AN IMPROVED MICROMETRIC STEELYARD
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting En-
gincer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MICROMETRIC STEELYARD."
-A communication from abroad by Louis Jean Baptiste Saladin,
of Paris, in the Empire of France.
Scaled the 2nd September 1870, and dated the 21st March 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st March 1870.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office,"
Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MICROMETRIC STEEL-
YARD," a communication, to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to a micrometrical steelyard intended for
numbering or indicating the fine threads of textilo fabrics in general,

page_text: such as silk, wool, cotton, hemp, jute, and filigree work, and for
weighing small objects from a grain down to the hundreth part of
a grain or less.
The steelyard or balance has been long in in public use for numbering
fine threads of different kinds, but it is used principally in cotton or
woollen mills for large quantities, such as 500 or 100 yards.
This Invention is novel in so far as it may be used on very small
quantities, such as 100 yards, 20 yards, 10 yards, or even a few inches.
Its object is to economise a considerable portion of the threads whose
value is diminished by being wound in skeins, its precision being such
that its indications have all the exactitude desirable in practice.
My micrometrical steelyard is applicable,―
First. To numbering in woollen or cotton and other spinning, whereby
I effect a great saving of thread.
Second. It may be used to determine the number of threads contained
in a portion of stuff which it is desired to imitate exactly.
spun
Third. To ascertain the number upon a small sample of threads
of any kind, amongst others those intended for knitting and composed
of many fibres.
Fourth. To weigh very small and light objects, such, for example, as 2
small hollow articles of jewellery, or apothecaries' or chymists' doses.
In a word I wish it understood that by my Invention the principle of
a micrometrical steelyard can be applied to the weighing of smaller
quantities than those hitherto operated upon and can indicate exactly a
few fractions of an inch of thread, or a few hundreths of a grain of 2
matter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
A is a wooden pedestal supporting a column also of wood, to which is

page_text: to maintain the beam in a horizontal position.
The vertical arm or
pointer E is fixed at a right angle to the beam C; this pointer is carried
on a very fine pivot of tempered steel turning freely in a suitable
support or stand F of thin copper. G is a circular wooden stand
carrying 10 bobbins placed upon wooden spindles.
:
In order to indicate or sample any kind of thread, especially in
woollen or cotton mills, 20 yards may be taken upon a single bobbin,
or 2 yards upon 10 bobbins. To facilitate this operation the 10 bobbins
are placed upon spindles which are themselves supported upon a wooden
stand. The threads are united together, 2 yards in length are taken
upon a measure prepared for that purpose and cut accurately with
scissors. The small packet of thread is suspended on the hook of the
steelyard and the pointer indicates the number thereof.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th September 1870.
"
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the *International Patent Office," Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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
MICROMETRIC STEELYARD," a communication to me from abroad by Louis
Jean Baptiste Saladin, of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the

page_text: C
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 5
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 1
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
My Invention relates to a micrometrical steelyard intended for
numbering or indicating the fine threads of textile fabrics in general,
such as silk, wool, cotton, hemp, jute, and filigree work, and for 1
weighing small objects, from a dram down to the thousandth part of
a dram.
The steelyard or bent lever balance has been a long time in public
use for numbering fine threads of different kinds, particularly in cotton
or woollen mills for large quantities, such as hanks of 120 or 840 2
yards.
The novel feature of this Invention is that it may be used for very
small quantities, such as 40 yards, 20 yards, 10 yards, or even a few
inches.
The object of the said Invention is to economise a considerable 2
portion of the threads, whose value is diminished by being wound in
skeins or hanks, its precision being such that its indications have all
the exactitude required in practice.
My micrometrical steelyard is applicable to the following uses,
namely,―
First. For numbering in woollen, cotton, and other spinning, whereby
I effect a great saving of thread.
Secondly. For determining the number of threads contained in a
portion of stuff of which it is desired to produce an exact imitation.
3
Thirdly. For ascertaining the number upon a small sample of spun 3

