IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING MACHINES, AND IN COMBINING MACHINERY FOR HOISTING AND WEIGHING GOODS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Ody, of Bristol, in the County of
Gloucester, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING
MACHINES, AND IN COMBINING MACHINERY FOR HOISTING AND WEIGHING
GOODS."
Sealed the 17th June 1870, and dated the 2nd April 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Ody at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd April 1870.
I, ANDREW ODY, of Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING
MACHINES, AND IN COMBINING MACHINERY FOR HOISTING AND WEIGHING GOODS,"
to be as follows:-
-
My Invention relates, 1st, to improvements in weighbridges or
weighing machines of the transverse lever construction, by which a
uniform action of the levers is ensured, whilst the platform or table on

page_text: which the goods are weighed receives additional support at the centre
where most required, the support being afforded by the gravity of the
goods, and therefore directly proportionate to the weight on the machine,
which is rendered self-sustaining. This I effect by mounting the
transverse or main lever of the machine on a fulcrum placed at the
centre beneath the table or weighing platform by which it is carried.
The table is carried on bearings at the extremities of the side levers in
the usual manner, the inner ends of which levers take under the short
end of the main or transverse lever before referred to, whose other end
is connected to a steelyard as usual. By this arrangement any weight
deposited on the table tends to raise the inner ends of the side levers
which are in contact with the end of the transverse lever before
mentioned as carried on a fulcrum placed beneath the centre of the
table. Any weight placed on the table thus produces an upward
pressure on the said fulcrum, which affords a support to the centre of the
table. Instead of the transverse lever I may employ a bell crank lever
similarly mounted on a fulcrum fixed to the under side of the platform
or table. The inner ends of the side levers are in connection with the
horizontal limb of said bell crank, the other limb being connected by a
rod to a similar bell crank disposed at the foot of the stand carrying the
steelyard. By this arrangement the indicator may be placed at any
convenient distance from the weighing machine, as the rod connecting
the two bell cranks may be of any length required without impairing
the accuracy of the machine. All the bearings are knife-edged as
nsual.
My Invention relates, secondly, to an improved bearing for securing
the head and foot of a crane post when the crane is combined with a
platform weighing machine or weighbridge for the double purpose of
hoisting and weighing goods, for which the machine above described is
particularly adapted. The pivoted ends of the crane post are received
in a bearing or socket from which radiate a number of lugs having
knife-edged pins mounted transversely thereon. Each of these bearings
is secured concentrically within a horizontal ring by means of screw
holts nassing through said rings or through lugs formed thereon and

page_text: on lugs formed on the bearing itself. The outer ring at top of the crane
post would be bolted to a beam or otherwise securely fixed, whilst the
lower bearing receiving the foot of the crane is formed by the table of
the weighing machine itself, which is similarly secured by bolts and
loops to an outer ring fixed on the box or casing containing the levers of
said machine. The bearings being sustained only by horizontal con-
nections as above described permit of a slight vertical movement of the
crane post for bringing the weighing levers into action, and as the con-
nections are all provided with knife edges, the vertical play of the crane
post is unattended with friction, which would otherwise prevent
accuracy in weighing, all lateral displacement of the crane is also pre-
vented. The bolts and loops may be tightened as required by means of
nuts on the outer ends of the screw bolts, the bearings being, moreover,
prevented from twisting or turning with the rotary movement of the
crane post by means of a transverse loop. The weighing machine is
provided with the ordinary relieving gear so that when the crane is
required for hoisting purposes only the footstep of the crane post would
be received on fixed supports, thus avoiding distress or wear to the
weighing parts. In combining a "pillar" crane and weighing machine
the weighing levers are double or open at centre and connected at the
sides, and the crane pillar passes down between them into the pit where
the foot of the cranc is received in a socket or bearing secured hori
zontally by the radial bolts and loops connecting it with an outer ring or
with the sides of the pit. This foot bearing is further suspended by
rods from the table of the weighing machino through which the crane
post passes, and which serves to sustain the crane pillar in a vertical
position. The table, which is in the form of a ring, is secured hori-
zontally by the bolts, and links, with knife-edged pins, as before
described. The platform or bearing is, morcover, furnished with friction
rollers surrounding the cranc pillar as usual to permit of its being
revolved freely. The whole weight of the crane and goods suspended
therefrom is thus brought to bear directly on the levers of the weighing
machine through the medium of the upper bearing or platform which
rests directly on said levers as usual, thus ensuring perfect accuracy in
weighing. When not required for use the weighing levers may be
relieved and the upper bearing or platform received on a fixed support
as before.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Andrew Ody in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
ODY, of Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of
cur Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Andrew Ody, Her special licence that
I, the said Andrew Ody, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Andrew Ody, 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 AND
IN COMBINING MACHINERY FOR HOISTING AND WEIGHING GOODS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Andrew Ody, 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 Andrew Ody, 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 two Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention relates, 1st, to improvements in weighbridges or
weighing machines of the transverse lever construction, by which a
uniform action of the levers is ensured whilst the platform or table on
which the goods are weighed receives additional support at the centre
where most required, the support being afforded by the gravity of the goods,

