US2711855A - Automatic non-tabulating mechanism for accounting machines - Google Patents

Description

June 28, 1955 w. A. ANDERSON AUTOMATIC NON-TABULATING MECHANISM FOR ACCOUNTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 26, 1952 @@@oooomm@@@ @@@oooooo@@@ @@@oooooo@@@ IN V EN TOR. WALTER A ANDERSON 2,711,355 AUTOMATIQ NON-TABULATKNG MECHANISM FOR ACOOUNTENG MACHlNES Walter A. Anderson, Trurnbnil, Con-IL, assigns-r to Underwood Corporation, New York, N. Y a corporation of Delaware Application December 26, 1952, Sari i No. 327,959

1 Claim. (Cl. 235-6042) This invention relates to accounting machines having a travelling paper carriage normally tabulating from a columnar position to a succeeding columnar position after each machine cycle, and more particularly to means for automatically disabling such tabulation of the carriage in a predetermined columnar position thereof.

In modern accounting practice, many occasions arise when it is desirable to enter in the machine keyboard, and print on the work sheet, a plurality of consecutive items in the same columnar position of the carriage. One instance of such type of work is found in sales auditing. In work of this character, the carriage is to be positioned in selected columnar printing position on the work sheet, and a plurality of amounts are to be entered in the machine keyboard and printed on the work sheet, which will be automatically vertically line spaced at the completion of each printing operation. it is, therefore, of considerable advantage, when viewed in terms of saving machine operating time, to restrain the carriage from movement from that columnar position while such amounts are being entered in the machine.

One object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a mechanism, operating automatically and under the control of the carriage, for effecting non-tabulation of said carriage in a selected columnar position on the work sheet.

Usually, in the type of work described, upon the completion of the last amount entered in the machine keyboard, it is desirable to tabulate the carriage to a succeeding columnar position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a manually operated means for releasing the mechanism described above from effective restraint over tabulating movement of the carriage while said carriage rests in its non-tabulating columnar position, to enable its instant release to tabulate therefrom in a normal manner during the next cycling of the machine.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combination of parts, the important elements of which are herein set forth in appended claims, and a preferred embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawings which accompany and form part of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmental perspective view of the mechanism of the present invention illustrating the parts in normal position.

Figure 2 shows in plan the keyboard of the machine, and

Figure 3 is a fragmental perspective detail view showing the assembly of certain of the parts shown in Figure 1.

The present invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a Sundstrand accounting machine similar to those disclosed in Patents Nos. 2,194,270 and 2,209,240, to Oscar J. Sundstrand and dated March 19,

United States Patent 0 1940, and July 23, 1940, respectively, and Patent No. 2,536,524 to Walter A. Anderson dated January 21, 1951, to which patents reference may be made for an understanding of such features of construction and mode of operation as are not fully disclosed herein.

Such machines generally include two crossfooter registers capable of addition and subtraction and eight registers for addition only. A travelling carriage is normally released from its tabulating stop mechanism during each machine cycle for tabulation to the next succeeding columnar position. A plate secured to the rear of the carriage has mounted thereon a plurality of magazines which are engageable by the tabulating stop mechanism to define the columnar positions and in addition carry a plurality of control lugs engageable with stationary control members to variously condition the machine elements to perform selected functions in each columnar position. A keyboard is provided with item keys to set up the amounts to be entered and with control keys to cycle the machine and to select the functions to be performed during such cycle.

The keyboard of the present machine is shown in Figure 2 and in comparison with the keyboard of Patent No. 2,536,524 above, it will be seen that an extra row of keys 16 to 23 inclusive and 107 has been added. These keys in to 23 take the place of the A, B, C and D register selecting keys and the second group key which is usable in conjunction therewith. The keys 16 to 23 each select one of the eight adding registers and also initiate a machine cycle. These keys are used to distribute and segregate the various transactions shown on a sales persons tickets. Key 107, as will be described at a later point, is a tabulation enabling key to be used for the last item of a group along with the proper one of the keys 16 to 23.

in the use of this machine for sales auditing procedure, the old balances, dates, folio numbers and such other data as is desired are listed in the leftmost group of columnar positions, each listing being followed by a tabulation of the carriage to the next position. When the carriage reaches the columnar position in which are to be listed the clerks sales, such automatic tabulation is suspended until all of the sales tickets are listed and distributed to the various registers by the use of the motorized keys in to 23, inclusive.

