the of Gas Governors.
Year: 1885

page_text: the Action of Gas Governors.
I WILLIAM EDWARD PRICE, of Bushey View, Hampton Wick, in the County
of Middlesex, Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for
AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR VARYING AND REGULATING THE ACTION
OF GAS GOVERNORS to be as follows:-
56
"
My invention consists of an apparatus intended for use in gas works, and places
where the requirements are of a like nature, for varying and regulating automatically
the the pressure of gas in the service maius, in such varying proportions as may be
desired at various periods of the twenty four hours.
My apparatus is controlled by a clock which is connected with and drives a cam
which performs one revolution in twenty four hours, and by means of which a
series of weights are raised or lowered at such hours as may be arranged, from, or
on to, a float, and by thus varying the load, increasing or decreasing the depth of
immersion of the float, which is connected with the regulating portion of the
apparatus.
I place the float in a small tank formning part of an inverted annular syphon, the
outer ring of which is in open connection with the gas mains, and in which the
water is made to rise and fall by and with the varying pressure of the gas in
the mains.
The regulating part of the apparatus consists of an arrangement of inlet and
outlet pipes and valves, the latter being connected with flexible diaphragms upon
which the pressure, or suction, of the water acts to hold the valve closed, and which
valves are also in connection with, and controlled by, a lever, which lever is actuated
and controlled by the before mentioned float in such manner that when the pressure
in the mains rises or falls, the water in the float-tank rises or sinks, carrying with
it the float which by its attached lever opens one valve and allows water or other
liquid to escape from, or another valve and allows water to pass to, the regulating
tank of an ordinary station governor such as is usually employed at gas works and
the supply of gas to the mains, and the pressure, is thereby diminished or increased
until equilibrum is established.
When the hour arrives at which a change in the pressure is required the revolving
cain lowers or lifts a series of weights depositing or removing one or some or all of
them on, or from, their seat on, or connected with the float.
i

page_text: When additional weights are thus placed on the float its immersion is increased,
and the connected lever being carried down with it opens the valve which admits
water to the tank on the governor, thereby gradually opening wider the cone valve
thereof, and admitting more gas to the mains and increasing the pressure therein,
this raises the level of the water in the inner compartment of the syphon containing
the float, raises the float, closes the inlet valve, and again produces equilibrium, but
with an increased flow of gas and consequently an increase of the pressure.
Similarly when one or more of the weights are lifted from their seat, the float
rises, opens the outlet valve, and allows water to escape from the tank on the
station governor, lessens the pressure in the mains, which allows the water in the
annular syphon to fall, bringing down the float and again closing the outlet valve.
The pipe conveying the water to and from the tank on the governor may be
connected with the said tank by a flexible tube or by means of a syphon arrange-
ment, one arm of which dips into the water in the said tank, and of which the
outlet pipe from the regulating apparatus forms the other and longer arm which
must be carried to a sufficiently low level, and turned up or otherwise sealed.
I provide an adjustment preferably forming part of the cam by which the hours
and regulation of the varying pressure may be altered as required with the
changing times and seasons.
By means of this Invention the pressure in the mains may thus be made to
increase at certain hours when the consumption of gas usually increases, and lessen
at other hours when the consumption of gas usually decreases, without the
intervention of an attendant.

page_text: An Improved Automatic Apparatus for Varying and Regulating
the Action of Gas Governors.
I WILLIAM EDWARD PRICE of Bushey View, Hampton Wick in the County of
Middlesex, Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "AN
IMPROVED AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR VARYING AND REGULATING THE ACTION
OF GAS GOVERNORS" and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention consists of an apparatus intended for use in gas works and places
where the requirements are of a like nature, for varying and regulating auto-
matically the pressure of gas in the service mains in such varying proportions as
may be desired at various periods of the twenty four hours.
My apparatus is controlled by a clock which is connected with and drives a cam
which performs one revolution in twenty four hours, and by means of which a
series of weights are raised or lowered at such hours as may be arranged, from, or
on to, a float, and by thus varying the load, increasing or decreasing the depth of
immersion of the float, which is connected with the regulating portion of the
apparatus.
I place the float in a small tank forming part of an inverted annular syphon the
outer ring of which is in open connection with the gas mains, and in which the
water is made to rise and fall by and with the varying. pressure of the gas in
the mains.
The regulating part of the apparatus consists of an arrangement of inlet and
outlet pipes and valves, the latter being connected with flexible diaphragms upon
which the pressure, or suction of the water acts to hold the valve closed, and which
valves are also in connection with, and controlled by, a lever, which lever is
actuated and controlled by the before mentioned float in such manner that when
the pressure in the mains rises or falls, the water in the float-tank rises or sinks,
carrying with it the float which by its attached lever opens one valve and allows
water or other liquid to escape from, or opens another valve and allows water to
pass to the loading tank of an ordinary station governor such as is usually
employed at gas works, and the supply of gas to the mains and the pressure is
thereby diminished or increased until equilibrium is established.
When the hour arrives at which a change in the pressure is required the
revolving cam lowers or lifts a series of weights depositing or removing one or
some or all of them on, or from, their seat on, or connected with the float.
When additional weights are thus, placed on the float its immersion is increased
and the connected lever being carried down with it opens the valve which admits
water to the tank on the governor thereby gradually opening wider the cope valve
thereof, and admitting more gas to the mains and increasing the pressure therein,
this raises the level of the water in the inner compartment of the syphon containing

