US1931514A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

1933- J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE Original Filed April 26, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1933- J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE Original Filed April 26, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 24, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITING MACHINE Application April 26, 1929, Serial No. 358,173 Renewed November 12, 1931 9 Claims.

This invention relates to carbon-holding and carbon-feeding means effective to interleave carhon-sheets between a plurality of superposed work-webs for a manifolding pack, and particularly to that class of machines where the carbonsheets are held stationary while the webs are drawn around the stationary platen to strip a completed type section of the web from the interleaved carbon-sheets and advance the next succeeding section of the web to be interleaved by the carbon-sheets before the finished section is severed from the webs.

An illustration of mechanism of similar nature can be found in the patent to C. M. Crews 1,565,550, dated December 15, 1925, where the carbon-sheet holder takes the form of a sheet of paper or fabric having two or more parallel transverse slots which form separate parallel bars, and to each bar one end of a carbon-sheet may .20 be secured; The carbon-sheet may be of any desired length according to the typing area on the printed forms of the webs. The leading ends-of the websare threaded through the slots, one web to a slot, to be interleaved with the carbon-sheets, and drawn forwardly until the ends of the webs register with the ends of the carbon-sheets, when the manifolding pack thus formed is fed around the platen to the first typing line in the usual manner. The carbon-holding sheet trails aft-2r the carbons while the webs and carbons are being line-spaced in typing the work-form and at the end of the typing interval, the web and carbon inlays are advanced to straighten out the pack, and the carbon-holding sheet-carrying stop- :neans is arrested by means on the carriage to limit this advancement of the pack. The paperfeeding rollers are released and the leading ends of the webs are drawn forwardly against a stop that strips the typed section of the web from the stationary carbon-inlays and presents the next web-section interleaved by carbons. The feedrollers are restored and the web and carbons back-fed around the platen until the division line between the typed web-section and the next blank section, which may be indicated by a weakened or perforated line, is aligned to a severing knife or straight edge and the typed section is removed from the web and the next succeeding section positioned to be typed upon.

50 The Crews device having stop-means perrna nently secured to the carbon-carrier to arrest the carrier and carbons at a fixed position for stripping andreadjusting the web-section thereto, necessarily promotes tracking of the types through the same path across the carbons, which soon exhausts the manifold density of the carbon and requires frequent renewals.

A feature of the present invention includes a carbon-holding sheet that is wider than the workwebs so that side edges of the sheet will be ex- 0 posed at the edges of the webs and against which exposed edges clamps can engage and hold the sheet stationary while the webs are stripped therefrom and relocated thereto. The carbon-holding sheet having no arresting means except the regis- 5 tering of the leading edges of both webs and carbon-sheets at a gaged position, the carbonsheets may be cut longer than the web-sections, and the free ends of the carbon-sheets may be trimmed from time to time, which changes the 7 typing track therethrough and progressively uses the whole surface of the carbons and reduces the frequency of carbon-sheet renewals for the carbon-holding sheet.

Another feature includes two paper-tables, one table extending upwardly and rearwardly at the web-introductory side of the platen, and the other table extending upwardly and rearwardly at the web-delivery side of the platen, and each table having side-edge guides that form a chute for the accurate alignment of the webs around the platen. The usual rear paper-table has side-edge guides for the carbon-holding sheet at the rear of the platen, and the front table has separate side gages for the forward end of said carbon-hold- 35 ing sheet above the typing line of the platen, both gages operating to maintain the alignment of the sheet and accurately hold the ungaged free carbon-sheets attached to the forward end thereof in alignment between the initial forms on the webs.

After-the typing of the leading web-form or section the carbon-holding sheet, which still extends around the platen, is temporarily clamped to the platen and the operator pulls up the leading end of the webs until the typed sections are stripped from the carbons. This stripping is done above the platen and while the carbons are straightened out over the front table, and during thisoperation both the webs and carbon-sheets tend to jog themselves into parallelism and ac-' curate relationship with one another.

The webs are threaded through slots in the carbon-holding sheet to overlie the carbon-inlay secured to the adjoining tongues formed by the slots. A special feature provides that a loose carbon-sheet and a loose work-sheet may be inserted downwardly into the lower slot of the carbon-holding sheet while the latter is temporarily advanced for web-stripping purposes,

and when the platen is rolled back to bring the untyped form to printing position the special work-sheet will roll down with the webs very successfully, thus providing a cheap and simple way for introducing an auxiliary work-sheet to be typed upon in unison with the webs.

