IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Adcock, of Marlborough Road, Dalston,
in the County of Middlesex, Cigar Manufacturer, for the Inven-
tion of IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE DISTANCE
TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES."
Sealed the 15th March 1854, and dated the 16th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Adcock at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 16th September 1853.
I, JOHN ADCOCK, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY
VEHICLES" to be as follows:-
The apparatus which forms the subject of the present Invention is
so contrived that the distance for each fare or hire will be shown
upon the index perfectly distinct from every other fare or hire, and can
be ascertained by the touch as well as by the sight, and is also so
arranged that the proprietor of the vehicle may see at the end of each
day the distance passed over during the day. The indicator may be
fixed in any part of the carriage thought most convenient, and is

page_text: actuated by means of a pin or stud affixed on the nave or hub of
one of the carriage wheels. This pin at every rotation of the running
wheel is made to raise one end of a spring lever, and thereby to
act upon a column of atmospheric air confined in a pipe or tube,
connected at one end to a small cylinder, and at the other end to
a chamber connected to the indicating apparatus, and furnished with
a valve, which is acted upon by the air confined in the tube. The
instrument will be capable after it is fixed of being adjusted to carriage
wheels of various diameters.
The principal feature of novelty in this part of the apparatus is the
spring lever, which is forced up or back by the pin or stud on the nave
of the wheel; and when released therefrom suddenly, by its own elastic
force returns to its original position, and causes the air in the tube
to act on the valve at the other end. This valve is connected by
a lever and click or other suitable contrivances to the counting appa-
ratus, and therefore at every rotation of the running wheel it will be
acted upon, and will actuate the gearing of the indicator. In the
improved indicator no dial is used, the indications of the distance
travelled being made by adjustable spring pins or studs, which are kept
down by a slotted travelling plate, which is connected to a screwed nut
that works on a screwed shaft, which is actuated by gearing or ratchet
wheels, as in most other indicating or counting apparatus. As the
screwed shaft rotates it moves forward the nut and the slotted plate, and
uncovers, one after the other, the spring pins or studs, which aro then
made to spring up, and each pin or stud will indicate that a mile, half
mile, or other distance has been travelled. As the screwed sliaft will
always rotate the sanic distance, whatever the size of the running wheels
may be, it follows that the distances of the indicating pins apart from
each other must be capable of adjustment with facility. To effect this I
fix them in a lever frame constructed somewhat upon the principle of
the lazy-tongs, so that by merely opening or closing the system of levers
the relative distances apart of the pins may be adjusted with nicety,
according to the diameter of the running wheels.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Adcock in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 16th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN ADCOCK, of Marlborough Road, Dalston, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Cigar Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent; bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the.
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Adcock, Her special
license that I, the said John Adcock, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Adcock, 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, usc, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR MEASURING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Adcock, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Adcock, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): .
The apparatus which forms the subject of the present Invention is
so contrived that the distance for each fare or hire will be shewn upon
the index perfectly distinct from the indication of the total mileage run
in a given time, and may be read by the touch as well as by the sight; -

page_text: The indicator I fix in any convenient part of the carriage, and I actuate
it by means of a. pin or stud fixed on the nave or hub of one of the
carriage wheels. This pin at every rotation of the running wheel is
caused to press upon one end of a spring lever, and thereby to act upon
a column of atmospheric air confined in a tube connected at one end
to a small cylinder, and at the other end to a chamber which is capable
of expanding and contracting, like a bellows, according to the pressure
of air contained therein. To the lid of this chamber the indicating
apparatus is connected, and it is set in motion by the rising and falling
thereof.
-
A further peculiarity of this apparatus is, that it is capable after it
is fixed of being adjusted so as to indicate correctly whatever may be
the diameter of the carriage wheel from which the motive power for
actuating the apparatus is derived.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1, is a longitudinal elevation of
the measuring apparatus, the front of the case in which it is contained
being removed, the better to shew the construction of the parts;
Fig. 2, is a cross section taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1; Fig. 3,
is a similar view taken in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4, shews
the case in front view. The arrangement for transferring the motion
of the running wheels of the carriage to this apparatus is shewn at
Fig. 5, wherein a, is the carriage axle, and b, the nave or hub of the
wheel, the length of whose journey during certain periods is required
to be ascertained. Affixed to the axle a, is a spring lever c, the free
end of which at every rotation of the wheel is brought into contact
with a stop d, projecting from the nave of the wheel, by which means
it is pressed back to the dotted position shewn in the Drawing.
Jointed to this spring lever is a pendent rod which carries a piston e,
that works in a cylinder f, forming one termiuation of an air-tight
tube g. The other end of this tube terminates in an air chamber h,
which has a moveable head or lid i, secured thereto by some air-tight
flexible material, and capable of answering to the pulsations or strokes
of the piston. Connected to the lid i, is the long arm of a bell crank
lever k, which rocks on a fulcrum pin *, carried by the bearing
plate. The short end of this bell crank lever carries a click which

