US1174555A

US1174555A - Type-writing machine.

Info

Publication number: US1174555A
Application number: US6371515A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ewell E Fowler
Original assignee: Underwood Typewriter Co
Current assignee: Underwood Typewriter Co
Priority date: 1915-11-27
Filing date: 1915-11-27
Publication date: 1916-03-07
Anticipated expiration: 1933-03-07

Description

E. E1 FOWLER. TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27, 1915.

Patented Mar. 7, 1916.

WITNESSES V l I 1VEN FOR= BY V ATTO NEY.

EWELL E. FOWLER, OF EAST POINT,

GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD TYPE- WRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EwnLL E. FOWLER, a

citizen of the United States, residing in East Point, in the county of Fulton and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to devices for guiding and holding work-pieces as the same are fed and inscribedon the platen of a typewriting machine.

More particularly, the invention relates to guides and holders for small work-pieces, such as labels and cards, which are not easily positioned and held in typewriting machines as ordinarily equipped.

An object of the invention is to provide a work-piece guide and holder which shall engage the work-piece above and below the printing line, so that no matter how small the work-piece, it shall be held in place against the platen when being written upon and fed, and may be written upon practically to the very upper and lower edges thereof; the holder nevertheless being of such structure that it in no wise interferes with the types or other parts of the machine,- and may be readilyapplied to and removed from a standard machine without displacement of any of the parts usually found on such machines.

A further object of the invention is to have a holder of the character described, which shall be flexible and shall exert a spring pressure on the work-piece on the platen, such that the work-piece is firmly gripped with equal pressure at substantially all points where itengages the holder, and. is therefore not subjected to twisting and distortion when being fed on the platen.

It .is an obiect of the invention to have the holder readily releasable from the platen to permit of easy removal and insertion of the work-pieces; and in this connection it is a feature of the inventionthat the holder may be mounted for movement to and from the platen as a unit with the pressure or feed rolls usually found in typewriting ma chines. v

A feature of the invention is a spring device, which becomes effective when the pressure rolls are moved to working position for assuring a close and highly resilient bearing of the holder on the platen.

It is a feature of the invention that the holder 1n I10 wise curtails or interferes with the function and utility of the usual paper shelf in the feeding of the work-pieces forward under theplaten from the'rear thereof; but, on the other hand, is of such strucand that it is of such shape, and is so mount-' ed, that it may be made heavy enough to hold thick cards.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the holder proper is. in the form of a plate or frame, bent to the contour of the platen, and having side reaches which cross the printing line, and arecross-connected above and below the printing line,

there being sufiicient space between these side pieces for the line of writing on the label. The holder has a spring loop formed therein by means of which it may be sprung onto the rod which ordinarily carries the feed rolls, and it may be thus detachably secured to this rod between any of the rolls thereon; and has movement with the rolls to and from the platen when the usual key for shifting such rolls is operated. Below the loop therein, the holder is continued in the form of a spring finger or tail piece, which, on movement of the pressure roll rod toward the platen, engages a fixed stop and thus swings the holder on said rod as a hinge, into close and highly resilient engagement with the platen.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective front View of a platen frame of an Underwood front-strike typewriting machine, equipped with the label holder of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation of the apparatus shown in Fig.

1, except that the frame and certain other parts are broken away for clearer illustration of the label holder; the pressure rolls and label holder being shown in working position. Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2, except that the pressure rolls and label holder are shown as released from the platen. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the label holder looking at the inside or rear face thereof.

Referring to the drawings, types 1 strike upon the front side of a platen 2,'vvhich is revolubly mounted by an axle 3 in a pair of ends 4, which are connected by a paper shelf.

11, these rolls being arranged at intervals along their shafts. The shaft 10 is carried by a pair of arms 12 pressed towardthe platen by a spring 13, and the shaft 11 by a pair of arms 14 pressed toward the platen by'springs 15. The springs 13 and 15 are secured to a rod 16 which rigidly connects the ends of the platen frame, and on which the

arms

12 and 14 are free to rock. Fingers 17 form bell cranks with the arms 12, and fingers 18 form bell cranks with the arms 14; the fingers 17 and 18 being held by the springs 13 and 15 against opposite sides of flats or cams 19 on a rock shaft 20. For releasing the pressure rolls from the platen to permit of easy insertion and removal of work-pieces, the shaft 20 has integral therewith an arm 21 connected by a link 22 to an arm 23 fast on a stud shaft 24 which is mounted to be rocked on the right hand end plate 4 by means of a finger piece 25 on an arm 26 also fast to the shaft 24. Depression of the key 25 rocks the shaft 20, causing the flats 19 to rock the

arms

12 and 14 so that the pressure rolls are thrown from Fig. 2 to Fig. 3,position. When the key 25 is thrown up, the springs 13 and 15 return the rolls to Fig. 2 position. The mechanism thus far described is commonly found 'on Underwood typewriting machines.

The holder (see Fig. 4), is shown as a plate preferably formed of a single piece of resilient material. The label holding portion 27 is shown as a substantially rectangular frame, between which and the platen, the label L is held. A loop 28 in the holder serves as a hinge for rockably supporting the holder on the shaft 10 of the front pressure rolls. The loop 28 is contracted at 29 so that when the holder is sprung. over the shaft 10, it is prevented from dropping off of the latter. The part 28 may have slits or incisions 30 to increase its flexibility. A tail portion or finger 31 of the holder, which is curved out at the front to clear the rod 16 and arms 14, extends to shaft 20 and bears against the front of the latter to hold the label holding, upper portion 27 against the platen.

The holder, (see Fig. 2), is curved in conformity with the platen, so that it may bear with equal firmness on the label from a point well below the printing line to a point well above the printing line. The writing is made in the space 32 between the sides 33 of the holder, and this space is of such size that a large part of the label is presented to the operators view. The long bearing surfaces, provided by the side reaches 33 of the holder, obviate the necessity of having the label gripped along its lower edge, and, therefore the label may be fed up to permit writing to be made to the very bottom thereof. On the other hand, the lower reach 34 of the holder, and the upper reach 35 thereof, acting in conjunction or singly, according to the position to which the label has been fed, serve to hold the label flat between the side reaches 33.

The length of the hinge portion 28 is such that the holder may be detachably secured to the shaft 10 between any two of the rolls 8. The holder is cut away at 35 to clear the forward end of the guiding finger 7 of the paper shelf; and, when the holder is in Fig. 2 position, it forms with the paper shelf, a continuous guide for the workpiece. The holder is movable with the pressure rolls, from Fig. 2 to Fig. 3 position, to permit of'easy insertion and removal of labels. This follows from the fact that the holder is carried by the shaft 10 which also carries the front rolls 8, and which is shifted to and from the platen by the key 25. The finger 31 of the holder is so shaped that when the parts are in Fig. 3 position, the

holding part 27 is slightly removed from the face of the platen.

As the rod 10 is shifted toward the platen to apply the pressure rolls to the latter, the finger 31 is rocked forward by reason of the pressure of the latter on the shaft 20, thus causing the holder frame- 27 to be rocked backward into close engagement with the platen. Furthermore, as the finger 31 is flexible. and resilient, it flexes even after the frame 27 is against the platen, and by being held in this flexible position, it effects and maintains a firm spring pressure of the frame 27 on the work-piece. Movement of the rod 10 from the platen, releases the frame 27 from the action of the finger 31, and permits the frame to assume a position in which a passage between it and the platen is provided for easy removal and insertion of the labels or cards. The top edge of the holder is flared out from the platen at 36 to form a mouth through which labels may be fed to printing position between the holder i to printing position in the usual way over the shelf 5, and in order that, when so fed, they may not catch on the lower edge of the top reach of the frame 27, the latter is flared out at 37.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a'typewriting machine, a revoluble platen,- a platen carriage, types, a workpiece holder opposed to the face of the platen from one .to the other side of the printing line and having an opening therein through which the types strike, a rod in fixed working position on the carriage, a spring loop in said holder by means of which the holder may be detachably sprung onto said rod, a flexible resilient finger forming part of said holder, and a stop against which said finger bears, whereby the setting of the holder on said rod is such as to cause it to bear against said opposed face of the platen.

