AN IMPROVED CASH REGISTER APPARATUS.”
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Pottin, of Rue Turbigo, No. 79, Paris, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CASH REGISTER APPARATUS.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Pottin at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th May 1877.
HENRY POTTIN, of Rue Turbigo, No. 79, Paris, Gentleman.
CASH REGISTER APPARATUS."
"
AN IMPROVED
The improved cash register apparatus which forms the subject of my Invention
consists of a casing of any convenient form which may be placed at a counter in a
shop, or in a banking or other office. Along the side of this casing next the
operator there is a row of keys or buttons, each. corresponding to some unit of the
sums to be registered. Each key or button has a stem with a spring, which keeps
it up, except when it is depressed by the finger, and this stem has a spring pawl
engaging with a ratchet wheel, so that every time the key or button is depressed
the wheel is moved one tooth round, and a dial thereon indicates the number of
actions of the key or button. These ratchet wheels are made with carryfng
apparatus of ordinary construction, so that when one has made a complete revo-
lution the next is moved one division, thereby carrying one from the one denomi-
nation to the next.above.
The ratchet wheels are all within a compartment of the casing, which may be
locked, so that a principal having in the first place set. all these dials to zero can
lock this compartment and so prevent the wheels being tampered with until he
again unlocks the compartment and reads off the totals registered on their dials.
The stem of each key or button also bears on one end of.a lever, the other end of
which carries a plate or card which usually is hid behind a screen in the front side
of the casing, but which, when a key or button is depressed, is caused to rise and
present itself behind an opening in the screen, shewing to the person dealing with
the cashier the amount registered by him, the movement of the lever also causing a
hammer to strike a bell.
The levers which carry these plates or cards are pressed by springs against

page_text: partitions which separate them, so that there is sufficient friction to retain them in
position even when the keys or buttons that have operated them return to their
normal condition. But in order to replace all the indicating plates or cards simul-
taneously so as to put them ready for giving a fresh indication, the levers which
carry them are arranged under cross bars connected to a treadle, so that the operator
by depressing the treadle causes all the levers to descend, and on releasing the
treadle from the pressure of his foot, it with the bars connected to it is raised by a
spring.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henry Pottin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th November
1877..
HENRY POTTIN, of Rue Turbigo, No. 79, Paris, Gentleman.
CASH REGISTER APPARATUS."
"
AN IMPROVED
The improved cash register apparatus, which forms the subject of my Invention,
consists of a casing of any convenient form which may be placed at a counter in a
shop, or in a banking or other office. Along the side of this casing next the operator
there is a row of keys or buttons, each corresponding to some unit of the sums to
be registered. Each key or button has a stem with a spring which keeps it up,
except when it is depressed by the finger, and this stem has a spring pawl engaging
with a ratchet wheel, so that every time the key or button is depressed the wheel
is moved one tooth round, and a dial thereon indicates the number of actions of the
key or button. These ratchet wheels are made with carrying apparatus of ordinary
construction, so that when one has made a complete revolution the next is
moved one division, thereby carrying one from the one denomination to the next
above..
The ratchet wheels are all within a compartment of the casing, which may be
locked, so that a principal having in the first place set all these dials to zero can
lock this compartment and so prevent the wheels being tampered with until he
again unlocks the compartment and reads off the totals registered on their dials.
The stem of each key or button also bears on one end of a lever, the other end of
which carries a plate or card which usually is hid behind a screen in the front sidė
of the casing, but which, when a key or button is depressed, is caused to rise and
present itself behind an opening in the screen, shewing to the person dealing with
the cashier the amount registered by him, the movement of the lever also causing a
hammer to strike a bell.
The levers which carry these plates or cards are pressed by springs against par-
titions which separate them so that there is sufficient friction to retain them in
position even when the keys or buttons that have operated them return to their
normal condition. But in order to replace all the indicating plates or cards
simultaneously so as to put them ready for giving a fresh indication, the levers
which carry them are arranged under cross bars connected to a treadle, so that the
operator, by depressing the treadle, causes all the levers to descend, and on releasing
the treadle from the pressure of his foot, it with the bars connected to is raised
by a spring..

