US2303878A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

Filed May 3l 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 R m A L w A T 4 CLEAR INVENTOR WILLIAM E HELMO/VD BY A'ITORNEY Dec. 1, 1942. w. F. HELMOND TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed May 31, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INYENTOR WILL/AM EHELMOND BY A? ATTORNEY En oh FF 0P EF Nb pm Patented Dec. 1, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,303,878 TIPEWRI'I'ING William F. Helmond, West signor to Underwood Hartford, Conn, as-

Elliott Fisher Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application May 31, 1939, Serial No. 273,507 6 Claims. (01. 197-176) writer, and releasing the carriage for its tabulating run.

It is another object of the invention to protect the typewriter parts, particularly of the tabulating mechanism and of the carriage escapement against distortion and possible breakage owing to inadvertent or unintended operation of the power devices.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of improved means for suspending the power actuators used in the tabulating or other operations, and in the provision of an improved throw-off device by which the actuators are reliably disconnected from the power drive without undue shock or noise.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out particularly as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention accordingly consists in the various features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified by the description hereinafter set forth, and the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings wherein is shown one of various possible embodiments of the invention:

Fig. l is a view'in fore-and-aft cross section of a power-driven typewriter showing the improved power-operated tabular-stop mechanism and the power-actuator suspension.

Fig. 2 is a view in top plan of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1, parts of the structure being broken away to show more clearly the interior construction.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation partly in section showing the tabulator frame or magazine at the rear of the typewriter and details of the tabulator-stop-setting mechanism and the tabulator-stop-clearing mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a skeletonized view taken in a crosssection fore-and-aft of the machine, illustrative of the engagement of the power-actuator for the tabulator mechanism with the power-driven shaft, and

Fig. 6 is a similar view showing the actuator after it has served its purpose and is about to make its return to normal position.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the typewriter frame is indicated at i0 having opposite side walls one of which is indicated at it, and having a rear wall l2 within which a tabulator frame or magazine I3 is fixed. Journaled in the side walls l l and driven from an electric motor, not shown, is a fluted drive roller unit I adapted to be continuously rotated and intermittently engaged by various actuators for performing different machine operations as is now well understood in the art- The frame includes a number of cross struts extending between the side walls. One of these constitutes an actuator-forward-end suspensionbar l5, another is a lever-fulcrum support [6, another is a mounting bar I! for key-lock discs l8, and still another bar 20 provides a mounting by means of ears 2| for a fixed cylindrical rod 23 upon which are mounted various key-levers having to do with the tabulator mechanism.

The frame is also provided with a transverse slideway 24 for a carriage rail 25 at the bottom of the typewriter-carriage 26 which latter carries a conventional platen roll 21. A rack 28 is mounted on the carriage rail 25 and normally is maintained in engagement with a pinion 30 at the upper end of a shaft 3| which at its lower end carries an escapement wheel 32 controlled in its rotation by a dog rocker 33 having the usual fixed and movable dogs, the movable dog being shown at 34 in Fig. 2 as pivoted at 35 on the rocker.

At the rear of the carriage is a tabulator-stop rack 36 having a series of vertically slidable tabulator stops 31 at letter-space distances lengthwise of the carriage. These stops are normally detented in their upper positions and are adapted to be moved to a lower detented stopengaging position by means which will hereinafter be described. At the rear of the keyboard of the machine there is a tabulator-stop-operating bar 38 pivotally mounted by'a-rms 39 on the rod 23. Also mounted at opposite ends of this rod respectively are a tabulator-stop-setting keylever 40 and a tabulator-stop-clearance keylever 4|. 1

At the rear of the machine is another cylindrical rod 43 fixed in the magazine l3 and upon which there are rockably mounted various motion-transmission devices operable from the arms 39 and key- levers 48 and 4|. A rock-shaft 44 is Journaled in the side walls of the machine frame and serves in the transmission of movement from the power actuator to a tabulator-counterstop in the form of a blade 45 mounted for shifting as by vertical sliding movement in the magazine I3 and normally held out of tabulator-stop-engaging position by a coil spring 46 the upper end of which is connected to an ear "of blade 45, and the lower end of which is connected to an anchor rail 48 secured in the magazine I3. The anchor rail 48 is in the form of an angle iron and its forwardly extending flange 58 is slotted to receive and guide the counterstop-blade 45. a tabulatorstop-clearance blade 5I and a tabulator-stopsetting blade 52. These blades are guided near their lower ends by the flange 58 and are provided respectively with slots 53. 54 and 55 near their upper ends allowing for penetration of the blades by a guide rod 56 suitably fixed in the magazine I3. A coil spring 51 having its upper end connected to an ear 58 on blade 52 and its lower end connected to anchor rail 48 serves to hold blade 52 normally in a lowered position limited by engagement of rod 56 with the upper end of slot 55 in blade 52. Similarly a coil spring 88 holds the stop-clearing blade 5I in lowered position as shown clearly in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

