IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED AS A FLUID METER OR. MOTOR
Year: 1885

page_text: I JAMES MACTEAR, of 10 Victoria Chambers, Westminster, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Chemical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my
said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE USED AS A FLUID METER
OR. MOTOR" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
My said Invention comprises improved apparatus of simple construction which
may be used either as a reliable and accurate meter for fluids or as an effective
motor.
In my improved apparatus two equal cones with their axes in the same`line and
their apices facing and near each other have the space between them, and which
forms the measuring or motor space, enclosed by a casing in the form of a spherical
zone, the casing being continued so as to enclose spherical segments at the outer
sides of the bases of the cones. A mid-partition is placed obliquely between the
cones so as to touch one cone with one side and the other with its other side. The
cones are formed with slots in planes passing through the common axis but lying
at right angles to each other; and in these slots there are piston pieces or wings
on which the pressure of the fluid acts to cause rotation, one edge of each wing
piece keeping constantly in contact with the surface of the mid-partition whilst
the two sides or wings of each piece move alternately into and out of the slots in
the cones.
When either cone is placed with its wing piece at right angles to the
line of contact of the cone with the mid-partition then the inlet on that side of the
partition is between the wing piece and line of contact on one side and the outlet
is between the wing piece and line of contact on the other side. The pressure of
the inlet fluid acts on the wing piece so as to move it round half a turn enlarging
the space it is acting in; and the other end of the wing piece then crosses the inlet
and is similarly acted on in its turn, the fluid on whichever side of the wing piece
is at any time furthest from the inlet passing off by the outlet. The surface acted
on of each wing piece varies throughout each semi-rotation but the two wing
pieces being at right angles to each other, one is in its position of greatest effect
when the other is in that of least effect, and the combined action is thereby
rendered nearly uniform. The inlet and outlet passages are by preference formed
in the mid-partition; and in the case of a meter the rotation of the cones is com-
municated to counting and indicating mechanism, whilst in the case of a motor the
power obtained is transmitted by a shaft arranged to turn with the cones.
In the explanatory drawings of which one sheet is hereunto appended, my
improved apparatus is represented as arranged as a metor, figures, 1, and 2, being
"

page_text: vertical sections as at right angles to each other, whilst figure, 3, is a face view of
the mid-partition. In these figures the same reference numerals are used to mark
the same or like parts wherever they are repeated.
The casing of the meter consists of upper and lower parts, 5, 6, with the oblique
mid-partition, 7, bolted or otherwise fixed in between them. The cones, 8, 9, are
placed with their common axis vertical, being one above and the other below the
mid-partition, 7, which is in contact with the cones on opposite sides. Slots are
formed through the cones, 8, 9, at right angles to each other, and in the slot of each
cone there is fitted a wing piece, 10, 11, each piece resembling a semicircular disc
from which a part has been cut out leaving two equal sectors joined at the centre.
The two wing pieces, 10, 11, are in vertical planes at right angles to each other;
and they are connected to the cones, 8, 9, by centre pins on which pins they
Oscillate as they rotate with the cones about the vertical axis, the oscillation being
caused by the obliquity of the mid-partition, 7, with the surfaces of which, the
diametrical edges of the wing pieces are kept in contact. The external inlet, 12,
and outlet, 13, for the water or other fluid to be measured are at opposite ends of
the horizontal diameter of the mid-partition, 7, and communicate with separate
internal spaces, 14, 15, formed in the mid-partition, and these spaces communicate
with two internal inlets, 16, and two internal outlets, 17, by which the fluid finds
its way into and from the spaces between the cones and the mid-partition. The mid-
partition, 7, is formed with an eye or opening passing vertically through its centre,
and in this eye the cones, 8, 9, are connected to each other by shaft-like projections
into which the slots for the wing pieces, 10, 11, partly, extend, and which are half-
checked into each other as shown in cross section in figure, 4, or otherwise connected
so as to turn together. The cones, 8, 9, are formed with cylindrical rims, 18, 19,
which fit and turn in cylindrical grooves or recesses formed for them in the interior
of the casing, 5, 6. These rims and their recesses may either be made a very accurate
fit; or sufficient tightness may be obtained by means of metallic packing. A screw
pin, 20, is provided for adjusting the lower cone, 9, up to the mid-partition; and a
tubular screw or gland, 21, is provided for holding down the upper cone, 8. This
gland, 21, is fitted with a small stuffing box, and a spindle, 22, passes up through
it for communicating the rotatory. motion of the cones to the counting and
indicating mechanism which may be of the usual kind.
14
17.
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:
When the apparatus' is arranged to be used as a motor a shaft turned by the
wing pieces may extend through either of both ends of the casing. The angle of
obliquity of the mid-partition may be varied in different cases, the cones and wing
pieces being shaped to correspond; and in some cases the apparatus may consist of
one half of what is shown and described the parts on one side of the mid-partition
being dispensed with. The spaces and parts on one side of the mid-partition 'may
be of a different size from those on the other side, those on one side being used as
a motor, whilst those on the other side are used as a pump.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1.1M
The combination of parts constituting my improved meter or motor substantially
as hereinbefore described.