US1763661A - Cash register - Google Patents

Description

1930- 1 L. LA FOREST I 5 6 I CASH. REGISTER Filed May 9, 1925' 4 Sheets-Sheet l rommm/g v IIHIIWI WIII gnwntoz June 17, 1930. L. 2. LA FOREST CASH REGISTER Filed May 9, 1925 I I 'lllmllllh I f1}.2 'i

- lllllium n 9 r 4 Shet s-Sheet 2 June 17, 1936. Q L. z. LA FOREST 6 1,763,661

CASH REGISTER Filed May 9, 1925 4 Sheets- Sheet 3 Patented June17, 1930 j UNITED ST TES PATENT OFFICE LOUIS z. LA FOREST, or 11.1011, NEW, YORK, ASSIGNOB TO ammo'ron ARMS COMPANY,

me; A CORPORATION or DELAWARE casn' REGISTER Application filed May' 9,

This invention relates to cash registers and accounting machines, and is more specifically adaptable to those types of machines where keys are merely employed for setting certain parts prior to an operation of the operating mechanism so that the set keys may control of some device for permitting the registerd or determine the extent of operation of the indicating and registering 1nechanisms.

Broadly an object of the present invention is to provide means whereby the manipulation to be operated will release and permit the return of any keys which may have previously been set.

More specifically it is an object of the present invention to provide an accounting machine, wherein the manipulation of a lever for selecting certain totalizers. for operation will condition certain mechanism so that the machine may becompletely operated and simultaneously will release any keys which" may have been previously incorrectly depressed. Another object of the present invention 18 to provide lock controlled means whereby the auton'iatic release of the depressed keys by the manipulation of the selecting lever may be controlled at will.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a single lock'having connections to certain mechanism whereby all the exteriorly operated and accessible manipulative devices may be locked against fradulent operation.

\Vith these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features ofconstruction and combination of parts, the essential elements of which are set forth in the appended claims and a preferred form of embodiment of which is hereinafter described in reference to the drawings which accompany and formpart of the specification.

Of said drawings:

.1 is an end view in side elevation showing particularly a portion of the driving mechanism, the means for selecting various.

totalizers for operation and the improved devices for-automatically releasing depressed registering keys.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view 1925. Serial No. 9,249.

v-iewtaken adjacent the selecting lever, and shows particularly the locking mechanism for the machine controlledby the sequential operation of the lever and one of a series of special keys. The figure also shows the connect-ions from the selecting lever to the release shaft for automatically releasing depressed keys when the lever is operated.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of the special bank of Fig. 4 is another vertical cross sectional keys showing how the machine is, finally released for operation.

Fig. 6 is a partial view in side elevation.

showing the means for permitting the automatic key release mechanism to become en-- abled or disabled. This view also shows a supplemental lock for looking all the manipulative elements.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the parts shown iii Figure 6. 1

Fig.8 is a fragmentary sectional plan view showing the devices for simultaneously looking all the manipulative elements and showing a special key for releasing depressed keys.

Fig. 9 is a portion of the clutch together with the member for locking it and the driving devices for the machine.

In the accompanying drawings the invention is shown embodied in a machine of the type which is well known in the market and which is fully shown and described in the United States Let'ters Patent #580,378, April 13, 1897, issued to J. P. Cleal and F. A. Reinhard; #707,380, August 19, 1902, issued to F. H. Bickford; #703,639, July 1, 1902, is: sued to Thomas Carroll; #996,814, July 4, 1911,and #1,153,360, Sept. 14, 1915, both issued to E. J; Von Pein and the patent to C. F. Kettering and W. A. Chryst #1,].44gl18 issued June 29, 1915. This machine is adopted for illustration, however, only because it.

, seems to lend itself best for this purpose and brought into co-operative relationship with a set of actuators, which are differentially controlled by registering keys. The actuators are suitably connected to a set of type carriers and also serve to adjust suitable indicators.

The operating mechanism is normally locked against operation by either a handle or a motor and is prepared for such operation by the manipulation of a member carried by a totalizer selecting lever and is finally released by the depression of one of a series of special keys.

Adjustment or manipulation of the select ing lever at the commencement of an item entering operation will return all previously depressed keys so that the keyboard will be clear and a correct registration will occur when the proper keys are then set and the machine subsequently operated.

Machines of the type to which the present invention has been applied are well known in the art and a brief outline of the parts of the machine disclosed in the prior patents mentioned which co-operate wtih the present improvement will be given. For a detailed description of the other parts of the machine, reference may be had to the hereinbefore mentioned patent to Thos. Carroll #703;

' 639. July 1. 1902. as well as the Von Pcin Patents #eeasle; July 4, 1911, and #1,153,- 360, September 14, 1915.

