IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MECHANISM FOR REGU- LATING AND MEASURING GAS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clibran and Joseph Clibran, of the City
of Manchester, Machinists and Manufacturers of "Gas Regulators," for
the Invention of ".IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MECHANISM FOR REGU-
LATING AND MEASURING GAS."
Sealed the 14th January 1857, and dated the 15th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clibran and
Joseph Clibran at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 15th July 1856.
We, WILLIAM CLIBRAN and JOSEPH CLIBRAN, of the City of Manchester,
Machinists and Manufacturers of "Gas Regulators," do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MECHANISM
FOR REGULATING AND MEASURING GAS," to be as follows:-
Firstly, our Invention consists in combining a "gas regulator" with a "gas
meter," both being worked by the same water; that is, the water in the
regulator is in communication with that in the meter. Our Invention is
accomplished by adding to the meter a "case" for the "gas regulator," and
making a communication between the "case" and the "meter," so that the
water in the "meter" can enter into the "regulator case." By this arrange-.
ment the escape of gas from deficiency of water in the "regulator" is pre-
vented, as the "stop valve" of the "meter" shuts off the supply of gas to the..
"meter" when the water in it gets below the point fixed upon, at which point

page_text: there is an ample sufficiency of water for the "regulator," which, as is obvious,
receives a supply when any is added to the meter. The gas may be made to
pass through the "regulator," either before or after passing through the
"meter."
Secondly, our Invention consists in arrangements for supplying water to
"meters," in such manner as to render it impossible to fill the "meter" above
the correct level. This is accomplished by. making the external orifice
through which the water is to be supplied on a level with the correct water
level of the meter; it is obvious that water poured in at this orifice will not
rise above its level in the "meter." A pipe is attached to the orifice for
supplying the water, or the end of a pipe forms this orifice, which pipe is made
to descend to the bottom of the meter for greater safety; it may then be
turned up (in the syphon form) till its end is just below the required water
level of the meter. This pipe, by means of the water in it, will prevent any
escape of .gas, and as a further security, the external orifice of the pipe may be
closed by a screw in the ordinary manner when the water has been supplied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clibran and Joseph Clibran in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the. 14th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
CLIBRAN and JOSEPH CLIBRAN, of the City of Manchester, Machinists and
Manufacturers of Gas Regulators, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her leirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Clibran and Joseph Clibran, Her especial licence that we, the
said William Clibran and Joseph Clibran; our executors, administrators, and
'assigns, or such others as we, the said William Clibran and Joseph Clibran,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MECHANISM
FOR REGULATING AND MEASURING GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said. William Clibran and Joseph Clibran, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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.
is to say):-
66
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Clibran and Joseph Clibran,
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 and accompanying Drawings (that
Our Invention, in the first place, consists in combining a gas regulator"
with a "gas meter," both being worked by the same water; that is, the water
in the regulator is in communication with that in the meter. Our Invention
is accomplished by adding to a "meter a "case" for the "gas regulator," and
making a communication between the case and the "meter," so that the water
in the "meter" can enter into the regulator case. By this arrangement the.
escape of gas from deficiency of water in the "regulator" is prevented, as
the stop valve of the meter shuts off the supply of gas to the meter when the
water in it gets below the point fixed upon; at which point there is an ample
sufficiency of water for the regulator, which, as is obvious, receives a supply
when any is added to the meter. The gas may be made to pass through the
regulator either before or after passing through the meter.
Our Invention, in the second place, consists in arrangements which will render
practically impossible the filling of gas meters with water above the correct
level. This is accomplished by placing the orifice of a pipe on a level with
the correct water level of the meter, so that all water poured in after this level
is attained will overflow through the orifice of the pipe which leads into a
chamber formed in the lower part of the meter. The water in this chamber
is required to be at a certain level, to seal the orifice of a pipe connected with
one through which the gas passes. If the water in the chamber rises above the
correct working level, it will enter into the gas passage and stop it. Now, the
water conveyed into the chamber by the overflow pipe will fill the chamber
above the level fixed upon, and stop the passage of the gas, and this passage
cannot be opened again till, the surplus water is withdrawn from the chamber,
by removing a screw plug, or by opening a valve. It is therefore practically
impossible to fill and use the meter with water above the correct level.
We shall now proceed to describle particularly the manner in which our
Invention is carried into effect, by reference to the accompanying Sheets of
Drawings, one sheet exhibiting three views (drawn full size) of a three-light
gas meter having our Invention applied; Fig. 1, front elevation of the