Additional advantages include double length carbon-sheets, that is to say, carbons which have a length equal to twice the length of the printed forms of the webs. The leading end section of the carbons may be used until exhausted, and then torn off, and the remaining half of the carbons may then be used, thus economizing the carbons and prolonging the lifeof the carbon-holding sheet between carbon renewals. A special release-key may be effective to delay the release of the paper-feed-rollers from the platen until normally-ineffective gripping pads have first been released by the key to bind the carbon-holding sheet to the platenface, the key having an interruptive connection with the feed-roller release-mechanism so as to enable the rollers to be released by the regular release-key without operating the gripping pads.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an Underwood platen and platen-frame with a plurality of workwebs adjusted around the platen and interleaved with the carbon-sheets for the leading form on the web. The webs and carbons are shown advanced to the web-stripping position, and also show a modified mode of operation where an auxiliary work-sheet and its carbon have been introduced into the lowest slot in the carbonholding sheet preparatory to being back-fed around the platen to the typing position.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the platen and carbon-holding sheet, the carbons being extra long to provide for a modified mode of operation.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view looking down upon the tops of the front and rear tables.

Figure 4 is a cross-section through the platen and platen-frame, showing the several workwebs and carbons in normal positions for typing the leading-in work-form and the feed-rolls and paper-clamps in normal positions.

Figure 5 shows the typed webs and carbons advanced to the web-stripping position with the special release-key depressed to the work-sheet clamping position and the feed-rollers about to be released, so that the webs may be drawn up through the stationary carbons. An auxiliary loose sheet and carbon are also shown adjusted through the lower slot in the I carbon-holding sheet when an extra copy of the record is desired.

Figure 6 shows the full depression of the release-key with the paper-clamp effective and the feed-rollers ineffective, the typed web-section drawn up over the stationary carbons to a websevering position.

Fig. 7 shows the interlocking cams on the rockshaft partially rotated for a position where the pressure-roll tension will become effective to restore the rollers.

The present invention is shown attached to the Underwood standard typewriting machine, where type-bars 10 swing upwardly and rearwardly to strike the front of a platen 11, rotatable with a platen-shaft 12, j'ourn'aled'in both ends 13 of a platen-frame 14. Secured to the top face of each' end 13 are brackets 16, having vertically-disposed walls 17 formed with inwardly bent-over feet 18, upon which are seated the ends of a front and a rear cross-bar 19 and 20, arrangedparallel to the platen, to support paper-tables '21 and 22, respectively. Each table 21 and 22 may include a pair of plates, each plate formed with turnedup side-edge guides 23 and 24, and having suitable slots 25, engageable by screws 26, threaded into the bars 19 and 20, for adjusting the plates along the bars, to determine the working space between each pair of guides 23 and 24, to closely fit the edges of a platen-fed work-sheet.

One form of work-sheet may include a plurality of superposed work-webs 27, each web having a recurring printed form, and each form preferably divided by a perforated line for severing the form from the leading end of each web when typed upon. The webs 27 are introduced around the platen from the rear, and brought up over the front of the platen to rest upon the front paperlar to that shown in patent to E. F. Kunath, N0.

816,585, dated April 3, 1906, is employed, where feed-rollers 28 are supported by arms 29, fulcrumed upon a stationary shaft 30, and arranged to be vibrated to or from the platen by a rocking cam-shaft 31, having a-crank-arm 32 connected by a link 33 with the usual release-lever 34. The effect of rocking the shaft 31 to the position of Figure 6 provides, locking means for holding the rolls released against the tension of restoring springs 35, so that only a slight upward movement of the release-lever 34 to the position of Figure 7 is required, to release the rollers 28 to the tension of the springs 35 for a web-feeding tension against the platen.

In the patent to Crews the front and rear papertables operate as edge guides for both theworkwebs and for the carbon-sheet holder, and the sheet-holder becomes a backing sheet for the manifolding pack during the. typing operation. This backing sheet is essential for Crews, for without it there would be no edge-guiding means above the typing line to hold the webs and carbons in alignment.

This improved structure provides for separate guides for the work-webs and for the carbonsheet holder, and the manifolding pack is backed directly against the platen-face, which is an advantage over the backing sheet of Crews, which becomes pitted in a short time from the types. To this end, the two plates of the front table 21 are formed with extensions 36, projecting at each side with the edges turned up for paper-edge guides 37 that have a greater spread than theguides 23 to provide for a wide carbon-holding sheet or carrier 38 which will expose a margin at either side of the work-webs, whereby said' sheet or leaf 38 may be clamped to the face of the platen at will. The two guides 37 guide the forward end of the sheet 38 just above the typing line, and to further hold the alignment of this sheet, suitable guides 39 are adjustably mounted on a rear paper-table 15. The upper edges of the two extensions 36 are employed as gages to determine a stripping position for the typed web-section as presently to appear. In this way the work-webs and carbons have separate guiding means, one guide in front and another guide at the rear of the platen. The carbon-holding sheet or carrier 38 may be a sheet of paper or fabric, and the forward end may have a plurality of parallel slots 40 cut therethrough, having a length equivalent to the width of the work-webs, two adjoining slots forming longitudinal tongues 41. A carbon-sheet 42, slightly narrower than the width of the webs, has its lower end passed through a slot 40 with the carbon-face down and then pasted to the rear face of the adjoining tongue below the slot. A carbon-sheet is provided for each slot.and each carbon-sheet rises above the edge of the sheet 38 sufficiently to cover the typing area of a printed section of the webs without the rear end of the sheet 38 leaving the control of the rear guides 39 on the paper-table 15.

For purposes of clamping the carbon-holding sheet to the face of the platen, the turned-up edge guides 37 of the front table 21 include an ear 37 to which is secured a stud 43 that pivotally supports an arm 44 having a bent-over foot to carry a pad 45 normally under the influence of a spring 46 that throws the pad against the face of the platen. To raise and lock the lifted pads at each side of the work-web, a rock-shaft 47 has end bearings at each bracket 16 and provided with an arm 48, and a stud 49 for each arm 44. The studs 49, riding under the arms 44, lift the pad 45 clear of the platen, and finally seat within a notch 50 in the under edge of the arms which holds the arms in a normal position with the pads raised away from the platen-face. A release-lever 51 is fixed to the shaft 47, which, when depressed by the finger, rocks the shaft and withdraws the two studs 49 from the notches 50 to release the two arms 44 to the tension of their springs 46, which throws the pads 45 against the exposed edges of the sheet 38 at either side of the webs.

It is desirable, after clamping the carbon-holding sheet 38, to then release the feed-rollers 28 by the continued depression of the release-lever 51. To this end, the release-lever 51 may be formed with an arm 52 carrying a stud 53 having an interruptive connection with the usual feedroll-releasing mechanism, as follows: The releaselever 34 is secured to the outer end of a short shaft 54 having a bearing in the platen-frame end 13. The inner end of said shaft 54 carries an arm 55 positively connected to the upper end of the link 33. To render this standard mechanism co-operative with the new release-lever 51, the arm 55 may be formed with an extension 56 having a pair of bent-over parallel ears 57 and 58 to house the stud 53.

The eccentric relation of the two shafts 47 and 54 is such that when the release-lever 51 is shifted forwardly from the Figure 4 position to that of Figure 5, the stud 53 has a free sweep to clear the ear 57 and abut the ear 58 of the extension 56 which releases the pads 45. The further movement of the lever 51 to the position of Figure 6 causes the stud 53 to drive the car 58 to rock the shaft 54 and release the feed-rollers 28. The swinging of the extension 56 causes the ear 57 to pass over the stud 53, and the stud becomes housed-in between the two ears 57 and 58 and provides a positive connection between the release-lever 51 and the arm 55 during the release of the feed-rollers. By a slight lifting of the depressed lever 51 to the full-line position of Figure 7, the stud 53 drives the ear 57 and rocks the shaft 31 until the springs 35 are-free to restore the rollers 28 against the platen, and the further manual lifting of the lever to normal position rocks the arms 48 and the studs 49 thereon raise the pad arms 44, flex the springs 46 and enter the notches 50 to hold the pads in raised position.

