US790917A - Electrical measuring-machine. - Google Patents

Description

No. 790,917. PATENTED MAY 30, I905.

' I. J. PERKINS.

ELECTRICAL MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1903.

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PATENTED MAY 30, 1905.

F. J. PERKINS.

ELECTRICAL MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PATENTED MAY 30, 1905.

F. J. PERKINS.

ELECTRICAL MEASURING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.17,1903.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' Dave/z t0)? NTTED STATES Patented May 30, 1905.

PATENT Crrrcn.

FRANKLIN J. PERKINS. OF WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO VAUGHN-FOOD MACHINE COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

ELECTRICAL MEASURING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,917, dated May 30, 1905.

Application filed September 17,1903. Serial No. 173,572.

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN J. PERKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing in VVoburn, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Electrical Measuring-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a machine for measuring the areas of surfaces, and is especially designed and adapted for measuring the surface area of hides, skins, and leather. For this purpose I employ a machine provided with a movable support for the hide or skin, having a plurality of contacts, with which cooperate circuit-controllers, some of which are rendered effective by the hide or skin to complete at one point the circuit of an electricallyoperated registering mechanism, which circuit is completed at another point by the engagement of a contact on the movable support with a circuit-controller which is unaffected by the hide or skin, as will be described.

In the machine" herein shown as embodying this invention the movable support is shown as a rotatable bed-roll provided on its periphcry with a series of circuit terminals or contacts, with which cooperate a plurality of movable circuit-controllers in the form of rollers mounted on levers, some of which are adapted to be moved by the hide, skin, or other surface to be measured and to be brought .into contact with cooperating circuit-terminals to close at one point the circuit of an electromagnet, the said circuit being completed by engagement of a contact on the bed-roll with a circuit-controller unacted upon by the hide or skin, the electromagnet being thus energized and effecting a step-by-step movement of a pointer through suitable gearing, as will be described. These and other features of this invention will be pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is a front elevation, with parts broken away, of a measuring-machine embodying this invention; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a detail in rear elevation and on an enlarged scale of the registering mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4c, a cross-section of the bed-roll shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5. a developed view of a portion of the bed-roll shown in Figs. 1 and 4E, and Fig. 6 a diagrammatic view to be referred to.

In the machine herein shown as embodying this invention, ab represent side frames, which are connected by a cross frame or bar 0 and support. in suitable bearings a bed-roll (Z, constituting one form of movable support for the hide or skin and which is provided on its circumference with a plurality of contacts a, which are preferably separated from one another on the surface or periphery of the roll by rubber or other suitable insulating material f. In the present instance the bed-roll cl is represented in Fig. 4 as a solid metal roll provided on its circumference with a covering of rubber or other suitable insulating material, through which extend projections on the periphery of said roll, said projections extending through the covering at different points to form contact members a, which are arranged, as herein shown, in rows running longitudinally of the bed-roll, with the contacts in adjacent rows out of line with each other and with the contacts of alternate rows in line with each other. The contacts in each longitudinal row are set back from one another, so that each longitudinally-extended row is inclined with relation to the axis of the bed-roll, whereby in the rotation of the bed-roll, to be hereinafter described, an electric circuit may be closed at only one contact member at a time. The contacts e are further arranged so that those in alternate longitudinal rows are in the same transverse line. The contacts 0 of each longitudinally-extended row have cooperating with them circuit-controllers, herein shown as rollers 9, carried by levers h, which are pivoted on a rod or bar 71, supported by a top frame j, preferably mounted on the main or lower frame, so as to be vertically adjustable or movable thereon, as will be described. The rod 6 is suitably insulated from the frame 1', as by bushings 8, of rubber or other suitable insulating material. It will be understood that there are as many levers h as there are contacts 6 in each longitudinally-extended row and that these levers are mounted on the pivot a close together. The levers ]L cooperate with a second set of circuit terminals or contact members 70, one for each lever, which terminals are electrically connected together, as shown, by a metal plate m, to which they are fastened by the screws a, the said metal plate being secured to a bar or piece of insulating material, which is suitably fastened to the sides of the top frame 1'. The levers h are normally held out of contact with the terminals la and in contact with the bed-roll d, which may be eflected by a spring p between each lever 7L and the cross-bar q of the top frame. The contacts a on the bed-roll, the levers h, and terminals 7:: govern the operation of an electromagnet 10, which in turn governs the operation of a registering mechanism.

In the present instance the electromagnet 10 is secured to a suitable support 12, secured to or forming part of the top frame j, and is provided with an armature 13, having forked arms or pallets 14 15, which cooperate with an escapement-wheel 16, mounted on a shaft 17 which is connected, through a suitable train of gears 18, with a shaft 19, carrying a pointer 20, which registers with graduations on a dial 21, loosely mounted on the shaft 19, to be turned thereon, and provided with slots 22 23, through which are extended clampingscrews 24 25, which serve to secure said dial in its adjusted position.

