US2553644A - Time recorder - Google Patents

Description

May 22, 1951 P. FEHR 2,553,644

TIME RECORDER Filed Aug. 6, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

' PAUL F [HR ATTORNEYS.

P. FEHR TIME RECORDER May 22, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 6, 1947 IWIHIWWIIII mmmummn INVENTOR.

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Patented May 22, 1951 TIME RECORDER Paul Fehr, Zug, Switzerland, assignor to Landis & Gyr, A. G., Zug, Switzerland, a corporation of the Confederation of Switzerland Application August 6, 1947, Serial No. 766,803 In Switzerland August 20, 1946 For time recorders in which a workers card is stamped or printed, it is essential to have a relative control between card and printing mechanism, in accordance with the days of the week and the time of the day, and it is also necessary to provide means for marking the cards during intervals between the normal checking periods, and usually made distinctive by printing in a different colour. In accordance with these functions, hereinafter termed programmes, a control means must be provided which automatically initiates the functions and carries out the agreed change of programme (such as summer and winter programmes). For reasons connect ed with the amount of space occupied by such time-checking apparatus, the space available for the control device (usually a control wheel provided with inserted rider plugs) is limited, so that the diameter of the control whee1 allows only a comparatively small stroke (of the order of 0.4 mm), for its advancement minute by minute, which implies very fine adjustment of the riders in order that the moment of release may be set with precision. In order to remedy this, it has already'been proposed to increase the speed of the control or time wheel, by allowing it to make several revolutions in twenty-four hours, so that its movement per minute is considerably greater and the exact moment of release is ensured with sufficient accuracy by simply inserting the riders in their mountings. Owing to the increased number of revolutions and the presence of several programmes, the time wheel was given the form of a drum, in the perimeter of which the riders for the adjacently located operating means, such as release levers, of the programme, were inserted. The riders used were provided. with a number of notches which, multiplied by the daily number of revolutions of the time drum, gave the product 24, corresponding with the scale of graduation of a day. Thus, in the case, for example of three revolutions per 24 hours, there would be eight notches, and, by sliding the time drum along its axis after each revolution, a new series of notches would be brought within the reach of the release levers of a several programmes.

Although this arrangement offers the advantages of combining the release means of the several programmes on one time wheel-r, more accurately, a time drum-and also enables fine adjustments for the riders to be dispensed with, this sliding-time drum nevertheless brings several disadvantages into the apparatus; it takes up a good deal of room, and thus increases the 7 Claims. (Cl. 346-20) dimensions of the apparatus; it requires a complicated mechanical device for sliding the drum, and makes changes of programme difficult, since the drum cannot be dismounted without having to dismantle part of the apparatus.

The object of the present invention is to provide a time recorder which, while having the advantages of the above described apparatus operating on several simultaneous programmes, is free from the disadvantages of the known apparatus.

According to the invention, a time recorder having atime drum, carrying riders which by rotating several times in 24 hours effects the printing or stamping of a workers or similar card, in accordance with several programmes, is provided, for each programme, with as many release devices, coacting with the time drum, as the drum makes revolutions in 24 hours, the release devices for each programme forming a group which acts with a control member on the mechanism allocated to the programme, for printing the workers card.

The drawing illustrates a typical embodiment of the invention, in which Figure 1 represents a diagrammatical perspective view of those parts of the checking apparatus that are needed for an understanding of the functions of the apparatus. Figure 2 is an end elevation of the time drum with the release mechanism. Figure 3 is a ratchet gear, and Figure 4 is the'time drum, with release devices and ratchet gear, seen from the right of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a detail from Figures 2 and 4, and Figure 6 hows a perspective view of a detail of the release devices.

The apparatus is provided with a clock mechanism I which is connected with an electric clock network 3, by way of a once-a-minute release relay 2, and drives a time drum 4 in such a manner that, in association with the once-aminute release of the relay 2, it makes one revolution in three hours. The dial of the drum 4 is suitably graduated with a scale representing hours and minutes. The drum 4 is mounted on boss projecting from a front panel I a of the apparatus, and is secured in position thereon by a nut 5. It can, however, turn freely on said boss and, by means of a pin 4 which projects into a hole in a gear wheel 6, can be coupled therewith. The gear wheel 6 is in operative connection with a shaft driven by the clockwork I.

According to this embodiment, three programmes are provided, viz, the adjustment of the depth of insertion of the card corresponding with the day of the week; the adjustment between the card and the printing mechanism in accordance with the hours of beginning and leaving work; and the shifting of the ink ribbon for stamping the cards during the intermediate period of the day. In accordance with these three programmes, the perimeter of the drum 4 is brought into operation in three zones, and grooves 1, into which the riders 8 can be insert: ed, and which correspond with the minutes graduation scale, are provided on the perimeter of the drum.

