US1993959A - Tabulating, typewriting, or like printing machine - Google Patents

Description

March 12, 1935. F, G s ENGLlsH 1,993,959

TABULATING, TYPEWRITING, OR LIKE PRINTING MACHINE March 12, 1935. F. G. s. ENGLISH TABULATING, TYPEWRITING, OR LIKE PRINTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 26, 1931 March 12, 1935.

F. G, s. ENGLISH TABULATING, TYPEWRITING., ORVLIKE PRINTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 26, 191 5 sheets-sheet 3 FIG?.

lllllllllllll I4 PatentedMari 1.2, 1935 I l l v UNITED STATESIPATENT OFFICE TABULATING, TYPEWRITING, OR LIKE PRINTING MACHINE Francis Guy Sydenham English, Thornton Heath, England; assignor to The Accounting & Tabulating Corporation of Gt. Britain Limited, London, England Application August 26, 1931, Serial No. 559,475 In Great Britain September 9, 1930 7 Claims. (Cl. 197-114) This invention relates .to tabulating, typewrit- In a further feature of the invention the platen ing or like printing machines, in which the paper is carried by a carriagel constituted by a unit to be' printed is passed around a cylindrical platen structure including the whole of the mechanism by means of which the paper is fed. l associated with the platen and means for carrying In such machines, there is provided line spaca paper roll, the unit being arranged s0 as t0 5 ing mechanism by which the platen may be robe slidable through the tabulator whereby the tated step by step, and also space feeding mechaplaten may be so disposed in a tabulator that the nism for independently rotating the platen a premiddle printing u'nit may operate on either end of determined amount when it is desired to make a the platen. ^Moreover, by making the platenl slid- ,10 quick ejection of the paper. The main object of able through the .tabulator' ready access is prol0 the present invention is to provide means whereby vided for inspection and repair purposes.

the space feeding mechanism can also be utilized Other features of the invention will be pointed as a complementary mechanism, that is to say, out in the appended claims.

a mechanism whereby ejection of the paper may Inorder that the invention may be more ciearbe effected in two stages, the second stage being ly understood reference will now be made to the i6 complementary to the first, the amplitude of which' accompanying drawings, whichv show by way of is dependent upon the amount the platen has been example, some preferred embodiments of the-inmoved by the line spacing mechanism. vention. f

' According to the invention, a tabulating or like In the drawings:

printingmachine including a rotatable platen, Fig. -1 is a pictorial view showing the preferred 20 comprises the combination with line spacing form of unit construction of paper carriage acmechanlsm for step by step rotation of the platen cording to the present invention; and space feed mechanism for independently ro- Fig. 2 is a detail view with parts removed for tating the platen a predetermined amount, of clearness showing in elevation the mechanism means operable at will in the initial position of producing space and complementary feeding ac- 28 the space feed 'mechanism for connecting the cording to the invention;

space feed mechanism. to the line space mecha- Fig.Y 3 is a plan view of the construction shown nism, so as to operate therewith and progresin Fig. 2; sively diminish theamount the platen may be 'ro- Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation showing the contated by the space feed mechanism, and means trol of the'connection of the platen to its spindle 80 for positively locking the space feed mechanism and of the connection of the platen to the detent to the line space mechanism when these two of the normal feeding means hereafter referred mechanisms have been connected. to; and

' In the application of the invention to a tabulat- Fig.' 5 shows a modification hereafter referred ing printing machine, it is necessary to lock the to. f

space feed mechanism to the line space mecha- Fig.. 6 is an enlarged side elevation of'Fig. 1 nism so that operation of the space feed mechashowing moreV particularly.; the arrangement of nism with-the line space mechanism is definitely the cam member with respect tothe pawl in the ensured during' the fast working of the tabulator, initial position;

40 and it is a further object of the invention to pro- Fig. 7 is an elevation cut away to'show a modi- 40 vide such lock'ing means, together with means fied control of the plungers vfor releasing the whereby when the platen has been moved by the platemand line space mechanism, the predetermined amount Fig. 8 is a section onvthe line VIII-VIII of of the space feed mechanism, the latter is un- Fig. '1.

