CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LIQUID MEASURES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
BIRD, of Cwm Avon Works, Taibach, in the County of Glamorgan, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of February,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Bird, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James Bird, my exors,
adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Bird, my exors,
adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guern-
sey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN LIQUID
MEASURES;" in which Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
James Bird, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
saine, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Bird, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained
in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say) :-
My Invention has relation,―
Firstly, to the measures made of pewter, tin, and other metals ordinarily
used by retail dealers in selling spirits, beer, oil, and other liquids, and has for
its object to facilitate the transfer of the liquid from the measure to the bottle
or other receiving vessel, and also to prevent the waste attending the common
practice of turning the measure over for the purpose of emptying it. Instead
of making the measure of a cylindrical or barrel form, with flat bottom as
usual, I make it of a globular or conoidal form, with an open orifice at
bottom, to which orifice I attach a tap or cock by which it may be closed
during the filling of the measure, and opened when it is desired to empty it.
Figure 1 represents a side view, and Figure 2 a back view of a measure of
this description. A is the measure; B is the tap, which may be attached to
the measure by soldering or by any other suitable means. I prefer making it
of the sort of alloy of which liquor taps are commonly made, called sometimes
pot metal, and at others cock metal; but I do not confine myself to any par-
ticular material for the purpose. On the exterior of the tap four vertical
fillets a, a, a, a, are cast, in order that, when inserted in the mouth of a bottle
(C, Figure 2, for example), it may not fill the same exactly, but leave air
spaces b, b, b, b, between it and the glass for the escape of the internal air as
the liquid is being poured in.
Secondly, my Invention has relation to the serving by measure of milk,
beer, and other liquids out of portable pails, cans, and other vessels, and has
for its object to supersede the necessity of carrying along with such pails,
cans, and other vessels the various measures requisite for distributing the con-
tents of the same according to the wants of customers, as quarts, pints, gills,
&c. I construct the pail, can, or other portable vessel with such appendages
that it shall itself measure exactly whatever quantity of the contained liquid
is drawn from it.
Figure 3 of the Drawings annexed exhibits a sectional elevation of a
vessel of this description, and Figure 4 a top plan. A is the body of the
vessel, which is provided as usual with a lid or cover, which may, if desirable,
be made fast with a padlock (6). A³ is a small circular box containing the
principal portions of the measuring apparatus, which is mounted on the top of
the lid or cover. On the upper and outside surface of this box there is a

page_text: circle graduated, after the manner of a clock dial, into gallons and the aliquot
parts of a gallon. B is a tap (similar to that before described) for drawing off
the liquid; C is a ballcock which floats on the surface of the liquid, and is
counected by, a lever E with the horizontal axis of a bevil wheel D, which
gears into another bevil wheel F, which is fixed upon a vertical spindle G,
which passes up through the top of the box A³, and exactly in the centre of
it. To the upper end of this spindle G is attached an index hand H, which
points to the words and figures on the graduated surface of the box A³. The
mode of action of this machinery is as follows:-When the vessel is filled
with milk or other liquid, the ball C' floats upon the surface, and occupies a
hollow space c made for it on the under side of the lid or cover of the vessel.
As the liquid is drawn off, the ball, by its own gravity, descends and pulls
round along with it the bevil wheel D, which causes the other bevil wheel F,
into which it gears, and the index hand H attached to the axis of the wheel,
to be turned round a proportionate distance, so that by noting the space on
the graduated, surface traversed by the index hand during the first draught
from the vessel, or between any two draughts, the exact quantity delivered
each time can be at once ascertained. As, however, the ballcock describes a
portion of a circle in its descent, it is obvious that, for the same quantities of
liquid taken from the vessel when full and when nearly empty, it will not
cause the index hand to travel over equal spaces. I provide the necessary
correction for such inequalities by graduating the surface of the box A*
according to actual experiment and observation of the spaces successively
traversed by the index hand during one entire emptying of the vessel.
Another arrangement of apparatus suitable for measuring the liquid con-
tents of large stationary vessels, such as brewers' and distillers' vats, or, in
other words, for rendering the same self-registering, is represented in Figure 5.
A is an external elevation of such a vessel; B, the ballcock attached by the
chain C, passing over a friction pulley D. placed on the top of the vessel to a
set of wheelwork placed in a case E affixed to the vat on the outside. As-the
fluid is taken from the vat the ballcock descends accordingly, and by the action
of the chain C upon the wheelwork, causes the index hand to point out upon
a dial plate, in front of the wheelwork, the exact quantity of fluid which has
been taken from the vat. The re-winding of the chain on the barrel of the
wheelwork, upon refilling the vat, may be effected either by winding up the
wheelwork, or by the action of a spring placed in connection with barrel
upon which the cbain is wound.
In the same Drawing, Figure 5, is represented another contrivance for the
same purpose. K is a glass tube which is affixed to a graduated scale placed

page_text: on the front of the vat. The tube is bent at its lower end, and the bent part
is inserted into and has free communication with the vat. The liquid conse-
quently will always stand at the same level in the glass tube and the vat, and
any quantity which may be drawn off will be indicated by the fall of the
surface of the liquid in the tube, while at the same time the quantity left in
the vat will be indicated on the scale. Instead of the tube being made
entirely of glass, it may be made of metal, with a glass front inserted into it,
which would greatly diminish the risks of fracture, and the communication
with the vat at bottom may be effected by means of a metallic pipe and
stopcock.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements which
I claim as constituting the said Invention are as follows:-
First, I claim the constructing of liquid measures of a globular or conoidal
form, with apertures at the bottom for the discharge of the contents thereof,
and taps with projecting fillets attached to such apertures, as before described;
and,
Secondly, I claim the constructing of portable and stationary vessels for
holding liquids, with self-measuring apparatus attached to the same, as respec-
tively before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Bird, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.