US2381546A - Accounting machine - Google Patents

Description

1 w. VKREIDER 2,381,546

ACCOUNTING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1943 FIGJ lhwentor WALTER J. KREIDER g y/W" H I S attorney and also of varying thicknesses.

Patented Aug. L' -1 945 AccoUN'rmdMAcnmE .Walter J. Krelder, Dayton, Ohio, minor to The National Cash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Application July '26, l943,-Serlal No. 496,122

2 Claims. (01. 271-71) invention relates to cash registers and accounting machines, andparticularly to slip, bill, statement or "card ejecting mechanism adapted to be used in' machines of the type illustrated and described in United States'Letters Patent No. 1,916,535, issued July 4, 1932, to Bernis M. Shipley, and No. 2,141,332,]issued December I 27, 1938, to Charles H Arnold, and is an improvement over the ejecting mechanism in the patent to John Earl Gates. No. Re. 21,442, dated May 7, 1 940. e

- It is a common practice among public utility companies, such as telephone companies, electric and gas companies, and water companies, to

- furnish their customers periodically with statementsof their accounts. Such statements before being mailed out to the customers are usually composed of a plurality of detachable portions, namely, an oflice copy a customers statement, and ajcashiers stub. Each of the different portions of the statement bears the same information identifying thatparticular account and the amount due for the servicerendered to the customer.

, Such statements or billsare of varying widths In some cases the material used is of a paper substantially the same thickness as a standard Government postal card, and again in other instances the.

statements may be on very flimsy paper, which is inserted in envelopes and mailed to the customers. In the heavier type of paper the statement-itself is mailed as a postal card.

In making up the bills or statements the operator inserts-the form-into the machine against a stop, after which the machine, by means of a feeding'mechanism, draws the form into the machine in position to be printed upon either once or a plurality of times, depending upon the type of bill or statement which is to be issued'to the customer. place, which is usually the total of the bill, the

After-the last printing has taken definitely'eliminating all strains and stresses on statement is fed forwardly into a position to be r elected from the machine.

It is with this ejecting mechanism that the present invention is particularly involved, In some of the machines on the market the bills or statements are fed a considerable distance and then a gripping device grips the bill or statement and ejects, it from the machine, and at the same time inverts the bills so they will be in their proper sequential or alphabetical order, depending on howthe operator has them arranged in the first place. Sometimes, 'due to the very thinness of thepaper used, and also, even due tothe fact that the paper is of a very heavy texture, the ejection mechanism occasionally will crumble or bend the statements, and sometimes they may even catch in the machine and not be completely ejected.

- To avoid such things happening the present invention is arranged .to grip the bill or statement at or near the leading edge thereof and eject it from the machine, and at the same time invert it so as not to destroy the sequential or alphabetical order of the stack.

By gripping the statement or bill near the leading edge thereof, such statement or bill 'is not pushed. but is drawn out of the machine and at the same time automatically inverted without in any way placing any strain on the paper.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a novel combination of elements to eject and invert a statement or bill from the machine after it has been printed upon, regardless of the thinness or the thickness of the material used for the bill.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel ejecting and inverting mechanism for inserted statements or bills to grip the statement by the leading edge thereof after it has been fed to a designated position, and then eject said bill or statement by drawing it completely out of the machine, thus eliminating all friction which attends ejecting mechanisms wherev the paper or statement is pushed out through a chute, thus the paper. and preventing crumbling, creasing or buckling thereof.

With these and incidental objects in view the invention includes, certain novel features of oonstruction and combinations of parts. the essential elements of which are .set *forth in appended claims, and a preferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to'the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specification.

Of said drawing: x Fig. 1 is a view showing a portion of the ejecting mechanism and its relation to the type wheels and the feeding mechanism for the bill or statement sheet, the ejecting mechanism being in normal position, with the gripping finger open.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of a portion of the ejecting mechanism, in a moved position; and shows the finger closed, and ma position justbefore the finger isopened to receive the statement sheet as it is being fed from the machine after the final printing has taken place.

Fig. 3 is a plan view, partly broken away, showing a pair of ejecting devices in their normal positions, and also shows in dot and dash lines a driving means for the ejecting means.

Fig. 4 is a detail viewof a portion of the electing means shown in the position just, after the finger has been opened to receive the statement sheetas it is fed from the printing mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the electing'mechanism shown in the position that it as-- sumes just prior to the time it releases the statement sheet or bill.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the gripping finger, showing the serrations on the inside thereof, which cooperate with the bill or statement sheet.

General description Described in general terms, the present inven- The invention herein is shown as having been applied to a machine of the type shown in the above mentioned Amold' Patent, No. 2,141,332. Therefore, only a small portion of the mechanism of that patent is shown herein in Fig. 1.

This mechanism includes a part of the statement sheet feeding mechanism, a type wheel, and one of the hammers.

