Improvements in Apparatus for Printing, Numbering, and Delivering Tickets for Checking Fares in Tramcars, and for other similar Purposes. PRINTING NUMBERING AND DELIVERING TICKETS FOR CHECKING FARES IN TRAMCARS AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Printing, Numbering, and
Delivering Tickets for Checking Fares in Tramcars, and for
other similar Purposes.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
We, THOMAS KING of 2 Normanton Terrace Wild Ash Road East Dulwich in
the County of Surrey Printer and ROBERT WILSON of 9 Birdhurst Road in the
County of Surrey Commercial Traveller do hereby declare the nature of our said.
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRINTING NUMBERING AND
DELIVERING TICKETS FOR CHECKING FARES IN TRAMCARS AND FOR OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES to be as follows:-
Our invention consists in an improvement of the mechanism and modification of
the arrangement of mechanism for the above purpose for which we were granted
Letters Patent bearing date the twenty-fourth day of July One thousand eight
hundred and eighty-three and numbered 3625.
Whereas in our aforesaid Letters Patent the mechanism therein described and
set forth consists in a portable apparatus composed essentially of a reel upon which
a long strip of plain or unprinted paper is wound, of a platen under upon or against
which the paper passes as it is drawn from the reel, of an inking surface and a
surface for printing the necessary words or matter on the tickets, of any ordinary
numbering mechanism by which the figures for printing in numerical succession
are brought into position, of a pair of rollers for drawing along the strip of paper,
and a pair of nippers or jaws at the mouth of the apparatus which open to allow
as much of the strip of paper as constitutes a ticket to pass and then close upon
the strip so as to allow the conductor to readily tear off the ticket, and of a thin
spring band of metal connected at one end to a roller and at the other end to a
spindle passing immediately below the strip of paper and having an aperture
therein so that when the type of the printing surface comes into contact with the
paper only so much of the type as is uncovered by the said aperture would print;
this last-mentioned arrangement being for the purpose of indicating on the ticket
when printed the particular portion of the journey over which the ticket is
available.
Now our present improvement consists in
1. substituting for the spring band of metal aforesaid a poly-sided cylinder or
drum mounted on the same shaft that carries the numboring mechanism and

page_text: which fares are charged and the amount of the fares so charged. This wheel or
drum is geared to a needle or indicator fixed on the exterior of the apparatus which
at the will of the operator can be made to point to any letter or figure round a
circle or dial, on the case of the machine, of which it forms the radius in order to
set the particular side of the cylinder for printing the portion of the journey and
fare required. This cylinder or drum carries a stud or studs acting upon a counter
or counters, and when any side of the said cylinder printing a distance and fare
necessary to be separately registered is put into operation, this stud causes the said
counter to advance one number, thereby indicating the fact, and performing the
necessary registration accordingly.
2. In substituting for the flat inking surface shewn in our before-mentioned
Letters Patent a roller which passes to and fro over the type at each operation of
the mechanism.
3. Instead of the type and numbering mechanism being made to turn over and
get inked at one extremity of their traverse and to print at the other extremity as
described in our Specification of Letters Patent aforesaid our improvement consists
in the adoption of the direct perpendicular action of a plunger and spiral spring so
that by the depression of the plunger the ticket is printed and by its recoil
produced by means of the spring the ejecting mechanism, which is substantially the
same as described in our aforesaid Letters Patent, is put into operation and the
ticket is delivered ready to be detached by the operator.

page_text: Improvements in Apparatus for Printing, Numbering, and
Delivering Tickets for Checking Fares in Tram-cars, and
similan Duinness
We THOMAS KING. of 2 Normanton Terrace, Wildash Road, East Dulwich, in
the County of Surrey, Printer and ROBERT WILSON of 9 Birdhurst Road, Wands-
worth, in the said County of Surrey, Commercial Traveller do hereby declare the
nature of our invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRINTING,
NUMBERING AND DELIVERING TICKETS FOR CHECKING FARES IN TRAMCARS .AND
FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES" and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention has reference to the apparatus for printing, numbering and
delivering tickets described in the Specification of former Letters Patent granted
to us and bearing date the 24th day of July 1883 and numbered 3,625. The
said specification described a portable apparatus composed essentially of a reel
upon which a long strip of plain or unprinted paper is wound, of a platen, under,
upon or against which the paper passes as it is drawn from the reel, of an inking
surface and a surface for printing the necessary words or matter on the tickets, of
any ordinary numbering mechanism by which the figures for printing in numerical
succession are brought into position, of a pair of rollers for drawing along the strip
of paper and a pair of nippers or jaws at the mouth of the apparatus which open
to allow as much of the strip of paper as constitutes a ticket to pass and then close
upon the strip so as to allow the conductor to readily tear off the ticket, and of a
thin spring band of metal connected at one end to a roller and at the other end to
a spindle passing immediately below the strip of paper and having an aperture
therein so that when the type of the printing surface comes into contact with the
paper, only so much of the type as is uncovered by the said aperture would print,
this last mentioned arrangement being for the purpose of indicating on the ticket
when printed the particular portion of the journey over which the ticket is
available.
Now according to our present improvements we substitute for the spring band
of metal aforesaid a polysided cylinder or drum mounted on the same shaft that
carries the numbering mechanism and having on each of its sides type indicating
the various portions of the journey for which fares are charged and the amount
of the fare so charged. This wheel or drum is geared to a needle or indicator fixed
on the exterior of the apparatus which at the will of the operator can be made to
point to any letter or figure round a circle or dial on the case of the machine of
which circle it forms a radius in order to set the particular side of the cylinder for
printing the portion of the journey and the fare required. This cylinder or drum
carries a stud or device acting upon a counter or counters and when any side of the
said cylinder which prints a distance and fare necessary to be separately registered
is put into operation this stud causes the said counter to advance one number
thereby indicating the fact and performing the necessary separate registration
accordingly.
A