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
...
_.4 12.
The Figures on Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings shew a cash register
apparatus according to my Invention in a form suitable for an office or shop. A
modified form suitable for large establishments, such as cafés or taverns, is shewn on
Sheet II.
f
Referring in the first place to Sheet I., Fig. 1 is a front view; Fig. 2, a trans-
verse section; Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively a front view and transverse section of
the registering gear draw to an enlarged scale; and Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively
a plan and elevation of the bell gear.
The casing of the apparatus, which may be of wood, is fronted by an inclined
plate of glass G, and has at its hinder side two rows of keys or buttons, b, b¹, cor-
responding respectively to pence and shillings, or such other denomination as may
be required. Each of the buttons 6, 61, is kept up by a helical spring r surrounding
its stem, which extends downwards and has jointed to it a pawl a, pressed by a
spring c, to engage with the teeth of a ratchet wheel d, so that the wheel is turned
one tooth every time the button 6 or 6' above it is depressed. The ratchet wheel is
prevented from turning backwards by a pawl e pressed into gear by a spring f.
At the side of the wheel d is mounted a smaller ratchet wheel d¹, which is turned
one tooth for each complete revolution of the wheel d, a notch or deepened tooth
being for that purpose provided in d. When the register of these counter wheels
has been noted they are turned to zero by a needle inserted into a hōle y, pierced
through both wheels and the back plate. When one of the buttons 6 or b², is
depressed, it acts on the lever g, or g³, so as to raise a card or plate p or p¹,
from behind screens q or q³, presenting through the glass G an indication of what is
registered. The levers g, g', work respectively on axes o, o¹, between separating
plates h, against which they are pressed by the helical springs k, k¹, producing
friction such that, after any one of the cards p, p, has been raised, it remains up
notwithstanding that the key b or b₁, that raised it is released. The front ends of
the levers g work in slots in a plate m.
.
up
After a number of the cards p, p', have been raised, they are simultaneously depressed
by the treadle u so as to be ready to give a fresh set of indications in the following
manner. Two bars n, n¹, extend one over each set of the levers g, g¹; these bars
are connected together at their ends to bent levers l, pivotted on o¹; and held up by
the spring ; a bent rod j jointed to the treadle u is held up by the spring and
has mounted on it a pawl i pressed forwards by the spring against a stop at its
joint. As the pawl i catches over the bar n when the treadle is depressed, both
bars, n, n', and both sets of levers, g, g', are depressed; but when n has thus been
depressed a sufficient distance.the pawl i escapes its edge, and thereupon the spring
raises the bars n, n¹, leaving the lever g, gl, free to be again operated on..
the treadle is released the spring raises it with the rod j, and the pawl i
escaping the bar n is again ready to catch on its upper edge. On one of the bent
levers is a stud v, which both in ascending and descending acts on the hammers k¹
of the bell t..
When
Referring now to Sheet II., Fig. 1 represents a transverse section; Fig. 2, a back
view; Fig. 3, a front view; and Fig. 4, a sectional plan of cash register apparatus,
according to my Invention, suitable for large establishments; t, t¹ are two sets of
keys; the one set may be for pence, and the other for shillings, or for such other
denominations as may be dealt with. These keys are connected respectively: to
levers b, b¹, pivotted at o, o¹; on each of these levers is a small roller g, which
bearing against a vertical curved bar c guides the end of the lever to move in a
vertical plane; there is also on each lever another small roller g, bearing against an
inclined bar d, d', which it pushes aside by its ascent when the key of the lever is.
depressed. These inclined bars d, d¹, project from bars e, e', which are jointed to rods
ff, respectively; thus every time one of the keys t is depressed the bar f is caused
to make a stroke; and every time one of the keys this depressed the bar f¹ is
caused to make a stroke. The extent of stroke depends on the amount of inclina,

page_text: tion given to the inclined bars d, d, which is made different for each key of the
set increasing from the key 1 upwards. The bars f, f¹, by pins g, g¹, work levers
h, h¹, jointed to racks,, which gear with pinions, respectively. These
pinions are loose on the axis ac, x, of indices, but carry pawls k, k¹, which engage
with ratchet wheels 1, 1, fixed on these axes so that when the pinions j, j³, move in
the one direction they turn the ratchet wheels and indices with them, but escape in
the other direction, the ratchet wheels being prevented by spring pawls from moving
backwards.
is
When the index axis x makes one complete revolution it carries to the next axis ¹
by moving its ratchet wheel one tooth in the following manner. On the axis
fixed a snail cam m on which a lever is caused to bear by a spring r. When the
index of reaches zero the bearing end of the lever n drops, and the other end by
meens of a pawl p turns the ratchet wheel j¹ one tooth. In like manner the index
of a carries to that of 2, and the latter may, as described with reference to the
apparatus shewn on Sheet I., carry to an inner or outer circles of the Figures. The
cards or plates which serve to shew, what amount is registered at each operation are
worked in such a manner that each card remains in view at the aperture of the
case until a key of the same set is depressed. Each of the levers b, b', is connected by
a rod 8, s¹, to rods u, u', which carry the cards. Each of these rods has an inclined
projection or nose v, shewn to an enlarged scale along with parts related to it in
elevation at Fig. 5, and in plan at Fig. 6..
When any one of the rods u rises, its nose v slides past the end of a counter-
weighted lever z which is mounted on a horizontal bar y and so pushes the bar to
the one side in opposition to a spring, which immediately on the nose v having
risen above the bar draws the bar back so as to catch under the nose and so hold up
the rod and card until on the depression of another key of the set the bar is again
moved aside from under the nose v, whereupon the rod and its card drop,
'escaping the lever which is employed to avoid the necessity for extreme precision,
in the notching of the bar y. The bars y, y¹, can be pulled aside at any time by
hand applied to buttons projecting from them outside the casing so as to let any
card drop when desired. Each of the rods 8, s¹, has a branch 21, which catches under
a bar k, attached to arms which turn on an axis 0%, and which every time a key is
depressed causes a bell T to be struck.
2
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim,-
First. The use of cash register apparatus, substantially as herein described,
wherein the movement of a button or key corresponding to the amount to be
registered effects simultaneously the proportional movement of a counter to record
the amount and the visible exhibition of the amount, giving also when required an
audible signal of the act of registration....
Second. In apparatus such as is above referred to employing two or more
sets or ranges of buttons or keys, one for each denomination, and connecting their
respective counters so as to carry from each denomination to the next above, sub-
stantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Pottin, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
CH., ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
Paris..
HENRY POTTIN. (L.S.)