to be rotated by the actuating parts of a meter, of a coin carrier
having pockets to receive coin, means between said shaft and said coin carrier to
move the latter positively; a coin feeder having an opening to receive coin, a
spring pressed plunger adapted to act on the coin in the said coin feeder and
force said coin into the pockets of the coin carrier, and a locking device
cooperating with the pockets of the coin carrier when the coin is absent therefrom,
substantially as described.
2. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame containing
a shaft adapted to be rotated by the actuating parts of a meter, of a coin carrier
having pockets to receive coin, means between said shaft and said coin carrier to
move the latter positively: a coin feeder having an opening to receive coin, a
spring pressed plunger adapted to act on the coin in the said coin feeder and
force said coin into the pockets of the coin carrier, said plunger being grooved at
its end and being of a diameter to enter the pocket of the coin carrier when the coin
is exhausted therefrom, and a locking device also entering a pocket of the said coin
carrier and the groove in said plunger.
3. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame containing a
shaft adapted to be rotated by usual actuating parts of a meter, of a vertically
arranged coin carrier provided with pockets for coin; means to move said coin-
carrier positively: a coin feeder to supply coin to said coin carrier: a locking
device to restrain the rotation of said coin carrier until rendered inoperative by the
presence of coin in the carrier; a coin discharging device arranged to act against
said each coin in succession after said coin has rendered the said locking device
inoperative, said coin discharging device discharging the coin from said coin
carrier into a locked receptacle, substantially as described.
4. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with an attachment frame
having a shaft adapted to be rotated by the actuating parts of a meter, of a toothed
coin carrier having pockets to receive coin; means actuated by said shaft to move
said coin carrier: a coin feeder to receive coin and supply it to the pockets of said
coin carrier a plunger to act upon the coin in the coin feeder and discharge it
therefrom into a chamber of the attachment frame and thence into the pockets

page_text: of the coin carrier; a spring actuated locking device arranged at one side of said
coin carrier; a coin discharging device arranged at the opposite side of said
carrier; and a receptacle to receive the discharged coin, substantially as described.
5. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with an attachment frame
having a shaft mounted therein and adapted to be rotated by the actuating parts
of a meter; of a coin carrier actuated from said shaft, said carrier having a
plurality of pockets, a gas valve, a spring to close it, a locking device cooperating
with said gas valve, said locking device normally acting to enter a pocket in and
restrain the movement of said coin carrier when coin is absent therefrom, to
thereby cut off the supply of gas; means to act on one, or a series of coins held in a
pile at the side of said coin carrier opposite the pocket and put said coin into a
pocket of the moving coin carrier, the entrance of said coin into the coin carrier
displacing the said locking device to release the coin carrier and at the same time
open the said valve, admit gas, and permit the meter to start, substantially as
described.
6. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame adapted to be
attached to a meter and composed of a back plate having a space for the used coin,
of a front plate having a chamber to receive and hold a supply of coin to be used;
a dividing wall separating said two plates, said wall having a discharge passage
through which the coin from the coin carrier escapes: a coin carrier having
pockets for the reception of the coin, means to move said coin carrier between
the said front plate and said dividing wall from the position where the coin carrier
receives coin into a position opposite the discharge passage in said dividing wall,
said front plate and dividing wall by contact with both sides of said coin; keeping
it upright in the pockets of said carrier; means to put the coins lying in said front
plate into the open pocket of said coin carrier one after another while the coins
last; and an independent locking device located at the opposite side of said
coin carrier in line with the path of movement of the means employed to put the
said coins into said coin carrier, an incoming coin acting on and displacing said
locking device to release the coin carrier, substantially as described.
7. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame provided with
a shaft adapted to be rotated by the actuating parts of a meter, of a coin carrier
having pockets to receive coin; a coin feeder to supply said pockets with coin;
a locking device to enter a coin receiving pocket of said coin carrier and restrain
the rotation of the same in the absence of coin; a coin discharging device to
discharge a coin from said pockets, said coin having performed its function of
releasing the locking device; a recording device to indicate the quantity of gas
delivered; and means between said shaft and said coin carrier and recording
device whereby one and the same shaft becomes the mover for both the coin carrier
and recording device, to operate substantially as described.
8. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame adapted to be
attached to a meter; of a movable coin carrier having pockets to receive and carry
coins to point of delivery; a shaft rotated by the mechanism of any usual meter;
means between it and said coin carrier to actuate the latter; a cam carried by said
shaft; a main locking device to enter a pocket of the coin carrier when a coin is
absent therefrom, and an auxiliary locking device under the control of said main
locking device and adapted to cause the auxiliary locking device to engage said
cam and prevent the rotation of said shaft when the main locking device stands in
a pocket of the coin carrier, substantially as described.
9. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame composed of
front and back plates separated by a dividing wall having a slot; of a coin
carrier having pockets for the reception of coins, said front plate and dividing wall
lying close to the opposite sides of said coin carrier and serving to keep the said
coin in said carrier, and a locking device located in said slot and adapted to enter
a pocket in said coin carrier when said pocket arrives opposite said locking device
and is without coin, substantially as described.

page_text: 10. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame adapted to be
attached to a meter, of a coin carrier located and made movable in said frame, and
provided with pockets to receive coin, said pockets being bevelled at one side for
the easy entrance of coin therein, and a coin feeder, and means to transfer coin
from said feeder into said coin carrier, substantially as described.
11. The use in a meter having a front plate, and a dividing wall, of a coin carrier
having coin pockets and adapted to move with a coin in the space between said
front plate and wall, said coin carrier being of a thickness to substantially fill
said space, the side of the front plate and said dividing wall keeping the coin
upright in said coin carrier, substantially as described.
12. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame presenting a
back plate provided with a passage for the used coin, of a front plate presenting
a chamber to receive one or more coins; a movable coin feeder having a pocket
to be supplied with coin in one position and to place the coin in said opening
opposite the chamber in said front plate in its other position; a coin carrier; an
independent locking device, to lock said coin carrier, and a plunger to act on
the coin in said feeder and put it in the chamber of the front plate, from which
chamber said coins are taken in succession by the coin feeder, said plunger con-
tinuing to act on said coin until the last coin has been put into the coin carrier,
substantially as described.
13. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a coin carrier having
pockets for the reception of coin to start the meter, said coin pushing back and
releasing a locking device which normally acts to lock said coin carrier in the
absence of coins from said coin carrier, of a dividing wall having a discharge
opening, said coin carrier moving the coin contained in it over said wall to a
discharge opening therein, and a recording mechanism presenting a series of discs
side by side, and having figures to indicate units, tens, hundreds, etcetera, a shaft
rotated from any usual shaft of a meter and provided with gearing acting through
other suitable gear train to move directly both the coin carrier and the recording
mechanism, substantially as described.
14. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a frame containing a
shaft adapted to be rotated by the actuating parts of a meter, of a coin carrier
having pockets to receive coin, means between said shaft and said coin carrier
to move the latter positively: a coin feeder having an opening to receive coin, a
spring pressed plunger adapted to act on the coin in the said coin feeder and
force the coin into the pockets of the coin carrier, and a locking device co-operating
with the pockets of the coin carrier when the coin is absent therefrom, said locking
device in its movements controlling the main gas supply valve of the meter, sub-
stantially as described.
15. The use in a prepayment attachment for meters, of a coin carrier, and a
locking device co-operating therewith and controlling in its movements the opening
and shutting of the gas supply valve of the meter, said locking device being shaped
to gradually enter a pocket of said coin carrier to gradually shut off the gas and
give warning that the gas will soon be entirely cut off if coin is not supplied to
the attachment, substantially as described.
16. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a coin feeder of the
same thickness as the coin to be used and having a through. 'and through opening,
of a table to support one side of said coin feeder and the rear side of the coin put
into the opening of the coin feeder, and a cup plate having a guard extended
from it to overlap the said table and coin feeder, and a plunger, said foot plate
acting against the outer side of said coin feeder and the outer side of the coin,
substantially as described.