Framework Referring now to the accompanying drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1. 2 and 3, the framework of the machine consists of a base 1 on which are mounted the two parallel side frames 2 and also the parallel intermediate support frames 2, the positions and spacing of the latter being best shown in Fig. 3. The frames 2 and 2' are held securely by front and back tie bars 3 and 'respectively. and the intermediate frames 2 are so designed as to permit the mounting of a pluralit-y of banks of keys in their front curved portions 5.

Driving mechanism Journalled in the frames 2 and 2 is a main drive shaft 6 (Fig. 1) which is adapted to be turned one revolution for each operation of the machine. The method utilized for driving the shaft 6 may comprise either an operating handle or a prime mover, such as,

Difierentz'al mechanism The difierential mechanism is best shown in Fig. 2 and consists of a plurality of segment gears 14 each of which is controlled by a bank of amount keys 85. A detent 86 pro- 'vided for'each bank of keys is oneof a standard form and is described in detail in the patent to W. G. Chambers #1962767,

May 27, 1913. The detent 86' is segmental in form and is loosely pivoted upon the shaft 12 and is provided with inclined lugs 87 engaged by a bevelled face 88 formed on the stems of the amount keys when these keys are depressed, and the detent is thereby lifted against the tension of aspring. 89 so that its shoulder 861 rises above the shoulder 91 on a retaining bar which is then drawn rearwardly by a spring 95, thus locking the detent 86 in its upper position since the lower shoulder 861 of the detent will now engage the shoulder 92 formed on theretaining bar 90. The rearward movement of the-retaining bar thus causes the keys to be locked in their depressed positions.

The latching devices usedin connection with the segments 14 to co-operate with the driving sectors 13 under control of the amount keys are described in the Cleal and Reinhard Patent #580,378. April 13, 1897, and indicated. in the drawings by the numeral 1302. The extent of upward movements of the segments 14 is determined by the depressed keys which as is well known in the art serve to unlatch the segments from the driving sectors 13 at thedesired points. the sectors 13 then continue to complete their movements independently of the segments 14. The segment 14 associated with each bank of keys meshes with an associated intermediate gear 15 which is sccured to one of a series of nested sleeves 16 that surrounds a shaft 17. The sleeves 16 carry. at their outer left ends, actuators 18 which are in the form of segments, one of these segments beingshown in Fig. 1. As is well known these segments are provided for 4 the purpose of driving the totalizer elements one of aseries of sleeves 28 that surround a shaft 29. As best shown in Fig. 3 the sleeves extend towards the rightsideof the machine and are provided with segments which adjust type carriers 31 for printing upon a suitable'record material.

As shown in-Fig. 2 and as explained in de y tail in theCleal and Reinhardpatent hereinbeforc referred to each gear 15meshes with a gear 1303 which is for the purposeof driving the corresponding totalizer element of what may be designated as the grand totalizer to enter the amounts determined by the depressed keys. By the connecting mech-' anism described in'the Cleal'and Reinhard patent the differential movements of the segments 14. and the gears 15 and 1303 will be imparted to the grand totalizer elements so that the amounts set up, indicated and printed will be additively accumulated by these elements. These connections form no part of the present invention and therefore need not I be described here. v

tached thereto a larger segmental rack 381- which meshes with a pinion 39 secured to the totalizer carrying frame or reel 40. By-rocking the lever 35 on its pivot different extents the segment 36 will cause the totalizer reel to be rotated correspondingly, thereby bringing any desired totalizer 40 into'operative relationship with the actuating racks 18.

The lever 35 is aligned and maintained in its'diflcrent settings by a, plunger 41 (Figs. 1 and 4) which 'co-acts with an aligning plate 42 provided with notches 43 which register with the plunger 41. The plunger 41 is spring-pressed into one of the notches in the plate 42 by a spring 44 (Fig. 1) through connections which will now be described.

The spring 44 normally draws a locking arm -45 downwardly, the arm 45 being fixed to a short shaft 45 which also carries one arm 46 of a pair of arms .46 and 47 which in turn carry a plate 48 by means. of the pivotal connections 49 and 50. The arm 47 is pivotally secured to the-machine frame 2 by a pin 51 (Figs. 6 and 7) and is joined to the arm 46 by a pin 471 working in an enlarged perforation 461 in the arm 46. As the locking arm 45 is normally drawn downwardly the plate 48 will be forced forwardly towards the aligning plate 42 and as the plunger 41 isprovided with a bent lug 52 (see Figs. 6 and 7) extending across the front edge of the plate 48 it will consequently be urged into engagement with one of the notches 43 in the aligning late 42.

T e plunger 41.is carried by a bar 53 (Figs. p

l and 4) which is hung from the locking lever 35 in parallel relation by means of parallel links 54 and 55, the outer end of the bar 53 co-acting with a downwardly extending lug 56 of a thumb grip 57 which is pivoted to the lever 35 by a pi1i58. By forcing the grip 57 toward the end of lever 35 by a pinching action the lug 56 engages the bar 53 thus moving the plunger '41 out of engagement with the aligning plate 42 so that the unlocked lever 35 may then beset to another desired position determined by the notches 43.

