US2372659A - Driving mechanism for cash registers - Google Patents

Description

April 3, 9455.

R. BURALI DRIVINGMECHANISM FOR CASH REGISTERS original Filed March 16, 1939 s sheets-sheet 1 s. www. #Quo m m,

ifo/Weg.

April 3, 1945. R. BURALI DRIVING MECHANISM FOR CASH REGISTERS .Original Filed March 16, 1939 5 Sheets-Shes?4 2 r www N.. www

.R Nimm* .Apri 3,1945. R. BURALI I u DRIVING MECHANISM FOR CASH REGISTER-S Original Filed March 1s, 1939 3 sheets-sheet 3 Patented Apr. 3, 1945 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRIVING MECHANISM FOR CASH REGISTERS RomanoA Burali, Saint-Nicolas dAliermont,

France; vested in the Alien Property' Custodian Original application March 16, 1939,` Serial No. 262,27); Divided and this application June 3, 1941, Serial No. 396,473. In Luxemburg March 3 Claims. (Cl. 192-02) This invention refers to accounting machines inclusive, respectively. The keys are adapted to and more particularly to the class thereof known slide in ways cut inl the outer and inner arcuate as cash registers, which are provided with indicata flanges il! and Illa of the frame and when in uning mechanism for indicating, for the benet of 'depressed position, project from the frame on its both the seller and the customer, items purchased 5 outer periphery only, except the key I'Ih, which, by the customer' and entered in the accounting` even in its undepressed position, projects from the mechanism of the machine operated by the seller, frame at its inner and ou-ter peripheries for the and adding mechanism for accumulating the Lpurpose which will be explained below. Each key totals of said items and also controlling various is restored to its normal elevation by a spring lila cash transactions effected through the machine l coiled about its shank I8 between the inner frame by the selling establishment during any desired flange I4 and a pin it extending laterally `from periodl for instance, at the end of the business the shank 8 to travel a radially elongated slot day. c (Fig. 2) in the left-hand wall ofthe bank frame.

ne object of this invention is to provide two The pin lll of eachy key is normally in position to kinds of driving means for the mechanism which i5 engage an inclined edged of an elongated notch adds the item transactions entered in the mae inan arcuate key locking detent plate 22 ad` chine through the keyboard, and for the totalizjacent the left-hand lwall of the bank frame ing mechanism, respectively. illlila and slidable thereon by means of upper In order that the invention may be more easily and lower slot and stud connections f-g. In adundersltood and readily carried into effect, the dition to the aforesaid nine keys a zero stop or same will be described with reference to the ackey shank 29 is provided inthe key bank frame companying drawings wh-ich illustrate an embodilli-Ma below the key Il numbered l, This ment thereof and are not to be construed in a zero stop 2Q is normally held in depressed posilimiting. sense, and in which: tion, to project inwardlyy from the key bank frame Fig. l is a perspective View of a cash register 25 lli-Mm by a spring 29o coiled about its shank embodying the invention. between the outer frame flange Ma and its pin I9 Fig..2 is a diagrammatic perspective showing of which traverses an inclined elongated slot h difierent locking means operative either upon formed in the detent plate 22 substantially ata depression of one of the amount keys or upon l right angle to the notches e. At its lower end the depression of s total key. J0 detentpia 22 is provided with a lateral projec- Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic perspective View of the tion 28 having a triangular notch 21 and an inmechanism for driving the machine by either a clined edge i engageable by a latch 26 loosely crank. handle or an electric motor. mounted on a shaft 36.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of parts of the Upon depression of an amount key, for example driving mechanism, Fig. 4 being a` rear view 35 the key llc, its pin I9, by engaging the inclined of Fig.y 5. edge d of the detent plate 22, shifts thelatter Fig. 6r is a` partial transverse vertical section @Gunter-CIOCkWSe t0 Cause its upper edges 7C bethrough the machine substantially taken on the tween each pair 0f IlOlJCheS e J00 block the pills 9 line VI-VI of Fig. l, showing a mechanism which of all undepres'sed amount keys of the bank and will permit the termination of an electrically 40 elevate the zero stop 2t against the action oi its started operation, inthe event of accidental fail spring 29C by Cammina the ZelO stOD pin I9 Which ure of the machine driving motor. is thus forced to move outwards by its engagement with the slot h of the shifting detent plate Kel/boum mechamsm 22; furthermore, this shifting oi the detent plate Referring to Fig. 2,V each bank of amount keys 22.', withdraws the inclined edge, i, of the lateralnumbering from one to nine inclusive is projection Z8, on which the free end'oi the latch mounted in an arcuate frame Id-Ma concentric 26' normally rests, to position the triangular with the axis of a shaft 91 and which is screwed notch 2l opposite the free Kend oi the latch` 26, or otherwise secured at its lower and upper ends into which the latch drops, thereby locking the to' stationary bars a and b extending transversely 50 'detent plate 22 in its elevated position and the across the machine and rigid with the side walls remaining keys in that bank in their undepressed thereof. The key-I1 corresponding to the number positions with respect to the depressed key llc. one is at the bottom of the bank frame and the When, during the ensuing machine cycle, the other bank keys Ila', llb, llc,`l`1d, I'ie, Hf, lT'g, latch 2:6 is thrown out of engagement with the llfh correspond to the digits from two to nine u triangular notch 2l, the detent plate 22 descends acted upon by a spring 43.

to its normal position under the action of the spring 29e of the zero stop 29 forcing its pin I6 against the lower edge of the slot h in the detent plate 22, thereby releasing all the blocked pins I9 of all amount keys in that bank and restoring the depressed key to its initial undepressed position, the said zero stop 29 returning to its normal depressed position projecting inwardly from the key bank frame Ill-Illa, so that.

a new operation of the machine may be effected.

