US2238354A - Copyholder mechanism - Google Patents

Description

April 15, 1941. c, WELTER 2,238,354

com-101mm uhcmuzsm Original Filed Aug. 8, 1938 3 Sheois-Sheet 1 1 I g 5 16 A INVENTOR April 15, 1941. c, WELTEIR 2,238,354

councilman MECHANISM ori in-a1 Filed Aug. 8, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 6 |:IE5 4.- I 7 April 15, 1941. H. c. WELTER 2,238,354

COPYHOLDER MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 8, 195a s Sheets-Sheet a INVENTOR Patented Apr. 15, 1941 COPYHOLDER lVIECHANISM Herman C. Welter, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to The Dawn Mfg. C'orp., Rochester, N. Y., a corporation of New York Original application August 8, 1938, Serial No.

Divided and this application Januar 12, 1939, Serial No. 250,586

4 Claims.

My present invention relates to copyholders that are used to facilitate the reading and transscribing of notes and writings and particularly cop-yholders of the type designed to be set behind typewriters and adapted to be-operated as to line indications conveniently from near the keyboard of the machine, and it has for its object to provide a simple, quiet and efficient device of this kind. The improvements are directed in part toward providing the type of fixed 10 line indicator and movable copy plate machine with means whereby the copyholder may be picked up and manipulated by means of its copy plate without movement relatively to its support and the actuating mechanism thereon, andl toward providing a novel elevating means that will function indefinitely without perceptible wear.

To these and other ends, the invention resides A in certain improvements and combinations ofzo parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a copyholder con-'' structed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention with the copy plate thereof in a partially raised position;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, much enlarged, and showing the operating means in folded position in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical'central section of the upper portion of the copy plate and its standard, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and on the same scale;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation on the scale of Fig. 2 partly broken away and with the cover plate on a portion of the standard removed to reveal interior parts; 7

Fig. 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary sec-" tional detail on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and showing features of the connection of the elevating means to the copy plate;

Fig. 6 is a detail view partly broken away of a clutch element similarly appearingin Fig. 4;

Fig. '7 is a further enlarged detail perspective of an element involved in the aforesaid attachment of the elevating member;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged'detail of the pawl spring shown in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view with adjacent parts broken away of the copy plate elevating tape and its winding drum.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

' with its curled semi-cylindrical margins 5.

its top it carries a suitable spring pressed paper (Cl. mil-29) This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 223,598, filed August 8, 1938, matured into Patent No. 2,171,261, dated Aug. 29, 1939,' wherein certain features of necessity partially illustrated and described herein are more fully set forth and claimed there.

'Although all of my present improvements are not necessarily limited to copyholders of the fixed line indicator and movable copy type, I have illustrated an embodiment of this character and will first outline its general construction and mode of operation so that the improvements I have made thereon will be more readily un-,

derstood. Referring more particularly to the drawings and first to Figs. 1, 2 and 4 thereof, l indicates the base of an upright standard embodying rigid guide rods 2 at the sides connected at their upper ends in fixed relationship by a cross head plate 3. A vertically movable copy plate 4 slides on these guides which it engages At clamp 6 for holding the pages of the copy on the plate, which clamp is in the form of a wire bail mounted in bearing housings I on lateral extensions of the plate. The top edge of the latter is spanned by a helical spring 8 of slight carried by the axle.

tension to retain beneath it the pages as they are turned back. At the rear of the machine a transverse shaft 9 mounted-in bearings 10 on the lower portion of the cross plate 3 carries jointed arms H which in turn support a swinging line indicator I2 that may be thus adjusted toward and from the copy plate for thickness of copy and up and down the face thereof accordingly as the writings are placed high or low on the copy sheet. I

Means are provided for raising the copy plate with a step-by-step movement past the line indicator until at its limit of movement or at any desired intermediate point it is released to fall by gravity to an extreme low position on the base I. In the present instance, this means embodies a central narrow vertical housing I3 fixed at its lower end to the base I and at its upper end to the cross plate 3. Adjacent its lower end and partially protruding into this housing is a winding drum Hi, the periphery of which a central narrow winding surface flanked by converging or generally V-shaped flanges. The drum turns on an axle it supported on brackets 16 on the base and has a cavity I! on its rear side to house a suitable counterbalancing spring (not shown) which housing is closed by a fixed cover plate It The rear of housing 13 is also closed by a cover plate I9 completing the well for the tape appearing in Figs. 2 and 3.

