IMPROVEMENTS IN MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OR DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Sim, of the City and County of Aberdeen,
North Britain, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEASURING
AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OR DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Sim, at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th November
1859.
I, JAMES SIM, of the City and County of Aberdeen, North Britain, Manu-
facturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OR DISCHARGE OF
LIQUIDS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the adaptation and use of ordinary gas meters or
other fluid or liquid measuring and registering apparatus, in the measuring
and registering the flow or discharge of liquids under various circumstances
and in various conditions. In applying an ordinary wet gas meter according
to this Invention for the purpose of measuring and registering the flow or dis-
charge of the contents of a cask of beer for example, the meter is fitted up in
connection with the cask, so that its outlet pipe shall be in communication with
the top of the cask whilst the inlet is open to the external atmosphere. The

page_text: result of this adaptation and arrangement is, that as the contents of the cask
are drawn off for consumption, the proportionate quantity of air necessary to
supply the place of the liquid withdrawn passes through the meter on its way
to the cask. In this way the meter measures and registers in the most
accurate manner the exact quantity of air passing into the cask, and thus
negatively tells the precise amount of liquid abstracted therefrom.
This Invention may be judiciously carried out in practice in the measure-
ment and registration of the flow or discharge of any liquids, and the meter
may be either wet or dry, or made in any way which will admit of the
measurement and registration of a fluid passed through it, the essence of the
Invention being the measurement and registration of liquids, by causing the
air necessary for supplying the place of the liquid drawn from any air-tight
cask or receptacle to pass primarily through the meter, thus measuring and
registering the air going into the cask or receptacle, and thereby measuring the
amount of liquid drawn off from such cask.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Sim in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SIM, of the City and County of Aberdeen, North Britain, Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Sim, Her special license that I, the said James
Sim my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Sim, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE FLOW OR DISCHARGE OF LIQUIDS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Sim, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: 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 James Sim, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say: -
My said Invention relates to the adaptation and use of ordinary gas meters;:
or other fluid or liquid measuring and registering apparatus, in the measuring
and registering the flow or discharge of liquids under various circumstances
and in various conditions. In applying an ordinary wet gas meter, according
to this Invention, for the purpose of measuring and registering the flow or dis-
charge of the contents of a cask of beer for example, the meter is fitted up in
connection with the cask, so that its outlet pipe shall be in communication with
the top of the cask whilst the inlet is open to the external atmosphere. The
result of this adaptation and arrangements is, that as the contents of the cask
are drawn off for consumption, the proportionate quantity of air necessary to
supply the place of the liquid withdrawn passes through the meter on its way
to the cask. In this way the meter measures and registers in the most accu-
rate manner the exact quantity of air passing into the cask, and thus negatively
tells the precise amount of liquid abstracted therefrom.
This Invention may be judiciously carried out in practice in the measurement
and registration of the flow or discharge of any liquids, and the meter may be
either wet or dry, or made in any way which will admit of the measurement
and registration of a fluid passed through it, the essence of the Invention being
the measurement and registration of liquids, by causing the air necessary for
supplying the place of the liquid drawn from any air-tight cask or receptacle
to pass primarily through the meter, thus measuring and registering the air
going into the cask or receptacle, and thereby measuring the amount of liquid
drawn off from such cask.
And in order that my said Invention of improvements in measuring and
registering the flow or discharge of liquids may be properly understood, I
shall now proceed to describe the illustrative Figure on the accompanying
illustrative Drawing, for the purpose of showing certain modifications under
which my improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice, that is.
to say:-
The Figure on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawing represents one
arrangement of my improvements for measuring and registering the quantity,

page_text: liquid drawn off from a cask or other liquid receptacle. The example selected
as an illustration of the practical application of my Invention is, the adaptation
of the measuring and registering apparatus to a beer or wine butt, for the
purpose of ascertaining and keeping an account of the quantity of liquid drawn
off from time to time from the cask. The cask A, which is of the ordinary
kind, is furnished with the tap B, in the usual way. Now, by means of my
improvements, no liquor can be drawn off or abstracted from the cask without
its being duly registered by the measuring apparatus. In the head of the
cask A is fitted a short piece of pipe to which is adapted the air pipe C. The
free extremity of this pipe is connected by means of a union joint to the outlet
aperture of the measuring apparatus D. The apparatus I prefer to use for
measuring and indicating the quantity of liquor withdrawn from the cask
consists of a meter arranged and constructed internally in this modification in
manner similar to a gas meter of the wet class, the measuring medium being
atmospheric air, which it is necessary to admit into the cask upon withdrawing
any portion of the liquid contents. The air, instead of being allowed to flow
into the cask through the spigot hole in the usual manner, is caused to pass
through the meter, and the quantity thus admitted is registered on its index
plate. The air passes into the meter through the inlet pipe E, or other
suitable apertures, as will be presently described. The atmospheric air
passing into the meter simultaneously with the drawing off of the liquor from
the cask causes the measuring drum of the meter to rotate, and so put in
motion the train of mechanism connected with the indexes. This part of the
meter, however, obviously requires a special arrangement of the index plate,
so that the registration may be in imperial gallons and aliquot parts of the
same, instead of cubic feet.
The arrangement of meter which I prefer to use for indicating the quantity
drawn off is delineated in Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings. Figure 1
is a front elevation of the meter, with the front box and index compartment
open, to show the internal arrangement; Figure 2 is a plan corresponding
to Figure 1. Within the casing A of the meter is fitted the measuring drum
or cylinder B, which is similar to that of an ordinary wet gas meter. The
spindle of the measuring drum carries upon its extremity the bevel wheel C,
which is in gear with the wheel D, on the lower extremity of the vertical
spindle E. This spindle is carried in a footstep bearing formed in a small
bracket piece screwed to the front of the case A; its upper end works in the
cross piece F, extending across the front box, as shown in Figure 2. On
the upper part of the spindle E is fitted the crown wheel G. This wheel is
made with a long tubular boss, on the lower part of which is a worm.
The