The machine is operated either by means of a crank handle or by means of an electric motor, adapted to rotate a main drive shaft 63 which carries cams and gears for operating all of the mechanisms that are not driven directly by opering, indicating, (printing) and turn to zero mechanisms, together with various other complementary control mechanisms, interconnected with the said key mechanism for cooperation therewith so as to form a commercially practicable machine (object of the invention).

Close to each latch 26 loose on the shaft 36 and fast on this shaft is a forked arm 35, the prongs 34a, and 34h of which are adapted to embrace a pin 33 projecting laterally from a downward extension of the latch 26. Also fast upon the shaft 36 is a bell crank lever or rocker 31 A rearward arm of this rocker 31 carries an antifriction roller 4I held in riding engagement with an open cam 42, while the end 31a of the forward arm of this rocker is laterally oif set so as to engage an open cam 39 located beside the cam 42. The cams 39 and 42 are fast upon one end of a sleeve 39a. loose on the shaft 40, the other end of this sleeve carrying rigid therewith a gear 41 meshing With a gear 46 fast on the drive shaft 63 so that both these gears may rotate with the same angular velocity (Fig. 2). It is evident that under the action of the spring 43 the rocker 31, through the shaft 36, prong 34h of forked arm 35 and pin 33, will press the latch 26 either into the triangular notch 21 or against the inclined edge z' of the lateral projection 28 on the lower end of the detent plate 22, depending upon Whether the latter is in its raised position resulting from full depression of an amount key or in its normal lowered position.

If an amount key is not fully depressed, the. detent plate 22 will be insufficiently raised, so that the latch 26, instead of engaging the triangular notch 21, will be slightly moved to the right by the inclined edge i (Fig. el) and its pin 33, by striking the prong 34h, will accordingly move the shaft 36 and with it the rocker 31, the lowermost end 31a of which will then engage the corresponding abrupt shoulder of the cam 39, thereby locking the gears 46 and 41 (Fig. 2) from rotation in the direction of the arrow F1 and preventing the machine from being operated until the,

amount key shall have been fully depressed. When this key is properly or fully depressed, the said members will slightly move in the reverse direction aided .by the spring 43 acting upon the rocker 31; the upper end of the latch 26 will fall into the said triangular notch 21 and the lower rocker arm 31a will disengage the cam 39 to enable it to rotate together with the cam 42 and gear 41 under the influence of the gear 46 actuated by the drive shaft 63. Before the cam 42 has made one complete revolution, its dwell portion raises the roller 4l of the rocker 3l rocking the shaft 36 and the forked arm 35, so that the prong 34a thereof, by striking the pin 33 of the latch 26, rocks the latter out of engagement with the triangular notch 2l, thereby enabling the key bank mechanism to restore to its normal position. It is to be noted that by a clearance provided between the prongs 34a and 34h, with the pin 33 therebetween, the disengagement of the latch from its detent is effected with a desired delay and at the instant that the cam 42 has made nearly one complete revolution, so that improper depression of an amount key can not adversely affect the operation of the machine. Owing to said clearance, also, operation of one key bank does not affect the keys of any other bank of the machine.

Driving mechanism As already mentioned, the machine may be operated either by means of a crank handle or by means of an electric motor, either of which will rotate the main drive shaft 63. This involves employment of a special driving mechanism which is located at the right of the machine, at B (Fig. l) and which will now be described.

Referring to Fig. 3, the crank handle 5l is adapted to be connected at 54 to the outer end of a stud portion provided at its inner end with a disk 56 rigid therewith, carrying coupling pawl 51 on a pin projecting laterally from this disk, the coupling pawl 51 normally resting against the rear edge of a peripheral projection 56 on a disk B0 fast on a stub shaft Sila to which is also fast a pinion 6I in constant mesh with a larger gear 62 fast on the drive shaft 63. y

Normally the free end of a detent arm 86 fast on a rotatable supporting rod 16, lies against the opposite or front edge ofr the projection 59 on the disk 66 to retain the machine locked.

The detent arm may be urged to this position by a suitably pivcted, spring-pressed latch 82 in contact with a lateral extension of the detent arm. A torsion spring 6l encircles the supporting rod 19, one end of which spring is anchored to the tail of the detent 8U.

The opposite end of the torsion spring 8l engages a combined locking and releasing arm 18 journaled on the supporting rod le, to maintain the freeV end of such locking and releasing arm entered in a notch i6 formed in the periphery of the disk '56 and thus lock the disk and handle against clockwise rotation.

The notch 1li has an abrupt wall, and an inclined wall 16a, as indicated in Fig. 6 when it is desired to operate the crank handle 5| normally in a clockwise direction, the handle must rst be started in the opposite direction (arrow F2) Under the camming action of the inclined walls 16a of the disk 56, the locking and releasing arm 1t is dislodged from the notch 16, tensioning the torsion spring 8i to simultaneously displace the detent arm 80 against the tension exerted on the lateral extension 85 by the lower end 84 of the latch B2. The rotatable supporting rod 19 also carries a crank arm 562 and a dog 524 in spaced apart relation which crank and dog are rocked simultaneously with the detent arm 80,

whilst the locking and releasing arm 18 loose on the same shaft is held in its elevated position by a pin 81 projecting laterally from the tail of the `detent 81) and the latch 82, in turn, releasably retains the detent in its dislodged position. The hooked end of a spring pressed arresting dog 11, suitably pivotcd on the machine frame, lies in position to engage a peripheral shoulder 69 formed on the crank handle disk 55 to limit the initial reverse rotation imparted to the disk 56 by the crank 51 when starting a manually operated machine cycle. From the instant that the arm 'l1 abuts the shoulder 55 and the direction of rotation of the crank 51 is reversed, the crank handle may fbe normally operated in a clockwise direction, and the coupling pawl 51. causes the disk 60 and pinion 151 to rotate accordingly, whereby is also rotated, but in the reverse direction indicatedby the arrow F3, the main drive shaft 53 through the gear 52 secured thereonand meshing with the pinion 61. In order to reduced the force necessary for driving the machine, the pinion 61 is one-half the diameter of the gear 62, so that two complete revolutions of the crank handle 51 are necessary to accomplish one complete rotation of the drive shaft S3 as required at each operation of the machine.

When the disk 513 has made nearly two revolutions, a projection 61 on a cam disk S5 fast upon the drive shaft 63 wipes past a nose 89 of the rearwardly extending tail of the detent 80, which nose was rocked to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 when the detent was disengaged from its disk 55, whereby the lateral extension 85 of this detent 81) is disengaged from the latch 82 and the detent 811 is spring returned to enter its free end in the notch 59h on the disk 50 to stop the rotation of the latter at the end of rotation of the crank, the spring 81, in rocking the detent 3, also operating to rock the locking and releasing arm 18 into the notch 15 on the disk. In this way, the drive shaft 63 and all of the mechanism associated therewith always starts from a well determined initial position and re.- turns exactly thereto at the end of each operation. l

When the machine is operated by an electric motor 55 1,v rotation of its armature shaft, through the medium of a series of suitable reducing gears 558, 5115, 515, 512, 513, is nally transmitted to an annular clutch gear 515 coaxial with the drive shaft 53 (Figs. 3 and 5). Located within this annular clutch gear 515 and coaxially secured on the drive shaft 53 is a notched clutch disk 5115 rotatable by this annular gear 515 only in the direction of the arrow F3 through wedging contact of rollers 511 in notches 518 with the inner periphery of the annular clutch gear 515,. Under these conditions, rotation of the drive shaft 53 in the direction of the arrow F3 by the crank handle I does not affect the clutch gear `515 and involves only the clutch disk 516 located therein. On the other hand, rotati-on of the drive shaft'63 in the direction of the arrow F3 by the motor 5131 cannot affect the crank handle 51 since the disk 61) in train with the drive shaft 53, rotates idly relatively to the coupling pawl 51, but means must be provided for sharply stopping the drive shaft 53 in precise initial position as heretofore determined by the arresting vaction of the locking and releasing arm '18 and the detent 811 while the motor continues to exhaust itsinertia movement in a few @valuti-Qns. To this end, a @sich COntrOl disk 52,2 is loosely mounted on the drive shaft 63 adjacent the gear 515, supporting laterally projecting pins '521 carrying the clutch rollers 511 in the notches 518 of the disk 516. On the right hand face of this disk 522 is mounted a small lever 593 pivoted on a pin 594 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) one arm of which extends beyond the periphery of this disk 522, th'e remaining arm carrying at its end a pin 595 projecting through and movable freely in an elongated slot in the disk 522, the inner end of the pin fitting a hole in the notched disk 515. `A tension spring 596, connected at one end to a pin 55511. projecting from the disk 522 through a suitable hole in the disk 516, and at the other end te a pin 59st on the disk 5 I 5, has for its object to produce from the outset wedging contact of the clutch rollers 511 with the inner periphery of the annular clutch gear 515, since the pins 521 carrying these rollers 511 are fastened to the disk 522 (Fig. 8).

Normally the motor driven annular clutch gear or ring 515, and the motoror crank-operated clutclr disc 516 with its connected circular plate 522, are held disengaged by the clutch-control dog 524 fasi-l on the rotatable supporting rod 15,

in the following manner.

Assume the previous operation of the machine to have been eiected by motor, during which the annular clutch gear or ring 515, and the clutch disc 515 with its circular plate 522 have made a complete rotation in the direction of the arrow F3, (Fig. 4).

As the parts are about to complete such rotation, the outer end of the small lever 553 contacts and is arrested bythe tooth 555 of the clutch control dog 526. The clutch members 515, 516 as they complete their rotation, cause arelative movement between the small lever 553 and its circular plate 522, the pivot 595 o1" the small lever traveling with the circular plate and clutch disc while the outer end of the small lever is held by the dog 524 aga-inst advancing.

