US440116A - Cash register and indicator - Google Patents

Description

(No MOGGI.)

11. B. 111111111011. CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR. No. 440,116. Patented N0v.4, 1890.

7MB .1 Zia/"new".

HENRY B. REN\VIOK, .OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.,

CASH REGISTER COMPANY, OF DAYTON,

SPECIFICATION forming p ASSIGNOR TO THE NATIONAL OI'IIO.

CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY B. RENWICK, a

citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, in the State of New York,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Cash Registers and Indicators,

of which the following erence being had to ings, forming part of this My invention relates mechanism of such is to simplify and cheapen thereof.

In the accompanying I 5 trated my invention usual well-known Figure 1 represent drawings 1 have illusas applied to one of the styles of these machines.

s a side elevation of such machine, partly in section; and Figs. 2 and 3 show enlarged details of the and indicator-rods.

supporting-bar The operating parts of the machine are supported in a tram e-work consisting of the two side frames A A, connected and braced by suitable cross bars or rods, and are to be inclosed in the usu .1 case or cabinet, (not shown) having a slotted front portion through which the forward ends of the operating-keys project, and a glass-covered in its upper rear portion, through which the exposed to view. ing-keys B are pivoted on a shaft O at the front of the machine, ends are provided with 0 indicators are finger-buttons D. 5 normally the side frames operated play up a The rear ends of the keys rest on a cross-piece E, connecting A A, and when the keys are reading-opening The operatand their projecting the usual numbered nd down in slots in a guide-plate F. Resting one on the rear end of each of the keys 4o indicator-supports G, free to down in suitable gu at their upper ends with indicators or 1, bearing numbers the finger-buttons has on its rear 13 are the tablet-rods or move up and and provided tablets ides n 11',

corresponding to those on D. Each of the rods G side a cam or wedge J, having an inclined upper surface and terminating in an abrupt shoulder at its lower end. These cams J co-operate with a supportingbar K,

which extends across the entire series of rods,

and is hung at its ends by ears or side arms L on pivots hhpro ec ting from the side frames (No model.)

A A. Its own gravity causes it to normally rest in the position shown in Fig. 1, against a pin N, projecting from the side frame A, though a spring may be employed to yield- 5 5 ingly hold it in that position, if desired. The front side of the bar K has two projectionsone X, upon which the rods rest when up; the other O, against which the cams of the rods strike in rising, so as to completely disengage any rod resting upon X.

As the finger-button D of any key is depressed, the corresponding rod G is lifted, and as its beveled cam or wedge .I strikes the lower edge of the bar K the latter is pushed backward, and still farther backward when the cam strikes the projection 0. As the rod descends the bar falls back to the position shown in Fig. 1, and catches the cam on the projection X, as seen in Fig. 2, and thereby holds the rod and table elevated when the operating-key is released and falls back to normal position. \Vhen the finger-button of another key is now depressed and its red G is thereby lifted, the cam J on the latter will engage the lower edge of the bar K and push it backward, as did the projectionon the pre- 'iously-elevated rod. Just as the cam on the second rod clears the projection X, the cams on the two rods will be in line with each other, and if the parts were all constructed with the utmost accuracy and the adjustment were perfect the cam on the first-lifted rod would be released from the bar, and the rod and its tablet would drop back to normal position; but it has been found, from practical use of these machines, that the release of the elevated rod in this manner cannot be depended on, for if there be the slightest wear or accumulation of dirt, or the parts be not con- 0 structed with the greatest accuracy and most delicately adjusted, the rising rod will often fail to release the previously-elevated one.

o insure the release of the first-lifted rod by the lifting of the second, I so adjust the 5 parts that the full stroke of a key not only lifts its red until its cam passes the lower engaging and supporting portion X of the bar K, but moves it a farther distance to cause its earn to strike against the releasing projection 0 of the bar, which is at a point some distance above the supporting projection X,

and thereby push the bar farther to the rear than'it was moved by the passage of the cam over its lower edge or projection O, as will be clearly seen in Fig. 3.

In Figs. 2 and 3 the dotted lines represent the vertical lines in which the extreme rear points of the cams J move, so it will be seen that when the bar K is moved to the position shown in Fig. 3 it will be certain to release any cam which may have been resting on it. As the operated key is released and its rear end drops back to normal position, the cam on its rod, as the latter begins to descend, is caught on the projection X of the bar and held up, with its indicator exposed to view. Pins through the lower ends of the rods G limit the upward play of said rods by striking the guide-piece H.

Inasmuch as it is absolutely essential to the proper operation of machines of this class that the indicator, which is exposed to view, shall always be dropped out of sight when a second key is operated and another indicator lifted into view, various means have heretofore been devised for the purpose of giving the supporting-bar a further movement than could be given itby the mere passage of thecam on the rising-rod, that most generally employed being a train of independent mechanism interposed between the keys and the supporting-bar.

Myinvention by simply providing the supporting-bar with both a supporting portion and a releasing portion, both acted on by the cam on a rising tablet-rod in the manner described, does away with the necessity for any of the independent or auxiliary devices heretofore employed, and simplifies and clieapens the construction of the indicating mechanism of these machines. So far as I am aware, I am the first to produce an indicator supporting bar of any sort, which is provided with both a supporting portion and a releasing portion, co-operating. with a series of cams formed upon indicator rods or supports in the manner described, and my invention therefore is not limited to any particular form or relative arrangement of the bar and the cams on the rods, so long as they operate to support and release the rods, substantially as hereinbefore described.

The bar K, instead of swinging on pivots,

may be arranged in guides, so that when act uated upon by the cams it will slide bodily away from the row of rods, instead of swinging in the arc of a circle. Again, the cams may be formed on the sides of the rods instead of the rears thereof, and there may be substituted for the swinging bar its known equivalent, a bar extending the whole length of the row of rods and sliding in the direction of the length of the row, said bar being provided with a series of projections passing between the rods, one for each rod, and each projection having an acting face, substantially like that of the bar K, (shown in the drawings,) a spring or weightbeing employed to yieldingly force the projections on the bar toward the cams on the rods, this modification being in fact a mere change of position of the cams with reference to the row of rods,

accompanied with a corresponding change of direction of motion of the supporting-bar, as will be readily understood.

Inasmuch as my invention has to do with only the indicating mechanism of these machines, the mechanism for registering or recording the values of the operated keys may be of any usual or suitable character, that illustrated in the drawings consisting of two banks P Q of individual registering-wheels carried on horizontal shafts supported in a supplemental frame R, carried by the side frames A A. The wheels of the lower bank are actuated by the weighted dogs S, pivoted to the keys B, and the wheels of the upper bank are turned by and register the revolutions of those in the lower bank in the wellknown manner.

Having thus fully described myinvention, I claim-- In a cash-indicator, the combination of a bar provided with both supporting and releasing portions with a series of indicatorsupports or tablet-rods provided with a single set of cams co-operating with both the supporting and releasing portions of said bar, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

HENRY B. RENWICK.

Witnesses:

JOSEPH GENERT, M. R. SEDGWICK.

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