An Improved Construction of Fluid Meters, also applicable as Motor Engine.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Mar., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 5th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 12th Jan., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Construction of Fluid Meters, also applicable as
Motor Engine.
I, WILLIAM ANTON GOTTLIEB SCHÖNHEYDER, of No. 4 Rosebery Road,
Clapham Park, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
According to my invention I construct a fluid meter as follows.
Within a
closed chamber that communicates with the supply of fluid under pressure are
three cylinders with pistons arranged at equal distances around a central pillar
containing ports and passages as will be presently described. These cylinders are
by preference open at both ends and are fixed in seatings in the chamber in such
manner as to form below the one end of each cylinder an enclosed space that only
communicates with the other part of the chamber and the discharge passage
through ports and passages in the central pillar. The other end of the cylinders
is in open communication with the chamber so as to be always subject to the
pressure of the liquid therein. The upper end of the pillar has a hemispherical
head and on the accurately prepared spherical surface of this fits a corresponding
hemispherical cap. This cap which constitutes a slide valve, has three arms
projecting from it, to which are connected the piston rods of the three cylinders by
ball and socket joints.
The central pillar has firstly a central passage communicating at bottom with a
discharge passage, and at top with a central port on the hemispherical head, and it
has three other passages arranged round the central one, each of which com-
municates at the lower end with the space below one of the cylinders and at the
upper end with a port on the spherical head, which ports are arranged symmetrically
round the before mentioned central port. The cap, which constitutes a slide valve
controlling these ports, has a central cavity of such a form that it can establish a
communication between the central port and any one or two of the three other
ports, thereby putting such port, and consequently the space below the corre
sponding cylinder in communication with the discharge passage. Round this
cavity three ports are formed in the slide valve, corresponding in position to the
three above mentioned ports in the head, and so arranged that when the slide valve
is in a position to connect the central discharge port of the head with one of the
cylinder ports, by means of the central cavity, the other two cylinder ports are
more or less uncovered by their corresponding slide ports, so that the bottom
spaces of the corresponding cylinders are receiving pressure fluid from the meter
chamber. It will be seen from this arrangement that the action of the meter will
be as follows:
Assuming the position of the slide valve to be that above described, the fluid
pressure in the meter chamber will force downwards the piston of the cylinder that
is in communication with the discharge, and the rod of this piston will draw
downwards that side of the spherical slide valve, which in its turn, will raise up
the pistons in the two other cylinders, these pistons being subject to the same
pressure above and below as the inlet ports are open, and offering little or no
resistance to such motion. By the time the first named piston has arrived at its
lowest point, the slide valve will have closed the communication of its cylinder
with the discharge, will have opened its communication with the meter chamber,

page_text: and will have, shortly before, established the communication between the discharge
and one of the other. cylinders, the piston of which will by that time have arrived
at the upper end of its stroke.
The piston of this cylinder will now be forced downward by the fluid pressure in
the meter chamber, causing the slide valve to move over, so as in like manner to
cause the third cylinder, when its piston has arrived at the end of its upstroke
to be put in communication with the discharge, and so on in continuous rotation,
the piston of each cylinder, when put in communication with the discharge being
made to actuate the hemispherical slide valve so as to control the action of the
other two pistons in the above described manner. By this consecutive action of
the piston on the slide valve, this will receive a kind of rolling motion upon the
hemispherical head, causing a finger projecting from its centre to describe a conical
path round the axial line, whereby it is enabled to rotate a radial arm on a spindle
carried in such axial line in the top of the meter chamber, and projecting up into
a casing above containing a counter of any known form which is actuated by the
revolving spindle, and which registers the consecutive discharges of the contents of
each cylinder which are of a definite capacity. Although the slide valve has the
above described rolling motion, it has no rotary motion round the axial line, and in
order to insure that it shall be perfectly stationary in this respect, its circular edge
is provided with one or more downward projecting studs which, as the slide valve
rolls, slide in and out of slotted guide pieces projecting from the pillar head.
In order to control the length of the stroke of the pistons, a conical flange or
rolling ring is formed on the valve seat and a similar one on the valve, and the time
of admitting the fluid to the cylinders and of exhausting it from them is so arranged
that the two faces are practically always in contact at one side or the other, in
fact they roll on each other, thus giving the arms and with them the pistons a
definite extent of movement.
