GB2048538A - Time verification apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Time verification apparatus for recording the time at which a competitor, e.g. a carrier pigeon in pigeon racing, arrives at a destination. A token, e.g. a ring, is removed from the competitor and placed through an aperture 7 into a container 6'. Rotation of wheel 11 advances container 6' into a magazine of container 6 simultaneously recording time on a data carrier. Further rotation of wheel 11 brings a further container 6 to a position beneath aperture 7. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Time verification apparatus The present invention relates to time verification apparatus. Apparatus is known in which the time of the introduction of an article into the apparatus is established and a printing mechanism, driven by clockwork, prints the time upon a data carrier. A housing has an aperture for the insertion of the article and a manually operable indexing wheel is operated to transport the article from under the aperture, to actuate the printing mechanism and, thereafter to open the aperture for the insertion of a further article.

Time verification apparatus of this kind is used.in carrier pigeon competitions, e.g. as a so-called carrier pigeon clock. On the arrival of a pigeon, an identity ring is removed from the pigeon, fed into a compartment of the apparatus and simultaneously the time of insertion is established on a data carrier by a printing mechanism. Verifier apparatus of this kind is also useful in other competitive sports however, e.g. to establish a time of arrival at the finish of a race after handing over by the competitor of an identity token.

In such apparatus, a piumA'ity of articles, such as identity rings for instance, can be inserted.into a magazine one after another. With carrier pigeon clocks, the magazine has to have at least twenty compartments for the reception of at least twenty identity rings. One important condition is thereby apparent: it should not be possible to intefere with the magazine, for instance by removal of identity rings from the magazine and/or by introducing identity rings into the magazine in the wrong order, in order to attain the result that, e.g. an earlier printed time comes to be associated with an identity ring in order to deceive other competitors.

Time verification apparatus is known which has a drum magazine in which a plurality of chambers is arranged. The principal disadvantage of such a drum magazine is that it must be made of a size corresponding to the maximum possible number of verifications. Thus the maximum possible space which is available for the drum magazine restricts the maximum possible number of verifications. A further disadvantage is the relatively complicated mechanism of drum magazines of this type.

According to the invention, there is provided time verification apparatus comprising: a magazine of containers for containing respective articles; an article insertion station at which an article may be inserted into a container present at the station; drive means for advancing the containers singly from themagazine to said station and from said station to the magazine; and recording means for recording the instant of time when a container is advanced from said station to said magazine.

Preferably, said drive means is operable manually, Preferably, advancing a container from said station to said magazine causes a further container to be pushed into a pick-up zone of the drive means for advance to said station.

Preferably, said drive means includes a rotatable member.

For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example to the accompanying drawing in which: Figure 1 shows schematically a plan view of time verification apparatus; and Figure 2 is a schematic sectional view taken along line-ll-ll of Figure 1.

A storage channel 2 is provided in a base maga zine block 1. Channel 2 folds back upon itself generally in the form of a U having two U-shaped limbs. The channel has two end zones 3 and 4. The entire block 1 and channel 2 are enclosed by a cover 5 shown in Figure 2. A plurality of containers 6 are located in channel 2 and cover 5 is joined to block 1 in such a way that all the containers 6 except one are inaccessible, at any time, without removal of cover 5.

For access to the one accessible container 6', cover 5 has a single aperture 7, the diameter of which is roughly equal to the inside diameter of each contain er6.

A ridge 8 separates the two channel ends 3 and 4 from one another and extends beyond the channel ends 3 and 4 to form a bearing boss 9 for an indexing shaft 10.

A manually operated indexing wheel 11 and a drive disc 12 are mounted on shaft 10.

An annular channel 13 is provided to linkthe two channel ends 3 and 4. Drive disc 12 is rotatably mounted at the mid-height position within channel 13. For this purpose, the cover 5 has a ridged part 8', which coincides with the extension of the ridge 8 and is disposed above the driver disc 12. The drive disc 12 is provided with a recess having a leading guide edge l4andatrailing drive edge 15.Thesetwo edges 14 and 15 extend substantially radially of the indexing shaft 10. The leading edge 14 is however slightly rounded at its outer end in the direction of rotation 18 of the drive disc.

The storage channel end 3 runs roughlytangen tially and the other storage channel end 4 roughly radially relative to the indexing shaft 10.

The indexing wheel 11 is provided with an aper ture 16 which is the same size as the aperture 7 of the cover 5. In the illustrated position of the indexing wheel 11 the two apertures 7 and 16 coincide.

