IMPROVE- MENTS IN LIQUID AND FLUID METERS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LIQUID AND FLUID METERS."-A communication from abroad
by Louis Constant Uhler, of Paris.
Sealed the 3rd May 1861, and dated the 7th. November 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th November 1860.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIQUID AND FLUID METERS," (communicated to me from
abroad by Louis Constant Uhler, of Paris,) to be as follows:-
In the bottom of a dome-shaped or other suitable case a chamber is formed,
entrance into which can only take place through a slide open alternately to
each of two passages, one of which leads into the chamber under a piston or
diaphragm of leather, caoutchouc, or other like suitable material, the edges of
which are held between the edges of the plates forming the chamber. The
other passage leads into the chamber over the diaphragm. To the centre of
the diaphragm, and working through a stuffing box in the top of the chamber,
a rod is fixed free to move up and down or to and fro, according to whether
the meter is fixed vertically or horizontally. A bent arm, terminating at
bottom in a rack, is keyed on this rod and takes into a toothed sector, to the

page_text: shaft of which is fixed a weighted lever, while to a lug on the lower and plain
portion of the sector one end of a rod is fixed, the other end of which is attached
to the slide through which the liquid or fluid to be measured enters the
chamber at the bottom of the meter.
The action is as follows: -The liquid or fluid to be measured, say water, is
admitted into the slide, which opens into the passage leading into the chamber
under the diaphragm, and is closed to that leading into the chamber over the
diaphragm; the water fills the chamber and forces up the diaphragm, and with
it the rod fixed to it. This rod in rising takes with it the rack, which acting
on the teeth of the sector, moves the weighted lever to the opposite side of the
meter to that at which it stood, and at the same time causes the slide to be
shifted to close the inlet under the diaphragm, and to open into that leading
over the diaphragm. As fast as the space over the diaphragm becomes filled
the water under it passes away through an outlet, now open for that purpose,
and the diaphragm rod in falling causes the weighted lever to be thrown back
and the position of the slide to be shifted, and so on. The capacity of the cham-
ber being ascertained, the quantity of water at each stroke of the diaphragm
may be registered on any ordinary indicating or counting apparatus, moved
either by the diaphragm rod or by the shaft of the toothed sector..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, hearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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

page_text: •
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIQUID AND FLUID METERS," (communicated to me
from abroad by Louis Constant Uhler, of Paris.) upon the condition (amongst
others) that
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to he 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, 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
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
In the bottom of a dome-shaped or other suitable case a chamber is formed,
entrance into which can only take place through a slide open alternately to
each of two passages, one of which leads into the chamber under a piston or
diaphragm of leather, caoutchouc, or other like suitable material, the edges of
which are held between the edges of the plates forming the chamber. The
other passage leads into the chamber over the diaphragm. To the centre of
the diaphragm, and working through a stuffing box in the top of the chamber,
a rod is fixed free to move up and down or to and fro, according to whether
the meter is fixed vertically or horizontally. A bent arm, terminating at
bottom in a rack, is keyed on this rod and takes in'o a toothed sector, to the
shaft of which is fixed a weighted lever, while to a lug on the lower and
plain portion of the sector one end of a rod is fixed, the other end of which
is attached to the slide through which the liquid or fluid to be measured enters
the chamber at the bottom of the meter.
The action is as follows:-The liquid or fluid to be measured, say water, is
admitted into the slide which opens into the passage leading into the chamber
under the diaphragm, and is closed to that leading into the chamber over the
diaphragm; the water fills the chamber and forces up the diaphragm, and with
it the rod fixed to it. This rod in rising takes with it the rack, which acting
on the tooth of the sector, moves the weighted lever to the opposite side of the
meter to that at which it stood; and at the same time causes the slide to be
shifted, to close the inlet under the diaphragm and to open into that leading
over the diaphragm. As fast as the space over the diaphragm becomes filled,
the water under it passes away through an outlet now open for that purpose,
and the diaphragm rod in falling causes the weighted lever to be thrown back

