A ONE-SIDE COMPOUND LEVER STEEL YARD
Year: 1812

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHITFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Steel Yard Maker,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of April,
in the fifty-second year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said William
Whitfield, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, solo
privilege and authority, that I, the said William Whitfield, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, should and lawfully might, during the term of years therein
mentioned, make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A ONE-SIDE COMPOUND LEVER
STEEL YARD;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that
if I, the said William Whitfield, shall not particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void,

page_text: as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had) may more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Whitfield, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the
following description thereof, that is to say:-
I do construct the compound lever steel yards, to weigh with two or more
levers upon the same side, by making the shanks parrallelograms of horizontal
and vertical sides, the vertical sides twice as wide as the horizontal ones,
with the addition of sliding axles, on which suspends a cheek with a hook
to hang on the ball (but this form in the shank is not absolute, providing the
slide be made to fit any other which has a superficies on which to place the
figures and marks necessary), as represented by Figures 1, 2, 7, with parrallelo-
gram shanks as I make them, by preference, and if this form should be
changed strength must be retained.
Fig. 1 represents a steel yard of three hundred and twenty pounds, having
two levers with one suspending hook A, and one receiving hook L, which
may be moved from one lever to the other, when required to weigh light or
heavy weights, by attaching it or the swivels K from I, or I from K. The
lever C answers to the figures on the top of the shank G, H, and the lever D
those on the side. The edges of the axles C, D, F, must form a right line with
each other in whatever situation the slide M may be upon the shank G, H,
which right line must intersect the axle E at a little more than ono third
above the edge. The length of the shanks for the different sizes of steel yards
to be the same as other steel yard shanks, measuring so far as H, H, to O,
being left to work in a mortice or to bear on a hook suspended from the
ceiling to keep the shank in a proper situation to work when used. The
distance from the outside axis in the head C to E may be guided by the
punching of other steel yarils, but the distance of the bearing part of E to D
must be one fourth of tlie distance of E to C; but a little variation in the
punching or in the length of the shank will not be material. M is the slide
that runs along the shank, and has a square hole just above the mortice in
which the shank works to admit the axle F, into which it is made fast. On
the axle is placed the cheek N, that has a hook at bottom to receive the ball.
This axle and cheek is made hard in same manner as other axles and checks,
and all the axles in the slides should be about the same strength as the
smallest in the head.

page_text: Fig. 2 represents a steel yard of three hundred pounds, with three levers,
having but one suspending hook A, and three receiving hooks I, K, L. When
the hook L is wanted to be used the hook K must be attached to the check
at O by the small hook at bottom, as represented Fig. 4. The edge of the
axle B must lay in a continuation of the right line C, D, F, as before
described, Fig. 1; the distances from C to E and D to E must be guided
as before described, Fig. 1; and the distance from E to B must be four times
the distance of E to C, the point of admeasurement the bearing edges of the
axles; viz', if. C to E be three inches, D to E must be three quarters inch,
and B to E twelve inches; the same proportion for all sizes, but a little
variation will not be material. By the addition of this lever B a steel yard is
made to weigh in one ounce divisions on the top of the shank; the lever C
answers to the top part of the side of the shank, and the lever D to the
bottom part of the shank side, but it may be made to answer to the different
levers on the top on the front side, and on the adverse side the line which is
drawn along the sbank on the side between the two rows of Figures must be
made along tho middle, and not cut very dleep.
Fig. 5 is a full size section of the shank G, H.
Fig. 3 is the end view of the slide M and the check N. The slide M may
be made of copper, brass, iron, or any metal, or mixture of metals sufficiently
hard and economical, but brass will be best for small steel yards and iron for
large ones.
Fig. 6 represents the under side of a spring which may be placed in the
slide M by drilling a hole through the bottom to bear against the bottom of
the shank G II, but it must be made to allow the slide to move with facility
yet be sufficiently retentive to keep the slide and ball in any given place upon
the shank G, H. The spring may be attached to the side adverse to the
Figures, instead of the bottom, or to both side and bottom of the slide M;
but in general one at bottom will be sufficient, providing the slide fits well
to the sides of the shank G, I, but that is necessary, because if it does not,
by having liberty to cross the shank it may vary a little in weighing.
Fig. 7 represents a steel yard to weigh fourteen hundredweight, with two
levers, having one suspending hook A, and two receiving hooks I, K. The
Figures on the uppermost part of the sbank answer to the lever C, and those on
the lower part of the shank to the lever D. The edges of the axles C, D, form
a right line with the axle F, and also with the top of the shank G, H, when
the slide M with the ball attacked is close to the round pin which goes
through the shank at H, because when the shank is a great length and the

page_text: ball heavy, the weight will depress the shank; therefore so much as the given
weight will depress the given length and strength of the shanks, so much must
it form above a right line as the weight would depress it to make it form a
right line. The situation of the axle E, and what was said respecting the
length and punching in Fig. 1 is applicable to this. This steel yard may weigh
long hundredweight as well as short, by weighing off the adverse side of the
shank. The slide M of this Fig. 7 is different from those before described,
inasmuch that the axle F does not drive through, but is welded to the side of
M, that it has a thumb-screw P to secure it to any given part of the shank,
and also two rollers where the two dots are placed, to move along with
facility heavy balls.
Fig. 8 represents the situation of the rollers withinside the slide; the dots
round F, where the ends of the axles are welded in; P represents the thumb
screw.
Fig. 9, the end view of the slide M and the check N. The edges of the
axle F must form a right line with the top of the aperture Q in which the
shank moves. The moveable hook of Fig. 1 may be attached to Fig. 2,
taking away the other three hooks and chain. All these steel yards must be
weighed off upon each different lever as other steel yards, and that edge of tho
slide that is next to the head of the steel yard is the mark to weigh off by,
placed so as to see that inch plain which answers to the corresponding weight.
To make these steel yards vibrate on all the levers, intersect the suspending axle
by a right line in the vibrating situation from the extreme axles, and reduce
the inner lever axles respectively to vibrating situations. In very large steel
yards it will be better that the shank at G be much stronger than at H,
therefore it may be done by giving it the same breadth, and tapering the
thickness from any given thickness at G untill it come to about half the same
thickness at H, the deficiency in the slide to be made up by the pressure of a
well tempered elastic spring to be affixed to that side which is adverse to the
Figures. The sliding axle I consider a separate part of my Invention, and to
be attached to other steel yards by making the aparture to correspond with the
shank to which they may be affixed, for which, and for all steel yards acting
upon two or more levers on one suspending hook or axle I claim the Inven-
tion, and solely the privileges hereunto annexed, for the term as provided.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Whitfield, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twelve.
WILLIAM WHITFIELD. (L.S.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1812, the aforesaid William Whitfield came before our
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
inrolled the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twelve.