US3176309A - Tachographs - Google Patents

Description

March 30, 1965 o. cHATELAxN 3,1 76,309

TAGHOGRAPHS Filed March l5. 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 30, 1955 o. cHATELAlN TACHOGRAPHS I5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 15. 1962 March 30, 1965 o. cHATELAxN 3,176,309

TACHOGRAPHS Filed March 15, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent O 1176,31@ TACHUGRAPHS (iscar Chateiain, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzeriand, as-

signor to Zenith SA., Le lLocle, Switzeriand, a Swiss company Fiied Mar. 15, 1962, Ser. No. 179,192 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Sept. 13, 1961, 10,619/61 2 Ciairns. (Si. 346-137) Tachographs for vehicles are known wherein the measuring and recording mechanisms are carried inside a casing adapted to be itted in the dashboard of a vehicle, while a cover pivotally secured to said casing carries a speed-indicating member, together with the discs serving for speed-recording. Said discs are driven into rotation by a clockwork mechanism rigid with the cover, so that said disc may execute one complete revolution in twelve or twenty-four hours, which requires their replacement, at least once per day.

In the case of other, more recent tachographs, the discs are arranged in bundle formation or stack and are carried along in succession under a recording stylus, so as to allow the recording or the speed of the vehicle during a succession of days, without it being necessary to open the cover.

In certain tachographs, the bundles or stacks are formed by discs provided with a radial slot, the breadth of which corresponds to 2&6 of their perimeter, and which are stacked over one another, in a manner such that the ridges defining the successive slots are distributed along a helical surface. Said discs are interconnected, for instance, by a series of tongues glued along their outer edges, each of which tongues is cut by a blade rigid with the cover of the instrument, upon passage of the corresponding disc underneath the tracing stylus. A stop element rigid with said blade stops the movement of each disc as soon as the line drawn by the stylus starting from one edge of its slot has reached the other edge.

The coupling oi such bundles with the driving means is performed, for instance, by means of a rotary plate controlled by said driving means and carrying on its upper surface sharp projections adapted to engage the lowermost disc of the bundle, the length of said sharp projection being at the utmost equal to the thickness of said disc. 1t is also possible to t the discs over a cylindrical socket rigidly secured to the lowermost disc of the bundle, said socket being then secured to a spindle of the driving movement, for instance through the agency of a threaded nut.

In the tachographs described, the bundles include a predetermined number of discs, generally six or seven, which are adapted to carry a graph of the speed as measured during a corresponding number of days.

When the duration of the running period of the vehicle to be checked is shorter than that corresponding to the capacity of said bundle, say four or iive days, the latter is used only to a partial extent. The unused discs of such a bundle cannot be used easily, because their number is too small, taking into account the length of the travel to be checked. Furthermore, the execution of bundles of such a type requires a comparatively long time and their cost price is comparatively high.

The present invention has now for its object a recording arrangement for a tachograph on a vehicle, which removes the above-referred to drawbacks and includes a bundle constituted by a stack of annular discs corresponding each to a predetermined time of recording, said discs are provided with a radial slot and are stacked in a manner such that the ridges of the successive slots may follow one another along a helical path. Said discs are driven into rotation in unison under at least one tracing member and further means cut ofi the movement of the discs in succession each time said tracing member has drawn a line connecting the rear edge of the slot in a disc with the front edge of said slot, whereby a continuous line is obtained over the complete bundle. According to the invention, the driving means engage said discs through at least a fraction of their surfaces, while means are provided for releasing in succession each disc with reference to the driving means, at least as soon as its rotary movement is stopped.

The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example, a preferred embodiment of the improved tachograph according to the invention, together with modifications thereof in said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, in an open position, of the tachograph.

FIG. 2 is a cross-section through line II-II of FIG. l.

FlG. 3 is a cross-section through line III-III of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 to 8 are detail views ofthe disc stacking means.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary plan view ot another embodiment of a tachograph device according to the invention.

