US1120784A

US1120784A - Cipher type-writer.

Info

Publication number: US1120784A
Application number: US81016414A
Authority: US
Inventors: Karl Ammon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1914-01-03
Filing date: 1914-01-03
Publication date: 1914-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 1931-12-15

Description

K. AMMON.

GIPHER TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.3,1914 p .11 Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

Z SHEETS-SHEET 1.

K. AMMON.

GIPHER TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATION 1mm JAN. 3, 1914.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

zlzk iii/iii;

UNI 1i KARL AMllCEON, 0F BEBLIN-TEMPELHOE, GERMANY.

CIPHER TYPE-WRITER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedDec. 15,1914.

Application filed January 3, 1914. Serial No. 810,164.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, KARL AMMON, citizen of the Empire of Germany, residing at Ber- ]inerstrasse 48, Berlin-Tempelhoi, in the Empire of Germany, have invented new and useful Improvements in Cipher Type- Writers, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to a device for adjusting the type-carriers of cipher typewriters of that kind in which the type-carrier has imparted to it a movement in addition to its normal movement for the purpose of replacing one and the same letter as frequently as possible by another and in this manner rendering the deciphering of the cipher by'unauthorized persons very diilicult if not impossible. The additional movement of the type-carrier may be an additional rotatory movement or an axial displacement. In the latter case cylindrical type-carriers will, as a rule, be employed, on the periphcry of which a number of rows of letters are arranged displaced relatively to one another.

A- primary object of this invention is to provide an improved device for adjusting the type-carriers of the kind last described.

' Devices known heretofore intended to serve a similar purpose are very complicated. The cost of manufacture and the selling cost are consequently great. Typewriters of'customary standard constructions have, as it is, so many interengaging parts" that when it is desired to utilize such typewriters for cipher purposes the principal aim must be to adapt the existing parts as much as possible to the new purpose and to avoid the addition of new parts as much as possible.

The problem oi axially shifting a cylindrical type-carrier of the kind described above is solved according to the invention in a very simple manner. Namely, I arrange with which a member, e. g. a lever, coacts; this lever is operatively connected in such manner with the type-carrierthat when the lever rocks it causes the type-carrier to be axially displaced. In a preferred form of the invention the lever engages in succession various steps formed on a bar which is movably carried on the frame of the typewriter. The changed position of the lever causes an axial displacement of the type-carrier and consequently a new row of letters on the periphery of the type-carrier is adjusted to the height at which the types can print.

Further the stepped bar is preferhbly formed in such'manner that the heights of the individual steps correspond to the place values. which the letters of a code have in the alphabet.

One illustrative embodiment/of the invention is diagrammatically represented by way of example in the accompanying drawing,

wherein 1 Figure 1 1s a d1agrammat1c perspective view of a cipher typewriter according to the invention, Fig. 2'is a diagram showing the stepped bar, and Fig. 3 is a development of the type-carrier. Referring to the drawinggthe typewriter comprises a keyboard having keys J only one of which is shown for the sake of clearness. WVhen 'one of the keys is depressed, one of the inclined faces of the slide 1 is struck by the corresponding key and consequently the slide 1 is shifted to the left or to the right and turns the type-carrier 2 a predetermined amount by means of a rack formed on the slide 1 which meshes with a gear wheel 1. The U-member 3, which is mounted to rock about the bar 3* is driven downward by the key and strikes a projection 4 on the stem of the type-carrier, so that the latter is swung toward the platen 5. This key-actuated printing mechanism is lmown. As Fig. 3 shows, the cylindrical type-carrier 2 has preferably twenty-five rows of letters arranged one above another each of which, in the illustrativeembodi ment, is a complete alphabet except that the letterj is omitted. This type-carrier 2 is movable axially, so that any one of the alphabets on. the carrier may be brought to its working position. i. e. to the correct elevation for printing.

According to my invention the axial displacement of the type-carrier 2 is controlled on the frame of the typewriter a stepped bar y a bar 6 which has as many steps 6 (Fig. 2) as there are alphabets on the type-car- 'rier, i. e. in the present case twenty-five. In the illustrative embodiment these steps 6 are held together by means of a rod 7 and. a nut 7* (Fig. 2'). Each step 6 corresponds to a predetermined alphabet of: the typecarrier 2. The position of the latter is controlled by means of the bar 6 as follows One end of a spring-influenced lever 8, which has its pivot point in S, coacts with the stepped bar 6 either laterally, (as shown in Fig. 2) or vertically relatively to the bar (as represented in Fig. 1). Theother end of the lever 8 coacts with a second lever 9, with which the lower end of the axle of the type-carrier 2 engages. Whenever pressure is exerted on any one of the keys J, the end of the lever 8 which coacts with the bar '6 will be swung down by a special mechanism which will be more fully described hereinafter and: consequently will be moved out of engagement with the steps 6*. At

the same time the opposite end of the lever 8 which coa'cts with the lever 9 will be raised thus swinging it upward, thereby raising the axlelO and with it the type carrier 2. As soon as the pressure on the lever 8 is released it will return to its normal position, and consequently the end of the lever 8 co- .acting with the stepped bar 6 swings upward. As, howeverfjthe stepped bar 6 has meanwhile changed itsposition in a manner which will more fully-'be described hereinafter, the lever 8 will engage a new step. At the same time the member 2 will move downward by gravity following the movement of the lever 9, which itself is controlled by the movement of the coacting end of the lever 8. The type-carrier 2 now occupies a new position and when a new key J is pressed, a new rowof letters will he brought into action.

