Improvements in Weighing and Recording Apparatus for Coal and other Materials.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 21st Sept., 1896-Accepted, 19th Dec., 1876
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Weighing and Recording Apparatus for Coal and
other Materials.
I, CHARLES INGREY A.M.I.C.E., of 47, Cannon Street, in the City of
London, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be AS
follows: :―
My invention relates to an improved apparatus for automatically weighing coal
and other material and for recording the weight thereof, and has for its object the
production of a simple and effective means of obtaining the desired result, without
the objections which exist with machines such as have hitherto been employed or
attempted to be employed. In such machines it has been found in dealing with
coal as delivered in constantly varying loads by a crane that the receptacle into
which it is received if only supported by the knife edge centres upon which the
said receptacle is mounted in a weigh beam the proper balance cannot always be
maintained and the correct weight is not obtained.
It has also been found in practice that in apparatus for recording the results of
successive operations of a heavy weighing machine, there is a tendency to produce
many false movements in the recording gear by reason of vibration and other
causes and as a consequence to give inaccurate results.
I am aware that attempts have been made to overcome the former objection, by
causing the receptacle to be at rest upon supports during the time the coal is being
received, but in such cases it has been necessary to employ hydraulic or other
power to raise the dead weight of the receptacle, weigh beam and the heavy
counterbalance in addition to the load of coal.
Now the object of my invention is to obviate the necessity for raising the weight
of the receptacle and beam which are accurately counter-balanced upon knife
edge centres, so that a very small amount of power is required to perform the
operation of weighing, and to construct the recording apparatus in such a manner
that it will accurately record all the varying loads.
In carrying out my invention I provide a fixed hopper having beneath it a skip
or receptacle which is provided with a door or doors at the bottom the said
receptacle being carried by knife edge centres upon a weigh beam which is itself
mounted upon knife edge centres and is weighted at one end SO that the
receptacle when empty, the beam and all the joints in connection therewith are
accurately balanced.
The said receptacle is provided near its upper part with brackets which rest
upon the upper ends of toggle frames or levers so that normally and whilst the coal
is being received, the receptacle is rigidly held in position and no load comes upon
the knife edges. When the coal has been received the said toggle frames or levers
are caused to move out of their normal upright position so that the receptacle is
lowered until the weight is entirely carried by the weigh beam when the operation
of weighing is automatically performed the movements of the beam being transmitted
to the recorder which opens as hereinafter described
When the load has been properly registered in the recorder the toggle frames
are moved to restore them to their vertical position and thereby lifting the
receptacle.
The doors at the bottom of the receptacle are hinged and provided with catches
for retaining them in their closed position, and devices for holding them in their

page_text: open position. When the said retaining catches are released the doors are forced
open and engage with the holding devices so that they remain open whilst the coal
falls into the store below. I provide the doors with weights or their equivalent
so that when the holding devices are released they will close themselves and engage
with the retaining catches. The toggle frames or levers having been returned to
their vertical position the receptacle is again rigidly held in position ready to
receive another load.
The necessary motion for operating the toggle frames and door opening and
closing devices can be communicated from a crane or from the motor employed to
operate it and is so arranged that the weighing apparatus can only be put into
action after a load has been delivered. Although in the foregoing description I
have referred to my apparatus as being used in connection with a crane it is to be
understood that it may be operated in conjunction with other arrangements for
the delivery of intermittent loads the weighing and recording of the load taking
place whilst another is being prepared for delivery to the machine.
Or in some cases the necessary motions could be performed by hand.
The recording apparatus which 1 advantageously employ in conjunction with my
improved weighing apparatus but which may be used in combination with other
weighing machines is constructed as follows:-I arrange compound levers in
connection with which the end of the weigh beam operates, the said compound
levers being connected with a weigh rod the movement of which causes the
deflection of a spring or springs or the raising of a weighted lever; the movement
of this spring or weighted lever is communicated to a spindle through which motion
is transmitted to a train of wheels operating pointers or dials indicating decimals of
a ton, units, tens, hundreds and thousands of tons.
I provide one of the ends of the compound levers with an adjusting device
whereby the amount of leverage can be accurately adjusted and the recorder
calibrated so that the weight of coal in the receptacle is correctly indicated. The
mechanism of the recorder is so arranged that the upward movement of the weigh
rod has no effect upon it.
