US1909911A - Address printing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

y 6, 3-, H. P. ELLIOTT 0 ,9

ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Harmon P Ell z'o it ATTORNEY- May 16, 1933. H. P. ELLIOTT 1,909,911

ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS r v Filed March 5, 1951 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR garmon FElIioZZ ATTORNEY May '16, 1933. ELLIOTT 1,909,911

ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Harmon 252210 1i ATTORNEY May 16, 1933.

H. P ELLIOTT ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-$heet 4 Filed March 5, 1931 INVENLOR l/armon P Ellioll BY I 0 ATTORNEY May 16, 1933. H, P. ELLIOTT 1,909,911

ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS Filed March 5, 1931 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORI HarmanFE/lioli ATTORNEY May: 16; 1933. 1-1. P. ELLIOTT I ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS t t B mm m E Ln 0 m W H e Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March 5, 1951 ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1933 HARMON P. ELLIOTT, OF CAMBRIDGE,

AssAcHUsETrs. ASSIGNOR T ELLIOTT ADDRESSING MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS ADDRESS PRINTING APPARATUS Application filed March 5,

This invention relates generally to apparatus forprinting a series of names and addresses successively upon the surfaces of sheets of paper, envelopes, post cards, etc, but more specifically is designed to print said names and addresses in columns on sheets of paper of loose leaf or letter sheet or legal cap size. y I

Heretofore apparatus has been designed 1o whichjis adapted to print payrolls, etc, on long sheets of paper by means of power driven devices employing vertically reciprocating platen printing mechanism as described in Patent No. 1,550,893, granted August 25, 1925 to The Elliott Addressing Machine Company as assignee of Harriet A. Elliott, eXecutriX of Sterling Elliott, deceased, but it is desirable that apparatus for this purpose, largely used by bookkeepers and paymasters, should be portable and hand-operated. As the most successful type of hand operated addressing machines are of the rotary type, i. e. that in which the stencils move along quite rapidly between revolving platen sectorsin the printing operation, the adaptation of such hand-operated machines to the printing of names and addresses in a column arrangement requires a reciprocating motion of the sheets back and forth between the revolving platens during each printing cycle, as well as a step-by-step, progressive feed motion of the sheet between printing operations to produce the column arrangement of the printed names and addresses, All this is accomplished in a simple and efficient manner in the present invention. 1

The embodiment of thepresent invention herein shown is adapted to be employed with stencil printing mechanism having features some of which. are illustrated in my prior patents No. 1,588,099, granted June 8, 1926. and No. 1,694,619, granted December" 11, 1928, but as the feedingmotion of the sheet crosswise of the stenciltrack must not be interfered with it has been found desirable t'o raise the hand crank which furnishes the driving power as well as all the sheet feeding mechanism (except the sheet carrier) above the'level of said stencil tracks and to 1931. Serial No. 520,234.

connect it to the ink applying mechanism by a chain and sprocket gearing so that the sheet carrier may reciprocate in a free space just below the stencil tracks. I

Accordingly, the best form of apparatus 5 at present known to me embodying my in Vention is illustrated in the accompanying six sheets of drawings in which M Fig. 1 is a front elevation with parts broken away; Fig. 2 is a plan View, a few parts being broken away or shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1; v

Figs. 4 and 5 are rear elevations with some taken on line 88 of Fig. 7

I Fig. 9 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 8,"with parts shown in section, taken on line 99 of Fig. 8, and

1 Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view of asheet of paper on which names and addresses have been printed in a column by the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 9, while Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic detail of a special locking mechanism.

Throughout the drawings like reference characters indicate like parts.

1 represents the base frame adapted to rest upon a desk or table. The general arrangement of the address printing mechanism here shown conforms substantially to the structure shown in my' above mentioned prior patents, 2 being the stencil magazine for holding a stack of stencil cards 10, and 3 the stencil receiver or collector, these two being connected, by the stencil track composed of the oppositely grooved rails or guides 4, 41, along which the stencil cardsc'an be fed from magazine 2, under the rotary ink bearing platen sector 5, and thereafter discharged into stencil receiver'3.- A platen roll or anvil roll 6 '(best shown in Fig. 3) is freely journaled below the stencil track 4 and ink bearing sector 5 so as to cooperate with the latter to press a sheet of paper and superposed stencil between them and thereby print the stencilled legend upon the paper. This platen roll 6 is yieldingly supported in any convenient pivoted spring controlled frame such as shown in Fig. llof my Patent No.1,563,268 granted Nov. 24, 1925. portion of such a frame is shown at 83 in Fig. 1. An inking roll 7, from whicn ink is sup plied to the ink bearing sector 5 and to which it is supplied from the rotary ink fountain 9 bymeans of the transfer roll 8 in the usual way, is journaled above said sector, which'latter is mounted on the shaft 11 journaled'n the housing 26, which also supports the rest of the inking mechanism assembly. Normally the inking roll 7 is intermittently given partial rotations by contact with sector 5, as indicated in Fig. 6, but it may be rotated by the operator grasping handle'ia, best shown-in Fig. 3.