page_text: <<
and therefore directly proportionate to the weight on the table, whichi
is, so to speak, self-sustained. This I effect by mounting the transverse
or main lever of the machine on a fulcrum placed at the centre beneatli
the table or weighing platform by which it is carried. The table is
carried on bearings at the extremities of the side levers in the usual
manner, the inner ends of which levers take under the short end of the
main or transverse lever before referred to, whose other end is
connected to a steelyard or weighing lever" as usual. By this
arrangement any weight deposited on the table tends to raise the
inner ends of the side levers which are in contact with the end of
the transverse lever before mentioned as carried on a fulcrum placed
beneath the centre of the table. Any weight placed on the table thus
produces an upward pressure on the said fulcrum, which affords a support
to the centre of the table. Instead of the transverse lever I may employ
a bell-crank lever similarly mounted on a fulcrum fixed to the under
side of the platform or table. The inner ends of the side levers are in
connection with the horizontal limb of said bell crank, the other limb
being connected by a rod to a similar bell crank disposed at the foot of
the stand carrying the "weighing lever." By this arrangement the
indicator may be placed at any convenient distance from the weighing
machine as the rod connecting the two bell cranks may be of any length
required without impairing the accuracy of the machine. All the
bearings are knife-edged as usual.
My Invention relates, secondly, to an improved bearing for securing
the head and foot of a cranc post when the crane is combined with a
platform weighing machine or weighbridge for the double purpose of
hoisting and weighing goods, for which the machine above described is
particularly adapted. The pivoted ends of the crane post are received in
a bearing or socket, from which radiate a numbor of lugs having knife-
edged pins mounted transversely thereon. Each of these bearings is
secured concentrically within a horizontal ring by means of screw bolts
passing through said ring or through lugs formed thereon and connected
with the bearing or socket by metal loops. These loops encircle knife-
edged pins carried transversely at the inner ends of the screw bolts.as.
well as the similar pins before mentioned as being carried on lugs formed.
on the bearing itself. The outer ring at top of the crane post would be
bolted to a beam or otherwise securely fixed, whilst the lower bearing
receiving the foot of the crane is formed by the table of the weighing

page_text: machine itself, which is similarly secured by bolts and loops to an outer
ring fixed on the box or casing containing the levers of said machine.
The bearings being sustained only by horizontal connections as above
described permit of a slight vertical movement of the crane post for
bringing the weighing levers into action, and as the connections are all
provided with knife edges the vertical play of the crane post is unattended
with friction, which otherwise would prevent accuracy in weighing; all
lateral displacement of the crane is also prevented. The bolts and loops
may be tightened as required by means of nuts on the outer ends of
the screw bolts, the bearings being, morcover, prevented from twisting or
turning with the rotary movement of the crane post by means of loops at
the corners. The weighing machine is provided with the ordinary.
relieving gear, so that when the crane is required for hoisting purposes
only the footstep of the crane post would be received on fixed supports,
thus avoiding distress or wear to the weighing parts. In combining a
"pillar" crane and weighing machine the weighing levers are double or
open at centre and connected at the sides, and the crane pillar passes
down between them into the pit where the foot of the crane is received
in a socket or bearing secured horizontally by the radial bolts and loops
connecting it with an outer ring or with the sides of the pit. This foot
bearing is further suspended by rods from the table of the weighing
machine through which the crane post passes and which serves to sustain
the crane pillar in a vertical position. The table which is in the form
of a ring is secured horizontally by the bolts and links with knife-edged
pins as before described. The platform or bearing may, moreover, be
furnished with friction rollers around the crane pillar, as usual, to permit
of its being revolved freely. The whole weight of the crane and goods
suspended therefrom is thus brought to bear directly on the levers of
the weighing machine through the medium of the upper bearing or plat-
form which rests directly on said levers as usual, thus ensuring perfect
accuracy in weighing. When not required for use the weighing levers
may be relieved and the upper bearing or platform received on a fixed
support as before.