The escapement-wheel 16 is normally engaged by one of the pallets, as 15, and the other pallet, 14, is normally held out of engagement with said escapement-wheel by a spring 27. (See Fig. 3.) When the magnet 10 is energized, as will be described, the pallet 14 is engaged with the escapement-wheel 16, and the latter and its shaft 17 are rotated the distance of one tooth of the escapementwheel, which effects movement of the pointer through the train of gears 18 the distance of one graduation on the dial. The magnet 10 is energized by each impulse transmitted over its circuit, and the latter is closed when each contact on the bed-roll engages one of the rollers 9.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be seen that when the rollers g rest on the bed-roll the circuit of the magnet is open between the levers i and the terminal springs 71: and that when a hide or skin or other surface is interposed between the bed-roll and some of the levers the levers whose rollers are engaged by the hide or skin are turned on their pivot 2' and their long arms are brought into contact with the spring-terminals is, so that when in the rotation of the bed-roll a contact thereon engages a roller 9 the circuit of the magnet is com- Eleted, which circuit may be readily traced in By reference to Fig. 6 it will be seen that one end of the coil of the magnet 10 is connected with the terminal springs is by wire 29, while its other end is connected by wire with one pole of the battery 31, the other pole of which is connected by the wire 32 with the bed-roll d. In Figs. 1 and 2 a contact brush or spring 33 is shown, which bears on the journal of the roll d or it may be on a collecting-ring thereon, and the wire 32 is connected to the spring 33.

Assume that a hide or skin is interposed between some of the rollers g and the bedroll, thereby closing the circuit between some of the levers 7i and their cooperating terminal springs k, while one of the other levers resting on the bed-roll closes the circuit between it and one of the contacts a on the bed-roll, which is what occurs in the operation of the machine'herein shown and which condition is represented in Fig. 6. In this case it will be seen that the circuit of the magnet 10 is completed, which circuit may be traced as follows, namely: from the positive pole of the battery 31 by wire 32 to the bed-roll, thence by a contact 6 and lever h in engagement therewith to the pivot-rod a, thence by a lever it, raised by the interposed hide or skin, to the terminal spring is, cooperating with said lever, and thence by the wire 29 to the magnet 10, through said magnet, and thence by wire 30 to the negative pole of the battery.

It will be understood that each contact 0 uncovered by the hide or skin being measured energizes the magnet 10, which moves the index or pointer 20 in the direction indicated by the arrow 40, Fig. 1, the distance of one graduation for each impulse. It therefore follows that with the machine herein shown the area of the surface passed through the machine is obtained by subtracting from the area represented by the total number of contacts e on the bed-roll the area represented by the contacts which energize the magnet 10, which latter contact-s are those uncovered by the hide or skin as it passes through the machine.- This subtraction is effected on the machine itself, and to this end the graduations are arranged reversely on the dialthat is, the said graduations read from left to right, while the pointer is moved from right to left. The dial is adjustable on its shaft, so as to compensate for any errors which may arise in working the machine. The registering mechanism may be provided with additional dials 41 and pointers 42 (see Fig. 1) to register a total area greater than that indicated by the dial 21. Provision is made for measuring material of different thickness, and to this end the top frame 1' is vertically adjustable on the lower frame, comprising the sides a b and cross-bar 0. For this purpose the sides of the lower frame are provided with sockets 44 to receive depending bosses or projections 45 on the side pieces of the upper frame, which bosses may be provided with threaded sockets for the reception of vertically-arranged screws 46, revolubly supported in the bottom 47 of the sockets 44 and provided below the same with a bevel-pinion 48, (see Fig. 2,) which meshes with a bevel-pinion 49 on a shaft 50, supported by the sides of the lower frame and having, as shown, a crank or handle 51, by which the shaft 50 may be turned to effect rotation of the screws 46, and thereby elevate or lower the movable top frame 1'. The amount of adjustment may be indicated on a scale 58, attached to the stationary lower frame, with which cooperates a pointer 54, fixed to and movable with the upper frame. The vertical adjustment of the upper frame to permit thick material to be measured does not interfere with the operation of the machine, as the rollers g are maintained in engagement with the bed-roll in the absence of a hide or skin, owing to the fact that they are arranged at one side of a vertical line through the center of the pivot j for the levers 72 when the upper frame is in its lowermost position, so that as the upper frame is moved upward the rollers move downward in the arc of a circle and remain in contact with the bed-roll when the center of the rollers are in substantially a vertical line passing through the center of the pivot 2'. Provision is made for keeping clean the contacts on the bed-roll, and to this end aknife or scraper 55 is secured to levers 56, mounted on apivot 57, carried by the sides of the lower frame and having a counterweight 58, which serves to keep the knife or scraper in engagement with the bed-roll, as represented in Fig. 2. I

The mechanism herein shown is standardized in the manner now commonly employed with machines of this class namely, by passing a surface whose area is known through the machine and adjusting the latter until the registering mechanism registers the known area, and thereafter the area of each skin put through the machine is determined with relation to the standard area by subtracting from the total number of impulses representing the standard area the impulses transmitted when the said skin is passed through the machine.