12 is a small sprocket wheel on the end of shaft 11. A sprocket chain 13 runs in casing 13a over this sprocket wheel'and also around a sprocket wheel 14 on the shaft 15, which is journaled in the housing 16. V

The hand crank 17, fast on shaft 15, has an offset portion 18, with which one end of connecting rod 19 may be engaged by means of hook 28. The other end of rod 19 is connected by pivot 20 to stencil feed slide 21 which reciprocates in the stencil track 4 under magazine 2;

A support housing 22 is fastened to one side of base frame 1 by lugs. 24, 24, and screws 25, 25. This housing is a casting having the horizontal slot 23 extending nearly from end to end thereof. From the upper portion of this housing practically all the apparatus other than the platen roll 6 is supported. This leaves a free open space under stencil track 4, through which the oppositely grooved strips 29 and 30, of a sheet carrier may be reciprocated. One of, the

supporting members immediately carried by support housing 22, is lug 27 fastened thereto by screws 27a, 27a, and supporting stencil magazine 2. The right hand ends of track rails 4, 4, are fastened to the under side of this lug by screws 4a, 4a, (see Fig. 2). The other ends of these rails are similarly fastened to the under side of a lug 3a which is gripped between housing support 22 and the base of housing 16 by screws 16a, as best shown in Fig. 3. The stencil receiver 3' is also hinged on 3a. The inking assembly housing 26 is fastened to support housing 22 by screws 26a (Fig. 2).

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the entire operating mechanism and supporting structure therefor is offset from, and sustained by, support housing 22 --'so that a sheet of paper on which addresses are to be printed may be inserted through slot 23. and moved about in any direction during the printing operation. Moreover, the hand-crank 17 being journaled above the stencil track at a height slightly greater than its radius or length, said crank will not during its revolution strike any sheet being printed, nor any carrier for 'such sheet. Also, as the platen or anvil roll 6 is a full cylinder, instead of a sector of a cylinder such as shown in my above mentioned prior patents, it will always cooperate with the ink bearing sector 5, whatever its position as to rotation, and so does not need to be geared to the latter, but is left freely revoluble on its journals and is driven solely by friction of the sheet being printed and pressed down on it by sector 5 from time to 7 time. This permits me to dispense with the gearing which would otherwise be needed to connect the usual platen sectorsfso that that obstruction also is removed. I have thus so raised and supported the hand operated inking and driving apparatus of my before mentioned patents that any desired form of sheet carrier may be installed and moved about freely beneath it.

Sheet carrying and reciprocating mechanism The sheet carrier or holder is formed by the oppositely grooved strips 29 and 30, in and between which a sheet of paper 31 may be slid and supported. These strips are held by, and are adjustable upon, the vertically arranged plate housing 32 which forms the back bone of the sheet carrying and feeding mechanism which is here shown as a removable unit capable of being attached to, and operated by, the address printing apparatus heretofore described, or of being detached therefrom so that the latter can be used for ordinary addressing work when envelopes or mailing wrappers are fed to it by hand. The grooved strips 29 and 30 extend under the stencil track rails 4,4, and through the slot 23 in support-housing 22,

and are adjustable toward and'from one an- 77 other to accommodate sheets of different during each printing cycle to enable the sheet to travel with a stencil between revolving sector 5 and platen roll .6. This reciprocating motion is derived from the revo lutions of stub shaft 36 whichis connected to the crank shaft 15 by the coupling formed tion'of rest, with the hand crank 17 extendv by flange 37, on its inner en slipping over the adjacent end of shaft 15 and having a hole to receive pin 38 projecting from a cooperating flange 39011 the end of shaft 15, as best shown in Fig. 3. This stub shaft projects through horizontally extending slot 40 in plate housing 32 (Figs. 4 and 5). Circumferential groove 41 in the exterior of coupling flange 37 is engaged by pin 42 which can be slid vertically in a bearing 42a on the end of crank housing 16, and is nornially held down by spring 43. This holds stub shaft 36 coupled to crank shaft 15, unless the operator lifts pin 42 out of engagement with groove 41. Toothed gear sectors 48 and 50 are rigidly mounted side by side on the other end of stub shaft 36 which projccts through slot 40 in plate housing 32 and serve to hold the latter in vertical position. Said plate housing 32 is mainly supported and guided by perforated lugs 53, 53, screwed to its lower corners and'sliding on guide rod 54, the ends of which are clamped in split lugs 55, 55, (Figs. 4 and 5), which are fastened on the rear track rail 4 by screws 57, 57, as best shown in Fig. 2. On the outer surface of plate housing 32 are fixed the oppositely disposed toothed racks 49 and 51, the former being so located as to mesh with the segmental gear 48, which has the lesser radius, while the latter meshes with the other segmental gear 50. When the crank shaft 15, and the stub shaft 36 coupled thereto, are revolved, these gears and racks will produce a reci rocation of the plate housing 32 along gui e rod 54. When the clamping screws 56, 56, in the split'lugs 55, 55, are loosened, and pin 42 raised out of engagement with groove 41, the plate housing 32 and all mechanism carried by it, including oppositely grooved strips 29 and 30. may be removed as'a unit.

52, 52, are stop lugs fastened to plate housing 32 adjacent those-ends of racks 49 and 51 at which the segmental toothed gears, or gear sectors, 48 and 50 begin to mesh, so that each suchstop may be struck by the forward end of the gear sector at the moment the latter is in position to begin meshing, thus ensuring an accurate meshing action. 52a is a similar lug placed adjacent the other end of rack 51 so as to engage the" rear end of gear sector 50 just after the latter ceases to mesh with said rack. This is to assist in checking the motion of plate housing 32 at the end of the quick return stroke, in case the machine is being operated rapidly. 7

To prevent the plate housing 32 from being-slid about on its guiderod 54 by any exterior force while both gear sectors 48 and 50 are out of engagement with their respective racks, which situation may exist whenever the apparatus is in its normal posiing horizontally to the left, and the plate housing at the limit of its travel to the right (looking at 1), the parts then being ready to begin a printing cycle,the latch 45 (see Fig. 1), is pivoted to the front faceof plate housing32 at 46 and at such times engages by gravity therotating lug 44 which isfast on stub shaft 36. The free end of this latch swings in guard 455. To prevent the hand crank 17 being then turned backward (in a counterclockwise direction) by an'inexperienced user desiring tooperate- 7 the machine, the spring pawl 47 is mounted on housing 16 and engages the notch 47a in flange 39, when the parts are in this normal position of rest. This also prevents rotating lug '44 from turning backward under any thrust from latch 45, such as would be produced if plateframe 32 were pushed to the right by any external force when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 5. This lock position'is illustrated in Fig. 11.

Sheet feeding apparatus 59 freely journaled in bearings on the metal strip58, which is fastened at either end to the under faces of guide lugs 53, 53, and also serves to hold the-latter properly spaced apart. Feed wheel'60 is fast on shaft 61 which is journaled at either end in guide lugs 53, 53, and has the friction ratchet cas ing 62 (Figs. 8 and 9) fastened on it near one end by setscrew 63. race member 64 carrying balls 70, 70, controlled by springs 71, 71, is nested in casing 62, and has pawl plate 65 fastened to it by screws 66, 66. This pawl plate 65 carries pawl lever 67., having an anti-friction roller 68 on its lower end bearing on fixed cam strip 69,,which has one end screwed to the bottom surface of the adjacent split lug 55. This lower end of the pawl lever is forced toward this cam strip by the tension spring 73, (Figs. 5 and 8) attached to the upper end of said pawl lever and anchored on bracket 74, mounted on the adjacent guide A multiple ball 7 6 holdsthe stop 7 5 in any desired position of adjustment. 72 is a friction brake member pivotally mounted on guide rod 54,139,211- ing on the exterior circumference of ratchet casing 62', and having its tail piece resting on a horizontal projection 53a'cast on guide lug 58. This friction ratchet .assembly is held together on shaft 61 by flange collar 77.

