Patent GB-190422535-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Cash Registers.
Inventor: FULLER FREDERICK LINCOLN
Filed: 1904-10-19
Granted: 1904-12-15
Abstract: 22,535. Fuller, F. L. Oct. 19. Receipts, checking and recording. - Cash indicators and registers with printing - apparatus are constructed as shown. Fig. 2 is a front view, the casing and key bank being removed, Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are sections on the lines A-A, B-B, and C-C, Fig. 2, respectively, and Figs. 10, 11, and 17 show details. On the main shaft 2 which carries the operating - crank 3 is a sector 4, Fig. 5, with ratchet teeth pointing towards a central projection 5. A double pawl 7 is held in engagement with one or the other set of teeth by a spring dog 10 acting on a projection 9, reversal of the shaft being thus only permitted at the end of a stroke, when the projection 5 throws over the pawl. The key bank is composed of a series of sections 14, Fig. 6, with tubes 15 at their ends through which pass bars 16 of the frame. Each section has flanges 18 with grooves to receive the key-bar 19, which lie flush with the surface of the flange. To each set of keys 23 is a locking- plate 12, with hooked projections 13 upon which pins 22 on the key-bars act as that one key is retained in its depressed position until another key is depressed. The ends of the depressed keys serve as stops for a pin 32 on a toothed section 11, both the sectors and locking-plates being loose on the shaft 2. The sector 11 gears with a wheel 24, which drives an indicating- wheel 62 and one of a set of shafts 64 by means of pinions 61, 65. Rotation of the train of wheels, by a spring 47, is normally prevented by a stop arm 28 acting on a pin 29 on the sector 11, and by a detent 26 acting on the wheel 24. The pins 22 on the key-bars act on an arm 30 to release the pin 29 when a key is depressed, and the detent 26 is removed from the wheel by the rocking of the shaft 27 to which it is fixed. This rocking is prevented, when any of the locking-plates are displaced, by the corner of the plate taking under the back end of the detent, and the detent when raised locks the locking- plate in a similar manner. A special key 42, Fig. 7, is provided near the middle framepiece D of the machine, having a notch 43 into which takes an arm 44 fixed to the shaft 27. The notch is of such width that the arm 44 is not moved till the key 42 is depressed so far that a channel 46 on the key is moved out of the path of a rail 45 on a toothed sector 37, fixed to the main shaft 2. A crank 38 carries one end of a rod 39 which passes under the sectors 11, Fig. 6, and is attached to the sector 4, Fig. 5. On pushing the crank handle backwards at the commencement of an operation, the bar 39 acts on arms 40 on the sectors to restore them to their zero position, in which they are shown in Fig. 6, and pushes the plates 12 upwards to release the keys. The edge of the sector at the same time pushes before it a cam 41 on a sector 33, which is loose on the shaft 2, thereby rotating a pinion 34 by one revolution, and winding up a spring 49, one end of which is attached to a sleeve fixed to the pinion. A onetooth spring ratchet clutch is provided between the sleeve and its shaft 35, so that only the backward movement of the pinion under the action of the spring is imparted to the shaft. A detent 36, fixed to the shaft 27, retains the sector 33 in position till the special key 42 is depressed, after the setting of the keys. The cam 41 acts on a sector arm 93, and by means of a pinion 94 rotates a shaft 63, placing shutters 92 in front of the apertures, through which the figures on the indicating-wheels are seen, while the machine is being set. Prior to setting the keys, the crank handle 3 has been pushed backwards and pulled forwards again, the rail 45 passing through the notch 46 to prevent the key 42 from being moved till the end of the forward movement of the crank, when the key is released. The keys 23 are set, and the key 42 depressed, releasing each train of wheels from its detent 26, and the sector 33 from its detent 36. The shaft 35 revolves slowly under the retarding influence of a vane with which it is geared, and by means of cams and levers (not shown) lifts a bolt from the till under the machine, and rings a bell. On