A NEW AUTOMATIC BALANCE, TO BE HR PADANG GRATING RADINA AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCE
Year: 1873

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LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Kaiser, of Augsbourg, Bavaria,
Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW AUTOMATIC BALANCE, TO BE
HR PADANG GRATING RADINA AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCE".
Sealed the 28th April 1874,, and, dated the 4th December 1873...
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Kaiser at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th December 1873.
I, ALEXANDER KAISER, of Augsbourg, Bavaria, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW AUTOMATIC BALANCE,
TO BE USED FOR WEIGHING GRAINS, FARINA, AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to an automatic balance or self-acting
apparatus for weighing grain, farina, and other granular substances or
powders. At the upper part of the apparatus is a hopper,, which is
preferably provided with a sieve or screen to keep back pieces of such
size as might choke or obstruct the outlet. Below the mouth of the
hopper is formed a second hopper chamber, having a mouth somewhat
.

page_text: larger than the mouth of the hopper above, and having within it an
angular or ridge-shaped cross piece, which breaks the velocity of the
grain or powder descending from the upper hopper and throws it
against the side of the lower hopper, whence it passes at a moderate
velocity by the mouth of the latter. This mouth can be closed by a
sluice worked, as will hereafter be described, by the weighing apparatus,
in which case no grain or powder can issue from the hopper, but on
the sluice being withdrawn from the mouth the grain or powder
descends into the weighing vessel mounted below it.
In order to prevent the sluice from being obstructed in the act of
closing, the farther lip of the hopper mouth is made a little shorter than
the nearer lip, so that the sluice in sliding over the latter may also
slide freely over the former; and a third lip is provided beyond the
farther lip, against which the sluice butts when the mouth is freely
closed by it. The sluice is of the form of a circular arc fixed on the
arm of
lever pivotted above the mouth, and the opposite arm of this
lever is provided with a tumbling weight, which having to pass the
vertical line of the fulcrum as the sluice is closed or opened serves to
retain it in its closed or open position until it is again acted on by
other parts of the apparatus.
The grain or powder issuing from the hopper mouth when the sluice
is open is received in a vessel or bucket mounted by trunnions on the
arm of a bent lever, the opposite arm of which carries an adjustable
counterweight. This lever is fixed on an axis which works on knife
edges arranged in boxes, with washers of felt; flannel, or other like
soft and yielding fabric covering the orifices in the boxes through
which the axis passes, so as to prevent dust or grit from getting access
to the knife edge bearings.
The two arms of the lever above mentioned, that is to say, the arm
which carries the bucket and that which carries the counterweight are
not in one straight line. The counterweight arm lies horizontally or
nearly so when the bucket is empty, while at the same time the -bucket
arm is inclined upwards, so that the trunnions-on which the bucket is
mounted are above the horizontal line of the knife edges. These
trunnions are to the one side of the middle line of the bucket, and are
made with stops to limit the play of the bucket within a certain range.
When the bucket' is in the highest position, its centre of gravity being

page_text: charge from the hopper.
When the weight of the charge is sufficient to balance the counter-
weight the bucket descends, and after descending a certain distance its
centre of gravity being transferred to the other side of the trunnions
causes it to tumble over and discharge its contents, whereupon the
counterweight causes it to rise again, and in rising it again turns on its
trunnions, so as to resume its vertical position for the reception of a
fresh supply from the hopper. This up-and-down movement of the
bucket is made to open and close the mouth of the hopper in the
following manner:-On the axis of the arms which carry the bucket
and its counterweight is fixed a third arm standing nearly upright
when the bucket is in its highest position, and having at its end a
fork which in that position is engaged with a pin on the lever of the
before-mentioned sluice and keeps the sluice open. When the bucket,
having received its charge from the hopper, begins to descend, and so
to turn the axis, the third arm above mentioned acting on the sluice
lever causes the sluice to close, and so to arrest the discharge from the
hopper, which remains closed until the bucket having discharged its
contents ascends, when the forked arm again engaging the pin on the
sluice lever withdraws the sluice so as to reopen the mouth of the
hopper for a fresh charge of the bucket.
.
The mechanism above described is enclosed in a case having an
outlet at the bottom, which may be closed or adjusted at pleasure.
As long as this outlet remains so far open as to permit the issue of all
the material discharged from the bucket, and as long as the hopper
above contains sufficient material to charge the bucket, the apparatus
will go on working, the bucket receiving charge after charge, descending,
emptying itself, and ascending again in obedience to the counterweight
to receive a fresh charge. If however the bucket in its highest
position should fail to receive a charge, owing to the hopper being
empty, there would be no power to effect its descent, and if on the
other hand owing to the closing or obstruction of the outlet at
bottom the material discharged from the bucket should be piled up
in the lower part of the case to such an extent as to prevent the bucket
from being quite emptied the counterweight would fail to raise the
bucket. Thus the stoppage of the supply or of the discharge arrests
the action of the apparatus.

page_text: In the side of the case is mounted a counter or register of any known
construction having a ratchet wheel worked by a pawl on the bucket
lever, which pawl at every descent of the bucket moves the ratchet
wheel one tooth. The counter registers the number of times the
bucket descends, and the counterweight being adjusted so as to
determine the weight of each charge of the bucket the weight of
the total quantity passing through the apparatus is thus readily
ascertained.
A latch is also provided to engage or release at pleasure the arm
which carries the bucket or counterweight, so that at any time the
apparatus can be stopped or allowed to work. It can also be set so as
to weigh a determinate quantity, and then to stop of its own accord in
the following manner :- -The arm which carries the bucket besides the
pawl which works the counter, moving its ratchet wheel one tooth at
every down stroke, carries another pawl, which at every up stroke
moves another ratchet wheel one tooth. On the spindle of this ratchet
wheel, or on another spindle geared to it, is an index or hand moved
by it round a dial with divisions marking certain weights. At any
division of this dial can be fixed a stop, as for example by the insertion
of a pin into a hole; so that when the index comes round to this stop
it can go no farther. The bucket arm is thus prevented from ascending
after having made a number of strokes corresponding to the number
of divisions of the dial over which the index has to pass until it reaches
the stop.
Although in the above description I have referred to the several
arms and levers as being single it may be readily understood that the
hoppers and bucket being of some width these arms and levers are made
in duplicate. Thus the hopper mouth being of elongated rectangular
form the sluice has to be of corresponding length, and is supported on
a lever at each end.
The bucket also is made with a trunnion at each end, and each of
these trunnions works in the end of an arm fixed on the main axis ;
the trunnion bearings being like the knife edges of the axis protected
from dust or grit by washers of felt or like fabric. And in like manner
instead of one arm to carry the counterweight there may be two fixed
on the axis.
Spring or caoutchouc buffers are provided to receive the bucket and
counterweight arms at each extreme of the stroke, so as to diminish

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the shock of their stopping. Also a brake is applied to either of these
arms, which may conveniently be a bar made by their movement to
slide through adjustable wooden guides, the purpose of such brake
being to govern the velocity of their movement. Such a brake when
used is not rigidly connected to the arm, but has a slotted connection
to it, so, that the movement of the arm can commence without being
affected by the brake; which might otherwise interfere with the delicacy
of weighing; and for the same reason the pawls for working the
counter and stop index are made at the end of their stroke to be well
clear of the ratchet teeth on which they operate, so that their movement
can always commence before they engage with these teeth.
The delicacy of the apparatus as a weighing instrument will obviously
depend in great measure on the proper adjustment of the centres of
gravity of the moving system and its parts. For example, when the
bucket is in its highest position, having received nearly its whole charge,
the centre of gravity of the system, including the bucket, its arms,
the counterweight and its arms, should be almost vertically above the
line of the knife edges, so that as soon as the bucket has received its
exact supply it shall begin to descend and close the sluice. And when
the bucket is in its lowest position and almost empty the centre of
gravity should again be nearly in the vertical line of the knife edges,
so that not until the bucket be quite empty can it begin to reascend.
And again the trunnions of the bracket and their stops are so adjusted
with reference to the centre of gravity of the bucket that the bucket
shall stand vertically, except when it nearly reaches its lowest position,
so that it must make its down stroke before being emptied; and
that in making its up stroke it is set right for being charged again..

page_text: our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alexander Kaiser, Her special license that
I, the said Alexander Kaiser, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alexander Kaiser, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "A NEW AUTOMATIC BALANCE,
TO BE USED FOR WEIGHING GRAINS, FARINA, AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Kaiser,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 im-
mediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Kaiser, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to an automatic balance or self-acting
apparatus for weighing grain, farina, and other granular substances or
powders.
The construction of the apparatus is shewn on the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 shews a longitudinal section of the
apparatus; Fig. 2 shews a transverse section; Fig. 3 shews the
same view as Fig. 1, with the weighing vessel in the position for
discharging the grain after weighing; Fig. 6 shews a part sectional
plan; and Figs. 4 and 5, and 7 to 11, shew detached details.
At the upper part of the apparatus is a hopper B, which is preferably
provided with a sieve or screen G to keep back pieces of such size as
might choke or obstruct the outlet. The hopper B enters a second
hopper A, the rectangular mouth a, b, c, d, of which is some distance

