US2003693A - Typographical slug - Google Patents

Description

Patented June 4, 1935 i i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPOGRAPHICAL SLUG Walter w. mm. Wilmette, m., assignor, by

memo assignments, to Teletypesettcr Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application June 20, 1931, Serial NIL-545,774

4 Claims. (Cl. 101-474) cializing in late stock market news have adopted the method of setting up only that portion of the slug which carries the name of the stock placing it on a galley and thereafter manually setting or composing the information relating to the price indication or quotation, which is of a changeable nature. In this manner the stock I designation or fixed information is composed or set-up in advance and the new or late information is set or composed manually. Under such a plan, this stock quotation matter is maintained (or kept alive", as it is known in the printing trade) in the page or on the galley and corrections are made by hand as the changes occur. which may be received over the ticker or telegraph service. This method requires an enormous amount of time and a very large operating personnel. In some cases one or more clerks call out the quotation or fill out a copy blank for the quotation and each compositor of the stock table makes the necessary corrections manually in the section of tabular matter assigned to him.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a simple, rapid, and eiilcient method and system of composing and arranging reports or tables.

The above object of the present invention is accomplished according to the preferred form thereof by the use of an automatically controlled line casting machine which produces slugs or bars of type containing the quotations of the stocks with great accuracy and high speed and materially minimizes the likelihood of figures being displaced or transposed. These slugs or bars are cast with a frangible part containing an index number determined in accordance with any one of the well known stock listing systems and assigned to a particular stock which identifies the slug with its companion slug which contains the designation of the stock and which is pre-set, thereby making it unnecessary to cast a slug containing both the name of the stock and its quotations. In assembling the slugs carrying the index numbers with the pre-set or stock designation slugs which are previously arranged in the page or galley, the frangible part of the former slugs is readily broken off so that there is no interference in the printing. Specifically, the frangible part of the slugs is cast with a fin-like projection which carries the index num- 5:

ber produced less than type high and which readily breaks when it is bent due to its placement laterally of the pre-set slug.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description of the preferred em- 0 bodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a diagram of a system of typesetter mechanism controlled automatically from a perforated tape which may be prepared tele- 15 grapically,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a group of composed matrices,

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the slug-casting mold,

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the slug-casting 20 mold preparatory to molding or casting,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one form of slug cast in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of an alternate form of slug cast in accordance with this invention,

Fig. '7 is a perspective view of a pre-set slug,

Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the slug in Fig. 5,

Fig. 9 is a view illustrating the relative position of a slug in a galley,

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a complementary pair of slugs, and

Fig. 11 illustrates a portion of a stock table set by the method of thepresent invention.

Typesetting by telegraph comprises funda- 35 mentally a telegraph system and a mechanical type composing apparatus. The latter may, be such as is disclosed in U, S. Patents Nos. 436,531 and 436,532, to O. Mergenthaler, dated Sept. 16, 1890, in which circulating matrices are released 40 from magazine channels by operating escapement latches. Such release is made in the order in' which the characters are to appear in print and then assembled in line. The composed line is thereafter transferred to the face of a mold 4 and the mold filled with molten metal which when solidified forms a slug or integral line of type which has received on its edge the impression of the matrices. Thus is produced a slug with type characters thereon. The matrices are 50 thereafter elevated and returned through distributing mechanism to the magazine channels from which they were first released.

The line of type may be composed telegraphically by the method set forth in Patent No.

1,970,567, issued Aug. 21, 1934 to L. M. Potts, in which the previously mentioned escapement latches are adapted to be selectively operated.

The patent discloses a printing telegraph receiver adapted to a modern type-slug-casting machine, whereby the type-slugs may be produced automatically under the control of telegraph signals. I

A diagrammatic illustration of such a control is disclosed in Fig. 1. In this figure, the keyboard perforator I2 is of the type shown in copending application Serial No. 390,252 filed Sept. 4, 1929 by E. Kleinschmidt et al., while the transmitter I3 is of the construction disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 1,635,131 dated July 5, 1927; the reperforator l6 of the type shown in co-pending application Serial No. 411,122 filed Dec. 2, 1929 by E. Kleinschmidt; and the automatically operated slug casting machine l8 may be as disclosed in aforementioned Patent No. 436,531 and Patent No. 1,970,567.

