Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating and Recording the Speed of, and Distance Travelled by Motor Cars, or other Road Vehicles, and Railway or Tramway Locomotives and Cars.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Feb., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Nov., 1898-Accepted, 23rd Feb.,
1899
Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating and Recording the Speed
of, and Distance Travelled by Motor Cars, or other Road Vehicles,
and Railway or Tramway Locomotives and Cars.
I, GEORGE ROBERTSON HISLOP, of the Gas Works, Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, Engineer and Gas Works Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be follows:-
:―
which
This invention relates to apparatus for indicating and recording the speed of
motor cars or other road vehicles and railway or tramway locomotives and cars,
and it has for its object to provide a device of that class
will indicate to the driver or passenger during any minute or like period of
time the rate of speed at which the vehicle travels and which may also record
the speed at all times throughout any journey or number of journeys so as to
show whether the maximum speed allowed has been exceeded.
The improved apparatus comprises clockwork mechanism and a dial resembling
that of an ordinary clock, the usual hour and minute hands being provided as
also a centre seconds hand, i.e., a hand which completes a revolution around the
dial in 60 seconds, and finally a speed indicating hand or pointer. The hour,
minute and seconds hands are actuated by the clockwork in the usual way, but
the speed indicating hand is driven through gearing from one of the running
wheels of the vehicle the said hand being fitted upon a central arbor or spindle
carried through the clock-work spindles and driven by means of bevel gearing
from a vertical or other shaft having keyed on it ratchets operated by a pawl
or pawls carried by a lever arm which is struck and moved by a projection on
the vehicle wheel at each revolution of the latter or is otherwise operated by
a moving part of the vehicle. By preference the pawl lever is fitted with two
pawls arranged to act in opposite directions on separate ratchets so that the
first motion shaft of the apparatus may be driven in either direction according
as the vehicle is driven forward or backward. Movement always in the same
direction is communicated to the arbor carrying the indicating hand or pointer
by gearing said arbor from the first motion shaft through two bevel wheels on
the former meshing with a bevel pinion on the latter the bevels being fitted each
to turn loosely in one direction but to engage with and turn the arbor when
moved in the opposite direction. In addition to the ordinary hour and minute
divisions on the dial face the dial is graduated to represent miles the circle being
divided for example to show 15 miles. Assuming that the speed of the vehicle
at any time is at the rate of 10 miles an hour the indicating hand should pass
over ten of the mile divisions on the dial while the seconds hand completes
revolution, the gearing which actuates the indicating hand being proportioned
to produce that result. In this way the driver or passenger may by an observation
extending over only a single minute ascertain the speed of the vehicle in miles
per hour. The centre seconds hand may be brought to zero in the ordinary way
for the purpose of facilitating the reading of the speed indicator at any time. A

page_text: bell may be made to ring on the completion of each mile run as an additional
check for the passengers.
In order to obtain a permanent record of the distance traversed and the rate of
speed at all times throughout a journey or several journeys of the vehicle a
cylinder or disc rotated by the clockwork is provided and placed within the
clock casing. Upon this cylinder or disc a suitable diagram card or disc is
placed whereon the 24 hours of the day or other periods are represented by
vertical lines, or by lines drawn from near the centre to the periphery of a
disc, and the miles per hour which the vehicle is allowed to travel by horizontal
or radial lines as the case may be; and from the spindle passing to the dial
of the time-piece, toothed wheels are arranged to reduce the speed from one
revolution per minute to one revolution per hour. Upon the spindle giving this
speed a crank or eccentric or the like is provided to which a spindle or arm is
attached, and upon the lower end of same an inking pen, pencil or style is fitted
to trace the distance travelled across the mile or quarter mile lines during each
revolution of the crank or eccentric. Thus not only will the distance travelled
every 24 hours be recorded but every stoppage and the duration of same in minutes
or hours and equally so whether the motion is backward or forward.
In addition to the indicating mechanism described an index may be added for
reading the miles travelled per day, month or year. The speed indicating
mechanism and clockwork are enclosed within a suitable casing provided with
locking doors for official control and for necessary access to the diagrammatic
registering part of the apparatus, and the apparatus is placed upon any part
of the vehicle that may be most suitable for communicating the movements of
the vehicle to the indicating and registering devices.