To prevent any false movement of the recorder from the sudden action of the
weigh beam or from the momentum of the springs or weighted lever I employ a
diaphragm of thin leather or other suitable material and a valve so arranged that
it will open on the upward motion of the weigh rod and fill a vessel with air, and
upon the downward motion will close and compel the air to be forced through an
adjustable opening. In some cases I may substitute for this a dash pot charged
with say water, glycerine or petroleum.
I provide for throwing the recorder out of gear so that when the weighing
machine is not in use the recorder cannot be operated.
Dato
י
T
Improvements in Weighing and Recording Apparatus for Coal and
other Materials.
I, CHARLES INGREY A.M.I.C.E., of 47, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, 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 :-
My invention relates to an improved apparatus for automatically weighing coal
and other material and for recording the weight thereof, and has for its object the

page_text: production of a simple and effective means of obtaining the desired result, without
the objections which exist with machines such as have hitherto been employed or
attempted to be employed. In such machines it has been found in dealing with,
say, coal as delivered in constantly varying loads by a crane that, if the receptacle
into which it is received is only supported in a weigh beam by knife edge centres
the proper balance cannot always be maintained and therefore the correct weight
cannot be obtained.
It has also been found in practice that in apparatus for recording the results of
successive operations of a heavy weighing machine, there is a tendency to produce
many false movements in the recording gear by reason of vibration and other
causes and as a consequence to give inaccurate results.
I am aware that attempts have been made to overcome the former objection, by
causing the receptacle to be at rest upon supports during the time the coal is being
received, but in such cases it has been necessary to employ hydraulic or other
power to raise the dead weight of the receptacle, the weigh beam and the heavy
counterbalance in addition to the load of coal.
Now the object of my invention is to obviate the necessity for raising the weight
of the receptacle and beam which are accurately counterbalanced upon knife edge
centres, so that a very small amount of power is required to perform the operation
of weighing, and to construct the recording apparatus in such a manner that it
will accurately record all the varying loads.
In carrying out my invention I provide a fixed hopper having beneath it a skip
or receptacle which is provided with a door or doors at the bottom the said
receptacle being carried by knife edge centres upon a weigh beam which is itself
mounted upon knife edge centres and is weighted at one end so that the receptacle
when empty, the beam and parts in connection therewith, are accurately balanced.
In connection with the said receptacle are toggle frames or levers which operate
in conjunction with lugs on the receptacle to support the same uormally and whilst
the coal is being received.
The doors at the bottom of the receptacle are hinged and provided with catches
for retaining them in their closed position, and devices for holding them in their
open position.
The recording apparatus which I advantageously employ with my improved
weighing apparatus but which may be used in combination with other weighing
machines, has con pound levers in connection with which the end of the weigh
beam operates, the said compound levers being connected with a weigh rod the
movement of which operates pointers or dials.
I provide one of the compound levers with an adjusting device whereby the
amount of leverage can be accurately adjusted and the recorder calibrated so that
the weight of coal in the receptacle is correctly indicated.
I provide for throwing the recorder out of gear so that when the weighing
machine is not in use the recorder cannot be operated.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 118 a sectional side elevation of my improved weighing and recording
apparatus; and,
Figure 2 is a plan view of the same with the hopper removed :
Figure 3 is a sectional end elevation:
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation shewing the mechanism for holding th. doors
open; and,
Figure 5 is a plan view of the same:
Figure 6 is a view of a cam hereinafter described:
Figure 7 is a sectional side elevation of the recording mechanism; and,
Figure 8 is a sectional plan of the same:
Figure 9 is a sectional side elevation illustrating a modification in connection
with the recording mechanism.
Similar letters of reference illustrate corresponding parts in the several figures.

