US113529A - Michael -kennedy - Google Patents

Description

@non (title,

Mic'nant KENNEDY,

OF NEW YORK, Y:

Letters Patent No. l113,529, dated April 1l, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN PLATFORM-SCALES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of che same.

To all whom Ait may concern Be it known that I, MICHAEL KENNEDY, of the cit-y, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Platform- Scales; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top view with the plat-formremoved;

Figure 2, a vertical section taken in the plane of the line x" x of fig. l;

Figure 3, a section taken in a vertical plane passing through the middle of one pair of primary levers and Figure 4, a frontl elevation and a section of one of the primary levers, bearings, and connections on an enlarged scale.

` The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures. v

My said invention relates to 1m provements in what are known as the Sampson scales.

Therst of my said in'iprvements relates to means for reducing the friction of the levers that vibrate in horizontal or inclined planes, which improvement cousists in forming a pivot in lline with the knife-edge fnlcrum of suchv levers to rest on a steel bearing be- 'low,`so that the friction (lue to the weight of such levers when vibrating shall n ot materially impede the Working. The bell-crank levers' of such scales are usually made of cast-iron, and the knife-edges of steel set into the cast-iron, and, as heretofore made, the slightest lateral play causes the bearing-blocks to make friction against the sides of the levers. lVith a view to reduce such friction-` rlhe second part of my said invention consists in having'the steel knife-edges formed with end-shonl ders projecting from the surface of the cast metal, and the bearing-blocks with lateral steel points in line, as near as may be, with the knife-edge, so that, incase of 'any lateral movement, the saidv steel points shall come int-o contact with the shoulders of the knife edges and thus avoid the greater part of the friction whichotherwise would impede the free working of the said levers; and

rlhe third part of my said invention relates to the adjustability of the-knife-edgc in one arm of the bellcrank. levers.

I am aware that such knife-edge has heretofore been made adjustable toward and from the fnlerum of the lever; but my said improvement consists in combining with the slide to which the knife-edge is secured, and the adjusting-screw by which the slide is moved, cheeks, which embrace the sides of the arm of the lever, or as the equivalent thereof, which are embraced by the sides of the arm of the lever, so that free action of the scale.

the parallelism of the knife-edge and the fulcrum of the lever shall be maintained.

Then the lever which serves to transmit the action of the platform directly or indirectly to the beam is placed between the secondary levers, one of them must transmit such action by thrust; and if the connection be formed by a solid rod it is liable to yield by ilexure, unless it be made so thick as to be an objectionable weight.

The fourth part of my said invention consists in combining with the secondary levers and the transmitting-levers, placed between them, the connection of the lever so interposed with that one of the sec ondary levers which imparts the act-ion oy thrust, a tubular comiecting-rod, or the equivale-ut thereof, whereby the lexure is avoided without too much weight.

y ln platformescales the short arms of the primary levers, on which the platform rests, are nnavoidably in a horizontal, or nearly horizontal, position; and the practice has been to make such arms solid, so that water, dust, and other impurities accumulate on the upper surface and cannot escape, and, in consequence, the knife-edges soon become rust-y and impede the \Vith a view to remedy this defect- The last part of my said invention consists in constructing the lower arms of the said primary levers with an open space between the knife-edges on which the platform rests and the fulcrum, for the free escape of water and dirt.

In the accompanying drawingsa represents the usual frame-work of a platformscale, such as used for railroads, and

b b the lower timbers, on which arc secured the bearings c c c c for the primary levers d l d el, two on each side.

The said bearings c c c c are formed each of a baseplate and two standards, preferably made of cast-iron, to the upper end of which standards are litt-ed steel bearings, on which the knife-edge fulcrums of the levers rest and vibrate.

The inner faces of these steel bearings are beveled to a point, so that thc most projecting part shall, as near as possible, be in line with the knife-edge of the fulcrum of the primary levers when iu place, `the object of this construction having been stated in declaring the nature of my invention.

The primary levers d are all alike, and preferably cast in one piece. The description of one will do for all.

cross-pieces, f y It.

The fulcrum 'i is made of steel and embedded in the cross-piece f, and projects on each side of the side It consists of two side pieces, e c, connected by three pieces to a suftlcient distance to rest on the bearings c c, the under surface ot the projecting parts being brought to a knife-edge.

The side pieces e 'c vare formed lwith projecting shoulders, j j, extending out as far as the fulcrum, to

vgive ample support.

. Ou each side of the lever the steel fulorum is formed with a shoulder, lt, slightly projecting from the outer faces of the lever and next to the inner Vends ot' the knife-edges, so that, in case oi'any lateral play of the levers when in action, the said steel shoulders shall come in contact with the projection on the outer faces of the steel bearings, and thus reduce to the minimum 'the i'riction due toany contact which may take place-` `when the levers are in action.

