An Improved Automatic or Coin-freed Dynamometer or Muscular Power Testing Machine.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Feb., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 29th July, 1890-Accepted, 30th Aug., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Automatic or Coin-freed Dynamometer or Muscular
Power Testing Machine.
We, CHARLES ARTHUR BARRETT, and ALFRED BARRETT, both of Beech Street,
Barbican, in the County of London, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
:-
This invention relates to the construction of an improved dynamometer by the use
of which on a proper coin or the like being inserted in the apparatus, the muscular
gripping power of a person using it will be indicated on a dial in the usual manner,
but, if the power be exerted beyond a certain predeterinined point, a bell'or gong' will
be sounded and in addition we provide an arrangement whereby at the same or at any
other given point the coin or the like will be returned outside the machine to the
person using it. But if sufficient power be not exerted to reach the aforesaid given
point or points the bell or gong will not sound nor will the coin'be'returned but will
drop into a box provided to receive it in the ordinary manner.
In carrying out our invention we employ a suitable case on the front of which we
attach a fixed bar, handle or fulcrum; a sliding bar passes through the front of the
case and by means of a suitable handle can be drawn towards the said fixed bar,
handle or fulcrum when a proper coin is inserted in the apparatus but otherwise the
sliding bar is kept in its normal position by a bolt or lock which is only released when
the coin or the like is inserted. To the said bar is or are attached a spring or
springs forming the resistance against the power exerted. When a proper coin is
dropped into the apparatus it raises the said bolt and then rests on the two sides
of a slot in the sliding bar which slot is just of suitable width to support the coin,
so that if a smaller coin is introduced it will not rest on the bar but will fall through
and be conducted by a shoot to the coin box or receiver or to the outside of the
machine. If the bar be now drawn beyond a certain distance the support is with-
drawn from the coin and it falls into a wider aperture in the bar and is carried, along
a fixed bracket provided with an opening of suitable width to just support the coin
but if the bar is drawn to a given point the coin will lose its support and be
conducted by a shoot to the outside of the casing. If this given point is not
attained the bar; in going back; will carry the coin back over the fixed bracket
and when the sliding bar is right back and again fixed in position by the bolt, the
coin will have come to the extremity of the fixed bracket and thus will no longer bé
supported and pass into the money drawer.
Attached to the sliding bar is an inclined: plane which, as the bar is drawn out,
actuates a vertical rod in which a rack is cut; this rack gears into and operates' a
pinion on a shaft which carries the pointer or indicator thereby recording on a dial on
the face of the case the power exerted:
Attached to the sliding bar is a catch or tongue which when the bar is drawn or
extended to a predetermined point as above named engages with a trip or catch
piece forming a hammer which strikes against a gong or bell; the said hammer being
brought back to its normal position by a small spring.
t
In order to prevent this machine being used as an ordinary pulling machine which
might be done by placing a hand on the machine and thus fixing it, we provide on
the part of the machine that the hand could only be suitably placed on, a loose
hinged plate, which is held in its normal position by a spring, but as soon as any
pressure is put on this plate a lever with a tooth or pawl engages with a tooth or
teeth on a projection on the bar which prevents the same being drawn out farther
until disengaged by relieving the pressure on the loose plate.

page_text: When the bar is released it is drawn back to its normal position by its spring or
springs.
We sometimes adapt to the apparatus a reed or reeds to form a voice" or
to be operated by the return of the sliding bar or otherwise.
"voices
"
When required a disc can be fixed on the end of the pointer shaft behind the dial so
as to move with the pointer and exhibit any advertisement thereon through an opening
. in the dial.
Dated the 11th dare of Fahrunn 1800
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Automatic or Coin-freed Dynamometer or Muscular
Power Testing Machine.
We, CHARLES ARTHUR BARRETT, and ALFRED BARRETT, both of Beech Street
Barbican in the County of London England, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature
of our invention for "AN IMPROVED AUTOMATIC OR COIN-FREED DYNAMOMETER OR
MUSCULAR POWER TESTING MACHINE" and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in that class of dynamometers, by the use of
which on a proper coin or the like being inserted in the apparatus the muscular
gripping or pulling or pushing power of a person using it will be indicated on a dial
in the usual manner, but, if the power be exerted beyond a certain predetermined
point, a bell or gong will be sounded, and in addition, at the same or at any other
given point the coin or the fike will be returned outside the machine to the person
using it. If, however, sufficient power be not exerted to reach the aforesaid given
point or points the bell or gong will not sound, nor will the coin be returned but will
drop into a box provided to receive it in the ordinary manner.
