IMPROVED POCKET INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING DISTANCES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Russell Morris, of Oakhill Park,
Hampstead, in the County of Middlesex, and of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Russell Morris
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd December 1873.
I, EDWARD RUSSELL MORRIS, of Oakhill Park, Hampstead, in the
County of Middlesex, and of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED POCKET INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING DISTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the construction of new or improved pocket
instruments for measuring timber, walls, flooring materials, and is
intended for other measuring purposes of a like character.

page_text: My improved instruments are made of a small or pocket size and
are provided with a dial face, on which inches, feet, tens, or other
multiples of feet are represented; but other lineal measurements may
be substituted according to the standard in which the results are wished
to be ascertained.
The distances measured are indicated by hands travelling over the
dial, and revolving either from the same or several centres. The
spindles on which these hands are fixed pass through the dial plate and
are secured to toothed, star (or ratchet), or worm wheels, actuated by
toothed wheels, star pins, or worms, and which are either attached to
and moved directly or indirectly and receive motion from a travelling
roller or the spindle that carries it. This roller projects from or is
placed outside the casing in which the works are contained, and its
periphery may be either smooth, milled, or partly or entireley coated
with india-rubber, fixed or in the form of a moveable ring, as best
adapted for the purpose for which it is to be applied.
To use the instrument it is merely necessary to advance it upon the
object to be measured, when the roller will revolve, and by the means
above described give motion to the hands, which will indicate upon
the dial face the distance travelled.
The diameter of the roller and the relative size of the wheels, &c.,
must of course be so proportioned as to give a correct indication; for
instance, suppose the diameter of the roller is such that it revolves
once in travelling six inches, then if to it is secured a wheel with any
number of teeth imparting motion to a wheel having twice that number,
and on the spindle carrying this last a hand is secured, therefore every
twelve inches travelled by the roller this hand will travel once round
the dial, which being divided into twelve divisions, each division will
represent one inch travelled by the roller, and the parts of a division
the corresponding fractions of an inch. Then if in the side of the
wheel attached to the roller a pin is fixed, which moves a star wheel,
having, say, twenty teeth, one tooth each revolution, and to its spindle,
which may be hollow and concentric with the former spindle, which
can work through it, another hand is fixed, then this hand, would make
one-twentieth of a revolution each six inches travelled by the roller,
and travel once round the dial to every ten feet travelled by the roller;
and the dial being divided into ten divisions each division would

page_text: represent one foot, as indicated by this hand. Then if to this wheel
or spindle a pin is fixed which moves another star wheel, having, say,
ten teeth, one tooth each revolution, and to its spindle also a hand is
fixed, then this hand would make one tenth of a revolution each ten
feet travelled by the roller, and travel once round the dial to every
one hundred feet travelled by the roller; and the dial being divided into
ten divisions each division would represent ten feet, as indicated by
this hand.
By driving another star wheel from this last spindle in the same
manner one thousand feet would be indicated by its hand. Thus the
number of star wheels employed for this purpose might be indefinitely
increased. Toothed wheels could be used instead of the said star
wheels, and smaller wheels or pinions instead of the star pins.
Again, a worm could be fixed upon the spindle carrying the roller,
which would give motion to a worm wheel, to the spindle of which a
hand being attached would travel, say, once round the dial to each
twelve inches travelled by the roller, and would indicate upon the
dial, suitably divided as before, inches and fractions of an inch travelled
by the roller. To this spindle a pinion could be fixed, giving motion
to a wheel attached to a pinion on another spindle, which pinion could
give motion to a wheel whose spindle could be concentric with the
former spindle (one being hollow) to which a hand being fixed could
travel once round the dial to ten, twenty, or other number of feet
travelled by the roller, according to the proportionate sizes of these
wheels. Star wheels could be used, as before, to obtain higher powers
of ten, twenty, &c., and so on. In this form especially the instrument
could be made very small and the dial face fitted with a glass front,
which could be secured by hinges or other means. A ring could be
attached, by which it could be fastened to a watch chain and carried
about the person.
My improved instrument, as herein described, could be combined
with the chartometer, or instrument of a somewhat similar description,
patented by me on the Second day of January One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-three, especially by having the same roller and
worm made to act for both instruments; and by imparting motion to
two worm wheels, directly or indirectly, moving spindles on which
hands were fixed could be made to indicate their respective results,
he instrument being for this purpose made double faced.

