How the steamship propeller helped the invention of the cash register, why its first model looked like a watch, what its creators had in common with the Wright brothers and what other interesting things they designed, read in the “History of Science” section.

Brothers of all trades

The parents of the future inventors of the device, Leger and Mary Ann Ritty, were natives of Alsace, which then - and before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 - belonged to France along with Lorraine. These two rich industrial regions will be a “bone of contention” between the German Empire and France for a long time: in 1918 France will receive them, during World War II Germany will annex them again, and in 1944 the lands will again return to France.

But none of these wars will affect the Ritty family - they will long live in Dayton, Ohio, and sell herbs in a small pharmacy. True, another war will overtake them there, civil (1861-1865). Because of her, their son James, born in 1836, will not be able to graduate. medical education and will go to serve in the cavalry. He would fight for three years and then honorably retire in 1864 with the rank of captain.

The sons of Leger and Mary Ann Ritty grew up to be talented mechanics: three of the five (there were six children in the family, including sister Louise) even patented several inventions. The eldest, Sebastian, came up with steel wheel“for agricultural needs and transport”, and harrow, which loosened the soil better than well-known models, and its teeth were cleaned mechanically. John came up with corn cleaning machine and assembled an interesting air cooling system in a local cafe - using fans made of palm leaves. This makeshift air conditioning system was installed at each table and was driven by water, which John piped to it.

It wasn't just the Ritty family that was famous for inventions: Dayton itself was a true city of inventors. One of the largest in the state, it was home to dozens of patents, and in some years (for example, 1890) it was even ahead of all other US cities in terms of their number. The Wright brothers, by the way, were also from there, although they were born later than the Ritti brothers.

By screws

Returning from the war, James saved up some money and founded his own saloon, “Dealer of pure whiskey, good wines and cigars,” in his native Dayton. But financial affairs were not going well, and the reason for this was not the lack of entrepreneurial spirit. The establishment was a success, but the sellers stole and concealed part of the proceeds, pocketing the buyers' money and not recording anything about the transaction. Layoffs did not solve the problem: some dishonest workers were replaced by others who were no less susceptible to temptation.

Dayton in 1870

Ruger, A. Chicago, Merchants Lithography Co., 1870 Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division

Saddened James Ritty boarded the ship and set off on a trip to Europe. And then luck visited him. In the engine room, where the mechanic let James in out of friendship, the merchant was intrigued by a device that counted the number of revolutions of a steamship propeller. Hastily returning to Dayton, Ritty decided to make a mechanism that would count money using the same principle, and turned to his brother John for help. Together they made three prototypes, and the third was patented on November 4, 1879.

The machine did not have drawers for storing money - it simply counted how much passed through it and recorded the number and amount of transactions. Accepted money was displayed on a watch-like dial with dollars and cents instead of hours and minutes. The patented third model could already show the buyer the “punched” amount, and the fourth literally punched the check, making holes in the paper tape according to the amount.

The path of the “Incorruptible Cashier” to success

A device without drawers could not protect the money from criminals if they decided to attack the establishment, but at least it did not hide part of the proceeds. True, he was still dependent on people, because he only counted the money that was passed through him. But few people in those days could appreciate the advantages of such a mechanism, and cash registers sold poorly, although James and John Ritty began producing them in large quantities.

Cash register made in Ohio in 1904

Wikimedia Commons

After a couple of years of failure, the brothers decided to sell the patent. In 1882, it was purchased for $6,500 by several investors, among them Jacob Eckert, a glassware and Chinese porcelain dealer from Cincinnati. Two years later, the rights to the company were bought by John Patterson, who for the first time in the world made the sale of cash registers successful business, founding (national company for the production of cash registers). James Ritty, by the way, was not at all upset about this, maintained friendly relations with Patterson and participated in some company meetings. He understood that this was not his calling, and returned to his previous occupation, opening a new saloon in the building former school English and French for girls, calling it Pony House.

The saloon in Dayton was thriving, and Ritty ordered a chic bar counter made of expensive tropical wood, Honduran mahogany, with beautiful carvings and decorations. This counter is still there when the building was dismantled in 1967 and was moved to another Dayton bar. Ritti worked there until old age, remaining in the town forever, and died of a heart attack in 1918. But the most enviable fate awaited his “Incorruptible Cashier,” which, as we remember, sold well in Patterson’s skillful hands and laid the foundation for an entire company. National Cash Register Company continues to this day, generating billions of dollars a year in profits from the sale of cash registers and software.

On January 19, 1736, the outstanding Scottish engineer, mechanical inventor James Watt was born, whose works laid the foundation industrial revolution first in England and then throughout the world. We decided to talk about five of Watt's inventions.

