US1941018A - Variable spacer attachment for typewriters - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 26, 1933. MURRAY 1,951,018

VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Aug. 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 5 1K 7 H Q 6-- 5 7 Dec. 26, 1933.

A. R. MURRAY VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Aug. 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 2%,, 1933. A.. R. MURRAY VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Aug. 8, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Dec. 26, 1933 ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VARIABLE SPACER ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Angeles, Calif.

Application August8, 1932. Serial No. 627,913

8 Claims.

This invention relates broadly to methods of producing typewritten copy in which the lines are of predetermined length, as in conventional printed matter, and more specifically to an attachment for typewriters whereby the method may be readily practiced.

A broad object of the invention is to provide a relatively rapid method of expanding or contracting the length of a typed line while the line is being set up, and without the insertion of such long or short spaces at any one point as might spoil the appearance of the text.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a mechanical attachment for typewriters whereby the spacing between words or" letters may be increased or decreased by a desired definitefraction of a full space;

As is well known, practically all printed matter such as that found in newspapers, magazines, or books is made up of lines of uniform length, so as to provide even margins on both sides, whereas typewritten work has an even margin on the left side but a ragged margin on the right side. It is readily possible to produce lines of uniform length when printing from type, for the reason that the words necessary to almost but not quite complete a line can be first set up, and then the spaces between some of the words increased by the insertion of variable width spaces to extend the line to full length. In the linotype, this spacing is efiected by means of wedges between the words which can be manipulated to uniformly increase all the spaces between words a necessary amount. However, whether the type is set by hand or produced in a typesetting machine, adjustment as to length is obtainable easily for the reason that the type composing the separate words is movable. In other words, all the letters that are to be in the completed line can first be inserted and then later moved as desired before the print or copy is made.

The-foregoing methods of expanding printed lines are not applicable to typewritten work for the reason that in a typewriter each letter as it is set up is impressed upon the paper in its final position and cannot thereafter be shifted to vary the length of the line. Therefore spaces in typewritten copy must be inserted at the time the letters are set up.

Heretofore,'to the best of my knowledge, the only known practical method of varying the length of a typewritten line has been to insert extra full spaces between words. This method is open to the objection that since words are normally spaced apart by only the width of a letter, or single space as it is commonly termed, the introduction of an extra full space doubles the normal spacing; this is readily apparent to an observer and spoils the appearance of the text.

In accordance with the present invention, I increase the length of a typed line by introducing fractional spaces between words or even between letters in a word, sufficient fractional spaces being inserted at one or more points in the line to extend the line to a desired length. By limiting the increased spacing at any one point to a fraction of a full space, and preferably to one-half space or less, I can obtain any necessary increase in the length of a line without inserting noticeably large spaces at any one point. Likewise, I provide for the shortening of a line by reducing the normal spacing between words, or even between letters in a word, by a small fraction of a whole space (preferably not more than one-quarter space), suflicient fractional spaces being removed at different points in the line to shorten it the desired amount.

This application is in part a continuation of my application, Serial No. 599,308, filed March so 16, 1932, on variable back-spacers for typewriters.

A full understanding of my invention may be had from the following detailed description read in connection with the accompanying drawings,

in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a typewriter equipped with my device;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional detail view in the plane II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional detail view in the plane IIIIII of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view taken along the broken plane IV-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical detail view taken in the plane VV of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a vertical detail view in the plane VI-VI of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a side elevational view showing a portion of a typewriter equipped with a modified form of attachment;

Figure -8 is a horizontal sectionaltview in the plane V'lIL-VIII of Figure 7; and

Figure 9 is a detail elevational view of a portion of the mechanism, taken in the plane IX--IX of Figure 8. Y

In Figure 1 there is shown a conventional typewriter, designated generally at 1, having the usual type keys 2, a back space key 3 and'a uni,- versal space bar 4. My attachment, designated generally at 5, is attached to the left side of'the 110 the opposite side of the typewriter.

frame of the typewriter adjacent the forward edge thereof. It comprises an outer case 6 having a plurality of keys 7 projecting forwardly therefrom, the ends of keys lying substantially even with and slightly to the left of the back space key of the typewriter, as shown in Figure 2.

