US2549196A

US2549196A - Typewriter ribbon rejuvenating device

Info

Publication number: US2549196A
Application number: US35508A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert W Harris
Original assignee: Western Union Telegraph Co
Current assignee: Western Union Telegraph Co
Priority date: 1948-06-26
Filing date: 1948-06-26
Publication date: 1951-04-17
Anticipated expiration: 1968-04-17

Description

April 17, 1951 R. w. HARRIS TYPEWRITER RIBBON REJUVENATING DEVICE Filed June 26, 1948 INVENTOR R.W. HARRIS ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 17, 1951 TYPEWRITER RIBBON REJUVENATING DEVICE Robert W. Harris, Garden City Park, N. Y.,'as signor to The Western Union Telegraph Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 26, 1948, Serial No..35,508 6 Claims. (Cl. 197 171) ThlS'lIlVIliZlOll relates to a rejuvenating device for applying ink :to the ink ribbons of typewriting machines, and more particularly to such a device that is readily attachable to and detachable from the conventional ink ribbon spool used in typewriting machines such as a typewriter or 1 telegraph printer.

The useful life of a typewriter ribbon is usually terminated by a loss of the ink or evaporation of the vehicle thereof rather than by injury to the fabric. Successful rejuvenation of the ribbon involves replacement of this loss of vehicle or ink in correct amount properly distributed and easily applied It has heretofore been proposed to re-ink the ribbon after unwinding it, but this involved excessive labor and equipment costs. Also,.various devices have been proposed for re-inking the ribbon while on the machine, but these have not proved satisfactory forvarious reasons among which are that the devices unduly complicate the structure of the typewriter or printerin which they are embodied; the ink is not transferred uniformly to the entire length of the ribbon; in a number of the devices the ink wasdeposited directly in the type slug path or otherwise applied in a manner which resulted in initial over-inking; and other devices were subject to the disadvantage that there Was a transfer of ink when the typewriter or printer was not operating, thus resulting in an excess of ink localized in certain portions of the ribbon which subsequently gums and fills the type slugs and results in smeared. copy.

Among the objects of the invention are to pro Vide a typewriter ribbon inking devicewhich is free from the foregoing objections, and which will distribute ink automatically and uniformly to the entire length of the ribbon in just-the right amount, and in which substantially no transfer of ink can occur except while the typewriter or printer is operating Another object is to provide an inking device of the character described which isreadily attachable to or removable from a conventional ribbon spool, and which does not interfere with the movements of the ribbon spool or other typewriting machine parts.

Other objects are a rejuvenating device of the character described which is easily installed without tools and which in general requires no added mechanism or alteration of existing mechanisms; the device may easily be maintained in proper inking condition; the inking pad in the device which applies ink to the ribbon is covered so that ink cannot accidentally get on the 5--4 of Fig. 1; and

2' hands or clothing of the operator; the ink ribbons may be reversed in the normal manner by reversing spool positions in order to gain increased life; and copy may be maintained at full new ribbon intensity until the fabric of the ribbon fails.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which: 7

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of two of the ink ribbon rejuvenators as applied to the ribbon spools or a telegraph tape printer;

Fig. 2 is a side view of-the mechanism with certain parts in section, looking in the direction of the arrows 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of one of the ribbon inking attachments removed from theribbon spool; r

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detailedview showing how the ink is transferred from the inking pad to the typewriter ribbon.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown the ribbon feed mechanism of a well known type of telegraph tape printer having a type basket and means responsive to incoming fill permutation code signals for selecting andcausing the proper type bars to be actuated for printing the received characters on a narrow tape t. The printer may be any of various well known types in the art such, for example, as disclosed in the Morton et a1. Patent No. 1,745,633, issued February 4, 1930. Also, the printer may be a page printer such, for example, as disclosed in the Noxon et a1. Patent No. 2,231,215; issued Feb ruary 11, 1941. The ribbon feed mechanism comprises ribbon drive shafts 9 which respectively actuate two conventional ribbon spools ID on which the typewriter ribbon r is alternately wound and unwound, the ribbon passing around the roller guides {2. As is well known, the ribhop is fed first in one direction until it is nearly unwound from one of the spools Ill, at which time the direction of feed is reversed, this reversal of the direction of the ribbon feed being effected at each side of the machine by means of a shaft l3 rotated by a, ribbon reverse arm 14 which is engaged and actuated by a metal eyelet in the end of'the ribbon.

