Dial mechanism for automatic telephone dialing machines

Claim 1

A DIAL MECHANISM FOR A MACHINE FOR RECORDING TELEPHONE NUMBERS IN CODE FORM, COMPRISING A ROTARY DIAL HAVING FINGER HOLES AND A FINGER STOP ENABLING THE DIAL TO BE WOUND-UP TO SELECTED OPERATED POSITIONS ACCORDING TO RESPECTIVE DIGITS AND LETTERS TO BE DIALED, THE FIRST FINGER HOLE OF THE DIAL BEING AT TWO DIGIT INTERVALS PLUS A FRACTIONAL INTERVAL FROM THE FINGER STOP, MEANS FOR RETURNING THE DIAL WHEN RELEASED FROM AN OPERATED POSITION, A MOTOR START SWITCH, A ROTARY CAM FOR OPERATING SAID MOTOR SWITCH, A DRIVE COUPLING BETWEEN SAID DIAL AND CAM INCLUDING A ONE-WAY RATCHET CLUTCH FOR DRIVING THE CAM ONLY DURING RETURN OF THE DIAL TO HOME POSITION, SAID RATCHET CLUTCH COMPRISING A FIRST ROTARY CLUTCH MEMBER IN PERMANENT COUPLED RELATION TO SAID DIAL AND A COOPERATING SECOND ROTARY CLUTCH MEMBER IN PERMANENT COUPLED RELATION TO SAID CAM, SAID CLUTCH MEMBERS HAVING SPACED POINTS OF INTER-ENGAGEMENT AND SAID FIRST CLUTCH MEMBER BEING MOVED TO A MID-POSITION BETWEEN SAID ENGAGEMENT POINTS WHEN SAID DIAL REACHES AN OPERATED POSITION, AND SAID COUPLING HAVING A TRANSMISSION RATIO TO CAUSE SAID RATCHET CLUTCH TO BE ENGAGED BY THE INITIAL RETURN OF SAID DIAL FROM AN OPERATED POSITION THROUGH SAID FRACTIONAL DIGIT INTERVAL.