IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING OR FOR INDICATING OR TESTING FORCE, STRENGTHS OR STRAINS "
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Henry Ward of the Firm of Lee Howl Ward
and Howl, of Tipton in the County of Stafford, Engineers, for an Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING OR FOR INDICATING OR
TESTING FORCE, STRENGTHS OR STRAINS
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Henry Ward at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th December 1883.
THOMAS HENRY WARD of the Firm of Lee Howl Ward and Howl of Tipton in
the County of Stafford Engineers "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING
OR FOR INDICATING OR TESTING FORCE, STRENGTHS OR STRAINS
0
"
My Invention has reference more especially to that class of apparatus for
indicating weighing or indicating or testing force, strengths or strains wherein
spring blades or plates or their equivalents are employed to be acted upon in tension
so as to be straightened out or deflected from their ordinary position by the weight
or force or the like to be measured, the object of my said Invention being to
prevent the injury to such apparatus which arises from sudden strains or jerks
brought to bear thereupon which sudden strains or jerks are extremely liable to
injure the parts or gear employed to operate upon the indicating pointer; to obviate
this I actuate the said indicating pointer by the intervention of a bearer or piece
which is retained against the rack or the equivalent by which the movement is
transmitted to the Pointer in such a manner that it will (when the machine is in
operation without sudden strains or jerks) form virtually a portion of the said
transmission parts or gear. but which will yield or move independently when any
sudden strain is brought to bear upon the apparatus. The following is an
arrangement by which this may be effected. To one of the blades or plates of the
machine is attached a frame carrying the pointer axis the said axis having a pinion.
upon it with which engages a toothed quadrant or arc which can turn upon a shaft
or pivots. Capable of turning upon the same centre but independently of the said
quadrant or arc is a bearer or piece which may be called an anvil which is caused
by a spring or weight to press against the quadrant or arc to cause it to maintain;
rn...

page_text: its normal position with regard to the pinion on the axis of the pointer A spring
or weight (of less power than that first mentioned) is arranged so as to tend to
move the quadrant or arc in the reverse direction. A striker hammer or bearing
pin is connected to the other blade or plate of the machine the said bearing pin
striker or hammer in its normal position bearing upon the aforesaid anvil.
When the machine is not subjected to sudden shocks or jerks but simply to the
dead weight of the article being weighed or tested the bearing pin striker or
hammer presses upon the anvil and the quadrant or arc is at liberty to be acted
upon by its spring or weight to operate the pinion and consequently the pointer to
indicate the weight or strain. On the occurrence of violent shocks or jerks the
bearing pin striker or hammer by its sudden concussion with the anvil will separate
the anvil suddenly from the quadrant or are which will follow only by the force
exerted by the spring or weight provided to turn it as aforesaid. By this means
the rebound also from the shock or jerk will be prevented from injuring the parts
or gear transmitting the motion to the indicating pointer
In order that the bearing piece hammer or striker may be caused to impinge upon
the anvil at a spot which will give the correct leverage for a proper indication I may
provide the bearing piece hammer or striker with a compensating arrangement or
eccentric at the part where it is held in or to the blade or plate to which it is attached
so that by turning it partly round I can attain any required adjustment-By this
means I may make the divisions of a quantity of scale plates or dials or part of the
said divisions from one matrix or original thus dispensing or partially dispensing with
the necessity for marking each dial independently In order to prevent incorrect
indication owing to the bearing pin hammer or striker being brought out of its
correct position owing to the abnormal distortion of the blades or plates of the
machine I may substitute for it a bearing piece with an end formed by an arc
struck from the point of its attachment to the blade or plate and bearing upon the
anvil or a projection therefrom which projection may be an adjustable screw. and
this may be provided with an eccentric for adjusting the leverage as before
mentioned. It will be understood that I do not necessarily intend to limit myself
to the precise arrangement hereinbefore described as an example as my Invention
may be carried into effect in other ways-For instance the quadrant or arc may
have a spring which is attached to it by one end the other end of the said spring
being connected to the correct one of the blades or plates of the machine, the
other blade or plate carrying the centre for the quadrant or arc.
The said spring
will ordinarily bear upon a stud on the quadrant and will then act merely as a
means of conveying the movement of the blades or plates to the quadrant or arc
but on the occurrence of a sudden shock the spring will yield and prevent injury to
the machine or a spring or weight may be attached to a pulley or the like on the
axis of the pointer at one end and to one of the blades or plates of the machine at
the other end, a chain being attached at one end to the other blade or plate and at
its other end to a pulley or the like on the axis of the pointer but the herein before
first described arrangement will I believe be found most useful and reliable in
practice. Where the Invention is applied to apparatus for testing the strengths
of materials by straining them until they break I prefer to provide the blades or
plates (in addition to either of the arrangements hereinbefore described) with an
arrangement for cushioning the shock due to the sudden breaking of the article
tested This I effect by means of a water or liquid Cylinder or vessel attached to
or connected with one of the blades or plates and containing a piston with a rod
which is attached to or connected with the other blade or plate. The piston and
Cylinder or vessel have a space between them (preferably as clearance) through
which the water or liquid can pass slowly from one side of the piston to the other.
