IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING BALANCES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Bache Salter, of West Bromwich, in the County
of Stafford, Manufacturer, and John Hughes, of West Bromwich aforesaid,
Foreman of Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING
BALANCES."
Sealed the 7th June 1878, and dated the 28th December 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Bache Salter and
John Hughes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th
December 1877.
THOMAS BACHE SALTER, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturer, and JOHN HUGHES, of West Bromwich aforesaid, Foreman of Works.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING BALANCES."
Our improvements have reference principally to spring balances of small size
and are especially applicable to the small spring balances called pocket balances
We do not however restrict ourselves in the application of our improvements to
spring balances of any particular size.
Our improvements consist, first, in the following method of constructing the cases
of spring balances:-These are usually made of cast iron. In making the said
cases, according to our Invention, we make them of sheet iron or steel, or other
hard metal or alloy. We form by stamping, pressing, or drawing, long strips of
metal, having in section a figure resembling the letter U, that is, strips of a trough
shape, and having at the summit of each side an external flange. From these strips
we cut pieces of the length of the cases to be made; one end of each piece or
length we partially close by soldering, brazing, or otherwise fixing therein a nearly
semicircular closing piece. This closing piece has in its middle a slot, extending
about two-thirds of the distance from the front to the back of the case. This slot
furnishes the means of attaching the spring to the top of the case, as herein-after
explained; or we take pieces of sheet metal of the required size, and by means

page_text: of a press and press tools form the trough-shaped case with its external flanges, and
add thereto the closing pieces, as herein-before described.
Our improvements consist, secondly, of the following method of attaching the
spring to the top of the case:-We make by casting or cutting from strong sheet
metal an oblong plate. Near one end of this plate is a large hole, and near the
other end a small hole; on one side of the plate is a slot extending across about
one-half the plate. This plate is introduced into the slot in the closing piece of the
case, the end having the larger hole being uppermost. The slot in the oblong plate
takes upon or engages with the uncut away part of the top or closing piece of the
case, and is fixed in its place by the indicating plate.
The balance is suspended by the large hole in that part of the oblong plate
external to the case, and the top of the spring is hooked into the small hole in the
lower end of the said plate within the case. By this method of construction the
weight of any article being weighed is sustained by the spring, and through the
spring by the oblong plate by which the balance is supported; there is thus no
strain upon the case of the balance.
Those parts of the balance not described are constructed in the ordinary way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Thomas Bache Salter and John Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th June 1878.
THOMAS BACHE SALTER, of West Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturer, and JOHN HUGHES, of West Bromwich aforesaid, Foreman of Works.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING BALANCES."
Our improvements have reference principally to spring balances of small size,
and are especially applicable to the small spring balances called pocket balances.
We do not however restrict ourselves in the application of our improvements to
spring balances of any particular size.
Our improvements consist, first, in the following method of constructing the cases
of spring balances -In making the said cases, according to our Invention, we
make them of sheet iron or steel, or other hard metal or alloy. We form by
stamping, pressing, or drawing, long strips of metal, having in section a figure
resembling the letter U, that is, strips of a trough form, and having at the summit
of each side an external flange. From these strips we cut pieces of the length of
the cases to be made; one end of each piece or length we partially close by
soldering, brazing, or otherwise fixing therein a nearly semicircular closing piece.
This closing piece has in its middle a slot, extending about two-thirds of the
distance from the front to the back of the case. This slot furnishes the means of
attaching the spring to the top of the case, as herein-after explained; or we take
pieces of sheet metal of the required size, and by means of a press and press tools
form the trough-shaped case with its external flanges, and add thereto the closing
pieces, as herein-before described.

