RATUS FOR COUNTING, REGISTERING, AND INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES
Year: 1857

page_text: RATUS FOR COUNTING, REGISTERING, AND INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED
BY VEHICLES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Antoine Joseph Quinche at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 31st March 1857, pursuant to the 9th section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANTOINE
JOSEPH QUINCHE, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Mechanician, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR COUNTING, REGISTERING, AND INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED
BY VEHICLES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made soleinn declaration that I verily believe myself to be the
first and truc Inventor thereof:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Antoine Joseph Quinche, do hereby

page_text: declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, reference being had to the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked therein,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to an apparatus for measuring, registering, and
indicating the distance travelled by every kind of carriage.
It determines, 1st, the whole distance performed in a day by the vehicle;
the said distance reckoned furlongs, miles, leagues, or any other measure of
length. In the following description I have prepared, in accordance with
English measures, viz., miles. To reckon otherwise it would suffice simply
to change the division of the indicating dial and the registering dials.
2nd, the value or estimate (which is regulated at will) of the number of
miles which the carriage might have run in case it remains stationary while
engaged. I call the valuation or estimate of this distance "the miles of
engaged stoppage."
3rd, every new hire of the carriage, in case the first mile is to pay better
than the following miles.
4th, the notice or indication to the passenger that the hand shewing the
number of miles which he will have to pay to the driver has returned to its
regular point of starting.
5th, the external visible indication of the carriage being disengaged.
This indicator thus gives, 1st, to each passenger the number of miles which
he has travelled or which he could have travelled over during the time of the
several stoppages to which the vehicle has been subject; thus, where the hand
stands at the time of alighting, or the termination of a journey, is well defined
for each passenger, without any fear of fraud from or on the part of the driver,
or vice versâ.
2nd, to the proprietors, on a primary dial, the whole number of miles
travelled by the vehicle, which indicates the effective work of the horse; on a
second dial, the miles equivalent to hired stoppage; on a third dial, every new
bire of the carriage. The proprietary is consequently in possession of an
exact and faithful account of the several small sums of money paid to the
driver, and of which the latter must give an account.
The apparatus of my Invention is represented in the annexed Drawings,
where Fig. 1 shows the means of transmitting motion to the indicator from the
wheel of the vehicle; Fig. 2 shows the front view of the four dials. The large
one is the indicator for the passenger, the three others are the registering
or recording dials for the proprietors. The one on the left indicates the miles

page_text: travelled; the one on the right indicates the miles equivalent to the stoppage
during hired time; the one at the bottom, every new hiring of the vehicle.
Fig. 3 shews the view of the upper wheelwork, and of the mechanical parts
of the indicator and of the clockwork; Fig. 4 is a view of the lower system
of wheelwork for the miles; Fig. 5 represents the clock bell for warning the
passenger; Fig. 6, the dial of a counting apparatus simplified for a special
application; Fig. 7, detail, herein-after explained.
The various movements which produce the engaging and the disengaging
from the driving power of the indicating dials are determined or governed by
the driver, whose interest it is in all cases to work them properly. The whole-
mechanism which I have just described imparts motion to the large hand,
and to the hand giving the total of miles travelled when the carriage is in.
motion.
Fig. 1 a, grooved collar screwed on the nave of the wheel; b, pulley, the
groove of which is provided with teeth; it has a diameter equal to half that
of the collar a. c, endless chain, surrounding and gearing with the teeth of
the collar a and the pulley b; d, pinion fixed on the axle of the pulley b;.
e, toothed wheel, gearing with the pinion d of twice its diameter; so that if the
relation of the diameters of the above-described transmitting apparatus is
considered, it will be seen that the wheel of the carriage and the toothed wheel
perform the same number of revolutions.
The counting apparatus, which I will now describe, being applicable to all
carriages, I arrange the diameters of the pulley b and the gearing d and e
so that the wheel e may always perform an equal number of revolutions
previously determined by the disposition of the wheelwork for the miles. The
wheelwork is represented here at a scale requiring 500 impulses for every
mile. f, bridge for the pivot or journal of the pulley b and of the pinion d;
f, balance beam, mounted on a fulcrum at f"; g, rod from the wheel e,
to communicate the several mechanical impulses of the indicator.
All the parts of the mechanism described from a to g is placed under the
carriage. h, spring to counteract the shaking of the carriage and to keep the
chain c always in tension. This spring could be replaced by a barrel spring
or any other. i, points of support fixed to the internal panels of the carriage;
j, chain fixed to the end of the rod g, terminating in a spiral spring j, which
joins and is fixed to the rod a.
Fig. 2, dials of the apparatus. These have already been referred to with
their plate.
Fig. 4 a, small lever fixed to the escapement pallet or lever; b, escape-
ment lever; c, ratchet wheel or escapement; d, spring catch gearing with the