In setting the tabulator stops 3'! of the carriage to their lower detented positions the operator moves the carriage to desired position transversely of the frame and depresses the "Tab. Set" key on lever 48. This lever includes a bail SI (see Figs. 2 and 3) having an arm 62 extending upwardly from rod 23. An adjustable connector 63 connects the upper end of arm 82 with the upper end of an arm 64 of a bail 65 mounted for rocking movement on rod 43 and held in lateral position thereon by stud screw 68 on the end of the rod. The bail has a rearwardly extending arm G'Iwhich connects with blade 52 of the tabulator-stop-setting mechanism. The upper end of blade 52 is connected to a lever 68 which is journaled on a stud I8 fixed in magazine I3. The other end of lever 88 is pivotally connected to a stop-actuating member II which has a forwardly extending stop-actuating finger 12. It will be seen that depression of lever 48 by the Tab. Set" key will rock the balls 6i and 65, raise blade 52 in opposition to its spring 51, move lever 88 on its stud I8 and pull down actuator II so that whichever tabulator stop 31 has been located by the operator in position under finger 12 will be depressed. The detenting of the stop 31 in its lower position is not of such relevancy as to need description in this case.

A bracket I3 is fixed on the top of the magazine I3 and has a forwardly extending pin I4 which projects through a slot in one end of a link 15, and the other end of this link is connected to the actuator II by a pin 16. A spring 11 connected at its opposite ends to the two pins tends to hold the link against the pin I4 at one end of the slot thus maintaining the actuator II normally in a vertical position with its finger I2 directly in line with any one of the tabulatorstops 81 which happens to be presented at the end of a step feed of the carriage. If, for any reason, the finger I2 is entered into any of the spaces between the tabulator stops 3! it may yield as the carriage moves in letter-feed direction without creating undue friction which would prevent spring 51 from restoring the slide 52.

Assuming that several of the tabulator stops 8'! on the carriage have been set in the manner 95 of the catch member 88.

Just described and the carriage is ready for tabulating operation, the operator depresses tabulator bar 38 the arms 39 of which transversely overlie a bar 88 pivoted on the frame of the machine at Ill. The bar is provided with an ear 82 directly under theright-hand arm 39 and in turn transversely overlies an car 83 on an actuator-moving lever 84 fulcrumed on a wire 85 arranged in the lever-fulcrum support I6. Depression of tabulator bar 38 will therefore move bar 88 downwardly carrying with it lever 84 against the action of a return spring 86 attached between lever 84 and an anchor plate 8'! fixed on the fulcrum support I8.

Mounted on the lever 84 about midway between the ear 83 and the fulcrum wire 85 is a catch member 88 having provision for a slight range of pivotal and lengthwise movement by means of a pin 98 passing through a slot 9| in the catch member and secured in an ear 82 on lever 84. The ear 92 is provided with a laterally extending limiting stop 93 restricting the clockwise movement of catch member 88 as the same is viewed in Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 6 of the drawings. A spring 84 connected between the ear 92 and the catch member 88 normally pulls the latter down so that it seats at the upper end oflits slot 9| on the pin 88. A lip 85 normally overlies a lug 86 extending laterally from an actuator 91 which latter includes a link 98 having a lost motion connection therewith as indicated at I88. The actuator comprising the parts 81 and 88 is floated by means of a pivotal connection of the link 98 at I8I with an upwardly extending arm I82 of a member I83 fixed on rock shaft 44; andby a pivotal connection I84 at its forwardend to a link I85 pivoted onthe suspension bar I5. The actuator carries a pawl I88 adapted for a slight range of pivotal movement. Normally a weighted part I81 of the pawl maintains it, as shown clearly in Fig. 1, with its teeth I88 in position to engage with the teeth on the drive roller I4. A comb plate H8 is fixed to the machine frame and various actuators including 91 are received and guided by this plate which also serves as an anchor for the actuator-return springs one of which is shown at III connected to the actuator 9198. This spring holds the actuator lifted with its pawl I85 out of engagement with the drive roller and with the lug 96 underlying lip It will be seen, therefore, that as tabulator bar 38 is depressed the catch 88 will pull down the actuator. between its pivot points IM and I 84 against the action of spring III until the lead-in tooth of the pawl engages with a tooth of drive roller I4 in its rotary movement. This engagement causes the pawl to be first slightly moved in a pivotal manner until a lateral face H2 abuts against the under edge of actuator-part 81 (see Fig.. 1) from which time the pawl and actuator must move'as one in a forward directionby successive engagement of the teeth of the pawl with theteeth of the drive roller. Thus, the suspended actuator is moved forwardly and pivotally on the suspension bar I5 untila throw-off lug H8 on the actuator-part 81 engages the drive roller I4 and lifts the pawl out of engagement. At this point lug 86 has escaped lip of catch member 88 and by the action of the throw-off lug H8 and return spring III the actuator is so lifted on its pivotal connection "II and I84 that as it returns rearward the lug 98 will act against a cam face I I4 of catch member 88 and restore it against ear 88.