page_text: Toothed wheels, or star wheel and star pin, as above described, for
obtaining indications in feet upon the dial of the instrument fitted
with the worm and wheel could be similarly applied to the chartometer
or instrument, as before mentioned, as already patented by me on the
Second day of January One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three,
and indicate the number of revolutions made by the indicating hand
of the chartometer. Or the hand attached to the wheel could be
dispensed with by forming the dial upon the wheel, so that the position
of the wheel would indicate the number instead of the hand..
When it is advantageous to have some means of guiding the
instrument, as for instance in measuring timber, a roller can be
placed at an angle to the travelling roller, which will run along the
side of the object under measurement and keep the travelling roller at
a uniform distance from the edge. This roller may be a fixture or
otherwise, and if necessary its position can be changed by a screw,
slide, lever, or other mechanical equivalent.
When it is wished to measure into corners (as for example. when it
is desired to measure the walls of a room) a pin can be attached to the
instrument, which a spring would cause to project out half the breadth
of the instrument, and which can be easily pressed back at least as far
as the edge of the instrument, so that when the instrument had been
advanced right into the corner (pressing in this pin to the edge), by
again advancing the instrument the length of the pin into the corner,
the distance by which the instrument, was short of the distance into
the corner will be added to and correct the result.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Russell Morris in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
RUSSEL MORRIS, of Oakhill Park, Hampstead, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-

page_text: seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Russel Morris, Her special
licence that I, the said Edward Russel Morris, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Russel
Morris, 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
"IMPROVED POCKET INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING DISTANCES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Russel
Morris, 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 Russel Morris, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (and accompanying Drawings), that is to
say:
A former Invention for which Her Majesty's Royal Letters Patent,
bearing date the Second day of January One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-three, have been granted to me, related to apparatus for
measuring and indicating distances on maps and charts.
The object of my present Invention is to extend the application of
the principal of action of the said apparatus to the measurement of
timber, walls, flooring, and materials, and generally to the obtainment
of linear dimensions. To this end I employ a roller or wheel, herein-
after styled a wheel, mounted in a suitable framing or case, and I employ
arrangements for transmitting motion from such wheel to indices, which
indicate on a dial the extent of the circumferential motion of the said
wheel.
The parts of the instrument may be so proportioned and the dial be
so suitably divided and marked as that feet and inches or any other.
required indications of length may be indicated on the said dial.

page_text: A pawl m acted upon by a spring o serves to limit each movement of
the said star wheel to the required amount. A second star wheel e
furnished with a spring pawl n and having ten teeth is rotated to the
extent of one tooth at each revolution of the star wheel c by means of
a pin g fixed thereto, and the axle of the star wheel e carries an index 7,
which performs one revolution during ten revolutions of the index j,
and as a consequence indicates twenty mètres by each revolution. The
apparatus so constructed is thus calculated to indicate measurements of
length up to twenty mètres, and for all ordinary purposes this will be suffi-
cient, as lengths above twenty mètres may be measured by adding twenty
mètres to the indication for every entire revolution performed by the
index. If however it be desired that the indications shall extend to
higher terms of measurement the apparatus may be constructed with
additional indices, as indicated by Figures 4, 5, and 6. In these figures a
pin a supposed to be fixed to the star wheel d moves a star wheel 6 one
tooth at each revolution. A pin c on the wheel b gives motion to the star
wheel d, and a pin e fixed thereon gives motion to the star. wheel ƒ, the
arrangement being such as that an index carried by the last-named star
wheel will indicate two thousand mètres, corresponding to sixteen
thousand revolutions of the wheel a. The arrangement of the indices
and of the parts which impart motion thereto, and also the marking
of the dials, may be greatly varied, as for example spur wheels and
pinions may be substituted for the aforesaid star wheels or other suitable
or well-known means may be employed to transmit motion from the
wheel a to the said indices. When the apparatus is used it is only
necessary to roll the wheel a along the surface or line to be measured
and to note the indications of the indices. A part of the outer case is
formed into an index, and when using the instrument this index should
be made to coincide with the commencement and termination of the
line of measurement.
Figures 10 and 12 represent a form of apparatus adapted to the indi-
cation of English feet and fractions of feet. In this example the
wheel a is supposed to be six inches in circumference, and the spur
wheel and pinion c and 6 being in the proportions of two to one the
index & will indicate one foot by one revolution, the dial being divided
and marked to indicate inches and fractions of inches. The star wheel d
having twenty teeth the index j will indicate ten feet by one revolution,
one revolution of the index 7 indicating one hundred feet. The indi-

