US1495301A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

E. L. HARMON TYPEWRITING MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 22 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 27, 19% 1,495,301

E. L. HARMON TYPEWRITING MACHINE Original Filed Dec. 22 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EDWIN L. HARMON, OF GROTON, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CORONA TYPEWRITER COM- PAN'Y, INC., OF GROTON, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Application filed December 22, 1920, Serial No. 432,490. Renewed October 31, 1923.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWIN L. HARMON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Groton, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented certain new! and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in typewriting machines and has for one of its objects to-provide simple and efiicient antifriction supporting means for the platen.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of geardriven ball-spacing means.

A further object of the invention is to provide antifriction supporting means for the platen of a typewriter so constructed as to prevent jamming or sticking of the carriage and also to prevent creeping of the roller bearings in the raceways.

Another object of the invention is to provide gearing for controlling the travel of a ball-retainer or carrier which will not be damaged or deranged by movements of the platen carriage relatively to the carriage bed in directions other than longitudinally of bed during handling, transportation or operation of the machine.

The invention embodies other novel fea tures hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of a platen supporting means embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line HII of Fig. 8;

Figs. 3 and 4 fragmentary perspective views of the racks mounted onv the carriage and carriage bed, respectively;

Fig. 5 a detail sectional view taken on the line VV of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 a detail sectional view taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 a perspective view of the traveling ball-spacer or retainer;

Fig. 8 a top plan view of the platensupporting means showing the carriage near the limit of its travel in letter-feed direction, the carriage being partly broken away and the platen entirely removed; and

Figs. 9 to 12 detail views showing the parts in various relative positions.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, l5 designates a pair of frame bars upon which the carriage bed or relatively stationary member 16 of the platen supporting means is rigidly held by four screws 17, or other suitable fastening means. The bars 15 may be mounted to fold, if desired, to permit the platen and its supporting means to be moved to a compact position when the machine is not in use in the same manner' as in the Corona typewriter, or in any other desired! manner. The bed 16 is preferably formed of sheet metal and provided with two integral upstanding raceway flanges 18 and 19 in each of which an outwardly facing raceway channel or groove 20 is formed by pressing the metal of the flanges inwardly.

The platen carriage or traveling member I of the antifriction platen-supporting means is also preferably formed of sheet metal. The base plate 21 of the carriage is provided with an integral depending raceway flange 22 at its forward edge formed with an inwardly facing channel or groove 23 cooperating with channel 20 in flange 19 on the bed 16 to form a ball race. The plate 21 is formed at its rear edge with an integral depending straight flange 24 which serves to stiflen the plate and also serves as a rigid stop or abutment for limiting the rearward swinging movement of a hinged raceway flange 25. The flange 25 is formed of sheet metal and is divided midway its ends into two independently movable sections formed with channels 26 cooperating with channel 20 in flange 18 on the bed to form a ball race.

Each section of the hinged flange or rail- 25 is detachably held to plate 21 and has an interlocking rockin connection therewith adjacent the rear edge of said plate. The flange 24 is provided with four slots 27 which extend into the rear edge of plate 21. The plate 21 is formed with depressions or sockets 29 extending across the slots 27 and each section of the divided flange 25 is provided with T-heads or lugs 30 adjacent its ends adapted to engage in the depressions 29'with the shanks 31 of said lugs extending through the inner ends of slots 27. Lugs 30 are adapted to rock in the depressions 29 and slots 27 and form separable pivotal connections between the sections of the divided raceway flange and plate 21 which permit swinging of said sections toward and from flange 18 but prevent endwise movement of Elli) the sections relatively to the base plate 21 of the carriage.

Each section of the hinged raceway member 25 is normally resiliently forced toward the bed flange 18 by a pair of fiat springs 82 held to the upper face of plate 21 by screws 33. Each spring 32 extends rearwardly over one lug and then downwardly through the adjacent slot 27, the free lower ends of the springs pressing against the outer side of the two sections of the movable raceway flange.

The base plate 21 of the carriage is preferably provided with integral upwardly extending end plates or brackets 34 in which the shaft 35 of the platen 36 is journalled. The raceway members on the carriage embrace, or are located outside of, the raceway members on the carriage bed and a pair of.

antifriction balls 37 are located in each raceway.

