Permission for comments and photos to be printed granted by the
Heise Bourdon Tube Company
‘In this day of 2400-pound steam for central station
turbo-generators, and 25,000-pound and more psi in hydraulic
mechanisms having to do with missiles and various other fields and
laboratories, the need arises for new types of pressure gages some
But in the Bourdon tube category, we find that, as pressures
climb, the tubes become more and more circular in cross-section,
since the oval or flattened style tube would be subject to
splitting. As the tubes approach the circular cross-section in
geometry, they do of course become less sensitive. But this factor
is compensated by making several turns or loops in the tube, much
like a coiled-up garden hose. This is a unique way in which to
derive strain-multiplication.
In the accompanying photographs of the tube and complete (50,000
psi) gage as manufactured in this country by the Heise Bourdon Tube
Company, it is seen that there are two and three-quarters turns in
the rounded tube. Even again as remarkable is the fact that these
particular gages carry a gauranted accuracy of one-tenth of one
percent of full scale pressure at any point of the dial! A similar
gage built by this manufacturer, calibrated to 100,000 psi and
having a 16-inch face cost just beyond four hundred dollars. Need a
couple for the old boiler?’
Courtesy of Ted Nicolls, 1455 Lochbrea Road, Apt, 19, Sacramento
15, California