US2847164A - Value approximation mechanism - Google Patents

Description

m r//ll///Ii l V//A 7 n w m I A y nr //oo NQ 2, Q E, mi@ N t @y w. Q ...il w @M im M u 1., @I m N lnwunffhl E M m mz NN @Q m9 m m w, a.. m NIIWHIH H m M NO N/ c. m m A. N @Q l G. A Nm wlw. Q0 wf. i .TO- w 81% ,I9 m

Aug. 12, 1958 United States Patent VALUE APPRXIMATION MECHANISM Grant C. Ellerbeck, San Leandro, Calif., assgnor to Friden, Inc., a corporation of California Application October 30, 1953, Serial No. 389,375

7 Claims. (Cl. 23S-144) This invention relates to calculating machines and is concerned more particularly with an improved register clearing mechanism particularly adapted to reset preselected orders' of the register to a predetermined value, such as 5.

It is a general object of my invention to provide an improved means for completing calculations in desired orders to the nearest cent, and to perform this operation in such a way that the total, or accumulated totals, will be correct to the nearest cent.

In many calculations it is desirable to multiply one value by another, in which one of the values is a fraction of a cent, so that the product secured will be registered in fractions of a cent. Examples of such work are payroll calculations in which it is necessary to multiply a rate paid for the work by the number of hours work in order to obtain the amount to be paid to each employee, in which the rate may include a fraction of a cent. Another example is in billing operations in which the price per item will be given in fractions of a cent so that the total price to be paid will also include similar fractions. It is necessary to complete the calculation to the nearest cent, and it is very desirable that this be done automatically so as to avoid mental operations on the part of the calculating machine operator. One of the most convenient ways of performing this rounding off operation to the nearest half-cent is to insert a value of in the order next below the lowest desired value (for example, in the order below the cent order when values are accumulated to the closest cent) at the time of clearing the register. If the values added thereto are less than half a unit (ve mills, or a half-cent, in the example suggested), the `value in this lowest order will be no greater than 9 and no tens-transfer will occur into the next higher or cents order. On the other hand, if the value added to the 5 is 5 or more, then the dial in the lowest, or mills, order will pass through the 9 to 0 position and will thus initiate a tens-transfer into the next higher, or cents, order. Thus, in rounding off to the closest cent by this method, if the mills accumulated are less than 5, the cents dial reads the accumulated number of cents; but if more than tive mills are accumulated, those values added to the ve mills initially inserted are elective to operate a tens-transfer into the cents order and thus register one cent more than the totals accumulated in that order. Thus, in either situation, the total is rounded otf to the closest cent, automatically.

It is therefore a particular object of my invention to provide an improved mechanism for inserting the halfcent, or ve mills, in any one of a number of preselected orders of the calculating machine and thus accumulate values to the closest cent.

It is another object of my invention to provide a calculating machine in which the resetting operation serves to enter one or more half-cent, or other half-unit, values in selected orders of the accumulator.

ice

Another object of the present invention is to provide a resetting, or clearing, mechanism which will enter predetermined values, such as 5, in certain selected orders of the accumulator as part of the resetting, or clearing, operation.

A further, and an important, object of the present invention is to provide a half-cent mechanism which does not require the conventional disabling of the tens-transfer mechanism during the clearing operation.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. l is a partial plan View of a portion of the accumulator register with which my invention is associated, in the normal, or cleared, position.

Fig. 2 is a view of the half-cent mechanism of my invention in the cocked position, which occurs at the end of the clearing stroke and prior to the return of the clearing mechanism to its normal inoperative position; and also shows details of the clearing rack and gear with which my invention is associated.

My invention is illustrated as embodied in the accumulator register of the type shown and disclosed in the patent to Carl M. Friden of January 28, 1941, No. 2,229,- S89. Generally, such calculating machines include a selection mechanism, actuating means, and various control mechanism for performing various operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Such mechanisms are conventional, and are particularly disclosed in the patent referred to, so that their disclosure is not necessary to an understanding of the instant invention, Such machines generally include a shiftable carriage in which an ordinally arranged accumulator is mounted. In the patent referred to, the carriage includes a hollow frame bar 10 which is slidably mounted in the calculating machine and which can be moved to any preselected ordinal position by means not pertinent and not shown. A plurality of ordinally arranged accumulator dials 11 are rotatably mounted in the carriage frame 10, as by mounting upon dial shafts 12 which are journalled in the top and bottom of the'frame bar. The lower ends of the dial shafts 12 carry a driving gear, not shown, rigidly secured thereto, which gears are driven by the machine to accumulate values in the register dials 11. The register dials are conventionally centralized in a full-value position by a conventional centralizing means, not shown, and generally are provided with a tens-transfer mechanism which is of no interest in the present invention.