Dated this 92nd love of Tal 1000
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Apparatus for Indicating and Recording the Speed.
of, and Distance Travelled by Motor Cars, or other Road Vehicles,
and Railway or Tramway Locomotives and Cars.
I, GEORGE ROBERTSON HISLOP, of the Gas Works, Paisley, in the County of
Renfrew, Engineer and Gas Works Manager, 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:-
This invention relates to apparatus for indicating and recording the speed of
motor cars or other road vehicles and railway or tramway locomotives and cars,
bicycles and the like, and it has for its object to provide a device of that class which
will indicate to the driver or passenger during any minute or other short period of
time the rate of speed at which the vehicle travels and which may also record
the speed at all times throughout any journey or number of journeys so as to
show whether the maximum speed allowed has been exceeded.
In the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 2 are sectional elevations at
right angles to each other of the improved speed indicating and recording
apparatus, Figure 3 is a sectional plan of the same and Figure 4 is a front or face

page_text: view of the case containing the apparatus. Figures 5 and 6 are respectively side
and end elevations of a modified form of one of the details of the apparatus.
The improved apparatus comprises clockwork mechanism A and a dial B
resembling that of an ordinary clock, the usual hour and minute hands C, D),
being provided as also a centre seconds hand E, i.e. a hand which completes a
revolution around the dial in 60 seconds, and finally a speed indicating hand or
pointer F. The hour, minute, and seconds hands are actuated by the clockwork A
in the usual way, but the speed indicating hand F is driven through gearing as
hereinafter described from one of the running wheels W of the vehicle, the
said hand F being fitted upon a central arbor or spindle G carried through the
clockwork spindles and driven by means of bevel gearing H, H, H³, from a
vertical or other shaft I having keyed on it two ratchet wheels J, J, operated by
spring pawls K, K', carried by a lever arm L which is struck and moved by
a projection U on the vehicle wheel W at each revolution of the latter, or is
otherwise operated by a moving part of the vehicle. By preference the pawl lever
is fitted with two pawls K, K, arranged to act in opposite directions on separate
ratchet wheels J, J', so that the first motion shaft I of the apparatus may be
driven in either direction according as the vehicle is driven forward or backward.
When employed on a high vehicle a worm wheel J is substituted for the ratchet
wheels J, J, on the shaft I, said worm wheel being operated, as shewn by
Figures 5 and 6, by a worm K2 upon one end of a shaft L having a spoked wheel M
at the other, one spoke of the latter being struck at one time by a suitable pin
attached to the driving wheel and moved backward or forward as the case may
be on each revolution of the wheel of the vehicle, and in order to regulate the
radial distance travelled by the spoked wheel the shaft L is provided with three
bearings N1, N2, N3, two of which are placed a short distance apart and behind
the spoked wheel M and connected by a bridge 0 to which is attached a double
ramshorn spring P fitted to embrace one of a set of five anti-friction rollers Q
keyed on and encircling shaft L. The three journals N1, N2, N3, are secured
to the bed plate to which the lower end of shaft I is pivoted. Movement always
in the same direction is communicated to the arbor G carrying the indicating
hand or pointer F by gearing said arbor G from the first motion shaft I through
two bevel wheels H, H2, on the former meshing with a bevel pinion Hon
the latter the bevels H1, H2, being fitted cach to turn loosely in one direction but
to engage with the bevel H and turn the arbor G when moved in the opposite
direction. In addition to the ordinary hour and minute divisions on the dial
face as shown at Figure 4, the dial B is graduated to represent miles, the circle
being divided for example to show 10 miles. Assuming that the speed of the
vehicles at any time is at the rate of 10 miles an hour the indicating hand should
pass over ten of the mile divisions on the dial while the seconds hand completes
a revolution, the gearing which actuates the indicating hand being proportioned
to produce that result. In this way the driver or passenger by an observation
extending over only a single minute or even part of a minute may ascertain the
speed of the vehicles in miles per hour.
The centre seconds hand may be brought to zero by a pusher in the ordinary
way for the purpose of facilitating the reading of the speed indicator at any time.
A bell M may be made to ring on the completion of each mile run as an
additional check for the passengers.
