IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS. FOR COUNTING AND INDICATING NUMBERS."
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Blake Wells, of 431, Strand, in the City
of Westminster, and 148, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London,
Cutler and Dressing Case Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS. FOR COUNTING AND INDICATING NUMBERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Blake Wells at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th February 1858.
I, BENJAMIN BLAKE WELLS, of -431, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
and 143, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, Cutler and Dressing Case.
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR COUNTING AND INDICATING NUMBERS," to be
as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to produce a more or less ornamental
apparatus which may be employed for counting and indicating games and
points of games, for adding or multiplying decimal numbers, and for other like
purposes. And my Invention consists in marking numbers from 1 to 10 around
the peripheries of wheels, either upon the sides or edges of the same; and in
mounting the wheels thus marked upon an axis or upon axes in combination
or not with a hand or pointer as may be required. Any desirable number of
wheels thus marked may be employed, and I either mount them all upon one
vertical axis to form a flat horizontal counter and indicator; or I mount them

page_text: upon the same horizontal axis, and support it by a suitable foot or standard;
or I mount them partly upon a horizontal and partly upon a vertical axis in
combination with a suitable frame or support. In some cases I also combine
such wheels with an ornamental covering tube partly within and partly upon
which the wheels are placed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Benjamin Blake Wells in the Great Seal. Patent Office,
on the 9th August. 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
BLAKE WELLS, of 431, Strand, in the City of Westminster, and 143, Leaden-
hall Street, in. the City of London, Cutler and Dressing Case Manufacturer,
send greeting.
me,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of February, 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 the
said Benjamin Blake Wells, Her special licence that I, the said Benjamin
Blake Wells, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Benjamin Blake Wells, 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 APPARATUS FOR COUNTING AND INDICATING NUMBERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Benjamin Blake Wells,
'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 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.
my
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Blake Wells, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:

page_text: The object of my Invention is to produce a more or less ornamental
apparatus which may be employed for counting and indicating games and
points of games, for adding or multiplying decimal numbers, and for other
like purposes.
And my Invention consists in marking numbers from 1 to 10
around the peripheries of wheels, either upon the sides or hedges of the same,
and in mounting the wheels thus marked upon an axis or upon axes in
combination or not with a hand or pointer as may be required. Any desirable
number of wheels thus marked may be employed, and I either mount them all
upon one vertical axis to form a flat horizontal counter and indicator, or I
mount them upon the same horizontal axis, and support it by a suitable foot
or standard; or I mount them partly upon a horizontal and partly upon a
vertical axis in combination with a suitable frame or support. In some cases
I also combine such wheels with an ornamental covering tube partly within
and partly upon which the wheels are placed.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is a view in side elevation, and
Figure 2, a view in plan of an apparatus constructed according to my Inven-
tion. Figure 3 is an end view of the same, with one of the wheels removed,
and Figure 4 shows the back of one of the wheels. A is a barrel supported
by the foot or standard B, on the ends of which barrel a ratchet is formed, as
shewn in Figure 3, and into the teeth of which a spring paul or catch D fitted
to the wheels E, E, as shown in Figure 4, takes, screws a, a, pass through the
wheels and enter the barrel to keep them in place. On applying the hand to
the wheel or wheels, the paul leaves one notch, enters another, and prevents
the wheel returning. On the periphery of the wheels figures are engraved or
otherwise marked to indicate any score or number required. F is a plate con-
nected to the barrel A on which the figures 1, 2, 3, are cut in duplicate, as
shown in Figures 1 and 2, or I use a greater number of figures, say, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, as in Figure 3*, to these figures the needles b, b, point, and are more
particularly intended for marking or indicating the number of points gained at
whist.
Figure 5 shows in side elevation a modification of the apparatus just
described; G, H, are pegs of different color, say, red and white, to prevent
confusing the scores of the players. There are four wheels in this case, two
on each side; on each wheel the numbers from 1 to 10 are marked; thus by
arranging the numbers to be scored on the wheels opposite the peg any
number from 1 to 99 can be marked.
Figure 6 is a view in side elevation of an apparatus somewhat similar to
that shewn at Figure 5, but having only one set of wheels.
Figure 7 is a view of a flat apparatus for counting or scoring; and

page_text: Figure 8 is a cross section of the same. K is a plate divided by a
partition c, on which two sets of numbers are marked, one from 1 to
10, the other from 1 to 6, or both from 1 to 10; L is a cover, having
a hole M. formed in it, large enough to expose one of the figures which
are marked on the plate K; the cover L is free to turn on the plate K,
and thus any desired number can be shown; N is a disc, the lower part
or spindle of which enters the socket formed in the bottom of the plate K
and is free to turn therein when moved by means of the pin O; P is a hole
formed in the disc similar to the one in the cover L, and through which the
figures on the plate can be seen. It is evident that by turning the disc round
until the hole shows the desired figure, any single number can be scored on
the inner ring, or by moving the cover round in combination with the disc
any number from 1 to 99 can be indicated.
The apparatuses before described can be made in metal, wood, ivory, bone,
or any other suitable material.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improvements
in apparatus for counting and indicating numbers herein-before described and
illustrated in the Drawings hereunto annexed, which improvements essentially
consist in marking numbers from 1 to 10 around the peripheries of wheels
either upon the sides or edges of the.same, and in mounting the wheels thus
marked upon an axis in combination or not with a hand or pointer, or hands
or pointers as may be required.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Blake Wells, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August; One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
BENJ BLAKE WELLS. (L.B.)