US2359502A - Auxiliary ribbon feeder attachment - Google Patents

Description

Dot. 3, 1944.

v C. E. WYRICK AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER AfTACHMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 15, 1942 BY 3 1-QFQMLM' J ATTORNEKS Oct. 3, 1944. c. E. WYRICK 2,359,502

AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT Filed July 13, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS:

Oct. 3, 1944. c. E. WYRICK AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT Filed July 15, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 //VVN 70/? By umouflwvmcx (5 #JW ATTORNEYS Oct. 3, 1944.

C. E WYRICK AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT Filed July 13, 1942 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 JETS-.13

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Rm .Y. 0R E TY M R W n T 1% A c W MW Patented Oct. 3, 1944 UNITEDVVVSTATES PATENT OFFICE AUXILIARY RIBBON FEEDER ATTACHMENT- Clayton E. Wyrick, Miami, Fla., assignor to The Egry Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July 13, 1942, Serial No. 450,691

3 Claims.

This invention relates to attachments for imprinting apparatus, and more particularly an auxiliary ribbon feeding mechanism whereby one or more copies 'of impressions can be made simultaneously.

The auxiliary ribbon feeding mechanism of this invention is applicable to a wide range of imprinting apparatus, such as computing, tabuin connection with the acconmanying drawings which show one embodiment of my invention,

wherein vices which can be arranged to utilize one-time duplicator strip or ribbon means for transferring the impression to copy sheet or web forms.

Another object is to provide a ribbon feeder attachment which is readily adjustable for mounting on typewriter carriages of diiierent widths and used for forming the copies without the use of carbon sheets, as is the conventional practice.

.Another objectis to devise a duplicator ribbon feeder mechanism comprising one or more sets of spools upon which the ribbon is wound and unwound automatically by the rotative movement of the typewriter platen during the normal use of the typewriter.

Another-object is to provide a ribbon feeder attachment which is useful for producing copies ofimpressions made upon continuous strips of stationery, such as commonly used in billing and addressing machines, wherein a plurality of superimposed manifold paper webs comprising a series-of connected detachable form sheets'are fed through the machine and imprinted upon while simultaneously making copies thereof. In

the improvement provided by my attachment,

the interleaving of the carbon sheets with the manifold papers is eliminated and the imprinting machine can be continuously operated until the duplicatorribbon means is worn out or requires changing.

These and other objects and advantages will appear from the speciflcation'and as hereinafter described and set forth in the claims and taken Figure 1-is a plan view of my attachment shown mounted for operation on a typewriter, certain parts being broken away to illustrate the construction and arrangement more clearly;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a modification of the device shown in Figure 1, wherein one-time carbon strip or duplicator ribbon means is used;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of illustrated in Figure 1; 1

Figure'4 is a sectional view' taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3;.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view I substantially on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail taken substantially on the line .H'of Figure 4 and looking in the direction *of the arrows;

Figure 7 isa fragmentary detail view taken substantially 'on the-line 1-7-1 of Figure 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional view taken through a portion-of the attachment and substantially on the line 8-8 of Figure Llooking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 9-9 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a detail view of the uppermost.

ribbon guide means and associated mechanism; Figure 11 is a sectional view taken through 'the vertically arranged ribbon guide means positioned .at opposite sides of the device;

Figure 12 is an exploded perspective view of the ribbon guide mechanism shown in Figure 11 and illustrating the arrangement of the ribbon guide channels;

Figure 13 is a fragmentary detaiLview of the attachment illustrating the mechanism for driv- 3 ing the bowl gear ribbon spools during operation of the device;

Figure 14 is an enlarged detail view of the mechanism for operating the one-time duplicator ribbon'stri'ps whereby the same are advanced in position for receiving and transferring the imprint;

Figure 15 is ajfragmentary sectional view taken substantially on theline 15- of Figure 14 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

I Figure 16 is a similar detail view of the mechanism shown in Figure 14 and taken substantially on the line li-liof Figure 14 looking in the direction of the arrows; I

the device I tional view I Figure 17 is an additional detail view taken substantially on the line ll-Il of Figure 14 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Heretofore it has been the general practice in operating typewriters and similar impression printing machines to make copies of the typing by utilizing carbon sheets which are interleaved between stationery sheets to simultaneously duplicate the printing on the copy paper. Thi entails time consuming manual operations of removing the carbon sheet from a pack and prearranging and aligning the same with the copy paper, which is eliminated in the use of my auxiliary ribbon feeding attachment. The auxiliary ribbon feeding mechanism is so designed and connected with the typewriter or impression type machin that it operates in synchronism therewith and after a line has been typed and the platen is advanced preparatory to imprinting :the next line, the duplicator ribbon members which are interleaved between the manifold paper are automatically shifted so that a clear, sharp copy of the printing is made.

