US3556398A

US3556398A - Hand held adding machine

Info

Publication number: US3556398A
Application number: US811156A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward C Walsh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-03-27
Filing date: 1969-03-27
Publication date: 1971-01-19
Anticipated expiration: 1988-01-19

Abstract

The device of the invention is a small or miniature-adding machine capable of being held in one hand and manually operable to perform computations, particularly simple addition. The device comprises two small mechanical counters of known type. The counters are coupled together to operate simultaneously. Both are provided with manual reset in the form of a reset button. A gear drive is provided operable by a manually rotatable knob with a ratio of, for example, 10 to 1. To operate the knob is rotated with the thumb until a figure appears on one counter in the amount to be added. This amount is of course put into both counters. The first counter is then manually reset to zero with the button, the added amounts remaining on the second counter until the computation is completed and then the second counter is reset to zero.

Description

United States: Patent [72] inventor Edward C. Walsh LAAC-431 W. 7th St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90013 [21] Appl. No. 811,156 [22] Filed Mar. 27, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 19, 1971 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 709,106, Feb. 28, 1968, now abandoned.

[54] HAND HELD ADDING MACHINE 12 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 235/110, 235/1 17, 235/144, 235/132 [51] lnt.Cl.... G06c27/00, G06f15/l8,G06c 15/117 [50] Field ofSearch 235/91PR, 117.1, 144SSM, 144AC, 144Disp, 132, 110, 132.1, 97

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 805,111 11/1905 Alexander 235/97X 1,915,798 6/1933 Ohmer, Jr... 235/117X 2,099,463 11/1937 Bradley 235/132 2,495,502 1/1950 Apple 235/97X 2,610,794 9/1952 Bliss 235/144 2,954,925 10/1960 Bliss et al.... 235/132 3,122,315 2/1964 Krebsdzio... 235/144 3,125,291 3/1964 Komatar..... 235/132' 3,178,111 4/1965 Auer 235/144 3,343,789 9/1967 Wales, Jr. et al 235/132 Primary ExaminerRichard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Stanley A. Wal Attor'ney-l-lerzig & Walsh ABSTRACT: The device of the invention is a small or miniature-adding machine capable of being held in one hand and manually operable to perform computations, particularly simple addition. The device comprises two small mechanical counters of known type. The counters are coupled together to operate simultaneously. Both are provided with manual reset in the form of a reset button. A gear drive is provided operable by a manually rotatable knob with a ratio of, for example, 10 to 1. To operate the knob is rotated with the thumb until a figure appears on one counter in the amount to be added. This amount is of course put into both counters. The first counter is then manually reset to zero with the button, the added amounts remaining on the second counter until the computation is completed and then the second counter is reset to zero.

There is aneed for a device of this type which is small enough to beheld in one-hand andoperated with onerhand and to be carried in a persons pocket or inapt'1rse. 'Such'. a device is very useful"forpersons to add up the cost of purchases-in supermarkets and .the 1 like; adding up, Bridge scores, and othersimilaripurposes i In a preferred exemplary form ofthe' invention, as described in detail herein, thedevice-Fuses a pair. of small mechanical cOuntersQSuch counters are of'coursewell-known in thea'rt and a preferred form of counter as used herein is a type supplied'by ENM Company of Chicago thisbeing a type provided with a push button for manual'reset to a zero'position, and identified .as Series 426. The counters might be of the type shown in US. Pat. Nb.2,00 4,88l.- f r I The tw 0"count'e rs-:are.mounted adjacenteachother in a housing. The twocountersare coupled or geared together and are operable together by rne'ans'of a-manual-knobwith a suitable' gear ratio so a that relative small amounts can be quickly and easily puton'the countersJAfter setting a number on the counters, after each input; One counter is set to zero-with the' total appearing on the 1 other counter which canrb'e reset to 'zero after completion ofthe computation.- Theprimary object of the-inventionl is accordingly to provide a small-adding machine adaptedtobe held in one hand andmanually operated.v I

well as an integral cam p'art 'as shown at '42 having a single lobe and a'sl'ot or groove as shown-at 44.

' The upright members asshow'n at 32each' have a vertical dovetailed groove as shown at 46 and the push'button's as shown at 20 have vertical stems such assh'own at 50 which aredovetailed to be slidable in" the dovetail groove 46 as shown. As'may be seen the stem 50 has an elongated slot52'so that the stem can move vertically relative tothe shaft 34 and inthe slot is a coilspring 54 which normally presses the stem 50and the'pushbutton 20 upwardly... r Carryover or transfer means are provided between the counterwheels so that upon a full. revolution 'of one coun-' terwheel a step movement of one wheel is.transferred or carriedover to the next'jwheel; The carryover wheels are'on a shaft as designated at 60 and the'shaft is=carried on'arms as shown at 62 extending from bar member 64which hasextending trunnions .as shown at 66 which are journaled in the upright memberlasshown at32 at the ends of the frame 30. The shaft 60 fits through openings as shown at 70 in the vertical sliding stemssuch as the stem'50 as shown. Thus it may be seen thatwhenthe push button 22 is depressed the shaft 60 is forced downwardly'causing thebar member 64 and its extend- .ing arms to rotate clockwise looking at FlG. 5 about the axis of the trunnions as'shown at 66-. l 1 r v r Carried on the shaft 60 arethe transfer or carryover gears or gear wheels as"designated-.at 72.- These are double gears as may'be'seen in FIG; 5 the teethon they left side;meshing with I teeth like-the gear teeth) on the counterwheels and the teeth on the .right sidebeing engageableby a projection inthe next- 1 adjacent counterwheel'to'the right whereby the transfer is made. This projection is designated at,'76;and-a's' may be 0b- 1 served it is in theformof a'double projection having a slot in it A further objec t is to providea'device at this we utilized on commercial types'of counters provided with manual reset and particularly reset of the pushbuttontype. r :2 f Y A further objectis to providers machine of this'type with "positive, simple andeasily. operablerneans for inserting the amounts to be added and totalizingthem. '1

. Further objects of the invention will apparent from the following detailed description and annexed drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the operation of the device; I I 7.

1 FIG. 2 is a'plan view of an exemplary form of the invention partly broken away} H 1 H6. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2; FIG. 4 is a partial view illustrating another form of drive;

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view of one of the counters; FIG. 6 is a sectional view along line, 6-6 of FIG. 5; H6. 7 is a sectional view along line 7-7 of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is a detail view' along line 8-8 of FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a view of a modified form of the invention. T Referring to FIG}. numeral lodesignates the device which takes the form of a small case or housing of a size to be held in one hand and made of a material such as plastic. Inside of the housing are two mechanical counters l2 and 14 of known.

as designated at 26 having a rectangular base part 30 and up standing end parts'one of whichis shown at 32j Extending between the upstanding end parts is a' shaft 34 on which are rotatable a plurality of counter wheels as designated at 36 and 38 havingnumbers on them fromzero to. him as shown.'Each counterwheel embodies an integral gear as designated at as 90 as shown which bears against the periphery of the cam 42.

into which one of the teeth of the gear. 72 will fitfor effecting the transfer-of one count upon a coniplete-revolution of a counterwheel, this type of structure for effecting transfer being conventional in the art and being one which is known will prevent rotation of the counterwheels except at the'time of transfer. On the right-hand part of gear 72, intermediate or alternateteeth are axially of different extent. Two of the teeth of greater extend normally engage the annularshoulder on one side of the counterwheel as shown in,FlG. 8 preventing rotation of the next counterwheel whic h the other side'of the transfer gearis meshing with. .1 1-. l v As,explained, when the pushbutton 22 is depressed the shaft is rnoved downwardly and thebar 64, rotates about the axis of the trunnions such as the trunnion 60. This action is resisted by the biasing leaf spring 80 one end of which as shown engages-a part of the base of the frameSD and the other end of which fits into a slot ina bracket 82 on the shaft 60. The

transfer gears come down against leaf springs 83 which engage teeth of greater axial extent on one side of the transfer gears holding them in nonrotating condition.

upstanding from the bar 64 are reset fingers such as finger 86 as shown .in FIG. 5; Atthe end of thefinger is a projection In the operation on'the reset when the button 22 is depressed and the bar 64 rotates as described all of the fingers such as the finger 86 bear against the periphery of their cams such as the earns 42 producing rotation of each counterwheel to a zero position at which the projection 90 falls into the slot'or groove 44. Upon release of the button '22 the shaft 60 comes back into position wherein the carry over gears 72 engage the "gears of their respective counter wheels. r The drive of the counter is by way of double gear 92 on the I shaft 60 as may be seen in FIG. 7. The gear has two sides separated by an intermediate member and as may be seen the left side meshes with the gear 40 of the first counterwheel 36.

the teeth of a drive belt as designated at 102.

The other counter 12 has a similar drive gear 94a which also has a small gear 100a which meshes with toothed belt 102.

Numeral 110 designates a thumb wheel on a shaft 112journaled in a boss 114 on the inside of the case 10. On the shaft is a gear or toothed wheel 116 which provides for a gear ratio of preferably approximately with respect to the

small gears

100 and 100a. The toothed belt 102 passes over both sides of the gear or toothed wheel 116. The belt can be simply a rubber band without teeth and without teeth at the bottom of the belt groove.

From the foregoing the operation of the device will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The device may be held in one hand as shown in FIG. 1 and then the wheel 110 can be spun readily with the thumb to put a number onto the counter 14 that is to be added. This number is of course also fed into the counter 12 and these numbers appear in the windows of the counter as shown in FIG. 1. The button 22 is then depressed to reset the counter 14 to zero while the counter 12 is not reset. This can be done because upon resetting, the drive gear 92 disengages from the gear 40 and of the first counterwheel. At the end of a calculation or addition of a sum the total appears on the counter 12 and it canthen be removed by depressing the button 22. It will be-seenthat resetting one counter does not effect the other and declutches one counter from drive wheel 110.

FIG. 4 shows a modified form of the device having a toothed wheel or gear 120 which instead of driving a belt directly intermeshes with the

small gears

100 and 100a. The distance between the mountings of the two counters in the case is not critical and is adaptable either for a gear or belt drive. The ratio of 10:1 between the wheel 110 and the small drive gears is desirable although this ratio is not critical.

FIG. 9 shows a modified form of the invention wherein a miniature electric motor 122 .is interposed in the shaft 112' between the manual knob 110 and the drive to the counters. The motor is driven by battery 124 and manual button 126. With this arrangement larger numbers can be fed more rapidly into the first counter 14. If the counter is driven too far it can easily be run back manually by the knob 110 so that the addition of larger numbers is facilitated.

From the foregoing those skilled in the art will readily understand the nature and construction of the invention and the manner in which it achieves and realizes and the objects and advantages as set forth in the foregoing.

The foregoing disclosure is a representative of preferred forms of the invention and is to be interpreted in an illustrative rather than a limiting sense, the invention to be accorded the full scope of the claims dependent hereto.

1 claim:

1. A computing device comprising a first and second mechanical counter each having manual reset means, the reset means of each counter comprising a single manually actuatable member for setting the counter to zero, means connecting the counters and providing for simultaneously applying ,an input number to the counters whereby after application of an input number one counter can be reset to zero with a total appearing on the other countensaid input means comprising manually operable mechanism constructed whereby to quickly set a number of substantial size on said counters.

2. A device as in claim 1 wherein the counters are mounted in a housing and said manually operable mechanism comprises a wheel for applying the input numbers.

3. A device as in claim 1 including gear drive means connecting the counters. v

4. A device as in claim 3 wherein the drive means has a gear ratio providing for increased speed of operation of the counters. i

5. A device as in claim 1 including counterdrive gears and a larger wheel drivingly coupled to said drive gears.

6. A device as in claim 5 including a belt coupling said drive gears and wheel.

7. A device as in claim 5 wherein said wheel is a gear meshin%with said drive gears. l

. A device as in claim 1 wherein set reset means 18 constructed to disconnect the counters when resetting.

9. A device as in claim 8 wherein the reset means are of pushbutton type. i 2

10. A device as in claim 8 wherein said reset. means embodies a clutch mechanism.

11. A device as in claim 1 wherein said manually operable mechanism embodies power means.

12. A device as in claim 1 wherein said reset means is constructed to disconnect one counter from the manually operable mechanism during reset.

Claims

1. A computing device comprising a first and second mechanical counter each having manual reset means, the reset means of each counter comprising a single manually actuatable member for setting the counter to zero, means connecting the counters and providing for simultaneously applying an input number to the counters whereby after application of an input number one counter can be reset to zero with a total appearing on the other counter, said input means comprising manually operable mechanism constructed whereby to quickly set a number of substantial size on said counters.

3. A device as in claim 1 including gear drive means connecting the counters.

4. A device as in claim 3 wherein the drive means has a gear ratio providing for increased speed of operation of the counters.

6. A device as in claim 5 including a belt coupling said drive gears and wheel.

7. A device as in claim 5 wherein said wheel is a gear meshing with said drive gears.

8. A device as in claim 1 wherein set reset means is constructed to disconnect the counters when resetting.

9. A device as in claim 8 wherein the reset means are of pushbutton type.

10. A device as in claim 8 wherein said reset means embodies a clutch mechanism.