US2705840A

US2705840A - Height measuring device

Info

Publication number: US2705840A
Application number: US408191A
Authority: US
Inventors: John F Keppler; Wilbur J Barton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1954-02-04
Filing date: 1954-02-04
Publication date: 1955-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 1972-04-12

Description

April 12, 1955 J. F. KEPPLER ET AL HEIGHT MEASURING DEVICE Filed Feb. 4, 1954 IEE 2 Sheets-Sheet l Il wam-olas JOHN F. KE'PPLER AND WILBUR `LBARTON April 12, 1955 .1 F. KEPPLER ET AL 2,705,840

Y HEIGHT MEASURING DEVICE Filed Feb. 4, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 72 l WILBUP. J. BARTON United States Patent O HEIGHT MEASURING DEVICE John F. Keppler and Wilbur J. Barton, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application February 4, 1954, Serial No. 408,191

2 Claims. ,(Cl. 33-172) This invention relates to a device for use in measuring the height of people particularly, and embodies the principle of lowering a member onto the head of the person to be measured, which act of lowering automatically shifts a column of uid in a tube which is visible and which has been calibrated to indicate the height of the individual in accordance with the shifting therein.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a device of the character indicated which will be automatically operating and which will give a visual indication all without having to manipulate levers or bars which have herebefore been employed to be shifted up and down mechanically.

A further important object of the invention is to provide a structure which will be exceedingly simple in construction and yet thoroughly reliable and operable at little or no expense.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a view in front elevation of a structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation and partial section;

Fig. 3 is a view in rear elevation and partial section; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of the uid displacement system.

An upright housing is supported in any suitable manner, herein shown as between two sets of legs 11 and 12. The housing 10 carries an overhanging head 13 which, in the present showing, is hollow and communicates interiorly with the inside of the housing 10.

The front wall 14 of the housing 10 carries on its forward side a vertically disposed tube 15 which may be made out of any material substantially transparent, and this tube 15 extends vertically of the wall 14 in front of a slot 16 which is provided through the wall 14.

The upper end of the tube 15 is connected by any suitable means such as through a tube 17 to a top reservoir 18. The lower end of the tube 15 is connected through a length of tubing 19 which is looped around and carried normally upwardly to a tank 20.

The tank 20 is supported by means of a cable 21 secured in the present showing to the top of the tank 20 and is carried around a pulley 22 at the upper end of the housing 10, across to a pulley 23 and thence downwardly to a weight 24, all within the housing. The weight 24 is suiicient to insure that the tank 20 is normally returned to an upper position.

A cable 25 is attached to the tank 20 herein shown as to the under side thereof, and is carried downwardly to the housing 10 to a pulley 26 near the lower end thereof, and thence around the pulley 26 and upwardly and over a pulley 27 at the top of the housing 10, around a pulley 28 to the side of the pulley 27, so as to carry the cable 25 to substantially the center of the housing 10, and then the cable 25 is carried upwardly into the head 13 to pass over rst the pulley 29 and next over the pulley 30 so that the cable 25 may be carried downwardly through the under side of the head 13 and be attached to a stop 31 which normally abuts the under side of the head 13 as best illustrated in Fig. 2. A head plate 32 is secured to the stop 31, or directly to the cable 25 as may be desired.

With the tank 20 in the uppermost position as is de- 2,705,840 Patented Apr. l2, 1955 ICC termined by the weight 24, a suitable liquid is carried in the tube 19 and in the front tube 15, there being suicient luid in this system as indicated in Fig. 4 whereby the uppermost level 33 desired in the tube 15 may be had with sufficient fluid finding its level 34 within the tank 20, but in the lowermost portion thereof. Then when the head plate 32 is pulled downwardly as it will be to contact the head of the person to be measured, the tank 20 will be lowered and consequently the fluid 35 in the system will drop in the tube 15 and at the same time tend to raise the level 34 in the tank 20 as illustrated in the dash line position ofthe tank, Fig. 4. By bringing the fluid level 33 to predetermined points in the tube 15, a scale 36 may be employed either on the tube or on the wall 14, herein shown as being on the wall 14, this scale 36 being calibrated to be accurate for the different positions of the uid along the tube 15 so that the height of the individual may be read directly from the scale 36 in accordance with the position of .the head plate 32 when pulled downwardly onto the head of the individual. The individual may stand of course facing the wall 14 and pull the plate 32 down himself and thus be able to read directly without an'y assistance from other persons his own height. The reservoir 18 is provided to insure against spilling over of the uid from the tube 15 should the tank 20 be permitted to ascend too rapidly or be pulled downwardly too quickly, in either case tending to produce a surge of the fluid 35 in the system. Also it is to be noted that both the reservoir 18 and the tank 20 are vented to the atmosphere so that the

levels

33 and 34 may be quickly reached.

A source of light, such as a uorescent tube 37, is preferably mounted in the housing to illuminate the tube 15 from its back side to outline sharply the upper end of the uid in the tube.

In order to avoid surging of the uid 35 in the tube 15 when the tank 20 may be quickly lowered or raised, it is desirable to restrict the diameter of the passageway leading from the top of the tube 15 into the reservoir 18. This restriction may take several forms, one for example, as would be an orifice (not illustrated) of reduced diameter at the top of the tube, and a second form such as is illustrated in Fig. 4 where a clamp 40 surrounds the tube 17 and a screw 41, carried by the clamp 40 holds a shoe 42 against the tube 17 to collapse the tube 17 to the required degree of restriction to flow through the tube 17.

Therefore while we have described the invention in the one particular form as herein illustrated, it is obvious that changes may be employed in the structure without departing from the spirit of the invention, and we therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise structure beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claims.

We claim:

l. A height measuring device comprising a vertically disposed housing having a front, vertically slotted wall; a substantially transparent tube carried by the wall along said slot; a fluid carrying tank in the housing; a cable supporting the tank and extending upwardly from the tank; a pulley in the upper part of the housing around which the cable passes; a weight carried by the cable below the pulley overbalancing said tank when lilled with iluid; a second cable attached to said tank and extending downwardly therefrom; a pulley in the lower part of said housing; pulley means in the upper part of the housing; said housing having a member overhanging said front wall above said tube; said pulley means in part being carried by said overhang and said second cable passing around said lower pulley and up through said pulley system; a head contact member on said second cable beyond said pulley system at said overhang; a ilexible tube interconnecting the lower end of said wall carried tube and said tank; and uid in said wall-carried tube, exible tube and tank, shiftable by lowering and raising said tank through travel of said head member and said weight; said travel thereby changing the fluid height in said wall carried tube in accordance with the tank elevation.

2. The structure of claim l in which there is a reservoir tank connected by a passageway with the upper end of said transparent tube and a uid surge control means 1,237,735 comprising a restriction to ow in said passageway. References Cited inthe tile of this patent l 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 Eanram Aug. 14, 1906 4921587 4 Wright Aug. 21, 1917 Tyler Dec. 15, 1925 Bryant Aug. 21, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS France Mar. 27, 1919