page_text: cations may be extended to ten thousand feet by means of such an
arrangement as indicated by Figures 13 to 15.
Figures 7 and 8 illustrate an addition which may be made to the
instrument to enable it to be guided more readily in such a case, for
example, as when measuring timber. In the said Figure 6 is an arm on
which a roller c is fitted to revolve, and which may be attached to the
instrument by means of a bolt and wing nut d and e, a steady pin f
on the said arm entering a hole formed in the case of the instrument.
When the instrument is used the roller c may be allowed to run along
the side of the object being measured, as indicated in the Drawing.
Figure 9 illustrates an addition which may be made to the instrument
to facilitate the measurement of lines which terminate in corners, as is
the case, for example, in the walls of rooms. In the said Figure i is a
rod which is fitted to slide in bearings formed in the brackets g and h,
and k is a spiral spring which tends to thrust outwards the head j of the
said rod. When extended the said rod should project beyond the case of
the instrument to the extent of half the greatest width of the said case.
Supposing the instrument to be used to measure the length of one wall
of a room the wheel a is rolled along the wall until the side of the outer
case touches the cross wall, which may be at right angles with the wall
being measured, the rod i sliding inwards. The instrument is then with-
drawn and replaced with the head j of the rod, just touching the said
cross wall, and the instrument is then moved forward again until the
outer case again touches the said cross wall. An amount equal to the
length of the projection of the said rod is thus added to the indications,
the effect being that the instrument will then indicate the short length
which the wheel a cannot traverse.
Figures 16 to 18 illustrate a modification in the form and arrangement
of the instrument. In this example the instrument is represented as
being sufficiently small and compact to be attached to a watch guard.
The wheel a say, for example, one inch in circumference revolves at right
angles to the axes of the internal gearing, and imparts motion by means
of a worm 6 to a wheel c, which revolves once during twelve revolutions
of the wheel a and carries an index h, which indicates one foot by each
revolution. A spur pinion & fixed to the wheel c drives a spur wheel e,
which is fixed to a pinion f, which actuates a wheel g, the proportions
'being such as that the last-named wheel makes a revolution during one

page_text: revolution of the wheel c, the index i connected with the wheel g
indicating twenty-five feet by one revolution.
thus
Fig. 19 illustrates an arrangement in which the "chartometer" which
was the subject of my said former Invention is combined with my
3 present apparatus for indicating measurements in feet and fractional
parts of feet. In this example the apparatus is provided with two worm
wheels c and d, which are so proportioned as that the former makes one
revolution for twelve of the measuring wheel a and the latter one revo-
lution for ten of the wheel a, which is one inch in circumference. The
wheel c imparts movement by means of equal-sized spur wheels e and f
to the index g, which indicates miles or other corresponding terms of
distance on a dial in manner as explained in the Specification of my said
former Invention. The wheel a imparts movement by means of equal
wheels h and m, and by means of a pin j acting on a star wheel k to
indices i and I, which indicate feet and inches or other terms of linear
measurement on a second dial situated on the side of the instrument
opposite to the first-named dial. The worm 6 is so arranged as. that it
can be readily caused to gear with one or the other of the wheels c and d,
as desired. The edge of the wheel a in any of the examples may be
smoothly turned or be milled, or in some cases the formation illustrated
by Figures 20 and 21 may be adopted. In this example a groove is
formed in the edge of the wheel and a ring of caoutchouc or other
suitable material is fixed in the said groove or is sprung into position
therein.
It will be readily understood that revolving dials may be substituted
for the fixed dials, as for example a dial may be fixed to the aforesaid
star wheel d and a fixed index be employed, or the indications may be
viewed through an aperture in the outer case or cover.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of my Invention,
and means whereby I may carry the same into effect, I would in
conclusion have it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise details herein set forth and indicated, as such details may be
greatly varied without departing from the principle and intent of my
Invention, but that I claim,-
First. The pocket apparatus for ascertaining linear dimensions in such
terms for example as mètres or feet and their fractional parts, and
having a wheel a which imparts motion to an index or to indices which

page_text: indicate such dimensions on a dial or on dials, or which imparts revolving
motion to a dial or to dials.
Secondly. The guide roller, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth and indicated when referring to Figures 7 and 8 of the accom-
panying Drawings.
Thirdly. The arrangement substantially as and for the purpose set
forth and indicated when referring to Figure 9 of the said Drawings.
Fourthly. The combination of an apparatus for measuring and indi-
cating distances on maps and charts with the apparatus for indicating
linear dimensions of other objects, substantially as set forth and indicated -
herein-before and in the said Drawings.
Fifthly. The instrument adapted for suspension from a watch guard,
and having a measuring wheel a and a dial or dials on which measure-
ments are indicated.
And, lastly. The general arrangement and construction of the appa-
ratus substantially as and for the purposes set forth and indicated
herein-before and in the said Drawings.
t
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Russel Morris, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 2
four.
Signed and sealed by the said
Edward Russel. Morris, in the
presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent to the Patentee,
3, Princess Street,
Manchester.
EP. RUSSELL MORRIS. (L.S.)