IMPROVEMENTS IN STEELYARDS AND PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Stevens, Manager of the British and Foreign
Office for Patents, 1º, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STEELYARDS AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th March 1860.
I, CHARLES STEVENS, Manager of the British and Foreign Office for Patents,
1º, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
STEELYARDS AND SCALES," (& that it has been communicated to me from abroad
by P. Danion, of Brest, in the Empire of France,) to be as follows:-
The improvements are as follows:-In order to prevent the substitution of
a false weight, the true one is fixed on the yard, which is of steel and
graduated for the heavy weights. The yard is hollow so as to permit of its
being furnished with a steel slide or rod, which is graduated for the fractional
parts; this slide is drawn out of the yard, which acts as sheath to it when not
in use, the required distance when fractional parts are to be weighed. By
this arrangement the fractional parts as well as the heavier weights are given
with a perfect accuracy at one and the same time. The head of the steel-
yard is furnished with three blades, three holders, three hooks, or two rings,
with hooks for supporting the goods to be weighed.

page_text: The weight is of cast iron or brass filled with lead, and is solidly attached
to the yard.
The above improvements relate to the ordinary portable steelyard, but by
the following additions & modifications it takes the place of the scales &
weights now used.
The instrument as above mentioned consists principally of the steelyard, of
the steel slide or rod moving in or under the yard, & marked for the fractional
parts of a weight for the heavier measures; thus the pounds (or any other weight
desired) with their fractional parts are obtained simultaneously by the weight
and slide; to this is adapted, by means of a chain or other mode of fastening,
a scale plate for holding the goods to be weighed, and an indicator with
pointer marks the position, and the whole is mounted on a wooden or cast
iron bottom by means of an elbow-joint support. A rest can be adjusted on
the stand or bottom to support the long arm of the yard.
The yard and slide are both of steel to avoid the wear caused by the sliding
of the weight.
By the above simple arrangement the scales with their numerous weights at
present in use are advantageously superseded.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Stevens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
STEVENS, Manager of the British & Foreign Office for Patents, 1", Welbeck
Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Stevens, Her special licence, that I, the said Charles Stevens,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Stevens, 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
STEELYARDS AND SCALES," (a communication to me from abroad by P. Danion,

page_text: of Brest, in the Empire of France,) upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Charles Stevens, 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
5 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 Charles Stevens, 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 and accompanying Drawings, that is to say:-
The object of the present Invention is to render the substitution of false
weights impossible, and also to give to the weighing apparatus a compactness
& accuracy not obtained by those at present in use.
The improvements can be applied both to the scale and steelyard, and are
as follows: The yard is made of steel, graduated for the heavy weights, and
made hollow to permit of its being furnished with a steel slide or rod, which
is graduated for the fractional parts. This slide is drawn out of the yard
(which acts as sheath to it when not in use) to the required distance for
weighing fractional parts. By this means both the fractional parts and the
heavier weights are given with perfect accuracy.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents the improvements as applied to fixed scales.
A, bent support, to which the several parts are suspended; B, head of the
steelyard; C, counterweight; D, D, blades; E, steelyard; F, ring of the
slide; G, slide or rod; H, holders; J, triangular piece supporting the scale;
K, scale; L, balancing needle; M, indicator; N, weight; O, rest for the end
of the steelyard when not in use; P, P, metal plates for fixing the bent sup-
port A, and the rest O.
Fig. 2 represents the improvements as applied to steelyards.
A, head of the steelyard; B, steelyard; C, slide or rod; C', weight; D,
holders; E, hooks or rings for supporting the articles to be weighed; F, knob
at the end of the slide; I, I, I, blades.
The steelyard E, Fig. 1 is divided in decimal parts according to the French
system. The slide G is subdivided so that the fractional parts may be obtained
by simply advancing or pushing it back.
In using the instrument, the heavier weights are obtained by adjusting the
weight N at a given point, the fractional parts being obtained by the slide G,

page_text: as above stated; thus both are obtained at the same time. The weight N is
attached to the yard so as to be incapable of being removed from it, although
its position on the yard is varied according to the weight required.
Various modifications may be made in the above arrangements, for instance,
the rod or slide C, instead of being introduced in a hollow in the steelyard as
represented, Fig. 2, may be adapted beneath it, as shown, G, Fig. 1. The divi-
sions also on the yard can be made according to the weights for which it may be
intended. Among other advantages obtained, the use of the various weights
required by the old system is avoided.
In the fixed scale, as shown, Fig. 1, the supports A & O are mounted on a
wooden or cast-iron stand, to which they are adjusted by means of nutscrews
underneath; the stand may be levelled by means of adjusting screws at each
corner.
The yard is of steel, in order to stand better the wear occasioned by the
sliding of the weight N.
As by these various improvements very little or no repair is necessary, an
important advantage in point of economy is gained by the use of this system
over the ordinary scales.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim and desire to secure by
Letters Patent, is the arrangement of the several parts as above described and
shown in the accompanying Drawings, of which the moveable slide for the
fractional parts is the principal feature.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Stevens, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
HA
CHARLES STEVENS.