IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS METERS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Sim, of the City of Aberdeen, North Britain,
Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF GAS METERS."
Sealed the 30th May 1862, and dated the 1st March 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by the said James Sim at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
March 1862.
I, JAMES SIM, of the City of Aberdeen, North Britain, Manufacturing
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS METERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improved arrangements applicable to wet
gas meters, by means of which the water employed therein is kept at an
uniform height. The front box of the meter is divided into two compart-
ments one above the other, the upper compartment containing the usual
arrangements of valve box, float index spindle with the necessary gearing to
the measuring cylinder or drum, and also the pipe for supplying water to the
meter. The lower compartment is used as a cistern or reservoir for holding
water, and is provided with an overflow pipe. If desired, this compartment
may be divided into chambers, but if so constructed the chambers must com-
municate with each other, so that the gas may freely pass through. The gas
having been admitted by the inlet pipe through the valve box, is carried by
means of a pipe into the cistern or reservoir, where it comes into contact with
the water, and passing along its surface, is conveyed by a pipe into the false
end of the measuring cylinder or drum, the pipe being so placed as to allow
the surplus water taken up by the gas to return to the reservoir.

page_text: In another modification of this Invention the front box of the meter is
divided, as before mentioned, into two compartments, the lower compartment
containing two cisterns or reservoirs for holding water, one being placed above
the other. In this arrangement the gas passes by the inlet pipe to the lower
cistern or reservoir, thence along the surface of the water, and through a pipe
or passage to the upper cistern or reservoir, and passing along the surface of
the water contained therein, is conveyed by a suitable pipe into the measuring
cylinder or drum of the meter.
The object of this Invention is to bring the gas into contact with the water
in a vessel or vessels distinct and apart from the mechanism of the meter, but
communicating with the measuring cylinder or drum, and thereby to carry
with it a sufficient quantity of water into the measuring compartment of the
meter to supply the deficiency of water therein. caused by ovaporation, and thus
to keep the water line at an uniform height.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Sim in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
September 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SIM, of the City of Aberdeen, North Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Sim, Her special licence that I, the said James Sim, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Sim, 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 THE CON-
STRUCTION OF GAS METERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Sim, 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 Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in

page_text: the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immo-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Sim, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to certain improvements applicable to the construction
of wet gas meters, the principle upon which it is chiefly founded being that
of causing the gas to pass over or come in contact with an extended surfaco
of water in a separate vessel or vessels, whereby it takes up and absorbs or
becomes saturated with moisture previous to being admitted into the mea-
suring compartment of the meter, and thus preventing the absorption of the
water contained therein by the gas, as is the case when the latter is introduced
in a dry state, the effect of such absorption necessarily being to alter the level
of the water contained in the measuring compartment. The water contained
in the separate vessel or vessels is also constantly evaporating, the results of
such evaporation passing upwards into the measuring compartment, and thus
assisting in preserving the water level therein.
In constructing a meter in accordance with my Invention, the front box
thereof is divided into two compartments one above the other, the upper
compartment containing the usual arrangements of valve, float, index spindle
with the necessary gearing to the measuring cylinder or drum, the pipe for
supplying water to the meter, and also the syphon overflow pipe, herein-after
mentioned, for adjusting the water line of the ineter, while the lower compart-
ment is used as a cistern or reservoir for holding water, the same being
provided with an overflow pipe for the exit of any surplus water which may
have been admitted thereto.
According to one modification of my Invention, the lower compartment is
constructed with one cistern or reservoir therein, or, if desired, it may be
divided into compartments, it being essential, however, that such compart-
ments should communicate with each other, so that the gas may freely pass
through the same for the purpose of traversing the surface of the water.
The gas having been admitted by the inlet pipe through the valve box, is
carried by means of a tube into the cistern or reservoir, where it comes into
contact with the water, and passing along its surface, absorbs some portion
thereof, and is conveyed in a hydrated state into the hollow covering of the
measuring cylinder or drum. Any surplus water thus carried into the mea-
suring compartment of the meter may be returned to the cistern or reservoir