v'i5 locked, restored and relocked to the line space In the drawings likereference numerals desig- 46 mechanism before the next line space step. nate the same or similar parts.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide Referring now to the drawings, the platen 1 is an improved releasing device for the platen where mounted on a spindle 2 supported in carriage by the platen may be released both from the frame members 3 connectedvby a back plate-1 and spindle and the normalspace feeding mechanism a rail 5 on which are slidablycarried -brackets 50 actuating the platen during machine operations. 6 including bearing faces 'l which ride on the back Preferably the releasing device is provided in plate 4, the brackets 6 being formed at the top combination with the manual control above refor the reception of the paper carrying spindle ferred to whereby correct feeding of the paper 8. which spindle is also seated in the 'members 3 may be obtained with perfect alignment. of the carriage-frame. v

By such arrangement the spindle 8 and the faces 7 of the brackets 6 retain the latter in position. As an alternative to mounting the brackets 6 on a separate spindle 5 the brackets may be formed to engage over the back plate 4 and to slide thereon so that their position can be readily adjusted.

The platen spindle 2 is provided at each end with operating knobs 9 for effecting manual movement of the platen. To move the platen so as to feed the paper a greater distance than that which can be obtained by the normal feeding means or to eject the paper from the platen, the latter is providedwith a spur wheel 10 mounted on the'spindle 2 and arranged to gear with a ratchet wheel 11 with which engages a pawl 12 pivoted at 13 on a plate 14 rotatable about an axis member 15 carried by the frame members 3.

Fixed to the plate 14 is a pinion 16 actuated by a rack 17 connected at 18 to a handle 19 conveniently pivoted at the end of the rail member 5. The rack is retained on the pinionI by a guide plate 20 conveniently pivoted on the boss of the pinion 16.

On pulling forward the handle 19 in the direction of the arrow a (Fig. 1) the rack turns the pinion and accordingly the plate 14, thereby angularly moving the pawl 12 which if engaging the ratchet .1l similarly moves the ratchet, imparting to ti. platen l a movement through the agency of the spur wheel l0.

On the plate 14 is pivoted at 21 an arm 22 hereafter referred to as the locking arm, which includes a projection 23, and also there is pivoted on the plate 14 at 24 a latch member 25 including a projection 26. l

As the plate is rotated when the lever 19 is pulled down, the locking arm and latch move with it. Thenormal `position of the parts is shown in Fig. 2, that is with the locking arm 22 engaging the back of the pawl 12. Accordingly, the pawl is held into the ratchet.

When, however, the arm 19 is pulled down and the plate 14 is rotated in an anti-clockwise direction, the projection 23 of the locking arm after a predetermined movement will be brought into engagement with a stop 27 conveniently carried on a register plate 28 hereafter referred to.

The engagement of the part 23 of the locking arm with the stop 27 causes the locking arm to tilt about its axis 21 against the tension of a spring 29 disposed to normally hold the locking arm in engagement against the back of the pawl.

When the locking arm is rocked at the expense of extending-the'spring 29 the latch 25 moves from a notch 30 on the locking arm to a second notch 31 thereon, through the agency of a spring 32 holding; the locking arm in this position.

In other wordsthe locking arm and latch are initially interlocked by engagement of the latch in the notch 30 of the locking arm, the latter engaging the back of the pawl 12, and upon the locking arm being rocked by being brought against the stop 27 the locking arm is retracted from the pawl and held in retracted position by the latch engaging'the notch 31 of the locking' arm.

The pawl being free thel platev 14 may be returned to normal position. This is effected by a coil spring 33 anchored at one end conveniently to a collar A34 fixed on the axis member 15, and. at the other end to the pinion 16 which being xed to the vplate 14 causes the return of the pawl 12 to yinitial position when the handle 19 is released.

As the pawl returns it rides over the ratchet,A

being a free member,`but on arriving at the initial position the latch isA brought up against an abutment 35 which causes the latch to rock vabout its pivot 24 at the expense of tensioning thespring 32 and moving the latch out of thev notch 31, Whereon the spring 29 again becomes effective to rock forwardly the locking arm 22 bringing it against the lback of the pawl 12 and thereby holding the latter into the teeth of the ratchet. In this position the locking arm 22 bearr on the pawl 12, the latch 25 being held in readi ness by the spring 32 to enterv in the notch 31 when the locking arm 22 is rocked.

As clearly shown in Fig. 2 the pawl 12 is provided with a spring 36 which tends to keep the pawl lightly in engagement with the ratchet 1l.

