US2854190A - Accounting machine apparatus for retarding the start of a function cycle until the carriage has stopped moving - Google Patents

Description

T. B. BOGERT 2,854,190

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 30, 1958 ACCOUNTING MACHINE APPARATUS FOR RETARDING THE START OF A FUNCTION CYCLE UNTIL THE CARRIAGE HAS STOPPED MOVING Filed Feb. 1, 1955 INVENTOR THURE BERNHARD BOGERT 75M, '1' PM Atty-s.

Sept. 30, 1958 ACCOUNTING MACHINE APPARATUS FOR RETARDI NG THE START OF A FUNCTION CYCLE UNTIL Filed Feb. 1, 1955 T. B. BOGERT THE CARRIAGE HAS STOPPED MOVING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 'THURE BERNHARD BOG ERT Sept. 30, 1958 T. B. BOGERTT I 2,

ACCOUNTING MACHINE APPARATUS FOR RETARDING THE START OF A FUNCTION CYCLE UNTIL" THE CARRIAGE HAS STOPPED MOVING Filed Feb. 1, 1955 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN TOR THURE BERNHARD BOGERT t klawd r uu 2,854,190 ACCOUNTING MACHINE APPARATUS FOR RE- TARDING THE START OF A FUNCTION CYCLE UNTIL THE CARRIAGE HAS STOPPED MOVING Thur-e Bernhard Bogert, Malmo, Sweden, assignor to Aktiebolaget Addo, Malmo, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Application February 1, 1955, Serial No. 485,502 Claims priority, application Sweden February 10, 1954 2 Claims. (Cl. 23560.49)

This invention relates to an accounting or like machine comprising a drive motor, a keyboard, a printing register with a motor-driven drive mechanism, a carriage movable by means of the motor between different control-operated column positions, and a starting mechanism releasable by a star-ting key, said starting mechanism being adapted, on depression of the starting key, to move from a position of rest to a starting position and when arriving in the starting position to start a machine operation, during which the printing register first effects an operating cycle, listing an amount entered on the keyboard and restoring by its drive mechanism the starting mechanism to its position of rest, and the carriage is moved immediately thereafter from one column position to the next following one. The invention is characterized by a blocking mechanism adapted, on depression of the starting key, when the carriage is moving, to prevent the starting mechanism released by the starting key from reaching the starting position and, when the carriage stops in the next following column position, to release the starting mechanism so that it will move to its starting positon to release a new machine operation.

The invention will be described more in detail in the following, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings which by way of example illustrate an embodiment of the machine according to the invention. In the drawings:

Figs. 1 and 2 are side views of a part of the accounting machine, the machine parts occupying different positions.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of part of a mechanism for operating a drive clutch for the machine carriage.

Fig. 4 is a diagram of the timing of certain functions during one revolution of a single-revolution clutch driving the machine in cycles of operation.

The drawings show only those parts of the accounting machine according to the invention which are necessary for the understanding of the invention.

The machine has a frame 1, a keyboard (not shown) of the customary type, a printing register (not shown) of the customary type, and a customary carriage 2 which is movable between different column positions and of which only a minor part is shown in Fig. 3. The carriage is reciprocated by the motor (not shown) of the machine via a carriage drive clutch of which there is diagrammatically shown an operating member 3 in Fig. 3 which can be caused to engage and disengage the clutch, in a manner to be described more in detail in the following, by means of control means disposed on the carriage 2 and having the form of tabs 4. One of said tabs 4 is shown in Fig. 3.

