US659421A - Registering mechanism. - Google Patents

Description

P R E L L E N N H c S REGISTERING MECHANISM.

(Application filed (M. 7, 1899.)

3 Sheets-$heat l,

Tm: Nonms FETERE co. mom-um), wnSmNamN, a, c

No. 659,42l. Patented Oct. 9, I900. J. SCHINNELLER.

REGISTERING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Oct. 7, 1899.)

(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

THE NORRIS FETEFS ce. wom muc. wAsr-HNGYQN, u c

Patented Oct. 9, I900. J. SCHINNELLER. REGISTERING MECHANISM.

(Application filed Oct. 7, 89 6 N 0 M o d e l .J

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB SCHINNELLER, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

REGISTERING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 659,421; dated October 9, 1900.

I Application filed October 7,1899. renal No. 7825852. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, Lawn SOHINNELLER, a resident of Pittsburg, in the .county of Al= legheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Registering Mechanism; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to registering mechanism; and it has for one of its objects to provide a fare or cash register that shall be comparatively simple and inexpensive in construction and reliable in operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means for insuring the registration of all payments made to the person having the register in charge.

lVith these ends in View I have devised the mechanism shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view, partially in section and partially in side elevation, of a register constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a view, partially in section and partially in front elevation, of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1. l ig. 3 is a detail view, partially in section and partially in front elevation, of the primary registering-wheels and a portion of the means for operating the same. Fig. 4 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but showing some of the parts in different operative positions. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the primary registeringwheels and their actuating-pawls. Fig. if is a sectional view taken on line 1) v of Fig. 5, parts being broken away. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective View of the governingwheels for the indicator mechanism. Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken on line occoof Fig. 2, certain parts being omitted in order to illustrate more clearly the remaining parts.

In the use of cash-registers in mercantile establishments and fare-registers in public conveyances it is of primary importance that the registering mechanism shall invariably act in the manner and to the extent intended whenever the operating key, lever, or cord is properly manipulated, and it is of equal importance that the operating key, lever, or cord shall be properly manipulated whenever a payment is made to the employee whose duty it is to receive and register payments. Since the only effective safeguard against incomplete registration by reason of either carelessness or willful neglect on the part of the receiver of money or tickets is the attention of the persons making the payments, I propose to insure such attention by making the registration advantageous to such persons. The means whereby I propose to effect this result, as well as other structural details utilized in practicingmyinvention,willnow be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I have illustrated a fare-register adapted for use in public conveyances. I desire it to be understood, however, that certain features of my invention are adapted for use in registers employed in other relations and for other purposes and that as regards such features no limitations of specific structure or use are imposed by either the illustration or description.

The movable parts of the mechanism are mounted in a suitable frame comprising two side plates 1 and suitable connecting-rods, which will be hereinafter more specifically designated. This frame may be rigidly fastened to a back plate 2, the latter being mounted upon the body of a car orany other suitable support in convenient position to permit of inspection and operation of the registering mechanism, or, preferably, the frame may be fastened by means of screws or bolts 1 to a casing 3, having suitable lugs 3, for this purpose. The casing is hung at its top upon lugs a, projecting at the front of the back plate, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, and provided at its bottom with perforated lugs or ears 5, between which projects a perforated lug or car 6 on the back plate, so that when the perforations are in alinement a locking-pin 7 may be inserted. The pin 7is provided with a laterally-projecting arm 8, having a slot for receiving a staple 9, that projects from the bottom of the casing 3. The projecting end of the staple 5) may be provided with a suitable padlock or other fastening device (not shown) in order to prevent any unauthorized person from tampering with the registering mechanism. The front of the casing is provided with two openings, preferably covered by glass or other transparent plates 10 and 11, in order that the numerals on the two sets of registering-wheels may be visible, as is usual in this class of devices.

Journaled in suitable bearings approximately midway between the top and bottom of the side plates 1 of the frame is a shaft 12, and on this shaft are loosely mounted the primary registering-whee1s 13, 14:, and 15, there being three of these wheels shown in the drawings, though obviously the invention is not limited to any specific number.

One of the bosses 16, constituting in part the bearings for the shaft- 12, is provided with a radial groove or recess 17, and the corresponding end of the shaft is provided with a radially-projecting pin 18,0f such dimensions as to fit into this groove or recess. The shaft 12 is so mounted in its bearings that it may be readily moved longitudinally a limited distance, its outward movement being opposed by a spring 19. This range of movement is such as to permit of the withdrawal of the pin from the recess, and thus permit the. shaft to be turned by means of a key 20, which is screwed into the end of the shaft, as is clearly indicated in Fig. 3. The screwthread connection between the key and the shaft is such that if the former be turned in a clockwise direction it will be unscrewed from the shaft. and when turned in the opposite direction will rotate the shaft on its axle.

