US2310574A - Punchboard - Google Patents

Description

, Feb 9 1943 o. L. cARTwRlGHT 2,310,574 PUNCHl BOARD Filed Feb. 11, 1941 Fig. Z

Patented F eb. 9, 1943 TED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

The present invention is concerned with an improved punch board and more particularly with means for recording the number of punches" taken.

The conventional punch board comprises a plurality of apertures, each of which has a portion sealed on to provide a pocket in which is located an indicia bearing member usually in the form of a numbered slip of paper rolled compactly.

A punching device is usually provided with the punch board to force out the indicia bearing members from the pockets in which they are housed. These punch boards are quite commonly used for sales purposes and the customer pays Ior each such indicia bearing member which is punched out, the indicia on the member indieating whether the customer is entitled to receive certain merchandise. These punch boards are usually placed on the counter where they are freely accessible to persons in the place of business. As a result, it is often impossible for the attendant to determine exactly how many punches have been taken. The customer is strongly tempted under these circumstances to call attention only to the punches which are of some value to him and to surreptitiously discard the others.

An object of the present invention is to provide -means in connection with such a punch board for registering the number of punches taken by each customer. Y

A further object of the invention is to provide such a registering means wherein an individual record is provided for each player.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement in which the registering means is in the form of la paper strip.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement in which the paper strip is in the form of a roll rotatably supported on a stand for supporting the punch board.

A still further object of the invention is to pro- 'vide such an arrangement in which the paper strip is fitted between two portions of the punch board so thatit is impossible to eject one ofthe indicia bearing members without vperforating the strip.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement wherein the paper strip comprises numbered portions, there being one portion for. each player.

-Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the accompanying specification, claims, and drawing-of which j Figure l is a side elevational view 'partly in section of my improved punch board and Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the punch board with a portion folded back to more fully illustrate the cooperation of certain parts.

Referring to the drawing, the punch board corn prises two main portions I 0 and Il, both composed of laminated brous material. The portion Ill is the portion which contains the pockets for the indicia bearing members. The portion I0 is formed of four laminations of brous material, these laminations being designated by reference numerals I2, I3, I4, and I 5. The outer laminations I2 and I5 are of relatively hard brous material for reasons to be explained later. The upper part of the portion IU has a plurality of similar apertures, three of which are designated by the reference numerals I6, I'I, and IB. Over the front of the upper part of portion Ill a strip of paper I9 is secured. 'I'his paper covers the entire apertured area of the portion I9 of the punch board, and constitutes a seal at the front ends of the apertures. A similar strip of paper 2| is provided at the back of the punch board in iront of lamination I 2 to close the rear of the apertures. By reason of the paper strip I9 and 2 I, the various apertures form pockets. In each cf these pockets an indicia bearing member is initially housed. These indicia bearing members have been indicated by the reference numeral 24. The particular form of the indicia bearing member is of no importance as far as the present invention is concerned although these members are commonly in the form of a numbered strip which is rolled compactly.

The front portion II of the punch board is composed of two laminations 28 and 29 which are rmly glued together. The portion I I is also provided with a series of apertures being designated by the reference numeral 3l. A foil strip 32 is interposed between laminations 29 and 28 to form a barrier in the passages 3|. The per forations 3| are in alignment with the corresponding perforations in the portion I0 and, as will be pointed out more fully hereafter, serve as entrance guides to the pockets for the punch member.

The portions I0 and II are hingedly sealed together at one side by any suitable means. For example, these members may be fastened by means of any form of adhesive flexible tape. This hinged relation of portions I 0 and II is most clearly seen in Figure 2 where the portion I I, is shown as folded away from portion I0. At the side. opposite. from the hinge, the two portions I0 and II are held together by one or more clips 35. These clips are preferably formed of wire bent to provide portions 36 and 31 overlying the front of member II and the rear of member I0. This clip is normally frictionally held in place but can be readily removed when it is desired to fold apart members I and II.

At the bottom of portion I I, suitable indicia 38 can be provided for advertising or instructive purposes. The particular nature of the material appearing at the bottom of this construction forms no part of this invention, however.

The punch board comprising portions I0 and II is supported by a stand 49, which stand also forms a support for the registering means. This stand is formed of a continuous piece of wire which has two terminal portions 42 extending up into apertures in the punch board. From each end, the wire thereupon is bent to form two feet 43 and is then bent upwardly to form a spindle portion 44 for the support of a paper roll 45. Thereafter the wire is bent inwardly to provide a loop 46 projecting beneath the punch board. The wire is then bent over to provide another portion 41 overlapping the front of the punch board. The wire is thereafter bent downwardly over the back of the punch board and is formed on the other side in exactly the same way. Thus the wire stand provides a firm support for the punch board and at the same time provides a spindle for rotatably supporting a paper roll 45.

The strip of paper 49 constituting the paper roll extends forwardly and up between portions I and II, terminating slightly above the punch board. This paper strip, as best shown in Figure 2, is provided with numbers or other indicia to designate certain portions thereof, as will be more fully explained later. The upper end of po-rtion Il] of the punch board is rounded over and terminates in a sharp edge i). This sharp edge serves as a tearing edge for the paper strip.

The punch member is designated by the reference numeral 52. This punch comprises a handle portion 53 and a shank portion 54. The shank portion is designed to extend through the apertures 3| and the pockets formed by the apertures of which apertures I6, I1, and I9 are typical. The operation by which the punch member is forced through these apertures to eject the indicia bearing member is shown in connection with the pocket I8.

It will be obvious from the above that in order for the punch member 52 to eject one of the indicia bearing members, it is necessary for this punch member to perforate not only the foil strip 32 and the paper sealing strips I9 and 2I, but also the paper strip 49. This is clearly shown in connection with aperture IG from which the indicia bearing member has been forced. Thus at the same time that one of these members is ejected by the punch 52, the paper 49 is perforated. All that it is necessary to do in determining how many punches the player has taken is to examine the paper strip 49 and determine how many perforations there are in this strip. This is accomplished by withdrawing the strip until the next consecutive number appears and tearing olf the withdrawn portion by means of the cutting edge 50. The act of withdrawing the perforated portion automatically brings into position, an unperforated portion for the new player.

Reference was previously made to the fact that the outer laminations I5 and I2 are of relatively hard ber. The purpose of this is to insure a bered consecutively and if firm backing for the sealing strips I9 and 2I as the punch engages them in the process of electing one of the members 24. By reasons of this firm backing, the punch will tend to cut through the paper strips I9 and 2| rather than tear them.

The sealing strips I9 and 2I are obviously provided for the purpose of preventing any examination of any of the indicia bearing members prior to its ejection in the intended manner. The foil seal 32 is intended as a means for indicating which apertures have been punched. If this seal were not provided, in view of the fact that the paper strip 49 after each operation covers up the punched-out apertures in the rear portion IU, it would be impossible to tell which apertures had been punched.

The portions I0 and II are hinged together to permit access to the paper strip 49 if the strip is accidently torn off in being withdrawn. This hinged construction is also desirable in case the paper strip is removed for any reason. In order to fold away portion II all that is necessary to do is to remove the clip and withdraw the board upwardly out of the stand between the portions 4B and 41 thereof.

It will be readily seen that I have provided a highly ingenious means of preventing the surreptitious taking of punches with no intent to pay for those which prove to be undesirable. With the present arrangement, it is impossible to mutilate the paper strip to give a false recording. The position of the numbers on the paper strip indicates the position the paper strip occupies and if these numbers are in the wrong position, it is an indication that the paper strip has been shifted during use. By merely retaining each strip, the attendant is in a position to determine whether one of the portions of the strip has been surreptitiously removed and discarded. This is possible because the portions of the strip are numthe portion allegedly punched by the customer is higher than the portion last punched, there is an indication that a portion has been removed surreptitiously.

While I have shown the specific embodiment of the invention for purposes of illustration, it is to be understood that there are numerous modications which can be made. For example, the paper strip 49 instead of being fitted between two portions of the punch board, can be fitted immediately beneath a conventional punch board, the strip being disposed so as to be in the path of any indicia bearing member ejected from the pockets. In general, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pockets therein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forced out therefrom, a punching device for forcing said members out, and means for automatically registering the number of such members forced out by any player and providing an individual record for each player of such number, said means comprising an element disposed adjacent said pockets in the path of movement of the punching device.

2. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed-pockets therein and indicia bearing members in 'said pockets adapted to be forced out therefrom, a readily perforable strip of a length many times the longest dimension of said board, and means for movably supporting said strip so that a portion thereof is adjacent said pockets and so that it is necessary to perforate said portion of said strip each time one of said members is forced out.

3. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pockets therein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forced out therefrom, and paper strip recording means comprising a plurality of portions of paper each of a size adapted to cover the entire pocketed area of said board, and means for removably holding each portion adjacent the pocketed portion of said board in a position Where it is necessary to perforate said portion of paper each time one of said members is forced out.

4. In combination, a punch board having a portion comprising a plurality of pockets in each of which is an indicia bearing member and a portion overlying said pocketed portion of said board and having a plurality of apertures one aligned with each of said pockets, a punch for insertion through said apertures and pockets to force out said indicia bearing members, a strip of readily perforable material, means for slidably supporting said strip for free movement between said apertured and pocketed portions of said board so that it is necessary for said punch to pass through said strip before entering one of said pockets, and so that said strip may be readily withdrawn to permit the inspection thereof.

5. In combination, a punch board having a portion comprising a plurality of pockets in each of Which is an indicia bearing member and a portion overlying said pocketed portion of said board and having a plurality of apertures one aligned with each of said pockets, a punch for insertion through said apertures and pockets to force out said indicia bearing members, a strip of readily perforable material removably supported between said apertured and pocketed portions of said board so that it is necessary for said punch to pass through said strip before entering one of said pockets, and means for hingedly securing said apertured and pocketed portions together.

6. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pockets therein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forced out therefrom, a stand for said punch board comprising a spindle, a rolled strip of readily perforable material supported on said spindle, and means for supporting the terminal portion of said strip adjacent said pockets in such a manner that it is necessary to perforate said portion of said strip each time one of said members is forced out.

7. In combination, a punch board having a plurality of enclosed pockets therein and indicia bearing members in said pockets adapted to be forced out therefrom, and paper strip recording means comprising a plurality of consecutively numbered portions of paper each of a size adapted to cover the entire pocketed area of said board, and means for removably holding each portion adjacent the pocketed portion of said board in a position Where it is necessary to perforate said portion of paper each time one of said members is forced out.

O. L. CARTWRIGHT.

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