IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR ASCERTAINING THE PRESSURE AND THE MOVING FORCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Loseby, of 124, Wood Street,
Cheapside, in the City of London, and also of Leicester, in the County of
Leicester, Horologist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR ASCERTAINING THE PRESSURE AND THE MOVING
FORCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE"
Sealed the 19th June 1868, and dated the 26th December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Loseby
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th December 1862.
I, EDWARD THOMAS LOSEBY, of 124, Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of
London, and also of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Horologist, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR ASCERTAINING THE PRESSURE AND THE MOVING
FORCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, first, in the construction of instruments for measuring
the barometrical pressure of the atmosphere or other gaseous bodies, the
object being to obtain greater accuracy and longer range in a smaller instru-
ment than the "aneroid;" this is effected by the introduction of a micrometer
screw to measure the rise and fall of the vacuum box in place of or in com-
bination with the ordinary "aneroid" mechanism. The micrometer screw is
placed immediately over a steel stud which is attached to the top of the
vacuum box, and between the two points a drop piece is placed, which falls
the instant the screw is unturned sufficiently to remove the bearing surfaces

page_text: of the screw stud and drop piece out of contact with each other, and thus
enable the amount which the atmosphere compresses the box to be ascertained
by a hand connected with the screw travelling round a dial. The threads of
the screw, which it is found advantageous to use, are original in form, the side
receiving the thrust being cut at a right angle to the axis of the screw, and
the other side at an oblique angle, making the threads similar in form to the
teeth of a ratchet, and combining the advantage of a "square-threaded screw"
with the advantage of its being easily made in dies or screw plates. The
screw is turned either through a hole in the pendant of the case by a
connecting wheel, two pinions, and an arbor, or through an aperture in the
glass by a fork fitting the tail of the hand, or by any other convenient means.
When the instrument is made to range a long distance a slit is cut lengthways
in the screw, so that a pinion and hand may be carried round by tongs
projecting from them into the slit, and the screw move from end to end
without the pinion or hand following it. The drop piece is pivoted by a screw
into a frame attached to the centre of the mainspring, and moves with the
top of the vacuum box. The vacuum box employed resembles that of the
"aneroid" in its general features, but differs from it in details of manufacture,
one of which is that it is hermetically closed without any tube projecting from
it as in the "aneroid," so that the box from this cause and the central position
it is enabled to occupy by the arrangement of other parts can be made much
Jarger in proportion to the size of the instrument. The mainspring employed to
keep the vacuum box distended is in the form of a flat elliptical band encircling
the box, which gives the advantage of a much longer spring than that of the
"aneroid," without the tendency which it has to draw the top of the box to
one side in extended ranges of the instrument. When the range of the instru-
ment is made considerable (as it can by this improvement be made to read
the hundredths of an inch, and indicate through twenty inches of barometrical
pressure), the divisions on the dial are continued round in circles one within
the other either spirally from the outside to the inside, or concentric with each
other, and a second dial is added to indicate which inch and circle of fine
divisions the hand is pointing to. The instrument ranging the above distance
may be made as small as an ordinary sized pocket chronometer, and fitted into
a similar case.
'
The second part of my improvements is for the purpose of measuring the
force of horizontal, vertical, or oblique motions of the atmosphere (or other
gaseous bodies) from gentle breezes to strong gales, and to make the instru-
ment of a size and form that can be conveniently carried in the pocket. One
form of this improvement consists of a disc fixed on the end of a lever moving

