US2591150A - Paper feeding mechanism for - Google Patents

Description

Sl R. HAINES April 1, 1952 PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM FOR STATISTICAL. MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed NOV. 7, 1950 ByLlL/Mg Attorney S. R. HAI N ES April 1, 1952 PAPER FEEDING MECHANISNI FOR STATISTICAL MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 7, 1950 S. R. HAINES PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM FOR STATISTICAL MACHINES 3 SheeS-Sheet 3 Filed NOV. 7, 1950 Patented Apr. l, 1952 PAPER FEEDING MECHANISM FOR STATISTICAL MACHINES Sidney Robert Haines, West Norwood, London, England, assignor to Powers-S'amas Accounting Machines Limited, London, England,v a

British company Application November 7, 1950, Serial No. 194,458

In Great Britain November 8, 1949 9 Claims.

This invention relates .to kpaper 'feeding mechanism for statistical machines such for example as record cardcontrolled tabulating machines.

It vhas been proposed to provide a record card controlled tabulating machine with a paper feeding'mechanism which could be set to feed the paper either one line space or two line spaces at each item printing operation together with means operative under lthe control of the total printing mechanism to feed the paper by an additional line yspace aftera printing of a total when the mechanism was vset to feed the paper by'one' line space `at each item printing operation. Y

When,A however, .the Ymechanism was set to feed the paper two line spaces at each' printlng operation this extent of feed could not be increased under the control of the total print- .ing mechanism so that if the items were spaced two lines apart the .total was separated from the last item of the group by the same amount.

It has'Vv also been proposed in United States PatentlNo. 2,256,693 to provide va paper feeding mechanism with an adjustable stop having a .pluralityof stepped faces formed thereon to cooperate'with an lactuating member for the driving member for the fpap'er feeding mechanism,

the ysteps; :on the stop determining the extent of vpaper feedingmeans being provided and opermechanisms yas described above and with this fobject' in viewzit is proposed, in accordance with itheiinvention, rto provide a plurality of adjust- .able control stops each of which is associated with a'pred'etermined machine function and vis lsett-ableindependentlyof each of the other control. stops to determine which of a number of jline-spacings' is effected during a machine ycycle in which the particular machine function is being formed.

According to the invention there is provided in a record card controlled statistical machine paper feeding mechanism comprising al driving member which during its idle movement is caused to follow the movement of an actuating member having a constant stroke until arrested by an adjustable control-stop placed in its path and during the return movement of Ithe actuating member is picked up and driven positively there.- by to effect a feed stroke, characterised in that two or more control-stops are independently settable from an inactive position to one of a plurality of predetermined active positions each `to arrest the driving member during its `idle movement at a predetermined position whereby the mechanism may be set to feed paper by a predetermined number of line spaces at each machine operation, the actuating member being normally positioned to co-operate with a selected one of said control-stops and locating means being operable to condition the actuating member for co-operation with another controlstop only during a machine cycle during which a'piedetermined function of the machine is being-performed.

In one embodiment of the invention there are provided three control-stops settable respectively to co-operate with the actuating member vduring item, total, and card-operated cycles of the machine.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, as applied to a record card controlled tabulating machine and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

Figure l is a side elevation of mechanism according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a side elevation similar to that shown in Figure l but drawn to an enlarged scale with some parts omitted more clearly to show details of the construction,

Figure 3 is a plan of a part of the mechanism shown in Figure l, l

Figure 4 is a side elevation of additional control mechanism according to the l invention, some parts being omitted more clearly, to show dtails of the construction, and

Figure is a scrap view of a part of the mechanism shown in Figure 4, some of the elements being shown in positions different to those which they occupy in Figure e.

In the mechanism illustrated in Figures l, 2 and 3 two settable control-stops are provided, one for determining the line spacing during item or listing cycles of the machine and the other` for independently determining line spacing during total-taking cycles of the machine. If desired a further control-stop, as will be described with reference to Figures 4 and 5, may be incorporated in the mechanism independently to determine the line spacing as a result of what will be referred to herein as a card-operated cycle of the machine, that is, co-operation between the card-operated control stop and an actuating member, described below, will occur only When a predetermined control hole is sensed in a record card.

Referring to Figures l, 2 and 3 the paper is fed by rotating the platen I through a ratchet mechanism operated by a reciprocating actuating member in the form of a rack 2. Reciprocation of the rack caus-es oscillation of a driving member-,shown as a Wheel 3 and the ratchet mechanism is disposed between the wheel 3 and the platen I.

The ratchet mechanism is well known and forms no part of theinvention. It may comprise a pair of ratchet wheels mounted concentrically, one on a shaft driven by the wheel 3 and the other on the platen shaft. The ratchet teeth on one Whe-e1 face those on the other wheel and the teeth are held in engagement by a spring. `Rotation ofthe driving member in one direction causes the driven wheel to rotate also whereas when the driving member is rotated in the opposite direction the ratchet teeth force the driving member away 4from the driven wheel against the action of 'the spring so that no movement is imparted to the platen. The ribbon feed which is of known form is driven by the actuating member 2.

As viewed in the drawings, movement of the actuating member 2 to the left is idle while movevment thereof to the right drives the platen.

"No, 2,256,693 referred to above.

The disc 'f carries a pin 9 which abuts against an arm IU secured to the sector-restoring Ashaft 8, which, as described in United States-specification No. 2,242,095 is oscillated from the main shaft of the tabulator at each revolution thereof by means of the arm IB and a link I i.

At each revolution of the main shaft the sector-restoring shaft S is rocked counter-clockwise as viewed in the drawings and then back again. When the shaft 8 rocks counter-clockwise the projection 4 bearing on the roller 5 under the action of the spring above mentioned turns the disc 'I until a lug `I2 on the actuating member 2 engages one or the other of a pair of abutnients I3, I4 provided respectively on an item controlstop I5 and a total control-stop iii, Figure 2.

The vcontrol-stops I5 and I5 are mounted in side by side relation as shown in Figure 3 and each is provided with a slot l? by which the plates are supported for lengthwise sliding movement in a straight line on pins It and I secured in side plates 20 and 2|, Figure 3. The plate 2I is omitted in Figure 2 for the sake of clarity.

Connected to the item control-stop I 5 is a setting member 22 which is pivoted on the pin i3 and has a laterally projecting pin 23 which is engaged in a slot 24 in the item control-stop I5. The setting member 22 is provided with an adjusting member 25 which comprises, in known manner, a plunger 25 spring-urged to the position shown in the drawings 'but which can be withdrawn to the left, as viewed in Figure 2 by axial movement of the adjusting member 25. The plunger 26 is arranged to be inserted into one or other of a number of notches 2l', Figure l, formed in the side plate 2 I. When the plunger 2G is located in the uppermost notch the control member I5 is moved to its inactive or cut-out position and the notches below this position represent respectively, in progressive order, line space positions equivalent to one, two, three, four, five or six line spacings. As shown in Figure 2 the item control-stop I5 is set in active position to produce a line spacing the equivalent of live line spacing positions. Thus after the lug I2 on the actuating member has engaged the abutment I3 the actuating member imparts to the driving member 3 an angular movement such that the paper is advanced by a distance equal to five line spaces.

The total control-stop I6 has associated therewith a setting member 28 which is also pivoted on the pin I8 and is provided with a lateral pin 29 extending into a slotf30 in the control-stop I5. The setting member 28 is provided with an adjusting member 3l similar to the adjusting member 25 described above The plunger 32 associated with the adjusting member 3| co-operates with notches 33 in the side plate 20, the notches 33 being arranged in the same spaced relation as those in the side plate 2l and including a cutout or inactive position. As shown in Figure 2 the total control-stop I6 is set at the one line space position so that after engagement of the abutment I4 by the lug I2 on the actuating member 2 the actuating member imparts to the driving member 3 an angular movement such that the paper is advanced by a distance equal to one line space.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the control-stops I5 and IB are independently settable for engagement by the lug I2 on the actuating member 2 and the line setting effected by one of the control-stops is not affected by the y* setting of the other.

To permit co-operation between either of the control-stops and the lug `I2 the abutments- I3 and I4 on the control-stops I5 and IS'jare ofiset with respect to the control-stops softhat they abutments are disposed one above the other and are movable in the plane in which the lug I2 is movable.

