AN IMPROVED NUMERICAL COUNTING AND RECORDING MACHINE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT
to Fenner Ballou Taylor, of Glasgow, County of
Lanark, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED NUMERICAL COUNTING
AND RECORDING MACHINE."
Sealed the 25th September 1869, and dated the 29th March 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Fenner Ballou Taylor
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th March 1869.
1, FENNER BALLOU TAYLOR, of Glasgow, County of Lanark, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED NUMERICAL
COUNTING AND RECORDING MACHINE," to be as follows:-
The improved machine or apparatus for counting and recording
numbers which constitutes this Invention is constructed in the following
manner:
In a suitable case of cover I mount two shafts or spindles parallel
with each other. Upon the main or major shaft I place a number of
rotating wheels with flanges at their peripheries of sufficient width for
having figures of the required size engraved or marked thereon. These
flanges are graduated or divided into an equal number of spaces, and

page_text: each space engraved or marked as just described.
As a general rule the
But the mode of
spaces may be ten and the numbers may be 0 to 9.
graduating the flanges and marking the same with figures will depend
upon the particular use for which the counter is required. The
graduated and figured wheels are placed side by side upon the major
shaft, upon which they run free, except the first wheel which is fixed
thereto. The main shaft runs through the centre of the case or cover of
the machine or apparatus, at the top of which a line of openings is
formed through which the figures are visible. These openings are
glazed, or a plate of glass is inserted in the case under the said openings,
through which the figures can be seen and which at the same time serves
the purpose of excluding all dust and dirt. The graduated and figured
wheels are made with teeth entirely round one side or face near the edge
thereof, and are turned or actuated by pinions herein-after described, the
opposite face of the wheels being plain, except at one point where two
teeth are formed, these two teeth at a certain point of the revolution
take into teeth one one side of the pinions and turn them partially. The
pinions are mounted upon the second or minor shaft, upon which they
run free, these pinions are formed with two sets of teeth, the number on
one side being double that on the other; two of the smaller number being
so arranged that they are in constant contact with the plain surface of
the main wheels, and serve as a lock to prevent the pinion from turning,
except when the teeth on the wheels come to the proper point when the
lock teeth take into the space between the odd teeth on the wheels, by
this arrangement the motion is rendered positive and the action of the
counter wheels always certain. The first wheel is made fast to the shaft
and gives motion to the second, the second to the third, and so on
throughout the series. The number of teeth on the sides of the main
wheels and the proportionate number of teeth on the pinions must be
regulated by the progressive order or number of divisions on the counter
wheels. When the latter are divided into tens, the number of teeth on
the driven face should be twenty, on the driving face two, and the
number of teeth on the driven side of the pinion four, on the driving
side eight, and so on, according to the number of revolutions which the
main shaft has to make for one turn of the first main wheel. When it
is desired to count and register reciprocating motion in addition to the
second shaft and pinion above described, from which I remove the first
pinion, I introduce in lieu of this removed pinion a rising and falling or
sliding plate with a slot cut in the centre for the main shaft. On the

page_text: opposite edges of this plate I form projections, and between the first and
second main wheels which are formed as before described I fit two
pinions, but instead of placing these pinions on the second shaft I place
them on two short shafts, and have two of these pinions one on each
side of or above and below the rising and falling or sliding plate. The
teeth on one side of these pinions are so arranged that they also lock by
being in constant contact with the edge of the plate, except when they
are required to partially rotate. I use two of these pinions so that the
one on the right or upper side of the plate can be turned, while that on
the opposite side is locked and vice versa, as the plate is moved the pro-
jections actuate the pinions so that the reciprocating motion or double
stroke of the plate turns the first main, wheel one-tenth of a revolution,
while the rest of the main wheels are turned by each other in succession
as before described.
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Fenner Ballou Taylor in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FENNER
BALLOU TAYLOR, of Glasgow, County of Lanark, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Fenner Ballou Taylor, Her special
licence that I, the said Fenner Ballou Taylor, any executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Fenner Ballou Taylor,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
IMPROVED NUMERICAL COUNTING AND RECORDING MACHINE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Fenner Ballou Taylor, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one

page_text: of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Fenner Ballou Taylor, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The improved machine or apparatus which constitutes this Invention
is intended for counting and recording or registering numbers. It
operates or is operated in the manner herein-after described, and is
formed and constructed as described in my Provisional Specification
thereof, dated the Twenty-ninth day of March 1869, No. 937, and as
shewn upon the accompanying Drawing, to which the following
explanation refers. The scale is full size.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 is an external view of the counter, and shews it as in use,
having counted the number two hundred and thirty-one; Fig. 2 is an
end view; Fig. 3 is a side elevation, with a portion of the case removed
in order to shew the interior arrangement and mechanism; Fig. 4 is a
transverse section at the line A, B, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 shows the form and
mode of gearing the first wheel and pinion of the series; Fig. 6 shews a
mode of obtaining a rotative from a reciprocating motion; and Fig. 7
the mode of effecting the locking of the parts.
The following reference applies to each illustration where the index
letter appears.
The parts in view in each Figure being lettered with
similar letters.
A is a base plate or foundation for the machine; B", B, two uprights
mounted upon the base plate and carrying the shafts, counter wheels;
and pinions which constitute the elements of the apparatus. a is the
main or major shaft upon which the counter wheels are mounted, the
number of which may be varied as required; b, the minor shaft parallel
with the major shaft, and carrying the same number of pinions as there
are wheels on the latter; c is the driving wheel which may be a plain
disc having two projecting teeth on one side with a notch between them,
as shewn at Fig. 5, and is made fast to the major shaft so as to

page_text: ,,
turn therewith and transmit motion to the counting and recording
mechanism; d, d', d", &c. are the counter wheels. These wheels run
loose upon the main shaft, are toothed on one side, as shewn at Fig. 4,
and on the other, as shewn at Fig. 5, they are formed with flanges at
their peripheries, which flanges are graduated or divided into ten equal
spaces, each space having a figure or number marked or engraved
therein, as shewn at Fig. 3. The numbers on the wheel & represent
units, those on d tens, on d² hundreds, and so on; plain margins being
left on the side of the graduated or scale portion of the periphery for
locking the pinions, as will be hereafter explained. The counter wheels
are all duplicates of each other, have each twenty teeth on the "near
sides or faces where they receive motion from the pinions, and two teeth
on their left or "off" sides where they transmit motion to the pinions;
e is the first pinion on the minor shaft, receives motion from the driving
wheel cat a certain point of its rotation, and transmits the motion thus
received to the first counter wheel d; f, f, f, &c. are the other pinions
which receive and transmit motion from one counter wheel to another in
succession at certain points of their rotation. These pinions are all
duplicates of each other, and are formed as shewn at Figs. 3, 4, and 5,
every alternate tooth being cut away for about one-third of its thickness
on the right or minor side to allow two of the remaining teeth or full-
width teeth to overlap the plain margin at the side of the flange of the
counter wheels, and thus form the lock before referred to; g, g', g³, &c.
are the driving teeth on the left or "off" side of the counter wheels,
which take into and gear with the teeth on the major face of the
pinions e, f, f', &c. at the point of rotation before mentioned. The
teeth are formed with a flat nose, as shewn on the Drawing at Fig. 4.
h, h', h, &c. are notches or spaces cut out of the plain margins of the
flanges of the counter wheels to allow the locking teeth of the pinions
to enter and the pinion to turn when the driving teeth of the wheels
engage therewith; i, i, is a case or cover in which the mechanism is
enclosed; j, j', j³, &c. being spaces through which the figures on the
counter wheels are visible. is a glass for keeping out dust, &c. The
teeth on the major side or face of the pinions are constantly in gear with
the teeth on the right side of the counter wheels, but the teeth on the
right or minor face of the pinions prevent the latter from turning until
the notches h, h', &c. in the counter wheels arrive opposite the first
locking or minor tooth; the pinion is then unlocked and is carried round
two teeth when, the notch having passed the minor tooth, further motion

page_text: of the pinion is arrested. The number of teeth on the major face of each
pinion must be a multiple of the number of driving teeth on the counter
wheel, thus, supposing the number of driving teeth on the counter wheel
to be two, then the number of teeth on the pinion must he 4, 6, 8, 10, &c.
The number of spaces on the periphery of the counter wheels regulates
the multiple or proportionate number of teeth on the right or driven
side to that of the number of teeth on the left or driving side; for
instance, suppose the number of spaces on the periphery of the counter
wheel is ten, then the number of teeth on the right or driven side must
be ten times the number of teeth on the left or driving side.
The apparatus operates in the following manner, that is to say:-For
counting and registering or recording the revolutions of any mechanism,
the shaft a is connected therewith by a suitable coupling, the counter
wheels being first all set to 0 opposite the line of openings in the case
or cover, and the teeth on the left or driving side of the counter wheels
being in contact with the teeth on the release side of the pinions. Nine-
tenths of an entire revolution of the driving wheel e may now be made
without affecting the pinion e, which remains locked by the edge of the
wheel e being in contact with the two teeth on the minor face of the
pinion, as shewn at 5, s, Fig. 7. Upon completing the revolution the
projecting teeth g of the driving wheel e engage with the major teeth of
the pinion and turn it forward two teeth, one of the minor or locking
teeth s being then opposite the notch h, the pinion is unlocked and free
to move forward as described, the locking tooth shaving passed through
the notch the teeth s' and take the place of s and s, and thus the
pinion is again locked till another revolution of the driving wheel moves
it forward in a similar manner to that just described. This intermittent
motion of the pinion is transmitted to the first counter wheel d, and moves
it one-tenth of a revolution for each turn of the driving wheel and main
shaft a, the pinion f remaining locked until the wheel & has made nine-
tenths of its revolution, when its teeth g' will engage with the teeth on
the major face of the pinion f and move it forward two teeth and the
next counter wheel at the same time one-tenth of its revolution; the
wheels d, d, and will thus move simultaneously at the change from
99 to 100; d, d', d, and d at the change from 999 to 1000, and so on
throughout the series. When the apparatus is intended to count and
register or record reciprocating instead of rotary motion the driving
wheel c and pinion e are removed, and the mechanism shewn at Fig. 6

page_text: introduced in their place.
t is a slide bar made with projections t', t",
on the edges. This bar is formed with a slot in the centre to allow it to
rise and fall, or slide upon the main shaft a. u, u', are two pinions
formed with major and minor teeth, as before described, and carried by
two short studs fixed in the standard B. In the position here shewn the
bar is on the downward stroke, having given to the pinion a positive
motion of one tooth forward and locked it. This notion of the pinion has
been transmitted to the counter wheel d, while the latter has also moved
the pinion u' negatively one tooth forward ready to be acted upon and
moved an additional tooth forward by the projection t" on the right side
of the bar on its return stroke when the pinion u will be unlocked, as
shewn by the dotted lines, the two motions of the slide bar giving one-
tenth of a revolution of the counter wheel and indicating the same, as
before described. For maintaining the elements, or wheels and pinions,
in their respective normal positions a stop is secured to the cover i, i,
and in order to set the whole or any number of the wheels with their O's
opposite the appertures j, j', &c., this stop and the cover are raised, when
both wheels and pinions can be moved along and turned upon their
shafts, and adjusted as required. On replacing the stop and cover the
apparatus will be again ready for another counting and recording action
or operation.
Without restricting myself to dimensions, I claim the peculiar forms
and arrangements of graduated and toothed counter wheels, and major
and minor toothed pinions and slide bars, shewn upon the Drawing, and
herein described, for producing a transmitting intermittently continuous
rotary and reciprocating motion, and counting and recording the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Fenner Ballon Taylor, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
F. B. TAYLOR. (L.S.)