GB112571A - Improved Apparatus for Determining and Automatically Recording the Weights of Railway Vehicles. - Google Patents

Abstract

112,571. Cranston, J. C. May 8, 1917. Locomotives and vehicles, ascertaining distribution of weight on wheels of.-In means for ascertaining the load on any wheel of a locomotive or other railway vehicle by measuring the deflexion produced at the centre of a short length of rail A, Fig. 1, supported at its ends on knife-edges b, a cylinderpiston pair D, E, Fig. 2, is used for obtaining a magnified measure of the deflexion together with means for indicating the relative volume-displacement of the cylinder-piston pair. The cylinder D is secured to the base-plate B, and the rail A rests on a bearing-piece F provided with an inverted cup f to receive the upper end of a stud G which serves as an adjustable distance-piece between the rail and the piston E. Mercury or other suitable liquid is introduced into the cylinder through a hole in the spring-pressed piston E closed by a screw e<1>, and the cylinder is fitted with a cover e<2>. The apparatus is provided in duplicate so that the load on each of the two wheels of an axle can be determined at the same time. Pipes h lead from the cylinders D to a cylinder-piston pair h<1>, h<2>, and a toothed rack h<3> carried by the piston h<2> gears with a pinion h<4> on the axis of the pointer h<5> of the indicating- device H. When the apparatus is not in use, the pipes h are placed in communication with a reservoir h<6>. Instead of the device H, the pipes h may be connected to glass tubes k, Fig. 3, the heights of the columns of liquid displaced from the cylinders D being read on a scale graduated in term of units of load carried by a wheel. The tubes h, k can be placed in communication with a reservoir k<2> by means of cocks k<1>, and, by adjusting the degree of immersion of the float k<3> in the liquid, the level in the tubes k can be set at datum and the effect of heat expansion in the tubes h eliminated.