A Weighing Machine for Pulverulent or Granular Materials.
Year: 1897

page_text: A Weighing Machine for Pulverulent or Granular Materials.
I, ALFONS CASTENHOLZ, of 76, Westendstrasse, Karlsruhe, in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, Germany, Retired Colonel, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to an automatic weighing machine in which the measuring
and the interruption of the charging of the materials to be weighed are effected in a
new and simple manner. The weighing is carried out with the aid of a slide
constituting the bottom of the hopper for the inaterial, which slide is so arranged
that it discharges into the scale at first only so much of the material as is insufficient
to equipoise the balance and afterwards successive small quantities of the material are
added by special measuring devices until equipoise is attained. The arrangement
of this weighing machine is such that any excess of material in the aforesaid small
quantities does not fall into the scale but into a special receiver. Thus the
interruption in the charging of the material to be weighed depends solely on the
movement of the weighing machine itself.
I will describe a construction of this improved weighing machine with reference to
the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a side view partly in vertical section.
Figure 2 is partly a plan and partly a horizontal section.
Figure 3 is a separate view of one of the balances.
The receptacle or hopper h (Figure 1) for the materials to be weighed is formed
on the one hand by the slide A which is conical at its middle and rotatably
fixed to the shaft E, while on the other hand it is formed by the correspondingly
shaped fixed hollow body C and by the similarly fixed cylindrical wall B. The
material to be weighed is charged into the hopper h through the fixed tube D and
through a vertical passage and two side passages bored in the shaft E.
The balances a¹ a² a³
(in the form here shown there are ten balances such
as are hereinafter described) are arranged in a circle on the table F (Figures 1 and 2).
The balance pans b¹ b² b³ can turn in the suspension stirrups c¹ c² c³ . . . .
and are situated under the hopper h.
The charging arrangement consists of two tubes for each of the balances, namely a
wider tube ¹ 12 13
and a narrower tube k¹ k² k³
These tubes are
fed from the hopper h through special openings in the slide A. The discharge of the
contents of the balance pans takes place through the holes 1, 2, 3. in the
table F provided with the funnels 1ª 2* 3°. These holes are closed underneath
by the rotating slide d (Figures 1 and 2) fixed to the shaft E and are opened again
by holes el e¹¹ in this slide, so that by the rotation of the slide d (by the turning of
the worm G (Figure 2)), two of the holes in the table F which are filled with the
material to be weighed) will be simultaneously emptied.
The form of this improved weighing machine shown in the drawings and which is
only given as an example, can be regarded as a combination of two weighing machines,
of which the one consists of the semicircle of balances a¹-a and the other of the
semicircle of balances a-a10 (the balances a-a10 are, for the sake of clearness, not

page_text: shown). Accordingly the holes 1, 2, 3 . . . of the table F, corresponding with the
balances, are not discharged in one but into two discharging hoppers flfll (Figure 1),
the hopper serving the balances a¹-as and the hopper fl for the balances aº-a10.
Both hoppers discharge into vessels g successively brought to them.
The introduction of the material to be weighed into the individual balance pans
takes place as follows:-
In the first place a quantity of the material somewhat smaller than that necessary
is dumped into the balance pan in question. This happens through the openings m¹
and m³ in the slide A, each of which holds a somewhat smaller quantity than that
necessary. These openings fill themselves with the material to be weighed and when
they are above each of the tubes ¹ 22 23 .. they are scraped level by the
scrapers H¹ H² H³.
and discharge their contents into the proper balance pans.
During this discharge the balancé pan is held fast by a suitable stop not shown in
the drawing.
The further introduction of the material to be weighed takes place in the following
nanner :-
The slide A is provided at its periphery with two sets of small openings
(Figure 2), each of which communicates with a groove y. Each opening x is filled
with the corresponding small quantity of the material to be weighed and is scraped
level by the scrapers H¹ H2 H3 like the holes m¹ m². The contents of these
small openings x are also discharged into the balance pans 61 62 68.
