Improvements in Scales for Weighing Corn, Flour, and other Materials.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Dec., 1890-Accepted, 28th Mar., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by MÜHLENBAUAN STALT MASCHINENFABRIK,
vormals Gebrüder Seck, of Dresden, Saxony, in the Empire of Germany.]
Improvements in Scales for Weighing Corn, Flour, and other
Materials.
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to automatic scales for weighing corn, flour and other
materials and the object of the said invention is to provide for determining the
weight of such materials in an automatic and at the same time continuous manner,
by means of an oscillating plate changing its position at intervals by means of the
oscillating action of the scale beam the said oscillating plate directing the said
material from a suitable hopper into the raised balance-scale and into an auxiliary
receptacle alternately, the material being fed into the said receptacle while the
balance scale is being emptied and the material thus accumulated in the latter being
afterwards transferred to the said balance scale. The said invention also relates to
the details of constructing and the arrangement of the several parts of the said
automatic scales as will be hereinafter more fully described.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical transverse section of the improved automatic scales showing
the parts in the position they occupy, when the balance-scale is being filled from
the hopper.
Figure 2 is a similar view showing the weights raised and the balance-scale
depressed and cut off from the hopper.
Figure 3 is a front view partly in section taken on the line a, a Figure 4.
Figure 4 is a top view partly in section.
Figure 5 illustrates a detail.
Figure 6 is a side view of a modified form of the automatic scales with the parts
in the same position as those shown in Figure 1.
Figure 7 is a similar view to Figure 6 partly broken away and in section but
showing the parts in the same position as shown in Figure 2 and
Figures 8 and 9 illustrate means used in combination with the hopper for use in
weighing flour or other similar adhesive material.
The apparatus consists of a suitable frame-work preferably of cast iron or it may
be of other metal, for supporting the operating parts of the improved automatic
scales.
a is a hopper which is to be kept filled from any suitable source and in any
convenient and well-known manner with the corn, flour or other material to be
weighed. When the apparatus is started the parts are in the position shown in
Figure 1, the weights being depressed and the balance-scale d raised. While in
this position, the material from the hopper a will be directed into the balance
scaled by means of a plate c rigidly connected with the scale beam and being of
a width of not less than the length of the outlet opening of the hopper a (Figure 3).
The balance scale d is formed of the two side plates d' and the transverse plate or
plates ef preferably made of sheet or cast iron and of suitable form or shape, the
said side plates being suspended by one end of the scale-beam 6 swinging on a
knife-edge in the usual and well known manner. The side plates d' form the
bearings for the shaft of the four-armed wheel y rotating between the said plates d¹
so that two of the four arms form with the plate e, a closed receptacle for collecting
the material directed into the scale or trough by means of the plate c. i, k designates

page_text: a two-armed lever pivoted to the plate e the short arm of which is designed to
arrest the rotary motion of the wheel the long arm k being adapted to be engaged
with a part of the frame to release the said wheel when the balance scale moves
downward.
h
The material to be weighed will drop into the balance scale, that is to say, into the
space formed by the plates def and two of the arms until its weight balances the
weights suspended at the opposite end of the scale beam 6 when the loaded balance
scale d will descend until it assumes the position shown in Figure 2. At the same time
the plate e rigidly connected with the scale beam partakes in the swinging movement
of the latter and the end thereof passes across the outlet opening of the hopper a so
that the current of material flowing from the latter, will now be directed into an
auxiliary receptacle p. The lowermost wall n of the said auxiliary receptacle is
pivotally connected with the frame so as to form a flap or door adjacent to the
upper part of the balance scale, the said flap n is provided with a rearward extension
which is acted upon by an elbow lever * Fig. 1 pivoted to the rear part of the
receptacle and provided with a counter-weight the lower end of which is formed
eccentrically, the said elbow lever being operated by the swinging scale beam b.