By the use of the auxiliary ribbon feeding at-' tachment of this invention, the output of the printing machine may be substantially increased and no time is consumed in removing, placing and aligning of the carbon sheets during the operation of the device. Furthermore, -a more efllcient and versatile machine is provided.

Detailed description of attachment device Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown in Figure 1 one embodiment of my invention attached to a typewriter platen. In the drawing, the ribbon feeder attachment mechanism, generally designated 28, is shown adjustably positioned on the typewriter carriage apron, generally designated 22, and is arranged to be operated by rotary movement of the platen 24 of the typewriter.

As shown, the attachment consists of an elongated casing 25 in which is mounted the ribbon spools, generally designated 21. Any suitable number of ribbon-carrying spools may be mounted in the casing depending upon the number of copies to be made. As shown, there are six spools, which constitute two sets A and 'B. The spools are arranged whereby the ribbons 28 ar moved from one set of spools to the other during operation of the typing machine. As illustrated, the ribbon from spools A is being unwound therefrom and wound up on the spools B.

The duplicator ribbons 28, as shown in Figure 1, are guided forward from the spools A and across the front of the typewriter platen and in between the stationery copy sheet forms 88 in position to receive and transfer the imprint of the typewriter key 32- which strikes the typewriter ribbon 83 and imprints upon the sheet 88 in the conventional manner. In this way, one or more copies of the original typing can be mad without the use of carbon sheets.

The casing 25 of the attachment, as shown in Figure 4, comprises a bottom portion 38 and a hinged or removable cover member 48. The spools 21 are mounted for rotation on the spindle shaft means 42 which extend through the bottom wall 88 and are fixedly attached to the bowl gear means 44. The uppermost ends of the spindles 42 are received by the socket 48 formed on the underside of the lid 48 retaining the spools on the spindles when the lid is in closed position. An

upstanding pin 48 is provided on the disc-like member 49 and arranged to engage in an aperture or cavity formed in the side wall portion of the spool to lock the members together. The disc member 48 is suitably fixed to the spindle'42 at its lowermost portion adjacent the casing wall 28 and rotates with the spindle.

In order to provide for alternate driving of the two sets of bowl gears which rotate the spindles "whereupon the ribbons 28 can be wound off one set of spools onto the other and vice versa, a drive shaft 82 carrying the pinions a, b, c, d, e and j is mounted on the supporting bracket means 56 attached to the underside of the wall 88 of the casing 28. As illustrated in Figure 4,

.the pinion gears drive the bowl gears 44 when the shaft 52 is rotated. Each pinion is mounted on the shaft 52 so as to be axially shiftable out of engagement with its respective bowl gear. A suitable clutch mechanism for accomplishing this is shown at 54 and, as illustrated, the ribbon spools A are operatively connected to the drive shaft 52 while the spools B are disconnected. One end of the shaft 82 is extended and provided with a knurled knob 88 for manually manipulating the shaft. Means is also provided comprising a laterally shiftable member 88 for declutching one set of pinions, d, e and I, such as shown at 82, while connecting the pinions of the other set, a, b and 0. Additional declutching lever means 84 is provided for disconnecting the pinions b and 0 when the attachment is to be operated with one-tim carbon ribbon means, as shown in Figure 2. The actuating member 88 is suitably supported on the bottom of the transverse ribbon guide channelways by punching out clip-like supporting ears 85, as shown in Figure 5. Similarly,- the laterally shiftable operating lever 84 is slidably retained on'the actuating member 88. A spring clip means 61 is suitably mounted on the bottom of the member 88 which co-operates with the notches 88 in the side of the shiftable lever 84 whereby it is maintained in the desired operating position, as shown in Figure 3.

Attached to the front of the casing 28 are the spaced channelways 18 along which the ribbons 28 are suitably guided and arranged'to be moved across the front of the platen and in between the manifold papers. For actuating the drive shaft 52 and pinions mounted thereon so as to rotate the bowl gears 44 during rotation of the platen 24, there is provided the roller actuated means 12 which ismounted for rotation in the forward end of the member 18. A shaft 18 interconnects the rollers 12 which are arranged to extend through the apertured wall portion 14 in the member 18 and frictionally contact the platen 24. Rotary'movement of the platen 24 drives the roller 12 which, in turn, drives the shaft 16 through the bevel gearing means 18. On the upper end of the shaft 16 is mounted a bevel gear 18 which meshes with a gear 8| keyed to the shaft 52 so that revolution of the shaft It drives the shaft 52 and pinions to operate the spools 2'|.

