IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus for INDICATING AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont, of No. 2,
Westminster Chambers, Victoria Strect, in the County of Middlesex,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Apparatus for INDICATING AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Edward
Blackett Beaumont at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 2nd September 1875.
I, FREDERICK EDWARD BLACKETT BEAUMONT, of No. 2, Westminster
Chambers, Victoria Street, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPAratus
FOR INDICATING AND REGISTERING THE SPEED OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER
VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
-
My Invention relates to apparatus for indicating and registering the
speed of railway and other carriages, which, while it efficiently registers

page_text: the speed at every part of a journey, as also the occurrence and duration
of stoppages, shall be simple and inexpensive in construction and not
liable to get out of order. For this purpose I provide a framing or
casing carrying a pulley fixed on a spindle and receiving rotary motion
by an endless cord or belt, either from one of the carriage axles or from
a pulley fixed thereon. The spindle has a worm in gear with a worm
wheel, on the spindle of which is a tappet or pin that at every
revolution of the worm wheel is caused to raise a spring lever provided
with a needle at its end. This needle is situated opposite a strip of
paper that is made by clockwork mechanism to travel from one reel to
another, the clockwork being timed to move the paper so that divisions
marked thereon intended to represent, say intervals of a minute or
fractions of a minute, take a minute or corresponding fraction of a
minute to pass in front of the needle. As the paper travels along the
striking pin in raising the spring arm at the end of every revolution and
releasing it again immediately, causes the needle thereon to puncture
the strip of paper, the pin being withdrawn from the paper by the spring
action of the arm immediately after piercing it.
The gearing of the wheel axle to the pulley and of the worm to the
worm wheel being so proportioned that one revolution of the latter, and
consequently also one blow of the striking pin, shall be completed at
the end of every 150 yards or other fraction of a mile travelled by the
carriage, it will be seen that a puncture will be made on the paper strip
at the end of every 150 yards or other fraction of a mile, so that the
interval between two perforations will represent 150 yards or other
fraction of a mile travelled by the carriage, while the number of per-
forations that occur between two divisions on the paper indicate the
number of minutes or fractions of a minute occupied by the carriago
in travelling through such distance. Also, as during every stoppage of
the carriage the clockwork continues to move the paper strip past the
needle while this remains inactive. The length of paper strip that-thus
occurs without any perforations thereon will indicate the occurrence and
duration of every stoppage of the carriage.
The paper strip as it travels past the needle passes through a slit in a
guide plate, in which is a small hole, through which the needle passes
for puncturing the paper.

page_text: loose on its spindle, but connected thereto by a pawl and ratchet wheel,
so that when the carriage moves backwards the pulley will turn loose
on the spindle without actuating the registering mechanism.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, FREDERICK
EDWARD BLACKETT BEAUMONT, of No. 2, Westminster Chambers,
Victoria Street, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Edward
Blackett Beaumont, Her special license that I, the said Frederick
Edward Blackett Beaumont, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING AND REGISTERING THE SPEED OF
RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND OTHER VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Frederick Edward Blackett Beaumont, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frederick Edward Blackett
Beaumont, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
-
My Invention relates to apparatus for indicating and registering the
speed of railways and other carriages, which, while it efficiently registers
the speed at every part of a journey, as also the occurrence and duration
of stoppages, shall be simple and inexpensive in construction and not
liable to get out of order. For this purpose I provide a framing or
casing carrying a pulley fixed on a spindle and receiving rotary motion
by an endless cord or belt either from one of the carriage axles or from
a pulley fixed thereon. The spindle has a worm in gear with a worm
wheel, on the spindle of which is a tappet or piu, that at every
revolution of the worm wheel is caused to raise a spring lever provided
with a needle at its end. This needle is situated opposite a strip of
paper that is made by clockwork mechanism to travel from one recl to
another, the clockwork being timed to move the paper so that divisions
marked thereon intended to represent, say intervals of a minute or
fractions of a minute take a minute or corresponding fraction of a
minute to pass in front of the needle. As the paper travels along the
striking pin in raising the spring arm at the end of every revolution and
releasing it again immediately causes the needle thereon to puncture the
strip of paper, the pin being withdrawn from the paper by the spring
action of the arm immediately after piercing it.
The gearing of the wheel axlo to the pulley and of the worm to the
worm wheel being so proportioned that one revolution of the latter, and
consequently also one blow of the striking pin, shall be completed at
the end of every 150 yards or other fraction of a mile travelled by the
_ carriage, it will be seen that a puncture will be made on the paper strip
at the end of every 150 yards or other fraction of a mile, so that the
interval between two perforations will represent 150 yards or other
fraction of a mile travelled by the carriage, while the number of per-
forations that occur between two divisions on the paper indicate the
number of minutes or fractions of a minute occupied by the carriage in
travelling through such distance. Also, as during every stoppage of
the carriage the clockwork continues to move the paper strip past the
needle, while this remains inactive, the length of paper strip that thus

