Data register

A data register with a register card selection mechanism comprising a housing which has a cover and a base with a plurality of selector keys which are juxtaposed and superimposed in rows and a drawer which is under the action of a compression spring and which is closable by means of a locking mechanism, whereby a large number of register cards are stacked in said drawer with selection tongues having openings formed in the rear edge portions thereof, said tongues increasing in size in step-like manner by, in each case, one opening-containing selection tongue from one side to the other of the register card with the first opening disposed opposite the first opening of the preceding register card, whereby each selection key is fixed to a swivel arm constructed as a lever which at its free end carries a card restraining pin, whereby the card restraining pins of the swivel levers are arranged in a row and cooperate with the register cards in such a way that, on depressing a selector key, all register cards located above the register card associated with this selector key are held back on extending the drawer by inserting the card restraining pins into the openings of the selection tongues of the register cards, while the selected register card and all the cards located below it are moved out with the drawer, as well as a device operable by the swivel levers of the selector keys for unlocking the drawer and releasing the register cards selected by a selector key by forcing out the unlocked drawer by means of the compression spring and provided with a cam for engaging with cam perforations on the register card,

• (a) wherein the selector keys of the swivel levers comrise plate-like, square or rectangular blanks fixed to the ends thereof, with selector keys arranged one behind the other in any one row having a width which corresponds to the width of the particular swivel lever which carries three selector keys and are connected therewith in such a way that the selector key facing the card restraining pins at the rear ends of the swivel lever projects over the two adjacent swivel levers to the right and the front selector key projects over the two adjacent swivel levers to the left and the central selector key projects to the right and left over the swivel lever adjacent to said key on either side,
• (b) wherein the card restraining pin of each swivel lever comprises an approximately U-shaped portion shaped onto the end of the swivel lever with a leg leading to the selector keys onto whose end is shaped a vertically upwardly directed rod which on operating a swivel lever engages from below into the register card opening or recesses.
• (c) wherein the drawer comprises a plate-shaped drawer bottom with a front terminal strip which seals a drawer extension opening in the housing front wall when the drawer is inserted, said drawer being open at the back and on either side and in its rear edge area having a plurality of slot-shaped recesses corresponding to the number of card restraining pins and having a length corresponding to the length of the U-shaped portion on the ends of the swivel levers, while two lateral drawer limiting walls are formed by two boundary walls shaped onto the inner wall surface of the housing cover and arranged on either side of the plate-shaped drawer bottom,
• (d) wherein for guiding the swivel levers each swivel lever is provided on the end carrying the card restraining pin with a vertical slot-shaped opening into which engages a cam shaped onto the inner wall surface of the housing cover and is guided in the opening,
• (e) wherein the mechanism for unlocking the drawer comprises a U-shaped shackle articulated to the cover of the housing and whose web which is at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the swivel lever rests on the top of the swivel arms and is subject to the action thereof, whilst each shackle member has a locking cam on its bottom face facing the drawer which cooperates with a counter-cam shaped onto the drawer in such a way that on raising the shackle on operating a selector key the locking cam is disengaged from the counter cam so that the drawer is extended outwards.