A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR TESTING THE STRENGTH OF WIRE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Deeley, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED MACHINE FOR TESTING THE STRENGTH OF WIRE."
Sealed the 29th July 1864, and dated the 31st May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Deeley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 31st May
1864.
I, PETER DEELEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR TESTING THE STRENGTH OF WIRE," to be as
follows:
The said machine consists essentially of the following parts :--A rectangular
frame, consisting of two uprights connected by cross pieces at top and bottom,
is supported on a base. Between the two vertical sides of the said frame two
slides are situated, one of the said slides being near the top, and the other at
the lower part of the frame. These slides engage with and slide upon the
inner faces of the vertical sides of the frame. The upper slide is connected to
and supported by the coiled spring of a strong spring balance, the said spring
balance being fixed at the top of the frame. The lower slide works upon two
vertical screws in the lower part of the frame, and the said screws may be
turned so as to move up and down the said lower slide. Motion is given to
the said screws by means of a horizontal shaft furnished with two bevil

page_text: toothed pinions taking into similar pinions on the tops of the screws.
Motion
is given to the said shaft by means of a winch or handle, by turning which the
lower slide is raised or lowered. The piece of wire the strength of which is to
be tested, is fixed between the two slides, each of the slides being provided
with a clamp for the purpose of holding the wire. In using the machine the
ends of the wire to be tested are fixed in the clamps of the upper and lower
slide respectively, and the winch or handle is turned in the direction proper to
depress the lower slide. As the said lower slide descends, the tension on the
wire becomes greater and greater until it breaks; the strain upon it is
registered on the dial of the spring balance at the top of the frame. In order
to measure the length to which the wire stretches before it breaks two
graduated sliding plates are employed. The said plates slide on one side of
the frame, the lower sliding plate being carried downwards by the lower slide
and the upper sliding plate being moved downwards by the descent of the
upper slide. The two graduated sliding plates being set to zero before the
straining of the wire commences, the difference between the distances to which
they have respectively descended on the breaking of the wire is the length the
wire has stretched before it broke.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Deeley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
DEELEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Deeley, Her special licence that I, the said Peter Deeley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter
Deeley, 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 Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINE FOR TESTING
THE STRENGTH OF WIRE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said

page_text: Peter Deeley, 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 sanie
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Paten Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Peter Deeley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The said machine consists essentially of the following parts:-A rectangular
frame consisting of two uprights connected by cross pieces at top and bottom,
is supported on a base. Between the two vertical sides of the said frame two
slides are situated, one of the said slides being near the top, and the other at
the lower part of the frame. These slides engage with and slide upon the
inner faces of the vertical sides of the frame. The upper slide is connected to
and supported by the coiled spring of a strong spring balance, the said spring
balance being fixed at the top of the frame. The lower slide works upon two
vertical screws in the lower part of the frame, and the said screws may be
turned so as to move up and down the said lower slide. Motion is given to
the said screws by means of a horizontal shaft furnished with two bevil toothed
pinions taking into similar pinions on the tops of the screws. Motion is given
to the said shaft by means of a winch or handle, by turning which the lower
slide is raised or lowered. The piece of wire the strength of which is to be
tested is fixed between the two slides, each of the slides being provided with a
clamp for the purpose of holding the wire. In using the machine the ends of
the wire to be tested are fixed in the clamps of the upper and lower slides
respectively, and the winch or handle is turned in the direction proper to
depress the lower slide. As the said lower slide descends the tension on the
wire becomes greater and greater until it breaks; the strain upon it is
registered on the dial of the spring balance at the top of the frame. In order
to measure the length to which the wire stretches before it breaks, two
graduated sliding plates are employed. The said plates slide on one side of
the frame, the lower sliding plate being carried downwards by the lower slide,
and the upper sliding plate being moved downwards by the descent of the
upper slide. The two graduated sliding plates being set to the zero of a fixed
scale before the straining of the wire commences, the difference between the
distances to which they have respectively descended on the breaking of the
wire is the length the wire has stretched before it broke.

