IE881449L - Automatic placement of a recording disc - Google Patents

Abstract

A simple positioning assembly is proposed for a recording device in which diagram discs are used as recording medium and in which the discs are to be inserted in the recording device through a slit and received on a diagram disc receiving device having a centring mandrel with an eccentric attachment. In particular, first conveyor rollers (17, 18) are provided for a diametrical conveyance and a further conveyor roller (8) is provided which is driven by the same motor (15) and which drives an inserted diagram disc (6) in the circumferential direction and screws it onto the centring and receiving mandrel. <IMAGE> [EP0291740A2]

Description

o u i V 6 - la- 10 15 This invention relates to an arrangement for automatic positioning of a graph chart (recording disc) on a graph chart receiver, which is driven 20 by a drive mechanism and on which centering means and entrainment means associated eccentrically therewith are constructed, in a recording device into which the graph chart, which is provided with a receiving opening appropriate to the centering and entrainment means, is inserted through a slot, and in which the graph chart receiver is movable 25 substantially perpendicular to a guide passageway arranged behind the slot.

Recording discs (graph charts), as is known, have the advantage of comprising a decentralized data store which is relatively easy to 30 handle and whose content can be not only immediately read as instant information, i.e. without any technical assistance, but also evaluated by machine. It is advantageous moreover that recording discs are used not only for the tracing of various measured values, but also in relation to persons, as for the recording of people's presence and 35 working times, perhaps at several workplaces. In this regard they can - 1 - easily enter into competition with data cards having implanted electrical memories.

Just such a complex task of registration is known to obtain in the 5 vehicle roster of a transport undertaking, where the recording disc serves as a. carrier of records permitting interchange of drivers and vehicles, on which the data of interest are recorded according to clock time and, apart from their documentary value, are legible at any time by driving personnel, proprietors and official inspecting authorities. 10 A disadvantage which has substantially limited the utilization of recording discs to date is the large number of working steps which are necessary and have to be carried out by hand in the insertion and exchange of the recording discs for the conventional recording disc 15 register devices equipped with a hinged cover. It was desirable therefore to design a registering device intended for the use of recording discs in such a way that the recording discs could only be inserted through a slot and withdrawn from the same slot. Such a registering device could have a relatively flat construction and would 20 thus adapt well to modern requirements for build-in capacity into dashboards and instrument panels; but it would also have universal applicability as a recording module, so to speak.

However, in a corresponding recording device as proposed in DE-PS 25 12 66 036, the centering of a recording disc inserted through a slot still has to be performed by hand, i.e. the changing of a record carrier in this recording device still depends on the subjective care of the service person. It is a further disadvantage that a recording disc intended for insertion must be fed by hand all the way to the 30 centering position, so that in its terminal location it can only be poorly grasped, and even then, during recording, it remains accessible and can thus be damaged.

In order to obviate these difficulties, and in particular to simplify 35 the handling of the recording discs and free them of the need for - 3 - subjective care, and finally to improve the acceptance of recording devices of this kind, it is necessary that the recording disc which is to be fed into the machine shall be withdrawn from the inserting hand by a suitable arrangement after a relatively short distance of 5 insertion and shall be brought automatically into the recording position.

A recording disc already located in the recording device should likewise be capable of automatic expulsion in response to a suitable 10 command.

The concept of such a device requires a recording disc receiver which is not only driven in dependence on time but must also be movable perpendicularly to the guide passageway for the recording discs, and 15 this movement must be automatic. Since powered retaining or tensioning means for the recording discs cannot be applied to the recording disc receiver, because, in contrast to the manual insertion of the recording discs, such means cannot be actuated, the entrainment of the recording discs has to rely on a shape-sensitive connection, i.e. a centering 20 boss formed on the recording disc receiver must have an associated eccentrically disposed spigot or traction (entrainment) attachment, and the recording discs used must be provided with corresponding reception holes (receiving openings). This recording disc receiver, known per se. which, it may be mentioned in passing, constitutes the simplest 25 solution to the problem of taking up recording discs in accordance with clock time or some other temporal yardstick, presents considerable difficulties in regard to the desired automatic placement, inasmuch as the recording discs in general are relatively flexible, and the placing procedure, in many instances of application, requires to be completed 30 in a relatively short time. The object of creating a universally applicable recording module has the further implication that the conditions for large-scale mass production must also be fulfilled.

Thus the problem underlying the present invention was to create an 35 arrangement which with the least possible expense would permit an 1 •» - 4 - automatic placement of a recording disc inserted through a slot into the relevant recording device onto a recording disc receiver, on which a centering boss and traction means arranged eccentrically thereof were disposed. 5 The solution of this problem provides that at least one first transport roller is provided, which transports a graph chart pushed forward into the guide passageway diametrically in the direction of a centering position, that a second transport roller is provided which takes the 10 inserted graph chart from the first transport roller, guides it into the centering position and drives it in a circumferential direction, and that a switching device is provided which stops the drive of the positioning arrangement when the centering and entrainment means, which are moved towards the graph chart during rotary movement of the graph 15 chart, are in engagement with the receiving opening of the graph chart.

A preferred embodiment is characterized, inter alia, by the fact that a motor is provided as the positioning drive, that the transport rollers are connected together in a gear train, and that a counter-pressure 20 roller of the second transport roller is radially magnetized and has associated with it a sensor which is sensitive to magnetic fields. The preferred embodiment is further characterized in that there is associated with the guide passageway a first light barrier, by means of which, when it is interrupted by a graph chart being pushed forward, 25 drive of the positioning arrangment is switched on, and that there is provided in the direction of the centering position of the graph chart a second light barrier, which, in cooperation with the first, controls movement perpendicular to the guide passageway of the graph chart receiver. 30 The arrangement according to the invention permits a recording disc which has been inserted into the slot of the recording device to be taken away from the inserting hand at a relatively early stage, while still easily grasped, and to be brought automatically into the 35 recording position in which it is no longer accessible from outside. - 5 - The invented solution, which manages with particularly simple means, further makes possible the placement of a recording disc on a quasi-stationary centering and traction (entrainment) boss, and for this purpose all that is necessary is a substantially rectilinear and 5 simultaneously rotary movement of the recording disc; but the recording disc receiver does not have to be adjusted to the actual clock time. For this purpose a combination of powered transport rollers is provided which is driven by a single motor and is automatically switched off by a switching circuit whose sensor has recognized that the inserted 10 recording disc is no longer in rotation and has therefore been positioned on the centering and traction boss of the recording disc receiver. A further advantage of the invented solution is that in order to set the time drive of the recording disc going, it is merely necessary to remove the friction contact between the transport roller 15 which effects the rotary motion of the recording discs and the associated counter-pressure roller. The reproducibility in the placement of the recording discs is guaranteed even in relatively unfavourable conditions, i.e. high atmospheric humidity or low rigidity of the recording disc, by combining the above procedures with the 20 additional measure of assigning to the centering and traction means a ring segment quipped with a bent-on tongue, which in the form of a one-turn screw thread, serves, so to speak, as a catching mechanism.

The invention will be described in greater detail as follows, with 25 reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a recording device of the type described, Figure 2 is a highly schematic representation of the placing apparatus 30 according to the invention, Figure 3 is a plan view on a preferred embodiment of the placing apparatus, Figure 4 is a partly cut-away side elevation of the gearing component of the placing apparatus, 35 Figure 5 is a sectional representation along the section line A-B in Figure 3. - 6 - The front elevation (Figure 1) shows a relatively narrow front plate 1 which, when the relevant recording device is built-in, for example into a dashboard, is disposed substantially in the building-in plane. A slot 2 which serves for inserting and removing recording discs and an 5 associated gripping groove 3 which facilitates grasping the recording discs are formed in the front plate 1. A key 4, which is preferably illuminated, serves to control the expulsion of a recording disc located in the recording device. A lock circuit can be assigned to the key 4 by means of which a barrier associated with the slot 2 is 10 operable, so that the recording device, whose housing is designated 5, can only be serviced by a group of authorized people.

As can be seen further from Figure 1, but also from Figure 5, in the illustrated recording device, the recording discs are fed into the 15 recording device in a manner substantially perpendicular to the building-in plane. In the recording position, however, the recording discs are located in a plane parallel to the building-in plane, in order to satisfy the requirement of the shallowest possible built-in depth. 20 As shown in Figure 2, a recording disc (graph chart) 6 which is provided with a preferably oval reception hole (receiving opening) 7, having been inserted in the direction of the arrow PI, has already reached the centering position, in which it is driven peripherally 25 (arrow P2) by a transport roller 8 for the purpose of threading it onto a centering and traction means provided on the recording disc receiver, but not illustrated. The recording disc 6 is guided into the centering position by guide rollers 9 and 10 and the plane surface 11 of a toothed wheel which is disposed on the same axis as the transport 30 roller 8. 12, 13 and 14 designate the limiting side walls which define the guide passageway in which the recording discs are transported, while LI and L2 designate light-beam switches (light barriers) associated with the guide passageways. The gear train which transmits the rotary movements of a motor 15, on the one hand to the transport 35 roller 8, and on the other to a shaft 16 on which two transport rollers 17 and 18 are arranged with a spacing which takes account of the reception hole 7 of the recording discs, is accommodated in a common housing 19 which also houses the motor 5, and is associated with the guide passageway as a structural component as will be described in 5 greater detail further on.

If a recording disc 6 is to be fed into the recording device, the barrier of the slot 2, which can be realized for example by a hinged flap which covers the slot 2, is first opened by actuating the key 4. 10 If it happens that a recording disc is present in the recording device, the actuation of the key gives rise to withdrawal of the recording members, switches the motor of the placing drive (after a suitable time lapse) for the expulsion of a recording disc, and controls the drive which swivels the arm on which the recording disc receiver is housed. 15 The motor of the placing drive is switched off when the beam of the light-beam switch LI is no longer interrupted, i.e. the recording disc which projects from the slot 2 has been withdrawn from the recording device or, if it is not withdrawn, a predetermined time interval has elapsed. 20 If the guide passageway is empty, a fresh i.e. uninscribed recording disc, or indeed the disc just withdrawn for checking purposes, can be fed in and pushed forward as far as the transport rollers 17 and 18. This causes the beam of the light-beam switch LI to be interrupted and 25 the motor of the placing drive to pull the recording disc in. In the position 20 shown in broken outline, the recording disc which has been inserted and which, so far, has been transported between the guide walls 12, 13, and 14 of the guide passageway, exclusively in the diametrical direction, by the transport rollers 17 and 18, is taken 30 over by the transport roller 8, guided into the centering position and driven in the peripheral (circumferential) direction. When a particularly short placing time is to be attained, as in the case of tachographs, the arm on which the recording disc receiver is housed can be lowered as soon as the inserted recording disc, in the course of 35 being pulled in, clears the light-beam switch LI. The lowering of the - 8 - recording members is however only possible when the placing procedure has been completed, and the recording disc has been taken up on the centering and traction (entrainment) means, i.e. when a pulse generator associated with the transport roller 8 delivers no more pulses. At the 5 same time, in order to set the time drive of the recording disc going, the friction between the transport roller 8 and the counter-pressure roller associated therewith is removed.

If the placing of the recording discs is governed by a microprocessor, 10 various program sequences can be envisaged apart from the main program, and these can serve for monitoring the individual program steps and functions and, for example, can give rise to discontinuance of the placing procedure if, after a predetermined time or a predetermined number of pulses, the recording disc is not positioned, or the 15 light-beam switches LI and L2 are not interrupted in the correct sequence or do not remain interrupted, etc. etc.

