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US 4,382,478 AGranted
Gas bottle contents gauge
OwnerGeoffrey Hearninventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerGeoffrey Hearninventor
Estimating the term…
A gauge for assessing the content of releasable gas in a bottle of compressed or liquified gas, which gauge serves to determine the force required to cause the bottle to pivot about a point on its lower periphery, the weight of the content being assessed from the magnitude of said force. The gauge has a platform pivoted about a horizontal edge on a frame and is spring-urged upwardly so as to be suitable for positioning under the lower rim of a gas bottle at a point on the periphery thereof. This causes the bottle to pivot about a diametrically-opposed point on the bottle rim periphery, provided the spring exerts a sufficient force. The platform is connected to a pointer to cause the pointer to sweep across a scale provided on a part of the frame, dependent upon the movement of the platform. A screw-threaded adjuster is arranged to pre-load the spring, thereby to allow alignment of the pointer with a `full` marking on the scale when the gauge is first positioned beneath a full gas bottle; thereafter the remaining content can be assessed by the instantaneous indication given by the pointer reading on the scale.
Apparatus for assessing the amount of releasable gas in a bottle of compressed gas resting on a support therefor, which apparatus comprises frame means, a lifting element mounted on the frame means for movement with respect thereto, a spring acting between said frame means and said lifting element, and an indicator arrangement including a scale and indicator combination one of which scale and indicator is movable relative to the other of said scale and indicator and is coupled to said lifting element for operation thereby on movement of said lifting element, said lifting element being adapted to be engaged with the gas bottle at such a location thereon that movement of said lifting element under the influence of the force exerted by said spring causes the gas bottle to pivot about a point on the lower periphery of the gas bottle, and said indicator arrangement having at least two markings respectively indicative of a full gas bottle and an empty bottle, there being adjusting means allowing said indicator of the indicator arrangement to be aligned with the `full` marking on said scale when said lifting element is engaged with a gas bottle to cause pivoting thereof about said point on the lower periphery of the bottle under the action of said spring.
Apparatus for assessing the amount of releasable gas in a bottle of compressed gas resting on a support therefor, which apparatus comprises frame means including a base portion and an upright portion, a lifting element pivoted to said base portion, a spring acting between said lifting element and said frame means to urge said lifting element to pivot upwardly, a screw-threaded adjuster provided at the connection between said spring and the frame means to allow adjustment of the force exerted by said spring on said lifting element, a scale marked on said upright portion of the frame means and having at least `full` and `empty` markings, a portion pivoted to said frame means to sweep across said scale, and a mechanism connecting said pointer to said lifting element to cause said pointer to sweep across said scale on movement of said lifting element, there being an abutment on said lifting element to limit the extent to which the apparatus can be inserted beneath a gas bottle with a point on the lower periphery of said bottle resting on said lifting element and a diametrically-opposed point on the lower periphery of the gas bottle serving as a fulcrum about which the bottle is pivoted, and said screw-threaded adjuster allowing the pointer to be aligned with the `full` marking on said scale when the apparatus is inserted as aforesaid beneath a full gas bottle.
A method of assessing the amount of releasable gas in a bottle of compressed gas resting on a surface by using apparatus including a spring-urged lifting element, and an indicator arrangement operatively coupled to said lifting element to indicate the instantaneous position thereof, the indicator arrangement having at least `full` and `empty` markings, which method comprises the steps of positioning said apparatus relative to a full gas bottle so that said lifting element is in engagement with the bottle and the action of the spring on said lifting element causes the bottle to pivot about a point on the lower periphery thereof, calibrating said indicator arrangement so that a `full` indication is given thereby, and thereafter on gas being released from the bottle assessing the amount of releasable gas remaining from the instantaneous indication provided by said indicator arrangement operated by said lifting element still effecting pivoting of the bottle about said point on the lower periphery thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.