US1455079A - Typewriter and method of operating same - Google Patents

Description

l www@ lrwenifor Carl F Cook Filed Jan. 5, 1921 C F 600K TYPEWRITER AND METHGD 0F OPERMINGv SAME Azen of the United States,

Patented ay "i5, @d I Mts lirica.,

CAM. F. 000K, or soHENncTnnY, "NEW YORK, AssIGNoR or ONE-HALF 'ro Jenn' rasata, 'scnnnnc'ranv,y -NEW YORK.

'.rmnvviai'rnn AND METHOD or ornnarine SAME..

Application led January 3, 1921. Serial No. 34,852.

To all whom t may concern.

Be .it known that I, CARL F. COOK, a citi residing at Schenectady, of New York, have invented new and useful -Improvements in Typewriters and Methlods of Operating Same,of which the following is a specification,

y invention relates to improvements 1n typewriters, especially those having movable carriages, and to new methods of operation rendering it possible to secure new and useful results.

It is quite often necessary for a typist to type lin'es which do not extend entirely across the sheet, as for example when titles, headings, or captions are to be written. In order that these lines of type may present a'neat appearance, especially Where two or three` of them are placed right under each other, they should each he spaced centrally of the sheet. It is the main object of my invention to make it possible for the typist to set the-carriage of the typewriter 'with facility to such a place that when the line of type shall have been written, this line will be' centrally locatedV on the sheet.

' To make clear how my method may he Vfollowed to perform this function,` assume that there are in all S spaces in the line of type to be Written. The number S` includes. of course, all of the spaces in lthe line, whether occupied by letters or left blank, as .between words. It is evident that when the line of type is centered, there are as many spaces to the left of the center line as there i are to the right. Thus there should be spaces on each side of the center line. In case S is odd, then itis possible to have spaces to the left, and spaces to Y2 the right, without materially disturbing the balance` This compromise is necessary since typewriters as ordinarily constructed cannot he operated to move the carriage by onehalf paces. lMy method thus consists in first centering the carriage of the typewriter, and

in the county of Schenectady, StateV then moving the carriage opposite to its movement when the line of type is rvrittene substantially'one-half the distance it will have moved through, upon cdmpletion of the typing operation. This movement may readily be performed by means or' the back spacer key, which may he so operated as to back space the carriage at the average rate of one. space per pair of spaces in the line of type.

The depression of the haelt spacer key is performed simultaneously with the mental observation of veach pair of spaces in the line of type. This in fact may he readilv performed by depressing the hack spacci' for one space and allowingr it to return to its original position lpr the next space, and continuing this oper tion until the entire line is thus spelled outl While the alternate operation of the haelt spacer key may he readily accomplished it the will of the operator, l prefer to provide auxiliary means, such as a spoiler key, which, upon depression for every space in the line of type, causes the carriage to move back the proper aniount. This may he accomplished hy so arranging the spcller key that alternate operaiions thereof cause actuation of the hack spacer. To perform my method, then, it is m rely necessary to center the carriage and the spell out the line on the spellerukey. Prc erahly l also provide means for centeringr the carriage with the minimum amount of nconvenience.A

As stated heretofor it 'becomes more important to center line of type when two or three of .them are pl ced on the sheet one after another. Espec ,ally is this the case when the difference init-he length or' lines so arranged amounts to io more than a few spaces. Under such jircuinstances` a misalignmcnt of even on space is suiiicicnt to destroy the pleasing ifect of the centered lines. Such a misalig nent of course cannot ordinarilyvoccur Witl my' method. except 'when the speller ey is used and when Some of the lines cent red have an odd numloer of spaces. ndei' such circumstances it by the amount or -2- in other Words,

that the back spacer key be operated by the next smaller or larger whole number than the exact half of the spaces in the line; and

that it always be either or -gf spaces for every line, and vnot 1 2 spaces for one line, and S--- spaces for the line succeeding.

d It is evident that if this precaution be not taken, then successive lines of type may be shifted relatively to each other, so that the lower line does not come directly under the upper line. I prevent this possible misalignment by providing means which cause the first actuation of the speller key (after the carriage is centered) to operate the back spacer. If the number of spaces in the line of type Iis odd, the carriage is moved 2 then the carriage is moved spaces.