The device designated generally at 5 in Figure 1 comprises a U-shaped frame member 50 (Fig. 2), the base of which is secured to the frame 8 of the typewriter as by screws 9. The forward arm 10 of the U-shaped member is provided with vertical slots therein for levers 11 upon the outer ends of which the finger pieces 7 are attached. Each lever 11 is pivotally supported at its rear end by a shaft 12 projecting outwardly from the base of the frame member 50. To normally urge the keys 7 into upper-most positions a plurality of spiral springs 13 are positioned about shaft 12, one end of each spring engaging with the rear arm 14 of the frame, and the other end hooking under its associated lever as shown at 15. Each of the levers 11 is independently rotatable about the shaft 12. To limit downward movement of the levers 11, each lever is provided with an adjusting screw 16 (Fig. 3) which is threaded into a lug 17, formed integrally with each of the levers 11, and is locked in a position of desired adjustment by a lock nut 18. The lower end of each adjusting screw 16 is adapted to engage with a stop plate 19 which is rigidly secured to the frame of the device and extends below all three of the levers 11.

A lever 20 is also rotatably mounted at one end on the shaft 12, this lever extending forwardly to a point just back of the adjusting screws 17 on levers 11, and being provided with an arm extending outwardly at right angles to and below the levers, 11. Lever 20 is normally maintained in uppermost position against the lower edges of levers 11 by one of the springs 13 on shaft 12.

Lever 20 is connected by a link 21 (Fig. 1) to a crank arm 22 mounted on the outer end of a shaft 23, which is rotatably journalled in bearing members 24 secured to the under side of the typewriter frame. Thus, as shown in Figure 4, each bearing 24 comprises an L-shaped lug, the short leg of which is attached by a screw 25 to the typewriter frame and the long leg of which projects downwardly and has an aperture therein to receive the shaft 23. A similar bearing 24 is positioned at the opposite end of shaft 23 on It is not shown in Figure 4 but it is to be understood that the construction is identical with that shown in Figure 4.

Mounted upon shaft 23 is a pair of members designated generally at 26 and 27 (Fig. 4) adapted to depress the back space lever and the uni-- versal space bar lever respectively when shaft 23 is rotated. Thus, referring to Figure 5, member 26 comprises a crank arm 28 rigidly secured at one end to shaft 23, as by a set screw 29, and pivotally attached at its opposite end by a pivot screw 30 to a link 31, the latter extending upwardly from the pivot screw 30 and being bent over and downward at the upper end to hook over the lever 32 which is a part of the conventional typewriter construction, and connects the back space key to the back spacing mechanism. It is important in my device that for any given rotation of shaft 23 the link 31 always engages the back space lever 32 at the same predetermined point in order to depress the lever 32 by a predetermined amount. Link 31 is therefore provided with a forwardly extending portion 33 at its lower end containing a slot 34, and a pin 35 is provided on arm 28 which projects through and engages with slot 34. A spring 36 serves to normally maintain lever 31 in such a position that the rear end of slot 34 engages with pin 35. However, when shaft 23 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction to depress the back space lever 32 the link 31 will move as a unit with arm 28 until it engages the upper side of the back space lever 32. Thereafter it can rotate about pivot 30, the pin 35 slipping forwardly through the slot 34. However, when the shaft 23 again rotates in clockwise direction into its normal position the spring 36 will restore the link 31 into its normal position with respect to arm 28 as shown.

