Patent GB-620136-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to accounting machines
Filed: 1946-02-18
Abstract: 620,136. Statistical machines. ADDRESSOGRAPH-MULTIGRAPH CORPORATION. Feb. 18, 1946, No. 5068. Convention date, Feb. 17, 1945. [Class 106 (i)] An accounting - machine has means for feeding cards or sheets one at a time to an operating position where numerical representations thereon are sensed, means for accumulating the amounts sensed, and means controlled by the sensing means for printing on the cards an indication that the representations have been sensed and included in the total to be recorded by the accumulator. The printing is effected while the sensing means are operating, and a counter records the number of operations made by the sensing means. The feeding, sensing, and printing means are stopped when a predetermined number of cards has passed through the machine. As shown, the arrangement is used for monthly salary accounts from which a deduction is to be made, and comprises a printing-machine 10 including a card or sheet feeding means, and an associated adding unit 11. The record cards C, Fig. 13, each have a posting area 15 with vertical columns 16 divided into line spaces 17 adapted to be printed as at 22. Code perforations 25 are provided in the card in accordance with the written amount at 20. The printing-machine 10 has a table T having a guideway G to which cards C are fed by a separating and feeding mechanism 37. The cards are fed along the guideway G by a constantly driven belt 38. The main shaft 40 is driven from a fly-wheel 41 through a onerevolution type clutch controlled by starting and stop levers 42, 43. The cord C is located in operating position during the last part of, but well before the end of, the machine cycle. The leading edge 27 of the card abuts a stoparm 60 rocked periodically by the shaft 44 through a cam and levers. The top and bottom edges of the card engage grooves in guide strips. In operating position, the card is located against the top guide strip by a transversely-movable portion of the bottom guide strip, the latter being actuated from a cam on the shaft 44 through an adjustable link 100 and a parallelogram linkage 91. A sensing means 70 for the card C, carried by a pivoted arm 105 rocked by cams on the shaft 40, comprises a number of resiliently-mounted pins 121 carried by a plate 111 adjustably supported on a casting 110 secured to the rocker arm 105. The pins 121, on passing through perforations 25 in the card C depress plungers secured to the ends of Bowden cables 140 (not shown), which control the adding- machine 11. When the cables 140 have been completely depressed, a switch 153 (not shown) is closed by an extension of the rocker arm 105 to initiate a cycle of the adding-machine. A printing or posting unit 80 is operated to print the word " paid " on the card C at the same time as the sensing operation, by means of a Bowden cable 160 having one end connected to the casting 110 on the rocker arm 105, and the other end connected to one end of a pivoted arm 180 (not shown) in the unit 80. The other end of the arm 180 is bifurcated and slotted to engage transverse pins on an L-shaped member carrying the printing-element. In inoperative position the printing-element faces upwardly and engages a resiliently-mounted ink pad; it is lowered and swung to face downwardly for printing on actuation of the arm 180 by arranging the transverse pins thereon to engage curved slots 200 in the casing of the unit 80. The unit 80 can be readily adjusted to print in the appropriate space 17 on the card C. A pair of locating pins 220 pass through the unit to engage two of a series of screw-threaded holes 224 in a plate 225, adjustably mounted on the table T of the machine 10. A counter 230 operated by a link 232 attached to the casting 110 counts the number of cards sensed. Means is also provided for counting the number of cycles of operation of the machine 10 and for stopping the latter and initiating a total operation of the machine 11 each time a predetermined number of cards C have been passed through the machine 10. This includes a counting-mechanism 240 having a ratchet-wheel 241, the number of teeth on which is equal to the number of cards C to be passed before a total operation is performed. The wheel is rotated step-by-step from the shaft 40 through a crank, lever, and pawl means. An arm extending from the hub of the ratchetwheel is adapted, once in each revolution, to close a pair of electric contacts to energize a solenoid 265 (not shown) to effect a total operation in the machine 11, and to energize a solenoid 275 (not shown) to effect actuation of the stop lever 43 for the machine 10. If the supply of cards C fails for any reason, or a card is not accurately positioned at the operating position, the sensing and related machine operation is stopped by a pivoted detector arm, governed by a cam on the shaft 44, which can pass through a hole in the table T to energize the solenoid 275 when a card is not present or is not positioned for sensing.