IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Hancock and Hubert Samuel Heath, both of
No. 406, Euston Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 5th September 1879, and dated the 23rd May 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur Hancock and Hubert
Samuel Heath at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd May
1879.
ARTHUR HANCOCK and HUBERT SAMUEL HEATH, both of No. 406, Euston Road,
in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR WATER AND
OTHER LIQUIDS."
This Invention relates to meters for measuring and registering the volume of
water or other liquid passed through them, the chief objects of the Invention
being to obtain simplicity in the construction of the apparatus, and accuracy and
durability in its operation. For this purpose a closed vessel is divided into two
compartments by a vertical partition which reaches not quite to the top, so that
there is free conimunication between the upper parts of the two compartments. In
the upper part of the vessel is mounted an equal armed lever having at each end a
float, the one float being capable of vertical oscillation in the one compartment, and
the other float capable of vertical oscillation in the other compartment of the vessel.
The axis of this lever passes through a hole in the front, and extends into a third
closed compartment in which it works, as will be hereafter described, the registering
apparatus and the valve gear. The lever axis where it passes through the partition
into the front compartment is made with a coned collar fitting in a conical seating,
and is pressed forwards by a spring bearing against its inner end. The end of the
lever axis which projects into the front compartment carries a spring pawl engaging
with a ratchet wheel to which are connected by gearing suitable indices for
registering the number of oscillations of the lever, each oscillation causing the
ratchet wheel to turn one tooth. The projecting end of the lever axis has also
attached to it an arm extending downwards within the front compartment and
having at its lower end a slotted hole which engages the pin of a crank fixed on a
rocking axis or weigh shaft from which another arm projects upwards, carrying at

page_text: its upper end a tumbling weight that can oscillate between two fixed stops. The
weigh shaft passes through a hole in the back of the front compartment into a closed
valve chamber, a coned collar on the weigh shaft fitting a conical seating in the hole,
into which seating it is pressed by a spring bearing against the inner end of the
axis within the valve chamber. The lower part of the valve chamber presents a
horizontal facing having through it three ports over which a D slide works in
guides. On the upper side of the slide is formed a gab which receives a wing arm
projecting down from the weigh shaft, the gab being made wider than the wing so
that the latter can move to a certain extent freely within the gab without giving
motion to the slide. The slide also has its ends concavely curved so that when it
is moved to uncover either of the ports the liquid instead of flowing in the direct
line of the port is deflected laterally by the curvature. The middle port of the
slide communicates with an outlet pipe below; the two side ports communicate
respectively by passages below with apertures in the bottoms of the two compart-
ments of the meter, and the valve chamber is itself in communication by a passage
below with an inlet pipe which is connected by a union or otherwise to the service
pipe or main by which the water or liquid is supplied. In this inlet pipe, at or
above the level of the upper part of the meter there is a governor chamber containing
a float which is connected to a throttle or other regulating valve or slide in the
supply pipe. While the float is down this valve is fully open, but if the float is
raised by accumulation of liquid in the governor chamber the valve becomes more
or less closed so as to throttle the supply. Thus the float and valve worked by it
operate as a governor, regulating the supply of liquid so that it cannot enter the
governor chamber and meter faster than it issues therefrom. The operation of the
meter is as follows:-Assuming the tumbling weight and the slide to be at one end
of their stroke opening one of the two compartments to the supply and the other
to the discharge, the liquid rises in the former compartment and sinks in the latter.
Having risen to a certain height in the filling compartment it presses upwards the
float therein until the upward pressure is sufficient to overcome the resistance of
the tumbling weight; the float then rises suddenly, causing the tumbling weight to
pass its vertical centre, and the weight then falling over to its stop at the opposite
side causes by the last part of its movement a shift of the slide, so that the flow
into and discharge from the two compartiments are reversed, that which had been
emptied now receiving the supply, and that which had been filled now discharging
its contents by the outlet. The parts remain in this condition until the other float
being acted as above described the slide becomes again shifted, and thus as long as
there is a supply of liquid to the meter and a discharge from it, the reciprocating
action is repeated. At each reciprocation of the float lever the registering gear is
moved, and the volume required to charge each compartment sufficiently to cause
movement of its float being known, the number of reciprocations registered gives the
total volume of liquid that has passed. It is convenient to make each compartment
of such size that its charge is a known fraction or multiple of a gallon or other
unit of liquid measure, and to make the register in the form usually employed in
gas meters, consisting of several dials indicating respectively units, hundreds, or
thousands, or other number of gallons. The dials, with the gearing of their indices,
being all situated within the closed front compartiment of the meter a portion of
the face of this compartment is made of glass so that the register can be seen from
without, all passage of spindles, rods, or other connections through stuffing boxes
to the exterior being thus avoided, and all the moving parts except the floats and
valve being clear from the liquid.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Arthur Hancock and Hubert Samuel Heath in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th November 1879.
ARTHUR HANCOCK and HUBERT SAMUEL HEATH, both of No. 406, Euston Road,
in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN METERS FOR WATER AND
OTHER LIQUIDS."
