US231207A - benton - Google Patents

Description

stares PATENT twice,

JOHN IBENTON, OF-Jl-OSELLE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIG'NOR- TO 'lI-IL .tAILlVAY Al'ilUl-tING COMPANY, OF B'UIIFAIA'), NEXV YORK.

FARE-REGISTER.

SPECIFICATION formiiig part of Letters Patent No. 231,207, dated August 17, 1880. Appliciftinn liled January 1!, 1876. Patented in England November 2, 1877.

To all whom it may con- 56bi Be it known that I, 1:3.BENTON, of Hoselle, in the county of 'ti'ifijon and State ol'New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful 5 Improvements in RegisteringorOountin Machines, of which the folL iiving is a specilication. (7-? My invention relate s'to"apparatus more particularly designed lor -registering or tallying re the number of fares eiiliccied by conductors on cars or other publ-ihgqm-ssenger-vehicles, whereby, as the COliGGllOl is required to operate the register each e he receives a fare and sound an alarm, fiand and cheating by false returns are PJGEQII l.

My improvements lughg i more especially to iarercgisters of the clas mluulying in their structure and organization, first, mechanism for registering, recording, or tallying the numher of fares received or a ctuations oi the mechanism made during a single trip' of the car or vehicle, and capable of ing set to zero or the starting-point at i.il6.-.Qll(l of the trip, usually termed a trip-register, second, meclr anism for registering, recording, or tallying the same actuations that the trip-register does, and also continuously counting or tallying the whole number of fares for a large number of consecutive trips, usually termed a general,

0 permanentfloreontinuously-couiitingrogister, and which is not adapted to be reset or brought to zero at the cnil'ol' each trip; third, mech an isin for re istering, recording, or tallying the number of' times l he trip-register has 5 been set to zero, usually tjrnnsd a zero-registor, and, fourth, mechanism for sounding an alarm each time the trip and general registers are actuated, whereby the passenger is notilied of the proper registry of his i'are.

My present inven tiorr constitutes an improvement upon the mechanism and upon the organization of parts shown in llictters .llatent of the United States No. 167,057, granted to me August 24-, 1875, the'-'-ol )jcct of my inven- 4 5 tion being to improve tlrelconstruetion of such registers. L5

The subject-matter cla'lji'nicd-n-ill hereinafter specifically be designated, and then pointed out at the close of thcfspecilication.

The accompanying"drawings illustrate an apparatus embodying all myi mprovements in the best way now known to me. Obviously, however, some of them may be used without the others, and in machines differingsomewhat from that therein shown.

Figure 1 is a front or face view of the machine; Fig. 2, a similar view thereof with the front or dial plateremoved, as also the index hands Fig. 3, a side view of a portion of the zero gathering or resetting devices and regis- 6o ter; Fig. 4, a view thereof from below; Fig.

5, a view of the zero'register from the back, and Fig. 6 a view of the trip-hand with its l'riction-carrying spring.

My present register resembles in its general 6 5 features the well-known Monitor fare-register shown in Reissued Letters Patent No. 7,290, granted to H. 1]. Towle and myself jointly September 5,1876, and in my aforesaid Letters latentNo. 167,057. It will therefore be unnecessary .to show in the drawings or describe herein in detail all the parts necessary to a complete machine, inasmuch as they are fully and elaborately shown and described in said patents, and I. will consequently content myself with a detail description of the mechanism so far only as is necessary to a complete uinlerstalnliug of my present improvements.

lhe prime mover or actuator consists, in this instance, of a pivoted or vibrating lever, A, extending through a slot in the edge of: the case, and may be operated either directly by the hand or through some intermediate attachment, as fully described in the aforesaid patcuts. The lever is provided with an actuating-paw], 1?, (shown in'Fig. 2,) which engages with a ratchet-wheel, W, the said lever in this instance, through the medium of this wheel W, serving to actuate simultaneously, or nearly so, the trip-register, the general register, and the alarm.

The ratchet-wheel W is mounted upon and keyed to a central axis or main shaft, M, with which it turns, the rear end of said shaft be- 5 ing fitted in a suitable bearing in the back or base plate of the casing, while it is also fitted near its front end in a suitable hearing in a supporting-plate or cross-bar resting uponor secured to suitable posts rising from the base 2 same? plate, as usual. The said shaft carries upon its front end, in front of said supporting-plate, index-fingers or pointers 'l and F, which constitute, in connection with a graduated dial or indicator-disk, .l), the trip register and general register, respectively, the linger '1? being the pointer or index-finger cf the trip-register, while the finger F is the pointer or index-fingcr of the general register.

, -The fingers fl F project from disks a' S, respectively, as clearly shown in Fi 1, the disk a being below or behind the disk S.' Said disk a: is also provided at its back with or sccurely connected to a ratchet-wheel, It, having its teeth running in the opposite direction to those on the wheel W, both the disk and its ratchet-wheel being loosely mounted upon the main shaft, while the disk S, carrying the pointer of the general register, is firmly secured (screwed or keyed) to the said shaft, so as to turn positively therewith.

In order to compel the trip-ban d thus loosely mounted upon the main shaft to turn with said shaft as it is being revolved step by step by the actuations of the ratchet-wheel W, owing to the reciprocations, vibrations, or

movements of the actuator or lever A, I in-' terpose between the disks :1; and S an elastic substance under tension, (or a suitable clntcb,) consisting, preferably,of a sprii'ig-washer, d, provided in this instance with three bent arms or projections radiating from a flat central portion having a central opening to permit the washer to be passed upon the shaft, the said arms of this tripod spring-washer being so bent or curved that only their extremities rest upon the disk :r, the fiat or plane central portion of: the washer resting against the back of the plate S or upon a suitably-interposed washer of ordinary construction.

It will thus be seen that as the main shaft revolves, owing to the actuations of the wheel 7, the fingers 'I 1* also revolve the finger F on account of being fixed to the shaft and the finger T on account of the friction caused by the interposed spring-washer.

The actuator of the register operates the wheel W preferably upon the back strokethat is, the lever is vibrated in one direction by the actuating force against the tension of an inipelling-spring, which spring, as soon as the force is removed, throws the lever in the other direction, and by the engagement of the pawl P with the teeth of the wheel W moves or turns said wheel the distance of one tooth, or one one-hu ndredth of a revolution, (the wheel having one hundred teeth corresponding to the graduations on the dial D,) and inasmuch as the wheel W is keyed or fixed upon its shaft, said shaft, when the wheel is actuated, is also turned one one-hinidredth of a revolution, consequently carrying the index-fingers mounted thereon the same distance, or the distance of one point on the graduated dial, thereby indicating that one fare has been collected.

. At every actuation of the register an alarm is sounded, the bell-hammer of the alarm apparatus being connected to and raised by a pawl acted upon by a spring, which pawl, as the actuatin gavhecl W revolves, rides over one tooth in the wheel and falls into the notch immediatelyfollowing, the monientuinthus given to the hammer being sufficicnt to cause it to strike the bell and sound the alarm, all of which movements of the wheel Vi are fully described in my aforesaid Letters Patent No. 167 ,057. Each successive operation, therefore, of the actuator A adds one point to the number indicated by the index-fingers on the dial, and also sounds an alarm.

The finger F, in connection with the graduated dial D, constitutes the general or continuously-counting register, as hereiubefore stated-that is, said finger is not adapted to be set back at the end of a trip.

In order to give the general register a ca pacity of continuously registering and preserving arecord of a large number of fares, there is added a multiplying-wheel of wellknown construction, which wheel is, at every complete revolution of the wheel W of its shaft, and consequently of the index-finger F, turned one point, or the distance of one tooth, by a tongue or projection on a suitable hub mounted upon said shaft. This multiplyingwheel is preferably constructed to operate on the principle of the wellknown Geneva stop, so as to keep it locked except when actuated by the tongue or projection on the main shaft. The front face of the mu]tiplying-wheel is provided with numbers or figures corresponding to the number of teeth in its periphery, the figures showing through the aperture 0 in the dial-plate successively as the wheel is turned, so as to permit of readily reading or inspecting the indications of the register.

The index-finger T, in connection with the dial 1), constitutes the trip-register, as hereinbcforc stated. In order to give said trip-register the capacity of being turned back to zero or the starting-pointat the beginning of each trip, or whenever desired, 1 have mounted said finger upon the main shaft in the manner hereinbefoie described-that is, in a manner to compel its movement in unison with the index-finger l of the general register in a forward direction when the mechanism is being operated by means of a friction or other suit able clutch, while movable backward independently of the general. register without disturbing or destroyin g the integrity of the record made by such general register, the pawl of the bell-hammer scrvin g to hold the actuatiug-wheellV from all backward movement. ln order to accomplish the backward, re turning, or resetting movement of the triphand, I employ mechanism preferably actuated step by step for the purpose, consisting, in this instance, of a movable or vibrating pawl-carrying plate mounted upon the main shaft as a center, and back of or below the disk :v of the ITO cameos a trip-hand, the pivoted pawl 13 of said plate operating upon the projections orratchet-wheel. R of the said disk iv.

, The pawlcarrying plate is provided with a radial arm or projection, U, by which. to actu- .ate or move it in one direction-that is, in the ment of the plate around the main shalt being limited by a stationary alnitment, s, against which the arm U comes in contact on the upstroke.

A suitable spring acts upon the arm Uot' the pawl-carrying plate to return or move said plate in the opposite direction in readiness for a new :wtnation, the movement. of the said plate in this direction being limited by a stationary abutment or screw, I), against which thepawl l3 abuts or comes in contact, and by which said pawl is lifted out of the teeth of the ratchet-wheel R, as shown in Fig; 2, in order that no obstruction be presented to the movements of the trip-register when actuated by the prime mover.

It will be obvious that it is necessary to impart a step-by-step or repeated movement to the pawl-carryin plate to complete the resetting movement of the trip-hand it that hand should have been carried far enough around by actuations during the trip to render one actuation of the plate insullicient to carry the hand to zero; and in order to actuate the plate from the outside oi." the ca-si u g I prei'e ably employ a ren'rovable reci 'irocating key or pusher, K, which is inserted and guided, when in use, in a tube, X, an inward movement of the pusher carrying its inner end against the arm U of the pawl-carrying plate and turning it upon its axis. The pusher is thrown outward after every inward movement by the returningspriug of the plate, as will be obvious, in readiness for another-reciprocation.

In order to ynevent the trip-hand from bei ng carried beyond zero or the starting-point when being returned at the end of a trip or otherwise, a recess is formed in the ratchetwlreel It, or some ofits teeth omitted, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, whereby, in connection with the statiomrry pin or abutment s, by which the movement of the pawl-carrying plate is limited, the pawl is prevented from acting upon the teeth of the wheel, and consequently cannot move said wheel or the trip-haml secured thereto beyond zero.

In order to record and indicate the number of times the registering mechanism has been set to zero, the following arrangement is em ployed: An endwisc moving or sliding bar, V, stands in its normal position as shown in lligs. 2 and 3, so that when. the arm U is actuated by the key or pusher K it passes under and clear of said bar, the lower end of which is capable of being slightly depressed, and is provided with a post or lug, p, having a rounded or beveled top, as clearly shown in the drawings.

Fastened or secured to the disk at, which carries the trip-hand, is a'proiectiou, I, so organized that as the trip index-linger approaches zero in being reset by the pusher K acting upon the pawl-carrying plate, the said projection t ap 'n'oaches thepost p, the highest point of the top of which post in its normal position is above the under side or back. of the projection t, while the lower part of said top is on a level with the under side or back of said projection, whereby, when the projection t comes in contact with'thc postp and slides upon its top, said post, together with the end of the bar V, is cainmed down or depressed against the tension ot a light plate-spring, it, in such manner that when the arm U is again actuated it comes in contact with the end of the bar V, moving it endwise until' the said arm U comes in contact with the abutment s, or, in other words, reaches the limit of its movement.

