IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ashton, of Heaton Norris, in the County
of Lancaster, Manager, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
REGULATORS."
Sealed the 16th August 1859, and dated the 23rd February 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Ashton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28rd February 1859.
I, WILLIAM ASHTON, of Heaton Norris, in the County of Lancaster,
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN GAS REGULATORS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention has reference to certain apparatus used for modifying or
regulating the density of gas used for purposes of illumination, so that the
same may be supplied to the burners at an uniform pressure irrespective of
variations of pressure in the street main. These apparatus are commonly
gas regulators," and they operate by causing the gas to pass
through a valve, the aperture of which is enlarged or diminished by the
fluctuations of a hood, disk, or receiver caused by variations in the pressure of
the gas occupying the branch or pipe which conveys the gas to the burners,
the said hood or disk being connected with the regulating valve so that the
position of the former determines the extent of opening of the latter.
My first improvement is intended to establish a state of equilibrium in the

page_text: regulating valve, so that the movements thereof may not be impeded nor
interfered with by other pressures than that exerted by the gas of the branch.
To effect this, I prevent the access of the gas of the street main to the back
of the valve by furnishing the latter with a rim or flanch partially immersed in
mercury or other suitable fluid, and forming therewith a mercurial or hydraulic
joint or packing; I then admit air to the back of the valve through an
aperture in the valve spindle or in the subjacent part of the chamber con-
taining the apparatus; or otherwise I exclude the gas of the street main
from the back of the valve by means of the india-rubber packing or joint
herein-after mentioned as my second improvement, and admit air to the back
of the valve as before.
My second improvement consists in the use of india-rubber for the purpose
of forming the joint or packing by which the back of the regulating valve is
insulated from the gas of the street main. For this purpose a sheet or film
of india-rubber is attached in one direction to the rim of the valve, and in the
other to the chamber containing the apparatus, the breadth of tissue between
the lines of attachment being in redundancy, or excess sufficient to allow the
requisite liberty of movement in the valve.
My third improvement consists in a like use of india-rubber in making the
joint or packing of the hood, disk, or moveable part of the receiver against or
upon which the pressure of the gas in the branch is exerted, in order to vary
the aperture of the regulating valve.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ashton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd August 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ASHTON, of Heaton Norris, in the County of Lancaster, Manager, send.
greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in. the, year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Ashton, Her special licence that I, the said William
Ashton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Ashton, my. executors, administrators, or assigns, should

page_text: at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
night make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS REGULATORS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Ashton, my exécutors 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 Ashton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed
(that is to say):-
My said Invention has reference to the apparatus commonly known as gas
regulators," and used for controlling the flow or current of gas froin the street
main to the burners or points of consumption, in order that the said gas may
be supplied to and issue from the burners under an uniform and equalised
pressure, irrespective of variations in the pressure maintained.in the street
main and in the number of burners to be supplied..
The pressure in the street mains or pipes through which the general dis-
tribution of the gas is effected is necessarily irregular, varying in different
places and at different elevations at the same time, and subject to fluctuation
at different times in the same places. These irregularities are further com-
plicated in the branches or service pipes through which individual consumers
are supplied by variations from time to time in the number of burners used,
and consequently in the quantity of gas' required for consumption.
The gas regulators most generally used to correct these irregularities operate
by varying the aperture of a valve through which the gas is caused to pass, the
said valve being connected with a moveable receiver actuated by the pressure
of the gas in the branch after it has passed the valve. Augmentation of
pressure in the receiver tends to close the valve, and thus compensates for the
increased density of the gas by allowing it to pass only in diminished volume.
Diminution of pressure, on the other hand, permits the valve to re-open, and
thus maintains the equality of the supply by permitting the rarefied fluid to
pass in larger volume. This arrangement; however, is defective, inasmuch as.