Thehandle 19 having been released and'the parts returned to normal position as shown in Fig. 2 by the operation of the abutment 35 on the latch 25, the handle is then ready for the next operation. It will be noticed that on each operation of the handle a plurality of revolutions of the platen are obtained depending on the gearing employed` between the ratchet 11 and the spur wheel 10. Y

It will be noted that when the handle is pulled down the platen is actuated, and that when the handle is released it is reset to produce a similar movement of the platen on the next operation of the handle. As, however, when reset, the pawl is connected to the 'ratchet and the platen is geared to the ratchet, the handle is pulled down if` the platen is actuated from the machine.

Accordingly as the platen is actuated during the normal operations of the machine, the handle is pulled down towards the end of its stroke, and it is only possible to complete the stroke when actuating the handle.

On the other hand, if there is no movement of the platen from the machine the full stroke of the handle can be obtained, in other Words the operation of the handle produces a movement in the platen which is complementary to the movements of the platen produced by the machine.

In order to render the supplementary feeding means comprising the handle 19 inoperative as regards actuation from the platen and to enable the said means to be utilized as an ordinary space feeding device, the abutment 35 is constituted as,

a spring pressed pin provided with a head 37 and guided in a boss 38 carried conveniently on an arm 39, hereafter referred to, mounted on the axis member 15.

If the head 37 is pulled out the abutment 35 is Withdrawn and this retracted position may be maintained by turning the head 37 so that the pin 40 thereon engages the end of the boss 38.

When the handle 19,.with the abutment Withdrawn, is now pulled down and released, the locking arm and latch, subsequent to the projection 23 engaging the abutment 27, remain interlocked in the second position, that is to say with the latch 25 engaging the notch 31 of the locking arm so that the latter is held out of engagement with the pawl even when the initial position is reached. The pawl is then merely held by its spring 36 on the ratchet 11. Consequently, if the arm 19 is manually operated the ratchet wheel is moved and the platen may be rapidly moved a plurality of revolutions, for instance, for vthe purpose of ejecting paper therefrom, while in order to permit of theratchet being free to move in either direction, a cam member conveniently formed by the arm 39, is provided, having a cam face 41 on to which the pawl rides when the initial position is reached, and only when the abutment is withdrawn, to positively lift the pawl out of the ratchet. At this time the ratchet can be moved in either direction, and accordingly the platen can be turned in either direction by manipulating the knobs 9.

The limit position of the parts in such circumstances may be determined by recessing, for instance at 42, the arm 39, and providing on the pawl 12 a pin 43 which engages in the recess at the end of the. stroke, and also which conveniently forms the means whereby the pawl is rocked by the cam.

In Fig. 6 is clearly illustrated the arrangement -of the cam, so that it is only operative when the abutment lis withdrawn. lWith the abutment in, the cam is. prevented from lifting the pawl by reason ofthe'abutment stopping the rearward movement of the pawl before the rise of the cam becomes operative. Thus the pawl engages in lthe teethof the ratchet as shown by the full lines." When the abutment is withdrawn, however, rearward movement of the pawl is not terminated until the cam has lifted the same into a position just free of the teeth of the ratchet, that is with the point Aof the pawl substantially aligned with the apex of the right hand tooth as shown in dotted lines.

Referring 'now more particularly to the arm 39 mounted on the axis member 15, thearm 39 is carried outside a plate 28 hereinbefore referred to as the register plate being formed with graduations 44 against which is read the edge 45 of the arm 39; for example with the edge 45 of the arm 39 on the topmost graduation the pawl is in its` limit initial position, and operation from the handle will cause the maximum rotation of the ratchet, for example 8 inches of paper, whereas if the arm is brought to the position so that its edge 45 registers with the third graduation from v the top then the paper is only moved 6 inches, the

lgraduations preferably being associated with numbers indicating the movement of the paper as indicated at 46. v

The position of thel arm 39 on the graduation corresponding to 8 inches is assured by a stop 47 on the plate 15- (see Fig. 1) and each position of the arm is retained by the arm being provided on the inner sidewith teeth 48 which engage with serrations 49 on the plate 28.

