US2385035A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

P 1945- J. F. SMATHERS 2,385,035

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed March 18, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY Sept. 18, 1945. J, 'F. SMATHERS 2,335,035

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed March 18 1941 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 o LI.

f NVENTR BY Patented Sept. 18,1945

TYPEWRITING MACHINE James F. Smathers, Rochester, N. 'Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 18, 1941, Serial lilo. 383,918-

16 Claims.

This invention relates to typewriting machines.

The ooject of the present invention is to provide an improved proportional escapement mechanism, that is, an escapement mechanism which spaces the carriage of a typewriting machine in proportion to the widths of the letters typed.

In the ordinary typewriting machine, a fixed space is allotted each character regardless of its width and narrow letters, like the l, are spaced exactly the same as letters which would ordinarily be exceptionally wide, such as the upper case The result. is that in order to create an artistic impression and at the same time keep the letters within the confines oi. the space alotted to them, lower case letters like i are often made wider than they should be and letters like the upper case W are made narrow. Consequently, typewriter type is usually a compromise.

It has been proposed to equip typewriters with type which is similar to the type used by printers, designed for artisticness and maximum legibility. However, such type, when used in a typewriting machine of the usual sort, appears inartistic and crude because the spacing betweenthe letters of words is uneven in consequence of many of the letters being very narrow like the letter "1 while others are very wide and may even have a tendency to overlap.

The present invention is concerned with an improved mechanism which will cause the carriage of a typewriting machine to space variable extents to suit the letters typed so that each letter fits in its allotted space without overlapping and without unsightly gaps. e

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example,'the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the escapement mechanism as it would appear viewed from the front of a machine in which it is installed.

Fig. 2 is a large scale plan view of the escapement mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 shows the escapement dogs.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 in Fig. 2.

In the drawings, l0 designates a part of the framework of a typewriting machine which is here shown as a vertical plate on the front face of which is Journaled the spring motor II by' means of a stud I2. Secured to the spring motor II is a gear l3 which meshes with a rack it having suitable connections to the carriage of' the typewriting machine. The spring ii of spring motor I I urges the gear l3 in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1) and thereby tends to feed the rack l4 and the carriage to the left. the letter spacing direction.

Pivoted on a stud it carried by the frame plate ID are three spacing dogs designated l1, l8, I9, each having a tooth Ha, I811, I911, respectively, engaging the teeth of a ratchet 20 secured to the spring motor i l. 'The spacing dog IT has a hole loosely receiving stud l8, and, with the parts in the position shown in the drawings, prevents rotation of the ratchet 20 under the influence of the spring l6 and thereby holds the carriage against movement in letter spacing direction. Also pivotally mounted on the stud I8 is a holding dog 2| having a tooth engageable with the ratchet 20 and a lug Zia projecting.

under the spacing dog IS.

The spacing dogs i1, l8, l9 are held in spaced relation and guided by vertical slots in a bracket 22 secured to the plate In and are urged in a clockwise direction by means of springs 23 anchored to a pin 24 carried by plate ill. The dog 2! is urged in a counterclockwise direction by a spring 25 anchored to a pin 28 carried by plate l0. However. the spring 23 for the spacing dog I9 is stronger than spring 25 for holding dog 2|, thereby enabling the dog 2i to follow the movements of the dog is in a counterclockwise I direction. The dog 2 i may be termed the holding dog since its function is to temporarily hold the escapement wheel or ratchet 20 against rotation when one of the dogs l1, l8, or it is operated. The dog 2| does not control the amount of spacing but merely prevents rotation of the ratchet 20 during the transition period of th operation of the escapement.

The spacing dogs l1, l8. l9 determine the extent of spacing imparted to the carriage and for this purpose are selectively controlled and operated. The dogs I! and I9 are slotted at their pivots (Fig. 4) instead of being provided with a round hole, and the slot in the dog It is'twice as long as the slot in the dog It. The ratchet wheel 20,, will normally be held by one of the dogs l1, l8, and i9, but for present purposes it can be assumed that the dog I1 is holding the ratchet wheel.

Each time the carriage is to be spaced and the escapement mechanism is operated for this purpose, all three of the dogs i1, i0, and it are ratchet 20 to turn one tooth space.

disengaged from the ratchet wheel 20 and the dog 2| is caused to be engaged with the ratchet wheel. Assuming for the moment that all three spacing dogs l1, l8, ID are raised and lowered, the carriage is allowed to escape one tooth as in a simple escapement mechanism. It should be mentioned that the dogs are so designed that the tooth on the dog 2| will move into a tooth space in the ratchet 20 before any of the teeth l'la, I811, or |9a can become disengaged from the ratchet 20, thus when the dog I1 is free to drop, the ratchet 20 will be permitted to escape only one tooth with a complete operation of the escapement mechanism.