Normally the actuating member 2 is positioned as shown in Figure 2 so that the lug I2, on forward movement of the actuating member 2,'will co-operate with the abutment I3 on the item control-stop I5. Duringthe operation of themachine the lug I2 will co-operate with the abutment I3 during each item or--listing cycle but when a total cycle occurs the actuating member 2 is lowered so that the .lug I2 is aligned with the abutment I4 on the total control-stop I6. l

To condition the actuating member 2 so -that the lug I2 carried thereby' will co-operate with the abutment I4 there is provided'locatrlgzmeans which includes an vangularly movable 'lever 34 cured, to a spindle 5I freely mountedson the total-shaftl35of the machine, the lever` 34 havingalateral pin 36 on which lis supported a :roller 31 toroll in a slot 38 formed in the actuating member2. The lever 34 is connected by a spring. with an arm 40 which is secured to thetotal shaft 35. A pin 4I extends laterally fromthe. arm` 40 and is arranged to engage an edge of the lever 34.

The actuating member2 is guided on a roller 42, Figure 1, having large flanges 43 so that the actuating. membercan; swing about the driving member 3` on actuation of the total-shaft 35. Thus, on a total cycle of themachine the shaft 36"'is,rockedrclockwise, as viewed in Figure 2, andthe actuatingy member 2 is swung about the roller 42`1so that the lug.V I2 vis brought into alignmentzwith the abutment I4 and on being moved downwards, as viewed in Figure 2, the lug I2 cooperates withtheabutment- I4 to determine the l number of line spacings by which the total is spaced fromv the next item to be printed on the paper.

To render the paper feed mechanism inoperative during item sensing cycles of the machine, but operative during av total cycle, the item controlstop I5 is moved to the cut-out position, the total control-stop I6 being adjusted to the desired line'spacing. When the control-stop I5 is in the cut-out position a dwell 44-formed in the setting member 22 is disposed beneath a pin 45 extending laterally from one arm of a bell crank 46 pivoted at 41 to the side plates 20,-2I. The other arm of the bell crank is engaged by a spring post 48 extending laterally from a link 49 the upper end of which is pivotally connected to an arm 50 secarrying a shutter 52 adapted to lock the printing hammers so that they are rendered inoperative until the totalshaft is rocked.

The link-49 is .pulledupwards to hammer locking position by a springy 53, the bell cranky being When the control mechanism consist only of a unit; as described above, which l. includes an itemv control-.stop and a total control-stop the unit is spaced from the frame of the machine 'by spacing members 62, Figure 3, but should it be desired to include a. further unit adapted independently to controlwthev line spaceV of the paper feeding mechanism during a machine cycle other than an item printing cycle or a total-taking cycle an additional unit for this purpose is included in the space occupied by the spacingv members 62. The said further. unit for independently controlling the line spacing of the paper feeding mechanism is illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 4 and will now bedescribed with reference thereto.

The unit abouttobe described is adapted for operation as the resultV of the sensing of la predetermined control hole punched` in a record card and is hereinafter referred to as the cardoperated control-unit. This unit comprises two side plates only one of which, indicated'by the reference numeral 63, is shown in Figure 4 the other being omitted more clearly to showY ther tending at right angles thereto to project into moved about its pivot.41 so that the pin is in engagement with the dwell 44 in the setting plate 22. Thev link 49 will remain in this position until a total taking cycle when the-total-shaft 35 is rocked clockwise and a pin 54 on the arm 4l) then engagesa lug 55 on the link 49 so that as the lug I2 is movedintoalignment with the abutment I4 the link 49 is simultaneously pulled downwards, against the action of its `spring 53, thereby rocking the spindle 5 I to release the print hammers for operation.

The link 49 is provided with a further lug 56, Figure 1, which, during the period that the link 49 is in its up position, is, engagedwith a shouls;

der 51 on the disc 1 thus preventing actuation of the ribbon feeding mechanism. When the link 49 is moved downwards, as above described, the lug 56 is movedy out of engagement with the shoulder 51 so that on rotation of the disc 1 by the actuating member 2 the ribbon feeding mechanism is actuated.