The arm 39 is secured in position by a set screw 50 being screwed in position against a spring washer. 51 which is compressed only to an extent-permitting a slight rocking of the arm 39 to bring the teeth 48 on said rocking arm into and lout of engagement withthe teeth 48 on the plate As shown in Fig. 1 the end of the platenl remote from the control handle 19 is provided with a releasing device most-.clearly shown in Fig. 4, by which the platen may be released from the normal space feeding mechanism and from its spindle.

The feed ratchet wheel of the normal feed spacing mechanism is indicatedv at 52, this ratchet being operated in known manner from al rocking arm 53 which actuates a bell crank carrying the feed pawl of the wheel 52.

'In the construction illustrated the arm 53 is.

carried on a telescopic shaft including preferably a solid part 54 and a tubular part 55, the latter being provided with an arm 56 which is rocked at each operation ci!l the machine, in a manner as shown and described, for example, in British Patent No. 328,282.

By providing a telescopic arrangement the platen is actuated irrespective of its position in the machine. y In Fig. 1 the guide rails of the machine are indicated at 57 and the rails of the carriage at 58, the bracket member indicated at 59 being also a fixed part of the machine for carrying the tubular part 55 of the shaft actuating the feed mechanism of the platen.

Connected to the ratchet 52 is a normal detent 60 with which is associated a detent roller (not shown) which may be actuated from the lever 61 shown at the other end of the carriage and which lever is employed to rock the ba'ck pressure rollers (only shown in the Fig. 5 construction hereafter referred to) away from `the platen.

As shown in Fig.' 5 the lever 61 may be depressed over spindle 2 and the nose 61h caused to rock cam plate 61e fixed to spindle 6lb on which are mounted brackets 61e carrying the pressure rollers 6lf.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 4 which shows the platen disconnected both from its spin-` dle and the detent, the detent 60 is carried on a sleeve extension 62 of the platen 1, and on the sleeve extension is carried a fixed clutch member 63. This clutch'mernber is of duplicate nature having parallel rings of ,teeth indicated at 64 and 65 respectively, with which engage clutch members 66 and 67 movable over guide pins 66a, 67a, respectively, these clutch members being in the form of crown wheels having pointed teeth and having one more tooth than the corresponding fixed clutch member so that micrometer engagement is produced.

stance by gripping, the sets of plunger members 71 and 72 are separated, causing also a separation of the clutch members 66 and 67 from the teeth 64 and 65 of the fixed clutch member.

At this time the platen being connected to the fixed clutch member is disconnected from its spindle and also disconnected from the detent 66 so that in fact it is a floating membereasily manipulated for the insertion and adjustment Aof paper'. The segmental members may be bevelled on their under face, and the casing 70a made slidable to cause by co-operation with the bevels contraction of the segments. p

If at this time the handle 19 is also brought down to its limit position, that is with the locking arm engaging the stop 27,y and -then the con- Itrol device at the other end of the platen including the segments 70 is released, then the roller detent will be seated properly within the teeth of the detent and on releasing of the arm 19 the platen will be in proper position for subsequent and correct feeding of the paper with perfect alignment.

Further, as the teeth on the ratchetbear a direct relation to the teeth` on the detent (e. g. two teeeth on the detent equal one on the asA ratchet) the actual movement of the paper to be obtained by moving the handle 19 is determined.

As an alternative to the gripper device for actuating the sets of plungers 71 and 72, the modication shown in Figs. 7 and 8 o'f the drawings may be employed, wherein a pair of pivotally mounted arms 81, 82 are substituted for the segments 70.

Each of the arms 81, 82 is curved about the spindle 2 Within the recess formed in the fixed clutch member 63 and is provided with a tongue 83 which loosely engages in a slot 84 in the member 63, to constitute a pivotal axis for the arm, the external end -of which is bent outwardly to form a projection 85 which passes through a longitudinal slot 86 in a slidable casing 87a.

The arms 81, 82 each carry a pair of oppositely disposed plungers, one from each face, the arm 81 carrying the plungers 87, 88, and the arm 82 the plungers 89, 90.

The plungers 88, 90 correspond to the set of plungers 71 shown in Fig. 4 and engage with the clutch member 66, whilst vthe plungers 87, 89 correspond to the set of plungers 72 and engage the clutch member 67.

When the clutch members are engaged under the action of the springs 68, 69, the spring pressure also causes the plungers to position the arms 81, 82 so that they are crossed as shown in Fig. 7, with the projection 85 engaging the left-hand edges of the slot 86 in the casing 87.

