US2462690A - K- studley - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 22, 1949. c. K. STUDLEY, .m

REVOLUTIONS COUNTER ACTUATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 3, 1946 FJLE-E.B

INVENTOR CMRi/YCE K. 571/015 Y JR.

Feb. 22, 1949. c. K. STUDLEY, JR

REVOLUTIONS COUNTER ACTUATOR Filed June 3, 1946 5 heets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Cum/m JTUDLEY JR.

Feb. 22, 1949.

Filed June 3, 1946 Anya/4r Rock 0/ N81) fi/ o/mr Order //1 Degrees c. K. STUDLEY, JR 2,462,690

REVOLUT IONS COUNTER ACTUATOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Angular Rock 0/ 60/72r0////7 (7rd #7 Degrees F l E 5.;

INVENTOR; Cum/var If. STUULEY JR Patented Feb. 22, 1949 REVOLUTIUNS COUNTER ACTUATGR Clarence K. Studley, din, Berkeley, Calif., assigncr Marchant Calculating Machine Company, a

corporation of California Application June 3, 1946, Serial No. 674,109

6 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to improvements in calculating machines and has particular ref erence to counter actuating mechanisms for such machines.

The present improvements are disclosed as embodied in the commercially known Merchant calculating machine described in the Avery ent Number 2,271,240 dated January 27, 1942, to which reference is made for a disclosur or? the parts of the complete calculating machine which are not specifically shown and described herein.

The counter in the calculating machine disclosed in the above mentioned patent is of the crawl carry type which is operable at such higher speeds than previously attainable, but this type of mechanism continuously transmits partial increments of movement from each or der to the next higher order during actuation of the numeral wheels, and consequently certain of the numeral wheels are intermediate their full digital positions during a large part of the calculating operation. This does not ordinarily cause inconvenience, except in division calculations during which the operator cannot readily read the completed quotient digits until the entire problem has been completed.

Counter mechanisms such as disclosed in the Chase Patent Number 1,504,741 advance the numeral wheels intermittently by full digital crements and therefore the successive quotient digits can be read by the operator during the process of division. The intermittent actuation is eiiected by actuator carry elements which are spring urged into operative position when a carry should occur and are rocked out of operative position. against the spring pressure when a carry should not occur.

If the prior art counter mechanisms of the type last mentioned were operated at a speed approximating that of the machine wlich the present invention is embodied, the springs would yield under the forces of inertia and momentum and a carry would not always occur when. it should. On the other hand, the connections which are provided between the successive elements to rock certain of these elements out of operative position, yield under the forces of momentum and the strength of the above men-- tioned springs, and therefore cause a carry when the same should not occur.

In order to provide a counter which will record the registration in a directly readable form in each order and which will at the time operate at speeds greatly in excess of those previouslyobtainable in such a direct reading counter, applicant devised a counting and tens-carry 1 speeds and which is sufiiciently posi- Us action to safely hold the actuatorcarry elements out of operation except when a carry should occur.

S ice the elements are thus held out by such .ve action, the strength of the springs which urge the elements into operative position can be suiiiciently to definitely insure movements of the elements into operative position when a carry should occur.

It is the efore a primary object of the invention to rovide a high speed counter which is capable of carrying the tens and registering the same in full digital increments during the calculation of a problem.

Another object of the invention is to prevent over-registration of a counter register of this class when oper ted at high speeds.

Another object of the invention is to positively prevent a tens carry when the same should not occur.

Another object of the invention is to increase the amount of movement from one tens carry element of a registering mechanism to another such element.

Another object of the invention is to transmit an increasing amount of movement from one element of a train of identical elements to such element.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: l is an enlarged plan view of a portion of -vention with the counting finger and carry e ments in full cycle or normal position.

. 2 a similar view with the mechanism substantially mid-cycle position showing two of the carry elements in active positions for causing a carry to the next higher orders, while the other carry elements are shown in disenposition.

. is a sectional View from the right side dong line ill-J11 of Fig. 2.

. is sectional View from the right side a ong line IVIV of Fig. 2.

5 is a schematic View showing the relative movements of two adjacent carry elements thnr connecting linkage.

