US2103921A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 28, 19317.

Mb m@ h! 5 o 'ww om:

N 0 R mm m we m a 4v u n ATTORNEY Dec. 28, 1937. R G TH PSON 2,103,921

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGOZ.

v j I g P S Q F E N m S o 00 INVENTOR RUSSLL G, THOMF'SGH BAY/Q D86. 28, R TH P N ZJDSEZI TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR RUSSELL a. THOMPSON KKK QQQ G ATTO RN EY Patented Dec. 28, 1937.

UNITED STATES 1 PATENT OFFICE mnwnrrmc MACHINE Application February 20, 1937, Serial No. 126,903

Claims.

This invention relates to typewriting machines and more particularly to locking mechanism therefor. It has special application to powerdriven typewriters which have a multiplicity of against operation when the actuator for one type action is in operation, but the carriage-return actuator is cooperatively associated with the crowding-lock units so as to be prevented from operation when any type action is in printing position, and furthermore, the operation of returning the carriage locks the entire type-actionselecting keyboard until the carriage has been returned to its home position.

It is a further object of the invention to include in cooperation with such a crowding-lock mechanism a simple means for locking the typeaction-selecting keys when the line-end margin has been reached bythetraversing carriage.

The invention consists of a row of shiftable units confined between limiting stops at each end with a predetermined amount of looseness or play, and blades on the various type-action actuators and a blade under control of thecarriagereturn-mechanism actuator and also undercontrol of cooperative line-end margin stops, any one of which blades is adaptedto be entered between the shiftable units to close up the row and prevent the introduction of any other blade until the first entered blade has been removed. By this means a key, selected for the purpose of causing a type action, may be operated to engage an actuator for the particular type action with a driving unit, and this actuator will enter its blade between the shiftable units and prevent operation of any other type-action-selecting key, or the carriage-return key, to move its actuator into engagement with the driving unit. When, in the course of the letter-feed traverse of the carriage, its line-end margin stop engages a cooperative stop mounted. on the frame a locking blade common to the line-end margin and the 5 carriage-return enters between the units and the entire type-action-selecting keyboard is locked until the margin release key is manually operated to disengage the cooperative stops which withdraws the blade. After the typing of the last letter of a line the carriage-return key may be key-selective power-operated type actions, an

depressed to cause engagement of its actuator with the power-drive unit which reintroduces the blade constituting the line-end margin lock and locks the entire type-action-selecting keyboard during the carriage-return movement of which a preliminary step is the line-spacing of the roller platen onthe traversing carriage.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side view of a power-driven typewriter with a part of the frame and top cover removed to more clearly show the interior construction. Also for the sake of clearness various parts unnecessary to an understanding of the present invention have been omitted.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view partly in horizontal section of the machine shown in Fig. i.

Fig, 3 is a view in perspective taken from the rear of the machine with part of the frame removed and the construction generally skeletonized to more clearly show the invention.

Fig, 4 is a view in perspective of a part of the crowding lock mechanism and actuating devices for one of the blades.

Fig. 5 is a detail view in end elevation of a part of the line-spacing devices.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-45 of Fig. l.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, a typewriter frame is indicated at l0 having side walls H and I2 and a rear wall IS. The 'side walls I l and I2 are joined by a bar or backbone M reinforcing the frame and for supporting and guiding various actuating devices later to be described. An anchor bar l5 also connects the side walls H and I2 and a comb-slotted bar 18 extends between the side walls of the machine and serves as a support for the shiftable units of the crowding lock device. A paper carriage is indicated at C suitably mounted on the frame for the usual letter-feeding movement under the influence of a conventional spring motor (not shown) controlled by any suitable escapement mechanism as indicated by the dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 1 at E. The carriage has opposite end plates 20 rotatably supporting a roller platen 2| and also supporting a margin stop rack 22 and a carriage rail 23 mounted in anti-friction bearings in a track 24 supported in the conventional way by a case-shift or balancing frame, the construction or operation of which frame does not enter into the present invention. Also supported between the end plates of the carriage is a rail 25 the rear edge of which runs against a face plate 26 of a center tie member 21 suitably supported by the frame of the machine.