Ifin the engaging movement of the pawl with the drive roller there should be any edge-abutting of teeth there may be a rejection-of the actuator under the force of the drive roller. It is the purpose of the pin-and-slot connection 90.9I and spring 94 to permit continued depression of the tabulator bar and consequently the lever 84 and at the same time allow catch member 88 to be drawn upwardly by such rejection of the actuator without, however, losing its position in relation to the lug 96 on the actuator.

The effect of the forward throw of the actuator is to rock member I03 which is fixed on shaft 44. 'I'here is also fixed on th s shaft an arm II5 the outer end of which is pivoted to a link IIB which at its upper end is pivoted to another rocker IIl loosely mounted on rod 43. Therear end of this rocker is pivotally connected at II3 to thetabulator-stop blade 45. A forward arm of rocker II I carries a pin II 9 arranged in a slot I in an arm I2I of a bell-crank lever I22 loosely mounted on a rod I23 supported in a bracket I24 suitably fixed to the frame of the machine and serving also to journal the escapement-wheel shaft 3I. The bell-crank lever I22 has a depending arm I2-5 adapted to engage a tail of the pivoted escapement dog 34.

It will be seen from the foregoing that rocking of shaft 44 by the power drive of actuator 91 raises blade 45 and at the same time rocks bell-crank lever I 22 to move escapement dog 34 out of engagement with the teeth of the escapement wheel 32 and thus disable the escapement control. As shown clearly in Fig. 4, blade 45 has near its upper end a small block I26 which in the upward movement of the blade is adapted to enter an aperture IT! in a top plate I28 of magazine I3. The top plat I28 has fixed on its under face a small block I30 the end of which projects slightly beyond the edge of the aperture #21 so that when the blade is elevated a spring I SI having one end attached to the blade and the other end attached to the magazine will flex the blade and block I26 will rest on the ledge provided by block I30 and also engage plate 828 at the edge of the aperture so as to provide a latch against return of the blade by its spring 46 and also present a resistance to the tabulating-stop action of the carriage under its conventional spring drum and tape indicated at I32.

Member I03 fixed on rock shaft 44 has a tail with a pin I33 which underlies the rear end of lever 84. The forward end of the lever has an extension I 34 which enters between discs I0 arranged in a race in the key-lock bar I'I. As is well understood there is a multiplicity of such discs in alignment in the bar with only the space of the thickness of one key lever in the entire line of discs, that is, between the end limits provided by the bar I'I. When any key lever is depressed between adiacent discs all available space is taken up and no other key lever can be depressed until the first has been removed. Thus depression of tabulator bar 38 prevents operation of any of the other keys associated with the key-lock device, such, for example, as the type keys, and in the present instance pin I33 is held under the tail of lever 84 by the latching of the tabulator-stop blade in its upper position and none of the other keys on the machine which are associated with the key-lock device can be operated until the carriage banks against blade 45 which overcomes the action of spring I3I carry- 3 Eventually, at the end of the tabulating operaing block I28 beyond the ledge provided "by-block tion, lug 38isrestored under lip 85. I30 and allowing spring 46 to draw the blade downwardly to its original position. This, of course, rocks the shaft 44 in the opposite direction lowering pin I33 and allowing spring 88 to raise the forward end of lever 84 withdrawing the extension I 34 from its position between discs I8.

It will be observed that the portion of actuator 91-98 which carries the pivoted pawl I08 may return rearwardly irrespective of the latching of blade 45 in its stop position, this being provided for by the pin-and-slot connection I00 between actuator parts 91 and 98, but until blade 45 is unlatched and restored by its spring, lever 84 is held depressed, there is no effective engagement between lip 95 and lug 36. and subsequent depressions of tabulator bar 38 against return spring I38 are idle movements, the bar being returned to an upper limit-stop I29 shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6.

