Improvements in Fare Indicators
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 28th Mar.; 1898
Improvements in Fare Indicators,
A communication by HEINRICH ADERHOLD, of 32, Prinzenstrasse, Berlin, S., in 'the
Empire of Germany.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in
the County of Lancester, 118, New Street, Birmingban, in the County of Warwick,
and 322, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be perforined, to 'be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
'The improvement in fare indicators, which form the object of the present invention
and are shown in the accompanying drawings, relate to the adjusting of the apparatus
to different rates or fares; to the blocking of the outside signalling device in the
position corresponding to the unoccupied or occupied condition of the carriage and of
the adjusting device in a position corresponding to the position of the signalling
device; to the returning of the outwardly visible figure'discs to their initial or zero
position; to the stopping of the indicating device on the commencement of a journey
for a given tiine or a given course until the prescribed equivalent 'to the initial (or
basic) fare has been travelled and also in the position in which the payment takes
place until a given period of time has elapsed; and to the influencing of the apparatus-
by the rotation of the carriage wheels.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of the apparatiis;
Figure 1 is a detail of Figure 1, showing the stepped or notched ring k.
Figure 2, sectional plan of the signal blocker;
Figure 3, sectional plan of the timing apparatus;
Figures 4 and 5, sectional elevation and plan of the figure disc mechanism;
Figure 54 details of the operating pawl;
Figure 6, details of the figure disc disengager.
On a shaft, adjustable from the outside by means of a handle d', there is mounted
in the interior of the apparatus the fare or price drum d, on the periphery of which
the various kind of fares are indicated and exhibited separately at a suitable spy
hole of the apparatus, according to the position of the handle d. In the interior of
the druin d is arranged a step shaped ring d2 against which roller c of a slide c
bears under the action of a spring . The slide c will thus stand higher or lower
according to the rotation of the drum d effected by the coachman turning the
handle d, so that a pinion b mounted on the arm c¹ of the slide c, is so adjusted in
front of a disc a, that it engages in one of the concentrically toothed rings of the
disc a. As the pinion b is axially adjustable and coupled on a shaft b, which by
means of a flexible shaft is set in rotation during the journey from one of the carriage
wheels, the rotation of the carriage wheel is suitably conveyed to the shaft a¹jon.
which the disc a'is mounted with a greater or lesser speed according as to whether
the pinion 6 engages in the inner, middle, or outer toothed ring of the disc...

page_text: A pawl mounted eccentrically on the dise a engages in a ratchet wheel a
firmly connected with a pinion a (Figure 3). This pinion at in turn engages with a
spar-wheel p, loosely revolable on a spindle r, with which spar-wheel a ratchet
wheel pl is firmly connected.
The pinion of the spindle is set in rotation by a time clockwork, which
rotation is conveyed to an escapement wheel mounted on the spindle r and engaging
with an escapement v. A pawl engages in a ratchet wheel p firmly connected
with the wheel-p.
If the vehicle be travelling so slowly that the speed of rotation of the shaft a' does
not attain that of the spindle operated by the time clook-work w, the pawl pushes
the combination of wheels p, p, p, forward, while the pawl at slips over the teeth of
the wheel a³.
It is the same when, the carriage is stationary. At a normal speed of travelling,
on the other hand, the speed of rotation of the spindle r remains below that of the
shaft a, and the pawl
slips.
The ratchet wheel pl causes an alternate slow rising and rapid falling of a lever's
(Fig. 1) by means of a pawl s', which is revoiubly mounted on the lever s and
encounters suitable contacts or studs on the said lever. To the free end of the lever 8,
a draw pawl 8 is revolubly attached, which engages in the teeth of a ratchet wheel t.
The figure disc i, Figure 4, is mounted on this latter, and the tens are printed or
impressed on said disc. Each movement forward of the ratchet wheel p to the
extent of one tooth causes thus a sudden fall of the lever a under the action of a draw
spring, and therewith, by means of the draw pawl a, the movement forward of the
disc to the amount of a ten. As the speed of rotation of wheel pl is dependent
upon that of the disc a, and this Intter again is revoluble quicker or slower according
to the engagement of the pinion b in one of the toothed rings of the dise a by the
shaft b', the movement forward of the indicating mechanism will be influenced by
the slide o-and the step ring d according to the position which the coachman has
given to the drum d by means of the handle d!.
The tens disc t¹ engages in the ordinary manner with the hundreds diso t² and the
thousands disc t³.
The blocking of the fare drain d and the outer signalling device which is
usually formed like a vane or arm is mutual and effected by the fare drum
being only capable of being adjusted in a given position.
On the shaft of the signal, two matchets g' 'g, Figures 1 and 2, with teeth
directed in opposite directions to one another are mounted together with a disc f
provided with a concentric projection f. On the fare dram d there is fixed
concentrically a diso e provided with recesses a, e, e, e (Figure 2) and a stepped or
notched ring k (Figure 14) against which latter there boars a lever i pivoted at
This lever may be set into either of two positions according as the drum d is set by
the handled to bring the notch of the ring k either over or away from the end of
lever . The other end of said lever is connected by a tension spring h² with one end
of a double ended pawl h which is pivoted above the aforesaid ratchet disos gl'g" and
which is attached at its other end to a tension spring h¹ which pulls against the
spring A. When the lever i alips into the notch of the ring k the other end of said 4
lever, in dropping, slacks the spring he and thus allows the spring & to pull the
double pawl with its one end out of the ratchet teeth g2 and its other end into the
ratchet teeth g¹ as shown in Figure 1. The sigual ƒ can then be raised but not
again lowered. When the drum is turned to bring the notch of the ring kaway
from the lever i, the latter will stretch the spring A and cause the double pawl-A to
turn on its pivot and thus to disengage the teeth gl and engage the teeth gas
shown in Figure 1, so that the signal can then be lowered but not again raised. The
signal may thus be blocked in one direction or the other. In addition, the signal f
f
can only be raised when the fare drum d stands in such a way that the projection
can penetrate into one of the notches e, e, e, e, of the disc e, whilst correspondingly 4
when the signal is np and the projection in a notch a further rotation of the fare
drum d is prevented.

page_text: An arm or projection on the disc e, Figure 4, encounters on the rotation of the
drum d, a lever B, whereupon the lower curved arm of the said lever throws back
the before mentioned draw pawl & so that a pin & on the side of said pawl engages
into the teeth of a projection y. On the apparatus being set in action, the
oscillations of the lever s must first cause the pawl to work its pin & out of the
teeth of the projection y, before the pawl can begin to operate the wheelt. By this
means there is produced a working off of a part or the whole basis or initial fare on the
commencement of the journey.
In order that the pawl 2 may have sufficient stability and yet may suitably adjust
itself to the altered positions when engaging with the wheel t and the projection y,
it is provided with notches in its heel in which a spring catch & engages (Figures 1
and 5).
When the drum dis moved into the position in which payment takes place, as
then the carriage is stationary, the time clockwork u operates the cogwheel pl after
which, after the lapse of a given time, the pawl 2 thrown by the lever B into the
projection y, again engages with the wheel t and would operate the same further if
the payment had not in the meantime been made, and the coachman, by raising the
signal, again placed the apparatus out of service.
For this object there is a stud f on the disc f, which engages in a slot in a slide
piece m, which thus, on the rotation of the signal f on its shaft f³, is raised or
lowered.
In a raised position, the slide piece m on which the toothed projection y is fixed,
holds the pawl a lying in the latter, and thereby keeps the lever 8 out of the sphere
of influence of the cogwheel pl.
On the raising of the slide piece m, however, a lever t, which has hitherto been
pressed down by a pin m², becomes free, so that it can oscillate on its point of
rotation T under the action of a spring to, Figure 4. Projections t' on this lever t
then engage in heart shaped discs or cams and of the figure discs t' and t, and
revolve the latter thus into the zero position, while the thousands disc ts, under the
action of a spiral spring #, springs back again to zero. In order to release the figure
discs from their mutual engagement, the central one 2 is adjustably arranged on its
spindle, Figure 4, and is moved along its spindle by means of a lever, when the latter
is pressed to one side by the lever to against the action of a spring a, Figure 6. For
this purpose the lever t may be provided with a depending arm carrying an inclined
plane or hevelled piece to engage the end of the lever when the lever descends.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a fare indicator, a device for adjusting the different fares, characterised by
the arrangement of a stepped disc (d') and a slide piece (c) adapted to bring alter-
nately into engagement a pinion (b) and the concentric toothed rings of a driving
disc a, according to the position of the stepped disc, substantially as hereinbefore set
forth.
2. In a fare indicator, a device for the mutual blocking of the outer signal device (f)
and of the adjusting device (d) characterised by the arrangement of a stepped ring (k),
a lever (i) operated by the same, two escapement arms (h) two ratchet discs (g.g³)
mounted on the signal spindle and having teeth pitched in opposite directions, a
disc (1) formed with a projection and mounted on the said signal spindle, and a
notched disc (e) mounted on the shaft of the adjusting device, substantially as
described:
3. In a fare indicator, a device for stopping or checking the indicating mechanism
on the coininencement of a journey, characterised by a projection on the adjusting
device and a lever B adapted to be engaged by said projection to cause the pawl (8)
of an intermittently operating lever (a) to engage in a toothed projection (y) sub-
stantially as described.
4. In a fare indicator, a device such as described for temporarily stopping the

page_text: indicating mechanism.during the payment, in combination with a slide piece (m)
influenced by the position of the signalling device, by means of which slide piece the
openition of the indicating mechanism may be entirely suspended substantially as
herein before set forth.
5. In a fare indicator, a device for setting back or returning the figure discs into
the zero position, characterised by the arrangement of a slide piece (m), a 'lever (15)
adapted to influence heart-shaped cams mounted on the spindles of the figure discs,
and a lever (2) adapted to suspend the mutual engagement of the figure discs, sub-
stantially as described:"
1000