AN IMPROVED GAS PRANZ AMON
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Knox, of Mile End, in the County. of
Middlesex, and Thomas Robson, of Aldersgate .Street, in the City of
London. Engineers for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED GAS PRANZ AMON
"
Sealed the 8th September 1857, and dated the 9th March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Knox and Thomas
Robson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 9th March 1857.
We, ANDREW KNOX, of Mile End, in the County of Middlesex, and THOMAS
ROBSON, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, Engineers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED GAS REGULATOR,"
to be as follows:-
Our regulator consists of an external case with apertures for admitting gas
from a main, and for allowing it to escape to the burners. Inside the case is
a chamber fitted with a conical valve suspended as hereafter stated. The
inlet aperture leads directly into this chamber, and no gas can pass through
the regulator without entering it. Over this chamber, and at a convenient
distance between it and the top of the case, we fit a diaphragm of oiled silk.
or other like suitable material. To the centre of the diaphragm we affix a
tapped nut, through which we insert a screwed spindle, the bottom of which
terminates in an eye, on which we hook the valve before named. Upon the
top of the diaphragm we place a weight, which we regulate according to the
pressure at which the gas is to be allowed to escape from the regulator..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Andrew Knox and Thomas Robson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ANDREW
KNOX, of Mile End, in the County of Middlesex, and THOMAS ROBSON, of
Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, Engineers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Andrew Knox and Thomas Robson, Her special licence that we, the
said Andrew Knox and Thomas Robson, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Andrew Knox and Thomas Robson,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "AN IMPROVED GAS REGULATOR,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Andrew Knox and
Thomas Robson, or one of us, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our or their, or one of our or their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same 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 we, the said Andrew Knox and Thomas Robson;
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say:-
Our regulator: consists of an external case with apertures for admitting gas
from a main, and for allowing it to escape to the burners. Inside the case is
a chamber fitted with a conical valve suspended as hereafter stated. The
inlet aperture leads directly into this chamber, and no gas can pass through
the regulator without entering it.
Over this chamber and at a convenient distance between it and the top of
the case, we fit a diaphragm of. oiled silk or other like suitable material. To
the centre of the diaphragm we affix a tapped nut, through which we insert a

page_text: screwed spindle, the bottom of which terminates in an eye, on which we hook:
the valve before named, or it may be made in a piece with the spindle. Upon
the top of the diaphragm we place a weight, which. we regulate according to
the pressure at which the gas is to be allowed to escape from the regulator.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is a section of our regulator,.
and Figure 2 is a plan of part of the same. A is the socket, in which the
inlet pipe is screwed or otherwise secured, for the admission of the gas from
the meter or supply pipe into the compartment A'; B is a similar socket, in,
which the outlet pipe is screwed in communication with the compartment B',
and leading to the burners; C is a conical valve fitted in a conical seat a in
the partition b,. which.. separates the chamber A' from the chamber B¹. The
valve C, which is made, of brass, bismuth, or other suitable material, is con-
nected or hooked to the threaded spindle F.. D is the diaphragm, which is
made of oiled silk or other suitable material prepared in such a manner as to
render it impermeable, and not to be injured by the action of the gas. It is
connected to the spindle F by means of the nuts, washers, or discs E, E,
which are first fixed to the diaphragm, and the spindle F screwed through.
them. On to the upper end of this spindle F, the weight H is screwed. G is.
a cover or moderator, made of gutta percha or other like suitable material,
attached by means of a groove turned on the outside edge of the compart-.
ment B', so as to be air-tight. The resistance of the air as it passes out or
returns through the small space c, around the spindle F, modifies or restrains
any sudden pressure upon the diaphragm, and prevents the sudden opening or.
closing of the valve, C. Between the diaphragm and the compartments we
insert a piece of thin gutta percha to preserve the silk. The diaphragm is.
secured round the edge of the compartments by means of one or more bands.
or rings I, I, of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable material placed in
grooves turned or otherwise formed in the edge of the compartment. K is a
metal cover enclosing the upper part of the apparatus. The gas enters by the
pipe A into the compartment A¹, and passes by the valve C into the compart-
ment B', and from thence along the pipe to the burners. The apertures in the
burners not being large, and only allowing a small quantity of gas to escape
compared with that which should flow through the pipe, causes the gas to
accumulate in the pipe, and in the compartment B', where it exerts a pressure
on the diaphragm greater than that due to the weight H, and parts connected
with it, the diaphragm is consequently raised, and taking with it the spindle
F and valve C, partially closes the aperture in which the valve C is placed,
and thus regulates the supply of gas passing through the apparatus to the
burners. Should the pressure in the compartment A¹ be lowered, the pres-

page_text: sure in the compartment B¹ will be lowered also, and the weight of the
diaphragm, together with the parts connected thereto, fall by their own gravity,
whereby the valve C is lowered from its seat, thus fully opens the aperture
through which the gas is admitted, and by these means a regulated constant
supply is kept up to the burners.
At Figure 3, we show the valve C placed immediately over the inlet pipe A.
At Figure 4, we shew an arrangement of our regulator where we use two
equilibrium valves C, C', connected together by a rod or link. In Figures 3
and 4, the valve, spindle, diaphragm, moderator, and cover are not shewn.
Figure 5 is a modification of Figure 1, where a different form of cover and
different method of securing the diaphragm are represented. In this Figure,
the valve, spindle, diaphragm, and weight are not given. d is a flange cast
upon the top of the chamber B'. f. f, are two flat rings or washers of india-
rubber, gutta percha, or other suitable material, between which the diaphragm
is inserted; a metal ring is then placed thereon, or a metal ring, together
with the edges of the gutta-percha moderator, and the whole secured by bolts
and nuts g, g. K is the metal cover.
K is the metal cover. The supply pipe may be screwed into
either of the inlet apertures A, and the other plugged up.
And having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim,
The improved gas regulator herein-before described, and represented in the
Drawings annexed, whereby the pressure of gas in the pipes leading to the
burners is made to act upon a weighted diaphragm connected directly to a
regulating valve in the manner herein-before described, and regulate the
supply from the meter or main passing through the regulator to the
burners.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Knox, for myself and on behalf
of the said Thomas Robson, have hereunto set my hand and seal,
this Ninth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
seven
ANDREW KNOX. (L.S.)