In Figures 8, 9 and 10 there is illustrated the construction for adjustably mounting the ribbon attachment on a typewriter carriage. To eifect this, the left-hand ribbonguide channel 18 and associated mechanism are slidably mounted on the rods 84 which are attached to the base of the casing 25, as shown in Figure 3. The thumb screws 88 are threaded into the base nut members 88 and the ribbon box is held in place on the rods by tightening the thumb screws 88 against the rods 84. When the left-hand ribbon channel is adjusted for a particular typewriter carriage the friction drive wheel 12 must also be moved relative to the other wheel and in order to provide for this the shaft 18 telescopes into the section 80 attached to the opposite friction drive wheel. The shaft portion 89 forms a sleeve and is provided with a slot 9| inwhich a pin 83' fixed to the shaft 13 is adapted to slide so as to provide for axial movement of the shaft 13 but prevents relative rotary movement between the sleeve 80 and the rod-like shaft 13.

In Figure 9 the ribbon holder left end portion, generally designated 85,'is arranged so as to teleaway from as shown in Figure '15. The grlppr roll mechanism I25 comprises the large drlvenroll I28 and the co-acting spring attached smaller roll I28. v

contact withthe roll I28 by rotating the shaft in against the action of the spring scope over and adjacent the portion so as to make it wider carriage apron. The ribbons 28 are guided from or narrower to fit a typewriter the spools over theadjustable guide member I ure 10. The front wallportio'n I82 of the casing comprises the apertures I which communicate with the channelways 10 and through which the ribbons are guided to the front of the typewriter platen. The opposing ends of the' front wall member I02 are curved outwardly as at I05 so as'to serve as a guide 'for. one of the ribbon members. It will be understood, ofcourse, that the ribbon guide member l00 will comprise the proper number of ribbon-supporting sections to accommodate the number of ribbons employed in the attachment. I

In Figures 11 and 12 the forward ribbon'guide way channel members, generally designated I01,

I and into the channelways' 10, as shown in Fig- I to peimit'insertion of the ends of the dupll-.' cator ribbons 28, as shown in Figures 2 and 14,

preparatory to operating the machine.' This is conveniently doneby grasping the knurled knob I36 of the Shaft I32 'andturning it. Suitablemeans for receiving and guiding the ribbons 20, after passing between the rolls I28 and I28, is

shown in Figure 17, wherein a U-shaped member I40 is arranged to collectively receive and guide the used ribbon portions as they are adv vanced outwardly by the gripper roll means I25.

The member I40 also functions as a tear-off member for detaching the used ribbons.

- to the opposite. set of spoolsB upon which the are illustrated which are adjustably connected to the forward end of the ribbon guide -channel-- ways 1 0 at opposite sides of the platen. -'These members are adjustably'attached to the sides of the channelways 10 by means of the brackets I08.

The side brackets" I08 supp rt the spacedwall members IIO which form the individual nibbo'n guide passageways II 2. The spaced wall portions IIO of the. guide members I01 are concentricalthe channelwayslll and downwardly in front of the typewriter platen. .The lowermost portions of the guide wall members IIO are provided with in the typewriter in the usual manner and the ,ly curved at their-uppermost portions, as at m; I so as to guide the ribbons at a right angle to an aperture H6 of elliptical shape which permits movement of. the ribbon at right angles to I the downwardly extending guideway' channel membersv I01. In this way, each of the individual ribbons is guided evenly from the spools outwardly'through the channelways' 10 and downwardly through the members I01 and across the Y One-time ribbon modified construction Where it is desired to use one-time ribbons or carbon strips as a duplicator means, the arrangement shown in Figures 2, 14, 15, 16 and 1'1 is used wherein the ribbon spools 21 are collectively drawn across the front of the platen by the gripper roll member, generally designated I25, as illustrated in Figure 2..- In this modification, the ends of the ribbons 28' are fed into the co-acting ribbon gripping roll means I25 which is adapted to take-the placeof one of the spools ofribbon. This ribbon drawing roll member fits over the shaft 02 and is driven by bowl gear similarly as the ribbon-spools 21,

Operation '7 In the use of the attachment on an ordinary typewriter, as shown in Figure l,' the device is fittedon the apron carriage of the typewriter 1 I and the ribbon spools A and B placed in the easing 25 on the spindles 42. The ribbon-spools A are mounted on the spindles" and the ribbons brought forward through the guidewaychannel means on the left side of the attachment, downwardly through the ribbon guide channel I01 and across the front of the platen andupwardly ribbons are to be rewound. After the ribbons have been properly mounted, the attachment is mounted on the typewriten as illustrated in;

Figure l. 'The manifold-papers 30 are inserted copy sheets or webs interleaved between the ribbons 20' similarly as in the case of carbon paper. When the manifold papers' have been arranged,

the typewriter is operatedin' the conventional way. 1 1

Inasmuch as the friction roller-members 12 are in contact with the platen 28 of the-type.-

writer, when the operator rotates the'platen by. tuming the knurled knobs atthe sideof the typewriter or otherwise moves the platenas in. advancing the manifold papers,'the ribbons, are automatically shifted through the associated driving mechanism to present a new surface on the ribbon for receiving'the next line of impressions. During the operation of the. typewriter, thev ribbons are gradually unwound from the spools A and taken up on the other. set of spools B. In order to reverse the travel of the ribbons 28, it is merely required that the operator shift the lever so as to disengage the pinions a, b and c from their respective bowl gears and engage the corresponding set of pinions d, e and f. When this is done, the machine operates to drive the spools A so as to unwind the ribbons off of the spools B back onto the spools A and the cycle is continued until the ribbons are sufilciently worn to require replacement.

