US2163968A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

J1me 1939- R. G. THOMPSON TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20. 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR RUSSELL 6. THOMPSON 5% ATTORN EY June 27, 1939.

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TYPEWRITING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 20, 1957 INVENTOR RUSSELL 6. THOMPSON BY I? ATTORNEY J1me 1939- R. G. THOMPSON TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 20, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 F=====EEEL=EE INVENTOR RUSSELL G. THOMPSON ATTORNEY Patented June 27, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE signor to Underwood Elliott Fisher Company,

New York, N. Y., a

corporation of Delaware Application February 20, 1931, Serial No. 126,904

7 Claims.

This invention relates to typewriting machines and with regard to certain more specific features thereof to the means for causing a relative shift of parts of the machine to obtain upper and lower case typing positions. Some of the broad principles of the invention are applicable to either manual or power-driven operations although in the preferred embodiment of those principles shown in the accompanying drawings and described hereinafter they are incorporated in a machine of the power-driven class.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide simple, rugged and relatively inexpensive means for positively shifting the carriage or iii basket from one case position to the other in a quiet manner. Such quietness of operation is a consequence as well of a power actuation as of one in which the touch ofthe operator effects the movements.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of a simple device for accurately and firmly positioning the carriage or basket in either case position thereby insuring absolute alignment of the successively typed characters whether 25 of lower or upper case or a. combination of both.

It is a further object of the invention to increase the speed of operation of a power-driven case-shifting device and obtain the shift to upper case by a selection and slight depression of a key 0 and the shift back to lowercase by the release of the key, it being optional that the carriage be immediately restored from upper to lower case position or locked in upper case by a case-shift lock-down key which holds the carriage in position for the typing of a succession of upper case characters.

In the preferred form of the invention shown in the drawings and hereinafter to be described, it consist of a mechanism comprising a link and lever assembly with spaced controlling stops by which the part to be shifted to obtain a different case position is moved from one position to the other and a toggle straightened at the extreme of movement, and means whereby this toggle may 4,5 be broken and the part shifted to its other extreme and another toggle straightened to securely hold the shiftable part in its other extreme position. In connection with this mechanism a continuously rotated power drive element is em- 5 ployed, preferably, and key-operated mechanism causes a transient engagement of an actuator with the power-driven element to effect the oper ation of the'link and lever mechanism. As a feature of the key operated mechanism the ac- 5s tuator is caused to move in one direction by the depression of a key lever and in the opposite :lirection by the return movement of the same key ever.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, with parts of the side frame broken away to show more clearly the interior construction, of a. typewriter embodying the improved case-shift device. In this figure the part to be shifted, which, in formof the invention shown, is the carriage, is in lower case position with the power-drive element rotating freely.

Fig. 2 is a view of the same parts shown in Fig. 1 but with the case-shift key lever depressed thereby connecting the actuator with the powerdrive element, and the shift mechanism is shown in transit from lower case to upper case posit on.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the shifted part in full upper case position and further showing the lock-down key actuated to retain the shifted part in upper case position.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to the other figures but showing the case shift lever released from its latched position and returned by its spring, and showing the engagement of the actuating devices for restoring the s hifted part to the lower case position of Fig, 1. The link and lever mechanism is shown in an intermediate position indicating that the shiftable part is in transit from its upper case postion to its lower case position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to Fig. 1 thereof, a typewriter frame is indicated at including a backbone 2i extending from one side wall 22 of the frame to the other, a throw -off cross bar 23 and an anchor cross bar 24 both'of which extend between the side walls of the frame. The frame further includes a cross member 25 spaced rearwardiy of the backbone for supporting and guiding certain parts of the actuator mechanism which will be described later in detail. The frame further includes a back plate 26 which rises nearly to the top of the machine to resist pressures on a carriage having opposite end frame pieces one of which is indicated at 21 and a connecting bar or rail 28 unites the end frame pieces. Lugs 30 and 3| extend a short distance inwardly from each of the opposite side walls of the carriage frame and have secured thereto the lower ends of spring metal strips 32 and 33, the upper ends of which are secured to a cross memher or center tie 34 which isprovided in a conventional manner with spaced lugs 35 having adjustable pivot screws 36 between which is mounted a balancing frame 31 having a rearwardly extending arm 38 to which is pivoted a supporting track 48 carrying anti-friction rollers 4| on opposite sides for slidably engaging the carriage frame bar 28. The cross member or center tie 34 has a rearwardly extending central web 42 to which is connected a tabulator casing, not shown. The center tie also has a rearwardly and upwardly directed arm 43 in a pressure resisting line with the printing point of the machine, and this arm carries an angle plate 44 a front face 45 of which is contacted by a carriage rail 46 extending from one end frame of the carriage to the other. Suitable means are provided for loosely tying this carriage rail to the angle member 44 in such fashion that the carriage rail may move freely past theangle plate in the letter spacing or return directions of movement of the carriage and this device also permits up and down movement of the carriage by operation of the balancing frame, all of which is clearly described in detail in a co-pending application of mine Serial No. 126,902, filed February 20, 1937.

