US1569016A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

W. F. HELMOND urawamue MACHINE Filer i'J-an. 17. 1923 I Jan. 12 1926. ;:1-,5@5,0

Patented Jan. 12, 1936,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. I-IELMOND, OF HARTFORD, GONNEGTIGUT, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD TYPEWRITER COMPANY, OF NEVT YORK, ll'. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

TYPEWRITING MACHINE.

Application filed January 17, 1923. Serial No. 613,096.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WVILLIAM F. HELMOND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewrit-mg Machines, of WlllCll the following 1s a specification.

This invention relates to front-strike J0 typewrit-ing machines, and more particularly to the arrangement of the type-bars thereof and the type-segment whereon the type-bars are pivoted and whereby they are guided in their operative movements between normal and printing positions; and has for its principal.object to increase the number of type-bars by adding two at each side in a typewriting machine which ordinarily is provided with forty-two type-bars, the idea being to form a subgroup of type-bars at each end of the type-bar system, the typebars of which sub-groups fan forwardly from the type-bar segment, so that the typebars, which are forty-six in number, may

5 be arranged at the segment within the same angular space, substantially 120, which is usually needed for only forty-two type-bars; the type-bars in the end groups fanning outwardly so as to be spread at their forward ends, so that the types thereon clear each other as they lie in the type-bar basket. The invention is illustrated in connection with an Underwood typewriter.

In typewriting machines of this kind, the type-bars are fulcrumed at spaced oints along an arcuate fulcrum wire whici extends within and near the periphery of a type-bar-segment having slots for guiding the type-bars in their operative movements. Each type-bar has a body-portion just long enough to swing to the center of the segment and a head-portion at the outer end of the body-portion and arranged at an angle to the body-portion such that the type will occupy a vertical position when at the printing point. The sharpness of the angles formed by the head and body portions of' the type-bars increases progressively from the type-bars which are centrally located, to the extreme outer type-bars of the set, and consequently the amount of space required by the type-heads in their normal positions upon their support increases progressively from the middle outward, the

of the type-bars in planes perpendicular to the plane of writing. Where this plan is followed the slots in the segment are necessarily spaced apart dilferent distances corresponding to the space required by the respective type-heads in normal position. This has a decided limiting eifect upon the capacity of the segment.

It is desirable, under some circumstances, to provide more types than standard segments, slotted in accordance with this wellknown plan, can accommodate. It is highly desirable to do this without increasing the radius of the type-bar segment or lengthening the type-bars, or increasing the angular space occupied by the type-bars in the segment.

In accordance with the present invention, space is economized on the type-bar segment, and the capacity of the segment is consequently increased, by so cutting the slots in the segment for several of the outer typebars that the fulcra of these bars will be shifted along'tlie fulcrum wire toward the middle of the system, or put into more compact or closer-spaced arrangement, while substantially the original normal positions and spacing of the type-heads will be retained. The cutting of a slot is controlled by the requirements that the vertex of tlu angle formed by the head and body portiom of the type-bar must swing to the center of the segment, and must return to a point such that the type-head in its normal position onits support will have just sutlicient room to clear the adjacent type-heads. The guide slot for a given type-bar is, therefore, necessarily cut to guide the type-bar in a plane which includes these two points. A plane which includes these points and also includes a fulcrum point nearer to the middle of the type-bar system than has heretofore been used is necessarily oblique to the plane of writing. It has been found that the types when guided in such a plane strike a much better blow than the outer types when guided in slots cut by the former method. Consequently, the printing, manifolding and stencil-cutting are greatly imstamped or blanked by proved, and the type returns more quickly to its normal position. In former practice, the type-bar slots in the segments resembled radial slots cut in the surface of a cylinder; and the same is. true of a middle-group of the slots in the present segment; but the remaining slots, which are grouped at each end of the middle group, are rather cut insubstantially helical directions in the segment, the plane of the first helical slot being nearly parallel with the axis of the segment,

' the plane ofthe next being more at an angle wlth said axis,

the next at a still greater angle, and so on; whereby the slots them.- selves converge toward their rear ends 1n a downward direction at both side portions of the segment. i

One of the advantages of the invention 1s that by arranging the type-bars at the sides of the system more closely on compactly at their fulcrum ends,'inste ad of widely separated as heretofore, the angular distance of the extreme left-hand bar from the extreme right-hand bar may be so that the body-portions ofthe type-bars may extend at as large obtuse angles as possible to their head portions, which is a desideratum, inasmuch as it tends to improve the type impressions andalso to perm t the types to clear each other better in their normal positions in the typesbasket.