To separate the clutch members and thereby release the platen, the casing 87a is given a transf verse movement to the right, and in consequence the arms 81 and 82 are caused to pivot about their pivotal axes until substantially aligned, and thus effect longitudinal displacement of the plungers 87 to 90 and a separation ofthe clutch members.

To limit the transverse movement of the casing 87a a screw 91 mounted in the clutch member 63, and riding in a slot 92 in the casing, is provided, the screw Iabutting the left-hand of the slot to terminate the movement.

In order to facilitate actuation of the casing 87a and rotation of the platen when released, a knurled ring 93 is provided on the casing.

When employed on a platen which is slidable though a tabulator, the arrangement according to this modiiication greatly facilitates release of the platen when the latter is disposed within the tabulator.

Reference will now be madeto the preferred construction shown in Fig. 5.

In this construction the pawl 12 is controlled by a single member which functions as a locking arm, and a latch for the pawl.

To this end a forked lever 73 provided with arms 74 and 75 is loosely mounted on a pin 76 carried by the plate 14 which also is provided with an anchor for a spring 77 attached to one end of the lever 73.

In this construction the pawl 12 is rabbetted v at 78 for co-operation with the arm 75 of the As shown in Fig. 5, that is with the control handle 19 in initial position, the arm 75 engages within the rabbets of the pawl 12 holding it into the ratchet l1 so that when the handle 19 is pulled down, or the platen revolved by the space feed, the ratchet is rotated. l

At the bottom of the stroke the arm 74 is engaged by the stop 27 causing the lever 73 to rock about the pivot 76 at the expense of extending the spring 77; this movement retracts the arm 7 5 from the rabbet 78 of the pawl 12 and the spring pulls the lever laterally so that the arm 75 moves on to the back of the pawl 12. In other words this movement is permitted by slotting the lever 73 at '79 so that there is some freedom of movement about the axis member 76.

The pawl being but lightly engaged at the back by the arm 75, the pawl 12 is virtually free, and on release of the handle 19 is enabled to run over the ratchet 11 until the handle 19 reaches initial position.

As the handle reaches initial position the arm 75 is brought up against the abutment 35, the arm 75 being shaped at 80 so that the engagement of thev abutment produces a return lateral movement of the lever 73 about the axis member 76 permitting the spring 77 to return the arm 75 into the rabbet 78, thereon the parts are again in operative position for the next movement of the handle 19.

In this construction also, the abutment 435 may be withdrawn and then the pawl 12 will be held out of engagement as before by the pin 43 engaging in the arm 39 so that the supplementary means may be utilized for space feeding.

By the arrangement shown in Fig. 5 the lever of the arm 39 may be set and then if the platen is actuated an amount equivalent to the full movement of the handle, the handle is automatically returned to initial position by reason of the stop 27 actuating the lever 73 and releasing the pawl 12 so that the ratchet is free to return under power from the spring 33 effective through the pawl 12, and if the machine continues to operate the handle 19 will be brought forward as before until the machine stops, thereon a complementary movement of the platen is eiected by actuating the handle 19, for example supposing it is desired to place the paper in twelve inch lengths, the arm 39 willbe set at the graduation 6, and if the machine moves less operations than is required to move the paper through 6 inches, then the arm 19 will be moved t'o the end of its stroke started by the operations of the machine, and then a second time so that the total movement of the paper will be twelve inches.

On the other hand, if the machine moves the paper more than 6 inches it will produce a complete movement of the handle and its return, and movement of the handle in the next stroke equivalent to the amount of movement produced in the machine, so that on operating the handle the" complementary movement alone will be produced.

By such an arrangement not only can a definite setting corresponding to the registrations on the plate 28 be attained, but multiples of any setting.

As shown in Fig. 1, there may be associated in the unit structure a plate 81,` the lower edge 82 of which forms a sighting line against which the paper on the platen is brought into register when setting the paper. The top of this plate 81 may be bevelled to form a knife against which the paper may be cut off, and at the back of the plate 81 there may be provided a Asecond plate 83 which deects the paper coming from the platen upwardly immediately behind the aforesaid plate 81. These plates conveniently are carried by the frame members 3.0i the structure.

