US2255010A

US2255010A - Time recorder-

Info

Publication number: US2255010A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1941-09-02
Anticipated expiration: 1958-09-02

Description

c. D. LAKE TIME RECORDER Sept. 2, 1941.

. Filed July 6,1938

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIGQI.

' A'TToRNEY c. D. LAKE TIME RECORDER- Sept. 2, 1941.

Filed July 6, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 v F IG. 5.

ATTORNEY 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 4.

UHIMIM M W ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 2, 1941 TIMEBECOBDEB Clair D. Lake, Binglumton, N. Y., assignor to Business International es Corporation,

New York, N. Y, a corporation of New York Application-111116, 1938, Serial No. 217,685

4 Claims. (Cl. 101-297) This invention relates to improvements in time recorders and, more particularly, to recorders of the type used in printing a time registration upon the insertion of a card.

The present recorder is designed to reduce the time necessary for each employee to get his time of arrival or departure recorded on his card by the provision of 'novel automatic printing means which operates immediately when the employee inserts his card in a card receiver and exerts a slight downward pressure on the card. Also.

means are provided for printing on the side of the card facing the operator so as to eliminate the time wasted in turning the card around to check the recording thereon, this time becoming of consequence when there is a long line-up of employees at the recorder around the noon hour or at closing time.

According to the invention, as a time card is fully inserted in the card holder, a spring-driven impelling means for the printing hammer is suddenly released to cause the hammer to coact with the type elements to print on the card. The action is sufiiciently rapid to prevent the employee from beating the print," that is. from.

withdrawing his card to any appreciable extent before the printing occurs. A motor is employed as the driving means and is energized as the card is fully inserted. During printing operations the motor drives a cam which has a gradual rise extending around its periphery and a deep Fill. 4 is a rear view of the drive mechanism for eflecting a printing cycle.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the motor" That part of the applicant's machine with which the present application is concerned deals merely with the card operated printing means, the remainder of the machine structure and its operations being described in detail in my copendlng application (divisional) Serial No. 320,024, filed February 21, 1940.

Accordingly, in the description presented herein the machine will be considered from the operators standpoint, that is, when an employee manually inserts his time card into a card receiver I'Ili (Figs. 1 and 3) and lowers it towards an abutment member I60 until its bottom edge forces a pair of bail operating ears H8 down so as to rock bail ill carried by the abutment member I80 to the rear about its pivot shaft I18, an automatic printing operation is initiated as follows: Bail I'll operates another ball 9 which is pivoted at each end to a support generally step from the high point to the low point of the ment of the cam by the motor. The cam is driven through one cycle, during which time the impelling means is restored by the cam to its normal position at the edge of the deep step of the cam. ready to be tripped for the next printing operation.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has-been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the printing mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the card operated trip mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a large portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2.

designated 166 and is positioned at right angles to bail l'll. Motion is transmitted through an attachment I80 on ball "8 to carry horizontal arm "2 to the left. Arm I82 slides in a guide ill and rests against the upper tip of a latching arm assembly I84 (Fig. 2). Consequently, as arm I82 is moved to the left, latching arm'assembly I84 is rocked in a counterclockwise direction so that the lower end 584a moves to the right and trips the print. clutch assembly generally designatedltll which is mounted on a motor driven shaft 53. Shaft 63 is normally idle but is rotated Whenever a pair of control contacts 43 (Fig. 5) are closed to energize a drive motor 45' which is connected to the shaft in any suitable manner (not shown). Contacts 43 are mounted so as to cooperate with the upper end 42 of an L-shaped arm 80 pivoted at H. A vertical arm Illl abuts arm 40 in such a manner that downward movement of arm I10 causes counterclockwise rotation of the L-shaped arm to close contacts 43. Upon energization of the motor, shaft s3 drives the clutch ratchet i901) with which a spring biased pawl I900 carried by clutch disk IBM is caused to engage when arm I84 is actuated. Latching arm I84 also causes arm "0 to move down at this time to close the motor contacts to start the motor. A

gear rm mounted on the. face of clutch disk ma. engages with a gear I" which is fixed to a shaft Ill. Shaft I 81 protrudes through a portion of the frame ill (Fig. and has a cam I88 fixed to its rear extremity. A cam follower Illa rides on cam I88 and is urged in firm contactwith the cam by a spring I88. Immediately after cam I88 begins to rotate, cam. follower I88 drops off the high point of the cam under the urging of spring I88. The cam follower being pivoted on a stud Isl the other end of the cam follower will .move up sharply against the base of the hammer I82 causing the top portion of the hammer to fly toward the front (Fig. 1). The hammer is pivoted on a shaft I88 and strikes a blow on a plunger I94 to force a platen I85 toward the type wheel I8 to eil'ect a printing operation on the card.