page_text: For the flat inking surface described in our before mentioned Specification we
substitute a roller which passes to and fro over the type at each operation of the
mechanism.
Instead of the type and numbering mechanism being made to turn over and get
inked at one extremity of their traverse and to print at the other extremity as
described in our said former. specification we apply the direct perpendicular action
of a plunger and spiral spring so that by the depression of the plunger the ticket is
printed and by the recoil of the plunger produced by means of the spring the
ejecting mechanism is put into operation and the ticket is delivered ready to be
detached by the operator.
---
----
The annexed drawings represent an apparatus constructed according to our
present invention. Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus with the side
plate removed. Figure 2 an end elevation, Figure 3 an end elevation with the
casing removed, Figure 4 a section on the line 1 - - 1 of Figure 2, Figure 5 a
section on the line 2 - 2 of Figure 4, the casing being removed, and Figure 6
an end view of the mechanism as seen from the line 3 3 of Figure 1, the
bell being indicated in dotted lines. Figures 1, 2, 3 and 6 shew the parts in their
normal positions, that is to say, when the plunger is up; Figures 4 and 5 show
them in the positions they occupy when the plunger is forced down and as in the
act of printing. In Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 the plunger spring and its surrounding
sleeve or tube are not shown. Figures 7 and 8 are detail views. a is the roll of
plain or unprinted paper. 6 the platen over.which the paper passes on its way to
the delivery rollers. c is the inking surface composed of a roller clothed with
absorbent material; this roller passes over the type or printing surface at each
operation of the mechanism. The printing surface consists partly of fixed type
in a plate d, partly of such figures of the numbering mechanism e as for the time
being project through an opening or openings made for the purpose in the plate d
and partly of the type in that side of the polysided wheelf which for the time.
being is in line with the plate d. g, g¹ are the delivery rollers. h, h³ are wheels
for counting the fares which require to be separately registered as herein before
referred to. is the plunger, a single up and down motion of which actuates all
the mechanism and effects the printing, consecutive numbering and delivering of
a ticket,
"
Having explained the principal parts of the apparatus wo will proceed to describe
them more in detail and the mechanism by the intermediation of which the
necessary motions are imparted. The polysided wheel f has as many sides or
faces as there are portions of a journey to be printed; the wheel shewn in the
drawing has 7 sides. It is made to turn as required to bring the proper side into
position for printing by means of two, seven-toothed pinions j.j operated by an
indicating handle outside the case; this handle travels round a dial l, the letters
on which correspond with the respective sides of the wheel f. j is a spring to
retain the pinion j in whichever position it has been placed. While the handle k is
opposite any of the letters A, B, C, D, E, F or G the numbering mechanism is moved
(by means of a fixed spring paul taking into a ratchet wheel i³) one number
forward on each ascent of the plunger i after an impression and therefore the last
ticket printed bears a number corresponding with the total number of tickets
printed (assuming that the numbering commenced from zero). When however the
handle is opposite the letter A of the dial the descent of the plunger produces an
advance of the counting wheels h, h' to the extent of one number this is in addition
to the advance of the numbering mechanism to the extent of one number as just
explained in the last rise of the plunger; the advance of the wheels h, h¹ is
effected by means of a paul m which normally occupies the position shown in
full lines in Figure 1 but which, as the handle k is being shifted from G to A, is
moved as hereinafter described into the position shewn in dotted lines and is
therefore ready to act upon the wheel in the next descent of the plunger. Thus
supposing all the fares for parts of journeys corresponding with the positions B, C,