page_text: the float, raises the float, closes the inlet valve, and again produces equilibrium
but with an increased flow of gas and consequently an increase of the pressure.
Similarly when one or more of the weights are lifted from their seat, the float
rises, opens the outlet valve, and allows water to escape from the tank on the
station governor, lessens the pressure in the mains, which allows the water in the
annular syphon to fall, bringing down the float and again closing the outlet valve.
The pipes conveying the water to and from the loading tank on the governor
may be connected with the said tank by a flexible tube or by means of a syphon
arrangement one arm of which dips into the water in the said tank or into a
tubular well attached thereto and of which the outlet pipe from the regulating
apparatus from the other and longer arm which must be carried to a sufficiently
low level and turned up or otherwise sealed.
I provide an adjustment preferably forming part of the cam by which the hours
and regulation of the varying pressure may be altered as required with the
changing times and seasons.
By means of this invention the pressure in the mains may thus be made to
increase at certain hours when the consumption of gas usually increases, and
lessen at other hours when the consumption of gas usually decreases, without the
intervention of an attendant.
In order that my invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed to
describe the same in detail, and for that purpose shall refer to the drawings
hereunto annexed and forming part of this my specification, in which Fig. 1 is an
elevation of my apparatus with its doors removed and partly in section together
with a station governor. Fig. 2, is an elevation of the working parts of the same
also partly in section. Fig. 3, is a vertical section of the valves. Fig. 4, represents
'a specimen cam and cam dial and Fig. 5, the same arranged differently. Fig. 6, is
a side elevation of the working parts behind the cam. Fig. 7, is a sectional view
on a larger scale of the sleeve piece on the float rod connecting it with the
horizontal lever. Fig. 8, is a side elevation of the cam and Fig. 9, represents one
end of the horizontal lever. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts
in the various figures.
My apparatus consists of four essential parts (1) The clock for rotating and
regulating the motion of the cam and camn-dial (2) The cam itself which alters
and regulates the position of the weights. (3) The annular inverted syphon-tank
and float. (4) The lever, and valves, by which the supply of liquid to, as well as
its withdrawal from the governor is controlled and regulated.
I connect an ordinary (preferably an eight-day) clock A. Fig. 1, by bevel gearing
and the spindle B with the cam C, this I prefer to do by means of an open wheel
keyed on to the axle carrying the hour hand which gears with a wheel a double
its diameter and which is provided with bevel teeth gearing into the corresponding
bevel wheel a¹ all of which are shown by dotted lines. In Fig. 2, b and b¹.are
bevel wheels the axle of the latter of which 62 carries and drives the cam C. In
the rear of the cam is a bar D, which slides horizontally in grooved wheels d ddd.
and in which is a slot through which the axle 62 passes. Near one end of the
bar D is a projecting roller E so arranged as to rest against the edge of the cam.
The other end of the bar D, is connected by means of a chain with a grooved
wheelf to which the end of the chain is attached. The wheel f is supported by
being keyed on a spindle working in the same framing that carries the cam and
its gearing. Near the other end of the spindle there. is a similar wheel f¹
clamped thereto, to which is attached a chain which operates the cone G and
weights 9, g, g², 9³, 9ª, 9³, 9º. A cross elevation of the said wheels and spindle
is shown in Fig. 6. It will thus be seen that, as the roller E approaches towards,
or recedes from the centre of the cam, the cone and weights will be raised or
lowered.
Immediately under the cone and weights is the table H supported by the vertical
rod.h attached to a float I which floats in the water in the annular inverted syphon