Detailed description As has been previously stated, a small portion of the printing and feeding mechanism of the type shown and described in the above mentioned Arnold Patent No. 2,141,332, has been shown herein, in order to show the relationship between such printing and feeding mechanisms and the novel ejecting mechanism of the present application.

The greater part of the printing mechanism is supported between side frames SI and 62 (Figs. 1 and 3) which are secured to a base (not shown), and which are connected by several tie bars 83 (only one being shown).

Statement sheet or slip feed rollers 64 (only one being shown) are secured to a shaft 65 which is supported by the frames H' and 62. The feed rollers M are driven through the rotation of the shaft 65 by means fully illustrated and described in the above mentioned Arnold and Gates pat tions for a statement sheet or slip Ill when it is first inserted into the machine by the operator.

Pressure rollers ll (only one being shown) cooperate with the feed rollers M to feed the statement sheet 10 into the machine, into position to be printed upon and also to line space the sheet when it is necessary to do so, according to the number of prints to be made thereon. The printing is accomplished by type wheels 12 and hammers I3. The hammers "II are pivoted on a rod Ilsuported by the frames BI and.

A table 15 is supported on top of the frames GI and 82, and has guides 18 to guide the statement sheet III in its initial insertion into the machine against the shoulder 02. A plate 11, also supported by the frames II and .2, supports the 1 ment sheet II has been fed outwardly 'by the rollers ll.

The operation of the above parts is as follows:

- The operator inserts a statement sheet between 15.

the guides 18, underneath the deflector I9 and against the shoulders 66 into the position as shown in Fig. 1. After this insertion the feed rollers 84 are rotated clockwise to feed the statement sheet 10 into the machine, into position to be printed upon by the type 12. Other'step-bystep feeds may or may not take place, depending upon whether or not there is to be one or a multiplicity of prints upon the statement sheet ll. After the printing hastaken place, the rollers 04 feed the statement sheet "toward the left (Fig. 1). Prior to this feeding of the sheet II the deflector II is moved 'fromthe position shown in Fig. 1 to the positions shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, whereupon the deflector ll deflects the leading edge of the statement sheet II downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 4, where it is ready to be ejected from the machine by the ejecting mechanism.

Eiecting and inverting mechanism The ejecting mechanism includes a shaft mounted-in the frames ii and 82 and having secured thereto a pair of segments 8|, each having a flange 82, as'is clearly shown in Figs. 1 to 5.

The shaft 80 is rotated first clockwise and then counter-clockwise, for a purpose to be hereinafter described, by means of a pinion 83 secured to the end thereof, which is driven by a rack 84. This rack 84 is driven to the left by any of the usual forms of camming devices (not shown), and is returned to the right to its normal position by a spring 85. The object of the spring return is to give the ejecting mechanism a faster rotation in a counter-clockwise direction to eject and invert the statement sheet 10. Adjacent each of the segments 8| is a bracket 90. These brackets are secured to the tie bar 82, and the outer ends of the brackets partially surround the shaft 8 0. Each bracket 90 has secured there-.

to a cam plate 8' and a stud 92, the purpose of which will be hereinafter described.

Pivoted at 93 to an arm 94 on each of the segments Si is an ejecting arm 95 having an integral gripping finger 96 adapted to cooperate with the flange 82 so as to grip the statement sheet 10 just .prior to the time it is to be ejected.

In order to provide a better grip for the finger 95 on the statement sheet, the underside of the end of the finger 96 is provided with a plurality of serrations 91 shown only in the enlarged view in Fig, 6.

A spring 98 stretched between a stud on the ejecting arm 95 and a stud on the segment Ii normally holds a pin 99 (Fig. 1) against the outer surface of the camplate 9| so as to hold the finger 96 away fromthe flange 82, or in other words, in the open position, as shown in Fig. 1. This is the normal position of the finger 86 relative to the flange 82. The spring 98 tends to rock theejectlngiarm' as clockwise at all times new should the statement sheet 10 adhere to around its pivot 98. v

The operation of the ejecting and inverting mechanism has follows. v s In Fig. 1 the parts are all shown'in their normal positions, and the statement'sheet "I8 is shown. as having been inserted. in the machine against the'shoulder 88 of the-feeding roller 64. As has been previously 'stated, the statement sheet .18 is fed into the machine .to the printing.

line and printed upon by the type wheels through the. action of the hammer 18. There may beeone print made on thestatement sheet or theremay be several prints made thereon, depending upon the system and the information desired to have placed on the,statement sheets before they are mailed. out.- However, after the .;the total, the statement sheet is fed into the ing the shaft 88 in a clockwise direction, and

position sho'wn in Fig. 4.

