IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS AND OTHER PRESSURE REGULATORS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS AND OTHER PRESSURE REGULATORS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Henri Giroud, of Paris, in the Empire
of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said. John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 3rd February 1870.
I, JOHN HENRY Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS AND OTHER PRESSURE REGULATORS," a.
communication to me from abroad by Henri Giroud, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates more particularly to a peculiar construction.
and arrangement of apparatus for regulating the pressure and volume of

page_text: gas to be consumed by any ordinary burner, and is also applicable as a
regulator for air, steam, or liquids.
As adapted for a gas regulator, for example, this apparatus consists
essentially of two communicating chambers separated by a moveable bell,
in the crown of which is an aperture of a given size forming the com-
munication between the two chambers. This aperture is of such
dimensions that it will supply the volume of gas to be consumed at a
pressure equal to that which balances the weight of the bell. This bcll
carries the valve which controls the inlet of gas into the regulator. Tho
burner is fitted on to the top of the outer one of the two chambers and
the regulator is screwed on to the end of the pipe where the burner
is usually applied. The mouth of the bell is scaled by dipping into
glycerine contained in the outer chamber. According as the volume or
pressure of gas in the inner chamber increases or decreases so will the
bell be raised or lowered, thereby at the same time more or less closing 1
or opening the inlet valve. Should the pressure be below that which is
requisite to balance the bell the gas will still flow through the opening
in the crown of the bell and pass off through the burner at its normal
pressure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in tho County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of IIer reign, did, for llerself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during

page_text: 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
"*.IMPROVEMENTS IN, GAS AND: OTHER PRESSURE REGULATORS," a communication
to me from abroad-by-Henri.Giroud, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry, Johnson;
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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. more particularly to a peculiar construction and
arrangement of apparatus for regulating the pressure and volume of gas
to be consumed by any ordinary burner, and is. also applicable as a
regulator for air, steam, or liquids.
As adapted for a gas regulator, for example, this apparatus consists
essentially of two communicating chambers separated by a moveable bell;
in the crown of which is an aperture of a given size forming the com-
munication between the two chambers.--This aperture is of such
dimensions that it will supply the volume of gas to be consumed at a
pressure equal to that which balances the weight of the bell.. This bell
carries the valve which controls the inlet of gas into the regulator. The
burner is fitted on to the top of the outer one of the two chambers, and
the regulator is screwed on to the end of the pipe where the burner is
usually applied. The mouth of the bell is scaled by dipping into
glycerine contained in the outer chamber. According as the volume or
pressure of gas in the inner chamber increases or decreases so will the
bell be raised or lowered thereby, at the same time more or less closing
or opening the inlet valve. Should the pressure be below that which is
requisite to balance the bell the gas will-still-flow-through the opening
===

page_text: in the crown of the bell and pass off through the burner at its normal
pressure.
The regulators herein-after described are so constructed as to ensure a
constant supply of a given and regulated volume of gas notwithstanding
any difference of pressure which might be caused by the employment t
of different burners or outlets, so that a more equitable consumption may
be thereby effected. For this purpose there are provided in the course
of or in the gas passages two communicating chambers separated by a
moveable bell, in the crown of which the fixed aperture is formed for tho
purpose of communicating between the chambers. This aperture is 1
made of such a section as to be capable of supplying the volume to be
consumed under a pressure equal to that which will balance the bell. The
bell carries the cone which forms the valve necessary to effect such
regulation with this kind of apparatus. It follows from this arrangement
that when the current passes through the regulator two different densities 1
are formed simultaneously in the two communicating chambers. The
difference in the deusitics results from the weight of the bell and .con-
sequently remains constant. Onc density, videlicet, that below the burner
and above the bell, corresponds to the pressure necessary to supply to the
burner the volume to be consumed. The other density, videlicet, that 2
beneath the bell, exceeds the pressure at or under the burner by the
difference resulting from the weight of the bell, and it is by reason of this
difference that the communicating aperture admits of the passage from-
one chamber to the other at the desired density of the volume to be
consumed. The admission valve assumes automatically the position
requisite to produce in all cases the results herein-before described, since
it is solely the difference of pressure in the two communicating chambers
which becomes the determining cause of the movements by which the
valve augments or diminishes the volume of gas introduced into the
regulator.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
3
Figure 1 is a transverso vertical section of a gas regulator constructed
E

