AN IMPROVED CORN METER FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE SUPPLY OF CORN OR GRAIN
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wyatt, of Ellesmere, in the County of
Salop, Engineer and Surveyor, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
CORN METER FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE SUPPLY OF CORN OR
GRAIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wyatt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th February 1873.
I, WILLIAM WYATT, of Ellesmere, in the County of Salop, Engineer
and Surveyor, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED CORN METER FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE SUPPLY OF
CORN OR GRAIN," to be as follows:—
This Invention relates to an improved and simple machine or
apparatus suitable for measuring and registering the supply of corn
or grain, and is intended for use in stables or other places where corn
or grain is desired or required to be measured.

page_text: The improved meter or machine is made of iron or other metal, and
consists of an iron or metal drum, which is made to partly revolve inside
a cylinder, also made of metal. The cylinder has an opening at the top
for admitting the corn or grain, and one at the bottom for letting it run
out; and the drum, which is made of the size necessary to contain the
measure or required quantity, has an opening in its side, which allows
the corn or grain to run in when turned upwards, and to run out when
turned downwards by means of a handle or other similar contrivance.
The drum is connected by means of a loose catch working on a stud
with a register or series of dials similar to the dials of a gas meter, which 1
will indicate or register the quantity or amount of corn or grain measured
and supplied or passed through the meter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Wyatt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th August 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WYATT, of Ellesmere, in the County of Salop, Engineer and Surveyor,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Wyatt, Her special
licence that I, the said William Wyatt, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Wyatt, 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 "AN IMPROVED
CORN METER FOR MEASURING AND REGISTERING THE SUPPLY OF CORN OR GRAIN,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Wyatt,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe

page_text: The drum (Figure 5) and the catch (Figure 4) are shewn in the
positions they assume when the handle is at half stroke in its downward
course, with both the inlet and outlet apertures 4, 5, closed, the filling
being completed and the register taken before the commencement of the
emptying.
On continuing the motion, the catch having moved, the register drops
away from the ratchet registering wheel 9 into the recessed part of a
catch block 10 (cast on the inside of the front lid 11), which puts it clear
of the registering wheel, and prevents the drum being turned backwards
until it has been turned forwards to the end of its stroke, thus preventing
the possibility of repeating the action of registering until the drum has
been properly emptied of its contents.
When the handle has moved far enough to bring the edge 12 of the
opening 6 of the drum over the corner 13 of the casing (Figure 5),
throwing the outlet fully open, a stop 14 cast on the drum comes in
contact with the end of the catch block. At the same time the catch
drops off the latter's end and assumes a vertical position, as shown by
dotted lines at 15.
When it is desired to refil the drum the handle must be raised. The
catch then passes over the catch block reversed, with its hook 16 down-
wards, passing the registering wheel without touching it.
When the drum reaches the position shewn in Figure 5, the catch
drops into the recessed part of the catch block, and prevents the pos-
sibility of turning the drum forward until the backward motion is
completed.
When the drum has moved far enough to fully open the inlet 4 a
stop 17 comes in contact with the end of the catch block, and the catch
drops away into a vertical position, as shewn by dotted lines at 18.
A perforated plate of metal or other material 19 (Figure 5) allows the
air contained in the drum to escape while the corn or other material is
running in. A portion also of the confined air escapes down a passage 20
in the direction of the arrow in Figure 6, or I afford it an exit in other
simple ways.
The ratchet registering wheel 9 has a pawl and spring or other con-
trivance to keep it steady in the right position, and is connected by a a
properly arranged train of wheels and pinions 9 with four or any other

page_text: number of small dials 21, registering bushels or any other measure,
English or foreign, as required.
22 shows portion of the spout which conveys the material to be mea-
sured from the room or hopper overhead to the machine.
23 is a flap (straight, curved, or of any suitable shape) kept in the
position shewn in Figure 3 by the weight of the grain as long as any
remains, but if the supply should be allowed to run out a weight 24
(connected with the flap by a link lever 25 or other suitable contrivance
is allowed to fall (the flap coming forward when the pressure is removed),
and in its fall presses down the upper part of a weighted lever 26, forcing
it into such a position as to engage with a pin 27 screwed into the back
of the drum, and thus prevent the possibility of further action until a
supply of grain is again obtained; or this object I obtain in a variety of
simple ways.
In Figure 5 the flap is shown as made of a plate of brass considerably
less than the width of the opening, the ends being made of thin india-
rubber or other elastic material, to give way if a bit of corn or grit should
get between it and the sides of the space in which it works, and also to
maintain a better contact with the sides.
A plate 28 of the width shewn, or more or less, as required, regulates
the opening through which the material runs from the spout. Its edge
may be turned down, and it may have a second plate attached, shewn
at 29, to prevent the corn or other material getting above the shaft on
which the flap works.
A lock 30 may be used, as shewn in Figure 2, with a sliding bolt 31
to engage with the handle or in any other suitable way, the object being
to prevent the action of the machine while thus secured.
The shaft 32 may pass through the drum for extra strength if required,
or the small part 33 may be omitted.
The various parts of the machine may be fastened together with sunk
screws, sealed up
if desired.
The pieces 34 are projections from the drum, their principal object
being to protect the registering apparatus.
35 is a spring acting on the catch to assist the action of gravity, but
which may be used or omitted.

page_text: Fourthly. The provision of a means of cxit for the confined air 2
contained in the drum.
And lastly. The provision of an apparatus for stopping the action of
the machine when it is empty, all substantially as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wyatt, have hercunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of August, in the year of 2
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.