AN IMPROVED WEIGHING MACHINE AND MECHANICAL LEVEL, PROVIDED WITH DOUBLE CHECKING INDICATION, EFFECTED BY A TRAIN OF TOOTHED WHEELS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Theodor Poseck and Isidor Selten
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th August 1880.
THEODOR POSECK, Carpenter,.and ISIDOR SELTEN, Merchant, both in Berlin, in
the Empire of Germany. "AN IMPROVED WEIGHING MACHINE AND MECHANICAL
LEVEL, PROVIDED WITH DOUBLE CHECKING INDICATION, EFFECTED BY A TRAIN
OF TOOTHED WHEELS."
Our improvements consist in certain arrangements, whereby variations in weight
or level, however small, are capable of being readily ascertained by means of
suitable wheel and pinion gear fitted with indicator hands or pointers.
In applying our improvements to weighing machines, we make use of that kind
which is known as the "bent lever" form of balance. The main axle, upon which
the bent lever works, is mounted in suitable bearings, which bearings are attached
At
to or form part of the front and back plates mounted on an adjustable stand.
the front end of the main axle an indicator hand or pointer is fitted, and an index
or graduated scale is engraved upon the front plate, forming part of a circle, of
which the axle is the centre. At the back end of this axle the bent lever is fitted,
with an adjustable weight on the lower end of the lever. The upper end of tho
back plate is fitted with suitable guides in which a vertical rod works, the scale
or pan being fitted to the top of this rod, whereupon the articles to be weighed
are placed. A connecting rod is fitted, having one end jointed to the upper end of
the bent lever, and the other to the upper end of the vertical rod or the underside
of the scale or pan, whereby the whole weight of the scale with its rod, connecting
rod, and articles to be weighed is borne by the upper arm of the bent lever.
About midway between the two ends of the main axle a toothed wheel, or a
portion of a toothed wheel (according to the extent of the working radii) is fitted,
The two ends of
the teeth of which actuate a pinion fitted below the main axle.
this pinion axle also work in bearings in the front and back plates. The front end
of the pinion axle is fitted with an indicator hand or pointer, and a dial is engraved
on this part of the front plate having a circular graduated scale or index, of which
the pinion axle forms the centre. According to the proportion or difference
between the radius of the toothed wheel and the pinion, so will be the greater
movement of the pinion indicator to that of the main indicator. Thus, if the
difference is as ten to one, the pinion indicator will move through an arc of ten

page_text: degrees, while the main indicator only moves through one degree, and thus a slight
movement of the scale, which would be scarcely perceptible to the eye from the
main indicator, would be clearly seen by means of the pinion indicator. The
apparatus can be adjusted to a vertical. position by means of a screw or screws in
one or more of the feet, or the stand may be formed to rest upon three screws with
milled heads for adjustment.
In applying our Invention to mechanical levels, the main and pinion axles are
placed side by side instead of one above the other. The "level" consists of a bar
of wood or other suitable material, with parallel edges, and having a mortise or
cavity, wherein the works, consisting of the wheel, pinion, axles, and weight, are
inserted. A weight of a semi-circular, segmental, or other suitable form is attached
to the toothed wheel on the main axle, which by the action of gravitation retains
the main pointer in one position with respect to the earth; and if the object, the
level of which is to be ascertained, is truly horizontal, the indicator hand on each
of the two axles will point to zero; but if the level of the object is not horizontal,
the main indicator will show a certain distance of departure from zero, and the
pinion indicator will measure that departure with greater precision in proportion to
the difference between the radius of the main wheel and that of the pinion.
The front plate with its graduated scales is fitted to one side of the mortise, and
a glass plate, fitted dust proof, covers the plate and hands or indicators. The
other side of the mortise is covered with the back plate, which is made removable
for the purpose of adjusting or repairing the apparatus. The back ends of the two
axles are supported by a bracket, so as to be independent of the back plate.