The slot in the dog I8 is of such length that an additional tooth space of movement is permitted when the I! is held up and only dogs i8 and I9 permitted to reengage the ratchet 20. The dog i8 is normally held to the right by its spring 23 and, in consequence of the length of the slot,

when it reengages the ratchet 20, the superior tension of the spring l5 will cause the dog l8 to slide on its pivot It to the left an additional tooth space and will remain there until the escapement is operated another time. Similarly the dog i9 ratchet or escapement wheel 20, the levers 30 operate a selector device which determines which of the dogs l1, l8, I8 is to be eifective to determine the spacing by controlling the amount of rotation of the ratchet wheel 20. This mechanism is most clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 5 and includes a slide 4| which is mounted on the bracket 36 for horizontal movement, it being attached to the bracket by means of screw studs 42 allows two additional spaces if it alone is allowed to drop. Since the dog I! cannot slide on its pivot, it will only allow the escapement wheel Thus the spacing dog H, in conjunction with the dog 2|, acts as an ordinary escapement. After each operation of the escapement mechanism one of the dogs i1, i8, i9 will be holding the ratchet 2D and, each time the escapement is operated, all of the spacing dogs i1, l8, l9 are disengaged from the ratchet and the dogs i8, i9 will be drawn to the controlled by the typewriter character keys. Ex-- tending underneath all of the spacing dogs 'li. l8, i9 is a common operating member 27 pivoted on a stud 21a carried by the plate Ill. This operating member is in the form of a plate having ears at its ends provided with holes through which the stud 21d passes and, when rocked in a counterclockwise direction, acts as a bail to lift all of the dogs 01, I8, I9 out of engagement with the ratchet 20. i

For the purpose of operating the member 27, there are provided three levers designated 28, 29, 30 which are pivoted on a stud 3| (Figs. 1 and 2) carried by the plate It). These levers are urged in a counterclockwise direction by means of springs 32 anchored to a pin 33 carried by the plate ill but movement in this direction is limited by a stop pin 34 also carried by plate it. The levers 28, 29, 30 are spaced from each other on the stud 3! by means of suitable collars and are also guided by vertical slots in brackets 35, 36 attached to the plate 10. The levers 28, 29, 30 may be connected by links 31 to three bails as (Fig. 1) which may i be pivotally mounted on a rod 39, suitably supported in the rame of the machine. These bails 'may underlie or be closely associated with the which extend through horizontal slots in the slide 4|. The slide 4| is formed with a selector lug 4|a. which is positioned differentially by moving the slide 4|, this being effected by the levers 28, 29, and 30.

The lower edge of the slide 4| is provided with three notches or cam slots designated 4|b, Me, and it. These notches are so shaped and arranged that the slide 4| will be cammed to right or left (Fig. 5) difierent extents according to which of the levers 28, 29, and 30 is operated, unless the slide already stands in the position which is to be determined by the operation of a selected lever 28, 29, 30. In Fig: 5 the slide ii is shown in the position it occupies after the lever 28 has been operated to produce a single unit of spacing. It will be observed in Fig. 5 that if lever 28 is operated, it will not affect the slide ll but will actuate the member 21 to lift both of the dogs i1 and I8 out of engagement with the ratchet wheel. Upon the release of the lever 28, the dogs 81 and i9 will be allowed to reengage the ratchet wheel 20, this taking place before the dog 2| is fully released from the ratchet wheel. Since the dog i1 is incapable of sliding on its pivot, the ratchet wheel will be permitted to rotate one tooth space to impart to the carriage a single unit of spacing. The dog I 9, under these conditions, is merely operated idly and has no eflect. It will be noticed in Fig. 5 that the dog It is held by the lug 4 la out of engagement with ratchet 20. However. even if such dog did engage the ratchet, it. nevertheless, would have no effect as the dogs I! dominate in influence over the dogs l8 and i9.

Now let it be assumed that the lever 29 is operated with the parts in the position of Fig. 5. The upward movement of the left hand end (Fig. 1) of the lever 29 cams the slide M to the right (Fig. 5) until the lever 29 enters the straight portion of the notch 4lc, thereby preventing further movement of the'slide 4|. lit will be understood that before this happens, however, the lever 29 will lift the member 21 far enough to raise all of the dogs ll, l8, l9 before the slide 4| starts to move to the right, to prevent the end of the do I! from blocking movement of the slide M by contact with the side of lug die. Thus, the operation of the lever 29 positions the lug illa underneath both of the dogs i1 and it and allows only the dog Is to reengage the ratchet wheel. The dog 2| allows the ratchet wheel to turn approximately half a tooth spacewhen the do s ll, i8, i9 are raised in consequence of the clockwise movement with reference to Fig. l. of lever 29. When the dog l9 reengages the ratchet wheel, however, the dog 2| is disengaged and the spring of the spring drum causes the ratchet wheel to turn an extent which is limited by the long slot in the dogl9. This dog has its slots so proportioned that an additional two and one half spaces of movement of the ratchet wheel is per mitted, whereby a total of three units of spacing will be imparted to the carriage. The slide 4| will I remain in this position until either the lever 28 or lever 30 is operated. Thus if several charactors calling for three units of spacing are tyl d insuccession, the cycle of operation will be repeated and will differ only that the dog I! will not be raised but will already be in raised position in consequence of the previous operation, and the dog I! alone will be operated.