From this description, it will be understood that the webs have aligning means fore and aft of the platen; that the carbon-holding sheet is wider than the webs and has individual aligning means fore and aft of the platen; that the carbon-sheetclamping pads are mounted upon the extensions 36 of the front paper-table 21 and bind the sheet to the platen-face and not to the paper-table; that the printed forms may be separatedby perforated lines, or a suitable cutter, as 59, Figure 5-, may be mounted on the front table for tearing of! the typed forms; and that the manifolding pack, after it leaves the control of the feed-rollers, may be directed across the typing line and over the front table by the usual Underwood center finger 60 and held close against the platen at the printing line by the usual wing-scale 61.

The preferred mode of operation includes the threading of the leading-in web-ends through the slots 40 in the deiached carbon-holding sheet, and aligning the ends of the webs with the free ends of the carbon-sheets. with the feed-rollers cast off the platen, this assembled carbon-inlaying pack may be pushed around the pla' en from the rear to the position approximately shown at Figure 1, where the webs may be adjusted within the two side guides of the two tables 21 and 22, and ihe carbon-holding sheet adjusted to the side guides 37 and 39, when the feed-rollers are restored to bear against the face of the sheet 38 which overlies the webs 27, and the paten backfed to the first typing line on the webs by turning the finger-wheels 64st each end of the platenshaft. The progressive line-spacing of the webs feeds the carbon-sheet pack along the front paperiable 21, and should the lack of line-spacing operations in typing fail to fully advance the webs to align the severing line with the knife 59, the finger-wheels may be employed to complete the forward web-feeding movement to straighten out the carbon-sheets and advance the forward end of the carbon-holding sheet 38 into alignment with the top edges of the extensions 36 as an approximate gage for the web-stripping operation. The depression of the release-key 51' first operates to release the pads 45 against the exposed faces of the sheet 38 to hold the sheet and is carbon-sheets stationary upon the platen, and then release the webs from the feed-roller tension when the ends of the webs may be grasped by the fingers and drawn upwardly through the stationary carbon-sheets and around the stationary platen until the next following division line 65 is aligned with the edge of the sheet 38 when the feed-rolls are restored and the pads 45 lifted. The platen and webs are now backfed until the first web-severing line reaches the knife position which may also be the typing position for the next following web-form, and the typed web-section severed from the web.

The modified mode of operation illustrated at Figure 2 provides for longer carbons, the carbonarea being the equivalent of two web-sections, as 27- and 27 the section 27* using the upper p0 "tion of the carbons 42 until exhausted, when this section of the carbon may be torn off and the webs then relocated to co-operate wi h the remaining length of carbons. This provides the carbonholding sheet with carbons that are effective twice as long without becoming exhaus ed and requiring the removal of the sheet 38 from the platen downwardly through the lowest slot 40in the carbon-holding sheet 38 and the sheet back-fed around the platen,-'underthe ribbdn' fifi, witlrthe webs to the first typing-lineand then line-spaced forwardly with the web-sections, which will be manifolded by the "carbons until the end of the typing operation, when the carbon-sheets are straightened out and the sheet 62 and its carbon 63 are removed and the webs stripped from the stationary carbon-inlays prior to severing the typed section from the web, as already described.

No claim is herein made to the invention disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 315,548, filed October 27, 1928. The claims in this case are limited to features which are not disclosed in said application 315,548.

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 having a carriage, a platen for feeding a plurality of webs, and a platen-fed carbon-unit including a carrier having carbon-sheets that interleave with the webs for manifolding, the combination of paper-tables at the intake side of the platen, one table for the webs and the other table for the carbon-unit, and a single paper-table at the delivery side of the platen for the webs and the carbon-unit, the delivery paper-table having two relatively fixed edge-guides at each side thereof, one edge-guide for the webs and the other edge-guide for the carbon-unit to guide the carbon-sheets relatively to the webs.