The lower and short arm of the primary levers is provided with a steel knife-edge, Z, embedded in the cross-piece y, and this is formed with end shoulders projecting from the inner faces of the side pieces vot' the lever; andthe middle of the balance-bar m, which rests on this knife-edge, is made ot' steel, with the e`nds beveled to points, in likel manner and for the same purpose as the steel bearings for the fulcrum before described.v

'lhere is one such balance-bar m for each of the primary levers, the ends of each balancebar being connected by snspensionlinks n n, with hangers o o oft-heplattbrm p, as'in scales heretofore used.

The upper and long arm of the primary levers is formed with the two sides beyond the third crosspiece il, parallel, to form ways, to which is fitted a slide, g, with side checks o' o* embracing, so that the said slide shall not have lateral play.

rlhe steel knife-edge s for this arm of the lever is embedded in a cross-piece of the slide q, and formed with end shoulders, in like manner and for thesame purpose 'as the knileedges before described.

The slide q is provided with an adj listing-screw, t, which extends through a hole in the betbre-named third cross-piece h of the lever, so that, by means or" nuts on each side ot' the cross-piece, the distance ot the kuife-edge s can be adjusted relatively to the t`ul`- f orum with the greatest nicetyand there secured. The.

cheeks t' fr'that embrace the ways eiieetually-maintain the parallelism ot' the knife-edges.

The primary levers are connected in pairs by two rods, a u., one on each side, Vthe ends of the said connectingrods being provided with steel bearing-blocks o o, the sides of which are beveled to points to reduce. friction, in connection with the shoulders at the ends of the knite-edges'.

The lower arm of the primary levers is formed with an open space, w, between the fulcrum, and knifeedgc l, for the tree passage or" water and dirt, which otherwise would accumulate on that part ot' the lever and soou'impede the free action of the parts, as in scales heretofore made,

The two pairs oi' primar7 levers are connected with the secondary levers x 1', one ou each side, by means of two auxiliary rods, y y, connected with the rods n et, before described.

These secondary levers are constructed in manner similar to the primary levers, and the auxiliary connectiug-r0ds y y; are connected with their short arms, the knife-edges being formed with end shoulders, and the steel bearing-blocks in the rods with the sides beveled. to points, as before described, in connection with the primary levers.

These Vsaid secondary levers vibrate in horizontal planer, and the bearings c z for their fuicrums are secured to and project from a beam, c', of the frame; and to reduce the friction which would be induced by their entire weight when in action, the lower end et' the fulcrnzu ot'eaeh lever is brought to a point in line with the knife-edge, and this point rests on a hardened steel plate, b', secured to a stud, c'.

'lhe knife-edges of the longer arms of these levers are mounted in adjustalrle slides, similar to those on the upper arms of the primary levers.

rlhe two secondary levers are connected with one intermediate lever', al', which also vibratcs in a horizontal plane, the knife-edges ot' its fulcrnrn working against bearings c, secured to and projecting from a beam, f', of the frame, the friction due to the weight ot' this 'lever being reduced in the same. manner as described in reference to the secondary levers. The knife-edge on one of the arms of this lever is also adjustable in manner similarto the levers before described.

As this lever is placed between, and receives motion simultaneously from, the two secondary levers, one must pushand the other pull; and if both were connected by rods, one ot' them, unless made of too great a weight, would yield by tlexure.

To prevent this the connection on one side is formed` by a rod, g', and on the other by a tube, h'.-

The tube It is provided with bcariilgddocks at each end, and one end of the tube is connected by an open link, c", with the rod y.

The bearing-block at that cud of the tube Vnext to the secondary lever is mount-ed in a piece separate from, but fitted to, the end ofthe tube by a threaded socket, to admit of adjusting the length.

rlhe intermediate lever last des lribed is in turn connected by a rod or link, j', with the short arm ot' a transinitting-lever, It', the long arm oi' which is in turn connected by a link, I, with thc steelyard mi', the kniteedge in the long arm of the said ltransmittinglever being mounted in an adjusting-slide, and the liilcruiu and kniteedgcs and bearing-blocks being iorzned and connected in like manner as t-he primary and secondary levers, before described.

And although 'I prel'er a tube for forming the connection between the intermediate lever and that one of the secondary ievers which acts by thrust, as best suited to prevent ilexure, l do not wish te be understood as limiting my claim of invention to that form. as a thin rod with three or more projecting flanges, or three or more thin rods connected by end plates, will answer the same purpose.

All the fulcruins and knife-edges, with their end shoulders, and the bearings with beveled or pointed faces, are to be made ot' steel, properly hardened, or ol' equivalent hard substance..

\Vhat l cla-im as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In combination with a lever which vibratcs in a horizontal or inclined plane, and whose axis of vibrat-ion is a knife-edge, substantially as described, a point or pivot at the lower end of its fnlcrum and in line with the kniteedge, and a bearing 'or the. said point or pivot, substantially as and' for the purpose de scribed.

2. rlhe knife-edges formed with end shoulders, in combination with the sides or ends of the bearingblocks beveled to a point, or nearly as may he in line with the knii'e, substantially and for the purpose described. I

In combination with the secondary levers and a transmitting-lever interposed between and receiving action from both simultaneously, a comiecting-lube, or the equivalent thereof, tor transmitting the action by thrust, substantially as and for tlc purpose described.

Images