Pivotally connected to a. forward extension 58 of the balancing frame is a long downwardly extending link 5| the lower end of which is pivotally connected by ashort link 52 with the end 53 of a long arm 54 of a bell crank lever 55 which is pivoted to one of the side walls of the frame at 56. The end 58 of the long arm of the lever is in the form of a laterally extending stud 51 which is adapted to move from an adjustable limiting stop 58 to an adjustable limiting stop 68 both of which are constituted by lugs extending from the side of the frame and through which screws 6| are threaded each screw having an enlarged wrench-faced head 62 in which is embedded or otherwise secured a cushion disk 63 of rubber, fibre,'leather or other suitable material.

At the point of pivotal connection between the long link 5| and the short link 52 one end 64 of another short link 65 is pivotally connected. The other end 66 of this short link is pivotally connected to an arm 61 of a bell crank lever 68 held to the side wall of the frame by a screw 18. This bell crank is angularly adjustable by a screw H having an eccentric shank portion 12 the screw passing through an upwardly extending arm 13 of the bell crank lever and engaging with the side wall of the frame. By this means the point of pivotal connection between the short link 65 and the arm 61 of bell crank lever 68 is variable to different set positions.

The movements of the link and lever mechanism just described are clearly shown in the various figures of the drawings. From the lower case position indicated in Fig. l of the drawings with the stud 51 against the stop 58 and a toggle consisting of the long link 5| and the short link 65 straightened as indicated by the line ILL-LC, the carriage or part to be shifted is effectively held in lower case position. Initial movement of the bell crank lever 85 breaks the toggle LC-LC and moves the stud 51 away from the stop 58 as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. Continued movement of the lever 55 in this direction eventually seats the stud 51 against the stop 68 as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and this creates another straightened toggle indicated by the line UC-UC at which time the short link 65 having been rocked around its pivot point has pulled down the long link 5i and rocked the balancing frame into the upper case position. A supplemental adjustable stop consisting of a screw 16 threaded through a lug TI on the balancing frame has an end which seats upon a stop 88 on the center 2,1es,oes

tie 34. The carriage may be maintained in this upper case position by means which will be hereinafter described. To return the carriage to lower case position the bell crank lever is rocked in the opposite direction primarily breaking the toggle UC-UC as indicated in Fig. 401 the drawings and the parts are returned to their normal relationship as shown in Fig. l of the drawings.

The movement of the bell crank lever 55 in both directions is effected by a main actuator 8| which is power-driven in opposite directions. This actuator is pivotally connected to a short arm 82 of the bell crank lever and carries two swingable actuator bars 88 and 84 which are pivoted at 85 and 86 respectively on the main actuator 8| and depend on opposite sides front and rear of the power-drive member. These actuator bars carry pivoted pawls 81 and 88 having teeth adapted to engage with teeth on a continuously rotating drive member l5 driven by an electric motor, not shown. When the pawl 81 is engaged with the drive member as by swinging the actuator bar 88 rearwardly around its pivot the actuator bar is carried downwardly after first slightly pivoting the pawl to insure a full engagement of the teeth of that pawl with the teeth on the power-drive member I5. A tall 88 on the pawl fulcrums on the edge of a plate 41 secured to the backbone 2i and further rotative movement of the driving member is translated into a downward movement of an actuator bar until such time as a cam face 48 on the bar 83 engages a throw-ofl screw 48 on the cross member 28. This downward movement carries down the main actuator member 8i which is guided in its downward movement by means of a slot 14 within which is a pin 18 suitably fixed in relation to the backbone and frame of the machine. Downward movement of the main actuator rocks the bell crank lever 55 to move the carriage to the upper case position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The downward movement just described also carries down the rear actuator bar 84 positioning the pivoted pawl 88 where it may be engaged by the power-drive member when the rear actuator bar is swung forwardly, and when it is so swung and engaged the rear actuator bar is moved upwardly carrying with it the main actuator 8| and rocking the bell crank lever 55 in the reverse position to restore the carriage to a toggle locked position in lower case.