A further advantage of the present 1nvention ari ses from having all of the typebars of. equal: length, so that they may be thesame set of tools, thus minimizing be cost of manufacture.

Other features and advantageswill hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional View through the type-bar hooks, taken on the line 1l.-1 of Figure 4 and looking upward as, indicated by the arrows in the latter figure.

Figure 2; is a' fragmentary transverse vertical section of a typewriting machine embodying the improvements of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a developed plan view, showin-g a part of the types and type-bars in their normal positions,

Figure 4: is a, fragmentary longitudinal vertical section, showing the type-bar mounting in they segment.

' Figure 5 is a front elevation of a type-bar and type guided by asl'ot cut in the ordinary way.

Figure 6 is a. front elevation of a type-bar and type,- guided by a slot cut in accordance with the present invention,

The typewriting machine comprises a movable carriage (not shown), in which is mounted a platen 10. The usual keys (not shown) operate key-levers (not shown) to cause bell-cranks 11, through studs 12 carkept at about 120,

ried thereby and slots 13 in type-bars 1.4: and 15, to swing the type-bars about a. fulcrumwire 16, upon, which they are pivotally supported in a type-bar segment 17, to carry the types, 18 and 19 from normal p a segmental support or basket (not shown) up to strike re'arwardly against the front face of the platen to cause Writing to be effected. Each type-bar 14 comprises a body-portion 20, which swings to the center of the segment, and a head-portion 21 on which the type-block 4 22 is mounted and which is. guided to the printing point by a type-guide 23. Shoulders 24 on the. typebars 1& and 15 actuate a universal bar 25 in the. course of the upward-swinging movement, and thereby operate the escapement mechanism, (not shown) which controlsthe lettenfeeding movements of: the carriage.

In the illustrated:machine, there are fortysix type-bars. arranged in three groups, namely, a central group andtwoend groups. The central group includes thirty-four of the type-bars, designated; by the numeral- 14, which type-bars, are; guided in segmentslots 26 cut perpendicularly to the segment 17' in the. usual manner to guide their-typebars 14 in planes which are perpendicular to the plane of: writing; in other words, in

radial planes of a cylinder coaxial; with the segment 17'. The outer six slots. 27 of each group. at the side of the segment 17 are cut tolocate the 'ttulcra of the type-bars 1-5 which they guide, nearer to the middle of the machine than would be the case if the slots 27 were cut in accordance with the practice of unequal spacing heretofore followed. The slot27' for each of the type-ba-rs 15. is

so cut, however, that the normal position of the head-portion 28 thereofis. not changed and the type-bar body portion 29- is still caused to swing to. the center 01* the segment 17. The type-blocks.30,carriedby-the headportions 28. otthe typeebars. 15,, are, therefore, spaced farther apart in.v the normal position of the type-bars 15 than are the fulcra of the bars, so that the type-bars converge rearwardly when in normal position, or, each other at their free ends, as indicated in Figure 3'. In other words, the outer SIX slots 27' on each side are helically cut, as previously explained; By thus shifting the slots 27 along-the segment tobring each slot as close. as is:- practically possible to the next inner slot of the set, the. capacity o'lithe type-bar-segment 1 7 is increased.

The type-bars 15 guided by the outer slots 27 do not swing at right angles to the fulcrum-wire 16. The upper ends of the slots 13 of these type-bars which bearupon 'the fulcrum-wire are, therefore, beveled to prevent binding of the type-bars 15v on the wire.