The
number of small openings x of one and the same set is so arranged that the weight
of the material discharged through these openings together with the weight of that
discharged through the holes m³ or m² shall be somewhat greater than the weight
by which the balance is equipoised. During the discharge of the material to be
weighed through the tubes ¹² 13 the balances are not arrested, this being
done only when the larger quantity of the material is being discharged through the
tubes ¹³
as already described.
So long as the balance pan does not yet contain its full weight, it takes its highest
position, which is determined by the stop q¹ or q² 93 (Figure 1). The opposite end
of the balance beam rests on this stop as will be seen in Figure 1. As all the balances
are carried in the same way, the following part of the description will be confined to
one alone of the balances, namely a³ represented in Figures 1 and 3. Figure 1 shows
that the discharging end of the tube has an oblique direction and opens directly
under the upper edge of the back surface of the balance pan 63, which surface is
nearly aligned with the tube. When the balance pan contains the correct weight, it
sinks without altering its position in the suspension stirrup c³, so that the upper edge
of its back surface lies below the opening of the tube. Such material as subsequently
flows from the tube will no longer fall into the balance pan 63 but will glide over the
outside thereof into the funnel J³ and fall into the receiver K through the tube R³.
A receiver for this purpose is placed beneath each balance pan. The emptying of
these receivers must be effected about once in ten hours.
When one of the sets of small openings x has passed the upper end of the tube k³,
the balance a³ is stopped (by the arresting stop, not shown in the figure), and the
balance pan is thereby again brought into its high position (the way in which this is
effected will be described later). Then the balance pan 63 is tipped over, so that its
contents are emptied into the funnel 3ª and through this into the hole 3 of the
table F. From this hole the weighed quantity of material will pass through the
opening of the rotary plate d into the discharge hopper f¹ and from this into
the vessel g as has been already explained.
For the purpose of tilting the balance pan 6s the lever 3 (Figure 3) strikes against
a pin fixed on the front end of the pan. The lever t is fixed to a pinion L³
(Figure 3) which engages with the rack M³. This rack is placed vertically and can
he raised by the lever N³ (Figures 1 and 3) which terminates in a roller running on a
circular step in the rotary slide d. At the part of the step which passes under the
roller of the lever N³ at the moment when the balance pan is to be tipped, a projec-
tion is fixed which raises the lever N3 and with it the rack M³. The latter rotates the

page_text: pinion L³ and lowers the lever ts so that it strikes the pin of the pan 63 and tips the
latter over. The lever N³ will then have passed the projection on the rotatory slide d
and the whole of the above named parts will be moved back to their former positions,
and the balance pan b³ will again come to rest until it has received the next main
charge.
The order of the operations at each weighing is, therefore, as follows:-
The balance is arrested; the opening ml discharges its contents through the tube 2³
into the balance pan 63 and the arrest of the latter is then removed. The gradual
supply of powder through the tube 3 now begins. The balance pan 63 receives in
due course the correct weight of material, sinks, and such material as is still flowing
passes over the outside of the pan into the funnel Js and from this down the tube R³
into the receiver K. The gradual discharge of the material, the balance is now also
arrested, the balance is stopped, and the pan tipped and its contents shot through the
funnel 3 into the hopper f¹. Finally the balance pan is righted, receives the next
charge from the opening m¹, and is set free from its arrest and the cycle of operations
is repeated.
The improved weighing machine is also provided with an electrical control, for
which purpose a current is passed through the balance beams, the stops q¹ q² q³
and an electro-magnet introduced into the electric circuit when the
balance beam has not sunk at the right moment and the balance pan has not assumed
its proper position for some reason (for example, because there is not sufficient
material in the hopper h.)
The current rings a bell and may also be used to open a flap in the sliding plate
on which the vessels g move, with a step-by-step motion, so that vessel g, which has
received an incorrect charge (that is a charge owing to which the balance beam has
not sunk at the right moment) may be automatically eliminated.
The current serves, therefore, to control the weighing. The circuit is as
follows:-
The current from the battery passes through the electromagnet (the bell or the
like) into the table F and from this (since there is metallic contact throughout) into
the several balance beams, for example, into the beam a³ (Figure 1), whence it passes
through the insulated stop q³ and the insulated wire v3 to the insulated spring w³.
