GB999528A - Tape operated fluid actuator for typewriters or like business machines - Google Patents

Abstract

999,528. Typewriters. INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. May 14, 1964 [May 17, 1963], No. 20097/64. Heading B6F. Perforated record controlled input arrangements; fluid, pneumatic driving arrangements for key actions.-A fluid actuator positioned on the keyboard 110, Fig. 11, of a power-operated typewriter 100 has a plurality of pistons 101, adapted to actuate a key 105 of the keyboard and includes a decoder 58, 59 connected to a plurality of fluid lines 113 whereby different combinations of fluid signals A, B . . . D, E, #A, #B ... #E, #F, Fig. 9, can be supplied to the decoder, which when supplied with different combinations of signals ABC, #ABC . . . DEF, #DEF, supplies a fluid to select the piston 101 corresponding to that combination and further includes a pulse valve 95 to supply to the selected piston 101 a pulse to operate the associated key 105. The typewriter is provided with a tape reader 1, Fig. 1, containing two drives 2a and 2b for two tapes 23, Fig. 3, one of which may contain addresses and the other texts of letters. Each tape has six active holes ABCDEF (Fig. 2, not shown), divided in groups ABC and DEF the first sending signals of the binary 0 or 1 state, corresponding to the " no-hole " or " hole " condition, to the decoder 58 and the second to decoder 59. Each tape is associated with a sensing station 3a or 3b equipped with sensing nozzles 21 supplied with compressed fluid from a common inlet 22. The pressure at throat 24 depends on the presence or absence of a hole in the tape 23, whereby the presence of a hole and associated low pressure in the throat 24 will cause a jet emanating through nozzle 25 to be deflected along a wall 26 which will then enter a passage 27 to transmit a binary 1 signal in the respective decoder 58, 59. Absence of hole will cause the jet to enter the binary 0 passage 30. In another embodiment (Fig. 5, not shown), the pressure variation operates a piston 37 uncovering or obturating passages 38 corresponding to the respective binary states. In addition, the feed hole of the tape is sensed by a supplementary nozzle (not shown) to transmit T, #T (hole, no-hole, respectively) signals, Fig. 9, to the pulse valve 95 which signals are lagging behind the sensed character holes in the tape, the lagging being used to enable the fluid operating the pistons 101 to be applied to pistons following their selection. In operation, assuming the tape contains the combination " hole, hole, hole, no-hole, nohole, hole," i.e. ABC, DEF representative of the letter " Q " the decoder 58 emits an output signal on its ABC line 85 to displace valves 61 and 69 of valve half-matrices 60a, 60b, while the decoder 59 emits an output signal on its DEF line 86 connected to actuator channel 78. The enabled channel 78 permits compressed fluid to enter an outlet 88 which is connected to the piston 101, positioned above the Q-key. The key is returned to an inoperative position by a further pulse of opposite binary state from the pulse valve 95. Keyboard arrangements; key construction.- The fluid actuator is provided with a facsimile keyboard having keys 108, Fig. 11, which can be operated manually when the actuator is mounted on the typewriter. The duplicate key 108 are connected to the pistons 101 by member 107. The pistons 101 are of squaresection to prevent rotation of the duplicate keys 108 and the pistons are mounted within cylinder 104. Cylindrical pistons may be used. A long resilient member 106, fixed to the typewriter key 105 allows the piston 101 to exert a normal force to the key.