page_text: escapement wheel; e, spring pressing the escapement pallet after each pulling
of the chain j, Fig. 1; f, pinion fixed on the axis of the ratchet wheel of the
escapement; j, wheel gearing in the pinion f; k, pinion fixed on the axis of
the wheel ; 7, wheel gearing in the pinion k; its axis supports the socket
of the large hand. m, spur wheel, fixed on the axis of the dial indicating the
total of miles travelled, and gearing in the pinion k; n, Fig. 7, toothed wheel
of the same diameter as the wheel m, and gearing in it; this wheel n is fixed
on the axis of the large hand. o, (Figs. 3 and 7,) loose gearing wheel in the
central axis; its hollow socket bears the large hand. p, first plate (Fig. 7),
fixed under the wheel o, loose on the axis of the large hand; q, second plate
above the wheel n, fixed upon the axis of the large hand; 7, pressing spring,
serving to unite and engage by friction the two plates and q, and con-
sequently to move the large hand when the vehicle is in motion and the gear
for registering the miles travelled is acting.
The whole of the mechanism which I will now describe gives the motion to
the axis of the large hand and to the axis of the dial, giving the total of miles
equivalent to the stoppage when hired, at the rate of a certain number of miles
per hour, say five, for instance. This is effected by means of clockwork, of
which we will not give any description, except the parts in connexion with
the system of the apparatus. s, lever oscillating on the axis s¹; t, cam or
inclined plane, fixed to the lever s; u, pressing spring, worked by the cam t; v,
toothed wheel loose on the axis of the dial, giving the total of miles equivalent
to the hired stoppage; z, pinion loose upon its axis, gearing in and actuating
the wheels o and v there as with the axis of the centre; the pressure of the
spring u moves the wheel t, which actuates the pinion and the wheel of the
large hand o. a', lever oscillating round the point a", and acted upon by
the extremity of the inclined planet; it is finished with a spring a³, which
stops the escapement. ', spring tending to push the lever a' and to dis-
the spring a from the escapement; c', escapement, of circular or other
form; d', bar actuating the lever s, serving to lift the pressing spring r and to
disengage the wheel o, which when the carriage is stopped moves the large
band forward, and also the hand indicating the miles, equivalent to the hired
stoppage, by the action of the clockwork; e, latch or lever with cam, fixed to
the plate carrying the apparatus; this latch actuates the lever s. f, rod and bell
crank lever and knobs, actuated by the driver to move the latch e. When the
carriage is in motion, the miles movement pushes the large hand and the hand
giving the total of the miles travelled, as already stated. The wheels vand
of the miles equivalent to the hired stoppage are loose, and the clockwork
stopped, but when the carriage stops while hired, the driver is bound to pull
engage

