A SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR REGULATING ADJUSTING THE PRESSURE OF GAS AND OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edwards, of the City of Manchester,
Engineer, for the Invention of "A SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR REGULATING
A
"
Sealed the 30th April 1861, and dated the 1st November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARDS, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR
REGULATING AND ADJUSTING THE PRESSURE OF GAS AND OTHER FLUIDS," to be
as follows:-
The gas, the pressure of which is to be regulated, is made to pass through
my newly invented apparatus; it consists, first, of a circular basin or dish,
divided into two or more annular chambers. The main central compartment
forms the passage for the gas, the surface of the rim or rims round it
constituting the valve seat, round this a circular chamber or channel is
formed, in which is placed a rim, or ring, or hoop, in form like a washer; this
ring or hoop is attached to the valve which closes the aperture before-
mentioned. At the outside of this annular chamber is another one, which is
separated from the former one by a projecting rim. This last annular
chamber is connected to the former annular chamber by one or more passages
at the lowest part of each, the arrangement forming what is called an inverted

page_text: syphon. Into these chambers I put a quantity of mercury or other fluid,
which quantity is regulated so as to raise the ring or hoop and valve before
mentioned according to the pressure of the gas desired. On this part of the
apparatus I fix a cover, which forms an air-tight joint betwixt the two annular
chambers, they being only connected by the inverted syphon before mentioned,
and the mercury or other fluid in the external annular chamber being exposed
to the pressure of the atmosphere. From the middle of this cover proceeds
the delivery pipe, which supplies the gas to the burners. The action is as
follows: The gas being let into the apparatus, if the supply is more than is
required by the burners, its pressure on the mercury in the interior annular
chamber is increased, which pressure being consequently more than that of the
external atmosphere, a portion of the mercury is forced from the interior
anuular chamber into the exterior one, the ring or hoop resting on the mercury
in the interior annular chamber is depressed along with it, and consequently
the valve is partially closed, and thus a smaller quantity of the gas is admitted
into the delivery pipe; but when the contrary takes place, that is, when
the supply of gas in the delivery pipe is deficient, then its pressure on
the mercury in the interior annular chamber being less, the pressure on the
mercury in the exterior annular chamber forces a portion of it into the
interior annular chamber, which raises the ring or hoop, and with it the valve,
and consequently a larger supply of gas to the delivery pipe is obtained.
I do not confine my Invention to the regulating the pressure of gas, but
also apply it to regulating the pressure of other fluids; neither do I confine
myself to the precise details of the apparatus, as above described, or the form
of the valve, as these may be varied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARDS, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edwards, Her special license that I, the said
William Edwards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as I, the said William Edwards, 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 SELF-ACTING APPARATUS FOR REGULATING AND ADJUSTING
THE PRESSURE OF GAS AND OTHER FLUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Edwards, 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 William Edwards, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawing (that is to say):-
of
My Invention relates to apparatus for regulating and adjusting the pressure
gas and other fluids, that is, reducing the pressure of the same to some
constant standard, or thereabouts, at which the application and use of the gas
or other fluid is the most useful and economical. To effect this purpose
I employ what is called an inverted syphon, containing mercury or other fluid,
the fluid in one leg of the syphon being pressed upon by the atmosphere, and
in the other by the gas or other fluid, whose pressure is to be regulated and
adjusted. On the surface of the mercury in one of the legs rests a float, which
is connected to a valve which closes the aperture through which the gas or
other fluid passes. When the supply, and consequently the pressure of the
gas or other fluid is too great, it forces. the mercury into the opposite leg
against the pressure of the atmosphere, the float descends, and with it the
valve; this action partially closes the aperture and restrains the pressure and
supply of the gas or other fluid. But when the pressure and supply of the
gas or other fluid is too little, the pressure of the atmosphere forces a portion
of the mercury into the leg opposite to the one on which it acts; this raises
the float, and with it the valve, by which action a greater supply, and con-
sequently pressure of the gas or other fluid, is obtained.
In order to make my Invention more clearly understood, I have hereunto
annexed a Sheet of Drawings, to which the following description relates, in
which the same letters of reference indicate the same parts :-
Fig. 1 represents a side view of an apparatus to which my improvements.

