US1942621A - Rotary registering device - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 9, 1934. J. c. THOMPSON ROTARY REGI STERING DEVICE Filed May 22, 1931 [HI/60775): 'James C. 77701111 Patented Jan. 9, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This inventionrelates to registering or tallying devices automatically operable to register a series of similar operations, and has as an ob- 'ject the provision of such a device arranged to ,5 be actuated by the weight of a measureor container and operable upon removal of the actuating weight to automatically hold the tallying dial inregistered position while the dial-actuating ,rnechanism is repositioned for subsequent l regi at o s- ,A further objectof the invention is to provide an improved registering or tallying device particularl r an fo n g o a d u e with liquid-dispensing faucets and operable by and to register the number of liquid containers suspended from said faucets to receive the flow .thQ BfIQ A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of stepby:step, dial-actuating mechanism in a re i terin 9 tall n d :Afurther object of the invention is to provide an improved construction and arrangement of the elements of a weight-operable, automatic registering or tallying device, whereby a positive and efficient mechanism is produced which is relatively inexpensive of manufacture and installation and durable and long-lived in use.

In the distribution of certain liquids, notably oils, gasolines, kerosenes and the like, tank wagons are extensively employed, which Wagons are ,arran dlw th a plura i f p rat tanks each of which is provided with a discharge pipe having a faucet at its discharge end, and it is the practice to draw off liquids from the tanks into containers of uniform capacity, a fivegallon size being almost universally used, and thus measure the liquid dispensed from a given tank by tallying the number of containers which have been filled therefrom. In extended operations it is very easy to miscount orlose track of the number of vcontainers filled from a tank unless some positive, automatic device is employed for the registering, and it is the prime object of this invention to provide such a device particularly arranged for mounting on and use with the faucets of tank wagons, though it is obvious that the invention may be readily adapted to other mountings and arranged for registering in units other than those hereinafter set forth.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements hereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated by the accompanying drawing, in

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved registering device mounted on a faucet inposition for practical use, dotted lines indicating the ball of a container and-the position assumed by the trip mechanism under the weight of said do container. Figure 2 is a front elevationof the 1' showing of Figure 1, the dotted line showing of the latter being omitted. Figure 3 is a cross section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the indicated line 3-3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is across as section on the same scale as and taken on the indicated line 44 of Figure 3. Figure 5 is a cross section on the same scale as and taken on the indicated line 55 of Figure 3.

In the construction of the improved device as 10 shown, the numerallO designates a circular plate which forms the base of the device, which plate, as well as the other elements of the device, is formed of any suitable metal in Whatever manner may prove expedient;v One surface of the-plate 10 is plane save for a cylindrical, central boss 11, sections of an annular flange 12 and certain recesses, while the opposite surface of said plate is provided with lugs and bosses 13 adapted to fit about and engage the inequalities of one side of so a faucet shown conventionally at14, so that said plate 10 maybe fitted to and solidly held against said faucet to position the assembled device in of other types and hence modification of the construction and arrangement of the lugs and bosses 13 may be required, hence it is to be understood that the illustrated arrangement of said latter elements is but typical and in no sense limitative.

A simple and efiicientmeans of holding the plate 10 solidly in position against the faucet 14 is shown as comprising a pair of bolts 15 extending perpendicularly through said plate on opposite sides of the central boss 11 with their heads received in recesses 16 formed in the plane surface of said plate, said bolts extending in straddling relation with the faucet 14 and engaging at their outer ends through a clamp bar 1'7 bearing against the side of the faucet opposite that engaged by the plate 10, the bolts 15 being either threaded through said clamp bar or provided with nuts 18 which bear against said bar and provide means for clamping the assembly firmly to the faucet. Pivoted on and for free rotation about the boss 11 and retained thereon by means of a washer 19 and screw 20, a registering dial or tally wheel 21 having a smoothly cylindrical periphery and a diameter such as to be received within the sections of the annular flange 12 is mounted with one side closely adjacent the plane surface of the plate 10, the sections of the fiange 12 extending partially across and concealing a portion of the peripheral surface of said wheel. The sections of the fiange 12 are three in number and the upper and center ones are spaced apart to provide a sight or window wherethrough the periphery of the wheel 21 may be readily observed, the center and lower ones of the said sections being spaced more widely apart to define the marginal limits of a shallow recess 22 formed in the plane surface of the plate 10 and extending from about the boss 11 through the outer margin of said plate. A trip bar 23 is received in the recess 22 and pivoted at its inner end to the boss 11 for free arcuate travel within the limits of said recess and between the recessed portion of the plate 10 and the side of the wheel 21, said bar 23 extending well beyond the margin of the plate 10 to terminate in a finger adapted to be engaged by the bail 25 of a container suspended from the hook 26 of the faucet 14. In Figure 1 the finger 27 of the trip bar 23 is shown as having the form of an upwardly-curved hook, which is a preferred arrangement in that the hook is more positively engaged by the bail 25 than is the beveled strike 27 illustrated as a termination for the trip bar in Figure 3, though either form of trip bar is acceptable and in some installations the form shown in Figure 3 will present advantages over that shown in Figure 1. The inner side of the tally wheel 21 is provided with a relatively large, shallow recess on the cylindrical wall of which are formed ratchet teeth 28, said teeth being spaced a distance substantially equal to the opening provided by the space between the upper and central sections of the flange 12. A pawl 29 is mounted for limited actuation about a pin 30 fixed to and extending within the recess of the tally wheel from the trip bar 23, said pawl being so positioned as to engage one of the ratchet teeth 28 and rotate said tally wheel when the trip bar is moved downwardly from the full line position of Figures 1 and 3. On the opposite side of the boss 11 from the pawl 29, a pin 31 rises from the plane surface of the plate 10 within the recess of the tally wheel to provide a pivotal mounting for a yoked lever 32, one end of which lever pivotally supports a roller 33 in position to engage against the ratchet teeth 28, the other end of said lever extending beyond the pin 31 and being interconnected by means of a retractile coil spring 34 with a lug formed on the pivoted end of the pawl 29, said spring thus functioning in a three-fold manner to hold the trip bar 23 in elevated position, the pawl 29 against the ratchet teeth and the roller 33 likewise against said teeth, it being the function of the roller 33 to position the tally wheel when the pawl 29 is inoperative and prevent accidental displacement of said wheel. To arrange the spring 34 for most efficient functioning and to prevent wear between said spring and other elements of the assembly, a pin 35 rising adjacent the boss 11 from the plate 10 between the pawl 29 and lever 32 supports a roller 36 about which said spring is passed, said roller thus being positioned to rotate about its axis as the said spring extends or contracts during operation of the device and prevent rubbing of the spring against any of the fixed elements of the device. The cylindrical periphery of the tally wheel 21 is divided into sections corresponding in number to the number of ratchet teeth 28, and each of said sections is suitably marked, in rotation, to

