US3224008A

US3224008A - Spark recording apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: US3224008A
Application number: US49878A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jack S Hawley
Original assignee: Berkeley Instruments
Current assignee: Berkeley Instruments
Priority date: 1960-08-16
Filing date: 1960-08-16
Publication date: 1965-12-14
Anticipated expiration: 1982-12-14

Description

Dec. 14, 1965 I s. HAWLEY 3,224,008

SPARK RECORDING APPARATUS AND ME'IHUD Filed Aug. 16, 1960 a Sheets$heet 1 020% SEEM/L 5 Y J N VEN TOR.

1965 J. s. HAWLEY 3,224,008

SPARK RECORDING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Aug. 16, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 i/ZCK SJYZWLEY INVENTOR.

Dec. 14, 1965 J. s. HAWLEY SPARK RECORDING APPARATUS AND METHOD 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 16, 1960 Mmq H I I IHHMH ([dCK 5. HA WL E Y JNVENTOR.

/ X W W ,4 7'7'OPA/E Y5 United States Patent M 3,224,008 SPARK RECORDING APPARATUS AND Marrron Jack S. Hawley, Berkeley, Calif, assignor, by mesne as- This invention relates to a recording apparatus and method and more particularly to a recording apparatus and method for use with paper tape.

In copending application Serial No. 819,294, filed June 10, 1959, entitled System, Apparatus and Method for Recording and Sensing, there is disclosed a recording apparatus and method by which holes are burned in a paper tape. I With such apparatus, the holes must be burned in the tape sequentially unless additional power supplies are provided. Since this is the case, separate distributing means must normally be provided. In addition, in such apparatus, difiiculty has been encountered with respect to registration of the holes to permit accurate and reliable reading of the information recorded on the tape. There is, therefore, also a need for improving the registration of the information placed in the tape.

In general, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recording apparatus and method which overcomes the above named disadvantages.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus and method of the above character in which registration holes are burned in the tape to facilitate reading of the tape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus of the above character in which means is provided for sampling binary information to be recorded in synchronization with the rotation of a recording head.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus of the above character in which the high voltage arcing point moves back and forth across the tape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus of the above character into which the tape may be easily threaded.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus of the above character in which a particularly unique recording head is utilized.

Another object of the invention is to provide a record- 'ing apparatus and method of the above character in which the tape is advanced continuously and in which the recording head is rotated continuously.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus and method of the above character in which the holes are burned into the tape one at a time in a plurality of channels.

Another object of the invention is to provide a recording apparatus of the above character which is relatively simple and inexpensive to construct.

Additional objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description in which the preferred embodiment has been set forth in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a recording apparatus incorporating my invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side view thereof.

FIGURE 3 is a rear view thereof.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged detailed view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is an exploded view of the recording head.

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view of the recording head.

3,224,008 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 8 is a block diagram of the electrical circuitry for the recording apparatus.

FIGURE 9 is a view of a portion of paper tape on which a recording has been made with my recording apparatus.

In general, my recording apparatus consists of a recording head, means for continuously rotating the recording head, and means for continuously advancing paper tape past the recording head, and means including the recording head for incinerating small holes into the paper tape in a sequential manner in a plurality of channels as the tape is advanced past the recording head.

As shown in the drawings, my recording apparatus consists of a paper tape transport mechanism 11 comprised of pay-off and take-up reels or spools '12 and 13. The reels !12 and 13 are rotatably mounted on the front side of a base frame 14. A lever 16 is pivotally mounted on the frame 14 at 17 and carries a roller 18 which is adapted to engage a tape 15 as it is payed from the payoff reel 12 and a brake shoe 20 is adapted to engage a brake drum 26 which rotates with reel 12. Spring means (not shown) is provided for yieldably urging the lever 16 and the brake shoe 20 against the brake drum 26, with pressure inversely proportional to the tension of the tape 15 passing over roller 18. The tape 15 passes between a recording head 19 rotatably mounted on the frame 14 and a contact carrying member 21. The tape is then engaged by a capstan 22 which is provided with a rubber sleeve 23 covering its exterior surface. The tape 15 is then threaded onto the take-up reel 13.

A roller 24 is pivotally mounted on the frame 14 by a lever arm 27 and is yieldably urged into engagement with the lower side of the capstan 22 by spring means (not shown) engaging the lever arm 27 to maintain the tape in continuous frictional engagement with the capstan.

Suitable motive means such as a motor 31 is provided for driving the tape transport mechanism and the recording head. The motor drives a pinion 32. The pinion drives gear 33. Gear 33 drives gear 34 because gear 34 is mounted on the same shaft as gear 33. Gear 34 drives gear 36 which is afi'ixed to a shaft 37. The recording head 13 is aflixed on the shaft 37 and rotates with the shaft 37. A distributor head 38 is also aflixed on the shaft 37 and rotates with the shaft 37. A gear 39 is afiixed to the shaft 37 and drives a gear 41. A pinion 42 is aflixed to the gear 41 and drives a gear 43 rotatably mounted on the shaft 37. A pinion 44 affixed to the gear 43 drives a gear 46 which is provided with a hub 47. The hub 47 drives a spring belt 48 which drives the takeup reel 13. The gear 41 also drives a pinion 49 which drives a programming head 51. The distributing and

programming heads

38 and 51 are substantially identical and each include an arm 52 which carries wiping contacts 53 which are adapted to engage circuitry 54 of the printed circuit type provided on printed

circuit boards

56 and 57 mounted on the frame 14.

The recording head 19 is shown in detail in FIGURES 5 and 6. It consists of cylindrical hub-like member 61 affixed on the shaft 37 by a pin 62. It is provided with a radially extending flange 63 and a threaded portion 64. A plurality of washers 66 is mounted on the hub-like member 61 and is formed of a suitable insulating material such as Teflon. A contact member 67 is provided on nine of the washers which are numbered 1-8 and S, as shown in FIGURE 5. The contact members are formed of a suitable material such as platinum and preferably are in the form of relatively thin segments such as segments having a thickness of 1 mil and subtending approximately 36. As shown, each of the washers is provided with a hole 68 so that the washers can be aligned on a pin 69 aflixed to the outer portion of the flange 62. As also will be noted from FIGURE 5 of the drawing, the contact members 67 are arranged so that they are staggered angularly about the shaft 37 with very little, if any, overlap. The contact members 67 are mounted on the washers in any suitable manner such as by cement.

With the particular type of recording head shown in the drawing, twelve of the washers 66 are provided, with one additional Teflon washer being provided at one end. A metal washer 71 is placed on the end away from and isaifixed to the hub by suitable means such as by peening the outer end of the hub-like member 61 to hold the washer 71 in place and to also hold the washers 66 in place. An additional flange member 72 of suitable material such as nylon is provided with a cylindrical recess 73. It is mounted over the flange portion 63 of the hub-like member 61 and is held in place by a nut 74 threaded onto the threaded portion 64 of the hub-like member 61.

The contact carrying member is shown particularly in FIGURES 4 and 7 and consists of a member 76 of suitable insulating material such as nylon which is pivotally mounted on a stud shaft 77 aflixed to the frame 14. A contact member is affixed to the bottom side of the insulating member 76 and is in the form of a leaf spring which has one end affixed to the block by suitable means such as screws 79. The contact member 78 is formed in such a manner as provided with a down-turned edge 7 8a which, in effect, presents a relatively straight elongate knife edge surface to the recording head. This edge lies in a plane parallel to the axis of the recording head and is normally spaced a predetermined distance from the recording head. Means is provided for adjusting the position of the edge 73a with respect to the insulating member 76 and consists of screws mounted in the member 76 which engage the contact member 78.

A resilient spring finger 82 is also mounted on the insulating member 76 and is in electrical contact with the contact member 78 through the screws 79. This finger 82 is adapted to engage a stationary contact 83 mounted on the frame 14 but insulated therefrom.

Detent means is provided for maintaining the contact member in either an incinerating position or an out-ofthe-way position. It consists of a spring urged ball 86 mounted in the frame and adapted to engage a recess 87 provided in insulating member 76. When the contact carrying member 21 is in the out-of-the-way position, the paper tape 15 may be readily threaded over the recording head 19. When the contact carrying member 21 is in this position, the finger 82 is out of engagement with the stationary contact 83 carried by the frame. When the ball 86 is in engagement with recess 87, the contact carrying member 21 is in an incinerating position and the finger 82 is in engagement with the contact 83, as shown particularly in FIGURE 4.

In FIGURE 8 is shown a block diagram of the electrical circuitry for the recording apparatus. It consists of a low voltage supply 91 of a type well known to those skilled in the art. The low voltage supply is connected to a programmer 92 which in the embodiment herein disclosed consists of the programming head 51 and the printed circuit 57. The programmer is connected to a plurality of transducers 93 of any desired type which are utilized for measuring a desired parameter such as moisture, temperature and the like. It is only necessary that the trans ducer include circuitry which gives information on the position of an element in decimal form, the position of the element being determined by the parameter measured by the transducer. The transducers are connected to a diode matrix 94 which converts the decimal information into a desired code, such as a two-out-of-five code, and may be of the type disclosed in copending application Serial No. 819,294, filed June 10, 1959. The diode matrix is connected to a distributor 96 which consists of the distributing head 38 and the printed circuitry 56. The

distributor supplies a low voltage input to a high voltage supply 97 also of a type described in copending application Serial No. 819,294, filed June 10, 1959. The high voltage supply is connected to the contact member 78 which overlies the grounded recording head 16.

Operation of my apparatus in performing my method may now be briefly described asfollows. The low voltage source 91 provides a low voltage which is supplied by the programmer 92 to the transducers 93. The transducers 93 apply the low voltage to the appropriate input terminals of the diode matrix 94. The output of the diode matrix 94 is sampled by the distributor 96 and is applied by the distributor to the low voltage input of the high voltage supply 97. The high voltage supply 97 provides a high voltage which is supplied to the contact member 78 where an arc is created between the contact member 78 and the recording head 16 to burn a hole in the paper tape.

The gearing is such that the distributor head 38 and the recording head 19 make one complete revolution for every increment of advance by the programming head. It should be understood, however, that the recording head, the programming and distributing heads rotate continuously and that there is no start and stop movement of the same. In eifect, the distributor head is a bit sampler, whereas the programming head is a digit sampler. The programmer can have any number of digits desired depending upon the number of transducers which it is desired to utilize.

The distributor head and the recording head are synchronized in. such a manner that when the distributor head is sampling the first position, the number one contact member of the recording head is underlying the knife edge of the contact member 7 8. In effect, the distributor head is sampling the data in the first channel and is looking for a negative voltage from the diode matrix. When a nega tive voltage is received, the high voltage arcs across from the knife edge 78A to the contact segment 67 underlying the sameand incinerates a hole in the paper in the man ner described in copending application Serial No. 819,294, filed June 10, 1959. The circuit is established through the contact member carried by the Teflon washers to the metal cylindrical member 61 to ground through the base frame 14 through the shaft 37.

After the first channel has been scanned, the second channel is scanned, and so forth. All the time during this scanning operation, the tape is being advanced continuously by the capstan 23 and the recording head is rotated continuously. This scanning procedure continues until all of the channels have been scanned, after which the distributing head returns to scan the first channel again, and to continue the procedure. During this time, the programming head has advanced to the next digit or transducer.

In the embodiment shown, eight channels of information can be sampled and recorded; An additional channel is provided for recording synchronizing or registration holes in the paper. As shown in FIGURE 9, this ninth hole for registration purposes is burned or incinerated into the paper between the third and fourth holes counting from the chassis side of the tape. However, it is burned last int-o the tape in this position because this is the same position in which sprocket holes are normally placed in a conventional tape. This ninth holeestablishes a registration for the other holes so that they can be properly read by a reading device. By placing the registration holes into the paper in this manner, it has been found that great accuracy is not required for the placement of the other holes in the tape.

If desired, the registration holes can be burned in any channel of the tape. In fact, the holes for any channel can be burned in any sequence desired and need not necessarily be in the sequence shown in FIGURE 7. The spacing between the holes is thesame as the thickness of the washers 66. In one embodiment of the invention, ai spacing of 62 /2 mils was found to be very satisfactory. In the tape format shown in FIGURE 9, eight channels (positions 13 and 5-9), are perforated in sequence from the chassis side of the tape. A synchronizing hole S is placed in the fourth position. In the last position a space is left for Starting and stopping the tape.

During the creation of the spark, the knife edge 78a serves as one electrode and the contact member 67 corresponding to the position of the distributing head 37 serves as the other electrode. The arcing actually moves back and forth along the knife edge as recording occurs. Only one hole is burned at a time and they are burned in sequence as the recording head rotates. FIGURE 9 shows the holes which are burned when low voltage is applied to all of the output terminals of the diode matrix.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that I have provided a new and improved recording apparatus and method. Since the tape is advanced continuously and the recording head rotates continuously as well as the programmers and distributors, high speed operation is possible. There is no stop and start motion which normally limits record ing operations.

I claim:

1. In a recording apparatus for recording information on paper tape, a substantially cylindrical recording head, the recording head having a plurality of discrete contact elements spaced longitudinally and circumferentially of the recording h ad and lying in a plurality of parallel planes at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the recording head, means for rotating the recording head, means for advancing the tape past one side of the recording head, conducting means mounted adjacent to the re cording head and the other side of the tape and means for applying a voltage between the contact elements and the conducting means to create arcing between the conducting means and the recording head to burn the tape for re cording data in a plurality of channels spaced laterally of the paper tape.

2. In a recording apparatus for recording information on paper tape, a recording head, conducting means mounted adjacent to the recording head, means for advancing the tape between the recording head and the conducting means, and means to apply high voltage to create arcing between the connecting means and the recording head to burn holes in the tape, said recording head comprising a hub, a plurality of washers of insulating material mounted on said hub, segments of conducting material mounted on said washers, said segments being spaced circumferentially and laterally of the hub, said segments being arranged so that arcing can be established between the conducting means and only one of the segments at a time.

3. A recording apparatus as in claim 2 wherein said hub is formed of conducting material and wherein said segments of conducting material are in electrical contact with the hub.

4. A recording apparatus as in claim 2 wherein the conducting means comprises a block, a contact member having a knife-like edge mounted on the block, means for positioning said block relative to the recording head, and means carried by the block for adjusting the position of the knife-edge of the contact member relative to the recording head.

5. -In a recording apparatus for recording information on paper tape, a plurality of transducers measuring different parameters, each transducer having different output information, a low voltage supply, programming means connecting the low voltage supply to the transducers, distributing means for sequentially sampling the output from the transducers, a high voltage supply controlled by the distributing means, conducting means connected to one side of the output of the high voltage supply, a recording head connected to the [other side of the high voltage supply, and means for advancing the tape between the conducting means and the recording head.

6. Recording apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said recording head is rotated continuously and wherein said paper tape is advanced continuously.

7. Recording apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said programming means and distributing means operates in a timed relationship with the recording head.

8. Recording apparatus as in claim 6 wherein said recording head is provided with a plurality of channels, each of the channels being provided with discrete parallel contact elements of conducting material spaced circumferentially and laterally from each other.

9. In a recording apparatus for recording information on paper tape in a plurality of channels spaced laterally of the tape, a substantially cylindrical recording head, the recording head having a plurality of discrete conducting segments spaced longitudinally and circumferentially of the recording head and lying in a plurality of parallel planes at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the recording head, the recording head also having nonconducting means filling the outer peripheral space between the segments so that the recording head presents a continuous cylindrical surface, means for rotating the recording head, means for advancing the tape past one side of the recording head, conducting means mounted adjacent the recording head and on the other side of the tape, said conducting means having a relatively small surface extending longitudinally of the path of movement of the tape, and means for applying a voltage between the conducting segments and the conducting means, said conducting seg ments and said conducting means being formed with pointlike surfaces to create electrical currents between the same to mark selected areas in the tape to record predetermined information.

10. Apparatus as in claim 9 together with distributor means, a plurality of transducers measuring different parameters connected to the distributor means, programming means for selectively and sequentially applying a voltage to each of the transducers to cause the transducers to supply information to the distributor means, means connecting the distributor means to the means for applying a voltage between the conducting segments and the conducting means so that voltages are applied to the conducting segments and the conducting means in accordance with the information supplied from the transducers.

11. Apparatus as in claim 10 wherein means is provided for synchronizing movement of the head with the distributor.

12. Apparatus as in claim 9 wherein said conducting means and said recording head are provided with means for burning synchronizing or registration marks in the tape longitudinally of the tape.

13. In a recording apparatus for recording information on a paper tape in a plurality of channels, a plurality of transducers measuring different parameters, a power supply, programming means selectively and sequentially conmeeting the power supply to the transducers, distributing means connected to the transducers for determining the outputs from the transducers, and means including a voltage supply connected to the distributing means for recording marks on the paper tape in accordance with the outputs of the transducers.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,432,303 12/1947 Fox 34674 2,527,599 10/1950 Terry 34674 2,825,621 3/1958 Alexander 34674 2,836,651 5/1958 Johnson 1786.6 2,937,064 5/1960 Walsh 34674 3,020,118 2/1962 Smith 34674 3,095,569 6/1963 Smith 34674 IRVING L. SRAGOW, Primary Examiner. NEWTON N. LOVEWELL, ELI I. SAX, Examiners.

Claims

1. IN A RECORDING APPARATUS FOR RECORDING INFORMATION ON PAPER TAPE, A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL RECORDING HEAD, THE RECORDING HEAD HAVING A PLURALITY OF DISCRETE CONTACT ELEMENTS SPACED LONGITUDINALLY AND CIRCUMFERENTIALLY OF THE RECORDING HEAD AND LYING IN A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL PLANES AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE RECORDING HEAD, MEANS FOR ROTATING THE RECORDING HEAD, MEANS FOR ADVANCING THE TAPE PAST ONE SIDE OF THE RECORDING HEAD, CONDUCTING MEANS MOUNTED ADJACENT TO THE RECORDING HEAD AND THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TAPE AND MEANS FOR APPLYING A VOLTAGE BETWEEN THE CONTACT ELEMENTS AND THE CONDUCTING MEANS TO CREATE ARCING BETWEEN THE CONDUCTING MEANS AND THE RECORDING HEAD TO BURN THE TAPE FOR RECORDING DATA IN A PLURALITY OF CHANNELS SPACED LATERALLY OF THE PAPER TAPE.