Eugene Bourdon and the Bourdon tube

[Rick A]

Almost every gauge since 1849 has come with a Bourdon tube inside. It's the metal tube that flexes when put under pressure and causes the needle on the face of the gauge to read the pressure. Here's a copy of his original US patent and some information about him.

https://blog.wika.us/products/pressure- ... don-gauge/

https://bourdonusa.com/products/pressure-gauges

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ourdon.jpg

[Rick A]

In 1859 T.W. Lane of Meredith New Hampshire developed an improved version of the Bourdon tube gauge that was called a double spring, evidently a way to avoid some of the problems that affected the single spring gauge caused by freezing conditions.

geoff1944 wrote:
Bourdon's original gauge was not practical for cold climates because the two ends of the tube, or "spring," were pointed down. Condensed water would drain out of the end which was connected to the steam line but would collect in the other end and freeze, bursting the tube. This design is called a "single spring" gauge because the tube is considered to be one "spring."

T. W. Lane patented an improvement to the Bourdon gauge in 1859 which solved this problem. Lane oriented the tube so both ends were pointed up instead of down. He then placed the connection to the steam line in the middle of the tube, at the bottom. Condensed water would then run out of both ends of the tube. This is called a double spring gauge because the tubes on either side of the bottom connection are each considered to be a separate spring.

Here's the Lane patent for the double spring gauge

https://www.smokstak.com/forum/attachme ... 1574560199

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[Rick A]

An Ashton Valve double spring gauge.

[Rick A]

More info about Bourdon


https://heatinghelp.com/blog/the-metal-manometer/

[Rick A]

A nice comparison of the Bourdon and Lane gauges.