IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING MACHINES APPLICABLE ESPECIALLY TO THE WEIGHING OF COINS AND COIN BLANKS
Year: 1872

page_text: Sealed the 21st January 1873, and dated the 5th September 1872..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Murdoch Napier
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th September 1872.
I, JAMES MURDOCH NAPIER, of York Road, Lambeth, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING MACHINES APPLICABLE ESPECIALLY TO THE WEIGHING
OF COINS AND COIN BLANKS," to be as follows :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in weighing machines
for weighing and classifying or separating according to their weights
coins and coin blanks.

page_text: Now according to my Invention I cause the instrument employed for
directing the weighed coin into the proper receptacle for classification
to be for that purpose acted upon, disengaged, or set in motion to change
its position by the movement of an instrument which I will call the
determining instrument. This instrument operates under control of the
beam and is governed by it in its action upon the directing instrument
according to the position the beam may occupy, such position of the
beam being determined at the time of weighing by the relative weights
of the coin and the counterpoise, the beam or a part connected with it
being held by a holding or retaining instrument, while its position serves
to decide that of the directing instrument.
The determining instrument, the action of which operates to change
the position of the directing instrument, may be arranged to do so
through the means of an electro-magnet, by causing an electric contact
to be made with the beam, or with a part attached to it, or with a
part separate from the beam, the making or not making of the contact
depending in either case upon the position of the beam when held after
weighing by the holding instrument above referred to.
Or the determining instrument may be arranged to operate or to be
operated upon to change the position of the directing instrument mecha-
nically without the intervention of electricity by the displacement or
disengagement of a catch or stop employed to retain the directing
instrument in a normal position, the catch or stop referred to being
disengaged or not, and the directing instrument being caused to alter
its position or not according to the position of the beam, by which
the action of the determining instrument is governed.
Or the determining instrument may place a stop to control the move-
ment and position of the directing instrument, as in the weighing and
classifying machines designed and constructed by me, and now in use
at the Bank of England and the Royal Mint, but in such case I
provide a retaining catch to hold the stop in position as soon as it is
placed, so as to permit of the immediate retirement of the determining
instrument without waiting for the locking of the stop by the movement
of the directing instrument. The stop so placed and held is released,
and is allowed to return to its first or normal position (after it has
governed the position of the directing instrument) by the disengagement
of the retaining catch, which may be effected by a cam and lever

page_text: action connected with the spindle of the machine or by other suitable
means.
In conjunction with the determining instrument, and with the means
described for actuating through it the directing instrument, I use
suitable means such as a cam and lever movement placed in connection
with the spindle of the machine for replacing the directing instrument
in its first or normal position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Murdoch Napier in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 5th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
MURDOCH NAPIER, of York Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Murdoch Napier, Her special
license that I, the said James Murdoch Napier, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Murdoch Napier,
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 WEIGHING MACHINES APPLICABLE ESPECIALLY TO THE WEIGHING OF COINS AND
COIN BLANKS,' upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said
James Murdoch Napier, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 James Murdoch Napier, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:—
This Invention has for its object improvements in weighing machines
for weighing and classifing or separating according to their weights
coins and coin blanks.
In my description I will (for shortness) refer to coins only.
Now according to my Invention I cause the instrument employed for
directing the weighed coin into the proper receptacle for classification
to be for that purpose acted upon, disengaged, or set in motion to
change its position by the movement of an instrument, which I will
call the determining instrument. This instrument operates under
control of the beam, and is governed by it in its action upon the direct-
ing instrument according to the position the beam may occupy, such
position of the beam being determined at the time of weighing by the
relative weights of the coin and the counterpoise, the beam or a part
connected with it being held by a holding or retaining instrument, while
its position serves to decide that of the directing instrument.
The determining instrument, the action of which operates to change
the position of the directing instrument, may be arranged to do so
through the means of an electro-magnet, by causing an electric contact
to be made with the beam, or with a part attached to it, or with a part
separate from the beam, the making or not making of the contact
depending in either case upon the position of the beam when held after
weighing by the holding instrument above referred to.
Or the determining instrument may be arranged to operate or to
be operated upon to change the position of the directing instrument
'mechanically without the intervention of electricity by the displace-
ment or disengagement of a catch or stop employed to retain the
directing instrument in a normal position, the catch or stop referred to
being disengaged or not, and the directing instrument being caused to
alter its position or not according to the position of the beam by which
the action of the determining instrument is governed.
Or the determining instrument may place a stop to control the move-
ment and position of the directing instrument as in the weighing and
classfying machines designed and constructed by me, and now in use
at the Bank of England and the Royal Mint, but in such case I provide

