IMPROVEMENTS IN BALANCE ELEVATORS.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Horace Brandon, of 13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris, in the Empire of France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BALANCE ELEVATORS.". -A communication from
Charles Brooks Sawyer, of Fitchbury, Mass., U. S., Engineer, John
Wesley Labaree, of Springfield, Mass., U.. S., Gentleman, and
.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Horace
Brandon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition and Declaration, on the 9th August 1870, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HORACE BRANDON, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of France,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN,
BALANCE ELEVATORS," a communication from Charles Brooks Sawyer,..
of Fitchbury, Massachusetts, United States, Engineer, John Wesley.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HORACE BRANDON, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of France,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in noceaccion of an Invention for is THDRAWDYKma 73
Jun Section of the ratent Law Amendment Act, 14.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
HORACE BRANDON, of 13, Rue Gaillon, Paris, in the Empire of France,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
T
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN
BALANCE ELEVATORS," a communication from Charles Brooks Sawyer,
of Fitchbury, Massachusetts, United States, Engineer, John Wesley-
.

page_text: Labaree, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United States, Gentleman, and
Parmala William Brewster, of Springfield, Massachusetts, United States,
Chemist, and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made solemn Declaration that it is a communication
from Charles Brooks Sawyer; of Fitchbury, Mass., U. S., Engineer,
John Wesley Labaree, of Springfield, Mass., U. S., Gentleman, and
Parmala William Brewster, of Springfield, Mass., U. S., Chemist.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, do
hereby declare that the following Complete Specification, under my
hand and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 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) :-
In order that my Invention be clearly understood I will proceed to
give a full description of the same by the aid of the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan of my Invention; Fig. 2
is a vertical section through line A, B, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view of
the inside of one of the large toothed wheels showing the method of
attaching the rope or cord to the shaft; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view
of the fixed shaft and a portion of the loose shaft.
My Invention relates to an apparatus for moving weights, and it may
be used to move such weights or burdens in any direction, whether
horizontally or vertically. It may be applied to use with great
advantage as an elevator in stores or warehouses for the purpose of
raising goods or wares or lowering them from one room to another, and
it consists of either one or two toothed wheels properly secured upon a
shaft having its bearing in one side of a frame or upon a timber, so that
the said wheel may rotate freely thereon. When two wheels are used
they are placed opposite each other and any desirable distance apart,
cach wheel rotating upon a separate shaft. A loose or independent
shaft is placed between the centres of the two wheels when two are used,
or between the centre of one and the frame opposite when one is used.
A socket or cavity is made on the inside of the toothed wheels at the
centre, or if only one wheel is used, in the centre of that and in the frame
opposite, and the ends of the loose shaft are inserted in the bearings or
sockets, so that said shaft is suspended therein between the two wheels,

page_text: or between one wheel and the frame opposite, as the case may be, and
the wheels are thus free to rotate independently of the shaft. I prefer
to suspend the loose shaft by extending the fixed shafts a little distance
through the toothed wheels, the inner end of each shaft being inserted in
a hole bored in each end of the loose shaft as shewn in Fig. 4, and any
desirable number of sheaves or pulleys may be placed upon said extended
fixed shaft near to the toothed wheels, the purpose of which will be
explained hereafter. A pin is secured in each toothed wheel upon the
inside, and two or more sheaves or pullies are placed thereon, I prefer
three, so as to turn freely; and a cord or rope, one end of which is
attached either to the loose shaft or to the fixed shaft, is passed first over
one of the pullies or sheaves and then around the loose shaft, then
around the next pulley or sheave, and so on until all the sheaves are
used, see left-hand arrangement, Figures 1 and 2; and upon rotating the
toothed wheels with the cord suspended from the loose shaft, said cord
will be wound around the shaft as the sheaves upon the toothed wheels
rotate around the loose shaft, and any weight attached to the loose end
of the cord will be drawn towards the loose shaft, so that if it is used as
an elevator, such weight may be raised. any desired lieight, and upon
withdrawing the power from the toothed. wheels, said' weight will remain
suspended at any point without any application of brakes or retaining
power to any part of the device.
In order to gain more power. in moving weights I make the above-
mentioned wheels with teeth upon the periphery, and arrange another
shaft upon the frame having small pinions or toothed wheels gearing
into the larger wheels, and these smaller wheels may be rotated.by.meaus
of a winch or a cord, or by any other suitable and convenient application
of power.
That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my
Invention I will describe its construction and operation. In the
Drawings J represents a frame which may be constructed of suitable
timber, or of metal if desirable, and at I and I are suitable bearings to
receive a shaft b. This shaft may be held firmly in place by a set
screw a, or by any other equivalent or convenient device, and said shaft
has an annular flange i which is somewhat larger than the main part of
the shaft b. The wheels C and D are recessed at to receive this
annular flange, which serves to retain the wheels C and D or one of them,

