US1490870A - Codifier apparatus - Google Patents

Description

April 15, 1924- I c. l. WAGNER CODIFIER APPARATUS Original Filed Jan. 24. 1917 2 .3 4 o F i M0) (CoM/:0MM (JM) M- 6 7 8 9 0 Z (1v/v) (0100/1) (swr/MUM!) /1 l 2 7g 2 505000K. 6101010775 (M95) 1777557: 4 NVE/W0 M (y Ami/.win

Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHESTER I. WAGNER, F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB T0 WAGNER-MOORE, INC., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CODIFIER APPARATUS.

Original application led January 24, 1917, Serial No. 144,260. Divided and this application filed June 13, 1917. Serial No. 174,415. Renewed January 22, 1924.

T o all when; t may concern:

Be it known'that I, CHESTER I. VVAeNnR,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, New York, have invented ccrtain Improvements in Codifier Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specication, like reference characters on the drawings designating like parts.

This invention relates to codier apparatus, the primary object of which is the provision on matter. to be filed in filing devices of all kinds, of a numerical designation in such a manner that no separate record, cross index or like record will be necessary to identify the numeric designation with the alphabetic, geographic or subject designation under which the matter is commonly identied, and, in accordance with an important feature of my invention,

this numeric designation is arranged to remain on the matter in connection with the ordinary designation, to facilitate the reference to, filing and finding of the matter.

Another important obj ect of my invention is to provide a mechanical means of placing the numeric designation on the matter and by the same operation and at the same time nation from which the numerlc designation is derived, and my preferred means for ac'.A

complishing this purpose takes the form of a codifying attachment to a typewriter.

. Among other important results accomplished bymy invention a notable one is that in large filing systems requiring a number of iile clerks, only one (commonly called the chief file clerk) is required to codify the numeric designation from the alphabetic, geographic or subject designation of the matter to be filed or found, the other clerks filing and finding the matter by means of its numeric designation only, thus greatly decreasing the chances of mis-filing, and increasing the speed with which the matter is filed and found.

The various features of my invention will be illustrated and described fully in the accompanying drawings and specification and 4pointed out in the claims.

the alphabetic, geographic 0r subject desigf In the drawings:

Fig. l illustrates a codifier presenting the preferred preassignment, to groups of letters of the alphabet, of digits in the series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0, with the number digitshown above each group, this codifier serving as a guide in placing the proper number above the name, geographic or subject designation of the matter indexed, when such designation is placed thereon by being written with pen or pencil; the arrangement of the type faces upon the typewriter shuttle shown in Fig. 3 is also in accordance with this codifier when mechanical means, as herein described, are used to print the designation on the matter to be tiled.

F ig. 2 illustrates an arrangement of type faces in accordance with my invention by which, when the printing impact is made, each letter has printed above it the number digit from which the numerical identification is codified. The order illustrated is that of the'standard typewriter keyboard.

F ig. 3 illustrates codifying devices applied to a. typewriter constituting the preferred form of means to effect mechanically by 'a single operation the imprint upon the matter to be tiled of the numerical character constituting the indexing number, and also the alphabetical characters selected previously from the mattento be tiled as the significant or designatory portion thereof.

Fig. 4 represents a number of cards with t-he same surname designation but with different initials, Christian names, partnership and firm identifications thereon, and illustrates the manner in which each card may have a separate numeric-al identification by means of a sub-number when the main number is the same on several cards. Fig. 4 also illnstrates the manner in which surplus digits are crossed out by the chief file clerk in order that the proper number of digits only shall be used by the le clerk.

In my copending application for Letters Patent upon indexing, Serial No. 144,260, from which my present application has been divided, I have described and claimed a novel system of indexing units of subject matter, in which system each unit bears an index number which determines its place in .the alphabetic designations to which 4placed thereon my novel numerical index, and in accordance with my invention this number alone suiiices for all purposes of identification in reference to, filing or finding the unit, and so the clerk, or any person using the index, need have no special skill `in such use, but needs only to know the number of the unit in question, as every on'e of ordinary intelligence is capable of locating any given number in a numerical series indexed as I rovide for purposes of removing or back-fi ing 'a lcard or other matter.

