US2573385A - Time computing machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 30, 1951 N. o. BERGQUIST 2,573,385

TIME COMPUTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet l fr g5- Oct. 30, 1951 N, o. BERGQUIST 2,573,385

TIME COMPUTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 cL, 30, 1951 N. o. BERGQUIST 2,573,385

TIME: COMPUTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 5, 1949 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 Oct. 30, 1951 N, o. BERGQUIST 2,573,385

TIME COMPUTING MACHINE Filed Nov. s, 1949 4 sheets-sheet 4 Patented Oct. 30, 1951 TIME COMPUTING MACHINE Nils Olof Bergquist, Appelvkcn, near Stockholm, Sweden Application November 3, 1949, Serial No. 125,251 In Sweden October 4, 1944 9 Claims.

The present application is a continuation-inpart of my co-pending application, Serial No. 619,706.ii1ed October l, 1945, now abandoned, entitled Time Computing Machines.

The present invention relates to a calculating machine for computing elapsed time between two points of time, that is computing differences of time and the total of such differences, such points of time being for example the beginning and the end of working hours as taken from time cards or other printed or written time records, and both the entrances and the results of the calculations being normally presented as hours and fractions of hours.

More particularly the invention refers to a time computing machine in which a counter for accumulating such differences of times is actuated in dependence of the distance over which an index travels between two points on a time scale when a wheel is rolling along a track, the wheel normally being out of engagement with the track but when in action being in engagement with the track for the time corresponding to the travel from one point on said scale to the other.

The chief object of the invention is to construct such a machine so as to render the computing operations reliable by locking the wheel in its position of rotation when not fully engaged by the track, and using a positive engagement of the wheel with the track when rolling along the same; and another object is to construct such machines so as to render the adding and subtracting operation involved, more easy and rapid.

A further object of the invention is to construct the time computing machine so that the entrances of the numerical information to be added or subtracted, may be made by the aid of a pointer movable along a fixed time scale, and the result can be obtained from an accumulating counter of common type.

These and other objects of the invention as well as features of the same will appear from the iollowing specification and the claims.

Two embodiments of the invention are by way of example illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a time computing machine in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a broken plan view showing the heart of the interior mechanism of the machine according to Fig. l, on a greater scale; the wheel being axially displaceable in a carriage comprising two sections, the upper section of which is removed to show the internal means more clearly;

Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line III-III in Fig. 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical cross-section on the line IV-IV in Fig. 2; A

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-section on the line V-V in Fig. 2;

Figure 6 is a vertical cross section through a time computing machine according to another embodiment of the invention, the wheel being lifted to and fro engagement With the rack;

Figure '7 is a partial front view of the computing machine according to Fig. 6, the casing being partially cut away for showing details of the mechanism;

Figure 8 shows a top'view of the carriage of the machine shown in Figs. 3 and 4; and

Figure 9 shows a time scale suitable for the machine.

Referring now to the drawings, l indicates an accumulating counter, having a number of totalizer or numeral wheels, indicating hours and fractions of hours. The counter may be of wellknown construction and is not shown in detail here. It should be constructed both for additive and for subtractive operations. The counter l is stationary in the machine frame and is actuated in either direction of rotation by a shaft 2 rotatably journalled in the machine frame.

The shaft 2 is slotted at 3, and this slot is engaged by a spline in the hub 4a of a bevel gear Wheel 4. The hub 4a of that Wheel is journalled in a movable carriage 5 comprising two sections 5a, 5b screwed together. Thus, the wheel 4 is movable axially along the shaft 2, but the shaft will be rotated when the wheel 4 rotates. This wheel meshes permanently with a second bevel gear wheel 6, which is also rotatably journalled in the carriage 5 by means of its hub 6a.

In the hub 6a of the wheel 6 a shaft 'l is displaceably splined and on that shaft a spur wheel 8 is secured. The wheel 8 is with its shaft 1 displaceable between two positions, viz. an inoperative position (Figs. 2 and 3) in which it is engaged by a locking stop tooth I9 secured to the top of the carriage 5, and an operative position (not illustrated in the drawing) in which the wheel 8 is in mesh with a toothed rack 9 stationary in the machine frame and parallel with the shaft 2. For displacing the wheel 8 between said two positions a coupling plate I6 attached to a runner or indicator member I0, is slidably mounted in the carriage 5, between the two sections 5a, 5b of the same, and is provided with a rectangular aperture Ic, within which the wheel 8 is located. The coupling plate I6 is forknalled, which in one end carries a spur gear wheel 30 and in the other end a bevel gear wheel 3I in permanent mesh with a second bevel gear Wheel 32 on a shaft 33, rotatably journalled in the carriage 22. This shaft carries two actuator wheels 34, one for each of the counters and 2l. One of the counters 2), ZI shows the grand total,