The automatic non-tabulating mechanism To disable the tabulating mechanism when the carriage is positioned in the column for listing and distributing the clerks sales tickets, the following mechanism is provided.

Referring to Figure 1, a cradle 34 is pivotally supported on a shaft 35 fixed in the machine frame (not shown). Secured to the cradle 34 is a bracket 37 having a depending leg 33 in which is fixed a stud 40. Mounted on the stud 4% is a control lever 41 having a rearwardly extending leg &3 engaging a control actuating lever 44. The lever is provided on a shaft 46 fixed in the machine frame and is rocked clockwise about the shaft 46 by the downward movement of a vertically disposed rod 47 operated by the engagement of a lug in a carriage control magazine and a machine function control lever in the manner described in Patent No. 2,194,270.

Forming part of the cradle 34 is an arm 49 having a leg 50 pivotally connected by as crew 52 to a bracket 53. The bracket 53 is secured to a second cradle 55 pivoted on a shaft 56 fixed in the machine frame. One end of the cradle 55 includes a rearwardly extending leg 58, a spring 61 connected between bracket 53 and a stationary part urging the cradle 55 clockwise to a normal position with leg 58 engaging a shaft 59 in the machine frame. The opposite end of the cradle 55 is formed with a depending leg 62 having a stud 64 on which is pivoted a slide 65 extending rearwardly in the machine and supported for forward and rearward movement on a fixed stud 67.

The release of the carriage from the tabulating stop at a columnar position is obtained in the present machine in the same manner as described in the Patent No. 2,197,240. Since the mechanism therefore is fully described in said patent, only such parts thereof as are pertinent to the present invention are shown and described herein. Briefly, the carriage is arrested in a columnar position upon the abutment of the forward end 63 of a control magazine and a stop lever 79 pivoted on a screw 71. Pivoted on a shaft 73 is a lever 74 having its right end slotted to engage a pin 76 in the left end of the crank 77 pivoted on a screw 79. The other end of the crank 77 is connected, by a stud 3i) and spacer 82 with an auxiliary tabulating stop 3 supported for vertical slidable movement on a screw 35 and urged downwardly by a spring 841. he stop lever 7t? includes an arm 86 which underlies the pin 76. The left end of lever '74 normally rests in a slot 39 provided therefor in a plate 91 mounted for vertical slidable movement on the machine frame. During each machine cycle, the plate 91 is raised to rock the lever 74 clockwise about its pivot shaft 73. With this movement of the lever 74, the crank 77 is rocked about its pivot 79 and the pin 76, acting upon the arm 86 of the stop lever 7t) clockwise on the screw 71 to release the end 68 of the magazine from abutment with the stop 70. With the pivoting of the crank 77, the stop 83 is raised to place a stop edge 92 thereof in position to arrest the carriage. This provides the delayed escapement means fully described in the patent referred to. Upon the downward movement of the plate 91, the above described movement of the parts 7Q, 74, 77 and 83 is reversed and the carriage is permitted to tabulate in the direction indicated to its next columnar position.

To prevent the release of the carriage for tabulation as above described, the left end of lever 74 may be moved rearwardly out of the slot 39 in the plate 91. To do this, the control lever 41 is provided with a roughly L-shaped aperture 94, the lower edge of which is normally tensioned to bear against the underside of the stud 4 by means of a spring 97 connected to lever 4-1. The spring 97 also acts to retain the leg 43 of the control lever 41 in engagement with the control actuating lever 44. The aperture 94 also comprises a vertically disposed rear edge 98 which is in the normal position of lever 41, a slight distance behind the stud 44). Upon the tabulation of the carriage to the columnar position in which the sales amounts are to be vertically listed, a lug in the control magazine operates to force the rod 47 downwardly, pivoting the control lever actuator 44 about the shaft 46 and moving the control lever 41 forwardly. During this movement of the lever 41, the edge 93 of the aperture 94- strikes the stud and pivots the cradle 34- about the shaft in a clockwise direction. Since the cradle 34 is connected, by means of the screw 52 with the cradle 5'5, the latter cradle is pivoted counterclockwise about the shaft 56, stretching the spring 61, and moving the slide as rearwardly on its supporting stud 67. Slide 65 is formed with an upstanding leg 1% positioned in front of the left arm of the lever 74, so that with the movement rearwardly of the slide 65, the leg 1% thereof moves the left arm of lever 74 rearwardly to a position clear of the slot 89 in the plate 91.

The nomtab mechanism release When the last of the sales tickets for a clerk is listed, the carriage should be tabulated to the next columnar position to enable further automatic operations to ensue. The present invention provides means for releasing the above described non-tabulating mechanism prior to the listing of the last sales ticket and while the carriage is at rest in the non-tabulating column on the work sheet. This enables the immediate release of the carriage for tabulation to the next succeeding columnar position upon the cycling of the machine by the depresison of the se lected one of the motor bars 16 to 23. For such release, a key 191 is mounted for vertical slidable movement in the keyboard. Secured to the key 101 is a rearwardly extending arm 133 which overlies a pin 164 fixed in the control lever 31. The upper portion of the L-shaped aperture Q4 in the control lever 41 is formed as a rearwardly extending slot. With the depression of the key Hi1 to its lower position, the arm 1G3, bearing on the pin 104, moves the control lever 41 downwardly, stretching the spring 97, until the slot in the upper portion of the aperture is positioned to the rear of stud 4%.

Stud 49 is then free to move to the rear and spring 61 restores the cradles 55 and 34, and the lever 65 to their normal positions as shown in Figure 1. With the restoring of the lever 55, the left arm of the lever 74 is returned into the slot 89 in the plate 91, so that upon the cycling of the machine the carriage will be released to tabulate in the normal manner. Upon the tabulation of the carriage, and the movement of the lug in the control magazine carried thereby from engagement with the machine function control, the control lever 41 is free for restoration to its normal position by means of the spring 97.

The key 191 carries a keytop 107 bearing an arrow 1G9 pointing toward the right hand end of the carriage. This is provided to facilitate operation of the machine by indicating that the key is to be depressed to advance the carriage to the next columnar position on the work sheet, said column being to the right hand of the sales amount printing position, although it is understood that the carriage moves leftwardly on the machine when tabulating.

The non-tab key The automatic non-tab mechanism herein described is embodied in the machine so as to be operable without interference with the manualy operated non-tab means usually provided therein. To this end, a non-tab key 110 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 56 adjacent the left face of the leg 53 of the cradle 55. A stop arm 112, Figure 3, is secured to the key lit and normally bears on the shaft S9 under the tension of a spring 115, connected to a stud 118 in key 11d, and the key and stop arm are retained in position on the shaft by means of a collar 116. Stud 118 is positioned in front of and abutting a leg 121i forming part of the cradle 55.

Upon the depression of the key 116, the pin 118 acts upon the leg 121 and pivots the cradle 55 on the shaft 56, to move the lever 65 rearwardly and effect non-tabulation as previously described, stud 459 of cradle 34 moving forwardly in aperture 94. Also, the key in), when depressed, initiates cycling of the machine and vertical line spacing of the work sheet. The means used therefor are identical with those disclosed in Patent No. 2,194,270. In brief, the pin 118 rests in front of a lever 122, Figure 1, pivoted on a stud 124 and engaging a lever 125 forming part of the machine cycling mechanism, so that with depressing the kcy, the lever 122 is rocked by the pin 118 to move the lever 125 forwardly and cycle the machine. Likewise, the key 11%) includes a lower extension 127, Figure 3, which, when the key is depressed, strikes a pin 128 in a block 13"? pivoted on the shaft 56, to swing the block rearwardly and effect vertical line spacing of the work sheet in the usual manner.

Conclusion While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form of embodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is- In an accounting machine of the class described having a travelling carriage, control members on said carriage to define columnar positions, tabulating mechanism to engage said control members and thereby arrest said carriage in said positions, and a cyclically operated member engaging said tabulating mechanism to release said tabulating mechanism from said carriage, the combina tion of means biased to an inactive position and operable to disengage said tabulating mechanism from said cyclically operated member, a member having a one-way driving connection With said biased means, control means operable by said carriage in a predetermined columnar position thereof to operate said member and thereby said biased means to disengage said tabulating mechanism from said cyclically operated member and a manipulative References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,854,748 Landsiedel Apr. 19, 1932 2,082,098 Christian June 1, 1937 2,194,270 Sundstrand Mar. 19, 1940 2,616,548 Townsend Nov. 4, 1952

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