Patent GB-916862-A (GB)
Abstract: 916,862. Calculating machines. WALTHER BURMACHINEN G.m.b.H. May 11, 1961 [June 28 1960], No. 17156/61. Class 106 (1). A device for controlling the position of the decimal point in ten-key calculating machines capable of printing in succession amounts with different numbers of decimal places, comprises a decimal point setting device carried by the pin carriage and an adjustable place selector for determining the position of the decimal point impression in the printing mechanism, the place selector having an adjustable stop which at each setting, is set at an appropriate distance from the decimal point setting device, whilst on conclusion of the entry of the amount, the pin carriage with the set decimal point setting means is moved up to the stop. A place selector lever 14, Fig. 4, at the side of the keyboard is set in an upper, middle, or lower position according to whether the maximum number of decimal places is to be three, two or none, and a spring-loaded locking lever 47 with three notches 48 coacting with a pin 45 holds the lever 14 in position. The pin 45 also connects the lever to a setting rail 49, Fig. 6, which at its lower end is connected to a stop lever 52 pivoted on a pin 53 of the machine wall 42. Movement of the lever 14, and hence of the rail 49, pivots the stop lever 52 so that one of the faces 77, 78 will abut against a set one of a row of decimal point setting pins 72, adjacent to the pin carriage 24, when the latter has moved through the required number of decimal places. The pins 72 are set during the keying in of the decimal point by a projection 76 on the end of a lateral arm 75, Fig. 2, attached to the decimal point setting key 12, and are cleared after each keying in by a clockwise movement of the levers 91, 88, 84, 79, so that a rail 82 abuts against a projection 92 on the pin 72, thereby lifting it into its unset position. For positioning the type segments in accordance with the number of decimal places selected, the setting rail 49 is connected by a pin 55, Fig. 7, to a cranked lever 56, pivoted at 57, and spring biased so that its arm 59 bears against a pin 61 of a locking plate 62. Movement of the setting rail 49, slides the plate 62 on pins 64 until the right-hand indentation 71 at the upper edge of the plate is in the required decimal point position. To the right of each amount type segment 19, except the lowest order, is a decimal point type lever 21 or a comma type lever 22 which is released, with its associated amount type lever only when it is opposite an indentation 71 on the locking plate. In order to correct the decimal point position in multiplication, the locking plate 62 is moved leftwards by a lug 97 of a driving pawl 96 engaging teeth 98 on the lower edge of the plate. This driving pawl is normally held in an ineffective position by a cranked lever 101, the arm 106 of which is held by a locking lever 107, Fig. 5. At the end of multiplication and before printing the product, a lever 116 mounted on a shaft 115 is caused to rotate counterclockwise, moving a connecting rod 118 to the left and back, so that a finger 124 of a pawl 121 snaps in front of a branch 125 of the locking lever 107. When the lever 116 returns, it thus drives the lever 107 in a counterclockwise direction, releasing the cranked lever 101. This allows the driving pawl 96 to be spring urged leftwards until its end 95 abuts one of the stop faces 93, 94 of the setting rail 49, thereby increasing the number of decimal places.