Improvements in Meters or Scales for Automatically Weighing Grain and the like.
Year: 1888

page_text: COMPLETE DILUIFICATION.
Improvements in Meters or Scales for Automatically Weighing Grain
and the like.
We, ALFRED SPRINGER, residing at No. 387, West 4th Street, in the City of
Cincinatti, County of Hamilton and State of Ohio, and WILLIAM KENT, residing at
No. 92, Reade Street, in the City, County and State of New York, United States of
America, Gentlemen, 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:―
Our invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in meters or scales
for automatically weighing grain and the like, similar in the main principles of their
construction to the scales described in letters patent previously granted to us in the
United States of America, No. 365,874, No. 365,875, No. 365,876, and No. 365,877 all
issued on the 5th day of July, 1887. Our invention therefore has special reference to
automatic meters or scales using as pivots of rotation stretched wires or bands acting
torsionally.
The object of our invention is to insure a positive and uniform action to the buckets,
while at the same time the supply of grain is so regulated and finally cut off, that the
amount of grain which falls into the bucket after full weight has been given is reduced
to a minimum.
With these ends in view, our invention consists in certain details of construction and
combination of clements such as will be hereinafter fully set forth and then specifically
designated by the claims.
In order that, those skilled in the art to which our invention appertains may
fully understand the same, we will proceed to describe the same in detail, referring
by letter to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in
which―
Figure 1, is a front elevation illustrating our invention.
Figure 2, a section taken on the line, x, x, of Figure 1.
Figure 3, a broken away front elevation, showing particularly a modified form of
retarding weights for the buckets.
Figure 4, a front elevation, with the buckets broken away and the frame removed,
showing the application of flexure pivotal or rocking points to our invention.

page_text: Figure 5, a section taken on the line, y, y, of Figure 4.
Figure 6, a front elevation, with the buckets broken away; illustrating the
manner in which ordinary journal pivots may be utilized in connection with our
invention.
Figure 7, a side elevation of the construction shown at Figure 6.
Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing.
A, is an endless band or wire stretched tightly over the truss, B. C, C¹, are grain
buckets rigidly secured together and also rigidly fastened to the truss, B. D, is a
pedestal having uprights, D', to which latter the lower portion of the wire, A, is firmly
clamped by means of caps, a, and screws, b. The buckets with the truss are thus
pivotally attached to the pedestal by the wire, A, and are free to oscillate between any
desired limits, which movement is readily permitted and aided by the torsional yielding
of the wire.
E, is a yoke clamped to the upper section of the wire, A, and carrying at each end
trap doors, F, F¹ This yoke thus torsionally pivoted is free to oscillate between
limits which are determined and fixed by the relative angles of the bottoms of the
buckets and of the trap doors themselves, so as to alternately open and close the
bottoms of the respective buckets as will be presently explained."
To the upper part of the yoke, E, is rigidly secured an upwardly projecting rod or
support, R, carrying a heavy poise, P, adjustable upon it. The center of gravity of the
yoke, E, is accordingly above its center of oscillation, and the system composed of the
yoke, poise and trap doors is therefore top-heavy and always tends to fall in one
direction or the other, thus leaving one of the buckets open and the other closed. The
bucket is held closed by force which is dependent upon the weight of the poise, P, the
length of the rod, R, and on the degree of divergence of the latter from a perpendicular.
Stops, T, may be located either on the frame, G, as seen at Figure 1, or they may be
attached directly to the buckets, against which stops the rod, R, is adapted to abut, thus
limiting its oscillation. The center of gravity of the buckets being far above their
common torsional pivotal point, they are likewise top-heavy and tend to fall to one.
side or the other, this movement being limited by stops, S, S¹, secured to the
frame, G.
J, is another torsion band or wire tightly stretched around a truss, I, the lower
section of said wire being clamped to uprights, L, projecting from a pedestal, Q; which
latter is mounted upon the frame, G. A rod, K, carrying a poise, W, is clamped to
the upper section of this wire, J, and is free to oscillate between stops, M, M', which
are secured to the frame, G. O, is a spout or funnel above the buckets, and, N, a cut
off plate attached to and bridging the mouths of the buckets, C, C.
To the edge
of the spout, O, are attached thin strips of leather or other suitable material,
which act as a flexible extension to said spout. The operation of our improvement is
as follows:
The bucket, C', resting against the stop, S¹, and the bucket, C, having its trap door
closed by the gravitating action of the poise, P, which latter has fallen towards the
bucket, , and the weight, W, resting against the stop M', through the medium of
the rod, K, grain is allowed to pour through the spout, O, into the bucket, C.
When enough grain has entered this bucket, C, so that its weight over balances
the gravitating action of the whole structure which holds the bucket, C¹,
against the stop, S₁, said bucket will begin to swing away from said stop.
When a small distance has been traveled the bucket, C, comes in contact with the
weight, W, whose supporting rod, K, has hitherto rested against the stop, M¹, and not
against the movable structure, and has up to this time, exercised no force upon the
bucket, C, to provent its movement. The stop, M', may be adjusted with relation
to the weight, W, that when the movement of the bucket has been checked by
said weight as above set forth, the cut off plate, N, will have been carried under-
neath the spout, 0, to a sufficient extent to cut off to any desired degree, say
three fourths the supply of grain which has hitherto poured into the bucket.
Grain now continues to fall through the diminished spout area into this bucket, C,
and therefore the filling of the latter is continued until enough more grain has

