Improvements in Apparatus for Registering the Distance Travelled Over by Vehicles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1892-Accepted, 11th Feb., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by CHARLES COULERU-MEURI, of Chaux-de-Fonds,
Switzerland, Engineer.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Registering the Distance Travelled
Over by Vehicles.
I, ERNEST DE PASS, of 78, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion 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
accompanying drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon that is
to say :-
The apparatus forming the subject of this invention indicates on a dial the
number of itinerary units travelled over, as, for instance, the number of miles,
kilometers, etc. whether by a velocipede, carriage, or other vehicle (self propelling
or not) running on wheels.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a plan of the apparatus, the dial and the plate e (Fig. 2) being removed.
Fig. 2 is a section on the line A A of Fig. 1, of the complete apparatus.
Fig. 3 is a plan of the apparatus, the dial O of which, being broken away, allows
the plate e to be seen.
This
a is a disc fixed by a pin c to a plate which is keyed upon an axis t.
axis carries the long hand Z and is fitted loosely in the bottom of the metal box q
(which forms the case of the apparatus) and also in the plate e.
The disc a is rigid with the hand Z and is driven by the toothed portion k of a
friction roller r. This roller is arranged upon a grooved horizontal axis h, and by
means of the set screw y, actuating the double angle piece p, it is caused to approach
or to recede from the centre of the disc a, and to thereby alter the ratio of the
relative speeds of the axes t and . A spring d (Fig. 1) keeps the disc a con-
stantly in contact with the roller and thus ensures their engagement.
A small roller g, arranged opposite the roller r, prevents any undue flexion and
keeps the disc a perpendicular to its axis.
The hand Z indicates, for each revolution of the dial, 10 kilometers, and the
hand 100 kilometers. The difference in speed between the two hands is obtained
by means of the wheel work m (Fig. 3) which is similar to that of the minute train
of an ordinary watch.
If necessary, there may be arranged a small dial for registering 1000 kilometers
and more.
In this case the dial would be arranged as shown at I Fig. 3. A small tappet.
or finger U fixed on the cannon pinion carrying the hand causes a star wheel f,
having 10 teeth and carrying the hand of the small dial I, to turn one tooth for
each revolution of the hand a.
The re-setting of the hands to zero is effected by pressing the button n (Fig. 2),
the roller and disc a are thus thrown out of contact, and the hands can then be
readily moved. On pressure being removed, the spring d restores the disc a to its
initial position.
To this registering apparatus there may be also applied the system known as
handless watches, in which the hands are replaced by discs carrying numbers
appearing at sight holes in the dial.
The axis receives its rotation from a worm V working in a worm wheel S, but
it may likewise be actuated by any other system of gearing.
It will be readily understood that by causing the movement of one of the wheels
of a velocipede, or other vehicle, to be transmitted by any suitable means to the

page_text: worm V, and therefore to the axis h, the registering apparatus will be set in motion
and will register the distance travelled over.
The double angle piece p (Figs. 1 and 2) carries on that portion of it which is
capable of extending outside the the case, a scale corresponding with various
diameters of wheels, so that when fixing the apparatus in place it will only be
necessary to actuate the set screw y and so bring the double angle piece p to the
division corresponding with the diameter of the driving wheel.
1
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An apparatus for registering distances travelled over, and capable of being
applied to a velocipede or other vehicle, whether self propelling or not, and of being
adjusted according to the diameter of the driving wheel by means of a roller
actuating, by friction or contact, a disc whose speed can be altered by causing the
said roller to approach or to recede from the centre of such disc, substantially as
set forth.
2. The improved apparatus for registering distances travelled over by vehicles,
having its parts arranged, and combined to operate substantially as herein described
and as shown with reference to the annexed drawings.
Dated this 29th day of December 1892.
ERNEST DE PASS.