P
While the material is entering the auxiliary receptacle p the balance scale d is
emptied automatically in the following manner. Rigidly connected with the frame-
shaped scale-beam is a pipe 9 (Figures 3, 4 and 5) arranged on the outside of the
supports o of the beam so as to swing freely with the latter the said pipe 7 being
so arranged that it intersects the horizontal plane of the scale beam in the direction
of that end of the latter which carries the balance scale d, or in other words, that it
is inclined towards the scale-beam end. The degree of inclination, or in other
words, the angle formed by the longitudinal axis of the pipe and the plane of the
scale beam may be increased or diminished at will by the set-screws r and s
(Figure 5) by means of which the fastening lugt of the pipe 7, is secured to the
scale beam, the screw clamps the edges of a longitudinal slot in the lug t so as to
allow the pipes to be raised or lowered as desired.
?
The pipe contains a relatively heavy ball or other rolling body P preferably of
cast iron which when the scale exactly balances as shown in Figure 2 will move in
the direction of the balance scale d and by reason of its gravity cause the said filled
scale to descend for a further distance. By this means the arm k of the two-
armed lever will be arrested by the part w of the frame of the machine and will be
turned on its pivot so that the short arm i will slip from under the arrested arm of
the wheel and will set the same free. The said arm will under the weight of the
material collected in the balance scale be now pushed outward and the material
discharged. The emptied balance-scale d will now rise again and the two-armed
lever, reassume its normal position so that the next arm of the wheel y rotated
by the pressure of the moving material will strike against the projecting arm i and
be held by the same to close the scale d while the next arm now takes the place of
the bottom blade and partly closes the upper side of the said scale.
21
I
The balance scale d being thus emptied, the end of the scale-beam carrying the
weights will descend and a projection u secured to or forming part of the said
weighted end of the scale beam will press down the end of the lever * and by reason
of the eccentricity of the counter-weight the pressure heretofore exerted upon the
said extension will be relieved and the flap will be free to open under the weight
of the material collected within the said auxiliary receptacle p (Figure 1).
said material will therefore flow into the raised balance-scale di On the descent of
the weighted end of the scale-beam 6 the oscillating plate e will be moved back into
its original position and will direct the stream of the material into the scale or
scoop and break the connection between the hopper and the auxiliary receptacle p
and in this manner the said scale will again be filled as hereinbefore described.
The
In the modification shown in Figures and 7 of the drawings the oscillating
plate e is not secured to the scale beam itself, but is pivotally connected with the
stationary auxiliary receptacle and it is operated from the said beam by means of
the lever-arm and the connecting-rod 2 between the beam and the plate c.
י

page_text: The scale-beam, in this modification, acts upon the two armed lever u¹, l', by
striking the said arm on the descent of the weights, and relieving the same on
the descent of the filled balance-scale d. The lever arm is made heavier than the
arm, and bears against an excentric projection or cam n' on the rear side of the
pivotally suspended flap n of the auxiliary receptacle thus positively closing
the said flap on the descent of the balance-scale end of the beam . n² is a counter-
weight to balance or counteract the weight of the said flap n, the use of this counter-
weight however is not of any material importance, and it may be omitted altogether
if desired.
I provide for arresting the balance scale d after the same has been emptied
automatically. In order to save room in large scales, the wheel may be omitted
and be replaced by a flap or door F, oscillating on an axis journalled in bearings
secured to the said scale. The said flap or door is kept closed by a hooked lever G
which as in the form or modification hereinbefore described with reference to the
lever i, k, is pivoted to the body of the scale and by the said lever striking against
a fixed rest w the said flap or door is opened on the descent of the balance-scale
thus disengaging from the end of the Hap F, the hooked end of the lever and
allowing the said flap to open under the weight of the collected material. The flap
or door F in opening, will turn a cam E rigidly secured to its oscillating shaft, and
the said cam acting upon the projecting portion of a locking bolt B will push or
move the latter in the direction of the balance-scale. The forward end of the
bolt B rests in a slot in a sleeve D secured to or forming part of the rod or bar d
by which the balance scale d is suspended, the said sleeve D sliding on a bolt-like
extension C of a fixed standard T. The parts are so arranged that the hook of the
lever G will be withdrawn from the flap or door F after the sleeve D, descending
with the scale d, has slid down on the bolt C so that the locking bolt B will be
opposite an opening provided near the upper end of the said standard bolt C, and
enter the latter when the said bolt B is pushed forward by the cam E on the
oscillating shaft of the flap or door F. By this means, the balance-scale dis
coupled for a short space of time with the fixed standard T and retained in position
until the material weighed has been discharged when the flap or door F will close
again under the action of its counterweight F' and, through its oscillating shaft
and the cam E affixed thereto, will withdraw the locking bolt B from the opening
in the standard-bolt C so that the balance scale is free to rise the flap or door
having being secured by the hook of the lever G.