page_text: a retaining catch to hold the stop in position as soon as it is placed so as
to permit of the immediate retirement of the determining instrument
without waiting for the locking of the stop by the movement of the
directing instrument. The stop so placed and held is released, and
is allowed to return to its first or normal position (after it has
governed the position of the directing instrument) by the disengage-
ment of the retaining catch, which may be effected by a cam and lever
action connected with the spindle of the machine or by other suitable
means.
In conjunction with the determining instrument and with the means
described for actuating through it the directing instrument I use suit-.
able means, such as a cam and lever movemment placed in connection
with the spindle of the machine, for replacing the directing instrument
in its first or normal position.
In order that the Drawings which I have now to describe, and my'
description of them may be the more clearly and easily understood,
reference may be made to the Specifications and Drawings of Letters
Patent granted to me for improvements in weighing machines numbered'
and dated respectively No. 1705, 30th June 1871, and Number 402,´
7th February 1872, as I have for the purpose of illustrating the applica-
tion of those portions which refer to my present Invention repeated in
my present Drawings the forms and arrangement of parts indicated.
and explained by me in the Specifications of the Patents dated Thirtieth
June One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, and Seventh
of February One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two above
referred to.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents in elevation and arrangement of a coin weighing
and classifying machine illustrating my Invention.

page_text: contact point 6 at the extreme end of the determining instrument or
lever in that case comes against the contact plate 6'; this plate is
insulated from electrical contact with the machine by a non-conductor
placed between it and the part to which it is fixed, while it is connected
by a conducting wire to the binding screw 65 which is in connection
with the wire of the bobbins of the electro-magnet 6°. The binding
screw 60, which is in connection with the other end of the coil, serves
to fasten a wire which passes to one of the poles of the battery, while
thic other pole of the battery is connected by a wire to the binding screw
which is screwed into the 'plate A¹ of the machine. Thus when the
contact point 6 occupies the position indicated in the Figure, that is,
when it does not touch the contact plate ³, no circuit exists and the
magnet 6° is not charged. When, however, the contact point be touches
the plate b³ an electrical circuit is produced and the magnet 6° becomes
charged and operates upon the armature lever 61 to disengage the lever
of the directing instrument b¹³ in a manner well understood and explained
in my previous Specifications before referred to. is an adjusting
screw for setting the contact plate so that it may be in a suitable position
with respect to the contact point 78.
c represents the ordinary holding instrument applied to act upon
the weighing pendent a'. The grippers of the holding instrument are
actuated by the cam c' through lever c². The several cams by which
the movements of the various parts are effected in suitable times are
fixed upon the spindle d. The arrow indicates the direction in which
the cams rotate. The position shewn is that when the beam is about to
be released for weighing by the raising of the levelling bar e by the
action of cam e¹ through lever e³. After time has been allowed for
weighing the cam c¹ operates to close the grippers or holding instru-
ment c, and while they are closed and the beam is thus held the roller
at the end of the determin instrument 6 falls into the hollow 63 in
cam until the touch point 65 comes against the beam, or until the
contact point becomes against the contact plate 67. In the first case
(which will result if the coin is heavier than the counterpoise so as to
depress its end of the beam) no contact will be made, as the beam will
prevent it, while in the last-mentioned case the beam being raised owing
to the coin being lighter than the counterpoise, the beam will not
prevent the contact being made. The cam 62 may now immediately act
to withdraw the determing instrument to its present position, and there-
upon cam c¹ operates to open the grippers c and release the beam,

