CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR MEASURING THE FLOW OF GAS, WATER, OR OTHER FLUIDS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR MEASURING THE FLOW
OF GAS, WATER, OR OTHER FLUIDS."-A communication.
Sealed the 2nd October 1857, and dated the 20th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th April 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engincer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR
MEASURING THE FLOW OF GAS, WATER, OR OTHER FLUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to fluid meters of that description known as "flexible
diaphragm meters," which measure the fluid by the number of times it fills
two measuring chambers, which are separated by a flexible diaphragm or
partition and receive the fluid alternately, the entrance of the fluid into either
chamber causing its discharge from the other by its pressure upon the flexible
diaphragm or partition. The improvements consist in transmitting motion in
a peculiar manner from the flexible diaphragm to the valve or valves, by which
the direction of the flow is changed to fill and discharge the measuring
chambers, and to the registering apparatus, whereby packed working joints are
entirely dispensed with and the movement of the meter is made very easy.

page_text: Motion is transmitted from the .flexible diaphragm to the valve gear by
means of what the Inventor calls a shifter, attached to a shaft at one side of
the measuring box, and swinging within the said box with the movement of
the flexible diaphragm, and thus giving to the said shaft a vibrating motion
to operate the valve gear.
The shifter, or its equivalent, by which motion is transmitted from the
flexible diaphragm to the valve gear, is enclosed so as to prevent leakage at
the opening in, the measuring box through which-the-shifter works without a
stuffing box, or other packed working joint. The diaphragm is made double
and the shifter placed between the two portions thereof, and the said portions
extended to form a packing to surround a fixed tube through which the shifter
shaft works.
The shifter shaft is combined with the tripping lever by means of an arm
and lever, whereby the said tripping lever is worked just at the moment when
one chamber has filled and another has been emptied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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
"CERTAIN. IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR MEASURING THE FLOW OF GAS, WATER,
OR OTHER FLUIDS," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and. ascertain

page_text: 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 Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed;
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say)
-
This Invention relates to fluid meters of that description known as " flexible
diaphragm meters," which measure the fluid by the number of times it fills
two measuring chambers, which are separated by a flexible diaphragm or
partition and receive the fluid alternately, the entrance of the fluid into either
chamber causing its discharge from the other by its pressure upon the flexible
diaphragm or partition. The improvements consist in transmitting. motion in
a peculiar manner from the flexible diaphragm to the valve or valves, by which
the direction of the flow is changed to fill and discharge the measuring
chambers, and to the registering apparatus, whereby packed working joints are
entirely dispensed with and the movement of the meter is made very easy.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are side clevations, taken
at right angles to each other, of a meter with the improvements applied, the
outer casing of the meter being represented in section so as to show the
interior; Fig. 8 is a section, taken in the line x, x, of Fig. 1, of the measuring
box, containing the measuring chambers, which are divided by the flexible
diaphragm; Fig. 4 is a section of part of the measuring box, in the line y, y,
of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan of the valve for changing the direction of the flow
to fill and discharge the chambers, part of the mechanism for operating the
same being also shewn; Fig. 6 represents parts of the mechanism shewn in
Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is a plan of part of the mechanism for operating the
registering apparatus. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in the several Figures.
A, A, is the measuring box, composed of two plates having a concave
form internally and provided with flanches a, a, between which the edges
of the flexible diaphragm B are clamped by bolts b, b, which also secure the
two plates together. The box is supported upon a base plate E, partly by
feet C, C, and partly by a hollow stand D, which contains the passages leading
to and from the measuring chambers F, F. On the top of the stand D is
the valve seat, containing three ports, over which works the slide valve G.
The arrangement of these ports and the construction of the valve is sub-

