IMPROVEMENTS IN SPEED INDICATORS AND CALCULATORS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Rhodes, of Oldham, in the County
of Lancaster, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPEED
INDICATORS AND CALCULATORS."
Sealed the 2nd August 1858, and dated the 19th March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Rhodes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th March 1858.
I, WILLIAM HENRY RHODES, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SPEED INDICATORS AND CALCULATORS," to be as follows:-
I cause the shaft or other object whose speed or velocity is to be measured
and indicated to turn a worm working in a toothed wheel to give motion by
means of other toothed wheels to hands in connection with a dial, the divisions
And
of which are arranged according to the kind of work to be measured.
for the purpose of calculation I employ improved proportional compasses or
dividers, which are divided longitudinally and transversely, the arms or beams
of which are furnished with slides connected together by an universal joint and
right and left-handed screws, so that the points can be adjusted with accuracy
to any scale. The divisions on the arms or beams are proportional, and when
the slides are moved from one number to another the points of the compass

page_text: are opened or contracted in the same ratio, so that the ordinary operations of
multiplication, division, and proportion can be performed and their results
obtained by applying the points to suitable scales.
'
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Rhodes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY RHODES, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machinist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March; in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Rhodes, Her special licence that I, the said William Henry
Rhodes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Henry Rhodes, 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 SPEED INDICATORS AND CALCULATORS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Rhodes, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 William Henry Rhodes, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists, firstly, of an improved apparatus or machine for
indicating the speed of spindles, shafts, or other objects, and is particularly
adapted for ascertaining the velocity of mule spindles. I cause the object
whose speed or velocity is to be measured to turn a worm working in a toothed
wheel in order to give motion by means of other toothed wheels and pinions

page_text: to hands or indicators in connection with a dial, the divisions of which are
arranged according to the kind of work to be measured or indicated.
Secondly, of improved proportional compasses, the arms or beams of which
are furnished with slides connected together by an universal joint and right
and left handed screws, so that the points can be adjusted with accuracy to
any required scale or distance. The traverse of the slides is exactly in the
same proportion as the movement of the arms and points, and when the latter
are regulated to certain distances by means of suitable scales or measures the
slides traverse the arms in the same ratio, the value of which is determined by
numbers and divisions, so that the operations of multiplication, division, pro-
portion, and square root, whether intricate or otherwise, can be performed
and their results obtained with great convenience, the points of the compasses
being both multipliers and dividers. These improvements will be clearly
understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, with the
figures and letters thereon.
Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of the apparatus for measuring or
indicating the speed of shafts and spindles; Fig. 2, a view of the same with-
out the dial and plate, in order to shew the interior; Fig. 3, a transverse
section of the casing and framing of the apparatus for the purpose of exposing
a view of the wheel work; Fig. 4 is a front view of my improved proportional
compasses, and Figs. 5 and 6 are back and side views of the same.
In Figs.
1, 2, and 3, I represent an apparatus for measuring or indicating the speed of
mule spindles or other objects having a great velocity.
a is the case and frame, having a hole b fitting a fixed rod c, to which it is
screwed fast by the screw d; or any other convenient mode of holding it may
be used. On the mule spindle or other shaft e I fix a worm f, gearing into a
wheel g, having a hundred teeth, which wheel works upon a spindle h, held
stationary by making its end square and fitting it to a corresponding hole in
the plate i, which is screwed to the frame. The wheel g is furnished with a
steadying pulley k, and also a toothed wheel l, which revolves with the wheel g
and also upon its own axis. To the spindle h is fixed a wheel m, of thirty
teeth, at the side of which is another wheel n of thirty-three teeth attached to
a pinion o of ten teeth, both being fixed to a tube or boss working on the spindle
h, which boss extends through the dial plate p and carries the long hand 9,
which is for the purpose of indicating tens and hundreds. The pinion.o gears
into a wheel r of forty teeth, carrying a pinions of twenty teeth gearing into
a wheel t of forty teeth, working on the boss of the long hand and extended
through the dial plate so as to carry the short hand u which is employed for
indicating thousands.

