US3660642A - Impulse counter - Google Patents

Abstract

An electromagnetically operated impulse counter comprising a casing, numeral wheels disposed within said casing and freely mounted on a bearing shaft, releasable transmission means for operatively interconnecting said wheels, heart cams associated with said wheels and provided with a control lever for resetting the counter to zero, an electromagnet rigidly fixed to said frame, a moving armature for cooperating with said electromagnet at each current impulse, an escapement anchor which is pivotally coupled to said armature, the first numeral wheel being provided with a toothed escape wheel for cooperating with said escapement anchor which is so shaped as to permit the free rotation of the first numeral wheel and of the escape wheel when said anchor is brought by the zero resetting control lever into a position located between the two end positions thereof.

Description

United States Patent 51 3,660,642 J ullien-Davin [4 1 May 2, 1972 [54] IMPULSE COUNTER Primary Examiner -Maynard R. Wilbur [72] Inventor. Jean Jullien Davin, Valence, France Assistant Examiner joseph M The, Jr. [73] Assignee: Crouzet, Paris, France Attorney-Holman & Stern [22] Filed: Mil. 10, 1970 ABSTRACT [2!] Appl. N03 18,046 An electromagnetically operated impulse counter comprising a casing, numeral wheels disposed within said casing and free- [30] Foreign Appncmon Priority Data ly mounted on a bearing shaft, releasable transmission means for operatively interconnecting said wheels. heart cums as- Mar. 14, l969 France ..6907796 sociated with said wheels and provided with a control lever for resetting the counter to zero, an electromagnet rigidly fixed to {52] U.S. Cl ..235/92 C, 235/92 R, 235/l44 HC said f m m ing m re f oop rating wi h sai elec- [51] Int. Cl. ..G06m1/30 tromasnet at each current p n p m m nch r [58] Field of Search ..235/92, 144 l-lC which is pivotally coupled to said armature, the fi numeral wheel being provided with a toothed escape wheel for [56] Refermm Cited cooperating with said escapement anchor which is so shaped as to permit the free rotation of the first numeral wheel and of UNITED STATES PATENTS the escape wheel when said anchor is brought by the zero resetting control lever into a position located between the two 3,053,441 9/1962 Vroom ..235/l44 HC end positions thereofi 2,980,329 4/1961 Hoffmann ..235/l44 HC 3,321,134 5/1967 Sigl 235/144 HC 2 Claims, 18 Drawing Figures P'A'TENTEDMM 21972 FIG.5 4 1 3 PATENTEDMAY 2 I972 SHEET 3 UF 5 FIGS P'ATENTEDMM 2:912

sum u 0 5 660,642

FIG. 10a FIG. [0b

FIG. Ila

sum 5 OF 5 660 642 PATENTEDMY 2 I972 FIG. 14

IMPULSE comma" This invention is directed to an electromechanical impulse counter with zero resetting whichis of very small'overall size and can be constructed in large-scale production under particularly economic conditions of capital-expenditure.

In counters which are at present known, the control system comprises an electromagnet for attracting an armature which is fixed on a rocking. bridge and the alternating motion of which is transmitted to a 'ratchet-and-pawl system so that a step-by-step movement of rotation is thus obtained. This stepby-step movement is transmitted by means of a secondary pinion to a gear-Wheel-which is usually integral with the graduated numeral wheel of the lowest order (units). Transmission to the other numeral indicating wheels is carried out in a wellknown manner by means of secondary pinions' which are mounted coaxially on a shaft.

In the case of resetting to zero, a pressure applied to an articulated lever has the effect in a first stage of di'sengagingthe secondary pinions and locking these latter against a fixed component in order to maintain them in a suitable angular position and, in a second stage, of resetting the numeral wheels to zero by means of the well known heart cam system.

In order to carry out these functions, counters of existing types are composed of a large number of parts which entail costly operations of machining or assembly such as dowelling, insetting, riveting, screwing and so forth.

The present invention is directed to the novel industrial product which is constituted by a manual-reset impulse counter ascharacterized by a design concept which permits of particularly economical large-scale manufacture by virtue of a reduction in the number of components,

ease of machining of said components, i

a structure which consists only of free assemblies and in which such operations as riveting, dowelling, insetting, screwing and the like are dispensed with.

Moreover, the reduction in the number of parts and the simplicity of design of such parts make it possible to construe counters which are of very smalloverall size.

I This invention is also characterized inthat the alternating motion derived from thepulse istransmitted directly and therefore without any intermediate pinion to the first numeral wheel;

the zero resetting mechanism is so arranged that it is possible by means of a single operation to obtain the disengagement of the feed mechanism; the disengagement of thesecondary pinions and locking of these latter and zero resetting of the numeral indicating wheels by means of a heart cam.

All these properties will be clearly brought'ou't'by the following descriptiomreference being made to the accompanying drawings, inwhich FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of the assembled-apparatus, the casing being shown in cross-section'along t helineI I-ofFIG;

FIG. 2 is aprofile view of the samezappara'tus, the casing "being'shown in cross-section along the line TII- III-of FIG. '1

FIG. 3 is a profile view ofthe'cage of the apparatus FIGS. 4 and 4a are two views at'right angles to each other and showing the 'componentwhich performs the-function of spacer'member andwheel locking member FIG. S isa sectionalview'ofthecoilIformer; FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional'viewof-the'casing of the apparatus push-lever; prior to zeroresett ing FIG. 13, shows the arrangement of the anchor and of the push-lever after disengagement of the secondary pinions and finally, I

FIG. l4shows the arrangement of the push-lever and of the heart cams at the moment of zero resetting.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show very clearly the compactness of a counter as constructed in accordance with the invention and comprising five, numeral wheels.

In the exemplified embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the dimensions of the apparatus are only 33 X 22 mm in body section and 48 X 24 mm in the case of a projecting front face and conform to recommended standards. Among other advantages, the apparatus can consequently be readily built-in and fixed on standard supports by means of the front face.

The apparatus comprises a cage 1 formed of magnetic metal. This cage has the double functionof supporting the mechanism and of serving at the same time as a stationary magnetic armature. Said cage is usually formed by folding and has the shape of a U, the two arms of which have a tendency to converge. The spacing of the arms is maintained by means of a spacer member 2 whose extremities in the form of a tenon are intended to engage in an easy fit in two rectangular slots in of the cage 1. i

The cage 1 is intended in the first place to support the coil, the molded former of which in turn carries the connecting ter minals and the magnetic core. The coil former 3 of molded material is illustrated in FIG. 5. A slot 3a is formed at the base of said former so that this latter may be moved by sliding over the base 1d of the cage 1. The magnetic core of the coil is first inserted into the coil and maintained within this latter in a longitudinal position by that portion of its machined extremity which is applied against the portion 3d of the coil former while theopposite extremity of the core is applied against the base 1d of the cage 1 (as shown in FIG. 2). The complete assembly is fixed in position by means of the casing 5 which is provided with two relatively displaced slots 5a and 5b while the coil former 3 is provided with two lugs 3b, 30. his apparent from FIG. 2 that the two lugs 3b, 3c are capable of engaging respectively in the slots 5b 5a. The elasticityof the casing wallspermitsthe deformation of the casing in order that this latter may slide over the two lugs at the time of fitting in position. The lug 3c is additionally provided with. an inclined face so as to facilitate the engagement of the casing and the deformation of its wall. e

The constructional details of. the moving armature 6 are shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. I v One extremity of the armature is provided with two tenons 6a 6b which are adapted to fit into two openings lb and 1c of the cage 1. A sufficiently easy fit is provided in order that the armature should be permitted to oscillate as shown by the arrow F in FIG. 7. The extremity 6c of the armature 6 is adapted to fit into an opening 7a of the feed anchor 7 which .pivots about the shaft 8.

;tremity 6c of the moving armature 6 is intended to engage.

As is apparent from FIGS. 7 and 9; the edges of the elongated slot '7a.are convex both in the longitudinal direction and inthe transverse direction, thereby permitting a free articulationlbetweenthearmature 6 and the anchor 7.

Another'remarkable feature of the apparatus is the simplicityv of the feed mechanism which will be described hereinafter.

The anchor 7 to which the impulse movement is applied is acted upon by a spring 13 and, and the action of the same spring, in turn urges the armature 6 to the initial position which-is remote from the electromagnet.

The anchor '7 provides a direct drive to the first numeral indicating wheel 11 (shown in FIG. 10) which is cast in one piece with the escape wheel llacSaid indicating wheel is also cast in one piece with the heart cam 11b which will serve for zero resetting.

Adistinguishing feature of the anchor 7v lies in the fact that the anchor pallets7btand 7c are suitably spaced so that, when the anchor is maintained in an intermediate position, the escape wheel is capable of rotating freely and thus permits resetting of the first numeral wheel which is integral therewith.

Another feature of the apparatus is provided by the mechanism for resetting to zero. This operation can be carried out by means of a non-articulated push-lever 12, one example of construction of which is illustrated in FIG. 1 1.

The function of this lever is explained hereinafter with reference to FIGS. l2, l3 and 14.

FIG. 12 illustrates the apparatus which has carried out a recording operation and in which the counter is ready to be reset to zero.

The anchor is maintained in the position which is shown in the drawings (the anchor pallet 7b being in the engaged position) under the action of the spring 13.

The extremity of the push-layer 12 projects outside the casing 5 in order to permit the application of manual pressure, for example.

Said lever is adapted to slide within a slot 50 (as shown in FIG. 6) which is fonned in such a manner as to permit the inclination of the lever in the direction which is shown in FIGS. 13 and 14 under the action of the force F.

The face 12b of the lever 12 is intended to rest on a cylindrical sleeve 14 which is freely mounted on the shaft 9 of the secondary pinions.

Said shaft 9 is rotatably mounted in two holes of the cage 1 which are in the form of elongated slots 1e and 1f, with the result that the shaft 9 can be set in two end positions, one of which permits the engagement of the secondary pinions with the teeth of the numeral wheels while the other end position permits both the disengagement of said pinions and the free rotation of all the numeral wheels for the purpose of subsequent resetting of these latter to zero.