17. In a prepayment attachment for a meter, the use with a coin feeder of the
same thickness as the coin to be used and having a through and through opening,
of a table detachably secured to the front plate of said attachment to support one
side of said coin feeder and the rear side of the coin put into the opening of the coin

page_text: feeder; and a foot-plate having a plunger, said foot plate acting against the
outer side of said coin feeder and the outer side of the coin whereby by change of
said table and coin feeder for others of different thicknesses the coin feeder may be
adapted to receive and hold snugly a single coin of any thickness which it is
desired to use in the attachment, substantially as described.
18. In a prepayment attachment for meters, a coin carrier, means to move it;
a gas controlling valve; and a separate detached locking device having its stem
mounted to slide in a suitable guide of the attachment frame, and adapted to enter
a pocket of said coin carrier; the stem of said locking device occupying a position
with relation to said gas valve to be moved directly thereby in a direction to enter
an empty pocket of the coin carrier, substantially as described.
19. In a prepayment attachment for meters, a coin carrier, means to move it:
a gas controlling valve; a separate detached locking device to enter a pocket of
said coin carrier; the stem of said locking device occupying a position with relation
to said gas valve to be moved thereby directly in a direction to enter an empty
pocket of the coin carrier, and a spring interposed between said locking device
and said valve, substantially as described.
20. In a prepayment attachment for meters, a coin carrier, means to move it; a
gas controlling valve; a separate detached locking device to enter a pocket of said
coin carrier; the stem of said locking device occupying a position with relation
to said gas valve to be moved thereby directly in a direction to enter an empty
pocket of the coin carrier, and a spring to act normally to close said gas valve, and
a second spring interposed between said locking device and said valve, substantially
as described.
21. In a prepayment attachment for meters, a coin carrier, means to move it; a
gas controlling valve; and a separate detached locking device to enter a pocket of
said coin carrier; the stem of said locking device occupying a position with relation
to said gas valve to be moved directly thereby in a direction to enter an empty
pocket of the coin carrier, said locking device having a shoulder to enable it to
gradually enter a pocket of said coin carrier to thus enable said valve to be
gradually closed to gradually cut off the gas or reduce its pressure preparatory to
fully cutting off the gas supply, substantially as described.
22. In a prepayment attachment for meters, a coin carrier, means to move it; a
gas controlling valve; and a separate detached locking device to enter a pocket of
said coin carrier; the stem of said locking device occupying a position with relation
to said gas valve to be moved directly thereby in a direction to enter an empty
pocket of said coin carrier. said locking device having a shoulder and a tapered
edge leading to said shoulder to enable it to gradually enter a pocket of said
coin carrier to thus enable said valve to be gradually closed to gradually cut off
the gas or reduce its pressure preparatory to fully cutting off the gas supply,
substantially as described.
23. In a prepayment attachment for meters, a gas inlet pipe having a pocket and
an annular seat, combined with a cylindrical valve having its stem surrounded by
a spring to close the valve on said seat, said valve when opened entering said
pocket and having its exterior surface cleaned from any sediment which might have
been deposited thereon when the valve was closed and the meter inactive, sub-
stantially as described.
24. The use in a prepayment attachment for meters, and a gas inlet pipe having
a pocket and a valve seat; of a cylindrical valve presenting two different diameters
and having a stem and a spring to close the valve on its seat, said valve when
being opened entering said pocket and having its surface cleaned thereby from any
sediment, the smaller diameter of said valve, when the latter is being closed,
entering the space within the annular seat and gradually cutting off the supply
of gas to the meter, substantially as described.
25. The use in a prepayment attachment for meters, having a gas inlet pipe
provided with a pocket and a valve seat; of a cylindrical valve presenting two

page_text: different diameters and having a stem and a spring to close the valve on its seat,
said valve when being opened entering said pocket and having its surface cleaned
thereby from any sediment, the smaller diameter of said valve, when the latter is
being closed, entering the space within the annular seat and gradually cutting off
the supply of gas to the meter; and a locking device under the control of a coin,
whereby the introduction of a coin in the attachment effects the opening of the
said valve, substantially as described.
ed the roth day or renruary 1998.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.