IMPROVE- MENTS IN GAS REGULATORS
Year: 1862

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Henry Sanborn at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
March 1862. A communication from Jeremiah Henry Norton, residing
at Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
I, GEORGE HENRY SANBORN, of Boston, State of Massachusetts, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for." IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GAS REGULATORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in gas, regulators, for
regulating the pressure of gas between the main or, street pipes, and the burners,
to check or reduce the pressure on the remaining burners when
some of the
whole number of burners are not being used, and to keep the flow of gas to
the burners uniform and steady, and at the most economical amount whatever.
number of burners may be in use. The shell or body of the regulator is.
divided into two compartments, one above the other, the gas from the main
enters the lower compartment near one of its ends; near the other end of this.
compartment a short tube projects down from the partition which divides the
compartments; both ends of this tube are open, so that the gas may pass.
from the lower into the upper compartment; below. the end of this tube is a cup.
containing quicksilver, into which the end of the tube dips; in the end of the

page_text: tube are notches or openings, which are not at all times covered with the
quicksilver, these notches may be of different depths, so that if the cup con-
taining the quicksilver is raised the quicksilver may in succession close the
passage through the notches; one notch is, however, made sufficiently long
that it cannot at any time be covered with the quicksilver, and thus the flow
of gas.
into the upper compartment can never at any time be entirely cut off;
the top of the upper compartment is covered by a lid, and around the interior
sides of this compartment near its top a trough is formed, above which is a cap
or cover, which has formed all round its edges a descending flange, which
enters the trough; this trough is filled with mercury, so that the cover may
rise and fall without any gas being permitted to escape from the upper com-
partment, the flange of the cap being always covered with the mercury. The
cup of quicksilver. above mentioned is suspended from this cover by a rod,
which passes down through. the centre of the tube, below which the cup of
quicksilver is situated; this rod is near one end of the cover, and the cover at
its other end turns on pins or pivots carried by the body or shell of the
regulator. The action of the regulator is as follows:-The gas from the main
enters, as before stated, the lower compartment of the regulator, and passes
through the tube, which projects downwards from the partition dividing the
compartments into the upper compartment, from whence it passes away
through a pipe to the burners. When all the burners which are supplied
through the regulator are lighted, the pressure of gas in the upper compart-
ment will be at its minimum, and the cover which closes the compartment
will be in its lowest position, and consequently the cup of mercury which is
suspended from it will be in its lowest position also, thus leaving a considerable
portion of each of the notches in the lower end of the tube uncovered by the
mercury, the gas will therefore flow freely through them into the upper com-
partment; when, however, some of the burners are shut off the pressure of
gas in the upper compartment. will be increased. This increase of pressure
will, to some extent, raise the cap or cover, and with it the cup. of mercury;
so that the mercury will cover more of the openings into the tube or entirely
close some of them:
.
"
I am aware that a flanged cap set in a trough containing quicksilver has
before been used, the flanged cap being connected to a valve, which on the
cap being raised closed an aperture in the bottom of the case, which was
covered by the cap; but this regulator was not reliable, as the coal tar
collecting on the valve and around the edge of the aperture was liable to stick
the valve and entirely prevent the passage of the gas; this difficulty is.

page_text: entirely obviated by my arrangement, as the tube dipping into the cup of
quicksilver can never be stuck fast by the coal tar which may deposit on it;
and if any amount of this substance should be deposited from the gas, it will
flow off from the surface of the quicksilver, and fall into the lower compart-
ment, from which it may subsequently be drawn off.