US2352907A - Recorder - Google Patents

Description

July 4, 1944. q. B. MANGAN RECORDER Filed Sept. 27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l /SEPHM MQNGAN J. B. MANGAN July 4, 1944.

RECORDER Filed sept. 27, 1940 4 SheeS-Sheet 2 T :lll lili J. B. MANGAN July 4, 1944,

RECORDER Filed Sept. 27, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 JOSEPH Z3 MNGAN J. B. MANGAN July 4, 1944.

RECORDER Filed Sept. 27, 194:0 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 mem/bo@ JOSEPHE MNGAN Patented July 4, 1944 RECORDER Joseph B. Mangan, Wetherseld, Conn., assigner to Veeder-Root Incorporated, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application September 27, 1940, Serial No. 358,679

3Ciaims.

The present invention relates to a recorder and more particularly to one for simultaneously making duplicate records, one upon a tape within the recorder and another upon a card insertable into the recorder and adapted to cooperate with and set the recorder for proper operation.

Although the recorder is adaptable for many purposes, that illustrated is particularly suitable for recording installment payments such as those made to insurance agents and wherein it is necessary to have an oilice record of the collection and also to provide a receipt for the person making the payment (for example, the policy holder).

The object of the present invention is an improved recorder of the above-indicated type which is constructed in such manner that it may be readily and conveniently carried by the agent and yet is sufficiently rugged that it will remain efficient in operation despite the continuous handling thereof.

Another object is a recorder of the above-indicated type wherein the mechanism of the recorder and the receipt card utilized therewith are so constructed that the recorder will only be operable when a proper receipt card is inserted therein in the proper manner.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in i part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplifled in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the recorder with the casing partly in section to show the interior structure;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation opposite to Fig. l and with the casing completely removed;

Fig. 3 is a plan view with the top of the casing removed;

Fig. 4 -is a view from the card receiving end of the recorder:

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of the recording mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the recording mechanism;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the receipting mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view through the receipting mechanism:

Fig. 9 is a top view of the date and stencil carrying frame of the receipting mechanism shown in Fig. 7; and A Fig. l0 is a view of s receipt card particularly adapted to cooperate with the recorder.

Referring to the drawmgs, an understanding of the invention may best be obtained from a general description thereof with initial reference to the receipt card F shown in Fig. 10. The card is substantially rectangular and is provided adjacent its top edge with type indicia l0. which may be the name of the policy holder and the number of the policy. Spaced a predetermined distance from the indicia Il are a plurality of equally spaced lines Il, which lines are consecutively numbered from "l" to "26 to consecutively indicate a transaction wherein a receipt for a payment has been given. The card is further formed to provide a shoulder il in alignment with the receipt receiving line 1" and. in addition, has a perforation i8 provided at a predetermined distance from the indicia Ill and adjacent the lower edge of the card: the functions of the foregoing being hereinafter apparent.

With the card so constructed, it is adapted to cooperate with the recorder which comprises generally a casing A in which there is located a recording mechanism B. This recording mechanism includes a tape Il (see Fig. 6) adapted when the receipting card is properly inserted within the recorder to receive an impression from the card type indicia i0 and thus make a permanent record thereof. In addition, the recording device also includes a transaction numbering device l1 which also records on the tape a number corresponding to the number line i2 of the receipting card F upon which the receipt is printed.

The receipting of the card on one oi' the number lines I2 is accomplished by a receiptiug mechanism C which carries a stencil |26 bearing the name of the collector and also a dating mechanism |24. The receipting mechanism is slidable within the recorder upon the engagement of the shoulder i4 of the receipting card F with a cooperating shoulder I in the receipting mechanism, thus aligning the stencil with the proper. numeral line i2 to record the proper transaction.

In addition, the recorder also includes a releasing mechanism D which is operable only when the opening Il in the receipt card F is properly aligned therewith, and when this alignment is obtained the releasing mechanism functions to release an actuating means E which is operable from the outside of the casing and is adapted to simultaneously operate both the recording and the receipting mechanism to perform the functions above indicated.

More specically, the recorder casing A is a rectangular box having top and bottom mating halves IB and 20 having their rear end walls hinged at 22 and provided adjacent the mating edges of the front end walls with a slot 24 through which the receipt card F may be inserted into the recorder, The casing may be locked by a tumbler lock 28 secured to the bottom casing member and having a locking pawl 2l engageable with a depending locking finger 28 carried by the upper casing member. With these means, the recorder may be locked at the office from which the collector operates and the key maintained at the oflice, thus preventing any change by the collector in the record of collections. For convenient reading of tape 8l, the top casing member Il may have a window Il cut therein to enable the agent to read the tape and know that a proper recording is being made.