page_text: entered said bucket to overcome the additional resistance introduced by the
weight, W, when said bucket will swing again, carrying with it the weight. W,
until the latter falls suddenly by gravity against the opposite stop, M, thereby
allowing said bucket, so relieved, to drop immediately to the opposite side and
rest against the stop, S, thereby cutting off the supply of grain into the bucket, C
and bringing the mouth of the bucket, C, immediately beneath the spout, O. During
the swing of the buckets from one side to the other, the poise, P, which rests
against the stop, T, at one side through the medium of the rod, R, will be carried
by the empty bucket until said poise is nearly over the center of gravity in a
vertical line, when the weight of grain in the other bucket will overbalance the
said poise and thereby throw open the trap door of this last named bucket, the
door of the other bucket being simultaneously closed by the continued swing or
fall of said poise and held in this position by the weight of said poise as herein-
before set forth. It will thus be seen that the weight, P, performs the double
function of holding the trap doors closed, and of acting as a counterpoise to the
grain to be weighed. The stops, S, S¹, are yielding, but not to such a degree as
to cause a rebound of the buckets, it being only desirable in this respect to prevent
too heavy a shock when the buckets swing to normal position from one side to
the other. In fact, although it is not absolutely necessary, we prefer to make all
The
the stops slightly resilient so as to afford cushions for the abutting parts.
construction of the stops which act as cushions for the buckets is as follows:
Projecting from the frame, G, are two standards, V, which support two hollow
boxes, X, and extending loosely through the latter are the stop pins, S, S¹.
Rigidly secured to each of these pins is a collar, Y, and around the pins and
between the collars and the outer walls of the boxes are coil springs, Z, which
exert a force to keep the pins extended inward in their normal position.
As the buckets strike these stops, the latter will be forced backward against the
resiliency of the springs, but when the springs react the stops have only a limited
movement owing to the abutment of the collars against the boxes, thus insuring
the positive action of the buckets in coming to a predetermined state of rest with-
out any danger, whatever of a rebound or overthrow. The stops may of course be
made adjustable in order that they may be properly located with regard to the
normal position of the buckets.
Instead of the system composed of the torsionally pivoted rod, K, and the poise, W,
the primary swing of the buckets may be retarded by a system of what we term
pick-up weights which are illustrated at Figure 3, and whose construction and
operation are as follows:
At each side of the scale is a series of V-shaped weights, H, which are supported
one above the other, but out of contact, within the frame, G. Q, are pick-up
levers extending from the buckets and having at their extremities prongs, U, which
project upward within the bottom weights of said series. As the buckets swing
during the final filling in the manner hereinbefore set forth, the levers, Q, will
pick up the weights in succession and thereby retard the swing of the buckets for
the purpose bereinbefore explained. Of course a single weight on each side
will answer the purpose if made sufficiently heavy, but we have shown a series of
such weights, since the swing of the buckets may be more accurately and uniformly
retarded especially in weighing different substances.
We do not wish to limit ourselves to the torsional pivoting of the buckets and
poise systems, since our present invention has nothing whatever to do with the
advantages and peculiarities of a torsional pivot.
Knife edged flexure, journal or point pivots may be readily utilized with no
change whatever in the construction or operation of our improvement.
In Figure 4, we have shown the buckets secured to cross-frames, A", which latter
are firmly clamped to the middle of a wire, B¹¹, projecting from the upright,.D'. To
the top of this wire is clamped the trap door yoke, E. There are two poises, P,
located on rods, R, projecting from the yoke, E, at each end thereof in the front and
rear of the buckets. The style of pivot thus shown and described is well known as a

