US642713A - Cash register and indicator. - Google Patents

Description

No. 642,713. Patented Feb. 6, I900. J. PFEIFER.

cA'sH REGISTER AND'INDICATOB.

- '(Applicatiun filed Nov. 29, 1898.)

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.l. PFEIFER.

CASH REGISTER AND mnicATon.

(Application filed. Nov. 29, 1898.)

5 Shouts-Sheet 3,

(No Model.)

my 642,7l3. Patented Feb.'6, 1900.

J. PFEIFER.

CASH REGISTER AND lNDlCATOB.

(Applicafion filed Nov. 29, 1898.)

(No Model.) 1 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

L13 me $00 3513M elite-1 n01 @fl. Very No.- 642,7ilI- Patented Feb. 6, I900.

J. PFEIFER CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR.

(Application filed Nov. 29, 1898.) (No Model.) 5 Shaets$heat 5.

v 7 Yb Hnw ow 1 8 wvtoz 931,744 aum UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOIIN PFEIFER, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MAST, FOOS & COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

CASH REGISTER AND INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,713, dated February 6, 1900.

Application filed November 29, 1898. Serial No. 697,806. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: able link. This rack 60 engages with a pinion Be it known that 1, JOHN PFEIFER, a cition theindicating-disk to move the same when zen of the United States, residing at Springsaid rack is moved. field, in the county of Clark and State of Arranged adjacent to each of the racks 55 5 Ohio, have invented certain new and useful which are connected to the graduated bars Improvements in Cash Registers and Indicafor the two lower banks of keys, or those for tors, of which the following is a specification. the units and tens keys, is a counter-disk b,

My invention relates to cash registers and numbered from O to 9. indicators, and has for its object improve- Adjacent to the rack for the dollars-bank 6o 10 ments in the construction of machines of this is the counter 17, which may be of any wellclass, and especially such as set forth in my known construction, consisting of a series Patent No. 579,604, dated March 30, 1897. of counting wheels each numbered from In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is to 9 and geared together, so that a a sectional elevation of a machine embodyrevolution of one produces a movement of 65 I ing my invention. Fig. 2 is a partial front one unit of the other. The units-counting elevation of the same with the case removed. wheel is geared to the tens-wheel and the Fig. 3 is a rear view of a portion of Fig. 2. tens to the hundreds-wheel, so that a revo- Figs. 4 to 9, inclusive, are detail views of some lution of one unit produces a movement of of the various operating parts. Fig. 10 is a one unit of the other. These counters are 70 2o sectional elevation showing the lever cl, pin adapted under certain conditions to be cong, and latch 9 Fig. 11 is a plan view of the nected to the racks and move therewith by devices shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 12 is a detail the following devices: There is pivoted to view of the pawl-and-ratchet connections. a suitable part of the frame and adjacent to Like parts are represented by similar leteach of the racks a lever b which carries 7'5 ters of reference in the different views. at its outer end a pinion 17 which is nor The general features of construction are mally out of engagement with the rack, but is preferably those described and shown in my adapted by a movement of the lever 12 to be prior patent referred to above. thrown into mesh therewith. There is on the In this, as in my former patent, I have lever 19 a pinion 12 which meshes with the 80 0 shown cash-keys a, numbered corresponding lever-pinion 11 The pinion b has a long to the amounts to be registered and indisleeve U", which carries at its outer end the cated and arranged in connection with the toothed number-wheel. A spring-actuated indicating and registering devices. These pawl b", engaging in theteeth of the countercash-keys a are normally locked and can only wheel, prevents a movement of said wheel eX- 8 5 3 5 be operated after a lever c on the outside of cept in one direction. I provide for the transthe casing has been moved from its normal ferring from one counter to the other or next position, the movement of this lever and the higher as follows: Adjacent to the pinion b rotating :shaft Z, connected thereto, being or rather adjacent to the sleeve I2 I pivot the adapted to unlock the cash-keys and accomlever b", which is formed with a projection b 0 o plish the movement required to operate the on one side, said projection being beveled at indicating and registering devices after the the top and adapted at times to stand in the key has been moved, the registering devices path of a projection b on the sleeve 19 To being set in position for operation by the the under side of the lever, below its pivotal manipulation of one or more of the keys. point, is secured one end of the transfer-rod 5 The proper movement of the indicating 12 This rod is formed in the nature of a and registering devices is accomplished pawl-finger at its other end, which is adapted through the medium of the graduated bars to engage with the teeth of the counting-wheel a which are hung on the main shaft. Each 0, this being one wheel in the counter for the of these bars has a backwardly-extending denominations next higher than the one em- :00 5o arm a, which is pivotally connected to the ploying the sleeve 5 (Here shown in Fig. t.) vertically-moving rack a by means of a suit- Pivoted in a suitable manner is a stop-arm which is adapted to bear on top of the lever and it is formed with notches c and c and pin 0 on its under side, with which the lever 19 is adapted to engage. The lower part of the arm 0 below its pivotal point is bifurcated, within which bifurcation the rod b is adapted to pass to be guided. A spring 0 holds the rod b up in place and the stoparm 0' down in contact with the lever 6 Near'one side of the casing and mounted in suitable guides is the vertically-moving transfer-rack 0 which is connected to a rearwardly-extendin g arm on the main shaft by a suitable link 7b. This rack is adapted to be elevated whenever the shaft is rotated forward and to move down to normal position when the shaft moves back to its normal position. Journaled adjacent to this rack is the pinion c, which meshes with said rack at all times and rotates whenever said rack is moved. Adjacent to said rack are pivoted the swinging arms 0 and 0 which are connected at their lower ends to the lever b by the rods 0 Adjacent to the swinging arms and looselyjournaled on the same stud as the pinion c are the cams 0 and 0 rigidly secured together and angularly arranged, as shown in Fig. 4. The cam o has a springpressed pivoted pawl h at one side, which is adapted under certain conditions to engage with teeth W on an extended sleeve of the pinion a, so that when the pinion c is rotating toward the rack c it will rotate the cams 0 and 0 The swinging arms 0 and e have rollers attached to them, against which the cams are adapted to strike as they revolve. To one side of the bracket 0 is pivoted the arm 0 which has a notch e in its forward end adapted to engage with the cam to prevent the said cam from revolving except in one direction at any time. This arm has a projection 0 which extends below a pin 0 on the rack 0 so that when said rack is in its lowest position the arm 0 is prevented from being raised, thus forming a lock for said cam when the rack is in its normal position.

It will be seen that whenever one of the counting-wheels of the two lower denominations makes a complete revolution the rod 6 will be moved into engagement with a tooth on the next higher counting-wheel. The projection b first engages with the pin 0 which raises the lever c, and then by engaging with the projection 11 releases the lever b from the notch 0 At the same time the bar 0 will be swung forward or toward the cams, and when the operating-lever a is again operated the cam will contact with the roller on the bar 0 to carry said bar to the rear, and thus carry the counting-wheel with which the rod Z2 has been engaged forward by means of the mechanism described.

The bar 0 is connected to a lever corresponding to the lever 11 of the units-counting wheels. Through the arrangement of the cams the cam 0 will contact with the bar 0 before the cam 0 contacts with the bar 0 This arrangement will insure that the units will be transferred to the tens-counting wheel before the tens will be transferred to the hundreds.

To prevent the lever-pinions from being moved more than one tooth forward when out of engagement with the racks, I provide for each of the lever-pinions of the two higher denominations and pivoted above the same the swinging arms d, which are connected by the bar at, so that they will operate in unison. At the lower end of these arms are pivoted pawls d having a limited movement between stops (F. The pawls are adapted to stand between the teeth of the leverpinions when in their normal positions, said pawls d being adapted to lock the pinions except against the predetermined movement which is permitted the said pawls by the space between the stops d this predetermined movement being equal to a movement of one tooth of the pinion and is for the purpose of allowing the transfer.

The operation of the lever-pinions which causes them to engage and disengage the racks is as follows: Each of the levers b is pivotally connected to a sliding bar or plate (1 by an extension on the end of the lever 19 which fits into a notch on said plate, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the plate being normally held by a spring d in a position which will hold the lever-pinions out of engagement with the racks. To insure a more positive movement of this sliding plate, I pivot a lever 01 to the guides for the rack 0 The other end of the lever is slotted, as shown at d, and this slot is adapted to engage a pin on the sliding plate cl. The lever d has a lug on which is pivoted the pawl-finger (1 said finger working against a stud on the lever, so that it can only swing upwardly. On the rack c I secure a pin 61, which is adapted to contact with the finger (Z and to pass the same as the rack is moved upward. On the return movement the pin will contact with the finger, if it is in its path, and force it to one side, as the finger is beveled on the top, thus moving the sliding plate to its normal position.

