IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO INDICATORS FOR EXHIBITING CONSECUTIVE NUMERALS PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO PASSENGER INDICATORS FOR OMNIBUSES, OR TRAMCARS
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Richardson Dinsmore
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st December 1882.
JOHN HENRY RICHARDSON DINSMORE, of 15 Water Street, Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO INDICATORS FOR
EXHIBITING CONSECUTIVE NUMERALS PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO PASSENGER
INDICATORS FOR OMNIBUSES, OR TRAMCARS."
My Invention has for its object the construction of a simple and efficient
apparatus for exhibiting consecutive numerals, and consists in a certain arrangement
of endless bands, or endless band chains, which are mounted in a frame and worked
by a rack and pinion motion, an alarum bell being provided to call attention to the
changes.
For example according to my Invention I take two endless chain bands, the
links of which may be constructed of copper enamelled, brass painted, or other
suitable material. On the face of the band are representations of the several
numerals, for example the unit band bears the numerals 1 to 9 and 0, and the tens
band bears the numerals 1 to 9 and a blank. Each of these endless bands are
mounted on and stretched between two rollers, which rollers have square surfaces
corresponding with the width of the links of the band, on which square surfaces
the bands bear. The rollers are loosely mounted on spindles, or shafts, respectively
at the top and bottom of an oblong frame with the exception of the top roller of
the unit band. This roller is fixed on its shaft and the shaft outside the frame is
provided with a loose pinion and toothed cam which engage with a pawl fixed on a
disc which is fixed on the end of the shaft. This disc has a tooth on its periphery
into which takes a stop pawl which regulates the rotation of the roller. Motion is
imparted to the roller and the band by the vertical movement of a rack, the teeth
of which engage with the pinion before mentioned in such a manner that on the
downward movement of the rack, the pinion into which it engages being held by
its pawl, the top roller of the unit band is rotated and the unit band moved the
extent of the depth of one numeral. The recovering action is given to the rack by
a spiral spring. The teeth of the rack in its upward movement merely rotate the
pinion without moving the roller. The ends of the rollers are provided with discs,
which keep the bands in position on the rollers. The top and bottom discs on the

page_text: inside of the unit roller have each, three of their sides cut away, projections being
left forming teeth at the corners. The inside disc of the top roller of the tens
band has formed upon it a square provision, one side of which is prolonged to form
two teeth. The object of cutting away the upper inner disc of the unit roller and
providing a square provision on the upper inner disc of the tens roller is to impart
motion to the tens roller and band, which is done by prolonging three of the links
of the unit band so as to form teeth on the side nearest the tens band. Once in
every complete revolution of the unit band these teeth in passing over the square
provision on the top roller of the tens band, cause the tens band to move forward
the distance of one numeral, thus changing the tens number. When the apparatus
is arranged with more than two bands, namely hundreds, and thousands, bands, &
like device is used to impart motion to these bands, as will be understood. On the
upper, or motion spindle of the apparatus there is mounted a cam which once in
every revolution of the top roller, which carries the unit band, operates a vertical
sliding rod on the side of the frame and actuates a lever hammer which sounds a
gong bell contained in the centre of the apparatus, the reacting motion being
supplied by a spiral spring. To keep the tens band in position so that it is not
affected by the shaking, or sudden action of the apparatus, I provide a pawl on the
side of the frame which takes into a tooth on the outer disc of the top roller of the
tens band. The pawl may be mounted on a spindle, which passes through the
frame and serves also as the spindle which carries the stop pawl on the other side
of the frame. As a further means of preventing the tens band from moving before
its time, I provide a spring which bears on a flat provision of the outer disc of
the bottom roller of the tens band. The whole apparatus is enclosed in a casing
provided with suitable windows for exhibiting the numerals.