US621592A - Linwood gore whitney - Google Patents

Description

No. 62,592.' Patented mar.' 2|, |899.-

L. a. wm'rnev.

APPARATUS FOR SALES CHECKING.-

(Application med oci. 1v, 189s.)

(No Model.)

w10 .8'. al@

7 1 REconu suP Hor/:1 Hora-L CIGAR WINE OYS'IRSI CGARS WINE YSTRS I 5U '.75

Inzemor.-

7i/@fest me Nonms Prrzns co.. mom-umu., wAsmNnToN. u. cA

NITED STATES PATENFV muon..

LIN WOOD GORE WHITNEY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE LOCK STUB CHECK COMPANY, OF NElV YORK, N. Y.

APPARATUS FOR SALES-CHECKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 621,592, dated March 21, 1899.

Application nea october 17,1898. seria No. 693,721. (No man.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnvwoon Goan WHIT- NEY, a citizen of the United States, residing in lthe city of Cambridge,lcounty of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Sales-Checking, of which the following is a specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, formingapart hereof. v

This invention has relation to the means employed in hotels, restaurants, and other places of business for checking the sales made by employees and insuring, as far as possible, an exact account of such sales, so that peculations and other dishonest practices shall be traceable directly and with certainty to the guilty person in each case.

The objects of the present invention are to increase the safeguards which are thrown around a business by a checking system of the character referred to, to make the system compact, simple,- and easy to operate and control, and to facilitate the workof the auditor or other person who represents the proprietor in making up the account of sales. Heretofore and for many years it has been customary to employ as a part of such a system a checking-sheet, upon which are made, in the proper places by the checker or person whose duty it is to attend to this part of the system, the entries which correspond to the entries upon the guest-check or order-slip carried by the waiter or other similarl employee; but there are various objections to the useof such a sheet on the grounds that it is cumbersome and awkward to handle, that the possible loss of a sheet cannot be `absolutely guarded against under all circumstances, that the portion of the sheet assigned to one waiter oftentimes becomes filled with entries while another portion has comparatively few entries, thereby involving waste of material and oftentimes causing confusion in accounts, and that misplacing. of many different accounts in closely-parallel columns is a cause of confusion and weariness to the auditor.

It isthe object of this invention to overcome the objections just referred to -by dispensing altogether with the checking-sheet which has been used heretofore, substituting for it a series of separate checkin g-slips, which vantages of the checking-sheet.

Various lother features of improvement have also been devised and will be more fully referred to hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the invention is illustrated in practical form.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of va cabinet equipped with the several checks and record-slips employed in the iinproved system. Fig. 2 is a detail view in section, showing the devices for securing the duplicate checks in place and locking the stubs. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a holder for checks supplied to the waiter or other employee. Fig. 4c is a detail section of a portion of the cabinet, showing the devices for securing the record-slips in place and locking the stubs thereof. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the duplicate checks hereinafter'referred to, illustrating two different uses, the stubs of both being shown. Fig. 7 is a view of a guest-check, hereinafter referred to, with its stub. Fig. 8 is a similar view of a portion of one of the record-slips.

As represented in Fig. 1, a table A or other convenient means of support may be provided for the cabinet B, in which are kept the various checks and slips employed in the operation of the system. The cabinet B is so arranged as to make its contents most conveniently accessible to the checker or person. whose duties are to issue the proper checks to the waiters or other employees and to enter- IOO be-turned back and expose the entire contents of the cabinet. A rack C is fitted into the body of the cabinet and is provided with pigeonholes c to receive the guest or sales checks and holders hereinafter referred to. Upon the top of the rack and upon a shelf D, or it may be upon two or more separate shelves, are secured the holders E for the duplicate checks, each holder comprising a metal plate e, which may be secured to the shelf, as by a screw e', a stud e2, secured to plates e and having a series of 'notches e3, a headcasin g e4, and a plate e5, perforated to fit upon said stud'a'nd adapted to cover the stubs of the cheeks mounted in the holder, the said plate e5 being provided with a lock e6, the bolt or latch e7 of which is adapted to engage the notched stud e2 and to be disengaged therefrom by a key inserted through a keyhole. It will be observed that the cover-plate e5 may engage the stud ez-that is to say, a iXed portion of the holder-at different points, the object being to provide for holding the stubs closely together, so that none can be removed until the cover-plate is unlocked.