The preferred embodiment of the placing apparatus, which will be described as follows with reference to Figures 3, 4 and 5, shows that 20 the guide passageway 21 is formed essentially from two angled plates 22 and 23, which are screwed together in a suitable manner, i.e. with interposition of rails 24 and spacing discs 25. One of the screws used is designated 26 and represents them all. 25 The guide rollers 9 and 10, on whose periphery a circumferential, V-shaped groove is preferably formed, are rotatably mounted on suitable carriers 27 and 28 secured to the plate 23, and protrude, through openings 29 an 30 in the plate 23 as well as through recesses or cut-outs (not further described) in the plate 22, into the guide 30 passageway or between the plates 22 and 23 as the case may be. One guide roller 10 limits the guide passageway 21 in the transport direction and thus determines the centering position of the recording discs. Furthermore the gear housing 19 is laterally adapted to the ^ plates 22 and 23 and secured thereto (screw 31) in such a way that to ^ 35 some extent the plane surfaces of the gear wheels of the gearing, e.g. the plane surface 11 of the gear wheel 32 which is coaxially mounted with the transport roller 8 and a plane surface 33 of a gear wheel 34 connected to the shaft 16, as well as fingers 35 and 36 formed on the gear box 19, all contribute to forming the front guide means on one 5 side of the guide passageway 21. The gear train of the placing arrangement, starting from the sprocket 37 secured to the (non-illustrated) shaft of the motor 15, constitutes with the gear wheel pairs 38 and 39 and with the gear wheel 32 a first gear branch to the transport roller 8, and a second gear branch with the gear wheel pairs 10 40, 41 and 42 as well as the intermediate wheels 43, 44 and 45 constitutes the drive connection to the toothed wheel 34 and thus to the shaft 16. The shaft is journal led at one end in the gear box housing 19 and mounted at the other end in unilaterally open bearings of a twin-armed bearing block 46 secured to the plate 22, and it 15 carries, as previously described, the transport rollers 17 and 18, which penetrate into the guide passageway 21 through recesses or cutouts 47 and 48 in the plate 22. Counter-pressure rollers, which likewise intrude into the guide passageway 21, are associated with the transport rollers 17 and 18. The counter-pressure rollers are 20 designated 49 and 77, the associated cut-out in the plate 23 is designated 50. As can be seen from Figure 5, the common axis 51 of the counter-pressure rollers or of a single counter-pressure rolling cylinder is mounted in a twin-armed, spring-biased mounting bridge 52, which is secured to the plate 23. 25 A counter-pressure roller 53 associated with the transport roller 8 can be switched into and out of frictional contact with the transport roller 8 by means of an electromagnet 54. The counter-pressure roller 53 is disposed on an axle 55 which is retained in forked ends of a leaf 30 spring 56. The leaf spring 56 for its part is secured on an anchor part 57 which cooperates with the electromagnet 54, said anchor part being disposed on the plate 23 for pivoting about an axle 58. A sensor (resonating element) 60 is disposed on a tongue 59 formed on the leaf spring 56, said sensor serving, together with the radially magnetized 35 counter-pressure roller 53, as a pulse emitter. - 10 - 61 designates an arm which is swivelably housed on an axle associated with the plate 23, is biased by a spring 63 and, in its lowered or depressed position, cooperates with a fixation rod 64. On the arm 61, which is movable by means of an electromagnet or a motor, an axle 65 is 5 secured, on which the recording disc (graph chart) receiver 66 is mounted. A gear wheel 67 associated with the recording disc receiver 66, stands in engagement with a mechanism which yields the clock-timed drive for the recording disc receiver 66, by way of a chain of wheels mounted on the arm 61 and indicated merely by an arrow, because not 10 essential to the invention.

