Improvements in Time Recorders for Workmen and other Servants.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th May, 1899-Accepted, 23rd Sept., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Time Recorders for Workmen and other Servants.
I, WILLARD LE GRAND BUNDY, of Binghamton, County of Broome, State of
New York, United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particu-
larly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:—
My invention relates to time recorders. It has for its object to produce a
time recorder to print upon the time-card of an operative or workman the time
of his arrival or departure, and to print such a record at different places upon
the time-card for different purposes, as, for example, when the workman is going
in or when he is going out of the factory, or for different divisions of time as,
for example, to distinguish the day of the week or to distinguish the forenoon
from the afternoon; also to make a time recorder for such purposes more certain
and accurate in recording, easier and more rapid in operation, and less likely
to be tampered with, than any device heretofore used for the purpose. It con-
sists of the novel devices herein shown and described.
In the drawings accompanying this specification and forming part hereof,
and in which corresponding reference characters in the different figures repre-
sent corresponding parts, I have shown, and will now proceed to describe, the
preferred form of embodiment of my improvement.
In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of a time recorder embodying
one form of my invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same with the
front casing and the clock face and connecting parts removed; Figure 3 is a
vertical cross-section on the line B-B of Fig. 5 viewed as shown by the arrow;
Figure 4 is a similar section on the line A-A of Fig. 5, viewed as shown by
the arrow; Figure 5 is a front elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 4 with the
casing removed; Figure 6 is a front elevation of the clock movement and the
upper part of the movable rod for imparting vertical motion to the card support
and the mechanism connecting the rod with the time movement; Figure 7 is a
horizontal section through the lower part of the casing with certain parts of
the apparatus omitted; Figure 8 is a view of one form of time-card adapted
for use in my improved machine, and Figure 9 is a detail view of the upper part
of the movable rod and its connecting mechanism.
My improved time recorder is adapted to be used in connection with time-cards
carried by the workmen, such, for example, as the card shown in Fig. 8. Upon
this card suitable time recording mechanism prints the hour and minute of the
arrival or departure of the workman. The card is prepared with different sub-
divisions or spacings, preferably both vertical and horizontal, to represent
different conditions, as for example when the workman is entering the factory
or when he is leaving it, or to represent different divisions of time as, for
example, the different days of the week and the morning from the afternoon.
On the card shown, one of the vertical columns marked "in" is adapted to
receive a record of the times when the workman enters the factory. Another
column marked "out" contains the record of the times the workman leaves.
"""

page_text: The horizontal lines represent the different days of the week and each of the
days is divided horizontally by a line to represent the forenoon from the after-
noon. Two of the vertical columns are headed!" lost time, out, in," for the pur-
pose of recording the times when the workman, leaves or enters irregularly.
I provide in my improved machine, suitable time recording mechanism for
printing the hour and minute upon the time-cards. As shown, this consists of
an hour wheel 1, a minute wheel 2, a clock movement 3 of any suitable con-
struction, mechanism connecting the clock movement with the hour and
minute recording wheels, presently to be described, to cause the time recording
wheels to run synchronously with the clock movement, a suitable impression
device 4 and mechanism, presently, to be described, for causing it to bring the
time-card and time recording wheels into contact to effect the printing, and
suitable inking devices presently to be described.
The time recording wheels, the impression device, the inking devices and
some of their connecting parts, are mounted upon a movable frame 5. This
frame is adapted to move relatively to the card receiver, preferably it moves
horizontally as shown it moves horizontally upon a table 6 secured to a part
of the framework of the machine. The purpose of this horizontal movement
of the movable frame and the parts which it carries is to bring the time record-
ing wheels and impression devices opposite the different vertical columns of the
time-card, the latter being inserted into a stationary card receiver 100 secured
to the framework 7 of the machine, and this horizontal movement is controlled
by the operative through handle 9 on the outside of the casing 10 of the machine
in the manner presently to be described.
A movement in the card receiver, preferably a vertical one, is imparted to
the time-card by means of a card support 11 which, as shown, is movable ver-
tically in the stationary card receiver, and is connected by suitable mechanism,
presently to be described, with the clock movement, and is actuated by it so
that at certain regular intervals of time the card support is moved vertically a
predetermined distance, thus bringing the printing line of the time recording
wheels and the impression devices opposite different horizontal spaces upon the
card.
I will now proceed to describe in detail the specific mechanism shown in the
drawings for the above purposes.
The clock movement 3 may be of any suitable form and will not be described
in detail. Motion is imparted from the clock movement by flexible shaft 12,
to minute wheel 2, through the following chain of mechanism, namely, gears 13,
14, shaft 15, gear 16, gear 17 on shaft 18, upon which shaft minute recording
wheel 2 is fixedly mounted. Motion is imparted to the hour wheel 1 from
shaft 15 by means of cam 19 on shaft 15, forked lever 20, having toe 21 bearing
upon cam 19 at the end of one fork, and spring-pressed pawl 22 upon the other
arm, the latter engaging with the teeth of ratchet, wheel 23 mounted upon
sleeve 24 upon shaft 18, hour wheel 1 being also fixedly mounted upon said
sleeve. The vibratory motion given by the cam lever 20 causes pawl 22 to engage
with tooth after tooth of wheel 23 to feed it forward one tooth at a time. A
locking lever 25 pivoted at 26 and having a locking tooth 27 engaging with the
teeth of wheel 23, holds the hour wheel locked except when pawl 22 feeds the
wheel forward, at which time pawl 22 passes on one side of roller 28 on the
end of locking lever 25, throwing the lever back and raising and locking tooth 27
'out of contact with the teeth of wheel 23. As the details of these devices forin
no part of my invention, they will not be further described.
The impression hammer is operated by means of handle 29 which projects
outside of the casing. The devices for this purpose are as follows. Impression
hammer 4 is mounted upon lever 30, fulcrumed upon stud 31. A spring 32
tends to press platen 4 against the card when placed in the card receiver. "A
stop 33 prevents the hammer from being pressed forward too far. In order to
operate platen 4, handle 29 is depressed. This rotates rock shaft 34 to which

page_text: the handle is secured, and rocks arms 35- secured to the, rock shaft, and rod-36:
carried by the arms to the left, as viewed in Figure 3. Loosely mounted upon
rod 36 is a movable piece 37 which is adapted to slip along rod 36 as the mov--
able frame is moved horizontally from one side to the other. Piece 37 carries a:
rod 38 which projects through openings 39, 39 in the framework of the
machine, and carries at its further end an arrow-head 40 and an inclined: sur-
face 41 and also a block 42. As handle 29 is depressed piece 37 is pulled to the.
left as viewed in Fig. 3, and rod 38 with it.. The vertical side of arrow-head.40
catches the lower end of lever 30, being held up by spring 43, and withdraws.
platen 4 from the card. When this motion to the left has proceeded a sufficient
distance, inclined surface 41 is forced downward by cam surface 44 .secured to.
the framework of the machine, thus releasing lever 30 from. arrow-head: 40,.
whereupon spring 32 causes platen 4 to give a sharp blow upon the time-card,
causing the hour and minute to be printed upon the time-card. To insure that:
the handle 29 shall be depressed far enough to effect the printing, I provide:
a lever 45 pivoted to the framework of the machine at 46, and having one end:
adapted to fall down behind block 42 on rod 38, thus preventing the return
of rod 38 until the printing blow has been delivered. The end of lever 45'is
removed from behind block 42 to permit the return of handle 29-and. rod 38.
by pin 47 on lever 30 striking against the curved upper end of lever -45 as
shown in Fig. 3. Spring:48. secured to one of the arms. 35 causes. handle:29
and its connecting parts to return to their normal position after the printing
blow has been delivered. In the normal position of the parts platen 4 is: with-
held from contact with the card by means of stop 33, but the action of spring:32.
upon elastic lever 30. causes the upper part of that lever to spring forward to
deliver the blow. In this manner a very sharp blow is delivered, printingathe
time sharply and legibly.
;
During the printing operation. I preferably lock the printing minute wheel
by means of a pin 49 which projects from both sides of piece 37: Upon one side
it projects between the two forks of the end of a lever 50 loosely. pivoted. at:51
in the framework of the machine, and carrying at its upper tend a tooth: 52
pivoted to the lever at 53 and pressed by spring 54. When handle 29 is:des
pressed lever 50 is moved on its pivot so as to throw tooth 52 into contact with
the teeth of gear wheel 55 which is fixedly mounted upon shaft 15, thus holding.
the minute wheel, rigid during the printing operation.
;
The inking devices shown consist. of an ordinary inking ribbon 56 which
passes between rolls 57 and 58. The ribbon is fed forward a slight distance:iat
each movement of handle' 29, by the following devices, to wit:bell-crank
lever 59, the forks at the end of which engage with the opposite end of pin (49
from that of the forked end of lever 50, and thus a rocking motion is imparted
to; bell-crank lever 59 as handle 29 is depressed: Rod 60 is pivoted to the other
end of bellcrank lever 59 and carries a tooth 61 adapted to engage with the
teeth of ratchet wheel 62. A spring, 63 tends to press lever: 60 against ratchet
wheel 62. As bell-crank lever 59, is rocked, tooth 61 feeds the ratchet: wheel
forward a certain predetermined distance: Ratchet wheel 62 engages with
gear wheel 63, rotating gear wheel 64 which is secured to and rotates with gear
wheel 63. The shaft 65 of wheels 63 and 64; is secured toga lever 66. pivoted
at 67 to the framework. By moving lever 66 into any one of. the three positions
it may occupy, as shown in Fig. 4, gear, wheel 64 is brought into connection with
a lower gear wheel 68 geared to the shaft of roll 57, or into contact with gear
wheel 69 geared to the shaft of roll 58 or into an intermediate.position between
the two. By moving lever 66 into one or the other of these three positions; the
inking ribbon is fed up or down or is not fed at all, each time handle 29. is
operated.
•
The time recording wheels, the ink ribbon and its feeding devices, the..im-
pression platen, and some of its, connections, are all mounted upon movable

page_text: frame 5 to which a horizontal movement is imparted as will presently be de-.
scribed. Handle 29, rock shaft 34, arms. 35 and rod 36, however, are immov-
able horizontally. I therefore make piece 37 loose upon rod 36 so that it may
move horizontally to the right or left with movable frame 5.
Horizontal motion is imparted to movable frame 5 by the following described
devices. In the time-card shown in the drawings there are four vertical
columns, as shown in Fig. 8. I therefore have shown in the devices illustrated
in the drawings, means for moving the movable frame horizontally into any one
of four positions. This is done by means of swinging handle 9 secured to
sleeve 70. A pin 71 from shaft 72 projects into a slot in sleeve 70, as shown in
Fig. 4, so that as handle 9 is swung shaft 72 will rock with it. Mounted upon
shaft 72 is a toothed segment 73 which meshes with a rack upon rod 74 secured
to movable frame 5 as shown in Fig. 7. By swinging handle 9 in one of the
four positions shown in Fig. 1, the movable frame will be moved horizontally
into the corresponding position, thus bringing the printing line of the time
recording mechanism opposite the corresponding column of the time card in the
stationary card receiver.
In order to bring the spaces in any of the vertical columns representing the
different days of the week and the forenoon and the afternoon, opposite the
printing line of the time recording mechanism, I preferably employ in the
stationary card receiver a movable card support for supporting the time card of
the operative, and I preferably connect this support by suitable means with the
clock movement so as to automatically move the card support at regular stated
intervals of time a certain predetermined distance in order to bring the appro-
priate space upon the time card representing the day of the week and the fore-
noon or afternoon, opposite to the printing line of the time recording mechanism.
My preferred devices for this purpose are as follows.
The card support 11 has a shelf upon which the card 75 is supported. The
card support is secured by hinged arm 76 and arm 77 to a vertically movable
rod 78, see Figs. 2 and 5. The latter has connected with it a rack 79 which
is adapted to be fed vertically by a spring-pressed pawl 80 actuated by the
clock movement. A cam 81 is mounted upon the shaft of the hour wheel of
the clock movement. Upon this cam rides a roller 82 secured to a lever 83
pivoted at 84 and carrying at its other end spring-pressed pawl 80. The spring
of this pawl is shown in Fig. 6 as spring 85 and tends to hold a pin 86 project-
ing from one side of the pawl 80 against the teeth of rack rod 79. A pawl 87
frictionally mounted upon the framework has a tooth 88, pressed by spring 89
which, in one position of the pawl, engages with the teeth of the rack to prevent
the latter from falling. 90 is a projection from frictional pawl 87. Pin 91
projecting from the side of rack rod 79 is adapted to engage with projection 90
of pawl 87 when the rack rod is in its lowest position to move frictional pawl 87
into engagement with the rack rod to prevent a further downward movement.