By the present invention, a platen carriage for a' tubular may be constructed which includes a readily controllable platen, that is a platen on which the paper can be fed and immediately be arranged in desired register and alignment, whilst the subsequent feeding of the paper ef- `fected on the working of the machine occurs in regular spacing intervals, whilst at the end of a sequence the paper is rapidly moved so that the position for the commencement of the next sequence is automatically brought quickly into position.

It will be understood that at the end of the number of items on an account such as an invoice or statement which is being printed, a total will be taken and that suitable mechanism will be provided for stopping the machine after the total whereby the operator can then pull down the handle of the supplementary means to feed the paper forward an amount complementary to that fed by the machine so that the next account sheet is brought into proper register for printing on.

Further when headedV account sheets or forms are employed and a sheet is completely filled up',

the machine will be arranged to stop when the item-just prior tothe feeding of the next sheet is printed, so that the handle of the supplementary means may be pulled down to eject the paper the amount of the heading.

In tabulating machines, as is well known, items or information is printed a complete line at a time, the line printing taking place step by step at a high speed and furthermore the size of the accounts or other matter normally dealt with is quite often of considerable length `necessitating perhaps three, four or more revolutions of the platen. By constructions according to the invention long accounts or forms may be readily fed through the platen either by space feeding or complementary feeding, utilizing the supplementary means herein described.

Due to the fact of the high speed of working of the tabulator, it will be appreciated that the action of the line spacing mechanism-on the sup` plementary means for complementary feeding is very much in the nature of a quick jerk or snatch and furthermore the load imposed on the pawl of the supplementary means is still further increased by reason of the relatively strong spring provided for resetting the pawl when released. For these reasons it is necessary that on.the operation of the complementary feeding feature, thecOnnection of the line spacing mechanism to the supplementary means should be positive. To this end, thepreferredconstruction of Fig. 5 is employed, the pawl being locked to the ratchet when line spacing of the platen is being effected in such a manner that there is no possibility of slip occurring. On the other hand, however, this construction definitely permits of the pawl being released by the action of the machine togive the multiple feeding feature. In this connection is `will be understood that release resetting and relocking of the pawl occur in the interval of a line spacing step, that is before the next step, after the release of the pawl takes place.

By thesupplementary means 'being readily `adaptable either for space feeding or complementary feeding as desired, it 'will be seenthat insertion, manipulation and ejection of the paper is easily performed with the minimum of operaamount, means for engaging said pawl with said ratchet wheel as the pawl is rotated whereby said ratchetwheel is turned for space feeding of the platen, locking means for locking the pawl to said ratchet wheel, whereby the pawl is rotated as the ratchet is turned by the platen, means for releasing said locking means when the pawl has moved said predetermined amount, and means for restoring saidl pawl to its normal position when released, of a retractable stop for engaging the locking means in the initial position of the pawl to cause said locking means to relock said pawl to said ratchet wheel. means for holding said stop in the retracted position, whereby said locking means is not engaged, and cam means operable in the retracted position of said stop to disengage said pawl from said ratchet wheel as said pawl returns to the initial position.

2. A tabulating, typewriting or like printing machinecomprisin'g the combination with'a rotatable platen, line space ,mechanism for step by step rotation of said platen, ofl a ratchet wheel geared to said platen, a rotatable plate, a pawl -carried by said plate for rotation Aabout the axis spring controlled locking arm pivoted on said" plate for locking said pawl to said ratchet wheel under the spring action, a stop member disposed to actuate said locking arm at the end of said predetermined amount to thereby release the pawl for restoration to its initial position, a latch member carried on saidl plate for retaining said locking arm in the actuated position, meansv for restoring said pawl to its initial position subsequent to said release, a retractable'stop in the initial position of said pawl for moving said latch member out of engagement, with the locking arm whereby the latter again locks the said pawl to said ratchet wheel,'means for holding said stop in the retracted position, and a cam positioned so as to be operable only when the stop 4is retracted for lifting the saidpawl out of engagement with said ratchet wheel when said pawl is in the initial position.