page_text: the one side of the regulating valve being exposed to the branch or burner
pressure, which is or ought to be uniform, and the other side to the street
pressure, which is necessarily variable, it is impossible to maintain that
state of equilibrium or indifference to motion in the valve which is indispensable
for enabling the receiver to exercise an unimpeded control over the move-
ments of the valve, and without which the rate of supply cannot be governed,
as it ought to be, solely by the pressure of the regulated gas present in the
branch.
My said Invention comprises three improvements, the first of which is
intended to establish a state of equilibrium in the regulating valve, so that the
control of the movements of that valve by the pressure of the gas in the branch
may not be interfered with nor impeded by the irregular pressure of the gas
in the street main. To effect this, I prevent the access of the gas of the street
inain to the back of the valve by furnishing the latter with a rim or flanch
partially immersed in mercury, and forming therewith a mercurial or hydraulic
joint or packing, interposed between the back of the valve and the gas of the
street main. The valve being thus insulated, I admit air to the back thereof
by an aperture passing through the whole length of the valve spindle or made
in the subjacent part of the box or chamber containing the valve; or other-
wise I exclude the gas of the street main from the back of the valve by means
of the india-rubber packing or joint herein-after described as my second
improvement, and admit air to the back of the valve as before.
My second improvement consists in the use of india-rubber for the purpose
of forming the joint or packing by which the back of the regulating valve is
insulated. For this purpose a properly shaped sheet of india-rubber is
attached in one direction to the rim of the valve, and in the other direction to
the chamber containing the apparatus, the breadth of material between the
lines of attachment being in redundancy or excess sufficient to allow the
requisite liberty of movement in the valve.
My third improvement consists in a like use of india-rubber in making the
joint or packing of the hood, disc, or moveable diaphragm of the receiver
against or upon which the pressure of the gas in the branch is exerted, in order
to govern the opening of the regulating valve.
For the better explanation of these my improvements, I have hereunto
annexed a Sheet of Drawings, with the aid of which I will now proceed to
describe more particularly the manner in which my said improvements may be
carried into effect; similar reference characters are used to indicate corre-
sponding parts in the several Figures.

page_text: Figure represents a vertical section of a gas regulator, in which my first
improvement is introduced.
Figure 2 is an external side view of the same apparatus.
Figure 3 is a plan view of the parts exposed by the intersection of a
horizontal plane at the line A, B, in Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section at the line C, D, in Figure 1, exhibiting a
plan view of part of the division between the two compartments and of the
upper part of the valve.
Figures 5, 6, and 7 are illustrative of my second and third improvements,
in connection with which they will be duly explained.
My first improvement is illustrated by Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, which shew
one manner of its application to a regulator there represented, and which will
be seen to consist of two principal parts, an upper chamber a, for containing a
gasholder or receiver, and a lower chamber or valve box 6; the latter is
divided by a partition into two compartments c and d, which communicate
with each other by a circular aperture e in the partition 6', the lower edge of
which aperture forms the seat of the valve f, the extent of whose opening
regulates the quantity or volume of gas allowed to pass from the inlet or high
pressure compartment c into the outlet or low pressure compartment d; the
former of these compartments is connected by the neck c¹ with the service.pipe
which conveys the gas from the street main, the latter by the neck d¹ with the
branch pipe which supplies the burners. The outlet compartment also com-
municates by the neck or passage d' with the interior of the regulating gas-
holder g, contained in the upper chamber a of the apparatus. The rim of the
gasholder g is immersed in mercury contained in an annular trough or
reservoir a', and its disc or diaphragm is connected to the spindle of the valve
by adjusting nutts g', g¹, so that the fluctuations of the gasholder, caused by
variations in the pressure of the gas entering the same from the outlet com-
partment d, operate to correct those variations by contracting or enlarging the
passage of the valve, according as the supply received into the outlet com-
partment d is redundant or deficient. d is an annular guide for the upper
part of the valve spindle, the lower part whereof is steadied by three radial
vanes or wings f³, f³, fs, the extremities of which nearly touch the sides of the
aperture e.
The parts and arrangements hitherto described are old and well known, and
it is obvious that without further addition the back of the valvef would
remain exposed to the variable pressure of the gas in the inlet chamber c,
which pressure being transmitted through the valve spindle to the gasholder,