The consequent rocking motion'of the small lever 553 causes the pin 555 on its inner end to travel ahead a distance (ior example) twice as far as that travelled by its pivot 595, depending upon the relative lengths of the respective arms of the lever 593 and the length ci the arcuate slot 59511 in which the pin 555 of the small lever travels. 1

This movement of the small lever 555 advances the clutch disc 515 with its drive shaft 5s slightly ahead angularly relativelyfto the circular plate 522 and against the tension -of the spring 596 (Fig. 5) to disengage the clutch rollers 5i? from the inner 4periphery of the annular clutch gear 515.

Obviously, arrest of the small lever 555 by contact of its pin 595 against the end of the slot 595s in which it travels, arrests the circular plate-522, with its pins 521 (Fig. ll) on which the clutch rollers 511 are mounted, so that the rollers are retained in the wider areas of the cam notches `in the clutch disc 515 out of clutching position,

thus permitting the motor 551 and the motor driven annular clutch gear 515 to rotate idly until their inertia is lost, while the drive shaft 53 and engaged the very instant that the electric circuit feeding the motor 50| is closed, and must be reengaged the very instant that the circuit is broken, in synchronism with the respective movements of the detent arm 88 with respect to the disk 68, since the rotation of the drive shaft is transmitted u-p to this disk 60. This is accomplished in the following manner:

A key 532 (Figs. 1 and 3) is provided for starting the motor 58|, By depression of this key, a. stud 532aJ projecting laterally from the key 532 wipes against the bent Aupper arm portion535 of a rocker 536 fast upon a shaft 14 and cams the rocker clockwise (Fig. 3) against the tension of a spring 542 to cause a lug 543 projecting from the free end of the arm 535 to enter a notch 11 on the periphery of the crank-operated disk 56, thereby locking the crank handle 5|. The rocker itself is locked in its rocked position by engagement of a triangular pin 538 projecting laterally from the end of a depending rocker arm 531 with the nose 644 of a locking member 643, the operation of which will be described later on it will also be seen later on that the rocker 536 remains in this locked position during each motor-driven five-toothed ratchets 53| fast on a shaft 528 rotated step by step by the pawl, each step preferably being about one-tenth of a revolution at each advancing movement of the said rocker 536.

The tooth 514 of a. catch 510 is held by a spring 51| connected to the tail of the catch, in yielding engagement with the remaining five-toothed ratchet 53|, said catch being pivotally connected rest position, the bell crank operating stud 564 -f lies just in advance of the end of arm 565 of the bell crank to rock the bell crank against the tension of its return spring 561 at the end of each machine cycle.

To hold the ratchet supporting shaft 528 at the particular points in its rotation to which it may be adjusted, and to limit advances of the shaft to one-tenth of a rotation at each machine cycle, there is provided on the shaft a ten-toothed locking wheel 538 engaged by a dog 55|), the toothed end of which is pressed against the locking wheel by a spring 55|.

The purpose of advancing the ratchet-carrying shaft upon and incident to the depression of the motor key 532 is to complete the motor circuit, the leads of which as shown in Fig. 3, are connected to the normally spaced apart resilient terminal 558, 559. To this end, a 've-lobed cam wheel 529 is fast on the intermittently advanced shaft 528 to co-act with a tappet 553 on a circuitcontrol switch lever 554 pivoted to the machine.

frame at 555.

Normally, the tappet 553 of the switch lever 556 is seated in the throat between two of the teeth of the ve-lobed switch control cam wheel 529 to maintain an electric conductor 556 on the switch lever disengaged from the spring terminals 558, 559.

A link 56| connects the tail of the circuit control lever 554 and the crank 562 fast on the rotatlits associated ratchet 55|.

able supporting rod 19 heretofore referred to in the description of the crank operation of the machine, the link connection with the tail of the circuit contrcl lever being slotted to enable the crank operation of the machine to be performed without engaging the motor, and yet permit the circuit control lever 554, when rocked by the cam wheel 529, on the step by step advance of the ratchet shaft 528 under the influence of the motor key 532, -to draw the link 56| and crank 562 upwardly and positively rock the supporting rod 19 to cause the clutch control detent 524 to release the clutch 5|5, 5I6 for operation.

The lobes of the five-lobed cam wheel 529 upon the step kby step rotation of the ratchet shaft 528 by depression of the motor key 532, are successively brought to bear on the tappet 553 on the switch control lever 554 to rock said lever forwardly (clockwise in Fig. 2) to enter its contact member 556 between the circuit terminals 558, 553 and complete the electric motor circuit.

It will be understood that the motor key 532, member 536 and pawl 544 impart one-tenth of a complete rotation to the ratchet shaft 528 and circuit control cam wheel 529, at the termination of which step of rotation, the unmutilated periphery of the cam wheel lies in contact with the high point of the tappet 553 to maintain the circuit controlling switch lever 554 with its contact member 555 between the circuit terminals 558, 559.

Clockwise rocking of the circuit-controlling switch lever 554, raises the link 56| to rock the crank arm 562, supporting rod 19, and clutch de- 'tent 525,.which detent releases the clutch 515,

5|6 for operation by the motor 50|, and the machine performs its cycle of operation.

Rocking of the supporting rod 19 to release the clutch for operation, also releases the locking arm 8|) to free the disk 60 in train with the main drive shaft 63, and the locking arm 80, through its pin 81 displaces the dog 18 which normally locks the crank-operated disk 56 against advance rotation, but the crank-operated disk is prevented from rotating by the lug 543 of the rocker 536.

The.unmutilated periphery or high point of that lobe of the switch control cam 529 opposing the tappet 553 maintains the switch lever 554 effective, and the clutch detent 524, the locking arm 8U and the dog 18 ineffective during almost an entire cycle of the machine.

The machine is arrested at the end of a single cycle, and the parts returned to their normal positions, as follows:

It will be recalled that the rearwardly extending arm 565 of the switch-disabling bell crank 566, 565 lies in the path of rotation of a stud 564 projecting laterally from the gear 62 fast on the main drive shaft 63.

As the machine and its main drive shaft have nearly completed a cycle, the stud 564 rotating in counter-clockwise direction, Fig. 3, contacts with and rocks clockwise the rearwardly extending arm of the bell crank 565, 566 against the ten sion of its restoring spring 561, to draw the catch 518 forwardly. The tooth 514 of the catch 510 normally rests on the top of one of the teeth of On the occasion of imparting a one-tenth rotation to the ratchet shaft 528 when starting the machine, by depression of the motor key 532 and operation of the rocker 536, the ratchet 53| associated withthe catch 510 was advanced one step, to locate one of its inter-dental spaces in position to be entered ciated with the driving pawl 544 connected with the rocker 536 is advanced to present an interdental space to the driving end of its pawl preparatory to the initiation of the next motor driven operation of the machine.

Substantially coincident with the presentation of the interlobed space of the cam wheel 529 to the tappet 553 the cam 61 on the periphery of the restoring disc 66 on the main drive shaft 63, wipes over the nose 89 on the rearward extension of the locking arm 80 to restore the locking arm to its effective position and rotate the supporting rod 19, rocking the `crank larm 56 fast thereon counter-clockwise (Fig. 3) which draws the link 56! downwardly and disengages the switch lever 554 and its conductor 556 from the motor circuit terminals 558, 559.

Incidentally, the return of the locking arm 89 with its lateral pin 81 to normal position, frees the dog 18 which is returned by spring 8| `to locking engagement with the crank-operated disc 56.

The switch lever 554 in its circuit-breaking travel counter-clockwise fits its tappet into the space between the lobes of the cam wheel 529 preparatory to the. next motor-driven machine cycle.

Also the supporting rod 19 on its rotation under the influence of the restoring disk 66, rocks the clutch detent 524 to position its tooth 563 in the path of the outer end of the trip lever 593 on the circular clutch plate 522 to disengage the clutch members 5|5, 5l6 at the end of a machine cycle, as already explained.

Finally, as the main drive shaft 63 is coming to rest, it rotates its gear 62 a suflicient distance to enable the lateral stud 564 thereon to escape past the free rear end of the rearwardly extending arm 565 of the bell crank lever 565, 565 whereupon spring 561 restores the bell crank to normal position and thrusts the draft catch 519 rearwardly. i

The tooth 514 of the draft catch is inclined to ride out of the interdental space in its associated ratchet 53| so that the point of the tooth 514 again lies on top of one of the ratchet teeth.

Obviously, the normal position of the switch disabling bell crank 565, 566 is such that it will be rocked by the stud 564 at each machine cycle, whether crank-operated or motor-driven, and equally obvious, it would be most undesirable to effect a step rotation of the ratchet shaft 528 at each crank-operated cycle.

This disadvantage is avoided by providing a live-toothed ratchet wheel 53| and advancing it but one-tenth of a rotation, as a result of which, the one-tenth throw of the draft catch 510 during crank-operated cyclings merely causes the tooth .of the catch to ride idly back and forth upon the top of the particular ratchet tooth on i ing its lug 543, to lock the crank-operated disc 56 and hence the crank 5| against rotation, and that a spring-pressed latch 643, 644 takes over the pin 538 of the rocker 536 to maintain it in operated position.

It lwill also be noted that the lug 543 of the rocker is of a width too great to fit in any of the recesses in the periphery of the crank-operated dis-c other than the particular notch 11 appropriate therefor, and thus prevents depression of the motor key during a crank-operated cycle.

The rocker and its connected parts also serve as an interlock between the motor key and other manually operable elements of the machine to prevent improper operations.

The motor key, upon removal of the operators finger, is restored immediately to normal position under the tension of its spring, but the rocker 536 remains in latched position.

Means is provided to automatically effect the release of the rocker 536 at'the end of a motor driven operation as follows:

It will be recalled that the drive shaft 63 is provided with a gear 46 (Fig. 3) in constant mesh with a second gear 41 fast on one end of a sleeve, journaled on the totaling and 'clearing shaft 48.

Cams 39 and 42 fast on the opposite end of the sleeve coact respectively with the opposite relatively offset ends of a substantially U-shaped arm 31, 31a, secured at its intermediate portion to the keyboard controlled shaft 36 extending transversely of the machine.