The shaft 12 is provided with three radially-projecting pins 21, one for each primary registeringwheel. The hub 22 of each registering-wheel is provided with a lug 23, that projects laterally, so as to be engaged by the corresponding pin 21 on the shaft 12 when the latter is drawn outward and turned in a contra-clockwise direction, this being the means provided for returning the primary registering-wheels to zero at the end of a trip. When the pin 18 is located in the recess 17, the shaft 12 will be held stationary, and the lugs 23 will clear the pins 21 as the registering-wheels are rotated on the stationary shaft.

The registering-wheels 13, 14:, and 15 are separated from each other by friction-plates 24 of the same diameter as the wheels, said plates preventing rotation of said wheels except when directly engaged by the actuating mechanism. Each of these plates is provided with a perforated extension 24, mounted upon a rod 25, connecting the lower edges of the frame-plates 1, so as to hold the frictionplates in proper position and prevent their rotation. A similar plate 26, similarly mounted, is provided to bear against the outer end of each of the two outer registering-wheels.

The periphery of each of the primary registering-wheels is provided with nine notches 27, (see Figs. 2, 3, and 5,) adjacent to one edge, the length of each of which is less than the width of the wheel,and with one notch 28,that extends the entire width. Two short notches in alinement would obviously be the equiva lent of the single long notch and'might there fore be employed in lieu thereof.

As a means for actuating the primary registering-wheels I provide a frame 29, comprising two bell-erank lovers 30, journaled upon the shaft 12, the free ends of the lower arms 31 being connected by a rod 32. The rod 32 is surrounded by the lower ends of two actuating bars or arms 31-, the upper ends of these arms being respectively connected to an actuating cord or rope (not shown) that extends over a guide pulley or sheave 35 and thence along the side of the car or to any point where it is desired that power may be applied for operating the register. The upper arms 36 of the bell-crank levers 30 are connected by a rod 37, on which are mounted three pawls 38, 39, and 10, the pawl 38 being approximately one-half the width of the corresponding registering-wheel and the pawls 39 and 40 being severally of approximately the same width as the registering-wheels. These pawls are independently journaled upon the rod 37 and may be held in engagement with the peripheries of the registeringwheels by their own weight, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, or by a suitable spring. The narrow pawl 38 is located adjacent to one edge of the units-registering wheel 13. The wide pawl 39 is in position to engage with bot-h the units and the tens-registering wheels, and thepawl 4:0 is in oosition to engage with the tensand the hundreds registering wheels, each of the wide pawls 39 and 40 being provided with a slot 4:1 to receive the corresponding friction-plate 2% when the notches 27 and 28 are in position to be engaged by these pawls. In order to prevent the pawl #10 from dropping into operative position independently of pawl 39, I fasten to the under side of the latter by means of a rivet 39" a strip 39, that projects beneath the former. (See Fig. 5.) The actuating-frame is restored to its initial position after each forward lllOVGll'lGllh by coiled springs L2 and a sheet or plate spring 43, to which the lower ends of the coiled springs are fastened.

Journaled in the two frame-plates 1 above the shaft 12 are two small shafts at and 4-5, the first of which has rigidly mounted upon it a ratchet-wheel 46, the secondary unitsregistering Wheel 17, and a toothed wheel e18. Between the toothed wheel 18 and the unitsregistering wheel 47 are four registeringvvheels 49, which are loosely mounted on the shaft. Back of this shaft 44 is the shaft. 45, provided with a bell-hammer 50, with a pin or projection 51 in posit-ion to be engaged by the teeth of the wheel 48 and with a pin 52, connected to the framework by means of a suitable spring 53. Mounted loosely upon this shaft are the transferring-whecls 5-1, which engage, respectively, with the tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands registering wheels, which are loose upon the shaft M. This bell-hammer and secondary registering mechanism are of a kind well known in the art, and I therefore deem a more specific description to be unnecessary.

A toggle-lever 55 has one arm 56 pivoted to the actuating-frame 29 above its axis, and. the other arm 57 is loosely mounted upon the shaft 44. Pivoted to this upper arm 57 of the toggle-lever at an intermediate point is a pawl 58, which is in alinement with the ratchet-wheel 46 on the shaft 44 and is held in engagement therewith by a suitable spring 59. The bell 60 to be struck by the hammer 50 is shown as fastened to the back plate 2; but it may be located at anyconvenient point.