5 is an enlarged right side elevation showing the counter actuating mechanism in normal pos tion.

Fig. 7

schematically illustrates the path of movement of the point on the counting finger or the carry element which engages the numeral wheel drive gear.

Fig. 3 is a graph illustrating the amplification of the rocking movement transmitted from each carry element to the next higher element.

Counter register The counter consists of an ordinal series of numeral wheels H8115 (Fig. 6 freely rotatable upon a stationary shaft i867. Secured to each wheel is a gear E8159 driven through an intermediate gear Hill by a gear I880, freely rotatable on a shaft [92L the ratios of the gears I880 and lii'ii being such that for each tooth advancement of gear i889 its associated numeral wheel is advanced from one numeral to the next.

Centralizing of the numeral wheels is accomplished by means of centralizing pawl in (Fig. 6) freely pivoted on a shaft i8'i8 in each order. The rear arm Mi of each p-awl has a nose M2 which is urged upwardly into contact with the teeth of gear i889 by a spring M l secured to an arm I45 of the pawl and a frame stud Hi5. During rotation, the teeth of gear i385 will cam the nose M2 downwardly as each tooth passes above the nose, after which the pawl nose will seat itself in the next tooth space, thus maintaining the proper alignment of gear I880 for the next actuation by the counter finger or carry elements and also alignment of gears I819 to properly position the numeral wheels with respect to the carriage cover openings.

Counter actuator One of the numeral wheels of the counter register is actuated through one digital increment during each machine cycle, to thereby register the multiplier and quotient digits in multiplication and division operations and the items of addition and subtraction.

The actuation of the counter is efiected by a counter finger HI (Fig. 1) which is mounted on a bail Hill by means of a stud lZi. This bail includes an arm llil formed on each end thereof and each of these arms is supported at its front end by a stud I 835 (Fig. 6) secured to the machine frame and disposed within a slot of the bail arm. The rear end of each arm is pivotally connected to a substantially vertical lever with by means of a stud 02. The lower end of lever i830 is driven by an eccentric i83l mounted on a shaft i323 which is rotated one revolution for each machine cycle in either a clockwise or coun ter-clockwise direction depending upon the setting of the reversing mechanism for plus or minus operation as disclosed in an Avery Patent Number 2,267,890 dated December 30, 1941. A stud i832 mounted in the machine frame is disposed within a camming slot [83211 which is so shaped as to coact with the eccentric i83l' to produce a composite up and down and back and forth movement of the upper end of the lever and consequently a movement of the counter finger through a substantially triangular shaped path shown in Fig. '7, so as to advance the gear i889 one tooth for each cycle of the machine as described in the last mentioned Avery patent.

When the machine is set for plus operation the counter finger Iii (Fig. 6) is dipped diagonally down and forwardly as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 7 and moves underneath one of the teeth such as tooth W886i (Fig. 6) of the gear I880 and engages same at point U (Fig. 7), and then moves upwardly along the path shown to advance the gear one tooth space. The finger then moves from beneath the gear tooth and becomes disengaged at point V after which it returns to the starting position at point S. During minus operation the counter finger moves in the opposite direction along the same path and engages the top of one of the teeth of the gear and then moves downwardly and back to the position shown to actuate the gear i885 in th opposite direction.

In order to actuate one numeral wheel and then the next wheel as required in multi-order multiplication and division operations, a shift ing mechanism is provided as disclosed in the Avery Patent 2,271,240 referred to hercincefore. This shifting mechanism causes ordinal shifting movement of the carriage relative to the counter finger so as to permit actuation of the numeral wheel in one order and then the wheel in the next order in accordance with the process o multiplication and division.

The counter finger ill (Fig. l) is formed as a part of the lowest order carry element lZli and is rocked on stud 62! for reasons which will be described hereinafter. The width of the finger however is such that regardless of any rocking movement that may be imparted to the carry lever the finger ill will always be in engagement with its respective gear ifiilii during every machine cycle.

