GB Patent: GB-185,901,088
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| New or improved pulley
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Patentee:
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| Thomas Aldridge Weston (exact or similar names) - King's Norton, county Worcester, England |
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Patent Dates:
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| Granted: |
Apr. 25, 1859 |
Espacenet patent
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Jeff Joslin
Vintage Machinery entry for Tangyes Ltd.
Patent specification and drawing
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Description: |
| The innovation is a chain-and-pulley arrangement where the lifting force is inversely proportional to the difference in diameter of two pulleys, which are fixed to one another on the same shaft. Making the pulleys very close in size allows a very heavy load to be lifted by hand, and the friction in the mechanism is sufficient to prevent the load from falling under its own weight. A long loop of chain is wrapped around the two pulleys so that two loops of chain hang down. A third pulley is placed at the bottom of one of the loops and the load is attached to the body of that pulley. The remaining loop is used by the operator to raise or lower the load.The inventor exhibited an "Improved pulley block and lifting apparatus" at the 1862 International Exhibition in London. In 1864 he sold the patent rights to Tangye Brothers, who solved two key issues with Weston's invention: chain links were inconsistent in size and would not reliably wrap around a pulley designed to accept chain, and were also prone to getting wedged into the pulley block. Tangye Brothers developed a chain-link designed to easily disengage from the teeth of the pulley, and refined their production methods to produce links of consistent size. See also patent GB-186,502,931 for additional improvements. |
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