2.'In a typewriting machine, a revoluble platen, a platen carriage, types, a work-piece holder opposed to the face of the platen from one to the other side of the printing line and having an opening therein through which the types strike, a rod in fixed working position on the carriage, pressure rolls on said rod, a spring loop in said holder by means of which the holder may be detachably sprung onto said rod, a flexible resilient finger forming part of said holder, a stop against which said finger bears, whereby the setting of the holder on said rod is such as to cause it to bear against said opposed face of the platen, and means for shifting said rod to relieve the pressure of said holder and rolls on the platen.

3. In a front-strike typewriting machine, a revoluble platen, a platen carriage, types, a work-piece holder opposed to the front face of the platen and comprising a frame having side members which extend across the printing line, between which side members the writing is made, said holder having also cross members connecting said side members above and below the printing line, a support for the holder on which the holder is hin ed in fixed working position below the printing line, a finger on the holder, and a stop against which said finger bears and by means of which the holder is so held on its hinge as to cause said frame members to bear against said opposed face of the platen.

4. In a a revoluble platen, a platen carriage, types, a work-piece holder opposed to the front face of the platen and comprising a frame front-strike typewriting machine,

having side members which extend across the printing line, between which side members the writing is made, a support for the holder on which the holder may stand in fixed workingposition below the printing line, a spring loop on said holder by means of which the holder may be detachably sprung onto said support, a finger on the holder, and a stop against which said finger bears and by means of which the holder is so held on its hinge as to cause said frame members to bear against said opposed face of the platen.

5. In a front-strike typewriting machine, a revoluble platen, a platen carriage, types, a work-piece holder opposed .to the front face of the platen, and comprising a frame having side members which extend across the printing line between which side members the writing is made, a rod on the carriage below the printing line, pressure rolls spaced apart along said rod, means forming part of said holder whereby the holder may be detachably'secured to said rod in any of the spaces between said rolls, and means for effecting a resilient pressure of the holder against the platen.

6. In a front-strike typewriting machine, a revoluble platen, a platen carriage, types, a work-piece holder opposed to the front face of the platen and comprising a frame having side members which extend across the printing line, between which side members the writing is made, a rod on thecarriage below the printing line, pressure rolls spaced apart along said rod, means forming part of said holder whereby the holder may be detachably and pivotally secured to said rod between said rolls, means for shifting the rod to and from the platen, and a stop for swinging the holder on said rod into engagement with the platen when the rod is shifted toward the platen.

7. In a front-strike typewriting machine, a revoluble platen, a platen carriage, types, a paper shelf on the carriage extending from the rear of the platen down under the same and upward to a point below the printing line, a work-piece holder opposed to the 'front face of the platen and comprising a frame having side members which extend across the printing line, between which side members the writing is made, and a cross member connecting said side members below the printing line, said cross member being notched to receive the forward end of said shelf whereby said shelf and holder form a continuous guiding surface.

8. In a typewriting machine, a revoluble platen, a feed roll, a rod on which the feed roll is mounted, a support for said roll, a shaft adapted to he turned to shift said support toward and from the platen, workpiece holder mounted on said rod, and a spring for moving said rod toward the platen, there v causing the holder engage said. shaft bythe latter to be rocked above the printing line, said holder having an opening therein through which the types strike, and means for shifting said rod to relieve and apply the pressure of the holder and feed roll on the platen, said holder being flared outward from the platen at its upper edge to form a mouth through which work-pieces may be introduced between the holder and the platen when the pressure of the holder on the platen is relieved.

EVVELL E. FOWLER.

Witnesses:

ROYAL A. LETT, M. E. GASTON.