IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-PRESSURE REGULATORS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Sheldon, of the City and County of New-
haven, State of Connecticut, United States of America, Lawyer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-PRESSURE REGULATORS."-A
communication by John Bishop, of Newhaven; State of Connecticut,
United States of America.
Sealed the 6th November 1866, and dated the 9th May 1866.
.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Sheldon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1866.
I, JOSEPH SHELDON, of the City and County of Newhaven, State of
Connecticut, United States of America, Lawyer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-PRESSURE REGULATORS,"
a communication to me by John Bishop, of Newhaven aforesaid, to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object to regulate the pressure of water in pipes
to be more or less required, and consists in a mechanism whereby the pressure
of the water in the supply pipe may be counterbalanced to a greater or less
extent at the pleasure of the consumer.
This Invention will be more clearly understood by referring to the Figs.
and letters on the accompanying Drawings.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a side view; Fig. 2, a vertical central section; and Figs. 3 and 4,
different constructions embodying the same principle.
A is the supply pipe; B, a case which forms a chamber F, enclosing a
valve C. When the said valve is upon its seat it closes the pipe A and cuts
off the supply. The stem D of the valve C is made hollow, and extends up
through a guide E. When the said valve is open, as seen in Fig. 2, water
flows into the chamber F, and through openings c into the stem D as denoted
by arrows, thence away for use. The guide E divides the chamber F from a
second chamber G. a is a diaphragm secured to the valve stem D and the
case of the chamber G, as seen in Fig. 2, forming the top of the said
chamber G; H is the outlet through which the water passes to be drawn for
I is a pipe communicating from the supply pipe A to the chamber G,
fitted with a cock L; M is a discharge pipe from the chamber G fitted with
a cock O; d is a diaphragm inserted as a packing between the two chambers
F and G.
use;
The operation of the regulator is as follows:-Supposing the water in the
supply pipe A to be under a pressure of forty pounds upon the valve C, and
the area of the diaphragm a four times the area of the valve C, consequently
but one-fourth the pressure of the supply in the pipe A upon the same area
on the diaphragm will be required to close the valve C, that is, forty pounds
pressure upon the diaphragm will counterbalance the forty pounds pressure on
the valve C, and the forty pounds on the diaphragm a is distributed over four
times the area of the valve C, or ten pounds pressure per inch, the pressure
under which water would be drawn from the pipe H without making any
allowance for the column of water beyond or above the diaphragm a in the
pipe H. To compensate for this column is part of the design of the chamber G
and its pipes and cock, and their operation is as follows:-Open the cock L
and allow water from the supply pipe to pass up into the chamber G until the
diaphragm A is supported by a pressure equal to the column above it, and
the one-fourth pressure would be maintained. Or, should occasion require a
greater pressure in the pipe H than the one-fourth as described, allow more
water to pass into the chamber G until the required pressure is attained; then
close the cock L. If the cock L be left open the pressure would, of course,
be the same above and below the diaphragm, the water would consequently
flow through nearly unobstructed or under full head. If more water enters
the chamber G than is required to accomplish the object, or if at any time it
be required to reduce the pressure in the pipe H, open the cock O and allow
a portion of the water to pass out. Thus it will be seen that by allowing
more water to pass into the chamber G the force of the flow through the

