Tape measure counter

Claim 2

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of similarly thick items by means of comparison of two linear measures and under a controllable degree of pressure, comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable from said housing through said aperture in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape, said tip of said tape being substantially smaller than said housing and said tither blade, c. aN assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with the holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to extension of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, and d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: clutch means connected to said gears for selectively disconnecting said gears from said tither blade for enabling extension of said tape without movement of said tither blade.

Claim 4

A tape measure counter according to claim 1 wherein the assembly of gears comprises: a. a tape gear positioned within the housing and having sprocket teeth which engage the holes perforated in the measuring tape; b. a pinion gear positioned within the housing, connected to the tape gear and rotating on a common axis with the tape gear; c. two intermediary gears on a common axis, positioned within the housing, one of which gears meshes with the pinion gear; d. a tither spur gear positioned within the housing which meshes with the intermediary gear that does not mesh with the pinion gear; and e. a rack gear positioned within the housing along the tither bar and which meshes with the tither gear.

Claim 5

A tape measure counter according to claim 3 wherein the sprocket teeth of the tape gear are positioned at a slight angle from the sprocket gear.

Claim 6

A tape measure counter according to claim 1 wherein the ratio of movement of the measuring tape to the movement of the tither bar established by the assembly of gears is ten to one.

Claim 7

A tape measure counter according to claim 1 wherein the measuring tape: a. is made of a spring steel; b. is marked off in units along its length; c. has a heavier, solid section located at its outer end; d. has a hook attached to the solid section of the measuring tape; and e. has a measuring plate connected by means of the hook to the solid section of the measuring tape.

Claim 8

A tape measure counter according to claim 6 wherein the measuring plate comprises: a. a handle projecting from the measuring plate; b. a longitudinal channel in the measuring plate; and c. a groove within the channel in which the hook of the measuring tape can slide freely and can rotate and from which the hook can be removed to detach the measuring plate from the measuring tape.

Claim 9

A tape measure counter according to claim 1 wherein the measuring tape: a. has a spring-loaded retraction box positioned within the housing and at the back end of the housing; and b. changes its plane approximately 90* during the time it traverses the inside of the housing.

Claim 12

A method according to claim 9 comprising the additional steps of: a. applying the same measurement and count of items achieved by the measuring tape in claim 9 to another quantity of the same items; b. maintaining the same pressure on the items being counted; c. adding the resulting number of items counted to the same number of items counted in claim 11; and d. rEpeating steps (a), (b) and (c) until the total quantity of items has been counted.

Claim 13

Apparatus for counting stacks of objects having similar thickness by determining a linear displacement of a portion of said stack which is a predetermined fraction of the linear displacement of a larger quantity of said objects under a selectively controllable degree of pressure, said apparatus comprising: a. an elongated housing having an aperture and a face portion adjacent said aperture, b. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being extensibly coiled within said housing and being extendable therefrom through said aperture in response to tension applied thereto and being spring biased to coil within said housing so as to be compactly positionable within said housing when not so extended, c. a divider blade movably mounted outside said housing, means mounting said blade for movement in a direction parallel to motion of said tape during extension thereof from said housing, said tip of said tape being considerably smaller than either of said divider blade and said face portion of said housing, d. drive means connected between said tape and said divider blade to move said divider blade in response to extension of said tape, the amount of motion of said divider blade being a predetermined fraction of the amount of extension of said tape, and e. pressure measuring means connected to said housing for measuring the degree of pressure exerted on said face portion of said housing when said face portion is pressed against said objects to be counted, said pressure measuring means enabling control of the pressure under which the count is made.

Claim 14

Apparatus for counting stacks of objects having similar thickness by determining a linear displacement of a portion of said stack which is a predetermined fraction of the linear displacement of a larger quantity of said objects under a selectively controllable degree of pressure, said apparatus comprising: a. an elongated housing having an aperture and a face portion adjacent said aperture, b. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being extensibly coiled within said housing and being extendable therefrom through said aperture in response to tension applied thereto and being spring biased to coil within said housing so as to be compactly positionable within said housing when not so extended, c. a divider blade movably mounted outside said housing, means mounting said blade for movement in a direction parallel to motion of said tape during extension thereof from said housing, said tip of said tape being considerably smaller than either of said divider blade and said face portion of said housing, d. drive means connected between said tape and said divider blade to move said divider blade in response to extension of said tape, the amount of motion of said divider blade being a predetermined fraction of the amount of extension of said tape, and e. pressure measuring means connected to said housing for measuring the degree of pressure exerted on said face portion of said housing when said face portion is pressed against said objects to be counted, said pressure measuring means enabling control of the pressure under which the count is made.

Claim 15

The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: clutch means connected to said drive means for selectively disconnecting said drive means from said divider bar for enabling extension of said tape without movement of said divider bar.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 11, wherein: said face portion comprises a flat plate pivotally mounted on said housing adjacent said aperture for enabling actuation of said pressure measuring means on stacks of objects to be counted which stacks are positioned outside the region of the longitudinal axis of said housing.