page_text: threads of any kind, amongst others those intended for knitting and
composed of many fibres.
Fourthly. For weighing very small and light objects, such, for
example, as small hollow articles of jewellery, and the ingredients
for pharmaceutical or chemical compounds.
Fifthly. For ascertaining the amount of size or stiffening contained
in any woven fabric.
Sixthly. For calculating the weight of a yard of fabric from a portion
of stuff equal in square hundredths of a yard to the width of such fabric
in hundredths of a yard.
Seventhly. For giving the number on a spinning machine after the
second drawing when there has been a change of pinions or of numbers;
this applies to all materials which are spun with self-acting machines or
mules.
In a word I wish it understood that by my Invention the principle
of a micrometrical steelyard can be applied to the weighing of smaller
quantities than those hitherto operated upon, and the steelyard will
indicate exactly a few inches of thread, or a few thousandths of a dram
of matter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows one arrangement of my said micrometric steelyard;
Figure 2 shews an arrangement of the bobbins or spools. A is a
wooden pedestal supporting a column also of wood, to which is fixed
the dial B, which is covered with white paper, whereon are marked the
numbers or weights in drams, hundredths of drams, and thousandths
of drams; C is a pointer with two beams crossing each other at a right
angle, the horizontal one carrying a small hook, the other indicating
the numbers. This pointer is made of very fine light cardboard, or of
any other light material. The small hook D serves for suspending the
sample to be weighed; the prolongation of the same forms a counter-
balance to maintain the beam in a horizontal position. The vertical
arm or pointer E, which is fixed at a right angle to the beam C, and
which indicates the numbers, is carried on a very fino pivot of tempered
steel turning freely in a suitable support or bracket F of thin copper;
G is a circular wooden stand carrying 10 bobbins placed upon wooden
spindles.

page_text: In order to indicate or sample any kind of thread, especially in
woollen or cotton mills, 20 yards may be taken upon a single bobbin, or
two yards upon 10 bobbins. To facilitate this operation the 10 bobbins
are placed upon spindles which are themselves supported upon a wooden
stand. The threads are united together, and two yards in length are
taken upon a measure prepared for that purpose and cut accurately
with scissors. The small packet of thread is suspended on the hook
of the steelyard and the pointer indicates the number thereof.
It is intended by the above example to shew the operation which
takes place in cotton or woollen mills and the like, and as an illustration
of the mode of operation. It matters little what means are employed
by the operator to procure, or to prepare the quantity of yards of
thread for which the steelyard is made, and of which it indicates the
number.
Figure 3 shows another arrangement of my improved micrometric
steelyard with a steel compensating pointer. A is the pointer formed
of steel wire, the two beams being flattened and soldered at their point
of intersection, at which point is fixed the pivot or fulcrum; B is a
copper ball either hollow or solid forming the compensating weight to
the pointer or rod A; C is a bracket formed of copper or other suitable
metal fixed to the standard of the sector.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 shew the numbering without winding off, without
waste, and without displacing the bobbins. The rod E may be of varied
construction, according to the taste of the operators, I prefer however
that it should be formed of a lath or strip of wood with a throat for the
reception of the reed of a loom cut into two parts; the teeth are about
one half inch in height; at the side of the lath there is glued a narrow
piece of cloth. The said rod is made as shewn in Figure 4, that is
to say, it is a wooden rod or bar in which are bedded at the positions
for the bobbins small pieces of wire bent into a semi-annular form.
rod E is fixed at the top of the bobbin frame by means of two small
flat supports F and rests in the same plane as the spindles of the
machine. When it is desired to number the thread of a machine it is
stopped or I wait until it stops. Then I take one after another the
threads of twenty bobbins and pass them through the dents of the recd3
at each of the divisions which are thereon marked, and which correspondi
exactly to the division of the spindles placed above. These twenty
The

page_text: threads are united together in a cord, and I measure one yard thereof;
consequently I have twenty yards of thread which I weigh in the
balance.
Figure 7 illustrates the numbering without winding off or waste.
A is a box with a drawer; B is a standard supporting the cross piece C;
D is a cross bar for supporting the balance; D¹ is a hook or ring
wherein are united all the threads; B indicates the spindles. When
it is desired to effect the numbering ten or twenty bobbins are placed
on the spindles; all the threads must be passed through a hook fixed
above, then all of them are passed through the ring D' in the form of a
cord as above described. I take one or two yards of this cord and
weigh the same in the balance.
In the balances used to weigh chemical or pharmaceutical compounds,
commonly called analytical balances, the hook is replaced by a small
aluminum bulb or cup.
The important features which characterise my Invention are the
following, namely:-
First. The application of the steelyard or balance for determining the
numbers with much smaller quantities than heretofore.
Secondly. The numbering of the threads of spun materials without
winding off or reeling and with very slight waste.
Thirdly. The numbering upon a spinning frame (especially in spinning
mills using self-acting mules) without displacing the bobbins, without
rceling, and with a very slight waste.
Fourthly. The application of the balance for determining the weight
of a piece of stuff of any material from a small portion of the said
stuff.
Fifthly. The decomposition of a woven fabric, that is to say, ascer-
taining with an exactitude sufficient for practical purposes the number
of the warp and weft threads required to form two yards of such fabric.
The above stated fourth part is in connection with the numbering
upon the machine set forth in Figures 4, 5, and 6. The lath there
shewn may also be placed at the time of numbering upon the rod, so as
to diminish the distance which separates it from the spindles and
thereby prevent their vibration or trembling. Each operator, however,
may choose the means which he considers preferable.

page_text: Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it understood that I claim, the
micrometrical steelyard or balance, substantially as herein-above set
forth for the various purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here- {
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)