US540090A - Electric passenger register and recorder - Google Patents

Description

L t e e h S s t e e h S 4 S T L L B J (No Model.)'

ELECTRIC PASSENGER REGISTER AND RECORDER.

Patented May 28, 1895.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

. J. W; ELLIS. ELECTRIC PASSENGER REGISTER AND RECORDER.

Patented Ma m: moms rrrzas w. FHOTO-UTHO, WASHWQTON. o. c,

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet3.

J. W. ELLIS. ELECTRIC PASSENGER REGISTER AND RECORDER. No. 540,090. Pagented May 28, 1895.

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J. W. ELLIS. ELECTRIC PASSENGE REGISTER AND RRcoRnRR.

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fijeder' 5 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH \VM. ELLIS, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC PASSENGER REGISTER AND RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,090, dated May 28, 1895.

Application filed January 12, 1895- Serial No. 534,644:- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JosEPH WILLIAM ELLIS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Albany, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Electric Passenger Registers and Recorders, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to means for automatically tallying passengers as they enter and leave a railway car or other public vehicle for the purpose of preserving a reliable indication of the number of such passengers and the duration of their travel, as a check on conductors; and itconsists in a novel electric registering and recording system showing thenuinberof passengers carried between given stations as determined by the times of arrival at and departure from such stations, and in certain novel combinations of electrical and mechanical devices, hereinafter described and claimed.

Four sheets of drawings accompany this specification as part thereof.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a diagrammatic end view, partly in section, showing a railwaycar provided with said registering and recording system. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic sectional elevation confined to said system, showing the parts enlarged, with the planes of section at right angles to that of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the second step projected from Fig. 2. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are diagrams confined to the registering devices, showing successive positions of the parts of what is hereinafter termed the step mechanism. Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing certain details, and Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a face view of the clock and sectional, rear and edge views, respectively, of the two combined registers and recorders enlarged from Fig. 2.

The same letters and numbers refer to the same or like parts in all the figures.

My electric registering and recording system is composed of one or more electric batteries, two being shown in the drawings at A and B; a step-mechanism, O, at each entrance to be guarded, which makes and breaks the electric registering circuit; Off and On combined registers and recorders (so marked on the drawings) and hereinafter termed registers, preferably of one and the same construction; and a clock, D, which makes and breaks a recording circuit common to both registers; together with metallic-circuitforming wires and electrical connections hereinafter more specifically referred to.

The battery or batteries A and B may be of any approved lnake, and located in any convenient place or places within or beneath the car.

Each step-mechanism O comprises two or more stiff plates movable vertically and covering successive steps. Four are shown in the drawings numbered respectively 1, 2, 3, and a, beginning at the bottom. These stepplates, as they are hereinafter termed, are depressed by the feet of the passengers getting on and off, and are re-eievated by Springs 8, as soon as they are relieved from pressure.

In the specific arrangement represented by the drawings, to which the remainder of this description will be confined for clearness, the step- plates 1 and 2 are made to move simultaneously with each other by a rigid connection a Fig. 1, and the succeeding pair, 3 and 1, are connected with each other in like manner by a rigid connection a Fig. 1; the electri-- cal devices connected directly with the Off register being arranged beneath said stepplate 2, while those connected with the On register are arranged beneath said step-plate 3. Said rigid connection a carries a cam I) coacting with one end of a lever c fulcrumed at d, and said rigid connection a carries a rigid arm a, which engages with a cam b Fig. 1, on a lever c fulcrumed at 61 Fig. 2. Said levers c and 0' act respectively on slides e and 6 Figs. 2 to 6, which carry respectively copper contact-pieces fand f These contact-pieces are insulated from the slides a e as at 9, Fig. 3, while an electrical connection is preserved between themselves and the respective legs of a circuit, hereinafter described, by means of stiff wires or contactbars h and h upon which said contactpiecesfand f slide. Said contact-bars h and 71 and an opposing pair of yielding contactbars it are rigidly fastened in the end-walls of recesses j j in the wooden steps, beneath the step- plates 3 and 2 respectively, and there insulated as shown at 73, Fig. 2. Spring detents l and E at the bottoms of the steprecesses j and engage with notches in the bottoms of the slides e and e to retain them temporarily in the positions to which they are moved by the levers c and 0 as shown at Z' in Figs. 4 to 6; and trippingleversmand m pivoted at m" and acted on by the levers c and c depress said detents to release the,