page_text: "meter," with front plate supposed removed, and part of the apparatus shewn
in section; Fig. 2, plan, sectional view, of the meter box below the water
level; Fig. 3, side elevation, outside view.
In carrying the first part of our Invention into effect, we enlarge the box or
chamber a, usually formed in front of the meter, and divide it into two parts
by a partition b, so as to form a "case or chamber c for the "regulator."
One chamber may be considered to correspond in every respect to that usually
formed in front of the meter, except that it forms a communication with the
chamber for the regulator by a perforation or perforations made at the
bottom of the partition b, (at b',) so that the water in one can freely pass
to the other. The regulator chamber is made water and gas tight, but the
atmosphere is admitted into it by a small perforation in the upper part of
the case or chamber (at c'), to allow the regulator to act unimpeded.
The regulator chamber, or the water space surrounding the receiver, should he made as small as possible
consistent with the perfect working of the regulator, as the pressure of the gas will force out water
from the meter into the regulator chamber till there is a "head" of water in it equal to the pressure
of the gas in the meter. When this is so arranged, the little water required to form the head will not materially
lower the water line of the meter. In a square chamber the corners may be filled in by blockings w, as shown
The gas regulator, as exhibited in the Drawings, is arranged so that the
The gas
gas will pass through it before entering the measuring drun.
enters by the pipe d, and follows the passages pointed by the arrows. The
regulator valve e is placed in the upright pipe e¹; it is connected with
the "receiver "f. This receiver surrounds another pipe g, placed concen-
trically with the pipe e¹. The receiver is guided at the upper end by
the spindle or stem e² of the valve e, which projects through the top of the
receiver f, and passes through a hole in a guide piece e', fixed at each end
to the side of the case or chamber. The lower end of the receiver fis guided
by parts f, (see Fig. 2,) projecting from the interior of the receiver towards
the pipe g. The receiver (f) may be prevented from turning, if desired, by a
pin f, secured to the upper part of it, and passing through a hole made in the
same piece (e), which guides the spindle of the valve. These guiding arrange-
ments leave the receiver f perfectly free to act upon the valve. The upper part
of the pipe g is perforated with holes, so that when the receiver rests in the
position shewn in Fig. 1, (in which position the regulator valve is open to the
full extent,) the gas will have a free passage to the annular space between the
pipe g and the receiver f. The manner in which the "regulator" acts is well
understood, and the proper proportion and weight of receiver necessary to
supply the gas at the pressure required will be readily ascertained by manu-
facturers of gas regulators. The gas, having passed the valve, descends the
annular space between the exterior of the pipe e¹ and interior of the pipe g,
and goes through a hole at g', (or a series of holes,) leading into a pipe or passage

page_text: d', which conveys it to the usual entrance for the gas when entering an ordinary
gas meter, that is, the gas box h of the valve, which prevents the entrance of
the gas when the water gets too low in the meter. The valve shewn (h¹) is
of the ordinary construction and arrangement, h² being the float. We need
not describe the progress of the gas after it arrives at the stop valve h', which
is the same as in ordinary gas meters. Cells or chambers may be formed at
the lowest parts of the gas passages (d and d¹) leading to and from the regu-
lator for condensed liquid, which may be periodically removed through a passage
communicating with these cells or chambers; each passage being closed by a
screw plug, the common expedient. But the manner in which we provide for
this will be herein-after explained when we describe the manner of carrying
into effect the second part of our Invention.
The first part of our Invention may be carried into effect, when the gas is to
pass through the meter before entering the "regulator," by the following
arrangements:-The gas may enter the meter in the usual manner, namely,
directly into the box (h) of the stop valve. The communication between the
pipe or passages d' and box h of the stop valve must be closed. The gas leaving
the meter at the usual outlet orifice may be conveyed to the pipe . The
stoppage at d must be removed, and placed at the opposite side of the central
orifice. The orifice g¹ must be closed, and another formed on the opposite side,
communicating with the pipe or passage d, which in this case would be the
outlet pipe. These alterations, in other words, amount to breaking the com-
munication of the pipes d and d, leading to and from the "gas regulator,"
and simply turning it round, so that the entrance and outlet orifice of the
regulator will be opposite, and jointed to the changed inlet and outlet
pipes.
The second part of our Invention is carried into effect as follows:-j is the
pipe, by which water is usually supplied to the meter; it descends nearly to the
bottom of the chamber (a), as usual, and is closed when the water is supplied
for security by a screw plug, in the usual manner. is a pipe, fixed with its
upper end on a level with the correct water level of the meter, shewn by the
dotted line. Any water poured into the meter after this level is attained
passes down the pipe k, which leads into a water and air tight chamber m,
below the chamber a and c. The pipe k descends nearly to the bottom of this
chamber ጎ. d³ is a branch pipe from the passage d', along which the gas
flows from the regulator to the meter. This branch pipe (d³) descends nearly
to the bottom of the chamber m, and the gas is made to descend this branch
pipe d³, to get under a division d', placed to obstruct-the direct passage of the
gas thro' the pipe d. The object of this arrangement will be-seen-hereafter.