' The assignment to each unit of its index number, and the physical application of that number to the unit in permanent form, is a single act which may be readily accomplished by a chief filing clerk of moderate attainments, but should be done with care, and must be done in accordance with a predetermined system by which the numerical indicia are related to, and Vdetermined by, selected verbal characteristics or designations of the original subject matter associated with or represented by each index unit, and such preassignment may be according to any system suitable to carry into effect this important feature of my invention, and the physical application of the selected indicia may be accomplished by any suitable means manual or mechanical.

I will now describe the preferred means of effecting the physical application of the indicia to the units, with special reference to Figs. 1 and 2,- in which the codier arrangement appears, and also with reference to ig. 3 in which ooditier apparatus is illustrated, and Fig. 4 in which are shown a few card units upon .a sufficiently large scale to` exhibit very clearly the numerical indicia associated wlith` t ey corres ond.

In ig. 4 thel index cards-lh. bear respectively the mainn index number 11127, indica b the reference character O, and which the codifging or chief file clerk has ecause each of these'units 1s associated with the name Babcock as the designatory portion of the matter which these umts represent, and in accordance with the selected codifier in Fig. 1, the relation of numericv to alphabetic indicia is 1112725 BABCOCK,

and the proper number of these digits-five in the instance illustrated, that beingthe a to stand for the of locating back-filing,

the preferred form of Q comprising an oscillating not any clerk, re erring to the index, findin or knows that 11127 means abcock, or has seen the codifierillustrated in Fig. 1.

n accordance with an important feature of my invention, I have devised a convenient means for enabling the codifying clerk, or any other person using the indexing system, to perform the codifying act mechanically, without a possibility of error in applying the proper index number to the matter, at the time of, and as a part of, the act of applying to said matter tho designation selected-in this instance 11127 BABCOCK.

Any suitable typewriter mechanism mayl be employed, and I have shown in Fig. 3 one convenient form of apparatus which embodies in general a well-known mechanism shuttle S provided with a series of type characters arranged'according to Fig. 2in three rows, the middle row containing the alphabetic characters in the order known as that of the standard keyboard referably, to facilitate its operation rea ily by the typist of usual skill,l and thelower row comprising any suitable arrangement of punctuation marks, &c.,' while the upper row contains exclusively numerical characters corresponding to the codifier order of Fig. 1, and a dash.

In accordance with a valuable feature of mi invention, I have thus provided means w ereby an operator depressing the several alphabetic keys, (which may be of usual construction, connected with the shuttle S b usual mechanism, and therefore not shovvni1 erson other than the chief ile' the respectively corresponding numerical characters'will-be broug t into the position for imprint, mental selection of the'appro riate number, the operator performs the co ifying act eoincidentally with the ordinary act of depressin the alphabetic key, and the imprint may foV ow.l Any suitable form of platen or impact device ma be provided, and as the preferred form o Asuch device I have shown so that without the need for any' las' a wellknown form of swinging hammer device T, bearing an adjustable hammer head t secured rotatably in place by arnut t1 so that it may be turned manually to present for impact any selected hammer face, two such faces being shown inFig. 3, one bearing the reference character t2, and the other t3. Of these faces, the former is constructed,V in accordancewith a valuable feature of my/ invention, to provide for imprinting contact with one of the numeric characters of the series s, andv at the same time with its relative alphabetic character, these being in vertical alignment on the shuttle S as already described, so that in printing the ,index number 11127 to codify Babcock, for example, when the operator depresses the B key, the shuttle S `will operate to present the combinationll; and the hammer T will swing hammer face t2 over for impact simultaneously with the type-faces 113 and these characters will accordingly appear in that relative position upon each article operated upon by the typewriter, whether such article consist of a letter from or to a Babcock, -and therefore to be provided by the codifier with the numerical indicia 11127, or if the article be an index card (as h) or a folder, or other unit.

