IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR AUTOMATICALLY WEIGHING GRAIN AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London,
"
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINES FOR AUTOMATICALLY
WEIGHING GRAIN AND OTHER SUBSTANCES." A communication from abroad
by John Willmuth Hill, of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of North America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Martin Benson at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th May 1880.
"IMPROVEMENTS
"
MARTIN BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London.
IN MACHINES FOR AUTOMATICALLY WEIGHING GRAIN AND OTHER SUBSTANCES.'
A communication from abroad by John Willmuth Hill, of Cincinnati, Ohio, United
States of North America.
The ordinary method of weighing grain and other substances capable of being
spouted in a hopper mounted upon a platform scale demands constant attention
upon the part of the attendant, and is liable to serious error in the possibility of
the attendants omitting or adding drafts when the same have or have not been
taken in the hopper. In addition to this the natural error due to balancing heavy
loads (as are usually taken in hopper scales in the weighing of grain) is one that
the most precise attention cannot avoid.
Many costly attempts have been made to accomplish the weighing of grain by
machinery. But thus far these attempts have been attended only with partial
success, the extreme difficulty of measuring a load with precision and causing this
weighed load to automatically stop the flow of grain into the weighing bucket
and discharge itself, and then to return and place the machine in position to
weigh and discharge another load "ad infinitum" having never heretofore been
overcome.
My Invention has for its object, 1st, the division and arrangement of the balancing
weight on one end of the beam in such a manner that great precision can be had
in the weighing of grain; 2nd, the construction and arrangement of the cut off
which check the flow of grain from the grain spout in such a manner that the
final quantity of grains will be slowly spouted into the bucket; and 3rd, the
construction and arrangement of one or more balance bobs which rests (or rest)

page_text: upon, but are not connected with the beam of the weigher which will supply to
the beam a weight equal to the weight of the secondary cut-off to maintain an
uniform weight on the bucket end of the beam during the closure of the secondary
cut off.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is an end elevation of my improved grain
weigher; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the grain spout; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of
the grain spout; Fig. 4 is a detached view of the balance bob, rock shaft, and
clutches; and Figs. 5 and 6 are detached views of the balance beam, supplemental
beam, and supplemental weight; and Figs. 7 and 8 are detached views of the
grain bucket.
A is a slide frame of any suitable material, of which there are two to each
machine; B is the balancing beam upon one end of which is suspended upon
frictionless pivots the main balancing or weighing weight B¹, and at the opposito
end of the beam, similarly suspended by links or suspenders C, is placed the
dumping grain bucket D. c, E, e, F, f, and a are the devices for retaining the
bucket D in position for the reception of and for causing the automatic discharge
of the weighed grain; b is a small beam pivoted to the upper side of the main
beam B, upon one end of which is placed the supplemental weights b' secured to
the beam by means of the thumb screw b². Although the supplemental weight bl
is shown secured to the beam b by a screw it is preferable to permanently secure
it to the beam by a pin driven through the weight and beam after the weight has
been properly adjusted in position. The forward end of the small beam b
passes under the arch I which spans the space between the two side frames, and
carries the adjusting screw i against the lower end of which the small beam b
rests. By turning the screw i up or down the weight b¹ is caused to approach or
recede from the beam B, by which means any desired motion (rise) of the beam B
and main balancing weight B¹ may be had before the supplemental weight bl
comes in contact with the beam B. The weight B' is sufficiently heavy to balance
the weight of the bucket and suspenders on the forward end of the beam, and
to partially balance the load of weighed grain taken in the bucket D. The
remainder of the load of weighed grain is balanced by the small weight b¹.
G is the hopper and spout firmly secured to the frame of the weigher and made
large at the upper end to receive the spout from the grain bin above. The spout G
is curved in form to check and destroy the momentum of the descending grain, and
is provided with a long narrow mouth at the bottom to direct the grain into the
bucket D.
H, H, are arms suspended from clutches L, L, on the rock shaft k, said rock
shaft being mounted in bearings on the ends of the spout G; H', H³, H', are
arms suspended from the rock shaft by the loose collars 0, 0, and the clutch M;
L', L', are clutches firmly secured to the rock shaft which engage with the loose
clutches L, L, and cause the arms H, H, to rise or fall according as the rock shaft
is rolled one way or the other; N is a clutch secured to the rock shaft k to engage
with and oscillate the loose clutch M and the arms H, H¹, H¹. To the ends of the
rock shaft are secured the balance bobs ¹, ', which roll up and down as the
rock shaft oscillates in its bearings. The balance bobs are provided with rolling
toes k¹, ¹, which are furnished with curved faces. The toes k¹, k¹, rest upon
lifting toes b³, b³, secured to the forward end of the beam. As the forward end of
the beam B rises or falls the toes k', and consequently the balance bobs K, K,
oscillate through a given angle in paths described from the centre of the rock
shaft k.
The cut off his adjustably secured to the arms H, H, and the cut off h¹ is
adjustably secured to the arms H', H², H¹. The cut off h and h¹ are so arranged
with relation to the mouth of the spout G and to each other, that while the cut
off / slides freely under the mouth of the spout G the cut off h¹ slides freely under
the cut off h; g is a stop pin, one upon each end of the spout, to arrest and limit
the motion of the cut off h, from which it will be observed that the full motion of
the cut off / only partially closes the opening in the spout. The final checking of

