US1477887A - Selective information apparatus - Google Patents

Description

' 11,477,887 L. R.`MCDQNALD SELECTIVE INFORMATION APPARATUS Filed June l2. 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l @Mom/atm, um "@MMQL.

bio/ammi? mec. 1s, 1923.

'Dem 8 1923. v 31,477,887

L. R. MCDONALD SELEGTIVE INFORMATION APPARATUS Filed June l2. 1922 i 4 Sheets-Shea?l 2 Dec. 18 1923. AYZSS? L. R. MCDONALD SELECT-IVE INFORMATION APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 atented Dec. 18, 123.

aussi LESLIE BJ. IVJCDOITALD, QF WESTMOUNT, QUEBEC, CANADA.

SELECTIVE INFORMATION APPARATUS.

Application filed .Tune 12, 1922.

To all whom gt may concern.'

Be it known that I, LESLIE R. MCDONALD, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'lVestmount, Province of Quebec, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Selective information Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. Y

My invention relates to that class of se- 1U lective information apparatus in which a number of placards, or the like, are attached to a common carrier and are arranged to be successively exposed to view; and my im provements are directed particularly to means whereby a normally continuous movement of the apparatus may be interrupted at will, and any one of the placards may be selected and brought to and held at the viewpoint, so that the apparatus' may functionV both as a continuously moving automatic device and as an optionally selective device.

ln the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an apparatus embodying my invention, partly broken away, for clearness; Fig.

2 is a side view, taken as looking to the left on Fig. 1, the case being shown in section, as on the line 2 2, and the selection dial being shown in vertical section; Fig. 3 isa back view, the case being shown in section; Fig. 4 is a top view, with the top of the case removed; Figs. 5, 6 and 'T are details of the placard releasing mechanism.;

Figs. 3 and 9 are details of mechanism for l turning the placard holder; Fig. 10 is a. view ofthe selective stop and switch mechanism; Fig. 11 shows a vertical, longitudinal sec- .tion of the placard carrier, medial parts being broken away to condense the gure; Fig. 12 is a detail of the same, looking to the right on Fig. 11; and Fig. 13 is a diagram of the electric wiring. Figs. 5 to 10, inclusive, are on an enlarged scale; and Figs. 11 and 12 are on a still further enlarged scale. Fig. 9 is on a larger scale than the other Figures 5 to 10.

In all the figures similar parts are designated by corresponding reference numerals.

The apparatus is preferably assembled in a suitable case 1, which is provided with an open or transparent front 2, behind which the placards are exhibited.

In this case is mounted a placard carrier,'which is shown as consisting of a pair serial No. 567,773.

of disks 3, 4, with which are associated another pair of disks 5, 6, provided with series of notches or sockets 7, 7 and 8, 8, in their respective edges, adapted to receive the ends of the placard carrying rods or bars 9, 9, which may be locked in place by the overlapping flanges 11, 12 of the disks 3 and 4.

These disks 3, 5, 4, 6, are assembled upon a sleeve 13, to which . disks 5 and 6 are sccured by set screws 15, 16, while disks 3 and 4 are secured to the sleeve 13 by means of nuts 17, 18 threaded upon its ends.

The placards 19, 19 are carried by the bars 9, 9; and, being flexible, they may be wound up around the carrier, their notched ends, 20, 21, alternating as shown in the figures.

Through the sleeve 13 passes the shaft 22; and suitable means, such as a screw 23, is provided to secure the sleeve releasably to the shaft, so as to allow the shaft to be withdrawn from within the sleeve, to permit the removal of the carrier from the case if desired.

A slot 25 is carried down through the flange 12 on the disk 4, which, by rotating the disk 4 relative to the disk 6, can be made to register with any of the notches 8, 8, so as to allow the bars 9, 9, to be lifted out of or inserted into the notches. l/Vhen the slot 25 is disposed between two notches 3, 3, as shown in Fig. 12, all the bars 9, 9 will be held in place by the flange 12.