page_text: below and somewhat larger than the mouth f, g, of the hopper B.
Between the two mouths is an angular or ridge-shaped cross piece h, i, k,
which breaks the velocity of the grain or powder descending from the
hopper B and throws it against the sides of the hopper A, whence it
passes at a moderate velocity by the mouth a, b, c, d; by this arrange-
ment the space D will be prevented from becoming filled with grain.
This mouth a, b, c, d, can be closed by a sluice C worked, as will be
hereafter described, by the weighing apparatus, in which case no grain
or powder can issue from the hopper; but on the sluice being
withdrawn from the mouth the grain or powder descends into the
weighing vessel below it.
.
In order to prevent the sluice from being obstructed in the act of
closing, the lip d of the mouth is made a little shorter than the lip c,
so that the sluice in sliding over the latter may also slide freely over
the former; and a third lip o is provided beyond the lip d, against
which the sluice butts when the mouth is freely closed by it. The
sluice C is of the form of a circular arc, fixed to side cheeks C¹ pivotted
at e and provided with a tumbling weight F¹ which having to pass the
vertical line of the fulcrum e as the sluice is closed or opened serves to
retain it in its closed or open position until it is again acted on by
other parts of the apparatus. The extent of the motion of the sluice
in one direction is controlled by the stop m, against which the side
cheek C¹ strikes, and in the other direction by the flange n on the sluice
striking against the lip c of the hopper.
is
The grain or powder issuing from the hopper mouth when the sluice
open is received in a vessel or bucket H mounted by trunnions p, p,
on the arms P, P, fixed on an axis a¹ which works on knife edges
arranged in boxes, as shewn in the enlarged section and end view at
Figs. 10 and 11; washers of felt, flannel, or other like soft and yielding
fabric are made to cover the orifices in the boxes through which the
axis passes, as shewn, so as to prevent dust or grit from getting access
to the knife-edge bearings. Upon the axis a are fixed other arms Q, Q,
carrying a counterweight N held in an adjustable manner thereon by
means of screw nuts, as shewn. The arms Q lie horizontally or nearly
so when the bucket H is receiving its charge, as at Fig. 1, while at
the same time the arms P carrying the bucket are inclined upwards;
so that the trunnions p on which the bucket is mounted are above the
horizontal line of the knife edges of the axis a¹. The trunnions.p.are
.

page_text: .
'
being to the left side of the trunnions, it stands verticaшу and receives
a charge from the hopper.
.
When the weight of the charge is sufficient to balance the counter-
weight: N the bucket, descends, with the arms P, at the same time
raising the arms Q and counterweight, and after descending a certain
distance, and assuming the position shewn in dotted lines in Fig. 3,
the centre of gravity of the bucket and its discharge will be transferred
to the right side of the trunnions p, whereby it is caused to tumble
over into the position shewn in full lines at Fig. 3, so as to discharge
its contents. The bucket being empty it turns on its trunnions, so as
again to assume the position shewn in dotted lines at Fig. 3 (the centre
of gravity of the empty bucket being so situated relatively to the
trunnions as to cause it to do so), and the counterweight N will then
cause it to rise again and assume its vertical position for the reception
of a fresh charge from the hopper. This up-and-down movement of
the bucket is made to open and close the mouth of the hopper in the
following manner:-On the axis a¹ is fixed an arm O having a fork at its
end, which when the bucket is in the position, as at Fig. 1, is engaged
with a pin C³ on the under side of the sluice C and keeps the sluice
open. When the bucket, having received its charge from the hopper,
begins to descend, and so to turn, the axis a³, the arm O acting on the
sluice causes it to close and so to arrest the discharge from the hopper,
which remains closed until the bucket, having discharged its contents,
ascends, when the arm O again engaging the pin C withdraws. the
sluice so as to reopen the mouth of the hopper for a fresh charge of
the bucket. The bearings of the axis a¹ are carried on a transverse
beam X fixed to brackets Y on the casing F, on which beam stops U
of caoutchouc are provided, on which the arms Q carrying the counter-
weight N rest when the bucket is in the vertical position; and spring
stops V are also provided on the sides of the casing F, on which the
arms P rest when the bucket has descended into the position at Fig. 3.
By means of these spring stops U and V the exact position of the
bucket at each extreme of its stroke is determined, and the shock of

