IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE BREAKING STRAIN OF CONCRETE, DATA
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Vitale Domenico de Michele, of Weybridge, in
the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE BREAKING STRAIN OF CONCRETE,
DATA"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Vitale Domenico de
Michele at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 26th November 1870.
I, VITALE DOMENICO DE MICHELE, of Weybridge, in the County of
Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE BREAKING STRAIN OF
CONCRETE, CEMENT, AND OTHER SIMILAR BLOCKS OR BODIES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is the construction of an apparatus or
machine which shall by a combination of levers, quadrants, screws,.
clips, and scales indicate the tensile strength of concrete, cement, and
other blocks or bodias.
;

page_text: I arrange one, two, or more balance levers between uprights; one of
these, say the upper one, has at one end of it a cup, clip, or receiver for
supporting or holding the upper portion of the block to be operated
upon, the other end, which is weighted, serves as a carrier for an index
finger or scale indicator, which rides against a quadrant-shaped plate or
bar projecting from the upright. The lower lever has also a cup, clip,
or receiver for supporting or holding the lower portion of the block,
the other end being connected to links, quadrants, screws, or other
mechanism in such a manner that when the screw is turned or a lever
is depressed the lower cup, clip, or holder shall descend and draw the
block and upper cup or clip with it; this will raise the opposite or
weighted end of the upper lever, and with it the indicator bar to such a
height on the quadrant-shaped plate or bar that when the fracture of
the block takes place the strain which the block has withstood will be
indicated by the index bar remaining at the spot it was lifted to, the
breaking strain can then be read off the scale on the quadrant, this
being divided into divisions of pounds, quarters, hundredweights, and
tons for that purpose.
The apparatus is of a portable character, and in some cases may be
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Vitale Domenico de Michele in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 25th May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VITALE
DOMENICO DE MICHELE, of Weybridge, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Vitale Domenico de Michele, Her
special licence that I, the said Vitale Domenico de Michele, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Vitale Domenico de Michele, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at

page_text: all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and law-
fully 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 ASCERTAINING THE
BREAKING STRAIN OF CONCRETE, CEMENT, AND OTHER SIMILAR BLOCKS OR BODIES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Vitale Domenico
de Michele, 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 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 Vitale Domenico de Michele, 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 thereof; reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say::—
The object of this Invention is the construction of an apparatus or
machine which shall by a combination of levers, quadrants, screws, clips,
and scales indicate the tensile strength of concrete, cement, and other
blocks or bodies.
I arrange one, two, or more balance levers between uprights. One of.
these, say the upper one, has at one end of it a cup, clip, or receiver for
supporting or holding the upper portion of the block to be operated.
upon; the other end, which is weighted, serves as a carrier for an index.
finger or scale indicator which rides against a quadrant-shaped plate or
har projecting from the upright. The lower lever has also a cup, clip,
ar receiver for supporting or holding the lower portion of the block, the
other end being connected to. links, quadrants, screws, or other mechanism
in such a manner that when the screw is turned or a lever is depressed
the lower cup, clip, or holder shall descend and draw the block and
upper cup or clip with it.. This will raise the opposite or weighted end
of the upper lever, and with it the indicator bar, to such a height on the
quadrant-shaped plate or bar that when the fracture of the block takes
place the strain which the block has withstood will be indicated by the
index bar remaining at the spot it was lifted to; the breaking strain can
then be read off the scale on the quadrant, this being divided into
divisions of pounds, quarters, hundredweights, and tons for that purpose.

page_text: The apparatus is of a portable character, and in some cases may be
mounted upon wheels, so that it can be moved from place to place.
The Invention will be well understood by reference to the accompany-
ing Drawings, which show the apparatus in its complete form according
to one construction.
Figure 1 is a side view with a block of cement or other material in: a
moulded state between the cups or clips, and Figure 2 is a back view of
the same apparatus showing two balance weights on the top or indicating.
lever, but only one weight is necessary in most cases.
a, a, is the bed or sole plate, which can be mounted upon wheels for
convenience of transport if desired, as before explained; b, b, are two
uprights braced at top and bottom by the pins c, c, upon which the
levers d, e, are centred, the levers being formed with sockets or collars f
to maintain the desired distance between them, but other ties or distance
bars g may be employed for the purpose. The upper lever d has on its
long arm a counterpoise / which in the view shown is doubled to
balance the same upon the pin c; it has also a short arm i with a link j
for connecting the top eye of the upper cup or clip thereto, the cup or
clip being formed with ears or holding pieces 1, 1, for retaining the block
to be tested on them. The lower lever e is attached in a similar manner
to the bottom cup or clip n, so that its ears or holders o, o, catch the
block to pull it in a contrary direction to the upper ears, and strain or
tear the block asunder at that part. The pull is effected by the move-
ment of the lower lever e when acted upon by the worm p taking into
the teeth on the edge thereof, the rotation of the worm being governed
by the hand wheel q. This pull draws the block m and the short arm i
of the upper lever downward, and of course raises the long arm & with
the counterpoise h, the lever taking an index arm along with it by
means of a pin 8 projecting from one side of it, the index arm being on
the upper pin, so that it partakes of a similar movement. There is a
divided bar or scale projecting from the back of one of the uprights,
so that the distance the index finger is raised can be read off, the scale
being divided into pounds, quarters, hundredweights, and tons to indicate
the strain borne by the block before the break or fracture takes place,
when the counterpoise will descend a short distance and the index finger
will be left at the indicated point to which it was raised... The short
distance the counterpoise falls is determined by bolts which pass through
the lugs u, u, v, t, of the two cups or clips, the bolts having nuts on

page_text: their ends so that they can be adjusted or longer ones placed in to suit
the size of the block to be inserted. The holes in which the bolts work
are larger than their diameters, so that there is room for a little play to
allow the cups or clips to be more or less separated when the fracture
takes place.
I have in the foregoing described what I consider to be a most efficient
apparatus for the purpose, but I do not limit myself to its special con-
struction, as by altering the form I do not depart from the essential
feature of my Invention, namely, that of making an apparatus for testing
the breaking strain of cement and other blocks or bodies by means of
levers and other appliances, nor do I restrict myself to the arrangement
of the parts of the apparatus as shown, as that can be varied to suit
circumstances.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
The construction and employment of apparatus for ascertaining the
breaking strain of concrete, cement, and other similar blocks and bodies,
substantially as described and shown.
Secondly. I claim testing such blocks and bodies by means of cups or
clips in connection with a pull down lever and a counterpoise, as described
and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Vitale Domenico de Michele, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.