Machines of this type are commonly provided with interlocking mechanism arranged between the totalizer selecting lever and a series of special keys so that inorder to unlock the machine these .two elements must be sequentially manipulated. The interlocking mechanism which is embodied inthe machine disclosed in the patents already mentioned to perform the results just stated will be described in general. but not in detail. since it is well known in the art and described in detail particularly in the patents to E. J. Von

Pein #996,814 and CF. Kettering and W. A.

Chryst #1;144,418 June 29,1915. However,

while the interlocking mechanism is shown in the present application it is to. be understood that it isnot essential to the invention disclosed and the employment of such devices is in no way required to practice the present invention. a

Normally the driving shaft is locked against rotation by a locking member 60 (Figs. 1 and 9) which is pivotally mounted upon the back frame 4 by a pin 61 having its downwardly extending portion 62 in the path v of a disk 63 carried by one member of a clutch 64. Q The co-acting member of the clutch 1H attached to a suitable driving unit, such as an electric motor. The specific construction of the clutch and driving unit is shown and described in detail in the patents last mentioned.

The member 60 has a notch 631 which is engaged by an arm 641 pinned to a rod 65. An extension 66 (Fig. 4) to which is attached a coil spring 67 is also secured to said rod. From the above arrangement of parts it will be clearly seen that the inember60 is always under the influence of the spring 67 and. if it were not restrained by certain mechanism, it would rock upwardly due to the action of the spring to release the operating mechanism of the machine. a

Having particular reference to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the rod has attached there'- to. a relatively short downwardly extending arm 68. A link ,69 connects thc'arm 68 to a second parallel arm 70 fast on a rock shaft tog le arm 72 being connected to an extension of the link 69 by a pin 75 while the toggle arm 73 is rigidly attached to the machine frame by a short shaft 76.

' In the normal position of the parts shown i arms are prevented from downward movement as will be explained, the locking member 60 is prevented from disengagement from the clutch 64 to release the machine for operation.

However, if the toggle were broken by the elevation of the pin 74 the spring (37 would, througlrthe system of levers just described, move the locking member to releasing posi tion.

In order to break the toggle by an operation of the thumb grip 57 an arm 77 is provided and made fast to the shaft 45. This arm, furthermore, normally prevents the toggle from being broken by downward movement of the toggle arms under influence of spring 67. Now it will be seen that when the grip 57 is operated the bar and the plunger 42 will be depressed and through the plate 48 and arm 46 the shaft 45 will be rocked thereby raising the end of the arm .77,

to engage and raise a roller 78 carried by the toggle arm 73. Rocking of the arm 77 thus serves to rock the toggle arms so that the pivot 74: is lifted above the straight line joining the pivots 7 5 and 76 and a further movement of the togglemay then be given by the action of spring67. The further movement'of the toggle referred to which is adapted to be caused by the coil spring 67, tends to rock the arm (58 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 4), through the movement of the link 69. The spring 67 cannot move the .system of levers further as explained until -permitted to do so by the mechanism yet to be described.

As hereinbefore stated the link 69 has an upwardly extending arm which is pivoted to the crank arm 70 rigidly mounted on the shaft 71. The shaft 71 extends across, the machine. and as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 it is provided in the plane of a bank of spec. :1 keys 851, with a crank arm 83 having an upwardly extending projection 82. The bank of keys 851 is adapted to finally release the operating mechanismafter the toggle has been broken as explained above by devices which will now be described. Each key is provided with abevelled face 852 which, when the key is depressed engages a face 853 of a lug 85a carried by a segmental detent 8]. and thereby elevates the detent. A pin 80 is mounted on a radial arm of the detent 81 and in normal position of the parts is directly above the projection 82 of the arm 83. Consequently, when the toggle is raised as above described, by the pinching of the grip 57 of the lever 35 the spring 67 will move the system of levers, thereby rocking the shaft 71 until the projection 82 engages and is stopped by the pin on the detent plate, (see Fig. 5). However, when one of the special keys is depressed the pin 80 is carried away from the projection 82 and rocks the pawl 82', pivoted to the arm 83, rearwardly so that the spring 67 then immediately moves the various elements connected therewith 75. further, as already described, and releases the machine for operation by rocking the arm (50 out of engagement with the clutch disk 63. It will be obvious that when one of the special keys is depressed after the pinching of the lever the pin 80 is carried above the projection 82 and the spring 67 then immediately moves all the elements connected therewith causing the cutawaysection of the crank arm 83 to surround the pin 80 thereby 85 retaining the detent plate 81 in an elevated position and preventing the depressed key 851 from being released.