At this point the circuit is broken so long as the spring w³ is held up by the pin u³,
which is mounted on a roller running on the slide d and sinking only when a part of
the slide where there is a depression passes it. This depression is so situated that
it passes under the roller of pin u³ in the short space of time which elapses between
the end of the gradual charging of material through the tube 3 and the arresting
of the balance. The spring w³ then falls and touches the insulated ring 2 through
which the current returns to the battery. There are thus two breaks in the circuit,
namely that between the balance beam a³ and the stop q3 and that between the
spring w³ and the ring z. If the balance beam is in its proper position at the right
time, that is to say if it has sunk during the gradual charging of the material, the
circuit is interrupted between a³ and q3 at the instant that the contact between w³
and is made. Under normal conditions of working, therefore, no current passes;
only when, the gradual charging of the material being at an end the balance beain
has not sunk, and contact between a³ and q³ has not been broken, the circuit will be
closed and the error in loading be signalled by the bell and the incorrect charge be
automatically eliminated.
Dated this 1st dan of At 1907

page_text: A Weigning Machine for Pulverulent or Granular Materials.
I, ALFONS CASTENHOLZ, of 76, Westendstrasse, Karlsruhe, in the Grand Duchy of
Baden, Germany, Retired Colonel, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to an automatic weighing machine in which the measuring
and the interruption of the charging of the materials to be weighed are effected in a
new and simple manner. The weighing is carried out with the aid of a slide
constituting the bottom of the hopper for the material, which slide is so arranged
that it discharges into the scale at first only so much of the material as is insufficient
to equipoise the balance and afterwards successive small quantities of the material
are added by special measuring devices until equipoise is attained. The arrange-
ment of this weighing machine is such that any excess of material in the aforesaid
small quantities does not fall into the scale but into a special receiver. Thus the
interruption in the charging of the material to be weighed depends solely on the
movement of the weighing machine itself.
I will describe a construction of this improved weighing machine with reference
to the drawings accompanying my Provisional Specification in which
Figure 1 is a side view partly in vertical section.
Figure 2 is partly a plan and partly a horizontal section.
Figure 3 is a separate view of one of the balances.
Figures 4 and 5 shew respectively an enlarged side view and an underside plan
thereof.
h
The receptacle or hopper (Figure 1) for the materials to be weighed is formed
on the one hand by the slide A which is conical at its middle and rotatably fixed to
the shaft E, while on the other hand it is formed by the correspondingly shaped
fixed hollow body C and by the similarly fixed cylindrical wall B. The material to
be weighed is charged into the hopper h through the fixed tube D and through a
vertical passage and two side passages bored in the shaft E.
•
The balances a¹ a² a³
(in the form here shewn there are ten balances
such as are hereinafter described) are arranged in a circle on the table F (Figures 1
and 2). The balance pans 61 62 63. can turn in the suspension stirrups c¹
and are situated under the hopper h.
.
The charging arrangement consists of two tubes for each of the balances, namely
a wider tube ¹² 13
and a narrower tube k¹ k² k³
These tubes are
The discharge of
fed from the hopper h through special openings in the slide A.
the contents of the balance pans takes place through the holes 1, 2, 3
in
the table F provided with the funnels 1* 2* 3*
These holes are closed under-
neath by the rotating slide d (Figures 1 and 2) fixed to the shaft E and are opened
again by holes el ell in this slide, so that by the rotation of the slide d (by the
turning of the worm G (Figure 2)), two of the holes in the table F which are filled
with the material to be weighed will be simultaneously emptied.
The form of this improved weighing machine shewn in the drawings and which is
only given as an example, can be regarded as a combination of two weighing
machines, of which the one consists of the semicircle of balances a¹a and the other
of the semicircle of balances a-a10 (the balances a7-a10 are, for the sake of clear-
ness, not shewn). Accordingly the holes 1, 2, 3 .... of the table F, corresponding
with the balances, are not discharged in one but into two discharging hoppers f¹ fil
(Figure 1), the hopper f¹ serving the balances a¹-a and the hopper fu for the
balances a¹0. Both hoppers discharge into vessels g successively brought to
them.