The studs 12 for actuating the type-bars ositions upon inother; words, fan outwardly from- 15 are made long enough to allow play and thereby to prevent friction between the typebars 15 and the bell-cranks 11, which would otherwise result from the non-parallel move ment thereof.

The body- portions 20 and 29 of the typebars 14 and 15 are substantially in the respective planes of their vibrations. Nearly all of the type-bars 14 have to be bent at their type-ends or head-portions 28, and all of the type-bars 15 have to be so bent, inasmuch as they radiate downwardly and outwardly from their vertical type- blocks 22 and 30 when in printing positions.

It is necessary, in order to obtain even type-impressions, that the faces of the types 18 and 19 shall be brought into parallelism with the plane of writing when the types are actuated. In the case of an ordinary type 18, this will be brought about by mount.

ing the type-block 22 with the face of the type at right angles to the body-portion 20 of its type-bar 14, as indicated in Figure 5.

The body-portions 29 of the type-bars 15 at the extreme sides of the system occupy the helically-directed slots 27 and lie in planes coincident with said slots. These type-bars approach the plane of writing obliquely. In order that the faces of the types 19 may be properly positioned with reference to the plane of writing so as to be parallel therewith when at the printing point, the head-portions 28 of the type-bars 15, on which these types are mounted, are twisted with reference to the body-portions 29, as indicated in Figure 6. The directions of the helices of the helically-cut slots 27 are right hand at the right-hand side of the segment and left hand at the lefthand side of the segment. The heads 28 of the typebars 15 guided by these slots 27 at the opposite sides of the system must, therefore, be twisted in opposite directions in order to obtain the desired result.

The new method of slotting is confined to the outer slots of the type-bar segment, for the reason that little economy of space can be effected by shifting the fulcra of the centrally located type-bars, because the type bar heads occupy little space on the support, so that it has been possible to position the fulcra of these type-bars quite close together when the segment was slotted in accordance with the practice heretofore followed.

It will, of course, be understood that the invention is not limited to the provision of any definite number of slots in planes perpendicular to the plane of writing, nor to the forming of any particular number of slots obliquely to that plane.

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, the combina tion with a platen, of a series of radially arranged type-bars printing at a common point against said platen, a type-bar segment, and a curved fulcrum wire on said segment supporting all of said type-bars, the type-bars being all of equal length, the segment having equally spaced slots to guide said typebars, said type-bars being arranged in three groups, namely, a middle or main group and two sub-groups at the sides of the main group, the slots for the middle group of type-bars being perpendicular to the segment, the slots for each sub-group of typebars being skewed relatively to the segment to cause the type-bars of said sub-groups to fan outwardly from each other at their free ends, providing clearance for the types on the bars of said sub-groups.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen, of a series of radially arranged type-bars printing at a common point against said platen, a type-bar segment, and a curved fulcrum wire on said segment sup porting all of said type-bars, the type-bars being all of equal length, the segment having equally spaced slots to guide said typebars, said type-bars being arranged in three groups, namely, a middle or main group and 1 two sub-groups at the sides of the main group, the slots for the middle group of type-bars being perpendicular to the segment, the slots for each sub-group of typebars being skewed relatively to the segment to cause the type-bars of said sub-groups to fan outwardly from each other at their free ends, providing clearance for the types on the bars of said subgroups, the type-bars of the sub-groups being slotted and having beveled surfaces at the upper ends of the slots to engage the fulcrum wire and move freely thereon.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen, of a series of forty-six radially arranged type-bars printing at a common point against said platen, a typebar segment, and a curved fulcrum wire on said segment supporting all of said typebars, said type-bars being equally distributed in an arcextending through an angle of substantially 120, the type-bars being all of equal length, the type-bars at the extreme sides of the system fanning outwardly from a plane near the type-bar segment, spreading at their free ends and providing clearance for the types on said extreme type-bars, the type-bar segment having skewed slots for the type-bars at the extreme sides of the system to cause them to fan outwardly.

WILLIAM F. HELMOND.

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