page_text: and the position of the slide to be shifted, and so on. The capacity of the
chamber being ascertained, the quantity of water at each stroke of the diaphragm
may be registered on any ordinary indicating or counting apparatus, moved
either by the diaphragm rod or by the shaft of the toothed sector.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a vertical section of an apparatus
constructed in the manner just described; the meter shown is intended to hold
five litres, and is capable of measuring a litre per second. Figure 2 is a hori-
zoutal section, and Figure 3 is a front elevation of the same. Figure 4 shows
a particular arrangement, by which the to-and-fro motions may be imparted to
the slides. The apparatus may be placed in a vertical or horizontal position,
and works under any degree of pressure. 'a is the external case or chamber,
made of cast iron, copper, or other suitable material, the lower part of which is
connected to 'the upper by bolts and nuts or screws. The liquid or fluid to be
measured is led-into-and-fills-the-compartment-c,-and-from-thence_passes_by
the passage e to the chamber h. g is the diaphragm in the chamber h, and f
is a rod connected to the central part of the diaphragm. The water acting on
the diaphragm g raises it up and presses it against the top of the chamber h;
the rod f, connected by a rack i to the sector j, causes the latter to move about
its axis and place the weighted lever k into the position shown at Figure 1.
This movement of the sector j alters the position of the slide c; then a fresh
supply of liquid enters the slide c, and runs into the chamber h by the opening
e. The weight and pressure of the liquid cause the diaphragm to descend
and with it the rod f to the lower part of the chamber h, so that the liquid is
measured by the action of rising and falling of the piston and diaphragmn g in
the interior of the chamber h. At each rise or fall of the diaphragm the rod f
receives a similar motion, and produces through the rack i and sector j the
alternate displacement of the slide c. Liquid is admitted, for example, by the
orifice and discharged at m. The slide is double-acting, and receives its
'motion from the rod of the piston diaphragm. The diaphragin is 'not subjected
to friction, and, consequently, does not wear quickly; it may be made of gutta-
percha, leather, india-rubber, cloth, or other flexible material. To prevent
leakage I employ a small leather diaphragm A, to replace the stuffing boxes
usually used; it is fitted to the diaphraġin ġ through several discs B, D, E,
and there held by a nut fixed 'to the end of 'tlie rod f. By 'this means any wear
in the rod f is prevented, as well as all the inconveniences arising froin the
employment of ordinary stuffing boxes. If preferred, however, the ordinary
'stuffing box may be employed. The piston rod may be maile of iron, or copper,
'or other metal, according to the liquid or fluid to be measured. The slide may
be made of cast iron, copper, or compound metal, or even of hardened india-

page_text: rubber. The particular arrangement of the slide and one of the characteristic
features in this Invention is, that the inlet orifices are made of a much larger
diameter than that of the exit orifices, in order to prevent the blows or shocks
which are felt with orifices of the same diameter, or when the admission orifices
are smaller. The mean proportion between them is 3 to 1.
The arrangement shown at Figure 4 is in some cases substituted for the
weight k. H is an endless band of india-rubber, well stretched, and attached
to the ends of a balance lever F free to move about the axis G of the sector j;
when the balance lever departs from the horizontal line, it follows, from the
sudden expansion of the india-rubber, that the motion of the slide takes place
with much greater rapidity than with the balance-weighted lever, which moving
in the liquid only falls progressively until it has passed the centre of gravity by
about 30°. By this arrangement the motion of the slide is effected instan-
taneously as soon as the perpendicular is passed; it also prevents the shock
occasioned by the balance weight against the side of the receiver a.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction of liquid and fluid meters, with a piston or diaphragm
made to act through a rod on a rack and sector and balance lever, as well as
upon the slide, substantially in manner and for the purposes herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
And, second, the arrangement for working the slide shewn at Figure 4 of
the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.