Steam engine

IN in every sense James Watt was not the first person to invent a steam engine. A similar device was described by Heron of Alexandria in the 1st century AD. The real steam turbine was invented much later, in medieval Egypt, by a 16th-century Arab engineer who proposed a method of rotating a spit by the force of a stream of steam directed at blades mounted on the rim of a wheel. James Watt invented the universal steam engine by improving Newcomen's steam engine, which in Watt's time was used to pump water from coal mines. The first such significant innovation was the insulated condensation chamber: James Watt registered a patent for his invention in 1769. Moreover, the document stated that he had not invented a new steam engine, but steam engine, the temperature of which was always equal to the temperature of the steam. The next improvement was aimed at making the piston in the cylinder do useful work not due to atmospheric pressure, but using steam pressure. Later he also insulated the steam cylinder, and in 1782 he invented a double-acting machine, which quadrupled the output of the steam engine, resulting in a 75% saving in the cost of coal. In addition to various other improvements to steam engines, Watt also invented the centrifugal governor, which automatically controlled the speed of the machine, a pressure gauge, and a butterfly valve.

Video

Steam hammer

In addition to the steam engine and its improvements, Watt also invented the steam hammer. The inventor received a patent for it in 1784, immediately after receiving a patent for a steam engine. This device was equipped with a flywheel to drive the lever hammer that was common at that time. The first of Watt's hammers weighed 54.5 kilograms and rose to a height of 8 inches (203 millimeters). Watt then built a lever steam hammer with a falling weight of about 380 kilograms, producing 300 blows per minute. The steam hammer was one of the most important machines of its time and dominated mechanical engineering for 90 years.

Copy press

In 1780, Watt invented and patented a portable copying press, which consisted of a box containing compartments for pencils, pens, rulers and paper, as well as a special compartment for carbon paper. The metallized box contained a supply of ink and water for 24 copy sheets. A metal cover was used to clamp the original sheet. Before work began, the copy sheets were kept in a special composition for 12 hours. The actual copying was done by turning the machine's handle, which rotated two brass rollers located in the lower part of the body. The original document was placed on the copy plate between the lifting covers. It was pressed onto damp carbon paper to make an impression, and thus the copy sheets produced a mirror copy of the document, which after 24 hours of drying was ready for use. The company founded by Watt produced similar machines before late XIX centuries, it was used in their work by such famous people like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

In his old age, the inventor also worked on a machine for copying sculptural works, an eidograph - a mechanical device that allows high accuracy copy bas-reliefs, medallions, statues and other things of the most complex shape.

Video

Watt's parallelogram

A mechanism invented by Watt in 1784 to impart linear motion to the piston of a steam engine. The parallelogram consists of two horizontal arms hinged to the ends of a vertical arm, which is fixed in the center of the bridge beam and is rotatable. By turning the vertical lever, uneven movement in corners is compensated. Today it is used on the rear axle in some automobile suspensions.

Power measurement

Watt proposed using the concept of “horsepower” as a measurement of power. This unit of measurement was used in most calculations until 1882, when the British Association of Engineers decided to name the unit of power after Watt - Watt. This was the first time in the history of technology that a unit of measurement was given its own name.

The invention of the cash register belongs to Ritty James from Dayton (Ohio, USA).

He decided to become a restaurateur in 1871 and opened a small saloon in Daytona. This establishment very quickly became popular, but instead of profit, it constantly brought only losses to the owner.

The managerial qualities of Ritty James had absolutely nothing to do with it, the problem was the eternal concealment and theft of part of the proceeds by the cashiers. Dismissing these employees did not help at all; they were replaced by new employees who also could not resist the temptation to steal.

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The constant turnover of staff practically ruined Ritti; in order to escape from his problems, he went on a European cruise. James Ritty became interested on the ship in the powerful machines that powered the ship, and made friends with the chief engineer.

During another excursion through the ship's engine room, he looked with great interest at the automatic counter of propeller shaft revolutions, and suddenly a wonderful idea struck him: “Why not use this principle when calculating monetary revenue?”

This idea captured him so much that he decided to interrupt his own European trip and return home. James Ritty told his brother John his idea at home, and the two of them built a simple apparatus for counting money. It had two rows of keys, each of which indicated a specific monetary amount, and an hour dial with two hands: one for cents, the other for dollars.

The Ritti brothers modernized the next model of the cash register; they replaced the dials with disks, which by now have already become classic.

The third model of the cash register, called “The Incorruptible Cashier Ritty,” was already able to show the customer the amount of the purchase, and the fourth model showed the total with small holes on a paper tape. It subsequently became the first production model of a cash register.

