IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Octave Vivier, of Sekforde Street, Clerkenwell,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING THE DISTANCE
TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES."
Sealed the 21st January 1870, and dated the 27th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Octave Vivier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th August 1869.
I, OCTAVE VIVIER, of Sekforde Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING THE
DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in means or apparatus
for measuring and indicating the distance travelled by vehicles.
The apparatus is arranged so that it shall only be set in motion when
a passenger is in the vehicle, and shall remain quiescent when the
vehicle is empty even should it be moving about, Means are also
[Price 8d.]

page_text: provided for returning the hands or pointers to zero when required, and
for indicating to the proprietor the total distance run by the vehicle when
hired. For this purpose I employ a wheel which is mounted on the
spindle of a worm or screw which gives motion to the hands or pointers
by suitable gearing, this wheel is acted upon by the weight of the
passenger in the vehicle so as to place it in gear with a wiper
or projection carried by one of the wheels of the vehicle, and directly
the vehicle is empty such wheel is taken out of gear with the before-
mentioned wiper or projection, the seats being capable of rising and
falling a short distance, according to whether they are occupied or not,
and by suitable mechanism acting upon such wheel. The screw gives
motion to two sets of gearing and hands or pointers, each set of which is
carried by a frame or plate mounted on a stud or pin, upon which they
are capable of moving a sufficient distance to carry them out of gear
with the worm or screw, when springs acting upon studs or projections
carried by segmental toothed wheels cause such segmental toothed
wheels to act upon toothed pinions carried by the axes of the hands or
pointers to turn them back to zero. Each set of gearing consists of
a worm or toothed wheel mounted on the axis of the first hand or
pointer, and gearing with the worm or screw. On this toothed wheel is
formed or fixed a stud which takes into teeth formed on a wheel mounted
on the axis of the second hand or pointer, and causing such wheel to
move the distance of one tooth for every revolution of the first hand or
pointer, a suitable spring stop being employed to prevent the second
hand or pointer being moved the distance of more than one tooth at a
time. This spring stop is moved out of gear with its wheel by a pro-
jection carried by the frame or plate when it is desired to return the hands
or pointers to zero. A stud or projection is fixed to each wheel giving
motion to the hands or pointers which when the gearing is taken out of
gear with the worm or screw comes into position to strike against a fixed
stud or projection, so as to prevent, the hands or pointers being carried
back past the position of zero. One of the sets of gearing is locked up
and under the control of the proprietor, the other set is to indicate to
the hirer and driver the distance run, and is so far under the control
of the driver that he can by a suitable connection attached to the
plate or frame move it away from the worm or screw, and cause the
hands or pointers to return to zero whenever a new fare engages the
vehicle.

page_text: The first mentioned wheel is caused to drive its shaft or axis by means
of a ratchet and ratchet wheel, so that it can only operate in one
direction, and is acted upon by a spring stop to prevent its being moved
more than one tooth at a time, and to ensure the teeth being moved
into correct position to be acted upon by the operating wiper or
projection.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Octave Vivier in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th February 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OCTAVE
VIVIER, of Sekforde Street, Clerkenwell, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-third year of Her reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Octave Vivier, Her special
licence that I, the said Octave Vivier, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Octave Vivier, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR MEASURING AND INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED
BY VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Octave Vivier, 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 Octave Vivier, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention has for its object improvements in means or apparatus
for measuring and indicating the distance travelled by vehicles.
The apparatus is arranged so that it shall only be set in motion when
a passenger is in the vehicle, and shall remain quiescent when the
vehicle is empty even should it be moving about. Means are also
provided for returning the hands or pointers to zero when required, and
for indicating to the proprietor the total distance run by the vehicle
when hired.
For this purpose I employ a wheel which is mounted on the
spindle of a worm or screw which gives motion to the hands or pointers
by suitable gearing, this wheel is acted upon by the weight of the
passenger in the vehicle so as to place it in gear with a wiper or pro-
jection carried by one of the wheels of the vehicle, and directly the
vehicle is empty such wheel is taken out of gear with the before-mentioned
wiper or projection, the seats being capable of rising and falling a short
distance, according to whether they are occupied or not, and by suitable
mechanism acting upon such wheel. The screw gives motion to two
sets of gearing and hands or pointers, each set of which is carried by a
frame or plate mounted on a stud or pin, upon which they are capable
of moving a sufficient distance to carry them out of gear with the
worm or screw, when springs acting upon studs or projections carried
by segmental toothed wheels cause such segmental toothed wheels to
act upon toothed pinions carried by the axes of the hands or pointers to
turn them back to zero. Each set of gearing consists of a worm or
toothed wheel mounted on the axis of the first hand or pointer and
gearing with the worm or screw.
On this toothed wheel is formed or
fixed a stud which takes into teeth formed on a wheel mounted on the
axis of second hand or pointer, and causing such wheel to move the
distance of one tooth for every revolution of the first hand or pointer, a
suitable spring stop being employed to prevent the second hand or
pointer being moved the distance of more than one tooth at a time.
This spring stop is moved out of gear with its wheels by a projection
carried by the frame or plate when it is desired to return the hands or
pointers to zero. A stud or projection is fixed to each wheel giving
motion to the hands or pointers, which when the gearing is taken out of
gear with the worm or screw comes into position to strike against a fixed