The motor (not shown) of the machine drives a pinion 5 which is in mesh with an intermediate gear 6 which in turn meshes with a gear 7 the pinion 5 and gears 6 and 7 comprising power drive means. For the sake of simplicity the gears 5-7 which are all mounted on the frame 1 are shown as friction wheels, but they United States Patent 0 2,854,190 Patented Sept. 30, 1958 ICC usually are gear wheels. A ratchet wheel 8 is fixedly connected with the gear 7 and engagement means in the form of a pawl 9 can engage with the teeth of said ratchet wheel. In the position of rest of the machine the pawl is, however, prevented from engaging the ratchet wheel 8 by one end of a lever 10 hearing against a nose 11 of the pawl. The pawl 9 is mounted on a wheel 12 which is coaxial with the wheel 7, but is freely rotatable with respect thereto when the pawl 9 does not engage the ratchet wheel 8. The wheel 12 has the same diameter as the gear 7 and therefore its outer contour does not appear from Figs. 1 and 2. One end of a connecting rod 14 is mounted on the wheel 12 by means of a pin 13, and its other end is hingedly connected by means of a pin 15 with a bell-crank lever 16 which is secured to a shaft 17 mounted in the frame 1. When the lever 10 is swung away from the nose 11 of the pawl 9 in a manner to be described hereinafter, a spring (not shown) swings the pawl 9 into bearing engagement with the ratchet wheel 8 so that the wheel 12 is coupled to the wheel 7 and partakes in the countor-clockwise rotation thereof. After this rotation of the wheel 12 has started, the lever 10 is swung back to the position Show by full lines so that after one revolution of the wheel 12 the nose 11 of the pawl 9 meets the end of the lever 10, whereby the pawl 9 is disengaged from the ratchet wheel 8 so that the wheel 12 is released from the gear 7 after one revolution. During this revolution counter-clockwise as seen in Figs. 1 and 2 the connecting rod 14 swings the bell-crank lever 16 first forwards and then back into the position shown in the drawings. As a result the shaft 17 is first rocked through a given angle counter-clockwise and then back into starting postion. During this movement of the shaft 17 the counting means of the machine perform an operating cycle in a manner known, possibly with the use of an amount entered on the keyboard of the machine, and the printing register of the machine also effects an operating cycle, listing an amount on a paper sheet located in the carriage of the machine. The wheel 12, the connecting rod 14, the bell crank lever 16 and shaft 17 together comprise a printing register drive mechanism.

The lever 10 is caused to release the pawl 9 by means of the following mechanism. A slide 18 is mounted for longitudinal movement on the frame 1, and said slide carries a pawl 19 which in the position of rest of the machine shown by full lines in Fig. 1, engages with its shoulder 20 behind a pin 21 fixed in the frame 1, thus holding the slide 18 in a rear position of adjustment against the action of a diagrammatically shown spring 22. The slide 18 also carries a pin 23 which is engaged by the fork-shaped end of a rod 24, whose other end is hingedly connected with the lever 10 which is mounted in the frame 1 by means of a shaft 25. The rod 24 is provided with a lug 26 which in the position of rest of the machine is held in bearing engagement with a pin 27 on the bell-crank lever 16 by a spring 28 which is interposed between the frame 1 and the hinge pin 29 connecting the rod 24 with the lever 10. The pawl 19 is connected with a rod 30 and together they form a starting mechanism which on depression of a starting key (not shown) is lifted in a manner which is not shown in detail.

On depression of the starting key, the rod 30 thus lifts the pawl 19 out of engagement with the pin 21, the spring 22 pushing the slide 18 forward (to the left as seen in Fig. 1) from the position of rest shown by full lines in Fig. 1 to the starting position shown by dash and dot lines in Fig. 1, the pin 23 swinging the rod 24 to the position shown in Fig. 1 by dash and dot lines out of engagement with the pin 27 so that the spring 28 is able to swing the lever .10 out of engagement with the nos-e ill of the pawl 9 to the position shown in Fig. l by dash and dot lines, whereby the pawl can engage with the ratchet wheel 3 for starting a machine operation in the manner already described. A short time after the slide has started to move in a forward direction, it actuates a locking mechanism for locking the keyboard in a known manner which is not shown, so that the machine cannot perform any wrong operation under the action of the keys of the keyboard during the operating cycle of the counting and listing means of the machine, which cycle is caused by the wheel 12.