page_text: The dotted line m² shews the correct water level of the chamber m. The over-
flow of water down the pipe k will raise the water level, and obstruct the passage
of the gas to a proportionate extent, the passage of gas being wholly obstructed
when the water line in the chamber has attained a level above the bottom of the
division d', equal to the pressure of the in the
gas
passage d. The water level
() of the meter will not rise till the lower chamber m is full; and as in this
case the meter will not allow the passage of gas till the surplus water is removed
by taking out the screw plug m², (which is on a level with the water line m',)
consequently it is practically impossible to fill and work the meter with the
water above the correct level. When water is supplied in the proper manner to
the meter, the screw plug m² (see Fig. 3) is removed, and the water is poured
into the pipe j, 'till it overflows at the orifice closed by the screw plug m². The
chamber m, and arrangements already described, serves other purposes besides
those already mentioned. The chamber m receives any condensed liquid from
the pipe d, down the branch d³, and from the gas passages d, leading to the
regulator, down the pipe do, and also from the pipe i, through which the gas
enters from the chamber a to the measuring drum. (The pipe i is, in ordinary
meters, closed by a screw plug). All the pipes entering the chamber m are
"sealed" by the water in the chamber, any depth of "seal" being obtained
by increasing the depth of the chamber. It may be here remarked, that when
the chamber m is full, or when air in it does not permit the level of the water
to rise, there will be a "head of water" in the overflow pipe k, sufficient to
force the water up into the pipes d³ and d³, leading into the gas passages. It
may be also remarked, that should the chamber m be by any accident without
water, there will be no escape of gas, and if arranged as shewn, all gas
passing through the inlet pipe d will be registered by the measuring drum.
This arrangement of meter possesses another advantage: gas cannot be with-
drawn from it by the removal of either of the two screw plugs ( and m²)
employed, that plug used in the ordinary at the bottom of the pipe i, from
which gas might be most readily withdrawn, being dispensed with in our
improved arrangement. The "regulator" herein-before described is con-
structed generally upon the principle of "regulators" now commonly employed,
but it possesses, by its peculiar arrangement, important practical advantages.
The guiding surfaces of the "receiver" and valve in regulators, as hitherto
constructed, have been exposed to the action of the gas, which coats them
with a tarry substance that impedes the action of the valve. Now,. the
66 regulator",shewn in Fig. 1 and 2, and herein-before described, has the
guiding surfaces arranged so as to be removed from the action of the gas.
The stem or spindle projecting above the "receiver" forms the central guide,

page_text: gas
and is exposed to the atmospheric air. The projections at the lower part of
the "receiver" are exposed to the action of the water only, therefore it is only
necessary, with this arrangement, to make the guiding surfaces of some metal
that does not exidize.rapidly, to obtain a regulator lasting, and not liable to be
put out of order. Regulators constructed in the improved manner described
may be used, detached, as simple regulators, as well as in combination, with
meters, in the manner herein-before described, and they may be worked by a
"seal" of water or mercury. That we may more clearly explain how our
improvements apply to detached gas regulators, we have shewn, on- Sheet 2;
views of a detached regulator, arranged on our improved plan herein-before
mentioned, which is intended to be sealed or worked with mercury. If water
is used, the receiver and its cistern will only require to be made proportionately
deeper.
.
Fig. 4, Sheet 2, is a longitudinal elevation in section, and Fig. 5; a plan
view, with the cover and top of "receiver" supposed removed. c is the
casing. The gas enters at d, passes through the valve e, descends through the
orifice g¹, and passes out at the pipe d', in which a small pet cock d is placed
to draw off any condensed liquid which may accumulate. The valve seat is
screwed into the casing. The stem or spindle of the valve passes through
the receiver fa shoulder being made upon the spindle, against which the
receiver f is secured by a screw, between which and the receiver there is a
leather washer, to make it gas tight. The upper part of the spindle passes
through a hole in the piece e³, which fits sufficiently tight against the sides of
the casing c, (as shewn,) to hold the spindle e central and steady. The lower
part of the receiver f is kept central by the projections f¹, as shewn, which are
as close to the ring g as possible, leaving the receiver f free. The guide piece
es may be dispensed with in the form shewn, and one may be substituted, as
shewn in dotted line (Fig. 4), which is supposed to be attached to the cover e*.
Other arrangements of guides for the receiver and valve than those shewn may
be used, and one long guide at the top or bottom may be made to answer for
both top and bottom, and still keep the guide surfaces from contact with the
gas; but we prefer, as the simplest and best, the arrangement of guides
described and shewn in the Drawings. c', a perforation in the cover ct, to
allow the air to enter and leave the "case," so that the receiver may have
unimpeded action.
*
We have now particularly described the nature of our Invention, and the
manner in which it may be carried into effect; ^ and claim, as our Invention,
Firstly, the combination of a "gas regulator with a gas meter, when the water
used to "seal" or work the regulator is in communication with that working

page_text: the meter, whether the gas passes through the regulator before or after.
passing through the meter.
Secondly, the arrangements applied to gas meters to prevent them from
being filled with water above the correct water level, substantially as herein-
before described.
Thirdly, gas meters arranged and combined substantially as herein-before
described, and shewn by the Figures on Sheet 1 of the Drawings.
Fourthly and lastly, the arrangement and construction of gas regulators
combined with a gas meter, or used detached, on the principle shewn by
Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, Sheet 2, where the guiding parts or surfaces are removed
from the action of the gas.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Clibran and Joseph Clibran,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Tenth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven..
WILLIAM CLIBKAN. (L.S.)
JOSEPH CLIBRAN.
(L.S.)