Tens carry mechanism When a numeral wheel is driven by the above described counter actuator mechanism and passes from 9 to 0 in plus direction or "0 to 9 in a negative direction, the tens digit is carried to or subtracted from the next higher order to the left as viewed in Fig. 1. Furthermore, if a series of adjacent numeral wheels display an un interrupted series of 9s and one of these is moved from 9 to 0 in a plus direction, all the higher order numeral wheels of the series simultaneously move from 9 to 0 and l is carried to the numeral wheel in the order immediately to the left of the highest order numeral wheel which has thus passed from 9 to 0. This is known as simultaneous carry or chain carry, which will be described more fully hereinafter.

The tens carry mechanism includes a series of carry fingers or elements which are mounted on the same bail which carries the counter finger Hi. All the carry elements are capable of actuating the respective gears race with which they are aligned and operate at the same time finger ll! performs its actuation. These carry elements are spring urged into operative position, but are held out and prevented from actuating except when the immediate lower order numeral wheel to the right in Figs. 1 and 2 passes from 9 to 0 in a plus direction, or from 0 to 9 in a minus direction. The construction of the carry elements and control thereof by the next lower order numeral wheel is described below.

Carry Elements The carry elements I28 are in the form of bellcranks and each is pivoted on a stud l2i secured to bail Hill. Each element is urged in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 by means of a spring I22, one end of which is tensioned against a flange of the bail and the other end against a rivet 523 of the carry element. This rivet also serves to positively limit the counterclockwise or What may be termed the forward movement of each element by engagement with the front flange of the bail. Furthermore, the rivet I23 serves to secure to th'e'carry element a strap I24 which carries a roller i223. Extending from the forward arm of each element E26 is a carry finger I26 normally positioned opposite one of the gears E8393 and capable of engaging it during actuation.

On the rearwardly extending arm of each element, except in the leftmost order, is pivotally mounted by means of a stud I28, one end of a link 436. A stud l3l, mounted on the other end of the link, is disposed within a slot I21 of the adjacenthigher order carry element I213. The links ltd are alternately arranged on the top and bottom surfaces, respectively, of successive carry elements in order to avoid a collision of parts during operation. The adjustment of the mechanism shown in rig. 1 is such that when in the normal condition of rest, the rivet 123 should rest against the front fiange of the bail and the stud [3i should be positioned at the extreme inneriportion or upper right hand end of slot I21. If' an adjustment is necessary to meet the foregoing requirement, the length of the link 30 may be decreased by inserting a screwdriver between the lugs of the one of the link and twist- ..Qg tea irlg, or it may be increased by applying pressure with a pair of pliers against the outer edges of the-link across the opening.

Control from next lower order The mechanism that determines which of the above described carry elements will be permitted to actuate their respective gears wild and numeral wheels for causing a tens carry from one order to the next under the conditions described hereinbefore and which wi l be blocked out to prevent such a tens carry consists of a disc 82 splined or otherwise secured to a sleeve of the gear I880 in the next lower order as clearly seen in cross section in Fig. 1. Each disc 82 has a notch 83 in its periphery adapted to receive roller 125 of the carry element during actuation when the numeral wheel which is geared to rotate with said disc is positioned at 9 during plus operation or at during minus operation.

The relationship between the zero and nine positions of the numeral wheels and the plus and minus operation of the carry element may be seenin'Fi'g; 6. Iii-this figure, the numeral wheel i815, by way of example, stands at zero and the notch 83 in disc 82 is above the finger H I in the operating order and the other discs are in the same relation to the carry fingers I26 in those higher orders in which the numeral wheels stand at Zero. During minus operation the fingers all move upwardly and toward the left as viewed in Fig. 6, and the roller E in a given order will enter its respective notch and permit the finger to engage and drive its respective gear I889. If, however, the operation were in a plus direction the fingers would move downwardly and to the left and the roller would be blocked by the periphery of the disc to prevent movement of the finger into engagement with the gear.

When a given numeral wheel stands at nine, the notch in the disc is below the carry and/or counter finger, as the case may be, by the same amount that it is shown above the finger in Fig. 6. The upward movement of the fingers during minus operation as described above will bring the roller against the "periphery of its disc and a tenscarry will be prevented; whereas during plus operation and th consequent downward movement. of therfingers with anumeral wheel stand- Cir ing at nine, the roller will enter its respective notch and permit its carry finger to engage and drive the gear 1880.