When the carriage banks one of its set stops 3! against the tabulator stopblade 45 it unlatches the blade and the downward movement of the same by its spring 48 elevates the forward arm of rocker II'I releasing the arm I25 of bell-crank lever I22 from the tail of escapement dog 34 al lowing the dog to be reintroduced to the teeth of escapement wheel 32 by a spring I31. As the forward end of lever '84 rises by reason of the release of pin I33 from the tail of the lever, lip 95 of catch member 88 rides into position over lug 96 of the actuator.

A slight tap and quick release of tabulator bar 38 is therefore effective to set the tabulator;

counterstop and start and complete the run of the carriage to the desired point. Attempts to operate other agencies of the typewriter after the institution of the tabulating operation and prior to its completion are ineffective. Although the actuator pawl is immediately restored to its original position with relation to the power roller I4 there can be no second engagement of the pawl with the power roller until release and return of blade 45.

Downward movement of the forward end of lever 04 is limited by a shoulder I38 on bar I! which also limits movement of various other levers such as the key levers of the machine. The downward movement of stop-setting finger I2 is similarly limited by the shoulder I38 by reason of a pendant member I40 having an extension I4I engaging the shoulder means between discs I35.

When it is desired to clear the carriage of all set tabulator stops 31 the Tab. Clear key is depressed to operate lever 4| which has a bail I42, an upwardly extending arm I43 of which is connected by an adjustable rod I44 with an arm I45 of a bail I46 rockable on the rod 43. The bail has a rearwardly extending arm I 41 which is pivotally connected with blade 5|. Depression of the key elevates blade 5I which has at its upperend a cam I48. The carriage is set over to the left of the machine before the "Tab. Clear key is depressed and the stops are reset in their departing from the spirit or scope of the inven-- tion it is to be understood that the foregoing is 2. A power-driven tabulator mechanism for a typewriter comprising in combination a shiftable tabulator-stop, a type-keydock, power means for shifting the tabulator stop, latch means for holding the stop shifted, a tabulator-key, means controlled by the tabulator-key for rendering the power means and type-key-lock effective, and means moved by the power means and held in position by the latch means to hold the tabulatorkey-controlled means in position to maintain the type-key-lock effective, said power means including a lost-motion connection enabling the restoration to position of some parts moved in shifting the stop and the retaining under control of the latch means of the means maintaining the type-key-lock effective.

3. A power-driven tabulator mechanismfor a typewriter comprising incombination a shiftable tabulator-stop, power means for shifting the tabulator-stop including a rotary drive member and actuator means normally spring-held out of engagement with the drive member and having a lost-motion connection, connections between the actuator means and the tabulatorstop, means for transitorily engaging the actuator means with the drive member, and latch means for holding the tabulator-stop shifted and,

tabulator-stop, latch means for holdingthe stop in shifted position, a rotary drive member, a twopart actuator device having a lost-motion connection between the parts thereof, said actuator device being plvotally suspended at opposite ends, connections between the actuator device engaging the actuator device with the drive member. I i

5. A power-driven tabulator mechanism for a typewriter comprising in combination a shiftable tabulator-stop, latch means for holding the stop in shifted position, a rotary drive'member, a twopart actuator device having a lost-motion connection between the parts thereof, said actuator device being pivotally suspended at opposite ends, connections betweenrthe actuator device and the tabulator-stop, spring. means applied to one of said actuator device parts normally holding the actuator device out of engagement with the rotary drive member, and means for transitorilyengaging the actuator device with the drive member, said means comprising a lever having provision for engaging a part of said actuator device and a key movable toloperate said lever.

6. A power-driven tabulator mechanism for a typewriter comprising in combination ashiftable tabulator-stop, latch means for holding the stop in shifted position, a rotary drive member, a two- ,part actuator device having a lost-motion connection between the parts thereof, said actuator device being pivotally suspended at opposite ends,

connections between the actuator device and the shiftable stop, spring means applied to one of said actuator device parts normally holding the actuator-device out of engagement with the rotary drive member, means .for transitorily engaging the actuator device with the drive memberv comprising a lever having provision for engaging a part of said actuator device and a key movable to operate said lever, and means'movable with the shiftable stop and held by the latch means to prevent return of said lever, said key being returnable while said lever is held.

' WILLIAM F. HELMOND.

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