An Improved Fare Indicator for Public Vehicles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Mar., 1896--Accepted, 18th July, 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Fare Indicator for Public Vehicles.
A communication by the Firm of C. F. KINDERMANN & Co., of 68 Möckern-
strasse, Berlin, in the Empire of Germany, Lamp Makers.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham in
the County of Warwick and 31 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do bereby 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 statement:-
In recent times public vehicles plying for hire have been frequently fitted with
automatically acting fare indicators, which indicate the cost of each journey
according to the distance travelled in order to protect the hirer from being
overcharged by the driver.
The fare indicators at present employed are driven in some suitable manner
from the axle of one of the wheels of the vehicle or from the wheels themselves.
The rotary movement of the wheel and the axle are converted into a reciprocatory
movement which is imparted to a lever of the fare indicator and the latter is
thereby set in operation.
The reciprocatory movement of this lever sets a complicated gearing in motion,
causing a gradual rotation of an indicating disc which is visible to the hirer and is
provided with figures which indicate the price of the journey. With this indicating
dise there may be combined, in the manner of the well known automatic indicators
or counting mechanism, a second indicating or figure disc, and so forth, as may be
required in cach case.
This invention consists essentially in that the gearing which imparts a gradual
rotary movement to the indicating or figure disc and makes such apparatuses very
expensive to construct, is to a large part replaced by a simple reciprocating slide
which performs the various functions of the gearing.
A fare indicator provided with a slide forming the object of the present invention
is shown as an example in the accompanying drawing as far as its essential
arrangement is concerned. The ordinary well known parts of a fare indicator,
which are not in direct connection with the slide which partially replaces the
ordinary gearing, are omitted in the drawing, as they are not necessary for
understanding the invention and only make the drawing complicated.
Figure is a front elevation of the fare indicator, the ordinary casing and the
front cover plate being omitted;
Figure 1 is a separate view of the slide, which effects the enumeration or
counting;.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the operating mechanism for the slide, the front
frame plate being removed;
Figure 3 is a plan of a part of the mechanism shown in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a back elevation of the indicating or counting mechanism, showing
the releasing mechanism for the slide;
Figure 4 shows the wedge piece by which the stop pin for the indicating slide
is, released.

page_text: The arrangement and mode of working is essentially as follows:-
If the apparatus is not in use the indicating elide a (Figures 1 and 1^) stands
in its uppermost position, and a stop pin bnsumes the position shown in dottel
lines in Figure 1, that is to say, it does not project into the track of the
slide a.
If hirer enters the carriage, the driver sets the spindle d in rotation by means
of a lever, not shown in the drawing, which spindle carries a disc d' (Figure 2)
which is provided with three faces or edges which lie at different distances from the
spindle.
A lever is oscillated by means of a link or rod e. This oscillating movement of
the lever is limited in its upward movement by the disc d' and in its downward
movement by a fixed stud d. The stroke of the lever is a greater or lesser one
according ns to which of the three edges of the disa e limits its movement
upwards. The smaller the movement of the lever the more oscillations of the
same will be necessary to move forward the counting or indicating mechanism to a
given amount.
From this it appears that the indication is slower or quicker according to which
edge of the disc limits the upward movement of the lever f. The driver
has it thus in his power, by a simple adjustment of the disc d', to alter at
will the number of oscillations of the lever and thereby the price of the
journey.
The edge or face inlicated by I corresponds to one rate ur charge, and the one
indicated by to another rate or charge whilst the one indicated by III, which
ruus concentrically to the spindle, correrpads to the out of use position.
The link or rode (Figure 2) is given a reciprocating movement in the ordinary
munner from the wheel of the vehicle, and thereby causes as aforesaid an oscillating
movement of the double armed lever, which operates, by means of a pawl, a
ratchet wheel 9. The gearing and convey this rotary movement to a disc '
on a spindle h, Figure 1.
