A Workman's Time Keeper or Recording Apparatus.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application. 15th July, 1889
Complete Specification Left, 15th Apr., 1890-Accepted. 28th June
1800
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Workman's Time Keeper or Recording Apparatus.
We, RICHARD BURK, Mechanician, and HUGO BURK, Merchant, of the firm of
"Württembergische Uhren-fabrik," of Schwenningen, Germany, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The apparatus chiefly comprises
-
Firstly, a vertical board divided into panels, at least one for each workman or
employé, whose arrival and departure is to be recorded.
Secondly, an equal number of movable plates or markers differing in colour to that
of the board, and provided with consecutive numbers corresponding to those marked
on the panels, each of the said markers being hinged to the board in such a manner
that in one position of the marker, the number on the corresponding panel of the
board is visible; while, in the opposite position, it is covered by the marker which
shows the same number, but in a different colour. One colour is used to indicate the
presence, and the other the absence, of the workman.
Thirdly, a two-armed lever for each panel, the said lover being hinged to the back
of the board and actuated by a spring, so as to retain the marker in its upright position
by means of the hooked front end of the lever, but to allow the said front end of the
lever to drop when the marker is turned down into its horizontal position, while the
rear end serves to impart motion to a writing or recording mechanism.
Fourthly, a series of recording levers, one for each retaining lever, and connected
with the same at one end by a link or connecting rod, so as to follow the motion of
the latter while the rear end is pressed against a recording drum or lifted away from
the same, according to the position of the marker.
Fifthly, a recording drum or cylinder, set in motion by clock-work and carrying a
recording sheet which is divided by parallel circles into panels equal in number to
hose on the board, while horizontal lines (parallel to the cylinder axis) divide the
heet into units of time (days, hours and fractions of hours).
The apparatus is placed at the entrance of the establishment, and each workman
n entering it, turns his marker up or down, and when he leaves the establishment, he
urns the marker in the opposite direction. The recording sheet or diagram must, of
ourse, be renewed at certain intervals of time, and the clock-work wound up.
If desired, an electrical or mechanical connection may be established between each
arker and an annunciator situated in the office of the managing director or in any
ther convenient locality, so as to show at a glance, the presence or absence of each
orkman. Annunciators are commonly used in hotels and other establishments, in
onnection with electric bells, and will not, therefore, require any description.
Dated this 15th day of Inly 1880
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
433, Strand, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Workman's Time Keeper or Recording Apparatus.
We, RICHARD BURK, Mechanician, and Hugo Büкк, Merchant, of the firm of
Württembergische Uhren-fabrik," of Schwenningen, Germany, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statemo it :—
The methods generally known for recording the arrival and departure of workmen
have the drawback, that they require much superintendence, especially the distribution
Price 11dl

page_text: of the individual markers to the workmen, and the booking of the time during
the individual workmen are present at the works.
Our invention has for its object, to provide a recording apparatus which combines
the following requirements:
1. Safety and reliability by means of a publicly visible record, which precludes fraud
and renders any special superintendence unnecessary.
2. The markers cannot get lost, and need not be distributed and collected every
time, nor is it necessary to keep books for entering the time of attendance.
3. The condition of the apparatus is visible at a glance.
4. The apparatus requires no special attendance.
The principal feature of our apparatus consists in the use of stationary markers, each
of which is secured by a pivot or hinge joint and connected with a separate lever
mechanism which acts in conjunction with a writing instrument moved by clock-
work, so as to record automatically the length of time during which a workman is
present at or absent from the works. The said markers are in some cases gombined with
an electric or mechanical transmitting device for indicating the presence or absence
of the workmen of a factory at distant places, for instance in the office of the
manager.
In the following description reference will be made to the accompanying drawings,
of which
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a recording apparatus,
Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section showing the internal mechanism of the same,
Fig. 3 is a vertical section at right angles to Fig. 2, showing the mechanism from
the back.
Fig. 4 is a plan,
Fig. 5 is a partial section of an apparatus similar to that shown by Fig. 2, but
provided with means for indicating the condition of the primary recording apparatus
at a distance,
Fig. 6 is a diagram, showing the connection between the primary recording apparatus
and a distant annunciator.
Figs. 7 and 8 show how the recording apparatus may be set in motion directly by
a clock-work U, while
Figs. and 10 indicate how the apparatus may be set in motion from a distant
source of power by means of a shaft U¹.
The apparatus chiefly comprises
-
Firstly, a vertical board a divided into panels, at least one for each workman or
employé, whose arrival and departure is to be recorded.
Secondly, an equal number of moveable plates or markers differing in colour
from that of the board, and provided with consecutive numbers corresponding to
those marked on the panels, each of the said markers being secured to the board by
a hinge joint c in such a manner that in one position of the marker, the number on
the corresponding panel of the board is visible; while, in the opposite position, it is
covered by the marker which shows the same number as the panel, but in a different
colour. One colour is used to indicate the presence, and the other the absence of the
workman.
Thirdly, a two-armed lever d for each panel, the said lever being hinged to the
as to retain the marker in its
back of the board and actuated by a spring e, so
upright position by means of the hooked front end of the lever, but to allow
the said front end to drop when the marker is turned down into its horizonta
position; while the rear end serves to impart motion to a writing or recording
mechanism.
Fourthly, a series of recording levers, one for each retaining lever d, and
connected with the same at one end by a link or connecting rod g, so as to follow
the motion of the latter, while the rear end of the lever f is pressed against
recording drum or lifted away from the same, according to the position of th
marker.
Fifthly, a recording drum or cylinder h, set in motion by clock-work and carryin

page_text: a recording sheet which is divided by parallel circles into panels equal in number
to those on the board, while horizontal lines (parallel to the cylinder axis) divide the
sheet into units of time (days, hours and fractions of hours). The writing levers
produce between the parallel circles the lines corresponding to the periods of
attendance.
The
apparatus is placed at the entrance of the establishment, and each workman
on entering it, turns his marker 6 down, and when he leaves the establishment, he
turns the marker up again, in which position it is held by the lever d. The recording
sheet or diagram must, of course, be renewed at certain intervals of timo, and the
clock-work wound up.
If desired an electrical or mechanical connection may be established between each
marker and an annunciator situated in the office of the managing director or in any
other convenient locality, so as to show at a glance, the presence or absence of each
workman, in which case the marker serves at the same time instead of a button for
acting on the electric circuit. Annunciators are commonly used in hotels and other
establishments, in connection with electric bells, and will not, therefore, require any
special description.
Fig. 5 indicates an electric method of transmitting the motion of the lever d, in
order to show it for instance on an annunciator. The levers are provided with wires
leading to one pole of a galvanic battery, and with contact faces d', while the corre-
sponding wires leading to the opposite pole are fixed to stationary contact pieces d'
attached to the recording board or panel.
One of these two wires which belong to every lever, passes to the instrument
which controls the corresponding panel or recording device of the annunciator.
If the marker is turned up like No. I and No. III of Fig. 5, the movable contact
faces secured to the levers d are separated from the fixed contact-faces secured to the
board, and the corresponding circuits are therefore interrupted. But if the markers b
are turned down, like No. II and No. IV of Fig. 5, the contact-faces touch each
other, the circuit is closed and acts on the magnet which controls the corresponding
panel or number of the annunciator, so as to indicate thereon the position of the
marker b.
The recording drum may of course, be set in motion by a special clockwork, or from
an existing clock by means of a suitable shaft.U' and spur wheels U", ", Figs. 9
nd 10.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
ion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare, that we claim:
1. A workmen's time-keeper or recording apparatus, comprising in its construction
board a carrying stationary markers provided with hinge joints c, a divided
riting or recording surface moved by clockwork, and a set of writing instruments
dapted to be operated by the markers, through a system of levers, the whole being
onstructed and arranged in such a manner, as to mark on the recording surface
e time either of the presence or of the absence of each workman, substantially as
escribed.
2. A workmen's time-keeper or recording apparatus constructed as specified by
ause 1, and provided with a distant annunciator controlled by the markers b,
ectrically or mechanically, in such a manner, that the motion of any marker is
llowed by the notion of the corresponding number on the distant annunciator,
bstantially as described.
Dated this 15th 1.
^
RICHARD BÜRK.
HUGO BÜRK.
By Fairfax & Wetter,
433, Strand, London, Agents.