But, despite the success of his own invention, James Ritty realized in 1881 that he was not at all interested in this and returned to his small cafe. He sold his patent for cash registers to Eckert Jacot, who transferred the company in 1884 to Patterson John, one of the earliest buyers of cash registers.

Patterson subsequently renamed the company National Cash Register Company.

NCR Corporation today is a multi-billion dollar corporation that produces cash registers for trade software. Of course, modern technology from NCR Corporation has virtually nothing in common with the very first cash registers of James Ritty, except that these machines are also impossible to bribe.

Modern trade cannot be imagined without the use of cash register equipment. Cash registers are with us everywhere: in supermarkets, cafes, gas stations and post offices. From July 1, 2017, cash registers must be used even when paying for goods in online stores. Who and when was the first to come up with the idea of ​​keeping track of financial receipts using a cash register? The entire history of commercial cash registers is in our material.

The emergence of new machines for accepting money has radically changed the idea of retail trade, which until the end of the 19th century was carried out according to a simplified scheme. Before the invention of the cash register, the buyer gave money to the seller, received a product (or service) in return, and the seller assumed all responsibilities for accounting for financial receipts. You don't have to be very astute to understand that such control of sales income was very conditional.

1871-1884: James Jacob Ritty's first box office

The decision came unexpectedly, during Ritty’s sea voyage from the USA to Europe. James went into the ship's engine room and saw a tachometer there - a round gauge that counted the number of revolutions of the propeller shaft. Looking at this sensor, James thought that it was possible to assemble a similar device that would count the money received from Pony House clients in the same way. Returning home, an inspired James designed a prototype cash register.

This device was completely different from the cash registers we were used to. A round dial was used to indicate the amount of income, which is why the device from afar could be mistaken for an ordinary watch in a wooden case. Moreover, the first cash register, like the clock, had hands: the long one (“minute”) showed cents, and the short one (“hourly”) displayed dollars. Under this dial there were buttons, each of which corresponded to the price of a particular product. For example, if a customer purchased a drink for 35 cents, the cashier would press a button with that value, after which the counter would adjust the position of the hands on the dial.

The first working model of a cash register

The first cash register model turned out to be imperfect. The cunning seller could only pretend to use the cash register, or press the button with a lower denomination. And when no one saw, he acted even simpler - he moved the arrows back. Therefore, James made changes to the design - wheels with numbers appeared at the cash register, and their movement was synchronized by a transmission mechanism. Thanks to the “adder”, the device learned to calculate the total amount of an order, and also acquired a form that subsequently did not change for many years.

To accustom visitors to the establishment to the cash register, Ritti hung a bell on the device, which would ring after the visitor had checked out. This model was nicknamed "Incorruptible Cashier Ritty."

However, in the second modification of the cash register, a significant flaw was discovered over time. Once a strong scandal broke out in the establishment - a dissatisfied visitor accused the bartender of shortchanging him. Of course, there was no evidence - cash machine showed the new amount of revenue, and nothing more. Then James decided to modify his brainchild, giving it a special paper tape on which every operation carried out by the cashier was recorded.

Thus, in the third modification of the cash register, all operations were accompanied by perforation of paper, through which the actions of the cashier could be tracked. Probably from that time on, the well-known expression “punch a check” appeared.

In addition, under the cash register there was now a mandatory drawer for money - at first the simplest pull-out one, divided into sections for different denominations. It also had pinch rollers for banknotes. Over time, a lock appeared in the box. Interestingly, the cash drawer has remained virtually unchanged for more than a hundred years.

After all the main disadvantages of the first modifications of the cash register were eliminated, James Ritty patented his invention. Then he tried to establish serial production, but quickly abandoned this idea and sold the patent, focusing on developing the restaurant business.

The First Box Offices of Our Time: John Patterson's National Box Office

In 1906, the first push-button electric motor-powered cash register was invented in NCR. It was created by one of NCR's most talented engineers, Charles Kettering, who in just five years of work at the company received more than twenty patents for various inventions. The NCR engineering team kept making new improvements to cash registers, and it was under the leadership of John Patterson that these devices became what we are used to seeing.

Classic cash register from The National Cash Register Company

When Patterson got into the cash register business, he had to go into debt and rely on his entrepreneurial instincts. But he firmly believed that cash registers were the future. It is interesting that Patterson did not force the cash registers themselves on customers, but worked to create the need for cash register receipts (that is, in fact, he sold not the product itself, but the benefits of using it). An entire manual was written for NCR salespeople, which they were required to memorize before going to potential clients. As a result, from 1884 to 1911, more than a million cash registers were sold worldwide, and by 1917, The National Cash Register Company controlled about 95% of the market.