The spring d is intended to move the sliding plate to its normal position, in which case the finger (1 will be moved out of the path of the pin d". If the spring should fail to operate correctly, the finger (1 would remain in the path of the pin (Z and be moved by the pin contacting with the same, so as to force the plate positively into its normal position.

Pivoted adjacent to the plate 61 is the lever e, which at its lower end has a hinged extension 6, which is adapted to stand substantially at right angles to the lever. This extension or arm is beveled on its under side, as shown in Fig. 7, and is held in its position by means of a spring 6 but is adapted to be IIO swung downwardly. The lever is further provided with a roller a above and adjacent to its pivotal point. The upper end of the lever is extended and is pivoted to one end of the bar e which is adapted to slide in suitable ways on the top of the frame. To this sliding bar are secured the screens 6 which as said bar is moved will pass in front of the exposed face of the indicating-disk.

Adjacent to the lever eand adapted to move vertically in suitable guides is a bar f, which is connected to the main shaft Z and caused to move upward when said shaft is oscillated forward and to move down to its normal position when the shaft returns to its normal position. This bar has acut-away portion f, which is curved and in which the roller e on the lever e rests. At its lower end the bar is provided with the projecting pin f which is held beyond the edge of the bar by the spring f As the bar f is raised the lever 6 will be forced to a vertical position, for the roller e will pass out of the cut-away portion of said bar as it passes beyond said roller, and the arm 6 will be forced against a depending stop f on the plate d, thereby carrying said plate out of its normal position against the tension of its spring. As the bar freachesits highest point the pin f will contact with and pass the arm 6 by being depressed by the bevel on said arm, and said pin will spring out to its normal position as soon as the arm is passed. When said bar descends, the pin f will contact with the top of the arm 6 and depress the same, so that the sliding plate d will be allowed to return to its normal position, thus carrying the lever-pinions out of engagement with the racks.

On one of the swinging arms d I provide an extended pin g, which is adapted to extend through a slotted opening g in the front plate 9 of one of the registering devices. Adjacent to said pin and pivoted on said plate is a stop-finger g which is adapted when said pin is in its normal position to hold said pin against movement.

Pivoted in a suitable manner to the frame is a swinging arm 9 One end of this arm is adapted to lie adjacent to the sliding plate d. The other arm is adapted to extend above said plate (1 and to lie in proximity to the swinging arm (Z. I provide a pin g on said sliding plate near said arm g When said plate is moved, the pin 9 is adapted to contact with the swinging arm g to cause said arm to swing. As the arm g is swung the swinging arm d will also be swung and with it the pin g, which will be moved to normal position, thereby allowing the stop-finger g to fall in behind the same, thus locking said pin against movement. This operation just described takes place on the first operation of the machine after the latch g has been raised to allow the pawls d to swing out of contact with the pinion b in resetting the machine to zero and insures the correct working of the machine in the event the operator should fail'to return the parts to their proper positions.

To provide for resetting the registering device to zero, I provide the transfer-bar b with an extension g which extends in front of the face of the registering devices and under a laterally-projecting finger g formed on the pawl b. WVhen the finger g is depressed by the operator, it will carry with it the transfer-bar Z9 out of engagement with the counting-wheel, thus allowing the countingwheel to be freely turned and reset to zero. When the lever ct is moved downwardly, the locking-plates 0 which extend across the ends of the cash-keys, locking same against movement, will be released at the limit of the downward movement of said lever, so that the prong c of the cash-keyupon the operation of same will move the locking-plate and permit the end of the key to rest upon the upper part of the locking-plate, the detailed operation of said parts being fully described in myformerpatent, No. 579,604. The operation of the cash-key by striking the pivoted bar d will release the graduated bars a and upon the return movement of the lever a to its normal position the graduated bar a will be permitted to swing downwardly until it strikes the top of the prong of the key which has been depressed, and upon the next movement downwardly of the said lever the projection a upon the arm (1 will cause the graduated bars to be returned to their normal position. The projection a of the arm upon the next downward movement of said lever by engaging one of the arms of the graduated bar will move said bar back to its normal position, and it will be then engaged and held in normal position by the pivoted latch at until one of the cash-keys is again operated,

