Patent GB-562088-A (GB)
Abstract: 562,088. Attendance recorders. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. June 17, 1942, No. 8333. Convention date, June 4, 1941. [Class 106 (iv)] A time or attendance recorder for making time recordings on employees' time cards comprises a record holder or cylindrical rack provided with a plurality of compartments adapted to handle said cards automatically thereby relieving the employees from the necessity of handling said cards while making time recordings. Card handling mechanism. When an arm 215, Fig. 5, is rocked, either manually or automatically, at the end of a pay roll period, a shaft 218, Figs. 10 and 12, rocks a latch 219 counterclockwise so that a dog 222, fast to a shaft 135, engages a ratchet 136 to couple the shaft 135 to the driving motor, so that pickers 212 rotate to feed new record cards C one by one from a hopper 200 to feed-rollers 208, 209 and so into the separate compartments presented by a .large cylindrical drum 230 secured to a shaft 145. Drum stepping mechanism. Rotating with the drum 230 is a bearing 231, Fig. 11, supporting discs 243, 253 carrying ratchets 241, 242, and individual card locating slides 561. When the shaft 218 rocks counterclockwise, it displaces an arm 244, Fig. 13, to the lower step of an arm 245, which rocks counterclockwise to permit pawls 247, 248 to engage ratchets 241, 242. As the shaft 135 is motor-driven counter-clockwise, an arm 262 moves an arm 250 to the left causing the pawl 248 to advance the drum 230. This spacing continues until every card pocket has been brought successively into alignment with the card feeding mechanism, when an extension 258 of a follower 256 drops briefly into a slot 260 so that projection 259 lowers the latch arm 245 to permit the shaft 218 to return to normal, stopping the shaft 135 and allowing the withdrawal of pawls 247, 248. During this operation, a gear 144, Fig. 12, has driven the plate 142 clockwise, and now a spring 263 restores both the plate and the drum to original positions. Card eject mechanism. Card feeding is accompanied by ejection of the old cards by an eject arm 265, Fig. 7, driven by the shaft 135 to force the old card between eject rollers 102, 103, Figs. 5 and 7, which deposit the cards in a suitable receptacle. Time-type wheel unit. Type wheels 275, Figs. 5 and 7, are mounted in a carriage suspended from guide rails 283, and each energization of a solenoid 290, Fig. 24 (not shown), at minute intervals, advances the time wheels and a programme wheel 308. Programme control mechanism. According to the desired working schedule, operating elements 309 are attached at various places round the wheel 308, Fig. 5, to co-operate with an arm 310 which rocks an arm 312 carrying a pawl 313 to drive a shaft 315, Fig. 23 (not shown), which rotates a conducting arm 321 round a stationary ring 322, Fig. 41, having three conductive and three insulating segments. The shaft 315 also carries controlling contacts 326, 327. Type-carriage positioning mechanism. The type carriage is spring-pressed rearwards and carries a spring-pressed toothed pawl 332 engaging a fixed arm 334, Fig. 25. Once each day a pin 306a steps on a cam 338 to rock a pawl 335 in front of an operating arm 336 which is actuated by a lever 646 so as to move the carriage one step, for printing on the next line as seen in Fig. 4, the next tooth of the pawl 332 engaging the arm 334. At the end of a week, the cam 338 completes one rotation and the pawl 335 drops off the steep step, striking abutment 332a; to release the pawl 332, and the carriage returns. On the first day of the week, contacts 344, Fig. 5, close for the first entry on the card. Platen mechanism. A slide 350, Figs. 5, 25 and 29, is moved rearwards under cam control when a shaft 187, Figs. 16 and 27 (not shown), rotates. The slide 350 carries a pivoted cam arm 355, and on the energization of a solenoid 358, Figs. 26, 28 and 30 (not shown), through contacts 344 and CC1a, a shaft 356 rocks so that a bail 357 aligns an arm 355 with an arm 348 and an element 355b with a plunger 372, and at the correct moment, cam surfaces 355a and 355b lift the arm 348 and the plunger 372. The arm 348 raises a spring-mounted platen 345 to print the employee's name and number from his key slug 58, Fig. 2 (not shown). On the first day of the week, the plunger 372 operates a platen 373 to print the date of the last day of the week. Another platen 374 is operated, each time the slide is moved to the rear, by a pivoted camming pawl. After the first recording in each day, solenoid 358 is not energized and platen 373 is not operated, but platen 374 is operated to print the time. Ribbon mechanism. When the employee depresses a lever 54, a shaft 387, Fig. 5, rocks and moves a pin 388 rearwards to feed the ribbon from one of two spools 381, 382, to the other. Punching mechanism. Solenoids 412, 420, Fig. 32, when energized, rock interposers 409, 422 into alignment with plungers 407, 423 respectively, so that under the control of a cam 415, levers 418 depress the plungers and the selected punches 400, 400a through guideways in slidable bars 470 having long horizontal slots into which the record card has been fed. Punches 400 make perforations representing the employee's number and department, and punch 400a, working time credit, to be explained later. Punch selecting mechanism. When the employee inserts his key 58 through a hole into a guideway 430, Fig. 5, and depresses the handle 54, the key is moved rearwards by double rack and pinion mechanism and held by a hook 444 so that its leading edge displaces bars 440 differentially according to the employee's number to rock shafts 451, Fig. 32, and via sections 452, raise slides 453 carrying abutment portions 454. As the shaft 187 rotates, an arm 459 is released and rocks a shaft 463 carrying spring-pressed arms 465 which urge bars 470 rearwards until stopped by engagement with the differentially-positioned abutments 454. Slides 453 also position contact fingers 477 over terminals 476 on a board 480. Pointers 481, 482, Fig. 5, may be set up manually to position a further bar 470 differentially for punching the department number. Means for bringing a card to recording position. When the handle 54 is depressed, a solenoid 150, Fig. 12, energizes to engage a pawl 147 with a constantly-driven ratchet 140 so that the gear sector plate 142 rotates clockwise, and via shaft 145 rotates the drum 230, until, as described later, a solenoid 487, Fig. 6 (not shown), energizes to rock a shaft 479, Fig. 40, counter-clockwise to release an arm 473 which engages one of a number of stop lugs positioned on the drum at intervals of ten card pockets. As the drum rotates, these stop lugs advance a ratchet 438 which drive emitter arms 456, 457, Fig. 41. An arm 473 and a curved arm 496 are moved downwards by the selected stop lug until contacts 428, 429 contact the bottom of a strip 602 and the last of ten conductive spots 601 respectively to energize a relay 487, and the drum stops. Rebound is prevented by the momentary application of a brake, controlled by a solenoid 490, Fig. 17 (not shown), and then the return spring 263, acting on the gear plate 142, causes the drum to rotate backwards until fingers 418, 419 establish a circuit through the appropriate contact 601, when one or other of two solenoids 624, 625, Fig. 15 (not shown), is energized to engage a latch with the ratchet 241 or 242, and the drum stops with the selected card opposite the picker mechanism 500, Fig. 20, and Fig. 21 (not shown). When solenoid 512, Fig. 6 (not shown), energizes, a drive is established to a cam 510 which pulls a shaft 525 and, via a linkage (not shown), pulls the picker carriage to the left in Fig. 20. The picker fingers grip the selected card and push it through the slots 406 in the punch bars 470, Fig. 32, and after punching and printing, the picker mechanism returns to its original position, replacing the card on the way. Differential card alignment. The positions of the time-recording are controlled by an abutment member 536 having six steps 537, Fig. 20, engageable by a stop on the picker carriage to limit its leftward movement. The member 536 has a driving connection with a rack 540 meshing with a spring-biassed sector 546 on a shaft 547 and with a rack 543 having an arm 545 which closes that one of contacts CC1 to 4 or CC6 opposite which it is when the carriage is in leftmost. position. Controlling slides 561, Fig. 19, carried by the drum 230 and individual to each card pocket, engage an arm on the shaft 547 to position the corresponding abutment member 536. During each return movement of the carriage, a stud 576 engages a spring- pressed pawl 577 to rock a shaft 580 so that an arm 587 pushes an element 567 of the controlling means, whereby the slide 561 is displaced to the right one tooth. At the end of each day, a solenoid 680 is energized to rock a lever 180, Figs. 7 and 11, to move a hub 174 to the left, so that rollers 176 engage pawls 571, 572 to reset the individual locating units to " morning in " positions. Circuits and operation for first entry. When the key is inserted and the handle 54 is depressed, the leading edge of the keyrack 432, Fig. 5, closes contacts 705, Fig. 41, to energize a motor relay 706, which locks up and energizes the motor 70 through contacts 706b. The key also closes contacts 725 to energize relays 718 and 150 to cause the drum 230 to rotate, the sector 142 reversing contacts 707, 721 to open the initial circuit to the relay 706 and to energize a relay 753. When the emitter arms 456, 457 reach the position corresponding to the set-up on the terminal board 480, circuit is established through the appropriate contacts of the tens and hundreds banks to energize a relay 730 which energizes the solenoid 487 to stop the drum. At the same time, a relay 733 is also energized to energize relays 156, 157 which release the pawl 147, Fig. 12, and to energize the drum bra