page_text: tank K, k. This tank consists of two chambers viz. an outer annular chamber k
closed on all sides except that it is connected by the pipe L with the outlet of the
governor supplying the district and by an opening or a series of openings near the
bottom with the inner cylindrical chamber K so that the pressure in the mains is
communicated to the chamber k and depresses the surface of the water there, and
raises that in the chamber K.
The rod his connected with the lever M by means of an arrangement the details
of which are shown on a larger scale in Fig. 7; consisting of a sleeve piece having
an internal screw thread working on a corresponding thread cut on the rod h. The
sleeve piece is provided with a milled head h by which it may be rotated on the
screw to adjust it, it has also two projecting rings h¹ and h² which by coming in
contact with the fixed supporting collar h³ limit the extent of the motion of the
rod h.
The milled head h is connected with the lever M by the bifurcated extremity of
the latter within which it works and by which the lever is raised and lowered with
the motion of the rod h. The fulcrum of the lever M is at m and its working
end m² is between the ends of the spindles of the valves O and P. Fig. 9, is an
enlarged view, partly in section, of the working end m¹ of the lever, shewing two
screws m² and m³ which are made to work rather stiffly and which serve as a means
for adjusting the width of the head m¹ to the distance between the ends of the
spindles t. These valves are of peculiar construction designed to give a large
flow of water with a very slight movement of the spindle and are shown in section.
on a larger scale in Fig. 3, in which t, t indicate the spindles; T, T¹, the valves,
which I prefer to make of metal only, and to face the seat with a leather washer;
U, U, and U2, are flexible diaphragms preferably of India rubber.
The water to the valve O, is led from a supply at a higher level through the
tube Q, into the valve and when the valve is opened by the spindle t being raised
by the lever M the water flows into the valve, and out by the tube Q1 but as soon
as the lever M resumes its normal position and the spindle is free to fall the pres-
sure of the water on the flexible diaphragm the surface of which is larger than that
of the corresponding valve closes the valve with sufficient firmness to prevent the
passage of the water.
In the valve P the water is admitted by the pipe S, and when the spindle t' is
depressed by the lever M, it passes the valve and out by the pipe S' which pipe is
carried to a level lower than that of the water in the governor and the end of.
it turned upwards or sealed by being kept under water, so that it becomes
the longer arm of a syphon and draws the water out of the tank on the station
governor through the valve until the spindle is relieved of the pressure of the
lever M when the suction exerted by the longer arm S¹ of the syphon acting on
the flexible diaphragm U₁ lifts the spindle, closes the valve and stops the flow. -
The diaphragms having each of them a considerably larger surface exposed to the
action of the water than has the corresponding valve the action of the water in
them is always sufficient to keep the valve closed when it is not acted on by the
lever M. The station governor is shown in Fig. 1 and is indicated by the letter R, the
position of the water tank for loading in the upper part being shown by the dotted
line. Attached to the side of, and communicating with the water tank is a tubular
well open at top and of greater depth than the tank and into which the end of the.
tube S is made to dip to such depth that the end of it is never out of the water
even when the governor is at its lowest position, and the depth of the well is
sufficient to allow the governor to rise to its highest point without the end of the
tube S coming in contact with the bottom. It will be obvious that the well may
be placed within the circumference of the tank or even in the centre of it if
preferred. The pipe Q¹ is made to terminate over and empty itself into the open
top of the well.
The figure of the cam is determined by the requirements of any particular,
station for which it may be intended and attached to the cam is a dial W upon.

page_text: which are marked the hours from one to twenty four A pointer shewn at e¹ in
Fig. 1 may be conveniently attached to some part of of the fixed framing, and
reaching to near the edge of the dial, to indicate the hour on it, corresponding
with the hour shown on the clock face and to facilitate the setting of the cam.
, is a small fly-nut with a milled head for clamping the cam and dial on
the axlo b².
In Fig. 4 I have represented a cam of the shape which I have found convenient.
It is arranged to put on the maximum pressure at from 3 to 7 o'clock in the
evening according to the position in which the sliding piece is clamped, by the
descent of the roller E from C³ to C¹ from which point the edge of the cam forms
a curve concentric with the centre of motion of the cam until the point opposite
eight o'clock on the dial at which point a curved incline c³ commences, terminating
at c³ opposite 12 o'clock on the dial, from here it again takes a curve concentric
with the centre of motion to the point ef opposite six o'clock on the dial where it
suddenly approaches the centre to and then again follows the curve of the
direction of motion to the point c where it again recedes from the centre to the
point c² and then follows the normal curve to c³.
That part of the cam included between co and c is made separate and detachable
and may be slid in and out from behind the body of the cam so as to vary the
position of the descent from 8 to c¹ and thus adjust to the varying time of year
the time at which the evening pressure is put on. It is fixed to the body of the
cam by means of a siot y and the fly nut shown close to cº.
Fig. 5 shows a cam intended for use in gas works where an intermediate amount
of pressure is to be maintained during the night and is reduced to the minimum in
the morning and again increased to an intermediate during the day, but I wish it
to be understood that although cams of the shapes represented are well adapted
for use in many situations I do not limit my invention to any particular forms as
the requirements of different gas works vary considerably and may often necessitate
that a cam should be specially designed and arranged to correspond with the
circumstances of the place. I provide a tube Y from the cylindrical float
chamber K (but not communicating with the chamber ) fitted with a cock or
screw cap, by which any superfluous water may be withdrawn from the tank and
the level of it adjusted when the apparatus is in a state of equilibrium. To lessen
evaporation from the water in the two chambers K and k of the float tank
I cover the surface of the water with a film of oil, and to enable this to be
done conveniently provide an opening and plug or screw-cap in the top of the
chamber k.
The operation of the apparatus when the cam shown in Fig. 4 is used is as
follows commencing when the minimum or afternoon pressure is on, when the
hour arrives for the pressure to be increased for the evening the part of the cam
marked will have arrived against and pass the roller E which will then by the
pull of the weights and the cone G on the slide D be drawn towards the centre of
the cam until stopped at e¹ by this the cone G will have been allowed to descend
and the weights deposited on the table H while the cone will rest on the bottom of
the cavity of H, the additional load thus put on the float I will cause it to sink
deeper in the water until the ring h¹ rests on the fixed collar ³ depressing. the
arm M and causing the opposite end of it m¹ to raise the spindle of the valve O
which will be thereby opened and water will flow in from the supply pipe Q
through the valve and by the pipe Q¹ into the loading tank on the station
governor R and will continue to flow until the increased weight of water in the
governor tank has raised the pressure in the mains to the required maximum.
the pressure in the mains is thus increased it is communicated through the pipe L
to the annular chamber k of the float tank and gradually depresses the water there
raising the level of that in the central chamber K until it reaches a level at which
the float will lift the weights when it rises carrying up with it the end of the
arm M until it reaches its normal position and. the spindle of the valve.O is set free
As