page_text: the flow of grain being accomplished by the cut off h¹. The fixed clutches L', L',
and N are so adjusted upon the rock shaft that the edges of the cut off's h and h¹
coincide with each other, and when the beam B is in its normal position the edges
of the cut off's are slightly behind the inner edge of the spout, thereby affording an
unrestricted opening for the delivery of the grain. Under the beam B I suspend
an adjusting weight P which freely slides upon the stirrup p and can be secured in
any desired position by means of the thumb screw p¹. By varying the position of
the weight P with relation to the weight B' any desired adjustment of the weight
of grain taken in the bucket may be had. Thus by sliding the weight P nearer
the weight end of the beam B the loads taken in the bucket D will be increased,
and by sliding the weight P nearer the bucket end of the beam the weight of the
grain taken in the bucket will be diminished.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The bucket having discharged the
load previously taken has returned to its normal position under the spout G grain
flows from the spout through the full opening thereof until about 15/10ths of the
desired quantity has been taken. The resistance to the descent of the bucket being
then overcome the weight B' rises until the small weight 6' rests upon the beam B.
An additional resistance to the descent of the bucket being now imposed its
motion is temporarily checked until the final quantity of grain to make the desired
weight has been taken, when the bucket descends and discharges its load. The
same motion of the beam which lifts the weight B' from a state of rest and
accomplishes the partial descent of the bucket D also causes the cut off h to slide
under the grain spout G and partially check the flow of grain, the rise of the rear
end of the beam and the closure of the cut off h against the stop pins g, g, being so
timed that directly the small weight b¹ rests upon the beam B the cut off has
closed against the stop pin g, g. In this position a very narrow opening for the
entire length of the spout is provided through which the final quantity of grain
required to complete the weighed load in the bucket and balance the weights B¹
and b¹ is taken when the slightest depression of the forward end of the beam moves
the cut off ¹ under the spout, and completely checks the flow of grain. The
bucket then descends and dumps the load of grain by means of the mechanism
described. The toes ', k¹, constantly rest upon the lifting toes 63, 63, and through
the toes h, k, and 63, 63, the balance bobs K, K, impose a certain load upon the
forward end of the beam for any given position which the balance bobs may
оссиру.
The normal position of the balance bobs being slightly beyond a vertical, as
shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the first downward motion of the forward end of the
beam B during the closure of the cut off h draws the balance bobs over towards the
beam B and places them in position to rapidly accelerate the weight on the beam
as the bucket descends during the closure of the cut off h'.
Meanwhile, the weight on the beam imposed by the balance bobs increase in
effect a corresponding weight is being taken off by the closure of the cut off h¹, and
directly the cut off h has travelled entirely across the narrow opening in the spout
already described, the weight upon the beam by reason of the peculiar motion of
the balance bobs is rapidly increased, and the beam is forced down by the com-
bined weights of the grain in the bucket and the balance bobs, and the weighted
grain in the bucket discharged.
The balance bobs K, K, are so adjusted in weight and position on the rock shaft
relative to the cut off h¹ that the reduction of weight on the beam by reason of
the closure of the cut off h¹ is exactly restored in time and quantity by the balance
bobs K, K, acting through the toes k³, k¹, and 6s, 6s. The working surfaces of the
toes k¹, k¹, and 63, 63, are arcs of curves so adapted to each other that the toes k¹, k¹,
roll upon the toes b³, 63, without friction.
It is obvious that several variations may be made in the construction of my
machine without departing from the principle of the Invention. Thus equivalent
mechanism can be substituted for the fixed clutches L³, L', and N, and loose
clutches L, L, and M, for moving the cut off's h, and h¹; but I prefer to use the

page_text: mechanism shown, as being very simple, inexpensive, and not liable to derangement
or injurious wear.
Again, the adjustment of the separation between the weight b' and the beam B
is had by means of a tempering screw, and as this screw is usually secured in
position by a lock nut after the adjustment has been made it is obvious that with
ordinary care and precision in the construction of the machine a fixed stop secured to
the arch I or a suitable projection from the under side of the arch will answer as well
as the screw. The balance bobs are here shown with the toes k¹, k¹, as simple
projections from the hubs of the bobs; but if for any reason it is more convenient
to make the balance bobs K, K, and curved toes k, l, of separate pieces it can be
done without departing from the principle of the Invention. Experience however
has shown that it is more convenient and less expensive to combine the balance
bobs K, K, and the toes ³, k¹, as they are herein described.
Although I have shown my Invention as an improvement in machines for the
automatic weighing of grain, it is obvious that the principle of the Invention
herein described is not limited in application to machines for the automatic
weighing of grain, as it may be applied with equally successful results to machines
for the automatic weighing of spirits, water, acids, and many other substances
capable of being spouted.
Having now described the nature of my improvement and the manner of
constructing and working the same, what I claim is,-
1st. In machines for the automatic weighing of grain and other substances the
balance bobs K, K, having curved toes ¹, c¹, in combination with the beam B
having lifting toes 63, 63, as set forth.
2nd. In machines for the automatic weighing of grain and other substances the
balanced bobs K, K, having curved toes k, l, in combination with the rock shaft k,
fixed clutches L', L₁, and N, loose clutches L, L, and M, and cut off h and h', as
set forth.
3rd. In machines for the automatic weighing of grain and other substances, the
combination of the curved toes k, l, rock shaft k, fixed clutches L', L', and N,
loose clutches L, L, and M, with the lifting toes 63, 6, and cut offs and h², as set
forth.
4th. In machines for the automatic weighing of grain and other substances, the
combination of the beams B and b, weights B¹ and b, stop i, and grain bucket D, as
set forth.
5th. In machines for the automatic weighing of grain and other substances, the
combination of the curved toes ¹, k, rock shaft k, fixed clutches L¹, L³, and N,
loose clutches L, L, and M, and cut off's hand h' with the fixed grain spout G, as
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
MARTIN BENSON. (L.S.)