In order to place a check upon the operator of the register, I provide an indicator-plate 61, which is mounted upon the outer ends of two arms 62, the inner ends of the arms being loosely jour'naled upon the main shaft 12, so that the plate maybe moved downward in front of the window 10 in the casing at irregular intervals during the operation of the register. On this plate 61 I have shown the word Free, though any other character or set of characters may be em ployed, if desired, the object in employing this device be ing to indicate to the persons making payments which are to be registered by the machine that whenever this plate is moved down in front of the sight-opening some advantage is to accrue to the person making the payment, such as the return of the fare or the giving of a rebate or other redeemable check, it being readily seen that where such a device is employed which may appear at irregular intervals and therefore unexpectedly to the person making the payment and also to the operator of the register a close watch will be kept upon the instrument, thus insuring that every payment made will be registered.

As a means for operating the indicator-plate 61 I provide a plurality of toothed wheels, three wheels, 63, (54, and 65, being shown in the drawings, though any other desired number greater than one may be employed. The teeth of each of these wheels are a different distance apart from those of the others, and nearly all the intervening notches are of the same depth. At one or more points on each wheel, however, a notch 66 of greater depth is provided. Between the adjacent toothed wheels and at the outer sides of the outer ones are provided friction-plates 67, which may be substantially like those employed between the primary registering-wheels and having perforated su pporting-lugs 67 mounted upon the same rod 25. In order to actuate these toothed wheels, I provide a pawl (38, which is pivoted intermediate its ends to the bell-crank lever 30. The front end of this pawl is provided with a notch 69, and at one 'side near its front end is located a laterallyprojecting pin 70. The rear end of the pawl is provided with a projection or toe 71, of proper width and suitably located to engage the teeth on all of the toothed wheels 63, 64, and 65. The rear end of this pawl pressed into engagement with the peripheries of the toothed wheels by means of a suitable spring 72. Pivoted to the rear end of the pawl 68 is one end of a lever-arm 73, the other end of this arm being pivotally connected to the free end of a lever-arm 74, rigidly mounted on a rock-shaft 75, located just below the rod 37. A plate 76 is rigidly mounted upon the rockshaft 75 in such position as to lift the pawls 38, 39, and t0 and hold them out of engagement with the primary registeringwheels when the toe 71 of the pawl (iSis in its lowest position. This construction and arrange ment thus enables me to operate the indicator-platewithout moving the primary regist-ering-wheels.

Journaled upon the rod 25, which connects the front lower portions of the frame-plates, is the lower end of a catch 77, the upper end of which is pressed outward by means of a spring 78 to engage the indicator-plate when the latter is depressed. In order to move the catch 77 away from the indicator-plate 61 in case the indicator-plate is down at the end of a trip, I provide a push pin or button 79.

The indicator-plate is normally held in its elevated position and is moved to that position when released from the catch 76 by means of two coiled springs b0, one on each side, connecting the corresponding supporting-arm 62 with a screw or lug 81 on the corresponding frame-plate l. A stop lug or projection S2 is also provided on the outer side of each arm 62 in position to engage the front edge of the corresponding frame-plate 1 when the indicator-plate is drawn upward by its springs. Anyother suitable form of stop device may obviously be employed, if desired.

It will be understood that an arrangement of the apparatus whereby the indicator-plate will be moved into its indicating position by springs when released from its latch and out of such position by the positive action of the pawl is within the scope of my invention, such arrangement being a mere reversal of that shown.

The operation of the instrument is as follows: Assuming that the registering-wheels are in their zero position and either operating-bar 34: is raised by means of its cord the operating-frame 29 will be rocked forward,and thus move the pawls 38, 39, and 40 forward. By reason of the fact that in this position the notches immediately in the front of the pawls extend only part of the way across the peripheries of the registering-wheels the nar row pawl only will engage with the corresponding notch in the units-wheel, and thus move this wheel to bring numeral 1 into position before the sithtavindow. This action may be repeated until the tenth notch is reached without imparting movement to any but the units-wheel. Inasmuch as the tenth notch extends across the entire width of the wheel both the first and the second pawls will next engage such notches and the units and tens wheels willeach bemoved one notch. A further complete rotation of the unitswheel will be necessarybefore the tens-wheel is moved another notch. It will thus be seen that the tens-wheel is moved a notch for every ten notches or one complete rotation of the units-wheel, and that when one hundred fares are registeredthat is, when the tenswheel has been moved through its entire circumference or ten notches-its long notch will permit the third pawl to drop and engage the hundreds-wheel and move it one notch. With each movement of the primary units-wheel the secondary units-registering wheel will be moved one notch, thus providing a permanent register for the number of fares rung up. The wheels 5% for transferring to the tens secondary registering wheel the ten fares registered on the units-wheel and to the hundreds-wheel one hundred such fares, and so on, are well known in the art and need not be further described. For each movement of the primary and secondary units-registering wheels the actuating-toe 71 at the rear end of the pawl 68 will move the irregularly- toothed wheels 63, 64, and a corresponding distance; but owing to the different distances apart of the teeth on the respective wheels the wheels will be moved different distances. So long as there is no alinement or registration of the deep notches on all of the wheels the front end of the pawl will be held in its depressed position, so that it will pass beneath the indicator-plate 61, and no movement of such plate will therefore take place. Nhen the irregularly-toothed wheels have, however, been moved so that the deep notches are in alinement in all of the wheels, the spring 72 Willdepress the actuating dog or toe into these deep notches, thus raising the notched front end of the pawl in position to engage the edge of the indicator-plate and move it downward into position in front of the sight-window. This movement of the pawl 68 will serve to rock the shaft by means of the lever-arms 73 and 74c, and thus cause the plate 76 to raise the pawls 38, 39, and 40 from the peripheries of the primary registering-wheels until the rear end of pawl is again elevated. Since this mechanism does not interfere with the operation of the secondary registering-wheels, the difference between the number of payments registered by the secondary wheels and the number registered by the primary wheels will be the nu mber of movements of the indicator-plate. On the next movement of the registering-wheels the front end of the pawl will be again depressed, as before, and the laterally-projecting pin 70 will engage the front face of the curved upper end of the catch 77 and depress it away from the indicator-plate, thus freeing the latter and permitting its springs 80 to draw it back against the stop-lugs 82. Since the toothed wheels 63, 64, and 65 have differently-spaced teeth and different numbers of deep notches, neither the operator nor the person making the payment to him can determine when or how frequently the indi cator-plate will be moved in front of the sightwindow. It follows, therefore, that each person making a payment will watch for the operation of the register in View of the possi-' bility of a pecuniary benefit to him.

While the movements of the indicatorplate are indeterminate and independent of control so far as the operator and the persons making payments are concerned, they may be determined with substantial accuracy before the register is put into use by proper calculation and selection as regards the number of toothed wheels, the spacing of the teeth, and the number and spacing of the deep notches of each whee]. It will therefore be readily seen that the number of movements of the indicatorplate for any given number of registrations is susceptible of substantially unlimited adjustment.

\Vhile I have shown the wheels 63, 64, and 65 for the indicator-plate 61 actuated by the pawl carried by the rocking frame 29, said wheels may be actuated by a suitably-mounted pawl connected directly to the actuatingbars 34; or even to the cord or other means for actuating the register. As each movement of the actuating-frame is effected the pawl 58 on the arm 57 of the toggle-lever 55 will engage with the corresponding ratchetwheel 46 to rotate the shaft 4-4 and with it the toothed wheel 48. This will act upon the pin or projection 51 on the shaft 45, and thus depress the bell-hammer. As the movement is completed the pin 51 will slip off the end of the tooth into the next notch, and thus permit the hammer to strike against the belland indicate that a payment has been registered.

I desire it to be understood that my invention is not limited to the structural details shown and described except in so far as such details are specified in the claims.

I claim as my invention 1. In a register, the combination with two side-by-side registering-wheels provided with peripheral notches, of two actuating-pawls, one of which engages the periphery of one of said wheels and the other of which engages the peripheries of both of said wheels.

2. In a register, the combination with two side-by-side registering-wheels, each of which hasaset-of peripheral registering notches and a transferring-notch, of an actuating-pawl in position to engage the registering notches of one wheel and a second pawl in position to simultaneously engage the transferring-notch of said wheel and one of the registering notches of the adjacent wheel.

3. In aregister, the combination with a plurality of side-by-side registering-wheels, each of which is provided with ten peripheral reg istering-notches and with one transferringnotch, of an actuating-pawl in position to engage successively the registering notches in one of said wheels and a plurality of actuating-pawls each of which is in position to e11- gage the transferring-notch and one of the registering notches of correspondingadjacent wheels at the same time.

at. In a register, the combination with a plurality of registeringwheels each of which has a set of pm-ipherai registering notches adjacent to one edge and a transferring-notch adjacent to its opposite edge, of a primary actuating-pawl and one or more transferringpawls, a frame on which said pawls are mounted and means for rocking said frame.

5. In aregister, the combination with a plurality of independen thy-rotatable registering wheels having peripheral notches and located side by side on a single shaft, of frictionplates interposed between said wheels. and having perforated extensions, and a stationary rod projecting through the perforations in said extensions.

6. In a register, the combination with a pinrality of registering-wheels having peripheral notches and independently rotatable-on a single shaft, of friction-plates interposed be tween said wheels and extending beyond the peripheries of the wheels at one side, a stationary rod projecting through holes in said extensions, actuating-pawls for the wheels, and supporting and operating means therefor.

7. In a register, the combination with a plurality of registeringwheels having peripheral notches and independently rotatable on a single shaft, of actuating mechanism for said wheels and having perforated extensions through which a stationary rod projects for preventing rotation of said wheels except when directly engaged by said actuating mechanism.

8. In a register, the combination with an actuating device and mechanism for indicating and registering the movements of said device, of a special indicatorand means intermediate the same and the actuating device for insuring movement of the indicator at irregular intervals.

9. In a register, the combination with an actuating device and mechanism for indicating and registering the movements of said device, of a special indicator, controlling mechanism therefor operated at each movement of the main actuating device and embodying means for efiecting an operative engagement with the indicator at irregular intervals.

10. In a register, the combination with an actuating-lever, and indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, of a special indicating-plate, a pawl and a spring acting upon said indicating-plate in opposition, and means for bringing said pawl into operative position with reference to said plate at irregular intervals.

11. In a register, the combination with an actuating-lever and indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, of a special indicator-plate, a pawl and a spring acting upon said plate in opposition, a plurality of disks having differently-spaced teeth and each having one or more deep notches, and means for holding one end of said pawl in engagement with the peripheries 0" said disks.

12. In a register, the combination with an actuating-lever and indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, 01 a special indicator-plate, a catch for holding said plate in one extreme position, a spring for moving the plate to its other extreme position when released from the catch, a pawl for moving the plate against the action of the spring and a plurality of irregularly-toothed wheels rotated by said pawl and serving to move it into engagement with the catch and the plate alternately at irregular intervals.

13. In a register, the combination with primary and secondary indicating and registering wheels and lever-and-pawl mechanism for operating the same, of a plurality of ratchetwheels having differently-spaced teeth and each having one or more deep notches, adou" ble-end'ed pawl pivotally mounted upon the main operating -lever, means for holding its rear end in engagement with the ratchetwheels, a pivotally-mounted indicator-plate in the path of movement of the pawl when the rear end of the latter is in its lowest position, a catch for holding the plate in one of its extreme positions and a spring or springs for moving the plate to its other extreme position when released from the catch.

14;. In a register, the combination with an actuating device and two sets of mechanisms for indicating and registering the movements of said actuating device, of a special indicator, means intermediate said indicator and the actuating device for insuring movement of the indicator at irregular intervals and means for preventing movement of one of the sets of registering mechanisms when the special indicator is operated.

15. In a register, the combination with two sets of registering devices, an operating-lever and actuating means between said lever and each set of registering devices, of a special indicator, actuating and controlling means for insuring the movement of said indicator at irregular intervals and means for preventing movement of one of the sets of registering devices when the special indicator is operated.

16. In a register, the combination with two sets of registering-wheels, and an operatinglever and pawls, of a special indicator, an actuating-pawl therefor and means for throwing one set of registering-wheel pawls and the indicator-pawl respectively into and out of operative position simultaneously.

17. In a register, the combination with two sets of registering-wheels, an operating-lever and pawls, of aspecial indicator-plate, a pawl and a spring for actuating said indicatorplate in opposite directions, a catch for holding said plate in one extreme position and controlling mechanism for throwing the pawls for one set of registering-wheels out of operative position and the pawl for the indicatorplate into operative position simultaneously at irregular intervals.

18. In a register, the combination with an actuating-lever and indicating and registering mechanism operated by said lever, of a special indicator-plate, a pawl and a sprint, acting upon said plate in opposition, a plurality oi'disks having diiferently-spaced teeth and Gtlf'll having one or more deep notches, means for holding one end 0| said pawl-in engagement with the peripheries of said disks and stationary friction-plates for preventing movement of the disks beyond the extent determined by the direct engagement of the pawl therewith.

19, In a register, the combination with actuating means, of mechanism for indicating and registering the movements of the actuating means, a special indicator, and means tuatins: means for insuring: movement of the special indicator at irregular intervals.

In testimony whereof I, the said JACOB SCHINNELLER, have hereunto set my hand.

JACOB SCHINNELLER. Witnesses:

GRACE C. RAYMOND, ROBERT C. 'loT'rnN.

Images