When a numeral wheel is positioned at any other number than zero or nine, the notch 83 of the will not be in either of the positions described above, the notch being shown in its #1 position in Fig. 3. When such is the case, the periphery of the disc will block the roller during actuation of the fingers in either direction and wiil rock the carry element and finger lZS away rem gear @836 to prevent a carry entry.

The period of the cycle during which this blocking out occurs will be described hereinafter, but it should be noted at this time that when the disc a given order is in position to block the roller and carry finger, the carry elements move from the position shown in Figs. 1 and 6 to the position shown '11 Figs. 2 3, the roller being blocked, contacts the disc and rocks the carry i888 so that during the movement of the finger :etween points U and V (Fig. 7) it passes clear of the gear; whereas a carry element which is not blocked by its disc moves into engagement with the gear in the next higher order as shown to the right of 2 and thus drives that gear one tooth and actuates the numeral wheel one digital increme t dur ng the d ving phase of the cycle.

I L n con- .ple which a nurn al wheel stands at 9 during plus actuation but during which no carry will be transmitted to the next higher order. This condition would exist in case three adjacent orders stand at 9 5 9, for example, and in 1 is added to the lowest order e standing at 9. In this instance a 1 Will carried to and added to the 5, advancing the middle numeral wheel to 6, but the highest order numeral wheel standing at 9 will ct carry to the numeral wheel to the left The means for permitting a carry from the lower order 9 and at the same time for preventing a carry from the higher order 9 is as fol ows:

The two niiimeral wheels standing at nine have their notches in position to permit movement of their carry fingers into actuating position and in this case the lower order finger is permitted to perform such a carry to the intermediate order. Since, however, this intermediate order stands at five, the periphery of the intermediate disc rocks the next and all other higher order carry elements out of operation, including the one associated with the higher order numeral wheel standing at nine, and therefore prevents the carry from that order even though its associated disc is located with its notch in position to permit a carry.

Simultaneous carry operation ed in co--nectf.on with a simple carry operation for carrying the tens to th next higher nee-us carry through a contin- "al wheels occurs under conmh as a series of numeral wheels nine on... of the lower order wheels passes from nine to Zero in a plus direction or if the series stands at zero and the lower order wheel passes from zero to nine a minus direction: Taking the latter condition as an example, then in accordance with the foregoing description, the notches 83 in all orders in which the numeral wheels stand at zero are in the position shown in Fig.6. The carry finger 526 (Fig. 2) will be permitted to move into operating position as shown and drive the gear I888 in the next higher order. Since the dial in this next order stands at zero the roller I25 will not be blocked and the counter finger will be free to move into operating position and drive the third gear at the same time the first and second gears are driven and so in each order where the numeral wheels of a continuous series stand at zero. The first numeral wheel however which stands at other than zero will have its disc 82 in a position such as that shown in Fig. 3 and this disc will block the carry element and prevent a carry into the next and all higher order numeral wheels.

It may be seen therefore that a carry will be entered into the numeral wheels displaying a continuous series or chain of zeros during minus operation, but the carry will be interrupted by the first numeral wheel standing at other than zero regardless of whether zeros stand in the numeral wheels above that. A similar simultaneous chain carry will occur when the continuous series of numeral wheels stand at nine during plus operation.

Mechanism for increasing the movement between carry elements As pointed out in the introduction and statement of the invention, prior art tens carry mechanisms of this class sometimes fail to effect a carry when one should occur and sometimes cause a carry when the same should not occur, particularly at high-speed operation. This is caused by the higher order carry elements lagging behind the element which is positively held out by the disc in the controlling order, with the result that the carry elements in the higher orders of the L1 register are not held out of actuating condition by sufficiently positive means; therefore, during high-speed operation of such a machine, a higher order carry element occasionally engages the tip of a numeral wheel gear with sufiicient force to the present improved mechanism is to operate at extremely high speed. The linkages between the carry elements are therefore so arranged and proportioned as to amplify or increase the disabling movement from one carry element to the next, to thereby compensate for this wear and play between the parts. Furthermore, the disabling movement of the carry elements is completed by the time those carry elements which are permitted to efiect a carry, engage the gear teeth of their associated gears.

Amplification of the disabling movement from one carry element to the next can be provided in a number of different ways which would simply transmit movement from one carry element to the next at any suitable fixed ratio. If the movement transmitted at such a fixed ratio were sufficiently great to insure complete disablement of the carry element in the next higher order, then this would produce excessive amplification when compounded through a series of orders. The mechanism disclosed herein is therefore proportioned in such a way as to produce a continuously diminishing amount of amplification throughout the rocking movement of the carry elements, the movement being ample to cause single order disablement of the carry elements without excessive compounded amplification of movement through a series of orders.

An understanding of the amount and timing or the amplifying movement from one order to the next can be most clearly attained by considering the diagrammatic representation in Fig. 5 of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Points l2| and 52m (Fig. 5) represent the pivot points of two adjacent carry elements lZB and correspond to the studs i2 5' (Fig. 1) upon which two adjacent carry elements are pivoted, and a (Fig. 5) is the distance between these studs. Points I28 and 53! represent the studs of the same numbers in Fig. l, and b is a line drawn between points HI and !28 of the lower order, while 0 is a line between points i2|a and l3! of the higher order. Line 9353 drawn between points I28 and I3! represents the line of action of ,the link of the same number in Fig. 1, and is shown in the position in which it lies when the carry elements are in their enabled positions, while I30 represents the line of action of the same link when the carry elements are in their disabled positions, shown at the left of Fig. 2. Lines m and n are normals from points [2! and 52m respectively to the line 53'} while lines m and n are normals from the same respective points to the line I38. A is the angle subtended by the normal n and line 0, and B is the angle subtended by the normal m and line I), while angle D represents the angular rock or displacement of line 0 which is produced by the anguiar rock or displacement of line 19 through angle E which latter displacement is produced by disablernent of the carry elements in the lower controlling order by disc 82 as described hereinbefore.

Assuming for the purpose of the present discussion that lines b and c are equal, then a difierence in the initial angles A and B will cause a corresponding difference in the displacement angles D and E; furthermore, when angle A is greater than angle B, the displacement angle D will exceed that of the given angle E. In other words, the given movement or displacement of line b through angle E will cause the resulting displacement of line 0 to be greater than that of line b. This may be termed amplified movement and the difierence between the greater and the lesser displacements is the amplification. Moreover, the greater the difference between angles A and B, the greater will be the amplification. The amplification at any stage of the movements of lines I; and 0 through angles E and D respectively, is proportional to the ratio m/n of the lengths of the normals which are the perpendicular distances from line I36 to the points i2! and Mia respectively.

A further and more important characteristic of this organization is that the amount of angular displacement imparted to line 0 by any given increment of movement of line b will vary throughout such movement due to the change in the line of action of link l3!) from the solid line A39 to the dotted line 5353' (Fig. 5), and the amplification of movement from b through link or line I36 to c for producing the angular displacement of the latter will be greatest at the beginning of the movement and will decrease thereafter. Let us call this a change in amplification which in this case gives a greater initial.

amplification at the beginning of the cycle, and this may be called early amplification which is reduced to substantially zero final amplification at the end of the disabling movement of the next higher order carry element as the line ii becomes parallel to line a.

With this in mind let us consider oneoi the objectives of the invention. First, recall that the Counting finger H l and the carry elements i2 5 (Figs. 1 and 6) move into a position to engage and drive the teeth of the respective gears i839 during approximately the first third of the cycle, and then actually start and effect the driving movement during approximately the second third of the cycle. If the higher order carry elements are to be blocked out of operation, this blocking out should be done as early in the cycle as possible so none of the carry elements will engage the tip of its gear or the corner of the notch 83 of the disc 82 which might otherwise cause a misoperation, or even rub against the periphery of the disc during any part of the cycle which would otherwise cause the numeral wheel to flicker. It is therefore an object to provide enough early amplification to rock the next higher carry element and its roller clear of its respective disc safely before the driving phase of the cycle starts, but at the same time to reduce the amplification in such a manner that the movement will be transmitted from order to order at a diminishing ratio. In other words, the amplification is reduced from an initial maximum to substantially zero when sufficient or optimum disabling movement is built up and then becomes a negative amplification thereafter so that the movement which is compounded through a series of orders will not become excessive at the high or left-most end of the series of elements.