For a better understanding of the mechanism whereby I obtain the results stated heretofore, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a sectional view of a typewriter of the movable carriage type embodying my invention and in which unessential details of construction have been omitted; Fig. 2 is a front view of a detail of construction; and Fig. 3 is a side y.view ofthe lower portion of the ms eller key and associated parts.

4eferring now more in detail to the drawing, in which like reference characters refer to like parte throughout, the typewriter has a base 11 supported on feet 12 resting on an appropriate plane surface 13. The base 12 carries all thel operating parts of the typewriter, many of which, such as the hammers or type bars and type keys, have been omitn ted from the drawing. The carriage 14 moves on guides 15, placed on standards 16 and 17. whlch also serve to support the braces 18. The roller or platen 19 is appropriately1 mounted in the carriage 14.

The first operation to be performed when my method is practiced is the centering of the carriage 14. For this purpose there may be used a key mechanism entirely similar to a so-called tabulator key; or if there be a sufficient number of such keys, one of them may be adjusted to cause the carriage to come to a central position. In the present instance, I show a special centering key 20 adapted to perform its function in any onel of Well known ways. For example, the depression of the centering key 20 may cause spaces, while if it be an even number,

' intacta most stop 23 located near the back of the v i typewriter, to be extended toward the front, by the action of link 2li and lever 25, which lever is pivoted to the frame at 26. The stop 23 is in this instance shown as coacting with the uppermost projection 27 carried at the back of the carriage in the manner usual in Remington typewriters. The stops 23 and 27 may be extra ones added to the ordinary supply used for tabulating; or they may be one pair of those already on the machine but adjusted so as to center the carriage.

1f the carriage lll-has not passed the central position on its travel to the left as the machine is operated, the depression of the centeringkey 20 may also be made use of kin a well yknown manner to release the car- 30, lever 31 and link 32A are utilized for' rocking rack 33 on the carriage 14 out of engagement with its pinion. Mechanisms for performing the centering or tabulating operations by means of the depression of a key are so Well known that the foregoing cursory description of one means for performing this operationis considered a suiiicient description of this feature of my invention. 'Should the carriage he located to the leit of the center line of the machine, the release of the rack 33 from its pinion will not have the eiiect of bringing the carriage hach' to the ri ht, since the spring moving the carriage a ways acts to the left. lt is then neceary to bring the carriage back manually, bymeans of the lever 34 (Fig. 2) usually rovided for the purpose while key 20 is epressed until the stops engage, and then to release the key 20.

Other means may also be provided for centering the carriage when it is to the left of the central position. For example, a lever 35, similar to lever 34 may be provided for manual operation. This lever, upon being pulled toward the right, is arranged to rotate a rod 36 having a projection 37 at its end, so* as to cause this projection to engage a stationary stop 38 located on lthe frame of the machine, when the carriage is centered.

After the carriage has been definitely centered, the next operation comprises movin the carriage back a distance substantia ly equal to one-half the distance the carriage will have moved through on completion ot' the line of type. For performing this operation quickly, I provide a spellen key 39, so arranged that for every other depression thereof, it operates the hack spacer key 4:0. A relatively 'weak spring 65 is made lll) . it with which 4into the full line position.

:bess-ove use of to return the speller lrey to its undepressed position. The speller key 39 pivotally csi-ries a pair or links 4l, which support at their lower extremities the cross pin. 42. This pin is so arranged that upon its downward movement it engages s tilt-able member 43, pivoted onthe pin 44. This tiltable member has a peir of notches cut into the pin 42 may readily'coact for tilting themember 43 in one direction or the other. Springs 46 end 47 are provided to lzep the linlrs 4l central upon release of lrey 39. An otl set spring 48 is provided to prevent the tiltoble member 43 from remaining in any intermediate posin tion. in other words, this 'tilt-able member has but two definite stable positions-either completely tilted to the right, or completely tilted to the lett. ln the i'nll line position, or when it is tilted to the lett, upon the next. depression ot the speller key 39, the pin' 42 eng'ages'the right hand notch 45, and after the member 43 reaches its mid position, the spring,r 4S helps it to reach the dotted line position; with n definite snap action. The next time the key 39 is depressed, it tilts the member 43 back again lt,is thus evident that the movement of key 39 serves to tilt. member 43 now to the right, sind now to the lett.