page_text: occurs without any perforations thereon will indicate the occurrence and
duration of every stoppage of the carriage.
The paper strip as it travels past the needle passes through a slit in a
guide plate, in which is a small hole, through which the needle passes
for puncturing the paper.
The pulley to which motion is imparted from the carriage axle is
loose on its spindle, but connected thereto by a pawl and ratchet wheel,
so that when the carriage moves backwards the pulley will turn loose
on the spindle without actuating the registering mechanism, or the
pawl and ratchet wheel arrangement may be connected to the striking
gear for the above purpose, as will be presently described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 shews a plan and Fig. 2 a side view, and Fig. 3 a section on
line X, X, of the before-described registering apparatus. A is the pulley
fixed on the spindle B carried by the plate C, and receiving rotary
motion from the carriage axle or from a pulley thereon, or on the wheel
by an endless cord. On the spindle B is a worm D in gear with a worm
wheel E, which is loose on the boss F* connecting an upper and lower
ratchet wheel F, F, rotating on a pin fixed to the plate C. The ratchet
wheels are prevented from turning in one direction by a fixed pawl G in
gear with the lower one F¹, but are capable of being carried round in
the contrary direction by the worm wheel E by means of a pawl G' on the
latter, in gear with the upper ratchet wheel F. On this latter is a pin H,
which at every revolution of the wheel presses against a projection I on
a spring lever K having a needle K' at its end, thereby raising the lever
away from the travelling paper ribbon L, and then allowing it to spring
forward and puncture the paper by means of the needle. The paper
ribbon L is wound upon a reel M, the end thereof being passed between
the cylinders N and O, and attached to the latter, which is pressed by a
spring P against the periphery of N, this being caused to revolve in the
direction of the arrow by means of clockwork contained in the casing Q.
Thus by the revolution of N the paper L will be drawn from the recl M
past the needle K', and be wound up on the cylinder O. R is a guard
pressed by a spring R' against the paper L on the periphery of the
cylinder N at the point where the needle K' strikes, the needle being
made to pass through an aperture in the guard in order to perforate the
paper, so that the guard prevents the paper from being dragged away

page_text: from the cylinder by the needle as this recedes. The spring lever K is
so arranged that when the needle has punctured the paper it is imme-
diately withdrawn clear of the latter so as to allow this to travel
past.
The paper ribbon being marked with divisions representing intervals
of time, and being made by the clockwork to travel past the needle at a
corresponding speed, as before explained, while the needle is made to
perforate the paper every time the carriage has completed a certain dis-
tance, it will be seen that the number of perforations on the paper
occurring between two divisions thereon will indicate the speed at which
the carriage has travelled.
Instead of arranging the mechanism for actuating the spring lever in
the manner described, so that the wheel carrying the striking pin H
shall remain stationary when the carriage is moved backwards, the pro-
jection I on the lever K may simply be made with a hinge joint similar
to that of a clasp knifo; so that the pin I when revolving in the reverse
direction will pass such projection without actuating the spring lever.
In this case a second spring lever with needle may be provided with
its projection hinged in the contrary direction to the other one, so that
the one lever shall be actuated when the carriage travels in the one
direction, and the other when it travels in the contrary direction, the
levers being so arranged as to perforate the paper ribbon in two lines at
different points of its width.
It will also be evident that instead of causing the paper ribbon to
travel past the registering needle by being unwound from one cylinder a
and wound up on another, a certain length of ribbon might be wound
helically upon a single cylinder of some length, the cylinder in addition
to its being made to revolve by clockwork having at the same time
imparted to it by any known contrivance a motion in the direction of its
axis, so as to cause the needle to puncture the ribbon in a spiral
direction. In this case instead of employing a paper ribbon a sheet of
paper might be used, fixed round the cylinder, marked with vertical
divisions denoting intervals of time in the same manner as the paper
strip.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I claim the construction substantially as
herein described of apparatus for indicating and registering the speed of

page_text: railway carriages and other vehicles, wherein a spring lever carrying a
needle is actuated by a pin or tappet receiving motion from the wheel or
axle of the carriage so as to cause the needle at certain intervals to
perforate a graduated strip or piece of paper travelling past it, the
intervals between two such perforations being made to correspond with a
certain distance travelled by the carriage, while the divisions on the
paper denote intervals of time.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Edward Blackett Beau-
mont, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth
day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-six.