US2061636A

US2061636A - Flag lock

Info

Publication number: US2061636A
Application number: US564596A
Authority: US
Inventors: Oliver G Saunders; George A Christ
Original assignee: CENTRAL UNITED NAT BANK
Current assignee: CENTRAL UNITED NAT BANK; CENTRAL UNITED NATIONAL BANK
Priority date: 1931-09-23
Filing date: 1931-09-23
Publication date: 1936-11-24
Anticipated expiration: 1953-11-24

Description

' Nov. 24, 1936.

o G. SAUNDERS ET Al. 2,061,636

FLAG LOCK Filed Sept. 23, 1951 INVENTORS mmders BY George 6. Cfirmi' i A TTORNE V Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLAG LOCK Oliver G. Saunders, Dayton,

Ohio, and George A.

Christ, Jamaica, N. Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Central United National Bank,

7 Claims.

Numerous patents, such as the patent to Julius Gluck 1,744,307, patented January 21, 1930, show means whereby when the flag of a taximeter is returned to its home position it must be rotated slightly counter-clockwise before it can be again moved into its recording position. For instance, if the normal rotation of the flag is clockwise, it is stopped in its home position and moved slightly anti-clockwise in order to unlock the flag so that it can be again moved clockwise into its recording position. The object of such a construction is to provide ample time for the resetting means for the fare drums to function so that the fare drums will be completely reset to zero before the flag is moved into its recording position. In practice, however, it is found that unscrupulous drivers of taxicabs will perform these movements so fast that the resetting means for the fare register drums has insufiicient time to reset the said drums so that the driver is enabled to over-charge the succeeding passenger by the amount representing the difference between what the drum showed in the partially reset position and what they should have indicated had they been completely reset. This over-charge is not recorded by the taximeter and the driver is enabled to successfully defraud the passenger to the extent of the said over-charge.

The object of our invention is to provide mechanism to insure the flag shaft being stopped in its home position and if the driver attempts to perform the operations quickly so as to prevent the fare drums resetting means having time to function, it will be necessary for him to make a double operation of rotating the flag slightly in a direction reverse to its normal rotation. For instance, if the direction of rotation of the flag is clockwise and if he slams it in a clockwise direc-v tion to its home position, he is compelled to move it slightly anti-clockwise, then clockwise, then anti-clockwise and thereafter to move it to its recording position. This double operation of the movement of the flag and the flag shaft insures a sufficient lapse of time to enable the fare drums to be completely reset to zero.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of our improved mechanism mounted on the back plate of a taximeter the flag having been moved slightly clockwise from it's normal position and then released;

Figure 2 is a detailed elevational view of certain of the parts shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detailed view of the releasing detent;

Figure 4 is a detailed perspective View of the stopping detent; and

Figure 5 is a detailed perspective view of the locking detent.

The back plate I of the taximeter has journaled therein a fiag shaft 2 to which is secured the flag 3. Secured to the flag shaft is a ratchet 4 provided with arcuate surfaces 5, 6, l and 8 and antirotation ratchet teeth 9. Each of the

arcuate surfaces

5, 8 and 1 lie immediately adjacent cam surfaces H1 while the arcuate surface 8 terminates in abrupt shoulders H and 12, the shoulder 12 being similar to abrupt shoulders l3 forming a part of the ratchet teeth 9. The cam shaft 2 also has secured thereto a disk 14 provided with a stop lug having an abrupt shoulder it on one side thereof.

In Figure 1 I have shown the parts in their normal position; that is, with the flag in its home or For hire position. A lever I'l engages rollers l8 carried by any part rotatable with the flag, such as the ratchet 4. The lever is urged upwardly by means of a spring 69, the object of these parts being to maintain the flag in any one of its four significant positions, which are as follows: its home or For hire position, which is when the flag is up as shown in Figure 1; its recording position, which is when the flag is rotated clockwise degrees from the position shown in Figure 1; its second recording position, which is when the flag has been rotated degrees from the position shown in Figure 1; and its non-recording position, which is when the flag has been rotated 270 degrees from the position shown in Figure 1. An anti-rotation pawl 20 is pivoted on a pin 2| secured to the back plate I and the nose 22 of the said pawl is urged into engagement with the ratchet 4 by means of a spring 23. The pawl 20 prevents the flag being rotated in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig ure 1 by engaging the ratchet teeth 9, but in case the nose 22 should be on any one of the arcuate surfaces 5, 6, "l or 8, it, of course, would not prevent this anti-rotation of the flag until it engaged one of the abrupt shoulders 13.

A pivot pin 24 is secured to the back plate I and on this pivot pin is rotatably mounted a locking detent 25 having a nose 26 which, when the parts are in their home position, rests on the cam surface 10 as shown in Figure 1. The nose 50 of this locking detent is urged into engagement With the ratchet by means of a spring 21. An arm 28 of the locking detent is provided with a block 29 to which is secured a guide plate or spring 30 having an over-turned arm 3| spaced 55 sufficiently from the arm 28 so as to receive therebetween a pin 32 carried by a releasing detent 33 mounted on a pin 34 which is carried by the back plate I of the taximeter. The releasing detent is provided with a lug 35 which receives a spring 36 having its other end connected to a pin 31 mounted in the back plate I. The releasing detent 33 is also provided with a nose 38 which, when the flag is in its home position, rests on top of the arcuate surface 6, the spring 36 holding it in engagement therewith.

A plate 39 is secured to the back plate I and this plate is provided with a lug 40 having a cam surface 4| on the right hand side thereof as viewed in Figure 1, which cam surface extends downwardly and to the right. The plate 39 is also provided with a pin 42 which may be in the form of a headed screw which extends through a slot 43 in a stopping detent 44 which has an arm 45 to which is fixed a spring 46 having its other end connected to the back plate I. The stopping detent 44 is also provided with a nose 41 which has an abrupt upper surface 48 and a sloping outer surface 49 which rests against the cam surface 4| and is held in engagement therewith by means of the spring 46. The stopping detent 44 is also provided with a stop shoulder 50 having a pin 5| which is engaged by the hooked end of a lever 52 pivoted on a pin 53 mounted in the back plate I. The lever 52 has a downwardly extending arm 54 which carries a roller 55 lying in the path of movement of the stop lug I5. The back plate I has secured thereto a fixed block 56 provided with a shoulder 51.

As shown in Figure 1, the flag has been partially released; that is, it is not locked against rotation by means of the stopping detent 44. It can be rotated into its degree or recording position by rotating it first in the direction of the arrow shown in Figure 1, then in a reverse direction thereto and then in the direction of the arrow to its 90 degree position. As it is given a slight rotation in the direction of the arrow, the nose 38 rides on the arcuate surface 6 and is held in engagement therewith by means of the spring 36. This rotation is stopped, however, when the abrupt shoulder II of the arcuate surface 13 engages the nose 26 of the locking detent 25 so that further rotation in the direction of the arrow is impossible. By this time, however, the arcuate surface 6 has been moved beyond the nose 38 of the releasing detent 33 and the spring 36 rotates the releasing detent 33 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 1 so that the nose 3!! thereof drops down into the position shown in Figure 2. When the fiag is now rotated in the direction opposite to the arrow shown in Figure 1, the abrupt shoulder which extends from the left hand end of the arcuate surface 6 as viewed in Figures 1 and 2 engages the nose 3B and rocks the releasing detent 33 a little further in a clockwise direction until the extreme end of the nose lies against the bottom of the abrupt shoulder. As the releasing detent 33 is being so rotated, its pin 32 has been engaging the arm 28 of the locking detent 25 thereby rotating the detent 25 in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 1 and 2 so as to disengage the nose 26 of the locking detent 25 from the abrupt shoulder II. When the releasing detent 33 has been rotated clockwise as above described and has removed the nose 26 out of engagement with the shoulder I I, the pin 32 continues to hold the nose in its elevated position so that it cannot again engage the shoulder II until the releasing detent 33 is engaged by the shoulder to the right of the arcuate surface 5 as viewed in Figures 1 and 2. The releasing detent 33 thus holds the nose 26 out of engagement with the shoulder II until after the shoulder II has passed beneath the locking detent. The flag is now free to be rotated to its 90 degree position and after being so rotated it can be moved to its second recording, nonrecording and back to its home position.

When the flag is being rotated from its home position to its 90 degree position, the stop lug I5 engages the roller 55 carried by the lever 52 and rotates the said lever anti-clockwise as viewed in Figure 1. As the said lever is being thus rotated it pulls the stopping detent 44 downwardly through the pin 5| so that the nose 41 is brought beneath the lowermost portion of tthe lug 40 and the spring 46 now rotates the stopping detent 44 clockwise as viewed in Figure 1 so as to engage the said nose 41 beneath the lug 40 where it is held while the flag completes its movement through its various recording and non-recording positions back to its home position.