In each case the operation of the typewriter to im rint the name Babcock, will result infallilily in the simultaneous production of the codified superimposed indicia 11127 BABCOCK,

lby turning the hammer head upside down),

and thus the typewriter may be used to produce a typewritten exclusively numerical record when the operator depresses keys bearing exclusively alphabetic designations, a useful arrangement for telegraphic codes, and by transcription of the numeric code upon a decoding typewriter whose keys bea-r appropriate exclusively numerical designations, cooperating with a hammer head t turned to present its face t3 in position to impact with alphabetic characters only, the decoded verbal message will be reproduced.

If desired, the hammer face t2 can be used in the decoding operation, so that the typewritten message will reproduce not only the message in verbal form, but also the corresponding numerical cipher, associated therewith, and by pasting the original typewritten cipher above the re-typewritten cipher an effective means is furnished to check up the accuracy of the decoded verbal message, for if the two numericalv records correspond, there can be no discrepancy in the accuracy of the verbal message.

The form of shuttle S illustrated in Fig. 3 can be employed uponthe well-known stock and news tickers for transmission electrically of the co-ordinated numerical and alphabetical records, or either of them, and an original record in tape form comprising both numerical and alphabetical equivalents can be cut apart between the two lines of characters, and either may be sent by mail to serve as confirmation of a message transmitted electrically in synchronism with the production of the combined original, thus affording a degree of accuracy heretofore impossible in electrical transmission of secret ciphers.

Another shuttle s1 may conveniently be provided with an additional series of typewritten characters of 'any wellknown character, so that by the usual simple adjustment of the shuttles, s, s1 on their anvil and post s3 (the retaining nut s* being raised to effect the adjustment, and replaced thereafter) the series s1 may be brought into operative position and the series s shifted out of operative position, until required, the typewriter serving thus for ordinary correspondence or other uses without the need for any further mechanical alteration than the adjustment of the proper hammer face t3 for co-operation with the type of series s1.

The operation of my novel invention is as follows:

When a codifying typewriter is used the chiefl file clerk first places the card, correspondence or lable matter in the printing position on the typewriter and types the ordinary designation by the usual operation, thus codifying the ordinary designation and placing the numeric filing designation on the matter simultaneously and mechanically accurate, the only remaining operation being to crossout any surplus number digits.

In the accompanying drawings the following rules have been observed, viz: The surname is written first in the case of individual names, the initials or Christian nams last; such titles as Dr. Mrs. .Mr. Miss, Prof. -Hon. etc., being written after the Christian names or initials and being ignored in the composition of the filing number, and likewise the name of a firm or corporation is written as the subject matter gives it, except that conjunctions and prepositions are ignored or placed at the end of the name and not used to form the filing number; abbreviation of any portion of the name is not used if the abbreviation disturbs vber of numeric digits, for example.:

the regular sequence of the alphabetic construction of the word in such a manner as to interfere with codifying the necessary numhifg or Co are not used to abbreviate the Words Manufacturing and Company respectively, but

Mani

Com

and

What I claim as new and desire to secure4 by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a typewriter, of an imprinting codifier device comprising a series of numeric printing characters and a series of alphabetic printing characters one arranged above the other, and means to efect imprint selectively of characters in either of said series or simultaneously of characters 1n both of sald series.

2. In a codifying typewriter, the combination with an oscillating shuttle having a series of alphabetic printing characters and a superimposed series of numeric printing Characters arranged in predetermined relation to said alphabeticcharacters respectively, of an impressing member having two faces, one long and the other short, movable selectively into imprinting position to cause either the imprint of one or a plurality ofA characters.

3. In a codifying typewriter, the combination with an oscillating shuttle having a series of alphabetic printing characters and a superimposed series of numeric printing characters, of a hammer having faces arranged one to cause simultaneous imprint of a numeric character and its corresponding alphabetic character, and the other ham'- mer face serving to permit imprint of characters in either of said series selectively.

4. A hammer device for typewriters, said device consisting of a rotatable manifold hammer having a codifying face constructed for impact simultaneously with printing characters in two superimposed series, and a face for impact with characters in a selected one of said series.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York this 6th day of June, 1917.

CHESTER I. WAGNER. Witnesses:

ALEXANDER C. PROUDFIT, JOHN J. CoLYER.

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