The tachograph illustrated (FIGS. l and 2) includes a casing 1 to which is pivotally secured at 2 a cover 3. Inside the casing are carried tracing styluses 4, 5, and 6, the ends of which project through a slot 7, for the recording of the speed of progression of the vehicle, of the distance travelled over and of the duration of the running and stopping periods of the vehicle. These styluses are shifted in a conventional manner by means carried by the casing and which are not illustrated. To the cover are secured a small blade 8, and a selecting member 9 provided with a stop 10 together with a clockwork, not illustrated, which is adapted to drive, under the tips of the styluses 4, S and 6, a bundle 11 of graph-carrying discs. The bundle 11 illustrated in FIG. 2, includes six stacked discs provided each with a radial slot, the maximum breadth of which is equal to 2/26 of the disc periphery.

The upper surface of each disc is subdivided by lines which are not illustrated into twenty-four equal sectors corresponding each to one hour of the day, and carrying each a series of equidistant concentric circles corresponding each to a predetermined speed, said speed increasing from one circle to the next by say ten miles per hour.

The central section of each disc is provided with a circular opening 13 (FIG. 6) while a tongue or projection 14 projects inwardly of the edge of the opening.

The bundle 11 formed by the superposed discs is tted over a socket 15, of which the outer surface is provided with longitudinal corrugations 16; the outer diameter of said socket and the shape of the corrugations match the diameter of the central opening and the shape of the tongue in each disc.

The discs forming the bundle are positioned in a manner such that when superposed the edges of their radial slots 12 follow one another along a helical surface. To this end, the tongues 14 of the diierent discs are inserted in different successive grooves of the socket at the rate of one tongue for each groove, in a sequence corresponding to the location of the discs in the bundle. The lowermost disc of the bundle is furthermore rigidly secured to a metal ring 17, for instance through the agency of an adhesive annulus 18 itted over a bearing surface of the socket 15.

Said socket 15 is fitted over a vertical sleeve 19 rigid with a circular plate 2) driven into rotation by the clockwork movement provided for the tachograph, the bundle 1 resting on said plate. Said plate is provided with sharp projections 21 intended more particularly for the securing of a single disc. The securing of the system inclu-ding the socket 15, the ring 17 and :the bundle 11 on the plate is provided through a clamping action exerted by a nut 22 screwed over lthe upper threaded section 23 of the sleeve 19. n

In the modification illust-rated in FIG. 4, the socket is slightly frusto-conical, whereas, in the case of FlG. 5, the socket 15, `and the ring 17 are replaced by a single member including a sleeve 24 provided with an outwardly toothed lower iiange 25 and with corrugations similar to those of the socket 15. In accordance with another modiiioation illustrated in FIG. 7, the central `opening of the discs may be provided with as many projections or tongues as there are corruga-tions or recesses. FIG. 8 shows said projections.

At the beginning of the opera-tion, with a fresh bundle, the discs lie underneath the selecting member 9 constituted, for instance, -by an elast-ic blade secured to the cover :and the free end of which bears against the upper surface yof the uppermost disc of the bundle. Said bundle is driven into rotation in the direction of the arrow F, as already described 'and the styluses 4, 5 and 6 record on the upper surface of said uppermost disc graphs corresponding to the magnitudes measured by lthe means carried inside the casing 1.

Before said uppermost disc has been shifted by an angle corresponding to 24/26 of a revolution yof the driving sleeve 19, and before the line drawn -by the styluses has connected the two edges of the radial slot 12 the edge yof the disc dening said slot and which is slightly raised over the plane of .the remainder of the disc surface, meets the selected lmember 9. The latter engages the underside of said edge so that the disc continues its rotary movement over said blade until it meets the stop lil which is rigid with the latter.

As soon .as the disc is held tast, the tongue 14 on its inner periphery begins being torn or creased, since the spindle 19 `and the socket 15 continue their rotary movement: the disc is thus released with reference to the remainder of the bundle.

S-aid cycle of operations is .repeated in a similar manner once daily with all the discs, land the discs provided with their record or graph engage each in their turn the tongue 9, While raising the precedingly released disc. With `such a tachograph, it is possible to produce bundles yof ldiscs for any predetermined duration of a checking operation, and it is also possible .to recover any unused disc for further operation with other Idiscs during an ulterior travel.

