US 3,981,441 AGranted

Counters

AssigneeThe Lucas Electrical Company Limited

InventorJohn Benjamin Leslie Walters

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Abstract

A counter comprises a body housing a set of discs which are freely rotatable on a sleeve and which have numerals on their peripheries. A series of drive plates are keyed to the sleeve and interleaved with the discs. At one end of the set of discs a spring-loaded collar also keyed to the sleeve urges the drive plates and discs into frictional engagement. The sleeve is rotatable with a reset wheel while the collar is driven by a star counting wheel through an orbital drive arrangement. The orbital drive arrangement may include a further collar having outwardly directed projections thereon which engage an abutment carried by a resilient arm, the abutment and projections restraining the further collar against rotation during counting. Each disc has a set of first abutments and a second abutment on its periphery. Spring blades engage the peripheries of the discs and have respective resilient stops thereon to engage the first abutments so as to oppose movement of the discs in a counting direction but to permit movement thereof in a reset direction. All the discs but one end disc are each provided with a resilient detent which is positioned in the path of movement of the second abutment. Each resilient detent is carried by the spring blade which mounts the resilient stop associated with an adjacent disc.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A counter comprising a body, a set of co-axially disposed discs, a plurality of numerals around a periphery of each said disc, a window in said body for displaying a numeral on each disc, friction drive means for frictionally rotating said discs, a rotary counting member for operating said friction drive means in a counting direction, a reset member for operating said friction drive means in a reset direction, a plurality of first abutment means on each said disc of said set except for one of said discs at one end of said set, said first abutment means being disposed between adjacent numerals on each said disc, a plurality of resilient stop means each adapted to engage first abutment means on a respective one of said discs, except for said one of said discs at one end of said set, to prevent rotation of said respective one of said discs in the counting direction but to allow rotation of said discs in the opposite or reset direction, a second abutment means on each said disc of said set, and a plurality of resilient detent means respectively adapted to engage said second abutment means on each of said discs so as to allow rotation of said discs in the counting direction but to stop said discs at a predetermined point of their rotation in said opposite reset direction, and a spring blade serving to attach each said stop means to said body, wherein the improvement comprises each said resilient detent means is mounted on the spring blade on which is mounted said stop means of an adjacent disc, the arrangement being such that riding movement of each said detent means over its respective second abutment means causes it to move the respective stop means out of engagement with one of said first abutment means on said adjacent disc.

A counter comprising a body;

a set of co-axially disposed discs;
a plurality of numerals around a periphery of each said disc;
a window in said body for displaying a numeral on each said disc;
friction drive means for frictionally rotating said discs, said friction drive means including a rotatable sleeve, a plurality of drive plates mounted for rotation with said sleeve and interleaved with said discs, a collar mounted for rotation with said sleeve and abutting one of said discs at an end of said set of discs, and a spring disposed between said body and said collar resiliently biassing said discs and said drive plates into frictional engagement;
a rotary counting member for operating said friction drive means in a counting direction;
a reset member for operating said friction drive means in a reset direction;
a plurality of first abutment means on each said disc of said set except for one of said discs at one end of said set, said first abutment means being disposed between adjacent numerals on each said disc;
a plurality of resilient stop means each adapted to engage said first abutment means on a respective one of said discs, except for the said one of said discs at one end of said set, to prevent rotation of said respective one of said discs in the counting direction but to allow rotation of said discs in the opposite or reset direction;
a second abutment means on each said disc of said set;
a plurality of resilient detent means each adapted to engage said second abutment means on a respective one of said discs during rotation of that disc in the opposite reset direction;
said resilient detent means for each said disc, except for the disc at the opposite end of said set to said one of said discs, being arranged with said stop means of an adjacent one of said discs so that, as one resilient detent means rides over its respective second abutment means, the stop means for said adjacent one of said discs is moved out of engagement with one of said first abutment means and thus permits the said adjacent one of said discs to be indexed by said counting drive means until said stop means returns to engage the next first abutment means in use;
and an orbital gear arrangement through which said rotary counting member drives said collar, said orbital gear arrangement including a further collar disposed between said body and said collar, wherein the improvement comprises outwardly directed projections are provided on said further collar, and an abutment portion is mounted on a resilient arm, said resilient arm serving to attach said abutment portion to said body of said counter, said abutment portion being arranged to engage said outwardly directed projections on said further collar so as to prevent rotation of said further collar when said rotary counting member is rotated in the counting direction and to allow rotation thereof when said reset member is rotated in the reset direction.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.