IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING DISTANCES PASSED OVER BY PEDESTRIANS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Elton Morris, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Student of Science, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING DISTANCES PASSED OVER BY
PEDESTRIANS."
Sealed the 17th February 1865, and dated the 15th September 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Elton Morris at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th September 1864.
I, JORN ELTON MORRIS, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Student
of Science, do hereby declare tho nature of the said Invention for "INPROVE-
MENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING DISTANCES PASSED OVER
BY PEDESTRIANS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object the measurement and registering of
distances passed over by pedestrians with increased accuracy. The instru-
ment for this purpose consists of two parts, that is to say, of a rod constructed
and arranged on the principle herein-after described for communicating the
motions of the legs, or leg and body, of the pedestrian to the registering
apparatus, and a meter or case containing the mechanism of such apparatus.
The meter is fastened to a belt worn round the body, and the apparatus
contained within this meter or caso is worked by the rod mounted on a pivot
therein, the upper end of which rod (or that part above the pivot) is con-
nected by a chain to a barrel communicating with the ordinary counting
wheels and dials, and the lower end of the same rod (or that part below the
pivot) is, for convenience, fixed by a clasp to one thigh of the wearer, though
in theory it is continued to the ground. By means of this arrangement the

page_text: forward movements of the leg to which the lower end of the said rod is fixed,
and the same movements of the body to which the meter is fixed, aro alter-
nately communicated to the wheels, and the amount thereof indicated by the
dials of the registering apparatus.
The principle on which the rod is constructed and arranged is that of adjust-
ing the length of its part above the pivot to a definite proportion of the height
of that pivot from the ground, as depending on the stature of the operator, so that
when the rod is in motion, and is thereby forming above and below its pivot
with the perpendicular two imaginary triangles, the sides of the upper triangle
may be adjusted to any required proportion of the sides of the lower, the
former consisting of the upper part of the rod and the perpendicular, and the
latter of the perpendicular and an imaginary continuation of the rod to
the ground. By this means, since the same ratio exists between the bases of
two triangles as exists respectively between their sides, the base of the upper
or inverted triangle may be adjusted to any required proportion of the base
of the lower triangle, which latter base is the length of step on the ground
and that distance which is required to be measured; so that whatever my be
the length of step of different wearers, the base of the upper triangle may be
adjusted to that definite proportion of the base of the lower which has been
takon as tho datum for arranging the registering apparatus; and this definite
proportion is as one to twenty-four.
Tho adjustable pivot for the rod consists of a plate with two projecting
arms fixed at each end into the sides of the meter case, and thereby forming
the real pivot for the rod. In this plato is a circular bole with a female
screw formed in it fitting a male screw on the rod, by turning which tho
required proportion between the side of the imaginary triangle above the
pivot and the continuation of the same line below the pivot to the ground is
or may be regulated. The height of the pivot of the rod from the ground is
ascertained by a measure which falls to the ground, and which gives, instead
of the actual distance, one twenty-fourth of that distance, or the height to be
simon to the unnur part of the rod.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Elton Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 15th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoпN 3
ELTON MORRIS, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Student of Science,
send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Elton Morris, Her special license that I, the said John
Elton Morris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Elton 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN INSTRUMENTS FOR MEASURING AND REGIS-
TERING DISTANCES PASSED OVER BY PEDESTRIANS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said John Elton Morris, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, 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 John Elton Morris, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of " Improvements in Instruments for Measuring and
Registering Distances passed over by Pedestrians" has for its object the
measurement and registering of such distances with increased accuracy. The
instrument for this purpose consists of two parts (that is to say), of a rod
constructed and arranged on the principle berein-after described for com-
municating the motions of the legs, or leg and body, of the pedestrian to the
registering apparatus, and a meter or case containing the mechanism of such
apparatus.
The meter is fastened to a belt worn round the body, or other such con-
trivance, and the apparatus contained within this meter or case is worked by
the rod, mounted on a pivot therein, the upper end of which rod (or that part
above the pivot) is connected by a chain to a barrel communicating with the
ordinary counting wheels and dials, and the lower end of the same rod (or that
part below the pivot) is or may be, for convenience, fixed by a clasp to one
thigh of the wearer, though in theory it is continued to the ground. By