As the machine is shown, therefore, there is a multiplecontrol for the main operating mechanism, that is, to release the mechanism the lever 35 must first be operated to prevent a partial movement of the locking parts and then one of the special keys 851 must be depressed. The advantage of this is to provide 3 a complete control over the movements of the operator inasmuch as it is requisite, in order to release the machine, that the lever be set to select a particular totalizer for operation and then one of the keys 851 must be depressed to provide for indicating some desired characteristic of the transaction being entered. It may be noted incidentally that the pawl 82 serves to compel the above mentioned sequence of operation of the lever 35 and the keys 851. Suppose, for example, the reverse order of operation should be attempted, the depression of a key 851 would serve to move the pin 80 on detent 81 over the upper end of pawl 82 and the subsequent pinching of the lever 35 and grip 57 would merely permit a partial movement of the locking elements until the pawl 82 contacted the under side of pin 80. To release the machine it would then be necessary to release the depressed key and then redepress either the same or a diiferent key 851.

Key release mechanism It is customary in machines of the present type to provide means whereby when a key is depressed in error the same may be released before an operation of the machine is begun. This, means comprises the following constructions It will be recalled as hereinbefore stated that when a key is depressed the detent element 86 is elevated to an extent sufiicient to permit the retaining bar 90 to spring rearwardly thereby bringing a shoulder 92 retaining bar 90 forwardly against the ten-f formed thereon beneath the lower forward end of the detent member to hold the latter elevated in locking position. It will, therefore, be seen that in order to release the depressedkey it will be necessary to draw the sion of the spring 95 thereby permitting the depressed key to spring outward under the action of its spring and permitting the detent member 86 to drop down to normal position. The forward movement of the retaining bar 90 is effected in the following manner. At its forward end (Fig. 2) each of the retaining bars 90 carries a pin 96. Adjacent each of the pins 96 is a pin 97 across the front lower portion of .the 'machine. It will be clear, therefore, in order to restore the elevated detent 86 and the depressed. key all that is necessary is to provide means to rock the shaft 98 in any suitable manner and this means as commonly provided in this type of machine com rises a lever situated at the right hand en of. the machine and projecting through the cabinet so as to be accessible to the operator of the machine. The construction just described is 7 well known in the art and shown in consider able detail in the patent to F. H. Bickford, #7 07 ,380, August 19, 1902.

. From the description which has just been given it will be noted that in order to enter.

In amount in the'machine it will-be necessary to depress the proper amount keys and if the. selecting lever should happen to be inthe position corresponding to the totalizer to be selected it will be only necessary to pinch the lever 35 and grip 57 and finally to depress one f the series of special keys to release the machine for operation. It will be understood further that there is no predetermined sequence of operation between the selecting lever and the amount keys and they may be de ressed in any order.

sually cash registers are placed in eX-' osed positions in stores and it frequently liappens that children and careless persons either intentionally or accidentally operate the keys and thus make a false record. It has frequently happened that a clerk or customer has inadvertently rested his hand or elbow upon the unlocked keys thereby settlng them for operation and again producing a false record. Keys-which have been depressed in error are not readily discernible and especially so if one of the lowermost keys should be set, and as is usually the case,

the operator desires to complete the transaction with a minimum of time and takes it for granted that all keys are at their normal positions prior to registering an amount.

lnordcr to better illustrate this point, an

1 example will now be given. If the operator or clerk desires to enter a transaction of $5 and the lowest key in thetens of dollars bank has been depressed in error it will be understood that an amount of $15 willberegistration should be detected by the operator or customer it would be necessary for the clerk to either cancel this registration or credit the records by an amount equivalent to the value of the key incorrectly depressed. This, of course, requires changing of all the records of thevariousdepa rtments and requires lengthyexplanations, and in general, considerable annoyance to all .the interested persons. However, if it should not be detected the consequences mi ht be more in'urious, since if it should be a recd on acct transaction the party would be credited with more money than actually received by the clerk. If it should be an ordinary cash transaction the totalizer would show an amount greater thanthe cash actually received by the clerk and deposited in the cash drawer. When the register was balanced that night there would be a deficit which could only be ascertained by checking up the transactions registered in the machine and printed upon the detail strip, which in itself is a laborious task, and it would then be ascertained only if the operator could recall the transaction-in which the mistake occurred. I

7 Where the cash register is provided with a singlecash drawer for all of .the'clerks there would be a greater opportunity for dishonesty since the theft in such case could not be readily traced to the dishonest clerk, and the excuse that would be offered for such shortage is that an amount key might havebeen de-. pressed in error. and not detected. Naturally errors of this kind can readily be prevented by requiring the clerk to insure that all the keys are at their normal positions before an amount is registered, but as long asthe ,,per-

sonal equation enters in the transaction errors of this kind are bound to occur. The present invention overcomes this objection by utilizing a mechanism which is automatic in its character and insures that any incorrectly depressed k'eysare returned to their normal positionsprior to registering the corsim- Automatic key release for registering keys This mechanism comprises a vertically disposed lever 100 (Fig. 6-) fulcrumed on a stud 101 secured to the frame 2 of the machine. The lever100 is bifurcated at its upper end to engage the. pin 471 carried by the arm 47 previ ously mentioned, while its lowerend is provided with a portion 103 (Fig. 4) concentric *with the pivot 10]. and a shoulder 104. The