In the operation of the modification shown in Figure 2, the end ribbon spools is replaced with a friction gripper roller I25 which is constructed to fit on the spindle and be driven in the same manner as the ribbon spool. In this arrangement, however, the ribbons on the spools are collectivelyunwound from the spools by the I gripper roll I 25 whereupon after one-time use the ribbons are discarded. In this modification,

the ribbons may be made of strips of' carbon The roll I28 is adapted to be. swung paper or similar inexpensive duplicator .tape. When the device is used in this manner, the drive pinions for the bowl gears are all disconnected except the end one which drives the gripper roll I25. This is conveniently effected by shifting the lever 64 so as to declutch the pinion gears b and c from their respective bowl gears, as illustrated in Figure 4 and the ribbon drawing gripper roll I2: is mounted on the end bowl gear driven spindle operated by the pinion a, all the other pinions being disconnected so that the spools containingthe ribbons are free to rotate permitting unwinding of the ribbon thereon dur.. ing operation of the device.

It will be appreciated that the duplicator ribbons will be maintained taut by any suitable drag producing means so that the ribbons will be held in proper position 'between the manifold papers to receive the impression made by the typewriter keys and duplicate it on the copy paper arranged therebeneath.

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the particular details of construction shown in the drawings and described but that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, in a front strike typing machine, a typing device having front striking type associated therewith, a carriage movable relative to said type, a platen on said carriage, a main inking ribbon operatively associated with said platen for transferring typed impressions onto a record web carried over said platen, an auxiliary frame structure supported 'by said carriage and movable therewith and extending rearwardly from said platen, a plurality of supplementary inking ribbons disposed on spools, means for individually supporting said spools on said frame rearwardly of said platen with the axes of the spools arranged vertically, guide means for directing the movement of the supplemental inking ribbons from said spools forwardly of the platen and in alignment with the main inking ribbon, individual drive means for each of said spools, a common drive means from said platen operatively connected to each of said individual drive means, individual clutch means between said common drive means and said individual drive means for individually connecting or disconnecting said spools from said common drive means, and manual means operatively associated with said clutch means to selectively connect said common drive means to the drive means for said spools to wind or unwind the auxiliary ribbons thereof, and means operatively connecting said common drive means to said platen for causing operation thereof during rotation of said platen.

' 2. In combination, in a front strike typing machine, a typing device having front striking type associated therewith, a carriage movable relative to acid type, a platen on said carriage, a main inking ribbon operatively associated with said platen for transferring typed impressions onto a record web carried over said platen, an auxiliary frame'structure supported by said carriag and movable therewith and extending rearwardly from said platen, a plurality of supplementary inking ribbons disposed on spools, means for individually supporting said spools on said frame rearwardly of said platen with the axes of the spools arranged vertically, guide means for directing the movement of the supplemental inking ribbons from said spools forwardly of the platen and in alignment with the main inking ribbon, individual drive means for each of said spools, arm means extending between said frame and said carriage for supporting said frame thereon, roller means carried by said arm means at the forward end thereof frictionally engaging said platen to be driven thereby, drive shaft means operatively connecting said roller means with said drive means for'said spools, individual clutch means on said drive shaft means for connecting and disconnecting the same to the drive means for said spools, and manual means for selectively engaging and disengaging said clutch means to windor unwind the ribbons on the spools.

3'. In combination, in a front strike typing machine, a typing device having front striking type associated therewith, a carriage movable relative to said type, a platen on said carriage, a main inking ribbon operatively associated'with said platen for transferring typedimpressions onto a record web carried over said platen, an auxiliary frame structure supported by said carriage and movable therewith and extending rearwardly from said platen, a plurality of supplementary inking ribbons disposed on spools,

means for individually supporting said spools on said frame rearwardly of said platen with the axes of the spools arranged vertically and disposed in alignment with one another, individual drive means for each of said spools, a drive shaft positioned beneath said spools and in alignment with the axes thereof, individual clutch means connecting said drive shaft with each of said drive means comprising individual drive elements mounted on said drive shaft for axial movement thereon for engagement or disengagement with said drive means for said spools, manual means for selectively connecting or disconnecting said drive elements with said drive means for said spools, and means operatively connecting said drive shaft with said platen for rotation thereof upon rotation of the platen.

CLAYTON E. WYRICK.

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