Improvements in Automatic Weighing Machines for Grain and other Substances.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic Weighing Machines for Grain and
other Substances.
I WILLIAM HENRY BAXTER of Nuthurst, 11, High Road Streatham Surrey
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention consists of a frame of cast iron or other material in which a
beam having two arms vibrates on knife-edges: between these arms on one side
of the central point hangs the weighing hopper constructed of some thin material
& having a valve which valve being lifted allows the contents to fall out; and on
the other side of such central point bangs a pan or receptacle to contain weights.
In the upper part of the frame is the fixed hopper to lead the grain or other
material into the weighing-hopper and in the inner front part of the former are
one or more grooves: on the sides of said fixed hopper is pivoted a tray or
shutter weighted to close its lower orifice but prevented from doing so entirely
by pins or projections thereon two of which rest upon the arms of the beam.
There is also another tray made of lighter material pivoted also on the sides of
the fixed hopper, & tending to fall by its own weight & close the groove or grooves
above referred to, but prevented by an arm thereon to which a piece of metal is
loosely pivoted of the requisite shape, such piece of metal resting on the beam
or on a projection therefrom until the weighing hopper receives its correct weight.
On said beam is pivoted a heavy piece of metal I call the tumbler, which being
loosely centred at its lower end will easily fall over when the beam is in a certain
position but when the latter is in a state of rest & not weighing, is erect or
nearly so. Rotating on the side of the frame, is a cog-wheel on the same axis
as a drum the latter being actuated by the machinery which supplies the fixed
hopper with grain, or by any other suitable means. Loosely hanging from the
beam is a rod with pin inserted in its lowest end, at right angles thereto : this
rod is shaped in such a form, that when the tumbler falls, it strikes the top part
of it, & the pin catches in the rotating cog-wheel, & the weighing hopper is
drawn down: the valve of latter having arms thereon, these come into contact
with fixed points on the frame, & said valve is lifted, whereby the contents of
the hopper rapidly fall out: the cog-wheel rotating allows, by means of the
hanging rod & pin, the beam to fall back without noise or shock: such operation
raises the trays or shutters, & at the same time lifts by suitable means, the
tumbler into its nearly erect position.
The accuracy of the machine can be tested at any time, by means of a moveable
stop on the beam which fixes the tumbler, & thus prevents the discharge. In the
weighing-hopper is a plate of metal, pivoted on one side, or otherwise arranged
30 that by means of a screw or other adjustment, it will decrease the capacity
of the said hopper: this improvement is applicable to certain other automatic
weighing machines.
Dated this 17th day of February 1806

page_text: improvements in Automatic weighing for
other Substances.
1, WILLIAM HENRY BAXTER, of 11, High Road, Streatham, London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The present invention relates to improvements in the construction of weighing
machines for grain and other substances with the object of rendering them
thoroughly automatic and efficient in their action.
My invention will be clearly understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings in which
Fig. 1 is a front elevation.
Fig. 2 a side elevation, and
Fig. 3 a vertical section of a complete weighing machine constructed according
to this invention.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respectively a front elevation and two side elevations of
parts of the machine showing two different positions of such parts during the
weighing operation.
Figures 7 and 8 are respectively a front and a side elevation of the weighing
beam and some of its connected parts.
Fig. 9 is a cross section on the line 9. 9 of Fig. 8.
Fig. 10 is a plan of the supply hopper.
Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.
In carrying my invention into practice I provide a suitable frame a which may
be cast or otherwise constructed of iron or other convenient material and be
preferably provided with a covering top plate 6 bottom tie bars b' and with
blocks c. c to which are secured the usual knife edges c' e¹ on which the weighing
beam vibrates. The latter comprises two parallel arms d. d connected rigidly
together by a central cross bar d and if desired by another cross bar at one or
both ends such cross bar d' having extensions d' d' at each side of the bean fitted
with the usual grooved plates of hardened steel to play on the before mentioned
knife edges c c and support the weighing beam. I mount between the two
arms d. d of the weighing beam near one end thereof on knife edges d³ a suitable
pane adapted to hold the weights, and on knife edges d' at the same distance from
the centred on the opposite end of the said beam I suspend a weighing hopper f
the lower end or outlet of which is ordinarily closed by a valve or tray g.. This
valve or tray g is suspended by two arms g' from pins or studs f¹ on the sides of
the hopper f.