The apparatus functions in the following manner: In the illustrated position, container 6' is positioned in the linking channel 13 under the coincident apertures 7 and 16. An article may be deposited in the container 6', and the indexing wheel 11 then turned manually in the direction of rotation 18. The driving edge 15 of the recess in disc 12 carries the container 6' through the linking channel 13 in the direction of rotation 18. With this rotational move ment a printing mechanism, which is not shown, is actuated, so that the instantaneous time is printed on a data carrier. After a rotational travel of about 270 , container 6' is pushed into the end 3 of channel 2, and this container 6' thus advanaces all the other containers 6 in the channel 2. This is indicated by arrows 17.Thus the container 6" positioned at the other end 4 of the storage channel is pushed along the guide edge 14 into the linking channel 13 and hence taken up by the drive edge 15 and transported under the aperture 7. Aperture 7, which previously was covered by the indexing wheel 11, is now again accessible, since aperture 16 of wheel 11 is again coincident with the aperture 7 of the cover 5. In this way, an article can now be deposited in container6", which is now located beneath the apertures 7 and 16.

A new working cycle is thus possible.

It will be apparent that the number of possible verifications is determined by the length of the channel 2 or by the number of containers which can be accommodated therein. The insertion and transporting mechanism consists only of a single part, namely the rotatable drive disc 12.

It is possible in a simple manner to arrange the indexing wheel 11 and the driver 12 on a common shaft. By the recess in drive disc 12, a container 6 is transported at all times from the other end of the storage channel to beneath the aperture 7. After insertion of an article into this container through the aperture, with further turning Xpf the indexing wheel 11 this container is conveyed 40 one end of the storage channel, by way of the linking channel 13 which joins the two ends of the storage channel.

Preferably, the two end zones of the channel 2 extend parallel beside one another towards the drive disc 12.

In order to ensure that the driving of the containers is as smooth and free from play as possible, the axis of the other end of the storage channel can extend, as shown, in the direction of the axis of rotation of the drive disc 12. The course of the storage channel can be as desired. Preferably, however, the storage channel runs externally around the drive disc 12 and the linking channel. In order to obtain a tilt-free driving action, the drive disc is preferably mounted at the mid-height of the channel 2.

An additionai safety factor is provided through the fact that the indexing wheel 11 is rotated over the zone of the aperture in the magazine and is provided with an aperture which coincides with the aperture in the magazine when a container is in position under the aperture of the magazine. For security reasons, the indexing wheel 11 has a reversing lock, so that at all times the container can only be conveyed in one direction of rotation by the drive disc 12.

Claims (15)

1. Time verification apparatus comprising: a magazine of containers for containing respective articles; an article insertion station at which an article may be inserted into a container present at the station; drive means for advancing the containers singly from the magazine to said station and from said station to the magazine; and recording means for recording the instant of time when a container is advanced from said station to said magazine.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said drive means is operable manually.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein advancing a container from said station to said magazine causes a further container to be pushed into a pick-up zone of the drive means for advance to said station.

4. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said drive means includes a rotatable member.

5. A time verification apparatus for establishing the time of introduction of an article into the apparatus, comprising: recording means for recording said time on a data carrier; a magazine having an aperture for the insertion of an article; a manually operable indexing wheel whose operation causes transport of an article from the aperture, operation of the recording means and opening of the aperture for the insertion of a further article into the magazine, wherein the indexing wheel is kinematically linked with a rotatable driver, whose rotation conveys a container located under the aperture for the reception of an article into one end of a storage channel, through which all other containers in the storage channel are pushed one stage further and in this way the container located at the other end of the storage channel is pushed into a pick-up zone of the driver, which when further rotated transports this latter container to a position under the aperture.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the indexing wheel and the driver are disposed together on the same shaft.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the driver consists of a disc which is rotatable in the region of the two ends of the storage channel, and has a recess the width of which is greater than the width of a said container.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the edges of the recess extend substantially radially of the drive but the leading edge of the recess, along which a container slides when it is pushed into the pick-up zone of the drive, is curved at the outside in the direction of rotation of the disc.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 or 8 wherein the disc is mounted at the mid-height of the channel.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 9 wherein the two ends of the storage channel run parallel beside one another towards the driver and the two storage channel ends are joined via a linking channel, in which the drive is mounted.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein the axis of the other end of the storage channel extends substantially in a direction towards the axis of rotation of the drive.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11 when dependent on claim 10 wherein the storage channel passes around the drive and the linking channel.

13. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 12 wherein the indexing wheel is mounted above the zone of the aperture in the magazine and is provided with an aperture which coincides with the aperture in the magazine when a container is located beneath the aperture in the magazine.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 5 to 13 wherein the indexing wheel is provided with a reversing lock.

15. Time verification apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.