The mechanism 27 for actuating the spacing lever 37 of the typewriter is broadly similar to mechanism 26 just described. There is this difference, however. The mechanism 26, shown in Figure 5, is designed to accurately depress the back space lever 32 a distance proportional to the rotation of shaft 23. On the other hand, mechanism 27. is designed to always depress the spacing lever 3'7 its full distance regardless of the distance through which the shaft 23 is rotated. A spring connection is therefore provided between the shaft 23 and the spacing lever 37. Thus, an arm 38 is rigidly attached at one end to shaft 23 and is pivotally connected at its outermost end to one end of a hollow shaft 39 within which is fitted a shaft 40, the upper end of which is pivotally attached to a lever 41 corresponding in general to the lever 28 in Figure 5. Thus the lever 41 has pivotally connected to its outer end a link 42 which extends upwardly and over the spacing lever 37. Link 42 like link 31 is provided with a slot 34a therein which engages with a pin 35a secured to the arm 41, and a spring 36a is provided to normally maintain the link 42 in a predetermined position with respect to the arm 41. Arm 41 is rotatably mounted upon shaft 23 and is actuated by rotation of arm 38 through the links 39 and 40. Thus, a spiral spring 43 is positioned within the hollow link 39 and bears against the lower end of link 40 to normally maintain the latter in an upwardly displaced position with respect to link 39. When shaft 23 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction arm 38 is moved upwardly and rearwardly, thus forcing link 40 upward by means of spring 43. ,The upward and rearward movement of link 40 in turn rotates the lever 41 to bring the link 42 into engagement with the spacing lever 37 and depress the latter. This movement continues until the spacing lever 37 is depressed as far as it will go. Thereafter the spring 43 compresses to permit continued rotation of shaft 23.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that whenever shaft 23 is rotatedin a counterclockwise direction the back spacing lever 32 is depressed a predetermined distance depending upon the are through which shaft 23 rotates, and the spacing lever 37 is, almost simultaneously, depressed the full distance necessary to operate the spacing mechanism of the typewriter. As a matter of fact the arm 38 is so oriented with respect to arm 28 that the spacing lever 37 is depressed slightly before the back spacing lever 32, and remains depressed during the entire period that the back spacer lever is depressed, and returns to normal position, moving the carriage forward one full space,

slightly after the back spacer lever has returned to normal position. This is for the reason that in some typewriters the carriage spacing mechanism functions incorrectly or is put out of order when a letter is struck while the back spacer key is depressed unless the universal bar has first been depressed and maintained in depressed position while the letter key is struck.

In the operation of a typewriter equipped with my device the carriage of the machine is back spaced a predetermined fraction of a full space by depressing one or the other of the three keys '7, these keys being identified by the numerals 1, 2 and 3, and each key serving to back space the carriage a different predetermined fraction of a space. Thus, when any one of the keys is depressed until its associated adjusting screw 16 encounters the stop plate 19, it engages with the horizontal arm 44 attached to lever 20, thus forcing the link 21 downward and rotating the shaft 23, by means of crank 22, to actuate the back spacing mechanism 26 and the forward spacing mechanism 27 as previously described. Of course, when the back space key 3 (part of the regular equipment on a typewriter) is fully depressed it back spaces the carriage of the machine a full space. It will therefore be apparent that by properly adjusting the screws 16 on the respective levers 11 associated with the keys numbered 1, 2 and 3 to limit downward movement of these levers, the shaft 23 can be rotated through different arcs when the different keys 1, 2 and 3, are depressed and thus move the back space lever 32 through different distances, less than the full distance, to back space the carriage desired fractions of a full space. In practice, I so adjust the screws 16 associated with the different levers 11 that depressing the number 1 key as far as it will go, back-spaces the carriage three quarters of a full space, depressing the number 2 key, back-spaces the carriage one-half space, and depressing the No. 3 key, back-spaces the carriage one-quarter space. Of course the carriage is maintained in back spacing position only while one of the keys '7 is depressed since the depression of the key simultaneously actuates the lever 37 associated with the universal space bar of the typewriter which causes the carriage to advance the fractional space to which it was retracted while the key was depressed, plus one full space.

The operation of a typewriter equipped with my device will now be explained by illustrating the reconstruction of a sample text which would be printed on an ordinary typewriter as follows:

Illustration A 1. Now is the time for 2. all good men to come Illustration B 1. Now is the time for 2. all good men to come Line 1 was expanded with a typewriter equipped with my device by introducing an additional half space before, and an additional half space after is by the following procedure:

The first word Now was typed by striking the letters N-o-w in succession, and thereafter striking the universal space bar once, all in the usual manner. An extra half space was then introduced before typing the succeeding word is" by striking the universal space bar again (thus introducing an extra full space), then depressing the No. 2 key on my attachment to back-space the carriage one-half space while striking the i key. The release. of the No. 2 key then permitted the carriage 'to advance one and one-half spaces. To properly position the letter s one full space from the letter i the No. 2 key was again depressed to back-space the carriage onehalf space while the s key was struck. The number 2 key was then released permitting the carriage to advance one and one-half spaces (in position to print a letter spaced one half space from the letter s) the universal space bar was then struck introducing another full space, and the remainder of the line written in the usual manner. By following the foregoing procedure very closely it will be observed that the space between now and is was increased from one full space to one and one-half spaces, and likewise, the space between is and the was increased from one full space to one and one-half spaces. Therefore, the entire text following the word is was advanced one full space, bringing the end of the last word is out to the dotted line shown in illustration A.