If the lengths of lines b and were the same, and the difierence in angles A and B were great enough to give this required early amplification, then the total amplification through one order and the compounded amplification through a series of orders would be in excess of the requirements of the mechanism shown. Therefore, in order to maintain the desirable change in amplification, which will afiord the required early amplification and at the same time reduce the total amplification, the difference in angles A and B has been maintained and line 0 has been increased; i. e., the length of line c has been made greater than line b by a sufiicient amount to give the over all or total amplification required, while still maintaining the early amplification described above.

The change in amplification and the total amplification can be controlled to satisfy any given requirements by proportioning the angles A and B and selecting the lengths of line b and c in accordance with the foregoing and the following discussion. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown, the components have been proportioned to amplify approximately 18.5 degrees of movement of line 13, designated angle E (Fig. to approximately 20.5 degrees of movement of line 0, designated angle D, which is a total single order amplification at a ratio of 1.109. Of this total amplification, the initial amplification is at the ratio of 1.21 and the final amplification is at the ratio of 0.98 or slightly less than zero amplification in a single order.

A still more important and advantageous result is produced by the organization described above. As pointed out briefly hereinbefore, if sufficient amplification were provided to insure, disablement of the carry element in the next higher order and if this amplification were ata fixed ratio, then the compounded amplification through ten orders would produce a rocking movement in highest order which would be far in excess of n optimum amount if not actually prohibitive iron-.1 the standpoint of loads and shocks encountered in actual operation of the mechanism at high speed. By way of example, suppose the op total single rder amplification ratio were is in the embodiment disclosed. If this 2, ratio, then. the compounded amticn through ten orders would be in the o of (1.l@9) :2.52. This would increase the lgular rocking through a series of ten carry eleats from 16.5 in the lowest order to 46.6'. in the highest order which wou d be an increase of The action of the mechanism disclosed herein which affords a diminishing ratio of amplification and consequently a greatly reduced compounded amplification is charted in Fig. 8. The horizontal components of the. points on the curves represent the angular roci: in degrees of the carry element in a controlling ordenwhile the vertical components represent the angular rock in degrees of the carry element in the next higher order. The line 290 is a 45 line which shows the angulardisplacement of two adjacent carry elements if the same were displaced at a i to 1 ratio and therefore constitutes a base line from which theadditional rock of the next higher order carry element may be measuredwhile curve 2 3i represents the actual relationship between the angular rock of the carry elements as disclosed. The zero point on the graph represents the initial position of lines 1) and c (Fig. 5). Point 1 on line 2% (Fig.

8) represents and rock of the controlling order and corresponds to the 18.5 angle E (Fig. 5). Point Ea indicates the 20.5" angular rock. of the next higher order carry element through angle D (Fig. 5) for the given 18.5 rock of the lower order element. Line ib therefore represents the increase in angular rocking movement from the lowest order carry element to the next higher order element.

When no tens carry is effected during the operation of the mechanism, assuming that the lowest order is the controlling order and the element in that order is blocked by its disc, then all the higher order carry elements are rocked simultaneously and the rocking, movement is transmitted from each carry element to the next higher element. Therefore, each element is, in effect, the controlling element for the next higher element and causes an amplified rocking movement from one to the other. This orderto-oroler amplification is illustrated by a series of steps composed of lines drawn horizontally and vertically between the points i, 2, 3, etc, and la, 2a, 311, etc., respectively on the curves and Bill.