page_text: pipe H will be increased until it reaches the full head, or by drawing there-
from the pressure is reduced until the valve C would be nearly closed and the
pressure reduced to as nearly nothing..
The arrangement thus far described is simple and effective and fully
accomplishes the object of the Invention. In Fig. 3 I illustrate the same
Invention, employing a column of mercury for the purpose of establishing and
maintaining an equilibrium at the pressure required. The general con-
struction and arrangement of the valve with the diaphragm and chambers are
substantially the same as before described, in addition to which I arrange a
relief valve P on the pipe H, adjusted by means of a screw and spring to any
pressure desired. R and R¹ are mercury chambers connected by means of a
tube as shewn. A small pipe S arranged with a cock T connects the
chamber R with the pipe H to permit water to flow into the chamber R;
the said chamber R is connected with the chamber G by a pipe U. To
explain the operation of this arrangement I shall repeat a portion of what has
already been said regarding the operation of the first described arrangement.
Connect the service pipe with tube A, the distributing pipe with pipe H; pour
five pounds of mercury into the upper chamber, and when it is required that
water rise thirty feet or less the cock T in the pipe that connects the mercury
chamber and the pipe H is closed, then let on the water to the regulator.
For illustration, suppose the pressure of the water to be forty pounds to the
square inch, and that the inlet to the regulator is of one square inch area, and
the valve or end of piston is of the same area (one inch), it is evident thero
is a pressure of forty pounds on the valve which causes it to rise and admit
the water into the machine; the valve then rises from its seat, the water
flows up against the elastic packed joint and through the ports (as shewn by
the arrows) up through the hollow piston, and filling the chamber above the
large diaphragm, up the pipe H, until it attains the height of twenty-six
inches, when it exerts a pressure of one pound to the square inch, and there
being forty square inches of surface on the upper end of the piston the
pressure thus becomes the same on either end of the piston. The piston or
valve of its own weight falls on its seat and the water ceases to flow, and will
so remain unless the equilibrium is disturbed. To get a greater pressure than
one pound, or to raise water a greater height than twenty-six inches, open the
small cock T and the connecting pipe H with the mercury chamber R, open
the thumbscrew or valve O on the opposite side of the chamber to let out the
air, that the water may fill the chamber, and when full (which will be
known by the discharge of water) close the screw or valve O and the water
will press against the diaphragm, disturbing the equilibrium, and the water

page_text: will rise in the pipe H and the pressure increase one pound for every twenty-
six inches of its rise. The water from the pipe S also acts upon the mercury
in the lower chamber R, as shewn by the dotted line, and forces it up the
small tube into the upper chamber R', as shewn by the dark shading, and 'for
every inch in height the mercury rises water will rise thirteen and one-half
inches, so that for every two inches of mercury the pressure will be increased
one pound and one twenty-sixth of a pound. To know when the machine is
set to get all the pressure the column of water will give, leave the small
cock open until the water discharges from the outlet tuber in the upper
chamber R', then close the cock T and the mercury will remain suspended;
the pressure will also remain the same unless the column be let down by
opening the thumbscrew or valve O. To ascertain how long to make the tube
connecting the mercury chambers, find the the number of feet required for
the water to rise, multiply by twelve and divide by thirteen and one-half, and
it will give the number of inches in length that the tube should be, measuring
from the end of the tube in the bottom chamber R; for every additional
pound of pressure make the mercury column one inch and twenty-five thirty
seconds longer. Set the valve P by means of the adjusting screw to balance
the pressure in the pipes which will relieve the pipes and fixtures of all strain
or pressure beyond what it is set for. The valve P may be set in any con-
venient place on the pipe. Thus arranged, by no possibility can there be
any more pressure in the pipes than what the machine is set for, while the
whole pressure on the mains is resting against the valve of the regulator
ready to supply any number of fixtures which may be opened, so that if
fixtures of equal capacity to that which supply the machine are opened the
same amount of water will flow through as if no regulator was there, but
cannot by any means get more than the set pressure in the pipes.
In Fig. 4 I shew a balance valve W and W', between which water is
admitted through the pipe A. The area of the two valves being the same
they are held in equilibrium, and the two valves are placed between the
pipe H and the diaphragm, and so that the spindle f will rest upon the
diaphragm. The diaphragm chamber for this arrangement needs not the pipe
and valve arrangement below, as seen in Fig. 3, the water being admitted to
the valves above the diaphragm. The mercury chambers and the diaphragm
otherwise are arranged the same as seen in Fig. 3. It will therefore be
evident without further explanation that as the two valves W and W' are in
perfect equilibrium the pressure of the mercury below the diaphragm will
raise and open the valves, which will permit water to flow up the pipe H and
down to the chamber above the diaphragm, and when the pressure upon the

page_text: diaphragm becomes equal to the pressure from below the valves W and W₁
will close, thereby always maintaining a pressure in the pipe H equal to the
pressure below the diaphragm, which is adjusted to increase or diminish the
pressure as herein-before described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Sheldon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
SHELDON, of the City and County of Newhaven, State of Connecticut,
United States of America, Lawyer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Sheldon, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Sheldon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Joseph Sheldon, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WATER-PRESSURE REGULATORS," communication to me
by John Bishop, of Newhaven aforesaid, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Sheldon, my executors or administrators,
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 Inven-
tion, 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 Joseph Sheldon, 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 (that is to say) :-
This Invention has for its object to regulate the pressure of water in pipes
to be more or less required, and consists in a mechanism whereby the pressure

page_text: of the water in the supply pipe may be counterbalanced to a greater or less
extent at the pleasure of the consumer.
To enable those skilled in the art to construct and use this improvement I
will proceed to describe the same as illustrated in the accompanying Drawings,
in which Fig. 1 is a side view; Fig. 2 a vertical central section; and Figs. 3
& 4 different constructions embodying the same principle.
A is the supply pipe; B, a case which forms a chamber F enclosing a
valve C. When the said valve is upon its seat it closes the pipe A and cuts
off the supply. The stem D of the valve C is made hollow, and extends up
through a guide E. When the said valve is open, as seen in Fig. 2, water
flows into the chamber F, and through openings c into the stem D, as denoted
by arrows, thence away for use. The guide E divides the chamber F from a
second chamber G. a is a diaphragm secured to the valve stem D, and the
case of the chamber G, as seen in Fig. 2, forming the top of the said
chamber G; H is the outlet through which the water passes to be drawn for
use; I is a pipe communicating from the supply pipe A to the chamber G,
fitted with a cock L; M is a discharge pipe from the chamber G, fitted with
a cock O; d is a diaphragm inserted as a packing between the two
chambers F & G.
The operation of the regulator is as follows:-Supposing the water in the
supply pipe A to be under a pressure of forty pounds upon the valve C, and
the area of the diaphragm a four times the area of the valve C, consequently
but one-fourth the pressure of the supply in the pipe A upon the same area
on the diaphragm will be required to close the valve C, that is, forty pounds
pressure upon the diaphragm will counterbalance the forty pounds pressure on
the valve C, and the forty pounds on the diaphragm a is distributed over four
times the area of the valve C-on ten pounds pressure per inch, the pressure
under which water would be drawn from the pipe H, without making any
allowance for the column of water beyond or above the diaphragm a in the
pipe H. To compensate for this column is part of the design of the chamber G
and its pipes and cock, and their operation is as follows:-Open the cock L
and allow water from the supply pipe to pass up into the chamber G until the
diaphragm A is supported by a pressure equal to the column above it and the
one-fourth pressure would be maintained. Or, should occasion require a
greater pressure in the pipe H than the one-fourth as described, allow more
water to pass into the chamber G until the required pressure is attained; then
close the cock L. If the cock L be left open the pressure would of course
be the same above and below the diaphragm, the water would consequently
flow through nearly unobstructed or under full head. If more water enters

page_text: the chamber G than is required to accomplish the object, or if at any time it
be required to reduce the pressure in the pipe H, open the cock O and allow
a portion of the water to pass out. Thus it will be seen that by allowing
more water to pass into the chamber G the force of the flow through the
pipe H will be increased until it reaches the full head, or by drawing there-
from the pressure is reduced until the valve C would be nearly closed and the
pressure reduced to as nearly nothing. The proportions of the valves C and
diaphragm may be varied to be more or less as situation may require; the
adjustment of the pressure would be the same, and at all times under the
control of the consumer.
The arrangement thus far described. is simple and effective, and fully
accomplishes the object of the Invention. In Fig. 3 I illustrate the same
Invention, employing a column of mercury for the purpose of establishing
and maintaining an equilibrium at the pressure required. The general con-
struction and arrangement of the valve with the diaphragm and chambers is
substantially the same as before described, in addition to which I arrange a
relief valve P on the pipe H adjusted by means of a screw and spring to any.
pressure desired. R & R' are mercury chambers connected by means of a
tube as shewn. A small pipe S, arranged with a cock T, connects the
chamber R with the pipe H to permit water to flow into the chamber R, and
the said chamber R is connected with the chamber G by a pipe U. To
explain the operation of this arrangement I shall repeat a portion of what has.
already been said regarding the operation of the first described arrangement.
Connect the service pipe with tube A, the distributing pipe with pipe H,
pour five pounds of mercury into the upper chamber, and when it is required
that water rise thirty feet or less the cock T in the pipe that connects the
mercury chamber and the pipe H is closed, then let on the water to the
regulator. For illustration, suppose the pressure of the water to be forty
pounds to the square inch, and that the inlet to the regulator is of one square
inch area, and the valve or end of piston is of the same area (one inch), it is
evident there is a pressure of forty pounds on the valve which causes it to rise
and admit the water into the machine; the valve then rises from its seat, the
water flows up against the elastic packed joint and through the ports (as
shewn by the arrows), up through the hollow piston, and filling the chamber
above the large diaphragm, up the pipe H until it attains the height of
twenty-six inches, when it exerts a pressure of one pound to the square inch,
and their being forty square inches of surface on the upper end of the piston
the pressure thus becomes the same on either end of the piston. The piston
or valve of its own weight falls on its seat and the water ceases to flow, and