As the machine is completing its cycle, cam 42 rotating at the same speed asl the main drive shaft 63, contacts a roll 4| on the rearmost arm 31 of the U-shaped member to rock the keyboard lcontrol shaft 36 clockwise (Fig. 3) primarily to l effect release of the depressed numeral keys of the machine.

However, the total key locking member 589 is fast on the keyboard control shaft 36 at some distance to the right of the interrneshing gears 46,

normal position, drawing the lug 543 of the rocker out of the notch 11 of the crank locking disc, and retracting the drive pawl 544 relatively to its associated five-toothed ratchet 53| to position the pawl opposite the following tooth of the ratchet preparatory to the next motor driven operation of the machine.

With the mechanisms hereinbefore described it is possible-to enter the desired item in the machine by depressing the proper key on the keyboard and giving the drive shaft 63 one complete revolution either by means of the crank handle 5| or by depression of the starting key 532 controlling operation of the motor 50|.

The printing mechanism is located in the space C at the left of the keyboardA of the machine (Fig. 1) and operated through the drive shaft 63 extended to the left (Fig. 2) and extensions, also to the left, of a series of nested sleeves surrounding the shaft 58a, each sleeve having at its inner end a pinion |51 driven by the differential mechanism and a pinion |59 at its outer end (|59a,

|565 and so on up to the fullicapacity of themachine) said pinions being rigid with their respective sleeves. The pinions |51 andl`53 have the same number of teeth, and hence the same angular extent of movement.

Furthermore, the drive shaft 63 transmits its rotation to a mechanism controlled by an arm 355e (Fig. 2) which, When in raised position, controls the mechanism for item transactions, printing the same and totalizing multi-item transactions, and when in `depressed position, controls the mechanism for printing totals of multi-item transactions and turning to zero the multi-item totalizer.

The mechanism for entering item transactions, printing the same and totalizing a number of item transactions and on the other hand," the mechanism for printing totals of multi-item transactions and turning to zero the multi-item totalizer form no part of the present invention. The specific arrangement of both mechanisms is fully illustrated and described in the application filed March 16, 1939, Serial No. 262,270 by the applicant,` R. Burali, for Cash registers.

. Total key 'mechanism' The arm 355er may be provided with a key top to form what may betermed a total key 355 at the left portion of the machine (Fig. 1)'.

The arm 355g is rigidly mounted on the above mentioned total control shaft 46 (Fig. 2). Fast to this shaft are hubs 358 of 'two bell crank levers or rockers 356 and 351 rigidly connected at their respective opposite ends by rods 356 and 359. The bell cranks 355, 353 and the connecting rods 353, 360 constitute a rocking frame fasten and rocking with the total control shaft 4|). Journaled upon the rod 353 is a sleeve carrying at its ends a pair of pinions 36|. Normally, these pinions 36| are adapted to be driven by a gear 363 fast on the drive shaft BS'and'they drive, in turn, a gear 364 fast on a shafta in align,- ment With the drive shaft 63. lJournaled'upon the rod 36|! is a sleeve carrying at its ends a pair of pinions 362 adapted to be driven by the said gear 363 When the rocking frame 356, 351, 355, 360 is rocked clockwise (Fig. 2) by depression of the total key 355, and these pinions 362, in turn, drive a gear 359 rigid With a sleeve 63D journaled on the shaft 63a. The pair of pinions 35! is in mesh with the gears 353 and 354 when the key 355 is in its elevated or normal position, i. e. in the position corresponding to item operations and in this case, the mechanism to control such operations is evidently driven from the shaft 53a, While the pair of pinions 362 willbe in mesh with the gears 353 and 359 when the total key 355 is in its depressed position, i. e. in the positio-n corresponding to total operations and in this case the mechanism to control such operations Will evidently be driven from the sleeve 63h.

It is important that the total key 355 and its control mechanism be locked in either of these positions at the very instant that the drive shaft 63 is started and until the end of its rotation. This is accomplished by means of a cam 459 fast upon the drive shaft 53, a pawl lever 455 pressed by a spring 458 against this cam 459, and arms 462 and 453 fast on a. stub shaft 420, the arm 463 being forked to straddle an extension 455 of the rod 36!) of the rocking frame.

The normal position of the total key 355 under control of the spring 48| determines the normal position of the rod extension 465 in the fork 464 of the arm 463 to elevate the free end of the arm 452 'to its high' position. When the drive shaft 63 starts rotating in the direction of the arrow F3, its eccentric 459 rocks the end 451 of the pawl lever 455 out of the notch 466 to bring the lever nose 45| against the lower face 462e of the arm 462, thereby locking the latter in this position, i. e. in the normal position of the total key 355, until the end of the operatio-n.

