EQUALIZING OR DISTRIBUTING PRESSURE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Miller, of the City of Boston, in the
County of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, U. S. A., Mechanic, for
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Miller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th August 1874.
I, WILLIAM MILLER, of the City of Boston, in the County of Suffolk,
State of Massachusetts, U. S. A., Mechanic, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for " EQUALIZING OR DISTRIBUTING PRESSURE,”
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to means for equalizing or distributing the
pressure upon platforms or other surfaces which are supported in
whole or mainly by springs or levers, and consists in a novel con-
struction and arrangement of the parts by which a simpler, cheaper, and
more effective device of this character is produced than is now in
common use.

page_text: It is well known that in wagons, carriages, and all similar vehicles
which are provided with springs in the ordinary manner, it is very
difficult to equalize the pressure so as to prevent the "tipping" of the
bodies or platforms when the load is unequally distributed. The same
difficulty is experienced in the construction and use of spring bed
bottoms, platform scales, spring floor, dancing halls, and in all cases
where there is a comparatively large supporting surface resting upon
springs or levers. My Invention is designed to obviate this difficulty,
and I make use of a system of levers or links jointed together and con-
nected by rods to operate in combination with the platform, its sup-
porting spring or lever and a bed piece, as herein-after described.
I attach a spring to the bed piece to support the platform at one side
of the said spring; near the edge of the platform there are four levers or
links whose ends are jointed or pivotted together, two of them being
also pivotted or jointed to the platform, and the other two to the
bed piece; corresponding levers are disposed at the opposite side of the
spring, and connected in like manner together and with the platform
and bed piece.
Between the two sets of levers arranged as described are two con-
necting rods, ono being provided with a stud or headed pin, the body
of which works in a slot in the other rod to prevent vibration, and to
keep the said rods in the proper position as the platform rises and falls.
The first rod has one end jointed to two of the second series of levers,
and the other to two of the first series of levers, and the second rod is
in like manner jointed to the other levers, the said rods corresponding
exactly in length.
It will be obvious that any number of springs may be used, also that
one of the connecting rods may be dispensed with without departing
from the spirit of my Invention. The platform may also be sup-
ported by a lever or system of levers instead of employing a spring,
and loops or sleeves may be employed around the rods instead of the
stud if preferred.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Miller in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MILLER, of the City of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, State of
Massachusets, U. S. A., Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
cighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors;
give and grant unto me, the said William Miller, Her special license
that I, the said William Miller, my executors, administrators, and.
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Miller, my executors,
administrators, or 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 "EQUALIZING OR
DISTRIBUTING PRESSURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Miller, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Miller, 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 following statement, reference being had to the accompanying.
Drawing forming a part of this Specification:-
My Invention relates to means for equalizing or distributing the
pressure upon platforms or other surfaces which are supported in
whole or mainly by springs or levers, and consists in a novel con-
struation and amngamunt of the nonta as havain aftern
HAYA
full

page_text: forth, by which a simpler, cheaper, and more effective device of this
character is produced than is now in common use.
It is well known that in wagons, carriages, cars, and all similar
vehicles which are provided with springs in the ordinary manner, it is
very difficult to equalize the pressure so as to prevent the tipping of
the bodies or platforms when the load is unequally distributed. The
same difficulty is experenced in the construction and use of spring bed.
bottoms, platform scales, spring floor, dancing halls, and in all cases
where there is a comparatively large supporting surface resting upon
springs or levers. My Invention is designed to obviate this difficulty,
and I make use of a system of levers or links jointed together and con-
nected by rods to operate in combination with the platform, its sup-
porting spring or lever, and a bed piece, as herein-after described.
'

page_text: gravity in the weight is precisely over the centre of resistance in the
spring B, the spring will be evenly impressed and the platform main-
tained in parallelism with the bed piece A' without the aid of the levers
and their connecting rods; but if the weight is placed at one side, for
instance over the levers C, F, G, H, the tendency will be to depress
that side of the platform, and at the same time to correspondingly tip
or elevate the opposite side, but this tipping will be prevented by the
rod E in the following manner, that is to say :-
The levers F, H, being jointed together by their inner ends forming
an elbow joint, and also jointed at the same point to the rod E as the
platform descends, this elbow will be bent outwardly or carried farther
from the spring B, drawing with it the rod E, which, being attached at
its opposite end to a like elbow formed by the levers J, L, will bend
tho' last named elbow inwardly or draw the inner ends of the levers
which form it towards the spring B, thus depressing or pulling down
the side of the platform opposite the weight to a plane or level with
the weighted side. When the weight is applied over the levers I, J,
instead of over the levers C, F, the rod D connecting the outer elbow
formed by the levers I, K, with the inner elbow formed by the
levers C, G, will act to depress the opposite end of the platform and
keep the same level in the manner described for the rod E.
It will be obvious that any number of springs may be used, also that
one of the connecting rods may be dispensed with without departing
from the spirit of my Invention. The platform may also be supported
by a lever or system of levers instead of a spring and loops, or sleeves
may be employed around the rods instead of the stud Z if preferred.
Having thus fully described my said Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I wish it understood that I claim, the levers I, J,
K, L, rods D, E, and levers C, F, G, H, combined to operate with the
platform A, spring B, and bed piece A', as heroin set forth and for the
purpose specified.