' rod 98, previously mentioned, is provided at its extreme left end with a short arm 105 extending rearwardly and provided with a pin 106 extending in the path of the shoulder 104. From the arrangement of parts just described,

it is evident that when the grip 57 of the lever 35 is operated, to release the selecting lever for movement to a different position, or if it is already in the desired position to merely break the toggle as hereinbefore described, it will, through the parallel bar 53, force the plate 48 inwardly carrying with it, by virtue of the arms 46 and 47, the pin 171 and thereby rocking the lever 100 in a counter-clockwise direction about its fulcrum 101. It will then be seen that the shoulder 104 carried thereby will contact with the pin 106 and move it to such an extent asto move the arm 105 sufficiently to rock the rod 98 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1. As previously described, the rocking movement imparted to the rod 98 will, through the pins 97 (Fig. 2) and pins 96, move the retaining bars 90 to permit the return of the detents 86 and thereby release any amount keys that might have been depressed in any of the banks. Consequently, this mechanism insures the normal condition of all the keyson the keyboard at the commencement of an operation and before any of the desired amount keys are depressed. Since the toggle is now broken it is only necessary to depress. the correct registering keys and then finally operate one of the series of special keys to release the machine for operation. If, during the setting of the keys one should be depressed in error, it would only be necessary to again pinch the lever 35 to again return all the keys to their normal positions.

The provision of such a mechanism also expedites the time required to enter a transaction in the machine in case an error has been made since in the old machine it was necessary to alternately bring the right hand from the keyboard to the special release lever usually located toward the bottom at the right side of the machine and then back again. In

the present machine the release of the keys is performed by a manipulation of the selecting lever by the left hand permitting the right hand to be free to depress the amount keys after'the keyboard has been cleared for operation.

Locking dem'ces for keys and selecting Zeoer Machines of this particular type are frequently provided with a lockingsystem which is generally adapted to lock the detents 81 and 86 in such a manner as to prevent any depression of the keys in these banks. It will be understood that when the detent 81 is locked the machine is prevented from any operation. Such a safe-guard is generally under the control of the proprietor or an authorized agent so that the machine may be locked up whilenot in use. This is ordinarily done at the end of the days business so that the machine may1 not be tampered with and any records whic have been entered upon the different registering devices may be kept intact. Hereto fore no means has been provided to lock the selecting lever as well as th keys and it is an object of the present invention to perform this additional function. The specific construction and a description of the parts employed in the illustrative embodiment to perform this function will now follow:

There is provided in the machine plates 110 (Fig. 2) loosely hung from the lower extremity of each of the curved portions 5 of the intermediate frames 2. Each plate is provided with an approximately right-angled slot 111 and also carries av lug 112 integral with an extension 113 of the plate. All of the lugs 112 (Fig. 8) of the plates 110 normally extend in the path of the fingers97 which the keys from being depressed: When the ma chine is unlocked and a key is depressed the pin 114 which is carried by the operated detent will be permitted to move up in the vertical portion of the slot 111 so thatthe lock cannot become enabled whilethe machine is in a partly operated condition.

The manner in which the fingers 97 are moved rearwardly to rock the plates 110 so as to lock the detents against any movement will now be described.

From an inspection of Figs. 6 and 8 it will be seen that a disk 115 carried by a lock barrel 116 is provided with an eccentrically disposed pin 11? which serves to move at times an arm 118 by means ofa bifurcation 119 in the arm engaging the pin 117. The arm118 is pivoted at 120 and carries a downwardly extending portion 121 proyided with another bifurcation, forming a slot 122 so positioned as to coact with a pin 123 secured to a vertically extending arm 124 pinned to the rock shaft 98. Normally the pin 123 carried by the arm 12a is made to rest against a shoulder 125, formed by the rear wall of the slot 122, by virtue of a spring 126 attached to the arm 121 at one end and fastened to the thereby to move in a radial line about the pivot 120 permitting the tension in the spring 126'to drawthe pin 123 and arm 124' rearwardly, so that the rod 98 will consequently also be rocked rearwardly to permit the fingers 97 to contact with the lugs 112 and rock the plates 110 so as to lock the detents 81 and 86. g

' Advanta e of the rearward rocking of the rod 98 by this means has been taken to lock the selecting lever 35. To this end the shoulder 104 formed on the member 100 has been so positioned that when the rod 98 is rocked rearwardly (Figs. ing of the detents 81 and 86, it will bring the pin 106 carried bythe-arm' 105 against the shoulder 104, as shown by thedotted circle inFigs. 4 and 6.