The arms g' have extensions g³ with pins 9 which at the downward movement
of the weighing beam d and hopper f are caught by stops a' fixed in the frame and
thereby cause the valve or tray g to open for the discharge of the contents of the
weighing hopper f.
At a convenient distance above the said weighing hopper f I mount rigidly in
the frame of the apparatus a supply hopper 7 which is, as more clearly shown at
Fig. 10, provided on the vertical side with a number of internal vertical grooves
or channels h¹ down which the grain can run in small streams and with two
swinging trays or shutters i and j; one, the diminishing tray for closing the main
aperture of the discharge opening and one, the cut off tray for closing the outlet
from the grooves ' of the supply hopper. These trays i and j are suspended from

page_text: the same pins 22 at the sides of the hopper by means of arms and
respectively and are adapted to swing in opposite directions to each other for
opening or shutting off the discharge into the weighing hopper f. The trays i
and are operated at the required time, one after the other by the oscillating
movement of the weighing beam d. For that purpose I provide a pin in each of
the arms of the tray i which I place at such a distance from the pivotting pin /
as to cause the weighing beam d at its upward movement to strike against such pin
and lift the tray i away from the discharge opening of the supply hopper, while an
arm of the tray j is fitted with an arm to the outer end of which is pivotted a
loose arm which latter is caught by a pin d on the weighing beam d so as to lift
and keep the tray j away from the outlet of the grooves or channels when the
machine is not discharging the contents of the weighing hopper. The tray j is
nearly balanced by means of a weighted arm and the tray i is fitted with a set
screw to enable the said tray to be adjusted so as to close the main supply
aperture a little more or less as may be required when weighing various
substances.
On the pin d on the outer side of one arm d of the weighing beam is pivotted a
rod k having at its upper end an arm k' adapted to be acted upon by the fall of a
tumbler loosely pivotted at a suitable distance to the same side of the weighing
beam. The tumbler is provided with a tail piece resting on the end of an
adjusting screw in an extension d' of the weighing beam to enable the striking
moment of the tumbler to be timed relatively to the angle of the weighing beam,
the said screw being fixed after the adjustment is effected.
The tumbler is automatically returned to its position ready for striking by a
pin n fixed in the frame in such position as to come into contact with the tail
piece during the upward movement of that end of the weighing beam.
A counter weight 12 of any suitable description or form is placed on the weighing
beam at a point to counteract the weight of the tumbler l.
The lower end of the rod k is fitted with a pink which, through the impact of
the tumbler / with the arm kat a certain intermediate position of the weighing
beam, is thrown into the teeth of a toothed wheel o mounted inside at the lower
part of the frame a on a shaft on which the driving pulley p is also fixed which
latter is kept continuously but slowly rotating by means of a driving belt pl or
the like from any suitable motor or from the same machinery which supplies the
grain or other material to the fixed hopper h.
The weighing hopper f when nearly charged descends to a horizontal position at
which time the grain will run only through the grooves ; then when an exact
balance is attained the beam further descends and thereby causes the tumbler 1 to
strike the arm k¹ and thereby moves the pin at the other end of the rod k into
engagement with the teeth of the rotating wheel o. This latter by its movement
in the direction of the arrow pulls the rod k and with it the beam d and hopper f
farther down when the arms g and pins 93 of the closing valve or tray g of said
hopper come against the fixed pins a¹ in the frame of the apparatus with the
result of opening the valve or tray g and causing the contents from the hopper f to
be discharged.
The pin of the rod k, still held in the teeth of the wheel o prevents the
weighted scale pau e from returning the empty hopper too suddenly to its upper
position and in order to keep the pin k in contact with the said wheel o till the
desired moment I fix a guard or guide q near the wheel o.