In cases where these improved automatic scales are intended for use in weighing
ground materials, such as flour, which is liable to "stick" in the outlet-opening of
the hopper a and close it up, the said hopper is provided with a device for
positively feeding the said material through the said opening. This device is
illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 of the drawings and consists in a rotary drum H
secured to a shaft W receiving its rotary motion from belt-pulleys (not shown in
the drawings). The said drum H is provided with the blades H' forcing the flour
or other material in the direction of the opening of the hopper a which, just above
the said opening, is provided with a number of fixed scrapers I between which the
blades H pass so as to be freed from flour. The flour is thus compelled to fall
back and drop through the outlet opening of the hopper as will be readily under-
stood from the drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In automatic scales an oscillating plate arranged below the outlet-opening
of a receiving hopper and moved alternately in the direction of the weighted end,
and in the direction of the balance scale end of the scale-beam by the pendulations
of the latter so that the material to be weighed will be conducted alternately into
the balance-scale direct, and into an auxiliary collecting receptacle.
Second. In automatic scales the combinations of a receiving hopper an oscillating

page_text: plate connected with a scale-beam and oscillating with the same, a balance-scale
suspended by the scale-beam, a receptacle which is at intervals put into communi-
cation with the balance scale and which temporarily receives the material from the
hopper, and means for putting the said receptacle into communication with the
balance scale and interrupting the said communication by means of the oscillating
plate substantially as described.
Third. In automatic scales the combination of the receiving hopper a, an
oscillating plate c connected with the scale-beam 6 and partaking in the movements
of the latter, a receptacle p, the balance scale d suspended at one end of the
beam b, and the pipe having the rolling body P, substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
Fourth. In automatic scales an auxiliary receptacle arranged above the
balance scale and having that wall which is adjacent to the said scale constructed
to form a flap or door n, which is closed by a lever when the scale-beam oscillates
in the direction of the balance-scale end, and on the return movement, the said
beam acts upon the said lever to allow the flap to open under the pressure of the
collected material substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Fifth. In automatic scales the combination of a receiving hopper an oscillating
plate below the same, a balance scale suspended from a scale beam and provided
with a lower flap or door normally kept closed by suitable means and means for
opening the flap or door during the descent of the balance scale to discharge
the material and for automatically closing the said flap or door of the balance scale
after the same has been emptied and is starting to rise substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
Sixth. In automatic scales means for temporarily locking in position the
descended balance scale during and for a short time after the discharge of the
material, consisting of the sliding bolt B which by means of a cam E secured to
the rocking shaft of the flap or door of the descended scale d is pushed into a
stationary bolt C thus coupling the latter with the sleeve D of the scale, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose specified.
Seventh. In automatic scales the combination of a receiving hopper a, scrapers I
near the outlet opening of the same, a rotary shaft arranged above the said outlet
opening and having the blades H¹, an oscillating plate e moving below the said
outlet opening in conformity with the movements of the scale beam 6, and a balance
scale carried by the latter, substantially as and for the purposes specified.
Eighth. In automatic scales the employment of a pipe having a spherical or
other rolling body, arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
Ninth. In automatic scales the employment of an oscillating plate c arranged and
operating substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
Tenth. In automatic scales the employment of an auxiliary receptacle p having a
flap or door n for its bottom arranged and operating substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
Dated this 31st day of December 1890.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.