US641651A

US641651A - Apparatus for holding and delivering tickets.

Info

Publication number: US641651A
Application number: US69959198A
Authority: US
Inventors: William H Snowman
Original assignee: ALBERT N SOUTHWICK
Current assignee: ALBERT N SOUTHWICK
Priority date: 1898-12-17
Filing date: 1898-12-17
Publication date: 1900-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 1917-01-16

Description

No. 64|,65|. Patented .Ian. 16, I900. w. H. SNOWMAN.

APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DELIVERING TICKETS.

(Application filed Dec. 17, 189B.)

(No Model.)

INVENTOR WITNESSES ATTORNEY.

THE cams warms co. PNuTo-uwa. WASHINUTUN. n. c.

Patented Ian. I6, I900.

W. H. SNOWMAN. APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DELIVERING TICKETS.

(Application filed Dec. 17, 1898.)

2 Shee'ts-Shee't 2 (NoModeL) INVENTOR W 6 Jho'uhnwu) ATTORNEY.

KdW/f am WITNESSES:

'WILLIAM H. SNOWMAN, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO ALBERT N. SOUTHWIOK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR HOLDING AND DELIVERING TICKETS;

srncrrrcArroir forming part of Letters Patent No. 6 1,651, dated. Januar 16, 1966.

Application filed December 17,1898. Serial No. 699,591. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. SNOWMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Holding and Delivering Strip Tickets or Checks, of which the following is a specification, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, for1ning a part of the same.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for holding and delivering a long strip or ribbon composed of several individual tickets or checks which can be readily detached from the strip and handed to purchasers of goods or other customers to indicate their indebtedness to the establishment issuing the tickets, and the invention is especially adapted for use in restaurants, hotels, and retail stores where waiters or salesmen and cashiers are employed.

The long strip (hereinafter called strip or strip tickets or checks) may be composed of any number of individual tickets or checks which conveniently can be contained and operated in the apparatus, and the apparatus may be of such size and shape as will best adapt it to the special uses intended.

Heretofore it has been the practice to intrust waiters or salesmen with a number of separate tickets or checks to be handed to customers to indicate by marks or otherwise their indebtedness to the establishment. These separate tickets or checks have been prepared and used in a variety of ways to impose the desired restraint or check upon the person to whom they are intrusted. Sometimes they have been prepared with stubs and have been assembled according to their consecutive numbers and locked in a case, from which the tickets can be separated, leaving the stubs in the case. In attempting to carry out this plan mistakes are liable to occur whereby some of the consecutively-numbered tickets are left out of the assembled mass or are misplaced therein, and this causes confusion and trouble in imposing the proper obligation upon and in making the desired settlement with those to whom the tickets are intrusted.

- It is the object of the present invention to obviate the defects and annoyances incident to the use of separate tickets or checks for the purposes indicated and to provide an apparatus in which a large number of tickets or checks attached to each other can be con tained and from which they can be delivered in the exact order of their numbers without any liability of mistake.

To this end. the invention consists, stated generally, in the several features and devices of construction and the combination of devices of an apparatus adapted to contain a long strip or ribbon composed of individual tickets or checks and from which the individual tickets can be readily delivered and separated for use, all as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

A form of apparatus embodying my improvements is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal central section through the line X X of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is the same as Fig. 1, except that the printing-belts and inking-roll are shown in diiferent positions in the two figures. Fig. 3-is a transverse section along the line Y Y of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the strip tickets or checks wound upon a spool. Figs. 5, 6, and 7, respectively, are edge, end, an d plan views of a sliding piece located and operating at the delivery end of the apparatus. Figs, 8 and 9, respectively, are plan and edge views of a detent or stop-pin to enter perforations in the strip. -Figs. 10, 11, and 12, respectively, are edge, end, and plan views of a guide for the strip. Figs. 13,14, and 15, respectively, are edge, end, and plan views of the holder for the printing-belt spools. Fig. 16 is a View in perspective of a portion of the apparatus to show the cut-away part of the case and the tearing edge at the delivery-point, and Figs. 17 and 18 are views in plan and elevation of the inking-roll and its attachments.

In the form of apparatus shown in the accompanying drawings, B represents a holder or case, which may be made of sheet metal, hard rubber, or any other suitable material, and its interior depth or thickness is preferably slightly greater than the Width of the strip to be used therein. The case is provided with a coveror lid 0, which can be opened to introduce the strip in place and when closed preferably can be secured by any suitable locking device, as D. \Vithin the case and near its side edge E is located a guide F, extending toward the delivery-point G of the apparatus and forming, with the edge E, a guideway or passage H for the advance end of the strip. A piece I, convenientlysecured to the guide F, forms a way J, in which a slide K can reciprocate to and from the delivery G, the guide and its attachment being secured to the casein any suitable way, as by screws a, passing through lugs b andinto the side wall of the case. The plate E, forming the edge of the case, is cut away at L to a snflicient distance back of the delivery G to uncover and expose to view the advance end of the strip and the marks thereon when it reaches this point and to enable it to be reached by the finger or thumb of the user. The slide K is provided at its outer end with a presser-plate M to receive the push from the finger or thumb of the user to force the slide inwardly and uncover the inner surface of the advance end of the strip, by which, in conjunction with the cut-away portion at L, the end of the strip can be easily grasped between the finger and thumb of the user and drawn forward and beyond the delivery G. The slide K is moved back to its normal position by the expansion of a spring N, located between the slide and the guide F and having one of its ends abutting a shouldercand its other end secured to the guide-plate F. At the delivery-point of the apparatus in the construction shown in the drawings the edge of the end of the slide K when in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 16, is in the same plane with the adjacent ends (1 d of the plate 0 of the case, thus forming, substantially, a continuous edge P, arranged at right angles to the direction of the movement of the strip and slightly longer than its width and upon which, by the proper movement of the hand which grasps the strip, it can be forced and the projecting part easily torn from its main portion.

To provide for positively regulating the length of the strip to be drawn from the'delivery-point of the apparatus at a single advance movement, the construction shown in the drawings provides a detent Q, arranged to be brought into contact with the strip and stop its advance. This detent or stop-pin, as shown, is attached to a finger or piece 6, which is secured to the piece I in any suitable way, so that the detent will in its normal position rest upon the surface of the strip as it is advanced and at the desired times will come into such engagement with it as to stop its advance. The desired pressure of the detent upon the strip may be given by any of the well-known means, as by making the finger e of spring metal and rigidly connecting it to some fixed part or by pivotally mounting it, as shown in the drawings, and

controlling it by a spring 6 or equivalent de* vice. The detent is conveniently brought out of contact with the strip to permit its advance by the inward movement of the slide K, whose end is arranged to contact with an inclined shoulder f on the finger e, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 8 of the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, the detent is passed through a hole in the guide F, through a perforation in the strip, and through a hole in the case, while in Fig. 2 it is shown as forced out of contact with the strip by the inward movement of the slide K. v

The construction and arrangement of the parts thus far described are such that when the strip is placed in the case and its advance end is threaded through the passage H and brought to the delivery-point G the inward movement of the slide K will uncover the end of the strip and enable the operator to grasp it between his finger and thumb and will at the same time force the detent Q out of contact with the strip, leaving it free to be advanced, and when the slide K moves back to its normal position under the stress of its spring N the detent will be forced into contact with the strip in position to come into stopping engagement therewith, as by entering a perforation therein, and the portion of the strip, forming a single check or ticket, which has been advanced beyond the delivery-point G can be torn off along the tearing edge P.

It is desirable that each individual ticket of the strip should be printed with the month and the day of the month on which it is delivered to a customer, and for this purpose a printing device is provided in the form of apparatus shown in the drawings, a description of which is as follows:

Two endless belts (designated by the numerals 1 and 2) provided with printing-type, one having type for printing the months of the year and the other for printing the days of the month, are passed around spools 3 and 4 on spindles 5 and 6, which are rigidly connected together by a base-plate 7, arranged to reciprocate in a way 8 to and from a printingbed 9, the base-plate 7 being held in the way bya superposed plate 10. An inking-roll 11, provided with felt or other ink-absorbing material, is loosely pivoted through its hanger 12 to the spindle of lower spool 3, so that in its normal position the roll will be in contact with the type of the printing-belts and will be located between such belts and the printingbed 9,. The hanger 12 is provided with a projection 13, so arranged in relation to a fixed pin 14 that when the belts are moved toward the printing-bed 9 the inking-roll will be deflected laterally from the path of the belts, as seen in Fig. 2, and the belts be free to move against the strip to print it while it rests upon the printing-bed. Convenient devices for reciprocating the printing-belts are shown in the drawings, the belts being moved toward the printing-bed by the contact of a projection 15, attached to the slide K, with the free end of one arm 16 of a bell-crank lever 17, which is pivotally connected to spindle 18 of strip-spool 19, while its other arm 20 is connected through a slot 21 with a pin 22, fixed in the sliding base-plate 7. The arm 16 is retained in the desired position during its movements by passing between guide-pieces 16', attached to the wall of the case. The reverse movement of the printing-belts is given by the expansion of a spring 23, secured to spindle 18 and having one of its ends secured to the lever-arm 20 and its opposite end to a fixed pin 24. The inking-roll 11 is swung back to its normal position by the expansion of spring 25, passing around spindle 6 of lower belt-spool 3 and having one of its ends attached to hanger 12 and its other end to a pin 26, fixed in the base-plate 7.

By the use of the devices thus described the desired impressions can be printed upon the individual tickets of the strip while the strip is stationary and while the slide K is being pushed inwardly to uncover the advance end of the strip, so that it can be grasped by the operator, and the printing-belts will be moved back from the strip as soon as the backward movement of the slide begins and before the strip is advanced. The belt-spools preferably fit so tightly on their spindles that they do not rotate thereon in the operation of printing, so that when the desired type is arranged the printing can be continued during the day, and then by turning the spools by hand or by slipping the belts on the spools the desired arrangement of type for the next days printingcan be made.

Fig. 4: of the drawings shows a long strip X, wound upon a spool 19, the strip being made up of a number of individual checks or tickets Y and adapted for use in the apparatus hereinbefore described, and shown inthe drawings. The strip is provided with a series of perforations 29, located at the dividingline of the individual tickets and in a line parallel with the edges of the strip, and they are of such size and shape that the detent Q can readily enter them. The individual tickets of the strip are preferably numbered consecutively, as 203, 204, 205, &c., and each is preferably designated by the same mark, as the letter A, to connect or identify all of the tickets of the strip with some special person to whom they may be intrusted for delivery to customers. As seen in the drawings, each ticket is numbered with the figure 5 and consecutive multiples thereof up to to afford easy means of indicating the indebtedness of a customer, which may be done by erasing, by punching out, or otherwise, the figures indicating such indebtedncss, orby erasing all the figures except those indicating such indebtedness. It is not essential that the perforations p be located at the dividing-line of the individual tickets, as the operation of the strip in the apparatus described and its delivery therefrom will not be materially afiected by a change in the position of the perforations along the length or width of the strip, provided they are located at distances apart equal to the length of the individual tickets and that the position of the detent Q be such that it will operate to stop the advance of the strip when its advance end has reached the length of anindividual ticket beyond the delivery-point or tearing edge P.

It is observed that it is not intended to limit this invention to an apparatus having all the features of construction herein set forth, or shown in the drawings, as it is evident that many of the parts may be omitted and the apparatus be capable of efficient use for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks. For instance, the printing devices may be omitted without materially affecting the operativeness of the remaining parts. Also the detent device and the perforation in the strip may be omitted without materially affecting the operation of the features and device for uncovering the advance end of the strip and the tearing edge located at the delivery-point, in which case the operator can determine by looking when the dividing-line of the tickets is brought to register with the tearing edge. Neither is it intended to limit the invention to the special constructions of all the parts hereinbefore described and shown, as it is evident that many of the parts can be of diferent construction without essentially departing from the principle of the invention.

What is claimed as new is 1. In an apparatus for holding and deliver ing strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a device constructed and arranged to positively engage the strip and stop its advance when its forward end has reached the length of an individual ticket from the delivery-point of the apparatus, means for operating such device to bring it into stopping engagement with thestrip and means to withdraw it from such stopping engagementto permit a further advance of the strip.

2. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a detent, as Q, constructed and arranged to enter perforations in the strip whose distances apart are equal to the length of the individual tickets, means for operating such detent to cause it to enter perforations and stop the advance of the strip and means to withdraw the detent therefrom to permit its further advance.

3. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a spring-actuated stop or detent constructed and operating to engage the strip and stop its advance when its forward end has reached the length of an individual ticket from the delivery-point of the apparatus, and a spring-actuated slide constructed and arranged to withdraw the detent from its stopping engagement with the strip by its inward movement and to be restored to its outward 'position by its spring.

4. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a slide whose outer end is provided with a presser-plate, as M, and a tearing edge, as P, normally at the delivery-point of the apparatus, a device constructed and operating to engage the strip and stop its advance, means for engaging the slide when pressed inwardly with the stopping device and means, as spring N, for giving an outward movement to the slide, whereby the forward end of the strip is uncovered, the stopping device withdrawn from stopping engagement with the strip and the tearing edge brought into operative position at the delivery-point of the apparatus.

5. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a slide, as K, whose outer end is provided with a presserplate, as M, and a tearing edge, as P, and a stop constructed and operating to engage the strip and stop its advance and provided with a shoulder or incline as f, against which the inner end of the slide engages, when moved inwardly, to withdraw the stop from engagement with the strip, and means, as spring N, for moving the slide outwardly to its normal position.

6. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of means for exposing the forward end of the strip whereby it can be grasped by the hand of the operator, consisting of a cutaway portion of the case on one side of the strip at the delivery-point and a slide arranged upon the other side of the strip, means for stopping the advance of the strip when its forward end has reached the length of an individual ticket from the delivery point of the apparatus, consisting in a device constructed and operating to positively engage the strip, and means to with draw such device from its stopping engagement by the inward movement of the slide. 7. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a stop or detent, as Q, means for bringing the detent into stopping engagement with the strip when it has advanced the length of an individual ticket from the delivery-point of the apparatus, a slide, as K, operating to withdraw the detent from such stopping engagement, a device for printing upon the strip, and a suitable connection between the detent-withdraw ing slide and the printing device, whereby the movement of the slide brings the printing device into printing connection with the strip.

8. In an apparatus for holding and delivering strip tickets or checks, the combination substantially as set forth, of a reciprocating printing device, a slide for uncovering the ends of the strip-tickets, a projection on such slide and a bell-crank lever arranged to reciprocate the printing device in one direction through its contact with the projection on the slide, for the purpose of bringing the typebelt in contact with the strip as it rests on the printing-bed.

XVILLIAM H. SNOWMAN.

\Vitnesses:

J EssIE B. KAY, JAMEs N. HARLOW.