US674209A - Autograph-recorder. - Google Patents

Description

No. 674,209. Patented May I4, l90l'.

R. P. LINK. AUTOGRAPH nsconozn.

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-m. 674,209. Patented my I4, 1901. I

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AUTOGRAPH RECORDER.

(Application filed Jan. 2. 1901.1 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Patented May l4, IQOI. R. P. LINK. AUTOGRAPH RECORDER. (Applicltion fllod- Jln. 2, 1901.}

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UNITED STATES ROLLS PEROIVAL LINK,

PATENT OFFICE.-

OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

AUTOGRAPH-RECORDER.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 674,209, dated May 14, 1901. Application filed January 2, 1901. Serial No. 41.895. (No model.)

T0 00 whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I, RoLLs PERCIVAL LINK, salesman, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time and Autograph Recorders and the Like, of which the, following is a specification.

This invention relates to recorders of the kind or class wherein an autograph-record is made on a strip of paper or other material, together with a record made by printingwheels or other automatic mechanism, and the said invention is intended chiefly for recording the times of entry and exit of work people and others to and from the works or place of business and for receiving at the same time autograph-records of such persons whereby they may be identified.

The strip of paper or the like upon which the records are made has two movements imparted to it d uring each complete recordviz., a backward movement and a forward movement. The forward movement is, however, greater than the backward movement, so that the said strip on the whole receives a progressive forward movement,and the successive records are thereby obtained indue order on the strip. By this meansit is possible to arrange that the actual position where the autograph is made shall be so remote from the time-wheels or other automatic printing mechanism that ample and convenient room is allowed for writing on the recording-strip, while at the same time the two records-viz. that made by the automatic wheels and the autographare brought close together. The strip is first moved backward before the an tograph-record is made and is then moved forward before the automatic record is made. This to-andfro movement of the strip constitutes an important feature of my invention.

Another important feature of my invention is the arrangement of the spools or reels carrying the recording-strip on one side of the machine and the actuating mechanism on the other side so that the two are distinct and the recording-strip can thus be manipulated and inserted and removed when required without difficulty.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate how my 'invention'may be conveniently carried into practice, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine, partly in section, the front of the case being partially removed. Fig. 2 is a side view looking from the right of Fig. 1, the side of the case being partly removed. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the lines: 0c, Fig 1, looking toward the left of said figure. Fig. L is a plan of the triphammer and connected parts for obtaining the impression from the time-Wheels. Fig. 5 is a side view of a portion of the driving mechanism with a ratchet-wheel, hereinafter described, removed to show the parts behind said wheel; and Fig. 6 is a section on the line y 11 Fig. 3, looking toward the right in said figure and illustrating a detail of construction.

Like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the several figures.

a is the recording-strip of paper or other material which passes over guide-rollers b c from a clockj in the manner well known in connection with workmens time-recorders. The recordingstrip is fed intermittently at each operation of the machine from a reel 7t to a reel Z by means of feed-rollers m, which are arranged to grip the said strip in any suitable manner. For example,the spindle of the top roller works in a slot 55, in the bearingplate 56 and is kept pressed down by springs 57. The handle at for working the machine is shown projecting through a curved slot 0 in the case of the machine. It is attached to a crank-arm p, which is secured on a shaft q, mounted in bearings in a suitable frame 1*, which carries the whole of the mechanism. 8 if are two other shafts arranged parallel to the shaft q.

' u v w are parallel crank-arms on the shafts q s t, respectively, and z is a link or rod connecting said crank-arms. The crank-arm u is fixed on the shaft q; but the crank-arms o w are loose on their shafts s 25. By this construction when the shaft q is oscillated by moving the handle n to and fro the cranks 'u to oscillate in unison therewith. It is only necessary to move the handle n in one direction by hand, the return movement being effected by a spring 1, connected-at one end to the frame o and at the other end to an arm 2, fixed on the shaft q. The cranks u '11 10 are shown duplicated in the drawings; but this.

is not necessary, single 4 cranks may be used. The lower feed-roller m is geared to the shaft 8 by toothed wheels 34 5'. On said shaft 8 are fixed a pair of ratchet-Wheels 6 7, having their teeth pointing in opposite directions. These ratchet-wheels are both seen in Fig. 6, while in Fig. 5 the front wheel 6 is removed, together with oue of thelcran'k-arms.

loosely mounted on the shaft 8 is a cam 10, which is fixed in position by ascrew 11, pass-i ing through a slot 12in the cam and screwing into the frame 1'. The pawl 9 is furnished with a projection 13, which rides upon the edge of the said cam, which edge is eccentric to the shafts, so that as the crank-arm '1; moves around todrive the ratchet-wheel7 the pawl 9 is gradually drawn out of engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-Wheel and becomes entirely disengaged before the crankarm has completed its stroke, whereupon the backward movement of the recording-strip ceases. By adjusting the cam, which the slot 12 permits of, the angular movement of the crank-arm a; before its paw-l becomes disengaged from the ratchet-wheel 7 can be regulated, and therefore'the extent of backward wheel 7.

movement of the recording-strip may be adjusted to suit any requirements.

The shaft t is driven in one direction by a spring-controlled pawl 15, pivoted on the crank-arm w and engaging with a ratchetwheel 16, fixed on the shaft t. On the said shaft t is also fixed a toothed wheel 17, which gears with a'pinion 18, connected to a radially-slotted friction-disk 19, that bears lightlyagainst the inner flange of the reel and drives said reel by friction. In a similar way the reel Z is driven by a friction-disk connected to a pinion 20, gearing with the Wheel 3. By this method of driving the feed of the recordingstrip inboth directions is controlled solely by the rollers m and the reels or spools k Ztake 'up all slack in the strip. The friction between the disk 19 and reel is is sufficient to turn said reel so as to take up any-slack in the strip, but is not sufficient to drag the strip and rotate the feed-rollers m and the connected gears, so that the movement of the strip will cease, as above described, when the pawl 9 becomes disengaged from the ratchet- It is obvious that the reels k and Z may be arranged directly on the shafts tand s, respectively.

The case of the machine is formed with a sloping desk 21, in which is an opening 22,-

immediately above the table e. This opening is closed by a plate or shutter 23, except at such times as the recording-strip is in the proper position for receiving the autograph. Said shutter is pivoted at 24, Fig. 1, and is connec'tedbya'link 25 to a tappet 26, pivoted at 27. 'When the handle n is drawn forward by the operator, the crank-arm w strikes the tappet 26 when near the end of its movement and moves the shutter 23, thus uncovering the recording-strip,,and when the handle 7 is re- -turned to its'normal position, the shutter 23 falls back by gravity,-t-he same being supported on an inclined surface,-'and closes the opening again, or the s'hutter23 may be returned positively by an arm 30, connected to the crank w,'as indicated in Fig. 3, said arm 30 also preventing the shutter from being moved to uncover the'recordingstrip so long as the handle n remains in its normal position.

In order that the records may be made in the correct position on the recording-strip, it is necessary to prevent the return of the bandle n before a complete stroke is made. For this purpose I fix a ratchet-segment 31 on the shaft q, with which ratchet there engages a pawl 32, pivoted to the frame 1'. So long as this pawl is engaged'with the ratchet the handle 'n. cannot be returned. At the completion, however, of the stroke of the handle a a projection 33 on the. ratchet 31 raises the pawl 32, whereupon a swinging latch 34, having a shoulder35, drops underneath the tail end 36 of the pawl and so maintains saidpawl out of engagement with the ratchet, and

the handle it can then be returned. At the completion of the return movement of the handle another projection 37 on the ratchet ing latch and displaces said latch laterally, thereby again releasing the pawl 32 and allowing said pawl to become rengaged with being pulled forward again before the backward movement has been completed. I

The automatic impression on the recordingstrip is obtained by a spring-controlled triphammer 40, pivoted at 41 and tripped by a pin 42, acting on the tail end 43 of the hammer. The said .pin is fixed in a disk 44, secured on a shaft 45, that is geared by a pinion 46 and toothed segment 47 with the shaft q. When the pin 42 escapes past the tail end 43 of the hammer, the latter being thus suddenly released is driven by its spring 48 against the recording-strip a, immediately underneath the type-wheels, and an impression is obtained on the said strip by theaid of an ink-ribbon 50. The tail end 43 of the ham mer is constructed to swing loosely in one direction, so that the pin 42 canbe returned without affecting the hammer. The ink-rib- .slides up the inclined edge 38 of the swing bon 50 passes between the time-wheelsfg and the recording-strip a, being guided by a roller 51. The ribbon-spools 52 53 may be actuated in any known or suitable manner 'to move the ribbon after each impression is fed forward sufficiently to bring the name. just written thereon in line with the time-' wheels f g, at which instant the hammer 40 is released and an impression obtained by the time-wheels opposite said name, thus indicating the time at which the autograph is recorded. When the handle is next operated, the recording-strip a is drawn back again, but not so far as it was moved forward on the previous operation, so that the next portion of strip exposed at the opening 22 is not the same as but is closely adjacent to that lastwritten upon. In this way the successive records are brought as close together as may be desired, thus avoiding waste of paper and.

at the same time the place where the autograph is made is so far removed from the time-wheels that the writer is not cramped for room.

The autograph-record and the automatic record may be made one above theother or they may be made side by side.

What I claim 'is- 1. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of a recording-strip, feed-rollers for feeding said, strip, an actuating-handle, and intermediate mechanism between the handle and the feed-rollers, whereby when the handle is movedin one direction it feeds the strip backward through a definite distance and when it is moved in the other direction it feeds it forward through a greater distance, for the purpose specified.

2. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of a recording-strip, feed-rollers for feeding said strip, a table over which said strip passes, time-printing devices, and handcontrolled mechanism for actuating the feedrollers whereby the strip is first moved backward by one movement of the handle to the proper position for receiving the autograph,

and is then moved forward, by a reverse movement of the handle, to bring the autograph into juxtaposition with the time-printing devices, substantially as described.

3. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of a recording-strip, feed-rollers, an autograph-table, time-printing devices, a handle for actuating the feed-rollers, and intermediate mechanism between said handle and feed-rollers, said mechanism comprising a pair of pawl-actuated ratchet-wheels arranged to work in opposite directions, one to feed the strip backward and the other to feed the strip forward, and a cam engaging one of said pawls to throw same out of gear before the completion of its stroke, substantially as described.

4. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of a recording-strip, feed-rollers, an autograph-table, time-printing devices, a handle for actuating the feed-rollers, and intermediate mechanism between said handle and feed-rollers, said mechanism comprising.

strip first backward and then forward, and

friction-driven reels, for taking up the slack in the said strip, substantially as described.

6. In a time and autograph recorder, the combination of a recording-strip, feed-rollers, an autograph-table, time-printing wheels, hand-actuated mechanism for moving the strip first backward to receive the autograph and then forward to receive the impression from the time-wheels, a handle for working said mechanism, and means to prevent the return of the handle before the completion of its stroke, while allowing it to return when the stroke has been completed, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROLLS PEROIVAL LINK.

Witnesses:

JOHN T. KNOWLES, HERBERT ARTHUR BEESTON.

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