IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE WEIGHT OF THE LOAD SUPPORTED BY THE SPRINGS OF RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES AND CARRIAGES, FOR THE PURPOSE OF REGULATING OR EQUALIZING SUCH LOAD
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Bünger at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the 2nd March
1864. A communication from abroad by Ludwig Starck, of Darmstadt,
in the Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt.
I, WILLIAM BÜNGER, of Camberwell Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE WEIGHT OF THE LOAD SUPPORTED
BY THE SPRINGS OF RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVES AND CARRIAGES, FOR THE PURPOSE OF
REGULATING OR EQUALIZING SUCH LOAD," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus suitably
arranged for ascertaining the weight or pressure of the load borne by each of
the springs of a locomotive or other railway carriage, in order that the weight
or load carried may be equally distributed over the series of springs upon
which a locomotive or railway carriage is mounted. For this purpose the
apparatus is so portable that it may be readily applied on any part of a railway
in order to ascertain the correct loading or otherwise of a railway carriage or
locomotive, so that each supporting spring may receive its proper or equal
burthen. By this means the weight or load may be so equally distributed
as to prevent in a great measure the swinging motion of locomotives and
carriages, thus effecting a great saving in wear and tear, and affording greater
security whilst running.
The apparatus consists of a double-acting screw jack mounted on a broad
foot plate, by preference of cast iron. The upward thrust of the screw jack

page_text: acts against a compound spring, which it is preferred should be similar in
character to a bearing spring of a railway locomotive engine, such spring
being calculated to bear a weight or pressure equal or superior to that of the
springs it is required to test. At each end of the spring an arm or hanger is
suspended, and the lower ends of such hanging arms project outwards, and
are of suitable form for receiving and supporting the rim or periphery of one
of the wheels of a locomotive or of a railway carriage when placed underneath
the same. The hanging arms are connected by a jointed rod near their upper
ends, and below by a rod (by preference made of cast steel) having guide
rollers mounted thereon, which bear against the side of the screw jack, acting
so as to guide the hanging arms in their up-and-down movement. A dial
marked with suitable divisions, and having a hand or pointer, is mounted on a
cross bar, supported by arms carried by the spring, the dial and apparatus
being so arranged as to indicate the weight or pressure placed on the hanging
arms when the screw jack is actuated to cause an upward thrust against the
under side of the spring to raise it and the apparatus upwards with the wheel
of the locomotive or of a railway carriage bearing thereon. Arms or props
are jointed or otherwise connected to the apparatus, which are brought to bear
against the wheel to retain the apparatus in a vertical position.