page_text: are applied; Fig. 2, a section lengthways through the same; and Fig. 3, an
horizontal view of the lower part, the upper parts being removed the better to
shew the internal construction. a, a, lower part or body of the apparatus;
b, b, the middle part; and c, c, the cover or lid; d, d, pipe and passage
through which the gas or other fluid is supplied; e, e, branch from the same,
which leads to underneath the regulating valve; f, f, another branch from the
passage d, which passes through the middle part b, b, to a chamber or space
over the regulating valve; this regulating valve is a compound equilibrium
one, and consists of two separate valves g and g', the gas pressing underneath
the valve g and above the valve g¹; and as the valves are exactly of the same
size and construction, the pressure upwards on the valve 9 is exactly counter-
acted by the pressure downwards on the valve g'.
g
Fig. 4 represents one of the valve seats in plan and section; and Fig. 5
represents one of the valves, also in plan and section. On the operating
surfaces of the valves and valve seats are circular grooves, from which holes
are perforated through, as shewn in the Figs. This construction is adopted to
give a larger space for the passage of the gas than could be obtained without
it. The valve 9 has a stem, which proceeds upwards; 9, a screw, which is
screwed through a hole in the centre of the valve g', the point of it resting on
the centre of the top of the stem on the valve g; by screwing or unscrewing
this screw the valve g¹ is adjusted so that both the valves touch their respective
seats together, and operate simultaneously; h, h, a cross-piece, through which
passes the stem attached to the valve g, to which it is attached by means of a
pin or otherwise. From this cross-piece proceed two arms downwards to the
circular hoop or float h1, h 1, placed in the circular channel i, i; this circular
channel i, i, is connected by one or more apertures at its lowest part to the
two chambers k, k, the chambers i, i, and k, k, thus forming with the apertures
what is called an inverted syphon. The circular rim round the circular
chamber i, i, is met by a corresponding rim on the middle part b, b, forming
an air-tight joint, the middle part b, b, being secured to the lower part a, a,
by means of four screws, the holes for which are shewn in Figure 3; by this
means the chambers i, i, and k, k, are effectually separated, except by the
apertures before mentioned.. k 1, k 1, small holes connecting the chambers k, k,
with the external atmosphere; l, l, chamber and passage open to the circular
chamber i, i, into which the gas or other fluid flows (when it has passed the
compound equilibrium valve g, g 1), and from which it passes into the passage
and delivery pipe m, m, to be conveyed away for use. Mercury being poured
into the chambers i, i, and k, k, will therefore rise to the same height in both,
and support the float h 1, h 1, which in its turn raises the compound equilibrium

page_text: valve g, g 1. The gas or other fluid being let on, passes through the valve
apertures into the channel 1, 1, and presses on the surface of the mercury in
the circular chamber i, i, with a pressure superior to that of the atmosphere.
This action forces a portion of the mercury into the chambers k, k; its surface
in the chamber i, i, becomes depressed, and with it the float h 1, h 1, and
valves g, g 1. In case the pressure of the gas in the chamber 1, 1, becomes too
great, the surface of the mercury in the chamber i, i, becomes further
depressed, and also the float h 1, h I, and the valves g and g 1. This action,
by partially closing the valve apertures, reduces the supply, and consequently
the pressure of the gas in the chamber 1, 1. On the contrary, when the
pressure of the gas in the chamber 1, 1, is too little, the surface of the mercury
in the chamber i, i, becomes raised by the pressure of the atmosphere forcing
a portion of it out of the chambers k, k, into the chamber i, i, the float h 1, h 1,
rises with it, as also the valves g and g 1; the area of the passage for the gas
is increased, and a larger supply obtained. n, a screw, with a milled head,
which screws accurately into a hole bored in a boss on the lower part a, a, of
the apparatus; o, a hole bored from the circular chamber i, i, to meet the
hole into which the screw n is screwed. The mercury necessarily fills the
hole o, and part of the other hole, so that by screwing or unscrewing
the screw n, the height of the mercury in the chambers i, i, and k, k, can be
regulated to the utmost nicety at any time without dismounting any part of
the apparatus.
I do not confine myself to the precise details of the construction of the
apparatus as above described, but vary the same (without departing from the
principle and mode of action of my Invention) as occasion may require.
Neither do I confine myself to the use of mercury as the regulating fluid, but
use as may be convenient other fluids, making corresponding variations in the
apparatus. Neither do I confine myself to the use of the compound equi-
librium valve, but use valves of other constructions in cases where they are
more eligible for the purpose. Neither do I confine my Invention to the
purpose of regulating and adjusting the pressure of gas, but apply it also to
the purpose of regulating the pressure of steam or other fluids, making in
those cases corresponding variations in the apparatus.
The scale of the Drawing is of the full size, but the dimensions must be
varied according to the quantity of the gas or other fluid, the pressure of
which is to be regulated and adjusted.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim as new
and of my Invention is as follows:-

page_text: First, I claim the application and adaptation of an inverted syphon in com-
bination with a float and valve, for the purpose of regulating and adjusting
the pressure of gas or other fluids, as herein described.
Second, I claim 'the construction, application, adaptation, and arrangement
of the apparatus shewn in the Drawing hereunto annexed, for the purpose of
regulating and adjusting the pressure of gas or other fluids, including also the
variation or variations of the same, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edwards, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JOHN, POTTER, C. E.,
4, Old Millgate,
Manchester.
WILLIAM EDWARDS. (L.S.)