AN AUTOMATIC PASSENGER REGISTER OR APPARATUS FOR RECORDING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ENTERING ANY PLACE OR VEHICLE OR PASSING OVER SUCH APPARATUS
Year: 1869

page_text: *LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hudson Trenor, of the City of New
York, in the State of New York, United States of America, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "AN AUTOMATIC PASSENGER REGISTER
OR APPARATUS FOR RECORDING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ENTERING ANY
PLACE OR VEHICLE OR PASSING OVER SUCH APPARATUS."
Sealed the 8th February 1870, and dated the 16th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hudson Trenor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th August 1869.
I, HENRY HUDSON TRENOR, of the City of New York, in the State
of New York, United States of America, Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN AUTOMATIC PASSENGER
REGISTER OR APPARATUS FOR RECORDING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ENTERING
ANY PLACE OR VEHICLE OR PASSING OVER SUCH APPARATUS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of a peculiar mechanism or apparatus which
can be applied to or connected with any place of entrance to buildings,
apartments, bridges, or other places, or to or with the platform or

page_text: steps of vehicles, and which is so arranged that it will register or record
the passing of any person or thing entering such building, apartment,
bridge, or vehicle, the weight of any such person or thing acting as the
power or means for making such register or record. A yielding platform,
which may be let into or made a part of the floor of the building or
entrance way or which may constitute one of the steps of a vehicle is
connected with one or more springs, so that when any pressure is
brought to bear upon such platform or step it will yield or descend a
little distance, but as soon as the pressure is removed the spring or
springs will react and carry or move back such platform or step to its
normal position. Connected with such platform or step and moving
with it is an arm, to which are fixed one or more pointed fingers placed
vertically, but projecting downwards, which as the platform or step is
pressed down by any weight upon it meet and pierce a paper or other
ribbon, and thus make a register or record of the individual stepping
on or the thing passing over such step or platform as the step or
platform rises. When pressure is removed the perforating points are
withdrawn from the paper or other ribbon, but they leave a record in
the form of the perforation thus made. Such arm may carry a number
of such perforating points, which may be so graduated as to length that
a given weight, say, for instance, 50 lbs., will cause the longest to pass
through the ribbon, but the next will not reach and perforate the
ribbon under a pressure of 100 lbs., and the third if so many are used
will not make a record without a pressure of 150 lbs. The record will
thus show not only the number of individuals or things passing, but
also approximately their weight, and inferentially whether young or
older as far as age can be determined by weight. The paper or other
ribbon which is to receive the perforating points is carried upon a reel,
and may be wound on another reel as it is withdrawn from the first.
Connected with the first reel is a ratchet or escapement, wheel, into
which works a forked or anchor lever actuated by the arm carrying
the perforated points, and which whenever the platform or step is
pressed down causes such reel to revolve a sufficient distance to present
a new surface of the ribbon to the perforating points as they again
descend, and so on for each register or record. The registering parts of
the apparatus and the material on which the record is made should
preferably be protected so as to be beyond the reach and interference of
the conductor or door keeper.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Hudson Trenor in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th February 1870..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HUDSON TRENOR, of the City of New York, in the State of New York,
United States of America, Civil Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Hudson Trenor, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Hudson Trenor, my executors, adminis-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Hudson
Trenor, 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 Eslands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "AN AUTOMATIC PASSENGER REGISTER OR APPARATUS. FOR: RECORDING THE
NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS ENTERING ANY PLACE OR VECHILE OR PASSING OVER SUCH
APPARATUS, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry
Hudson Trenor, my 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Hudson Trenor, 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 :-
The nature of my Invention consists in the construction and arrange-
ment of a peculiar mechanism or apparatus, which can be applied to
or connected with any place of entrance leading either to an edifice,
apartment, or bridge, &c. or which can be combined with a vehicle
of any kind, and which will register or record the passing of any person
or thing, as a vehicle, &c. entering any such building, apartment, bridge,