The parts above described are of substantiall the same construction as that shown in t e application of L. B. Bridges, Serial No. 411,813, allowed September 30, 1920 (renewal of application Serial No. 208,403, tiled December 22, 1917), the vertical portions at the upper edges of flanges 18 and 19 and the vertical portions at the lower ends of flanges 22 and 25 being omitted in the present construction.

The four antifriction balls are loosely confined in eyes or holes 38 formed in the side bars 39 of a sheet metal ball-retainer. The side bars 39 are connected together by a transverse bridge-piece 40 preferably formed integrally with the side bars. The bridge piece 40 extends over the tops of the flanges 18 and 19 on the carriage bed and is normally spaced from the under side of the base plate 21 of the carriage and the upper edges of flanges 18 and 19, as shownin Fig. 2. The bridge piece is bent downwardly in termediate its ends to provide a ilat horizontal portion 4C1, preferably located adjacent the inner side of flange 19 at the forward edge of the carriage bed, as shown. Said fiat portion 11; is provided with a relativelywide slot or elongated rectangular aperture 412 and with a pair of integral ears or yohes 43 located at opposite edges of the slot midway the ends of the slot. Said ears 48 are formed by slitting the portion 41 of the bridge piece at each side of the slot l2 and pressing upwardly the metal between said slits and the edges of the slot 412, as more clearly shown in Figs. 5, ti and 7. A pinion l/l, preferably formed of thin sheet metal, is mounted in the sltit 4-2 in the bridge piece, the slot being materially wider than the the thickness of the pinion. The pinion is held to the ball-retainer by a stationary shaft or pin 4-5 which is driven through the ears l3, shaft extending through a central circular aperture d6 in the pinion and ineaaoi having a tight driving fit in the ears l3 so that the shaft will be frictionally held agairist rotation and also against endwise movement. The aperture 46 in the pinion is materially larger in diameter than the shaft 15 so that the pinion at is free to rotate about the shaft and also to tilt and wabble on the shaft. The pinion 1 1 is provided with relatively long teeth which mesh with'two superposed racks 1-7 portions of the racks are adapted to flex or spring relatively to the carriage and bed and normallylie parallel with the bases 21 and 16 of the carriage and bed, said offset resilient portions of the racks being provided with apertures 51 in which the teeth of pinion 1 lengage. The metal between apertures 51 form the teeth of-the resilient racks and the long pinion teeth normally extend entirely through the racks and project a material distance beyond the opposite sides of the racks, as shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 6. This construction permits a material telescoping movement of the racks and pinion relatively to eachother without de-meshing.

Tn the construction shown, the racks 4t? and 48 extend from points adjacent the left hand end of the carriage and bed to points slightly beyond the longitudinal center of the carriage and bed, while the bridge piece 10 upon which pinion at is mounted is located adjacent the left hand end of the ballretainer, but it will be obvious that the bridge piece and pinion may be located any point along the bars 39 and the raclrs correspondingly shifted on the carriage bed.

it will be observed that the distance between the balls 3? the retainer is one-half the length of the raceway members so the carriage may travel to either limit of its movement without either ball in the rear raceway crossing the joint between the two sections of the divided raceway member 25. The ball-retainer maintains all four balls 3"? in fixed relation to each other at all times lltl o to ineasoi when employed in machines such as the Corona typewriter in which the carriage and bed are moved to abnormal positions to make the machine compact when not in use, shift in various directions relatively to the bed. The present invention provided means whereby such -movements of the carriage may take place Without injury to the ball controlling means and without deranging or breaking the driving connection between the ball-retainer and its-propelling means.

In F ig, 2 the normal position of the parts in the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings is shown, while in Figs. 9 to 12 various other positions which may be assumed by the carriage are shown. In Fig. 9 the parts are shown in the positions assumed it a downward thrust is exerted on the carriage or parts thereon. It will be observed that in this case the pinion 44 tilts sidewise and the racks 4:7 and 48 flex thus avoiding injury to the parts. In Fig. 10 the rear edge of the carriage is pulled upwardly'to the limit of its movement, the long telescopic connection of the pinion with the racks preventing derangement of the'retainer driving means in this case. In Fig. 11 the carriage is shown pulled directly forward, the pinion in this case tilting as shown but remaining in mesh with both racks without injurious strain on the racks, inion, or pinion shaft. in Fig. 12 the carriage and bed are showninverted. The parts assume this position if the machine is inverted or if the carriage and bed are folded over the keyboard as in the Corona typewriter; The same relative movement of the parts also takes lace if the carriage is pulled upwardly. these instances the pinion will tilt to take care of the sidewise movement of the carriage and the long teeth on the pinion will prevent disengagement of the pinion from the racks.