The holders F for the guest-checks are constructed substantially in the same manner as the holders for the duplicate checks already described, each comprising a metal plate f, which can be conveniently carried by the Waiter, astud f2, ahead-casingfi, and a coverplate f5, arranged to cover and hold tightly together the stubs of the checks mounted in the holder, and a lock (indicated at f6) by means of Which the cover-plate can be secured in different positions inthe head-casing. The record-slips above referred to may be conveniently secured upon the side B' of the cabinet, the stubs of such slips being secured tightly under a hinged strip b', Which is provided with a 'suitable lock, as indicated at b2. A stud b3 is provided for each pile or group of record-slips, so that the stubs thereof shall be retained in place. A strip b4 may be provided to hold the lower ends of the recordslips loosely in place.

The forms or kinds of checks employed in this improved system are three in numbernamely, a guest-check G, with its attached stub g, the body of the check and the stub both receiving an identifying-mark, such as a number, which corresponds to the means of identification of the Waiter or other employee, and the stubs and checks of each group or bunch being numbered consecutively, the duplicate check H, with its attached stub h, both of which are marked as the bodies and stubs of the guest-checks, these duplicate checks being intended for certain purposes, as hereinafter more fully explained, and not employed of necessity under all circumstances, and a record check or slip I, with its attached stub i, both of which are also marked as the bodies and stubs of the guest-checks..

The Waiter or other employee is provided With a holder F, having a number of checks and stubs which are all marked with the number or other mark of the Waiter and are also numbered consecutively, the stubs being securely locked in the holder. The names of the articles or dishes desired are written upon the guest-check, which is taken to the kitchen or other place where the order is to be filled. The waiter, with the articles or dishes and the check, then goes to the checker, by Whom the proper amounts are stamped or'vvritten on the guest-check opposite the names of the several articles or dishes. At the same time the checker also enters the same amounts, either With the pen or with suitable dies or stamps, in the proper column of the topmost record-slip which bears the same Waiters number. which are not supplied from the kitchen, the Waiter receives from the checker a duplicateorder check, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, upon which the checker has stamped or Written the price of the article called for, the like amount being entered by the checker on the guestcheck and in the proper column on the record-slip. The duplicate-order check is left by the Waiter at the bar or the oyster-counter or the cigar-stand or other placeas the case may be, Where the desired article is supplied. The guest-check, detached from its stub by the Waiter, is handed to the guest,from

,Whom it goes to the cashier in the usual Way.

When any record-slip is filled, it is torn from its stub by the checker and goes to the auditor to be used by him in making up and checking the accounts. It will be observed that in every case the stub is left securely locked up, to be examined by the proprietor, by Whom alone they can be released. The stubs aiford checks upon every employee concerned, and missing checks can be traced instantly to the person responsible. The separate and detachable record-slips prevent confusion in the entries and Waste of space and material. Moreover, the Work of the auditor in making up his accounts is much easier and much less confusing than is the case when' a single large record-sheet is employed.

I claim as my invention- 1. Apparatus for sales-checking, comprising a series of separate groups of checks bearing the number or designation of the Waiter or salesman and each check having a stub4 numbered to correspond with its check; all of the stubs of a group of checks being locked together against removal save by an authorized person, and record-slips separate and independent of the checks, bearing the Waiters or employees number or designation and like- Wise having stubs numbered to correspond with the slips and locked together against unauthorized removal; substantially as described. Y

2. Apparatus for sales-checking, comprising a series of separate groups of consecutively numbered checks having attached stubs, the stubs of every group of checks being locked together against unauthorized removal and the stubs and checks of every Should articles or dishes be orderedl IOO IIO

groupaiso bearing corresponding numbers ingly numbered or designated; substantially v or characters'designatng the Waiter or salesas described. 1o man, and a series of groups of record-slips, This specification signed and witnessed this independent of said checks and having stubs; 20th day of September, A. D. 1898.

the stubs of all the groups (one for each LINWOOD GORE WHITNEY. Waiter or salesman) being locked against un- J In presence ofauthorized removal or access, and the stubs ANTHONY N. JESBERA,

and checks of each group being correspond- ALFRED W.'KIDDLE.

Images