According to a modification, the lowermo-st disc rigid with the metal ring 17, is advantageously thicker than the other discs of the bundle and carries preferably no reference lines forming a system of coordinates, said disc serving then only las a support.

In a second embodiment which is not illustrated, the discs are not stacked and tted over a corrugated socket .as precedingly described, b-ut they .are fitted directly over Ia sleeve `similar to the sleeve 19, the outer surface of which is provided with the corrugations required for the positioning of the records in the bundle land for their drive.

In 4a third embodiment, which is not illustrated, the plate 20 may -be given a size slightly larger than that of the disc and be provided along its periphery with an upstanding flange 20a forming with the body of the plate a cylindrical dished member, the depth of which is at least equal to the thickness of a bundle of discs. The latter are with a central opening 13a and radial slots lZa and provided along their outer edges with one or more projections Mb engaging corresponding corrugations or recesses 16a formed in the inner surface of said upstanding iiange, so as to be carried along sdireotly into rotation.

In such a case, the sleeve 19 need not be corrugated but merely threaded so as to engage the nut 22.

In further modications which are not illustra-ted, the corrugations or recesses may show only la limited height corresponding for inst-ance to the thickness of the bundle or stack and the tachograph may include a tongue rigid for instance with the small blade S extending in the vicinity of said corrugations and adapted to raise each successive disc as it moves towards the graph-drawing styluses and to release thus the projections on said disc with reference to the corrugations engaging said projections.

What I claim is:

l. In a tachognaph for a vehicle, at least one recording member, a plurality of annular dis-cs alike in configuration disposed in operation of Ithe tachograph in a stacked condition and rotationally driven tor recording thereon with said recording member on the individual discs successively, each of said discs having a radial slot and a radial projection extending inwardly `and made `of a material which is crushable and tearable, rotary driven sleeve means having recesses engageable with the individual radial projections on said discs for rotationally driving the discs without interconnect-ion with each other and disposed in a stacked conidition vwith the slots 4of the successive discs being disposed substantially defining a helical surface disposed nadially outward-ly of a ylongitudinal axis of rotation of said discs, means for causing decoupling, or" the discs individually and successively from said rotary driven sleeve means .and for causing .the individual discs to be individually land successively in position for recording thereon with said recording member including stationary means disposed to engage the discs successively by engaging an edge of the individual slots of the discs upon completion -of one revolution of the individual discs to stop the individual discs `and cause said radial projection to be creased or torn .and thereby disengaged :from said rotary driven ysleeve means.

2. In a tachognaph for a vehicle according -to claim l, in which said recesses on said sleeve means comprises a plunality of radially inwardly extending recesses extending longitudinally of said sleeve means and angularly spaced thereon an angular distance to cause said edges to be disposed in said helical surface when each recess receives Ia radial projection of a respective disc therein.

References Cited by the Examiner Ser. No. 352,111, Fornbacher V(A.P.C.), published May 25, 1943.

LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner.

LEYLAND M. MARTIN, Examiner,

Claims (1)

1. IN A TACHOGRAPH FOR A VEHICLE, AT LEAST ONE RECORDING MEMBER, A PLURALITY OF ANNULAR DISCS ALIKE IN CONFIGURATION DISPOSED IN OPERATION OF THE TACHOGRAPH IN A STACKED CONDITION AND ROTATIONALLY DRIVEN FOR RECORDING THEREON WITH SAID RECORDING MEMBER ON THE INDIVIDUAL DISCS SUCCESSIVELY, EACH OF SAID DISCS HAVING A RADIAL SLOT AND A RADIAL PROJECTION EXTENDING INWARDLY AND MADE OF A MATERIAL WHICH IS CRUSHABLE AND TEARABLE, ROTARY DRIVEN SLEEVE MEANS HAVING RECESSES ENGAGEABLE WITH THE INDIVIDUAL RADIAL PROJECTIONS ON SAID DISCS FOR ROTATIONALLY DRIVING THE DISCS WITHOUT INTERCONNECTION WITH EACH OTHER AND DISPOSED IN A STACKED CONDITION WITH THE SLOTS OF THE SUCCESSIVE DISCS BEING DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY DEFINING A

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