IMPROVEMENTS IN TELL-TALES OR INDICATORS FOR CABS AND SUCH LIKE PUBLIC VEHICLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Gaskell, of Walsall Road, Birmingham, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TELL-TALES OR INDICATORS FOR CABS AND
SUCH LIKE PUBLIC VEHICLES."
Sealed the 3th May 1864, and dated the 27th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Gaskell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th November 1863.
I, PETER GASKELL, of Walsall Road, Birmingham, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TELL-TALES OR INDICATORS FOR
CABS AND SUCH LIKE PUBLIC VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to indicate to passengers and to the driver
of a cab or such like vehicle the authorized fare for each journey, and also
to indicate to the owner of the cab the exact fare chargeable for each journey
made during a day.
For this purpose when the fare to be paid is to be according to the distance
travelled, I transmit motion from one of the wheels of the cab to a toothed
wheel that can turn freely on an axis, but which can be made fast with the
axis by a friction clutch, the axis passes through the centre of a dial plate,
that forms the front of a circular case, and on the outer end of the axis is a
hand or pointer. At the commencement of each journey the axis is by the
friction clutch made fast with the toothed wheel, the hand or pointer will
then at the end of the journey indicate on the face of the dial plate the
distance travelled and the amount of fare to be paid. At the end of each
journey the friction clutch is moved so that the toothed wheel is loose upon

page_text: the axis. The axis is then by means of a spring turned round so as to bring
the hand or pointer upon it back to its starting point.
In order that the owner of a cab may know at the end of a day the fare
chargeable for each journey made by the cab during the day, there is on the
opposite end of the axis to that which carries the pointer, an arm, on which is
a slide capable of moving lengthwise along the arm, this slide carries a small
punch, which can be protruded outwards from the slide, and which when so pro-
truded out is caused to pierce a disc of paper that is held by means of small pins
on the back of the case; this disc of paper is marked to correspond to the dial
face, and each time that the pointer carried by the axis is allowed to turn back
to its starting point the punch is caused first to punch a small hole in the paper
disc. For this purpose I prefer that both the punch and the friction clutch, by
which the toothed wheel is made fast to the axis, should have motion given to
them by turning a handle having on its axis a cam that first acts to force out
the punch to mark the disc of paper, and then acts on the lever that works
the sliding friction clutch; by this means each time the pointer is moved
back to zero the punch must previously have marked the disc of paper; the
slide that carries the punch is after each time that the punch is caused to
pierce the disc of paper moved a distance towards the axis along the arm
that carries it so that the punch can never mark the paper disc twice in the
same place. The case is prevented from being opened by a suitable lock, and
at the end of a day the owner of the cab can, by unlocking the case and
taking out the disc of paper contained within it, ascertain by the marks on
the disc of paper the several fares chargeable during the day. A fresh disc of
paper can then be inserted in the case and the case again closed. When the
fare is to be reckoned by time, then, in place of giving motion to the toothed
wheel from one of the wheels of the cab, the toothed wheel has motion trans-
mitted to it from clockwork.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Gaskell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
GASKELL, of Walsall Road, Birmingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our s
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Gaskell, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Gaskell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter
Gaskell, 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 TELL-
TALES OR INDICATORS FOR CABS AND SUCH LIKE PUBLIC VEHICLES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Gaskell, 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 Peter Gaskell, 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:-
The object of this Invention is to indicate in plain figures on a dial plate
the distance travelled or the time occupied, and the authorized fare for a
journey by the hirer of such vehicles, and also to register such journey and
fare for the information of the owner or proprietor of such vehicle at such
times as he may think fit. I accomplish this in the following manner :-
When the fare to be paid is according to distance I transmit motion from one
of the wheels of the vehicle (as shown in the accompanying Drawing) a,
Fig. B, by means of a worm b, Fig. B, attached thereto, and working into a
toothed wheel or pinion c, Fig. B; this pinion I support by suitable means
from the axle e, Fig. B. Through the centre of this pinion a shaft f, Fig. B,
passes and moves freely, having a rotary motion given to it by the pinion c,
but being secured to the side of the vehicle 9, Fig. A, it also oscillates and
vibrates with it. The upper end of this shaft passes into the dial case h,
Fig. D, and to it is attached a coupling and minor shaft i, Fig. D; on the
coupling is a ratchet wheel j, Fig. D, by means of which I cause the minor
shaft i, Fig. D, to travel only in one direction, so that it will have no action
if the vehicle should be moved backward. This minor shaft carries a worm h,
Fig. D, working a crown wheel 1, Fig. D, having a pinion at the foot of its
axle working into a toothed wheel in Fig. D, which can turn freely on an