Now comparing the graph in Fig. 8 with the mechanism shown in Fig. i, it will be noted that the 18.5 point i on the curve may econsidered to represent the l8.5 rocking movement of the stud I28 about the pivot wt of the lowestorder carry element which drives the stud l3! of the next higher order carry element through 20.5", and the rock of this latter stud is represented by the 20.5 point to, (Fig. 8). Since stud I28 (Fig. l) of the next higher order or second carry element is mounted for rocking movement with that element, it too rocks through 20.5". Point 2 therefore corresponds to the movement of the stud I28 in the second order element and this stud drives the stud I3| in the third carry element through a total of approximately 225 as shown by the horizontal line from point 2a to the vertical scale of degrees. The steps between points 3 and 3a, 4 and 4a, etc. represent the rocking movements of the respective orders which will all go on simultaneously.

The change in the above described amplification of movement from one carry element to the next may be seen by examining the curve 2M. It will be noted that the ratio of the angular displacement between two adjacent carry elements at any given stage of that displacement is proportional to the slope of curve 213! at the corresponding point on the curve; and this in turn is equal to the ratio of the length of the normal m to that of the normal n at that stage of the operation. The slope at the initial zero point is indicated graphically by the line 202 which is tangent to the curve at the zero point. The numerical value of the ratio at this initial zero point is therefore the value of the tangent of the angle subtended by line 202 with the horizontal; i. e., tangent of 50 26=l.2l.

The fact that angle A (Fig. 5) exceeds angle B causes the normal n to increase in length more rapidly than the normal m increases during the progress of the movement, and to continue to increase after the length of the normal m is decreasing, thus causing a continuous decrease in the ratio of amplification during the progress or" the movement. This decrease in amplification is represented in Fig. 8 by the downward curvature of line 20!, the rate of such downward curvature being controlled by the amount by which angle A exceeds angle B.

The slope of line 20! is greater than the slope of line 2053 at any point from zero up to the point la. This indicates that the difference in the amount of rock of two adjacent carry elements continues to increase up to that stage of the rocking movement. The slope of line 2m decreases, however, and at about the 18 point on line 2M, just below point la, the slopes of the two lines are equal which indicates that at this point the ratio of the movements is 1:1, and the difierence in the amount of rock becomes zero. From the foregoing it will appear that the point at which the slope of curve 2M becomes equal to the slope of line 290 is determined jointly by the initial slope of curve 20] at the zero point in accordance with the length of the normals m and n at the start of the rocking movement, and by the rate of change of the slope of curve 2m in accordance with the initial angles A and B.

It will be noted further that at the 18 point the above mentioned difference changes sign from plus to minus and the ratio changes from values greater than 1 to values less than 1. This may be seen by noting that the curves 280 and 2M converge beyond point la and the perpendicular lines between points 2 and 2a to 9 and 9a inclusive become shorter and shorter. The diiierence in rock from each carry element to the next therefore gradually changes from a maximum at about point la where it is needed to hold the next order carry element safely clear of its disc and gear, and becomes less and less beyond this point, thereby reducing the total compounded amplification through ten orders. This total compounded amplification is also determined jointly by the initial slope and rate of change of the slope of curve Zlll in accordance with the initial lengths of the normals m and n and the initial angles A and B described above.

As stated hereinbefore, the carry elements are disabled prior to or at least by the time the tens carry actuating phase starts. Fig. 7 illustrates the various phases of the cycle and paths which the enabled and disabled carry fingers follow during these phases. The large substantially triangular path is that of the carry finger Ill and/or the finger E28 (Fig. 1) of the carry element I28 when the latter is enabled to efiect a carry, and the dotted outline E8801; is that of the tooth l88ila (Fig. 6) which is in position to be driven. The finger H l or lZt starts from its full cycle position at point S and moves idly downwardly and toward the left in the direction of the arrow during plus operation and then engages the tooth at point U which may be regarded as the start of the actuating phase. The finger then moves upwardly to point V thus driving the gear i880 one tooth and then returns to the normal full cycle position at S.

During minus operation, the finger travels in the opposite direction on substantially the same path and drives the gear in the opposite direction. It will be noted that this path is not symmetrical about a line through the full cycle position S of the finger and the gear tooth l88ila. This is because the openings for studs I832 and 5835 (Fig. 6) were drawn on simple arcs to simplify the tooling of this mechanism for production, but this path could as well be made symmetrical by making the openings more irregular to suit.