page_text: .
no diaphragm composed either of goldbeaters' skin or other similar
substance being employed. It is a close vessel of about one inch and
three-quarters high by one inch and a lialf in diameter, and is applicable
to jets or burners of every description, either with or without glasses.
This regulator consists of a circular-vessel constructed either of copper
or other metal a, in which is placed a small quantity of glycerine, into
which vessel dips a small bell or capsule 6 constructed either of copper
or other metal, in the centre of which is suspended the cone o forming
the necessary valve of the regulator. The volume of gas which has
arrived under the capsule or bell in lieu of being conducted to the
burner by a lateral pipe escapes through an aperture d formed in the
upper portion of the capsule or bell to the burner. The aperture in the
bell or capsule is of the necessary diameter so as to supply the desired
amount of gas, say about two cubic feet, for example, under a pressure
balanced by the weight of the bell. So long as the pressure in the pipes
is below the before-mentioned pressure the gas will reach the burners
after having passed through the bell, but without having raised it; as
soon, however, as the pressure is increased and becomes sufficiently high
to elevate the bell the valve will then commence to act.
Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are modifications of regulators constructed
on the same principle. The gas enters at A through a union joint, where
the burner would in the ordinary way be screwed in, and passes around
the conc in the ring B, raises the cone by acting under the disc C,
passes through the aperturo in this disc C, which may be provided with
a cock, as shown at D (Figure 7), herein-after referred to, and thence to
the burner, which is screwed-on to the joint at E. The disc which is
substituted for the capsule or bell which in the wet regulator... is
immersed in the glycerine may be flat as shewn in Figure-2, dished on
its under side as shewn in Figure 3, on its upper side as shown on
Figure 4, or on both sides, as in Figure 5; it may be provided over the
whole circumference with a thin piece of any suitable flexible substance
as shown in Figure 6; it may also be provided with a small open tube
forming the rod of the cone, and in which a cock is disposed for the
purpose of regulating the passage of the gas and its admission above
-the disc as shewn in Figure 7. These and other various modifications
may be adopted, as will be well understood.

page_text: utilized by reversing the same, as shown in Figure 10. Within the
casing a moves the disc carrying a rod c, which is forked at its
extremity so as to embrace the sleeve d' which slides with but little
friction along the closed tube e, into which the gas enters through the
opening. The gas passes through the triangular opening g formed in
the side of the tube c, which opening becomes more or less uncovered
according as a smaller or a greater quantity of gas is admitted.
Figure 8 is a vertical section of a regulator for a single burner_to-
which it is desired to supply a constant volume whatever may be the
variation in the pressure of the gas supplied and the difference in the
dimension of the jets or discharge apertures. In this apparatus the
pressure under which the gas is admitted in no case excrcises any
influence under the cone, the moveable parts remaining balanced by the
pressure of the gas under the bell. This result is obtained by means of
the tube B, the internal diameter of which should be exactly equal to
that of the aperture in which the cone plays. In such case the only.
effect produced by the variation in the pressure of the admitted gas
consists in varying the height in the tube B of the column of glycerine
balanced by the pressure before referred to. The tube I serving as a
guiding rod to the cone places the top of the glycerine column in com-
munication with the chamber situated above the bell or capsule, where
the pressure is absolutely constant, so that the liquid may ascend freely.-
By making the pipe B, say, about six inches in length, and employing
glycerine of a density of 1.28, variations in pressure are capable of being
corrected equivalent to a pressure of seven and a half inches of water.
The gas enters by the, tube A and fills the foot of the apparatus; it
presses on the glycerine contained in the lower vessel, and causes it to
rise more or less in the tube B. The gas passes around the cone through
the ring C, and is diffused under the bell D, which dips in the annular
vessel G, G; it then passes above the bell D, either through the hole D
if the volume to be consumed is permanently fixed, or through the
tube T, T, shewn in red lines, and provided at its extremity with a
regulating cock R when the volume to be employed is not always
constant, and from thence to the burner, which is screwed on to the
union S. The tubular rod I serves to conduct the gas abovo the bell
into the tube B to meet the rising column of glycerine, which is thus
arrested by constant pressure; H is a guide for the rod of the conc. By