Depression of the total key 355 rotates the shaft 4|) which, in its turn, rotates an arm 58| fast thereon at the other end of the machine. A triangular pin 536 projecting laterally from the arm 58| lifts the nose 589d of a lever 589 fast upon the shaft 36 oscillated by the rocker 31, as previously explained, and at the end of this rocking movement the pin 586 is engaged behind this nose 5890i, thereby maintaining the total key 355 in its depressed position at the same time, the rod extension 465, by acting upon the fork 464 of arm 463, rocks the free end of the arm 462 to its low position, so that when the drive shaft 53 starts again to rotate in the direction'of the arrow F3 the cam 459 again rocks the arm 451 of the pawl lever 455 to bring the end 46E thereof against the upper face 462D of the arm 452, thereby locking the latter in this position, i. e. in the depressed position of the total key 355, until the end 451 of the pawl lever urged by the spring 458 will have dropped into the notch on the cam 459 at the end of the operation.' At this very instant the cams 39 and 42 rotated from the drive shaft 63, as hereinbefore described, cause the rocker 31 to rotate the shaft 36 and with it the lever 58S fast thereon in' the opposite'direction, thereby disengaging the lever 589 from the triangular pin 586 of the arm 56| fast on the shaft 46 to restore, Withthe aid of the spring 48|V acting upon the bell crank lever 351, the total key 355 and the mechanism dependent thereon to its normal position. However, When the total key 355'is in its depressed position and before the drive shaft 63 has cominenced to rotate, it is possibleA to restore the total key 355 to its normal position by depression of an adjustment or release key 44 (Fig. 1), as will be described later on.

- According to the invention, Vno amount key of the machine can -be depressed if the total key 355 is depressed, and vice-versa. The hubs 358 of therocking frame being fast on the` shaft 46, depression of the total key 355 rotates an arm 361 (Fig. 2) rigid with the shaft 4U and causes the upper nose of this arm 361, by its engagement with the upper edge y' of the lateral projection 28 on the detent plate 22, to lock the latter in its normal position. Under these conditions, it will be seen that if an amount key has already been depressed, the total key 355 cannot be depressed, since the upper nose of arm 361 would then abut the rear edge l of the projection 28 and thus prevents rotation of the shaft 40. Conversely, if rthe total key 355 is depressed, the upper nose of arm 361 overlies'the edge lc of the projection 23, the detent plate 22 cannot be raised and,

therefore, no amount key can be depressed.

Adjustment key mechanism Referring to Figs. l, 2 and 6, there is illustrated a mechanism to permit adjustment of various Darts and the mechanisms hereinbefore described, controlled by the adjustment or release key 44.

The release key 44,v extending from the machine (Fig. 1) -includes a key top rigid with the upper arm' 44a of a bell crank `lever loosely mounted on the shaft 35, the lower arm of which bell crank carries a pin 55 extending in front or adapted to engage the lower arm 31a of the rocker 31 so as to oscillate the shaft 35 about la` degrees when the release key 44 is depressed. In the vicinity of the afore-mentioned total key locking lever 585 a lever 5ML-55| isjournaledon the shaft 35, one arm 54d of which carries a' pin 342 projecting laterally therefrom and having attached to its end one end of aspring 559D, the other end of which is attached to thev lower end of the lever 583 whereby the arm 5M is constantly held against a pin 539s projecting laterally from the lower end of the lever 583. Projecting laterally from the release key arm 45a is a pin 44e adapted to rest against the said arm 55| carrying the pin 542. Attached to the end of' the pin 44e is one end of a spring 542i, the other end of which is attached to the end of an arm fast upon the shaft 14 on which is secured the interlocking rocker 535 (above described with reference to Fig. 3), so as to urge the release key 54 upwards and the rocker 535 to its normal position. Loose upon the shaft 35 is also a forked latch 543 against one prong 554', of which rests a triangular pin 535 laterally projecting from the rocker 555, when the latter is cscillated by depression of the motor key 532 for controlling the motor 55|! (Fig. 8). A

second prong 555 of the forked latch 543 is adapted to be engaged by a pin 535C projecting laterally from the 'head of lever 535, while a third prong 545:1, is adapted to be heldin normal position by a fixed frame pin 552 under the action of a spring 641 connecting the latter with a pin 545 projecting laterally from the forked latch 543. In

`an opening through the right frame of the machine a rotatable knob 553 kerfed at its outer end. as at 55| and, secured thereto Within the machine is an arm 545 having a right angled nose 555 the arm being held in. normal position (Fig. 6) by a spring 555 connecting the nose 555 with a fixed frame pin, said arm 555 being operable to the latch. through a pin I558 projecting laterally from the forked latch 543.

rIhe operation of this mechanism is as follows:

It has previously ybeen explained that the latch 26 normally rests against the upper face i of the cam projection 28 on the detent plate 22 and depression of an amount key by operating the detent plate causes the latch 25, prior to its engagement with the notch 2l', slightly to rock the shaft 36, (about 5 degrees) clockwise whereby the lever 539 and with it the lever 555-55! are moved accordingly so that the end 549 of the latter. by engagement with a notch 553s at the end of a locking arm fast on the shaft i4 (Fig. 5), locks the rocker 535 from being operated by the motor controlling key 532 until the latch 25 will have definitely been brought either to its normal position or into its engagement with the notch 21;

in other words, the motor 55| cannot be started as long as an amount key is incompletely depressed.