- `while' the'- other-shows Ythe` suloetotal.V "The counstops I8 attached to the carriage 5,-and the in,

ward motion of the coupling plateis"'limited*by engagement of the central portion-of-saidgplate Y carriage 5 withzzitszfassociated..-members:can be moved axially along the shaft 2-withoutany..actuationr -on the .fwheels Mexm-,and .the counter I i For-computing, the operator'.- frstmoves the nunnerl @fand thus the carriage:5tlaterallyby means of thehandlem', Y'stillfinfits inoperative- (unde-:`

pressed) position, until the index 'line` 1-5;fcoin .oidesfwith that point' or line ofl the scale Illysay 17.30 "oclock which fmarks the` beginning -of fthe work. Now the operator presses the:..-handlef-IZ inwardsand thus causes :thewheelf Bfto' mesh'with the rack 5,' and thenihemoves ^4therunnerto the Aright, untilfrthe index Eline;- I5 coincides .with'that point of the time scale I 4, say 16.00 -Aplfm #which-'corresponds' tothe-endof` the Work. When Y"the `runner thus rhasf been #moved between jthe :points "7.30ian'd 916:00 of "therscale,the-wheels 8,45, "4 rotatethei'shaft '21 so that the fitem--Sil/g is Aentered into the rcounter. Thus the counter Vdi- .retlyshows ithe number r'of hours consumedv for 1i athewvork. If'the..workfhasbeencarried out fdurting:Y several periodsff times separatedfbywpauses,

y'such periods 'fare successivelycenteredinto the counter, which'l-thenfshows thetotal AThe coun- 'terimay-be cleared fin well-.known manner.

' '.When"the'handleV I2fzis1pressed inwards, Yfther' `wheel 8 is-,not'fullynreleased fromtthe stcpwtooth i-rI Stun-til it :has'beenwbrought .finto full-engagement 'with'f the' rack, @and whenmove'd'foutwards 4the 'Wheel 8 is not" fully `released' from" the.` rack :.until it EhasfV been :brought: into full engagement mithf.

"'the stop tooth "I 9;.thefwheelr8 'thus Fbeing 'locked Vvagainst rotation when finf all `-intermediate -gpositions. "Ilhf'erefore,v `the Wheel'f8 willralways fbe :in 'suchla position ofirotationithatiits:teethf are exrack teeth. Of fcourse, Tthel-sniallest"divisions on "the scale must be'of thesameisize aszfthe relative distancefof'theteeth on` the'ara'ck ,orbefa small multiple ot'` said distance.

'Inj'the er'nbddimentillustrated` in' Figs; 3-8;the

v4"two accumulating vcounters 20 andjZI are ar- '.'anged'on the movableparriage 22. The .carri'age rolls on rollers'23 in rectilinear,` vvstationary `Vguides 24. VOn pins in theside-Walls of' the carriage, a carrier" v2S1is'rockaloly journalled. 'To'v the `vcarrier 26' a Vhandle or`nger-piece'"2'i is secured, and a' torsion or 'coil 'spring '23 serves "to "keep the carrienz with its vhandle inV their upper- `most position.

'In bearings in the carrier 26 a shaftlis'jour- Vters have .individual clearing .means vin wellknown manner.

When the operator presses down the handle 21 manually, the toothed wheel 3Q comes into mesh Witha stationary straight toothed rack 35 secured .to i.he-machine frame. On the shaft 29 also a dentatedwheel 3S is secured which cooperates with a tooth 3! secured to the carriage 25. This tooth 'flocks thelwheelseand prevents the shaft 29 from rotating, as long as the handle 2l is no t fully depressed. But as soon as the operators finger depresses the handle 251 fully and the wheel 35 is liberatedv fromthe,stoptooth 3.1,..the .ivheelf is securely :in mesh with'the.stationaryrack, @Sand rotates, when the. carriage..is,.-movedlaterally. in its guides. Thus,-.when theicarriagelis moved laterally `the wheel F35 is.. eitherflocked.orincfull mesh with .the rack 35. ,This preventserrors of calculation. Y

Thus, aswill-appear ronfnlig.. 6, the. stop wheel 36 is 'not fully released fromthestop -.tooth31.lun

. til the `wheel .3Q` rhasfullyengaged the rack .35, v.and` theA wheel .30. is not .fully released .rom..the Y rack-35 -until thestop Wheel .has fully.- engaged the stop tooth V,31,...the-vvheel. 3.5.thus .being flocked against rotation in all ,intermediateepositions Therefore, the wheel 3U also..inthisienibodiment willalways Vbe in such .a positionof. rotationthat its Y teeth are exactlyin alignment .withthespaces ,between the rackteeth. It-shouldbeiunderstood e that the-stop wheel v35 `must havefthe .same ynum- :aber ofv --teeth .as has the Wheel 3Il,.-and evidently the smallest division on., the scale- -must,also in ...this-embodiment-beoffthe-samesizeaslthe.relative Vdistance Ofthe-fteetheon-the rackor beva-small multiple of said distance. l y

'The' hand1e12 'l extends :through a..longitudinal slot in the casing 3 8 -of-the machine,` and' rthrough another slot in=thecasingffanV indexsfafextends, 'l showing theposition'of theA carriage 26 onfa l time scale A4I).

A"A preferred-embodiment :vofV #this scaler .-is illustrated in-Fig.9. The-numeralsfappearing on this scale indicatev the Ahours :from if olclockfin the 'morning' to 20.30 (^=half pasteight) yin-theevening Asis fnow' usual in 4time printing clocks-and similarY time recording devices; lthe .hoursare subdivided in thevdecimal-system. lIntl-ie example illustrated in Fig. 9;itis--assumed that thefwork is stopped for meals between-*1 1 and '12.-and-also "between 161.5l fhalf past four p.-m.)1and17. "In order to automatically deduce thosepauses in time "computations byfmeans offthe machine, the points .for 11 and 12 are coinciding-Orr ythe'scalafand also the pointsfor 16.5:rand 17. -Thusgwhen a work has beenY carried -out-fbetweenfl -oclock and 13 oclockwitha pauseof .onehour'forflunch only two hours are registered in the-accumulators 20"and"2 L'whenA the indexsSQ is'moved from""10 to"13 oirthe'scale'li.

In the casing 38 there'is-'aflongewindow'dl"for rendering 'it possible'to read-fthe counters'fzil, 2l in any position of' the carriage'ZE.

The mode 'of operationisv as follows: When thetime 4totalfis' pto befcomputedi from-"a time record, suchasfawprintedeard from a time c :cntrol machine,y showing the' :points Vof itimasnn manner. each single operation, while the grand total of which the various operations ofthe work began and ended, the'operator rst moves the carriage 26 by means of the handle 21 (then undepressed) to the position, in which the index 39 points on that line of the scale 40 which corresponds to the point of time at which the work began. He now depresses the handle 2'! fully so that the wheel 30 comes into mesh with the rack 35 and the dentated Wheel 36 is liberated from the stop tooth 31, and then he moves the carriage to the right (in Fig. 4), until the index reaches that line of the scale 40 which corresponds to the point of time at which the work ended. Consequently the wheel 3D is rotated an angle proportional to the time consumed and into the counters 20, 2| a value (an item) is entered proportional to that time. If several periods of time have been consumed for one work, they may be entered in a similar The counter may be cleared after the operations is cumulated in the counter 2|.

The scale 40 is detachable so that a scale having another division to suit other conditions may be substituted for it.

It may also be mentioned that the rack 35 and the scale 4D parallel with it may be slightly curved. If so, the radius of curvature should be at least 20 cm. and the scale should cover at most By this the operator will be able to move the handle 21 while resting his elbow on the table at the center of the curvature.

The machine may be used for computing the diierence of time between two points of time specifically stated, and also the sum total of such diiTerences. It is useful for calculating wages, charges to be debited to a customer for work carried out, timing as used in scientific industrial management etc.

An ordinary time scale (without interruptions for meals and other pauses) may be arranged along the scale 4U, or may be substituted for it. An ordinary scale and an interrupted scale may be engraved on the same metal strip like 40 (Fig. 6).

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. A time computing machine for computing differences of times and the totals of such differences, comprising, in combination, a stationary scale divided in units of time, an index movable along the scale, at least one accumulating counter for accumulating diiferences of time and an actuator for said counter, a toothed rack mounted stationarily in parallel with the scale and having its teeth arranged at distances corresponding to the divisions of said scale, a toothed gear wheel for cooperation with said rack, a movement transmission from the rack to the actuator, in which transmission said toothed wheel is included, a carriage movable along said rack and scale, which carriage supports said index as well as at least the toothed wheel of said movement transmission, coupling means mounted in said carriage for interrupting said movement transmission when the carriage with index is to be moved along the scale and no entry in the counter is to be made, but holding said transmission operative when the carriage with index is moved along the scale between two points of time, the difference of which is to be entered into the counter, and locking means for preventing rotation of said toothed wheel when said of a revolution 6 movement transmission is interrupted, andV allowing such rotation only when said movement transmission is complete.

2. A time computing machine for computing differences of times and the totals of such differences, comprising, in combination, a stationary scale divided in units of time, an index movable along the scale, at least one accumulating counter for accumulating diierences of time and an actuator for said counter, a toothed rack mounted stationarily in parallel with the scale and having its teeth arranged at distances corresponding to the divisions of said scale, a toothed gear wheel for cooperation with said rack, a movement transmission from the rack to the actuator, in which transmission said toothed wheel is included, a carriage movable along said rack and scale, which carriage supports said index as well as at least the toothed wheel of said movement transmission, coupling means mounted in said carriage for moving said toothed wheel out of mesh with said rack when the carriage with index is to be moved along the scale and no entry in the counter is to be made, but holding said toothed wheel in mesh with said rack when the carriage with index is moved along the scale between two points of time, the differences of which is to be entered into the counter, and locking means for preventing rotation of said toothed wheel when not fully in mesh with said rack.

3. A time computing machine for computing differences of times and the totals of such differences, comprising, in combination, a stationary scale divided in units of time, an index movable along the scale, at least one accumulating counter for accumulating differences of time and an actuator for said counter, a toothed rack mounted stationarily in parallel with the scale and having its teeth arranged at distances corresponding to the divisions of said scale, a toothed gear wheel for cooperation with said rack, a movement transmission from the rack to the actuator, in which transmission said toothed wheel is included, a carriage movable along said rack and scale, which carriage supports said index as well as said movement transmission together with counter actuator, coupling means mounted in said carriage for interrupting said movement transmission when the carriage with index is to be moved along the scale and no entry7 in the counter is to be made, but holding said transmission operative when the carriage with index is moved along the scale between two points of time, the difference of which is to be entered into the counter, and locking means for preventing rotation of said toothed wheel when said movement transmission is interrupted, and allowing such rotation only when said movement transmission is complete.

4. A time computing machine :for computing differences of times and the totals of such differences, comprising, in combination, a stationary scale divided in units of time, an index movable along the scale, an accumulating counter for accumulating differences of time and an actuator for said counter, a toothed rack mounted stationarily in parallel with the scale-and having its teeth arranged at distances corresponding to the divisions of said scale, a toothed gear wheel for cooperation with said rack, a movement transmission from the rack to the actuator, in which transmission said toothed wheel is included, a carriage movable along said rack and scale, which carriage supports said index, a rocker -`7 mounted finf -said fcam'iageftand :supporting ,1- said `toothed Wheel :with associatedparts for :lifting said toothed wheel out-ofellgagementwith.said 1 ifack-fwhenqthe carriage 'with-.index is ytofloeA moved 'alongihe sca- 1e and1no`-ent1fy-is `to be made in vlthe counter, :but holding ysaid toothed wheel vin .mesh with .said raol-whenfthe carriage with in- I; dex is moved 4*along the-scale between two points K oftime, lthe diierence `oflwhch is -to vbe entered finto :'-the -counter, Vandlocking means y for pre- .,vent'ng rotation of said toothed-Wheel -when not fullyngaged :in the rack.

Y,5.1191 time computing Lmachine las claimed Ain `claim-:14, wherein said locking-means comprises ,a-stationary stopftooth for'preventing rotation of :the Tack.

.SQA @time :Camputing n machine as 1 claimed; in

fgzlaim 4; wherein said-toothed wheelis firmly c0n-.

-Ynectedwith a--dentated wheel; for engagement witha stop tooth as `soonjas the toothed .wheel begins torinove out Aof mesh with the rack.

Number 7. r A- t time acompu-tin machine f as -Yclaimedzim claim- 2, whereinisaidrrtoothed wheel is` axially slidablev-out offandinto mesh with saidrack.

9. A= time computing machine Aas claimed in claim 2,whereina handle isprovided for-actuating said coupling vmeans and movng-said-.car- .riage NILS QLOF BERGQU'IST.

REFl'EIRENYCES CITED 'The following -references are'- ofgfrecord inT the ufile ofY this patent: l

UNITED S'iiA'iEsf PATENTS Corliss July 20,'1920

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