US518267A - Cash register - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. T. MGGRAW.

OASH REGISTER, INDICATOR, AND REGORDBR. No. 518,267.

Patented Aprml'Y, 1894.

(No ModeL) 2 sheets-sheet 2. W. T. MGGRAW.

CASH REGISTER, INDICATOR, AND RECORDER. N0. 518,267

Patented Apr. 17, 1894 THE NATIONAL LI'IHOGRAFHING coMPANY,

Unitas STATES PATEN QFFICE.

WILLIAM T. MOGBAW, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

CASH REGISTER, INDICATOR,AND RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,267, dated April 1'7, 1894. Application filed February 9, 1893. Serial No. 461,638. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. MOGRAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Gash-Registers; and I declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to cash registers, and has for its object various improvements in the means used for indicating; for recording and for registeringthe amounts of money received by a salesman, and improvements in the receptacle for storing the money so received, all of which will be fully hereinafter described.

To indicate the amount I employ a tablet,

and Iconnect with the tablet mechanism by which the amount indicated is at the same time recorded on a strip of paper that is inclosed within the interior of the machine. At

the same time that the tablet is thrown to its indicating position the amount indicated by the tablet is registered,that is, by proper indicating mechanism which is contained within the case, it can be determined readilyhow much money ought to be found in the drawer or money-till. The registering mechanismby which this is determined indicates what keys have been moved, what tablets exposed, and how many times each tablet has been exposed, thus enabling a determination to be made at once of the total of all the sums that have been indicated by the tablets since the machine was set at the zero point. I employ a number of keys, each one of which is connected with its own tablet, and each key and tablet .indicates an amount, and by the combination of several keys, any desired amount within the limits of the machine can be indicated, and in using combinations of keys I provide that the several keys of a combina tion may be moved so that the tablets connected with them will come to their indicating positions and the movement of the keys may be simultaneous, or one after the other, as the operator may desire, but after the combination has been made and the tablets brought to their indicating position, no one of them can be released without releasing all of them, this may be done by setting a key of a higher order, or by operating areleasing le- Ver, eitherof which operations will leave a record.

In the drawings, Figure 1 shows in perspective my cash register, with one end removed and a portion of the front casing cut away. Fig. 2, shows in perspective a portion of the front part of the register showing the means of operating the tilting till cover. Fig. 3, is an end elevation indicating the general shape and location of the working parts. Fig. 4, is a plan of the catch or look by which the tablets are held in their exposed position. Fig. 5 is a perspective showing a modified form of. the printing platen.

A, B, 0, indicate the actuating key, tablet, and record printer; the three parts A, B and C, are formed of a single piece of cast or stamped metal. The part B, extends through the casing, and is provided at its outer end with a finger piece, to which is attached in any proper way, a numeral to indicate the number of the key, and this numeral corresponds with a numeral which is attached to the upper end of the part A, and also corresponds with a type which is placed on the face terminating the end of the part 0.

The entire key, tablet and type-hammer, is journaled on a rod D, and the rod D, extends from end to end of the case and forms the journal or support for all of the keys. The parts A and B, constitute the two arms that may be compared to a bell-crank lever, and are so shaped, that when the key part B, is in a vertical or nearly vertical position, the tablet part A, is dropped backward and downward so that it is not visible at the inspection slot S; when the key part B, is pulled forward by the operator, taking the position shown by the key 10, in Fig. l, the tablet part A, assumes a vertical or nearly vertical position, and the tablet is exposed at the inspection slot S. At the same time the hammer part 0, is thrown downward until the type t, strikes the record paper R, and produces an imprint upon it as will be hereinafter described. On the hammer part 0, is a hook c, and in front of the keys, extending from end to end-of the case is acatch K; the catch K, turns on hinge pins 70, 7c, and the catch part of it is held against the sloping forward side of the book 0, by a spring E. The spring E, is secured to the case or the frame work. The upper or looking part K, of the catch K, has that side of it which lies adjacent to the hooks c, oblique to the axis of the rod D upon which the hammer O, swings. When the key 13, is pulled forward the hook c,is pulled downward untilit passes below the catch K, and the catch K, is then forced by the spring E, inward over the top of the hook c, and holds the entire key of the tablet in the position shown by key 10 in Fig. 1. Usually it will be necessary, to employ more than a single key and tablet to indicate the desired amount, and if the hook, K, had its rear or engaging edge parallel with the axis of the keys, the setting of a second key would release the first, but, the obliquity of the inner edge of the hook K, causes the end l,of the hook K, to reach farther in over the hook c, of the key 10, than it does over any corresponding hook .to the right; on each succeeding key from the left side to the right side, the amount of the hook on the key that is covered by the hook on the catch, diminishes a little, and also the amount that the catch K, is thrown back in order that the hooks on the keys may pass below it diminishes a little; it will thus be seen, that if the key 10 has been pulled forward toward the operator, and the tablet 10, thrown to an indicatiugposition,asucceeding operation pulling the key 5 forward, throwing the hook pertaining to the key 5, below the catch K, and lifting the tablet 5, to the inspection slot will be completed without pushing the catch K, off from the hook c, of the key 10, so that that operator beginning at the high numbers can set successively all orany of the keys in* dicating low numbers, but he cannot begin at the low numbers, and afterward set a higher number, without either releasing the lower number,or holdingit down with his finger. Then the money till is opened, the actuating lever L, by means of a curved projection L, engages the catch K, throws it off from the hooks and releases all of them simultaneously.

R and R, indicate two spools or rolls of paper, one of which R, is located to the rear and the other in frontof the type terminated hammer O; the paper passes from the roll R to the roll R, and passes overa number of independent spring supported platens r. The spring platens r, are short pieces of any suitable material, each one being inserted in a suitable support or carrier 0*, and held up against the paper by a spring 7- the use of independent spring platens one for each of the hammers 0, enables me to dispense with the work of making a fine adjustment as to the distance of stroke of the type end if, of the hammer G; the spring platen r, can be set much higher than a rigid platen could and consequently it always assures a printing contact between the type and the paper.

In place of individual or separate spring platens a single platen bar mayif desired, extend from end to end of the case in position proper to support the paper under the stroke of the type-hammer O. The roll R, is rotated by means of the actuating lever L, and the pawl m; the pawl m, is held in engagement with a ratchet wheel a, on the spool of the roll R, by a weight M; the actuating lever L, is pushed downward by the operator and is lifted or raised to its normal position by the spring H.

Referring next to the registering mechanism which is seen in Figs. 1 and 3. On the rod D, adjacent to each keystem, I mount a ratchet wheel I, a registry indicating wheel 1', and a small spool J. On the stem I5, of the key is a spring pawl b, that engages with the teeth of the ratchet wheel I, and rotates the ratchet wheel one step forward each timethe key 10, is pulled forward and the tablet 10 is exposed. On the indicating part are numbers corresponding with the number on the key, the circumference of the registering wheel being divided into any convenient number of parts, as for instance ten parts, in which case, ten movements of the key would produce a complete revolution of the register wheel. On the spool .I, is wound a tape j, that leads back to a storage spool P. The tapej, is spaced to indicate a complete revolution of the spool, and the number of coils of tape that have at any time been stored on the spool J, indicate the number of complete revolutions of the ratchet wheel that have at any time been made, while the numbers, at a given line on the register wheel indicate the parts of a revolution that have been made, and thus the tape and the register wheel together indicate at once the number of times the tablet has been exposed since the machine was set at the zero point. There is a similar rigister wheel and tapespool connected wilh each key, and the entire registry of the machine can easily be read from them, they serve to check and are themselves checked by the number that have been printed on the paper passing to and stored on the roll R.

The tape is unwound from the spool J, by lifting the pawl I), out of engagement with the ratchet wheel, and rotating the spool P, backward with the finger or in any othersuitable way.

In place of the ordinary drawer I employa drawer which is provided at its front part over the coin tray with a hinged lid arranged to be lifted when the actuating lever L, is pushed downward; at the same time that the lid T, is lifted the drawer is unlocked so that access can be had to the back part of the drawer if desired,but until t-helid T, is lifted the drawer d, cannot be drawn out of the drawer case e. The drawerlid T, is hinged to the case by hinges h, h, and is counter-balanced by a weightf. From the upper part of the drawer case and within the main casin g extend two supporting lugs g, which support a bent hook or bell crank lever G; the hooked end f of thebell-crank G, engages with an arm that supports the con nter weight f; one branch of the bell-crank lever G, extends under the actuating lever L, and engages with the actuating lever L, when that lever is depressed, the depression of the end of the lever G, by the actuating lever L, swings the hookf', out of engagement with the arm which supports the counter weight f, the counter weight drops and the front edge of the cover T, rises disclosing the coin till underneath it; at the same time a depending hook or catch 8, rises out of a socket in the front edge of the drawer, and the drawer is free to be drawn forward if desired. A long guard 25', leads up to the socket in which the catch 3, drops and this long guard prevents the catch from dropping into the interior of the drawer, the lid T, from closing down, and the arm that supports the counterweight f, from coming into its proper locking engagement with the hook f until the drawer is fully closed and all the parts in proper location to be properly locked.

llhe operation of my cash register has been fully indicated.

A modified form of printing platen is shown in Fig. 5; in this there is a single yielding bar to, lying under all the hammers and sup-- ported at each end by yieldingstruts a, 62. In action this is somewhat similar to the independent yielding tablets previouslv described. 1

WVhat I claim isv 1. In a cash register, in combination with an inclosing case provided with an inspection slot, a swinging curved lever reaching through the walls of the case, pivoted at the turn of the curve, terminating at its inner end with a tablet, and provided with a type hammer arm located between the turn of the curve and the outer end, and a platen adapted to support a strip of paper located in the path of said type hammer, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a cash register, in combination with an inclosing case provided with an inspection slot, a swinging curved lever reaching through the walls of the case, terminating at its inner end with a tablet, and provided between the pivot and the outer end with a type hammer arm, a yielding platen adapted to hold a strip of paper in the path of said type hammer, and means for advancing the paper over said platen, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. Ina cash register, in combination with an inclosing case provided with an inspection slot, a swingingcurved lever reaching through the walls of the case, provided with a pivot at the turn of the curve, and terminating at its inner end with a tablet, a hammer arm made integral therewith and located between the pivot and the outer end, a yielding platen, means for advancingastrip of paper between the hammer arm and the platen, and means for holding said lever with the tablet exposed at said inspection slot, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a cash register, the combination with an inclosing case provided with an inspection slot, of a swinging curved lever reaching through the walls of the case,pivoted atthe turn of the curve, and terminating at theinner end of the tablet, a hammer arm made integral with said lever and located between the pivot and the outer end thereof, a yielding platen, means for advancing a strip of paper between the hammer arm and the platen, means for holding the lever with the tablet exposed at the inspection slot, and means for releasing the lever, substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a cash register, the combination of a series of tablet rods, a series of actuating keys, a series of hooks a single detaining hook common to all the hooks of said series, having its detaining edge oblique to the common axis of said series of hooks, whereby the engagement of the hook at one end of the series with the common detaining hook, is greater than the amount of engagement between corresponding parts at the other end of the series, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. In a cash register, in combination with a tablet rod and an actuating key made integral therewith, and arranged to move around a common center, a ratchet wheel turning on the same center and actuated by a pawl on the key bar, a spool secured to said ratchet wheel and turning therewith, a tape adapted to be wound on said spool, and to indicate the number of revolutions made thereby, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

7. In a cash register,the combinationof an actuating key, a tablet rod and type hammer, a ratchet wheel, spool and tape, all journaled on a common arbor, the said ratchet wheel and spool, being adapted to be actuated by a pawl on the key-bar; a printing platen, and means for advancing a strip of paper over the same, substantially as described.

8. In a cash register .incombination with a series of actuating keys and tablet rods, a series of hooks and a single detaining hook having an engaging surface adapted to contact each of said hooks with an amount that decreases with each succeeding hook from a higher to a lower order across the series, whereby after the key of a higher order has been moved into engagement, a key of a lower order may also be moved into engagement, without releasing the key of the higher order, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

9. In a cash register, the combination of a series of tablet rods, key-bars and type hammers, each set being provided with its individual ratchet wheel and tape spool attached thereto, an index tape, adapted to be stored ICO on each of said spools, means for catching and holding two or more of the type hammers, by a continuous catch, means for releasing the catch and simultaneously advancing a strip of paper between the platen, and the type hammers, and ayielding platen, substantially as described.

10. In a cash register, the combination of a key bar, a ratchet wheel journaled upon the same arbor at the key-bar, an in dicaiing tape, adapted to indicate the revolutions of said wheel, and means for actuating said ratchet wheel, substantially as for the purpose specified.

11. In a cash register, the combination of a key bar,a ratchet wheel and spool both journaled on a common arbor with the key-bar an index tape, adapted to show the revolutions of said wheel, means for storing said tape, and means for actuating said register wheel, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

12. In a cash register, in combination with two or more swinging printing type integral with the several key bars and tablet rods, yielding tablets equal in number thereto and adapted to yield independently, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

13. In a cash register, a multiplicity of swinging printing type integral with the several key bars and tablet rods, yielding tablets equal in number to said printing type, and adapted to yield independently, means for moving a strip of paper forward between the type and tablets substantially as and for the purpose stated.

14. In a cash register, the combination of a multiplicity of swinging printing type integral with the several key bars and tablet rods, yielding tablets equal in number to said type, and adapted to yield independently means for moving a strip of paper forward between said type and tablets, and storage rolls for the unprinted and printed parts of said strip of paper, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

15. In a cash register, the combination of swinging printing type, integral with the key barand tablet rod and journaled with them on a common arbor, yielding tablets adapted to yield when struck by said type, means for moving a strip of paper forward between the type and tablet, and storage rolls for both the printed and unprinted parts of said paper, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

16. In a cash register, the combination of an inolosing case, a drawer projecting partially therefrom and adapted to be pulled out when unlocked, a lid hinged to the case and adapted to cover the proj eeting part of the saiddrawer.

17. In a cash register, the combination of an inclosing case, a drawer having its front part covered by a lid by which access to it may be had,and adapted to be fully pulled out, when said lid is raised, and provided with a looking catch, whereby the lid when closed serves to lock the drawer.

18. In a cash register, the combination with an inclosing case, a drawer adapted to be pulled out from the frame when unlocked, and having its front part covered when closed by a counterweighted lid hinged to said case, means adapted to engage with said counterweight, and lock the lid in its closed position, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

19. In a cash register, the combination of an inclosing case, a drawer adapted to slide in and outof the same, a lid arranged to cover the front part of said drawer, hinged to said case and provided with a locking catch adapted to engage a mortise in said drawer, and means for holding said lid partially lifted until the catch and mortise are in engaging position, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

20. In a cash register, the combination of a drawer adapted to slide into the case near the bottom thereof, a lid covering the front part of said drawer hinged to said case, and provided with a counterweight, means concealed within said case, adapted to engage with said counterweight, and lock the lid in its closed position, a catch on said lid adapted to interlock with the drawer, an actuating lever for releasing the lid lock, and thereby permitting the counterweight to actuate the lid and open the same, and release the drawer, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM T. MGGRAIV.

Witnesses:

CHARLES F. BURTON, MARIoN A. REEVE.

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