page_text: on a pivoted axis, and having a weight on the opposite side to counterpoise
the disc and lever. A spiral spring is coiled concentric with the axis and.
attached to it at one end, the other end of the spring being secured to a dial.
which in use is turned round to wind up the spring until its strength balances.
the force of the wind impinging on the disc, and thus enable its force to be
read off on the dial. A second scale is placed at the end of the disc for
sbewing very gentle movements of the atmosphere or currents. The range of
the instrument is increased by having two discs, one smaller than the other,
so that either can be attached to the lever to suit the force of the wind. The.
works are contained in a suitable case for protecting them from the weather
or injury in the pocket, and the case is constructed so that it can exclude the.
wind from the edge of the disc and allow the force to be ascertained in one
direction independent of another.. The case is connected with the case of a.
magnetic compass by a joint, which allows it to be set to any angle with the
horizontal for ascertaining the downward or upward direction of the wind, and
a dial is attached for reading off the inclination, whilst the compass shows the
direction. Another arrangement to effect similar objects consists of a drum
moving round a pivoted axis with a coiled spring inside, and having a flexible
cord wound on the outside, to the outward end of which a ball of a fixed size
is attached, this is composed of very light material, such as bladder, india-
rubber, or other suitable material inflated with air when the instrument is to
be used. The action is as follows:-The wind blowing on the ball causes it
to draw the cord off the druin and wind the spring up until the forces are
balanced, when a hand affixed to the axis of the drum records the force on a
dial, and two registering pointers moved by the hand record the extremes of
range since the instrument was last set. The works are contained in a
suitable case, and may be conveniently carried in the pocket after the air is
expelled from the ball. A pipe is fixed to one side of the case in which a
pivot may be inserted to allow the instrument to swing round and act as a
vane. A magnetic compass is attached to shew the direction of the wind.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Loseby in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
5 THOMAS LOSEBY, of 124, Wood Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, and
also of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Horologist, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Thomas Loseby, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Thomas Loseby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Edward Thomas Loseby, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF INSTRUMENTS FOR ASCERTAINING THE
PRESSURE AND THE MOVING FORCE OF THE ATMOSPHERE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Loseby, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 Edward Thomas Loseby, 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 fol-
lowing statement, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in instruments for ascer-
taining the pressure of the atmosphere for measuring altitudes, and for
ascertaining the direction and moving force of atmospheric and other currents.
The said improvements relate, first, to instruments for measuring the baro-
metrical pressure of the atmosphere and other gaseous bodies or vapours, the
object being thereby to obtain greater accuracy and longer ranges in a smaller
and more portable instrument than the aneroid and the like now used for that
purpose. One method by which I effect this improvement is by the intro-
duction of a micrometer screw to measure the rise and fall of the vacuum box
in place of the ordinary aneroid mechanism of levers and chains. This
micrometer screw is placed immediately over a steel stud which is attached to
the centre of the vacuum box and projects above; it between this stud and the
end of the micrometer screw a pivoted drop piece is placed, and which falls
the-instant the screw is unturned sufficiently to remove the bearing points of the
screw, stud, and drop piece out of contact with each other; by this improve-
ment the amount of atmospheric pressure upon the vacuum box is accurately.

page_text: determined by the rotary motion of the screw, and indicated by a hand in
connection therewith travelling round a graduated dial. The threads of the
screw which are found to be most advantageous are of an original or novel
form; the sides resisting the thrust are cut at right angles to the axis of the
screw on one side, and at an oblique angle on the other, making the threads.
similar in form to those of a ratchet, and combining the advantage of a
square-threaded screw with that of its being easily made in dies or screw
plates. The micrometer screw is turned by the observer either through a
hole in the pendents of the case or by a connecting wheel and two pinions, or
through an aperture in the glass by a fork fitting the tail of the hand, or by
the glass being turned in the bizzle, or the bizzle being turned on the case, or
by any other suitable means. When the instrument is intended to range a
long distance a slot is cut lengthways in the screw, so that the pinion and
hand riding on the screw as an axis may be carried round by tongues projecting
from them into the said slot, the screw can consequently be moved from end
to end without the pinion and hand following it in this direction. The drop
piece is pivoted by a screw into a frame attached to the centre of the main'
spring herein-after described, or to the top of the vacuum box, and it is made
to fall either by its own gravity or by a suitable spring, and an aperture is left
in the dial to enable its fall to be seen. The vacuum box which I employ is
similar in form to that of the aneroid barometer, but differs therefrom in the
following respects, namely, it is hermetically closed without any sealing tube
projecting from it, so that from this improvement and the others herein-after
mentioned, and from the central position it occupies in the case, a much
larger vacuum box can be used in proportion to the size of the instrument.
The material which I prefer to employ for the vacuum boxes of the best
instruments is steel hardened and tempered, and the tops and bottoms of the
boxes are raised outward, presenting an eliptical form when seen edgeways
before being exhausted, and thus the box is made to serve as a spring for
keeping it distended in opposition to the pressure of the atmosphere, and the
strength given to the box may be sufficient to do without any mainspring
when the box is made of steel. The mainspring which I use when the same is
required is in the form of a flat eliptical band which encircles the box, this
gives the advantage of a much longer spring than that of the aneroid, while it'
remedies the tendency which the aneroid spring has to draw the box on one
side in extended ranges of the instrument; the ends of the spring are brazed.
or otherwise jointed together in order to reduce the number of bearing surfaces
and render the said spring uniformally elastic. By these improvements in the
construction of instruments of this class the vacuum box is separated from the.