page_text: takes into a ratchet wheel m, keyed to the arbor of a long pinion n,
projecting through the plate l, and extending nearly to the other end
of the apparatus. The arbor of this pinion turns in suitable bearings
prepared for it in the end of the case and in the plate l; and the like
provision is made for two screw shafts o, p, situate on opposite sides of
the pinion. n, and carrying traversing nuts o', pl. To these screw
shafts ratchet wheels are keyed, into the teeth of which clicks, pendent
from stud pins on the plate 7, take for the purpose of preventing the
screws from rotating while the apparatus is in action. The traversing
nuts o', p', are each provided with a cog wheel o², p², which respectively.
gear into the teeth of the pinion n, and receive axial motion there-
from at every stroke of the piston e. This axial motion of the nuts
effects also their traverse along their respective screw shafts, and it is
this traverse motion of the nuts which I apply to effect the required
indication of the distance run by the vehicle to which the apparatus is
attached. The pitch of the screw shaft o, I prefer to make five times
greater than that of the screw shaft p, and by this means I cause the
nut o', to move laterally five times faster than the nut p'. For indi-
cating the mileage I use two sets of pins or projections q, and r, carried
by an arrangement of lazy-tongs levers s, s, which will permit of the
pins or projections being brought nearer together or set farther apart
by means of a set screw t, which works in a nut t*, at one end of the
arrangement of levers, and turns freely in a bearing provided for it in
the end of the case. Slots are made in the face of the case (see
Fig. 4,) to exhibit the pins or projections 9, and 2. The former of
these is intended to indicate the number of miles run during one
hiring, and for this purpose it is covered by a sliding plate q', at
starting, which plate is connected to the nut o', by means of an arm
projecting from a frame q', which embraces the nut, and permits of its
revolving freely therein. As the plate q', is carried forward clear of
the pins g, by the traverse of the nut o', along its screw shaft, these
pins will one by one protrude through the slot in the case, and indicate
that one, two, or more miles have been run, which indication
may be
read in the dark by the fare passing his hand over the pins. The
protruding of the several pins q, is effected by the pressure of a coiled

page_text: spring, which is inserted between and bears against a collar on the
pins and a bracket frame attached to the arrangement of levers s.
When the driver has discharged his fare his duty will be to return the
plate to its starting position, that is, so that it may cover all the pins 7.
To effect this he first throws back the pins 7, by means of a key applied
to the arrangement shewn in red lines in Fig. 3, and then by means of
the same key applied to the screw shaft he rotates that shaft in the
direction of the arrow Fig. 2, whereby the back traverse of the nut to
its starting position will be produced; but in case he fails to do this,
and the nut is in consequence driven forward to its utmost limit, I
provide the nut with a release pin, which coming into contact with the
click of the ratchet wheel of the screw shaft will lift the click clear of
the ratchet teeth, and permit the nut and screw shaft to revolve together,
whereby all liability of breakage from this negligence of the driver will
be avoided. The nut p', works like the nut o', in a frame u, to which
a pointer u, (for directing attention to the projections 7,) is connected;
and a similar provision should be made for releasing the retaining
catch of the screw shaft P₁ in case the cab proprietor should neglect at
the proper time to return the nut p', to its starting point. I have
stated that the traverse of the nut o¹, on the shaft o, by the means
above explained indicates the distance of one hiring, and that it is under
the control of the driver as far as returning the nut to its starting
position is concerned; but the pointer u, and the parts in immediate
connection therewith being intended to shew the total mileage run in
the day or other given period, no access to the shaft p, must be per-
mitted to the driver. The proprietor will therefore have this shaft under
his control, and after reading off the indication of the total mileage he
will be required to return the nut p', to its starting position. It will
now be understood that for every revolution of the nave b, of the car-
riage wheel the spring lever will be pressed back to the dotted position,
(see Fig. 5,) and when the stop d, has passed the end of the spring
lever that lever will, by reason of its elasticity, return to its former
position, and in doing so press forward the piston e, and give a pulsation
to the confined air in the tube g, by which means the lid i, of the air
chamber will be raised. This movement of the lid i, will rock the bell

page_text: crank lever k, and cause the catch connected therewith to move round
the ratchet wheel m, the distance of one tooth, which movement will be
transmitted through the long pinion n, and wheels o, p, to the travers-
ing nuts, as before explained.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improved
Apparatus for Measuring the Distance Travelled by Vehicles," and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent 1
claim,-
First, transmitting to the indicating apparatus the motion derived
from the carriage wheel through the medium of a column of air set in
motion by the reaction of a spring.
Secondly, I claim the application of the lazy-tongs levers for carrying
the pins, projections, or other analogous indicating media, whereby I
am enabled to regulate the distances between such pins or projections
to suit various diameters of carriage wheels.
Thirdly, I claim the arrangement of traversing nuts and screw shafts,
as above explained, for effecting the required indications.
Lastly, I claim the application of the protruding pins q, whereby
the distance travelled may be read off' by the touch as well as the
sight.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Adcock, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of
5
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lanc.
JOHN ADCOCK. (L.S.)