A bevelled gear 26 is carried by the shaft- 22 near one end, being provided with suitable means, such as a keyway, to receive a key 27 in the shaft 22, so that the gear will rotate with the shaft, and yet the shaft may be withdrawn to free the carrier, as above explained. Another bevelled gear 28 is carried by a shaft 29 mounted in -t-he case, and has a selection dial 30` fastened near its outer end, so as to revolve with the shaft, this disk being provided with one or more series of perforations as 01, 03, 05, 07 and 02, O4, 06, 08, passing quite through it.

A crank arm 31 is slotted, at 32, near one end, to receive the end of the shaft 29, over which it can slide within the limits of the slot; and it is provided at its free end with a handle 33, in which is mounted a plunger 34, preferably normally raised by a coiled spring 35, the arrangement being such that the handle may be swung' or slid into4 position over any of the holes 01, 02, etc., and the piston 34 depressed to pass through and project beyond the hole, as shown in *ign 2, so that when the handle is turned anticlockwise the dial will revolve with it until the plunger 34 meets the insulated exten SOD V56 on the end oit the spring switch 37V causing the switch to close with the termi nal 38, and, simultaneously, the extension 36 to be arrested by the stop 39, with the results in the electric circuits which will be hereinafter traced.

The pertorations through the dial 30 are preferably made at the. bottom of grooves 40, 41, which assist the plunger in centering over any selected hole, when the handle is slid incr out on the shaft 29; and, by separating the perlorations into two or more series, it is made possible to use, without undue crowding, a larger number than could be employed in a single series, and also to give ample space Plor placing the reference numerals O1, O2, &c., opposite their' appropriate pertorations.

The selection perforations in the dial 3() correspond in number and relative arrangement to the series of notches 7, 7 and 8, 8, in the disks and 6; so that when the plunger 34 is passed through any particularselection perforation, for instance 01, and is carried around counterclockwise until itreaches the stop 39, the pair ot notches correspondingin position to the perforation 01 will be brought, by the rotation of the placard carrier, into proper position to release their placard and allow it to drop into view position.

rlhe disk 3 is provided upon its periphery with a series ol teeth, 43 which correspond, one to two, to the perforations in the disk 30 and the bar-carrying sockets in each of the disks 5 and 6. Over these teeth ride the ends ol a pallet 44, secured to a shaft 45 mounted in suitable bearings in the 'frame ol" the apparatus. the other end of the shaft being bent up into an arin 46. An arm 42 carrying an inertia weight 47, which also keeps the pallet to duty on the teeth 43, extends downward 'from the pallet 44.

'lhearni 46 passes up through a slot 48 in an arm 49,and also through a diagonal slot 50, in an arm 51 pivoted at 52 to the 'trarne Vof the apparatus.v ,53o that, when the arm 46.is swung back and forth, by the dog 44 yriding over the teeth 43, the arm 51 will be swung from side to side over the notched and overlapped ends oit the placards 19, against which it presses, thereby releasing one of the placards for each half tooth 43 passing the pallet. This notching o'l the `ends the placards olers twice as long a ,fbearing forftheend ot the arm 51 against the end of each placard as would be possible ilth'eplacard ends were cut squarely across,

thereby making` it practicable to use, and

properly control, a much larger number of placarc than could otherwise be employed.

uitablc spring arms 58, 53 press against the rolled placards, and keep them snugly wrapped around the carrier.

A small electric motor 60 is mounted in the case, and its shaft 61 carries a worm 62, meshing with a worin gear 63, on a shaft 64, mounted in bearings in the trame of the apparatus, and provided at its other end with a disk-like head 65, to which is pivoted, at 66, a pawl 67, pressedV to duty by the tree end o'l a spring 68, the other end ot which is secured, as by a screw 69, to the head 65. The pawl 67 carries a projecting pin 70; and thc heel of the pawl normally rests against the Vstop pin 71.

lVhen the shaft 64 is turned by the motor, at each revolution the pin 70 will engage one of the Vteeth 72, 72 on the disk 4, and turn the disk the distance of one tooth, the disk being held against reverse movement by the detent-pawl 7 3 which is pivoted in the frame ot the apparatus.