page_text: stud or projection, so as to prevent the hands or pointers being carried
back past the position of zero.
position of zero. One of the sets of gearing is locked up
and under the control of the proprietor, the other set is to indicate to
the hirer and driver the distance run, and is so far under the control
of the driver that he can by a suitable connectiou attached to the
plate or frame move it away from the worm or screw, and cause the
hands or pointers to return to zero whenever a new fare engages the
vehicle.
The first-mentioned wheel is caused to drive its shaft or axis by means
of a ratchet and ratchet wheel so that it can only operate in one direction
and is acted upon by a spring stop to prevent its being moved more than
one tooth at a time, and to ensure the teeth being moved into correct
position to be acted upon by the operating wiper or projection.
And in order that my Invention may be more clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed aided by the accompanying
Drawings more fully to describe the same.
Figure 1 is a front view, and Figure 2 is a back view of apparatus
arranged according to my Invention, and Figure 3 is a sectional plan of
some of the parts.
A is the dial for indicating to the driver the number of miles, and B
is the dial for indicating the parts of miles the vehicle has run for a
single fare. The hands or pointers A¹, B¹, of these dials aro under the
control of the driver, so that when a fare has been discharged he can
reset them to zero, as herein after described, in readiness for a fresh
hiring; C, D, are the dials for indicating to the proprietor the entire
distance the vehicle has run when hired, and E is a dial for indicating
the number of separate fares for which the vehicle has been engaged.
These dials C, D, E, are placed under the sole control of the proprietor
and cannot be interfered with by the driver.
suitable part of one of the wheels of the vehicle (one of the hind wheels
by preference) is fixed a projection which each time the wheel rotates
strikes against one of the pins or teeth of the wheel a', which is
mounted on the axis a, and thereby gives a partial rotation to such
axis
a, a spring stop b being employed in connection with a star or pin
On the nave or other

page_text: wheel a², to prevent the axis a moving more than one tooth at a time,
and in order to prevent the possibility of its rotating in the wrong
direction a nick or recess 61, is formed in the spring stop 6 to catch the
pins or teeth of the pin or star wheel a², when the projection on the
wheel of the vehicle by reason of the backing of the vehicle strikes
against the pins of the wheel a', and moves it in the wrong direction,
when after the projection on the wheel has passed the pins of the star
wheel at the spring stop 6 will act thereon to bring it back to its proper
position. On the upper end of the shaft or axis a is fixed a worm or
screw a³, which on each side takes into and gives motion to an inter-
mediate wheel c, each of which takes into and gives motion to a toothed
wheel d, one of which is fixed on the axis of the band or pointer B¹, and
the other on the axis of the hand or pointer D¹. On each of the toothed
wheels d is mounted a stud or projection d¹, which strikes against one
end e¹ of a spring click or driver e, so as to cause the opposite end e²
to act against and move forward a toothed wheel the distance of one
tooth for every revolution of the toothed wheel d. One of the toothed
wheels is mounted on the axis of the hand or pointer A¹, and the other
on that of the hand or pointer C¹, and each is provided with a spring
stop to prevent its running backwards or being moved more than one
tooth at a time.
In order that when a fare is discharged the hands or pointers A¹, B¹,
may be returned to zero, the driver, by pulling the wire or other con-
nection 9, which is connected to the framing h*, carrying the set of
gearing giving motion to such hauds or pointers A¹, B¹, causes such
framing h, to turn slightly on the pin **, so as to take the toothed
wheel & out of gear with the intermediate toothed wheel c, and by the
projection fx, to push the spring stop f¹, out of gear with the toothed
wheel, when the toothed segments h, i, which are mounted on the axes
of motion h, 2¹, are caused by their springs h², i, to turn partially
thereon in the direction indicated by the arrows, and thereby give rotary
motion to the pinions j, k, mounted on the axes of the hands or
pointers A', B¹, to cause them to return to zero, the pin or projection d,
as the pointers A¹, B', are returning to zero coming against the end e¹ of
the lever e, and the pin or projection f coming against a spring top 1³,
to prevent their travelling beyond the required distance. The hand or
pointer E' receives motion from the frame h* each time the wire g is

page_text: pulled by means of the click or driver ³ fixed to the frame *, acting
on the ratchet wheel E2, which is fixed on the axis of the hand or
pointer E. Thus when the hands or pointers A1, B1, are returned to zero
the hand or pointer E¹ is moved forward one step to indicate each
successive engagement.
I would here remark that the means herein shown and described for
indicating the number of separate fares for which the vehicle has been
engaged and the mode of communicating motion from the wheels d, d,
to the wheels f, f, form no part of my present Invention, but are
described and claimed in a Provisional Specification filed by me on the
Eleventh day of January 1870, Number 82.
The arrangement described in the Provisional Specification of my
present Invention may be employed for communicating motion from the
wheels d, d, to the wheels ff, but such arrangement is not so convenient
as that shown in the accompanying Drawings. The wheel a¹ is mounted
on its axis a, so that it may be slided up and down thereon and yet give
motion thereto, and it is acted upon by a lever connected by suitable
means to the seats or footboard which are mounted on springs, so that
when a passenger is on the vehicle his weight shall depress a seat or
footboard and so lower the wheel a¹ into position to be acted upon by
the stud or projection on the wheel of the vehicle, and when the vehicle
is empty the wheel a' is by said lever raised out of position to be
acted upon by the stud or projection on the wheel as will be readily
understood. If desired the wheel a¹ may be caused to drive its shaft or
axis as described in my Provisional Specification, but I prefer the
arrangement shown in the accompanying Drawings. I fix the indicator
in any suitable position.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the mode
in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that
what I claim is,-
First. The peculiar arrangement and combination of means or apparatus
for measuring and indicating the distance travelled by vehicles, sub
stantially as herein shown and described.
Secondly. I claim the mode of returning the hands or pointers to zero,
substantially as herein shown and described.

page_text: Thirdly. I claim the mode of causing the indicator to act only when
a fare or passenger is in the vehicle, substantially as herein shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Octave Vivier, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
FRED. HARRIS,
Patent Agent,
35, Southampton Buildings.
O. VIVIER. (L.S.)