Some of the methods that John Patterson used in his business strategy were truly innovative (and are still used today). Thus, NCR often simply bought up its competitors. As soon as John saw a cash register model on sale with features that his own products lacked, he immediately did everything to buy out the manufacturer or force him to fold the business.

Secondly, the company meticulously studied competitors' cash registers in order to better understand their shortcomings. For example, it is reliably known that in February 1892, a circular was distributed within the company with instructions on how to break into the cash drawer of a competing brand of cash register - Simplex Cash Register.

This cash register worked quite unusually. It didn't have buttons, but it had holes for balls. Each hole corresponded to a certain amount. After placing the balls in the desired position, a flag with a price tag was raised in a small window. This way the buyer could see the invoice issued to him. Once inside the cash register, the balls accumulated, and at the end of the day the owner could compare the proceeds with the number of balls.

Alternative type of cash register from Simplex Cash Register

NCR salespeople received from management detailed instructions, explaining how easy it is to deceive this cash register and get cash from there. The instructions included a lead bullet and horsehair. The trick was simple - instead of a ball, you could insert a bullet into the hole, and by pulling the horsehair that had been placed in advance under the box, you could easily pull out the box and take money out of the cash register. Of course, after such a demonstration, many owners of such cash registers rushed to replace them with devices from NCR.

Unfortunately for Patterson's company, this instruction led to a lawsuit against NCR by the federal government, and the company was found guilty of deceptive sales practices under antitrust laws in 1913.

However, Patterson was not afraid of lawsuits and actively argued in court with his competitors. A funny incident happened in 1894. Paying attention to the growing popularity of cash registers, a certain Michael Heintz from Detroit created the Heintz Cash Register company, which released its own cash register. Distinctive feature This model was that instead of the usual ringing of a bell, the end of the operation was announced... by a cuckoo. Yes, yes, a mechanical cuckoo that stuck its head out of the cash register and crowed.

Patterson could not pass by this. He filed a lawsuit against Heinz Cash Register, accusing a competitor of copyright infringement. In court, representatives of the “cuckoo cash register” stated that they did it on principle New Product, replacing the classic bell with a bird. But John insisted that this was not so, and presented the text of the original patent as proof. And indeed, James Ritty’s patent did not specifically specify a bell - it indicated a “sound device for notification.” The court's decision ordered the cuckoo to be silenced forever. Although, it would probably be funny to hear at the checkout that your money is “peek-a-boo.”

Cash registers in the USSR

Moreover, there were no places in the country where damaged imported equipment could be repaired. In 1923, the only repair company at that time opened typewriters, counting and cash registers - “Bureau of Precision Mechanics of the 1st Moscow State University.”

The first more or less successful versions of domestically produced cash registers, such as the A1T or the line of CMM devices, appeared in the second half of the last century. Initially, these models were exclusively mechanical and operated by a rotary handle. Later, their design became electromechanical; they operated from a regular network. But even when in the second half of the 70s in department stores and grocery stores electrified samples appeared; on the side wall of the cash register one could still see the “winding” handle, which was used in emergencies in the absence of electricity.

Cash register KIM-2

When looking at the keyboard of Soviet cash registers, a modern person always has a question: why are so many repeating buttons needed?

Early models of Soviet cash registers had a limited set of registers. Each register was entered with its own set of numbers. For tens of rubles, the first vertical column of buttons from “1” to “9” was used, for units of rubles – the second vertical column, etc. There was no number “zero” at all; a cross was placed instead of it - this was a kind of protection against check forgery. There was also a short column of buttons on the keyboard - “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”. These were the numbers of the departments for which the goods were being released.

Another clever feature designed to protect against scammers is the letter code. To prevent a person from receiving goods using a fake check, the cashier had to regularly negotiate with the seller and change the control letter of the check. Thus, if a person hands a check to a seller and he does not see the “secret letter,” he knows that the check is a fake.

The buttons were locked, and the check was punched - using the enter button - only when all the information had been typed. If the cashier made a mistake, he could make a “reset” by pressing the current key combination with a special button.

The first models of cash registers produced in the USSR were characterized by low reliability. However, the situation changed radically when the Oka model was made based on the Swedish prototype.

Since the early 80s of the last century, such a cash register was located in almost every Soviet store. It was loaded with two rolls of tape at once: one for the buyer, the second for maintaining a control protocol. The control tape was shown under the window on the panel next to the buttons, so the cashier could quickly see his mistake or view the history of actions.