A power-drive unit is shown at 38- This unit is preferably in the form of a toothed or fluted roller mounted in suitable bearings in the side walls H and i2. This roller is adapted to be continuously rotated by an electric motor. For transient engagement with the driving unit 30 a multiplicity of actuators 3B are respectively mounted in slots 92 of the backbone i l and guided in these slots by a pin 33 passing through the backbone id and common to all of the actuators 3|. These actuators are slotted as shown at 36 to receive the pin 33 and each actuator carries a pivoted pawl 95 having teeth 36 adapted to enage the teeth of roller 38 when any actuator is moved around the pivot pin 93 by any one of a plurality of dogs 37. These dogs project respectively into the slots 32 of the backbone it in position to contact the actuatorstl and swing the pawls 35 into engagement with the driving unit. Each dog is pivoted on the end of a key lever .98, all of the key levers being of substantially uniform shape and'all of them being'pivotedon a rod ll which passes through the backbone E4 in parallelism with the rod 33. Upper and lower stops 42 and 43 limit the range of movement; of the key levers and return springs 96 anchored to a plate 45 on bar I5 serve to restore the key levers against the upper stops 42 when keys 46 are released after depression. A key 41 tops a carriage-return lever 48 which is fulcrumed on the rod 4| and is provided with one of the dogs 31 which is adapted to move an actuator 58 corresponding in design to the actuators 3| except that it has an upper extension 5| pivotally connected to a lever.52. This lever is pivoted at 53 to the frame of the machine and its opposite end 54 is pivoted at 55 to a toggle tending arm 6| which has a laterally extending lug 62 forming an offset part of a horizontally extending blade 53 at the bottom of the actuator. At the extreme forward ends, of the blades 63 return springs 84 connect the actuators with an anchor plate 85 secured to the under face of-the backbone I4. I

A crowding lock'section, best shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4, comprises the bar 16 extending between the side plates of the frame and a row of relatively shiftable units 81 positioned in a shouldered portion 68 of said/bar, which shoulder is formed in part by a platefll secured to the under face of the bar and extending forwardly. The bar and its attached plate I0 are comb-slotted as indicated at H to constantly receive the lugs 62 of the actuators and guide the blades in the crowding lock section. The shiftable units 81 are preferably in the form of uniformly sized balls which rest in the shoulder 68 on platforms '2 provided by the forwardly extending slotted portion of plate 18. The bar I6 is longitudinally milled on its under side toward the front to provide a groove for the reception of the balls 61,

and lips 13 of thebar which are defined by the longitudinal milling and comb-slotting operations overhang the balls and in conjunction with lthe platforms 88 retain them in position. End

aioaoai eccentric by which the amount of looseness or play in the entire row of units may be determined. This amount of play is fixed as the thickness dimension of any one of the blades 63 so that as one blade-is entered between' two adjacentshiftable units the units are tightly packed between the limiting stops at both ends. Thus 'all other blades are held against entry and all of the actuators are held against movement by their respective keys until the blade previously entered has been withdrawn.

When any type-action-selective key 416 is depressed its associated dogi3i is moved to engage one of the actuators 8i and swing it around pivot pin 99 thus engaging its pawl 35 with the driving unit 30. The swinging movement of the actuator introduces a horizontal part of blade 63 between adjacent balls 61. The subsequent downward movement of the actuator introduces, the

. when the blade 8| is in position between the end stop 15 and the next positioned ball 81 of the crowding look, no type action may be set in operation as all of the blades 63 of actuators 3| are held against movement.

The devices for controlling movements of the blade 8! will now be described. Theyinvolve, first, a conventional line-end margin stop 82 adjustably fixed on the carriage stop rack 22, and a cooperating stop in the form of a lug 83 forwardly projecting into the path of the stop 82 from a bar 84 pivotally supported at one end on /an arm 85 and at the other end on a link 86 which in turn is pivotally supported on an arm 81. The arms 85 and 81 are fixed on the upper ends of rock shafts 88 and 89 respectively and these shafts are suitably journaled 'in lugs 90 and 9| projecting forwardly from the rear wall- I3 of the frame. letter feed direction from right to left the stop 82 on thecarriage bar 22 engages the lug 83 and shifts link '84 from right to left. By arm 85 the rock shaft-88 is rotated to swing a fixed arm 92 and through a connector 93 swing a .U- shaped lever 94 around a stud 95 which is fixed in a bracket 98 attached to the rear wall l3 of the frame. The movement is in a direction to push forwardly. a rod 18 pivoted to the end of lever 94 at 19. The forward end of rod 18 is pivotally; secured to a rocker frame 91 which is mounted on a stud 98 projecting from a boss 99 on the side wall 12 of the frame. The rocker frame 91 lever is pivoted on a stud I04 which passes through the bell crank lever I05 and into a boss 196 ofa bar I01 secured to the side walls of the 7 frame and having a laterally extending arm I98 fora purpose later to be described.

The lower :end of lever I03 has a rearwardly extending portion with an inturned fiange H8.

,A set screw HI passes forwardly through this flange and bears against a lip H2 at the lower As the carriage moves in its end of an arm H3 of bell crank lever-I05. At thev extreme lower end of arm N3 the blade 8| 75 is pivoted and normally held retracted from the units of the crowding lock by a spring I I4.