In accordance with the three programmes, three groups of release devices are provided which have, in common, a single shaft 9 carrying twenty-four cam discs In. These cams, in sets of'eights, are offset at 45 on a sleeve H, with which they are threaded on the shaft 9, the angular displacement at 45 being maintained by means of a pin and hole coupling as is clearly shown in Figure 6 which shows the cams in their correct relative position but detached from each other. Seated on the shaft 9 is an 8-tooth ratchet wheel I 2, which is engaged by a hooked pawl l3. This pawl I3 is articulated on a rocker I4 and is subjected to the tension of a spring 15. The rocker I4 is engaged by a latch l6, pivotally mounted on the plate I and coacts with a striker |1 arranged on the gear wheel 6. Arranged on a pin 8, mounted on the plate l is a locking pawl |9, which engages with the ratchet wheel |2 under the action of a spring (not shown). A flat 20 on the pin It! serves to restrict the movement of the hooked pawl I3.

The parts |320 form an overhauling or double ratchet system, in which, at each revolution of the gear wheel, and thus also of the drum 4, the striker |1 imparts a, thrust to the latch l6, thereby subjecting the hooked pawl H to the tension of the spring l5 and causing it to climbunder the influence of the rocker-over one tooth of the ratchet wheel l2 (position shown in Figure 3). When the latch 6 drops away from the striker H, the spring l5 draw the pawl |3 towards the flat 29, and the ratchet wheel l2, together with the shaft 9 and the cams l; through one-eighth of a revolution.

In addition to the rider 8 and cams In, each set of release mechanisms has a set of release levers 2|, which, with all the other release levers, is rotatably mounted on a rod 22 attached to the plate I. The individual release levers 2| are provided with shoulders 23 in extensions projecting beyond the rod 22. Co-acting with the cam l9 and the end of the release lever 2|, is ia, pusher arm '24, which is articulated, with the other pusher arms 24 of its release-mechanism group, on a rocker shaft 25, and is connected, near its operative end, with a release lever 2|, b means of a tension spring 26 which holds the arm 24 against the cam II] and tends to cause the release lever 2| to bear against a stop rod 21, in which position of the release lever 2| its upper part lies near the drum 4 and in the path of the corresponding rider 8.

Each of the rocker shafts 25 is rigidly attached to a tube 29, 30 and 3| respectively, by means of a connecting rod 28. (In Figure 1, the tube 29 is represented by a shaft, for simplicity). The tubes 29, 30 and 3| are concentric and freely rotatable in relation to each other, and are threaded on a shaft 32 (Figure the one end being centered in the plate I by the tube, and the other end being mounted in an auxiliary plate 33, which serves as a bearing for the shaf 9 and forms a rigid framework of the rod 22 and stop rod 21 with a spacing rod 34.

Each of the tubes 29, 30, 3| carries an arm, 35, 36 and 31 respectively, with two abutment surfaces 38 and 39, each of which coacts with a twoarmed release pallet 49, 4|, 42. The arms 35, 35, 31 are each under the influence of a spring 43, tending to hold it in contact with a fixed pin 44. Each of the pallets 40, 4| and 42 is subjected independently, to a, torque which may be imagined to be derived from the clock mechanism differential gear being used if desired. Since it is not part of the invention, and is a known means for the purpose, thi drive is not shown in the drawings.

The release pallet is rigidly mounted on a tube45 which is in operative connection, through gears 46, with a cam plate 41. Bearing against this plate 41, by means of a pin subjected to the pull of a spring 48, is a bell crank lever 49, which is connected by means of a tension member 50, with the card channel 5| serving for the introduction of a workers card into the time recorder. Since the release pallet 40 coacts, through the tube 29, with the connecting rod 28 of the foremost group of release mechanism (the one shown on the left hand in the drawing), this group of mechanisms is based on the programme for the adjustment of the cards in accordance with the days of the week, or workdays, and it is assumed that the depth of insertion of the cards is to be adjusted for each day of the week. The release pallet 4| is rigidly mounted on a tube 52, which passes through the tube 45 (and is freelyjrotatable relative thereto) and carries an eccentric 52. This eccentric lies in a slot 53 in a rocking lever 54, which is connected, by means of a thrust rod 55, with a thrust lever 51, movable around an axis 56 and engaging under a lever 59 serving to control the ink ribbon 58 of the time recorder apparatus. The ink ribbon 58 is assumed to be of the two-colour kind and, by its adjustment in relation to the printing mechanism of the apparatus, causes the impression on the workers card to appear in one or the other colour, to emphasize that the time marked on the card is intermediate between the normal marking times. Thus, the central group of release mechanism, in conjunction with the parts 36, 4|, 52, 52 54-51 and 59 adjusts the programme of changing over the ink ribbon 58 of the apparatus.