3. A tabulating, typewriting or like printing machine, comprising the combination with a rotatable platen, line space mechanism for step by step rotation of said platen, a ratchet wheel geared to said platen, of a rotatable plate, a pawl carried by said plateA and adapted for rotation about the axis of said ratchet wheel for a predetermined amount, la latch on said pawl, a lockingmember pivoted to slide on said rotatable plate, said locking member including a radial locking varm extending from the pivot of said member so as to engage the latch on the pawl and .positively lock the pawl to said ratchet wheel, a

from the latch to release the pawl after the rotatable plate has been moved the predetermined amount, spring means for causing said locking 7,5

member to slide about its pivot and position said locking arm free of' the latch on said pawl when said locking arm is disengaged, means for restoring said pawl to its initial position subsequent to said release, and means for again engaging said locking arm with said latch when said pawl is restored.

4. A tabulating, typewriting or like printing machine, comprising the combination 'with a rotatable platen, line space mechanism -for step by step rotation of said platen, a ratchet wheel geared to said platen, of a rotatable plate, a pawl carried by said plate and adapted for rotation about the axis of said ratchet wheel for a predetermined amount, a latch on said pawl, a locking member pivoted to slide on said rotatable plate,A said locking member including a radial locking arm extending from the pivot of said member so as to engage the latch on the pawl and positively lock the pawl to said ratchet wheel, a stop member disposed to move the locking mem- -ber about its pivot so as to disengage the radial armV from the latch to release the pawl after the rotatable plate has been moved the predetermined amount, spring means for causing said locking member to slide about its pivot and position said locking 'arm free of the latch on said pawl when said locking arm is disengaged, means for restoring said pawl to its initial positionsub-` sequent to said release, and settable means for again engaging said locking arm with-said latch when said pawl is restored.-

5. In a tabulator printing machine including a rotatable platen, the combination with line space mechanism which rotates the platen step by step alternately with each printing operation and space feed mechanism for independently rotating the platen a predetermined amount, of means operable at will in the initial position of the space feed mechanism for locking the space feed mechanism to the line space mechanism so as to operate therewith, and progressively diminish the amount the platen may be moved by the space feed mechanism,and means whereby when the i platen has been moved by the line space mechanism the said predetermined amount, the space feed mechanism is unlocked, restored and relocked to the'line space mechanism before the next line spacing step.

6. A tabulating,` typewriting or like printing machine, comprising the combination with a rotatable platen, line space mechanism for step by step rotation of the platen, a vratchet wheel geared to said platen, of a rotatable plate, a pawl carried by said plate and adapted for rotation about the axis of the ratchet wheel for a predetermined amount, means tending to engage the pawl with the ratchet wheel, a'latch on said pawl, a locking member pivoted to slide on the rotatable plate, said locking member including a radial locking arm extending from the pivot of said member so as to engage the latch on the pawl and positively lock the' pawl to. the ratchet wheel, a stop member disposed to move the locking member about its pivot so as toA disengage the radial arm from the latch to release the pawl, after the rotatable plate has been moved the predetermined amount, spring means for causing said locking member to slide about. its pivot'and position said locking arm free of the latch on said pawl when sai-d locking arm is disengaged, means for restoring said pawl to its initial position subsequent to said release, a retractable stop in the initial position of said pawl, cam means on said locking member adapted to engage with said stop lwhen said pawl is restored to move said locking member so that said locking arm engages with the latch on the said pawl, means for holding the said stop in the retracted position whereby said locking member is not moved, and a cam positioned so as to be operable only when said stop is retracted for lifting said pawl out of engagement with said ratchet Wheel in the initial position,

7. A tabulating, typewriting or like printing machine comprising in combination with a rotatable platen, line space mechanism for step by step rotation of said platen and a ratchet Wheel geared to said platen, of a rotatable plate, a pawl carried, by said plate and adapted. for rotation about the axis of said ratchet wheel for a predeterminedl amount, a latch on the said pawl, a locking member pivoted to slide on said plate, said member being constituted by a forked lever having a radial locking arm extending from the` pivot of said member, so as to engage said latch on said pawl and positively lock said pawl to said ratchet wheel, a 'stop member at the end of said predetermined amount and disposed so as to engage a further arm on said member and thereby move said member about its pivot so as to disengage'said locking arm from said latch to release said pawl, spring means for causing said locking member to slide about its pivot and position said locking arm freeof'the latch. on said pawl when said locking arm is disengaged, lmeans for restoring said pawl to its initial position subsequent to s'aid release, and means for engaging said locking arm with said latch when said pawl is restored.

FRANCIS GUY SYDENHAM ENGLISH.

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