As the teeth o-n the disk 4 correspond inA number to the placards carried by the placard bars 9, and the perforations in the selection dial 30, the end of a placard will be released by the arm 51 and allowed to drop, each time that the disk 4 is rotated one tooth space; and the placard will remain exposed to view until the disk 4 is moved again and another placard is dropped.

The placard carrier may be moved for ward more rapidly by means of t-he Crank 31, dial 30 and their connections; because if the pin 70 is in a position to be overtaken by the teeth 72, 72, the teeth will simply push the pin ahead and pass it, one by one, the pawl rocking forward on its pivot 66 against the pressure of the spring 68', but returning to its normal position as soon as each tooth has passed it.

However, it is vdesirable that, when the placard carrier is selectively actuated, the motor drive shall be arrested. This is accomplished by cutting the motor out' of circuit by means of the switch 37. The circuit, includingthe motor 60, runs from the terminal 75, around to terminal 86, and includes line 77, lamp 78, line 79, lield 80, line 81, adjustable rheostat 82, line 83, lield 84 and line 85. But, whenk the'switch 37 is closedwith contact 38, a shorter circuit is formed, from line 79, through the switch 37, contact 38, and lines 87 and 85 to terminal 86, and the motor is out out, and ceases to operate until the switch 37 is again opened. The cutting out Voli the motor relieves the circuit otits load; and consequently increases the brilliancy oic the lamp 78, which is peculiarly desirable when a particular placard has `been selected forexhibition at the view point.` V

be made narrower and Set closer together than they are shown in the drawings, and the teeth e3, and 72, T2, and the perforations in the dial 30 may be correspondingly increased in number, so that a much larger number of placards may be'mounted upon the carrier than are indicated in the drawings, which have been laid out to illustra-te the principles of construction and operation involved, without unduly crowding the lines of the figures. This characteristic of compactness, whereby a much larger number of placards, than heretofore was possible, may be attached to and exhibited from a single carrier, is of great commercial value, as it considerably increases the capacity of each apparatus without correspondingly increasing its size or cost. And it will be evident from the drawings and this specification that the parts of my apparatus are arranged so as to efficiently cooperate in obtaining the objects in View.

When the machine is vbeing driven continuously by the motor, if the operator desires to utilize the selective, manually operable means to bring intoV view the placard corresponding to any given aperature in the guide 30, for instance the aperture 08, he swings the crank arm 3l counter clockwise until it is over the perforation 08, the plunger 34 being raised, by the spring 35 clear of the dial 30 so as to permit this movement of the crank arm 3l. The end of the plunger 34 is then brought over the perforation 08, by sliding the crank arm 3l inward on the shaft 29; and the plunger is then pressed down through the perforation 08. The crank arm 31 is then swung still further counter-clockwise, carrying with it the dial 80, until the end of the plunger 34 encounters the insulated extension 36, which the plunger will push before it until the spring 37 closes with the Contact 38 forming a circuit from the line 7 9 through the switch 37, contact 38, and lines 87 and 85 to terminal 86, thereby cutting` out and stopping the motor as already explained Inasmuch as the dial 3() is, through shaft 29, gears 28, 26 and shaft 22, coordinated with the placard carrier so that their periods of rotation are identical, it will be seen that, when the perforation O8 has swung around as above described, the placa-rd corresponding with it will be eX- posed to view.

The forward movement of the placard carrier under the influence of the dial and its connections is permissible because t-he teeth on the wheel l travel forward past the pawl pin 70, pawl 67 permitting this movement, while retrograde movement is prevented.

I have illustrated and described a preferred form of my apparatus. But it will be readily understood that details of construction may be modified, as by the use of mechanical equivalents and the like, without departing from the spirit of my invention' and the scope of the claims.

living thus described my invention, what claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent op 4he llnited States is selective inforniation apjtiaratus,

tionally operable superseding carrier driving and placard selecting means.

a. In a selective information appara-tus, the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, means for attaching a series of flexible placards thereto each by one end, continuously operable, step by step carrier driving means, means for releasing the free end of a placard at each step, and optionally operable superseding carrier driving and placard selecting means.

5, ln a selective information apparat-us, the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, flexible placards with identations in their free ends laterally staggered in successive placards, continuously operable driving means, and optionally operable selective means.

6. ln a selective information apparatus, the combination of a rotatable placard car-- ricr, flexible placards with indentations in their free ends laterally staggered iu successivc placards, means for releasing the :free ends of the placards one by one, coin tinuously operable driving means, and optionally operable selective means.

7. In a selective information apparatus. the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, flexible placards rolledy up on the carrier and provided with indentations in their free ends laterally staggered in successivo placards, laterally oscillating means for releasing the free ends of the placards one by one, continuous y operable driving means, and optionally operable selective means.

8. In a selective information apparatus, the ombination of a rotatable placard carrier, flexible placards with indentations in their free ends laterally staggered in successive placards and with laterally overlapping unindented portions, continuously operable driving means, and optionally operable selective means.

9. In a. selective information apparatus,

the combination of a placard carrier, driving means, and optionally operable selective means embracing a selection dial provided with a plurality of series oit selection registering points.

10. In a selective information apparatus, the combination of a placard carrier, continuously operable carrier driving means, and optionally operable superseding carrier driving and selecting means embracing a selection dial provided with a plurality ot' concentric series of selection registering points.

11. In a selective information apparatus, the combination orp a placard carrier, driv- .ing means, and optionally operable selective means embracing a selection dial provided with a plurality of concentric grooves each having a series ot pertorations constituting selection registering points.

12. In a. selective information apparatus, the combination of a placard carrier, continuously operable carrier driving means, and optionally operable superseding carrier driving and selecting means embracing a selection dial provided with a. plurality ot series of selection registering points, and cooperating, radially adjustable selector means.

13. In a selective information apparatus, the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, automatic driving means, optionally operable selective means, and means, actuated by the selective means, for superseding and then temporarily interrupting the action of the driving means.

14. In a selective information apparatus, the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, automatic driving means, an electric circuit including such driving means, optionally operable selective means, and means actuated by the selective means, for modifying said electric circuit and thereby superseding and then temporarily interrupting the action of the driving means.

15. In a selective information apparatus, the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, automatic driving means, option ally operable selective mea-ns, means operable by the selective means for temporarily interrupting the normal action of the driving means, and automatic means, controlled by said selective means, for causing the resump tion of such normal action.

16. In a selective information apparatus, the combination, with a rotatablefplacard carrier, embodying heads each provided with bar sockets therein, a series of bars mounted in said sockets, and relatively rotatable socket closing and ybar locking means coop'- erating With each ot said heads, of driving means for rotating said placard carrier.

17. In a selective information apparatus, the combination, with a. rotatable placard carrier, embodying disks forming heads each provided with peripheral bar sockets therein, a series of bars mounted in said sockets, and relatively rotatable bar locking means cooperating' with each of said heads, ot driving means for rotating said placard carrier.

18. In a selective information apparatus, the combination, with a rotatable placard carrier, embodying headsprovided With Vbar sockets therein, a series of bars mounted in said sockets, and relatively rotatable flanged disks constituting bar locking means, of driving means for rotating said placard carrier.

19. In a selective information apparatus, the combination of a rotatable placard carrier, continuously operable driving means therefor, optionallyV operable selective means, and means for allo-Wing the selective means to accelerate the normal rotation of the carrier.

20. In a selective information apparatus, the coinbination of a rotatable placard carrier, continuously operable driving means therefor, optionally Y operable selective means, and means for allowing the selective means to supersede the action of the driving means and to accelerate the normal rotation of the carrier. Y

LESLIE It. MGDGNALD.

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