endof each key is attached to the upper part,

ofthe key by ahorizontal pivot 5. The swinging movement of saidlowerend is limited by a step 6. A spring 7 operates to retain said lower end normally in line with said upper part so as to act as a pusher; and a horizontal stud-pin 8 is carried by the key and electrically separated from said upper part of the key by insulation 9. Said-pins 8 projectback: ward, as shown in Fig, 3,'a ndare acted on by horizontally projecting tappets q and (fearriedv by said slides e and, e insulated therefrom and constructed in common with toe and heel'projections, marked 10 and 11 inFig. 7. The function ofthese tappets isi'n certain cases to coact with saidpins 8 so as tolift andhold said lower ends of the keys 0 and 0 clearof the detents 1'1 as at q in Figs. 4, 5, and 6. In other cases. they passabove the pins 8 as at g in Fig. 5, and permit the keys toact as pushers, as above described. I)epending flanges 12 and 13, Fig. 1, at front and rear, operate to exclude dust, snow and obstructions from beneath each of the step,- plates 1, 2, 3, and 4, and assist to stiffen them; and depending stud-pins 14, carried by the step-plates, and guided by vertical holesl t Fig. 2, bored in the wooden steps, confine the step-plates to vertical movement. Aprons 15, Fig. 1, protect, the mechanical connections and motion-transmitting devices in front between the steps; and aback plate 16, Fig. 1', prevents access to them from behind thesteps.

The clockD is an ordinary time-piece ,ofap; propriate make, having its dial-plater, Figs. 2.and 8, provided with. metallic contact-points s at III, VI, IX, and XII, suitably insulated fromthe works of the clock, audits minute hand t adapted to coact with said contact points successively to make -and break an electric circuit every fifteen minutes the, worksof the clock being suitably insulated. Asclocksso fitted or constructed ,for various purposes areold and, well known, it is not; considered necessary to show such insulation or to more'fully show or describesaid circuit making and breaking devices, which may be of an approved description. i

The construction common to the On and OE registers as aforesaid is shown in Figs. 2 and 8, which see. Each register is provided with a pair of electric terminals P N electrically connected with the helixes of an electro-magnet 71. within the register casing. The armature of the latter is mechanically attached to a leverc; which carriesa registering pawlw and its spring 17. A ratchet-wheelx is turned step by step by said pawl 10, and carries by its arbor 18. an index-hand y in front of a suitably graduated dial-plate z; and said dial-plate and index-hand are exposed to 'view,"as in full lines in Fig. 2, by means of a 'glass facerplate 19 forming partof the register casing; said pawl-carrying lever o and ratchet wheelac being so proportioned that at each electric impulse said index-hand is turned forward one point, or so as to register an additionahunit. Each register is further provided, with a second pair of electric terminals PN', Fig. 2; a pair of brushes p n, Fig. 8, supported by a brush-holder 20 of insulating material and electrically connected with said terminals P" and N respectively;

a pair of continuous electric contacts a b,

Fig. 8, in theshape of concentric rings, carried by the back of said ratchet-wheel or, together with aninterposedinsulating ring 21; a stud-shaft 22, Fig. 8, ,for said ratchet-Wheel arbor 18, the latter being made hollow for the purposes of the mechanism now being described; acircular disk 23, within a central opening 24, Fig. 8, in the dial-plate z, interposedbetween the front end of'said arbor 18 and the index-handy, and, connected therewith by a shouldered screw 25 embraced in front of its shoulder by a slot26 in said indexhand; an electro-magnet 2.7, havingits helixes electrically connected with said contacts a b, and carried by the back of said disk 23 so as to revolve therewith in unison with said index-hand; a rigid arm 28, projecting rearwardly from said index-hand through a slot 29v in said disk 23, and having the armature of said magnet 27 mechanically attached thereto; clips 30 for holding an annular record-card R surrounding said central opening 24 in, the dial-plate z, and attached to the front of said dial-plate; a marker 31, shown in, the form of a thumb-screw bored to hold anever-point lead, which is carried by the index-hand y; anda movable frame 32 for the glass face plate 25, to give access to the index-handy for turning it to zero, and to the record-card it for removiugit and substituting a fresh blank, at the end of each trip. Such blanks should be of moderately stiff paper printed witha reduced facsimile of the gradnations on the dial-plate 2, as shown in Fig.

2 and in dotted lines in Fig. 8, and can be readily slipped under the free end .of the index-hand y and behind the marker 31, and sprung into placebehind the clips 30.

The electric circuits are shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5,6, and 8, and are completed by suitable conductors, hereinafter termed wires, as follows: Wires w and 20 extend from the keys IIO and o to the respective poles of the battery A. Wires ll/ and 10 extend thence to the terminal P of the On register and the terminal N of the Off register, respectively. From the terminal Pot the Otf register and the terminal N of the On register wires '105 and 10 extend to the contact-bars 77, and h respectively; and a wire 10 connects the contact-bars and t with each other, completing what may be termed the step circuits. From the positive pole of the battery B, (Fig. 2) a wire 10 extends to the terminal P of the On register. The terminal N of this register is electrically connected by a wire to (through the insulated works of the clock D) with the clock-hand if; said contact-points s on the clock dial are connected by wires 10 with the terminal P of the Off register; and the terminal N of the latter is connected by a wire to with the negative pole of said battery B, completing the clock-circuit. The wires 10 and w are of greater resistance than the other wires of the step-circuits, being for example of annealed, soft iron while the other wires are of copper.

The parts of the step-mechanism O are shown in their normal positions in Figs. 1 and In this condition of this mechanism, and with the minute-hand 25 between two of the contact points 5' of the clock D, all the electric circuits are open, and all parts of the system except the clock-movement are at rest.

The entrance of a passenger, illustrated by Figs. 4, 5, and 6, produces the following effects: By stepping on either of the lower stepplates 1 and 2, the passengers weight depresses both, owing to their rigid mechanical connection a, and their motion is transmitted by the cam Z) to the lever c, and by the latter to the slide e, interlocking its notched end with the catch-end of the detent Z and at the same time bringing the contact-pieoef into a position vertically beneath the contact-plate p preceded by the tappet g which turns up the lower end of the key 0, leaving the parts beneath the step-plate 3 as shown in Fig 4. The effects of this movement upon the parts beneath the stepplate 2 are the bringing together of the contact-bar i and the contactplate 21 and the depression of the detent Z by the key 0 as in Fig. 4, for purposes which will presently be explained. As an entering passenger gradually transfers his weight from step-plate 1 or step-plate 2 to step-plate or step-plate l, said step-plates 3 and a are depressed,as shown in Fig. 5. The ettect of the depression of these step-plates on the electrical devices beneath said stepplate 3 is to simultaneously close two electrical contacts between the contact-plate p and contact-piecefon the one hand, and between said contact-plate p and the contact-bar 2 on the other hand. The effects on the devices beneath the step-plate 2 are as follows: The depression of the step-plates 3 and at, through their rigid mechanical connection a its arm a and the cam 5 actuates the lever 0 and causes the latter to throw the slide e into the position in which it is shown in Fig. 5; but the latter is not fastened in this position owing to the previous depression of the detent a by the key 0 An electrical contact is unavoidably closed however at f p' but is counteracted by the contact previously formed between the contact-plate p and the contactbar t and, owing to the greater conductivity of the wires w, and 1127, the electric current flows from the battery A, through said wire w, the key 0 contact-plate p contact-bar 2' wire 10 contact-bar 2', contact-plate 19, key 0 and wire 10 back to the battery, without any effect on either of the registers. lVhile the passengers weight is partially supported by the step- plates 1 and 2 and partially by stepplates 3 and 4: as above, all the step'plates are depressed as in Fig. 5. As the passengers weight is gradually elevated from the step plates 1 and 2 these step-plates rise, as in Fig. 6, breaking the electric contacts at 19 and at p 2' beneath the step-plate 2. Said electric contacts beneath the step-plate 3 remaining closed, the current now flows from the battery A through the wire 20 to the terminal P ofthe On register, Figs. 2 and 8, thence through the helixes of the connected registering magnet u, and proceeds from said magnet to the terminal N connected therewith, and, through the wire to, contact-bar 7t, contactplates f and 19, key 0 and wire 10 back to the battery. When said registering magnet to is so energized, its armature is attracted, and motion is transmitted, through the lever t) to which said armature is attached, the pawl w carried by said lever, the ratchet-wheel m rotated by said pawl, its arbor 18, and the disk 23 rotating therewith, to the index-hand 1 of said On register, causing the latter to in dicate or register the entering passenger as an additional unit on the dial-plate z. The current last described will continue to flow until the step- plates 1 and 2, their rigid connections a, the cam Z) and the lever 0 have regained their position of rest as in Fig. 2 when by the contact of said lever c with the heel end of the tripping lever in said tripping-lever is caused to depress the detent Z, releasing the slide 6, and permitting it to be retracted by the spring n, which breaks said contact at p f by the retraction of the contact-piece f with the slide 6. Finally, as said entering passenger frees said step- plates 3 and 4, and the latter are re-elevated by their springs s, the key 0 straightens out by the action of its spring 7, Fig. 7, the slide e and the lever 0 return to their positions of rest, and the step mechanism is ready for another actuation by another passengergetting on or one getting 011.

A departing passenger must of necessity first depress the step- plates 3 and 4;, bringing the step-mechanism substantially to the condition represented by Fig. 6, except that, the step- plates 1 and 2 being originally elevated, and the parts beneath said step-plate 3 being in the positions represented in Fig. 2, the tap- IIO pet g turns up the lower endof the ke'y o as at 0, Fig. 4, so as to permitt-he slide e 'to interlock at oncewith:thedetentl preparatory to the succeeding registering contacts, and the respective step-circuits.are-open at f p,- f 2 pfland 9 As theweight of thepassenger becomes divided between the two pairsofi step-plates, as: in Fig. 5; all the electric con-v tacts of the step-mechanism being closed, the electric current, taking the path of least resistance, again flows from the battery A through the wire to, key 0 ,.contact-plate p contact-bar i wirewflcontact-bari, contact plate 19, key 0; andwireufi, so as to prevent a false actuation of. either register, and as soon asthe passengerfrees the upper stepplates 3 and 4,.as in Fig. 4, the current flows from the battery A through-the wir'e'w tothe terminal N of the OE register, and thence through the helixes of itsregistering magnet to, its 1 terminal P, the wireywficontact-bar 723 contact-piece f contact plate*p key '0 and wire w back to the battery the energized registering magnetuof the OE register-at tractingits armature,- andzmotionbeingltransmitted therefrom t'o the. index-hand y of this register in I the manner before descr-ibediwith reference tothe registering of an: entering passenger by the On register, so "as to"register the departing passenger as-a'n additional unit on the dial 21 of said: Off register. Finally, as to this operation; the departing passenger frees the step-plates-"land 2, and the parts again return to' their positions of rest as in Fig. 2.

Should an entering-passengerstep on either of the step-plates l and Zwhilone is still supported by astep 'plate. 3 or step=plate4 the first effect will be asillustrated-by- Fig; 5 and before described; and; when said step= plates 3 and 4'are'freed,-their re-elevation by their springs s,- accompanied by the'retraction' of the lever 0 is' followed immediately by the' retraction of the circuit-closing slide e ow'- ing to the pusher action of the-key 0 on'the' detent'l as in said Fig. 5. Otherwise there would be a false registration of the second passcngeron the Off register. In likemanner any false registration upon the On register of a departing passenger closelyfollowin g another is prevented by the pusheraction' of the key 0 on thed'eten-tl. Prov-isionwill be madein customary manner to prevent two passengers passing over the steps sideiby side or in opposite directions at one and'the same time.-

Whenever theminute-ha-nd 6, Figs. 2 and 8,-

of the clock D reaches one of the contact pointss onthe clock-dial 1*, an electric circuit is closed through both registers; thecurrent' the minute-hand t, the contact point s, the" wires to theterminal P, Fig. 2, of the O'ff register, the helixes of its recording magnet :tering or leaving; as the-case may be, during a given time-period.- Gonsequently, if the train arrives at a certain station at 3.25 for example; as in Fig. 8g the dial-marks between the two marks '33 corresponding respectively w-ith 3.l5'and 3z30 on-the record-ca'rdsof the respective registersrwill indicate the number of passengers entering and leaving at such station.

The levers; c and c ma'y be retracted by springs .9 8 Fig. 6, or the cams b and b 'm'ay begrooved or' slotted so as to' bedouble-acting,-'as may be preferred. Themechanical devices"for transmitting motion to the slides a and'e asa whole, together with other mechanical and'electrical details; admit of considerable' modification.- A system otherwise similar to: the-:one herein described may be arranged for registering; passengers only as they get on-or as they get off; and other like mo'difications will snggestthemselves to those skilledinthear't. 1

The'within dcscribed system without material modification may'also housed at the entrances andexits', either'or both,of ferries, places o'fpublic am usement, andthe like, with any required increasein the capacity of the registeringfland rec'ording de'vices.

Having thus described my said improvement', Iclai-m as my invention and desire to patent underthis specification- 1. An electric registering and recording system comprising a series of vertically movable'step-plates; mechanical connections and motion transmitting devices'acted on by said step-plates, circuit closers controlled by said transmitting devices, electric circuits closed by the depression of said step-plates subject to such control, two registers havingelectromagnetic actuators in circuit with the respectwe circuitclosers, and provided with record- -cards markers and marker-actuating electromagnets,-a clockprovided with circuit-closing devices including a series of electric contacts, and an electric circuit connecting all these contacts with the electro-magnets last named of both registers, substantially as hereinbefore specified.-

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of a verticallymovable step-plate carrying a downwardly projecting key, a contact-platecarried by said key, a slide carrying a contact-piece movable beneath said contactplate, a contact-bar in per manent electric connection with said contactpiece, an electric circuit including said contact-plate and said contact-bar, and an electric register in said circuit.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of a vertically movable step-plate ca *rying a downwardly projecting key, a contact-plate carried by said key, a slide carrying a contact-piece movable beneath said contact-plate, a detent fastening said slide temporarily in effective position, a contact-bar in permanent electric connection with said contact-piece, an electric circuit including said contact-plate and said contactbar, an electric register in said circuit, and mechanical devices for shifting said slide to close said circuit and for tripping said detent to open it.

4:. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of successive vertically movable step-plates, circuit-closing devices beneath each, an electric circuit closed under certain circumstances when both step-plates are depressed, two electric circuits of greater resistance controlled by said circuit-closing devices respectively, and On and Off registers included in the respective circuits last named.

5. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of successive vertically movable step-plates, circuit-closing devices beneath each, comprising downwardly projecting keys carried by the step-plates and provided with contact-plates, slides carrying contact-pieces movable beneath said contactplates, and contact-bars in permanent electric connection with said contact-pieces, electric circuits including said contact-plates and said contact-bars, On and Oif registers in said circuits respectively, and mechanical devices transmitting motion from each of said step-plates to the circuit-closing slidebeneath the other step-plate.

G. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of successive vertically movable step-plates, circuit closing devices beneath each, comprising downwardly projecting keys carried by the step plates and provided withcontact-plates, slides carrying contact-pieces movable beneath said contactplates, contact bars in permanent electric connection with said contact-pieces, and contact-bars projecting fixedly beneath said contact-pieces, an electric circuit including the contact-bars last named and said contactplates, two electric circuits of greater resistance including said contact-plates and the contact-bars first named, and On and Off registers in said circuits of greater resistance, respectively.

7. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of successive pairs of vertically movable step-plates, rigid mechanical connections between the step-plates of each pair, circuit-closing devices beneath one step of each pair, electric circuits controlled by said circuit-closing devices respectively, and On and Off registers included in the respective circuits.

8. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of successive keys having pivoted pusher ends, detents acted on by said pusher ends, and circuitclosing slides so freed for retraction, with electric circuits closed by the respective slides, and On and OK registers in said circuits respectively.

9. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of agraduated record-card, a revoluble and endwiseqnovable index-hand carrying a marker, mechanism for revolving said index-hand step by step to register successive units and to record the same, and a clock-controlled mechanism for instantaneously reciprocating said hand endwise periodically to indicate by said marker the limits of given time-periods.

10. The combination,substantially as here inbefore specified, of a graduated record-card, an indexhand carrying a marker, actuating mechanism for moving said indeX-hand step by step to register successive units, electromagnetic mechanism for reciprocating said hand periodically, an open electric circuit including the helixes of said electromagnetic mechanism, and a clock distinct from said actuating mechanism and provided with a series of circuit-closing contacts in said electric circuit.

11. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore specified, of an annular record-card, an index-hand revolving concentrically therewith and carrying a marker, mechanism for revolving said indexhand step by step, electro-tnagnetic mechanism revolving with the index-hand for reciprocating it endwise, an open electric circuit including the helixes of said electro-magnetic mechanism, and a circuit-closing clock in said electric circuit.

12. The combination of an annular recordcard, an index-hand revolving concentrically therewith and carrying a marker, mechanism for revolving said index-hand including a wheel on the same arbor provided with a pair of concentric electric contacts, electro-magnetic mechanism for reciprocating said indexhand end wise, revolving therewith and having its helixes electricallyconnected with said contacts, a pair of electric brushes coacting with said contacts, an open electric circuit including said brushes, and a circuit-closing device in said electric circuit, substantially as hereinbefore specified.

J. WM. ELLIS. \Vitnesses:

J AS. L. EwiN, Gno. M. WHITNEY.

ICC.

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