page_text: the knob f, which actuates the latch e', which moves the lever s, which lifts the
spring u and disengages the clockwork. By the motion of the spring i the
wheels and vimpel in their turn, under the influence of the clockwork, the
wheel of the centre axis bearing the large hand, and in the same time as
these motions are produced the end of the lever s lifts the bar d', which lifts in
its turn the spring r, this disengages the two plates p and q, by suspending the
friction between them, and causes the wheel o to be impelled by the action of the
clockwork. The motion of the lever s at the same time produces by any kind of
transmitting apparatus a sign indicating externally that the carriage is hired
and that the counting apparatus is at work. g¹ is a small linked rod with a long
lever at the lower part, which is not represented in the Drawing. When the
large hand is actuated by the action of the clock, this long lever pushes the
escapement pallet, and stays the working of the miles system of wheelwork,
even should the carriage be going on; this service of the indicator is required
when it is wished that the carriage may go at slow or walking pace, then it
is paid at the rate of five miles per hour, which the clock work indicates when
the passenger discharges the carriage, in order that the counting apparatus
reckons nothing even in going on while proceeding to the stable or the station.
For this purpose I have devised the following mechanism:-, knob and rod
at the command of the driver; ¹, elbowed lever and rods, communicating the
tractive force and motion given to the knob '; j, sliding lever, provided with
a cam"; it is actuated by the vertical rod of the elbowed lever . k, lever,
linked to the end of the lever ; ", chain, attached to the end of the lever k¹,
and serving to wind up the barrel of the clockwork at every disengagement of
the carriage; m, pulley, round which is rolled the chain / when the counting
apparatus is working; it has a bridge m". n, spring, which, acting upon the
lever, brings back the bar j' to its point of departure; o¹, bar, one of whose
extremities is provided with a socket attached to an axis; the other extremity
holds the end of the chain o", which is wound up on a pulley fixed in the
socket of the wheel o. This chain is wound up in proportion as the large hand
moves, and its length is calculated so that it may be entirely wound up when
the large indicating hand has performed its whole course. The use of this
chain is (when the sliding lever is lifted) to bring back the large hand to its
point of departure at the moment the disengagement of the carriage is shewn,
by means of the spring o³ fixed at the middle of the bar o'; this spring is
actuated by a pin fixed to the bar j¹.
The mechanism which I will now describe relates to the motion of the hand
of the small lower dial, indicating the number of hires of the carriage. p¹ lever,
joined with the lever k', and actuated by it round its point of rotation p";

page_text: q', lever, mounted on the axis " above the lever p'; it has at its extremity a
pin which takes into a tooth of the ratchet wheel q" after each drawing of the
lever j., spring pressing the lever q' into gear with the ratchet ; s¹¹,
spring gearing with the ratchet wheel to prevent its turning aside. Every
time the carriage is disengaged and the driver acts upon the rod ¹ the lower
hand progresses a division, which corresponds to every new hiring of the
carriage, which is shewn upon the dial for that purpose.
It was before stated, that for warning the passenger that the indicating hand
has returned to its normal point of departure a special mechanism was used,
placed either in the box of the counting apparatus or outside. This special
mechanism is a clock bell, which rings when the passenger gets into the car-
riage, viz., when the driver pushes back the disengaging rod j¹. This mecha-
nism is represented at Fig. 5; it is composed thus:-t, lever, which at
one of its ends is in connexion with the elbowed lever , and at the other it
bears the knee piece t¹¹. u, lever actuating the hammer ; v¹, spring
acting on the hammer u"; x, clock bell; y', spring pressing on the rod t¹.
A part of this apparatus may be used for private carriages. This would be
the system of the miles alone without the return system, with one arrange-
ment for giving the total reckoning of the turns of the dial performed by the
large band, as represented at Fig. 6, and proportionately reducing the wheel-
work, so that the dial reckons only to ten miles instead of forty miles. To
bring back the large hand indicator of the passenger dial to its point of depar-
ture, I may also fix on the bars of the wheel o, or toothed wheel (1), gearing
into another wheel (2), having a diameter four times greater than the latter;
the wheel (2) would have an appendage which by means of a spring would
be attached to the disengaging bar of the carriage. In actuating
larger wheel (2) would perform a turn, and it would make the smaller one
(1) perform four turns, and thus bring back the larger wheel to its point of
departure.
the
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my Invention is,
the arrangement and construction of counting, registering, and indicating
apparatus herein-before described, and by which the following results are
obtained :-
First, the whole distance performed by the vehicle in a day.
Second, the value or estimate of the number of miles equivalent to the hired
time of stoppage, regulated according to previous arrangement.
Third, every new hiring of the carriage.

page_text: Fourth, the warning given to the passenger that the indicating hand has
returned to its point of departure, or zero.
Fifth, the externally visible indication of the disengagement of the carriage.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antoine Joseph Quinche, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
A. J. QUINCHE. (L.S.)