US1938703A

US1938703A - Means for automatically feeding printed forms into a typewriter

Info

Publication number: US1938703A
Application number: US402870A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward Z Lewis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1929-10-28
Filing date: 1929-10-28
Publication date: 1933-12-12
Anticipated expiration: 1950-12-12

Description

Dec. 12, 1933. z LEwls 1,938,703

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FEEDING PRINTED FORMS INTO A TYPEWRITER Filed Oct. 28, 1925 2 Sheets-S heet- 1 jfiwerotolf' I JdwwxZ-Z.1Ieu 1is,

E. Z. LEWIS Dec. 12,' 1933.

MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY FEEDING PRINTED FORMS INTO A TYPEWRITER Filed Oct. 28, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 12, 1933 PATENT orrlca MEANS FOR AUTOMATICALLY F E E D I N PRINTED FORMS INTO A TYPEWRITER Edward Z. Lewis, Chicago, 111.

Application October 28,

20 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in means for automatically feeding small printedv forms into a typewriter.

The object of the invention is to provideimproved means whereby these forms, arranged in a pile, may be placed on the typewriter and by merely rotating the platen the bottom sheet is withdrawn from the pile, following the platen around to typewriting position and after the typewriting is completed is returned to the top of the pile or discharged from the machine, while the succeeding form is being drawn around the platen to typing position.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a typewriter; Fig. 2 is an enlarged end viewof the feeding mechanism;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a pile of paper slips showing its relation to the platen;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the novel mechanism associated with the platen;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section. through the platen; Fig. 6 is a similar section with the platen moved to a different position, and Fig. '1 shows a modified form.

The device may be built as a part of or attached to any typewriter, the particular machine 10 shown in the drawings being intended merely for illustrative purposes. The usual typewriter platen 11 is mounted on a shaft 12 and has the usual knurled knob 13 on the end for rotating it by hand. 14 is the rear of the ordinary typewriter carriage supporting a box or partial enclosure 15 holding the stack or pile of sheets of paper 16. -In the form shown in the drawings, these sheets of paper may be assumed to be printed forms which are folded over once and each has a pair of openings 17, punched therein. The box15 is of such size as to loosely embrace the pile of forms on three sides, the bottom form resting on the platen. A pair of projections or fingers 18 are caused to project from the platen, pointing in the direction of rotation of the latter, as shown in Fig. 5, and engage the holes 1'? in the lowermost double sheet as the platen is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow. These fingers are secured to a small shaft 19 which may extend along the platen, preferably just below the surface in a longitudinal groove, with one end mounted in an opening in the metal plate 20 at one end, the other end passing through and projecting from an openmg in an arm 21 at the other end. Said plate 1929. Serial No. 402,870

and arm turn with the'platen. This projecting end has on it an arm 22 (Fig. 2) fixed wit to turn with it, and a spring 23 connected to said arm 22 is arranged to hold the shaft 19in such position that the fingers 18 normally lie in a pair of small circumferential grooves 24 in the platen so that the fingers do not project above the surface.

In order to cause the fingers 18 to project above the surface of the platen at the proper time, i. e. when in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, a stationary plate 25 is provided at one end of the platen, one side of which is engaged by the rear part of said arm 22 as the platen is rotated, thereby rocking the shaft 19 against the action of the spring 23, thus lifting said fingers as they slide along the surface of the lowermost sheet of paper and directing the ends of said fingers accurately to the holes in the bottom sheet in the pile 16, which necessitates holding them away from the surface of the platen during a small part of the rotation thereof.

.After the arms 18 engage the holes in the paper, the arm 22 reaches the .end of the guide plate 25 and the fingers 18 snap back to the surface of the platen, holding the paper against Ashe platen. Thus the continued rotation of the platen by hand, and in the'same direction, draws the paper around between the platen and the pan 26, (Fig. 6) to the usual typewriting position in front of the platen, where it is engaged by feed rollers 26' located at the usual distance below the typing line. As the typewriting proceeds, the platen is rotated 'step by step in the usual manner (although this device is particularly adapted to one line work) and when the upper edge of the paper reaches a certain height the fingers 18 are again raised aboye the surface of the platen and quickly snap back, which movement disengages said paper from said fingers, as hereinafter described. This movement of the fingers is caused by the engagement of the arm 22.with a pin 27 also mounted on the same plate 28 on which the small cam shaped plate 25 is mounted.