The mechanism will now be described by which the swinging movements are given to the actuator bars and their pawls for causing a power engagement to eflect both directions of movement. A caseshift lever 88 is pivoted in a comb slot 8i running from front to rear through the upper portion of the backbone 2|. The pivot point for the case-shift lever is indicated at 82 in the form of a pin passed through the backbone. The lever has a forwardly extending arm 83 which makes a turn downwardly at 84, then forwardly and obliquely downward and forward as indicated at 85. The extreme forward end of the lever has a stem 88 and a key 81. The lever is also provided with a downwardly extending arm 88 at the end of which a coil spring I88 has one end Ill connected and the other end I 82 of this coil spring is connected to an anchor plate I88 which is adjustably secured to the under side of the cross bar 24. This downwardly extending arm 88 of the lever has a rearwardly and upwardly extending portion I84 which carries a pivoted dog I 85 having a rearwardly projecting nose I 06 adapted to move into engagement with the front edge of the swingable actuator bar 83.

I This dog has a loose pivot connection I01 with the lever and has a spring I08 connecting an upturned forward end IIO of the dog with a lug III on the rearwardly and upwardly extending arm I04 of the lever. This lever arm also has a connected rearward extension II2 which proceeds first upwardly and then rearwardly through a comb slot H3 in the backbone and carries a pivoted dog II4. This dog-carrying part is horizontally slotted at I I5 (see Figs. 2 and 4) in a fore-and-aft direction to embrace the pin 19 of the backbone for support. It is further supported by the top of the cross bar 25 of the frame.

An upper stop and guide I20 for the case-shift key lever is provided by a channel member I 2I secured in fixed relationwith the frame and one side I22 of which extends downwardly and is vertically slotted as indicated at I23 to receive and guide the lever. The spring I00 attached to the depending arm 08 of the key lever holds the lever normally against a strip I24 of sound absorbing material contained in the channel member. Another channel member I25 is secured to the frame below the forwardly extending arm of the lever and is provided with a sound absorbing strip I26 the upper edge of which is spaced from strip I24 to permit a limited amount of movement of the lever. As the key 91 is depressed the lever contacts the lower stop and in its movement from the upper to the lower stop it moves the rearwardly extending arm I04 carrying the dog I05 until the end of the dog picks up the swin ing actuator bar 83 and engages the teeth of pawl 81 with the teeth of the driv ng member. This movement of the, lever also rearwardly shifts the extension bar I I2 carrying with it the rear do II4 which allows for the passage of a lug I21 on the rear actuator bar as the entire actuator mechanism is moved downwardly by the described engagement with the power driver. As the throw-off screw 49 becomes effective to disengage the forward pawl from the driving member the stud 51 at the end of the long arm of the bell crank lever abuts the fixed stop 60 and the upper case toggle is straightened as shown in Fig. 3. This position of the bell crank lever will be maintained by the toggle action as long as the key lever is held depressed either by holding a finger on the key 91 or by operation of a caseshift lever lock-down key I30. This key is piv-' oted on the case-shift lever at I3I and has a depending hook portion I32 normally held out of engagement with a latch plate I33 by a spring I34. One end of the spring is connected to the hook portion of the locking key and its other end is connected to an arm I35 extending downwardly at the forward end of the case shift lever. The latch plate I33 is in the form of an angle member which is secured by screws I 36 to the top of the anchor bar 24. When pressure is applied to the lock-down key the hook is swung into engagement with the angle plate and slight relief of the pressure latches the parts in position. To unlatch the lever the key 01 is slightly depressed allowing the spring I34 to return the lock-down key until a lug I3'I abuts a lower edge of the lever. Whether the lever is held down by pressure of the operator's finger on the key 91 or locked down by the lock-down key the actuator mechanism is held in its down and thrown-off position by means of the straightened toggle UC-UC and stop 80. In this position the lug I21 on the rear actuator is directly opposite the forward end of dog II4 so that when the key lever is released for movement under the action of its return spring the rearwardly extended bar II2 carrying the rear dog is moved forwardly and the dog picks up the rear actuator bar and swings it forwardly to engage its pawl with the teeth of the driving member whereupon the entire actuator device is thrown upwardly until the pawl is thrown out of engagement by a cam face I38 on the lower part of the rear actuator bar engaging with'a rear throw-off screw head I40 on the cross member 23. Thus return movement of the caseshift lever from its depressed position causes operation of the actuatordevice upwardly to cause reverse movement of the bell crank lever to break the straightened upper case toggle and straighten a toggle consisting of the long link BI and the short link 68 and bring the stud 51 against the opposite stop member 58. Tension on the return spring I00 may be varied by shifting the anchor plate I03 forward or rearward on the cross bar 24 and securing it in different adjusted positions.