page_text: axle a, Fig. E, but can be made fast with the axle by a friction or other
clutch o, Fig. E, and is so arranged as to revolve once for a given number of
miles. The axle n passes through the centre of the dial plate o, o, Fig. A,
which forms the front of the case Fig. A, and is divided to show distances or
time and the corresponding fares. The outer end of the axle carries a hand
or pointer p, Fig. A. At the commencement of a journey the axle is made
fast with the toothed wheel m, Fig. D, by means of the clutch o, Fig. E, the
lever r, Fig. E, and double cam s, Figs. F and D, and will travel therewith.
The band or pointer p, Fig. A, will then at the end of a journey indicate on
the face of the dial the distance travelled and the amount of fare to be paid.
The clutch is then moved by reversing the cam, so that the toothed wheel 1,
Fig. D, is loose upon the axle n. The axle is then, by means of a spring t,
Fig. E, turned back, so as to bring the pointer back to its starting place. In
order that the owner may know the fare chargeable for each journey made by
the cab there is on the opposite end of the axle n an arm v, Figs. D and E,
on which is a slide rack w moving lengthwise along the arm v. This slide
rack carries a small punch a, Fig. D, which can be forced out of the slide,
and which when so forced out pierces a disc of paper y, Fig. D, which is held
by small pins on the back, and is marked to correspond with the dial face.
Each time that the pointer p, Fig. A, is carried back to its starting place, the
punch is caused first to punch a small hole in the paper disc y. For this pur-
pose I prefer that both the punch w, Fig. D, and clutch o, Fig. E, should have
motion given by turning a handle z, Fig. D, having on its axis the double
cam s, Fig. D, which moves a lever a, a, Fig. E, acting on a grooved wheel,
b, b, Fig. E, on the axle n, Fig. E, and is made fast to a slide c, c, Figs. D
and E, moving within the axle n and outwards over the rack w, moving the
punch along with it. This slide has also a slot lengthwise, so as to allow
the punch x to have a downward as well as an outward movement over the
arm v. When the handle is turned, the double cam s first acts to force out
the punch to mark the disc of paper, and then acts on the lever r, which
works the clutch o, Fig. E. By this means each time the pointer is moved
back to zero the punch must previously have marked the disc of paper. After
having pierced the paper the punch is brought nearer the axis by the action
of the rack and ratchet motion d, d, Fig. D, so that the punch can never
mark the paper twice in the same place.
The case is secured by a suitable lock or otherwise, and the owner can
ascertain the fares chargeable by taking out the paper disc. The punch can
be again raised by freeing the ratchet at d, d, Fig. D, and turning the rack
up by the ratchet shaft e, e, Fig. D, then by inserting another paper disc and

page_text: closing the case it is again made ready for fresh indications. To obtain the
total distance travelled in a given time I attach a wheel f, f, Fig. D, worked
by the toothed wheel m, and at its upper axis working into a crown wheel f,f,
Fig. D, revolving at, say, one-third the rate of the toothed wheel m. I divide
this wheel by suitable marks, and fix a pointer g, g, Fig. D. This pointer I
place at zero on the wheel f, f, and then at the termination of the period it will
show the entire distance run by the vehicle with or without fares. When the
fare is to be reckoned by time, then in place of giving motion to the toothed
wheel m from one of the wheels of the vehicle the toothed wheel has notion
given to it from blockwork, and the dial marked to correspond thereto.
Having described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is or may be carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that
I do not claim indicating the distance travelled generally, nor the obtaining
such indication by means of the wheels of a vehicle; but what I claim, and
desire to be secured by the herein-before recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the entire contrivance, as herein set forth, by which the time or
distance is ascertained and shewn, and also recorded, and the entire distance
travelled shown, if required.
Secondly, the means by which I give free action to the shaft while the
vehicle vibrates or oscillates.
Thirdly, the indicating on a dial the money value of fares.
Fourthly, the giving free action to a wheel while its axle is at rest, and the
securing the axle to it when required for the purpose of showing the progress
of time or distance and their values.
Fifthly, the making and using a printed or otherwise marked disc of paper
or other material for the purpose of recording fares, distances, or times.
Sixthly, the moving a punch or marker, so as to have different circles on a
disc for the purpose of recording anything.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Gaskell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
PETER GASKELL. (L.S.)