The counting or indicating slide a, which is vertically guided in the front frame
plate by means of guide slots a' and guide pins, has at its lower end two lateral
projections and. An eccentric pin on the dise & engages the lower projection i
on the rotation of said disc, and thereby carries downward with it the slide 4,
against the action of a spring a', and a stop pin & (Figure 3), operated by a spring,
moves into a slot of the slide and prevents the same again moving upwarde. On
a succeeding rotation of the disc A' the eccentric pin 4 engages with the projection
and draws the slide a further downwards, which position is shown in Figure 1.
When the pin and the projection are disengaged, the slide a, under the
actior of the spring a, again springs upwarde as far as allowed by the pin 4, which
remains cugaged in the slot &
In each succeeding revolution of the dise A the pin again engages with the
projection and draws the slide a downwards in order again to allow it to
spring upwards until the indicating mechanism is placed out of action by the
driver.
At each upward springing, the slide a moves the ratchet wheel one tooth
forward by means of a pawl k, the spindle of which ratchet wheel enrries on the
front side of the frame the dise which indicates the amount of the fare in company
with a second counting disc which revolves with a ratchet wheel m which is
operated by means of a tooth or click on the ratchet wheel.
A spring r is mounted on the spindle of the ratchet wheel and a spring on the
spindle of the ratchet wheel m.
The tension of these springs r and a is increased by the rotation of the ratelot
wheels until a maximum tension is attained and then on the ratchet wheels
rotating further, the springs slip sufficiently to allow the ratchets to continue their
movement whilst still retaining their recoil tension.
A pawl engages with the ratchet wheel and a pawl q with a ratchet wheel
firmly connected with the ratchet wheel in, with the object of proventing any

page_text: undesired turning back of these wheels
and m and of the indicating discs
belonging thereto during the working of the apparatus.
When the journey is finished and the passenger has descended, the coachman
again rotates the spindle d by means of a hand lever, and thereby by means of a
projection (Figure 4) on the spindle d moves a double armed lever o', which is
revoluble on a spindle o, from its end position, shown in Figure 4, against the action
of a spring into its other end position.
The stop pin b is guided at one end in a slot of the lever o' with its head over-
lapping the latter, which at this place, as seen in front view in Figure 44, is
provided with an inclined or wedge-shaped surface. On the aforesaid movement
of the lever o' this inclined or wedge-shaped surface draws the pin out of the
slot 6 of the slide a and thereby releases the latter so that by means of the spring a
it is forced back into its uppermost position.
On the said upward movement, the slide a, disengages the pawl p, by means of
the bevelled pawl k, and by means of a shoulder on the slide disengages the
pawl 9 whereby the ratchet wheels I and m and thereby also the indicating discs
are permitted to turn back into their normal position by the recoil of the springs
and s, the backward run being checked when the discs arrive at zero by means of
two separate pawls t and u.
On a further journey with the parts in their normal position as just described
the pin & remains out of the slot and the eccentric pin 2 will therefore always
only engage the lower projection of the slide a, so that the latter can never be
drawn sufficiently far downwards for its pawl k to engage in the teeth of the
ratchet wheel l. The payments in this case will not be registered. When however
the driver moves his lever and thus turns the disc d' and the projection n the
apparatus will at once begin to register as herein before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A fare indicator for public vehicles characterised by the intermittent rotation
of the indicating disc being effected by means of a reciprocating slide (a) guided
in a straight line, and a pawl, which slide for this object is provided with two
laterally projecting teeth (i and 2) with which an eccentric pin (2), on a disc (h¹)
rotated in any suitable manner from the vehicle wheels, successively engages in
order to draw the slide (a) downwards against the action of a spring (a2), substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a fare indicator of the kind described, the arrangement by which a lower
projection or tooth (i) on the slide (a) serves to move the latter into its working
position, in which a pin (b) thrown forward by the action of a spring, engages in a
guide slot (b) and limits the reciprocating movement of the indicating slide caused
during the working by the upper projection () substantially as described.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1896.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents.