IMPROVEMENTS IN COUNTERS OR REGIS- TERING APPARATUS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of N° 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COUNTERS OR REGIS-
TERING APPARATUS."
This invention relates to counters or registering apparatus wherein cylinders
or discs having numerals printed on their periphery are caused to revolve with a
step-by-step motion for indicating and registering either the revolutions of a shaft
or other mechanism or the flow of liquids etc. The present improvements have
reference firstly to the mode of forming the numerals on the cylinders or discs.
Hitherto such numerals have been printed, painted or stamped on the cylinders or
discs themselves, whereby difficulties arise causing expense and excluding various
modes of printing that might otherwise be suitably employed. According to the
present invention these difficulties are obviated by printing the numerals upon
strips bands or discs of thin metal or textile or other fabric, which are then
secured to the cylindrical or other surface attached to the toothed wheels of the
counter.
For this purpose according to one arrangement the numerals are printed in a
row upon a strip of thin metal or fabric, or in several rows upon a sheet thereof,
which is afterwards cut into strips, and such strip is then laid round the periphery
of the cylinder or disc, the two ends being passed down through a slit in the
cylinder and, if the strip be of metal, the ends can then be either simply bent over
the inner edge of of the slit, or they may be twisted round at an angle at such
inner edge, or the ends of the strip, whether of metal or other material, may have
holes punched in them and have a pin passed through them, or a metal clip may
be passed over the inwardly projecting ends. The strip is prevented from shifting
sideways on the cylinder by forming a shallow groove on the latter corresponding
to the width of the strip, which fits into the groove.
According to another arrangement, the numerals are printed upon the outer
circumference of a disc of thin metal, which is then stamped in a die so as to bring

page_text: the part on which the numerals are printed into the form of a cylindrical flange on
the disc, and the disc with its flange is then fixed in any convenient manner
upon a cylinder or disc attached to the counter wheel.
According to another improvement, motion is imparted to the counter mechanism
by attaching to the shaft or other object the revolutions of which are to be
counted, a rod lying parallel with the axis of rotation, at a certain distance there-
from, and having a worm fixed thereon. Upon this rod the counter is loosely
suspended by means of loops or eyes embracing the same, so that as the rod is
carried round by the revolving axis, the counter always maintains its vertical sus-
pended position.
The worm on the rod being made to gear with a worm wheel in the counter
which imparts motion to the mechanism, it will be seen that as the rod with its
worm revolves round the axis, the revolutions of which are to be counted, the worm
will also revolve relatively to the counter, and consequently will impart rotation
to its worm wheel.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant,
28, Southampton Buildings,
London, W.C.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the county of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, and Patent Agent, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COUNTERS OR REGISTERING
APPARATUS and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
27
This invention relates to counters or registering apparatus wherein cylinders
or discs having numerals printed on their periphery are caused to revolve with a
step-by-step motion for indicating and registering either the revolutions of a shaft
or other mechanism or the flow of liquids etc. The present improvements have
reference firstly to the mode of forming the numerals on the cylinders or discs.
Hitherto such numerals have been printed, painted or stamped on the cylinders or
discs themselves, whereby difficulties arise causing expense and excluding various
modes of printing that might otherwise be suitably employed.
According to the present invention these difficulties are obviated by printing
the numorals upon strips bands or discs of thin metal or textile or other fabric,
which are then secured to the cylindrical or other surface attached to the toothed
wheels of the counter.
For this purpose according to one arrangement the numerals are printed in a
row upon a strip of thin metal or fabric as shewn at A fig. 1 of the accompanying
drawings or in several rows upon a sheet thereof as at fig. 2, which is afterwards cut
into strips, and such strip is then laid round the periphery of the cylinder or disc B,
the two ends being passed down through a slit in the cylinder at C, figs. 3 to 6,
and if the strip be of metal the ends a a can then be either simply bent over the
inner edge of the slit as at fig. 3, or they may be twisted round at an angle at such
inner edge as at fig. 4 or the ends of the strip, whether of metal or other material
may have holes punched in them and have a pin b passed through them as at
figs. 6, 7 and 8 or a metal clip may be passed over the inwardly projecting ends as
at o fig. 5. The strip is prevented from shifting sideways of the cylinder by
forming a shallow groove on the latter corresponding to the width of the strip
which fits into the groove.
According to another arrangement, the numerals are printed upon the outer
circumference of a disc of thin metal D, fig. 9, which is then stamped in a die so as
bring the part on which the numerals are printed into the form of a cylindrical
flange on the disc as at D¹ fig. 12, and the disc with its flange is then fixed in any
convenient manner upon a cylinder or disc attached to the counter wheel, as at
figs. 10 and 11.
According to another improvement, motion is imparted to the counter mechanism
by attaching to the shaft or other object the revolutions of which are to be
counted, a rod lying parallel with the axis of rotation, at a certain distance there-
from, and having a worm fixed thereon. Upon this rod the counter is loosely
suspended by means of loops or eyes embracing the same so that as the rod is
carried round by the revolving axis, the counter always maintains its vertical
suspended position.

page_text: The worm on the rod being made to gear with a worm-wheel in the counter
which imparts motion to the mechanism it will be seen that as the rod with its
worm revolves round the axis the revolutions of which are to be counted, the worm
will also revolve relatively to the counter and consequently will impart rotation to
its wormed-wheel.
Fig. 13, and 14 shew two modifications of the above described arrangement of
the counter and figs. 15 and 16 shew its application to a bicycle wheel. E is the
rod connected to and arranged parallel with the shaft or rotating object, the
revolutions of which are to be registered, upon which rod is loosely suspended
the counter the rod having a worm gearing with a worm wheel in the counter.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The use for the registering discs or cylinders of counters, of metal or other
bands A, or of metal discs B, on which the numerals are printed and which are
then secured to the counter-discs or cylinders, substantially as herein described.
2. The mode of fixing the bands referred to in the previous claim to the counter
discs or cylinders by forming the latter with a slit, into which the ends of the band
are passed, the periphery of the disc or cylinder being provided with a recess for
the band to lie in substantially as herein described with reference to figs. 3 to 8 of
the drawings.
3. The mode of imparting motion to the counter mechanism by suspending the
counter loosely from a rod that is connected to and revolves with the shaft or other
object, the revolutions of which are to be counted, the said rod being geared with
the counter mechanism by a worm and worm wheel, substantially as herein
described with reference to figs. 9 to 12 of the drawings.