page_text: The introduction of the material to be weighed into the individual balance pans
takes place as follows:-
In the first place a quantity of the material somewhat smaller than that necessary
is dumped into the balance pan in question. This happens through the openings m¹
and m2 in the slide A, each of which holds a somewhat smaller quantity than that
necessary. These openings fill themselves with the material to be weighed and when
they are above each of the tubes ¹2 23 . they are scraped level by the
scrapers H1 H2 H3
and discharge their contents into the proper balance pans.
During this discharge the balance pan is held fast by a suitable stopping device
shewn at Figs. 4 and 5.
On the underside of the plate p carrying the balance beam a is a slide 1 to which
are pivoted the ends of two links 2, 3* the other ends of which are pivoted to
elbow levers 2, 3, pivoted to the plate p. The free ends of these levers constitute a
pair of tongs as indicated at Fig. 5. A spring 4 fixed to p and bearing against a
pin 4 on the slide 1 tends continually to move this in the direction of the arrow, and
consequently to close the tongs 2, 3, so as to cause these to embrace and hold the
ball 5 that is fixed to the transverse bar c¹ connecting the rods c³ that carry the
balance pan and thus prevent the latter from descending. The slide 1 carries also a
pin 6 against which bears an arm 6ª fixed on the rotatable rod 6b.
This rod passes
through the table F Fig. 1 and carries underneath the same a second arm which is
actuated by a cam surface on the periphery of the revolving slide d, the cam being so
arranged as to effect the partial turning of rod 6b, and consequently the back-
ward motion of the slide 1 and opening of the tongs 2, 3 at all times of the weighing
operation except when the above described preliminary filling of the balance pan is
being effected.
After this has been done the further introduction of the material to be weighed
takes place in the following manner :-
The slide A is provided at its periphery with two sets of small openings x
(Figure 2), each of which communicates with a groove y. Each opening x is filled
with the corresponding small quantity of the material to be weighed and is scraped
level by the scrapers H¹ H² H³
like the holes m¹ and m². The
contents of these small openings are also discharged into the balance pans 61 b² bs
The number of small openings x of one and the same set is so arranged that
the weight of the material discharged through these openings together with the
weight of that discharged through the holes m³ or m² shall be somewhat greater than
the weight by which the balance is equipoised. During the discharge of the material
to be weighed through the tubes k¹ k² k³.... the balances are not arrested, this
being done only when the larger quantity of the material is being discharged through
the tubes i¹ ¿² i'³
as already described.
So long as the balance pan does not yet contain its full weight, it takes its highest
position, which is determined by the stop q¹ or q² q3 (Figure 1). The opposite end
of the balance beam rests on this stop as will be seen in Figure 1. As all the
balances are carried in the same way, the following part of the description will be
confined to one alone of the balances, namely a³ represented in Figures 1 and 3.
Figure 1 shews that the discharging end of the tube 3 has an oblique direction and
opens directly under the upper edge of the back surface of the balance pan 3, which
surface is nearly aligned with the tube. When the balance pan contains the correct
weight, it sinks without altering its position in the suspension stirrup c³, so that the
upper edge of its back surface lies below the opening of the tube k³. Such material
as subsequently flows from the tube will no longer fall into the balance pan 6³ but
will glide over the outside thereof into the funnel J³ and fall into the receiver K
through the tube R³. A receiver for this purpose is placed beneath each balance
pan. The emptying of these receivers must be effected about once in ten hours.
When one of the sets of small openings x has passed the upper end of the tube k³,
the balance a³ is stopped (by the arresting stop, not shewn in the figure), and the
balance pan is thereby again brought into its high position (the way in which this is
effected will be described later). Then the balance pan 63 is tipped over, so that its

page_text: contents are emptied into the funnel 3ª and through this into the hole 3 of the table F.
From this hole the weighed quantity of material will pass through the opening e¹ of
the rotatory plate d into the discharge hopper fi and from this into the vessel gas has
been already explained.