In the lowered condition of the arm 61, the recording disc receiver 66 protrudes into the guide passageway through an opening 68 in the plate 22 and lies under the action of the spring 63 with a recording disc 6 15 interposed between them on an insert 69 provided in the plate 23. In order to reduce the moment of the weight acting on the mechanism, the insert 69 can be rotatably mounted. The centering and traction (entrainment) means formed on the recording disc receiver 66 provides a cylindrical attachment 70 as well as a relatively short tractor 20 (entrainment means) 71 which corresponds to the cross-section of the reception hole 7 of the recording discs. An annular segment 72, from the ring plane of which a tongue is bent out and serves to thread the recording discs on, is held fast by a sleeve 73 which is pressed onto the attachment 70 and completes the centering boss. . A recording disc 25 which has been positioned by screwing down, so to speak, upon the recording disc receiver 66, is thus located in a gap 74 between the annular segment 72 and the rest surface 75 of the recording disc receiver 66, which gap is only a little greater than the thickness of the recording disc. A cut-out located in the plate 22 is designated 76 30 and serves for the passage of the recording elements (not illustrated) into the guide passageway 21 and onto the recording disc 6.

For the sake of completeness it should be added that it is possible to provide a transport roller series lying substantially in a line, for 35 transporting the recording discs, with the advantage that the individual transport rollers can be directly associated with the housing 19.

Claims (9)

- 11 -CLAIMS

1. Arrangement for automatic positioning of a graph chart on a graph chart receiver which is driven by a drive mechanism and on which >• 5 centering means and entrainment means associated eccentrically therewith are constructed, in a recording device into which the graph ^ chart, which is provided with a receiving opening appropriate to the centering and entrainment means, is inserted through a slot, and in which the graph chart receiver is movable substantially perpendicular 10 to a guide passageway arranged behind the slot, in which at least one first transport roller is provided, which transports a graph chart pushed forward into the guide passageway diametrically in the direction of a centering position, a second transport roller is provided which takes the inserted graph chart from the first transport roller, guides 15 it into the centering position and drives it in a circumferential direction, and a switching device is provided which stops the drive of the positioning arrangement when the centering and entrainment means, which are moved towards the graph chart during rotary movement of the graph chart, are in engagement with the receiving opening of the graph 20 chart.

2. Arrangement according to Claim 1, wherein the centering position is formed by at least one guide roller engaging in the guide passageway and associated with the end side of a graph chart. 25

3. Arrangement according to Claim 1, wherein a motor is provided for positioning drive, and the transport rollers are in geared connection with one another. 30

4. Arrangement according to Claim 3, wherein the motor, a gear mechanism and transport rollers are grouped together to form a structural unit for flanged connection to plates forming the guide passageway. 35 - 12 -

5. Arrangement according to Claim 1, wherein a counter-pressure roller of the second transport roller is radially magnetized and a sensor sensitive to magnetic fields is associated with the counter-pressure roller. 5

6. Arrangement according to Claim 1, where an annular segment is associated with the graph chart receiver such that the centering and entrainment means are additionally of threaded construction. 10

7. Arrangement according to Claim 1, wherein there is associated with the guide passageway a first light barrier, by means of which, when it is interrupted by a graph chart being pushed forward, drive of the positioning arrangement is switched on, and there is provided in the direction of the centering position of the graph chart, a second light 15 barrier which, in cooperation with the first, controls movement perpendicular to the guide passageway of the graph chart receiver.

8. Arrangement according to Claim 1, wherein when the drive of the positioning arrangement is stopped, frictional engagement between the 20 second transport roller and a counter-pressure roller associated therewith is released.

9. Arrangement as defined in Claim 1, for automatic positioning of a graph chart on a graph chart receiver, substantially as herein 25 described with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 13th day of May 1988. 30 BY: TOMKINS & CO., Applicants' Agents, (Signed) 5, Dartmouth Road, 35 DUBLIN 6. 1332R