When the lever 80 is operated, it cam the slide ll to the right (Fig. as far as it will go,thereby moving the lug 4 la under the dog I1 and permitting both dogs l8, I! to reengage the ratchet wheel 20. Since the dog I8 has a shorter slot than the dog [9, the ratchet wheel will be permitted to rotate one less tooth space when the dogs l8, l9 reengage the ratchet wheel, whereby only two spaces of the carriage will take place. The notches lib, llc, and Md are so shaped that no matter what the position of the slide ll, any lever 28, 29, 30 except the last one operated is capable of moving the slide to a new position.

In Fig. 1 there has been shown somewhat diagrammatically one means of selectively controlling or operating levers 28, 29, 30 according to the key depressed. However, this specific disclosure is purely by way of example as it is contemplated that the mechanism be used in a power operated typewriter where the elements Ill may consist of levers or arms which are operated by the individual type bar operating members or devices instead of being directly actuated by or part of the key character levers. For example, a modified selector mechanism operated by cam units such as is shown in Patent No. 2,224,766 may be used in which the links I 46 of the patent actuate the levers 28,19, 30 of Fig. l.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It

- is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a machine having a carriage, the combination of a ratchet wheel driven with the carriage, a holding dog engageable with the ratchet wheel; a series of spacing dogs engageable with the ratchet wheel, a plurality of which spacing dogs are mounted for different restricted movements to permit the ratchet wheel to rotate a plurality of different extents according to which of the spacing dogs is selectively rendered effective, at least one of said spacing dogs normally engaging the ratchet to prevent rotation thereof;. operating means for engaging the holding dog with the ratchet and disengaging all of the spacing dogs from the ratchet to permit rotation thereof, and a selector element selectively set by the operating means to any one of a plurality of positions to selectively control reengagement of the spacing dogs with said ratchet wheel.

-2. In a carriagespacing mechanism for a typewriting machine, a ratchet wheel rotatable to control theextent of letter spacing of the carriage, a plurality of spacing dogs engageable with the ratchet wheel and movable different extents tangentially of said wheel to control rotation thereof different extents according to which of said dogs is engaged with the ratchet wheel, operating meansfor disengaging the spacing dogs from the ratchet wheel, and a. selector device operated by the last named means for selectively controlling the reengagement of the spacing dogs with the ratchet wheel.

3. In combination with the carriage or a typedifferent extents for controlling different extents of movement of the first named element, a holding element operable when thespacing elements are rendered ineffective to hold the first element, means for rendering the spacing elements ineffective and the'holding element effective, and selecting means operated by the last named means for selectively rendering effective the spacing elements.

4. In combination with the carriage of a typewriting machine, a rotatable element driven with the carriage, a plurality of spacing control elements, at least one of which is normally engaged with the rotatable element'to prevent rotation thereof, said control elements being movable different extents to limit rotation of the rotating element and disengageable from the rotating element; a holding element engageable with the rotatable element when the spacing control elements are disengaged therefrom to prevent rotation of the rotatable element, means common to the spacing control elements for disengaging said control elements from the rotatable element, and a selector device settable with each operation of the spacing control elements to selectively control the reengagement of the spacing control elements with the rotatable element.

5. In combination with the carriage of a typewriting machine, a ratchet wheel movable with the carriage, a plurality of spacing dogs. selectively engageable with the ratchet wheel and member movable transversely of the spacing dogs to selectively prevent the spacing dogs from reengaging the ratchet wheel, and a series of levers for actuating the common operating means and selectively moving the transversely movable member.

6. In combination with the carriage of a typewriting machine, toothed means -movable with the carriage, a plurality of spacing dogs engageable with the toothed means and movable different extents by the ratchet wheel, a holding dog normally disengaged from the toothed means and movable into engagement therewith to hold the toothed means temporarily, means to disengage all of the spacing dogs and at the same time cause the engagement of the holding dog with the toothed means, and selecting means to control the reengagement of the spacing dogs with the toothed means.