For restoring the parts to their initial positions at the end of the revolution of the wheel 12, the connecting rod 14 has a downwardly directed arm 31 with a roller 32 which at the end of the revolution of the wheel 12 comes into bearing contact with the front side (the left side seen Fig. l) of an upwardly directed arm 33 of the slide 18, pushing the slide back into the initial position in which it is retained against the action of the spring 2-2 by the shoulder of the pawl 19 engaging again behind the pin 21. When the slide '18 is moved rearwards the rod is also moved into such a position by the pin 23 that the lug 26 of the rod24 is caught by the pin 27 of the bell-crank lever 16 which is moving upwardly into initial position, thereby lifting the rod 24 against the action of the spring 28 and thus swinging the lever it) into the position shown in Fig. l by full lines in time to enable said lever it) to catch the nose ill of the pawl 9 and swing the pawl out of engagement with the wheel 3 at the end of the revolution of the wheel 12.

Actuating means are provided for actuating coupling control means. A cam 34 having a single crest 35 is connected with the wheel 12. A lever 37 which is mounted in the frame 1 by means of a pin 36 bears against said cam 34. Said lever 37 extends rearwardly in the machine below a lever 39 mounted at the rear of the machine frame l by means of a pin 38 (Fig. 3). One arm of said lever 39 bears against the lever 37 under the action of a spring 4t while its other arm engages over the operating member 3 of the carriage drive clutch. In the position of rest of the machine the lever 37 occupies the position shown in Figs. 1-3 by full lines, whereas the lever 39 and the operating member 3 occupy the released positions shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines, the carriage drive clutch being disengaged. Towards the end of one revolution of the wheel 12 when the printing register of the machine has already listed an'amount on the paper sheet located in the carriage, the crest 35 of the cam 34 will bear against the lever 37 and-swing it upwards, the lever 37 swinging the lever 39 counter-clockwise as seen in'Fig. 3 to the position'shown in this figure by full lines, so that the operating member 3 is lowered into the engaged position shown in Fig. 3 by full lines, whereby the drive clutch (not shown) of the machine is engaged for driving the carriage by the motor. The operating mem her 3 and the end lever 39 together comprise coupling control means for the carriage drive clutch. The carriage drive clutch being of such a design as to be held engaged only as long as the operating member 3 occupi'es the engaged position and the lever 37 after the lifting is immediately lowered by the cam 34 before the wheel 12 stops, while the carriage has to move a greater or shorter distance from one column position to the next following one, the lever 39 has to 'be locked in the engaged position shown in Fig.3 by full lines until the carriage has reached the next column position. This is realized by means of latching means. At its end remote from the operating member 3 the lever 39- has a lug 41 against which a pull spring M interposed between a bel crank lever 43 and the frame ll holds the-upwardly directed arm of the bell-crank lever 4-3 in bearing engagement. Said bell-crank lever 4-3 is mounted on the machine frame by means of a pin 42. When the carriage drive clutch is disengaged, the bell-crank lever 43 cccupies the position shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines but, when the lever 37 swings the lever 39 to the position shown in Fig. 3 by full lines for engaging the carriage drive clutch, a shoulder 45 of the bell-crank lever engages under the lug 41, thus retaining the lever 39 in the engaged position despite the subsequent lowering of the lever 37. The carriage 2 therefore continues to move even after the wheel 12 has been disengaged from gear 7 at the end of the operating cycle performed by the counting and listing mechanisms of the machine.