It is conventional to provide means for clearing the register dials 11 to 0 when desired. In my preferred embodiment the clearing means comprises a pair of racks 15 mounted for longitudinal movement in the interior of the frame bar 10, each of said racks including a plurality of teeth 14 alternately arranged with respect to a blank portion 13, as shown in Fig. 2. The teeth and blanks of the racks are staggered on the two racks 15 so that they may cooperate with mutilated gears 16 mounted on the respective shafts 12, the mutilated clearing gears 16 being vertically, or axially, oifset along the shafts 12 so that alternate gears register with the upper rack and the others with the lower rack 15. Each such gear is mutilated by the removal of two teeth, as shown in Fig. 2, and the mutilated portion is in the position shown in this ligure when the associated dial stands at 0l To perform the resetting, or clearing, operation the racks 1S are moved laterally of the machine (lengthwise of the carriage frame 10), whereby the rack portions thereof engage the clearing gears 16 which are displaced from the position and rotate them and their associated shafts and dials to the 0 position, in which position further rotation is blocked by a blocking means to be described shortly. It is conventional in machines of this kind to provide variousmeans for. operating the clearing racks, such as the manually operated post 18 shown in Fig. v1 which is rigidly mounted in the racks 15.- The clearing racks 15 may also be operated by a conventional .power means, .not shown, vwhich acts through an interponent, not shown, to move the post 18 when desired.

In order to insure stopping of the numeral, wheels, or dials, at 0 without overthrow, a stop slide 25 is slidably mounted upon Ythe upper surface` of kthe carriage frame 10. The stop slide is provided with a projection, or shoulder, 26 for each order ofthe accumulator, which shoulders, or fingers, are adapted to move into the path of travel of an abutment 28 formed on a stop cam 27,

. one of which is mounted. on each of the dial shafts 12 immediately adjacent the upper surface of the frame bar 10. The Vstop slide 25 is moved in synchronism with the initial movement of the racks15 by any suitable means. A conventionalmeans normally used with the machine of the patent above-mentionedcomprises a bellcrank 31 pivotally mounted on the right-hand end of the frame by any suitable means, such as screw 32. This bellcrank has a rightwardlyeXtending arm which is provided with a cam surface 34 engaging a roller 29 mounted on post 18. Thus, the initial movement of the clearing rack toward the right, which occurs at the start' of a clearing operation, causes the roller 29 to engage the cam face 34 ofthe bellcrank, thereby rocking the bellcrank (clockwise in `Fig. 2), and will hold it in the rocked position until the clearing rack 15 returns to its inoperative position shown.

The rearwardly extending arm of the bellcrank 31 is bifurcated, as at 36, to embrace a pin 37 rigidly secured to the right-hand end of the stop slide 25. Operation of the clearing rack 15 thus causes the roller 29 to rock Vthe bellcrank 31, which, through the pin-and-slot arrangement 37, 36 moves the stop slide 25 toward the right. Inthis position the shoulders, or tingers,`26 lie inthe path of travel of the abutments128 of stop cams 27,- so that when the respective shafts are rotated to their 0 position, the shoulders 28 abut against the end of the ngers 26, thereby blocking further rotation of -the dial shafts 12.

The mechanism heretofore described is conventional rand is not claimed herein. My invention comprises mechanism by means of whichthe conventional clearing mechanism heretoforedescribed'may be operated in order to insert a preselected value,'such as 5, in selected orders atthe will of the operator, when theclearing'mechanism is operated. The mechanism of my invention will now be described.

My invention embodies the principle of returning the selected dials 11 from the 0 position, in an additive 4direction after the clearing operation. It will be noted that the dials are returned from their adjusted position to 0 in a subtractive (clockwise in the drawing) direction during the clearing stroke, so that in myinvention the register dials do not pass through the tens-transfer or 9 to 0 position. Therefore it is unnecessary, in my invention, to disable the tens-transfer `mechanism as is conventional in most half-cent mechanisms.

In the preferred form of my invention I mount a mutilated gear 77 on theselected dial shafts 12, preferably immediately above the stop cam 27. The gear 77 preferably has four teeth 78 which 'are followed by a attened surface 79 which'operates as a Geneva block, when the gear rotates in an additive, or counterclockwise, direction.

A rack 85 lies in the plane of the gear 77, and is pivotally mounted Ona stud 86 carried by a bracket 87 riveted to, or otherwise rigidly mounted-on, they -stop slide 25. This rack includes an arcuate portion provided With teeth 84 adapted to mesh with the teeth 78 of the mutilated gear 77. The rack 85 is biased in a clockwise direction (to rotate the dial in an additive, or counterclockwise direction) by means of a spring 88 tensioned between an aperture, or spring seat, 89 in the rack and a stud 90 mounted on the stop bar 25. The rack 85 is preferably formed with a shoulder 109 which operates as a Geneva wheel in cooperation with the tlat portion 79 of the gear 77, which acts as a Geneva block, thereby blocking overthrow of the gear 77 when theurack and gear are engaged.

The rack 85 has a depending stud 91 mountedfthereon which is embraced by a slot 96 in `the left end of a link pivotally mounted on the clearing post 18. When the post 18 is moved to the right to initiate a clearing operation, the link 95 moves with it. At the start of such movement of the post 18 and clearing racks 15,therstop .rack 25 moves `a slight distance to the rightA and-then stops as the roller 29 passestalong the straight face, or camedge, 34 of the bellcrank 31. The slight movement of the stop slide 25 to the right moves 'the rack 85 from :a meshing position ,with the gear 77, therack- 85 remaining stationary on its axis during such movement of the stop slide l25. However, after .the stop slide has stopped its movement the continued movement of the post 18 moves the link 95 continuously to the right. Such movement of the link 95'relative to the stop slide 25 causes the end of slot 96 to engage stud 91 on the rack, and thereafter rotates the rack approximately 90 degrees against the urgency of its spring 88. As the rack `has been moved away from its associated gear 77, such rotation of the rack willhave no eiect upon gear 77 or its related shaft 12.

There is alatch arm 100 associated with the rack 85, which latch arm can be pivotally mounted in any suitable manner, such as upon stud '101 secured to the stop slide 25. The latch arm 100 is normally 'biased into engagement with the rack 8,5 (in a counter-clockwise direction in the drawing) by any suitable means,` s'uch as spring 102 tensioned between an aperture, or spring seat, 103 in the latch armv and a stud 104 on thetop surfaceof the carriage frame bar 10. Normally, however,vthe latch member 100 is rocked against the tension of its spring102 to disengage the rack 85 by any suitable means,.1such as by a bracket 105 mounted on the rear wall of the'frame bar 10 engaging a shoulder 106 on Vthe latch member-100. During the clearing operation, however, the stop slide A25 moves to the right relative'to the-frame bar 10, so that the latch member `can rock 'counter-clockwise whereupon its nose 107 can engage in latching notch 108 of the rack 85. "Thereafter, just before the end of the return stroke of the clearing rack 15, the stop slide 25 moves to Ythe left. lAt thistime lthe shoulder 106 of the latch again engagesthe bracket 105, rocking the latch 100 clockwise and releasing rack 85. The return movement of the stop slide 25 also returns the rack 85 into engagement 'withethe gear 77 on the'associated dial shaft. Thus, thel rocking oflatch 100 releases the rack 85 to the forceof its spring 88, which pulls the rack 85 (clockwise in the drawing) and rotates the mutilated gear 77 fromthe/O position shown in Fig. 2 to the 5 position shown in Fig. 1. In this position overthrow of the gear is` pre vented by the shoulder 109 on the rack registeringwith the at portion 79 of gear 77, the two cooperating to form a Geneva stop.

I prefer that the operation of the latch 100 be under theselective control of the operator and `for this purpose provide a cam'means for rocking the latch -100 to airinoperativeposition, if desired. One preferred meansv comprises a cam rigidly mounted on a shaft 121-journalled in thel upper face of the carriage frame bar'10. Preferably, the shaft 121 projects through a slotl -122 in the stop bar 25 and can be rotated either toanoperative aspiran/iv or an inoperative position by means of a conventional twirler (not shown) mounted on the upper end thereof. The cam can be held in either adjusted position by any suitable detent means, such as spring clip 123 mounted on the rear face of the carriage frame bar 10. Cooperating with the cam 120` is a cam face 124 formed on the right-hand edge of the latch member 100, so that if the cam is rotated 180 degrees from the position shown in Figs. l and 2 the cam will engage the cam face 124 immediately before the end of the Stroke of the stop bar 25, and thereby rock the arm 100 slightly so that it cannot engage the rack 85. When this is done, the rack 85 will not be latched by the latch 100` and is therefore free to return to its normal position under the bias of spring 88 as the link 95 moves to the left. It will be recalled that there is a considerable stroke of the clearing rack 15 and its operating post 18 after the stop slide 25 ceases to move and on the return stroke, the post and the link will have returned a considerable distance before the stop slide 25 is free to return to its normal position. Therefore, on the return stroke, the post 18 and link 95 will travel a considerable distance to the left, and will permit the rack 85 to be rotated clockwise to its normal angular position, before the stop slide 25 begins to return to its normal position. During such rotational movement of the rack 85 it lies to the right of gear 77 and therefore does not rotate it in any manner. By so rotating the cam 120 through an are of 180 degrees and thus preventing the latching of the rack 85 by arm 100, the rack will have returned to its normal position shown before it can engage the mutilated gear 77.

It will thus be obvious that if the cam 120 is rotated away from the latch 100, as shown in Figs. l and 2, the latching arm 100 will be free to engage the rack 85. In that event the release of the rack 85 will be delayed until rafter the stop slide 25 has moved to the left to cause the to its normal clockwise position as soon as the clearing rack and post 18 return a slight distance toward their normal left-hand position. In that event the rack is rotated, before it can engage the gear 77. When the rack 85 has been rotated to this extreme position, the cutaway portion 110 permits rotation of the gear 77 without engaging the rack, so that the rack will not interfere with digitation in this order of the machine.

I claim:

l. In combination with a calculating machine register having a plurality of rotatable dials and clearing means for rotating said dials to a position: a multilated gear connected to a selected one of said dials, gear means movable to a iirst position to engage said mutilated gear and to a second position to disengage the same, means operated simultaneously with operation of said clearing means for moving said last-mentioned gear means to said second position during operation of the clearing means to return the dials to 0 position and for causing said gear means to move to said rst position to engage said mutilated gear after said dials have returned to their 0 positions, and means for rotating said gear means after such engagement.

2. In combination with a calculating machine register having rotatable dials, a mutilated gear connected to each such dial for rotation therewith, means for rotating said mutilated gears to a 0 position, and means for operating said rotating means: a second mutilated gear connected to each of selected ones of said dials, normally disengaged gear means movable to engage said second mutilated gears, means operated simultaneously with said rotating means for moving said last-mentioned gear means into engagement with said mutilated gears after operation of said rotating means has rotatedthe rst mentioned mutilated gears to their p0 positions, and means for rotating said gear means during such engagement.

3. In a calculating machine the combination which comprises a plurality of rotatable register dials, a mutilated gear connected to each such dial for rotation therewith, a reciprocable rack for rotating said mutilated gears to a 0 position, means for operating said rack, a second mutilated gear connected to a selected dial, normally inoperative drive` means engageable with said second gear, means for moving said drive means out of engagement with said mutilated gear during movement of the clearing rack in one `direction and for causing it to engage said gear during movement in the other direction, and means for operating said drive means during such engagement.

4. In a calculating machine the combination which comprises a rotatable register dial, a mutilated gear connected to such dial for rotation therewith, a reciprocable rack for rotating said mutilated gear to a 0 position, means for reciprocating said rack, a second mutilated gear connected to said dial, mutilated drive gear means engageable with said second mutilated gear, means for moving said drive gear means away from engagement with said second mutilated gear during movement of the clearing rack in one direction, means operated by said rack for rotating said drive gear means from its original angular position during such movement of said rack, a latch for retaining said drive gear means in its rotated position, resilient means for returning said drive gear means to its original angular position, means controlled by the rack during movement of said rack in the other direction for causing the drive gear means to engage said second mutilated gear, and means for releasing said latch after such engaging.

5. The combination of claim 4 comprising also a manually set means for selectively enabling or disabling said latch.

6. In combination with a clearing mechanism for a calculating machine register having a plurality of rotatable dials, a mutilated gear connected to each such dial for rotation therewith, a rack for rotating said mutilated gears to a 0 position, and means for operating said rack through a clearing stroke during which the dials are returned to their 0 positions and an idle return stroke: a setting gear member mounted on a predetermined dial, an arcuate rack adapted to cooperate with said gear member, means for moving said arcuate rack away from said gear member during the clearing stroke of said clearing rack, means biasing said arcuate rack in one direction, means for rocking said arcuate rack in the opposite direction during the clearing stroke of said clearing rack, means for selectively latching said arcuate rack in its rotated position, means for moving said arcuate rack into mesh with said gear member during the return stroke of said clearing rack, and means for releasing said latching means at approximately the end of the return stroke.

7. ln combination with a clearing mechanism for a calculating machine register having a plurality of rotatable dials, a mutilated clearing gear mounted on each such dial for rotation therewith, a rack for rotating said mutilated gears to a 0 position, a stop slide operated simultaneously with the initial movement of said rack for blocking overthrow of said dials, and means for operating said rack and said stop slide through a clearing stroke during which the dials are returned to their 0 positions and an idle return stroke: a gear member mounted on a predetermined dial, a second rack rotatably mounted on said stop slide and adapted to engage said gear member, said second rack being mounted on said slide in a manner to be moved away from said gear member by the operation of said slide during the clearing stroke of said rst rackandsaid stop 'slide' and to engage said gear mernberfon thefreturn stroke of said rack-and slide, meansbiasingsaid"secoridrack-in one direction, means operatedfby "'saidf clearing -raclvfor lrocking said' second rack-in the opposite direction during the clearing stroke of said clearing rack, means for selectively latching said rack'in said rocked position, and means for releasing saidlatching means at the' end of the returnstroke of said stop slide.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITEDM. STATES Y PATENTS Enders; Mar. 7, 1939 Pott Jan. '7, 1941y Moody Nov. 16, 1943 Cha11` Nov. 24, 1953

Images