In the operation of the above described sheet feed mechanism, the spring 73 pulls the pawl 67 back against the stop 75 during each period of'trave'l of the stencil and the sheet carrier through aprinting operation, thereby setting the pawl and ratchet mechanism preparatory to giving the feed wheel 60 apredetermined fraction of a revolution during the return stroke of the mechanism, when the lower end of the pawllever 67 carrying the friction roller 68 will ride up on the cam surface of the cam strip 69 and, because of the locking action of the balls 70 during that operation, also turn the ratchet casing 62 and the feed shaft 61 through the predetermined fraction of a revolution. The feed wheel 60 and cooperating bearing roll 59, gripping the sheet of paper 31 between them, will accordingly'pull it toward them a distance suflicient to present a clean surface to the action of the stencil and inking IHQCllaDlSBIOIl the next printing operation. By adjusting the stop 75 the successive names and addresses can thus be printed at any desired distance apart, within limits, in the desired column piece 81.

arrangement.

78 is a slotted guide plate resting on the upper surface of the base frame 1 and having a guide flange 79 along one edge as shown in Fig. 2. A set screw 82 passes through the slot 80 in this guide plate and also through a slot inthe icooperatin g guide the guide ceive envelopes, cards or sheets of paper of different sizes which can then be fed by hand between these guides to the printing zone formed by the sector 5 and platen roller 6 when the hereinhefore described'sheet ca rrying and feeding mechanism has been removedand a series of envelopes or letter heads are to have'separate addresses printed on them in the usual way.

In operating the machine with the sheet carrying and feeding apparatus the parts are assembled as the sheet of paper carrier strips 29, 30, from the front of the machine until its forward edge is engaged by the feed. wheel 60. The latter can then be turned by hand to the extent necessary to pull the sheet in. to a point such that the first name and address can be printed thereon at the head of the column in the desired position. The operator then grasps the hand crank 17 and rotates the same in a clock- When this setscrew is loosened. flanges can then be adjusted to re-,

shown in the drawings and 31 1s slid into the grooved and the coupling between the main crank shaft 15 and the stub shaft 36 being disconnected. i V

It is obviousthat during each printing operation the sheet 31 must travel at exactly the same speed asthat at which the stencil isv traveling under the grippingv action of inking bearing sector 5 and platen roll 6. To accomplish this the carrier feed is operated by rack 49 and sector gear 48, the radius of the pitch line ofthe teeth of the latter being. made exactly equal to the radius of sector 5, Whenthe gearing between shafts 11 and 36 has, as .here shown, the ratio of 1 to 1. In any case the parts must be so proportioned that the circumferential speed at the pitch iine of sector 48 is exactlyequal to the circumferential speed at thesurface of inking sector 5.

Various changes in the details of theconstruction here shown could, be made without departing from the underlying principle of the invention, as herein explainedand illustrated. 7 To insure equal amplitudes'of feed and return movements of the. sheet carrier the pitch line lengths of racks 49 and 51, and of toothed sectors 48 and stops 52in producing a slight initial movement when struck by the end of a toothed sector before the latters teeth engage those of its cooperating rack might compensate forslight differences in rack lengths. Also the slower disengagement, of "the endteeth on the long radius sector 50 from its c'oop-' crating rack 51 at the end of each return stroke, as a result of its longer radius, may require thenumber of teeth on these two to be slightly less than that of the teeth on the short-er radius sectort8 and its cooperatprising an inking mechanism, a plurality of. address bearing-strips and mechanism for e 50 should be ap proximately the same, though the action of feeding said strips successively along a track extending through the printing zone in which said inking mechanism is located in a position relative to said zone such that the lines of printing will extend parallel to the line of travel of said stencils, the combination, with said above described a paratus, of a carrier adapted to hold a sheet of paper adjacent said track in a position such that printing may be done thereon by the cooperation of said inking mechanism and address bearing strips, means for moving said carrier synchronously with said inking and strip feeding mechanism and a device for feeding said sheet intermittentl in said carrier through short distances a ong lines at right angles to the line of travel of said stencils; whereby a series of addresses may be printed in column formation on said sheet during the period while it is supported by said carrier.

' 2. In an address printing apparatusthe combination of a base frame, a rotary-ink bearing sector, a plurality of stenctils, a track adapted to carry said stencil under and substantially tangentially to the curved surface of said sector, and mechanism for feeding said stencils successively along said track, together with a supporting housing for the above recited elements located wholly above the plane of the under surface of said track and connected to said base frame only at a point or points remote from said sector, and a freely revoluble platen rolljournalled in said base frame and adapted to press a sheet of paper and a superposed stencil against the ink bearing face of said sector when the latter is moving through the lowest arc of its rotation.