This Invention relates to meters for measuring and registering the volume of water.
or other liquid passed through them, the chief objects of the Invention being to
obtain simplicity in the construction of the apparatus, and accuracy and durability
in its operation. For this purpose a closed vessel is divided into two compartments
by a vertical partition, which reaches not quite to the top, so that there is free
communication between the upper parts of the two compartments. In the upper
part of the vessel is mounted an equal armed lever, having at each end a float, the
one float being capable of vertical oscillation in the one compartment, and the other
float capable of vertical oscillation in the other compartiment of the vessel. The
axis of this lever passes through a hole in the front, and extends into a third closed
compartment in which it works, as will be hereafter described, the registering appa-
ratus and the valve gear. The lever axis, where it passes through the partition into
the front compartiment, is made with a coned collar fitting in a conical seating, and
is pressed forward by a spring bearing against its inner end. The end of the lever
axis, which projects into the front compartment, carries a spring pawl engaging with
a ratchet wheel, to which are connected by gearing suitable indices for registering
the number of oscillations of the lever, each oscillation causing the ratchet wheel to
turn one tooth. The projecting end of the lever axis has also attached to it an arm
extending downwards within the front compartment, and having at its lower end a
slotted hole, which engages the pin of a crank fixed on a rocking axis or weigh
shaft, from which another arm projects upwards, carrying at its upper end a tumbling
weight that can oscillate between two fixed stops. The weigh shaft passes through
a hole in the back of the front compartment into a closed valve chamber, a coned
collar on the weigh shaft fitting a conical seating in the hole, into which seating it
is pressed by a spring bearing against the inner end of the axis within the valve
chamber. The lower part of the valve chamber presents a horizontal facing, having
through it three ports, over which a D slide works in guides. On the upper side of
the slide is formed a gab, which receives a wing arm projecting down from the weigh
shaft, the gab being made wider than the wing, so that the latter can move to a
certain extent freely within the gab without giving motion to the slide. The slide
also has its ends concavely curved, so that when it is moved to uncover either of the
ports, the liquid, instead of flowing in the direct line of the port, is deflected later-
ally by the curvature. The middle port of the slide communicates by a passage
below with an inlet pipe; the two side ports communicate respectively by
passages below with apertures in the bottoms of the two compartments of the
meter, and the valve chamber is itself in communication by a passage with an outlet.
The inlet pipe is connected by a union or otherwise to the service pipe or main by
which the water or liquid is supplied. In this inlet pipe, at or above the level of the
upper part of the meter, there is a governor chamber containing a float, which is
connected to a throttle or other regulating valve or slide in the supply pipe. While
the float is down this valve is fully open, but if the float is raised by accumu-
lation of liquid in the governor chamber, the valve becomes more or less closed, so
as to throttle the supply. Thus the throat and valve worked by it operate as a
governor regulating the supply of liquid, so that it cannot enter the governor
chamber and meter faster than it issues therefrom. The operation of the meter is
as follows: Assuming the tumbling weight and the slide to be at one end of their
stroke opening one of the two compartments to the supply, and the other to the
discharge, the liquid rises in the former compartment and sinks in the latter. Having

page_text: risen to a certain height in the filling compartment, it presses upwards the float
therein until the upward pressure is sufficient to overcome the resistance of the
tumbling weight; the float then rises suddenly, causing the tumbling weight to
pass its vertical centre, and the weight then falling to its stop at the opposite side,
causes by the last part of its movement a shift of the slide, so that the flow
into and discharge from the two compartments are reversed, that which had been
emptied now receiving the supply, and that which had been filled now discharging
its contents by the outlet. The parts remain in this condition until, the other float
being acted on as above described, the slide becomes again shifted, and thus as long
as there is a supply of liquid to the meter and a discharge from it, the reciprocating
action is repeated. At each reciprocation of the float lever the registering gear is
moved, and the volume required to charge each compartment sufficiently to cause
movement of its float being known, the number of reciprocations registered gives the
total volume of liquid that has passed. It is convenient to make each compartment of
such size that its charge is a known fraction or multiple of a gallon or other unit of
liquid measure, and to make the register in the form usually employed in gas meters,
consisting of several dials indicating respectively units, hundreds, or thousands, or
other numbers of gallons. The dials, with the gearing of their indices being all
situated within the closed front compartment of the meter, a portion of the face of
this compartment is made of glass, so that the register can be seen from without,
all passage of spindles, rods, or other connections through stuffing boxes to the
exterior being thus avoided, and all the moving parts, except the floats and valve,
being clear from the liquid.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section of a meter for
water or other liquid, according to our Invention, and Fig. 3 is a front view of the
connections for working the slide. The liquid enters by a supply pipe A into the
regulating chamber B, in which is a float C connected to the arm of a stop cock a,
which being closed more or less as the float C rises, stops or throttles the supply so
as to govern the pressure within the meter. From the regulating chamber B the
liquid flows by a passage b to the middle of three ports arranged on a horizontal
facing and governed by a slide D. This slide works within a chamber from which
