US692958A - Coin-controlled strength-testing machine. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Feb'. H,- l902.

A. WILSON. CUlN-CUNTRULLED STRENGTH TESTING MACHINEQ (Application filed Aug. 16; 1901.

-No Modem Mums Pmns ca. Pnovoumu. WASH UNITED STATES PATE T @rrrcn.

ADDISON WILSON, OF LOVELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

COIN-CONTROLLED STRENGTH-=TESTING MACHINE.

sPEcIFIcA'rIoN forming part of Letters Patent No. 692,958, dated Febr ary 11, 1902.

Application filed August 16, 1901. Serial No. 72,229. (No model.)

To all 1071/0721, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADDISON lVILsON,a citi-' zen of the United States, residing in Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Coin Controlled Strength -Testing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to coin-controlled strength-testing machines; and it consists in the devices and combinations hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved means for developing the strength of the muscles of the hand, wrist, and forearm by turning a shaft or spindle against the resistance of springs, to provide means for normally locking said shaft from turning, and

of unlocking said shaft by a coin dropped in a slot in the machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a machine provided with my improvement, the doors being open to show the construction and the right-hand half of the dial being removed to show the construction of the indicator; Fig. 2, a vertical central section from front to back of the machine.

The case A may be secured to a vertical supporting-surface, as a wall or post, in any convenient manner-for instance, by screws B, passing through the back a of the case into said surface. The top a and floor or bottom a are rigidly secured to the back aand sides CL3L4 of the case. The front of the case is provided with a door a hinged to one side of the case and when closed fastened by a lock 0 in an obvious manner, the key of said lock being carried by the proprietor. Below the door a is a removable door a the lower end of which rests on the floor a or of the case and the upper end of which is held in by the door a when the latter is closed. The doors are prevented from being crowded too far into the case by ledges a. of, secured on the inner faces of the sides a a the ledges also preventing the machine from being tampered with by thin instruments introduced at the sides of the doors. The lower door a is inclined backward from the top, as shown in Fig. 2, to retain the lower end of the door in place and partly to improve the appearance of the case, the sides and bottom of which are made in front flush with said lower door.

A horizontal shelf a is secured to the sides a a of the case in any convenient manner, as by letting its ends into mortises a a in said sides, the front edge of said shelf also assisting to support the lower door.

Guide-rods O O are secured vertically in the top a and shelf a of the case, said rods being represented as bolts retained in place by nuts 0 c, which turn on the ends of said bolts above said top and below said shelf, respectively.

The case and shelf are preferably made of wood and the shelf is stifiened by a bar D, arranged below the shelf, through which bar the lower ends of the bolts pass down into the lower nuts, this construction preventing the bolts working loose in the shelf. In a similar manner the top is stiffened and the upper ends of the bolts prevented from working loose by passing through the base 6 of the indicator-stand e,arranged between said top and the upper nuts.

A follower F, through which the guide-rods O 0 pass, may be raised vertically against the resistance of springs G G, represented as helical springs,surrounding said guide-rods and compressed between said follower and tension-n uts g g, which turn on said bolts above said springs. These nuts may be adjusted by turning on said guide-rods to vary the compression of the springs and are prevented from accidental turning by check-nuts g g or other well-known meansin an obvious manner. The follower is normally prevented from rising by a lock, represented as a bent lever H, supported on a suitable stand h and pivoted at the upper end h in such a manner that the weight of the nearly-horizontal lower part 712 of the lever will cause said lever to swing forward over a part f of said follower. The lower part 2' of a coin-chute I is carried on said follower and is arranged to discharge a coin placed therein against said lever H and to swing the same out of the path of said follower, so that the latter may be raised. The vertical slit h ,in which the lever H is pivoted, is too narrow to allow the coin to pass through, and the coin is raised by the rising of the follower above the top of the stand hand slides over the incline 71 and falls through a slit or space 64 between the shelf a and the back a, into the cash-receptacle e or compartment below said shelf. The upper end of the upper section 2" of the coin-chute is supported in the top a of the case, and the chute-sections 11 t" are telescoped togetherias the lower section is raised, the lower end of the upper section preferably entering the upper end of the lower section, so that the coin does not strike an end'of the section. The upper end of the upper chute-section "i is flared out at i and rests loosely in a depression a to allow a slight swing of the upper section as the lower section rises. The depression a is covered by a plate J, having a coin-slotj immediately over the top of the upper end of the chute.