1o intotheposition in Fig. '4, the rack-84 is the serrations 91, the leading edge of the statement sheet will contact the under edges 1|8| of the brackets 98, and as the segment 8| continues in its counter-clockwise movement from the position shown "inFig. to that shown in Fig. 1,

which is the normal position, the statement sheet 10, assuming that it adheres'to the serra- I final printing, which as above stated is usually tions 91, will be stripped by striking theunder edges |8| of the brackets 98. It can be'seen;

therefore, that the statement sheet has been not only very rapidly-ejected and in a. positive fashion from the machine, but it has also been inverted and deposited'in a receptacle |82 (Fig. I 1) whichis-secured to the tiezbar-..88.

Fro m'the above description it can be seen that when thesegment 8| is moved in a 'clockwise direction from its. normal position shown inFig.

'1 as the pin 99 on the ejecting arm 95 leaves the moved to the left as viewed in Fig. 1, thus.rotat-..

since the segments 8| are secured to 'the'shaift,

' these segments receive such clockwise movement.

, 98 away from the flange When the segments 8| reach the position shown camming plate 9|, the spring 98 will rock the ejecting arm 95 in a clockwise direction around its pivot 93 and cause the gripping finger 96 to. contact the flange 82; but, as the beveled surface I88 of the ejecting arm 95 contacts the stud 92 in Fig 2', it will be noticed that a beveled or :camming surface I88 of the ejecting arm 95 has just contacted the stud 92, which is secured to the stationary bracket 98. Upon further clockwise movement of the segment 8|,the' stud 92, .through the camming surface I88, forces the ejecting arm 95 to be rocked in a counter-clockwise direction against the influence of the spring 98'until the surface I88 is Just above the stud 92, as shown in Fig. 4, in which position'the gripping'finger 96 has become fully opened,- that is,- it has been separated from the flange 82. The segment 8| is maintained in the position shown in Fig. 4, with the gripping finger 96 opened until all of the printing has taken place, and until the statement sheet 18 has been fed into the position shown in Fig. 4, wherein the leading end thereof has passed between the gripping finger 96 and the flange 82.

when it reaches the position shown in Fig. 2, the

1 arm 95 is rocked counter-clockwise on its pivot 93 to open the gripping finger 98,that'|s, move it away from the flange 82 into the position shown in Fig. 4, as the segment 8| completes its clockwise movement, after which the statement sheet 18 is fed into the position shown in Fig. 4. When the rack 84 is released, the spring 85 very rapidlyreturns the rack 84 to the right to its normal position, whereupon the segment 8| is rotated counter-clockwise to its normal position. At the very beginning of this movement the arm 95 is moved away from the s'tud.92 and thespring 98 closes the finger 96- to grip the statement sheet 18 and thus draw or eject the statement sheet from between the deflector 18 and table 11, invert said statement sheet, and release it from .the ejecting device when the 1 stud 99 rides upon the camming'plate 9| as the With the parts in the positions shown in Fig.

4, the rack 84 has been 'moved toits extreme lefthand position, and is now in a position to be released by its driving mechanism, whereupon the spring 85 rapidly moves therack 84 back "to the right, into the positionshown in Fig. l, whereupon the shaft 88 and segments 8| are.

moved very rapidly in a counter-clockwise direction from the position shown in Fig. 4.

During such counter-clockwise movement of the segment 8|, the surface I88 is moved downwardly andaway from the stud 92 in the bracket 98. Under the action of the spring 98 the arm 95 at the same time is rocked in a clockwise direction around its pivot 93, thus causing the gripping finger 98 to close itself against the flange 82, thus firmly gripping the leadingedge I of the statement sheet 18 between. the flange 82 and the finger 96 to eject and invert the same. When the segment 8| reaches the position shown in Fig. 5, the pin 99 on the ejecting arm Whatisclaimedis: I

segment 8| is moved counter-clockwise into its final or normal position.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill-the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the form or embodiment herein disclosed, for

it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which 1. Ina device for ejecting and inverting rec-" ord material, in combination with an oscillating means, a gripper finger pivotally mounted on said oscillating means, and a spring to force said finger against the oscillating means to grip record material to feed the record material when the means is oscillated, of a single element mounted adjacent the gripping finger, said single element having a cam for camming the finger away from the oscillating means preparatory to receiving record material, said element having a second cam for camming the finger away from Y the oscillating means to release the record ma- 95 just contacts the outer edge of the camming plate 9|, and the continued counter-clockwise movement of' thesegment 8| causes this stationary camming plate 9| through the pin 99 to rock the ejecting. arm 95 counter-clockwise terial at a certain location, said element having .a stripping means to positively strip the record material from the oscillating means after the finger is cammed by said second cam at said around its pivot 93 to move the gripping finger p 82, thus releasing the statement sheet 18.

certain'location.

2. In a device for ejecting and inverting record material, in combination with an oscillating means, a gripper finger pivotally mounted "on said oscillating means, and a spring to force said finger against the oscillating means to grip record material to feed the record material when the means is oscillated, of a stationary bracket having a cam projecting into the path of movement of the finger to withdraw the finger from against the oscillating means preparatory to receiving record material, said stationary bracket having a second cam projecting into the path WALTER J. KREIDER.

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