A finger which is to be disabled starts on the same path and at point T, the roller thereon engages the periphery of its associated disc 32 which blocks further inward or leftward movement of the finger 526. As pointed out hereinbefore the roller H25 and disc 82 (Figs. 1 and 2) serve as a fulcrum for the carry element [20 so that as the stud l2! moves downwardly as viewed in these figures, the finger H5 in the disabled order stops at point T and then backs away from the gear along the path shown by line I88! (Fig. '7) and then moves idly upward to point W during the time the enabled fingers move through their actuating phase to point V and through their disengaging phase to point W, all returning together to the position of rest S.

The carry fingers in the orders above or to the left of the one which is blocked by its disc 82 are also held out by the linkage described hereinbefore and due to the amplification also described hereinbeiore, move along a path slightly to the right of line I88! thereby holding all the rollers away from their discs 82. This completely avoids any possibility of the higher order rollers striking the corners of the notches 83 (Fig. 6) during the idle operation of the disabled carry elements. This avoids what is known as dial flicker and also avoids erroneous actuation of the drive train to the numeral wheel when the machine is operated at very high speeds.

I claim:

1. In a calculating machine having a revolution counter including a series of ordinally arranged numeral wheels, each rotatable to positions indicative of the digits zero to nine inclusive, and tens carry mechanism between said wheels including, a series of ordinally arranged carry elements each operable to actuate its respective numeral wheel and each pivotally mounted for diiierential rocking movement of the same out of operative relationship with said numeral wheel, and means operable in accordance with the position of the immediate lower order numeral wheel to cause said rocking movement; the combination of, means for transmitting said rocking movement from one lower order carry element to the next higher order carry element including a link pivotally connected to said lower and higher order carry elements, the points of pivotal connection of the link to the respective carry elements being so located with respect to the point of pivotal mounting of the respective element that when the elements are in their normal condition of rest the angle subtended by a normal drawn from the pivotal mounting of the higher order carry element perpendicular to the line of action of said link and a radial line drawn from said pivotal mounting to the pivotal connection of said element and said link is greater than the angle subtended by a normal drawn from the pivotal mounting of the lower order carry element perpendicular to said line of action and a radial line drawn from the latter pivotal mounting to the pivotal connection of the latter element and said link.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 in which the product of the length of the first mentioned radial line times the cosine of the first mentioned angle is less than the product of the length of the last mentioned radial line times the cosine of the last mentioned angle.

3. In a calculating machine having a revolution counter including a series of ordinally arranged numeral wheels each rotatable to positions indicative of the digits zero to nine inclusive and tens-carry mechanism between said wheels including, a series of ordinally arranged carry elements each operable to actuate its respective numeral wheel and each pivotally mounted for differential rocking movement of the same out of operative relationship with said numeral wheel, and means operable in accordance with the position of the immediate lower order numeral wheel to cause said rocking movement; in combination with, means for transmitting said rocking movement from one lower order carry element to the next higher order carry element including a link pivotally connected to said lower and higher order carry elements, the points of pivotal connection of the link to the respective carry elements being so located with respect to the points of pivotal mounting of the respective elements that the perpendicular distance from the pivotal mounting of the lower order carry element to the line of action of the link is greater than the perpendicular distance from the pivotal mounting of the higher order carry element to said line of action.

4. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein the ratio of the first mentioned perpendicular distance to the second mentioned perpendicular distance is greater during the initial rocking movement of said elements than it is during the later rocking movement of the same.

5. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein the ratio of the first mentioned perpendicular distance to the second mentioned perpendicular distance is greater than one during the initial rocking movement of said elements and diminished thereafter to a ratio substantially equal to one.

6. The invention set forth in claim 3 wherein the ratio of the first mentioned perpendicular distance to the second mentioned perpendicular distance is greater than one during the initial rocking movement of said elements and diminished to a ratio substantially equal to one at the stage of an optimum rocking movement of said elements and to a ratio less than one thereafter.

CLARENCE K. STUDLEY, JR.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Friden Oct. 30, 1945 Number

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