The release pallet 42 is rigidly mounted on a shaft 6|, on which the tube is slipped so as to rotate freely thereon. The shaft 6| is connected, through a speed-reducing gear 62, with a cam plate 63 coacting with a bell crank lever 64, which is controlled by the tension Of i8, spring 65 and is connected with the printing mechanism 50, through a rod 66. The printing mechanism 60 slides on a guide 61 in the checking apparatus, and is connected with the clockwork I, through a gear 68, in a manner not shown in the drawing. The third group of release mechanism, shown on the right hand side in the drawings, serves for the programme of adjustment of the printing on the workers card during the normal marking periods.

The described apparatus functions in the following manner:

Assuming that, at the beginnin of a time period, the time drum 4 carries a rider 8, inserted at the 0 point of the dial, directly under the first release lever 2| of the release-mechanism group of the programme of card adjustment according to the days of the week, whilst otherwise no autism;

rider is near a release lever 2|. The cam shaft 9 is in such a position that the cam H! of the cam shaft, in the same plane as the said release lever 2|, points downward, and holds down the depressed thrust arm 24 coacting therewith, with its operative end in front of the said release lever 2|.

On the time drum 4 being rotated by the clock mechanism I, the rider 8 lifts the release lever 2|, and its lower end encounters and presses back the arm 24. By this means, the rocker shaft 25, with the connecting rod 28 of this group of release mechanism, is rocked, the tube 29, with the arm 35, is turned, against the pull of the spring 43 and deflects the abutment surface 38 under the release pallet 40 so that the latter is rotated through one-half a revolution, by thetorque to which it is subjected, inasmuch as, after temporary contact with the abutment surface 39, its other arm comes to bear against the abutment surface 38 which has returned to its former posi tion owing to the release lever 2| having dropped away from the rider 8 in the meantime. As the result of the half revolution of the release pallet 40, the pin of the bell crank lever 49 slips from the highest step of the cam plate 41, on which it has so far been lying, and the card channel 5| is raised for a distance corresponding to the length of a day, thus performing a function in the programme of the card adjustment for the day. Shortly before the release lever 2| has been lifted by the rider 8, the striker I? has begun to lift the lever l6, and this, by means of the rocker l4, draws the hooked pawl l3 over a tooth of the ratchet wheel I 2 (continuous-line position in Figure 3). Shortly after the release lever 2| has slipped away from the rider, and the tube 29 has returned into its original position, the lever |6 drops away from the striker I1, and, under the pull of the spring l5, the hooked pawl l3 advanced the ratchet wheel l2 by one tooth, thus turning the cam shaft 9 through one-eighth of a revolution and thus bringing the cam, of the previously operative cam plate, out of reach of the corresponding thrust arm 24.

Since, during the described release movement of the release lever 2| concerned, only a portion of this release mechanism, that is to say, cam, thrust arm and release lever, came into joint action, the other members of this group of release mechanism remained, like all the releasemechanism groups of the other programmes, inoperative.

If, in the course of the rotation of the time drum 4, a rider 8-for example in the zone of the central release-mechanism groupcomes into action on the release lever 2| lying in its path in that group and, at the same time, the cam and the cam plate I9 coasting with said release lever, should depress the corresponding thrust arm 24, the connecting rod 28 will then be turned with the tube 30, and the arm 36 will release the pallet 4| for half a revolution. By this means the eccentric 52 in the slot 53, will be turned half way round, the lever 54 swung into the opposite position, and the lever 51, actuated by the thrust rod 55, will raise the lever 59, so that the ink ribbon 58 will present its second colour in the zone between the printing mechanism GI] and workers card, the function of the second programme-ink ribbon changebeing thus discharged.

If, during the rotation of the time drum 4, a rider 8 in the right hand zone, i. e., the third group of release mechanism, should come into operation with one of the release levers 2| of this '6 group; and if, at the same time, the correspondiing thrust arm 24 should be depressed by its coacting cam plate Hi, the connecting rod 28 of this group will be turned, with the tube 3|, and the arm 31 will free the release pallet 42 for half a revolution. By this means, the cam plate 63 will be turned through one graduation and the bell crank lever 64 will descend on it by one step, the result of which will be that the rod 66 will displace the printing mechanism by one printing position on the workers card, that is to say, the function of the programme adjustment between workers card and printing mechanism, with reference to the normal time of beginning and leaving work is discharged.

Reverting to the described function in the firstmentioned programme, it follows that, after one revolution of the time drum 4, i. e., after three hours, the cam of the cam plate Ill, coacting with the first release lever 2| is inoperative on the corresponding thrust arm 24, that is to say, the thrust arm 24 bears against the rounded portion of the cam plate Iii. Consequently the arm 24 is lifted, and when the same rider 3 lifts the release lever 2| in the same manner as in the beginning of the operation, the shoulder step 23 0f the latter comes within the scope of the operative end of the thrust arm 26, i. e., the movement of the release lever 2| has no effect on the lever 24, and there is no rotation of the tube 29 and no release of the pallet 40, so that the programme of setting the workers card in the correct position for the time of day is left unfulfilled.