In order to obtain a permanent record of the distance traversed and the rate
of speed at all times throughout a journey or several journeys of the vehicle a
cylinder or disc on a spindle N¹ rotated by the clockwork through gearing 0,01,
is provided and placed within the clock casing X. Upon this cylinder a suitable
diagram, paper or card is placed whereon the 24 hours of the day or other periods
are represented by vertical lines as shown by Figure 2 (or by lines drawn from
near the centre to the periphery of a disc) and the miles per hour which the
vehicle is allowed to travel by horizontal or radial lines as the oase may be:
or instead of a single cylinder three recording cylinders R1, R2, R3, are provided

page_text: the first of which is geared with the clockwork A so as to make four revolutions
per 24 hours, while R2 which contains four coils of the diagram paper, is free
to revolve upon its own axis, but controlled by glandular friction straps S and
pinching screw to secure the necessary tension of the said diagram paper. Both
cylinders are hollow and fitted with proper spindles and bearing sockets, the whole
being secured upon a sole plate. The cylinder R³ over the front of which the
paper diagramu passes is also free to revolve upon its axis and against its face,
the recording style T carried on an arm T is made to work. the vertical motion
being given to same by connecting rod U and crank V from the speed recording
spindle G. The said cylinder R3 is provided with a flange at top and bottom the
top one being screwed on for removal and between said flanges the space around
cylinder may be fitted with compressed Cumberland lead (plumbago) for the
purpose of duplicating the diagrams. From the spindle G passing to the dial
of the time-piece, toothed wheels P2, P¹, on that spindle and a counter-shaft I'
are arranged to reduce the speed from one revolution per minute to one revolution
per hour, when travelling at maximum speed. Upon the spindle I giving this
reduced speed the crank or eccentric V or the like is provided to which the arm T
is attached, and upon the lower end of said arm the inking pen, pencil or
style T is fitted to trace the distance travelled across the mile or quarter mile
lines on the indicator diagram N¹ during each revolution of the crank or
eccentric V. Thus not only will the distance travelled every 24 hours be recorded
but every stoppage and its duration in minutes or hours and equally so whether
the motion is backward or forward.
In addition to the indicating mechanism described an index may be added for
reading the miles travelled per day, month or year.
The speed indicating mechanism and clockwork are enclosed within a suitable
casing X provided with locking doors for official control and for necessary access
to the diagrammatic registering part of the apparatus, and the apparatus is placed
upon any part of the vehicle that may be most suitable for communicating
the movements of the vehicle to the indicating and registering devices.
Instead of the clock dial being placed in centre as shown it may be placed in the
lower side of dial to indicate hours and minutes only, while the seconds pointer
revolves upon the spindle in the centre of the large dial with the motor pointer.
Instead of passing the motor spindle through the minute spindle or minute
and hour spindles, the equivalent of same in wheel gearing may be substituted
whereby the seconds and motor pointers are made to rotate upon the same dial
or the seconds and motor pointers may be rotated over separate smaller dials
upon the same face or otherwise, for the purpose of determining the speed
travelled by a seconds clock movement in relation to the movement of a pointer
operated by the movement of the vehicle car or locomotive.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. Apparatus for indicating the speed of motor cars, cycles or other road
vehicles or railway or tram locomotives or cars in miles per hour by an observation
of one minute or part thereof, the said apparatus being composed of a clock-
work and dial in conjunction with a central arbor passing through the minute or
minute and hour hand spindles and furnished with an indicating pointer over
the dial, the said arbor being rotated through gearing by ratchet and pawl er
like devices actuated from the vehicle wheel or other moving part of the vehicle
substantially as described.
2. Apparatus for indicating and recording the speed of motor cars, cycles or
other road vehicles or railway or tram locomotives or cars composed of a clock-
work and dial in conjunction with a central arbor carried through the minute
or minute and hour hand spindles or geared thereto or otherwise and furnished
with a pointer over the dial or dials, the said arbor being rotated through gearing

page_text: actuated from the vehicle wheel or otherwise, and a recording drum or drums,
disc or discs furnished with a graduated indicating card and driven from the
clockwork in combination with a recording style having movement imparted to
it by gearing from the central arbor substantially as described.
3. Apparatus for recording the speed of road vehicles, locomotives or cars com-
posed of a clockwork and time dial in combination with a recording drum or
disc carried by a spindle driven by the clockwork and furnished with a graduated
indicator card, and a movable recording style bearing on said card and having
movement imparted to it through shafts and gearing actuated from the vehicle
wheel substantially as described.
Dated this 2nd doy of Novambor 1898
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agent for the Applicant.