What I claim is:

1. Antifriction supporting means for the platen of a writing machine comprising a traveling platen-carryingmember and a rel atively stationary support, apair of companion raceway members on the platen-carrying member and support one of wh ch is yieldable laterally relatively to the other, a pair of racks on the support and platencarrying member, a pinion meshin with both of said racks, a'ball-retainer, a all in the raceway formed by the raceway members, and means forming a wabbling bearing for the pinion on the retainer.

2. Antifriction supporting means 'for the platen of a writing machine comprislng a traveling platen-carrying member and a relatively stationary support, a pair of companion raceway members on the platencarrying member and support one of which is yieldable laterally relatively to the other,

n either of a pair of racks held to the platen-carrying member and support respectively and yieldable .relatively thereto, a pinion meshing with both of said racks, a ball-retainer on which the pinion is rotatably mounted, and a ball in said retainer traveling in the raceway formed by the raceway members.

3. Antifriction supporting means for the platen of a writing machine comprising a traveling platen-carrying member and a relatively stationary support, a pair of companion raceway members on the platencarrying member and support one of which is yieldable laterally relatively to the other, a pair of racks held to the platen-carrying member and support respectively and yieldable relatively thereto, a ball traveling in the raceway formed by the raceway members, a retainer for the ball, a pinion mesh= ing with both racks, and means for supporting the pinion on the retainer to rotate and wabble relatively to the retainer.

4:. Antifriction supporting means for the platen of a writing machine comprising a traveling platen-carrying member and a relatively stationary support, a pair of companion raceway members on the platencarrying member and support one of which is yieldable laterally relatively to the other, a pair of racks held to the platen-carrying member and support respectively and yieldable relatively thereto, a ball traveling in the raceway formed by the raceway members, a retainer for the ball, a pinion meshing with both racks, and means for supporting the pinion on the retainer to rotate and wabble relatively to the retainer, said pinion having relatively long teeth adapted to mesh with the yieldable racks in all posi tions of the racks and pinion.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen carriage, a carriage bed, a pair of raceway members on the carria e, a pair of raceway members on the bed, ba ls in the raceways formed by said members, a single retainer for the balls in both of the raceways, a pair of resilient sheet metal racks held to the carriage and bed respectively and each provided with a longitudinal series of apertures, a .pinion having relatively long teeth normally projecting entirely through the apertures in both racks, and means forming a rotatable and tilting connection between the pinion and retainer.

6. In a printing machine, a platen carriage, a carriage bed, a pair of raceway members on the carriage,'a pair of raceway members on the bed, one of said members being yield'able relatively to its companion member, a plurality of balls in each of the raceways formed by said members, a single retainer for all of said balls, a pair of racks held to the carriage and bed respectively and each provided with a longitudinal series of apertures, and a pinion rotatably and tiltahly mounted on the retainer and provided with teeth adapted to project entirely through the apertures in the racks.

7. A ball-retainer for roller-bearing supported platen carriages comprising a pair of side bars each provided 'with apertures for receiving the balls, a transverse connecting member extending between the side bars, a pinion, and means for rotatahly and tilt ably supporting the pinion on said transverse connecting member.

8. A ball-retainer for roller-bearing supported platen carriages comprising a pair of side bars provided with ball-receiving apertures, a transverse member rigidly connecting the bars and provided with a slot and ears at opposite sides of said slot, a shaft extending across said slot and frictionally held against endwise and rotary movement in said ears, and a pinion rotatable in the slot of materially less thickness than the Width of the slot and having a central aperture of materially larger diameter than the shaft through which the shaft extends.

In testimony whereof I hereunto attix my signature.

EDWIN 1L. HARMON.

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