page_text: would disturb the equable action of the pressure of the gas in the compart-
ment d, and the movements of the gasholder g. To prevent this, I insulate
the back of the valve f by means of a cylindrical rim or flanch ƒ ƒ³, pro-
jecting downwards from the back of the valve, and partially immersed in
mercury contained in a cup or trough h, h, h, formed in the bottom of the
valve box h, h.. I admit air to the back of the valve by making the valve
spindle f¹ hollow and open at both ends, as shewn in the Drawing; or,
otherwise dispensing with the hollow spindle, I admit air by perforating the
bottom h' of the valve box within the area covered by the valve, and inserting
a vertical pipe, as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 1. In the latter mode, care
must be taken that the pipe is sufficiently high to prevent any risk of the
mercury overflowing under increased pressure of the gas.
In apparatus like that represented in the Drawing, wherein the weight of
the valve and spindle is large in proportion to the size of the regulating gas-
holder, I partially neutralize or countervail the excess of weight by lining the
rim of the valve or of the gasholder, or of both if necessary, with some light
substance, which, without greatly adding to the weight of the parts mentioned,
will considerably increase the displacement of mercury. Such a lining applied
to the valve is shewn at f' in the Drawing. The most suitable and convenient
materials which I have hitherto discovered for the purpose are gutta percha
and cork, a layer of either of which may be easily affixed by cement or by pins
passing through the rim. In gas regulators in which the bulk of the mercury
displaced by the rim of the valve is sufficient to counterbalance the weights of
the valve and spindle, or which are provided with counterweights for
neutralizing the effect of the same, this lining will not be required.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of the regulating valve, and is explanatory of
an alternative method of applying my first improvement, which consists in
effecting the insulation of the back of the valve by the means herein-after
described as my second improvement, and in the admission of air to the back
of the valve through a perforation h³ in the bottom of the valve box. The
method is sufficiently explained by the Figure, together with the description of
the mode of applying my second improvement, to which I shall now address
myself, the general nature thereof having been previously stated. In Figure 5,
f represents the section of the regulating valve, with its rim or flanch f; h¹ is
the bottom of the valve box, which, instead of supporting a cup or reservoir for
mercury, has its middle part elevated into a circular prominence corresponding
in area and position with the outside of the rim of the valve; h³ is the holo
for the admission of air; k, are the sections of a ring or hoop of sheet india-

page_text: rubber, the middle portion of which is of enlarged diameter, so that an excess
of material is left to afford liberty for the valve to rise or fall. The sides or
edges of the hoop embrace the outside of the rim of the valve and of the
circular prominence, and are confined thereto by metal hoops or ferrules, the
sections of which appear at k', . The india-rubber hoop serves to exclude
the gas of the inlet chamber from the back of the valve, while the superfluity
of material permits it to yield with facility to the motions of the valve.
Figure 6 is a vertical section of the upper chamber of the regulator, whereby
the manner of forming a regulating gasholder or diaphragm by the applica-
tion of my third improvement is illustrated. a is the upper chamber, and d
the neck through which the gas obtains access to the receiver; m is a
moveable disc or diaphragm, forming the top of the regulating gasholder, and
connected to the valve spindle by the nutts g', g¹. A conical hoop or ring of
sheet india-rubber o is attached in one direction to a rim m' upon the disc m,
and in the other direction to a rim n, raised upon the bottom of the chamber a.
The form of the conical ring is represented in section at Figure 7; it forms a
flexible union or joint, by which the disc m is united to the rim n, so as to
contain gas without being deprived of liberty to move according to the pressure
acting upon it. The edges of the conical hoop of india-rubber may be
cemented on the rims, and further secured by a few laps of wire or by metal
hoops.
I have now described and explained the nature of my Invention, and the
application of the improvements constituting the same to a gas regulator of
ordinary construction, and in doing so have necessarily described and noticed
many parts and arrangements which are old and in previous use, and which
form no part of my Invention; I therefore desire it to be understood that
what I believe to be new and original, and therefore claim as of my Invention,
is as herein-after set forth, namely,-
Firstly, the method or methods of establishing and maintaining a state of
equilibrium in the regulating valve by excluding the high pressure gas or the
gas of the street main from the back of the said valve, and by admitting air
thereto in either or any of the manners herein-before described, however varied
or modified.
Secondly, the application of india-rubber as a means of forming a joint or
packing to effect the insulation of the back of the regulating valve in manner
herein described.
And, thirdly, the application of india-rubber in making the joint or packing
whereby the gas is confined within the regulating gasholler or receiver

page_text: without preventing the motion of the disc which forms the top of such receiver,
in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Ashton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed and sealed by the said William
Ashton in the presence of
WILLIAM ASHTON. (L.s.)
JN°. TAYLER, Patent Agent,
Manchester.