page_text: indicating mechanism at the instant of observation, and is therefore un-
influenced by it, while the micrometer screw affords the means of measuring
the rise and fall of the vacuum box with the greatest precision throughout the
longest ranges.
It will be seen that in an instrument formed with the
improvements as above described it is necessary for the observer to operate
the screw in order to ascertain the amount of pressure upon the vacuum. To
obviate the necessity of this operation and at the same time to remedy the
defective and varying action of the chain and lever aneroid mechanism, which
is constantly liable to derangement, I adopt another improvement; tho
modified arrangement which I prefer, in order to secure the greatest uniformity
of action which can be obtained without the use of the screw, consists of a
rack rising vertically from the top of the mainspring and vacuum box (which
are the same in form and position as described for the screw arrangement);
the teeth of this rack engage those of a horizontal pinion at one end, whilst
the other end of the pinion turns a crown wheel for changing the direction of
the axis, and enabling the remaining wheels to run parallel with the vacuum
box and dial; the crown wheel carries on its axis a spur wheel of much larger
diameter, which drives a pinion carrying a spur wheel on its axis, and this
drives a central pinion on which the hand is placed; the axis of the central
pinion also carries another pinion driving a large spur wheel which is engraved
with figures to serve for a small index dial for the purpose herein-after described.
A coiled hair spring is placed upon the axis of this last-mentioned wheel to
keep the bearing surfaces of the teeth through the train of wheels in constant
contact (and answer the purpose of the hair spring in the aneroid, but unlike
the aneroid); this arrangement allows the hand to revolve several times upon
the dial without the spring being wound up more than one turn. The re-
maining details refer equally to both the new constructions. When the
instruments are made to range a considerable distance, as they can by the
foregoing arrangements be made to read to hundredths of an inch, and
indicate through a change of 20 barometrical inches or to 27,500 feet of
elevation, the divisions on the dial are continued round in circles one within
the other, either spirally from the outside to the inside, or concentric with
each other. The hand extends from the centre screw in one case and central
pinion in the other to the circumference of the dial across all the circles of
divisions, and a small index dial is added, visible through an aperture in the
large one to indicate which spiral of fine divisions the hand is pointing to.
When the instrument is intended for measuring elevations, I prefer to
abolish the inch method of graduating the dial, and to substitute a scale of
feet of elevation. The dials are graduated by a standard mercurial baronieter.

page_text: in which I use an improvement applicable to murcurial barometers generally,
and which improvement obviates the necessity of any correction for neutral
point. I effect this by making the inch divisions as much shorter as the
murcury falls in the cistern by rising in the tube. A line is traced across the
glass of the improved instruments to serve as a setting hand for marking the
last reading of the dial; the glass is either made to turn easily in the bizzle,
or the bizzle to turn easily on the case. The vacuum box and screw, or
wheels and pinions, as the case may be, are mounted in frames, having pillars
and bars similar to those of a watch, and the improved instruments ranging
20 barometrical inches (or to 27,500 feet of elevation) is made as small as an
ordinary pocket chronometer, and can be fitted into a similar case.
Secondly, to instruments for measuring the force of horizontal, vertical, or
oblique motions of air or other gaseous bodies from gentle currents to strong
gales. One form of this improvement consists of a disc fixed on the end of a
lever moving on a pivoted axis, and having a weight on the opposite side to
counterpoise the disc and lever. A spiral spring is coiled concentricly with
the axis and attached to it at one end, the other end of the spring being
secured to a dial which in use is turned round to wind up the spring until its
strength balances the force of the wind impinging on the disc, and thus enable
its force to be read off on the dial. A second scale is placed at the end of the
disc for measuring very gentle currents of air. The range of this instrument
is increased by having two discs, one smaller than the other, so that either
can be attache to the lever to suit the force of the wind. The works are
contained in a suitable case for protecting them from injury, which is small
enough to be conveniently carried in the pocket. A rim on the case excludes
the wind from the edge of the disc when it is desired to ascertain the force in
one direction apart from another. The case contains a magnetic compass
connected with it by a joint, which allows the instrument to be set at any
angle with the horizon for ascertaining the downward or upward direction of the
wind, and an index is provided for reading off the inclination, whilst the
compass shews the magnetic direction. Another arrangement to effect similar
objects consists of a drum with a coiled spring inside moving round an axis,
and having a flexible cord mounted on the outside, to the outward end of
which a ball of a certain size is attached, this is composed of very light
material, such as bladder, india-rubber, &c., and inflated with air when the
instrument is to be used. The action is as follows:-The wind blowing on the
ball causes it to draw the cord off the drum and wind the spring up until
the forces are balanced, when a hand affixed to the axis of the drum records
the force on a dial, and two registering pointers moved by the hand record the

page_text: extremes of range since the instrument was last set. The works are contained
in a suitable case, and may be conveniently carried in the pocket after the air
has been expelled from the ball. A pipe is fixed to one side of the case in
which a pivot may be inserted to allow the instrument to swing round and act
as a wind vane. A magnetic compass is attached to shew the direction of the
.wind.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the constructions herein described for ascertaining the barometrical
pressure of the atmosphere and for determining elevations.
Secondly, the constructions herein described for ascertaining the direction
and the moving force of the air or other gaseous bodies.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Loseby, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
EDWARD THOMAS LOSEBY. (L.S.)