An Improved Automatic Water Gauge.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 19th Mar., 1892
An Improved Automatic Water Gauge.
I, ALEXANDER GRAY of No. 22 Wentworth Place in the City and County of
Newcastle upon Tyne, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to an improved application of ball valves, acting auto-
matically to close the steam and water outlets of the gauge in case of a broken
glass, with the advantages of simplicity of construction and facility for clearing
the gauge from dirt or other obstruction without interfering with the automatic
valves.
On the accompanying sheet of drawings my invention is shewn as 1 propose to
carry it into practical application.
S is the steam cock.
W the water cock.
C C¹ cavities to receive the automatic ball valves.
B & B the ball valves for steam and water respectively.
O & O the outlet passages to gauge glass for steam and water.
SB stuffing boxes with packing glands to receive the gauge glass.
PPI screwed plugs for opening, through which the ball valves are inserted into
cavities C & C¹.
P screwed plugs by removing which the steam and water passages from boiler
through cocks S and W may be cleared.
P³ screwed plug by removing which the gauge glass may be cleared down.
BP a small bye-pass, in seat of steam ball valve, to restore the equilibrium
after a new glass has been fitted.
The drawing shews a water gauge in normal working order when, the pressure
of the steam and water in the glass being equal, the two ball valves B & B are at
rest in the bottom of the cavities C & C Upon the glass breaking the two
ball valves are instantly forced by the issuing steam and water into their
seats in the outlets O and O as shewn by dotted lines. The cocks being now
closed a new glass is inserted and when the cocks are again opened the ball valves
fall back into the bottom of the cavities the small bye pass BP in the steam valve
seat having allowed steam to pass into the glass and restored the equilibrium. The
seats of the ball valves are shewn slightly inclined to facilitate the return of the
valves into the cavities. It will be seen that in case of obstruction in the passages
of the gauge a wire can be passed straight through the steam and water branches
by unscrewing the plugs without disturbing the ball valves and also straight
down the glass by unscrewing the plug P³ which, so far as I am aware, cannot be
done with any of the existing arrangements in which automatically closing ball
valves are used.
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 :-
The application to automatic water gauges of ball valves, so disposed that they
will offer no obstruction to clearing the passages between the boiler and the gauge
1

page_text: passages between the boiler and the gauge glass upon the latter being broken
substantially as described and shewn.
Dated this 12th day of January 1892.
T. J. DANSON, F. Inst. P.A.,
Chartered Patent Agent, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Agent for Applicant.