AN IMPROVED CONSTRUC- TION OF GAUGE FOR MEASURING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Cocker, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Wire Drawer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUC-
TION OF GAUGE FOR MEASURING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 3rd September 1857, and dated the 16th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Cocker at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1857.
I, JAMES COCKER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Wire Drawer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CON-
OF GAUGE FOR MEASURING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to facilitate the gauging of wire and other
articles, and thus to enable manufacturers to work to determinate sizes with
great accuracy. To attain this end I construct a dial plate graduated to a
decimal scale, and the periphery of this plate I make like a snail cam; on a
central arbor carried by this plate I mount an indicator, and at the back of
the graduated plate on the same arbor I mount an arm which carries a pro-
jecting pin that stands out at right angles therefrom. In a box formed in the
back of the plate I insert a coiled spring, one end of which I secure to the
plate, and the other to the arbor or the arm which it carries. The tendency
of this spring will be to keep the arm in its normal position, that is, resting

page_text: against a stud or the plate, in which position of the arm the straight edge of
the indicator stands in a line with on the dial plate. The wire or other
article to be gauged is placed between the periphery of the dial plate and the
projecting pin on the arm, and by the pressure of the coiled spring the arm or
the plate is brought round, so that the pin of the arm will bear tightly against
the inserted wire; the indicator will then shew on the dial the graduation,
corresponding to the gauge of the wire..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the, said James Cocker in the Great Scal Patent Office on the
16th December 1857.
ΤΟ
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE-PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COCKER, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Wire Drawer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Cocker, Her special license that I, the said James Cocker,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Cocker, 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 "AN IMPROVED CON-
STRUCTION OF GAUGE FOR MEASURING WIRE AND OTHER ARTICLES,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Cocker, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
4336
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Cocker, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) -

page_text: The object of this Invention is to simplify the operation of gauging wire and
other articles, and thus to enable manufacturers to work to determinate sizes
with great accuracy. To attain this end, I combine in one instrument, which
is of suitable proportions to fit into the pocket, the means of measuring a large
range of sizes, and by the simplicity of its construction I am enabled so to
reduce the cost of an accurate gauge as to bring it within the means of all
ordinary workmen.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in front view, Fig. 2 in back
view, and Fig. 3 in edge view, my improved gauge. a, a, is a dial plate,
graduated by preference to a decimal scale, but it may be graduated, if
required, to suit any recognized gauge in ordinary use. The periphery b, b, b,
of this plate I make like a snail cam, that is, with a gradually decreasing
radius from the radius line to the last radius line indicated on the dial plate.
c is a central arbor carried by this plate, on which is mounted an indicator d,
and on the same arbor, but at the back of the graduated plate, is mounted an
arm e. Projecting from this arm and at right angles thereto is a pin f, which,
when the front edge of the indicator lies over the radius line on the dial
plate, is then in close contact with the periphery of the plate. Attached to the
back of the plate or formed in one piece therewith is a box to receive a coiled
spring, one end of which is secured to the plate, and the other to the arm e or
the arbor which carries it. The object of this spring is always to return the
indicator to its normal position, that is, with its front edge in coincidence with
the radius line. A stop pin g is provided at the back of the plate a, against
which the arm e lies when the gauge is not in use. In order to gauge a piece
of wire or other article, the arm e is moved round against the pressure of the
coiled spring until there is ample space between the edge of the plate a and
the pin f to permit of the insertion of the wire or other article to be measured.
When the wire is inserted between these surfaces the spring is allowed to act
and draw back the indicator as far as the inserted wire will permit, as shewn
at Fig. 1. The indicator will then point out on the dial the graduation corre-
sponding to the gauge of the wire applied to the instrument.
By this
means I am enabled to measure with a degree of accuracy that could not be
approached by any of the gauges in ordinary use, and that with the utmost
expedition.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "An Improved Con-
struction of Gauge for Measuring Wire and other Articles," and explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that.
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim, constructing gauges
ou the principle of gripping the article to be gauged between a projection on

page_text: a swinging arm and the periphery of a snail cam plate over which that projec-
tion moves, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Cocker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
CHARLES HART, Jr.
JAMES COCKER. (L.S.)