It is apparent from the above description that when the rod 98 is brought to a locking position it will also by means of the arm 105 d and pin 106 acting on the, lever 100 and through the arms 46 and 47 plate 48 and lug s the vadjustment lever.

52,prevent the'retraction of the plunger 41 out of the notches 43 and thereby lock the lever 35 and parts attached or connected thereto against-any displacement. It will be understood that the rod 98 is at this time I held against clockwise rotation (Fig. 6) by the" forward shoulderofthe slot 122 in the bifurcated member 121.v v Disabling mechanism for automatic key release device 'As already pointed out the present invention includes the-desirable and advantageous protective feature of automaticall releasing the keys which feature has been a ded to the machine disclosed in the patents mentioned hereinbefore, but while this construction is of greatvalue at most times, it may be that during the course of the day for certain reasons which ma arise it -will be desirable to permit the setting up of an amount prior to of the totalizer selecting Although this may very seldom be required, such a possibility may arise and to'take care of such exigencies a lock controlled means has been devised for disabling the automatic key release mechanism. This mechanism is best shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

Referriug'more particularly to these fig- }ures it will be seen that a vertically sliding mcniber 150 is mounted upon the side o the lever by means of pin and slot connections 151, the member 150 being provided with a shoulder 152 which replaces the shoulder 104 previously described and which is normally adapted to contact with pin 106 in a manner similar to the lug 104 as previously explained. In addition, the slide 150, has an off-set portion 153 in which is formed a slot 154. A look 155is suitably attached to the side of the machine cabinet 156 (Fig. 7 A

1 and 4) .to effect a lockriedby the disk 157.

,It will L e readily seen that the general operation of the above-described structure is the same as the previously described device, except that an additional lock controlled means .has been provided in place of therigid shoulder 104 to render such a device eifective or ineffective at the will of any authorized person. The operation of this means may be briefly described as follows: I

As best seen. in Fig. 6 the lock is shown in its eiiective position, that is to say, if the machine were operated with the parts in this position the pinching of the lever would rethat shoulder 152 integral with the slide 150 is substantially of the same formation as the lug 1'04 previously described. It is apparent therefore that the shoulder 152 will contact with the pin 106 to rock the rod 98to release' the keys when the" lever 100 is'rocked by the movement of pin 471 in a manner explained hereinbefore.

Assuming nowtliat a key is inserted in the lock 155 and the bolt operated. The disk 157 will bring the pin 158 carried thereby toa position opposite that shown in Fig; 6 and when the pin is moved up in this manner, it will, by means of slot 154, raise the slide 150 upwardly and consequently will carry the sh'oul der 152 out of line with the pin 106 so that when the rocking of the lever 10.0 subsequently takes place the shoulder 152 will not strike the pin 106 and noinoveincnt will be imparted to the rod 98 to release the keysa While the-parts are thus conditioned it is desirable toprovide the operator with some means capable of rocking the rod 98 to release erroneously depressed keys. To this end a. suitablepush-key 160 is provided (Figs. 6

and 8) and is loosely mounted to move through a perforation 1601'made in the front tie bar 3. a An enlarged head 161 iscarried at. its inward end so as to contact with a lug 162 integral with a collar 163 pinned to the rod 98. From the foregoing it is clear that when the machine is so operated the old system is reverte'd to for rocking the rod 98 to release the erroneously depressed keys.

It will benoticedthat on account of the design of the present parts when the rod 98 is given a rearward movement to lockthe keys and selecting lever, it will simultaneously'lock the error key 160. The result is that all .lease the amount keys. This is dueto the fact the exteriorly located and manually operable devices are locked against improper manipulation.

General summary] of operation lVith the foregoing detailed description it is thought that the invention has been clearly described, but in order to coordinate the various features a resume of the operation of the machine as a whole will now be given.

It will be assumed that one of the clerks desires to enter an amount of $5.00 in the machine and that the transaction is one which requires the adjustment of the selecting lever 35 to a new position. The clerk will then depress the thum grip'57 (Fig. 1) so that the lug 56 engages the bar thus moving the plunger 41 out of engagement with the aligning plate -12. Since the lever is now unlocked it may be rocked about its pivotal point 12 so that the segmental gear portion 36 meshing with the segmental rack 37 will rock the segmental rack 381 thereby driving the pinion 39 secured to the totalizer selecting frame 40. This will select the desired totalizcr for operation, the reel being aligned in the proper position by the subsequent engagement of the plunger 11 with one of the notches 42 in the aligning plate d3.

\Vhen the grip 57 of the lever 35 was operated'it forced the lug 52 (Fig. 4) carried by the plunger 41 inwardly also forcing the plate 48 inwardly and, through its connection 49 and 50'to the arms 46 and 47, respectively, rocking the shaft 45. Rocking of the shaft e5 through the arm 77 will raise the roller 78 carried by the toggle arm 7 2 thereby bringing the connecting pin 74 above the straight line joining the pivots 7 5 and-76. The spring 67 acting upon the arm 66 will'then, through the shaft 65 arms 68, 69 and 70 rock the shaft 71 until the projection 82 of the arm 83 engages and is stopped by the pin 80 carried by the radial arm of the detent 81 associated with the bapk of special keys.