Meanwhile the printing clutch I90 continues to rotate through one revolution. A detent roller I98 (Fig. '2) ridesout of the depression in periphery of the clutch disk I8Ila and as it does so it transmits motion through a short shaft I81 to a pair of similar arms I88 (one behind the other). The front arm of the pair bears .down on arm I'Ili to keep motor contacts 48 closed through mechanism already described and the rear arm of the pair depresses one end of lever I99 so that the other end of this lever is moved upwardly and, through a link 200, raises arm I82 above the tip of latch arm assembly I84. 9

The purpose of this is to keep the motor runnin to drive the print mechanism through one revolution and to provide means to prevent more than one printing operation for each operation of the bail I'l'l by the time card as previously described.

Briefly reviewing the operation of the printing mechanism, it is seen that the full insertion of the card in the card receiver causes the tripping of a one revolution clutch and the starting of a drive motor. The motor, through the clutch connection, rotates a cam with a deep step on it causing a spring-biased cam follower to drop immediately off the step. A normally retracted hammer is sent flying forward directly and rapidly, as a result of the sudden movement of the cam follower, to effect printing on the card. The

printing hammer and the cam follower are restored during the remainder of the single revolution of the clutch. Means is provided for maintaining the motor contacts closed for a predetermined period after they are closed initially by the card so that the motor will remain energized long enough to drive the clutch through its single revolution, and means is provided to prevent more than one print for each active insertion of the card.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a singlemodiflcaeffect of the urging means for holding the device in a restrained condition and away from the type elements, a normally deenergized motor, a one-revolution clutch associated with the motor and connected with the restraining means, a card controlled member, transmission between the member and the clutch for engaging the latter upon insertion of the card, a circuit for the motor including normally open contacts, transmission between said member and said contacts rendered active by the insertion of the card concurrently with the engagement of said clutch to, energize the motor for driving the clutch through one revolution, the restraining means becoming ineflective under control of the clutch substantially at the very beginning of the revolution so as to cause a rapid release of the urging means to eifect printing and then becoming effective again after the printing operation during the remainder of the revolution of the clutch, and means also controlled by the clutch for maintaining the contacts closed during said revolution and for opening said contacts to deenergize the motor near the end of said revolution irrespective of the continued insertion of the time card by the operator.

2. A printing mechanism having a card receiver into which a record card may be inserted by an operator to receive an imprint, comprising, in combination, type elements on one side of said card receiver and a normally retracted platen on the other side for forcing the inserted Y card against the type elements to efiect printing, impelling means for moving said platen toward the type elements, a movable cam in engagement with the impelling means and normally overcoming the bias thereon to hold the impelling means in a cocked position, a normally inoperative motor and a clutch associated therewith, the clutch being operatively connected with the cam, common actuating means responsive to the insertion of the card for engaging the clutch and for rendering the motor operative to drive the clutch so as to im- 45, part immediate movement to the cam to release the impelling means to effect printing at substantially the very beginning of movement of the cam. and to restore said impelling means to cocked position after printing has occurred.

3. A printing mechanism having a card re ceiver into which a record card may be inserted by anoperator to receive an imprint, comprising, in combination, type elements on one side of said card receiver and a normally retracted platen on the other side for forcing the inserted card tion it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form.- and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a time recorder having a card receiver into which a time card may be inserted by an operator for the purpose of obtaining a time recording, a time printing construction including therein time type elements and a device for coacting therewith to effect printing on the inserted card, means urging the device against the type elements, means normally restraining the against the type elements to effect printing, impelling means for moving said platen toward the type elements, a rotatable cam having a deep step thereon for engaging the impelling means to restrain the effect of the bias on the latter means, the normal point of engagement of the impelling means being immediately adjacent the step of the cam, a normally inoperative motor and a one revolution clutch associated with the motor and connected to the cam, common actuating means responsive to the insertion of the card by the operator for engaging the clutch and for calling in the motor for operation to transmit power through the clutch so as to rotate the cam through one revolution to cause the impelling means to drop sharply of! the deep step of the cam to eifect printing at substantially the very beginning of rotation of the camand to restore said. impelling means to and a normally retracted platen on the other side for forcing the inserted card against the type elements to eflect printing, a normally cocked impelling means for moving said platen toward the type elements, means controlled by the clutch in the motor for releasing the impelling means from its normally cocked position substantially at the very beginning of the revolution of the clutch for effecting printing and to restore said impelling means positively to the cocked position after printing has occurred.

CLAIR D.