page_text: a is the framing of the weighing apparatus and 6 is the weigh beam mounted
thereon by means of the knife edges c, c. d is the skip or weighing receptacle
carried in the said beam by the knife edges d', d' and having at the bottom the
hinged doors e, e.
fis the hopper mounted above the receptacle d and carried by brackets a², a¹
on the frame a. g are the balance weights mounted upon a pendulous rod at one
end of the weigh beam and is the recording apparatus connected to the opposite
end of the beam.
i, are pairs of toggle frames or levers, clearly shewn in Figure 3, which at
their lower ends are directly pivoted to brackets on the framing a and at their
upper ends connected by links i¹, to the said framing, the said links serving to
retain the upper ends of the toggle frames in position relatively with lugs j, j on
the receptacle d in such a manner that when the said toggle frames are straight, as
shewn in Figure 1, the said toggle frames will bear against the undersides of the
said lugs and lift the receptacle d sufficiently to take the pressure (due to its
weight) of the knife edges d', d' off the weigh beam; whilst when the said toggle
frames are bent, for instance as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, the
receptacle will rest with the said knife edges d', 'upon the weigh beam.
In practice, screw studs j', with conical heads are applied to the toggle frames
so as to permit of ensuring that the said frames shall make simultaneous contact
with all the lugs j,j. The conical heads of the screw studs j, j enter holes in the
lugs i, j, as clearly shewn in Figures 1 and 3, and serve to retain the receptacle in
its proper position relatively with the toggle frames. The toggle frames i, i are
simultaneously operated from both sides of the framing by the levers k, k and
the links l, l.
With the arrangement of toggle levers herein before described it will be understood
that when the toggle frames are straight the receptacle is supported rigidly in
position so that no load comes upon the knife edges d', d¹. When the coal or other
material has been received the said toggle frames or levers are caused to move out
of their normal upright position so that the receptacle is lowered until the weight
is entirely carried by the weigh beam, when the operation of weighing is performed,
the movements of the beam being transmitted to the recorder. When the weight
has been recorded the toggle frames are moved to restore them to their vertical
position thereby lifting the receptacle.
The doors e, e at the bottom of the receptacle are pivoted at e', e¹ and are
provided with counterweights m, m, which serve to close the doors when no weight
18 upon them.
n, n' are the catches for retaining the doors closed and releasing
them at the proper time to discharge the load. These catches n, n' (of which
there are two sets but only one of which is described) are pivoted to the weighing
receptacle at o, o and are respectively provided with lever arms or extensions p, p
and with lugs p², p; a spring p* connects the two lever arms p, p¹ and serves to
draw the catches into their locking position and in contact with the two stop
pins p, p.
With this arrangement it will be understood that when the lever p is moved
to disengage the catch n the corresponding catch n' is also moved through the
medium of the lugs p³, p. When the said lever p is released the spring p* returns
the parts to their normal positions.
The necessary motions for operating the toggle frames and door opening and
closing devices may be performed by hand, but in practice I prefer that the
necessary movement should be communicated from a crane or from the motor
employed to operate the crane and to so arrange the mechanism that the weighing
apparatus can only be put into action after a load has been delivered. Suitable
mechanism is shewn in the drawings, q, Figures 1 and 2, indicating a crane post,
ql the jib and g*, q³ a worm wheel and worm respectively through the medium of
which the swinging or turning of the crane is effected by the driving motor, not
shewn. is a cam, shewn detached in Figure 6, which cam acts upon the roller r¹
of a lever & pivoted at s¹ upon a bracket and connected by a rods with one arm

page_text: of a bell-cranked levers the other arm of which is connected by a rod with a
lever arm & fixed to a shaft upon which one of the levers k for operating the
toggles is mounted. As shewn in Figures 1, 2 and 3 the cam 7 is formed so that
when the cam is rotated in the direction of the arrow Figure 2 the roller will run
through a heart shaped path whilst when the cam is rotated in the reverse direction
the roller will be in a circular path so that no movement will be imparted to
the lever. This variation of the cam path is effected by the employment of a
switch pivoted at and normally held by a spring so that at one end it is
in contact with the outside of the circular path. It will be obvious that when
the cam runs in the reverse direction to that indicated by the arrow in Figure 2 the
switch will automatically move under the action of the roller behind it into the
position indicated by the dotted lines in the said figure and, when it has passed
the roller, spring outwards to the normal position. When, however, the cam
rotates in the direction of the arrow it will be obvious that the switch will divert
the roller from the circular path. The said cam is so arranged relatively with
the toggle frames that so long as the roller is in the circular path of the cam
no movement is imparted to the said toggle frames, the latter remaining in their
normal position indicated by the full lines in Figure 1. When, however, owing
to the rotation of the cam the roller is moved out of the circular path, the toggle
frames will be moved to the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 1 to lower
the receptacle d on to the weigh beam b. The cam in practice is so fixed relatively
with the jib of the crane that when the latter is in position for the grab to hang
immediately over the receptacle the toggle frames will be upright and that as the
crane is turned round to pick up a fresh load the cam will operate to bend the
toggle frames so that the weighing will take place.
