IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING DEVICES FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of the Firm of Harris
and Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING DEVICES FOR
RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS." A communication from abroad by Friedrich
Wilhelm Minck, of Liskowitz, Bohemia, in the Empire of Austria, and
Matthias Quenstedt, Doctor of Jurisprudence, of Berlin, Prussia, in the
Empire of Germany.
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th November
1880.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of
23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent.
IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING DEVICES FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS."
A communication from abroad by Friedrich Wilhelm Minck, of Liskowitz,
Bohemia, in the Empire of Austria, and Matthias Quenstedt, Doctor of
Jurisprudence, of Berlin, Prussia, in the Empire of Germany.
The Invention relates to that class of weighing devices which are employed on
railroad freight cars provided with springs for the determination of the standard
charge of the cars, and its object is to allow the cars to be charged without any
separate weighing and at any place of the road with their correct and standard
load, and to indicate at any moment the weight of the load.
Heretofore the weight of a truckload of coal, bricks, paving stones, and other
goods has been ascertained by means of scales or other expensive weighing machines
or by the capacity of the body of the car. The first method is a very slow and
troublesome one, the second is uncertain and offers opportunities for fraud, or at
least for differences between the railroad companies and their customers.
The present Invention, which is however applicable only to those freight cars
which are fitted with springs between the body of the car and the axle boxes,
removes the before mentioned inconveniences and is very simple.
To carry the Invention into practical use a pointer is fixed on the axlebox, and
on the body of the car, which rests on springs, is an index which clearly indicates

page_text: the point to which the body is depressed when loaded with the standard load.
Now it is clear that when afterward the car is loaded till the pointer is opposite
that mark the weight of the load would be equal to the standard one.
Therefore the car itself is made use of as a spring balance, and it is indifferent
for the Invention what kind of springs are employed or what form is given to the
pointer and the mark.
There are many different methods of carrying the Invention into effect.
A bar bearing in its middle part an upright pointer is fastened with its ends to
two axle boxes on each side of the car. To each side of the car body is fastened in
any convenient manner an index-plate, on which is clearly indicated the standard
mark, that is to say, that point which on the plate is just behind the end of the
pointer when the carriage is loaded with the standard load. Divisions on the plate
may be used to show the exact weight carried by the car.
Or a pointer is fastened directly to one or more axle-boxes of each side of the
car, and an index-plate is fastened just behind the pointer to the body of the
car.
When it is desired to show the movements of the car body in an enlarged scale a
two armed lever is employed, upon the shorter arm of which the end of the pointer
acts whilst the end of its longer arm points to the index-plate.
The pointer and the lever may be moveably jointed in any suitable manner, or
the short arm of the lever may be so heavy that it has a tendency to rest on the
pointer. Stops are provided for limiting the movements of the lever.
These devices may be used on both sides of the car or only on one and on all the
axle boxes or on less, provided proper care is taken to distribute the load evenly
over the whole car. The efficiency of the weighing device is not dependent upon
the use of a certain kind of spring under the car, as any suitable springs may be
employed.
The arrangement of the pointer and the index may be reversed; the pointer can
be fastened to the car body and the index to the axle boxes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 17th May 1881.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of
23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent.
" IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING DEVICES FOR RAILROAD FREIGHT CARS."
A communication from abroad by Friedrich Wilhelm Minck, of Liskowitz,
Bohemia, in the Empire of Austria, and Matthias Quenstedt, Doctor of
Jurisprudence, of Berlin, Prussia, in the Empire of Germany.
This Invention relates to that class of weighing devices which are employed on
rail-road freight cars, provided with springs for the determination of the standard
charge of the cars, and its object is to allow the cars to be charged without any
separate weighing, and at any part of the road with their correct and standard
load, and to indicate at any moment the weight of the load.
Heretofore the weight of a truck load, say of 10 tons of coal, bricks, paving
stones, or similar goods, has been ascertained by means of scales or other expensive
weighing machines, or by the capacity of the body of the car. The first method
is a very slow and troublesome one, the second is uncertain and offers opportunities
for fraud or at least for differences between the rail-road companies and their
customers.
The present Invention, which is however applicable only to those freight cars
which are fitted with springs between the body of the car and the axle boxes,
removes the before mentioned inconveniences and is very simple.
In carrying the Invention into practice a pointer is fixed on the axle box, and
on the body of the car, which rests on springs, is an index which clearly indicates
the point to which the body of the car is depressed when laden with the standard
load.
Now it is clear that when afterwards the car is loaded again till the pointer is
opposite that mark, the weight of the load will be equal to the standard. Therefore
the car itself is made use of as a spring balance, and it is indifferent for the
Invention what kind of springs are employed or what form is given to the pointer
and the index.
And in order that the said Invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed aided by the accompanying Drawings
more fully to describe the same.
In which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.
There are so many different ways in which the Invention may be carried into
effect, that I will only describe and illustrate the following as examples
thereof.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a freight car with the improved weighing device
attached.
Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of the car.
Figure 3 is a side elevation on a larger scale of a portion of the car, showing a
modification of the device; and Figure 4 a side elevation of a portion of the car,
showing another modification of the device applied to a single axle box.
In Figures 1 and 2, a bar E, bearing in its centre the upright pointer D, is
fastened at its ends to the two axle boxes B and 3. To the side of the car body A
is secured in any convenient manner an index plate F, on which is clearly indicated

page_text: the standard mark G, that is to say, that point which on the plate F is just behind
the pointed end of the pointer D when the car is loaded with the standard load,
say 10 tons.
Divisions on the plate F may be employed in addition to the mark G, but they
are not essential, they would show the progress towards the standard weight or
the extent to which it had been exceeded.
It is preferable to provide the car on both sides with the described device to
allow an inspection at any position of the car.
At Figure 3 is shown another arrangement. The pointer D is fastened directly
to the axle box, and the index plate F, bearing the standard mark G, is fastened
either directly behind the pointer to the body A of the car, or, as represented at
Figure 4, when it is desired to show the movements of the car body to an enlarged
scale, the index plate F is placed at the side of the pointer D, which acts upon the
short arm of the oscillating lever H, the longer arm serving as the index hand and
pointing to the index plate F. The pointer D may be moveably jointed to the
lever H by a connecting link or by other suitable means, or the short arm of the
lever H may be so heavy that it has a tendency to rest on the pointer D. The
latter arrangement is represented at Figure 4, in which K is a stop to limit the
movement of the lever H.
Either of the devices represented in Figures 3 and 4 may be used on all the axle
boxes of the car or on only one axle box at each side, as, provided, proper care be
taken to distribute the load evenly over the whole car, each axle box bears the
same proportion of the total weight.
In the Drawings, plate or laminated' springs are shown, but it is evident that
differently constructed steel or india rubber springs may be employed in lieu
thereof, and that instead of fastening the pointer D to the axle box and the mark G
to the car body this arrangement may be reversed.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and various modes in
which the same may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,―
First. The employment of the axle boxes of rail-road freight cars provided
with springs between the axles and the body of the car for carrying the pointer D,
and the employment of the body of the car for carrying the standard mark or
index G (or vice versa) for indicating and determining the weight of the load,
substantially as herein shown and described.
Second. The employment of a bar E, provided with a pointer D, in combination
with an index plate F, showing the standard mark G, on rail road freight cars
provided with springs between the axles and the body of the car, arranged and
operating substantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated;
and,
Third. The employment of a pointer D, in combination with an index plate F,
alone or in combination with such index plate and the enlarging lever H,
substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.