3. In an address printing apparatus comprising an upper, revoluble ink-bearing sector, a lower, revoluble pressureplaten, a horizontally arranged track along which stencils may be fed between said sector and laten and mechanism for rotatin saidsec- P a tor and pushing stencils along said track, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a separate, unitary structure provided with means for attaching it to one side of said apparatus, or disconnecting and removing it'therefrom, which said structure comprises a carrier adapted to holda sheet of paper under and closely adjacent to said track and between said sector and platen, together with mechanism adapted to reciprocate said carrier along said track while said sheet is retained therein and to intermittently feed such sheet with reference to said carrier transversely of said track; whereby when said last mentioned structure is attached to said apparatus, any sheet of p aper carried therein may receive from successive stencils successive printings in column formation thereon, but, when said structure is removed the first above described velopes otherwise fed to it.

4. A structure such as defined in claim 3 combined with a detachable shaft coupling,

one member of which is carried by a revoluble shaft in said address printing apparatus, and the other by a revoluble shaft in said carrier operating mechanism. y

5. A sheet carrying and feeding'mechanism for attachment to address printing apparatus comprising, in combination, a Vertical plate having oppositely-grooved, horizontally extending strips mounted near its lower edge, a guide rod adapted to be clamped to the frame of an address printing apparatus, on which rod said plate is slidingly mounted, and mechanism carried by said plate adapted; to reciprocate it-along said rod when coupledto a rotating element of an address printing apparatus to which said rod has been clamped.

6. A combination such-as defined in claim 5 in which said plate reciprocating mechanism comprises'a stub shaft mounted in a slot'in' said plate so as to both rotate and permit said plate to slide thereon and provided with a coupling at one end, .two parallel and oppositely disposed toothed racks rigidly mounted on said plate on either side of said slot, and toothed gear sectors of different radii rigidly mounted on said stub shaft, that one of said gear sectors with the shorter radius being adapted to mesh with one rack to drivethe plate in one direction, and the other gear sector being adapted to mesh with the other rack to retract said plate with a quicker return motion.

7. A sheet carrier and feeder adapted to be attached" to an address printing apparatus comprising, in combination, a pair of guides between which a sheet of paper'may be slid, a feed wheel bearing on said paper, a rotary, one-way acting clutch mechanism adapted to rotate said feed wheel, means for reciprocating said carrier adapted to be operatively connected to an element of an address printing apparatus on which the carrier is slidingly mounted and mechanism adapted to actuate said rotation producing mechanism once on each reciprocation of the sheet carrier. 1 i

8. A combination such as defined in claim 7 in which said rotation producing mechanism is of the friction grip type, and the actuating mechanism therefor comprises a stationary cam-strip, and a spring tending to force the pawl lever against the cam surface of said strip.

9. A sheet carrier and feeder adapted to be attached to an address printing apparatus comprising in combination, a pair of guides between which a sheet of paper may be slid, a feed wheel bearing on said paper, a rotary, one-way acting clutch mechamsm adapted to rotate sa1d feed wheel,means for reciprocating said carrler adapted to be operatively connected to an element of an adbase frame so as to leave a long open space I between the two, a track for stencil cards,

members projecting horizontally from said housing to the under faces of which the rails of said trackare fastened, and a stencil magazine and ink applying devices and driving mechanism resting on the upper surfaces of said horizontally extending memhers together with a platen member supported in said base frame and located below said guides for cooperating with said ink applying devices, but free from any gear connection therewith; whereby a free, open space is left under all said stencil track and extending indefinitely on both sides ofsaid ink-supplying'devices for the feeding movement of sheets of paper on which printing is to be done transversely of said guides.

- 11. An apparatus adapted to print a series of names and addressesin column formation on a sheet of paper comprising, in combination, a base frame, a support-housing extending along and slightly above said base frame so as to leave a long open space between the two, a track for stencils, members projecting horizontally from said housing to the under faces of which the rails of said track are fastened, and a stencil magazine and ink applying devices and driving mechanism resting on the upper surfaces of said horizontally extending m e m b e r s; whereby a free, open space is left under all said stencil track for the feeding movement of sheets of paper on which printing is to be done, together with a sheet carrier extending under said track and a slide bearing therefor supported from the upper surface of the track rail furthest removed from said support-housing and connecting gearing from said driving mechanism to said carrier adapted to reciprocate the latter upon said slide bearing.