A gear 29 is mounted on the platen shaft 12,

gages with an idler pinion 30 which in turn engages pinion 31 on a shaft 32 passing through said plate 28 and carrying feed rollers 33 thereon, engaged by a second feed roller 34. Each idler feed roller 34 is mounted-on a hinged plate 35, the lower end'of which is turned outwardly to aid in guiding the paper between the feed rollers, and the upper end of which is hinged to preferably just outside of the plate 28 and en- 7 a frame 36 arranged to slide back and forth on a bar 3'7 suitably supported at its opposite ends. The paper, as stated, is fed upwardly by rotation of the platen to the

feed rollers

33 and 34, being thrown forwardly, during such upward movement, against the lower ends of said hinged plates, which guide them between said feed rollers. The paper, due to its resiliency tends to straighten out more or less in any case and assume a position tangential with respect to the platen, except as it is compelled by the ends of the fingers 18 to follow the curve of said platen. As said fingers swing away from said platen to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 6, the paper assumes a vertical position against said hinged plates and substantially tangential to the platen and in this position the holes 1'7 near the top of the folded sheet are somewhat higher relatively, than the tips of said fingers 18 so that with continued rotation of said platenand in view of the increased angle between said fingers and said vertical sheet, said fingers are withdrawn from said holes. After the typewriting of a sheet is finished, further rotation of the platen results in feeding said sheet back onto the top of the pile as will be apparent from Fig. 6, or it may be discharged in a forwardly direction or in any other direction and withdrawn from the machine by hand. With the apparatus shown, the operator gives the platen a rapid turn after the printing operation thus rotating the

rollers

33 and 34 at a rapid rate and throwing the paper back on top of the pile.

By folding the paper in the manner shown, there is an unperforated span of paper above each pair of openings and therefore between each of two adjacent perforated layers of paper, which prevents the fingers from projecting too far through the openings. In the case of thin flexible cards, however, it is apparent that the end of the fingers may be so shaped as to engage the walls of the opening without projecting through far enough to draw down two cards at a time, and where the folded forms consist of several parts, the only one necessary to punch with holes is the bottom part.

The pile of forms, as will be seen, rests on the platen, the rotation of the platen tending to move the horizontal sheets away from the operator and against the rear wall of the guide 15. The bottom sheet of the pile being always horizontal no special appliances are necessary to hold said sheet in that position as the previous sheet is being drawn around the platen, the tendency of the rotating platen being to press the folded edge of said bottom sheet against said vertical rear wall. Many paper feeding devices require special means to cause the sheet next to the outside sheet of a pile of paper to remain in position and not travel along with the outside sheet, whereas in my construction this result is accomplished as stated, without special equipment.

It is desirable to place a sheet of paper of different color on top of the pile before beginning the typewriting, this colored sheet when it passes around the platen in its turn serving to warn the operator that the pilev has been completely typed.

In as much as there are always the same numof the machine and laid to one side after each one was typed.

The cycle of operations is such that at the completion of .the typewriting operations, the sheets of paper are in the pile in the same order as they were originally, that is to say thesheet originally at the bottom of the pile is at the bottom of the finished pile, the typewriting appearing on the top of each sheet.

Instead of punching holes in the underfiap of the folded sheet, it is evident that other arrangements may be employed to insure engagement of the fingers 18 with said sheet. For example, in Fig. 7, I have shown a modified arrangement wherein the folded fiap is provided with a pair of slots 38, instead of holes, the inner end of the slots being engaged by the fingers in the manner previously described. Also it will be apparent that an ordinary pile of envelopes placed on the platen face up will have the flaps engaged by said fingers and fed around the platen one at a time. The operation may be facilitated by cutting a special fiap having end portions parallel to the long edges of the envelope instead of inclined with .reference thereto.

While the device may be used for typewriting as many lines on each sheet as may be required, the machine is particularly adapted for use with printed duplicate forms where one line of typing only is necessary. Half a dozen carbon copies, or

.any number within the practical limits of the machine may bemade, the adjacent sheets having carbon backs and the folded flaps being nested into each other. To speed the operation a ratchet may be used which rotates the platen a complete turn-instead of the usual partial rotation at the time the carriage is thrown back to initial position. Thus by throwing back the carriage the platen is rotated sufllciently to throw the finished sheet on top-of the pile automatically and draw another sheet around to exact typing position thereby reducing the manipulation of the machine very greatly, and accomplishing all of the operations except typing by one motion.

What I claim is:

1. The combination of a typewriter platen, means associated therewith for confining a pile of sheets of paper adjacent said platen and movable means on said platen facing in the direction of rotation of the latter-and rotating therewith for positively engaging and removing the lowermost sheet of said pile and causing it to rotate with said platen to typewriting position.-

2. The combination of a typewriter platen having a recess therein, means associated with said platen for confining a pile of sheets of paper adjacentsaid platen, and movable means on said platen for securing the lowermost sheet of said pile to said platen and causing it to rotate with said platen to typewriting position, said means comprising a shaft having a finger mounted thereon in said'recess and means for effecting the movement of said finger outwardly beyond the surface of said platen and inwardly below said surface.

3. The combination with a typewriter having a platen with recesses and a longitudinal groove in its surface, of a shaft in said groove, a plurality of fingers on said shaft one positioned in each recess beneath the periphery of said platen, and means cooperating with said shaft during the rotation of said platen for moving said shaft to swing said fingers from and into said recesses.

4. The combination with a typewriter having a platen with a longitudinal groove in its surface,

of a shaft in said groove projecting beyond the end of said platen, a finger'on said shaft extending in the direction of rotation of said platen, a rocker arm on the projecting end of said shaft, and means engaged by said arm during the rotation of said platen for rocking said shaft to raise and lower said finger with respect to the surface of said platen.