.At the top of this well or housing is a small pulley on a stud 2I projecting rearwardly from the fixed cross plate 3 and which incidentally constitutes the means for securing the top of the housing in fixed position. A two-piece tape 22-23, about which more will be said later, is connected at one end to a stud 24 at the bottom margin of the copy plate and passes thence upwardly over pulley 20 and downwardly around winding drum I4. A slot 25 in housing plate I3 admits the stud to the housing or well in which the tape is confined. It will thus be seen that, as the drum I4 is rotated in a clockwise direction (as viewed from the rear) it will raise the copy plate, and, when released, will allow the copy plate to fall by gravity.

As a matter of fact, the copy plate when so released for downward return does not reach the base I close enough to strike it. On the other hand, it is halted just out of contact by pairs of cooperating rubber buffers 26 and 21 at each side, one of which is clamped to the top of the guide 5 and the other of which is secured to the top of the guide rod 2, a sprin 28 being also carried by the firstmentioned buifer to further avoid noisy and wearing impact and to protect the screw head shown as holding the other buffer of the couple.

The immediate actuating means for transmitting step-by-step rotation to the drum I 4 is a wheel 29 having slightly converging side walls at the periphery that jam between the flanges of the wheel I4 only sufficiently toestablish driving frictional contact. The wheel is fixed on a shaft 30 (Fig. 4) which, through intermediate connections, is turned by a hand knob 3| arranged for- I wardly beside the keyboard of the typewriter.

Fitting into an annular groove within the rear face of wheel 29 is a housing 32, best shown in Figs. 4 and 6, which housing constitutes the ball race of a one-way ball clutch of familiar type. An element 33 on the shaft 39 forms tapered pockets with the ball race so that the spring pressed balls shown will jam against the race when the shaft is turned in one direction establishing the clutch connection and release when the shaft is turned in the other direction in a well known manner.

An extension on the clutch housing 32 is pivotedat 34 near the periphery of the wheel 29 to a bell crank arm 35, the other end of which is pivoted on the axle I5. Substantially on the dead center between the latter and shaft 30 is an extension spring 36 connected at one end to a lug on the arm and at the other to a lug on the housing 32. The bearing 31 of shaft 30 (Fig. 2) is carried by an upright bearing bracket 38 (Fig. 4) hinged at 39 at a low point on the base I so that it may swing laterally toward and from the base. Through this means the spring 36 holds the otherwise floating operating wheel 29 in operative frictional engagement with the drum I4 and as the hand knob 3! at the front is turned clockwise (as viewed from the front) this relationship will be maintained and the wheel positively driven because the ball clutch is free to turn within the housing 32. The drum will hence turn in a counter-clockwise direction (also from the front) and the tape 23 will be wound thereon and the copy plate raised. When, however, the knob 3I is reversed, the ball clutch will lock the shaft 30 and wheel 29, by reason of the ball clutch, to the housing 32. The off-center pivot 34 thereof will then react against the unyielding arm 35 and throw the housing, shaft and wheel outwardly on the hinge center 39 against the tension of spring 36 so that drum I 4 is released from the wheel. The copy plate will fall by gravity, unwinding the tape from the drum. When the hand operation is released, all parts restore themselves to normal operative position through the action of spring 36.

y The bearing bracket 38 extends only slightly forwardly of the base I of the standard and is there hinged at 40 on a vertical axis and on the inside to a relatively long normally forwardly extending side arm which is concealed by other parts in Figs. 1 and 2 but which embodies a forward leg 46 for support upon the desk or table. On the side arm is supported a, bearing 49 for the hand wheel or knob 3I and other operating mechanism including an extension shaft 59 that connects up the hand knob to operate shaft 30, but these arrangements specifically relate to the invention of my abovementioned copending application and require no further description here.

The foregoing acquaints the reader with the general subject matter. I shall now proceed to describe the specific improvements that my present invention involves.