The follower might be raised by a direct lift; but I have shown a means of raising the follower which depends on the strength of the hand, wrist, and forearm.

K is a horizontal shaft or spindle journaled in the sides of the case and having suitable handles 70 outside of the case, which handles may be grasped by the hands. The barrel K of the spindle is connected by flexible inelastic means, as chains LL, to the follower, so that turning the spindle raises said follower, the springs G G subsequently restoring said follower to normal position, the follower striking and swinging backward and passing the lever I-I,which immediately swings forward over the projectionfof said follower. A suitable stop, represented as a chain L secured to the barrel of the spindle and to the case, prevents the spindle from being turned backward from the starting-point. A cord M connects the barrel K with the larger pulley n of a compound pulley, and another cord M connects the smaller member 02' to the arbor e of the indicator E, so that turning the spindle unwinds the cord M from said arbor and rotates said arbor against the resistance of a spiral spring 8 which subsequently winds up the cord M when the spindle is let go. An index-linger e is secured to the arbor e and is carried by said arbor over a figured dial 6 to indicate the comparative amount of strength required to turn the spindle K, and the scale and figures on said dial may indicate pounds or other denominations of weight. The index-finger e is prevented from passing the zero point when moved back by the spring a by a projection e on tlie arbor striking a stationary stop-pin e in the indicator-case. The part of the arbor e on which the cord 17?. winds is larger than the pulley 77,.

To lessen the shock of the follower striking the stand h, I arrange a buffer P under said stand, the same consisting of a cushion of rubber or other suitable material, said stand being retained on said buffer by a bolt 0, which passes down through the bottom of said stand and through the shelf a and bar D and is held by anut 0, turning on said bolt 0, up against said bar.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a suitable case provided with a coin-slot, a follower, means of raising said follower, springs to resist the raising of said follower and to restore said follower, when raised and let go, to normal position, a coin-chute, formed in two telescoping sections, one attached to said case, and the other to said follower, and a lock, normally engaging said follower and preventing the raising thereof and adapted to be struck by a coin from said chute and disengaged from said follower. I

2. The combination of a suitable case, provided with a coin-slot, a follower, guides to direct said follower,springs, surrounding said guides,to resist the movement of said follower and to restore the same to normal position, a

coin-chute, a lock, normally preventing the movement of said follower, and adapted to be unlocked by being struck by a coin from said chute, a spindle, journaled in said case and having handles which project from said case, flexible connections between said follower and spindle, adapted to be wound on said spindle, and an indicator to show the movement of said spindle.

3. The combination of a suitable case, provided with a coin-slot, a follower, guides to direct said follower, springs surrounding said guides to resist the movement of saidfollower, and to restore the same to normal position, a coin-chute, a lock, normally preventing the movement of said follower, and adapted to be unlocked by being struck by a coin from said chute, a spindle, journaled in said case, and having handles which project from said case, flexible connections between said follower and spindle, adapted to be Wound on said spindle, an arbor, a flexible connection between said spindle and said arbor, a figured dial and a pointer, carried by said arbor over said dial.

4. The combination of a suitable case, provided with a coin-chute, a follower, guides to direct said follower, springs surrounding said guides to resist the movement ofsaid follower, and to restore the same to normal position, a lock, normally preventing the movement of said follower, and adapted to be unlocked by being struck by a coin from said chute, a spin dle, journaled in said case and having handles which project from said case, flexible connections between said follower and spindle, to be wound on said spindle, an arbor, a flexible connection between said spindle and said arbor, a figured dial, a pointer secured to said arbor, a spring to restore said arbor to normal position, and a stop arranged in the path of a projection, with which said arbor is provided, to prevent said pointer from passing the zero-point in its return movement.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ADDISON WILSON.

W'itnesses:

' ALBERT M. MOORE,

KENNETH J. F. McK1TrnIcK,

IIO

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