which operation of the cash-key will throw the pivoted latch a, by striking the cross-bar or, out of engagement with said graduated bar, permitting the graduated bar thereby to fall until it strikes the top of the prong of the cash-key, as heretofore explained. At the beginning of said return movement of the lever to its normal position the bar f, with its cut-away portion, will oscillate the lever e and its spring-pressed extension 6, causing said extension to contact against the sliding plate (1 and thereby moving said plate until at the beginning of said downward stroke of the lever a the pinion b will contact with the rack a and upon the completion of said downward stroke the rack 61. will communicate its movement to the counting-wheels through said pinion b thereby registering on said counting-wheel the amount of the cash-key depressed. It will be understood that the pinions engage the rack while the lever is on its downward stroke; but by means of the sliding plate upon the upward movement of said lever the pinions are thrown out of engagement with said rack, so'that the registering is performed on the downward movement of said lever, while the transferring is ICC made when the lever is 011 its upward movement. When the pinion b revolves the pinion 12 one complete revolution, the lug b on the sleeve of said pinion b will oscillate the lever 11 by striking a projection 11 on said lever, the top of said lever Z2 thereby dropping into the notch 0 which oscillation of the lever 21 will move the transferrod Z2 causing the counting-wheel of the next higher denomination to move one notch, and at the same time by means of the red 0 the lever c is drawn into the path of the cams 0 Upon the next upward movement of the lever a to its normal position the cams 0 wiil be revolved by means of the pawl and ratchet h and h and the pinion 0 until the cam strikes the lever 0 returning said lever to its normal position, and thereby moving through the transfer-rod Z9 the next higher countingwheel a movement equal to one tooth, and thereby effecting the transferring from the lower wheel to the next higher wheel, the pawl-finger of said rod engaging the lower tooth of the counting-wheel, so that upon the next movement of the lever 19 the transfer-rod will again move the counting-wheel one tooth, thus efiectin g the transferring from one counting-wheel to the other.

As stated before, the pawl-fingers on the swinging arms cl when the pinions b are in their normal positions, at which times the transferring can be efiected from one counting-wheel to the next higher counting-wheel, will be in contact with the movable pinion (Z of the counting-wheel upon which the transfer is being made, so that the pawl-finger will prevent the movement of the counting-wheel beyond one tooth; butwhen the movable pinion b is moved from normal position into contact with the rack-bar the said pinions will be free of the pawl-fingers, so that the pinions can he moved any number of teeth for the purpose of registering the number of the cash-key depressed. In the event at any time the operator for the purpose of resetting the registerin g devices to zero lifts the latch g and moves the pawl-finger out of engagement with the pinion (1 but after resetting fails to move the finger g back to its normal position, the lever g upon the next operation of the operatingshaft will be moved through its connections with the'slidin g plate,as heretofore described, until said lever 9 contacting with the swinging arm cl, will cause the pin 9 to move back to its normal position, whereupon the latch will fail in behind said pin 9.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination with a series of keys and an operating-lever, an oscillating shaft connected to said lever, a graduated bar normally disconnected from said shaft, normally-inactive registering devices connected to said bar, said bar adapted to be released from its nor: mal position by the operation of one of said keys and thrown thereby into connection with said operating-shaft,transferring mechanism connected to said bar, and means for causing the transfer to take place successively in proper order, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a vertically-movable rack, of a laterally-movable pinion adapted when in operative position to engage with said rack but in normal position to be out of engagement therewith, and means for locking said pinion while in normal position against all movement except a predetermined move ment equal to the movement of one tooth of the pinion, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a rack of a registering device, of a movable pinion geared to said registering device which is adapted to mesh with said rack when out of normal position, and mechanism for locking said pinion when in normal position against all but a predetermined movement equal to the movement of one tooth of the pinion, and means for throwing said locking mechanism in orout of engagement with said pinion, substantially as specified.

4. The combination with a vertically-movable rack, of a laterally-movable lever, a pinion on said lever, adapted to engage said rack, a sliding plate connected to said pinion-lever, a lever with a springpressed extension adjacent to said plate, said extension being adapted to contact with said plate to move the same laterally, a movable bar for operating said lever and means for disengaging said extension upon the downward movement of said bar to permit the plate to return to its normal'position.

5. The combination of a movable rack and registering devices with a sliding plate, of a movable bar adjacent to said plate, a springpressed lever adjacent to said bar and adapted to be oscillated by same to cause said plate to slide from its normal position and at the same time throw the registering devices into operative connection with the movable rack, and a pivoted lever connected to the other end of said plate, and means for oscillating said lever for returning said plate to its normal position.

6. The combination with lateraliy-movable pinions of registering-wheels geared to each pinion, and a vertically-movable rack adapted to move a registering-wheel when said movable pinion is thrown into engagement with said rack, angularly-rotating cams adjacent to one of said pinions, mechanism operated by said cams to cause a transfer from one registering-wheel to the other when said movable pinion is out of engagement with said rack, substantially as specified.

7. The combination with operating means, of a shaft adapted to be oscillated thereby, a vertically-movable rack connected to said shaft, a pinion adjacent to said rack and adapted to mesh therewith, rotating cams mounted near said pinion, a connection between said cams and the pinion in combina- IIO iion with registering devices, and transfer mechanism adapted to be operated by said cams, substantially as specified.

8. The combination with a counting-wheel of a cam adjacent thereto and adapted to be moved therewith, an oscillating lever adjacent thereto and adapted to be moved by said cam, and a pivotal holding-bar having two notches, one of said notches engaging with said lever when in normal position and the other engaging with said lever when moved by said cams from its normal position, substantially as specified.

9. The combination with two countingwheels adapted to be connected to an operatingshaft, of a lug on the shaft of one of said wheels, a pivoted lever adjacent to said shaft with a projection adapted to stand in the path of said lug, a bar pivoted to the lower end of said lever and contacting with the other of said wheels adapted to be moved backward to engage a new tooth on said wheel when the lug on said shaft strikes said projection and further adapted to move the said wheel one tooth upon the subsequent operation of said operating-shaft.

10. The combination of registering devices, a pinion with an extended sleeve angularlyrotating cams pivoted on said sleeve, a stoppawl for said cams to prevent them moving forwardly but permitting a backward movement upon the return movement of said pinion, swinging bars connected to said registering devices adjacent to said cams and adapted to be swung thereby when out of normal position, and means for operating said cams with the movement of said pinion for the purpose of oscillating said swinging bars.

11. The combination with laterally-movable lever, of a pinion on said lever, a pawlfinger arranged adjacent thereto and adapted, when said pinion is in its normal position to prevent any movement of said pinion except the predetermined movement of one tooth, substantially as specified.

12. The combination with a laterally-movable rotating pinion of a movable bar adja cent to said pinion, a pivoted pawl-finger on said bar, said finger adapted when said pinion and said bar are in their normal positions to engage with said pinion, and means for moving either said pinion or said finger out of engagement with the other, substantially as specified.

13. The combination with two counting- Wheels, of operating mechanism controlled by one of said wheels to cause the other to move forward, a pivoted stop-pawl adjacent to the last-mentioned wh'eel contacting therewith to prevent movement of said wheel except in one direction, and means connected to said pivoted stop-pawl for simultaneously throwing it and said operating mechanism out of engagement for the purpose of adj usting said operating mechanism, substantially as specified.

14. The combination with a laterally-movable lever, a pinion on said lever, of a pawlfinger adjacent thereto and adapted to normally engage the teeth of said pinion, and stops to limit the movement of said pawl-finger to prevent the pinion from moving more than one tooth when engaged by said pawlfinger, substantially as specified.

15. The combination with a laterally-movable lever, a pinion on said lever, of means for operating said pinion, a pawl-finger adapted to normally engage the teeth of said pinion, but adapted to be moved out of engagement therewith, mechanism for automatically moving said pawl-finger into normal position whenever said pinion is operated, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day of November, A. D. 1898.

JOHN PFEIFER.

Witnesses:

OHAs. I. WELoH, EARL G. WELcH.

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