At the printing position the ink ribbon passes through a guide member l5 adjacent to the printing roller or platen I 6. The narrow tape it on which the incoming message is printed passes between the platen and ribbon so that as the ribbon is struck by the type slugs carried by the type bars which are actuated in response to the incoming signals, the desired characters are printed on the tape. Guide members 13 and I9 and a feed roller 29 coact with the platen I6 to advance the tape, in the direction of the arrow,

and keep it properly aligned'during the printing operations. 7

The rejuvenator attachment comprisesa circular metal retainer casing 25 having a turned edge portion25ai, Figs. 3 and 4. Received within the edge portion 25a is an inking ring 26 preferably composed of woolen felt, the felt being retained firmly in position by means of a resilient split ring 2?, the ends of which ring overlap as indicated in dotted lines at 21a in Fig. 3. The

of ink will be found sufficient to initially impregnate the felt, the ink being added evenly to thefelt around the periphery through the medium of the holes' 32. Whenthe felt is saturated, the

surface 26a will have a shiny wet appearance. If through error too much ink has been added,

excess fluid may be removed with a blotter.

Before installing the rejuvenator on the ribbon spool, care should be taken to see' that the ribbon spools are not bent out of shape; this can readily face 26a of the resilient felt ring applies ink to. an edge of the ribbon r as printing proceeds, in a manner described below.

Secured to the inner surface of the shell 25, as by riveting or otherwise, arethree spring clips 30, the free ends of which are adapted to resiliently engage the periphery of the outer face of the ribbon spool thereby to clamp the inking device onto the spool, as seen in Fig. 4. Fresh ink is added in drops to the rejuvenator felt merely by inserting the snout of a small oil can in each of the several holes-32 in'the casing 25. The ends of the clips 30, which are riveted to and lie against the innersurface of the casing 25, serve to; space the inner edge of the'split ring 21 a a slight distance from the inner flat surface of the casing 25 and'thus provide suflicient clearance to enable the inkreadily to'flow to the inner edge of the felt ring 26 and impregnate the ring. Various types of inks having the proper fluidity and tinctorial strength may beused with the rejuvenator. glyceryl mono-ricinoleate or a diethylene glycol mono-ricinoleate, or a mixture of these, with from four percent to twelve percent of added soluble dye of suitable color may be employed,

such as disclosed in the Kline Patent No. 2,435,222,

issued FebruaryB, 1948. Another ink suitable for the purpose may comprise the following Dye 4% to 15% of above depending on color and intensity desired. 7

Referring to Figs. i and 5, the inner face 253a of the inking felt extends inwardly past the outer edge 10 of the ribbon spool, that is, it overlaps the face'ofthe spoola distance. preferably from one-sixteenth of an inch to one-eighth of an inch, and this insures that as the ribbonis wound or unwound from its spool during operation of theprinter, a wipe-squeeze action occurs at a between the surface 26a and the slightly deflect.- ed contacting edge of the ribbon, which action slightly compresses or'squeezes the inking felt and places a small amount of the inking fluid near but not on thetype slug path of the ribbon. Travel of the ink across the width of the ribbon is then accomplished by capillarity; This wipesqueeze action causes transfer of ink to the ribbon by the movement of the ribbon past the surface Zfia of the felt, which is during operation of the machine, but substantially no transfer of inking fluid occurs when the machine is station- For example, an ink composed of formula:

v Parts Lard oil 2 Mineral oil SAE 10 2 Oleic acid 1 Mineral seal or spindle oil 1 be "checked by rotating the ribbon drive shaft 9. The retainer is'held in the hand, felt side up, and then the outer edge of the spool is inserted so that it is securely held by the three clips 39. I f'theproper amount of ink has been applied to the felt, and the printer is operated, a narrow track of fluid willbe found along the outer edge of the ribbon 1". This fluid will in the course of fifteen or twenty minutes of operation work its way across the ribbon into the type slug path, and there will be little variation in the intensity. of the typed characters during the rejuvenating period. or the first hour of operation. Whatever differences may be observed will disappear with further use, as the fluid equalizes its distribution throughout the ribbon length; Sufficient fluid will be transferred from the rejuvenator to the ribbon in the course of an hours operation of the printer to afford a period of service approximating anew ribbon. When a ribbon again shows evidence of exhaustion, ink is again applied to the rejuvenator by means of a small oil can. Two or three drops in each of the holes 32 of the easing will be sufficient to reimpregnate the ribbon. As an alternative procedure, one drop of ink may be added at shorter periods, thus maintaining at I all times the inking strength Of a new ribbon.

Field tests of the rejuvenator in various telegraph ofiices throughout/this country have shown that the life of a ribbon used in a telegraph printer is from four to eight times longer than that of an identical ribbon under the same service conditions, which is not rejuvenated in'the manner disclosed herein.

Preferably Ttwo rejuvenator devices are employed, "one for each ribbon spool as illustrated, but for certain purposes and where the typewriter or printer is used infrequently, one of the devices attached to but one of the ribbon spools will be found sufficient. While there is shown anddescribed herein a particular embodiment of the invention for the purpose of illustration, many other and varied forms and uses will present themselves to those versed in the art without departing from the invention which is, therefore, not limited except as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: a

1. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewriting machine in which the ribbon is fed to and from a spool during opera- 7 tion of the machine, comprising an ink pad having a resilient inking surface, means for rotating convolutions of the wound ribbon on the spool but projects into the path of travel of an edge portion of a single thickness only of the ink ribbon a distance suficient to slightly deflect said edge portion as it passes across the inking surface to provide a wipe-squeeze action between said edge portion and the resilient inking surface of the rotatable pad only when the ribbon is advancing during operation of the machine.

2. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of typewriting machine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another during operation of the machine, comprising an ink pad having an inking surface, and means for positioning said pad so that its inking surface lies adjacent to a face of one of the ribbon spools and in the path of travel of an edge portion only of the ink ribbon to provide a wiping action be tween said edge portion and said inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbon spool to another, said padhaving a configuration such that its inking surface is spaced from the edges of the convolutions of the wound ribbon on said one of the ribbon spools adjacent to the inking surface of the pad.

3. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewriting machine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another during operation of the machine, comprising an ink pad having an inking surface, and means for de tachably mounting said pad on one of the ribbon spools so that the inking surface lies adjacent to a face of said ribbon spool and in the path of travel of an edge portion only of the ink ribbon to provide a wiping action between said edge portion and said inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbon spool to another, said pad having a configuration such that its inking surface is spaced from the edges of the convolutions of the wound ribbon on the spool on which the pad is mounted.

4. An inking device for rejuvenating the inktween said edge portion and said inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbon spool to another, said pad having a configuration such that its inking surface is spaced from the edges of the convolutions of the wound ribbon on the spool on which the pad is mounted.

5. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewriting machine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another'during operation of the machine, comprising an ink pad having a ring-shaped inking surface, and means for positioning said pad so that the ring-shaped inking surface thereof surrounds and lies adjacent to a face of one of the ribbon spools and in the path of travel of an edge portion only of the ink ribbon to provide a wiping action between said edge portion and said inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbon spool to another.

6. An inking device for rejuvenating the ink ribbon of a typewriting machine in which the ribbon is fed from one spool to another during operation of the machine, comprising a casing containing an ink pad having a ring-shaped inking surface, a resilient spring member for securing the pad in position within the casing, and spring clips on said casing for detachably mounting said pad on a face of one of the ribbon spools so that the inking surface lies adjacent to said face of one of the ribbon spools and in the path of travel of an edge portion only of the ink ribbon to provide a wiping action between said edge portion and said ring-shaped inking surface only when the ribbon is being fed from one ribbon spool to another, said casing having apertured portions therein to enable fluid ink to be applied to said ink pad at places spaced around the periphery thereof.

ROBERT W. HARRIS.

Name Date Hanable Apr. 3, 1934 Beckman Apr. 28, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1942 Number Number