page_text: wheel G works loosely on the spindle E; it is made with deep duplex con-
centric rims, the upper edges of which are finely serrated in the form of ratchet
teeth. A small pawl H extends over and falls into the teeth of the outer rim
of the wheel G; this prevents the wheel from moving in a backward direction,
or to the left-hand side, as delineated in Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
The rim of the wheel G is divided into thirty-two divisions or other aliquot
parts of a gallon, and the wheels C and D are so proportioned that the wheel G
makes one revolution as each gallon of air passes through the meter. Thus
as each division on the rim of the wheel G passes the fixed pointer I,
it shows that one gill or fourth part of a pint has been withdraw from the
cask. The air enters the meter through the apertures J which are made in
the frame of the index compartment, and passes down through openings
in the diaphragm, which divides the upper compartment from the front box.
By means of the worm on the boss of the wheel G, its motion is imparted to a
pinion and wheel, which actuate the right hand index K; the index plate is
divided into ten divisions indicating gallons. In this way each revolution of
the wheel G causes the index K to move from one numeral to the next, one
complete revolution of the index indicating ten gallons. A pinion on the
spindle of the index K communicates its motion to the wheel of the second
index L, which indicates tens of gallons, and so on to the third index M,
which records the consumption or abstraction of the liquid in hundreds of
gallons. In the event of the air in the meter expanding or increasing in
volume by the addition of spirituous vapour, provision is made for the
measuring drum turning in the contrary direction without affecting the state of
the index. On the spindle E, above the wheel C, is fitted a cross-bar N,
which runs loosely on the spindle; on the extremities of this bar are fitted two
pawls O, which rest in the inner row of ratchet teeth. With this arrangement
the rotatory movement of the spindle E in a forward direction is imparted to
the wheel G by the pawls O pushing the wheel round, which is prevented from
moving backwards by the pawl H. But upon the measuring drum being
moved in the opposite or backward direction the pawls O glide over the inner
ratchet wheel without moving the wheel G or affecting the state of the index.
The index compartment is enclosed by a glass plate in front to admit of
inspection at all times. The air after being measured and passed through
the meter flows off by the outlet pipe and into the cask or other receptacle.
In this way all the air which enters the cask to supply the place of the
liquor which is withdrawn is duly measured and indicated, whilst the emission
of the return air is provided for in the manner before described. The other
parts of the meter delineated in Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings

page_text: being the same as are in ordinary use it is unnecessary to refer to them
particularly.
Although I have described my improvements as being carried out by means
or with the aid of a meter of the wet class, I do not by any means confine
myself thereto, as meters of the dry class are equally applicable thereto. In
this way the index plate may be arranged to register the consumption or
abstraction of large or small quantities from the stock vessel or receptacle, so
that the dealer or vender can check the daily consumption or as frequently
as he may require. For spirit dealers and others small sized meters may be
arranged in connection with the spirit or other liquid receptacle, and these
meters serve to keep an accurate account of the state of the stock as well as a
check on the persons in charge of the same. They are also equally applicable
for breweries and distilleries or other places where it is required to measure
and register large quantities of liquids.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same be used or carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the system or mode of measuring and registering liquids by means of
a wet or dry meter or measuring apparatus through which the air for supplying
the place of the liquor as it is withdrawn from the cask or other receptacle is
passed, the volume of air thus caused to flow through the meter serving to
indicate the quantity of liquor drawn off from the vessel, as herein-before
described and shown in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the application to and use in measuring and registering the flow of
liquids of the apparatus commonly known as the wet or dry gas meter so
modified as to suit the system of liquid measures and register an accurate
account thereof, as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Sim, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May One thousand eight
hundred and sixt