'As the actuator mechanism moves downwardly the forward actuator bar 88 when thrown off presents a shoulder I under the nose I00 of dog I05 and as the mechanism returns the dog ls pivoted until the shoulder passes whereupon the dog is returned to active position by the spring I08. The pawls 81 and 88 are held spaced from each other by a projection I42 on the rear actuator bar so that as one pawl is engaged with the drive member the other pawl must be free therefrom. As the mechanism returns upwardly the rear dog I I4 pivots to allow the lug I21 to pass whereupon spring means similar to that of the forward dog returns the dog to active position.

A conventional roller platen is indicated at I43 and is suitably journaled in the carriage end frames for movement with the carriage to its upper and lower case positions. .Type actions, preferably of the power-driven key-selected character, are employed for mdvement toward and from the roller platen but are not shown in the drawings as they form no part of the present invention.

What is claimed'is:

1. In a power-driven typewriter, a frame, a rotary driving member with teeth, transiently engageable means on opposite sides of the driving member for alternative engagement therewith, an actuator carrying said transiently engageable means, a lever pivoted on said frame having one arm connected to move with said actuator and another arm having a short link pivoted at its end, a part to be shifted from one to another case position, a link extending from said part to a connection with said short link, another short link extending from the last said connection to a point of support by said frame, stops for limiting the movements of said lever and links in two alternative straightened toggle positions and a case shift key lever mounted for operation of said transiently engageable means, adapted upon movement in one direction to cause engagement of said means on one side of the driving member and upon movement in the opposite direction to cause engagement of the said means on the opposite side of said driving member.

2. In a power-driven typewriter, a frame, a rotary driving member thereon having teeth,-an actuator member, two swingable pawl carriers on said actuator member adapted to swing on opposite sides of said driving member and each having a pawl adapted to move into and out of engagement with the driving member, a part to 'be shifted to upper and lower case positions, connections between said part and said actuator member comprising a lever and links, stops limiting the range of movement of said connections, a key, and means actuatable by said key for moving said swingable means to cause one or the other of said pawls to engage the teeth of the driving member dependent on the direction of movement of the key and thereby shift the actuator in one direction or the other. i

3. In a power driven typewriter, a frame, a part to be shifted relatively to said frame, a rotary driving member, an actuator having swingable bars adapted for alternative engagement with the driving member respectively on opposite sides thereof, a pair of toggles adapted to be alternatively straightened to raise or lower the part to be shifted, a bell crank lever one arm of which is pivotally united with the actuator and the other arm of which constitutes a part of one of said toggles and has a stop, and spaced stops on the frame for limiting the range of movement of said lever.

4. In a power driven typewriter, a frame, a rotary driving member, an actuator having two members for directly engaging the driving member alternatively and respectively on opposite sides of the driving member, a pivoted lever one arm of which is connected to the actuator and the other arm of which has a stop, a link connected to said other arm, a second link extending from the end of the first said link to a frame pivot, a part to be shifted, a long link between the union of the first and second links and the part to be shifted, and spaced stops limiting the range of movement of the stop on the pivoted lever arm.

5. In a power driven typewriter, a frame, a part to be shifted relatively thereto, a toothed shaft adapted for continuous rotation on said frame, an actuator, two toggles between the part to be shifted and the actuator adapted to be alternatively straightened to obtain upper and lower case positions of the part to be shifted, and stops to determine the straightened positions of the toggles, said actuator comprising a main body having two swingable bars thereon each having a pivoted pawl for engaging respectively at opposite sides of the toothed shaft with the teeth of said shaft.

6. In a power driven typewriter, a frame, a part to be shifted relatively thereto, a toothed shaft adapted for continuous rotation on said frame, an actuator, two toggles between the part to be shifted and the actuator, adapted to be alternatively straightened to obtain upper and lower case positions of the part to be shifted,'stops to determine the straightened positions of the toggles, said actuator comprising a main body having two swingable bars thereon,'each having a pivoted pawl for engaging respectively at opposite sides of the toothed shaft with the teeth of said shaft, and a key lever having two dogs articulated therewith in such manner that movement of the key in one direction operates one of the dogs to engage one of the pawls with the teeth of the shaft, and return of the key causes operation of the other dog to cause engagement of the other pawl with the teeth of said shaft.

7. An electric-power actuated case-shifting mechanism comprising a part to be shifted, a rotary driving member, an actuator for said part to be shifted having members adapted for alternative engagement with the driving member respectively on opposite sides thereof, a pair of toggles adapted to be alternatively straightened to raise or lower the part to be shifted, a lever having one arm pivotally united with the actuator and another arm constituting a part of one of said toggles and providing a stop, and spaced stops for limiting the range of movement of said lever.

RUSSELL G. THOMPSON.

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