or Improved Apparatus for Counting Tickets and other similar Articles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Jan., 1894-Accepted, 14th Apr., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Apparatus for Counting Tickets and other
similar Articles.
I, JOHN GRAHAM, of 10ª Caledonia Street, King's Cross, in the County of
Middlesex, Railway Ticket Printer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say :-
In the ordinary railway ticket printing and numbering machines at present in
use, such as those known as Edmondson's, or Waterlow's for example, the number
of tickets printed, numbered, and delivered, should correspond to the number
indicated by the difference between the number printed on the first ticket and that
printed on the last ticket, plus one; but sometimes by reason of imperfect action
of the mechanisin the tickets hang, and one ticket gets several numbers printed on
it before it is ejected, while other tickets do not get printed or numbered at all, or
in some cases several tickets receive the same number; the result being that
the tale of useful tickets delivered is different from that indicated by the numbering
machine.
The chief object of my present invention is to provide means whereby the
number of tickets actually passed through or delivered is counted or recorded
independently of the numbering machine. For this purpose I employ counting
mechanism connected with and operated by the printing and numbering machine,
but so arranged that it is only operated to count or record when a ticket actually
passes, either at entering, while passing through, or on leaving the printing or
numbering machine.
And in order that my said invention may be readily understood I will now
proceed to describe the same with the aid of the accompanying sheet of drawings,
in which
Figure 1 is an elevation of part of the frame of an ordinary Edmondson
ticket printing and numbering machine with my improvements applied thereto.
Figure 2 is an elevation taken at right angles to Figure 1 and looking from
right to left in that figure.
Figure 3 is a partial plan, being a projection of Figure 1, and
Figures 4 and 5 are detail views to a larger scale of certain of the parts to be
hereafter described.
The
A represents part of the frame of the printing and numbering machine, B part
of the table of the said machine, and C is the main shaft of same, which shaft
makes a revolution for each operation of printing and numbering a ticket.
other working parts of the printing and numbering machine are not shown in the
drawings as they are not necessary for the elucidation of my invention.
D is a guide or channel along which the tickets E are pushed, one after the other,
as they leave the printing and numbering machine. Fis a stud secured to the
frame A. G is a disc adapted to turn with its boss or sleeve H on the stud F.
Its periphery is divided into any suitable number of parts say 100 for example,
numbered from 0 to 99. I is a pointer or index fixed on the stud F by any suitable
means, such as the collar J and set screw K for example, which serve also to retain
the disc G on the stud F. L is a ratchet wheel having a number of teeth on its
periphery corresponding to the divisions of the disc G; it is secured on the inner
end of the sleeve H. M M is a disc free to revolve on the boss or sleeve H. The
part M of this disc is divided on its periphery into say 100 equal parts numbered
from 0 to 99, and the part M' is a ratchet wheel of the same number of teeth as
there are divisions on the part M. N is a pawl mounted on a crank pin P fixed

page_text: adjustably to the end of the shaft C as for example on the crossbar P₁ of a loose
collar P' which can be secured in any desired position circumferentially on the
shaft C by means of the set screw P³. QQ' are two spring retaining pawls, the
first Q engaging with the teeth of the ratchet wheel M', and the second Q¹ with
the teeth of the ratchet wheel L for the purpose of preventing backward move-
ment of those two wheels and their corresponding number-discs M and G
respectively.
R is an arm or finger pivotted at R' and having a part R2 projecting normally
into the side or beyond the end of the ticket guide or channel D. S is a sliding
rod one end of which bears against the back of the finger R, and the other
is pressed against by the end of the adjusting screw T screwed through
the upper arm of the lever U, which is pivotted at U. The spring U' bears
against the lower arm of the lever U and tends to press the upper arm
constantly to the right in Figure 2, and consequently the set screw T, rod S, and
finger R in the same direction, that is, with the part R² projecting into the path of
tickets sliding in the guide channel D as shown clearly in full lines in Figure 3.
The lower end of the lever U carries a shield or guard V which stands over
the ratchet wheels L and M' when the finger R and lever U are in the positions
shown in full lines in Figure 2, but is withdrawn from that position when the
finger R and lever U are in the positions shown in dotted lines in Figures 2 and 3
respectively.
W is a shield or guard fixed on an arm W₁ which is movable round the centre F
and can be secured so as to hold the guard W in any required position over the
ratchet wheels L and M'. This guard W is so placed that as the pawl N moves
to and fro, its point rides over the said shield or guard and is thereby lifted and
kept out of gear with the said ratchet wheels during a part of each to and fro
movement. When the movable guard V is in position over the ratchet wheels L
and M¹ it forms a prolongation of the guard W and the point of the pawl N rides
over both guards during the whole of its to and fro movement; but when the
guard V is withdrawn from over the ratchet wheels L and M' the point of the
pawl N at its forward movement slips over the front edge of the guard W and
comes into gear with the ratchet wheel M, and occasionally, as hereafter described,
with the ratchet wheel L also.
The point of the pawl N is divided into two parts, the part N¹ is deeper than
the part N2 and gears with the ratchet wheel M' and moves that wheel only, tooth
by tooth, until a notch or recess Y (see Figure 4) in the periphery of that wheel
comes opposite the point N1 of the pawl, when the said point drops into the said
notch, and the part N of the pawl is thereby brought into gear with the teeth of
the ratchet wheel L, so as to pass forward one tooth of that wheel at the same
time that the part N' of the pawl, acting in the notch Y, moves one tooth of the
wheel M, after which the point N of the pawl is raised out of gear with the
teeth of the wheel L and the point N¹ of the pawl continues to rotate the ratchet
wheel M', tooth by tooth, for a whole revolution as before, the wheel L remaining
stationary until the notch or recess Y in the wheel M' again comes opposite the
end N' of the pawl, allowing the latter to drop, and to bring the part N again
into gear with the ratchet wheel L, enabling it to turn the same another tooth, and
so on, the wheel L advancing one tooth for each complete revolution of the
wheel M', or for a half, quarter, or other fraction of a revolution of the wheel M¹
if two, four or more notches are made at suitable points in the periphery of that
wheel.
It will now be understood that as the printed and numbered tickets E are
delivered by the printing and numbering machine along the guide channel D the
leading one comes in contact with the part R of the finger R and presses it
aside, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 3. This movement of the finger R noves
the rod S end wise, pressing the lever U into the position shown in dotted lines
in Figure 2, withdrawing the guard V from over the ratchet wheels L and M
leaving their teeth uncovered at that part so that the pawl N in its forward

page_text: motion beyond the guard W, comes to act upon the wheel M' by its part N', or
unon both the wheel M' and the wheel L by the parts N¹ and N* respectively, as
above described. When the leading ticket has been pushed far enough forward
to fall into the receiving box placed at Z, the spring U2 pushes the lever U back
into the position shown in full lines in Figure 2, bringing the guard V again over
the ratchet wheels L and M', and returning the finger R into the position shown
in full lines in Figure 3 until it is again pressed aside by the next ticket. It will
be seen from the above that whenever a ticket passes the finger R it operates the
lever U, removing the guard V and allowing the pawl N to operate the counting
mechanism, and to count or record one; but if no ticket passes the finger R the
lever U is not operated, the guard V then remains over the ratchet wheels L
and M', the pawl N is thereby prevented from acting on such wheels, and no
counting takes place, so that the counting mechanism counts one when a ticket
passes, but does not count at all when no ticket passes.
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to counting apparatus
constructed as above described, because other forms and arrangements of counters
may be employed in connection with the other mechanism described. The devices
shown and described for enabling the ticket or other similar article to remove the
guard V from over the ratchet wheels are suitable for the case illustrated, but it
is obvious that they may be varied according to circumstances, for example, in
some cases, the finger R may be dispensed with, and the end of the rod S adapted
to enter the side of the guide D, and to be pressed aside by the ticket or other
article. In other cases, where the guide D can be placed near enough, the upper
end of the lever U may be arranged to act as the finger, for the ticket or other
article to act upon without the intermediary of the finger R and rod S. Instead
of a shield or guard V being interposed between the point of the pawl N and the
ratchet wheels of the counter, a similar effect may be produced by connecting to
the lever U, or other part actuated by the ticket, a finger or other instrument
which raises the end of the pawl N, and maintains it out of gear with the ratchet
wheel when no ticket passes, but lowers the end of the said pawl and allows it to
gear with the ratchet wheel when a ticket does pass.
It is obvious that my invention may be applied to any machines besides ticket
printing and numbering machines in which articles similar to tickets are operated
upon, such as coining presses, card-cutting machines, and so forth. Furthermore
apparatus of the kind above described may be used for counting tickets or other
like articles independently of any other machine, when provided with suitable
actuating gear, and devices for feeding the tickets or other articles past the
finger R or its equivalent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. In connection with a ticket printing or numbering machine, or other
machine dealing with tickets or other similar articles, the use of a counting
apparatus which receives its motion from such machine by means of mechanism
which is brought into action when a ticket or other similar article passes, but
remains inoperative when a ticket or other similar article fails to pass, substantially
as described.
Second. The mechanism for enabling the counting apparatus to be operated
when a ticket or other similar article passes, and for preventing the same from
being operated when a ticket or other similar article fails to pass, which consists of
a shield, guard, or other instrument interposed between the operating instrument
and the counting apparatus, or withdrawn from between such parts, by means of
mechanism the movements of which are governed by the ticket or other article
itself, substantially as described.
Third. The mechanism for governing the movements of the counting apparatus
which consists of a finger or other instrument operated by the tickets or other

page_text: articles to be counted, a shield or guard adapted to be interposed between the
counter and its operating instrument, and mechanism for transmitting the motion
of the said finger to the said shield or guard, substantially as described, and
illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings.
Fourth. In counting apparatus the means of moving a counting wheel one step
for a complete revolution or definite fraction of a revolution of another counting
wheel, which consists of an actuating pawl the point of which is divided into two
parts of different depths and a notch or recess in the counting wheel operated by
the deeper part of the pawl, combined and operating substantially as described
with reference to Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings.
Dated this Third day of January 1894.
J. GRAHAM,
Per W. H. Beck,
115, Cannon Street, London, Agent.