page_text: Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents an elevation of a machine for testing the strength of
wire constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 represents a hori-
zontal section of the same, taken through the line a of Figure 1. The same
letters indicate the same parts in both Figures.
a, b, is the rectangular frame of the machine, consisting of two upright
pieces or pillars a connected at top and bottom by cross pieces b. The said
frame a, b, is supported on a base or stand c. Fixed on the top of the
frame a, b, is a strong spring balance d of the ordinary construction. On the
inner face of each of the uprights a are two parallel ribs e, e². Between
the inner or back ribs e at the top of the frame a slide or traveller f is situated,
and between the inner or back ribs e, at the bottom of the frame is another
slide or traveller g, the said slides f, g, engaging with and moving freely upon
the said ribs e, as will be best understood by an examination of the section,
Figure 2. The upper slide f is freely suspended between the ribs e, and is
supported by the spring h of the spring balance d, the said slide f being
connected to the spring by means of the link i. The lower slide g works upon
two vertical screws k, the lower ends of which work in bearings or steps in
the frame and the upper ends in the cross bar or bearing plate / fixed to the
pillars a of the framing. Each screw k carries a collar k, the neck of which
works in the said cross plate or bearing. On the tops of the screws are
bevil pinions m, which gear with bevil pinions n on the horizontal shaft o, the
said shaft working in bearings in the uprights or pillars a. The horizontal
shaft o has a fly-wheel p on one end, and a winch or handle g on the other
end, by turning which said winch q the necessary rotary motion may be given
to the screws k through the bevil pinions m, n, and the slide g made to rise or
fall upon the said screws k. Each of the slides f, g, is furnished with a
clamp r for fixing the wire, the strength of which is to be tested in the said
slides. The clamps consist of levers turning on joints on the slides. The
inner face of the clamp has a die s (see Figure 2), and the outer face of the
slide has a similar die t, between which dies s, t, the wire u to be tested is
held. The clamps r are fixed in position after the wire u has been inserted
between the dies s, t, by the cotters or pins v passed through staples w on the
slides, and bearing against the front of the clamps.
In using the machine the ends of the wire u are fixed between the slides f, g,
in the manner represented in the Drawing, and motion is given to the shaft o
by means of the winch q in the direction proper to make the lower slide g

page_text: descend upon the screws k. As the lower slide g is depressed the upper slide f
at the same time descends by the tension of the wire u, and the yielding of the
spring h of the spring balance. By the elongation of the spring h the index
finger is made to traverse the dial plate y of the spring balance d. As the
said lower slide g descends the tension or strain on the wire u becomes greater
and greater until it breaks. On the breaking of the wire u the slide fis
raised to its original position by the elasticity of the spring h, the index finger x
remaining stationary at the point on the dial y to which it had been brought
by the elongation of the spring h, and thus registering the strain to which the
wire has been subjected. In order to measure the length to which the wire
stretches before it breaks, I provide the machine with two graduated scales or
sliding plates marked 2, 3. The said plates, slide upon the edge of the front
rib e on one side of the framing of the machine. The upper graduated scale 2
is fixed to a plate 4 sliding on the edge of the said rib e², and the said plate 4
is connected by the spring finger 5 to the upper slide f. The free end of the
finger 5 is not fixed to the plate 4, but bears upon a pin or projection 6 on
the said plate, so that on the descent of the slide f the plate 4 and graduated
scale 2 are pushed before it. On the breaking of the wire u the slide f recedes
to its former position, as before explained, without affecting the graduated
scale 2. The lower scale 3 is fixed to the plate 7 sliding on the edge of the
ribe, and is connected to the lower slide 9 by means of the connecting rod or
link 8. The upper graduated scale 2 is moved downwards by the motion of
the upper slide f, and the lower scale 3 is carried downwards by the descent of
the lower slide g. On the face of the rib e² is a fixed graduated scale 10,
divided into inches and parts of an inch. In using the machine the two
graduated sliding scales 2, 3, are set to the zero of the fixed scale 10 before
the straining of the wire commences, and during the straining of the wire the
said scales 2, 3, gradually descend until the wire breaks, when the difference
between the distances to which the said graduated scales 2, 3, have respectively
descended on the breaking of the wire is measured off by the scale, and is the
length the wire has stretched before it broke, as will be understood by an
examination of Figure 1. The sliding scales 2, 3, are supported against the
rib e, by pins 11, 12, upon which pins the scales slide. Instead of employing
two screws for the lower slide g to work upon, one only or more than two
may be employed, and instead of transmitting the motion of the horizontal
shaft o to the said screws through bevil pinions, as described and represented,
the said shaft may carry a worm, which gears with worm wheels on the tops
of the said screws. The machine may be worked by steam or other power
instead of by hand. In this case I substitute for the winch 9 a crank to

page_text: which the motive power engine is connected; or the shaft o may carry at its
end a pulley, over which a band worked from the motive-power engine
passes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood, that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described, and illustrated in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim as my Invention a new or improved machine for
testing the strength of wire, the parts of which are arranged or combined
substantially in the manner herein-before described, and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Deeley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
PETER DEELEY. (L.S.)