US1731550A - g streckfuss - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 15, 1929. G s c uss 1,731,550

TIME RECORDER Filed Nov. 29, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 15, 1929. a G. STRECKFUSS TIME RECORDER Filed NOV. 29, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Zfa,

INVENTOR A TTORNE Y Oct. 15, 1929.

E. G. STRECKFUSS 1,731,550

TIME RECORDER Filed Nov. 29, 1924 A TTORNE Y5 1929. E. G. sTREcKFuss 1,

TIME RECORDER Filed Nov. 29, 1924 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOI? ATTORNEYS Oct. 15, 1929. E, s c uss 1,731,550

TIME REC/ORDER Filed NOV. 29, 1924. 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 2 :4 t3 Z5 /6 m l m WAN gt MMJ Z Z A TTORNE Y5 Patented Oct. 15, 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE man G. s'raEcn-uss, or cmcnma'rr, omo, ,Assmnon To T cmcmnn m momma courm, or cmcrmmrx, 01110, A conrom or one TIME RECORDER Application'flled November as, 1924. Serial F0. 152,955.

M invention relates to time recorders, and particularly to the workmans time card type. It is the main object to provide a time card printing register which is completely automatic, requiring no manipulation on the part of the operator except to insert his card, and

' pull down the printing lever.

It is my object to employ a card tray with an-automatic time operated lateral shift, for

accomplishing one of the locating operations for the time printing 0 eration, and to provide a card punching e ement for the other locating operation.

A particular feature of my invention lies in the card punching arrangement, wherein the punching is so controlled that the card is only cut away in a very limited portion,

thereby leaving sufiicient strength in the card after it has been used for a number of registrations. Also in connect-ion with the punching devices, I have as an ob'ect the provision of means whereby the wor mans card must be placed into the machine in proper manner or else the printing devices and punchin devices will not operate.

One 0 the preferred modes of use of my invention permits of an entirely new way of locating time rinting on a wol'kmans time card. In the rst place it permits of forming the printed impressions close to each other in rows lengthwise of the card, no matter how far apart in point of time the impressions may be made. In the next place the time impressions at the start of a day are formed near the bottom of the card with the subsequent impressions above it. A card so printed is very easy to handle in the time-keepers department of the employer, since the timekeeper must subtract the hour of entrance from the hour of leaving, to arrive at the time spent by the workmen in the shop or office, and the subtrahend being the underneath figure, and close to the minuend provides a simple assembly of imprinted time records, for the time keeping operation.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a novel means for impressing a card on the type of the time wheels of a recorder of the nature herein involved, whereby the impression is made by a slow pressure rather than a blow, thus saving the machine, makmg a clearer impression, preserving the rib bons and their shifting devices and generally relieving the machine from withstanding the strains of rough blows of a printing hammer, and operating parts.

I accomplish my objects and the advantages above noted particularly, by that certam construction and arrangement of arts to be hereinafter more specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation of the frame and mechanical parts of a machine illustrative of my invention.

Figure 2 is a right hand side elevation of the same machine.

Figure 3 is a detail side elevation, on a larger scale showing the printin mechanism, punch and interlocks therewit in normal idle position.

Figure 4 is a like detail to Figure 3, showng the parts in the act of printing and punch- 1ng.

Figure 5 is a detail of the mounting and stop device for the card operated lever that frees the printing and unching mechanism.

Figure 6 is a detail ront elevation of the card tray moving device.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 is a detail of the pawl and ratchet operating element for the card tray cam.

Figure 9 is a plan view of a typical time card.

Figure 10 is a like view of the card showing several registrations.

Figure 11 is a rear elevation showing the punch carriage and the printing operator.

Figure 12 is a perspective of the printing platen device.

I have indicated the frame generally at 1,

- and the clock operated shaft at 2. Referring These wheels have type faces for printing on a card.

. The gn'intz'ng devices Referring primarily to the devices for forming a printed mark from the time wheels on a card, It will be noted that a card recelving tray 9 is provided which slides on a supporting rod 10, in the frame of the mach ne, the tray being movable in vertical posit on (in the example illustrated) through a guide slot (not shown) in the top cover plate 11.