In the system shown in Fig. 1 the information from the stock ticker is edited at a central station, at which place a tape II is perforated by a keyboard perforator l2 in accordance with said information and fed to a transmitter l3 by means of which signals are transmitted over line wire l4 to a series of receiving stations l5. At each receiving station the signals are received by a reperforator I6 by which a tape I1 is perforated identical with the originally perforated tape II at the central station. Tape I1 is then utilized to control the operation of a selector mechanism associated with the typesetting or slug-casting machine l8, substantially as disclosed in the aforementioned Patent No. 1,970,567. By this method any number of remote stations I5 may be provided wherein the stock quotation information is directly set 1"; on the typesetting machines under the direct control of the central station, so that one editing operation sufilces for any number of newspapers.

Slug production Fig. 2 shows the arrangement of a composed line of matrices. This line together with the suitable number of spacers 10,- or expansible space bands l9 as shown in Fig. 4, is presented to the face of the mold to effect the casting of a slug or integral line of type substantially as described in the aforementioned patents. Now, in accordance with this invention, it is proposed to produce a slug as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 8 wherein each slug 20 is provided with a frangible portion 2|. As is well known in the printing art, the mold comprises a slot-like aperture in the mold disk. In modern devices of this class the molds constitute separate units, which are re movably attachable to the mold disk. In Fig. 3 is shown such a mold 22 with the main parts separated and arranged with a. body adapted to be fastened to the mold disk by means of screws 23-23 or any other suitable method of attachment. The mold 22 is provided with a cap 24, a

right-hand liner 25, and a left-hand liner 26 which are adapted to be clamped to the body of the mold by means of swivel bolts (not shown) or similar means.

The right hand liner 25 is generally of the same length and for this reason is termed the constant liner, it being necessary to change it only when a thicker or thinner slug body is desired. The left-hand liner 26 can be changed for slugs of different length and thickness. The space between the ends of the liners 25 and 2.6

- and hole 3| control the position of the liner 25.

The mold cap 24, by means of a dowel 32 fitting intothe hole 33 in the liner 25 is positioned accurately in relation to the body 22.

To produce a slug substantially as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 liner 26, Fig. 3, is provided with a shallow notch 34, adjacent the molding space or chamber (Fig. 4) and disposed outwardly toward the matrices. Therefore, when the line of matrices is justified, that is to say, when the matrix line is expanded to the proper width by means of the expansible spacebars or bands I 3, (Fig. 4), as is well known in the art, a recessed space 34 is formed by means of which the frangible portion 2| integral with the slug or line of type 20 (Figs. 5 and 6) is produced.

To render the portion 2| more readily frangible, there is provided in the preferred embodiment herein disclosed a ridge portion 36 (Fig. 3) disposed on the edge of the notch 34 nearest the molding chamber, which is adapted to produce a groove 31 (Fig. 8) in the under surface of the portion 2| contiguous to the body of the slug. It is, of course, obvious that the height of the ridge portion 36 must be of a lesser dimension than the depth of the notch 34.

As previously mentioned, each slug is provided with an index number pertaining to the stock, which is cast on the frangible part 2| of the slug 20. In this connection, a matrix 30 (Fig. 2), is provided, wherein the letter character is punched or incised in the face or casting edge of the matrix instead of at the bottom of a notch or indentation, as is the common practice in the art. As is well known, it is from these indented characters that the raised characters are cast on one edge of the slug. The purpose of positioning the punched character as shown on matrix 30 is to produce on the slug, in the casting process, a character of less height than the character to be impressed or printed. Refen'ing to Fig. 8, the character marked 38 is shown to be of less height than the characters marked 39; that is, character 39 is less thantype high. If desired, the low characters may be so cast that they are of positive form, as shown in Fig. 6, instead of negative form like printing type, as indicated in Fig. 5. However, it may be desirable to utilize the same font of type as is used to produce the slugs. This may readily be done, in which event the characters 33 will be type high.