In the foregoing example, a line was expanded by adding fractional spaces between words, the spacing between letters within words being maintained the same as usual. However, in some instances, it may be more convenient to subtract or add fractional spaces between consecutive letters from the beginning of the line until a desired number of full spaces have been subtracted or added as the case may be and thereafter typing the remainder of the line in the usual manner. Thus, line 1 under Illustration A might have been expanded one full space by introducing an additional quarter space between the letters N and 0, between the letters 0 and w, between the letter w and the full space thereafter, and between the latter full space and the letter i of the next word, thus introducing the desired full space. Thereafter, the rest of the line could be typed in the usual manner. Where a line is expanded as just described by increasing the spaces between the letters in a word, it is desirable to increase the normal spacing by relatively small fractions of a full space. Where this method is followed exclusively, it may be desirable to provide more than three back spacing keys. Thus, five keys may be provided, one of which back spaces the carriage one-sixth of a full space; the next one two-sixths; the next one three-sixths; the next one four-sixths; and the last one five-sixths. Obviously the construction of a device employing five keys instead of three would differ in no material respect from that disclosed in the drawings, since the adjustments for the keys would be obtained in each case by adjusting the stop screws 16.

The embodiment of my device described in connection with Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, is very desirable for the reason that the carriage is automatically advanced one full space in addition to the fractional space it was previously back spaced upon the release of any one of the keys 7. However, it is possible to materially simplify the construction of the apparatus by eliminating the mechanism shown in Fig. 6 for actuating the universal space bar lever 3'7. A simplified form of my attachment which provides only for the actuation of the back space lever of the typewriter is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. This embodiment is identical in all respects with that described in connection with'the preceding figures except that the link 21, arm 22, shaft 23, and mechanisms 26 and 27 have been eliminated. Instead of actuating the back space lever as previously described, the mechanism shown in Figs. 7 and 8 operates directly upon the back space lever immediately back of the back space key. Thus, the lever 20a is provided with an extension 45 that extends forwardly through a slot provided therefor in the front wall 10a and is then bent to the right as shown at 46 to a point above the back space lever 47 upon the end of which the back space key 3 is secured. The end of portion 46 of the lever 20a is bent downwardly as shown in Fig. 9 to engage directly with the top of the lever 4'7.

The embodiment just described in connection with Figs. 7 and 8 is operated exactly the same as the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive except that following the printing of each letter the universal space bar of the typewriter must be depressed to introduce the extra full space. Where the attachment is not used extensively, the necessity of manipulating the universal space bar after each letter is typed is not serious and the apparatus has the advantage of being very simple and canbe more quickly attached to a typewriter than can the more complicated mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 6..

I have described my apparatus as particularly applicable to typewriters but it is to be understood that the method employed is also applicable to typesetting by using spacers of fractional width in addition to the usual full spaces. Thus, a type setter, in setting up line 1 under Illustration A by my method, would set up the line to the proper length in a single operation by inserting an extra half-space between Now" and is, and between is and the, whereas, in accordance with former practice he would first set up the whole line with normal spacing and thereafter expand the line by inserting extra spaces at random between the words until the desired length was obtained. My method is particularly applicable to type setting in multigraph machines in which letters and spaces can be inserted only one at a time through the end of a 'guide for holding a line of type. In accordance with the usual practice a line could be expanded in such devices only by first setting up the line, then ascertaining how much it would have to be increased in length and removing whole sections of the line in order to insert the necessary spaces to bring the line to the proper length.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that my method is applicable to the setting of type as well as to the operation of a typewriter, and it is to be understood that where, in the claims, I specify a typed line, I intend to include both lines printed, stencilled or embossed on a medium and lines of type from which a plurality of impressions may be taken.