page_text: placing on this regulator a burner of about one-twenty-fifth of an inch
regulated for a consumption of about one-half or four-sevenths of a
cubic foot, on ignition a flame is produced, which is either diminished
or extended according as the gas varies in density or in illuminating
power. By the use of this instrument, therefore, the value of the
illuminating power of the gas produced in different localitics and
from various kinds of coal employed may be compared and estimated.
The controlling of the pressure of the gas admitted may be obtained by
the extremity of the rod of the cone being made conical; and by tho
employment of a diaphragm through which the rod works. Regulators
on this system may be adapted to high pressures by the use of the same
diaphragm perforated with an orifice smaller than the aperture in the
regulating bell.
=
Figure 9 shews a regulator adapted for an intermittent and irregular
consumption of gas. A, A, is the bell or capsule; B, the tube for correcting
and controlling the pressure of the gas entering the apparatus; C is the
cone constructed of metal, either copper, tin, or other metal or alloy
least susceptible of being acted upon by the gas, the tubular rod D of
the .cono producing the same effect as that of the rod I in Figure 8.
E is the central tube, into which the inlet pipe enters; F, the ring of the
conc; and H, the guide of the cone rod; N, N, are the inlets for the
glycerine into the upper and lower vessels; O, O, is the circular upper
vessel; T is the tube conducting the gas to the burner; and R, the
cock with which this tube is provided; S, the junction of the special
tube which supplies the burner.
A regulator of the type described in reference to Figure 8 may be
employed as a regulator for variable consumption by simply increasing
its dimensions, and so arranging it as that the excess of the gas may be
taken up again under the bell from the volume of gas sent to the
burners. The apparatus is thus composed of two distinct parts, vidclicit,
that above the bell A, A, A, A, which is the chamber for feeding the
regulated burner, and that beneath the bell, which is another cliamber
communicating with the former by a fixed aperture, but supplied itself
by a moveable aperture. When the gas is in its passage the relation,
as before referred to, between the pressure in the two chambers is
constant, since the only difference between the pressure above the bell
and that below is that which is due to the weight- of-the-moveable.
portions of the apparatus.

page_text: It will be scen from the foregoing that by means of these regulators
ä regularity-in-the-pressure of the exit gas is obtained whether cither a
constant volume under a variable pressure or a variable volume under a
constant pressure be required.
I have described the special application of these regulators to
illuminating purposes, but they are applicable not only to regulating
the flow of illuminating-gas, but also to that of fluids and other gases or
vapours; and the regulators may, amongst other applications, bo usefully
applied as steam regulators. In the latter case it is simply necessary to
substitute mercury for glycerine, all the other-parts of the apparatus
remaining identically as hercin-before described, with the exception of
the tube B, the height of which is to be determined by the difference
between the pressure of the steam in the boiler and where it is utilized.
The variation in the level of the mercury contained in the annular vessel
which receives the bell is determined simply by the weight of the
moveable parts, it will therefore be confined within very narrow limits.
".
When the apparatus shown in Figure 9 is employed for the regulation
of steam it is necessary in order to ensure its operation that the
vapour should escape freely through the orifice S, which serves in the
former instance as the regulated burner when applied to illuminating.
purposes. The steam thus escaping may be either utilized or not,
and the escaping jet may be reduced to a minimum dimension by
increasing the length of the tube S and disposing therein one or more-
_cocks, so as-to-separate the tube as it were into several chambers com-
municating the one with the other, but in each of which the steam
varics in density.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The employment of glycyrine in regulators in the manner and
for the purposes as herein-before described.
Second. The special construction of regulators and their employment
in the manner and for the purposes herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings.

page_text: -
Third. The suspending of a bell or capsule or its equivalent in a close
vessel, which is so arranged as that the apparatus may be divided into
two chambers in which the density of the gases, fluids, or vapours may
be regulated and rendered constant in the manner and for the purposes.
as heroin described
--
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have-to-
this my Specification set my hand and seal, this Third day of
August One thousand eight hundred and seventy: