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identify himself in association with a record of the exact time of doing that act. This involved invention. This is just what Bundy was the first to do, in a way which met all the conditions requisite to a time recorder which should rapidly, accurately, and without danger of mistake keep the time for a great number of men, who might arrive or depart in quick succession. A number of others sought to accomplish this end before Bundy made the invention. now involved. Those which are regarded as the closest anticipations are the patents of Lane & Hill, No. 210,788, dated December, 1878; C. S. Haskell, No. 319,092, dated June 2, 1865; W. L. Bundy, No. 393,205, dated November, 1888; and of A. Dey, No. 411,586, dated September 24, 1889. The patent in suit to W. L. Bundy follows all of these, and is dated May 26, 1891. That which is the closest approximation to Bundy's patent is also the first in time of those mentioned, being the patent to Lane & Hill. This structure is shown in Figs. 1 to 7, inclusive, set out below.

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It contains, like all patents for time recorders, a clock movement, hour and minute recording wheels, h and m, synchronous mechanism for actuating these wheels, a movable recording strip, i, and impression mechanism for pressing type on the recording wheels, h and m, and upon the end of the so-called "key," q, against the recording strip which runs between the type upon the registering time wheels, and the type recording the workman's number carried on the end of the key, q. No inking ribbon is used, the record being embossed. The so-called "key," q, is not a key in any true sense, inasmuch as it does not set in motion or actuate any mechanism whatever. It is properly an elongated type, the type being carried on its inner head, 8. The type carried in this way represents the number distinguishing the workman carrying and using the particular key. This key is inserted in a slot in the plunger, r, in a sleeve, s, as shown in Fig. 2. The fin, 10, shown on the key

in Fig. 2, performs no function in operating the mechanism, and serves only to keep the key in an upright position. This machine is operated by inserting the key, 9, in the plunger, r, and then grasping and turning the handle, v, shown in Fig. 1. The fin, 10, is notched, as shown by 11 in Fig. 2, "as is also the shank of the plunger, r, to permit the cam, t, or an arm or toe on the shaft, u, when turned by the workman seizing the handle, v, to descend into an opening in the sleeve, s, and act against the shoulders of the key and of the plunger, force the key, plunger, and pad forward, and press the strip, i, against the registers, h, m, and emboss or imprint upon the strip the hour and minute of the day at which the movement took place. The head, 8, acts against the bed, w, placed opposite it, behind the strip, so that with each record of hours and minutes there also appears a letter, character or number to designate a person." This embossing, it will be noticed, occurs on both sides of the recording strip; that is, the number carried on the workman's key is embossed on one side, while the figures representing time are embossed upon the opposite side. This invention was never put into practical use, none being ever sold or made for purposes of sale. The mechanism of the Lane & Hill device is put in motion, not by the operation of any key, but by the handle, v. The key is merely an elongated type, and performs no function except to carry into proper position the type on its end, and to act in conjunction with the plunger into which it is inserted as a part of the impression mechanism by which the embossing is done. The handle, v, actuates the mechanism for feeding forward the recording strip as well as the impression mech anism by which the printing is done. The defect in this device as a practical workman's time recorder is that its operation re quires two entirely distinct acts to be done by the workman: First, he must insert the key in the slot of the plunger far enough for the cam, t, to engage the notch, 11; and, second, he must grasp and turn the handle, v, with the requisite force to press the plunger forward and do the work of embossing. The necessity for doing two distinct things is in itself most objectionable in a device of this kind. The mechanism was liable to injury if the key is not inserted far enough to enable the cam to engage the key in its notch, and was liable to become jammed in the plunger. Excessive force, altogether likely when men are crowding and indifferent, applied to the crank handle, is likely to result in injury to the crank by loosening or detaching the handle from the shaft. All of these defects are pointed out by experts, in addition to the fact that the operation of the machine is necessarily much slower than that of one requiring only one simple act by the operator. This invention was never put into practical use, none having ever been made for the market.

The Haskell patent is wholly unlike the Bundy in material respects. Haskell attempted to solve the problem of identifying the workmen by requiring them to write their names or numbers upon the paper strip and then to print the time by revolving a handle. The Bundy patent of 1888 undertook to accomplish the desired result by placing

numbers representing the different employés upon wheels called "operators' wheels" within the casing of the clock. The workman's number is brought into alignment with the type upon the time-recording wheels by lugs upon the key of different shapes and lengths, operating through a complicated and delicate mechanism to move the operator's type wheel. The intricacy and delicacy of the mechanism necessary to bring the particular number desired into alignment was such as to make the machine unreliable, and of no practical value whatever. It was but a toy machine, and was worthless for actual use. The Dey machine was another which placed the workman's number upon an operator's type wheel inside the machine. These wheels were connected with indicators on certain index plates on the face of the recorder. The workman was first required to turn the indicator opposite to the desired number on the index plate, which brought the corresponding number on the operator's type wheel into alignment with the type-recording wheels. Then the workman is required to pull down a lever which sets in motion the mechanism which does the printing, and feeds forward the strip and inking ribbon. This constituted the state of the art when Bundy made the invention covered by his patent of 1891. There was no practical operative machine which fully met the conditions incident to the successful use of such a recorder, where both simplicity and accuracy were essentials to usefulness.

The Bundy time recorder is a structure which automatically records upon a movable recording strip the time of the arrival and departure of employés, and, opposite the time, records the individual mark or number distinguishing the different workmen, so that the precise time of the arrival of each workman is distinctly recorded. Each workman is furnished with a key, upon a bit or ward of which is a number in type, by which the particular workman is distinguished. The record is made by the simple operation of inserting and turning the key. The recording strip of the claims is a movable strip fed forward with each turning of the key, and with this strip the inking ribbon is also carried. The single and simple operation of turning the key not only brings the type printing the workman's number into alignment with the type on the time recording wheels, but by the same operation the ward of the key sets in motion mechanism within the machine by which the recording strip and inking ribbon are fed forward, and also actuates suitable impression mechanism by which the type carried on another ward of the key for printing the workman's number and the type upon the time-recording wheels for printing the time indicated by the clock, are brought into confact with the inking ribbon and recording strip and a printed record made. The very essence of this invention lies in Bundy's key and its functions, for by the simple and easy operation of that key the work of aligning, printing, and feeding is done. This structure is sufficiently illustrated by Figs. 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12 of the drawings of the patent, which are set out on following pages.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a clock, having its front broken away to show the recording mechanism. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the recording mechanism, showing the impression hammer and helve

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