page_text: when only one is used, securely in position upon the shaft b. The inner
end of this shaft at o is made of proper size to enter a recess o¹ made in
the end of the loose shaft E to receive it. A hook or bent iron is
attached to the loose shaft Eat n, and the end of the cord is attached to
the hook as shewn in Fig. 2, although the device would be operative if
the end of the cord f were attached directly to the loose shaft or even to
the fixed shaft. I prefer, however, to use the hook or iron. A pin e is
secured to the wheels C and D, or to one when only one is used, and upon
this pin are placed the sheaves or pulleys e¹. I prefer to use three of
these pulleys, although two might operate in a measure, but not
sufficiently well to raise the heavier weights, and to gain power I make
gear or teeth upon the periphery of the wheels C and D and arrange
another shaft F having bearings in the frame J, and with small pinions
or toothed wheels C' and D₁ thereon gearing into the toothed wheels C
and D, to which shaft F or the pinions thereon the power is applied.
Any other system of gearing may be used as a medium of transmitting
power to the wheels C and D with equally good results, and without
departing from the principle of operation. The end of the cord being
made fast to the hook or iron f¹, or to the shaft as above described, the
cord is passed over the pulley e¹ nearest the wheel, thence it is passed
around the shaft, see Figures 1 and 3, and to the next pulley over that,
again around the shaft and over the next pulley, and thence to the shaft,
again, see left hand arrangement Figures 1 and 2, and the remainder of
the cord f being left suspended, as the wheels C and D are rotated, the
cord is wound around the loose shaft E, as is shewn distinctly in Fig. 1.
The device has more power if both wheels C and D are used, but is
equally operative with one wheel or when made single, and they may
therefore be made single or double according to the circumstances and
uses for which they are required without in the least departing from the
principle of their operation. I prefer to have the small pullies d, see
Figures 2 and 4, placed upon the inner end or part o of the shaft b, so
that instead of passing from the pulleys e¹ directly around, and being in
contact with either the fixed shaft b or the loose shaft E, the cord may
pass around said pulleys d and the friction be diminished in the operation
of drawing the cord taut.

page_text: to be wound around the said shaft which does not revolve with the
wheels C and D until the weight begins to be moved and the cord is
drawn taut its entire length. When this occurs the loose shaft E is
drawn towards the pulleys e¹, pressing firmly against that side of its
bearing, and as the cord is thus coiled tightly around the loose shaft E,
the friction between the cord and the shaft is so great that the shaft is
made to revolve with the wheels, and as the weight is increased the cord
adheres more closely to the loose shaft E. The end of the cord which is
attached to the shaft or to the hook pulls from the centre of the shaft,
and the cord in its arrangement around the pulleys e¹ and the loose
shaft E or the pulleys d, divides the strain of the cord upon both sides
of the shaft, so that the friction of the cord and the shaft and the above
mentioned division of the strain upon both sides of the shaft entirely
overcomes the power of the device to turn back and unwind the cord
from the shaft when the weight is drawing the cord taut, and the weight
will thus remain suspended at any point desirable without any application
of brakes or other retaining power to the toothed wheels C and D.
The number of pulleys e¹ is not necessarily limited or confined to three,
as two will operate in some degree, and more than three will distribute
the strain of the cord around the shaft even more perfectly than three,
but there may be disadvantage in lengthening the pin e sufficiently to
contain a greater number of pulleys e¹, and I therefore prefer that number
for all practical purposes. If desirable the small pinions C¹and D'may be
made to slide longitudinally upon the shaft F, so that after the weight is
raised and remains suspended, it may be sometimes desirable to slip the
pinions C¹ and D¹ out of gear with the toothed wheels C and D.
I do not wish to confine myself to this particular construction of the
device in all its details, as these may be varied according to convenience,
taste, or circumstances, without changing or departing from the principle
of its operation.
Having therefore thus described my Invention what I claim as new
and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. The independent shaft E when used in connection with one or
more wheels C or D having pulleys e¹ attached thereto substantially as
described.
Second. The independent shaft E in combination with a scries of
pulleys e revolving around said shaft substantially as described.

page_text: Third. I claim a device for moving weights consisting of one or more
pinions C¹, one or more wheels C, having pulleys e' attached thereto and
the independent shaft E with cord f, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Horace Brandon, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
D. H. BRANDON,
13, Rue Gaillon,
Paris.
A. H. BRANDON. (L.S.)