As previously stated the shaft will be partially rocked, but not sufliciently to re- I lease the machine for operation. This, of

course, requires the depression of one of the special keys to finally release the machine for operation, but it will be necessary to first depress the proper amount key in order to effect the desired registration.

Referring to F ig. 2 when the five key in the dollars bank is depressed the camming portion 88 co-acting with the inclined lug 87 in the detent 86 will lift its shoulder 861 from the shoulder 91 on the retaining bar90 which is then drawn 'rearwardly"by [the spring 95. Since the lower end of the detent now engages the higher shoulder 92, formed on the retaining bar; the key will-be locked in its depressed position.

"In order to release the machine for opera-; tion one of the special keys is operated and 6 is rotated it will, through the link 11 rock I the shaft 12and the driving sectors 13 so that the shoulder 1301 on the dollars sector will on the return stroke of the latter engage a portion of the latch mechanism 1302 so that the extent of movement of the segment 14 which carries the latch mechanism will be determined by the depressed key. The manner of imparting a differential movement to the segment 14, and how through intermediate connections it enters the desired amount in the grand totalizer as well as the selected sub-totalizer and how it sets a related indicator and type wheel is well known in the art and need not be explained here.

It will be assumed that the one key in the tens of dollars bank was depressed in error and was not detected by the clerk operating the machine. \Vithout the use of the present invention it will be clear that $10.00 will be erroneously entered in the machine. By the employment of the improved devices it will be noted that when the operator pinched the lever 35 and grip 57 it rocked the lever 100 (Fig. 42) about its pivotal point since the lever is connected to the arm 4.6 bythe pin and slot connection 471. As the lever 100 was rocked in a counter-clockwise direction about its pivot the shoulder 101 integral with the lever 100 engaged a pin 106 carried by the arm 105 and rocked the shaft 98 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 4). As best shown in Fig. 2 rocking of the shaft 98 will, through the radial pin 97 and pin 96, move the retaining bar 90 forwardly permitting the return of the detent 86 associated with the tens of dollars bank, thereby releasing the ten dollar key.

A modified construction of the lever 100 may be employed so that if it is desired for some reason or other to disable the auto matic releasing of the registering keys by pinching the lever a key may be inserted in and operated so pin 106 so that even though the selecting le-- ver is again pinched the shoulder 152 will not strike the pin 106, thereby imparting no movement to the shaft 98 to release the orly located form whatever as r to thereleasing devices for the keys so that keys. If one should be depressed in error it will be released by simply forcing the push key 160 inwardly and through the lug 162 rocking the shaft 98 to perform the functions previously stated.

At the end of a days business or some other period it is desirable to lock all the exteriand manually operable devices and to this end when it is so desired the bolt of the lock 116 (Fig. 6) may be operated by the turning of an inserted key in the lock. Rotation of the disk 115 through the pin 117 will move the arm 118 downwardly so as to permit the shoulder 125 formed on the arm 121 integral with the arm 118 to move in an are about the pivot 120 thereby permitting the spring 126 to rock the pin 123 and arm 12 1 rearwardly. Since the arm 124: is attached to the shaft 98 the latter will be rocked counter-clockwise as viewed in Fig. 6, bringing the pin 106 carried by the arm 105 against the shoulder 152 (or 10 1 Fig. 4) and locking the selecting'lever in its adjusted position, the slot 122 positively preventing forward movement of the parts.-

At the same time the lug 162 will be brought against the collar 161 carried by the rear ward end of the push key 160. This, of course, will lock the error key in its outward position.

While the shaft 98 was being rocked the pins 97 (Fig. 2) coacting with the lugs 112 .integral with the plates 110 rocked the plates count'er clockwise as viewed in Fig. 10 so that the pins 92 carried by the detents 81 and 86 co-operate with the substantially horizontal portion of the slots 111 formed in the plates 110. Co-action of the pins 92 with these portions of the slots locks the detents 86 and 81 in their normal position, thus preventing the raising of the detents by the depression of any of the amount or special keys respectively.

For the purpose of illustration a specific form of the invention has been shown inconnection with a particular type of register, but it may, however, be applied to any form of machine wherein any manually operable device is operated, either partially or com pletely to unlock the machme for operation. The manually operable device may be of any long as it has connections when operated it will control the unlocking mechanism for the machine and simultaneously release the depressed registering keys. As far as applicant is aware he is thefirst in the artto show this combination and desires to broadly claim the same and it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not to be limited to the construction shown and described.

