US2298590A

US2298590A - Typewriter accessory

Info

Publication number: US2298590A
Application number: US284772A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rich Woodward Baldwin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1939-07-15
Filing date: 1939-07-15
Publication date: 1942-10-13
Anticipated expiration: 1959-10-13

Description

Oct. 13, 1942,

w. 5. RICH TYPEWRI-TER ACCESSORY Filed July 15, 1939 WOODWARD BALDWIN RICH Patented Oct. 13, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2291x590 TYPEWEITER ACCESSORY Woodward Baldwin Rich, Baltimore, Md. Application July 15, 1939, Serial 110,284,772

2 Claims.

The present invention relates in general to typewriters and more specifically to an accessory for a typewriter that will indicate to the operator the'number of lines to be written, or the number of lines remaining on the page, and which will signal the operator whenthe requisite number of lines has been written.

An important object of my invention is to provide an indicating device synchronized with the platen roll of a typewriter so, as to indicate the position on the page.

A further object of my invention is to, pro vide an accessory for a typewriter that can be readily attached to any make of typewriter without altering materially the structural details of the typewriter.

Another object of my an accessory for a typewriter that can be easily and readily associated with the platen roll to designate the number of lines to be written, or the number of lines remaining on the page.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide an accessory for a typewriter that will indicate clearly to the operator the number of lines to be written or the number of lines remaining on the page to be written, which accessory consists of relatively few essential working parts, and which can be easily and cheaply manufactured. l

And yet another object of 'my invention is to provide a typewriter accessory of the type hereinabove described which will prevent foreign matter, such as, for instance, dirt .or dust, from entering the working parts, and thereby damaging such parts.

With the above and other important objects in view which will'hereinafter become more fully apparent, my invention consists in the parts and combinations to be later more fully. described and claimed, it being distinctly understood however that the structural details set forth herein are merely for the purpose of illustration.

In the drawing in which like numerals designate the same or similar parts:

Figure l isafragmental front elevational view illustrating my novel typewriter accessory in association with the platen roll of a typewriter.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the accessory looking in of the turning knob.

Figure 3 is a view taken along the line 3-4 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the'arrows.

Figure 4 is a; sectional view similar to Figure 3 showing the working parts in inoperative position.

the direction invention is to provide Figure 5 is a fragmental sectional view showing the details of the idler pinion gears.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to Figure 1, there is illustrateda platen roll I journaled in' a portion of the carriage of a typewriter 2. My novel attachment device 3 and a turning knob 4 for the platen roll I are'mounted on the shaft 5 of the platen roll. The device 3 includes. a backing plate 6 having a concentric integral hub l which forms a bearing for the platen shaft 5 and provides means for attaching the backing plate to the carriage 2. An additional'attaching means such as a bolt 8 provided with a spacer bushing 9 is provided to prevent rotation of the plate 5.

-In Figures 3 and 4 it will be noted that a drum ll of such diameter as to rotate around the plate 5 plate i2 is positioned at the open end of the drum,- and amxed thereto in any desirable manner. Manifestly, the backing plate 6, the drum II, and the cover. plate l2 form the housing of my accessory device 3. I

As clearly shown in Figure 4, the cover plate [2 is formed with 'a concentric integral hub l3 which affords an outer bearing for the platen shaft 5.

Referring agai to Figure 1, it is readily apparent. that the outer face of the drum H is provided with indicia which in this particular case consist of graduations N. that indicate the number of lines to be written or the number of lines remaining to be written on a given page. Aflixed to the Outer face of the backing plate 6 is a pointer l5, the purpose of which is believed readily apparent.

- by impart rotary 55 around the platen spaced relation to the Integrally formed on the backing plate 6 is a ring gear Hi (see Figures 3 and 4) which meshes withan idler pinion l1 rotatably mounted on a pin l8. As shown in Figure 5, the pin I8 is conveniently attached to the cover plate l2. The hub of the pinion is flanged as designated at l9, and a washer 20 in flanged member I9 is provided. .Oneend of a spiral spring 2| is attached by an anchor pin 22 between the flange l9 and the washer 20, and the opposite end is attached to the hub l3 as shown at 23.

A driving pinion 24 rigidly attached to the shaft 5 is adapted to mesh in operative position (see Figure 3) with the idler pinion l1 and theremovement of the platen shaft A coil sprin 25 is positioned haft 5 between the huh I! and itothedmmli'.

and which is also adapted to slide relative to the plate 5 is provided, and a cover inner face of the I drumll the pinion 24 to force normally the pinion I I out of mesh with the pinion 24 or hold thesegears in inoperative position.

