Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
3~
T~s invention relates to a device attached to a
vehicle ~heel hub ~or recordlng the distance covered by the
véhicle and compirsing a counting mechanism, a printing
mechanism for stamp cards and reed means for feeding the
counting mechanism w~eeIs as a ~unctiOn of said distance.
The di~tance measuring instrument in question can
be coupled and attached to wheel hubs of both traction vehicles
and trailers coupled to such vehicles. In view of the fact that -;
distance measuring instrument is intended to be attached to a
wheel hub, it may be called "hub meter~. Its counting
mechanism may be of any conventional design comprising number
~heels provided ~ith types or printing dyes. The hub meter
further comprises a mechanism with ~tationary number types
corresponding to the apparatus num~er of the meter. The
stamping mechanism may be of known design and is intended to
release the pxinting of the values of the number typès in
question on the number wheels in the counting mechanismr i.e.
the distance in kilometers covered by the vehicle, onto a
stamp card, which for this purpose is introduced into the
hub meter. At the same time said apparatus number is printed.
The stamp card, which is provided wit~ carbon paper, is introduced
for printing through a card slot in the meter, which slot
becomes accassible when a covering or protective lid on the ~
free end of the meter is pivoted~for folded-~side. Said lid, ~ -
in addition to sealing 'che meter to prevent dirt from entering
thereinto, also acts as a handle for relaasing the printing
mechanism. When the lid is to ~e folded aside, a screw in the
lid is actuated to release the lid from the apparatus casing ;~
whereafter the lid is act~ated for exposing the slot ~o int~oduce
the stamp card therethrough. The lid is then, for printing, actua-
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ted in a definite ~a~ ~n order to release the printing mechanism
to print on the stamp card introduced into the card slot. The
movement of the lid in ~his conjunction may be a rotary or a ~ ;
folding movement.
The ~ub meter, further, may comprise a curtaln or slide, whic~h
normally shuts tha card slot, but is opened when the meter is
being operated for card printing, and thereafter is shut to
prevent improper objects, ~hich may block the counting mechanism,
from being introduced into the meter through the card slot.
Such curtains have been proposed previously for meters of other ;~
types.
The hub meter may in addition include a base plate, which is ` -
intended for mounting and supporting the meter and faces towards
the wheel hub, to which it is attached. Said base plate is
heat-insulated from the remaining details of the meter r SO that
heat produced by the vehicle wheel cannot be transferred by
conduction to the interior of themm~ter.
The number wheals of the counting mechanism may be arranged
to be advanced by jumps, irrespective of the rotational
direction o~ the veh-icle wheel.
It is understood, that a hub meter rota~es together with the
vehicle wheel to which the meter is attached when the vehicle
is driven. The counting mechanism rigidly mounted in the meter
housing thèn also rotates together with said wheel. For
rendering it possible for the counting mechanism wheels to be
advanced in synchromism with the movement of the vehicle wheel
and meter, a feed mechanism actuated by the rotation of the
meter must be introduced. For this purpose, a non-rotary
reference means must be introduced into the,meter as a fixed
"reference point". According to the
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invention, a pendulum mechanism i5 utilized, which by action
of gravitation maintains a substantially constant position, inde-
pendently of the rotation of the meter and counting mechanism, and
which actuates the feed mechanism for the num~er wheels of the
counting mechanism. Said pendulum mechanism comprises a pendulum
with a swing axle, which is concentric with the vehicle axle, and
includes means for coupling said axle to the feed mechanism.
Under 5uch operational conditions as acceleration and retardation
of a vehicle, when the vehicle drives down into holes in the
road etc., a pendulum tends to turn round one or more revolutions,
and at its worst has the tendency of participating in the rotary
movement of the hub meter, which is attached to and caused to
rotate by said wheel, so that the feed mechanism of the counting
mechanism remains unaffected and, cons~quently, recording of the
covered distance does not take place. The pendulum according to
the invention is so designed that such inconveniencies due to
incorrect recording of covered distances are avoided. The
pendulum, more precisely, has been givèn the shape of a thin~
walled, hollow-ring with smooth inner surface. The annular space
in the ring is filled to some part with movable spherlcal balls
of a heavy, non-magnetic material, for example lead or stainless ~ ;
steel. The balls can move freely relative to each other and to
the inner walls of the ringO The resulting friction effect implies ^~
an effect consumption, which efficiently brakes the ring under
such conditions, ~hich otherwise would have caused a pendulum
with lumped mass to participate in the rotation of the meter. The
pendulum, furthermore, is provided with a fixed balance weight, in
order to prevent the annular pendulum from slowly migrating
around when it IS subjected to vibration forces. Owing to the `
gravity force, the unbalance thus obtained in the pendulum system
with ring and balls will cause the pendulum to assume a substant
ially constant static position.
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In broad terms, the present invention provides, ~-
in a device attached to vehicle hub for recording
distances covered by the vehicle, wherein the device
includes accounting mechanism having wheels that advance
as the hub rotates, the improvement comprising: a ;:
housing secured in fixed relation to said hub~for con~
~aining said device and supporting said counting
mechanism for rotation with said hub; a shaft rotatably
mounted in said housing for free rotation relative to
each of said housing, said hub and said counting
. mechanism; means for coupling said shaft to said counting
mechanism to rotate the wheels of said counting mechanism,
upon relative rotation between said shaft and said counting
mechanism; annular pendulum means non rotatably secured ; :
to said shaft and tending to hold said shaft stationary
with respect to said mechanism, said housing:and--said hub ~:
as said hub rotates; an annular chamber within said pendulum
means or holding a plurality o~ loose non-magnetic metal
balls having a radial depth substantially less than the
radial depth of said annular pendulum means, said loose
metal balls being of a diameter substantially less than the
width of the annular chamber and moveable relative to said
pendulum to change the center of gravity thereof, upon
applying a vertical impact to the hub, so that the p~ndulum
ro~ates; and means fixed to said pendulum for returning
said pendulum to essentially the same position, with respect `
to said hub, after the ve.rtical impact has occurred, and to .
prevent the pendulum from slowly migrating, when subjected
to vibration forces.
The walls are preferably made of lead or stainless ; .
steelO The means for returning the-pendulum is a weight
attached thereto~ The device prefereably includes a slot ~:~
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~375iS
~or the insertion of an image receiving card and a cover
disposed over the slot.
The invention is descri~ed in detail by the following
text, with reference to a preferred embodiment shbwn by way of
an example in the accompanying drawings in which:
Fig. 1 is a view, partially in section, of a vehicle wheeI
provided with the distance measuring instrument
according to the invention,
Fig. 2 is a partial sectional view which shows a portion of
said wheel seen from the side, and
Fig. 3 is a cross-section through the distance measuring
instrument according to the invention, of which the main
parts are visible.
In ~igs. 1 and 2 a so-called hub meter 2 is shown mounted on a
vehicle hub 15 to rotate together with the vehicle wheeI. SSald
hub meter, as will be apparent in greater detail from the
following, comprises a kilometer counting mechanism, which is
so mounted in the meter housing that it rotates together with
the meter. Wi~hin the meter housing, there is further located -~
a card printing mechanis~ to print on a stamp card 1 the
ki~ometer value in question indicated in-the`oôuntin~-;mèc~aniism.
The meter is provided with a protective lid 3, which is
pivotal about an axle 7 and normally covers the free end of
the meterj but after loasening a lid screw ~ from its thread
6 in the hub meter housing can be swu~g down to the position ~-
shown in ~igs. 1 and 2, in which position a card insertion slot
4 is exposed for inserting the stamp card 1. In order to
release the printing mechanism, the lid 3 is rotated as
indicated by the arrow 17 in Fig. 2
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The meter housing, as appears fro~ Fig. 3, comprises a meter
hood 18 and a meter base plate 27. Between a cup-shaped
bot~om 20 and the base plata 27 a pendulum 8 is located, and
between the bottom 20 and hood 18 the counting mechanism and
printing mechanism are arranged.
The counting mechanism is illustrated by one counting mechanism
wheel 19, and the printing mechanism by a hammer 25, lifting
arm 26 and the lid axle 7 which releases the printing mechanism.
The protective lid 3 is held in a position above the free (left-
hand) end of the lid screw 5, which is screwed into a thread 6
in the meter hood 18. The screw 5 is provided with a sealing
gasket 12, and the lid 3 has a sealing ring 11. As mentioned
above, the lid 3 can be swung about its axle 7 when the screw 5
has been loosened. Consequently, the card slot 4 is exposed,
and the curtain plate 23, which is actuated by a spring 24, is
moved aside, so that a stamp card can be introduced into the
meter. ;
The annular pendulum 8 is hollow ring, which is partially
filled with non-magnetic metal balls 14 and provided with a
stationary weight 13. As best seen in figure 3, the radial
depth of the bed of balls 14 is substantially less than the
radial depth of the annular pendulum 8. The diameter of the
balls 14 is substantially less tha~ the width of the annular
chamber. Thus, the balls are movable to c~ange the centre of
gravity of the pendulum 8. As mentioned before, the non-magnetic '~
metal balls 14 are made of lead but other non-magnetic materials, ;~
elg. a stainless steel, are r~adily conceivab~e as a substitute~
~hs pendulum is attached to the projecting free (right-hand) end
of a swing axle 9, which is freely supported for rotation in
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755 ~ .
a bearing 21 in the bottom 20 and a b~aring 22 at its other (left-
hand) end. The left-hand end of the axle 9 is provided with a
screw 16 for engagement with a worm wheel 10. Said worm whe~l -
lO co-acts with a feed mechanism (not ~hown) for the number type
wXeels of the countingl~mechanism. ks appears~from the construction
shown and from the information in the above introductory p~rtion,
the pendulum 9 maintains substantially its position shown in Fig.
3, with the weight 13 farthest down during the rotary movement of
the vehicle-wheel and the meter in general. The relative motion
between the counting mechanism and swing axle serves, by help -~
of the worm gear 10, 16, to advance the type whe~ls of the
counting mechanism to an extent proportional to the distance covered
by t~e v ~icle wheel, so that the number wheels oE the ~oùnt~g
mechanism at any moment indicate the corresponding number of
kilometers which by printing in the manner described can be trans-
ferred to a stamp card introduced into the meter.
Those skilled in the art will describe from the above
description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
that various modifications both in the actual shape of different `
parts and of the materials used for production of same are
readily conceivable and may result in a device di~ferin~ to a
greater or lesser degree, from the preferred embodiment. Many
of such arrangements, however, still fall within the scope of the `;
present invention as recited in the accompanying claimsO ~ ;
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