To disengage the drive clutch of the carriage in the correct moment when the carriage has moved from onc column position to the next following one a carriage stopping means is used. A two-armed lever 4-7 is used which is mounted in the machine frame by means of a shaft t t and whose one arm carries a roller 43. A pull spring 9 interposed between the lever 47 and the frame tends to swing the lever into bearing engagement with a pin 5 secured to the frame. When the lever bears against. this pin, as is shown by full lines in Fig. 3, the roller ill projects into the path of movement of the control tabs 4 of the carriage 2. When during the movement of the carriage a tab arrives at the roller 48, said roller is consequently depressed While the lever 4'7 swings to the position shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines. This swinging movement of the lever 47 by means of the tab 4 is utilized for disengaging the carriage drive clutch to stop the carriage in a position defined by the tab 4. For this purpose the lever' 't7 at its end remote from the roller carries a hook 531. which is pivctally mounted thereon, and in the swung position of the lever 47 shown in Fig. 3 by full lines, said hook engages under a rearwardly directed lug 52 of the belbcrank lever 43. in addition the hook fill at the top has a laterally directed arm 53 which engages under a pin 54 fixed to the machine frame. The upper ends of the hook 5i and the bell-crank lever 4.7; are interconnected by means of a pull spring When the lever 47 is swung clockwise by means of a tab 1, the hook Ell will engage with the lug 52 and swing the bell-crank lever 43 clockwise intothc position shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines, the shoulder 15 of the bcl crank lever leaving the lug 41 so'that the spring il? is able to swing the lever 39 clockwise into the position shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines, whereby the operating member 3 israised and disengages the carriage drive clutch. When the hook 51 is lifted during the clockwise swinging of the lever 47, the arm 53 will contact the pin 54 so that the hook 51 is swung into the position shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines to be able to return to the position shown in Fig. 3 by full. lines when the carriage 2 is started again so that the lever 47 is swung counter-clockwise into the position shown by full lines.

To permit utilizing the interval between the return of the slide 18 to initial position, during which movement the locking of the keyboard is cancelled, and the stopping of the carriage in the next following column position for entering a new amount on the keyboard and actuating the starting key without any risk that the amount thus entered will be listed on the paper sheet located in the carriage before the carriage has reached and stopped in the next following column position, blocking means have been provided. A two-armed lever 57 is pivotally mounted on the frame 1 about a shaft 56, and one end of said lever 57 is formed with a book 58 adapted to cooperate, in a manner to be described hereinafter, with a portion of the slide 18, preferably a pin 59 fixed to the slide, whereas the other end of the lever 57 engages by means of a pin 60 with a slot 61 provided in the lower end of a rod 62 whose upper end is hingedly connected with the right hand arm of the lever 39 (cf. Fig. 3) by means of a pin 63. A pull spring interposed between the lever57 and a pin 64 of the rod 62 tends to hold the pin 60 of the lever57 at the upper end of the slot 61 in the rod 62.

When the drive clutch of the carriage is-disengaged so that the carriage is at rest, i. e. when the lever 39. oc-

' hook 58 projects into the path of movement of the pin 59 of the slide 18. When in this position of the parts a new amount is entered on the keyboard and the starting key is depressed, the rod 30 is, like before, raised to swing away the pawl 19 from the pin 21 so that the spring 22 can start pulling the slide 18 to the left from the resting position shown in Fig. l by full lines. However, in this case the spring 22 is not able to pull the slide 18 to the left as seen in Fig. 1 for more than a short distance into the intermediate position shown in Fig. 2, in which the pin 59 bears against the hook 58 of the lever 57. The movement of the slide 18 has not been suflicient to withdraw the lug 26 of the rod 24 from the pin 27 of the bell-crank lever 16, and the pawl 9 is therefore still held out of engagement with the ratchet wheel 8 by the lever 10 as will appear from Fig. 2, whereby the wheel 12 despite the depression of the starting key, has not yet been coupled with the gear 7 for starting an operating cycle of the counting and listing mechanisms of the machine. At the release of the starting key, the pawl 19 will not however return with its shoulder 20 into engagement behind the pin 21, because the movement of the slide to the intermediate position has been sufiicient in order that the shoulder 20 may be positioned above the pin 21, as will appear from Fig. 2. Also, the movement of the slide 18 to the intermediate position into engagement with the hook 58 has been sufficient to lock the keyboard by means of the locking mechanism not shown. When the drive clutch of the carriage is then disengaged by a tab 4 depressing the roller 48'so that the lever 39 is swung into its disengaged position shown in Fig. 3 by dash and dot lines, the rod 62 is moved downwardly, thus forcing the hook 58 of the lever 57 to give up its engagement with the pin 59 of the slide 18, whereby the slide is released so that the spring 22 is able to move the slide to the starting position shown in Fig. l by dash and dot lines. The depression of the starting key which is effected during the movement of the machine thus results in the wheels 12 and 7 being coupled together so that an operating cycle of the counting and listing means of the machine is performed only after r the carriage 2 has been stopped in the next following column position.

To permit restoring of the slide 18 from the starting position shown in Fig. 1 by dash and dot lines by means of the roller 32 of the connecting rod 14, while the lever 57 by the engagement of the carriage drive clutch occupies the Fig. 2 position in which the hook 58 projects into the path of movement of the slide pin 59, the hook 58 is provided with a cam surface 66 against which the pin 59 will bear during the return movement of the side .18 to the position of rest and which forces away the hook :58. As a result the lever 57 effects a swinging move- :ment which is rendered possible without actuation of the rod 62 because the pin 60 of the lever 57 is able to move freely downwardly in the slot 61 of the rod 62, against the action of the spring 65. The operating mechanism of the carriage drive clutch is thus not influenced by the lever 57 being moved aside by the pin 59 via the cam surface 66.

For a further elucidation of certain operations as described above, reference is had to Fig. 4. When the carriage 2 is in a columnar position so that the hook lever 57 occupies the position shown in Fig. l, and the rod is lifted by actuation of the starting key at the machine, the slide 18 is rapidly pulled forward by 6 the spring 22 (Fig. I) so that the keyboard is locked practically at the same moment as the clutch 8, 9, 12 is engaged for initiating a working cycle of the machine. This initiation of the working cycle and the locking of the keyboard corresponds to position I for 0 in the diagram of Fig. 4. After the clutch 8, 9, 12 has been turned through (point II in Fig. 4) the printing mechanism driven by the shaft 17 (Fig. l) is triggered and immediately prints on the platen of the paper carriage, whereupon the printing mechanism is restored to initial position which is reached after the clutch 8, 9, 12 has been turned through 350, corresponding to position IV in the diagram. At the same time as the printing mechanism reaches its restored position, the slide 18, too, returns to the position shown in Fig. l by the action of the connecting rod 14 so that position IV also designates the return of the slide 18 to initial position. Be-