page_text: is a transverse vertical section on line 5-6, Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a
longitudinal section of a modified arrangement, in which bell-crank
levers are employed in lieu of the main or transverse lever.
"
A is the table or weighing platform of the machine, the legs a of
which are supported on the outer centres of the side levers or "minor
beams" B, the inner centres c of which are hung in loops c¹ forming
the fulera of the levers B suspended from fixed cross bars d on bearing
plates d'; C is the "main beam or transverse lever which I mount in
an inverted position in a hook-shaped bracket c, bolted centrally beneath
table A to a rib formed on the under side of said table. The hook-shaped
bracket e which is made double with the main lever C passing between,
forms the fulcrum of said lever C, and is furnished with hardened bearings
to resist the upward pressure of the front centres e¹, caused by the action
of the minor beams B as herein-after described. The inner ends of said
side beams B take under the rear or shorter end of the main beam C,
against which they bear up, either by direct contact with the rear
contre of said beam or through the medium of links which connect
the centres 6¹ of the side beams with centre e². The long extremity of
the main lever is connected with a weighing lever as usual. Thus
arranged any weight deposited on the table or weighing platform A,
tends to raise the inner ends of the side beams B, and with them tho
short extremity of the main lever C imparting an upward pressure to
the fulcrum or bracket e, which affords support to the centre or weakest
part of the table A, to counteract in a measure the strain caused by tho
weight of the goods placed thereon. I also obtain the same result by
another arrangement shown in Figure 4, in which I employ in lieu of
the transverse or main lover A before described a bell-crank lever D
similarly pivoted, and the vertical limb of which is connected by a rod
to the corresponding limb of a similar bell crank D' disposed bencatlı
the foot of the stand carrying the "weighing lever," which may be at
some distance. All the centres of the different levers are formed with
"knife edges" in the usual manner.
The second part of my Invention is illustrated in Sheet 2 of tho
Drawings, in which Figure 5 is a sectional clevation of my improved
construction of antifrictional guide bearing as applied to the head and
foot of a crane post for the purpose of facilitating the combination with
said crane of a platform weighing machine or weighbridge, so that goods
may be hoisted and weighed simultaneously.