page_text: The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-Each revolution of the
mule spindle or shaft moves the large wheel 9 one tooth, and a hundred
revolutions turn it once round and with it the wheel 1, which is geared into
the stationary wheel m and also into the wheel n, and gives the effect of turn-
ing the latter three teeth or one-tenth of a revolution for one revolution of the
large wheel 9, which effect is indicated by the long hand 9, it being connected
with the boss of the wheel n. Each division of the index or dial plate cor-
responds with ten revolutions of the spindle or shaft, and each cross one
hundred, there being ten crosses in the circle. The dial plate has also eight
other divisions, marked by the well-known Roman characters, each division
representing a thousand, the number of which is indicated by the short hand u
which moves one-eighth of the circle for one entire revolution of the long
hand in consequence of the ratio of the pinions o and s, and the wheels r and u
being as eight to one. Thus ten revolutions of the spindle or shaft is marked
by one of the units of the index on the dial plate, one hundred by the distance
from one cross to the other, one thousand by the entire revolution of the long
hand, and the number of thousands and parts by the position of the short
hand.
In operating with mule spindles, as they are driven by bands, let the appa-
ratus be worked until the two hands are exactly at the top, then hold the
spindle until you are prepared to determine a minute by your timepiece, then
let the spindle turn until the minute has elapsed, and immediately stop the
spindle. The number of revolutions will then be exactly marked on the dial
by the short and long hands. It is evident that the aforesaid results may be
obtained by wheels and pinions having different numbers of teeth than those
in the Drawing, and that the dial may be divided in any suitable manner, so
that the apparatus may be adapted for indicating the velocity of any kinds of
shafts and spindles, it being remembered that the leading character of the
Invention consists in dividing by means of a toothed wheel working into a
stationary wheel, and also into another wheel having a different number of teeth,
the other wheels and pinions being suited according to the purpose required.
In Figs. 4, 5, and 6, representing my improved proportional compasses, the
arms or beams are shewn at a and b, jointed together at one end by the pin c,
their other ends being furnished with the points d which are moveable for the
sake of convenience. The arms or beams are fitted with the slides e connected.
to nuts f, in which are screwed the right and left handed screws 9 and h, con-
nected together by the universal joint i, so that when the screws are turned
both arms move uniformly at the same time. Each arm is divided transversely
into ordinary English inches and parts, and the arm is also divided longitu-.

page_text: dinally into several lines having different numbers progressively increasing in
value from the centre of the joint to the top of the arm, thus adapting the
compasses for inverse proportion. The arm a is furnished with a spring
holder for holding the scale having divisions and parts according to the
kinds of calculations required.
As an example of the use of the instruments:-Suppose a spinner was
spinning 20 yarn and employing a wheel of thirty teeth, and he desired to
know what wheel would be required in order to spin 25 yarn-set the mark
m on the slide to 30 on the arm, that is the second large division about 28,
then by means of the screws adjust the points to divisions on the scale l, cor-
responding with 20 yarn, after which shift the slide downwards until the
points correspond with 25' yarn on the scale, and opposite the mark m you
will find 24, which is the number of the teeth required, thus obtaining by a
few movements of the instruments a result hitherto determined by arithmetical
computation. It is obvious that by employing suitable scales calculations can
be performed to an unlimited extent, and if the numbers on the arm were
made to increase in value from the top to the centre of the pin, the compasses
would be adapted for direct proportion; and it is also evident that divisions of
tenths and other proportions of a hundred may be placed upon the arm or
arms, so that they may be employed for whatever use they may be found con-
venient.
The slides in the foregoing arrangement are shifted by the band only, but I
employ a modification in which the slides are moved by racks and pinions, so
that by turning a button or head of a pin the position of the slides can be
adjusted with the greatest ease and accuracy..
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as
such may be varied or modified without departing from the principle thereof;
but I claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge and
belief has not been hitherto used within the realm,-
Firstly, the employment of a machine or apparatus for measuring or
indicating the speed of shafts or spindles having a toothed wheel geared into a
stationary wheel, and also into another wheel of a different number of teeth,
so as to move the latter the amount of the difference, and also the general
arrangement of the parts, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.
And, secondly, the employment of improved proportional compasses having
right and left handed screws connected with an universal joint, so as to move
the arms and points simultaneously and uniformly, and also the adaptation of

page_text: the aforesaid compasses to suitable scales for the purposes of calculation, as
all such improvements are herein described and illustrated in the accompany-
ing Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Rhodes, have hereunto set
my hand, and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named William Henry Rhodes,
in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.
W. H. RHODES. (L.S.)