'In the accompanying drawings
--
Figure 1 is a front elevation of an automatic or coin-freed machine for testing
the muscular gripping power of a person, the said machine being constructed
according to our invention.
Figures 2 and 3 are elevations showing the interior of the same as seen from the
rear and right hand side respectively, the back and side of the case being removed
for this purpose.
Figure 4 is a horizontal section on the line A A of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a vertical section of a portion of the front of the case of the apparatus
shewing the sliding bar, hereinafter described, in its normal position.
Figure 6 is a rear view of the same.
Figure 7 is a horizontal section on the line B B of Figure 5.
Figure 8 is a similar view to Figure 5 but shewing the sliding bar when partly
drawn out.
Figures 9 and 10 are views of a detail, hereinafter described.
Figure 11 is a side elevation partly in section of a modified form of the machine,
. and
Figure 12 is a rear elevation of the same partly in section, the section being taken
on the line CC of Figure 11.
Similar reference letters indicate similar or corresponding parts throughout the
.drawings.
In carrying out our invention which we will first describe by reference to Figures 1
to 10 we employ a suitable case a the upper front part a¹ of which is advantageously
set back relatively to the lower front part a², they being connected with a sloping
part a³ as shown clearly in Figure 3; on the part a² of the front of the said case we
attach a fixed bar, handle or fulcrum b. A sliding bar c passes through and slides in
an opening in the said part a² of the front of the case a and in the rear part of a

page_text: frame c. By means of a handle c² attached to the sliding bar c the said bar can be
drawn by the grip of the hand towards the fixed bar, handle or fulcrum 6 when a
proper coin is inserted in the apparatus, but otherwise the sliding bar is kept in its
normal position by a bolt or lock f (figures 3, 4 and 6) which is only released when
the coin or the like is inserted, the lower end of the bolt or lock f for this purpose
projecting in front of an extension e² on the sliding bar e so as to prevent the latter
being drawn out until this is done.
d, d are springs which form the resistance against the power exerted, they being
attached at one end to extensions e, et on theb ar c and at the other end to the frame c¹.
The bolt slides in a recess f¹ at one side of the coin shoot g, and is raised by the coin.
dropped into the apparatus, through the medium of a small lever g¹ of the shape shewn,,
and pivotted in the said coin shoot, one end of the said lever g¹ bearing beneath a
shoulder on the bolt and the other end projecting in the way of the coins and
provided with a small extension g' which extends into an opening g³ in the rear wall
of the coin shoot, the sides of the said opening serving. to limit the movement of the
lever g¹ and consequently of the bolt f. In the part a³ of the case a is arranged the
sloth for the insertion of the coins in the apparatus, the said slot being situated just
above the shoot g.
When the coin has raised the bolt fit rests upon the upper inner edges, ¹ of the
two sides of an aperture in the sliding bar c. If the bar c be now drawn beyond
a certain distance the support is withdrawn from the coin by reason of a wider
portion of the said aperture in the bar coming beneath it, through which it falls into
the upper inner edges j, j of the two sides of a fixed bracket j situated below the.
sliding bar c. The lower portion of the bracket j forms a guide to a shoot which
leads to a receptacle 3 at the outside of the part a² of the case a. By this construction,
if a coin of the required size be passed through the coin slot h, it will fall and rest upon
the edges, of the sides of the aperture i in the sliding bar c as shown by the dotted
lines in Figures 5 and 6 and at the same time will move the lever g¹ into the position.
also shown by dot and dash lines in Figure 6, thereby raising the bolt.f. If now the
handles b and c be gripped and the sliding bar e consequently drawn out, the portion 2
of the aperture i in the said sliding bar will come beneath the coin shoot g and the
coin will fall through it on to the upper edges j¹, j¹ of the sides of the bracket jas
shown by the dotted lines a¹ in Figures 6 and 8. By continuing the outward move-
ment of the bar c, the coin will be moved by the said bar along the top of the
bracket till it arrives beyond the front extremity of the edges j, j when it will fall
through the shoot into the receptacle 3 from whence it can be taken by the
operator. If, however, the strength of the operator is not great enough to produce
the foregoing result, the coin as the grip is released will be moved back along the top.
of the bracket j and when the sliding bar c is right back and again fixed in position.
by the bolt f, the coin will have arrived beyond the back extremity of the edges j¹, j¹
and will fall into the money drawer, not shown in the drawings.
