IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Hawksley at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th April
1861.
I, GEORGE HAWKSLEY, of Three Mill Lane, Bromley-by-Bow, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MEASURING WATER AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to
be as follows:
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for measuring
water and other liquids. For this purpose I employ a trough of a V form
with another similar trough a little smaller in size, inverted on to it so
that the edges of the smaller trough rest on and fit closely against the
upper parts of the sides of the first trough; thus a space of a diamond form
is enclosed by the sides of the two troughs, and this space is shut in at
the ends by the ends of the upper trough, which are of a diamond form and
fit closely to the sides of the lower trough. The space thus enclosed is
divided by a partition, also of a diamond form, fixed in the centre of the
lower trough, so that thus two chambers are formed, and as when the
apparatus is at work the inverted trough slides to and fro on the other,

page_text: the capacity of each chamber is alternately increased and diminished.
Each of these chambers is furnished with a passage to conduct the liquid
to be measured into and out of the chambers; these passages terminate at
one end in openings close alongside of the central partition of the lower
trough, and at their other ends in openings on a flat plate, on which a D
valve works, and between these two openings is a third opening by which
the liquid after it has been measured escapes from the meter. The whole
of the apparatus already described is enclosed in a casing, to which the
liquid to be measured is admitted, and it will be seen that the pressure of
this liquid on the two troughs tends to keep them in contact the one with
the other, and that the liquid will be able to pass from the casing through
the passage which happens at the time not to be closed by the D valve into
one of the chambers enclosed by the troughs; when this takes place the
pressure on the end of the other chamber (which pressure is no longer
balanced) causes the upper trough to slide on the lower so as to enlarge
the capacity of the chamber into which the liquid is entering; this goes on
till the valve is made to cover the first passage and open the passage to the
other chamber, when the motion of the trough will be reversed and the
liquid the first chamber contained will be forced out of it into the hollow
of the D valve, and thence through the outlet passage. The valve is worked
in the following manner;-The upper trough as it slides on the lower is
caused to give a partial rotation to an axis on which is an arm carrying at
its end a small roller, the bearing of which is capable of sliding longitudinally
on the arm, and is pressed constantly away from the axis by a spring. The
roller just mentioned rests constantly on an arc or curved bar mounted on
its axis at its centre so that it can tip or partly rotate thereon, and the arc
is furnished with a catch at each end to lock or hold it at its extreme
positions. Suppose then that the roller on the vibrating arm is resting on
one end of the rocking, arc, which end, is at its lowest position and held
there by the catch at the other end of the rocking arc which locks it, the
sliding trough now commences its motion, and carries with it the vibrating
arm, the roller running along the are which constantly forces it against
the pressure of the spring, up the arm and towards the axis; this goes on
until the sliding trough has passed over the required distance, when a pro-
jection on the rocking arm throws off the catch and frees the rocking arc,
which is then immediately forced down by the roller and its spring, when
it again becomes locked by the catch at the other end, and this motion of the
rocking arc by suitable levers and parts actuates the D valve, as the sliding trough

page_text: returns the movements above described recur. The sliding trough is made
to actuate a counter in any convenient manner. It will readily be seen
that the space enclosed by the troughs may, if desired, be divided into four
or more chambers in place of into two only, the method of action still
remaining as above described, also that other valves may be substituted for
the D valve.