Table method Figs. 9, 10 and 11 relate to the preparation of stock quotation tables. The slugs when cast are placed in a vertical row or column in a galley 42 (Fig. 9). Each column comprises a left-hand row of pre-set slugs 4| and a right-hand row of replaceable slugs 20. As previously noted, the slugs 4| are composed and'cast in advance and convey information of a fixed nature, such as the name or abbreviation of the stock, and are set on the galley 42 to be held in readiness to receive their companion slugs 20. To produce these slugs 4| by the method according to this invention a perforated tape may be prepared locally at each newspaper ofilce for the stock designations, and by running the tape through the automatic slug-casting machine a fresh set of stock designation slugs may be produced each day.

When the slug 20 has been cast in accordance with the latest information or stock quotation it is placed endwise against the corresponding end of its companion pre-set sing, in the manner shown in Fig. 9, with its frangible part 2| overhanging the pre-set slug ll. While slugs 20 and H are maintained in this relative position the operator scans the information conveyed on the pre-set slug 4| and also the index character marked 38 on slug 20 to note if they agree. If he observes that the index character marked 38 agrees with the information on slug ll, slug 20 is then pressed downward, into place, either manually or in any other suitable manner. When the slug 20 has reached substantially the dotted line position 43 in its downward path the frangible part 2| will have yielded and been forced obliquely upward as shown at 44, Fig. 9, thus sufliciently weakening the frangible part so that it will break off under the further pressure required to thrust the slug 20 into its proper position.

In Fig. 10 is clearly illustrated in plan view the relation of slugs ill and II. The stock abbreviation N. Y. C., chosen for the purpose of illustration is clearly shown on slug ll, and on slug 20 are clearly shown the stock index marked 38 (which we have assumed to be N! for purposes of illustration) and the price or quotation indicated at 3!. The columns thus properly prepared are transferred to the page form preparatory to being stereotyped, as is well known in the art. But, as previously mentioned, the new and latest quotations are being constantly received telegraphically and are composed directly and automatically on the typ graphical machine. It therefore becomes apparent that in order to furnish the last minute stock market news to the public, provision must be made to change quickly the quotations previously set up in the page form. By employing the method disclosed herein such last minute changes or alterations can readily be made by removing the now obsolete slug 20 and replacing it with the new slug conveying the latest information.

A modification of the above method is to cast the high", "low, and "close quotation each as a separate slug. In this case a complete quotation might comprise merely the stock designation and either the high, low or closing price. The first quotation item of the day for each stock or commodity would require sending three quotations; viz., high, low, and close, each accompanied by a stock designation or index. A new "high quotation would require sending a single price and a stock designation. Likewise, a new low or a new closing" quotation would require sending only a single price and a stock designation.

In Fig. 11 a portion of a stock quotation table is shown as it appears in printed or published form. That part of the column to the left of the line 40-40 is allotted to the name or abbreviation of the stock. In the parlance of the trade this portion of the column of slugs in the galley or in the page form is known as the stu On the other hand, that portion of the column to the right of line lit-40 is allotted to the price or quotation of the stock, and since it is well known that these prices fluctuate, the reason for providing replaceable slugs for this portion of the column is readily apparent.

An effective method has thus been provided for quickly, accurately, and eificiently handling the volume of stock data received and printed by newspapers and like enterprises.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoirig description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

The invention claimed is:

1. In the typographical slug-casting art, a slug adapted to be associated with a pre-set slug, said first named slug comprising a frangible portion adapted when said first named slug is assembled in printing relation with said pre-set slug to be severed by the cooperation of the adjacent edge of said pre-set slug with the frangible portion.

2. In the typographical slug-casting art, a slug adapted to be associated with a pre-set slug, said first named slug comprising a frangible portion adapted when said first named slug is assembled in printing relation with said pre-set slug to be severed by the shearing coaction between the adjacent upper edge of said pre-set slug and the frangible portion.

3. In the typographical slug-casting art, a slug adapted to be associated with a pre-set slug, said first named slug comprising a portion integral thereto, the conjunction of said portion and said first named slug being of reduced dimension whereby when said first named slug is assembled in printing relation with said pre-set slug said portion is severed by the cooperation of the adjacent edge of said pre-set slug with said portion.

4. In the typographical slug-casting art, aslug adapted to be associated with a pre-set slug, said first named slug comprising a portion appurtenant thereto, and means conjoining said portion and said first namedslug effective when said first named slug is assembled inprinting relation with said pre-set slug to render said portion more readily severable by the cooperation of the adjacent edge of said pre-set slug with said portion.

' WALTER W. MOREY.

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