page_text: its stopping is diminished by means of a break apparatus, consisting of
a bar c, d, which can slide with a certain amount of friction between
adjustable wooden blocks contained in a box W secured to the transverse
beam X; this bar has two pins e¹, f¹, and passes through a slot in a
plate R fixed to the arms Q, so that as the bucket and counterweight
approach the end of the up or down movement the bar c', d', is drawn
or pushed through the box W by the plate R, and thus acts as a break.
in retarding the motion of the apparatus.
The mechanism above described is enclosed in the casing F, having
an outlet at E, through which the grain or powder issues after having
been weighed and discharged from the bucket H, and which may be
closed or adjusted at pleasure. As long as this outlet remains so far
open as to permit the issue of all the material discharged from the
bucket, and as long as the hopper A contains sufficient material "to
charge the bucket, the apparatus will go on working, the bucket
receiving charge after charge, descending, emptying itself, and
ascending again in obedience to the counterweight N to receive a fresh
charge. If however the bucket in its highest position should fail to
receive a charge, owing to the hopper being empty, there would be
no power to effect its descent, and if on the other hand owing to the
closing or obstruction of the outlet E at bottom the material discharged
from the bucket should be piled up in the lower part of the case to
such an extent as to prevent the bucket from being quite emptied the
counterweight would fail to raise the bucket. Thus the stoppage of
the supply or of the discharge arrests the action of the apparatus.
In the side of the casing at S, Fig. 2, is mounted a counter or register
of any known construction for registering the quantity of grain weighed
by the apparatus; this counter is worked by the arrangement shewn.
in elevation and plan at Fig. 9. A ratchet wheel 1 geared to the
counter is at every descent of the bucket H turned one tooth by means
of a spring pawl 2 fixed on the arm P carrying the bucket, and thus
the discharge of each bucket full is registered on the counter; and the
counterweight N being adjusted so as to determine the weight of each
bucket full the weight of the total quantity passing through the
apparatus is thus readily ascertained.
It will be seen that the pawl 2 only acts on the ratchet wheel during
a small portion of the stroke of the bucket when this has already.

page_text: attained a certain momentum, so that the action of the apparatus is
not effected thereby. The pawl 2 is so constructed that on the bucket
rising again it can spring back somewhat as it passes the ratchet wheel.
On an extension 3 of the arm P on the other side the axis a¹ is
another spring pawl 4, which at every up stroke of the bucket turns a
second ratchet wheel 5 one tooth. On the spindle of this ratchet
wheel, or on another spindle geared to it, is an index or hand moved
by it round a fixed dial with divisions marking certain weights. At
any division of this dial can be placed a stop, as for example by the
insertion of a pin into a hole, so that when the index comes round to
this stop it can go no farther. The ratchet wheel 5 being thus held
stationary the bucket cannot ascend again (owing to the pawl 4 coming
in contact with the ratchet wheel) after having made a number of
strokes corresponding to the number of divisions of the dial over which
the index has to pass until it reaches the stop, and thus the apparatus -
may be made to weigh and deliver only a determined quantity of grain
or powder.
The action of the apparatus may also be arrested at any time by
means of the contrivance shewn at Figs. 4 and 5. A spring stop 6 is
attached to a stud 7 passing through the side of the casing F, and is
drawn back by hand and secured in the position shewn at Fig. 4 by
means of a pin 8 when the apparatus is in action.
When it is desired to stop the action the pin 8 is withdrawn and the
stop 6 springs inwards, so that when the bucket has performed its
down stroke it is prevented from rising again by a finger 9 fixed to the
arm P coming in contact with the stop 6, as shewn at Fig. 5. The
casing F is provided with a door at Z for obtaining access to the
apparatus for cleaning or repairs.
The delicacy of the apparatus as a weighing instrument will obviously
depend in a great measure on the proper adjustment of the centres of
gravity of the moving system and its parts. For example, when the
bucket is in its highest position, having received nearly its whole charge,
the centre of gravity of the system, including the bucket, its arms,
the counterweight and its arms, should be almost vertically above the
line of the knife edges of the axis a¹, so that as soon as the bucket has
received its exact supply it shall begin to descend and close the sluice C.
And when the bucket is in its lowest position and almost empty the

page_text: centre of gravity should again be nearly in the vertical line of the
knife edges, so that not until the bucket be quite empty can it begin
to reascend. And again, the trunnions p of the bucket and their stops
are so adjusted with reference to the centre of gravity of the bucket
that the bucket shall stand vertically, except when it nearly reaches its
lowest position, so that it must make its down stroke before being
emptied; and that in making its up stroke it is set right for being
charged again.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim the automatic balance
for weighing grain, farina, and other similar substances, constructed
and operating as herein described and shewn on the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Kaiser, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.