page_text: Our improvements consist, secondly, of the following method of attaching the
spring of the balance to the top of the case:-We make by casting or cutting from
strong sheet metal an oblong plate. Near one end of this plate is a large hole, and
near the other end a small hole; on one side of the plate is a slot, extending across
about one-half the plate. This plate is introdueed into the slot in the closing piece
of the case, the end having the larger hole being uppermost. The slot in the oblong
plate takes upon or engages with the uncut away part of the top or closing piece
of the case, and is fixed in its place by the indicating plate.
The balance is suspended by the larger hole in that part of the oblong plate
external to the case, and the top of the spring is hooked into the small hole in the
lower end of the said plate within the case. By this method of construction the
weight of any article being weighed is sustained by the spring, and through the
spring by the oblong plate by which the balance is supported; there is thus no
strain upon the case of the balance.
Those parts of the balance not described are constructed in the ordinary way.
We will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawing,
the manner in which our Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation and cross section the case of a spring
pocket balance, made according to our Invention; and Figure 2 is a back elevation
and end elevation of the same, with the top closing piece applied thereto.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of Figure 2, and Figure 4 represents the nearly
semicircular closing piece detached.
Figure 5 represents in front elevation; Figure 6, in back elevation; and Figure 7,
in longitudinal section the case of a larger spring balance, made according to our
Invention, in which both ends of the case are partially closed.
Figure represents a plan of the top end of the case, and Figure 9 a plan of the
bottom end of the case.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawing.
The cases of the spring balances are marked a, b, and are made from sheet iron,
steel, or other sheet metal. The said cases have a trough-shaped figure in cross
section (see Figures 1 and 2), the summit of each side of the trough having an
external flange marked b, to which the indicating plate is attached for closing the
case. In making the said trough-shaped cases a, b, we take pieces or blanks of
sheet metal of the required size, and by means of a press and press tools we raise
from the said pieces or branks trough-shaped cases a, having external flanges b, b ;
or we form by stamping, or pressing, or drawing, long strips of sheet metal, having
the sectional form represented in Figure 1, and from these long trough-shaped strips
we cut pieces of the length of the cases to be made.
The cases a, b, made by the methods described, are finished in the following
ways That end of the case which is to form the top end in the finished balance
is partially closed, by fixing therein, by soldering, brazing, or otherwise, the nearly
semicircular closing piece c, as seen in Figures 2 and 3. The closing piece c is
represented separately in Figure 4. In the middle of the said closing piece c is a
slot c², extending from the open front of the case to about half way across the end
of the case. By means of the slot c² in the closing piece c the spring of the balance
is attached, in the manner herein-after explained, to the top of the case.
In the small case, Figures 1, 2, and 3, the bottom is open. The top of the larger
case, Figures 5, 6, and 7, is closed by a closing piece c, c, of the kind described with
respect to the case, Figures 1, 2, and 3, but the bottom of the case, Figures 5, 6,
and 7, is partially closed by a piece d, having a long slot in it for the passage
through it of the guide bar which is attached to the spring of the balance.
The bottom of the case may either be closed by a separate closing piece brazed
or soldered to the said case, as described with respect to the top closing piece; or
the blank or piece from which the case is stamped or pressed inay be furnished with
ears or projecting pieces at that end which forms the bottom of the case, the said

page_text: bars or projections being turned over the open bottom of the case so as to partially
close the said bottom of the case.
Figure 10 represents in section, and Figure 11 in front elevation (with a portion
broken off) a spring balance, having a case of the kind represented in Figures 1, 2,
and 3, and Figure 12 represents in front elevation (with the indicating plate
removed) a spring balance, having a case of the kind represented in Figures 5, 6,
7, 8, and 9, the said Figures 10, 11, and 12 exhibiting our method of attaching the
spring to the top of the case.
Figure 13 represents a plan, partly in cross section, of the case and spring-
attaching plate taken on the line A, A, Figure 10;
And Figure 14 represents the spring-attaching plate separately; e is the
attaching plate, having nearly an oblong figure; the said plate is made by
casting or by cutting from strong sheet metal. Near one end of the plate e is a
large hole f, and near the other end is a small hole g; on one side of the plate e
is a slot h, extending across about one-half the plate. In securing the oblong
attaching plate e to the case a, the said plate is passed from the open front of the
case with its slot h foremost into the slot c³ in the closing piece c at the top of the
said case, and the said sloth in the attaching plate made to engage with or take
upon the uncut away part of the top or closing piece c, as best seen in Figures 10
and 13. When the plate e has in this way been made to engage with the closing
piece c of the case, the part containing the larger hole f is external to the said case,
and through this hole the suspending ring i is passed, and the part of the plate
containing the smaller hole g is situated within the case, and into the said smaller
hole g the top of the spring k is hooked, as represented in Figures 10, 11, and 12.
It is convenient to hook the spring k to the attaching plate e before the latter is
passed on to the closing piece c. After the attaching plate and spring have been
placed in the case, the said attaching plate is fixed in its place by the indicating
plate of the balance being fastened to the flanges b, b, of the case, as represented.
In Figures 10 and 11, the bar which is attached to the spring k, and on which
the weight is hung, works through the open bottom of the case a, while in
Figure 12 the said bar passes through the slot in the bottom closing piece in the
usual way.
It will be seen by an examination of the Drawing that the weight of the article
being weighed is sustained by the spring k, and the said spring by the attaching
plate e by which the balance is suspended, and hence there is no strain upon the
case of the balance.
The pressing and drawing tools and appliances which we employ in making from
sheet metal the cases a, b, of the spring balances, are of the kind commonly employed
in stamping or pressing and drawing sheet metals for other purposes, and we
therefore do not think it necessary to describe the said tools and appliances.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we claim as our Inven-
tion of improvements in spring balances,―
First. The improvements in constructing the cases of the said balances, herein-
before described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
making the said cases from sheet metal by pressing or raising blanks into a trough
form, the summit of each side of the trough having an external flange; or making
the said cases by stamping, pressing, or drawing, long strips of sheet metal of the
sectional figure represented, and cutting the strips into pieces of the length of the
cases to be made, the said cases being finished by partially closing one or both ends
in the manner described and illustrated.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of parts, herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, for attaching the springs of the
balances to the cases of the same, that is to say, making in the closing piece of the
top of the case a slot, and securing in the said closing piece a plate provided with
two holes and a slot, the said plate being secured in the end of the case by its slot

page_text: taking upon the uncut away part of the top or closing piece of the case, the balance
being suspended by one of the said holes in the plate, and the spring being hooked
to the other and smaller hole in the said plate, substantially as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Bache Salter and John Hughes, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, this Eighteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
Witness,
Wч. BACHE,
West Bromwich.
THOMAS BACHE SALTER. (L.S.)
JOHN HUGHES.
(L.S.)