2. The combination with a carriage having a non-displaceable platen around which may be fed a plurality of superposed form-printed workwebs, and a paper-table at the delivery side of the platen, of means for interleaving the leadingend forms of the webs with carbon-sheetsincluding a carbon-carrying leaf that is wider than the webs and the carbon-sheets, to expose edges of said leaf at both sides of the webs, upon the paper-table, feed-rolls pressing the leaf and the webs and carbon-sheets against the platen, means mounted upon the paper-table, operable to clamp the exposed edges of said leaf to the platen to hold the carbon-sheets stationary, the carbonleaf-clamping means including pads spring pressed towards the platen, and a key having means operable to release the pads to their springs and release the webs and leaf from the control of said feed-rolls while the webs are drawn around the platen and through the stationary carbonsheets a printed-form distance.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage having a platen for manifolding work-webs, of a carbon-unit including a carboncarrying leaf that is wider than the webs and operative to interleave the narrower webs with carbon-sheets, a paper-table at the delivery side of the platen, having edge guides for the webs and separate edge guides for the wider carboncarrying leaf, and individual paper-guiding tables at the intake side of the platen for the webs and for the carbon-carrying leaf.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage having a platen for manifolding work-webs, of a carbon-unit including a carboncarrying leaf that is wider than the webs and operative to interleave the narrower webs with carbon-sheets, a compound paper-table at the delivery side of the platen, having edge guides for the webs and separate edge guides for the wider carbon-carrying leaf, and individual edge anemia guides at'thej-intake side of the platen for-the webs arid-forthe carbon-carrying leaf.

5. In a typewriting' machine; the combination with a; carriage having a platen for manifolding w'ork -webs, of a carbon-unit including a carboncarrying leaf that is wider than the webs and operative to interleave 'the'narrower webs with carbon-sheets, a compound paper-table at the delivery side of the platen, having edge guides for the webs and separate ,edge guides for the wider carbon-carrying leaf, individual edge guides at the intake side of the platen for the webs and for the carbon-carrying leaf, and means for individually adjusting the intake edge guides for alignment with the guides on the delivery papertable.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage having a web-feeding platen, a paper-table at the delivery side of the platen to receive the platen-fed webs, and a release lever having means to release the webs from the platenfeed, of a manifolding pack for the webs, including a carrying leaf feedable around the platen with the webs and having a plurality of carbons bound to said leaf at one end thereof to interleave the webs with the carbons, means mounted upon the paper-table, operable to clamp the carbon-carrying leaf to the platen, and means connected with the clamping means and operable by the release lever to release the webs from the platen-feed and hold the interleaved carbons stationary with the platen while the webs are drawn around the platen and over the paper-table.

'7. In a typewriting machine, the combinationwith a carriage having a web-feeding platen, a paper-table at the delivery side of the platen to receive the platen-fed webs, and a release lever having means to release the webs from the platenfeed, of a manifolding pack for the webs, including a carrying leaf feedable around the platen with the webs and having a plurality of carbons bound to said leaf at one end thereof to interleave the webs with the carbons, means mounted upon the paper-table, operable to clamp the carboncarrying leaf to the platen, and means connected with the clamping means and operable by the release lever to release the webs from the platenfeed and hold the interleaved carbons stationary with the platen while the webs are drawn around the platen and over the paper-table, said connecting means including a rock-shaft journaled on the carriage, a shaft-rocking arm connected with the release lever, and a shaft-rocked arm connectible with the clamping means.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage having a platen, means for feeding superposed work-webs around the platen, guiding means on the carriage for guiding the webs around the platen, a carbon-unit including a carbon-carrying leaf wider than the webs and feedable with the webs with the edges thereof exposed at the sides of the webs and operative to interleave the narrower webs with carbonsheets, and a paper-table at the delivery side of the platen, of normally inoperative clamping means mounted upon the paper-table and engageable with the edges of the carbon-holding leaf and with the face of the platen, to hold the carbon-sheets stationary, and a release key, on the carriage, having connections operable to render the clamping means effective to clamp the carbonholding leaf to the platen and simultaneously release the web-feeding means, so that the webs may be stripped through the carbon-sheets and drawn around the stationary platen.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage having a web-feeding platen, a paper-table at the delivery side of the platen to receive the platen-ted webs, and a release lever having means to release the webs from the platenfeed, or a maniiolding pack for the webs, in-

cluding a carrying leai. Ieedable around the platen with the webs and having a plurality of carbons bound to said'leat at .one end thereof to interleave the webs with the carbons, means mounted upon the paper-table, operable to clamp the carbon-carrying leaf to the platen, means connected with the clamping means and operable by the release lever to release the webs from the platen-teed and hold the interleaved carbons sta-

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