IMPROVEMENTS IN TUR CONSTRUCTION OF SCALE BEAMS OR BALANCES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Patrick Henry Sharkey, of Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Provision Dealer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TUR CONSTRUCTION OF SCALE BEAMS OR BALANCES."
Sealed the 21st July 1857, and dated the 24th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Patrick Henry Sharkey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th January 1857.
I, PATRICK HENRY SHARKEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Provision Dealer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCALE BEAMS OR BALANCES," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to reduce to a minimum the friction on the
centres and pivots of scale beams and balances, to insure the greatest accuracy
in weighing; and to render these parts more durable and lasting, the beam is
made of one piece of brass or other metal, into which I fix three Vee-shaped
cast-steel centres, one in the centre and one at each end. The suspending
frame is made in one piece, with boxes, at each side. The suspenders at each
end are also separate pieces, and made in the same way. Into the whole of
these boxes are fitted bushes of highly polished agates, or other hard stones, or
hardened steel, each forming half a circle or thereabouts, and plates of similar

page_text: material are fitted at the back or ends of the boxes for the ends of the pivots
to work against; these bushes are secured in their places with gutta-percha or
other soluable cement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Patrick Henry Sharkey in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PATRICK
HENRY SHARKEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Provision Dealer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, 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 Patrick Henry Sharkey, Her special licence that I, the said Patrick
Henry Sharkey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Patrick Henry Sharkey, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SCALE BEAMS OR BALANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Patrick Henry Sharkey, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Patrick Henry Sharkey, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
My object is to reduce to a minimum the friction on the centres and pivots
. of scale beams and balances, in order to ensure the greatest accuracy in
weighing, and to render the working parts more durable and lasting, which
I accomplish by fixing into the beam three Vee-shaped cast-steel centres, one in
the centre and one at each end. I make the suspending frame, in one or more

page_text: pieces, with boxes at each end, the suspenders at each end being separate
pieces, and made in the same way. Into the whole of these boxes I fit bushes
of highly polished agates, or other hard stones, or hardened steel, each forming
half a circle or thereabouts, with plates of similar material fitted at the back or
ends of the boxes for the ends of the pivots to work against. And I secure the
bushes in their respective places with gutta percha or any soluble cement.
These bushes will be found much superior to any hitherto used for delicacy,
correctness, and durability, as they will not rust or cut by the action of the
centre edges. The plates will prevent the ends of the centres from wearing
the back of the boxes and the scales from coming in contact with the beam,
thereby avoiding to a great extent the possibility of the beam becoming false or
out of order by use; it also combines great strength with lightness of material,
and decreases the evils of slowness of movement and liability of derangement
so justly and universally complained off. The manner in which my said
improvements are to be performed will be clearly understood by reference to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and the letters of reference thereon, in
which Fig. 1 is a view of a skeleton beam, shewing my said improvements,
which I cast in one piece of any suitable metal, either solid or skeleton;
Fig. 2, an end view of a scale suspender; and Fig. 3, a section of a scale
suspender, shewing the concave bushes to be made of hard stone or hardened
steel. a, a, a, represent the Vee or heart-shaped centres of cast-steel, the one
in the middle with the sharpened or working edge downwards, and those at
each end with the working edges upwards; b, the gallows or beam suspending
frame with the boxes c, c, at each side, into which are fitted bushes of highly
polished agates, or other hard stones, or steel, each forming a semicircle or
thereabouts; and at the back of the same at d are fitted plates of similar
material for the ends of the centres to work against, the same being secured
with gutta percha or other soluble cement; e, the scale suspenders, placed at
cach end of the beam, each of them being made in one piece, with boxes at
each side fitted with the hand-bushes f, and the plate g.
It will be observed that in the beam suspender the centre rests on the
bushes, whilst in the scale suspenders the bushes or concave agates, &c., rest on
the centre or pivots.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the
nanner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly
understood, that I do not confine myself to the exact details herein set forth,
as such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle
thereof; but I claim as my Invention, and which, to the best of my knowledge
and belief, has not been hitherto used within the realm, the peculiar arrange

page_text: ment and construction of beam and scale suspending frames with Vec-shaped
centres, hard stone or hardened steel bushes, with plates of similar material for
the pivots to work against, as such improvements are herein described and
illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Patrick Henry Sharkey, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 22nd day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
PATRICK HENRY SHARKEY.
(L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the within-
named Patrick Henry Sharkey, in the
presence of
JOHN J. KING,
Clerk to Hughes & Smith,
14, Clayton Square, Liverpool."