CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING MACHINES, STEELYARDS, AND SCALE BEAMS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARKE, of Hoxton, and County of Middlesex, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of June, in the tenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Clarke, Ier especial license, full power and privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Clarke, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said William Clarke, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN WEIGHING MACHINES,
STEELYARDS, AND SCALE BEAMS," in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said William Clarke, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.,

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Clarke, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Figures in the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention of Improvements in Weighing Machines, Steelyards, and
Scale Beams relates,-
First, to the peculiar formation and arrangement of the knife-edged centres
which form the fulcra of the beams or levers of these instruments, and likewise
of the centres or bearing parts upon which these fulcra rest and oscillate;
by this arrangement the knife-edged centres are rendered more durable, as it
prevents their rubbing on the centres upon which they rest without in any
way impeding their oscillatory movements.
Secondly, my Invention relates to the construction and arrangement of the
graduated bars of steelyards, and in the manner of constructing, arranging,
and moving the weights applied thereto.
By these arrangements weighing operations may be conducted with extreme
expedition and a considerable saving of time and labor is effected. The manner
in which I effect these improvements will be easily understood by references
to the following desciption and to the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Fig 1 represents a frame of a weighing machine seen in plan with the
beams or levers removed. a, a, a, shews the frame; b, b, b, b, lugs cast or
fixed thereto, into which the centres c, c, c, c, are fixed; these centres form the
bearing points on which the centres or fulcra of the beams or levers rest and
oscillate, more clearly seen by the dotted lines at d, d, d, d, Figs. 2 and 3;
one of these centres, scen at Figs. 5, 6, and 7, is represented on a larger scale
at Fig. 5 in plan, Fig. 6 in side view, and Fig. 7 in end view. The upper
surfaces of these centres are perfectly flat, having a piece cut out of each
centre, as shewn in Fig. 1 at e, e, e, e, and in Fig. 5 at e. The removal of this
piece leaves the sharp edges f, g, Fig. 5, the metal below the edges f, g, is cut
away. The line f¹, Fig. 6, indicates the manner in which the metal is cut
away below f, and the line g¹, Fig. 7, indicates the manner in which it is cut
away below g.
Figs. 8, 9, and 10 represent different views of one of the knife-edged
centres which forms one of the fulcra of the beams or levers. Fig 8 shews
this centre with its knife edge h pointing upwards, Fig. 9 is a side view and
Fig. 10 an end view of the same. When this centre is in its place the knife
edge h rest upon the flat centre, Fig 5, in a direct line with 9, that is, in the

page_text: situation of the dotted line, the projecting piece of metal occupying the
position ate of the pieco of metal cut away from the centre, seen at Fig 5.
In order to insure the knife edge h taking the position along the dotted line i
it is necessary and essential that the surface k of the projecting metal ; be in a
line with the knife edge h, as shewn in Fig. 8 and 10.
Fig 2 represents a plan of the frame a, a, a, shewing the beams or levers 7, 1,
in their proper situations; m represents the connecting bar and the points
n, n, n, n, the situations of the knife-edged centres upon which the centies of
the scale plate rest.
Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2 taken through the portion of the dotted line 1, 1,
having the connecting bar removed and the scale plate o, o, added p, p, the
knife-edged centies upon which the centres of the beams rest.
Fig 4 represents a section of Figure 2 taken through the portion of the
dotted line 2, 2, showing the connecting bar m.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my said improvements,
which relates to the construction of steelyards.
Fig. 11 represents a plan of a steelyard. q, q, knife-edged fulcra, and r the
knife-edged centre upon which the rod connecting the steelyard with the levers
below the scale plate rests, s is a weight used to indicate hundredweights,
s' a weight to indicate quarters of hundredweights; and s" a weight to indicate
pounds; t, t, represents a semicircular bar on which hundredweights are
marked or engraved; t, t, is a straight bar on which quarters of hundred-
weights and pounds are marked; u, u, a straight bar for the purpose of giving
strength to the bar t, t, and to which the bar t', t, is fixed, v, v, pieces of
iron fixed to and standing above the bar u, u, into which the iron bars w and
w are fixed. The weights s' and s" are to be slided along these bars, the
former to indicate quarter of hundredweights, the latter to indicate pounds.
Each of these weights has a notch cut or formed into it to receive the edge of
the bar t¹, t¹, as shewn at x, x, Fig. 12, which is a section at Fig 11 through
the dotted line 1, 1. The weight s has a bar of iron y firmly fixed into it at y¹,
an iron pin passes through the opening y" at the end of this bar, which takes
into the bar u, u; the pin and manner of fixing it is seen at yl, Fig. 12.
represents a handle fixed into the weights for the purpose of moving it
along the bar t, t. 2¹ and 2 are two pieces of steel firmly fixed into the weight s.
The under surface of is knife-edged, and takes into the notches 0, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, which cut or formed into the bar t, t The under surface
of " is perfectly flat, and rests on the bar t, t. When the knife-edge bearing 2¹
takes into any one of the before-mentioned notches, the weights is theicby

page_text: prevented from rocking sideways, which would be the case were it only
supported by the knife-edged bearing z¹
Fig 13 represents a side view of a steelyard with weights attached
a, a, a¹, a¹¹, the steelyard, b, the fulcrum; c, the knife-edged centre carrying
the connecting rod d; e, e', two pinions working between two jaws or bearings
cast on the steelyard, and turning on two pins or spindles; f is a lever attached
by one of its extremities to the pinion e, and fixed at its other extremity into
the weight g, h is another lever attached to the pinion e and fixed into the
weight are lugs or jaws which clip the quadrant a¹; these jaws are
fastened to the weight 9, and with the screw k or other means fix the weight
opposite to any part of the quadrant required; 7 is a weight to indicate quarters
of hundredweights and pounds.
Fig. 14 is a side view of a scalo beam and slings. a, a, the beam, the ends
of which are cut away at b, b; c, the slings cut away at d, d; e, the centre on
which the knife edged fulcrum fiests and oscillates.
Fig. 15 is a plan and section taken through the dotted line at 22, Fig 14,
with the fulcra removed. a, a, the beam; c, c, c, c, the slings, and e, e, the
centres
Fig 16 represents a section of Fig. 14 seen as taken through the dotted
lines at 1, 1. a shews the beam; f, f; the-knife-edged fulcia with the-slings
and their centres removed. These knife-edged fulcra and the centres fixed
to the slings upon which they rest and oscillate are constructed in the same
maner as the fulcrum shewn in Figs. 8, 9, and 10, and the centre upon which
it rests, seen at Figs 5, 6, and 7, with this exception that instead of the centre
having one piece cut away, as seen at e, Fig. 5, it has two pieces cut out of it,
as shewn in Fig 15 Each fulcrum has also two projecting pieces of metal
attached to it, as shewn in Fig. 16, instead of one, as seen represented by
Figures 8, 9, and 10. Without this arrangement the fulcra f, f, would
be displaced should the beam at any time become twisted or turned on
one sido.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be clearly understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details herein shewn and described so
long as the principal feature and character of my said Invention be retained.
What I claim first as my improvement in weighing machines and scale
beams is, the peculiar form of construction, arrangement, and combination,
herein-before described, of the knife-edged centres or fulcia of the beams,
and also of the centies upon which they rest and oscillate. And,

page_text: Secondly, the peculiar form of construction, an angement, and combination of
the steelyards, weights, and indices above described, and seen represented at
Figures 11, 12, and 13.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clarke, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
WILLIAM (LS) CLARKE.
Enrolled the Thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Loid One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.