page_text: up
will so remain unless the equilibrium is disturbed. To get a greater pressure
than one pound, or to raise water a greater height than twenty-six inches,
open the small cock T and the connecting pipe H with the mercury chamber R,
open the thumbscrew or valve O on the opposite side of the chamber to let
out the air that the water may fill the chamber, and when full (which will be
known by the discharge of the water) close the screw or valve O, and the water
will press against. the diaphragm, disturbing the equilibrium, and the water
will rise in the pipe H and the pressure increase one pound for every
twenty-six inches of its rise. The water from the pipe S also acts upon the
mercury in the lower chamber R, as shewn the dotted line, and forces it
the small tube into the upper chamber R¹, as shewn by the dark shading,
and for every inch in height the mercury rises water will rise thirteen and
one half inches, so that for every two inches of mercury the pressure will be
increased one pound and one twenty-sixth of a pound. To know when the
machine is set to get all the pressure the column of mercury will give, leave
the small cock open until the water discharges from the outlet tuber in the
upper chamber R¹; then close the cock T and the mercury will remain
suspended; the pressure will also remain the same unless the column
be let down by opening the thumbscrew or valve O. For ascertaining
how long to make the tube connecting the mercury chambers, find the
number of feet required for the water to raise, multiply by twelve and
divide by thirteen and one-half, and it will give the number of inches in
length that the tube should be, measuring from the end of the tube in the
bottom chamber R. For every additional pound of pressure make the
mercury column one inch and twenty-five thirty seconds longer. Set the
valve P by means of the adjusting screw to balance the pressure in the pipes
which will relieve the pipes and fixtures of all strain or pressure beyond what
it is set for. The valve P may be set in any convenient place on the pipe;
thus arranged by no possibility can there be any more pressure in the pipes
than what the machine is set for, while the whole pressure on the mains is
resting against the valve of the regulator ready to supply any number of
fixtures which may be opened, so that if fixtures of equal capacity to that
which supplies the machine are opened the same amount of water will
flow through as if no regulator was there, but cannot by any means get more
than the set pressure in the pipes.
In Fig. 4 I show a balance valve W & W¹, between which water is
admitted through the pipe A. The area of the two valves being the same
they are held.in equilibrium, and the two valves are placed between the
pipe Hand the diaphragm, and so. that the spindle f will rest upon the

page_text: diaphragm. The diaphragm chamber for this arrangement needs not the
pipe and valve arrangement below, as seen in Fig. 3, the water being
admitted to the valves above the diaphragm. The mercury chambers and
the diaphragm otherwise are arranged the same as seen in Fig. 3. It will
therefore be evident without further explanation that as the two valves
W & W¹ are in perfect equilibrium the pressure of the mercury below the
diaphragm will raise and open the valves, which will permit water to flow up
the pipe H and down to the chamber above the diaphragm, and when the
pressure upon the diaphragin becomes equal to the pressure from below the
valves W&W will close, thereby always maintaining a pressure in the
pipe H equal to the pressure below the diaphragm, which is adjusted to
increase or diminish the pressure as herein-before described.
Having therefore thus fully described the said Invention, what I claim as
new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
First, the valve C when constructed with a hollow stem and combined
with chambers F & G, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Second, adjusting the pressure of water in pipes by means of the chamber G
and cocks L & O, substantially as herein specified.
Third, the mercury chamber R & R in combination with the chambers
F&G, substantially in the manner and for the purpose described.
Fourth, the arrangement of the valve W & W' in combination with the
diaphragm a and mercury chamber R, to operate in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Sheldon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our Lord
1866.