During the further revolutions of the time drum 4 until eight have been completed, all the several release mechanisms of the group belonging to this programme become just as inoperative as the one last mentioned, that is to say, to discharge the function of the several points in the programme, a rider 3, the release lever 2|, the cam of the cam plate It, and the lever 24 of this mechanism must coact and it is possible, by correspondingly insorting the rider 8 on the time drum, within the zone of this group of release mechanism, to set this working-time point to any convenient time of day, since at three-hourly intervals, the cam of another cam plate it comes into action on the corresponding thrust lever 24 and therefore in each three-hour period one of the eight release levers 2| of each set is in readiness to establish the connection with a rider 8, in order to operate in accordance with the programme.

What has just been stated about the possibility of setting the several release mechanisms in the position of readiness, in the said programme group, also applies to the other two groups of release mechanism, so that the functional release for each programme can be set to within a minute for any time of day.

The above described arrangement has the advantage over those already known, that the time drum is of the non-sliding type, and thus, although having a large stroke per minute, does not occupy an unduly large space; that the time drum is readily interchangeable, since unscrewing the nut 5 is all that is needed, the drum to be withdrawn from the apparatus, and that, accordingly, the programmes can easily be altered; whilst no complicated mechanical arrangement is needed to attain coaction between rider and release lever in the various diurnal zones of the several programmes.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. A time recorder comprising, in combination, recording means for making time recordings on a record, record holding means, individual means for varying the positional relationship between said recording and holding means in order to effect a record in accordance with each of several programmes, and means for actuating said individual means, said actuating means including a time drum driven to make a plurality of revolutions in 24 hours said drum having peripheral riders thereon, and groups of release mechanisms each mechanism to be actuated from one of said riders and having means to engage and disengage one of said individual means permitting and prohibiting actuation thereof, a group of said release mechanisms including as many mechanisms as the drum makes revolutions in 24 hours and each group of mechanisms being operatively associated through said engaging and disengaging means with a separate one of said individual means.

2. A time recorder in accordance with claim 1 wherein a shaft common to all the groups of release mechanisms carries for rotation therewith an individual cam member for each release mechanism in all of said groups, each said cam member being operative to permit and prevent operation of its respective release mechanism from one of said riders dependent upon its rotational position and means for giving said common shaft rotational movement upon each complete revolution of the time drum.

3. A time recorder in accordance with claim 2 wherein said means for giving said common shaft rotational movement upon each complete revolution of said time drum, comprises a lever which is pivoted upon each complete revolution of said drum and a double ratchet interconnecting an end of said lever and said shaft.

4. A time recorder in accordance with claim 3 wherein timing means are provided for said recording means said timing means driving a gear to which said drum is connected for correlative rotation therewith, said gear having an extension for engaging and pivoting said lever.

5. A time recorder in accordance with claim 2 wherein each release mechanism comprises a release lever adapted to be pivoted by one of said riders said lever having a shoulder thereon, a thrust arm spring urged against one of said cam members adapted to engage said shoulder on said release lever when said lever is pivoted by one of said riders and said thrust arm is in contact with a high point on said cam, said arm being articulated on a rocker shaft common to all the other thrust arms of its group of release mechanisms, said arm being adapted to turn said rocker shaft when it is engaged by said shoulder, and means released by turning said rocker shaft to permit actuation of one of said individual means.

6. A time recorder in accordance with claim 5 wherein the cam members are mounted side by side on said common shaft and are in the form of plates interconnected by pin and holecouplings, the pins and holes in the several plates being offset in relation to each other, in relationship with the number of revolutions of the time drum per 24 hours, so that the cam plates corresponding with the several programmes bring their respective thrust arms into position to be engaged by the shoulder of the respective release levers in serial succession.

'7. A time recorder in accordance with claim 3 wherein said double ratchet comprises a rocker element mounted for free rotation on said common shaft and pivotally connected to an end of said lever, a ratchet wheel secured to said common shaft for correlative rotation therewith having as many teeth as there are cams in each group of said release mechanism, a hooked pawl pivotally connected to said rocker element adapted to engage said ratchet wheel and spring urged in one direction, and a stop pawl to engage said ratchet wheel and prevent rotation thereof in one direction.

PAUL FEHR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,719,000 Crook July 2, 1929 2,338,180 Harrison Jan. 4, 1944 2,389,345 Dell et a1. Nov. 20, 1945 2,421,697 Hobby June 3, 1947

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