opens the outlet E of the meter. The two side ports d¹, d², communicate respec-
tively with two compartments G', G2, into which the body of the meter is divided
by a partition F, which, not reaching the top of the meter, leaves free communica-
tion between the upper parts of the two compartments. In each compartment is a
float g, g², fixed at the opposite ends of an equal armed lever or sway beam H. The
rocking axis of this lever extends into a front compartment K, and to its extended
part is fixed an arm L having at its lower end a slot in which works an antifriction
roller on a crank arm of a rocking shaft M. This arm, extended upwards, carries a
tumbling weight N which can fall against either of two spring stops n¹, n². The
extended axis h also carries a spring pawl engaging with the ratchet wheel of an
ordinary counter O provided with dials and indices to register gallons or other units
of liquid measure, and multiples thereof, in the usual way, the dials being visible
through a glass & fixed in the front of the meter. The rocking shaft M extends into
the compartment containing the slide D, and has a wing arm m projecting down
from it into a gab on the upper side of the slide D, the gab being wider than the
wing. In a meter constructed as above described we find certain details of advan-
tage, which details are as follows:-In the supply pipe A we introduce a filter or
sieve consisting of a piece of pipe f closed at the top, projecting upwards, and drilled
with a number of small holes over its surface; this prevents access of dirt or grit to
the meter, and as the impurities arrested by it are deposited on its outer surface it
can be readily cleansed. The regulating cock a, being for the purpose of throttling

page_text: the supply, is made a somewhat loose fit, so that the float C can freely work it, and
this float has a guide rod c working freely in a guide tube at the bottom of the
regulating chamber B. The slide D is made as shewn, with its ends curving out-
wards, so that the liquid issuing from either side port into the slide chamber is
deflected laterally, and issues by the outlet E without rising in the slide chamber to
the height of the rocking shaft M. This rocking shaft M, as well as the rocking
axis h of the sway beam H, where it passes through the partition, is coned to fit as
a valve against a conical seating in the partition, and is pressed into its seat by a
light spring S at the back end of the axis. Behind the outlet mouth E there is a
passage terminating in an open slit e by which liquid can escape if there be a greater
discharge than can issue by the mouth E. The operation of the meter may be
described as follows:-The liquid is supplied by the pipe A, and being filtered in its
passage by the filter f, and throttled more or less by the stop cock u, enters the
regulating chamber B. If it enters this chamber faster than it can issue there-
from by the passage b the float C rises, still further throttling the supply. Thus,
as there are at the top of the chamber B apertures i for free passage of air, there
can never be greater pressure of liquid in the ineter than what is due to the height
of column in B floating C at or about its normal level. Within the meter we will
suppose the liquid to be low in the compartment G2 and high in G¹, the float g²
therefore being down and g' being up, the beam H canted so that its arm L is in
the position shewn in Fig. 3, and consequently the tumbling weight N resting on
its stop n¹. The slide D has therefore by the wing m been moved to the right,
uncovering the port d' and making a communication from b to d². Liquid from B
now flows by the passage b and port d into the compartment G³, while liquid flows
from G by the port d'into the slide chamber, and issues thence by the outlet E.
After a certain time the level of the liquid in G2 has risen, and that in G¹ has sunk
so far that the floats g¹, g², are sufficiently out of balance to overcome the gravity of
the weight N, which, as it begins to move upwards from the stop n, becomes less
effective till it passes the vertical line over the axis M, after which it becomes
effective in the opposite direction, with force increasing as it moves. The floats are
thus caused to make a rapid stroke, g² rising and g¹ descending. At the same time
the axis M, turning rapidly from its one extreme to the other, the wing arm m on
it acting during the latter part of its stroke against the left side of the gab in the
slide D moves the slide suddenly to the left, so as to uncover the port d² and bring
d' into communication with b. The compartment G¹ now receives a supply of
liquid, while liquid is discharged from G2, and after a time the reversal of action
ensues as above described. Each stroke in one direction of the beam H causes a
movement to be imparted to the counter O by means of the pawl on the arm of h
acting on the ratchet wheel of the counter. The charge of the compartments G¹ and
G for each such stroke being a known quantity, the counter O which registers the
number of these strokes records the quantity of liquid that passes through the
meter.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we hereby declare that we make no general claim to the
measuring of liquids by a counter recording a number of reciprocations of floats
acted on by the liquid; nor do we claim generally the use in liquid meters of a slide
worked by reciprocating floats or pistons, so as to govern ports for passage of the
liquid to act on these floats or pistons, but we claim,-
First. The construction of meter for water and other liquids herein described with
reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Second. Governing the supply of liquid to a meter by means of a cock or valve
worked by a float in a regulating chamber, so that the pressure in the meter shall
not exceed that for which the float is adjusted, substantially as herein described.
Third. In combination with a pair of floats working in separate compartments of
a liquid meter, and connected together by a rocking beam, and arm L moving with
the bean and working a tumbling weight N on the arm of a rocking shaft M, so as

page_text: to give a rapid movement to a slide D, and thereby effect a rapid alternation of the
passages governed by it, substantially as herein described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said Arthur Hancock and Hubert Samuel Heath,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fourteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
ARTHUR HANCOCK.
(L.S.)
HUBERT SAMUEL HEATH. (L.S.)