12. A structure such as defined in claim 10 combined with a carrier supported from the track rail furthest removed from said housing support and comprising parallel guides for such sheet of paper extending under said track, a sheet'feeding device mounted on said carrierand a mechanism for operating saijddevice adapted to be actuated by the said first mentioned driving mechanism.

18. In an address printing apparatus comprising a stencil track and means for feeding stencils along the same, a stencil magazine, and a rotary, ink-bearing sector located above said track, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of means for supporting said track at one side thereof so as to leave a widely extending free. space beneath it, 'a free platencylinder journaled below said track and cooperating with said sector, a hand crank journaled above said track at an elevat1on exceeding the crank radius, and gearing connecting said crank and said rotary sector; whereby an unobstructed space is left at all times under and adjacent the greater portionof the length of said track during the printingoperations.

14. A structure such as defined in claim l combined with a sheet carrier extending under and adjacent said track, and mechanismfor reciprocating 'it along said track operatively connected to saidhand crank.

, 15. In a sheet carrying mechanism for use on; address printing apparatus comprising a revoluble element the combination of -a sheet holding structure adapted to slide horizontally along said apparatus, atoothed rack attached to said structure, a rotatable toothed'gear sector j ournalled in said structure. adapted to engage said rack,and means for connecting said sector journal to said revoluble element of the address printing apparatus so as to rotate synchronously therewith. V

16. In an address printing apparatus comprising a revoluble ink bearing sector, a series of stencils and means for feeding them one by one to a position where they may be gripped by, and cooperate with, said sector in a printing operation, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of a sliding carrier mechanism for sheets on which printing isto be done by said apparatus, a' toothed feed rack on said carrier mechanism, a revoluble toothed sector adapted to engagesaid rack having a pitch lineiradius equal to the radius of said ink bearing sector, and means for revolving said toothed sector in synchronism with said ink bearing sector. j

. 17. In an addressing printing apparatus comprising an inking mechanism, a plurality of address bearing strips and mechanism for feeding said strips successively along a track extending through the printing zone in Which said inking mechanism is located, the combination, withsaid above described ap paratus', of a carrier adapted to hold a sheet of paper adjacent said track in a position such that printing may be done thereon by the cooperation of said inking mechanism and address bearing strips, and means for moving said carrier synchronously with said inking and strip feeding mechanism, together with a device mounted on said carrier adapted to feed said sheet relatively thereto, and mechanism also mounted on said carrier adapted to actuate said feed device on being set in motion by the movement of the carrier.

18. In an address printing apparatus comprising a track, and means for feeding a series of stencil cards along said track and driving mechanism therefor, the combination, with said above described apparatus, of sheet carrying and feeding mechanism having sheet supporting strips extending under said track, a guide rod clamped on the side of said address printing apparatus on which said carrier mechanism may slide, and a motion transmitting coupling between the driving mechanism of the address printing apparatus and said sheet feeding mechanism, said guide rod and said coupling serving as the sole supports of said sheet carrying and feeding mechanism.

19. In a sheet carrying mechanism for use in rotary address printing apparatus, the combination of a sliding frame carryin 0ppositely disposed'toothed racks, a revo luble driving shaft, two toothed sectors rigidly mounted on said shaft, one being adapted to mesh with one rack during a portion of each revolution and the other to engage the other rack during another portion of each revolution, whereby reciprocation of said sliding frame is effected, a radial projection on said shaft, and a latch carried by said frame and adapted to drop in front of said projection at the end of one reciprocating movement of said frame produced by one sector and when said sectors and racks are all out of engagement; whereby a return movement of said frame is prevented until the other sector and rack have been brought into mesh one with the other by a slight further rotation of said shaft which is also sufficient to free said projection from said latch.

20. In a sheet carrying mechanism for use in rotary address printing apparatus, the combination of a sliding frame carrying oppositely disposed toothed racks, a revoluble driving shaft, two toothed sectors rigidly mounted on said shaft, one being adapted to mesh with one rack during a portion of each revolution and the other to engage the other rack during another portion of each revolution, whereby reciprocation of said sliding frame is effected, with an intermediate position when both said sectors are out of engagement with their cooperating racks, and a lock automatically operated by said shaft to hold said frame against return movement until the sector and rack for producing said movement are initially engaged. Signed at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts this second day of March, A. D. 1931.

HARMON P. ELLIOTT.

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