In the disengaged position, the secondary pinions will be locked against the spacer member 2 in order to maintain the angular position-setting of their teeth with respect to that of the numeral wheels.

In order to carry out the resetting operation, a pressure is exerted on the outer extremity of the lever 12 in the direction of the arrow F (as shown in FIG. 12).

Inasmuch as the rear face 12a of the lever is applied against the wall of the casing, said lever will necessarily be inclined at an angle as shown in chain-dotted lines in FIG. 12 by reason of the fact that the guide face 12b has rolled on the periphery of the sleeve 14 under the action of pressure which continues to be applied to the lever, the guide face 120 will come into contact with the sleeve 14, with the result that the lever is inclined at a progressively larger angle of slope until, in a first stage of its movement, the guide face 12d comes into contact with the cam 11b. In this position, the cam and the numeral wheel which is integral therewith can no longer rotate since the anchor 7 is still in the initial position of FIG. 12 and the escape wheel is locked in position by the engaged anchor pallet 7b.

As pressure is maintained on the lever 12 and transmitted to the shaft 9 by means of the sleeve 14 against which the guide face 120 is applied, so the shaft 9 will be displaced while causing the disengagement of the secondary pinions and locking of these latter against the spacer member 2, as shown in FIG. 13. At the same time, the sleeve 14 which is applied against the shoulder 7d of the anchor 7 will cause this latter to swing through an angle such that the two anchor pallets 7b and 70 will be disengaged from the escape wheel, thus permitting the rotation of the assembly consisting of cams and numeral wheels.

At this moment, the shaft 9 comes into end-of-travel abutment and the pressure exerted by the guide face 12d on the cam 1lb will cause this latter to rotate up to the position corresponding to zero resetting as indicated in FIG. 14.

As soon as the pressure F is no longer applied, the shaft 9 is returned to its initial position by the spring 15. The secondary pinions which have been locked in a suitable position engage once again with the teeth of the numeral wheels while the lever 12 is thrust back to the initial position b means of the spring 16 since the anchor 7 15 then release the spring 13 returns it to the initial position as shown in FIG. 12.

In the apparatus according to the invention which comprises a plurality of numeral wheels, each wheel is provided with its'own heart cam which is intended to be actuated by a lever element having a shoulder 12d. These elements are disposed in a comb-tooth arrangement FIG. 11 illustrates a preferred form of construction of a push-lever which is formed in one piece by molding.

. Iclaim:

1. An electromagnetically operated impulse counter comprising a casing, numeral wheels disposed within said casing and freely mounted on a bearing shaft, releasable transmission means for operatively interconnecting said wheels, heart cams associated with said wheels, an electromagnet rigidly fixed to said casing, a moving armature for cooperating with said electromagnet at each current impulse, an escapement anchor which is pivotally coupled to said armature and so shaped as to permit in a predetermined position the free rotation of the first numeral wheel, a non-articulated zero resetting control pushlever, said lever being provided with a plurality of juxtaposed teeth in cooperating relation with the said heart cams and provided with two lateral anns which are integral therewith and adapted to cooperate with a secondary shaft carrying transfer pinions, the complete assembly making it possible against the action of a spring and under the action of a single manual pressure on said push-lever in a first stage to effect the disengagement of the transfer pinions and to maintain said pinions in an angular position, in a second stage to release said first numeral wheel by positioning said escapement anchor in a position in which it permits the free rotation of said first numeral wheel, and in a third stage to bring the heart cams to the zero position while the re-engagement of the anchor and of the transfer pinions is carried out at the same time when pressure is no longer applied to the push-lever.

2. An impulse counter according to claim 1 which includes a toothed escape wheel integral with said first numeral wheel and directly actuated by said anchor for moving the said first numeral wheel.

Claims (2)

1. An electromagnetically operated impulse counter comprising a casing, numeral wheels disposed within said casing and freely mounted on a bearing shaft, releasable transmission means for operatively interconnecting said wheels, heart cams associated with said wheels, an electromagnet rigidly fixed to said casing, a moving armature for cooperating with said electromagnet at each current impulse, an escapement anchor which is pivotally coupled to said armature and so shaped as to permit in a predetermined position the free rotation of the first numeral wheel, a nonarticulated zero resetting control push-lever, said lever being provided with a plurality of juxtaposed teeth in cooperating relation with the said heart cams and provided with two lateral arms which are integral therewith and adapted to cooperate with a secondary shaft carrying transfer pinions, the complete assembly making it possible against the action of a spring and under the action of a single manual pressure on said push-lever in a first stage to effect the disengagement of the transfer pinions and to maintain said pinions in an angular position, in a second stage to release said first numeral wheel by positioning said escapement anchor in a position in which it permits the free rotation of said first numeral wheel, and in a third stage to bring the heart cams to the zero position while the re-engagement of the anchor and of the transfer pinions is carried out at the same time when pressure is no longer applied to the push-lever.

2. An impulse counter according to claim 1 which Includes a toothed escape wheel integral with said first numeral wheel and directly actuated by said anchor for moving the said first numeral wheel.

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