US411507A - Weighing-scales for suspension tramways - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) W. J. MILLER.

I VYEIGHING SCALES FOR SUSPENSION TRA MWAYSS.

No. 411,507. Patented Sept. '24, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIGE.

WILLIAM J. MILLER, OF MAMARONECK, NEWV YORK, ASSIGNOR TO E. & T. FAIRBANKS & COMPANY, OF ST. JOHNSBURY, VERMONT.

WEIGHING-SCALES FOR SUSPENSION TRAMWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,507, dated September 24, 1889.

Application filed July 1, 1889. Serial No. 316,224. (No model.)

'a specification.

This invention relates to scales for weighing goods which are being carried by trolleys running on overhead rails, such as are used in slaughter-houses, foundries, packing-establishments, &c. It is usual with such scales to construct a short section of the track-rail or track separate from the adjoining fixed sections or rails and to suspend this section from the system of compound levers ordinarily used in weighing-scales. The trolley is run onto this movable section of rail, so that its weight hangs suspended from the weighinglevers, and whilein this position it is weighed, after which the trolley is pushed along on the track. Scales of this character as heretofore constructed have either been very com pli cated or else have been wanting in sensitiveness by reason. of the friction of the devices employed to resist the side-thrust to which the movable section of the rail is liable, whereby it tends to move out of line with the fixed rails.

My invention aims to simplify the weighing apparatus and avoid any such side-thrust, and thereby render the apparatus sensitive by the elimination of the friction that has heretofore been encountered in overcoming such thrust.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved scale, partly in vertical section, taken generally in the plane of the lines 11 in Figs. 2 and 3. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 3

is a plan thereof. Fig. i is a fragmentary elevation, on a larger scale, looking in the same direction as Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan and side elevation of a detail on the same scale as Fig. 4.

The fixed rails of the overhead tramway or track are shown at A. A in Figs. 2 and 3. No

means for supporting them is here shown, as

that forms no part of my invention. Between these rails is the movable section of rail B,

' the fixed frame-work.

which is fixed to two bent frames 0 C, which are carried back of the vertical plane of the rail suflicientiy far to avoid interfering with the trolley during the passage of the latter.

.The position of the trolley is indicated in full lines in Fig.1.

, fulcrumed by being hung by links from eyes d, attached to a cross-bar e, forming part of The rear or front end of the lever D is hung by links f from alever F, which is fulcrumed at its middle by means of a link g, suspended from and attached to an arched frame 71, constituting also part of the fixed framework. From the opposite or front end of the lever F is hung a link 71, and a rod j engages this link and is connected through a link it at its bottom end with a lever H. This lever is fulcrumed by a linkl to a cross-piece 'm, constituting a portion of the fixed frame-work, and its rear end is jointed to a rod 02, from which is hung a weight w, and which rod extends up through a table or plate G, and is hung by a link 19 from the scale-beam J, which is fulcrumed to a link q, hung from a track 7', forming also part of the fixed frame-work.

The scale-beam J has the usual adjustable weights 8 s, and is counterweighted at its front end by weights IV in the ordinary mannor. All the link-connections referred to are vertical side barsK, extending from the up per to the middle tie-bar L of an upper crossbar K connecting the upper ends of the vertical bars, and of a lower T-shaped frame or plate K the horizontal part of which extends between the lower ends of the bars K K, while the vertical part extends down and at its lower end is bolted to the lower tie-bar L. Two main brackets M M are bolted to the frame K and support the cross-bar e at their outer ends and the arched cross-bar h at their middles. Two smaller brackets N N are bolted to the lower or vertical part of the T-shaped frame K and support the plate G and the cross-bar m.

In scales of this character the movable rail B requires to be so mounted or guided that it is incapable of moving or swinging out of line with the rails A A, as otherwise the trolleys would run oif the track. To prevent this, various arrangements of stays have been adopted. In my improved scale the stays for preventing this lateral swinging consist of rods t t, which are arranged preferably in a hori-. zontal plane and extending in directions at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the. rail B. The respective rods t t connect with the respective ends of the rail B in order to prevent displacement of either end thereof. The rods extend between the trackplates 2b to, connected to the main brackets M M, respectively, and plates 1; o, connected to the frames 0 C, respectively. These plates at and o are all alike, one of them being shown detached in Fig. 5. Each plate has two pins u, projecting vertically from it. The stayrods 25 are formed with eyes at their ends which drop over these pins, that at one end engaging the pin of the plate to and that of the other the pin of the plate o. The eyes are made with V-edges to reduce the friction to the minimum, and there is suificient looseness or lost motion between the eyes and pins to admit of a slight degree of swaying of the rail B- in order not to bring the bearing-surfaces of the eyes and pins into frictional con; tact until the swaying motion of the rail reaches its limit.

