IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING DISTANCES TRAVELLED BY WHEEL CARRIAGES
Year: 1862

page_text: Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 5th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Adcock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
May 1862.
I, JOHN ADCOCK, of Marlborough Road, Dalston, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Mechanician, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING DISTANCES TRAVELLED BY
WHEEL CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
The indicating apparatus or odometer which forms the subject of my present
Invention admits of various modifications embracing more or less the same
characteristic principles. In the most complex of these arrangements I
indicate the completion of each mile by the sudden projection of a spring, pin,
or stud, so that it shall be readable by the touch when it cannot be seen.
In another arrangement I indicate the distance merely by hands upon an
ordinary dial, and in a further modification I have contrived that without a
dial the indications of distance may be read through a slot in front of the

page_text: instrument.
The indicator may be fixed in any part of the carriage thought
most convenient, or may be held in the hand without at all interrupting the
action of the instrument, and it is also contrived in such a way as to be
adjustable to carriage wheels of various diameters.
In describing my odometer, I would begin by saying the indicator is
actuated by means of a pin or other projecting form fastened in the stock of
one of the running wheels, and at every rotation of the same it is brought
in contact with a lever connected with an air chamber in such a way as to
cause a piston or diaphragm therein to be depressed, driving the air there-
from through an elastic or other tube into the corresponding air chamber of
the indicator, the first air chamber which I call the blower is fastened on to
the axletree, and has under its piston or diaphragm a spring, which causes a
reaction as the pressure from the running wheel is taken off, and the lever is
then returned to its former position. The air chamber of the indicator has an
clastic cover, to the centre of which is attached an elbow lever carrying a
spring click, which takes into the teeth of a crown or other ratchet wheel.
This click at every inflation of the air chamber gives motion to the ratchet
wheel, which motion is communicated in any ordinary way to the dial wheel,
the number of whose teeth will be more or fewer according to the diameter of
the carriage wheel. From the rim of the dial wheel projects an arm, which
causes (at cach revolution thereof), by means of a spring lever and click acting
on a cam, the liberation of one of the spring pins or studs, which then pro-
trudes, indicating the completion of a mile. By the insertion of a key, the
spring pins will be all drawn in, and the hands on the dial will again be placed
at zero.
The instrument to which I have referred as showing its indications through
a slot instead of upon a dial, will in the first part of its movement answer to
the description already given, but instead of a dial wheel it has a wheel carried
by a horizontal screwed spindle, upon which a nut travels. Under the before
named slot I place an elastic and graduated band or cord, which at any time
may be made longer or shorter, thus increasing or decreasing the distance of
the marks from each other, so that the screw must rotate more or fewer times
in carrying the nut from mark to mark, which will be according to the
diameter of the carriage wheel. The travelling nut will be so formed as to
point to the marks on the elastic band or cord, one after another, as the
vehicle continues its journey.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Adcock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th
November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ADCOCK, of Marlborough Road, Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Mecha-
nician, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Adcock, Her special license, that I, the said John Adcock, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Adcock, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS
FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING DISTANCES TRAVELLED BY WHEEL CARRIAGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Adcock, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Adcock, do hereby declare tho
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The apparatus which forms the subject of my present Invention I call an
"odometer, or carriage distance indicator," and is such that it may be shown
in a variety of formis, yet in each will be seen the same characteristic principle.
In the most complete of these arrangements I shew the termination of each
mile by the sudden projection of a pin, stud, or other indicator on the face of
the instrument, so that it shall be readable by the touch when it cannot be
seen, the total distance also being registered on a dial.
In other of the arrangements I show the distance by hands on a dial only,