page_text: means of this arrangement the forward movements of the leg to which the
lower end of the said rod is fixed, and the same movements of the body to
which the meter is fixed, are alternately communicated to the wheels, and the
amount thereof indicated by the dials of the registering apparatus.
The principle on which the rod is constructed and arranged is that of
adjusting the length of its part above the pivot to a definite proportion of tho
height of that pivot from the ground, as depending upon the stature of the
operator, so that when the rod is in motion, and is thereby forming above and
below its pivot with the perpendicular two imaginary triangles, the sides of
the upper triangle may bo adjusted to any required proportion of the sides of
the lower, the former consisting of the upper part of the rod and the perpen-
dicular, and the latter of the perpendicular and an imaginary continuation of
the rod to the ground. By this means, since the same ratio exists between
the bases of two triangles as exists respectively between their sides, the base
of the upper or inverted trianglo may be adjusted to any required proportion
of the base of the lower triangle, which latter base is the length of step on the
ground and that distanco which is required to be measured; so that whatever
may be the length of step of different wearers, the base of the upper trianglo
may be adjusted to that definito proportion of the base of the lower which bas
been taken as the datum for arranging the registering apparatus, and this
definito proportion is most convenient when taken as 1 to 24.
The adjustable pivot for the rod consists of a plate with two projecting armis
fixed at each end into the sides of the meter case, and thereby forming the
real pivot for the rod. In this plate is a circular hole with a female screw
formod in it fitting a male scrow on the rod, by turning which tho required
proportion between the side of the imaginary triango above the pivot and the
continuation of the same line below the pivot to the ground is or may be
regulated. The height of the pivot of the rod from the ground is ascertained
by a measure which falls to the ground, and which may give, as well as the
actual distance, one twenty-fourth of that distance, or the height to be given
to the upper part of the rod.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed, by
reference to the accompanying Drawings, in which are represented the several
parts of the instrument herein-before referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

page_text: of the pedestrian's leg, and also the two imaginary triangles above and below
the same pivot; Fig. 2 represents the interior of the meter or case containing
the registering apparatus; Fig. 3 is an external plan view of the same, shewing
the registering dials and the provision made for the working of the rod, viz.,
the compartment a; Fig. 4 represents, on an enlarged scale, a portion of the
rod and parts of mechanism connected therewith; Fig. 5 represents the
position of the rod on the first step of the pedestrian; Fig. 6 shews the same
on the second step; Fig. 7 shews the connection between the rod and the
registering mechanism by means of a chain. In all these several Figures the
same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
It will be seen, on reference to Figs. 5 and 6, that the meter or case a is
intended to be fixed to the body of the pedestrian by means of a belt or
otherwise. From within and through the bottom of this case extends a rod b
(say, about half an inch in diameter), such rod being suspended on a hori-
zontal pivot c within the case. The lower end of this rod is fixed to the thigh
or to the foot of the pedestrian, requiring in the latter case to be connected by
an elastic cord. According as the leg to which the rod is fixed becomes, by
the act of walking, inclined to the line of perpendicular of the body, such
inclination is imparted to the rod, and the degree of inclination is propor-
tioned to the length of step taken by the pedestrian. The rod 6 is continued
a short distance above its pivot c, and the inclination of such part of the rod
is in the same line with that of the part below the pivot, but on the opposite
side of the pivot.
On reference to the Diagram, Fig. 1, it will be seen that the angles A, B, D,
and C, B, E, formed respectively above and below the pivot (represented
at B) by the inclined rod and the perpendicular line are equal, and that the
imaginary base A, D, bears the same ratio to the imaginary base C, E, that
the side A, B, of the imaginary triangle C, B, E, bears to the side B, C, of
the same, which side, it is assumed, reaches the ground. It hence appears
that the imaginary base of a triangle formed by the inclination of the extreme
end of the rod above the pivot with the perpendicular line bears the samo
ratio to a similar base of a triangle formed at the extreme end of the rod
below the pivot that the part of the rod above the pivot bears to the part
below the same, and the most convenient ratio between such parts to assumo
as the datum for regulating the adaptation of the registering mechanism to
the purpose is a ratio of one to twenty-four; but such ratio may be varied.
The top end of the rod is connected by a chain to the registering mechanism,
to which it communicates the successive inclinations of the rod caused by the
successive steps and movements of the body of the pedestrian. It being

page_text: necessary to maintain a constant ratio between the part of the rod above and
that below its pivot, the arrangement for the purpose of adjusting the rod to
suit wearers of different statures consists in its being passed through a screwed
hole in a horizontal plate d mounted on axes fixed in the side of the case at
the distance r, f, Fig. 3, from the front of the same, which axes from the real
pivot for the rod, and the rod being also screwed, it may be adjusted as
required by its being turned until the part of it above the pivot bears the
required proportion to the part below the same reaching to the ground, the
height having been previously ascertained by means of an ordinary tape
mensure running down from the case.
The mode of ascertaining the requisito adjustment of the rod may be varied.
It may be done by graduating the said measuro to a scale of one twenty-
fourth and forming corresponding graduations on the side of the case in front
of the rod, and then turning the rod to a mark thereon corresponding to one
on the measure.
Another modo by which this result may be produced is shown in Figs. 2
and. This consists in having a block e on the upper end of the rod which
fits the same loosely so as not to turn with it, but to be only raised or lowered
gradually by the turning of the rod; this block acts upon one of a series of
cog wheels ff, of equal size working into each other, the lowest one of which
gears with the wheel 9 mounted in a plane at right angles to it. On the axle
of this latter wheel is fixed a plain-edged wheel h (Fig. 2), with suitable
graduations on it, which can be seen through an opening in the case of the
meter, as shewn in Fig. 3. By the arrangement described the motion upwards
or downwards of the block e will impart a revolving movement to the index
wheel h, the graduations on the edge of which can be brought into line with
those on the measure and read off through the opening in tho meter case.
By this means, when the operator has allowed the measure to run down (the
height being read off'), ho has only to turn the rod so as to move the block c
up or down until the mark on tho index wheel h is brought into accordance
with that on the measure j. When this is done tho adjustment of the upper
part of the rod above the pivot to one twenty-fourth (or whatever other ratio
be assumed in the construction) of the height from the ground is complete,
and the instrument is then properly arranged for working.
In order to prevent the block e from acting on the above-described adjusting
mechanism, except when required, the cog wheels f,f, are mounted in a frame
fixed at the bottom by a spring to the case, which frame is drawn back so as
to liberate the cog wheels f,f, from the part of the block which gears with
thom when in action, and tho said frame is held back by means of a catch.

page_text: The upper end of the rod b is connected by a chain i to the outer end of an
arm k mounted on a vertical axis l, to which is also applied a ratchet wheel
and pall m to prevent the return of the axis. The arm k is fitted loosely on
the axis l, and is furnished with a pall to act in the ratchet wheel 12 on the
axis l. By means of this arrangement (shewn in elevation in Fig. 2 and in
plan at Fig. 7) the backward motions of the upper part of the rod, caused by
the forward motions of the lower part thereof, communicate motion to the
index hand of one of the dials at the top of the axis l, while the contrary
motions, caused by the indirect retrograde motion of the leg of the pedestrian
at the end of the forward step, is merely compensated by the return of the
arm k over the ratchet wheel, caused by the reaction of the spring o, without
producing any effect on the index hand. Then the forward movements of the
arm k are communicated to the index bands on the remaining dials of the
instrument from the pinion p through the wheel 9 and other wheels and
pinions forming a series of counting wheels, which are well understood, and,
not forming part of my Invention, do not need to be described.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do not claim as of my
Invention any of the parts of mechanism herein-before described, except as
herein-after stated; but what I do claim as of my Invention is the instrument
described for measuring and registering distances passed over by pedestrians,
such instrument consisting of an adjustable rod working on a pivot fixed to
the case and combined with registering apparatus in such a manner as to
admit of the several forward steps and movements of the body of the
pedestrian being successively registered and indicated on dials as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Elton Morris, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
R. BRECKELL,
Liverpool College,
Clerk.
JOHN ELTON MORRIS. (L.S.)