l arrange matters in such a wey that the right hand tiltings of members 43 canse sctuation of the back spacer key 40. For this purpose l pivot s hook shaped member 504e the front end of the back spacer lever, spring pressed against the stop 51, as clearly indicated. rlhe member 43 when it is tilted to the right, presses down on the hoolr 50 end causes actuation ot the beck spacer mecha.- nisrn. The hook 50 is arranged to be pressed inward against the action ot spring: 52 due to its engagement with the pin 53 appro priately placed in the path of movement of the hook lor this purpose. `When this occurs the tiltable member 43 becomes disengaged from the hook 50, and the back spaeer key is released. The parts are so proportioned that sin'ticient movement is given to the lbach spacer to insure the backward movement of the carriage. The particular species of hack spacing mechanism is wholly immaterial in the present invention, and merely torthe sake of illustration, I show the linlr 54 pivoted to the back spacer lever which is` adopted to coiict with the bell crnnlr lever 55 carrying pawls 56 which engnge ratchet Wheels 57 when the lever 55 is roclred. The wheels 57 are rotated in such a direction by this means that it serves to l back space the entire carriage.

ln o

ler thnt the feel l" when depressing; r 39. be the sume whether the Y member is roclred to the right or to the flexible member or stiller than the spring e greater resistance is offered to the rotation of links 41 to the lett as the pin 42 rocks the tiltable member to the lett, than the rotation of the links to the right, when pin 42 rocks the member to the right. lt is thus seen that the work done in depressing the back spacer is balanced by the work done in flexing the spring 46. A portion ot the balancing pressure, however, may be due to compressing spring 52 es member 43 rocks to the left, and as it thus presses against the hook 50.

As stated heretofore, it is important when morerthan one line is to be centered, and

the left, I may make spring 46 somewhat 47. 2in this way,

lwhen any of them have an odd number ot" spaces, to insure that the first movement of the hey 39 after the carriage is centered, be an active one, i. e., thatthe back spacer key be depressed. For this purpose. I provide a mechanism which automatically tilts the member 43 to the left if it is not already there, as the carriage reaches its central position. For example, I may use a hook 58 pivoted et 59 and normally held up by a weak spring (i0. The bent up portion 6l of the hook has a slot 62 therein Within which the tiltable member 43 may move. This slot is long enough so as not to interfere with the tree movement of member 43 while the hook 58 is h'eld up ini itslnorma-l position. However, when the hook 58 is depressed againstthe action of the spring 60, the upper edge of slot 62 engages with the member 43 and throws/it over center to the position shown. llt is to be noted that the member 43 need not be depressed further than to cause it to be slightly over center, for then after that the springr 48 snaps it into the position shown. Thus merely a limited movement of member 58 is needed.

ii provide means for depressing the hook 58 when the carriage is at center position, comprising the cem 63 formed on the under side o t the carriage 14, and the cooperating push rod 64 appropriately guided in its movement, sndlso arranged that it pushes hook 58 downwind when the cam 63 engages its upper end. 'This is made to'talre place just et the center position. It is evident that normal operation of the typewriter is not interfered with. At the same time, when the member 58 is depressed, there is enou h space lett in the slot so as to permit the ti table member 43 to operate` since as stat/ed heretofore, there is just sntlioient movement ot' the hook 58 'when it is depressed, to throw the tiitable member 43 over center.

it is evident :trom the foregoing descrip tion that l have explained a new method of operation of typewriters, and described one embodiment of the mechanism whereby the method may he precticed. desire it to he understood, however, that I aim to embrace in the appended claims, all modifications falling fairly within the scope of my invention.

Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. The method'of-setting the carriage of a typewriter so that a line of type, when typed from the setting, will be centered, which consists inl bringing the carriage to a posi'- tion corresponding to the center of the space vwithin which the line is to be typed, and

back spacing the carriage at the rate of one space per pair of spaces in the line of type, each of the back spacing steps being performed substantially simultaneously with the observation of each pair of spaces by the operator. .1

2. The method of setting the carriage of a typewriter having a back spacer so that a line of type when typed-from the Setting will be centered, which consists in bringing the carriage to a position corresponding to the center of the space within which the line is to be typed, and depressing the back spacing key for every alternate space in the lin'e of type, each depression being performed simultaneously with the observation of every alternate space bythe operator.

3. In a typewriter having a movable carriage, means for moving the carriage in a direction opposite to that which it is moved vwhen characters are typed in succession, and

a depressible key adapted to operate said means at an average rate of one-half space for each depression of the key.

4. In a typewriter having a carriage, means for setting the carriage so that a line of type when' typed from the setting will be centered, comprisin an operating key, said key when operate being arranged to back space said carriage at the average rate of one-half space for-each operation of the ke g. In a typewriter having a carriage, means for setting the carriage so that a line of type whentyped from the setting will be centered, comprising means forA bringing the carriage to a central position7 and manual means operated for each space in the line for back spacing the carriage from that position at the rate of one space for each pair of spaces in the line to be typed.

6. In a typewriter having a back spacer, a depressible key, and means whereby alternate depressions of said key operate the back spacer.

7 In a typewriter havinga carriage and a back spacer, means for centering said car,- riage, a depressible key, and means whereby alternate depressions of said key operate the back spacer.

8. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a tiltable member for operating the back amore spacer key and a depressible key for tilting said member. i

9. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a tiltable member arranged to operate said key when tilted in one direction, and a depressible key for tilting said member al,- ternately in opposite directions.

10. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a pivoted hook carried by said key, and a tiltable member arranged to engage said hook and operate the back spacer key.

11. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a pivoted hook carried by the key, a tiltable member arranged t9 engage said hook and depress the back spacer key, and means for rotating said hook when the back spacing is effected, to disengage it from the Y tiltable member.

12. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a piroted hook carried by the key, a tiltable member arranged to engage said hook and depress the back spacer key upon tilting in one direction, a depressible key for alternately tilting said member in opposite directions, and means for rotating the hook when the back spacing is effected, to disengage it from the tiltable member.

13. In a typewriter having a carriage and a back spacer, a depressible key, means whereby alternate depressions of said key operate the back spacer, means for centering said carriage, and means operated by the movement of the carriage to center position for controlling the ei'ect of the next depression of the key to operate the back spacer.

1 4. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a tiltable member arranged to operate said key when tilted in one direction, a depressible key for tilt-ing said member alternately in opposite directions, and means for independently tilting said member.

15. In a typewriter having a carriage and back spacer key, a tiltable member arranged .to operate said key when tilted in one'direction, a depressible key for tilting said meinber alternately in opposite directions, means for centering said carriage, and means operated by the movement of the carriage to center position for controlling the effect of the next depression of the key to operate the back spacer.

16. In a typewriter having a back spacer, a depressible key, means whereby alternate depressions of said key operate the back spacer, and means for causing substantially the same pressure to be'exertedl for each depression of the key.

17. In a typewriter having a back spacer key, a tiltable member arranged to operate said key Vwhen tilted in one direction, a de= pressible key a pivoted link carried at thc lower extremity of said key and arranged to loperate the ltiltable member alternately in opposite directions and a pair of flexible members tending to maintain said link in of {iexiblemembers tending to maintain said its central position. link in its cent-ral position, said :flexible 18. In a typewriter having a back Spacer members being of unequal stiffness. M-

key, a depressible key, and means whereby ln witness whereof, I have hereunto seiJ 5 alternate delnessions of said key operate The my hand this 21st day of December, 1920.

nick spacer key comprising :i pivolecl link Carried by said depressible key and a pair CARL F. CK.

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