page_text: and the apparatus is also capable of being made both in form and size to
resemble a watch.
In another modification of my odometer I have contrived it so that with-
out a dial the indications of distance may be seen through a slot in the front
of the instrument. The indicator may be fixed in any part of the carriage,
or may be held in the hand without at all interrupting the action of the
instrument, and it is constructed in such a way as to be easily adjusted to
carriage wheels of various diameters. The indicating portion of these instru-
ments I connect with the driving part thereof by an air tube, and actuate
them by means of a stud or other projection fixed to the stock or hub of the
carriage wheel, and which at every revolution of the said wheel will be
brought into contact with the driving part of the apparatus, which I call the
blower. This is fastened to the axletree of the vehicle, and will force the air
through the connecting tube into the air chamber of the indicator, and so
give motion to that part of the instrument in a way well understood, and the
details of which will be fully explained by reference to the accompanying
Drawings.
Fig. 1, Sheet I., represents the most complete form of indicator in front
elevation. Fig. 2 is an end view of the same. Fig. 3 shews the same
instrument uncovered, or with the dial and case taken off. Fig. 4 is a section
through the dotted line 1, 2, in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section through the
centre of the instrument, at the line 3 to 4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is another form
for the upper part of the instrument.
Figures 7, 8, and 9, shew a modification of the indicator intended to be
held in the hand, or placed in a pocket of the carriage.
Figures 10 and 11, Sheet II., are front and end views of an indicator
formed without a dial; and Figures 12, 13, and 14, are side, front, and end
views of the same, uncovered. Fig. 15 shews the key or winder.
Fig. 16, Sheet III., shews the inner end of the hub of a carriage wheel,
with a portion of the axletree, having the blower affixed thereto. Fig. 17 a
side view of the blower in section. Fig. 18 is a second form of blower; and
Fig. 19 a third.
In describing the nature and action of these instruments, I shall mark with
the same letters the corresponding parts in each Figure.
Now the working of my odometer apparatus will be shown as follows:-
A in Figures 16, 18, or 19, represents the hub of a carriage wheel; B, B, the
axletree with collar. C, (Fig. 16.) is a pin fastened into the hub of the wheel,
which pin, at every revolution of the wheel, is brought down upon the lever D,

page_text: giving motion thereto, which, through the spindle E, will communicate
a corresponding motion to the crank arm F, and so will be made to depress a
piston G, (Fig. 17,) in the cylinder II, through the connecting link I; J is a
spring to cause a reaction of the piston G, when the pin or stud C has passed
off from the lever D. The depression of the piston G expels the air from the
lower part of the cylinder H, causing it to pass through the nozzle K, and by
way of a tube into the air chamber of the indicator. Fig. 18 is another form
of blower in section, having its parts differently arranged, the cylinder of
which is placed horizontally. This blower is put in motion by a cam L, which
at each turn of the carriage wheel, will slide over the nose piece M, thrusting
it back, and so through the link N, produce the required stroke of the piston
G. Fig. 19 shews another form of blower, in which, as a substitute for the
piston, I employ a hollow india-rubber ball, or some such form, to be used
either with or without a metallic spring, as may seem best.
The chamber O, Fig. 3, Sheet I., has an elastic cover P, to the centre of
which is attached an elbow lever Q, carrying a spring click R, which takes
into the teeth of the crown wheel S. This click, at every inflation of the
chamber O, gives motion to the wheel S, and through the pinion T to
the carrier V, and so to the large or mile wheel U. This wheel will be cut
with more or fewer teeth, according to the diameter of the carriage wheel.
The carriage W of the wheel S, swivels on a stud screw X, so that the wheel
V may be drawn out of gear by the rod Y. The wheel V is otherwise held in
gear by the india-rubber or other spring Z; a is a slotted plate which carries
the wheel V, and may be adjusted, moving the wheel to the right or left, so
as to suit it to the particular diameter of the wheel U, and then fixed in its
place by the set screw b. The wheel U is screwed on to the plate c, from the
back of which will be seen, Fig. 5, a projecting arm d; at every revolution of
the wheel U, the arm & will lift the latch end of the lever e, e, causing a
click f, which acts upon a ratchet wheel g, keyed to the spindle of the wheel
U, to rise one tooth on the ratchet wheel g. As the arm & passes the latch
or centre, the lever e agains falls, being drawn down by the elastic cord h to
its former position, when the click f will drive the ratchet wheel one tooth
forward, thereby registering on the dial one mile by the band i, Fig. 1.; jis
a hand which turns with the wheel U, being fixed in the usual way on to a
pipe rising from the plate c, and shows by each revolution one mile. For the
purpose of being able, when required, to return the hand j to zero, I mount on
the spindle of the wheel g what I term a snail piece k, on which is made to
wind an elastic cord 1, 7. At the completion of each coil of the cord 1, 1, on
the snail k, an arm n jointed to the snail in passing under an incline m,

page_text: projecting from the bed plate of the instrument will be forced down, so as to
be liberated from a stop o of the plate c. The snail will then by the tension
of the cord 1, 1, be drawn back to its former position. I adopt the quadrant
arrangement as at 7, to modify the strain on the cord 1,1; p is a light wire
spring coiled round the pipe of the snail k, so as to hold the arm n up to its
work. The studs r, or other projections to indicate completed miles, as
shown at Figures 1, 3, 4, 5, and s, Fig. 6, will be made to act as follows:-
The lever e, e, Fig. 3 (the end of which is seen at e, Fig. 5) carries on its top
side a catch t, which takes into the teeth of a ratchet wheel v. This wheel
being fast on a cam axle u, Figs. 4 and 5, imparts motion thereto, and for
every tooth brought down by the catch t, the upper end of one of a series of
crank levers w (which are borne upwards by the cam surfaces) will drop,
allowing a stud to be forced forward by one of a series of coiled wire springs a.
This action will be repeated at the conclusion of each mile. y, Fig. 5, is a
stop click, to the binder part of which is attached a spring, serving to hold
the click y in its place; also to keep the catch up to its work. Fig. 6
shews the upper part of an indicator in which, instead of a spring pin to slide
forward, there will be seen a lever s, which will answer to the motion of the
cam u, by dropping the end s¹ through a slot in the case of the instrument.
To put the several parts of this instrument back to their starting posture, I
insert at c', Fig. 3, a pipe key, which, being pressed against the lever d', will
cause it in rocking on its fulcrum c, to draw forward the rod Y, and,
consequently, the upper end of the wheel carriage W, thereby throwing the
carrier wheel V out of gear with the wheel U. The clastic cord 7, 1, will now
be free to contract, and in doing so the wheel U will be turned back, until
stopped by the latch lever e, e. Then by one turn of the key the cam axle u
will be brought to its starting position, and the levers w being thereby forced
upwards, the studs will all be drawn inwards as shewn at Figures 4 and 5.
The diminutive instrument, shown at Figures 7, 8, and 9, has all is
parts lettered, so as to correspond with the description of the instrument last
referred to its construction therefore will be readily understood without
further explanation.
In Figures 12, 13, and 14, Sheet II., O is the air chamber; K is the
nozzle, over which will be drawn the air tube connecting it with the blower;
Q is the elbow lever, carrying a spring click R, working in the teeth of the
ratchet wheel a, on the spindle of which is the pinion 6 gearing into the
wheel which is carried by a horizontal screw shaft d. On this screw is a
nut e, which travels from left to right, and is held in its proper position by the
bar f, along which it will slide. The nut e has on its under side a pointer g,
C₂

page_text: which passing along the side of an elastic and graduated band h, indicates the
distance travelled by the vehicle; i is a roller, to which the end of the band h
is made fast; this roller may be turned by a pin inserted in the holes j, j, j.
so as to lengthen or shorten the band, and thereby adjust its mile divisions to
the exact diameter of the wheel of the carriage, to which the instrument is
applied; is a stop to hold the roller i at the required point; is a spring to
hold in gear the wheel c. In order to return the pointer g to zero, I insert
the key or winder, Fig. 15, at m, and by pressing it in sufficiently to allow it
to turn, the wheel c will slide out of the pinion b, and the screw will
turn freely until the nut e has reached home.
Having now described my Invention of improved apparatus for measuring
and indicating distance travelled by wheel carriages, also the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would observe that I do not intend to confine
myself rigidly to the exact arrangement and construction of all the parts
herein shewn and described, as they may perhaps be varied in some particulars,
without departing from the nature and object of my Invention.
In
conclusion, I claim the several arrangements of indicating instruments
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Adcock, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, the Fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord
Oue thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
JOHN ADCOCK. (L.S.)