For the purpose of tilting the balance pan 63 the lever 3 (Figure 3) strikes against
a pin fixed on the front end of the pan. The lever 3 is fixed to a pinion L³ (Figure 3)
which engages with the rack M³. This rack is placed vertically and can be raised by
the lever N³ (Figures 1 and 3) which terminates in a roller running on a circular step
in the rotatory slide d. At the part of the step which passes under the roller of the
lever Ns at the moment when the balance pan is to be tipped, a projection is fixed
which raises the lever N³ and with it the rack M³. The latter rotates the pinion L³
and lowers the lever 3 so that it strikes the pin of the pan 63 and tips the latter over.
The lever N³ will then have passed the projection on the rotatory slide d and the whole
of the above named parts will be moved back to their former positions, and the
balance pan 63 will again come to rest until it has received the next main charge.
The order of the operations at each weighing is, therefore, as follows:-
The balance is arrested; the opening m¹ discharges its contents through the
tube 3 into the balance pan 63 and the arrest of the latter is then removed. The
gradual supply of powder through the tube le now begins. The balance pan 6 receives
in due course the correct weight of material, sinks, and such material as is still flowing
passes over the outside of the pan into the funnel J³ and from this down the tube R³
into the receiver K. The gradual discharge of the material, the balance is now also
arrested, the balance is stopped, and the pan tipped and its contents shot through the
funnel 3 into the hopper f. Finally the balance pan is righted, receives the next
charge from the opening m³, and is set free from its arrest and the cycle of operations
is repeated.
The improved weighing machine is also provided with an electrical control, for
which purpose a current is passed through the balance beams, the stops q¹ q² q³.
and an electro-magnet introduced into the electric circuit when the balance beam
has not sunk at the right moment and the balance pan has not assumed its proper
position for some reason (for example, because there is not sufficient material in the
hopper h).
The current rings a bell and may also be used to open a flap in the sliding plate
on which the vessels g move, with a step-by-step motion, so that vessel g, which has
received an incorrect charge (that is a charge owing to which the balance beam has
not sunk at the right moment) may be automatically eliminated.
The current serves, therefore, to control the weighing. The circuit is as follows:-
The current from the battery passes through the electromagnet (the bell or the
like) into the table F and from this (since there is metallic contact throughout) into
the several balance beams, for example, into the beam as (Figure 1), whence it passes
through the insulated stop q3 and the insulated wire to the insulated spring w³.
At this point the circuit is broken so long as the spring w³ is held up by the pin u³,
which is mounted on a roller running on the slide d and sinking only when a part of
the slide & where there is a depression passes it. This depression is so situated that
it passes under the roller of pin u³ in the short space of time which elapses between
the end of the gradual charging of material through the tube k³ and the arresting of
the balance. The spring w³ then falls and touches the insulated ring through
which the current returns to the battery. There are thus two breaks in the circuit,
namely that between the balance beam a³ and the stop q³ and that between the
spring and the ring z. If the balance beam is in its proper position at the right
time, that is to say if it has sunk during the gradual charging of the material, the
circuit is interrupted between a³ and q3 at the instant that the contact between w
and is made. Under normal conditions of working, therefore, no current passes;
only when, the gradual charging of the material being at an end the balance beam
has not sunk, and contact between a³ and q³ has not been broken, the circuit will
be closed and the error in loading be signalled by the bell and the incorrect charge
be automatically eliminated..

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
+
1. A weighing machine for pulverulent or granular materials wherein a number of
balances are supplied in succession from a supply hopper common to all, respectively
by feeding devices i¹ k¹ i² k²
; the material being first supplied through
channels ¹² 2³
to the balance pans 61 62 63.
only to an extent
which is insufficient to equipoise the balance, after which a further quantity of
material is supplied by degrees to the pans by means of the measuring devices x y
and channels k¹²
until the equipoise is established, whereupon the
channels ¹²
no longer discharge into the pans but into separate receivers,
substantially as described.
2. The combination with the balances referred to in the First Claim of electrical
signalling devices so arranged that a signal is given in the event of a balance-beam
not having sunk in consequence of a defective supply of material, substantially as
described.
3. A weighing machine for pulverulent or granular materials, combined and
operating as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 2nd day of April 1900
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.