indicate the number of times the tally has operated, or the number of units removed in the containers, the indicia shown in Figure 2 being arranged in multiples of five, which gives a direct reading of gallons dispensed when a five-gallon measure is used.

In the practical operation of the device, the elements being assembled, arranged and mounted as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, the tally wheel is set to zero indication prior to withdrawal of any liquid through the faucet, which setting is readily accomplished by rotating said tally wheel in a clockwise direction, the pawl 29 and roller 33 ratcheting freely over the teeth 28 against the tension of the spring 34. With the tally wheel set, the container to be filled is suspended from the faucet, the bail of the container automatically engaging the trip bar 23 and depressing the latter, thus moving the tally wheel the distance of one tooth or to the first indication after the zero. When the container has been filled and removed from the faucet, the spring 34 returns the trip bar to its upper position, ready for repetition of the cycle just described, the roller 33 holding the tally wheel in place as the pawl 29 moves to its new position.

Since modifications and changes in the specific form, construction and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of the invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claims rather than by the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention- 1. A tally device comprising a fixed base element, a wheel rotatably carried by said base element, indicia uniformly spaced circumferentially of said wheel, means on said base element coopcrating with said wheel to expose but one set of indicia at a time, a trip bar pivotally mounted on and arranged for limited arcuate travel relative to said base element, ratchet teeth internally and circumferentially of said wheel, a pawl pivotally carried by said trip bar in operative relation with said ratchet teeth, means carried by said base and engaging said teeth to limit retrograde travel of said wheel, and a single spring engaging between said pawl and said limiting means to hold both the latter in engagement with said teeth and the trip bar adjacent one limit of its arcuate travel.

2. A tally device comprising a fixed base element, a wheel rotatably carried by said base element, indicia uniformly spaced circumferentially of said wheel, a trip bar pivotally mounted on and arranged for limited arcuate travel relative to said base element, a cylindrical recess in the side of said wheel adjacent said base element, ratchet teeth circumferentially of said recess, a pawl pivotally carried by said trip bar in operative relation with said teeth, a lever pivotally mounted on said base within said recess, a roller mounted for free rotation in one end of said lever and arranged for rolling contact with said teeth and a retractile coil spring interconnecting said lever and pawl to hold both said latter elements against said ratchet teeth and said trip bar adjacent one limit of its range of travel.

3. In a tally device having a fixed base element and an indicia-bearing wheel pivotally mounted for free rotation on said base, a cylindrical recess in the side of said wheel adjacent said base, ratchet teeth circumferentially of said recess, a trip bar pivotally mounted on and arranged for limited arcuate travel relative to said base, a pawl pivotally mounted on said trip bar in operative relation with said ratchet teeth, a lever pivotally mounted on said base within said recess, a roller carried for free rotation in one end of said lever and arranged for rolling contact with said teeth, a retractile coil spring interconnecting said roller and pawl to hold said elements in operative relation with said ratchet teeth and said trip bar adjacent one limit of its arcuate travel, and an anti-friction roller carried by said base and bearing against said spring, whereby the direction of said spring is altered and friction between said spring and other elements is minimized.

4. In a device of the character described, a fixed JAMES C. THOMPSON.

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