AN ODOMETER OR ROAD MEASURER, TO BE ATTACHED TO CARRIAGES FOR SHOWING DISTANCES OVER WHICH THE WHEELS PASS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GRAYSON, of Henley-on-Thames, in the County of Oxford, Watch and Clock
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the First day of December, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Grayson, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Grayson, my exors, admiors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said William Grayson, my exors, adñors, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "AN ODOMETER OR ROAD MEASURER, TO
BE ATTACHED TO CARRIAGES FOR SHOWING DISTANCES OVER WHICH THE WHEELS
PASS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me.
the said William Grayson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Grayson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
The
This Invention consists of an arrangement of apparatus to be attached to a
street cab or other vehicle, for the purpose of denoting the length of way
passed over by the running wheels. This instrument or apparatus which I
denominate an "odometer or road measurer," consists of a train of wheel
work with two dials and indexes to indicate the distance travelled.
mechanism is mounted on a metal plate and enclosed in a box, which is affixed
to some convenient part of the carriage, in such a manner that one dial may be
seen from the outside of the carriage, so that previous to entering the carriage
The
the passenger may examine the dial and have the index placed at zero.
other dial must be inspected from the inside of the carriage, and is intended
for the use of the proprietor and to serve as a check upon the driver, who will
be accountable for the distance travelled as indicated or marked upon this dial
after due allowance for back carriage. The mechanism or train of wheels
whereby the indexes are actuated is set in motion by a pin, stud, or cam on the
nave of one of the running wheels; this pin, stud, or cam is at every revolution
of the wheel brought against one end of a pendant lever which is thereby
forced back, and its upper end made to act upon a ratchet wheel which forms
part of the mechanism of the "odometer."
Having thus briefly explained the nature, object, and principal features of
my improved odometer, I will now proceed to describe more in detail the
construction, arrangement, and operation of the several parts, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which Fig. 1 represents a side
elevation and Fig. 2 a partial transverse section of a street cab with my
improved odometer adapted thereto. The counting apparatus is seen at A,
from which descends a pendent lever a, the lower end of which is acted upon
by a pin, stud, or cam 6 on the nave of the running wheel. It will be scen
that as the wheel rotates, the pin 6 will be brought against and drive back the
lever a into the position shewn by red lines in Fig. 1, and by this means a
tooth at the upper end of the lever will drive round the ratchet wheel one
tooth, as will be best seen in Fig. 3, which represents a back view of the
instrument drawn upon an enlarged scale. In this view is shewn the wheel.

page_text: work on the back side of the plate d, on which all the counting mechanism is
mounted. The dial e, represented in this Figure, is inspected from the inside
of the carriage, as shewn at Fig. 2, and being enclosed within a box, cannot
be tampered with by the driver, for the purpose of deceiving the proprietor.
Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of the apparatus, shewing the mechanism
on both sides of the plate d, and Fig. 5 represents a front view of the plate d,
the passengers dial f (shown also in Figures 1 and 2) being removed, and its
position only indicated by dots in order that the parts beneath may be more
clearly seen. Fig. 6 is a view of the passengers' dial f detached. The lever
a turns on a pin or centre mounted in the bridge piece g on the back of the
plate d, as shewn in Fig. 3. Its upper end bears against a stop h, and is kept
in its proper position by a spring i. The ratchet wheel is prevented by the
spring click from moving more than one tooth at a time. On the axle of the
ratchet wheel, but on the opposite side of the plate d, is a pinion with ten
teeth, which gears into a cog wheel 7 with one hundred teeth. One the axle of
this wheel is another pinion m of ten teeth, which gears into a wheel n of one
hundred teeth, and on the shaft of this wheel n is mounted a hollow shaft
which carries the index of the passenger dial f, which, as will be seen by
referring to Fig. 6, indicates quarters of miles, half miles, and miles, to the
number of ten. For the purpose of indicating a larger number of miles, I have
adapted to the back of the dial fa magic or jumping index, which consists of
a small dial with tens printed thereon; this is connected to a jump wheel o
behind the dial f, Fig. 5, and shewn by dots in Fig. 6. On the hollow shaft
which carries the index is mounted a pin or stud p, which at every rotation of
the wheel n acts on the wheel o and jumps it one tooth, thereby indicating that
ten miles have been travelled. The index being connected to a hollow shaft
which (is mounted on the shaft of the wheel n and is carried round thereby by
friction of contact) may be moved round by the finger when required to bring
it back to zero without deranging the other mechanism; and before a passenger
enters the vehicle he should see that the driver sets the index at zero, so that at
the end of his journey he may, by a simple inspection of the dial, at once see the
distance he has travelled. It will be the duty of the driver to put back the index,
to zero every time a fare enters his vehicle. In order that the proprietor may
be protected from fraud, his index, which is inside the carriage, will continue
to count and indicate the total distance travelled during the several journeys
throughout the day. The proprietor's index, as well as the passenger's index
is worked by means of the toothed wheel n, but an intermediate wheel
equal number of teeth, communicates motion from the wheel n to the index,
of an

page_text: which indicates on the proprietor's dial e the distance travelled. This dial
is also provided with a magic or jumping index to indicate the tens. As the
jumping index is precisely similar in construction and operation to that con-
nected with the passenger's index, and already described, it will not be necessary
to enter further into detail in reference thereto. I would only observe that as
the proprietor's dial and index are kept under lock and key, and none of the
working parts are accessible but the pendent lever a, no means are left for the
driver to tamper with the indicator without immediate discovery. It will also be
evident that the proprietor's index will continue to mark correctly the total dis-
tance travelled during the several journeys, notwithstanding that the index of the
passenger's dial may be put back to zero from time to time as above explained.
I would here observe that the apparatus and train of wheelwork above shewn
and described is intended for a vehicle, of which the running wheels measure
twelve feet in circumference, and for this purpose the ratchet wheel is made
with forty-four teeth, which number is attained by dividing five hundred and
twenty-eight (which is the number of feet in the tenth part of a mile) by
twelve, the circumference of the running wheel, which must in passing over the
tenth of a mile revolve forty-four times. It will therefore be evident that if a
running wheel of any other dimensions is employed, the number of teeth in the
ratchet wheel must be varied. For instance, supposing the running wheel
measures only eleven feet, then by dividing five hundred and twenty-eight
by cleven we have forty-eight, which gives the number of teeth for the ratchet
wheel, all the other parts remaining the same.
IIaving now described my Invention, and the best means with which I am
acquainted for carrying the same into effect, I would observe in conclusion
that I do not claim the exclusive right of moving the indexes by means of
wheelwork actuated by apparatus connected with the running wheel, nor do I
mean or intend to confine myself to the precise arrangement or construction of
the parts above shewn and described for effecting this object, as they may be
varied without departing from the nature and object of my Invention; but
that which I consider to be new in the above described improvements, and
therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent is, first, the means above described for actuating
the counting apparatus, and also the arrangement of wheelwork constituting
the counting apparatus, in which, by simply changing the ratchet wheel, I am
enabled to adapt the apparatus as shewn and described, to running wheels of
any circumference, without further alteration of the other wheelwork. I
further claim the employment or adaptation of two dials and indexes to the

page_text: indicating apparatus, both indexes being worked by the same train of wheel-
work, and one dial and index being employed to serve for the passengers and
driver, and the other for the proprietor.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Grayson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.