Upon the under side of the bar V is pivoted a pawl, L, which, upon the upstroke ot' the bar, engages a ratchet-wheel, El, fixed to theundcr side of a circular plate, E, or to the axis or journal thereof to actuate it.

The upper side or front face oi the plate E provided with the numbers 0 to .l, inclusive, and in connection with a second circular plate or wheel, G, similarly mnnbered aml operating preferably on the principle of the Geneva stop, constitutes the zero-register, one number only at a time of each wheel being visiblethrough an aperture cut in the front bearingplate, J, of the zero-register wheels, and also in the dial. 1).

Each upstroke or actuation of the bar V causes the pawl L, as before stated, to engage and revolve the wheel H the distance of one tooth, or one-tenth of a revolution, exposing the nexthighcstnruu heron the wheel E through theinspection-apcrtnre5 and by the time this eti'ect has been n'oduced in the zero-register the trip-hand has reached zero, or the position indicated by the letter T, F ig. 1, while the projection t has passed over and beyond the post p and stands in the position shown at t. The end of the bar V, and consequently, also, the post 1), then rise or assume their normal positions, as maintained by the spriu g a, and the arm U cannot again engage the bar until the index-lingerTha-s been moved away from zero by the actuation of the prime mover of the register, nor until said iilip-ilttl'ld is again being returned to zero, as before. The record of the zcroregister consequentlyremains unchanged until the hand T again arrives at zero, when the next consecutivemumher will be shown, thus indicating at a glance the number of times the trip-registering mechanism has been set to zero.

The actuating ratchet-wheel LI of the zero- IIO ' filed July 9, 1880, all the patentable subjectmatter of my present invention save that covered by the following three clauses of claims, it being the intention to cover andinclude in this case only the three combinations of mechanism recited in said claims, while all the other patentable features, parts, or combinations of my invention are intended to be covered by the claims of my said application of J nly l), 1880,

which is filed as a division and continuation of this present application.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination,substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a registering-wheel or index-hand actuated in one direction in the process of counting, and capable of being moved in the other direction to reset or carry it to zero, a resettin g" wheel or teeth connected with said registeringavheel or imlex-hand, a movable plate or pawl carrier inelosed within the registercasing, acting upon said resetting wheel or teeth, and a removable reciprocating push-key to actuate said plate or carrier.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of a turning-shalt, a toothed wheel to actuate said shaft, a trip index-hand or registering-wheel connected with said shaft by a friction-clutch or eouplin g which compels the said index-hand o'r registeringwheel to move with said shaft iii the process of countin g, while allowing said index hand to be moved-upon said shaft to reset it or bring it to zero, resetting teeth 01 projections connected with said index-hand, a movable plate acting upon said projections of the indcx-hand, a pusher or key movable endwise to actuate said movable plate in one direction, and a spring to move said plate in the opposite direction or to return the plate to the position from which it was moved by saidpusher.

The combination, substantial] y as hereinbefore set forth, of a trip-register, a general register, a prime mover or handle for actuating said registers simultaneously, or nearly so, and aresetti ng mechanism for the trip-register', co nsisting of a toothed wheel or projections connected with the trip-register, a backward and forward movable plate acting upon said projections, areciprocating key or pusher to actuate said plate in one direction, and a spring to move the plate in the opposite direction to that imparted by said hey, whereby the said trip-register is permitted to be moved with the general register clear 0t the. resetting-plate in the process of counting, while capable of being reset by said plate by the simple reciprocation of the key or pusher without disturbing the record olsaid general register.

JOHN B. BENTON.

Witnesses:

0. B. Ha ters, G120. ILEVANS.

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