page_text: D, E, F and G of the handle k are penny fares while the fares for journeys corre-
sponding with the position A are twopenny fares (for, say, "all the way") the
numbering mechanism e will register or indicate the total number of fares
(including the twopenny fares) while the counting wheels h, h¹ will register
separately the twopenny fares. The wheels of the numbering mechanism e are of
course independent of the wheel so that any movement of the wheel ƒ on its
axis does not affect the numbering mechanism and vice versa. The means by
which the paul m is shifted into the position shown in dotted lines consists of a.
stud n on the wheelf which, at the proper part of the revolution of this wheel,
raises a loop or bar o on which is a pin p to lift an arm q on the paul spindle;
when the handle k is moved from A to B the stud n becomes clear of the bar o
and the paul m is then returned to its normal position by a spring. When the
plunger i is forced down to effect the printing it carries with it a frame T, 7 which
slides in a fixed frame 8, 8;. in the sliding frame the type plate d, numbering
mechanism e, type wheel f, pinion and paul m are mounted, and during the
descent the type is inked by means of the roller c which travels across the face of
the type this travel of the roller c is effected as follows:-Its trunnions or
journals turn in forks t at the lower ends of arms u, u; these arms are pivoted at
their upper ends to the fixed frames and are formed with slots v in which work
studs won the sliding frame r; thus when the sliding frame is forced down by
the plunger the studs w, win moving down the slota v, v cause the arms u, u to
turn on their pivots and to thereby carry the inking roller c across the face of the
type as this is descending. In the ascent of the frame r, r with the plunger the
reverse movements take place. y, y, are guides which press the roller c against
the face of the type and also retain it in the forks t. The delivery rollers g, g¹ are
actuated as follows:-The upper roller g (which as is seen in Figures 1 and 3 has
small pins to take hold of the paper near the edges) is formed with a pinion in
gear by means of an intermediate pinion with a wheel x². This wheel ³ is
mounted loosely on its spindle on which is also mounted a pinion to which is
fixed a bent apring piece ³, the nose or end of this spring normally takes into
one or other of three notches or recesses in the wheel. All these parts are
carried by the fixed frame 8, 8. The pinion gears with a toothed bar or rack 27
fixed to the sliding frame r, T. As this frame descends with the plunger the
pinion * is rotated by the rack together with the spring but in the rotation
in the direction thus given the spring does not act on the notch of the wheel x³
but simply turns within this wheel which is therefore not rotated, any tendency to
move being stopped by the paul ³. But as the frame r, r is ascending, the rack x
rotates the pinion and spring in the reverse direction and the nose of the
spring then takes into one of the notches and imparts rotation to the wheel x²;
this rotation is transmitted by the pinions x and x to the delivery rollers g, g¹
which are thus caused to eject the paper a distance equal to one ticket; the ticket
can then be torn off against the lip of the mouth z. The paul prevents any
momentum acquired by the wheel a carrying it further than is required for the
ejection of the ticket.
There is nothing special in the manner of operating the bell (the employment of
which is optional). In the descent of the frame r a stud 4 comes against the end
of a lever 5 pivoted to a piece 6 that is itself pivoted to the fixed frame s, the
stud pushes out the parts 5 and 6 and a pin 7 on the piece 6 in its turn forces out
the spring 8 which carries the bell hammer 9. As soon as the stud 4 has passed
the lever 5 the spring 8 retains the parts 5, 6 and 7 to their normal positions and
causes the hammer to strike the bell. In the upward movement of the stud 4
with the frame the lever 5 is turned up out of the way by the stud 4 which
therefore passes it without acting on the piece 6. 10 is a spring to ensure the fall
of the lever 5 after the stud has passed it in its upward movement..
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that we
make no claim per se to the employment in apparatus of the kind herein referred

page_text: to of a polysided type wheel which is adjustable for printing different portions of
a journey, fares or other particulars, nor do we claim broadly as part of our present
invention the combination in a portable apparatus of mechanism whereby by one
action of the apparatus tickets are printed and consecutively numbered upon a
strip of paper and delivered or presented in succession ready to be torn off; but
what we claim in respect of apparatus of the kind herein referred to, is
1. The combination of a polysided type wheel (f) adjustable for printing
different particulars, of mechanism (e) for consecutively numbering the tickets, and
of counting apparatus (h, h') for registering distances or fares which require to be
separately registered, substantially as described.
2. The combination with printing mechanism, consecutive numbering mechanism,
and delivery mechanism arranged substantially as described, of an inking roller (c)
which passes over and inks the type at each operation of the apparatus, sub-
stantially as set forth.
3. The combination of parts, substantially as hereinbefore described and
represented in the drawings, and forming an improved apparatus for printing,
numbering and delivering tickets for checking fares in tram-cars and for other
purposes.