Although I have described the slide valve as having the arms for attachment
to the piston rods formed in one therewith, they may for facility of manufacture
and adjustment be made part of a separate frame, fitted on to the slide valve so as
to cause this to move in the described manner when actuated by the pistons.
It will be evident that instead of making the pillar head convex and the slide
valve concave, the head may be concave and the valve convex.
It will also be evident that as the above described meter is in effect a small motor
engine that drives the counter, it may, by employing a sufficient fluid pressure be
employed as a moter engine for driving machinery.
In either case a modified construction may be employed in which cylinders are
arranged round the spindle or shaft to be driven, to a crank pin on which the
piston rods impart rotary motion, and the crank pin in its turn imparts the requisite
motion to a finger on the spherical slide valve that controls the supply of fluid
pressure to and its discharge from the cylinders in a similar manner to that above
described.
With this arrangement instead of admitting the fluid pressure into the casing
enclosing the cylinders, the slide valve may be contained within the spherical head,
into which the fluid pressure is admitted and from which it is caused by the motion
of the slide valve to pass through ports and passages to the underside of the pistons
in regular rotation.
Instead of forming the valve with three ports for admitting fluid to the three
cylinders, it may be made circular, i.e. with a circular central cavity for exhaust
purposes, and with the outer edge serving to open and close the ports in the seat for
the admission of pressure fluid; the shape of the ports in the valve seat being
suitably formed in a well known manner.
Dated this 6th day of March 1901
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: "
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Construction of Fluid Meters, also applicable as
Motor Engine.
I, WILLIAM ANTON GOTTLIEB SCHÖNHEYDER, of No. 4 Rosebery Road,
Clapham Park, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
According to my invention I construct a fluid meter as follows. Within a closed
chamber that communicates with the supply of fluid under pressure are three
cylinders with pistons arranged at equal distances around a central pillar containing
ports and passages as will be presently described. These cylinders are by preference
open at both ends and are fixed in seatings in the chamber in such manner as to
form below the one end of each cylinder an enclosed space that only communicates
with the other part of the chamber and the discharge passage through ports and
passages in the central pillar the other end of the cylinders is in open communication
with the chamber so as to be always subject to the pressure of the liquid therein.
The upper end of the pillar has a hemispherical head and on the accurately
prepared spherical surface of this fits a corresponding hemispherical cap. This
cap which constitutes a slide valve, has three arms projecting from it, to which
are connected the piston rods of the three cylinders by ball and socket joints.
"
The central pillar has firstly a central passage communicating at bottom with a
discharge passage, and at top with a central port on the hemispherical head, and
it has three other passages arranged round the central one, each of which
communicates at the lower end with the space below one of the cylinders and at
the upper end with a port on the hemispherical head, which ports are arranged
symmetrically round the before mentioned central port. The cap, which constitutes
a slide valve controlling these ports, has a central cavity of such a form that it can
establish a communication between the central port and any one or two of the
three other ports, thereby putting such port, and consequently the space below the
corresponding cylinder in communication with the discharge passage. Round this
cavity three ports are formed in the slide valve corresponding in position to the
three above mentioned ports in the head, and so arranged that when the slide
valve is in a position to connect the central discharge port of the head with one
of the cylinder ports, by means of the central cavity the other two cylinder ports
are more or less uncovered by their corresponding slide ports, so that the bottom
spaces of the corresponding cylinders are receiving pressure fluid from the meter
chamber.
Having thus generally set forth the main features of my invention I will now
proceed to more particularly describe the same with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which
Fig. 1 shews a vertical section of a fluid meter.
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan and Fig. 3 is a plan of the slide valve.
A is the closed casing or chamber communicating at B with the supply of fluid
and at B' with the discharge. C' C2 C3 are three cylinders fixed in the casing so
as to form an enclosed space beneath them as shewn at the left hand side of Fig. 1,
and arranged at equal distances apart round the centre. In these cylinders work
pistons D D D³ whose rods d¹ d² d³ have spherical heads fitting in corresponding
sockets in arms E' E E³ of the hemispherical slide valve E, that rests upon the
hemispherical head F fixed on the top of the central pillar A' of the casing A,
which pillar coutains ports and passages communicating with the several cylinders
as will be presently described.