Attention is now directed to the figures more particularly illustrative of the elevating tape 22-23. The metal portion 23 thereof is a very thin narrow ribbon which winds and unwinds on the drum I4 with facility and without appreciable wear because of the large diameter. The.top pulley 20, however, is necessarily very small causing such an abrupt bending of the metal strip that with constant use the latter becomes fatigued and is apt to crystallize and break. It is for this reason that I make the tape in two parts, the part 22 that works on roller 20 being a strong woven textile which will run on the roll indefinitely without showing appreciable wear. The two are connected together by a link 11 engaging in loops on the two ends but this splice never reaches either pulley. I

The lower end of tape 22 is connected to the lower portion of the copy plate 4 through the medium of a stop pawl I8, as clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 9, which pawl is pivoted on the beforementioned stud24. The adjacent side wall of the wheel housing I3 is provided with a series of stop openings I9 punched therefrom in the nature of a rack. When the tape is under winding tension, a tooth 89 on pawl 79, which latter is thereby straightened out, runs free of the stops I9 but if the operator grasps the top of the copy plate to pick the machine up thereby, as it is very natural to do, a slack will occur in the elevating tape allowing the spring 8| to throw the tooth BI] into locking engagement with the next adjacent stop so that the copy plate raises the whole machine through the medium of the pawl.

The said spring 8| is shown in enlarged detail in Figs. '7 and 8 to illustrate the mode of attaching it. A nut 82 on the stud 24 that confines the pawl is provided with a kerf 83 that runs down into intersection with the cooperating threads of the nut and stud. The straight wire spring is lodged in the bottom of this kerf to lock the nut on the stud and is maintained thereby pinching together the walls of the kerf. In this way the spring is rigidly mounted in a convenient manner and at the same time performs the locking function. Its lower end is turned out angularly in the kerf to prevent rotation on its longitudinal axis and consequent disengagement from the pawl.

An elevating mechanism constructed in accordance with my invention is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, is silent in operation and capable of use for a long period without deterioration or servicing.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a copyholder, the combination with a standard having vertical guides, a line indicator on the standard, and a copy plate adapted to be raised and lowered on the guides relatively to the line indicator, of elevating means for the copy plate whereby it may be raised by a step-by-step motion and lowered by gravity, and means for automatically interlocking the copy plate with a fixed portion of the standard when the whole machine is raised from its support by a grip upon the copy plate alone.

2. In a copyholder, the combination with a standard having vertical guides and also having an element fixedly secured thereto, a line indicator on the standard, and a copy plate adapted to be raised and lowered on the guides relatively to the line indicator, of elevating means for the copy plate whereby it may be raised by a stepby-step motion and lowered by gravity, and a pawl movable with the copy plate and adapted to interlock with the fixed element on the standard when the copy plate is raised by other than the said elevating means.

3. In a copyholder, the combination with a standard having vertical guides, a line indicator on the standard, and a copy plate adapted to be raised and lowered on the guides relatively to the line indicator, of elevating means for the copy plate whereby it may be raised by a step-by-step motion and lowered by gravity and embodying the following instrumentalities: a winding means on the base of the standard, a pulley at the top of the standard, a tape running over said pulley and having one end attached to the bottom of the copy plate and the other end wound upon the winding means, a pawl connected to the tape and a series of stops on the standard with one or another of which the pawl is adapted to engage to lock the copy plate against upward movement when the same is induced upwardly by other than the elevating means aforesaid.

4. In a copyholder, the combination with a standard having vertical guides, a line indicator on the standard, a copy plate adapted to be raised and lowered on the guides relatively to the line indicator, and a vertical rack on the standard, of elevating means for the copy plate whereby it may be raised by a step-by-step motion and lowered by gravity, and'embodying the following instrumentalities: a winding means on the base of the standard, a pulley at the top of the standard, a pawl pivoted on the bottom of the copy plate, a tape running over said pulley and connected to the copy plate through the medium of the pawl, the other end of the tape being connected to the winding means, and a series of stops on the standard with one or another of which the pawl is adapted to engage to lock the copy plate against upward movement when the normally taut tape is slacked.

HERMAN C. WELTER.

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