The piston rod preferably does not fit or even come in contact with the sides of the
orifice for its passage in the part which covers the Cylinder or vessel. During the
time that the article is being strained the water or liquid passes from one side of
the piston to the other and on the occurrence of the fracture the blades or plates do

page_text: not suddenly regain their original position but do so gradually whilst the water or
liquid passes back between the piston and cylinder or vessel
The blades or plates or the equivalents thereof in the machines hereinbefore
described may be of any suitable arrangement and number of leaves. They may
be bowed outwards or inwards or they may be tempered flat and be deflected from
their natural position by means of a supplementary spring or supplementary springs
or be otherwise arranged as may be desired. Although I have described my
Invention as applied to the particular class of machines herein before mentioned yet
it is to be understood that it may in whole or in part be applied for other classes
of weighing or testing machines where the indications are made upon a scale or
dials by pointers or the like acted upon through pinions and quadrantal racks.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Thomas Henry Ward in the Patent Office on the 7th June 1884.
THOMAS HENRY WARD of the firm of Lee Howl Ward and Howl of Tipton in
the County of Stafford Engineers "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR WEIGHING
OR FOR INDICATING OR TESTING FORCE, STRENGTHS, OR STRAINS
"
My Invention has reference more especially to that class of apparatus for
weighing or indicating or testing force strengths or strains wherein spring blades
or plates or their equivalents are employed to be acted upon in tension so as to be
straightened out or deflected from their ordinary position by the weight or force or
the like to be measured the object of my said Invention being to prevent the
injury to such apparatus which arises from sudden strains or jerks brought to bear
thereupon which sudden strains or jerks are extremely liable to injure the parts or
gear employed to operate upon the indicating pointer; to obviate this I actuate the
said indicating pointer by the intervention of a bearer or piece which is retained
against the rack or the equivalent by which the movement is transmitted to the
pointer in such a manner that it will (when the machine is in operation without
sudden strains or jerks) form virtually a portion of the said transmission parts or
gear but which will yield or move independently when any sudden strain is
brought to bear upon the apparatus.
And in Order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 is a front elevation, Figure 2 a back elevation and Figure 3 a side
elevation of a Machine constructed according to my Invention. Figures 4 and 5
are sectional views at right angles to each other shewing the operating parts drawn
to a larger scale.
To one of the blades or plates A of the machine is attached a frame B carrying
the dial a and the axis b of the pointer b' the said axis having a pinion 62 upon it
with which engages a toothed quadrant or are C which can turn upon a shaft or
pivots. As shewn the said arc is fixed upon a shaft c which turns upon pivots c².
Capable of turning upon the same centre (that is to say upon the shaft c) but
independently of the said quadrant or arc C is a bearer or piece D which may be
called an anvil and which is caused by a spring d (or weight) to press against the
quadrant or are C to cause it to maintain its normal position with regard to the
pinion 62 on the axis b of the pointer b' A spring c³ (or weight) of less power
than the spring d is arranged so that although the pull of the said spring c³ tends
to move the quadrant or arc C in the reverse direction to that in which the
spring & tends to cause it to be pressed by the anvil D, the preponderance of the
said spring d gives a pull upon the arc C in the direction of the arrow. A striker,
hammer, or bearing pin e is connected to the other blade or plate A² of the machine
the said striker, hammer, or bearing pin in its normal position bearing upon the
aforesaid anvil D as shewn clearly in Figure 4.
When the Machine is not subjected to sudden shocks or jerks but simply to the
dead weight of the article being weighed or tested the striker, hammer, or bearing
pin e, presses upon the anvil D and the quadrant or arc C being relieved of the
action of the spring d is acted upon by its spring c³ and thereby is caused to
operate the pinion 62 and consequently the pointer b is caused to indicate upon the
dial a the weight or strain. On the occurrence of violent shocks or jerks the
striker, hammer, or bearing pin e, by its sudden concussion with the anvil D will
separate the said anvil D suddenly from the quadrant or arc C which will follow

page_text: only by the force exerted by the spring c³. By this means the rebound also from
the shock or jerk will be prevented or prevented to a considerable extent from
injuring the parts or gear transmitting the motion to the indicating pointer to a
degree in accordance with the power of the spring c³ as if the said spring be only
of a power necessary to operate the pointer the rebound will have taken place in a
great measure before the arc C comes again into contact with the anvil D.
In order that the hammer, striker, or bearing pin e may be caused to impinge
upon the anvil at a spot which will give the correct leverage for a proper
indication, I may provide the said hammer striker or bearing piece, with a
compensating arrangement or eccentric at the part where it is held in or to the
blade or plate to which it is attached, so that by turning the said hammer striker
or bearing piece partly round I can attain any required adjustment. This is
shewn in the drawing as provided for, by making the bush e, by which the
striking pin is secured to the plate, with an eccentrically bored female screw in
which the pin e is adjustable length wise for the purpose of adjusting the correct
position of the needle on the dial. By turning the said bush, the bearing end of
the pin can be adjusted to give a correct leverage for a proper indication.-e are
the nuts by which the bush piece e² is locked in its adjusted position on the
plate A and e' is the nut for locking the pin e in its adjusted position on the
bush e2 By this means I may mark the divisions on a quantity of scale plates or
dials a or part of the said divisions from one matrix or original, thus dispensing or
partially dispensing with the necessity for making each dial independently
order to prevent incorrect indication owing to the hammer striker or bearing pin e
being brought out of its correct position owing to the abnormal distortion of the
blades or plates of the machine I may substitute for it a bearing piece with an end
formed by an arc struck from the point of its attachment to the blade or plate and
bearing upon the anvil or a projection therefrom which projection may be an
adjustable screw and this may be provided with an eccentric for adjusting the
leverage as before mentioned.
In
Figures 6 and 7 are views at right angles to each other of a modified arrangement
wherein the springs c and d are somewhat differently arranged, the spring being
a coiled spring fixed to the shaft bat one end and to the frame at the other end
and the spring d being a volute spring fixed at one end to a box forming part of
the anvil D and at the other end to the axis upon which it turns. The arrangement
shewn in Figure 8 may be used wherein the quadrant or are C has a spring F
attached to it by one end, the other end of the said spring being connected to the
blade or plate A2 of the Machine by the link f, the other blade or plate A carrying
the centre for the said quadrant or are C The said spring will ordinarily bear
upon a stud g on the quadrant or arc C and will then act merely as a means of
allowing of the movement of the quadrant or arc C as the plates A A² are deflected,
but on the occurrence of a sudden shock the spring F will yield and prevent injury
to the Machine
Figure 9 illustrates an arrangement of straight rack and pinion analogous to
the arrangement described in the Specification of my Patent N° 3635 dated the
twenty fourth July One thousand eight hundred and eighty three but with a
spring to counteract the effect of sudden shocks jerks or strains The rack is.
mounted upon a bar k pivotted at 2 to an attachment of the plate A The nuts
at retain the rack in position The spring j being situated as shown will on the
occurrence of sudden shocks be compressed between the plate A² and the end of
the rack, the bar k moving longitudinally in the said rack.
Figure 10 shews an arrangement wherein the anvil D is fixed to or forms part of
the rack C and the striker e is provided with a piston or disc e capable of sliding
in a casing e carried by the plate A² A spring 72 is situated between the disc e
and the end of the casing e, the said spring counteracting the effect of sudden
shocks, jerks or strains.
The blades or plates or the equivalents thereof in the machines hereinbefore
described may be of any suitable arrangement and number of leaves. They may

page_text: be bowed outwards or inwards, or they may be tempered flat and be deflected from
their natural position by means of a supplementary spring or supplementary springs
or be otherwise arranged as may be desired Although I have described my
Invention as applied to the particular class of machines hereinbefore mentioned,
yet it is to be understood that it may in whole or in part be applied to other
classes of weighing or testing machines wherein springs plates or blades or their
equivalents are used and the indications are made upon scales or dials by pointers
or the like acted upon through pinions and racks.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is
First. In apparatus for weighing or for indicating or testing force strengths or
strains, wherein springs plates or blades or their equivalents are employed to be
acted upon in tension so as to be straightened out or deflected from their ordinary
position by the weight force or the like to be measured and wherein the indications
are made upon a scale or dial by a pointer or the like acted upon through a pinion
or pinions and a quadrantal or other rack or racks, the provision of a bearer or
loose or independently yielding piece or device to take up or receive the effect of
sudden strains shocks or jerks, or yield independently on the occurrence of such
strains shocks or jerks, substantially as and for the purpose herein before described
and illustrated under several modifications in the accompanying drawings.
Second-In Machines of the class claimed by the preceding claiming clause
providing the striker or bearing piece with an eccentric arrangement whereby it
can be adjusted substantially as and for the purposes herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Third: The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the apparatus
for weighing or for indicating or testing force strengths or strains substantially as
herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying
drawings.
:
Fourth The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the apparatus
for weighing or for indicating or testing force strengths or strains substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying
drawings.
Fifth The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the apparatus
for weighing or for indicating or testing force strengths or strains substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 8 of the accompanying
drawings.
Sixth The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the apparatus
for weighing or for indicating or testing force strength or strains substantially
as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 9 of the accompanying
drawings.
Seventh-The arrangement and combination of parts constituting the apparatus
for weighing or for indicating or testing force strength or strains substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in Figure 10 of the accompanying
drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Thomas Henry Ward have to this my Specification
set my hand and seal this fourth day of June One thousand eight hundred and
night faun