page_text: "flexure " rocking pivot, and it will be thus readily seen that this kind of pivot can
be utilized in carrying out our invention.
If perfect accuracy is not aimed at, as for instance in weighing gross substances,
such as coal, a cheaper construction of pivot mechanism may be employed, similar to
that illustrated at Figures 6 and 7, wherein we have shown the buckets swung on
trunnions, C, journaled in boxes, D", within the frame, G, and in this connection
we would pivot the trap doors directly to the buckets, and extend poises, P, rigid with
said doors in the front and roar of said buckets.
The location of the stops for the buckets and poises shown in these Figures 4, 5, 6
and 7, is the same as hereinbefore described, and the operation of the said buckets
and trap doors is precisely as we have above set forth relative to Figures 1 and 2.
The function of the cut-off plate, N, being to shut off a part of the stream of grain
as soon as the buckets begin their movement, it is evident that the width of said cut-
off plate should have such a relation to the extent of oscillation of the buckets, that
the edge of the month of the bucket to be filled should be close to the flexible mouth
of the spout, O, so that the slightest swing of said bucket will cause the area of the
stream of grain from the spout to be diminished by the cut-off plate.
It is also evident that the amount of grain weighed at each oscillation of the
buckets will vary with the extent of oscillation allowed to said buckets; or, in other
words, the amount weighed will vary according to the extent of the deflection of the
counterpoised buckets from a vertical line. When the extent of oscillation is adjusted
to vary the weight discharged at each movement of the buckets, the width of the
plate, N, should be varied also, so that the normal location of its edges will always be
at or near the outer edge of the spout extension. This may be effected by making the
cut-off plate in two sections, one adjustable on the other, or by substituting plates of
different widths.
The flexible extension attached to the end of the spont, O, is an important feature
of this invention, since we have found out, that if the extension be dispensed with
and the metal spout brought closely to the cut-off plate, single grains are apt to be
caught between said plate and spout, and this of itself is sufficient to frequently stop
the motion of the scale altogether. If to escape this difficulty, the spout be raised
higher, then the grain runs out between the plate and spout. The extension acts as a
wiper which sweeps the plate and at the same time prevents the escape of the grain.
It will thus be understood that the gist of our invention rests in the broad idea of
retarding the motion of the buckets, as they swing from side to side during the process
of filling, whereby the supply of grain is partially cut off and gradually reduced, thus
affording a scale whose weighing capacity is accurate and uniform in all instances,
and also in so swinging and counterpoising the trap doors that they will alternately open
and close the bottoms of the buckets.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with a double bucket adapted to
swing beneath the supply spout whereby the mouth of each bucket is alternately
brought to a normal position immediately beneath the spout of means interposed
within the field of the swing of said buckets, whereby the movement of the buckets is
retarded during the final filling of the same, substantially as set forth.
2. In an automatic grain meter, the combination of a pair of buckets rigidly secured
together and having a common pivotal or rocking point, a cut off plate bridging the
space between the mouths of said buckets, a supply spout above the buckets, and a
yielding resistance located within the field of travel of said buckets, substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
3. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with a pair of buckets adapted to
swing synchronously from a common pivotal point and having their mouths connected
by a cut-off plate, of a supply spout located above said buckets in a plane tangential
to the arc described by the latter in their swing from said pivotal point, whereby the

page_text: supply of grain through said spout is automatically and alternately cut off from and
opened into each bucket, substantially as set forth.
4. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with a pair of buckets adapted to
swing synchronously from a common pivotal point, of a pair of trap doors formed
integral or rigidly secured together and having a pivotal point independent of the
buckets and a top-heavy projection extended within the active field of the buckets,
said doors adapted to be operated by the buckets to alternately open and close the
bottoms of the latter, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
5. In combination with a pair of buckets adapted to swing alternately beneath and
beyond a supply spout, a retarding weight pivoted independent of said buckets within
the active field of the latter and adapted to be thrown toward and from the buckets
by their reciprocation, whereby a check is alternately afforded to the swinging buckets
substantially as shown and described.
6. In an automatic discharging meter, the combination of a pair of buckets rigidly
secured together and having a common pivotal or rocking point, a cut-off plate
between the mouths of the buckets, a supply spout above the buckets, and a yielding
wiper attached to the edges of said spout, substantially as set forth.
7. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with a pair of buckets rigidly
secured together and having a common pivotal or rocking point, of a pair of pivoted
trap doors rigidly secured together and adapted to swing alternately beneath and
against the bottoms of the buckets whereby the latter are alternately opened and closed,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
8. In an automatic grain meter, the combination of a pair of buckets rigidly secured
together and having a common pivotal or rocking point, a pivoted yoke having rigidly
extending therefrom a pair of trap doors at an angle to each other, and a counterpoise
to said yoke and doors suspended above their pivotal point, substantially as and for
the purposes herein before set forth.
9. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with a truss having stretched
thereon an endless band of wire, the lower section of the latter being torsionally
clamped to stationary uprights, of a pair of buckets rigidly secured to said truss, and
a pair of trap doors pivoted torsionally to the upper section of said wire, substantially
as set forth.
10. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with the weighing buckets of
yielding stops having a fixed and limited reaction, said stops located at the sides of
the buckets and adapted to receive the shock of the latter as they swing to and fro
during the operation of weighing, substantially as shown and described.
11. In an automatic grain meter, the combination with a pair of buckets adapted
to swing synchronously from a common pivotal point and having arms Q, extending
laterally therefrom and terminating in upwardly projecting prongs, of pick-up
weights supported immediately above said prongs, whereby as the buckets swing said
prongs will pick up said weights, thereby retarding the swing of the buckets,
substantially as set forth.
D
101 1
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