G¹
The enclosed space G below each cylinder communicates by a lateral passage
Fig. 2 with one of three passage H H H leading up through the pillar aud..
through the spherical head where they terminate in corresponding ports h¹ h² h³ as
A

page_text: shewn in dotted lines at Fig. 3. The pillar and head have also a central exhaust
passage I communicating at bottom by a passage l' and closed chamber 12, with
the discharge B'. The inlet B communicates with a space J, preferably enclosed
by a strainer J' through which the liquid under pressure flows into the upper part
of the casing A.
The hemispherical slide valve E fits fluid tight upon the hemispherical head F
and has three ports e¹ e² e corresponding in position to the ports h² h³, and it also
has a central cavity e, adapted to establish a communication between the ports h
and the central exhaust port I. When the valve is in the central position shewn
at Fig. 3 all three of the ports ' h h are covered thereby, the ports e' e² e³ being
then in such a position relative thereto that a slight inclination of the slide valve
to the one side or the other would cause one of its ports to uncover one of the
ports and its cavity e to establish a communication with another of the ports.
Practically when the meter is in a state of rest the slide valve is always in a more
or less inclined position so that one or other of the ports would be uncovered and
another one put in communication with I by the cavity e.
Assuming this to be the case and that the port 2 is in communication with
cavity e, and consequently the space G of cylinder C2 in communication through
H³. ², I, I¹, with the discharge B', then the fluid pressure in A will force down
piston D, expelling the liquid from the space G, and at the same time drawing.
downwards the arm E2 of the slide valve E so that this is inclined to a greater
extent upon the cap F towards C. By this motion the slide valve is made
gradually to close the communication between port 2 and the exhaust I and to
establish the communication between port and I, so that, the space G below
piston D which has previously become filled with liquid through the open port
by the upward motion of that piston caused by the motion of the slide valve, is
now put in communication with the exhaust, and piston D' is consequently forced
downward by the liquid under pressure in A, whereby the slide valve is moved
over towards C¹ gradually closing the exhaust of that cylinder and opening that
of C2, and so on in continuous rotation.
By this consecutive action of the pistons upon the slide valve this will receive a
kind of rolling motion upon the hemispherical head F, causing a finger Et projecting
up from its apex to describe a conical path as indicated by the dotted lines xa,
round the vertical axial line, whereby it is able to rotate a radial arm K' on a
spindle passing through the casing A into a chamber A³ above, where its motion
is communicated by any suitable known gear to a counter fixed upon such chamber,
and which is consequently made to register at each revolution of spindle the
volumes of liquid represented by the strokes of each of the three cylinders, such
strokes being made to constitute a definite capacity.
Although the slide valve has the above described rolling motion, it has no rotary
motion round the axial line, and in order to insure that it shall be perfectly
stationary in its respect, its edge is provided with a series of projecting fingers E
which, as the slide valve rolls round, slide in and out of slotted guide pieces F¹
projecting from the head F.
The rotation of the valve may also be prevented by combining therewith the well
known gimbal ring device the valve being connected by opposite pivots to a gimbal
ring, which is connected by pivots at right angles to a fixed support.
In order to control the length of the stroke of the pistons, a conical flange F³ is
formed round the head F, and a similar one E on the head, so that as the valve
rolls round, the flange E° thereof rolls upon F2 thus giving the slide valve together
with the arms E' E E³ and the piston connected thereto a definite extent of
motion.
Although I have described the slide valve as having the arms for attachment to
the piston rods formed in one therewith, they may for facility of manufacture and
adjustment be made part of a separate frame, fitted on to the slide valve so as to
cause this to move in the described manner when actuated by the pistons.
It will be evident that instead of making the pillar head convex and the slide

page_text: valve concave,
the head may be concave and the valve convex. Also that there
might be a greater number than three cylinders with a corresponding number of
ports and passages.
Also, instead of the cylinders being fixed and the pistons moveable and connected
to the slide valve, the reverse arrangement could be employed, the pistons being
fixed and the cylinders with closed upper and open lower ends sliding up and
down over the pistons, and suspended from the arms of the slide valve. In this
case the necessary passages would be formed through the pistons communicating
with ports such as h¹h h³, for the introduction of liquid into and exhaust thereof
from the cylinders.