If the driver snaps the flag into its home position, the stop lug I5 engages the stop shoulder 50 of the stopping detent 44 and presses the said stopping detent against the shoulder 51 of the fixed block 56. It will now be necessary for the driver to move the fiag slightly anti-clockwise as viewed in Figure 1 so as to disengage the stop lug I5 from the stop shoulder 50 so that the spring 46 can retract the stopping detent 44. After this is done, he will then have to rotate the flag in a clockwise direction, then in an anticlockwise direction and again in a clockwise direction as heretofore described in order to move the, flag into its recording position. The function, therefore, of the stopping detent 44 is to prevent the driver moving the flag from its non-recording or 270 degree position more than a few degrees beyond its home position. He must stop the fiag either at or very slightly beyond its home position and after so stopping it and after releasing the detent 44 from the lug 40, he must then perform three additional movements in order to rotate the flag into its recording position.

We realize that many changes may be made in the specific form of the invention as shown in this application and we, therefore, desire to claim the same broadly except as we may limit ourselves in the appended claims.

Having now described our invention, we claim:

1. In a taximeter, a fiag, a stop member rotatable therewith, a slide provided with a stop shoulder, a fixed member, said stop member engaging said shoulder on said slide and moving said slide into engagement with said fixed member so as to limit movement of the flag at its home position, means to release said slide by the operation of the flag, means to withdraw said slide out of the path of movement of said stop member and means whereby said flag is again arrested in approximately its home position.

2. In a taximeter, a flag, a stop member rotatable therewith, a slide, a nose carried thereby, a fixed lug, and means whereby said slide is depressed and said nose is moved under said lug while said fiag is being rotated, said slide when thus depressed being in the path of movement of said stop member so as to limit movement of said stop member and flag when the flag is rotated to substantially its home position.

3. In a taximeter, a fiag, a stop member rotatable therewith, a slide, a nose carried thereby, a fixed lug, means whereby said slide is depressed and said nose is moved under said lug while said flag is being rotated, said slide when thus depressed being in the path of movement of said stop member so as to limit movement of said stop member and flag when the flag is rotated to substantially its home position, and means to remove said slide. out of engagement with said stop member while said flag remains in substantially its home position.

4. In a register, a fiag shaft, a member secured thereto, a shoulder on said member, a stopping detent provided with a slot, guide means passing through said slot, a lug, a nose on said stopping detent, means whereby said stopping detent is depressed during the rotation of said shaft, a. spring whereby the nose on the stopping detent is moved beneath said lug so as to hold said stopping detent in depressed position until the shoulder engages the stopping detent, said shoulder being so positioned that when the shaft is in its home position the nose on said detent will remain beneath said lug but when the shaft is moved slightly beyond its home position the nose will be disengaged from said lug and the said spring will elevate said stopping detent out of the path of movement of said shoulder.

5. In a register, a fiag shaft, a member secured thereto, a shoulder on said member, a stopping detent provided with a slot, a guide and holding means passing through said slot, a fixed lug, a nose on said detent, means to depress said detent during the rotation of said shaft, a spring to move said nose beneath said lug when the detent is depressed so that said detent will be in the path of movement of said shoulder, a fixed stop, said shoulder when being rapidly rotated by said shaft engaging said detent and releasing said nose from beneath said lug and pressing said detent against said stop so as to lock said shaft against further rotation.

6. In a register, a fiag shaft, a member secured thereto, a shoulder on said member, a stopping detent provided with a slot, a guide and holding means passing through said slot, a fixed lug, a nose on said detent, means to depress said detent during the rotation of said shaft, a spring to move said nose beneath said lug when the detent is depressed so that said detent will be in the path of movement of said shoulder, a fixed stop, said shoulder when being rapidly rotated by said shaft engaging said detent and releasing said nose from beneath said lug and pressing said detent against said stop so as to lock said shaft against further rotation, said spring serving as a means to elevate saiddetent when the shaft is rotated reversely so as to relieve the pressure between said shoulder, stopping detent, and stop.

7. In a register, a rotatable shaft, a member secured thereto provided with a notch, a nose on said member, a pawl to engage said notch to stop said shaft in a predetermined position when the shaft is being operated in its normal rotation, a releasing detent actuated by said nose when the shaft is reversely rotated, means whereby the releasing detent when so actuated releases the pawl from said notch, a stopping detent, a spring to release said stopping detent, a fixed stop, said stopping detent preventing the normal rotation of said shaft when the stopping detent is forced against the fixed stop in case the shaft is snapped beyond its home position so as to prevent the said nose from releasing the releasing detent.

OLIVER G. SAUNDERS. GEORGE A. CHRIST.