A whole set of keys was included with the cash register. The first made it possible to turn on the cash register, the second was used to reset the sensors, and the third was used to take meter readings. A " business card The main feature of the domestic cash register was a cash drawer, which literally flew out of the main building at the end of the payment.

The first electronic cash registers appeared in the eighties. The most popular among them was Iskra-302A. It looked like a giant calculator and had built-in memory on magnetic cores. This type of cash register was often used in Sberbank and the post office.

Soviet cash register Iskra-302A

Nowadays

• case, inside of which there should be a real time clock.
• fiscal storage (FN) – a cryptographic means of protecting fiscal data, which records data in an uncorrectable form, stores it and transmits it to regulatory authorities. It is the transfer of accumulated data that distinguishes FN from EKLZ (electronic secure control tape), which was used in earlier versions of cash registers for the uncorrectable accumulation of information about all payment documents and shift closing reports issued on the device.
• check printing devices. However, in the era of online payments, printing a paper check is no longer necessary for some types of trade. Therefore, today there are already online cash registers that only generate electronic check and they don't print it on paper.

In order to understand the variety of modern cash registers, you can focus on the letter designations in the model names:

• “FS” – cash registers only for payments on the Internet (do not contain a printing device inside the case);
• “FA” – cash registers only for installation in automatic devices (vending, payment terminals);
• "FB" - automated systems BSO;
• “F” – all the others, which can be used in any of the options.

Modern online cash registers for retail outlets usually equipped with a built-in modem that provides online data transfer to the Federal Tax Service, a SIM card slot, a waterproof keyboard, and a Li-ion battery (in case of power outages).

Cash desk ATOL 90F

There are also portable cash registers designed specifically for couriers. They are lighter and more compact (sometimes weighing up to 300 grams), can work autonomously for a long time, and are equipped with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi data transfer interfaces.

But modern multifunctional POS terminals for appearance more reminiscent of a classic desktop than a cash register. In any POS terminal you can unmistakably recognize familiar components - the system unit, monitor, keyboard, printer. However, unlike a regular PC, the terminal, of course, is not used for games and web surfing, but is intended for use in various retail outlets.

Multifunctional POS terminal "ATOL Store near home"

The operating system and software are already installed on it, all equipment included in the kit is compatible and requires a minimum of time for assembly and configuration. Since such devices are created for continuous active use, the terminals are for the most part much more reliable than conventional desktops. As a rule, the terminal system unit does not have cooling fans. This not only means quiet operation, but also prevents dust from getting inside the case and, as a result, reduces the risk of electronic failure.

Eventually

The main user of such devices is an ordinary cashier, who often has a very vague idea of ​​how a cash register functions. Therefore, cash register manufacturers have always paid great attention ease of use and gave them a resemblance to recognizable objects. At different times, the design of the cash register resembled a watch, typewriter, desktop calculator, etc. And the more complex the “stuffing” of cash register equipment became, the more important it was to make the device more friendly and reliable. And whatever form the device takes, its main function remains the same - to help a person keep control records monetary transactions. After all cash receipts- this is the only component of business, the essence of which has not changed over the past hundred years.

Three of his five sons - Sebastian, John and James - were born inventors. Sebastian had several patents for processing agricultural products, and John also noted in the same area, patenting a machine for cleaning and canning corn. In addition, John designed an unusual ventilation system for one of the cafes - fans made of palm leaves, installed on each table, were driven by water supplied through pipes.

The constant turnover of staff almost bankrupted Ritti, and, to distract himself, he went on a cruise around Europe. On the ship, James became interested in powerful marine machines and became friends with the chief mechanic. During a tour of the engine room, he looked fascinated at the automatic counter of the propeller shaft revolutions, and suddenly the thought occurred to him: “If this mechanism is capable of recording movements propeller, why can’t we do the same with money?”

The brothers improved the second model by replacing the dials with classic disks, and it was for this design that US patent number 221360 was received on November 4, 1879. The third model, called “Ritty's Incorruptible Cashier”, was already able to show the buyer the “punched” amount, and the fourth punched holes in the result on a paper tape. It was she who became the first serial cash register.

Despite the success, by 1881 Ritti realized that this was not his business and returned to his small cafe. He sold the patent to Jacob Eckert, who in 1884 transferred the company to John Patterson, one of the first buyers of cash registers. Patterson renamed the firm National Cash Register Company.

Now it is NCR Corporation, a multi-billion dollar company that produces hardware and software solutions for trading. Of course, modern NCR technology has almost nothing in common with the first Ritti devices. Except for one quality: she is still incorruptible.