page_text: by a syphon attached to the inlet pipe before the latter enters the hollow
covering of the measuring cylinder or drum, the head of such syphon pipo
being the water line of the meter. In filling the meter with water it rises in
the syphon pipe, overflows the head, and runs down the lower part of the
inlet pipe into the cistern or reservoir. The said syphon pipe thus furnishes
a convenient mode of carrying off any water which may be set free from the
hydrated gas in the measuring compartment, or which may be the result of
evaporation from the cistern or reservoir, and constitutes an effectual method. of
adjusting the water level of the meter, and keeping it at the water line thereof
under ordinary circumstances.
In another modification of my said Invention the front box of the meter is
divided, as before mentioned, into two compartments, the lower compartment
containing two cisterns or reservoirs for holding water, one being placed over
the other, sufficient space being left between them for the passage of the gas.
In this arrangement the gas passes by the inlet pipe to the lower of the two
cisterns or reservoirs, and thence along the surface of the water through a
pipe or passage to the upper cistern or reservoir, and, after passing along. tho
surface of the water, contained therein, is conveyed by a suitable inlet pipe:
into the measuring cylinder or drum of the meter, the surplus water being.
allowed to return to the cisterns or reservoirs by a syphon pipe inserted into
the said inlet pipe, as herein-before mentioned.
In order still further to increase the efficiency of my arrangements, the
water in the lower compartment of the meter may be contained in trays
ranged one above another, and supported upon suitable lugs or brackets in the
interior of the lower compartment of the front of the meter, such trays being
filled when the meter is supplied with water. :
s
To prevent the consequences of the meter being tilted the outlet pipe may
be placed in the upper compartment of the front box, and carried. down as.
Hear to the water line of the meter as possible, so as only to leave space
sufficient to permit the gas to enter the tube.
::
:
It will be seen that the gas, by passing over the surface of or coming in
contact with the water in the cisterns or reservoirs, becomes more or less.
Irydrated or saturated with moisture, and when admitted in that state into
the measuring chamber is incapable of absorbing or taking up any further
quantity of water and so diminishing the quantity of water in the measuring
chamber and thereby lowering the level thereof, which would be the case if
the gas were introduced into the measuring chamber in a dry or less hydrous.
or hydrated state, and that not only the waste of water in the measuring
chamber may thus be prevented, but its quantity may be increased by the

page_text: water which may be given off or set free from the hydrated gas in the
measuring chamber, or which may result from evaporation from the water
contained in the cisterns or reservoirs. The water line is thus preserved
and kept uniform, which feature is of great importance in giving a correct
registration of the quantity of gas passing through the meter.
My Invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, in which the same letters refer to similar parts of the
meters represented.
Figure I. is a meter, constructed with one cistern or reservoir only in the
lower compartment thereof; Figure II. is a meter with two cisterns or reser-
voirs. A, A, is the shell or case of the measuring portion of the meter;
B and C are the upper and lower compartments of the front of the meter.
a is the inlet pipe for the gas, by which it is conveyed to the cistern or
reservoir, and whence it passes over the surface of the water therein in the
direction indicated by the arrows through the inlet pipe 6 to the measuring
cylinder or drum; c is the syphon overflow pipe herein-before mentioned;
d is the pipe for supplying water to the meter; and e is the overflow pipe
from the lower compartment.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and also the manner in which it is to be performed, I wish
it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
details or arrangements which I have described or referred to, as variations
may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features
of my Invention; and, moreover, that what I consider as novel and original,
and therefore claim as my Invention, are,-
First, the construction and arrangement of the said syphon overflow pipe,
as and for the purposes hereiu-before mentioned.
And, secondly, the arrangements and combinations of apparatus and
mechanism in the construction of gas meters, herein-before substantially
described, or any mere modifications thereof, for effecting the objects and
purposes herein-before mentioned and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Sim, bave hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.