IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING, EQUALIZING, AND REGISTERING HUMAN POWER
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Ryan, of 17, Fishamble Street, in the
City of Dublin, Engineer and Machinist, and William Daniel, of 55,
Mary Street, in the same City, Ironmonger and Gas Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING, EQUALIZING,
AND REGISTERING HUMAN POWER."
Sealed the 16th October 1863, and dated the 21st April 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by tho said William Ryan and
William Daniel at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 21st April 1863.
We, WILLIAM RYAN, of 17, Fishamble Street, in the City of Dublin,
Engineer and Machinist, and WILLIAM DANIEL, of 55, Mary Street, in the
same City, Ironmonger and Gas Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING,
EQUALIZING, AND REGISTERING HUMAN POWER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus for transmitting, equalizing, and
registering human power, applicable for driving pumps, grinding grain, and
various other purposes for which motive power is required; it is especially
suited for prison use.
The apparatus, constructed according to these improvements, is so arranged
that if any one labourer of a number should cease working he will not neces

page_text: sarily interrupt the others, not even hinder them, except in so far as such
cessation may reduce the amount of combined power. Moreover, his cessation
of work will be at once signalized to his companions and to the person in
charge.
Our apparatus is thus constructed:-The framework is so contrived as to
form a number of compartments or divisions, one for each man, so as to
separate each labourer from the others. In each division or compartment is
a crank, one for each man to work, and by means of these cranks motive
power is communicated to a main shaft, which extends the whole length of the
apparatus, and is common to and in connection with all the cranks. This
shaft transmits the motive power which it receives from the cranks to the
pump, mill, or other apparatus, engine, machine, or instrument to be driven.
The cranks communicate their power to the main shaft thus:-Through each
partition or division that separates the compartments is fitted a short shaft
projecting at one end into one compartment and at the other end into the
adjoining compartment, so that in each compartment two such short shafts
project, one at one side and one at the opposite side; each short shaft has at
one end a ratchet, and each crank has at the end of one of its arms a pawl
for driving such ratchet. The opposite end or arm of the crank works loosely
on the end of the other short shaft, that is to say, each crank has on one arm
a pawl for engaging a ratchet on a short shaft at one side and its other arm
works loose on a short shaft on the other side. On each short shaft is a
toothed wheel in gear with a toothed wheel on the main shaft. It follows,
that when the labourers work the cranks the pawls drive the ratchets which
actuate the toothed gearing, and thus communicate motion to the main shaft;
but if a labourer should cease working while others are at work, the ratchet
of his crank will travel over bis idle pawl, and produce a noise which will
signalize the cessation of work in the corresponding compartment.
The main shaft also actuates a registering apparatus placed at one end of
such shaft, and so fitted that the labourers cannot get at it to tamper with it;
it gives notice when a certain quantity of work has been performed, so that
when labourers are employed in relays, each relay may accomplish an equal
quantity of work. This registering apparatus consists of a case in which are
two endless screws in gear with pinions or wheels so arranged as to move at
certain intervals of time an index pointer, or a bar or lever which strikes a
bell, or it may both move a pointer and strike a bell.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Ryan and William Daniel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st October 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
RYAN, of 17, Fishamble Street, in the City of Dublin, Engineer and
Machinist, and WILLIAM DANIEL, of 55, Mary Street, in the same City,
Ironmonger and Gas Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said William Ryan and William Daniel, Her special licence that we,
the said William Ryan and William Daniel, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Ryan and
William Daniel, our 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
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING, EQUALIZING, AND REGISTERING
HUMAN POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
William Ryan and William Daniel, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said William Ryan and William Daniel,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the necom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
This Invention relates to apparatus for transmitting, equalizing, and
registering human power. The power which it transmits may be used for

page_text: driving pumps, grinding grain, and various other purposes for which motive
power is required.
Our apparatus is especially suitable for use in prisons, and is so arranged
that if any one laborer of a number (set to work it) should cease working, be
will not necessarily interrupt the others, nor even hinder them, except in so
far as his cessation of work may reduce the amount of combined power, and
such cessation of work will be at once signalized to his companions and to the
person superintending.
Our improved apparatus is thus constructed:-The framework forms a
number of compartments or divisions, one for each man; they are so con-
trived that each laborer is separated from the others. In each division or
compartment is a crank, one for each man to work; motive power is com-
municated by these cranks to a main shaft, which extends the whole length of
the apparatus, and is common to and in connection with all the cranks. This
shaft transmits the motive power which it receives to a pump, mill, or other
engine, machine, or apparatus to be driven. The cranks communicate their
power to the main shaft as follows:-Through each partition or division that
forms the compartments is fitted a short shaft projecting at one end into one
compartment and at the other end into the adjoining compartment, so that
two such short shafts project into each compartment, one at one side thereof
and one at the opposite side; each short shaft has at one end a ratchet, and
each crank has at the end of one of its arms a pall for driving such ratchet.
The opposite end or arm of the crank works loosely on the end of the other
short shaft, that is to say, cach crank has on one arm a pall for engaging a
ratchet on a short shaft at one side, and its other arm works loose on a short
shaft at the other side. On each short shaft is a toothed wheel in gear with
a toothed wheel on the main shaft. It follows, that when the laborers work
the cranks the palls will drive the ratchets, and these will actuate the toothed
gearing, and thus communicate motion to the main shaft; but if one of the
laborers should cease working while others are at work, the ratchet of his
crank will travel over his idle pall, and produce a noise which will signalize
the cessation of work in his compartment.
The main shaft also actuates a registering apparatus placed at one end of
such shaft; it is so fitted that the laborers cannot get at it to tamper with it.
It gives notice when a certain quantity of work has been performed, so that
when laborers are employed in relays, each relay may accomplish an equal
quantity of work. This registering apparatus consists of a case in which are
two endless screws in gear with pinions or wheels so arranged that at certain