page_text: Figure 6 is a plan of the weighing machine with foot bearing for
erane post. The bearing consists of a step h for the foot or a collar or
socket for the head of the crane post around which bearing a number
of radial lugs 9 are formed arranged in pairs, between each of which
onc loop of a horizontal link i is received and retained by a transverse
knife edged pin g' passing through the lugs. These links i radiate from
the lugs as shown and their outer extremities or loops are connected to
screw bolts by knife-edged pins passing through both as shown. The
screw bolts are secured in a ring of blocks within which the bearings h
or are adjusted to occupy a central position by the aid of the nuts
on the bolts k. The bearings h or also require to be capable of
adjustment in a vertical direction, for which purpose the retaining
blocks are partly received in boxes m fixed, those of the foot bearing to
the casing E of the weighing machine, and those of the top bearing to
a plate securely bolted to a beam or other fixture. The blocks & are
furnished with flanges which abut against the outer surfaces of boxes m
in which the blocks are capable of being adjusted at any height therein.
by the aid of a cotter n beneath block and a set screw above said
block as shown in the detached view, Figure 7, or vice versa. The foot
step of the crane post is fixed on the table F of a platform weighing
machine, the weighing part of which may be of the usual construction,
as shown in Figure 5. The sockets or bearings of the crane post G are
thus sustained by horizontal connections only, which, while preventing
any lateral or horizontal displacement of the crane permit of a slight
downward movement when the goods are lifted for bringing the weigh-
ing levers into action, but as all the horizontal connections are formed
with "knife edges" as before mentioned the vertical play of the crane
will be unattended with such friction as otherwise would impair the
accuracy of the machine in weighing. The sockets h and arc
prevented from being twisted or turned by the rotation of the crane post
by means of two or more links placed at the corners of the socket or
of the table F, and connected by knife-edged pins, the one end to lugs
formed thereon, and the other end to an adjustable screw bolt k, secured
by a fixed retaining block 7, the whole connection being precisely similar
to the horizontal connections before described and indicated by the same
reference letters. The weighing apparatus is also provided with
relieving gear so that when the crane is required for hoisting purposes
only the levers of the weighing apparatus may be thrown out of gear,
and the platform or table F lowered until the projecting lags o̟, which

page_text: are provided at each corner rest on the framing E by which the whole
weight of the crane and goods is then supported so as to avoid
unnecessary wear on the working parts of the weighing apparatus.
Figure 8 illustrates the application of my improved antifrictional
guide bearings when combining a "pillar" crane and weighing
machine. In this case the column G of the crane is carried down
through the weighing apparatus into a pit or well beneath where the
foot of the crane post is received in a socket retained by horizontal
connections arranged precisely similar to those applied to the head of
the crane post as shown in Figure 5, and kept up in its place by a
collar P and screw pin p' attached to the foot of crane post.
The upper
bearing is in this description of crane formed on the table of the
weighing apparatus through which the crane passes as above-mentioned.
I have stated that the lower bearing h' is attached by suspension rods
to the upper bearing for the purpose of bringing the whole weight of
the cranc and its load to bear on the weighing levers, but this I prefer
to effect by a shoulder " formed around the crane pillar G, which bears
directly on the collar or upper bearing h. The latter is retained by the
horizontal links and connections attached to the casing E of the
weighing apparatus precisely as in the former case, and this bearing h
serves in conjunction with the foot bearings to sustain the crane
pillar in a vertical position. The bearing his bolted to the table F of
the weighing apparatus and rests directly on the levers II of the weigh-
ing machine, which are forked or double as shown in Figure 9, to permit
of the crane pillar passing down into the pit, and also to allow of their
ready removal for repairs without displacing the crane. Levers thus
formed are also particularly adapted for use in the apparatus shown in
Figure 5 before described, as they afford a steady support to the crane.
Perfect accuracy in weighing is thus ensured as the weight of the goods
on the cranc is transferred directly to the levers of the weighing machine
as though deposited on the platform in the usual way. Fixed supports o
are provided as before to receive the weight of the crane and goods when
required for hoisting purposes only, the weighing machine being discon-
nected from the crane by the ordinary relieving gear as in the former
arrangement.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention
to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—

page_text: 1st. As improvements in weighbridges or weighing machines of the
"transverse lever" construction, shown in Sheet 1 of the Drawings, I
claim, disposing the transverse or main lever to oscillate beneath a
fulcrum fixed to the under side of the weighing platform and combining
said lever with the side levers, all substantially as herein-before described
and illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings annexed, whereby
a uniform action of the levers is ensured and the table supported as
above mentioned.
"
I also claim the combination with the side lovers or "minor beams
of such weighing machines of a bell-crank lever mounted beneath the
weighing platform in the position and in licu of the main beam before
mentioned and connected with the indicator substantially as shown and
described and for the purpose specified.
2ndly. I claim as my "Improvements in Combining Machinery for
Hoisting and Weighing Goods" the combination with the bearings or
sockets of the crane post of a number of radial links attached thereto,
and to adjustable screw bolts by knife-edged pins, the whole arranged
and applied substantially as described and shown in Figures 5 and 6 of
the Drawings and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Ody, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
ANDDEW Ony
Gol