fore the slide 18 has returned to initial position (posi-- tion IV in the diagram) the cam 35 has, however, actuated the lever 37 (Fig. 1) so that the carriage has been connected to the power drive means of the machine via the coupling control means 3, 39, whereby the carriage is started in position III in Fig. 4, that is to say after the clutch 8, 9, 12 has been turned through 330. By the shifting of the coupling control means 3, 39 through the cam 35, the hook lever 57 is swung into the path of the pin 59 on the slide 18 so that position III in Fig. 4 also represents the swinging of the hook lever 57 to active position. When so returned to its initial position by the connecting rod 14, the slide 18 has to move aside the hook lever 57 by means of its pin 59 in order to reach its starting position at point IV in the diagram in Fig. 4, and such moving aside of hook lever 57 is efiiected by the slide 18 shortly before the keyboard is released. When the clutch 8, 9, 12 has made a revolution of exactly 360, that is to say again reached position I in Fig. 4, the clutch is disengaged by the lever 10 if a new working cycle has not already been started by the operator by his depressing the starting key of the machine. It appears, however, from the foregoing that such a new initiation of a machine cycle cannot take place until the keyboard has been released, i. e. position IV in the diagram in Fig. 4 has been reached. Usually, the carriage 2 is then still moving between two columnar positions so that the hook lever 57, which in position III in Fig. 4 is moved into active position, upon release of the slide 18 by means of the starting key and the rod 30 arrests the slide 18 in the intermediate position according to Fig. 2 after said slide has locked the keyboard but is not yet able to engage the clutch 8, 9, 12. This arresting of the slide 18 by means of the hook lever 57 will prevail until the carriage has reached another columnar position and the coupling control means 3, 39 is moved into inoperative position by a tab 4 pertaining to this latter columnar position and the carriage is thus arrested, the hook lever 57 being simul taneously swung to release the slide 18 so that the machine cycle which has been released by the starting key can commence. It is thus evident that a new machine cycle cannot be released by the operator until the keyboard has been released in position IV in Fig. 4 after the hook lever 57 has been moved to active position at point III in Fig. 4. It is also evident that such a release of a new machine cycle by the starting key cannot become effective until the hook lever 57 has been swung out of active position, which does not occur until the carriage has stopped in a new columnar position. The time when the hook lever 57 is swung aside in the above manner so that a new machine cycle can be initiated by the engagement of the clutch 8, 9, 12, depends on the distance the carriage has to travel to arrive at the next following columnar position, and usually the carriage is moving for a considerable time after the clutch 8, 9, 12 has completed its revolution and traveled from position IV to position I in Fig. 4.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In anaccounting machine having a motor and"a-disengageable coupling means connected thereto, the combination of a power drive means adapted to be driven by the motor, a printing register drive mechanism, a machine cycle clutch between said power drive means and said printing register drive mechanism, engagement means for engaging said clutch for a predetermined angle of rotation during which said power drive means drives said printing register drive mechanism by said machine cycle clutch through a cycle of operation, astarting mechanism conditioning said engagement means for engagement of said clutch, a carriage adapted to be driven by the motor through the coupling means and movable between different columnar positions, tabs on said carriage each determining one of the columnar positions thereof, coupling control means operable for engaging the coupling means between the motor and said carriage to move said carriage between the columnar positions, actuating means operable by means of said printing register drive mechanism when driven for actuating said coupling control means for moving said carriage, carriage stopping means operable by any one of said tabs for disabling said coupling control means for disconnecting said power drive means from said carriage to stop said carriage in the columnar position pertaining to the tab in question, and blocking means operable by said coupling control means for delaying the engagement of said clutch upon conditioning said engagement means by said starting mechanism during the movement of said carriage until said carriage is stopped by said carriage stopping means.

2. In an accounting machine having a motor and a disengageable coupling means connected thereto, the combination of a power drive means adapted to be driven by the motor, a printing register drive mechanism, a machine cycle clutch between said power drive means and said printing register drive mechanism, engagement means for engaging said clutch for a predetermined angle of rotation during which said power drive means drives said printing register drive mechanism by said machine cycle clutcl'r through a cycleof operation, a starting mechanism conditioning said engagementmeans for engagement of said clutch, a carriage adapted to be driven by the motor through the coupling means and movable between different. columnar positions, tabs on said carriage each determining one of the columnar positions thereof, coupling control means movable between an inoperative position and an active position in the latter of which said coupling control means engages the coupling means between the motor and said carriage for moving. said carriage between the columnar positions, spring-means urging said coupling control means towards the inoperative position, actuating means operable by means of said printing register drive mechanism when driven for moving said coupling control means to the active position against the action of said spring means, latching means engaging said coupling control means when moved to the active position for holding said coupling control means in the active position against the action of said' spring means, carriage stopping means operable by any" one of said tabs for disengaging said latching means from said coupling control means so that said spring means move said coupling control means to inoperative position and said carriage is stopped in the columnar position pertaining to the tab in question, and blocking means operable by said coupling control means for delaying the engagement of said clutch upon conditiom'ng, said engagement means by said starting mechanism during the movement of said carriage until said coupling control means are moved to inoperative position by said spring means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,194,270 Sundstrand Mar. 19, 1940 2,330,660 Anderson Sept. 28, 1943 2,344,410 Rauh Mar. 14, 1944 2,500,346 Christian Mar. 14, 1950 2,546,893 Hilder Mar. 27, 1951 2,572,922 Gang Oct. 30, 1951 2,633,220 Chase Mar. 31, 1953 2,636,677 Gang Apr. 28, 1953

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