page_text: which is then levelled by the action of cam e'. Thus it will be under-
stood that in this arrangement the electrical contact is made upon a part
separate from the beam, while the determining instrument operating to
make the contact is controlled by the beam according to the position
which it occupies, and in which it is held by the holding instrument or
grippers.
stood that in this arrangement the electrical contact is made upon a part
separate from the beam, while the determining instrument operating to
make the contact is controlled by the beam according to the position
which it occupies, and in which it is held by the holding instrument or
grippers.
Figures 2, 3, and 4 are views in detail of the determining instrument b
and the parts immediately connected with it.
Figure 5 represents a mode of arranging a determining instrument to
make an electrical contact with a part attached to the beam whilst held
by the holding instrument or grippers.
b is the determining instrument carried by the insulated support f
which is fixed to plate A' without electrical contact. The roller end of
the determining instrument 6 is formed of vulcanite or other non-
conductor to insulate the lever. The electrical contact is made at b*,
where the end of the determining instrument 6 passes into an opening
in pendant a. If the pendant is in a raised position owing to that end
of the beam being raised the instrument 6 will touch the pendant at the
bottom of the aperture, and so make an electrical contact with it, but if
the end of the beam to which the pendant is attached is depressed the
end of the instrument b is arranged not to fall low enough to make a
contact with it. In this case therefore supposing the pendant shewn to
be that upon which the coin is placed a contact will be made when the
coin is light and no contact will be made when the coin is heavy. The
binding screw f¹ attaches the wire to connect with the binding screw 6*
of the bobbin (see Figure 1).
Figure 6 indicates an arrangement of the determining instrument b
by which the electrical contact is made by it with the beam at 66 while
it is held by the holding instrument or grippers. The action of the
instrument b is similar to that shewn in Figure 1, but in this case it is
insulated and the touch point becomes the contact point. The instru-
ment 6 is supported at its axis by the insulated bracket f to which the
conducting wire is attached by the binding screw f' which connects a
wire with the binding screw 6' of the electro-magnet shewn in Figure 1.
The action of the determining instrument 6 in respect to the beam
and holding instrument is the same as that described in reference to
Figure 1.

page_text: Figure 7 shews the determining instrument b arranged to operate in
a manner similar to the shewn in Figure 1, but in this case instead of
the instrument at 6 forming an electrical contact in its action upwards,
it displaces or disengages the catch g; this catch vibrates at the point g²,
and is shewn down in its position retaining the directing instrument 6¹³,
a projecting part of which comes against it at g². When the position
of the beam permits the determining instrument 6 to rise the point of
the adjusting screw 6¼ in the end of it forces up the catch g, and the
directing instrument 61s being so released is caused to change its position
by the action of the spring attached to the lever 613 connected with it.
The return of the directing instrument to its position is performed by
the lever h, actuated by cam has already understood, and described
in my previous Specifications before referred to.
Figures 8, 9, and 10 shew in detail the determining instrument 6 and
the parts immediately connected with it.
Figures 11 and 12 indicate an arrangement of parts which I have
herein referred to as employed in machines designed by me for the
Mint and which are in use in that establishment and in the Bank of
England, and serve to illustrate that part of my Invention which refers
to this arrangement. is the determining instrument which places the
stop to control the movement and position of the distributing tube or
directing instrument ; is the retaining catch to hold the stop &² in'
position as soon as it is placed, which it does by the aid of the spring
attached to it. The catch holds the stop at 3, after which the
instrument i may instantly rise without awaiting the action of the
distributing tube or directing instrument 23 to hold the stop. The
parts ³, 17, 18, 20, and 2¹0, indicate means by which the retaining catch¿
may be disengaged, " being a fixed centre and ¹² a fixed point.
Although I have shewn the determining instrument as operating
towards the weighing end of the beam, it will be evident that its
arrangement may, if preferred, be reversed so as to act towards the
counterpoise end.
It will also be understood that the disengagement of the directing
instrument may (if preferred) take place in the case of a heavy coin
instead of in the case of a light coin, the arrangement being suited for
that purpose.
I claim the employment in machines for weighing coins and coin
blanks of a determining instrument which by making an electrical

page_text: contact or otherwise by its action causes the disengagement or setting
in motion of a directing instrument to change its position and operate to
effect the classification of the coins or coin blanks, the movements of
such determining instrument being governed by a weighing beam in
conjunction with a holding instrument, substantially as described.
I also claim the application of a retaining catch in connection with
a stop to control the motion and position of a directing instrument,
substantially as described in respect to Figures 11 and 12.
I also claim the general arrangement of mechanism for weighing
coins and coin blanks, substantially as described and represented in the
annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Murdoch Napier, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.