IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS.
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER AND OTHER
LIQUIDS. A communication from Mr. Alfred Nobel, Engineer, of Paris,
-
in the nine of Frenc
Sealed the 3rd June 1859, and dated the 20th January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th January 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER
AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of apparatus for
measuring the quantity of water or other liquid which passes through a pipe..
For this purpose, the pipe through which the water or other liquid is made to
flow is provided at any suitable part of its length with a socket for the
reception of an upright tube of glass or other transparent material; into this
tube, which is furnished with a graduated scale, is inserted a rod of alabaster
or other substance which is but slowly dissolved by water: This rod rests at
its lower extremity in the water pipe, and is therefore exposed to the action of

page_text: the water which flows through it; as, therefore, the lower end of the rod of
soluble material is dissolved away by the water, it will gradually descend and
shew upon the graduated scale above the quantity of water that has acted
upon it, and which has consequently passed through the pipe. A similar
arrangement of apparatus is applicable for measuring alcohol or other liquids,
for which purpose the soluble rod must of course be composed of some
material that will be acted upon in a suitable manner by the liquid to be
measured.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 19th July 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS,"
being a communication from Mr. Alfred Nobel, Engineer, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton; by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal, 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 I, the said William Edward Newton; do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereou (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improved arrangement of apparatus for
measuring the quantity of water or other liquid which passes through a pipe.
For this purpose, the pipe through which the water or other liquid is made to
flow is provided at any suitable part of its length with a socket for the
reception of an upright tube of glass or other transparent material open at,
bottom; into this vertical glass tube, which is furnished with a graduated
scale, is inserted a rod of alabaster, aluminous plaster, or other substance.
which is but slowly dissolved by water; this soluble rod rests at its lower
extremity in the water pipe, and is therefore exposed to the action of the
water which flows through it; as, therefore, the lower end of the rod of
soluble material is dissolved away by the water, it will gradually descend and
indicate upon the graduated scale above the quantity of water which has acted
upon it, and which has consequently passed through the pipe; this will of
course vary according to the nature of the soluble substance employed, and
the peculiar character or quality of the water, and must be determined by
experience.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of this improved,
water meter; Fig. 2 is an end view; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section, taken
through the middle, in the direction of Fig. 1. The tube A, through which
the liquid to be measured passes, is cut away to receive a rectangular box or
chamber B, which connects its extremities; this chamber is provided with a
socket Ċ for the reception of the vertical pipe D, which is closed at top; this.
pipe is, by preference, made of glass, crystal, or other transparent material,
and inside it is placed the rod of soluble material E, which rests by its own
gravity upon the bottom of the box B. The lower extremity of this rod may
be made to take the conical form represented at e in the Drawing, or it may
be made with a flat or plane surface, suspended or supported upon a wire. It
may be here observed that the extremity e of the rod during its dissolution
will preserve the conical form represented. A graduated scale F will indicate
upon the tube D the quantity of water or other fluid which has passed through
the supply pipe in a given time. It will be understood that as the water
passes through the chamber B the rod of soluble material E is always dissolved
in proportion to the quantity of water which traverses it.
The upper
extremity of the rod E will consequently correspond as it descends with the
degree of the graduated scale, which indicates the number of quarts or cubic
feet of water which have passed through the supply pipe.
A similar arrangement of apparatus is applicable for measuring alcohol,

page_text: ether, or other liquids, for which purpose the soluble rod must of course be
composed of some material that will be acted upon in a suitable manner by the
liquid to be measured.
Having now described this Invention of "Improved Apparatus for Measuring
Water and other Liquids," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, I would observe, in conclusion, that although I have shewn and
described the best means with which the Inventor is acquainted for carrying
the same into effect, I do not mean or intend to confine myself thereto, as
they may perhaps be varied without departing from the nature and object of
the Invention; nor do I intend to confine myself to any particular material of
which to form the soluble rod, as the material to be employed must depend
upon the quality of the water to be measured. The point which I consider to
be new and to form the essential feature of the improved apparatus, and which
therefore I desire to claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is, the employment of a rod of soluble material,
which is acted upon by the liquid to be measured, as above shown and
described.
I also claim the arrangement of apparatus above shown and described,
or any mere modification thereof, for measuring water or other liquids.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)