GB2149178A

GB2149178A - Stock control device

Info

Publication number: GB2149178A
Application number: GB08329376A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Albert James Collingwood Lewis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1983-11-03
Filing date: 1983-11-03
Publication date: 1985-06-05
Also published as: GB2149178B; GB8329376D0

Abstract

A stock control device has a display surface having portions to bear visual information 2, such as names of items in stock, an aperture 3 corresponding to each portion and an endless band carrying numbers behind each aperture. The band is movable from the front of the device to allow the number shown to be altered. The bands may be mounted on rollers on a common rod and the rollers moved by flanges 8 extending above the front. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Stock control device This invention relates to a device which may be used for stock control.

Warehouses and other establishments stor ing large quantities of goods generally require sophisticated systems for recording the quanti ties of different items held in stock. Such system are expensive and not generally adapted to smail-scale stock control, for example by shopkeepers or domestic users.

The present invention is intended to provide a stock control device which is cheap to manufacture, easy to use and applicable to a wide variety of situations.

According to the invention there is provided a stock control device comprising a display surface having portions adapted to bear visual information, an aperture in the display surface adjacent each portion, and movable endless bands each corresponding to an aperture mounted behind the display surface and vis ible through the respective aperture, each band bearing a series of numbers and being movable manually by means accessible from the front of the display surface to alter the number thereon visible through the aperture.

Each endless band may be mounted on a pair of rollers so that rotation of one of the rollers causes movement of the band. The band should be tight to avoid slipping on the rollers and the band may be made of elastic material so that it remains in tension. The rollers of the respective bands may be coaxial and mounted to rotate about a common rod which is fixed behind the display surface. The rollers on a rod may be separated by spacers to prevent rotation of one roller interfering with the other rollers on the rod.

In one possible arrangement one of the rollers of each pair is positioned immediately behind its respective aperture and the roller is provided with a flange of sufficient diameter to extend through the aperture so that the roller may be rotated easily by finger pressure applied to the part of the flange extending through the aperture.

A stock control device according to one embodiment of the invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stock control device, Figure 2 shows the upper surface of the device of Fig. 1, Figure 3 shows the lower portion of the device of Fig. 1, Figure 4 shows an assembly of rollers and bands used in the device of Fig. 1, Figure 5 shows a roller used in the as sembly of Fig. 4.

The device shown in the drawings com prises a rectangular box 1 which may be formed of plastics material having an upper surface provided with a plurality of parallel strip portions 2 which are overlayed with material which is easily written on for example with a ball-point or felt-tipped pen. The strips may be formed of gummed paper which is adhered to the surface so that the strips may be torn off and replaced with a fresh strip.

Adjacent each strip portion is a rectangular aperture or window 3 in the upper surface.

The box contains a pair of fixed parallel rods 4 held in position by lugs 5 on opposite walls inside the box. Each rod 4 supports a number of cylindrical rollers 6 which are freely rotatable about the rods. The rollers 6 are arranged in pairs, one roller of a pair on each rod, and an endless band 7 passes tightly over each pa'ir of rollers. The band is preferably of elastic material and remains under tension so that rotation of one of the rollers produces movement of the band with iittle slipping.

One such band and pair of rollers is provided for each strip portion and window 3 and the bands are arranged to pass beneath the respective windows. Each band carries a series of numbers as shown in Fig. 4 and these numbers are visible successively through the window as the band is moved.

One roller 6 of each pair is positioned below a window 3 and the roller below the window has an outstanding flange 8 which is of sufficient radius to extend through and above the window as shown in Fig. 1. The roller may be rotated manually by the fingers applied to the flange to bring any desired number on the band below the window.

The longitudinal positions of the rollers along the rods should be fixed and to prevent them moving along the rods they are separated by spacers 9 which are threaded on the rods 4 together with the rollers 6. The spacers may be of slightly greater diameter than the rollers 6 to prevent the bands sliding in the longitudinal direction of the rods as the rollers are rotated.

When the device described above is used for stock control or similar purposes the identity of each item may be written on one of the strips 2 and the number displayed in the approximate window may show the number of specimens of that item in stock. The number indicated in the window may be altered as specimens are added to or removed from stock. The bands are easily moved by means of flanges 8. The whole device is compact, easy to operate and easily and cheaply made of any suitable plastics material.

The device is suitable for use by shopkeepers in order to record the number of different items in stock. It also has domestic uses, for example to record the number of items stored in a domestic deep-freeze unit or the number of bottles held in a wine cellar. It is especially useful in retail establishments storing frozen goods in deep-freeze cabinets as one device may be attached to, or associated with, each cabinet and the contents of each cabinet may be read at a glance.

The device shown in the drawings has six strip portions but it will be appreciated that any number of strip portions, each having a respecitve aperture and band and pair of rollers, may be provided.

The bands may be held under tension to avoid slippage on the rollers but other or additional means may be used to avoid slippage. For example the rollers 6 may be provided with teeth to engage lines of corresponding holes in the edges of the bands so that the bands are positively moved by the rollers when the latter are rotated. Instead of being rotated manually by flanges 8 each of the rollers 6 may be actuated by a trigger mechanism, for example of the kind currently used for winding photographic film in cameras, such that each operation of the trigger will displace the band by the distance required to display the next digit through the aperture.

Claims

1. A stock control device comprising a display surface having portions adapted to bear visual information, an aperture in the display surface adjacent each portion, and movable endless bands each corresponding to an aperture mounted behind the display surface and visible through the respective aperture, each band bearing a series of numbers and being movable manually by means accessible from the front of the display surface to alter the number thereon visible through the aperture.

2. A device according to claim 1, in which each endless band is mounted on a pair of rollers so that rotation of one of the rollers causes movement of the band.

3. A device according to claim 2, in which the rollers of different bands are coaxial and mounted to rotate about a common rod fixed behind the display surface.

4. A device according to claim 3, in which the rollers on a rod are separated by spacers.

5. A device according to claim 2, 3 or 4 in which one of the rollers of each pair is positioned immediately behind its respective aperture and the roller is provided with a flange of sufficient diameter to extend through the aperture so that the roller may be rotated easily by finger pressure applied to the part of the flange extending through the aperture.

6. A stock control device, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.