It is common practice in a motor vehicle to provide two odometers, one of which gives a permanent reading of the distance traveled by the motor vehicle during its life, the other of which can give a reading for a specific journey. The latter odometer, therefore, has a reset mechanism which allows the odometer to be returned to zero before commencement of the journey. It is the latter type of odometer to which the present invention relates.
Such an odometer is well known, and an example is shown in U.S Pat. No. 4,314,149. In this example, separate springs are used to maintain the odometer wheels in a predetermined axial position (relative to the pinions), and to return the pinions into engagement with the odometer wheels after resetting to zero. In an alternative known arrangement, one of the springs acts on the pinions rather than the odometer wheels. The use of several springs in these known arrangements has disadvantages with regard to handling during assembly of the odometer, and cost.