I will now describe the manner in which the lever 8 as well as the stepped bar 6 are moved :'Ihe stepped bar 6 is connected by means of a toothed rack 11 with a train of toothed wheels 11, 12, 13 and 14. This train ofwheels in controlled by the spring 15 and tends to shift the bar 6 to the left, but is normally prevented from so doing by a feed mechanism 18 which normally engages'with the teeth of a rack 19 of the paper carriage and holds the paper carriage which is connected by means of a cord 16 or thelike with a rotatable member controlled by the spring 15. The space-bar 20 which is carried by the lever 20 mounted on the bar 3 is adapted to actuate the feed mechanism 18 and is struck after a key has been depressed. When this space-bar is depressed it not only actuates the feed mechanism 18 thus allowing the paper carriage to move one step under the infinence of the driving spring 15, but it also drives the rod 21 downward and the lever 8 is thereby moved from engagement' with the bar 6 which bar will be moved one step to the left under the influence of the train of wheels driven by the spring 15 It is not possible for the bar to move more than one step owing to the action of the feed mechanism 18 which at once arrests the travel of the paper-carriage and the movement of the train of wheels. after the space-bar has been struck the lever 8 occupies a new position and the type-carrier 2 has been shifted into a new axial p0- sition.

On a key'J being depressed there will be Consequently,

printed a character in that alphabet which corresponds to the step 6 with which the lever 8 is in engagement.

Preferably each line of written text will contain exactly as many letters as there are steps 6 on the bar 6 or rows of letters on the type-carrier, so that a different row of'letters will be employed for each letter in a line. It is of course to be understood that the number of steps or rows of letters and the number of letters in one row may differ As mentioned above, the stepped bar 6 is preferably designed so that the steps 6 vary in height corresponding to the lace-values which the letters of a code have in the alphabet. In Fig. 2 such a code is shown and un-' der'it are marked the place values which the individual letters have in the alphabet. If the lever 8 coacts, for example, with the first step designated 0 fourteenth alphabet on the type-carrier will be printed and so on.

When it is desired cipher it is only necessary to insert into the machine a suitable translating type-carrier having a like number of alphabets arranged in a different order, while the stepped bar remains the ame as when writing the cipher. It may be mentioned, in addition, that the bar 6 can be readily removed at any time so that stepped bars made according-to various other codescan be employed.

Iclaim: I r 1. In a cipher typewriter, in combination. an axle movable in. the direction of its length, a type-carrier supported thereon and having aplurality of rows of types arran ed one above another, key actuated mechanism for rotating said axle, and moving said car-v rier into printing position, a carriage, means for moving said carriagein the direction of its length, feed mechanism. to control the movement of said carriage, a movable stepped member operatively connected to said means, and means controlled by said stepped member for controlling the lengthwise movement of said axle.

2. In a cipher typewriter,

1n Fig. '2 a letter in the to translate a printed in combination,

' from that in the embodiment shown without departing from the scope of the invention;

an axle movable in the direction of its length,

a type-carrier supported thereon and having a plurality of rows of types. arranged one above another, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction of its length, feedmechanism to control the movement of said carriage, a movable stepped member operatively connected to said means controlled by said stepped member for controlling the lengthwise movement of said axle.

3. In a cipher typewriter, in combination,

an axle movable in the direction of its length,

a type-carrier supported thereon and having means, and" a plurality of rows of types arranged one above another, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction of its length feed mechanism to control the movement oi said carriage, a movable stepped member operatively connected to said means, a lever supporting said axle, and means controlled by said stepped member and engaging said lever for varying the position thereof thereby causing lengthwise movement of said axle, said stepped member moving one step at each actuation of said feed mechanism.

a. In a cipher typewriter, in combination, an axle movable in the direction of its length, a type-carrier supported thereon and having a plurality of rows of types arranged one above another, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction of its length. feed mechanism to control the movement 0'? said carriage, a movable stepped member operatively connected to said means, a lever supporting said axle, a second lever engaging said first mentioned lever and said stepped member, means for actuating said feed mechanism, and means controlled by said last mentioned means for moving said second lever out of engagement with said;

stepped member at each actuation of feed'mechanism.

5. In a cipher typewriter, in combination, an axle movable in the direction of its length, type-carrier supported thereon and having a plurality of rows of types arranged one above another, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction of its length, feed mechanism to control the movement of said carriage, a movable stepped member operatively connected to said means, and means controlled by said stepped member for controlling the lengthwise movement of said axle, the steps of said stepped member being arranged as to their height to correspond to the place values which the letters of the code have in the alphabet.

6. In a cipher typewriter, in combination,

an axle movable in the direction of its length, I

a type-carrier supported thereon and having a plurality of rows of types arranged one above another, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction of its length, feed mechanism to control the move ment of said carriage, a movable stepped member operatively connected to said means, and means controlled by said stepped member for controlling the lengthwise movement of said axle, the number of steps in said stepped member being equal to the number of'rows of types on said carrier.

7. In a cipher typewriter, in combination, an axle movable in the direction of its length, a type-carrier supported thereon and having a plurality of rows of types arranged one-abovc another, a carriage, means for moving said carriage in the direction of its length, feed mechanism to control the movement of said carriage, a movablestepped member operatively connected to said means, and means controlled by said stepped member for controlling the lengthwise movement of said axle, the number of steps in said stepped member being equal to the number of rows of types on said carrier, the steps being arranged as to their height to correspond to the place values which the letters of the code have in the alphabet.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

KARL AMMON. Witnesses:

WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPER.