AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT FOR TAKING ALTITUDES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT FOR TAKING ALTITUDES."-A
communication.
Sealed the 3rd October 1856, and dated the 28th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th July 1856.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED INSTRUMENT FOR TAKING
ALTITUDES," to be as follows:-
The object of this instrument is to take the altitude of the sun or any
celestial or terrestrial object. It is constructed in the form of a semicircle,
having a radius of about 5 inches. The working parts are enclosed in a
metallic case, with a handle at the back, and a glass over the face of the
semicircle, which is divided into degrees. At the centre of the semicircle
is suspended a pendulum, with a pointer or index at its lower end to indicate
the degrees of altitude. The pendulum is made to swing freely until the
observation is made, when by the touch of the thumb upon a trip lever the
pendulum is held firmly. The apparatus to do this is attached to the hub

page_text: at the centre of the instrument. The clamp plate lies upon the pivot end of
the pendulum, and upon the clamp a wire is soldered, and is connected to a
spring, and when this spring is pressed down it thrusts the clamp plate off
the pendulum and leaves it loose. As the spring is thrust down, the trip
lever, which has a notch in it, catches the spring and holds it in place. The
trip lever passes through a slot in the end of the spring, and is hinged just
beneath it by a wire. The pendulum is formed by a stem, at the lower end
of which is a pointer, and near the lower end is a ball, which acts as a
friction roller to keep the pointer from rubbing. The sights are set in sockets
placed at each end of the straight side of the semi-disc. The eye sight has
a hole about ths of an inch diameter. The other, which is a silver-faced
_plate, has a perpendicular line and a horizontal line crossing at the centre.
The observation is made by a back sight. The instrument-is-held-before--the-
observer, and the sun is allowed to shine over his shoulder through the hole
in the eye-sight down to the cross lines upon the silver plate. When the
observation is made and the pendulum steady, the trip lever. is touched, and
the pendulum made fast by means of the clamp; the pointer will then indicate
upon the scale the angle of the altitude. The crystal sights, as in common
instruments, are used when the sun will not cast a shadow. Colored glasses
are used for direct observation with front sights. Two semicircular sights
are used when the altitude of the stars is taken.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Edward Newton, 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

page_text: inake, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED INSTRUMENT FOR TAKING ALTITUDES," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention of "An Improved Instrument for Taking Altitudes" is shewn
in detail in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 represents the
face of the instrument; Fig. 2, the back of the instrument; Fig. 3, an end
elevation; and Fig. 4, a vertical section thereof.
The instrument is constructed in the form of a semicircle, and the working
parts are enclosed in a metallic case. The instrument is of a radius of five
and a half inches, and it is provided with a handle D at the back, and a
glass to cover the face of the graduated dial or indicator.
a
At the centre of the semicircular dial is suspended a pendulum B, with
pointer at its lower end to indicate the degrees of altitude. The degrees
and parts of a degree are marked upon the face of the dial near the periphery.
The pendulum is made to swing freely on its centre until the observation is
made, when by the touch of the thumb upon a trip lever or stop I the
pendulum is held firm. The apparatus to do this is placed in the hub at the
centre. A clamp plate A lies upon the pivot end of the pendulum, and upon
the clamp a wire L is soldered, and connects with the spring E at F. When
the spring is pressed down it thrusts the clamp plate off the pendulum and
leaves it loose. As the spring is thrust down, the trip lever or stop I, which
has a notch in it, catches the spring and holds it in place. The trip lever
passes through a slot in the end of the spring, and is hinged just beneath it
by a wire. The pendulum is formed by a stem, at the lower end of which
is a pointer, and near the lower end is a ball C, which acts as a friction roller
to keep the pointer from rubbing. The sights are set in the sockets placed
at each end of the straight side of the semi-disc. The eye sight G has a
hole about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter. The other II, which is

page_text: a silver-faced plate, has a perpendicular line with a horizontal line crossing
it at the centre. The observation is made by a back sight. The instrument is
held before the observer, and the sun shines over his shoulder through the hole
in the eye-sight G down to the cross lines upon the silver plate H. When the
observation is made and the pendulum steady, the trip lever or stop I is
touched and the pendulum made fast; the pointer will then indicate upon
the scale the angle of the altitude. The crystal sights, as in common instru-
ments, are used when the sun will not cast a shadow. Colored glasses are
used for direct observation with front sights. Two semicircular sights are
used when the altitude of the stars is taken.
Having now described the Invention of "An Improved Instrument for
Taking Altitudes," that has been communicated to me by my foreign correspon-
dent as aforesaid, and also the manner-of-carrying the same into effect, I claim,
in conclusion, the combination of a vibrating pendulum indicator or pointer
(capable of being fixed at any given point by means of a stop or other
analogous contrivance) with a graduated dial, to which sights are adapted, as
above shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.B.)