I claim:

1. A device of the type described for attachment to a typewriter having a back-spacing predetermined fraction of a normal or unit space.

2. A device of thetype described for attachment to a typewriter having a back-spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable to the frame .of a typewriter, a plurality of keys mounted for movement in said frame, means linking said keys to the back space mechanism of the typewriter whereby movement of any key actuates said mechanism, and means for differently limiting the movements of said different keys whereby one key functions to back-space the typewriter carriage a-predetermined fraction of a normal space and other keys function to back-space the typewriter carriage different fractions of a normal space.

3. A device of the type described for attachment to a typewriter having a back-spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a plurality of keys mounted for movement in said frame, means linking said keys to the back-space mechanism of the typewriter whereby movement of any key actuates said mechanism, and means for differently limiting the movements of said different keys whereby one key functions to backspace the typewriter carriage a predetermined fraction of a normal space and other keys function to back-space the typewriter carriage different multiples of said first fraction.

4. A device of the type described for attachment to a common typewriter having a back spacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism, said device comprising a key operatively connected both to the back spacing mechanism and the universal spacing mechanism whereby upon actuation of said key said universal spacing mechanism and said back spacing mechanism can both be actuated by a single operation.

5. A device of the type described for attachment to a common typewriter having a backspacing mechanism and av universal spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a key mounted on said frame, means linking said key to the back-space mechanism of the typewriter, and means linking said key to the universal spacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement of said key in one direction actuates the universal spacing mechanism and then actuates said back-spacing mechanism to back-space the typewriter carriage and upon movement of said key to its original position, the typewriter carriage is advanced the distance it was previously back-spaced plus one full space, and means for limiting movement of said key in said first direction whereby such movement back-spaces the carriage a predetermined fraction of a normal or unit space.

6. A device of the type described for attachment to a common typewriter having a backspacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a plurality of keys mounted on said frame, means linking said keys to the back-space mechanism of the typewriter, and means linking said keys to the universal spacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement of said keys in one" direction actuates said back-space mechanism to backspace the typewriter carriage, and simultaneously actuates the universal spacing mechanism whereby upon movement of said keys to their original position, the typewriter carriage is vadvanced the distance it was previously back-spaced plus one full space, and means for limiting moveenore ment of said difierent keys in said first direction by different amounts whereby one key back-spaces .the typewriter carriage a predetermined fraction of a normal or unit space, and the remaining keys respectively back-space the carriage various even multiples of said first fraction.

7. A device of the type described for attach ment to a common typewriter having a back spacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism, said device comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a key mounted on said frame, means linking said key to the back-space mechanism of the typewriter, means linking said key to the universal spacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement of said key in one direction first actuates the universal spacing mechanism into the position it occupies when the universal bar is depressed, and

then actuates said back-spacing mechanism to.

back-space the typewriter carriage and whereby said key upon being released to its original position first releases said back-space mechanism to advance the carriage the distance it was previously back-spaced and subsequently releases the universal spacing mechanism to advance the carriage an additional full space, and means for limiting movement of said key in said first direction whereby such movement back-spaces the carriage a predetermined fraction of a normal or unit space.

8. A device of the type described for attachment to a typewriter having a back-spacing mechanism and a universal spacing mechanism. said device comprising a frame attachable to the frame of a typewriter, a plurality of keys mount-ed on said frame, means linking said keys to the back-space mechanism of the typewriter, and means linking said keys to the universal spacing mechanism on the typewriter whereby movement of said keys in one direction first actuates the universal spacing mechanism into the position it occupies when the universal bar is depressed, and then actuates said back-spacing mechanism to back-space the typewriterlcarriage and whereby each one of said keys upon being released to its original position first releases said back-space mechanism-to advance the carriage the distance it was previously back-spaced and subsequently releases the universal spacing mechanism to advance the carriage an additional full space, and means for limiting movement of said different keys in said first direction by difierent amounts whereby one key back-spaces the typewriter carriage a predetermined fraction of a normal or unit space, and the remaining keys respectively back'space the carriage various even multiples of said first fraction.

ALAN ROBERT TMURRAY.

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