page_text: and the presence of the water acting on the diaphragm U closes the valve T and
stops the flow of the water. No further change takes place until that part of the
cam where the incline c¹ commences comes against the roller E which is then
slowly pushed back as the cam advances until the point c³ reaches the roller, by
this the slide D has been carried to. the left and the cone raised to the position
shown in the drawings, and the weights taken off one by one. As each weight is
taken off the table H and the float I being thus lightened rise and lift the arm M
the other end m¹ of which depresses the spindle of the valve P and opens the
valve T¹ thereby allowing the water to flow through the pipes S and S¹ which
together form a syphon of which 8¹ is the longer arm and by which means the water
is drawn out of the tank on the governor through the well until the pressure in
the main is reduced by an amount equal to the effect of one weight by which the
water in the chamber is caused to rise and that in K to fall lowering the float
and the lever M and releasing the spindle t¹. The suction produced by the longer
arın s¹ of the syphon Ss acting on the flexible diaphragm U' raises the spindle t¹
and closes the valve T¹ in which state matters remain until another weight has
been raised, and this is repeated until all the weights are off the table H after
which matters remain unchanged during passage against the roller of the portion
of the cam between c³ and c. On the latter point passing, the roller advances to
the part thereby depositing some of the weights on the table H and again
increasing the pressure to the proper amount for the morning and day at which it
remains until the point c reaches the roller E which is theu pushed back by the
advance of the incline between c and c7 by which some weights are again lifted
and the minimum pressure established until the time again arrives for putting on
the evening pressure.
It will readily be seen that the cain may be fitted with an adjustable piece at
the part marked c' in the same manner as is shown at c for the purpose of varying
the time at which the increase of pressure in the morning takes place, or an adjust-
able piece may be fitted at any other part at which it may be desired to have a
power of adjustment.
The flow of water to or from the governor tank being gradual the transition
from one pressure to another is effected without any sudden change, the time
occupied in the transition from the maximum to the minimum pressure or vice
versa being accomplished by the apparatus I have constructed in about 15 minutes
so that a diagram recording the pressure during the 24 hours shows a series of
much more even and regular inclines than is usually attained by any other means.
If from insufficient fall or the requirements of any position or otherwise sufficient
suction cannot be obtained in the pipe s¹ to close the valve P a spiral or other
spring may be added for the purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. Constructing automatic apparatus for varying and regulating the action of gas
governors substantially as hereinbefore described and set forth.
2. Constructing apparatus for the purpose of automatically varying from time to
time the quantity of water or other fluid in the loading tanks of gas governors and
thereby varying the pressure of gas in the mains substantially as and in the manner
herein before described.
3. An apparatus consisting of a cam driven by a clock by which a series of
weights are lifted on or off a float the rising and falling of which controls the flow
of water to or from the loading tank on a station governor substantially as herein-
before described and set forth.
4. The application for the purposes described of an annular inverted syphion
tank and float the relative level of the water in the two arms of which tank is

page_text: controlled by the gas pressure in the mains and which variation of level operates
the float and assists in controlling the flow of water to and from the station
governor substantially as herein before described and set forth.
5. The application and use of valves constructed substantially as described and
shown in Figures 2 and 3 for the purpose set forth.
Dotal the 27th day of abruary 1000