Pivotally mounted on the inner face of the plate 6 is a detent 26 which is adapted to travel H in a groove 21 formed in the inner periphery of' A leaf spring 28 is attached at one; -1 end to the ring gear I6, and the free end conthe drum.

tacts the detent 26-to maintain the .working face of the detent in the groove 21.

A cam surface 29 is located in the groove 21 as shown in Figure 2, and is so formed that the rise of the cam is virtually flush with the inner angles as indicated at 35. The portion 35 is,

engaged in a lateral groove 36 formed ina stop member 31. The stop member 31 is integrally formed on the inner face of the drum II and comprises an inclined rise 38 that extends from the inner face of the drum II to the lateral groove 38. The opposite side of the groove 38 It is believed to be readily apparent from the above description that I have provided an accessory for a typewriter which can be easily and inexpensively manufactured and which can be used in conjunction with all types of typewriters on the market without necessitating any material .alteration' of the typewriter. In addition, the

"device will clearly and accurately indicate the number of lines to be written, or the number of lines remaining on the page to be written. Furthermore, with my device. as soon as the predetermined number of lines'have been written, the device will automatically return to its original position. It consists of few principal work ing parts and in the event of damage, the device can be repaired quickly and with little or no trouble.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of construction herein set 'iorth by way of illustration, as it is apparent extends radially inward to form a stop fo friction member. In Figures 3 and 4 it can be seen that the portion forming the inclined rise is narrower than that portion forming the stop which leaves a space designated 39.

The operation of my invention may be briefly described as follows. The pointer I5 is set to indicate the desired number of lines to be written, and this is accomplished. by rotating the drum II. This rotary movement of the drum II will move the cam surface 29 relative to the detent 26 and the friction member 3| being in engagement with the backing plate 6 and the tion. The drum II is then moved to the right to the position shown in Figure 3 where'theldler pinion I! will mesh with the driving pinion 34.

The detent 26 then drops into the groove 21 tohold the parts in the position shown in Figure 3.

will hold the parts in the desired posi that many changes and variations may be made therein, by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention, or exceeding the scopeof the appended claims.

y I claim:

+1. In a typewriter having a carriage, a rotatable shaft on the carriage,

a platen carried by said shaft, and a turning member for the platen, a device for indicating the number of lines to be written on a page comprising a casing having a backing plate secured to the carriage, a drum rotatable around and slidable with respect to said plate, a cover plate secured to the open end of the drum, aring gear mounted on the backing plate, a driving gear carried by the platen shaft, an idler gearattached to the cover plate and normally out of'mesh with the driving gear, the idler gear being in mesh with the ring gear, and the said idler gearbeing adapted to be moved f into engagement with the driving gear by sliding the drum over thebacking plate whereby is moved, the gears I6, I1 and 24 will, when the I platen shaft is rotated, transmit rotary movement to the drum II. In addition, the rotary movement of the drum will wind the coil spring 2|. When the number of lines selected to be written has been written, the cam 29 engages the 4 detent 26 and forces it out of the groove 21. The

' helica spring 25 will then move the drum II and its integral parts to the position shown in Figure 4 thus disengaging the gears 24 and I7. However, the idler gear I1 remains in mesh with rotary movement is imparted to the drum when the platen is rotating.

2. In a typewriter having a carriage, a rotatable shaft on the carriage, a platen carried by said shaft,'and a turning member for the platen, a device for indicating the number of lines to be written on a page comprising a casing having a stationary backing plate secured to the carriage, a drum rotatable around andslidable with respect to the plate, a cover plate secured to the open end of the drum, a ring gear secured to the a backing plate, a driving .gear carried by the platen shaft; an idler gear joumaled on the cover plate and normally out of mesh with the driving gear, theidler gear being in mesh with the ring gear,,the .idlerge'ar being adapted to be moved into engagement with the driving gear by sliding the ring gear I6. The spring 2| will then re verse the direction of movement of the drum I I through gears I1 and I9 and the-end 35 of the friction member will ride over the portion 38 of the stop 31 until it reaches the groove 33 at which position it will arrest movement of the drum II. In other words, when the required number of lines have been written on a given page, my device will automatically 'retum the drum to a neutral position. The term neutral position" means the position originally selected by the operator, and in this position the operator is entirely free to rotate the platen in any direction without affecting the selected setting.

, movement is imparted to thedrum when the the'drum over the backing'plate whereby rotary platen shaft is rotated, detent means associated with the drum and backing plate forrmaintaining the idler gear in engagement with the driving gear, means for releasing the detent means when the drum has been rotated to a predetermined position with respect to the backing plate, and spring means bearing against the cover plate to move the idler gear out of engagement with the driving gear upon release of the detent means.

. woonwaan BALDWIN RICH.