As previously stated, depression of the total key 355 causes the'arm 55| to rotate i'n a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2 (or in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in 6), whereby the end 554 of this arm is moved in a path beneath. the nose 533 of a second locking arm 582 fast on the rocker shaft 15. from its initial position corresponding to the normal or high position of the total key 355 to its nal position behind the inner edge (Fig. (i) of the nose of said second locking arm corresponding to full depression of the total key 355. It is evident that with the total key 355 incompletely depressed the motor controlling key 532 cannot be fully depressed and, therefore, the motor 55| cannot be started, since the nose 533 of said second locking arm will then abut the end 584 of the arm 53 l, and that with the motor controlling key 552 fully depressed the total key 355 will be locked either in its normal or high position, or in its depressed position, since the nose 583 of the said second locking arm 532. by being lowered, will then engage either the left side or the right side of the end 584 of the arm 59|. Thus proper operation of both keys will be insured. It is to be noted that while the arm 58| is moved, as just described, its triangular pin 585, by' engagement with the nose 53901 of the lever 589, will slightly move the lever 585 and with it the shaft 36 so as'to bring the arm 31a (Fig.` 2) of the rocker 31 in engagement with the cam 39, thereby locking the machine during the passage of the total key 355 from one of its extreme positions to the other. However as soo-n as this key is fully depressed, the action of the spring 43 will rotate the shaft 35 and with it the lever 589 back to normal position. but the triangular pin 535 will remain engaged behind the nose 5596i, thereby maintaining the total key 355 in its depressed position; at the end of the operation, by joint action of the cams 39, 42 upon the rocker 31 andv shaft 36, the triangular pin 555 will be disengaged from the nose 555ml, thereby permitting the'spring 48| to restore the total key 355 to its normal or high position.

If depression of the total key 355 is followed by direct depression of the adjustment key 44 before setting in motion the drive shaft 63, the pin 44C, by pressing against the arm 64| carrying the pin 642 on the lever S40-64, causes the latter to press against the pin 589:1 to rock the lever 589, thereby disengaging the triangular pin A586 from the nose 58901 and permitting the depressed total key 355 to be restored to its normal or high position by the spring 48|. If, on the contrary, an amount key has been depressed instead of the total key, the lever 589 will cause the shaft 36 to rotate through an angle sufficient to force, through the medium of the forked arm 35 and elements associated therewith, the latch 26 to move about the shaft 35 to disengage from the detent plate 22, whereupon the detent plate and the depressed amount key are returned to their normal positions, as hereinbefore described.

It is to be noted that the adjustment key 44 must not be depressed when the machine has a1- ready started to operate, since the cams, 39 and 42 once started then control the oscillation of the rocker 31, shaft 36 and lever 589, but it will be useful to depress this key before starting an operation to adjust various parts of the machine with respect to one another, thereby insuring efcient operation thereof.

It may happen that for any reason, for example, accidental break-down of the motor circuit, the motor suddenly stops at an intermediate point in a motor-driven operation. The rocker 536 being then latched in its depressed position with its lug 543 in locking engagement with the notch 11, it will be impossible to complete the motor-initiated operation by means of the crank handle 5| as long as the rocker 536 is not restored to its normal undepressed position (Figs. 2, 3 and 5). To accomplish such restoration it will be suflicient to disengage the triangular pin 538 rigid with the rocker 536 from the hooked end 644 of the latch 643 to this end, any suitable key or a knife blade may be introduced intoV the kerf 65| on the above `described rotatable knob 653 to rotate the arm 649 rigid therewith so as to engage the pin 648, thereby rocking the latch 643 out of engagement with the triangular pin 538;.the arm 649 will be restored to its normal position by the spring 654.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfil the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to coniine the invention to the one form or embodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms all coming within the scope of the appended claims.

rWhat is claimed is: Y

l. In a machine of the character described having a main drive shaft, a motor for rotating said shaft and a switch, operated from a key, to ener gize the motor, the combination of a crank handle for manually rotating the main drive shaft; unidirectional couplingr means operatively interposed between the crank handle and the main drive shaft, for rotating said shaft in one direction, adapted to allow free rotation of the shaft from the motor in the same direction; and means responsive to operative movement of the crank handle interposed between the switch operating key and the crank handle, for locking the latter against manual rotation to drive the shaft when the switch operating key is moved to operative position, and for locking the switch operating key in inoperative position to prevent starting of the motor when the crank handle is rotated to drive the main drive shaft.

2. In a machine of the type described having a main shaft, a motor for rotating said shaft, a switch operating key for controlling the motor and means for manually rotating said shaft, the combination of means between the said key and the manually actuated means for locking the latter means against manual operation when the key is in operative position; and emergency means for rendering the locking means inoperative in case of a failure of power supply to the motor after the latter has been started and before it has completed its function, so ,that the operation of the machine can be completed manually.

3. In a machine of the type described having a main shaft, a motor for rotating said shaft, a switch for controlling the motor, a manually operable key for actuating the switch, a crank handle for manually rotating said main shaft, and a free wheel coupling means between the motor and the main shaft for driving the latter in one direction; a cam driven through the main shaft to restore the switch operating key into its inoperative position after the motor has rotated the main shaft by a predetermined amount, a second cam on the main drive shaft, intermediate means operatively interposed between said second cam and the motor controlling switch for switching off the motor and, on the other hand, between said second cam and the free wheel coupling means for stopping said main shaft in a predetermined position, while allowing said motor to slow down gradually.

ROMANO BURALI.

Images