Unidirectional drive assembly for a gear driven meter register

A unidirectional drive assembly comprising an input ratio gear rotatably mounted in continuous meshing engagement with first and second idler gears, said first and second idler gears being mounted for free rotation on a shift plate, said shift plate being pivotal in a forward or a reverse direction responsive respectively to rotation of the ratio gear in a forward or a reverse direction, an output drive gear rotatably mounted in continuous meshing engagement with a third idler gear, said output drive gear being mounted adjacent the first idler gear for interruptible meshing engagement therewith, said third idler gear being rotatably mounted adjacent said second idler gear for interruptible meshing engagement therewith, and limit stop means for confirming the pivotal movement of said shift plate to a predetermined range of angular movement, said first idler gear being operable to drive the output drive gear in a forward direction responsive to being positioned in a desired degree of meshing engagement therewith when the shift plate is pivoted to one end of said predetermined range of angular movement by rotation of the input ratio gear in a forward direction, said second idler gear also being operable to drive the output drive gear in a forward direction through its coupling with the third idler gear responsive to the second idler gear being positioned in a desired degree of meshing engagement with the third idler gear when the shift plate is pivoted to the other end of said predetermined range of angular movement by rotation of the input ratio gear in a reverse direction.

A unidirectional drive assembly for a gear driven meter register that is adapted for use with a meter having a register drive gear comprising:

• a ratio gear shaft assembly consisting of an input wheel gear mounted on a hollow shaft adjacent one end thereof in fixed relationship therewith, and a ratio gear mounted on the hollow shaft adjacent the other end thereof in fixed relationship therewith,
• an idler shift assembly consisting of a rotatable solid shaft, a shift plate mounted on the solid shaft adjacent one end thereof in fixed relationship therewith, first and second idler gears rotatably mounted on said shift plate at points spaced an equal distance from the axis of rotation of the solid shaft, and a stop member mounted in fixed position on said shift plate at a point spaced from said first and second idler gears,
• a frame assembly comprising a back plate, a front plate, holding means arranged to hold the front plate and back plate apart in a fixed relationship,
• a register indicator gear assembly consisting of an indicator drive gear mounted for rotation relative to said frame assembly and coupled to rotate a meter register indicator relative to said frame assembly responsive to rotation of said indicator drive gear, said indicator drive gear being positioned adjacent the first idler gear of said idler shift assembly for interruptible meshing engagement therewith,
• a third idler gear mounted for rotation relative to said frame assembly and positioned adjacent the second idler gear of said idler assembly for interruptible meshing engagement therewith, said third idler gear being in continuous meshing engagement with said indicator drive gear,
• the solid shaft of said idler shift assembly being nested within the hollow shaft of said ratio gear shaft assembly for rotation relative thereto and with said ratio gear in continuous meshing engagement with said first and second idler gears, said solid shaft and said hollow shaft being mounted for rotation relative to said frame assembly with the stop member of said idler shift assembly positioned between a pair of limit stops arranged respectively in fixed positions on said frame assembly, said limit stops being effective to establish a predetermined range of angular movement for the shift plate of the idler shift assembly thereby to cause the first idler gear to be positioned in meshing engagement with said indicator drive gear and to cause the second idler gear to be spaced a given distance from said third idler gear responsive to the stop member being moved to one end of said predetermined range of angular movement, and to cause the first idler gear to be spaced a given distance from said indicator drive gear and to cause the second idler gear to be positioned in meshing engagement with said third idler gear responsive to the stop member being moved to the other end of said predetermined range of angular movement,
• whereby rotation of the input wheel gear of said ratio gear assembly in a forward direction causes the shift plate of said idler shift assembly to rotate in a forward direction until said stop member reaches one end of said predetermined range of angular movement and engages one of said limit stops thereby positioning the first idler gear in a desired degree of meshing engagement with the indicator drive gear causing it to move the register indicator in an up-scale direction, whereas rotation of the input wheel gear of said ratio gear assembly in a reverse direction causes the shift plate of said idler shift assembly to rotate in a backward direction until said stop member reaches the other end of said predetermined range of angular movement and engages the other of said limit stops thereby positioning the second idler gear in a desired degree of meshing engagement with said third idler gear causing it to rotate the indicator drive gear and move the register indicator in an up-scale direction.