5. The combination -of a typewriter having a platen with a longitudinal shaft below its surface and projecting beyond the end of said platen, a finger on said shaft extending in the direction of rotation of the surface of said platen, a rocker arm on the projecting end of said shaft, and a plurality of fixed means engaged by said arm successively during the rotation of said platen in one direction only for rocking said shaft at different points during such rotation.

6. In combination with a typewriter platen having a recess therein, paper engaging means in said recess movable above the surface of saidplaten from beneath the same for engaging and disengaging a sheet of paper at predetermined points in therotation thereof, means for causing such movement of said engaging means, and feed rollers, one of which is connected to said platen to be driven thereby for conveying said paper from said platen after the disengagement of the paper by said engaging means.

' 7. In combination with a platen having paper engaging means mounted thereon below the surface thereof capable of swinging above said surface for engaging a sheet of paper or disengaging the same,'means for causing such swinging move-- ment, a shaft parallel to said platen having a feed roller thereon, a second feed roller yieldingly held against said first feed roller for conveying said paper from said'platen after the disengagement thereof by said engaging means, gears connecting one end of said shaft with one end of said platen for rotating the former when said platen is rotated, and means adjacent said feed roller for supporting a pile of sheets of paper on said platen in position for successive engagement by said engaging means.

8. In a typewriter attachment, means actuated by rotation of the platen for holding thereto the bottom one of a pile of paper forms resting on top of said platen, means for retaining the remaining forms of the pile in fixed position, means guiding said bottom form to typing position, and means for depositing the: typed form on the top of said pile.

9. The combination of a typewriter platen, means associated therewith for confining a pile of sheets of paper above said platen, movable means on said platen for clamping to said platen the lowermost sheet of said pile and causing it to rotate with said platen to typing position, and

-means including gears and auxiliary rollers for accelerating the movement of said form and withdrawing it from said platen.

10. The combination'of a typewriter platen, means associated therewith for confining a pile of sheets of paper adjacent said platen, movable means on said platen for clamping to said platen the nearest sheet of said pile and causing it to rotate with said platen to typing position, and means for simultaneously guiding the previously typed sheet away from said typing position to the remote side of said pile.

11. The combination of a typewriter platen, means associated therewith for confining a pile of sheets of paper above said platen and to the rear of a vertical plane tangential with the front thereof, movable means on said platen and rotating therewith for clamping to said platen the lowermost sheet of said pile for removing'the same therefrom and causing it to rotate with said platen substantially three quarters of a complete revolution to typing position, and means in front of and above the typing line to guide the finished sheets upwardly from the front of said platen.

12. In a typewriter, a rotatable platen, means carried thereby for removing at each revolution the bottom form of a pile of small folded formsthat are resting on the top of said platen, means forguiding said forms around into typing position, and means for guiding the typewritten forms from the platen and to the top of the pile of forms.

13. The combination of a typewriter platen having a longitudinal groove in its face, of a shaft in said groove, a plurality of fingers on said shaft, means cooperating with said shaft during the rotation of the platen for moving the tips of said fingers in a horizontal direction from the point where they reach the topmost position, and means for subsequently moving them toward said platen.

14. The combination of a typewriter platen having a longitudinal groove in its face, of a shaft in said groove, a plurality of fingers on said shaft, means cooperating with said shaft during the rotation of the platen for moving the tips of said fingers in a horizontal direction from the point where they reach the topmost position,

platen, and means for quickly snapping said fingers out and back at another position during the revolution of said platen.

15. In combination with a typewriter platen,

'means for subsequently moving them toward said a three side box holding a pile of folded forms resting on the top of said platen, the bottom flap of each form having a perforation therein and a hook projecting from said platen in such a position as to engage a perforation at each revolution of said platen.

16. In combination with a typewriter platen, a three side box holding a pile of folded forms resting on the top of said platen, the bottom flap of each form having a perforation therein and a hook projecting from said platen in such a position as to engage a perforation at each revolution of said platen, said hook having means to draw it into said platen instantly after engaging said perforation.

17. The combination of a typewriter having a platen, of a shaft beneath the surface of said platen, a plurality of fingers on said shaft arranged in recesses in said surface and means cooperating with said shaft during the rotation of said platen for moving the ends of said fingers away from and toward the surface of said platen twice during each revolution.

18. The combination with a typewriter platen,-

of auxiliary feed rollers propelled by said platen, and means associated with said platen for automatically, during one revolution of the platen, re-

moving the bottom sheet of a pile of forms rest- 7 effecting a complete revolution of said platen,

-in'g thereon, clamping the form to the platen thereby carrying it'to typing position, releasing means carried by said platen for engaging sheets of paper and causing them to follow said platen for more than half a revolution, feed rollers located to engage said sheets after a one line typing operation, and positioned to feed said sheets toward their initial storage position, and driving means for said feed rollers operated by the rotav tion of said platen.

20. In a typewriter, a platen, means for guiding a sheet of paper around said platen, means on said platen for engaging the bottom sheet of a