Pin 92 also projecting from the side of rack rod 79 is adapted to engage with
projection 90 when the rack rod has reached its highest position to move
pawl 87 out of engagement with the teeth of the rack in order to permit the
rod to fall to its lowest position. 93 is a cam secured to the framework and
adjustable by means of slot 94 and screws 95. The toe 96 of spring-pressed
pawl 80 strikes against this cam surface when rack rod 79 has reached nearly
its highest position, when the slight further upward movement of the rack rod
causes cam surface 93 to force pawl 80 and its pin 86 out of engagement with
the teeth of the rack, thus permitting the rack to fall. At the same time pin 92
engages with projection 90 of frictional pawl 87, thus removing it also from
contact with the teeth of the rack, permitting rack 79 and with it rod 78 to fall
to their lowest positions. Thus at every revolution of cam 81, that is at the end
of each twelve hours, rod 78 and with it card support 11, will be raised a slight
distance, corresponding to the distance between P.M. and A.M. or A.M. and P.M.

page_text: on the time-card shown in Fig. 8. The various pawls, and pins,, and, cam sur-
face connected with rack 79, are so arranged that the card support 11 will be
raised fourteen times and will then be dropped to the bottom....
1
Connected to rod 78 by rod 97 is an index finger 98 adapted to move over
dial 99 which is exposed to view as shown in Fig. 1, thus indicating to the
operative whether the mechanism is correctly representing the day and the part
of the day.
100 is the card receiver. This receiver is stationary and has..a mouth 101
projecting through the casing. As the card receiver is stationary, and always
in the same position, the workmen can more readily deposit their time cards
and can operate the machine with greater rapidity than when, the card receiver
is a shifting one.
My improved devices for moving the card support vertically are actuated by
mechanism driven directly by the main spring or main springs of the clock
movement. They are therefore always in running order, as long as the clock
movement itself runs. I am enabled to accomplish this by using a cam driven
continuously by the clock movement itself. This is a great advantage as the work-
man knows that when the pendulum is swinging or the clock running; the rest
of the apparatus is in working order.
In my improved device the card can not bind or slip in the card receiver, as
it is always supported in precisely the same manner. For this reason it is not
necessary to make the time-card a tight fit in the card receiver. All of the
operating mechanism except those parts to be moved by the workman, are con-
tained within the casing and cannot be easily tampered with: The devices for
imparting a vertical motion to the card support, have a positive movement which.
is of advantage.
Many modifications can of course be made in the devices shown in the draw-
ings, without departing from my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. A time recorder characterized by time recording mechanism, a movable
frame upon which the same is mounted, means under the control of the operative
for moving said frame relative to the card receiver, a card receiver, a card support
movable therein for moving the time card of the operative, and means con-
nected with and actuated by a clock movement for moving said card support at
predetermined intervals to shift the position of the card in the card receiver
relative to the printing line, whereby a record of the time of the actuation of
the time recorder by the operative will be made in the proper place upon the
time card, substantially as set forth.
2. In a time recorder, the combination of time recording mechanism, a card
receiver, a card support movable vertically therein for supporting the time card
of the operative, mechanism for imparting such vertical movement to the card
support at predetermined intervals, actuated by the main spring of the clock
movement, whereby a record of the time of the actuation of the time recorder
by the operative will be made in the proper place upon the time card, substan-
tially as set forth.
3. In a time recorder, the combination of time recording mechanism, a
stationary card receiver, a card support movable vertically therein for support-
ing the time card of the operative, a vertically movable rod connected with the
card support, means actuated by the main spring of the clock movement for
raising the rod a predetermined distance at regular stated intervals of time, for
holding it in such position and for releasing it when it has reached its highest
position to permit it to fall to its lowest position, whereby a record of the time
of the actuation of the time recorder by the operative will be made in the proper
place upon the time card, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 4. In a time recorder the combination of time-recording mechanism, a mov-
able frame upon which the, same is mounted, means under the control of the
operative for moving said frame horizontally, a card receiver, and a time card
adapted to be placed in said card receiver having, vertical and horizontal columns
for receiving records denoting different conditions or different divisions of time,
substantially as set forth..
5. In a time recorder the combination of time, recording wheels, connected to
and driven by a suitable clock movement, an impression platen, suitable inking
devices, a movable frame upon which the said time-recording wheels and platen
are mounted, means, under the control of the operative for moving said frame
horizontally, a handle for operating the impression platen, adjustable sliding
connections between the handle and the platen so arranged as to be adapted to
operate the platen in any position of the movable frame, and a card receiver for
receiving the time card of the operative, whereby a record of the time of actua-
tion of the time recorder by the operative will be made in the proper place upon
the time card, substantially as set forth.
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.