Multidigit roller counting mechanism

Claim 2

In a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a moveable contact for each digit wheel moveable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said moveable contacts being in the form of pins, spring means resiliently biasing each said moveable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the moveable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said spring means being in the form of a leaf spring for each pin, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said moveable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due due to the pressure of said moveable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, said relieving means including an electromagnet operable when energized to relieve the bias on said pins, means for supplying energy to said electromagnet simultaneously with insertion of a value into said counter and for interrupting the said supply of energy at the end of said value insertion, and components in circuit with said electromagnet operable to delay the relaxing thereof upon the interruption of the supply of energy thereto.

Claim 3

In a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a moveable contact for each digit wheel moveable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said moveable contacts being in the form of pins, spring means resiliently biasing each said moveable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the moveable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said spring means being in the form of a leaf spring for eAch pin, said stationary members being in the form of printed circuit boards parallel to said digit wheels, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said moveable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said moveable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, said leaf springs being mounted on the pertaining stationary members and being conductive to complete a circuit from the respective pin to the circuit on the respective stationary member.

Claim 4

In a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a moveable contact for each digit wheel moveable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said moveable contacts being in the form of pins, spring means resiliently biasing each said moveable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the moveable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said spring means being in the form of a leaf spring for eAch pin, said stationary members being in the form of printed circuit boards parallel to said digit wheels, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said moveable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said moveable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, said leaf springs being mounted on the pertaining stationary members and being conductive to complete a circuit from the respective pin to the circuit on the respective stationary member.

Claim 5

A counter according to claim 2 which includes a first gear fixed to each digit wheel, a second gear the same size as each first gear and meshing therewith, a shaft supporting said second gears in coaxial relation and for free relative rotation, said moveable contacts being carried by said second gears.

Claim 6

A counter according to claim 3 in which said relieving means comprises a reciprocable member and rodlike guiding means therefor, said guiding means being disposed in parallel spaced relation to said shaft.

Claim 7

A counter according to claim 3 in which said stationary contacts for each pin are arranged in the circular path of travel of the respective pin, and support means for each stationary member to hold the stationary contacts thereof in a position of concentricity with the respective second gears.

Claim 8

A counter according to claim 3 in which each leaf spring and the stationary member pertaining thereto is disposed within substantially the same axial limits as the respective digit wheel.

Claim 9

A counter according to claim 6 which includes spring means urging said second gears away from their respective stationary members and abutment means to stop said second gears in a predetermined position.

Claim 10

In a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a moveable contact for each digit wheel moveable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said moveable contacts being in the form of pins, spring means resiliently biasing each said moveable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the moveable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said spring means being in the form of a leaf spring for each pin, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said moveable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said moveable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, said relieving means including an electromagnet operable when energized to relieve the bias on said pins, means for supplying energy to said electromagnet simultaneously with insertion of a value into said counter and for interrupting the said supply of energy at the end of said value insertion, and a lift member operated by said electromagnet and operable upon energization of said electromagnet to engage all of said leaf springs and move them in bias relieving direction.

Claim 11

In a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a moveable contact for each digit wheel moveable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said moveable contacts being in the form of pins, spring means resiliently biasing each said moveable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the moveable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, said spring means being in the form of a leaf spring for each pin, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said moveable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said moveable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, said relieving means including an electromagnet operable when energized to relieve the bias on said pins, means for supplying energy to said electromagnet simultaneously with insertion of a value into said counter and for interrupting the said supply of energy at the end of said value insertion, and a lift member operated by said electromagnet and operable upon energization of said electromagnet to engage all of said leaf springs and move them in bias relieving direction.

Claim 12

A counter according to claim 8 in which said lift member is a comblike element having a finger overlying each leaf spring, guide means slidably supporting said comblike element for reciprocation at an angle to said leaf springs.

Claim 13

A counter according to claim 9 in which said guiding means is a rod and said comblike element has a sleevelike portion reciprocably receiving said rod.

Claim 14

A counter according to claim 10 in which a spring is mounted on said rod and biases said comblike element toward a Rest position wherein said leaf springs are released from said comblike element and bear on said pins.

Claim 15

A counter according to claim 11 in which said electromagnet has a moveable armature, and means connecting said armature with said comblike element.

Claim 16

In combination for a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted successively and synchronously into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a movable contact for each digit wheel movable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, spring means resiliently biasing each said movable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the movable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said movable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said movable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, and a first electromagnet energizable for inserting impulse values into said counter and said relieving means including a second electromagnet in parallel with said first electromagnet so as to be energized simultaneously therewith. 14 In combination for a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted successively and synchronously into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a movable contact for each digit wheel movable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, spring means resiliently biasing each said movable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the movable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said movable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said movable contacts on said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, resetting means for simultaneously setting all of said digit wheels to zero, means for actuating said relieving means simultaneously with said resetting means, said resetting means including a first electromagnet energizable for resetting said digit wheels to zero and said relieving means including a second electromagnet in parallel with said first electromagnet so as to be energized simultaneously therewith.

Claim 17

In combination for a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted successively and synchronously into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a movable contact for each digit wheel movable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, spring means resiliently biasing each said movable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the movable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said movable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said movable contacts on the said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, and a first electromagnet energizable for inserting impulse values into said counter and said relieving means including a second electromagnet in parallel with said first electromagnet so as to be energized simultaneously therewith. 14 In combination for a counter having digit wheels arranged in coaxial spaced relation and adapted for being indexed from position to position corresponding to values inserted successively and synchronously into the counter, a stationary member for each digit wheel having spaced stationary contacts thereon corresponding to the indexed positions of the respective digit wheel, a movable contact for each digit wheel movable in unison therewith and adapted to move over the pertaining stationary member and engage a respective stationary contact thereof in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, spring means resiliently biasing each said movable contact toward the respective stationary member to provide for pressure engagement of the movable contact with a stationary contact in each indexed position of the respective digit wheel, relieving means operable upon the insertion of a value into said counter for relieving the bias on said movable contact whereby the digit wheels will index free of frictional drag due to the pressure of said movable contacts on said stationary members and the stationary contacts carried thereby, resetting means for simultaneously setting all of said digit wheels to zero, means for actuating said relieving means simultaneously with said resetting means, said resetting means including a first electromagnet energizable for resetting said digit wheels to zero and said relieving means including a second electromagnet in parallel with said first electromagnet so as to be energized simultaneously therewith.

Claim 18

A multidigit roller counting mechanism with plural number roller means upon a common rotating axis adjacent to each other and coupled among each other by a decade drive mechanism, comprising, in combination: electrically energizable switching magnet means to which magnitudes to be counted are supplied in the form of electrical impulses each of which individually energizes said switching magnet means thereby to advance the counting mechanism by one counting step, plural contact-area-forming means each having corresponding contact members for number roller means provided therefor and synchronously rotatable relatively thereto, a fixed printed circuit means having at least 10 connections thereon forming a ring-shaped contact path for one of said contact members in juxtaposition to each other and insulated relatIve to each other with respect to said contact-area-forming means, spring means to urge contact engagement associated therewith, and lifting-off magnet means energizable by impulse simultaneously together with energizing of said switching magnet means and effective during each impulse to lift said contact members off from said contact-area-forming means against force of said spring means.

Claim 19

A multidigit roller counting mechanism with plural number roller means upon a common rotating axis adjacent to each other and coupled among each other by a decade drive mechanism, comprising, in combination: electrically energizable switching magnet means to which magnitudes to be counted are supplied in the form of electrical impulses each of which individually energizes said switching magnet means thereby to advance the counting mechanism by one counting step, plural contact-area-forming means each having corresponding contact members for number roller means provided therefor and synchronously rotatable relatively thereto, a fixed printed circuit means having at least 10 connections thereon forming a ring-shaped contact path for one of said contact members in juxtaposition to each other and insulated relatIve to each other with respect to said contact-area-forming means, spring means to urge contact engagement associated therewith, and lifting-off magnet means energizable by impulse simultaneously together with energizing of said switching magnet means and effective during each impulse to lift said contact members off from said contact-area-forming means against force of said spring means.

Claim 20

A counting mechanism further in combination according to claim 15, in which said switching magnet means and said lifting-off magnet means each have windings with respective ends of which two are connected electrically for parallel relation of said magnet means with respect to each other, and diode means connected between remaining winding ends of said magnet means. 17 A counting mechanism further in combination according to claim 16, in which a further diode is connected parallel to the winding of said lifting-off magnet means.