To support the various mechanisms within the casing, there is provided a main supporting base 82 having secured to its forward corners vertically extending supporting posts 24 and 25, and to its side edges at approximately one-quarter the distance in from the rear corners opposed vertically extending supporting posts l. and I1. Also carried by the base frame and positioned rearwardly of the posts 28 and 31 is an auxiliary frame 38 having integral therewith vertically extending side brackets 40 and 4|.

Referring now to the recording mechanism B, it includes a transversely arranged pressure plate 42 (see Figs. 5 and 6) carrying at one end a lug 44 secured to the post 88 and at its other end a rectangular frame 48 having a forwardly extending lug 48 secured to the post 21 and a rearwardly extending lug 58 secured to the auxiliary frame member 4|. The rectangular frame 48 supports a transaction numbering device 41 including a transversely arranged shaft 42 journalled in the opposite side walls of the frame and secured against rotation by a pin 54.

The shaft 82 has mounted thereon for free rotation a unit wheel 88 and a tens wheel ll. The unit wheel has an associated .locking disk 80 of usual construction with a single notch 8| and the usual mutilated driving or two-toothed gear Il for cooperation with a transfer pinion 84. The pinion 84 is freely rotatable on a shaft 85 parallelling the shaft 82 and carries at one end a six-toothed gear 88 having alternate long and short teeth and at its other end a twelve-toothed gear 88 meshing with a gear 10 carried by the tens wheel 58. With this construction, upon rotation of the unit wheel 88, the periphery of the locking disk normally contacts two of the long teeth of the transfer pinion gear 88. preventing rotation thereof until at the completion of one revolution the notch 8| of the locking disk and gear 63 come into alignment with a long tooth of gear 68, whereupon the pinion is rotated to advance the tens wheel one unit, As seen in Fig. 5, the numbering device is so positioned that the type numerals thereon extend slightly below the pressure plate 42 and align with the indicia I0 of the receipt card F when the latter is inserted within the recorder, whereby they will make a Vsimultaneous imprint therewith.

To obtain a printing operation of the type indicia of the receipt card and the counting device, there is positioned beneath the pressure plate 42 and the counting unit a movable hard rubber platen 12 supported in a frame 1l. The frame 1I has an arm 14 extending rearwardly from each end thereof for pivotally mounting the frame and platen on the auxiliary frame bracket arms 4l and 4I. There also extends downwardly from the frame 13 a leg 18 having its lower end resting upon an actuating rod 18 of the operating means E.' The rod 18 is of oval shape, and the means for operating it will be subsequently described; it being sumcient to point out here that the rod is pivotally mounted in cross bracesv 1s and 8| of the supporting frame 82 and is normally positioned with its minor axis in the vertical plane, and, when rotated, its major axis will move to the vertical plane, raising the platen 12 against plate 42.

The platen 12 also has associated therewith a supporting frame having an arm 82 extending 'rearwardly from each end thereof for pivotally mounting the frame on the supporting arms 14 of the platen frame 13, The frame lo is normally pivoted in a clockwise direction toward the platen 1.2 by a spring 11 having one end connected to the frame pivot arm 80 and its other to the frame arm 14. However, the downward movement of frame 80 is limited by a stop 8l extending vertically from cross brace 18 and adapted to engage arm 80 and thus normally space the frame Il above platen 12. The type ribbon 84 is carried in a reinforcing frame 88 resting in the frame 80 and readily removable to permit renewal thereof.

With the above construction, there is fed between platen 12 and ribbon I4 a paper tape Il which is drawn forwardly from a roll I8 back over the forward edge of platen 12, then rearwardly to a winding roll 92. The rolls 80 and 82 are mounted in like manner (see Fig. 3) this being accomplished by providing a recess in each end of the roll for receiving a pin 82 carried by a flange 85. The ange 98 for supporting the right-hand end of the roll is pivotally mounted in the auxiliary frame bracket 4|; whereas the flange 8l of the left-hand end of the roll is provided with a split collar 91 for receiving a key 88 rotatably mounted in the auxiliary frame bracket 4I. The split collar and key arrangement a1- lows the nanges to be moved outwardly from the roll to permit the removal thereof; the' flanges normally being held in position by a coiled spring III spring pressed between the flange and an adioining member.

To automatically wind the tape and thus present an unprinted section over the platen for each successive operation, there is pinned to the key 98 of the roll 92 a ratchet 88 (see Figs. 3 and 6), and journalled thereon is a pawl carrying lever 98. The lever 8l carries a pawl I" which is normally urged into engagement behind one of the teeth of the ratchet Il by a spring |02, whereupon rotation oi' the pawl carrying lever 98 in a counterclockwise direction about the shaft 94 will rotate the ratchet to take up the tape 88. To obtain this rotation of the lever 98, it is provided that a depending tongue |04 receivable in a slot |88 of a lever |08 carried by a rod ||0 slidably mounted in the base of the auxiliary frame 88. Sliding motion of the rod ||0 is obtained by providing near its forward end a cam slot H2 into which there extends a camming pin II4 carried by the actuating rod 18. With this arrangement, upon rotation of rod 18 in a clockwise direction, platen 12 and tape 88 will be raised first against the type ribbon 84 and then against the indica Il 59.901 i j i 3 of the receipt card and the type numerals of the transaction numbering device to make a ren cording on the tape 22. Simultaneously, rod ||2 v ywill be` moved rearwardly to rotate pawl carrylng lever 22 in a clockwise direction and"'move pawl |22 behind the next succeeding tooth of ratchet 22.l Upon reverse rotation of rod 12.

platen 12 and the type ribbon frame 22 will return to the position shown in Fig. 6, and lever 22 will be moved counterclockwise to rotate shaft 22, winding the tape sufficiently to place a'f clean area on platen 12. It will be noted'that inasmuch as the tape has been moved out of contact with the type ribbon, no smearing will result as the tape is being drawn or. wound to -i present a clean area over the platen.

To prevent backing up of the roll 22, the

ratchet 22 also has associated therewitha pawl |22 pivoted on the lauxiliary frame bracket 22 (see Figs. 3 and 6) and normallyspringpressed into engagement with the ratchet by a spring |22.

Referring now to the receipting mechanism C (Figs. '1 to 9), it comprises a carriage ||2 including s.` substantially rectangular housing ||1 .1 and a plate ||2 extending laterally from the upper right edge of the housing ||1. To support the carriage, the left side walls-o! housing ||1 is provided with spaced lugs H2, and depending from the plate ||2 are similar lugs H2: said lugs having half rounded bearing portions |22 for mounting the carriage on the spaced circular runners |22 extending `longitudinally between and supported in the front and rear l main frame posts.

The housing ||1 of the carriage has arranged therein a removable rectangular frame |22 carrying a dating mechanism |22 and a stencil |22, which stencil would` carry the-name of the agent (see Fig. 9). The dating mechanism |22 includes a month wheel |22 and number wheels |22 rotatably mounted on a shaft |22 having one end mounted in the leftside wall of theframe |22 and its other end in a boss |22 provided in an intermediate wall of the frame |22. To hold the month and dating wheels in wall of the frame |22 a plurality of spring fingers |22 adapted to engage within cooperatingv notches |22 provided on the month and dating wheel hub. To support the stencil |22, the latter is provided with outwardly extending ears `therein. through the lett open end |21 of the recess. To cooperate with the dating and `stencilingmsans.- there is also supported on carriage |2 a recessed plate v|22 carrying a platen m- (see ng. '1). 'rnepite m extends outwardly'from As. substantially rectangular housing |22. whichl housing is vprovided with extendingv slotted lugs |22 receivable beneath securing screws |22 for 'removably securing the plate in position. The housing |22 overlies a die,y |22 secured to 'and spaced slightly above the top face of the plate H2.

pinned to the punch and guided'tin a sleeve |22 depending from the. plate H2. To operate the cutting punch, the lever |12 extends from beneath the actuating rod 12 and is pivoted intermediate of its-ends on a pixr |22 supported in 'brackets depending from the front and-rear walls of the carriage housing |I1.

As previously indicated, the carriage ||2 is slidably mounted on runners or tracks |22, and

' meansare provided for maintaining the carriage in proper transversealignment and for preventing cramping or jamming during lonltudinal movement on the runners. To accomplish theforegoing, there is provided a transverse 'shaft |22 (see Figs. 3, I'l and 8) journalled in brackets |22v extending upwardly from the rear lugs H2 of the carriage, and pinned adjacent either end of the'shaft are gears |22fand |22. 'Ihe lgears |22and |22 mesh with racks I22a and |22b extending longitudinally betweenl and seproper position, there ismounted on the forward |21 secured to the front and rear walls of frame, i |22, as by v:screws |22. To maintain the frame |22 within housing ||1, its lower edge'rests upon this position by a spring |22 having its outer 65 the actuating rod 12 and is normally urged to ends positioned beneath the lower edges of thev side walls of housing ||1 and extends inter-- mediate of its ends through a slot |22 provided in a latching member |22. The latching member |22 also functions to retain the dating mechanism in proper position, and to do this it is provided with an opening |22 through which the end of the shaft |22 may extend; the shaft then being provided with a Igroove |22 alignable with the opening |22, whereupon the latching member |22 will be urged downwardly to position the upper end thereof in the groove of the shaft.

As in the recording mechanism, a type ribbon |22 carried in a supporting frame |22 overlies the dating mechanism and stencil; the ribbon ybeing carried in a recess |22 provided in the upper surface of the carriage ||2. and slidable cured to the-front1and rear main frameposts 22 and `22 (see-Figs. li and.2)'abo' ve the runners |22.

There is further mounted on the shaft |22 intermediate of the gears a spiral spring |22 having one end |22 secured in the hub of the gear |22 and its other end |22 securedto the bracket |22 (see'Fig. 3), :whereby when the carriage is pushed inwardly or forwardly the spring will be wound to increase the tension thereof and, upon being released-will automatically return the carriage to its forwardmost position.

The movement of the carriage is obtained upon the insertion of the .receipting card F therein, whereupon the shoulder I2 of the card will abut against the carriage shoulder |22 just forwardly of the cutting plunger |12, and thereafter further pushing of the card will move the carriage forwardly until the Cardtype indicia i2 is properly positioned beneath the recording mechanism. Thereafter, upon actuation of the rod 12, both the reoeipting and recording mechanisms will be operated and the card will be receipted on theI line l2 adjacent the shoulder I2.

To imprint upon the recording mechanism tape 22 the .numeral corresponding to the numeral opposite the line I2 of the receipting card, there is also secured to the gear |20 ofthe carriage a gear 222 .meshing with a rack y222 (see Fig. 2) slidably mounted on the main supporting frame post 21 .and a pin |2I extending fromrack |22b.

4 asomo? As the carriage is moved forwardly, the rack 202 will simultaneously be moved forwardly to oper,- ate a gear |03 carried by the unit wheel 50 of the recording mechanism counter and thus operate the counting unit. It will be noted that the gear 200 is but half the size of the carriage gear |90, and thus the rack 202 will only be moved half the distance the carriage is moved, thereby permitting the length of the recorder being materially reduced. As the numeral 1 is to be imprinted upon forwardmost movement of the card, the indicia on type wheels 50 and 50 is arranged as shown whereby upon rotation of gear |83 the numeral wheels will be rotated to bring the proper numeral into position for the registering operation.

Referring now to the releasing mechanism D (see Figs. 3 to 5), this includes a plunger 204 positioned in a recess 206 provided in the top member |8 adjacent the forward end thereof. The plunger has a stem 208 extending through an opening at the bottom of the recess and provided on its lower end with a collar 2|0 and on its upper end with a pushbutton 2|2. Intermediate of the button 2| 2 and the bottom of the recess is a spring 2|4 for normally holding the plunger in its outermost position. As seen in Fig. 4, the plunger is offset relative to the center of the card-receiving slot 24, and the perforation II is likewise ofi'set, thus requiring the proper insertion of the card within the recorder before the plunger can be moved downwardly.

When moved to its lowermost position, the lower end oi' the plunger will project through the perforation I of the receipt card and engage the upper end of a second plunger 2|0. The plunger 2| 0 is mounted in a sleeve 2|0, and its lower end extends through the sleeve and carries a transverse plate 220 provided with an opening 222 alignable with a lug 224 depending from the actuating rod 18. The plunger 2|0 is normally maintained in its upper position by a spring 220, and when in such position the locking lug 224 oi.' the actuating rod will be positioned in the opening 222 of the locking plate, and thus the rod cannot be operated. However, when the card and plunger 204 are properly aligned, upon depressing the former the plunger 2|! will be lowered to release the locking lug 224 from the locking plate 220 to release the actuating means E. To further assure proper location of the receipt card F, there is arranged on the rack |92a a U-shaped guide 225 aligned with the casing opening 24 and extending therefrom to adjacent the recording means B.

To operate the actuating means E, the outer end of rod 10 is provided with a reduced end 220 extending into a recess 230 provided in the front wall of the casing. Mounted on the end 220 is a lever 232 which is positioned within the recess and has a semi-circular portion 235 cut there from to cooperate with a semi-circular portion 238 of the recess to permit the gripping of the lever and allow the operation of same.

The complete operation of the device may readily be understood by assuming that a new card F is to bev initially receipted on the line i2 opposite the numeral 1. It will be seen that the shoulder I4 of the card is cut in alignment with the line 1. U'pon inserting the card into the recorder, the shoulder I4 will engage behind the carriage shoulder |69 of the receipting mechanima and push the receipting mechanism forwardly until the card aperture I0 is aligned with the releasing plunger 204. When this occurs, the

indicia 0 will overlie the platen 12 o! the recording mechanism: it being apparent that platen 12 and releasing plunger 204 are spaced apart the same distance as the indicia I0 and the aperture Il. Likewise, due to the forward movement of the carriage, the rack 202 will have been operated to properly set the transaction numbering device of the recording mechanism to the numeral 1" corresponding to the numeral "1" on the card, upon which line the receipt is to be printed.

With the card so inserted and the releasing plunger 204 pressed downwardly, the actuating mechanism may be operated, and upon the pivoting of the lever 222 the rod 10 will be operated in a clockwise direction to raise the platen 12 o! the recording mechanism and the frame |22 o! thereceipting mechanism, thus simultaneously printing on the tape 88 the permanent record on the card and printing on the card the permanent record within the recorder.

In like manner, the actuating means will simultaneously operate the cutting plunger |12 to cut a section from the lett-hand edge of the card F, as viewed in Fig. 10, to provide a new shoulder |4 aligned with the numeral 2. With this section cut away, when the card is inserted for the second receipting operation the shoulder |4 will not engage the carriage shoulder until it is aligned with the line I2 opposite the numeral 2, and thus the forward movement of the receipting mechanism will be reduced a corresponding amount and the transaction numbering device of the recording mechanism operated to set up the proper numeral for the second receipting mechanism.

In order to prevent the cut-off sections of the card from dropping down into the receipting mechanism, there is provided on the upper face of the die |00 a rubber block 240 having an opening 24| aligned with the die opening |10, whereupon the cut-oiI section will be frictionally held by engaging the edges of the rubber block. The block 240 may be held in position by a thin plate 242 forced into the housing |02 and having an opening aligned with the rubber block opening 24 As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereinA described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of langauge, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the character described, a casing having at one end a slotadapted to receive a card having an opening therein, impression means within said casing, guide means within said casing for locating said card with a predetermined portion thereof in proper relation to said impression means, means for operating said impression means, means for locking said impression means against operation until a card is properly positioned within said casing, and means for releasing said locking means and including a manually operable plunger carried by said casing and normally located above the plane of the card when inserted within the casing, said locking means being aligned with said plunger and located beneath said plane whereby when said card is properly positioned in said casing with the opening therein aligned with said plunger said plunger may be depressed to release said locking means.

2. In a device of the character described, a casing having at one end a slot adapted to receive a card having an opening therein. impression means within said casing, guide means within said casing for locating said card with a predetermined portion thereot in proper relation to said impression means, means for locking said impression means against operation until a card is properly positioned within said casing, and means for releasing said locking means and including a manually operable plunger canied by said casing and normally located above the plane of the card when inserted within the casing, said locking means being aligned with said plunger and located beneath said plane whereby when said card is properly positioned in said casing with the opening therein aligned with said plung er said plunger may be depressed to release said locking means, the opening in said card and said plunger being odset relative to the center of the card receiving slot.

3. In a recorder for making a double record -one on a tape and the other on a receipt card having printing indicia and a preformed stop shoulder in one edge thereof; a combination ot a casing having an opening lor the insertion oi a receipt card, means for supporting the tape, recording means for transferring the printing indicia of the card to said tape and including an upper member and a vertically movable lower member, receipting means for making entries on the card and including an upper member and a vertically movable lower member, stop means for engaging the stop shoulder of an inserted card to properly position the card with respect to said receipting means. a cutting punch for preforming a new stop shoulder 0n the receipt card upon each recording operation, a pivoted lever for operating said punch, and actuating means for moving said vertically movable members and for operating said punch and comprising a rod oi oval cross section and upon which said lower members rest and `with which said lever engages and means for rotating the rod about its axis.

. JOSEPH B. MANGAN.

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