Patent ID: 7661306

Claim:
An instrument for a flow meter, the instrument comprising: an input shaft that is driven to rotate in a first direction or in a second opposite direction by a flow meter when the input shaft is coupled to the flow meter; an output shaft that rotates in response to rotation of the input shaft, the rotation of the output shaft causing a data device to collect information related to the flow meter; and a gear system that couples the input shaft to the output shaft, said gear system to automatically adjust and thereby direct the output shaft in a forward rotational direction in response to both rotation of the input shaft in the first direction and rotation of the input shaft in the second opposite direction, wherein the gear system comprises an input gear coupled to the input shaft, an output gear coupled to the output shaft, and an idler gear assembly that translates rotational motion from the input gear to the output gear, the idler gear assembly including first and second idler gears collectively mounted to a movable body that, in response to rotation of the input gear in the first direction, shifts the arrangement of the first and second idler gears so that at least one of the first and second idler gears disengages the output gear, and wherein the movable body of the idler gear assembly is pivotable relative to the input gear from a first orientation in which the first idler gear directly engages both the input gear and the output gear to a second orientation in which the first idler gear directly engages only one of the input gear and the output gear.