page_text: stantially the same as in some other meters, and as is common in steam
.engines. The central port i communicates directly with the inlet pipe I;
which enters the bottom of the stand D through the base plate E; and the
other ports c, c', with two passages f,f", leading one to each of the measuring
chambers F, F. The valve G is arranged to work on a pin d in a circular
direction, consequently the ports c, c', require to have their outer edges, and
the cavity in the face of the valve requires to have its side edges radial to the
pin d. His a shaft, passing entirely through a metal tube J, which is received
within a cavity formed half in each flanch a of the measuring box A, the said
shaft having rigidly attached to it a plate K, which may be called the "shifter,"
and is shewn in Fig. 3 in section, and represented by a dotted circle in Fig. 1.
This plate K works within the measuring box through a slot in the tube J,
and derives a vibrating motion from the flexible diaphragm B, whereby motion
is given to the valve G below and also to the indicating apparatus above. To
prevent any leakage of gas or other fluid through the tube J around the
spindle H, the diaphragm B is made double, and the shifter K is placed
between the two folds, as shewn in Fig. 3, so that the opening in the tube J
through which the shifter works is never exposed to the gas or other fluid,
and leakage around the outside of the tube J is prevented by extending the
diaphragm between the' flanches a, a, so as to form a packing entirely sur-
rounding the tubo J above and below the opening in the said tube through
which the shifter K works, as is shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 4, which is
taken above the said opening, whereas the section, Fig. 3, is taken through the
said opening. If the flexible diaphragm be made of suitable material, as
vulcanized india-rubber, for instance, the parts clamped between the flanches
will serve as all the packing that is necessary; but if any such material as is'
not generally suitable for packing, as animal bladder, or other animal mem-
brane, for instance, be used for the diaphragm, two additional packing rings of
india-rubber or leather may be used between the flanches. The flexible
diaphragm may be made of india-rubber, gutta percha, leather, or animal
membrane, or of any other flexible material that is impervious to the fluid
intended to be measured by the meter. By enclosing the shifter K within a
double flexible diaphragm and fitting its shaft to a tube packed externally by
the two portions of the diaphragm as described, packed working joints may be
entirely dispensed with in the meter and a free and easy movement of the
shaft H is provided for...
The shaft H, which may be termed the "shifter shaft," has attached to it
near its lower end an arm L; which connects by a pine and slot 'g (best shown
in Fig. 6) with a horizontally moving lever -M of the second order, that works

page_text: on a fixed pin h, carried by a stationary arm N, secured to the lower part of
the stand D. This lever M serves to impart motion to a weighted tripping
lever O of the first order, that moves in a vertical plane on a pin j, secured in
the stand D, and throws over the valve G for changing the direction of the
fluid to fill and discharge the measuring chambers F, F. The lower end of
the tripping lever O works in an opening k, k, of the lever M, which opening
is widened beyond the part where the tripping lever works in it to allow the
said lever M to work free of the stand D, the upright portion of which passes
through the said opening. The movement received by the shifter K from the
flexible diaphragm B as the measuring chambers are alternately filled and dis-
charged gives the shaft H and its arm La regular oscillating movement, and
the lever M derives a similar movement from its arm L, and the movement of
the latter serves to bring the tripping lever to a vertical position just before the
filling of either chamber is completed, and the movement of the diaphragm
by the pressure of the incoming fluid is about to terminate, so that the com-
pletion of the filling of the chamber will cause the tripping lever O just to
pass its vertical position, and having passed its vertical position it falls instan-
taneously by the effect of gravitation on its weight O', and in its fall the stud
7, which it carries for the purpose, strikes one of the two projections m, m', on
the valve and throws the valve over instantaneously, thereby changing the
direction of the fluid, and causing the filling of the chamber which has just
been discharged, and the discharge of the chamber which has just been filled.
The valve G is always stopped in its proper position by its stem m* coming
into contact with one of two stops n, n', at the sides of the valve seat.
The discharging fluid issues through the port c or c' that is uncovered by the
valve, and enters the casing R, R, of the meter, which covers and encloses all
the working parts, and in a gas meter serves as a reservoir, and in a liquid
meter as an air chamber, to prevent any sensible check to the flow of the gas
or liquid at that instant in the movement of the slide valve, when both ports
c, c', are closed. The outlet from the casing R, R, is by the pipe P.
To illustrate more clearly the operation of shifting the valve G and changing"
the direction of the flow of the gas to and from the measuring chambers, let
it be first supposed that the meter is in the condition represented in Figures 1,
2, 3, and 5, the chamber F, which is towards the right-hand side of Fig. 2,
being just filled and the chamber F just discharged, and the valve G having
been just moved over the port c and off the port c', so as to open communica-
tion from the inlet port i through the port c and passage f to the chamber F,"
and communication from the chamber F1 through the passage f¹ and port c
to the space within the casing R, R, and to the outlet pipe P, so as to com-

page_text: mence filling the chamber F and at the same time discharge the chamber.
F¹.
As the fluid enters the chamber F and by its pressure on the diaphragm
B forces the diaphragm away from that plate A which forms the exterior side
of said chamber, and towards the other plate A which forms the exterior sido
of the chamber F, the shifter K will be moved with the diaphragm, and will
therefore move the shaft II and arm L, which will move the lever M in the
direction of the arrow 8 in Figures 5 and 6, or towards the left hand, looking
at Fig. 2, and the side of the lever M by coming in contact with the lower
portion of the tripping lever O that is below .the pin i will move the tail of the
lever O with it, and cause the portion above the pin j (carrying the stud 7) to
move in the opposite direction, or towards the right hand, looking at Fig. 2,
until the said lever passes its vertical position, when it will fall over and its
stud will strike the projection m¹ on the valvo G and shift the valve to the
right, and thus bring the port c¹ into communication with the inlet port i and
open the
port c to the outlet pipe P, and consequently cause the filling of the
chamber F¹ and the discharge of the chamber F to commence; the diaphragm
shifter K and shaft I then move in the opposite direction to that last
described, and the entire operation of the valve gear is reversed until the
tripping lever falls over again and its stud strikes the projection m and drives
the valve to the left, after which the operation is as first described.
The above-described operation is repeated as long as the supply of gas or
other fluid is kept up, and the escape through the outlet pipe is permitted.
Motion is transmitted from the shifter shaft H to the indicating apparatus
(which is shown in Figures 1 and 2) by a small arm q at the upper end of the
said shaft. This 'small arm q is connected by a slot and pin connection, as
shown in Figures 1, 2, and 7, with a lever S of the second order, working on
the shaft r of an endless screw 8, which is the first mover in the indicating
apparatus, the said lever carrying a pawle t, which engages with a ratchet
wheel T, that is fast on the shaft r. During the movement of the shaft H,
consequent upon the discharge of the chamber F', the lever S is moved by the
arm q'in the direction of the arrow 9 in Fig. 7, and the pawlet slides over the
ratchet teeth; but during the reverse movement of the shaft H the lever is
moved in the opposite direction, and the pawle engages with the ratchet teeth
and moves the shaft r. The registering apparatus is or may be the same as
is generally used in fluid meters, and is enclosed within the casing R, R, of the
méter, in which, unless the casing is made of glass, a small window should be
provided for the exposure of the dials and indices.
It may be here remarked, that the shifter shaft H, instead of having the
inclined position shown, may have à horizontal or any other position.

page_text: Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in Meters for
Measuring the Flow of Gas, Water, or other Fluids," and having explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I would observe, in conclusion, that I lay no claim to
the use of a flexible diaphragm to form the measuring chambers, as gas
meters have heretofore been made with similar contrivances; but that which
I consider to be new in the present improvements, and therefore desire to
claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, is,-
First, transmitting motion from the flexible diaphragm to the valve gear by
means of the shifter K, or other equivalent contrivance, attached to a shaft
at one side of the measuring box, and swinging within the said box with the
movement of the flexible diaphragm, and thus giving to the said shaft a vibra-
ting motion to operate the valve gear.
Second, enclosing the shifter, or its equivalent, by which motion is trans-
mitted from the flexible diaphragm to the valve gear, so as to prevent leakage
at the opening in the measuring box through which the shifter works, without
a stuffing box or other packed working joint, by making the diaphragm double
and placing the shifter between the two portions thereof, and extending the
said portions to form a packing to surround a fixed tube through which the
shifter shaft works.
Third, the combination of the shifter shaft II with the tripping lever O by
means of an arm L and lever M, whereby the said tripping lever is worked
just at the moment when one chamber has filled and another has been
emptied.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lanc.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)