Schlumberger Industries

Other

Thierry W Swinson

Richard L Bennett

John D Marshall

Charles P Brunson, Iv

Joel L Tolbert

Kenneth L Cole

Brent M Walden

A water meter and backflow preventer for use in a water supply system having a meter box includes a housing having water infeed and outfeed openings which are connected to supply water from a main utility pipeline to a water customer domestic system through a pair of infeed and outfeed shut-off valves and a water meter mounted within the housing. A double check valve is installed in the water circuit in the housing to enable use of the double check method of backflow prevention. Test ports are provided through the housing to enable the housing unit to be testable for leaks through the valves. The water meter and backflow preventer combines backflow prevention integrated with an AWWA-approved water meter in one product having the same overall lay length as a current water meter to eliminate the need for re-fitting pipe or using adapters within the meter box.

Integral water flow meter and backflow prevention assembly

An adapter for a meter chamber provides proportional metering of a flow through a maincase that is sufficiently accurate at large flow rates to avoid the unmetered loss of significant quantities of water. An essentially unobstructed passageway is provided under the meter chamber to provide a free flow of water through a path that can be made large enough to avoid flow blockage by debris, even if the path through the meter becomes blocked. Thus, the adapter is particularly useful for installation in residential fire service mains. The adapter includes a chamber housing into which the meter chamber may be inserted, a bypass plate to hold the meter chamber in place, and a bypass to provide the passageway through which the free flow of water flows. The chamber housing includes inlet and outlet apertures, as does the bypass. The bypass plate separates a passageway including the meter chamber from the essentially unobstructed passageway, and the chamber housing is arranged so that essentially all of the water entering the passageway in which the meter is positioned flows through the meter chamber. A register on a maincase in which an adapter containing a positive displacement meter chamber is provided may be calibrated to accurately register the volume of water flowing through both chambers of the adapter at significant flow rates. The adapter thus transforms a positive displacement meter chamber housed within into a proportional flow meter.

Water flow meter adapter for residential fire service sprinkler systems

A remote meter reading receptacle for pit lid mounting includes an annular, cup-shaped housing containing a ferrite coil and electronic circuit board. This housing is mounted within an outer shroud which has an annual flange formed about its periphery. The shroud includes a pair of openings, the first for receiving a threaded fastener, such a bolt, and the other for receiving an electrical cable connected to the circuit board of the housing. The shroud is dimensioned to fit securely within an opening formed in the lid of a pit-type meter box, such as used for outdoor setting of water meters. A complementary cup-shaped washer includes a pair of openings for cooperating with the threaded fastener and for receiving the electrical cable. The washer is disposed on the underside of the pit lid and receives the threaded fastener to fasten the housing and shroud assembly securely to the upper surface of the pit lid. The washer is reversible to accommodate a wide range of pit-lid thicknesses. The pit lid receptacle requires only a single hole to be drilled in the pit lid. The receptacle is formed from a ultraviolet stable polycarbonate plastic material. The receptacle is low in profile and provides for secure positioning of the ferrite coil and associated electronic circuit board in an easily assembled housing assembly.

Remote meter reading receptacle for pit lid mounting

An improved drive shaft for a positive displacement type water meter includes a flexible spring arm formed on one end of the shaft for engaging the drive spindle of a nutating disk measuring element disposed within a water meter. The other end of the drive shaft is connected to a magnetic drive which, in turn, is magnetically coupled to a conventional mechanical register. Under normal conditions, the nutating disk measuring element and drive spindle oscillate in the water meter at a rate proportional to water meter flow. The drive spindle engages the spring arm of the drive shaft causing the drive shaft and magnet to rotate. The magnet is coupled through the water meter casing to a second magnet in the register. Rotation of the second magnet is used to drive the mechanical register to register water consumption. In the event the first magnet within the meter casing becomes frozen to the casing because of external freezing conditions, the drive spindle will snap past the flexible spring arm. This prevents damage to the drive shaft and first magnet which would otherwise occur with conventional drive shaft arrangements.

Frost-proof drive shaft for water meter

A bi-directional snap-action register mechanism for an odometer-type mechanical register display. The mechanism includes at least one register display wheel and a bi-directional cam mounted coaxially along a common shaft with the register display wheel. The bi-directional cam engages a helical groove formed along the shaft to allow lateral displacement of the bi-directional cam in a direction parallel to a rotational axis of the shaft. A pin is biased by a spring into contact with the bi-directional cam. Rotation of the shaft causes the bi-directional cam to be moved with respect to the pin. The cam abruptly rotates through a predetermined angular distance when the point of contact of the biased pin with the cam moved from a smooth portion to a step transition portion of the cam. The abrupt rotation of the cam is communicated to the register display wheel to cause a new display position to be moved into view.

Growing community of inventors

Wetumpka, AL, United States of America

Thierry W Swinson