The automatic operation of the catches to release the doors is effected by a cam
surface t on the worm wheel Figures 1 and 2. This cam surface t acts upon a
lever t connected by a link to an arm t³ on a shaft t having bearings in the
framing a. The arm t which is at one end of the shaft t, as clearly shewn in
Figure 5, is connected by a rod t with a link to, Figure 1, depending from a pivot
on the framing a in such a position that when under the action of the cam t the
lever t¹ is operated, the said link to will be pulled from the position indicated in
Figure 1 so as to make contact by a pin to thereon with the arm p of the catch n
to disengage the catches n, n' and release the doors. In order that the catches
at each side of the receptacle shall operate simultaneously the shaft * carries at
the opposite end to that upon which the lever is mounted another lever t',
shewn detached in Figure 44, connected with a rod and link to, te similar to the
rod and link to, t of the lever t' for operating the other set of catches.
As hereinbefore stated, the doors e, e are provided with counterweights m for
automatically closing them when the receptacle is emptied. To prevent these
counterweights from prematurely closing the doors before the contents of the
receptacle are completely discharged, I provide for momentarily holding up
the counterweights m, m when the doors are opened. This I accomplish by the
following means. For holding up the weight m of the right hand door, Figure 4,
I provide a dog u, shewn detached in Figure 4B, pivoted to the framing at u¹ and
acted upon by a spring u² to press the dog forward into engagement with a pin u³
upon the said weight when it is lifted. The dotted lines at u* Figure 4 shew the
position of the pin and the tooth of the dog when the weight is in its lifted
position. To draw the dog out of engagement with the pin u against the pressure
of the spring u³, I provide the lever with an extension u which, when the shaft to
moves backwards after the catches are released, owing to the movement of the
camt past the end of the lever t', acts against a pin u on an upper extension 7 of
the dog u and presses the same backwards to the position indicated in full lines in
Figure 4. The weight ³, fixed on an arm on the shaft t, serves to assist this
disengaging movement of the dog against the pressure of the spring u³. In order
that a similar holding of the weight m of the left hand door may be effected,
I pivot a dog v similar to the dog u to the framing at o¹ and I arrange a spring
:

page_text: which tends to move the dog forward to engage beneath the pin on the weight
as indicated by the dotted lines at in Figure 4. The disengagement of the dog v
from the pins to allow the weight to drop is effected through the medium of a
rod operated at one end by a pin on the lever and connected at the other
end to a depending link 8 which, when the rod v is moved longitudinally during
the disengagement of the dog u from the pin u³, impinges against a pin v on the
dog vand moves the said dog backwards out of engagement with the pin o
As the movement of the lever t' is greater than the movement allowed to the
rod under the action of the spring of the dog the end of the rod v³, with
which the pin engages, is slotted, as shewn in Figure 4, to allow the additional
movement of the lever t.
With this arrangement it will be understood that when the shaft t* is rotated
under the action of the cam t to operate the catches n, n' to release the doors, the
lever extension u will be moved so as to allow the dogs u, v under the action of
their springs to spring into the paths of the pins u³, 3 of the balance weights m, m
of the doors so that when the said weights are in their upper positions the dogs
will engage beneath the said pins to hold the doors open. When the load having
been discharged the shaft t commences to return in the opposite direction, under
the action of the weight u owing to the disengagement of the can t from the
lever t¹, the extension u of the lever t' by acting against the pin u on the
extension u of the dog u disengages the latter from its pin u³ and at the same
time the dog vis disengaged from the pin 3 owing to the movement of the rod v
under the action of the lever t' causing the link vs to impinge against the pin ».
The upper end of the lever t' is pivotally connected to the other part thereof, as
indicated in Figure 1, so as to permit of the cam passing the lever t¹ without
moving it in the backward movement of the crane, the said upper end yielding
against the pressure of a spring to.
It is to be understood that the positions of the cams and t relatively with one
another are such that the cam will first operate to bend the toggle frames to
allow the weighing of the load and commence to again straighten the toggles prior
to the operation of the cam t for discharging the load, this arrangement ensuring
that the weight of the receptacle is practically resting upon the toggle frames
before the vibration due to the discharge of the load takes place.
The recording apparatus h comprises a series of levers similar to those of an
ordinary weighing machine the various levers being proportioned to one another to
correspond with the pressure which the weight of the load brings to bear upon the
machine through the weigh beam. The construction of the recording apparatus
will be clearly understood by reference to Figures 7 and 8; in these figures wis
the weighing platform which is supported upon the compound levers w¹, w³, the
former of which is connected at one end w8 by a rod w' the movement of which
causes the deflection of a spring or springs or the raising of a weighted lever,
motion communicated to which is communicated to a spindle and thence to a train
of wheels carrying the various pointers. In practice I find it advantageous to
arrange that the main pointer of the dial shall indicate decimals of a ton, the
complete revolution of the pointer indicating one ton; a second or smaller dial will
be used for indicating units of tons, a third, tens, a fourth, hundreds, and so on. In
order to provide for adjusting the levers so that a complete revolution of the main
pointer shall indicate one ton, I pivot to the end w³ of the weighing lever w¹ an
arm & which by means of nuts x¹, ¹ upon a stud may be moved nearer to or
farther from the fulcrum of the said lever w¹. As this adjusting device forms the
subject matter of an Application No. 20892 of 1986 I make no claim to it in this
application.
In order to communicate the pressure of the weigh beam to the platform w the
platform has formed upon it a standard y, Figure 7, to the upper end of which the
weigh beam is connected by a link y', as shewn in Figure 1. A conical cover y³ is
represented as being placed over the platform to enclose the same and to prevent
as far as possible the admission of dust into the apparatus.

page_text: In order to prevent the movement of the recording apparatus when the weighing
apparatus is not in use I advantageously provide the following arrangement:-On
the standard of the recorder carrying the dials I mount a door z adapted to cover
the dials and to be locked. Adjacent to the hinge of this cover I form a cam z¹
designed to operate against one end of a lever 22 the other end of which carries a
rod which depends through the hole in the end of the weighing lever and
carries on the underside thereof nuts :³. When the recording apparatus is in use
and the door z is lowered to the position indicated in Figure 7 so as to reveal the
face of the recording apparatus the nuts 2 are so far below the underside of the
end of the weighing lever that they will not interfere with the motions thereof.
When, however, the door is closed up in the direction of the arrow Figure 7 the
cam 2 by acting upon the lever will lift the rod sufficiently to cause the
nuts 2 to make contact with the underside of the end w³ of the weighing lever and
support the same.
In the foregoing description of the weighing mechanism I have assumed that
the weight is recorded by a downward pressure of the weigh beam upon the
platform w. If desired, bowever, the upward movement of the end of the weigh
beam carrying the weights g may be utilized. In this arrangement a rod 28,
Figure 9, which at its upper end can be attached to the weigh beam, is at its lower
end connected to one of a pair of weighing levers 27, 8, the other lever of the pair
being connected by a rod 2 to the recording dial.
In this arrangement of levers, which will be clearly understood by reference to
Figure 9, 1 arrange the adjusting arm x upon the lever 2 which is connected to
the rod of the recorder. In this arrangement of the arm it serves for adjusting
the distance between the fulcrum of the lever 28 and the point at which the pull
of the lever 2' is communicated to it.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a weighing apparatus the combination with the weighing receptacle of toggle
frames adapted to support the weight of the said receptacle whilst being changed
and then to lower the same to allow the weighing operation to take place,.
substantially as described.
2. In a weighing apparatus having a receptacle adapted to be supported by
toggle frames independently of the weigh beam and in combination with which a
crane is employed for delivering loads into the said receptacle, the arrangement of
mechanism for causing the turning movements of the crane to operate the toggle
frames, substantially as described.
3. In weighing apparatus wherein the weighing receptacle is adapted to be
supported by toggle frames as described and wherein the said receptacle is provided
with doors for discharging the contents of the receptacle when weighed, the
arrangement of mechanism for retaining the doors closed and for releasing them by
the movement of a crane, substantially as described.
4. The manufacture and use of the improved weighing apparatus consisting of
the parts constructed and combined substantially in the manner hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings and operating as, and for-
the purposes, set forth.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant..