IMPROVEMENTS IN REGISTERING TILLS
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Agate, of Emsworth, in the County of Hants, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REGISTERING TILLS."
Sealed the 9th May 1876, and dated the 9th March 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Agate at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th March 1876.
JOSEPH AGATE, of Emsworth, in the County of Hants.
REGISTERING TILLS."
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
My Invention relates to tills employed in shops, warehouses, and other establish-
inents, into which money received from customers is placed, and has for its object
the registration and checking of the amounts paid into the said tills or taken out
of them for purpose of change, the apparatus for this purpose being arranged to
act in conjunction with the movement of the drawer which constitutes the till
receptacle, so that the said till cannot be opened for the purpose of dealing with
its contents without giving motion to the registering apparatus.
For this purpose I arrange within the till drawer a lever, which, whenever the
drawer is opened, causes a pawl to turn a ratchet wheel one tooth. On the axis
of this ratchet wheel is a drum on which is wound a strip of paper drawn from an
adjacent reel. A portion of the paper, as it passes on to the drum, is exposed
through a hole in the counter or table under which the drawer is mounted. The
shopmen or persons using the till write on this exposed portion of the paper the
amounts which they place in the till, and as a fresh portion of the paper is made
by the movement of the drum to present itself cach time the drawer is opened,
the amounts written appear in successive order on the paper strip, which can from
time to time be removed for the purpose of checking the total with the amount of
cash in the till.
I prefer to make the slit through which the paper appears wide enough to leave
two, three, or more, of the amounts written on the paper visible at once, as by
this means when several persons are using the till each of them can check the
amounts recorded by the others.
I prefer also to cover the front portion of the drawer with a flap door or lid,
which cannot be opened unless the drawer is pulled out against a stop a determinate
distance, as this ensures that no access can be got to the cash in the till without
n

page_text: such a movement of the drawer as must work the drum by the action of the ratchet
and pawl, and so move the paper a step onwards.
The registering apparatus described above may be applied to existing till drawers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Joseph Agate in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th August
1876.
JOSEPH AGATE, of Emsworth, in the County of Hants. " IMPROVEMENTS IN
REGISTERING TILLS."
My Invention relates to tills employed in shops, warehouses, and other establish-
ments, into which money received from customers is placed, and has for its object
the registration and checking of the amounts paid into the said tills or taken out
of them for purpose of change, the apparatus for this purpose being arranged to act
in conjunction with the movement of the drawer which constitutes the till recep-
tacle, so that the said till cannot be opened for the purpose of dealing with its
contents without giving motion to the registering apparatus.
For this purpose I arrange within the till drawer a lever, which, whenever the
drawer is opened causes a pawl to turn a ratchet wheel one tooth. On the axis of
this ratchet wheel is a drum or roller which draws a strip of paper from an adjacent
reel. A portion of the paper as it passes from the reel is exposed through a hole
in the counter or table under which the drawer is mounted. The shopman or
persons using the till write on this exposed portion of the paper the amounts which
they place in the till, and as a fresh portion of the paper is made by the movement
of the drum or roller to present itself each time the drawer is opened, the amounts
written appear in successive order on the paper strip which can from time to
time be removed for the purpose of checking the total with the amount of cashi
in the till.
I prefer to make the slit through which the paper appears wide enough to leave
two, three, or more of the amounts written on the paper visible at once, as by this
means when several persons are using the till each of them can check the amounts
recorded by the others.
1.
11

page_text: insertion on the paper of the amounts in two columns, distinguishing receipts and
payments.
In order to produce sufficient friction for drawing the paper either or both of the
rollers F are covered with elastic material, such as caoutchouc, or the one roller is
pressed against the other by springs acting on the bearings in which it works.
When a length of paper strip, with successive amounts marked thereon, has passed
through between the rollers and hangs from them, it can be torn. off, and the
amounts can be added and checked against the state of the till.
It is obvious that known means other than those above described might be
employed for the purpose of moving onward the paper strip step by step at each move-
ment of the drawer. For example, as shewn diagrammatically in Fig. 4, the paper
might be wound off the reel E on to a roller O, fixed on the axis of a ratchet wheel
worked as already described. Or the paper might be moved onwards by mechanism
similar to that employed for feeding the fabric in a sewing machine, as shewn
diagrammatically at Fig. 5. In this case a lever P, heavy at the one end p¹ where
it has a downward bulge, and serrated at the other end p² is mounted by a slotted
hole on a pin p, and a roller Q is pressed by a weight or spring against the face of
a framing R through a slot in which the lever P passes. The paper strip D'taken
from the reel E is passed over the pad C, and thence down between the roller Q
and face of R, where it is held by the pressure of Q against R. A small roller L,
adjustable in height, as already described with reference to Fig. 2, being mounted
on the till drawer acts on the heavy end of the lever P every time the drawer is
moved in the following manner:-When the drawer is pulled out the roller L,
moving in the direction of the arrow when it comes to bear against the inclined
end p of the lever P, pushes the lever forwards as far as the slot at p will permit,
so that the serrated end 23 engages with the paper which it presses between
itself and the roller Q, bearing the latter away from the face of R. The farther
movement of the roller L, raising the end p¹ of the lever P, causes the serrated
end p² to descend, drawing downwards a length of the paper until the roller L
escapes pl. In the back movement of. the drawer the roller L pushes back the
lever P before raising the tail p³, disengaging the serrations p³ from the paper,
which is held stationary by the roller Q pressing it against the face R.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I claim the combination with a till drawer of apparatus, whereby
every time the drawer is opened a strip of paper is caused to travel a certain
distance, presenting at an opening on the surface of the counter successive portions
of the paper on which can be written successive dealings with the contents of the
till, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Agate, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.