When the rod 18 is advanced forwardly as stated and rocks the rocker frame 91 the upper end I02 of lever I03 is moved rearwardly advancing set screw III to move the arm II3 of bell crank lever I05 forwardly, which advances theblade 8| into position between the end stop and the next adjacent ball 61 of the crowding lock mechanism. It will be seen, therefore, that engagement of stop 82 of the carriage with lug 83 causes all the type-action-selecting keys to be locked in the position shown in Fig. 1. For the reason that no blade I33 of any actuator can be moved rearwardly around the pivot pin 33 and inasmuch as the dogs 31 substantially abut their respective actuators, no appreciable, or actuator-engaging, movement of the key levers can be had.

A margin release key I is shown depressed in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The key lever I2I for this key is substantiallyin the form of the other key levers and is pivoted in like manner on the pin 4I. However, this key lever I2I has a rearward extension I22 the far end of which is provided with two slots I23 and I24 substantially concentric with the pivot 4 I. In the slot I24 is a pin I25 connecting the end of the margin release lever with a link I26 which in turn connects with a bell crank lever I21 pivotally mounted on the end of extension I08 of bar I01 and therefore pivotally supported by the frame of the machine. The other end of the bell crank lever I21 is connected by a rod I28 with a rock arm I29 fixed on the shaft 89.

When the margin release key is depressed the rear end of the key lever I2I is lifted raising the link I28 and swinging the bell crank lever I21 to pull the rod I28 forwardly in a direction diagonal of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The rocking of the arm I29 and shaft 89 in the consequent direction moves rock arm 81 at the top of the shaft 89 to swing the link 84 rearward on the pivot provided by its connec: tion with the forward end of arm 85. Thus the lug 83 is released from engagement with the stop 82 and immediately passed beyond said stop by return spring I30 which pulls lever 94 back to normal position. The restoring of lever 94 to normal position moves rocker frame 91 in the reverse direction and through the connections just described removes the set screw III from bell crank lever I05 allowing spring II4 to retract the blade 8|. To insure the retraction of the blade bell-crank lever I05 is positively rocked by the key lever I2I through the extension I22 by picking up a stud I33 in the slot I23 which stud is on a link I34 pivotally connected to the bell-crank I05.

After additional typing, if desired, the carriagereturn key "is depressed causing engagement of the pawl 35 of actuator 50 with the teeth of driving unit 30. There is a consequent downward movement of the actuator 50 which by reason of its connection with lever 52 pulls down the end of the lever until it engages a lip I3I on the rocker frame 91. This rocks the frame in the same manner that it was rocked by advancing the rod 18 under the influence of the margin release stops and through the same links and levers the blade 8I is advanced into position between the end stop 15 and the next adjacent ball 81 of the crowding'lock mechanism. Pulling down the end oflever 52 as described also straightens a substantial toggle, constituted by the other end 54 of lever 52 and link 55, until spring 54 takes effect on the other side of pivot pin 55. This toggle action forces the clutch plate 51 outwardly around suitable fulcrums which cause a friction coupling of tape drum I35 with a shaft I36 which preferably is an extension of the continuously rotating power driver 30. The drum I35 rotates to wind up a tape I31 which passes around an idler I38 mounted on the frame and around another idler I39 suitably mounted on the frame and the end of the tape is connected to a line-spacing lever I40 at I4I'.

Winding of the tape I31 on to the drum I35 first pulls down the linespace lever I40 causing a pawl P to engage with line-spacing ratchet wheel I42 of a conventionalplaten rotating mechanism to line-space the platen a required amount. The lever I40 is guided in a slot I43 in a bracket I44 which also carries the idler I39. When the linespace lever has reached the limit of its downward movement continued wind ng of the tape returns the carriage until its other margin stop I46 engages lug 83 of bar 84. This swings arm 85 and shaft 88 in the reverse direction and acts through the medium of parts 92, 93, 94 and 18 to reverse the direction of swinging movement of rocker frame 91, thus releasing lever I02 and allowing spring II4 to withdraw blade 8I from its position between the locking units. Also effected by this reverse movement of rocker frame 91 is the breaking of the toggle 54-56 by the upward movement of lip I3I which raises one end of lever 52 to move the pivotal connection 55 past the center line of spring 56 which latter collapses the margin stop, the carriage return key may be de- I pressed without first operating the margin release lever, thus setting the friction clutch in operation as heretofore described and returning the carriage directly from its position of engagementof stop 82 with lug 83 to its position to begin another line of writing.

Adjustable knock-off screws I41 are threaded in the bar I6 in position to engage cam faces I48 of the respective actuators 3| and disengage them from the driving unit by throwing or swinging their lower ends forwardly around the pin 33 against a stop face of the backbone I4. When thus released from the driving unit each actuator is returned upwardly by its spring 64 and by conventional return springs for the connected type action.

A universal bar I underlies the lock section and is adapted to be actuated by each actuator as it is thrown down by the power drive unit 30. The bar I50 is mounted on a rock shaft I5I suitably journaled in the machine frame and this shaft has connections for operating the escapement E as each actuator is moved downwardly between the balls 61 and through the slots H in plate 10 of the locking unit.

What is claimed is:

1. In a power-driven typewriter having a frame, a carriage adapted to traverse the frame, a multiplicity of type actions, a carriage-return mechanism, a driving unit, actuators transiently engageable with the driving unit to operate the type actions and the carriage-return mechanism, and keys for causingsaid engagementr the combination of a locking mechanism for the said keys,

comprising a row of relatively shiftable units loosely confined within limits, and blades con.-

trolled respectively by the said actuators for the 'type actions and the carriage-return mechanism,

any one of which blades is adapted to enter between the limits and take up the looseness of the units to thereby prevent the introduction of more than one blade at a time.

2. In a power-driven typewriter having a frame, 'a carriage adapted to traverse the frame, a multiplicity of type actionsQa carriage-return mechanism, a driving unit, actuatorstransiently engageable with the driving unit to operate the type actions and the carriage-return mechanism, and keys for causing said engagement; the combination of a locking mechanism for said keys, comprising a row of relatively shiftable units loosely confined within limits, a blade and operating connections controlled by the actuator for the carriage -return mechanism, and a blade on each of the actuators for the type actions, any one of said blades, when its actuator 'iaengaged with the driving unit, being adapted to enter between the limits and shift the units to take up the looseness of the units and thereby prevent the introduction of more than one blade at a time.

3. In a power-driven typewriter having ,7 a

frame, arcarriage adapted to traverse the frame, a multiplicity of type actions, a carriage-return mechanism, a driving unit, actuators transiently engageable with the driving unit to operate the type actions and the carriage-return mechanism, and keys for causing said engagement; the combination of a locking mechanism for said keys, comprising a row of relatively shiftable units loosely confined within limits, a blade and operating connections controlled by the actuator for the carriage-retum mechanism, a blade on each of the actuators for the type actions, any one of said blades, when its actuator is engaged with the driving unit, being adapted to enter between the limits and shift the units to take up the looseness of the units and thereby prevent the introduction of more than one blade at a time, cooperative line-end margin stops on the carriage and frame,

and connections between the frame stop and the blade controlled by the carriage-return actuator for causing said blade to enter between 'said limits when the frame stop is enga ed by the carriage aioaear mechanism, and keys ,for causing said engagement; the combination of a locking mechanism for said keys, comprising a row of relatively shiftable units loosely confined within limits, a blade and operating connections controlled by the actuator for the carriage-return mechanism, a blade on each of the actuators for the type actions, any one of said blades, when its actuator is engaged with the ,driving unit, being adapted to enter between the limits and shift the units to take up the looseness of the units and thereby prevent the introduction of more than one blade at a time, cooperative'line-endmargin stops on the carriage and frame, connec ion's between the frame stop and the blade controlled by the carriage-return actuator for causing said blade to enter between said limits when the frame stop is engaged by the carriage stop, and a margin release key and connections for disengaging said stops and simultaneously withdrawing the last mentioned blade.

5. In a power-driven typewriter having a frame, a carriage adapted to traverse the frame, a multiplicity of type actions, a carriage return mechanism, a driving unit, actuators transiently engageable with the driving unit to operate the type actions and the carriage-return mechanism, and keys for causing said engagement;

the combination of a locking mechanism for said Q keys, comprising a row of relatively shiftable units loosely confined within limits, 9. blade and operating connections controlled by the actuator for the carriage-return mechanism, a blade on each of the actuators for the type actions, any one of said blades, when its actuator is engaged with thedriving unit, being adapted to enter between the limits to take up the looseness of the units and thereby prevent the introduction of more than one blade at a time, a line-spacing mechanism operative as a preliminary to the carriage-retu n operation upon the establishment of engagement between the carriage-return actuator and the driving unit, cooperative line-end margin stops on the carriage and frame, connections between the framestop and the- '.blade controlled by the carriage-return actuator for causing said blade to enter between said limits when the frame stop is engaged by the cooperative' stop onthejcarriage," and a margin release key and connections for disengaging said stops and simultaneously-withdrawing the last mentioned blade.

' RUSSELL G. THOMPSON.

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