The successive operations of the apparatus are thus rendered entirely automatic
and a counter at the front of the apparatus is moved intermittently at each
weighing action by means of a pin or extension on the beam d so as to record
he quantities of material. weighed by the machine. The counter may however be
placed in a different position and operated by other means.
Sometimes I find it advantageous to provide the weighing hopper f with means for
educing the capacity thereof. This I accomplish by mounting two plates s. s

page_text: movably on a central traversing screw bar t provided with right and left hand
screw threads and carried in the front and rear plates of the hopper fin such a
manner as to cause the plates s. s either to approach or to recede from each other
by rotating the screw t from the exterior by a handle t' thus either decreasing or
increasing the internal space of the hopper and thus causing the last portions of
material entering the weighing hopper to be very near to the cut off tray j thereby
avoiding the uncertainty which would result in the weighing if any considerable
distance were permitted between the heap of grain in the weighing hopper and the
bottom of the supply hopper.
I also provide means for testing the accuracy of the apparatus when desired.
For this purpose I employ a movable stop adapted to be set against the tail
piece of the tumbler 1 so as to prevent the latter from acting on the rod k and
I turn the loose arm away from the pin d. A pointer v, attached to one of the
supporting arms d' of the weighing beam d and bent so as to move with its pointed
free end over a graduated scale or over a central point marked on the outer side of
the frame, enables the correctness in weighing of the apparatus to be readily
ascertained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare, that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved automatic weighing machine for weighing grain and other
substances comprising a weighing beam composed of two parallel arms and a
cross bar, extensions from which carry the bearings for the knife edges in the
frame of the apparatus, a scale pan to hold the weights suspended at one end and a
weighing hopper suspended at the other end of the weighing beam, the latter fitted
with a
discharging valve or tray adapted to be operated by a fixed pin on the
frame of the apparatus, a supply hopper fixed to said frame and provided with
trays or shutters for cutting off successively the main and then the special supply
through the action of the weighing beam, a tumbler mounted on the latter adapted
to act on a discharge rod so as to bring it under the influence of a revolving
toothed wheel mounted on a coinmon shaft with the driving pulley at the lower
part of the frame of the apparatus, and a guard or guide in conjunction with
the toothed wheel aforesaid for preventing an untimely escape of the discharge
rod, substantially as herein before shown and described.
2. In a weighing apparatus for weighing grain and other substances fitted with
a supply hopper the arrangement of a main and a supplemental or special supply
by means of grooves or channels in the body of the supply hopper and two
shutters or trays pivotted on 21 common pin to the sides of the hopper and
adapted to cut off in succession the main and the special supply automatically
through the gradual descent of the weighing beam but before the discharge of
the weighed material takes place, substantially as herein before shown and
described.
3. In a weighing apparatus for weighing grain or such like substances fitted
with a weighing hopper ordinarily closed at its outlet end by a discharge valve
or tray the arrangement of two plates at opposite sides in the interior of the
hopper which are mounted on a right and left hand screw or screws whereby
said plates can be brought closer together or closer to the sides of the hopper,
substantially as and for the purpose herein before described.
4. In a weighing apparatus for weighing grain or such like substances means for
automatically operating the discharge of the weighing hopper in combination with
means for regulating the return movement of said hopper consisting of a suspended
rod pivotted to the weighing beam and provided at its upper end with an arm
adapted to be acted upon by a tumbler also pivotted on the weighing beam and
having a pin at its lower extremity which through the action of the tumbler is
brought into contact with the teeth of a slowly rotating toothed wheel mounted in

page_text: the frame of the apparatus which it is prevented from leaving before the desire.l
moment through a guard or guide fixed on the same frame in proximity to the stil
toothed wheel substantially as herein before shown and described.
Dated October 24th 1896.
HARRIS & MILLS,
23 Southampton Buildings, Loudon, W.C., Agents.