the right-hand side of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2, the shafts 64 carry pinions actuating a second set of indicating- wheels arranged to be read from the back. One of each set of indicating-wheels has characters denoting the particulars of the transaction. A series of toothed wheels, for the numerals only, are interposed between the indicating-wheels, and driven by pinions on the shafts 64 in the same order as the first set of indicating-wheels. These toothed wheels mesh with loose wheels 70 on a shaft 71, Fig. 11, carrying pawls bearing on ratchet-wheels 73, fixed to loose total-indicating wheels 74, which have twenty characters instead of ten. Each wheel 74 is attached to a toothed wheel 75 having a spring escapement to prevent overthrow. Within the wheel 74 is a spring pawl bearing on the shaft, and allowing the wheel to advance, but a slot running along the shaft engages the pawl when the shaft is turned, so as to move each total-indicating wheel forward to zero. On a shaft (not shown) parallel to the shaft 71 are arranged sleeves carrying star-wheels at each end, and having notches in which engage springs to prevent overthrowing. The teeth of the starwheel at the right-hand end of each sleeve are engaged by carrying-teeth fixed to one of the indicating-wheels 74, so as to rotate the sleeve and bring a tooth of the other star-wheel into the path of a cam on a shaft 88, Fig. 7, which is rotated, when the crank shaft 2 is turned, by means of the sector 37 and pinion 89. The cam, striking the tooth of the star-wheel, carries the wheel round, and another tooth engages with a tooth on the wheel 75, so as to rotate the indicating-wheel 74 by one unit. The cams are arranged so that transmission is effected between each pair of wheels in turn, beginning at the right-hand end in Fig. 11. The carrying between the two highest wheels is effected in the ordinary way by means of an intermediate idler upon the shaft 88. The printing-mechanism is arranged outside the framepiece E, Fig. 17, and contains type-wheels 95, driven by pinions 96 on the shafts 64 in the same order as the first set of indicating-wheels 62. A lever 97, pivoted at 98, carries a platen 100, a paper-feeding roll 99 with friction weight 103, and a receiving-roll 109. The latter is fixed to a ratchet-wheel, upon which act a fixed pawl 110 and a pawl 102 pivoted to the lever 97, so that when the lever is rocked, the ratchet-wheel will be turned. A cam 104 upon the shaft 2 depresses the lever 97, by means of the projecting piece 105, when the handle 3 is thrown back, and a pawl 107 mounted on the shaft 108 of the drawer-bolt lever (not shown) engages a shoulder 109 on the lever and retains it in its depressed position. The pawl 107 has just enough freedom on its shaft to release the lever 97 when the draw bolt is raised, during the pulling-forward of the crank handle, and the spring 106 causes the lever to be thrown upwards, bringing the platen 100 and paper against the printing-wheels 95. A spring arm 111 striking a stop 112 throws the lever away from the wheel again. A lever 113, connected by a pin and slot to the lever 97, carries inking-rollers 114 which can revolve independently on a metal sleeve. This sleeve is itself mounted to revolve on a spindle. This arrangement of the tape may be replaced by a check-printing attachment comprising a dater, a feeding-drum, and a shoot leading to the platen. The feeding-drum and dater are revolved in a backward movement of the handle 3 through a ratchet and segment on the main shaft 2, the strip being cut by a knife when the arm 97 comes down. A shutter 115, Fig. 10, is interposed between the total-indicating wheels and an aperture in the casing and is actuated by a lock 116, and in turn by a pin-and-slot connection lifts an arm 117. This arm has a tooth 118 which takes into a slot in a hub on the shaft 71 of the total-indicating wheels except when the arm is raised. A pawl 120 acting on a ratchet-wheel 119 prevents backward rotation of the shaft. The turning of the lock also raises a spring latch 121, which normally engages a catch on the hinged casing covering the printing- mechanism, and passes through a slot 122, Fig. 17, in the partition E, locking the hinged casing. A knob is provided on the end of the shaft 71 for re-setting the total.