Claim 17

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of similarly thick items by means of comparison of two linear measures and under a controllable degree of pressure, comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein, and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable from said housing through said aperture in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape, said tip of said tape being substantially smaller than said housing and said tither blade, c. an assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with the holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to extension of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, and d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items said pressure measuring means comprising: i. a pressure scale on the outer surface of said housing, ii. a sleeve-like pressure case which engirds the back end of the housing and slides upon the housing, the leading edge of which pressure case indicates the pressure on the pressure scale, iii. a pressure spring mounted within the housing and anchored to the front end of the housing, which pressure spring opposes the forward movement of the pressure case, iv. a pressure rod around whicH the pressure spring is fitted, the pressure rod being anchored to the front end of the housing, and v. a link affixed to the pressure case and slideably mounted on the pressure rod to transmit the force applied from the pressure case to the pressure spring.

Claim 18

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of similarly thick items by means of comparison of two linear measures and under a controllable degree of pressure, comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein, and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable from said housing through said aperture in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape, said tip of said tape being substantially smaller than said housing and said tither blade, c. an assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with the holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to extension of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, and d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items said pressure measuring means comprising: i. a pressure scale on the outer surface of said housing, ii. a sleeve-like pressure case which engirds the back end of the housing and slides upon the housing, the leading edge of which pressure case indicates the pressure on the pressure scale, iii. a pressure spring mounted within the housing and anchored to the front end of the housing, which pressure spring opposes the forward movement of the pressure case, iv. a pressure rod around whicH the pressure spring is fitted, the pressure rod being anchored to the front end of the housing, and v. a link affixed to the pressure case and slideably mounted on the pressure rod to transmit the force applied from the pressure case to the pressure spring.

Claim 19

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of uniformily thick items by means of a relationship of linear measure and pressure, comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front end and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable through said aperture in said housing in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape through said aperture, c. an assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with said holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to movement of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items; e. a clutch bar positioned within the housing for engaging and disengaging the measuring tape from the tither blade, which clutch bar comprises: i. a pivot point at one end of the clutch bar near the rear of the housing, ii. a clutch roller projecting from the clutch bar to raise the measuring tape clear of the sprocket teeth of the tape gear and thereby disengage the measuring tape from the tither bar, iii. a section of the clutch bar bent at right angles adjacent to the tape gear to lower the measuring tape and engage the tither bar, iv. a channel cut into the right angle section of the clutch bar to align the holes of the measuring tape in which the sprocket teeth of the tape gear; and v. a control bar on the front end of the clutch bar which projects through the housing.

Claim 20

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of uniformily thick items by means of a relationship of linear measure and pressure, comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front end and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable through said aperture in said housing in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape through said aperture, c. an assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with said holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to movement of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items; e. a clutch bar positioned within the housing for engaging and disengaging the measuring tape from the tither blade, which clutch bar comprises: i. a pivot point at one end of the clutch bar near the rear of the housing, ii. a clutch roller projecting from the clutch bar to raise the measuring tape clear of the sprocket teeth of the tape gear and thereby disengage the measuring tape from the tither bar, iii. a section of the clutch bar bent at right angles adjacent to the tape gear to lower the measuring tape and engage the tither bar, iv. a channel cut into the right angle section of the clutch bar to align the holes of the measuring tape in which the sprocket teeth of the tape gear; and v. a control bar on the front end of the clutch bar which projects through the housing.

Claim 21

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of similarly thick items by means of comparison of two linear measures and under a controllable degree of pressure, said counter comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein, and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable from said housing through said aperture in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape, said tip of said tape being substantially smaller than said housing and said tither blade, c. an assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with the holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to extension of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items, e. a tither bar affixed at a right angle to the tither blade, f. a tither spring anchored between the back end of said housing and a point proximate the front of the tither bar; g. a base plate tube which is mounted on the housing and which communicates with the interior of the housing, through which tube the tither bar and the measuring tape pass from the interior of the housing; and h. a base plate which is rotatably connected to the base plate tube And which base plate is positioned against the stack of items to be counted.

Claim 22

A tape measure counter for counting amounts of similarly thick items by means of comparison of two linear measures and under a controllable degree of pressure, said counter comprising: a. a flexible measuring tape having a tip and being coiled about a central region and enclosed by a housing having a front and a back end, said front end having an aperture therein, and a face portion proximate to said aperture for applying pressure to said items when said housing is pressed against said items, said tape being extendable from said housing through said aperture in response to tension applied to said tape, said tape having holes perforated equidistantly along its length, b. a tither blade mounted on said housing and being movable in a direction parallel to the direction of extension of said tape, said tip of said tape being substantially smaller than said housing and said tither blade, c. an assembly of gears connected between said tape and said tither blade and in engagement with the holes in said tape for moving the tither blade in response to extension of said tape in an amount which is a predetermined fraction of the movement of said measuring tape, d. means for measuring the amount of pressure under which said face portion is pressed against said items, e. a tither bar affixed at a right angle to the tither blade, f. a tither spring anchored between the back end of said housing and a point proximate the front of the tither bar; g. a base plate tube which is mounted on the housing and which communicates with the interior of the housing, through which tube the tither bar and the measuring tape pass from the interior of the housing; and h. a base plate which is rotatably connected to the base plate tube And which base plate is positioned against the stack of items to be counted.