page_text: intervals of time, that is to say, when a certain number of revolutions of the
main shaft have been performed, they cause a bar, arm, or lever to strike a
bell, or they may work an index pointer, or both work a pointer and strike
a bell.
In order that the nature of our Invention, and the manner of performing it
may be fully understood, we proceed to describe the accompanying Drawings,
which represent apparatus constructed according to our Invention.
Figures 1 and 2 represent our arrangement of apparatus for transmitting
and equalizing human power, Figure 1 being a plan, and Figure 2 an end
view.
A, A', is a framework, which consists of supports A (for shafts D, E,) and
of a number of partitions A', forming a series of compartments B; in each of
these compartments is a crank C, intended to be worked by manual power.
Each compartment B is intended for the reception of a single laborer; the
cranks are represented as if in motion. The partitions are secured to the
floor or foundation, and (when the apparatus is intended for prison use) they
may extend to a sufficient height to prevent the workman in one compartment
from seeing those in the others. There may be any required number of the
compartments B, though only two are shewn. D is a shaft which extends
the whole length of the apparatus, and passes through all the compartments B;
this shaft D is supported on bearings in the frame. The shaft D receives
rotary motion from the cranks C, as herein described, and transmits such
motion to the pump, mill, or other engine or machine to be driven with which
it is connected in any ordinary manner. E, E, are short shafts passing
through the partitions A', and supported on the plummer blocks F secured
to the general framework A; one such shaft E passes through each
partition, that is to say, each shaft E projects into two compartments B,
so that into each compartment B two shafts E project, one at one side
thereof and one at the opposite side. On one end of each shaft E is
a ratchet wheel G, hence there is one ratchet wheel G in each com-
partiment, and on one arm or end H of each crank C is a pall h, shewn in
Figure 2, for working such ratchet G; the other arm of each crank works
loosely on the end of that shaft E, which is at the side of the compartment B
opposite the ratchet, that is to say, each crank C has one of its arms II fitted
with a pall for working a ratchet on one of the shafts E, while the other
arm of the crank turns loosely at the end of another of the shafts E. Thus
cach shaft E carries at one of its ends a ratchet G worked by a pall on a
crank C in one compartment, while at its other end the shaft E carries the

page_text: loose end of a crank C in the next adjoining compartment. j, Figure 2, is a
On each
spring for keeping the pall to its work; the crank end E is forked.
shaft E is a toothed wheel I in gear with a toothed wheel J keyed on the
shaft D. From the above arrangements it results that when the laborers
work the cranks C, the spring palls h drive the ratchets G, and thereby
transmit motion through the shafts E and wheels I, J, to the shaft D; but if
any one or more of the laborers in the compartments should cease working
while others of them continue at work, this cessation of work will be at once
indicated, because as the shaft D will continue to be turned by the cranks of
those men who keep at work, the wheels I, J, and shaft E will turn the
ratchet in the compartment of the man who has stopped working, and such
ratchet travelling over its inactive pall will produce a clattering noise, and
call attention to the compartment (or compartments) in which work has
stopped.
Figures 3 and 4, which are on a larger scale than Figures 1 and 2, relate
to our registering apparatus, Figure 3 being a longitudinal, and Figure 4
transverse section thereof. D is the driving shaft referred to in Figure 1, at
one end of which these registering arrangements are fitted; they are sup-
ported in a frame or bearing K, which also serves as a bearing for the end of
the shaft D.
The registering arrangements are enclosed in a locked box or case (not
shown in the Drawing), and being thus protected, and being also by their
position separated from the compartments B, they cannot be tampered with
by the workmen. L is an endless screw or worm keyed on the shaft D, and
in gear with a wheel or pinion M on an axis N; O is an endless screw or
worm keyed on the axis N, and in gear with a wheel or pinion P keyed on
an axis Q. The axes N and Q are supported in the bearing K; the axis Q
carries a bar or arm R, which acts as or moves a hammer or striker for
striking a bell or gong. From these arrangements, it follows that each time
the shaft D performs a certain number of revolutions the axis Q will
perform one revolution, and cause the striker to act on the bell, and so register
the quantity of work performed.
The apparatus may be adapted for registering any desired numbers of revo-
Jutions or quantities of work by using pinions M, P, of a greater or less pitch
or number of teeth with screws or worms to correspond, so that they shall
cause the arm R to act at the required intervals of time. Instead of or in
addition to the hammer or striker, the axis Q may carry and work an index
pointer travelling over a dial.

page_text: Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same may be performed, we declare that we claim the arrange-
ment and combination of parts constituting the apparatus for transmitting,
equalizing, and registering human power herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Ryan and William Daniel,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witnessed by
FREDERICK CANTRELL,
16 & 17, Fishamble St.,
•
Dublin.
PATRICK C. GLEESON,
101, Lower Gardiner St.,
Dublin.
WILLIAM RYAN. (L.S.)
W. DANIEL.
.
(L.S.)