IMPROVE- MENTS IN COUNTERS FOR INDICATING THE NUMBER OF REVOLUTIONS OF SHAFTS AND OTHER MACHINERY
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I WILLIAM CUTHBERTSON of 35 Mosley Street, Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Printer do hereby declare the nature of my invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COUNTERS FOR INDICATING THE NUMBER OF REVOLUTIONS OF SHAFTS
AND OTHER MACHINERY to be as follows:-
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The object of this invention is the construction of an improved counter capable
of indicating the number of revolutions of shafts and other machinery, by means of
a series of dials the fingers of which can be readily put back to the starting point
80 as to save the time of unwinding or disconnecting the counter from the
machinery indicated and which will also if desirable give a sonorous indicating of
the counting.
The improvements further relate to the mounting of the counter in such a
manner that when applied say for instance to a printing machine the counter can
be disconnected in order to allow the machine to "run waste" without enabling
the operator to have access to the fingers and whereby the rising or falling of the
shaft indicated can take place without affecting the counter.
In performing my invention I arrange the dials by preference around one
common centre and I gear the spindles together by toothed gearing so as to indicate
units, tens, thousands &c upon separate minor dials arranged upon a main dial.
The index fingers are made with tapered sockets or contres fitting tightly on to
the corresponding tapered index spindles as to be readily turned back to the
starting point in each case.-These dials are all enclosed by a hinged glass door
which is locked in the closed position as hereinafter more particularly explained.
The dial is further provided with orifices behind which I arrange figured disc
plates the consecutive figures upon which come successively opposite the orifices
and thus may indicate the number of revolutions desired to be run and afford
facilities for setting the disc plate to indicate to the operator when to stop the
machine. By the application of a cain plate or star wheel upon the hundred or
the thousand spindle to come in contact with the hammer of a bell I thus obtain
a sonorous indication of the numbers reached.
The improved counter is mounted upon pivots or hinges projecting from the
bracket, pedestal or other stationary part of the machine carrying the shaft to be

page_text: indicated and such shaft is then geared to the counter by a small crank pin taking
into a slotted crank upon the central or units spindle of the counter and in this
manner motion is communicated from the one to the other with facility for rising
and lowering of the shaft as aforesaid. This method of mounting permits the
counter to be turned back upon its pivots or hinges and so to be disconnected from
the machinery as before described-wbilst by the employment of a suitable
projecting staple, the same lock which locks the glass face upon the dial can be
utilised to lock the counter in gear with the machine being indicated. The
unlocking of the latter being in some cases desirable without withdrawing the lock
bolt far enough to open the dial caso.
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page_text: COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION,
I WILLIAM CUTHBERTSON of 35 Mosley Street, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster, Printer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COUNTERS FOR INDICATING THE NUMBER OF REVOLUTIONS OF SHAFTS
AND OTHER MACHINERY," and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is the construction of an improved counter capable
of indicating the number of revolutions of shafts and other machinery by means of
a series of dials the fingers of which can bo readily put back to the starting point
so as to save the time of unwinding or disconnecting the counter from the
machinery indicated and which will also if desirable give a sonorous indication of
the counting.
The improvements further relate to the mounting of the counter in such a
manner that when applied say for instance to a printing machine the counter can
be disconnected in order to allow the machine to "run waste" without enabling the
operator to have access to the fingers and whereby the rising or falling of the
shaft indicated can take place without effecting the counter. In performing my
invention I arrange the dials by preference around one common centre and I gear
the spindles together by toothed gearing so as to indicate units tens, thousands, &c
upon separate minor dials arranged upon a main dial.
The index fingers are made with tapered sockets or contres fitting tightly on to
the corresponding tapered index spindles so as to be readily turned back to the
starting point in each case. These dials are all enclosed by a hinged glass door
which is locked in the closed position as hereinafter more particularly explained.
On the accompanying drawing Fig 1 represents a front exterior view, Fig 2 a
side view and Fig 3 a rear view of my improved counter and Fig 4 is a sectional
plan of Fig 3 across the line ab.
In all the views a is the wooden or other case or frame containing the counting
mechanism, bis the main dial, ee are the index spindles geared together by
toothed gearing as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig 3 and so as to indicato
units, tens, hundreds, thousands &c by the index fingers d, d upon their respective
minor dials e, e arranged by preference around one common central spindle f as
illustrated in Fig 1. This spindle f projects through the back of the casing a and
is there provided with a slotted crank g The casing a is pivoted or hinged upon
a stud or pin h projecting from say for instance the stationary side of the machine
carrying the shaft to be indicated and which shaft j is geared to the counter by
a small crank pin k taking into the slotted crank g upon the central or units
spindle as aforesaid.
By this manner of mounting the shaft ; communicates
revolving motion to the central spindle f of the counter and the number of
revolutions are indicated by the index fingers upon the dials, the slotted crank g
permitting the rising and falling of the shaft ; notwithstanding that the casing of
the counter is a fixture as aforesaid,

page_text: The
This method of mounting permits the counter to be turned back upon its pivot
or hinge h and so to be disconnected from the machinery as before described
dials are all enclosed by a hinged glass door whilst by the employment of a
Buitable projecting staple m affixed to the framing i the same lock which locks the
glass face can be utilized to lock the counter in gear with the machine being
indicated. The unlocking of the latter being in some cases desirable without
withdrawing the lock bolt far enough to open the dial case.
The dial is provided on one side with a clock face o and hand p by means of
which the time at which the glass face was locked up and a certain operation
commenced with the counter can be recorded and on the other side is a similar
dial and fingers q for similarly indicating the day of the week and day of the
month.
The dial is further provided with orifices i, i behind which I arrange figured
disc plates turning upon fixed centres seen dotted in Fig 1 the consecutive figures
upon which come successively opposite the orifices and thus may indicate the
number of revolutions desired to be run in hundreds or thousands and afford
facilities for setting the disc plate to indicate to the operator when to stop the
machine.
And in order to facilitate the turning of the fingers of the counter back to the
zero or starting point without effecting and independently of the counting
mechanism I mount such index fingers against a shoulder upon the spindle and
press the same thereto by means of a short spiral spring adjusted by a screwed cap
as illustrated more clearly in Fig 5. By the application of a cam plate or star
wheel upon say the hundreds or thousands spindle and arranged as seen in Fig 3
to come in contact with the hammer lever 8 of a bell t I thus obtain a sonorous
indication of the numbers reached.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I claim as my invention
1st The general construction and arrangement of counter substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated on the accompaning drawing.
2nd The method of mounting the counter. upon a hinge or pivot and connecting
the central spindle of same to the shaft requiring to be counted or indicated by a
slotted crank and crank pin substantially as and for the purposo bereinbefore
described and illustrated on the accompaning drawing.
3rd The mode of mounting the index fingers upon their spindles whereby the
same can be turned back independently of the mechanism substantially as and for
the purpose hereinbefore described and illustrated on the accompaning drawing.
4th The application of a cam plate or star wheel for affording a sonorous
indication of the numbers counted substantially as herein before described and
illustrated on the accompaning drawing.
"
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