7. In a carriage spacing mechanism, an element movable to control the extent of feed of the carriage, a series of spacing members selectively pivotally engageable with and disengageable from the movable element, certain of said members being slidably movable different extents transversely of their pivots 'by the movable element when engaged with said element to control movement thereof and selecting means for controlling the number of said spacing members engaging said element, and operating means for alternately engaging and disengaging said members.

8. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a ratchet wheel rotatable to control the extent of feed of the carriage, a plurality of pivoted spacing dogs engageable with the ratchet wheel and movableon their pivots different limited extents to control rotation of the ratchet wheel; and means to selectively engage the spacing dogs with the ratchet wheel, including a dog selecting element and a series of levers each for moving the selector element to a different extent from the others.

9. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a toothed member moved with the carriage; a, plurality of spacing dogs, each defining a difierent spacing of the carriage and movable difi'erent extents in parallel planes, said spacing dogs also being movable in said planes into engagement with said toothed member; a selector element movable transversely of the spacing dogs to selectively control their engagement with said toothed member, operating means for controlling engagement and disengagement of said spacing dogs with said member and for selectively moving said element, and a holding dog movable into engagement with said toothed member when said spacing dogs are wheel driven with the carriage; a plurality of pivoted spacing dogs engageable with the ratchet wheel, at'least two of said spacing dogsubei ng slidably movable on their pivots different extents variably to limit rotation of the ratchetwheel; means to operate the spacing dogs, including means to disengage said dogs from the ratchet wheel and means to selectively engage the spacing dogs with the ratchet wheel by a pivotal movement of said spacing dogs; and means for holding the ratchet wheel against rotation when the spacing dogs are disengaged from the ratchet wheel.

11. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a plurality of spacing dogs for the carriage; a toothed member connected to'the carriag for controlling the extent of feed of the carriage, the teeth on said member having wide facesto be enga'geable by any one of said spacing dogs independently of the others, each spacing dog having a path of movement different in extent from the others to cause a difierent degree of movement of the toothed member, means to engage and disengage said dogs, and a selecting device for controlling the engagement of the spacing dogs with said toothed member.

12. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a toothed member movable with the carriage, a series of spacing dogs movable different extents to cause different extents of feed of thetoothed member, at least one of which spacing dogs is normally in engagement with said toothed member, said spacing dogs being movable away from said toothed member, a holding dog common to the spacing dogs and movable into engagement with the toothedmember when the spacing dogs are released therefrom; an element selectively movable transversely of said spacing dogs for selectively preventing reengagement of the dogs with the toothed member, said last named member being arranged to permit different ones of said spacing dogs to reengage the tooth member according to the position of said member, means to disengage said dogs from said member, and key controlled means for selectively moving said element.

13. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a ratchet wheel rotatable to control the extent of feed of the carriage, a plurality of pivoted spacing dogs engageable with the ratchet wheel and movable in a direction transversely of their pivots diflerent extents to control the rotation of the ratchet wheel; and means to selectively engage the spacing dogs with the ratchet wheel including an element having a series of cam surfaces and movable to a plurality of different positions to selectively prevent the dogs from engaging the ratchet wheel, each cam suri'ace corresponding to a different position of said element, a series of selectively operable levers cooperating with the cam surfaces in the movable element for moving said element to its different positions, and means for engaging said dogs with said ratchet wheel and disengaging said dogs from said ratchet with each operation of one of said levers.

14. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a toothed member moved with the carriage; spacing dogs, each movable a different extent from the others to effect different extents of spacing of said toothed member and separately independently movable into and out of engagement with said toothed member; a member common to all of said dogs for moving themout of engagement with said toothed member, a holding dog common to said spacing dogs and movable into engagement with said toothed member when the spacing dogs are disengaged, and means for selectively controlling engagement of said dogs with said toothed member.

15. In a carriage spacing mechanism, a member moved with the carriage, a plurality of space defining members cooperating with said carriage moved member and releasable therefrom, each of said space defining members being movable different extents from the other to effect difierent feeds of the first member; means to release all of said members as a group, detent means for the carriage moved member rendered operative when the space defining members are released, and means to selectively retain certain of said elements in a released condition upon each operation of the operating means. 16. In a carriage feed mechanism, toothed means movable to control the extent of feed of the carriage, a plurality of feed controlling elements operatively engageable with the toothed means and having different limited extents of movement and selectable to vary the extent of movement of the carriage by the toothed means, actuating means for said elements for effecting first their disengagement from said toothed means and then tending to reengage said elements with the toothed means; and selecting means for controlling the engagement of the feed controlling element with said toothed means, said selecting means including a member movable variable extents to selectively control the reengagement of the feed controlling elements with said toothed means, said member enabling a selected one of the feed controlling elements to operatively engage the toothed means upon each operation of the actuating means.

JAMES F'. SMATHERS.

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