The tray is of usual type, as in all time recorders, except for the motion a plied to 1t, which will be described later, an except for the fact that it is short in length, due to the possibility of using a fairly short card.

The'printing is effected by movement of a handle 12, arranged to operate a rock shaft 13 preferably by a heavy spring not shown from the left hand side of the machine frame, as is common practice in machines of this type, since this operation is standard practice and would require additional drawings it has not been illustrated. Mounted on the rock shaft 14 (see Figure 11 particularly) is an arm or lever 14, which is formed of two plates having an elbow in them, bent apart at the end into two forks 15. Secured slidably on the rods 16 held in a pair of frame lugs 16, is a mounting plate 18, which carries a plunger 19. The platen 20 is secured in a projection of plate 18 and is adapted to engage the card, on which printing is to bedone, and forces the card up against the time wheels. The plate 18 has a pair of arms 17 on its back with cars 17' to engage the rods 16 for an additional hearing.

The plunger has a spring 21 around it, which bears against the face of the guide plate, and the far end of the plunger is equipped with a slider and a set of nuts. The slider 22 has a pair of studs 23 thereon, projecting laterally, for engagement by the forks, and the spring bears against the inner face of this slider. There are also two nuts 24 on the end of the plunger, to adjust the rearward position of the slider.

The forks at the end of the lever 14 are wide enough to permit of considerable movement of the lever without moving the plunger, thereby permitting ribbon shifting, time wheel centering, and the other movements normally called for in machines of this type. When the back ends of the two forks engage the studs 23, they push the slider inwardly against the spring tension and the spring pushes forward the mounting plate and thrusts the platen against the card.

When the handle 12 is depressed it rocks the arm 12 on shaft 13 which has a link 13 to a lever 14 on the'rock shaft 14, and thus moves the arm 14 to effect a printing. When the handle is released, a suitable spring such as is customarily secured to printing handles in time recorders .pulls the assembly of shafts and levers back to starting position, pulling the slider 22 by means of the forward ends of the two forks, back to its starting position. This-slider engages the two stop nuts and pulls back the mounting plate, and the device is ready for another operation.

This form of printing imparts a resilient steady pressure to the card, with little respect to the sudden force with which the operating handle is depressed. It effects a clear printing on the card, and the card is faced toward the operator instead of being faced away from him. It will be understood that the printing ribbon passes between the type or time wheels and the card, when the card is in the tray.

As will be described the tray is moved laterally by means of the force imparted by the time movement for day to da change, and the distance the card may e passed down into the tray is controlled by a clipped edge of the card engaging an abutment. If the edge does not engage the abutment, the printing device will not operate.

Before describing the movement of the abutment, I will first describe the day-by-day shift of the card tray itself.

The card tray movement The tray 9 as has been noted slides on the rod 10 of the frame, and it has also mounted on ears 24:, on its lower end,'a rod 25, which slides and is guided between rollers 26 mounted on the punch carriage 50, to be later described. I

Connected to the one end of the tray by means of an adjustable arm 27 is a lever 28, which passes down to the bottom of the machine where it is pivoted to a lug 29. Referring more particularly to Figures 6 and 7, the lever has a stud 30 thereon which slides in a cam groove 31, in the cam drum piece 32. The cam piece is to be moved step by step by a cam and spring device driven from the clock. As the cam moves, the tray is moved from left to right, and then back again by a series of steps, controlled by the cam. A spring 33 will pull the lever and tray back 'to starting position, through a straight return portion of the groove inthe cam (not shown) although the cam may be made with a sharp return at a slight angle, so as to feed the tray to starting positlon by a single step movement of the cam at the end of the week.

Since the step by step movements are day by day, the clock is given twenty-four hours to extend and release the spring, which gives ample power to accomplish the movements desired.

The cam and spring device and operator for the tray moving cam are shown 1n Figures 6 to 8, and also are described in the application for patent of James W. Yates,

' Serial No. 610,521, filed January 3, 1923.

Thus the clock drives the cam 34, which engages at the end of a lever 35, mounted in the base of the frame, and pulled against the cam by a spring 36. The lever is gradually pushed down and then released by the cam, and forcibly pulled up again b the spring. The lever carries at its forward end a pawl carrier 37, pivoted on the shaft 38 of the cam drum and this carrier gradually elevates the pawl 39, to engage the toothed disc 40 on the drum on which there-will be seven teeth in machines which do not print the date and eight teeth in machiner that do so print. Each time the pawl is ifted and dropped, a step of movement is imparted to the cam. The teeth 41 engage a back-throw-preventing spring dog 42. Another lever 43 having a tooth 44, engages in the square faced teeth 45, on a disc mounted together with the toothed piece 40. This lever is spring pulled toward the teeth 45 (spring not shown) and when the pawl rises, a pin 46 thereon passes on the outside of a lip 47 on the lever 43, but upon the pawl being pulled down, the pin 46 thereon throws out the lever so that its tooth 44 releases the cam drum to revolve with the pawl.

A detailed description and reference to operation is not believed to be called for, since the operation is not claimed by me to be novel but is shown in the Yates application heretofore referred to, and claimed therein.

The pwnch The punch mechanism is mounted on a carriage 50 carried on the shaft 13 and the supporting rod 51. The whole carriage slides along the two members 13 and 51, under impulse of the same mechanism that. moves the card tray, but it is moved to a less degree. In the machine from which the illustrations herein are taken the carriage moves three thirty seconds of an inch less than the card tray, which it will benoted allows for a punching operation that removes a piece three thirty seconds wide from the card, at each printing operation thereon.

The carriage is moved by means of a lever 52, pivoted at 53 on a lu on the frame, and at 54 to the carriage. T is lever has a stud 55 therein which engages in the slot 28" in the lever 28. Thus as the lever moves, the movement is imparted to the punch carriage, and the point of engagement of the stud with the slot in the card tray moving lever, determines the difference in movement of the tray and carriage.

The advantage of moving the carriage with the tray is that the ortion of the card to be clipped ofi', provi ing for locating it in different vertical positions for successive printing operation, is independent of the spacing on the card for registrations of the several da s of the week. If the punch were fixed, tli e result would be that the total width of the card would be cli ped off, after a week of operations, an toward the end of the week there would not be enough strength in the card to withstand the operation of pushing it down a ainst the stop that co-operates with the c ipped edge of the card. Otherwise the card would have to be made much wider than the printing columns thereon, in order to rovide for extra material to ive strength,

an this would render the car s so cumbersome as to be impractical.

The carriage carries a die plate 55 and a rocking punch plate 56, pivoted at 57 thereon. The plate 55' moves in a path just below and just outside of the lower mouth of the card tray. In Figure 5 is shown most clearly a bracket 58 mounted on the carriage, and having a lip 59 in which is an adjustable stop screw 60. The bracket supports a pin 62, on which is a rocking yoke 63. The locating card stop lever 63 is part of the yoke and extends forwardly and the spring 64 holds the yoke in place against the bracket. The yoke has also an extension 65, which extends rearwardly and the balance of the oke is such as to keep the parts in the position of Figure 3. The spring 64 frictionally holds the lever 63" in any position to which it is moved, so that when a card is pushed down it can be released and the same hand used for operating the handle 12.

The forward end of the lever 63" has a pawl 65 thereon, and theforward tip is positioned to engage the card edge, and thus the card depresses the lever, until it hits the stop 70. When the card is removed the lever is moved back to the position of Figure 3, as explained below.

The punch plate has a blade or cutter 56, which is as wide as the total space on the card which can be clipped in operations extending over the period of the card tray movement, which in the machine here described, will be seven times three thirty seconds of an inch. The one edge of the cutter 56 overhangs the card engaging end of the locating stop lever 63", so as to cut away the card a definite amount directly above the lever.

To rock the punch carrier, the arm 12" on the shaft 51 is duplicated at 12, at the side of the machine, and the two arms carry a rod 67. When the lever 14 is rocked by means of the operating handle of the machine, the link 13 pulls over the arms 12*, which swings the rod 67 to contact with the punch carrier in any of its positions and rock it forwardly to punch a card located between it and the die late.

The views in Figures 3 and 4 are from'the right hand side of the machine of Figure 1. The position of the card with relation to the stop lever 63 will be controlled by the relative motion of the tra and the carriage 50 of the punch and sto evice, and also by the amount of card e ge clipped away by previous operations. I

The punch holder 56" has a pin thereon which moves in a path to engage the pawl 65 on the locating lever 63, so that when a card has moved the lever 63 down, and holds it there, the pin 70 will pass under the pawl, by the rocking of the pawl 65". An ear 71 on the stop lever prevents the pawl from rocking in the other direction, however, so that when the punch holder returns, the pin 70 will engage the lower end of the pawl and push up the stop lever, ready for another operation. The punch has a bracket 7 2 thereon, which extends around the rod 67 that actuates the punch, thereby returning the punch with the return of the rod, through the spring pulling back to starting position, the shaft 13.

The back end of the stop lever device, marked 65, lies with its end ad acent a yoke 7 3 mounted on a cross rod of the frame. This yoke 7 3 has a rearwardly extending arm 74, which carries a stud 75, extending laterally therefrom.

Mounted on the lever device 14 of the pr nting portion of the machine is a piece having an end 7 5 which is curved on its edge and has a notch 76 therein. A. spring 77 ulls the yoke to a position keeping the stud on the top surface of the part 7 5, and forcing the stud into thenotch, as soon as the printing lever is moved and before it accomplishes a printing.

When the stop lever s moved with its rear end upwardly by a card forced down against its front end until it hits the ad ustable stop screw, the rear end of the lever device will lie in the path of the yoke and prevent the stud thereon from following the notched piece 7 5 As a result of this, unless the locating stop lever device is energized by placing a card down against it sufiicientl to rock it as far as it will go, the printing evice will not operate, and the punch device will not operate either.

The operation It will not be necessary to detail the entire operation and every movement as this has been touched upon in connection with the description of each part.

The card is shown in Figures 9 and 10, the latter being a partly printed card. The card is formed with identification portion 80, at the top, and with printed lines 81 for days of the week extending through the central portion. This area of the card can be quite short, since no matter what time elapses between registrations in any one day, the succeeding registrations will be next to each other in the vertical week day column.

The lower portion of the card (see Figure line 83 will permit the cardto be reversed and used for another week.

The central area 84 between the two lines is never punched and remains for strength.

When the card is filled or the period for which it was used finished, the entire bottom of the card is cut oil by a cutter provided with the machine leaving asmall, neat card for filing.

When the card is inserted at the first of a week, the left hand edge of the card will hit the locating stop lever portion 63 and depress it. The operation of the handle 12 will then rock the punch forward and cut ofi a small corner of the card, three thirty seconds of an inch wide, and as high as desired, preferably the height necessary to clear the first printing mark by the next one to follow. The card is then removed, and all of the parts will be reset for another operation.

When the same card is inserted again on the same day, the notch first cut away will be the part which registers with the stop lever, and this will result in the card being a little lower when thrust home sufliciently to release the printing devices.

The printed time mark on the card made in the second operation will be just over the first mark, and the top of the upper notch will be at 85 on the card (see Figure 10).

If the card was not thrust home, nothing would have occurred at either of the operations now detailed.

Suppose the operator registers in on Tuesday. The tray will have moved considerably, so as to change from column 86 for Monday to column 87 for Tuesday (Figure 10). The printing will again be at the bottom of the column, but the punch and stop will have moved only three thirty seconds of an inch, so that the notch cut above the locating or st? lever, will be as at 88 in Figure 10.

uppose now the operator does not register in until Thursday, the punch will cut oil a strip along the bottom of the card, twelve thirty seconds of an inch long and the depth of one printing operation.

It will be noted that the operator places his card in the tray face forward, and that the printing is done starting from the bottom and progressively upward. This arranges the printed time marks in an easy way to facilitate subtraction.

It should not be concluded that the dimensionsfigiven of the notches have any particular signi cance except to make it simple to describe the operation. It is obvious that this will be controlled in whatever way appears to be practical to the builder of the machine. Also various other particular mechanisms could be adopted for accomplishing the several functions of the machine. The movement of the tray and punch carriage need not be driven by clock wer alone, as a mode of power energized y the printing handle mani ulation with clock controlled sto s woul be-eifective, or a motor controlled y the clock would be effective.

It is believed to be ap arent that the mechanism described accomp ishes the objects originally stated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a time recorder having printing means, a movable card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, and a card punch and locater device for engaging the card, means for moving said card punch and locater device with relation to the printing mechanism and the card tray under time control. 7

2. In a time recorder having printing means, a movable card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, and a card punch and locater device for engaging the card, means for moving said card punch and locater device with relation to the printing mechanism under time control, said punch and locater movement being less than the tray movement and in the same direction.

3. In a time recorder having printing means, a movable card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, and a card punch and locater device for engagin the card, means for mov in said card punc and locater device with re ation to the printing mechanism and the card tray under time control, said punch being adapted to clip the exposed edge of the card, and the locater comprising an element to engage the card directly below the punching line thereof.

4. In a time recorder having printing means, a movable card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, and a card punch and locater device for engaging the card, means for moving said card punch and locater device with relation to the printing mechanism and the card tray under time control, and the punch being at least as wide as the difference between the total time controlled tray movement and the total time controlled punch move ment. 1;

5. In atime recorder the combination with time wheels, a'movable card tray, and an abutment to engage the card when in the tray to limit its movement at right angles to the movement of the tray, time controlled means for actuating the tray, and a punch co-operating with the abutment to remove portions of the card that engage the abutment to thereby control the movement of the card against the abutment, and time controlled means for moving the punch, and the abutment.

6. In a time recorder having printing means, a-movable card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, and a card punch and locater device for engaging the card, means for moving said card punch and locater device with relation to the printing mechanism and the card tray under time control, means for energizing manually the printing means, and a stop element for the printing means arranged to enforce an operation of the locater before the printing means can be operated.

7. In a time recorder having printing means, a moving card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, and a card punch and co-operative locating element for controlling the position of insertion of the card into the tray, said locating element operatively arranged to result in blocking the movement of the printing means against effecting a printing operation until the locating element is actuated by insertion of a card.

8. In combination a manually movable member for eifecting printing operations in a time recorder, a locating member for a card inserted into the recorder, a stop adapted normally to retain the movable member against operation, said locating member having means for preventing the operation of the stop, when a card has been moved against the member.

9. In combination a manually movable member for effecting printing operations in a time recorder, a locating member for a card inserted into the recorder, a stop adapted normally to retain the movable member against operation, said locating member having means for preventing the operation of the stop, when a card has been moved against the member, said means being ineffective to bring about a release of the stop until the card has been employed to move the locating member to the limit of its movement. 7

10. In combination a manually movable member for effecting printing operations in a time recorder, a locating member for a card inserted into the recorder, a stop adapted normally to retain the movable member against operation, said locating member having means for preventing the operation of the stop, when a card has been moved against the member, said means being inefiective to bring about a release of the stop until the card has been employed to move the locating member to the limit of its movement, and an adjustable member for re ulating the length of movement of the said locating member.

11. In combination in a time recorder, having a movable card tray, and a printing mechanism with relation to which it moves, a carriage means for moving it with the tray, but less than the tray, a punch on said carriage, a locating element to engage the card also on said carriage, and connections from the printing mechanism to operate the punch in any position thereof.

12. In combination in a time recorder a movable card tray, printing wheels with relation to which it moves, a carriage also movable with thetray but less than the tray, a

punch and locating element on said carriage, and means for moving the tray and carriage comprising a lever connected to the tray, the movement of the lever being time controlled, another lever connected to the carriage, connected'to a fixed point, and also connected to the first named lever, whereby movement of the first named lever moves the carriage and the tray.

13. A punch and locater device comprising a support, a rocking punch carrier having a punch thereon, a lever pivoted on the support, and having a nose lying under theedge of the punch, to act as a card stop, said lever being normally held upwardly, a pawl on the lever free to rock in a forward direction but not rearwardly, a stud on the rocking punch carrier adapted to ride under the pawl when the carrier is actuated and to lift the pawl when the carrier is returned to starting position, whereby the lever is lifted when the punch carrier is retracted.

14. A card clipping and locating element,

and a manual printing operation lever in time recorders, said locating element comprising a lever, means operated by the lever to control the operability of the pritning operation lever, said means adapted to come into play only when the lever is fully depressed as by means of a card.

15. A card clipping and locating element, and a printing operatlon lever in time recorders, said locating element comprising a lever, means operated by the lever to control the operability of the printing operation lever, said means adapted to come into play only when the lever is fully depressed as by means of a card, and means for retaining the said lever in position after being depressed, thereby relieving the operator from holding the card against it. a

16. In a time recorder the combination of printing means, a movable card tray the position of which with relation to the printing means is time controlled, a card punch and co-opcrative locating element for controlling the position of insertion of the card into the tray, and said locating element operatively arranged to result in b ocking the movement of the printing means against efi'ecting a printing operation until the locating ele ment is actuated by insertion of a card, and said locating element havin means forholding it in position to whic it is moved by the card.

17 In combination a movable member for effecting printing operations in a time recorder, a locating member for a card inserted into the recorder, a stop adapted normally ranged as to move the to retain the movable member against operation, said locating member having means for preventing the operation of the stop, when a card has been moved against, the member, and said locating element having means for holding it in position to which it is moved by the card.

18. In combination a movable member for effecting printing operations in a time recorder, a locating member for a card inserted into the recorder, a stop adaptednormally to retain the movable member against operation, said locating member having means for preventing the operation of the stop when a card has been moved against the member, said means being inefi'ective to bring about a release of the stop until the card has been employed to move the locating member to the limit of its movement, and means for holding the locating member frictionally so as to retain it in its card actuated position.

19. A card clipping and locating element I in time recorders, and a printing operation lever, said element having a cutter for re-.

moving portions of a card, said locating part adapted to enter previously cut portion 0 the card to locate the same, and means requiring a full engagement of the locating part with the card before the printing operation lever can be efiectively energized, means on the cutter for moving the locating part to starting position upon return from its cutting movement, said locating element being frictionally held in any position to which it is moved.

20. In a time recorder, printing means, a

card tray adjustable relative to the printing.

means, a card clipper and co-operative abutment for locating the card with relation to successive printing operations and means for moving the clipper and abutment in the same direction as the card tray.

21. In a time recorder, printing means and a lateral shifting card tray, a punch, and cooperative abutment for location of a card in the tray, and operative connection between the tray and the punch and abutment so arranged as to move the punch and abutment laterally with the tray but through a shorter path.

22. In a time recorder, printing means and a lateral shifting card tray, a punch and cooperative abutment for location of a card in the tray and operative connection between the tray and the punch and abutment so arpunch and abutment laterally with the tray.

23. In a time recorder, printing means and a lateral shifting cardtray, a punch, and cooperative abutment for location of a card in the tray and operative connection between the tray and the punch and abutment, to move the punch and abutment laterally with the tray, said means comprising a carriage for the punch and abutment, a lever connector to the carriage, to the tray, and to a fixed portion of the recorder.

24. In a time recorder, printing means and a lateral shifting card tray, a punch, and cooperative abutment for location of a card in the tray, and operative connection between the tray and the punch and abutment, to move the punch and abutment laterally with the tray but through a shorter path, said punch and abutment having a lateral dimension for card engagement equal at least to the difference in total lateral movement of the tray and the said punch and abutment.

25. In a time recorder, a printing element, a card retaining element, one of said elements movable to change the position of printed impressions on a card in one direction, and means for locating a card in changed positions at right angles to said direction comprising a punch and cooperative abutment and means for moving said punch and abutment, along with the movable one of said elements.

26. In a time recorder, a printing element, a card retaining element, one of said elements movable to change the position of printed impressions on a card in one direction, and means for locating a card in changed positions at right angles to said direction comprising a punch and cooperative abut-ment and means for moving said punch and abutment, along with the movable one of said elements, said means arranged to move the punch and abutment through a lesser distance than said movable element.

27 In a time recorder, means for printing on a card in successive columns, and means for locating the card for successive printings in each column, comprising a card cutting member and cooperative card abutment ancLmeans whereby the member and abutment'are controlled to traverse a total less distance across the card than the total of said columns.

ELMER G. STREGKFUSS.

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