To prevent the lever g¹ being operated by the insertion though the coin shoot g of a
piece of wire or the like, we provide a plate attached to an extension on the
sliding bar c so that when the said bar is drawn out the said plate will come against
the wire or the like which will prevent any further movement of the bar c.
If a coin, the diameter of which is less than the width of the aperture i, be inserted
in the apparatus it will not rest either upon the edges of the said aperture or upon
the edges, but will fall through and be conducted to the receptacle j³; or by
arranging the rear wall je of the bracket ; a little nearer to the front of the
apparatus, the said coin would fall into the money drawer.
Attached to the sliding bar c is an inclined plane which as the bar is drawn out,
actuates a vertical .rod k which bears upon it, the rod k' being provided with.a
friction roller k² for that, purpose and working through guides ³ on a frame. k*.
In the rod k¹ are cut rack teeth ko which gear into and operate a spur pinion & through
he medium of which the shaft and pointer 2 are actuated to indicate the power
exerted, the pointer working over the dial m located at the part a¹ of the case a..
1°

page_text: The rod k is provided with an india rubber spring or its equivalent, to keep its
roller always in contact with the inclined plane k, and the shaft is provided with
a weighted lever 13 which keeps the top surfaces of the teeth of the rack in constant
contact with the teeth of the pinion, thereby ensuring an accurate indication by
the pointer 12.
A catch or tongue n is pivotted to an extension n' on the sliding bar c in
such a manner that it can only turn in one direction as shown in Figure 3. o is
a gong or bell, the hammer o¹ of which is pivotted and forms a spring trip or catch
piece against which the catch n bears when the sliding bar e is drawn out. By
this arrangement, when the sliding bar is drawn out, the top of the catch n will press
back the hammer o¹, and when the sliding bare has reached a predetermined point,
the said hammer will be released and strike the gong. In moving back the sliding
bar C, the catch n will, when it strikes the hammer o', be depressed and pass under the.
said hammer and will then regain its normal position.
In order to prevent this machine from being used as an ordinary pulling machine,
which might be done by placing one hand on the machine and thus fixing it, we
provide on the part of the machine that the hand could only be suitably placed
upon a loose hinged plate p. This plate is hinged at p¹ and forms a portion of the
part as of the case a and is supported or held in its normal position by an upward
extension p at the end of a lever p³ pivotted to the frame c' and supported at its free
end by a spring p₁. The lever is provided on its under surface with a tooth or
projection which is normally situated above but to the front of the extension e, the
said extension being provided with a series of ratchet teeth p as clearly shown in
figures 9 and 10 which represent a plan and elevation respectively of the said extension
detached. By this arrangement, if the operator should press upon the plate p with his
or her disengaged hand, in order to exert more strength by pulling the handle c
towards the handle b, the said plate p will be depressed and cause the tooth p³ on the
lever p³ to move in the path of the extension e, or to engage with the ratchet teeth pª,
thereby preventing any further outward movement of the sliding bar c.
The modifications in the form of our machine as illustrated in figures 11 and 12
consist in providing it with means whereby, if it be used as a pulling machine, the
return of the coin to the operator will be rendered practically impossible. For this
purpose we provide the brackets q, q to which the handle is fixed with pins q', q',
extending into the interior of the apparatus; the pins q', q' pass through and slide in
sockets r, in which are located springs, ¹, the said springs bearing at one end
against the ends of the sockets r, r and at the other end against the faces 92, 9² on the
brackets 9, 9. Two of the pins q¹ q' are connected together inside the apparatus by a
bars provided with a projection s¹ against which bears an arm t attached to a flap t,
hinged in the shoot 2, the said flap being weighted to cause the arm t to bear against
the said projection. The flap t¹ is normally arranged at such an angle beneath the
front extremity of the edges, of the bracket that, if the handle c² be pulled
without at the same time gripping the handle, the coin, if moved to the said front
extremity of the edges 1', ', will be diverted from the shoot 2 into the money
drawer; but, if the handle 6 be gripped together with the handle c², the former will
be caused to compress the springs, and move the arm t and thereby move the
flap tout of the way of the coin (as shown by the dotted lines in figure 11) which
will then be free to pass through the shoot if a sufficient strength of grip be exerted.
It will be obvious that, if we wish to employ our dynamometer simply for testing
the muscular power exerted by a person in pulling, we dispense with the fixed handle
bar or fulcrum b, the machine in this case being secured to a table, counter, or the
like.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
m

page_text: meters or muscular power testing machines arranged and operating substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 to 10 and in Figures 11 and 12
respectively of the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 29th day of July 1890.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.