It will be seen that in the machine embodying this invention a single registering-magnet is employed and that the circuit of this magnet is closed at one point by the hide or skin bringing some of the circuit-controllers into engagement with their cooperating circuitterminals and that the circuit remains open until the movable contact-carrier or bed-roll in its travel brings a contact uncovered by the skin into engagement with a circuit-controller.

After each hide or skin has been passed through the machine the pointer 20 is unclamped from its shaft and turned back to its starting position, (shown in Fig. 1,) resting against the pin 24, the shaft for the pointer being provided with a suitable thumb-nut by which the pointer may be again clamped to the shaft.

I claim 1. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a rotatable bed-roll provided on its periphery with contacts, means to rotate said bed-roll, means for electrically separating said contacts on the surface of the bedroll, pivoted levers cooperating with the contacts on said bed-roll, circuit-terminals cooperating with said levers and normally separated therefrom, a registering mechanism provided with a pointer or index, and 'an electromagnet to operate said registering mechanism and move said pointer or index step by step, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a rotatable bed-roll provided on its periphery with contacts, means to rotate said bed-roll, means for electrically separating said contacts on the surface of the bedroll, pivoted levers cooperating with the contacts on said bed-roll, circuit-terminals cooperating with said levers and normally separated therefrom, a registering mechanism provided with a pointer or index, an electromagnet to operate said registering mechanism and move said pointer or index step by step, and a dial provided with graduations reversely arranged with relation to the movement of said pointer or index, substantially as described.

23. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a rotatable bed-roll provided on its periphery with contacts, means. to rotate said bed-roll, means for electrically separating said contacts on the surface of the bedroll, pivoted levers cooperating with the contacts on said bed-roll, circuit-terminals cooperating with said levers and normally separated. therefrom, a registering mechanism provided with a pointer or index, an electromagnet to operate said registering mechanism and move said pointer or index step by step, a dial provided with graduations reversely arranged with relation to the movement of said pointer or index and adjustable with relation to said pointer, and means to secure said dial in its adjusted position, substantially as described.

4. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a stationary frame, a bed-roll mounted therein and provided on its circumference with contacts, means to electrically separate said contacts on the surface of said bed-roll, a movable upper frame adjustably supported on said stationary frame, a plurality of circuit-terminals carried by said movable frame, a plurality of circuit-controllers carried by said movable frame and cooperating with the contacts on the bed-roll and with said circuit-terminals, a registering mechanism and an electromagnet to operate it governed by said circuit-con trollers, substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a bed-roll provided with contacts, means for electrically separating said contacts on the surface of said roll, a registering mechanism, an electromagnet to operate it, and circuit-controllers governing the operation of said electromagnet and rendered effective by the interposition between them and said bed-roll of the object whose surface is to be measured, substantially as described.

6. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a rotatable bed roll provided with contacts, means to rotate said bed-roll, a registering mechanism, an electromagnet to operate it, circuit-terminals connected with said electromagnet, and circuit-controllers governing the operation of said electromagnet and cooperating with said contacts and circuit-terminals, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a plurality of contacts rotatably mounted, a plurality of circuit-terminals, and a plurality of circuit-controllers cooperating with said contacts and with said circuit-terminals, substantially as described.

8. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a plurality of contacts, a plurality of circuit-terminals, and a plurality of circuit-controllers cooperating with said contacts and with said circuit-terminals, substantially as described.

9. In a machine of the class described, in combination, an electricallyoperated registering mechanism, a plurality of circuit-terminals, a plurality of contacts arranged out of line with each other, a movable support for said contacts, and a plurality of circuit-controllers cooperating with the said circuit-terminals and with said contacts, and rendered effective by the object whose surface is to be measured to place the circuit of the registering mechanism between the circuit-controllers and said circuit-terminals in condition to be completed when a contact engages a circuitcontroller, substantially as described.

10. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a movable support for the object whose surface is to be measured, means to move said support, a plurality of contacts carried by said movable support, a plurality of circuit-terminals, and a plurality of movable circuit-controllers cooperating with said contacts and with said circuit-terminals, said contacts, terminals and circuit-controllers being arranged on said machine, so that an electric circuit is closed between someof said controllers and terminals by the object whose surface is being measured, and is open between the movable support and one or more of said circuit-controllers until a contact on said support uncovered by the object whose surface is being measured is brought into engagement with a circuit-controller, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANKLIN J. PERKINS.

Witnesses:

J AS. H. CHURCHILL, J. MURPHY.

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