page_text: or vehicle, and by which the weight of the person or thing so passing
into such place is caused to register or record his, her, or its passing.
Figure 1 illustrates one method of arranging such mechanism or
apparatus with the device for raising the same. Figure 2 shows the
registering or recording mechanism or apparatus.
A yielding step or platform A, and which may be inserted in or
made a part of the floor of any building or entrance way, or which
may be made one of the steps, when the apparatus is connected with
a vehicle is combined with a suitable spring B or springs when more
than one is required, in such a manner that when any person or thing
passes upon, such step or platform it will yield or sink a little under
such weight, but as soon as the pressure is removed therefrom the
spring B will elevate the step or platform to its natural or normal
position. Such spring or springs may be attached to a framework
within which the step or platform moves, as shown in the Drawings,
or may be placed directly under such platform, or may be arranged in
many different ways, according to the circumstances or location under
which the yielding platform is applied to or combined with different
structures, it being only necessary that such spring or springs will permit
the descent of the platform when pressure is upon it, and will quickly
and certainly carry up such platform as soon as the weight or pressure
is removed therefrom. Figure 1 shows by heavy lines such platform
or step in its natural position or when no pressure is upon it, and also
in red lines such step in position when pressure has carried it down
some little distance. In practical use and operation the extent of the
downward movement of the step or platform may be regulated as desired,
and generally a descent of a quarter of an inch will be sufficient.
C represents a guide rod to steady the movements of the platform A,
but any suitable device or arrangement may be used for this purpose.
Connecting with the step or platform A either by one of its upright
sides a, as shown in the Drawing, or in any suitable manner is an arm b,
which moves vertically up and down with the step or platform A, and
which carries one or more piercing points or rods c, c', which as the
step is forced down pass through a strip of paper, muslin, or other
suitable material d supported between slides or leaves e, e¹, or in any
sufficient manner, and by such perforation register or record the
passing of the individual or thing passing on or over the platform or
step A.
Such strip d is wound upon and carried by a drum D and its

page_text: movement and delivery, so as to prevent its being perforated 'more
than once in any place, controlled by means of a weight E or by a drum,
upon which it winds and which is revolved by means of a spring, which
latter device is considered most preferable. Attached to one of the
side supports of the yielding step or platform is a slotted arm or plate F,
which has motion on a centre or pivot f, and through the slot, in which'
passes the piercer arm 6 which is connected with the step A. This
slotted arm or plate F does not when in its normal position stand
vertically but is inclined, as shown in Fig, 1, so that as the step and
arm 6 are pressed down such slotted plate will be moved in the direction
of the arrow 1, shown in Fig. 1. Turning on the same pivot fand con-
nected with the slotted plate F is a forked or anchor lever G, having
pallets at its ends, which work in and act against the escapement wheel H
which is fixed to the paper carrying drum D, such escapement and
drum being supported by a bracket or arm I.
Figure 2 shows the position of the anchor and escapement when the
step or platform A is in its natural position or when no pressure is
upon it.
As soon as pressure bears upon the step A and the piercer
arm 6 descends and the perforating points c, c¹, enter the paper the
slotted plate and anchor are moved in the direction of the arrows 1 and
the pallet 2 lifted from the tooth of the escapement, so that as soon as
these points are drawn from out the paper the weight E or its equivalent
will draw the paper ribbon da certain distance equal to the space
between any two escapement teeth and bring the next tooth of the escape-
ment. against the pallet, as seen in Fig. 2. Every pressure on the
step A thus not only registers the passage of the individual or thing
producing the pressure, but also carries a given progression of the paper
or other ribbon, so as to receive another perforation in a different place.
The extent of the descent of the step A will of course vary according to
the weight resting upon it. The piercer arm may therefore be fitted
with different piercers, so graduated as to lengths that the longer will
pierce the paper when the least weight is on the step, and the shortest
will only enter the paper when the heaviest weight is on the platform.
Each separate piercer may thus represent a given increase of weight, and
the register can thus be twofold, showing not only the number of persons
or things passing over the platform or on the step, but approximately
their different weights.
-

page_text: As will be at once apparent this mechanism or apparatus can readily
be applied not only to permanent places, as theatres and edifices of all
kinds, bridges, and the like, but can also be attached to public vehicles
and other movable structures. Its registering mechanism can also
be placed beyond the control or interference of conductors, servants,
&c., and the perforated ribbon, when unwound, will correctly indicate
the number of passing persons or articles.
What I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent
is,—
1. In combination with a step or platform so constructed as to
descend by pressure upon it and ascend or move back when the pressure
is removed, the arrangement of the perforating points c, c¹, one or more,
and of the paper or other ribbon to receive the perforations when
combined and operating substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
2. In combination with a yielding step or platform and perforating
mechanism, as described in the last claim, the arrangement of the
inclined slotted plate F or its equivalent, and the anchor pallets
and escapement wheel, substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hudson Trenor, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
HENRY HUDSON TRENOR. (L.8.)