While the shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to conform of embodiment herein line the invention to the one form of embodiment here shown since it may be embodied in various forms all coming within the scope of the claims which follow:

What is claimed is 1. In a cash register, the combination with a normally locked operating mechanism, of a manually operable device for controlling the unloc king of said mechanism, a differential mechanism, va plurality of depressible keys controlling the extent of movement of the differential mechanism by the operating mechanism, and means controlled by the manually operable device for releasing depressed keys preliminary to the operation of v the machine.

2. In a cash register, the combination of a manually operable device, an operating mechanism, differential mechanism, a plurality'of' depressible keys controlling the extent of movement of the differential mechanism by the operating mechanism, and means controlled by the manually operable device for unlocking the operating mechanism and simultaneously releasing depressed keys.

3. In a cash register, the combination with a manually operable device for controlling the selection of a plurality of totalizers, of keys for controlling the extent of operation of the selected totalizer, and means under control of the manually operable device for releasing depressed keys when the manually operable device is manipulated to select a totalizer.

1. In a cash register, the combination with an operating mechanism, of a manually operable device operable as a preliminary to the operation of the operating mechanism, a differential mechanism, keys'for controlling the extent of movement of the diilerential mechanism by the operating mechanism, releasing devicesflfor said keys, whereby the manually operable device operates the releasing devices preliminary to the operation of the machine.

5. In a cash register, the combination of a totalizer selecting lever movable to differ ent positions, settable keys, devices releasing keys that are in set position, and means under control of the lever for operating thereand means leasing devices as an incident to-the adjustment of the lever from one position to another. i

the operation of the operating mechanism, a.

differential mechanism, settable keys for, controlling the extent of movement of the diilerential mechanism by the operating mechanisms, releasing devices for said keys, means whereby the manually operable device operates the releasing devices preliminary to the operation ol the machine, and lock controlled devices for disabling said means.

S In a cash register, the combination oi" a plurality of settablc keys, duices for releasing keys that are set, a lever for selecting totalizers, and means carried by said lever whereby said releasing devices may be operated in any position of the lever.

I). In a cash register, the combination of a dillerentially movable lever for selecting totalizcrs, means carri l by the lever operable as an incident to adjusting thelever to another position, plurality of settable keys, devices for releasing key that are set, and connections whereby said 111021115 operates the releasing devices.

10. In a cash rtgistcr, the combination of a lever adjustable to a plurality of ditl crent positions, a plurality oi settable keys, and a common locking means iorlocking said keys against depression and the lever against movement, in any of said positions of the lever,

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a series of operable and normally arrcstablc keys, a series of operable but normally unarrcstable keys, a dillerentially movable device, means under control thereof for permitting the arresting of any key of the series of normally unarrestable keys, and

means whereby the dilierentially movable device releases any depressed key of the series 0 norm-ally ope able and arrestable keys.

1?. In a cash register, the combination of a plurality of settable key-s, devices for releasing keys that are set, a dili ercntially movable lever for selecting totalizers, and means attached to said dillerentially movable lever for operating the releasing devices.

13. In a cash register, the combination of an operating mechanism, locking devices therefor, a series of amount keys, a series of special keys, a lever, means whereby a predetermined sequence of operation between the lever and one of the special keys is necessary to operate the locking devices, and means whereby the lever releases any of the depressed amount keys.

ll. In a machine of the class described,

the combination of a totalizer, a set of manipulative elements for controlling amounts to be registered, a preliminarily movable element for conditioning the machine for itemizing operation, and means whereby any displaced manipulative elements lor controlling amounts will be restored to normal position by the manipulation of the preliminarily movable element.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a main operating 'mcchanism, of a device normally locking said operating mechanism against operation, depressible amount keys for determining the an'iounts to be entered in the machine by the main operating mechanism, an adjustable totalizer selecting element for conditioning the locking device to become r leascd, and means operated by said adjustable element to." causing the release oi any of the de prtssed amount keys.

iii. In a cash register, the combination of a series oi operable keys, means for. arresting keys that are operated, of a dillercntially adjustable manipulative device for selecting various totalizers. and means attached to said device for releasing any arrested key.

It. In a registering machine, provided with a main drivii'ig mechanism and a pluof accounting devices, the combination of a set of normally dcpressible keys for controlling amounts to be entred into the different accounting devices, a manually 01erable lever for selecting the desired accounting device for operation, and connections between said selecting lever and the said set of amount: keys so that the latter will be released and restored to their normal positions by the manipulation of the selecting lever.

18. In a cash register, the COIIlblIllttlOll of a totalizer selecting lever movable to dill'erent positions, settable keys, devices for re leasing keys that are set, and means under control of the lever for operating the releasing devices as an incident to the adjustment of the lever from one position to, another.

19. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a main operating mechanism, locking means therefor, a sct of amount keys, a manipulative element for controlling said locking means, and means for preventing an eti'ective set-upon said key; prior to operation of said element.

In witness whereof I have si ned my name hereto this (3th day of May, 192a.

LOUIS Z. LA FOREST.

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