It will also be evident that as the above described meter is in effect a small motor
engine that drives the counter, it may, by employing a sufficient fluid pressure be
employed as a motor engine for driving machinery.
In either case a modified construction may be employed in which cylinders are
arranged round the spindle or shaft to be driven, to a crank pin on which the
piston rods impart rotary motion, and the crank pin in its turn imparts the requisite
motion to a finger on the spherical slide valve that controls the supply of fluid
pressure to and its discharge from the cylinders in a similar manner to that above
described.
With this arrangement instead of admitting the fluid pressure into the casing
enclosing the cylinders the slide valve may be contained within the spherical
head, into which the fluid pressure is admitted and from which it is caused by the
motion of the slide valve to pass through ports and passages to the underside of the
pistons in regular rotation.
Fig. 4. of the drawings shows a part cross section of a motor engine operating in
the above described manner; Fig. 5 shews a part section on line and part
front view of the valve seat and ports. C is one of three cylinders arranged
round the crank shaft K K' with which the rods of the three pistons D are connected
in the well known manner of three cylinder engines.
E is the spherical 'valve governing the three ports H leading to the outer
ends of the cylinders, the finger E' projecting from the centre of the valve being
made to engage with a socket K2 formed in the end of the crank K', so that as
this revolves it causes the finger E to revolve in a conical path, producing a
rolling motion of the slide valve precisely similar to that of the slide valve of
the first described arrangement the valve being prevented from rotating on its
axis by fingers E' gearing with slots L' on the cylindrical base L. For relieving
the slide valve from undue pressure from the steam or other fluid pressure in the
slide chamber M connected at N with the pressure supply, its rear end fits with
a spherical surface on a corresponding spherical surface of the packed ring 0,
kept up against it by the fluid pressure, assisted by a screw P, the interior of the
valve being made to communicate by a leakage hole E with the exhaust chamber Q
of the engine.
It will be seen that in this construction the slide valve E is not formed with
ports through it for the inlet and exhaust of the fluid pressure, but operates with
the outer edge of the face e for the admission and cut off of the fluid pressure
to and from the port H and with the inner edge thereof for opening the said port
to exhaust.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a fluid meter or motor engine, the use of a slide valve with spherical
working face working upon a spherical valve seat and receiving a rolling motion
thereon either from the pistons of the working cylinders or from the engine shaft
so as by such motion to control ports for the admission of fluid to and its
discharge from the said cylinders, means being provided for preventing the rotation
of the slide valve upon its seat, substantially as described.

page_text: 2. In a fluid meter or motor engine, the combination of three or more cylinders
with pistons arranged within a closed casing round a central pillar having ports
and passages leading to and from the said cylinders and having a hemispherical
head on which fits a hemispherical slide valve, having arms connected to the pistons
of the said cylinders, which slide valve governs the ports leading to the cylinders
in such manner as to put these successively in communication with a discharge
passage whereby the fluid pressure supplied to the casing is made to move the
pistons so as to successively discharge the fluid previously admitted and to admit
a fresh charge, the motion of the pistons and slide valve being imparted by suitable
means either to a counter, or to a driving shaft, substantially as described.
3. In a fluid meter or motor engine, the combination of a casing A, supplied
with fluid pressure cylinders C' C² C³ with pistons D' D2 D3 arranged round a
central pillar A having passages H' H2 H3 leading to and from the cylinders, an
exhaust passage I communicating with a discharge B¹, a hemispherical head F
having ports h h h³ communicating with the passages in the pillar, a hemispherical
slide valve E connected by arms E' to the rods of the pistons D, said slide valve
receiving a rolling motion upon the head F whereby it is made to control the
supply of liquid to and its discharge from the cylinders, while a rotary motion is
imparted thereby to a counter or engine shaft, substantially as described.
4. The improved construction of fluid meter or motor engine combined and
operating as herein described with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings.
5. The use for motor engines of a spherical slide valve arranged and operating as
herein described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings.
Dated this 5th day of December 1894.
ABEL & IMRAY,
• Agents for Applicant.