For preventing longitudinal swaying movement of the rail B, which would bring the two ends into contact with the ends of the ascending fixed rails A A and thereby cause friction which would impair the sensitiveness of the scale, one or two longitudinal tie-bars y y, (two being employed by preference, as

shown,) each of which connects by an eye at one end with one of the pins to on one of the bracket-plates u, and extends thence diagonally to. the bracket *0 at the opposite end of the. rail B, with which bracket-plate its opposite end' connects in the same manner. There is the same lost motion in these tiebars to permit the rail B to hang and swing freely within certain limits.

Because of the necessary curving of the frames C C to the rear, taken in connection from this that the rail B tends normally to swing out of lateral line with the rails A A,

and consequently exerts a continual stressupon the stay-bars t t, which stress is not overcome but is more or less reduced in proportion by the additional weight superposed upon the rail B when the trolley is run onto it for weighing. To the extent that this side-thrust induces friction it interferes with the accuracy of the weighing. This has been afruitful source of difliculty heretofore, and several complicated structures have been devised for overcoming it, such as the extending of the top of the frame 0 O to'both sides after the manner of a T-frame and suspending both ends thereof by links from terminal levers D of the weighing apparatus, there being two of these levers instead of one, and the levers being turned with their free ends toward each other, being fulcru med on axes extending transversely of the plane of the .railB instead of parallel therewith. According tov my invention I overcome this difficulty in a very simple manner by providing counter-weights P P for the frames 0 0 connected thereto through the medium of sliding rods w, as best .shown in Figs. 1 and 4, adjustable out or in to vary the distance of the counter-weight 1 from the pivotal plane, and fastened by set- Q screws 00'. I counter-weights the center of gravity of the j suspended structure B O O P Pcan be brought By the proper adjustment of these exactly into the vertical plane of suspension, so that the rail B will tend to. hang exactly in line with the rails A A, and will'exert no side-thrust whatever against the stays; hence the scale is rendered as sensitive as possible and all friction heretofore introduced to at tain such sensitiveness is avoided. This counterbalancing of the suspended structure It will be understood that my invention may be applied if one of the fixed rails A be omitted, the scale in such case being arranged at the terminals of the track or of a switch therefrom.

I claim as my invention the following de- I fined novel features and combinations, substantially as hereinbefore specified, namely: 1. The combination, with the fixed rails of a tramway and a system of compoundlevers,

of a movable rail and a supporting-frame therefor suspended beneath the terminal 1e ver of the compound-lever system in such ally, and said frame counterbalanced to cause the movable rail to gravitate to a position directly beneath its point of suspension.

2. The combination, with the fixed rails of a tramway and a system of compound weighing-levers, of a movable rail, two supportingframes for the opposite ends thereof bent to one side of the vertical plane of the rail and suspended directly thereover from the terminal lever of the compound-lever system, and a counter-weight for said frame..projecting to the opposite side of the vertical plane of the rail and connected to the frames through the medium of an adjustable connection, whereby its position may be shifted to bring the center of gravity of the suspended rail and its frames into the vertical plane of the rail and thereby cause the movable rail to gravitate to a position directly beneath its points of suspension.

3. The combination, with the fixed rails A A of a tramway and a terminal lever D and scale-beam J of a compound-lever weighing system, of a movable rail B, its suspensionframes 0, links a a, suspending them from the lever D, and counter-weights P P, adjustably connected to said frames through the medium of bars cc 0:.

4. The combination, with the fixed rails of a tramway and a system of compound weighing-levers, of a movable rail and its supporting-frames suspended beneath the terminal lever of said compound-lever system and 3 5 counterbalanced to bring the center of gravity of the suspended structure in the vertical plane of the movable rail, and stay-bars connecting the movable rail to a fixed part in order to limit its swaying movement and retain it in line wit-h the fixed rails.

5. The combination, with the fixed rails of a tramway, of a movable rail B, its suspensionframes 0 C, terminating over it and counterbalanced to bring their center of gravity into the vertical planeof the movable rail, and the terminal lever D of the system of compound weighing-levers formed with two arms spread apartat their fulcrumed ends and suspended on afulcrum-axis extending parallel with the vertical plane of the movable rail, and the suspension-frames of said rail connected to said arms of the lever adjacent to their fulcra and the arms of the lever united at its opposite or free end and there connected to the next lever of the compoundlever system.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

GEORGE H. FRASER, JNo. E. GAVTN.

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