A NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS OF REGISTERING SALES IN COMMERCIAL HOUSES
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of the British and Foreign.
Patent Offices, 18, Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 6, Piccadilly,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED MEANS OF REGISTERING SALES IN COMMERCIAL HOUSES." A
communication from Anatole Rouillard, of Rouen, France.
Sealed the 22nd April 1879, and dated the 25th October 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th October 1878.
HENRI ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices, 18, Rue
de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 6, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent.
"A NEW. OR IMPROVED MEANS OF REGISTERING SALES IN
COMMERCIAL HOUSES." A communication by Anatole Rouillard, of Rouen,
France.
This Invention consists of a system of checking by means of a new or improved
card register so easy and economical that no mistake can be made without its being
immediately detected, and enabling the master to balance his sales and receipts
every night at once, to form a just appreciation of the day's work of each of his
assistants, and to entrust his cash room without hesitation to strange hands, for he
is certain that no deficit can occur without being known.
The said system of checking is composed of two corresponding parts, illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, the first consisting of packets of different coloured
tickets of a limited number, from 1 to 100, for instance, bearing the title of the
commercial house, with a number of order, as shown in Fig. 3, and the second of a
card' register printed on both sides, shown in half size, Fig. 1 and 2, the heading of
which is filled up with the title, and underneath, on a single horizontal line, are the
Price 6d1

page_text: number of order, the date, and the letter S, standing for stamp, and then the body
of the card made up as follows :-
Ten horizontal lines are drawn numbered from 1 to 10, and divided vertically by
four lines forming five columns, each containing ten lines, which gives fifty divisions
_on_each_side_of_the_card, so that there are a hundred divisions corresponding with
the packet of the hundred tickets.
To the left of the 1st column the divisions are numbered from 1 to 10; at the top
of the 2nd column is inserted the number 10, which shows that the figures of the
1st column are increased by 10; at the top of the 3rd is inserted the number 20,
-which-shows-that-they are-increased by 20, and so on till the last column, which
shows that they are increased by 90, so that there will be for the first division
of the 2nd column the number 10 + 1 or 11, for the 2nd division the number
10+2 or 12; for the 1st division-of-the-10th-column-the-number_9.0 +1
or 91, and lastly for the 10th division 90 + 10 or 100. Above the numbers forming
the heading of the vertical columns are divisions left unoccupied for receiving the
addition of the sums due that each column may contain, and at the bottom of the
back of the card is a table for adding up the total of what is sold, what owing, and
striking the balance.
The shopmen are provided with a card register, bearing the special number
assigned to each, and also with a packet of different coloured tickets, numbered
from 1 to 100, for which they are acountable.
When a customer makes a purchase, the shopman, after entering the amount sold
and adding it up on the ticket, will carry the total to the 1st division of the card
register bearing the No. 1, corresponding with the No. 1 of the ticket, showing the
total he has just entered, and give the ticket to the customer, whom he accompanies
to the cash-keeper.
The ticket is checked, the amount paid, and then filed by the cash-keeper on a
long file within sight of the public. He proceeds in the same way for the ticket
No. 2, the total of which will also have been entered in the division No. 2 of the
card register, and so on for the following ones. All the shopmen acting in the same
way, all the different coloured tickets will be filed on the cash-room file in the order
of the sales effected.
The work is in no way hindered, as besides the work of adding up the ticket,
there is only a single total to be repeated on the card register, which can be done
while accompanying the customer to the cash-keeper.
Thus the number of the detached tickets of the sales corresponding with the
number of divisions filled up on the card, the number on the latter will immediately
give the number of sales effected by the shopman, and the latter being accountable
for the hundred tickets, the addition of the sums carried in the divisions will give
no less quickly the total figure of the sales.
On the other hand, by adding the total of the card registers to the morning's odd
money, and to the amount of the orders and bills received, which are entered in a
special book easy to verify, the real amount of cash in hand will be ascertained,
which cannot be exactly known by the shopmen, as they are ignorant of the amount
of the orders and bills received. If there is any mistake the amount thereof is
found out at once.
Should the shopman forget to inscribe a sale in any division, and inscribe the
following one therein, he would immediately find out his mistake from the number
not corresponding to that on the ticket, and would only have to give the number of
the empty division to the cash-keeper to discover at once the sum forgotten.
If the shopman has to inscribe a sum due instead of a sale he will mark on his
ticket the word due, and turning the card register upside down, he will inscribe the
amount due in the division in which he would have inscribed his sale, so that this
sum cannot get mixed up in adding up the sales.
In case of a mistake, or a claim owing to a mistake in the addition or the price,
the customer has two easy ways of having it proved by pointing out the shopman
or the colour of his ticket, if he can give the approximate time, and the mistake

page_text: will be discovered immediately, for each ticket being filed when paid, its position
will indicate pretty nearly the time of the sale; the search is therefore limited to a
few tickets of the colour indicated, and when the one on which the mistake exists
is found, the shopman cannot deny it, as he alone was in possession of that
ticket.
Another advantage of thus filing the packets of tickets is that the work of each
shopman is set off before the eyes of the master, for the number of the last ticket
of each shopman shows the number of customers served by him, and the master
will be able to take into account the way in which the serving is conducted, for the
colours will succeed each other according to the activity of all the shopmen and
ascertain the number of customers served in the day, by adding up the numbers of
the last tickets of each shopman.
A customer may take away the ticket without paying when the shop is crowded,
owing to the carelessness of the shopman; in that case there will evidently be a
ticket missing on the file, which will have to be looked for by picking them out in
colours, the order in which the tickets are filed causing them to class themselves in
number when taking off the file.
As soon as the absence of a number is proved in one colour, it will be known who
has made the mistake, each shopman having his own colour, and by referring to the
number of the division on the card register corresponding with the number of the
missing ticket, the amount of the mistake will be found out. This operation may
be simplified by giving the shopman a counter as a discharge for the ticket paid
for and filed, and indeed, if the number of his counters in the evening does not
correspond with that of the sales, then it is he who has made the mistake.
the other hand the number of the tickets or of the counters agrees with that of the
sales inscribed on the card register, then the mistake will arise from the cashier
having given more change than he ought to have done. Can this mistake be
attributed to dishonesty? No, for being morally and pecuniarily responsible, he is
certain it will be discovered at night.
If on
In case of an overplus in the receipts, the claims of the customer will be enter-
tained and satisfied, owing to the exact amount received being known.
In one word the card register is the master's security, as it establishes an exact
control over receipts and shopmen. It covers even the moral responsibility of the
cashier, gives good shopmen a means of making themselves appreciated, stimulates
middling ones, and makes bad ones work by giving each a like share of
responsibility.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Henri Adrien Bonneville in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
April 1879.
HENRI ADRIEN BONNEVILLE; of-the-British and Foreign Patent Offices, 18, Rue
de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 6, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent. "A NEW OR IMPROVED MEANS OF REGISTERING SALES IN
COMMERCIAL HOUSES." A communication by Anatole Rouillard, of .Rouen.
France._
This Invention consists of a system of checking by means of a new or improved
card register so easy and economical that no mistake can be made without its being
immediately detected, and enabling the master to balance-his-sales-and-receipts-
every night, at once to form a just appreciation of the day's work of each of his
assistants, and to entrust his cash room without hesitation to strange hands, for he
is certain that no deficit can occur without being known.
The said system of checking is composed of two corresponding parts, illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, the first consisting of packets of different coloured
tickets of a limited number, from 1 to 100, for instance, bearing the title of the
commercial house, with a number of order, as shown in Fig. 3; and the second of a
card register printed on both sides, shown in half-size, Fig. 1 and 2, the heading of
which is filled up with the title, and underneath on a single horizontal line are the
number of order, the date, and the letter S standing for stamp, and then the body
of the card made up as follows:-
:-
Ten horizontal lines are drawn numbered from 1 to 10, and divided vertically by
four lines forming five columns, each containing 10 lines, which gives fifty divisions
on each side of the card, so that there are a hundred divisions corresponding with
the packet of the hundred tickets.
To the left of the first column the divisions are numbered from 1 to 10; at the
top of the second column is inserted the number 10, which shows that the figures of
the first column are increased by 10; at the top of the 3rd is inserted the number
20, which shows that they are increased by 20, and so on till the last column,
which shows that they are increased by 90, so that there will be for the first division
of the 2nd column the number 10 + 1 or 11, for the 2nd division the number 10 +
2 or 12, for the 1st division of the 10th column the number 90 + 1 or 91, and,
lastly, for the 10th division 90 + 10 or 100. Above the numbers forming the
heading of the vertical columns are divisions left unoccupied for receiving the
addition of the sums due that each column may contain, and at the bottom of the
back of the card is a table for adding up the total of what is sold, what owing, and
striking the balance.
The shopmen are provided with a card register bearing the special number
assigned to each, and also with a packet of different coloured tickets numbered
from 1 to 100, for which they are accountable.
When a customer makes a purchase the shopman, after entering the amount sold
and adding it up on the ticket, will carry the total to the 1st division of the card
register bearing the No. 1 corresponding with the No. 1 of the ticket, showing the
total he has just entered, and give the ticket to the customer whom he accompanies
to the cash-keeper.
The ticket is checked, the amount paid, and then filed by the cash-keeper on a
long file within sight of the public. He proceeds in the same way for the ticket
No. 2, the total of which will also have been entered in the division No. 2 of the
card register, and so on for the following ones. All the shopmen acting in the
same way all the different coloured tickets will be filed on the cash-room file in the
order of the sales effected.
The work is in no way hindered, as besides the work of adding up the ticket
there is only a single total to be repeated on the card register, which can be done
while accompanying the customer to the cash-keeper.

page_text: Thus the number of the detached tickets of the sales corresponding with the
number of divisions filled up on the card the number on the latter will immediately
give the number of sales effected by the shopman, and the latter being accountable
for the hundred tickets, the addition of the sums carried in the divisions will give
no less quickly the total figure of the sales.
On the other hand, by adding the total of the card registers to the morning's odd
money, and to the amount of the orders and bills received, which are entered in a
special book easy to verify, the real amount of cash in hand will be ascertained,
which cannot be exactly known by the shopmen, as they are ignorant of the
amount of the orders and bills received. If there is any mistake the amount
thereof is found out at once.
Should the shopman forget to inscribe a sale in any division and inscribe the
following one therein he would immediately find out his mistake from the number
not corresponding to that on the ticket, and would only have to give the number of
the empty division to the cash-keeper to discover at once the sum forgotten.
If the shopman has to inscribe a sum duc instead of a sale he will mark on his
ticket the word due, and turning the card register upside down he will inscribe the
amount due in the division in which he would have inscribed his sale, so that this
sum cannot get mixed up in adding up the sales.
In case of a mistake or a claim owing to a mistake in the addition or the price
the customer has two easy ways of having it proved by pointing out the shopman
or the colour of his ticket, if he can give the approximate time, and the mistake
will be discovered immediately, for each ticket being filed when paid its position
will indicate pretty nearly the time of the sale; the search is therefore limited to a
few tickets of the colour indicated, and when the one on which the mistake exists
is found the shopman cannot deny it, as he alone was in possession of that ticket.
Another advantage of thus filing the packets of tickets is that the work of each
shopman is set off before the eyes of the master, for the number of the last ticket
of each shopman shows the number of customers served by him, and the master
will be able to take into account the way in which the serving is conducted, for the
colours will succeed each other according to the activity of all the shopmen, and
ascertain the number of customers served in the day by adding up the numbers of
the last tickets of each shopman.
A customer may take away the ticket without paying when the shop is crowded
owing to the carelessness of the shopman; in that case there will evidently be a
ticket missing on the file which will have to be looked for by picking them out in
colours, the order in which the tickets are filed causing then to class themselves in
number when taken off the file.
As soon as the absence of a number is proved in one colour it will be known
who has made the mistake, each shopman having his own colour; and by referring
to the number of the division on the card register corresponding with the number
of the missing ticket the amount of the mistake will be found out. This operation
may be simplified by giving the shopman a counter as a discharge for the ticket
paid for and filed; and indeed if the number of his counters in the evening does
not correspond with that of the sales then it is he who has made the mistake.
on the other hand the number of the tickets or of the counters agrees with that of
the sales inscribed on the card register then the mistake will arise from the cashier
having given more change than he ought to have done. Can this mistake be
attributed to dishonesty? No; for being morally and pecuniarily responsible he is
certain it will be discovered at night.
If
In case of an overplus in the receipts the claims of the customer will be enter-
tained and satisfied owing to the exact amount received being known.
In one word, the card register is the master's security, as it establishes an exact
control over receipts and shopmen. It covers even the moral responsibility of the
cashier, gives good shopmen a means of making themselves appreciated, stimulates
middling ones, and makes bad ones work by giving each a like share of respon-
sibility.

page_text: The dimensions of the card registers may of course be modified, or any other
material substituted for the cardboards, such as slate or other similar material on
which writing can be rubbed out, and which would therefore last a very long time.
Should the variety of colour of the tickets be insufficient in large commercial houses
-they-might be provided, independently of a number of series, with a plain or dis-
tinctive mark of shape, size, or ornament to suit different tastes and requirements.
Having thus fully described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise details above enumerated, as these may obviously be modified
without-departing from the principle of the Invention; but what I claim is, the
system of checking by means of the new or improved card register for registering
sales in commercial houses, substantially as above described, and represented in the