Year: 1888

page_text: I JULIUS ALLMANN of number 70 Deansgate Manchester in the county of
Lancaster, consulting engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
(communicated to me from Edward Abegg of Zürich Switzerland) to be as
follows:-
My said invention relates to improvements in instruments used for the purpose
of measuring or of measuring and recording the volume of water or other fluid
passing through them.
In the construction of such fluid meters I employ a casing of iron or other
suitable material having a vertical annular cavity of rectangular or other convenient
section in which I place a piston capable of having imparted to it a reciprocating
motion from right to left or from left to right according to the direction of the
fluid pressure. To provide for the admission of the fluid to each end of the piston
alternately I form in the said annular cavity a valve chamber and place therein a
hollow slide valve divided into two parts by a transverse partition and I so distribute
the inlet and outlet ports of the valve and its chamber that the transverse pressures
on the valve oppose and balance each other and permit of the valve being readily
moved backwards and forwards in the direction of its length. The extent of the
movement in either direction is regulated by a pin working in a slot. The slide
valve is placed at the bottom of the before mentioned annular cavity. In order to
explain the action of the piston and slide valve I will suppose the former to rest
against the right hand end of the slide valve and that the latter is then in such
a position that the inlet ports will admit a fluid through the hollow slide valve to
the underside of the piston and that the outlet ports form a communication between
the annular cavity at the other end of the piston and the outlet pipe, then on the
admission of a fluid under sufficient pressure it will act on the end and the
partition of the valve in such a manner as to keep the ports open and at the same
time the entering fluid will impel the piston along the annular cavity. After
having passed the highest point in its course the piston will not only be impelled

page_text: forward by the action of the fluid pressure but will acquire in falling a momentum
sufficient to push forward the slide valve on coming into contact with it so as to
reverse the former relative positions of the ports and to admit the fluid under the
piston at the left hand end of the slide valve opening at the same time a communi-
cation between the annular cavity at the right hand side of the slide valve and
the outlet pipe; the piston will now travel in the reverse direction and on falling
against the slide valve will push it into its first position. In this manner a
reciprocating motion is imparted to the piston and at each stroke a certain volume of
fluid, depending on the capacity of that part of the annular cavity which acts as a
measuring chamber, is passed through the apparatus. The slide valve is connected
with a suitable automatic counter so that the number of movements of the slide valve
and consequently of the strokes of the piston may be counted and indicated by means
of a dial plate in the usual manner, so as to record the valume of fluid passed through
the apparatus.
•
For some purposes, as for example in retailing beer, wine, oil or other fluids it is
desirable to measure small quantities; in such cases the slide valve may be so arranged
that it can be moved by hand in order that a volume of fluid corresponding to one,
two, three or more times the whole capacity of the measuring chamber may be allowed
to pass through the meter and be drawn off by means of a suitable tap. The action
of the apparatus can then be suspended by setting the slide valve in such a position
that both the inlet and outlet ports are closed. The mechanism for actuating the slide
valve is connected with the lever for turning the plug or spindle of the outlet tap so
that on opening the latter the measuring apparatus is started into action and on
closing the outlet tap it is stopped. For purpose of control the mechanism for
moving the slide valve may be connected with a suitable counter to record the quantity
of fluid drawn off.
TALL
1
C
1 1000

page_text: 1, JULIUS ALLMANN of number 70 Deansgate, Manchester in the county of
Lancaster, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FLUID METERS" (communicated to me from abroad by Edward
Abegg of Zürich) 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:-
My said Invention relates to improvements in instruments used for the purpose of
measuring or of measuring and recording the volume of water or other fluid passing
through them.
In the construction of such fluid meters I employ a casing of iron or other suitable
material having a vertical annular cavity of rectangular or other convenient section in
which I place a piston capable of having imparted to it a reciprocating motion from
right to left or from left to right according to the direction of the fluid pressure. To
provide for the admission of the fluid to each end of the piston alternately I form in
the said annular cavity a valve chamber and place therein a hollow slide valve divided
into two parts by a transverse partition and I so distribute the inlet and outlet ports
of the valve and its chamber that the transverse pressures on the valve oppose and
balance each other and permit of the valve being readily moved backwards and
forwards in the direction of its length. The extent of the movement in either direc-
tion is regulated by a pin working in a slot. The slide valve is placed at the bottom
of the beforementioned annular cavity. In order to explain the action of the piston
and slide valve I will suppose the former to rest against the right hand end of the
slide valve and that the latter is then in such a position that the inlet ports will admit
a fluid through the hollow slide valve to the underside of the piston and that the outlet
ports form a communication between the annular cavity at the other end of the piston
and the outlet pipe, then on the admission of a fluid under sufficient pressure it will
act on the end and the partition of the valve in such a manner as to keep the ports
open and at the same time the entering fluid will impel the piston along the annular
cavity. After having passed the highest point in its course the piston will not only
be impelled forward by the action of the fluid pressure but will acquire in falling a
momentum sufficient to push forward the slide valve on coming into contact with it
so as to reverse the former relative positions of the ports and to admit the fluid under
the piston at the left hand end of the slide valve, opening at the same time a com-
munication between the annular cavity at the right hand side of the slide valve, and
the outlet pipe; the piston will now travel in the reverse direction and on falling
against the slide valve will push it into its first position. In this manner a recipro-
cating motion is imparted to the piston and at each stroke a certain volume of fluid,
depending on the capacity of that part of the annular cavity which acts as a measuring
chamber, is passed through the apparatus. The slide valve is connected with a suitable
automatic counter so that the number of movements of the slide valve and conse-
quently of the strokes of the piston may be counted and indicated by means of a dial
plate in the usual manner, so as to record the volume of fluid passed through the
apparatus.
For some purposes as for example in retailing beer, wine, oil, or other fluids it is
desirable to measure small quantities; in such cases the slide valve may be so arranged

page_text: that it can be moved by hand in order that a volume of fluid corresponding to one,
two, three, or more times the whole capacity of the measuring chamber may be allowed
to pass through the meter and be drawn off by means of a suitable tap. The action of
the apparatus can then be suspended by setting the slide valve in such a position that
both the inlet and outlet ports are closed. The mechanism for actuating the slide
valve is connected with the lever for turning the plug or spindle of the outlet tap so
that on opening the latter the measuring apparatus is started into action and on closing
the outlet tap it is stopped. For purpose of control the mechanism for moving the
slide valve may be connected with a suitable counter to record the quantity of fluid
drawn off.
In order that my invention may be properly understood I will proceed to describe
the same more particularly with reference to the annexed two sheets of drawings:-
Fig. 1 (Sheet 1) is a sectional elevation of such a fluid meter as hereinbefore
described. Fig. 2 (Sheet 1.) is a plan thereof. Fig. 3 (Sheet 2) represents a vertical
section through A B of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 (Sheet 2) is a sectional elevation of so much
of the meter as is necessary to show a method of actuating the slide valve by hand.
In all these figures the same letters refer to the same parts.
In the casting a which forms the case or body of the machine there is an annular
chamber or cavity of rectangular section, one side of which is formed by the cover
plate or ring c attached to the main casting a by bolts as at d fitting in recesses e
distributed at suitable distances on the inner and outer edges of the case and its
cover. In the annular cavity 6 which forms the measuring chamber of the meter is
a piston the ends of which are so formed as to allow the piston to move easily
in the cavity and yet to prevent the passage of the fluid between the piston and the
walls of the cavity. The part of the piston between the ends need not fit close to the
surface of the cavity and may be hollowed out in order to diminish the weight and
friction. 9 is the slide valve which in the drawing is shown as having the same
external cross-section as the end of the piston and is free to move to and fro in the
annular cavity. The extent of its movement is determined by the length of a
slot in which works a pin or stud 1; the slot may be in either the slide valve or the
casing. The slide valve is hollow and is divided into two parts by a midfeather or
division and is provided with ports k k and k¹ k¹ for permitting the passage of
the fluid to be measured through the interior of the slide valve on the way to and
from the measuring chamber. These ports, as well as the inlet ports oo and the
outlet ports p p and p¹ p¹ of the casing, are so distributed that the transverse
pressures on the valve oppose and balance each other and allow the valve to be easily
moved in a longitudinal direction. In the drawings the slide valve is represented
in such a position that a fluid under sufficient pressure entering in the direction
indicated by the arrows, will find its way along the passages n n. through the inlet
ports oo of the casing, and the ports kk of the slide valve to the bottem end of
the piston and will impel the latter forward along the annular cavity. At the
same time the higher pressure of the entering fluid will act against the midfeather
and the end of the valve so as to overbalance the lower pressure at the other end of
the valve and tend to keep the valve in the position shown in the drawing. As
already mentioned the piston will in descending at the other side acquire a sufficient
momentum to push forward the slide valve on falling into contact with it and by so
doing will cause the slide valve to travel forward until the pin i reaches the other end
of the slot ; in this position the ports k¹¹ will be opposite to the inlet ports o o and
the ports will be opposite to the outlet ports pp, and the fluid will pass under
the piston at the lefthand end of the slide valve forcing it backwards along the
annular cavity until by its impact against the slide valve the latter is caused to resume
its original position. At each stroke of the piston the fluid in front of it in the
annular measuring chamber is forced forward by the piston and caused to pass
through the outlet ports p p and the passages to the outlet pipe m.
movement of the slide valve therefore permits the passage of a volume of fluid
corresponding to the capacity of the annular measuring chamber and in order to
record the number of such volumes the slide valve is caused to actuate the mechanism
Each

page_text: of an automatic counter of the usual construction. For this purpose a spindle s,
passing through a stuffing box as shown, is provided: this spindle has at one end a
crank with a crank pin fitting into the slide valve, so that the movements
of the latter will cause the spindles to rock; by means of a ratchet and wheel
or other suitable gearing in the mechanism of the counter connected to the
spindles the movements of the slide valve can in this way be counted and
recorded.
Instead of the slide valve being moved automatically by the impact of the falling
piston the valve may be moved by hand as for example by means of a spindle s¹ as
shown in Fig. 4. connected with a crank u¹ and a crank pin t¹ working in the slide
When the mid-
valve. The spindle s¹ may be actuated by means of the handle w.
feather of the slide valve is directly opposite to the inlet port o no fluid can pass
through the meter but by admitting the fluid to each end of the piston alternately by
the movement of the handle w any desired quantity of fluid corresponding to one or
more times the whole capacity of the measuring chamber may be measured and
drawn off. For convenience of manipulation the handle is connected to the
lever of the outlet tap so that simultaneously with opening the latter the slide
valve may admit fluid under the piston. As in the case of the automatically actuated
slide valve, the slide valve of the modification shown in Fig. 4 may also be connected
with the mechanism of a counter for the purpose of counting and recording the
number of volumes of fluid passing through the meter.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what i
claim is
1. A fluid meter having an annular measuring chamber with a reciprocating
piston moving freely therein and provided with a hollow slide valve divided into
two parts by means of a midfeather or its equivalent and having the ports of the
slide valve and its chamber so distributed that the transverse pressures on the slide
valve oppose and balance each other, the said slide valve being actuated by the impact
of the falling piston so as to cause the relative positions of the inlet and outlet ports
to be automatically reversed at the end of each stroke of the piston substantially as
herein before described and shown.
2. In a fluid meter having an annular measuring chamber with a reciprocating
piston moving freely therein the use of a hollow slide valve divided into two parts by
means of a midfeather or its equivalent and having the ports of the slide valve and
its chamber so distributed that the transverse pressures on the slide valve oppose and
balance each other, the said slide valve being actuated by the impact of the falling
piston so as to cause the relative positions of the inlet and outlet ports to be auto-
matically reversed at the end of each stroke of the piston substantially as hereinbefore
described and shown.
3. A fluid meter having an annular measuring chamber with a reciprocating
piston freely moving therein in combination with a slide valve actuated by hand
for the purpose of measuring any desired quantity of fluid corresponding to an
integral multiple of the capacity of the measuring chamber substantially as herein-
before described and shown.
4. In fluid meters of the construction hereinbefore described the use of a
pin or projection working in a slot for the purpose of regulating the traverse of
the valve.
Dated this Fourteenth day of November 1888.
JULIUS ALLMANN & Co.,
Agents for Applicant.