On restoration of the total-taking shaft 35 to its starting position the lug I2 is again raised to the position shown in Figure 2 and the spring 53 again moves the link 49 upwards so that the hammers are locked. The lug 56 again engages the shoulder 51 to render the ribbon feeding mechanism inactive until the next total-taking cycle when the shaft 35 is again rocked.

The total-shaft 35 is rocked by a cam, not shown, on the main shaft of the machine, the cam serving to lift a link 58, Figure 1, which is pivoted to a bell crank. plate 59 connected by a link Y6|), to anarm 6I securedl to the shaft` 35.

the plane in whichthe lug I2 is movable. When the unit is in position in the machine the abutment is disposed above the abutment I3 on the item control-stop I5. A setting plate 66 'is pivoted about a pin 61 similar to the pin I8'with which it is axially aligned. A pin 68 extends laterally from the setting plate 66 andis located in a slot 69 in the control-stop 64 and the setting plate is provided with an adjusting member' 10 similar to the adjusting members 25 and 3l described above. The adjusting member 1D 'is provided with a plunger 1I to co-operate with notches 12 formed in the side plate 63, the top notch representing the'cut-out position for the unit and the remaining slots indicating different line spaeings to which the control-stop may be set. The control-stop 64 is guided for movement in a straight line path by the pin 61 and a further pin 13 which is axially aligned with the pin I 9, the pins 61 and 13 being located in a slot 14 formed in the control-stopl 64.`

As shown in Figure 4, the control-stop 64 is set in the six-line spacing position so that after the abutment 65 has been engaged by the lug I2 the actuating member moves the driving member 3 angularly to feed the paper by a distance equal to six line spaces. It will be understood that the setting of the control-stop ,64 is entirely independent from any setting which may be effected by the control-stops I3, I4 although should the control-stop I3 be in its cutout position the control-stop 64 will not be effective because in such circumstances the disc 1 is latehed against rotation by the engagement of the lug 56 with the shoulder 51. If, however, the control-stop I3 is active the pin 45'is arrested by engagement with the upper surface of the setting member 22 as shown in Figure 2, and the link 49 is retained in its down position against the actionof spring V53.

When employing the card-operated control unit, the lug I2 is raised for co-operation with the abutment 65 by the movable lever 34. To this end the locating means for the actuating member includes a pin 15 which extends laterally from the lever 34,v the pin being locatedin a slot 16 formed in one-end of -a slide-11.l The opposite end of the slide is supported on a spindle "I8, being guided for lengthwise movement by a slot 19. A spring 80 tends to urge the slide 'l1 to the left, as viewed in Figure 4, but a latch 8| secured to the spindle 'I8 is adapted to engage in a notch 82 formed in the underside of the slide 'i1 to retain the slide in its inactive position.

The latch 8| is urged to latching position by a spring 83 and is tripped to permit the slide to become active by an arm 84 secured to the spindle 18 and arranged to be rocked by a transmission element, indicated diagrammatically at 85, the transmission element being, as will be understood in the art, disposed in the connection box associated with the sensing mechanism, not shown, of the tabulating machine. On a predetermined control hole being sensed in a card, the transmission element 85 is moved upwards thus rocking the spindle 18 and tripping the latch 8| out of engagement with the slide 1l and the slide is then moved to the left, as viewed in Figure 4, by the spring 80. As the slide l1 moves to active position the end of the slot 16 engages the pin 15 and rocks the movable lever 34 counter-clockwise, against the action of spring 39, so that the lower end of the actuating member 2 is raised to bring the lug i2 into alignment with the abutment 65 on the card-operated control-stop 64.

l Secured to the disc l is an arm 85 to the outer end of which is pivoted a positively operated restoring member comprising a, link 8l carrying a restoring pawl 88. As the shaft 8 is restored towards the end of the card-operated cycle of the machine the arm 86 is moved clockwise with the disc 'l and the restoring pawl 88 engages a tooth 89 on the slide 'l1 so that the slide is moved to the right, as viewed in Figure 4, until the notch 82 is moved slightly past the latch 8|. As the notch 82 is moved past the latch 8|, a tripping element formed on the link 81 and having a cam face 90 engages with the spring anchor post 9| so that the restoring pawl 88 is tripped out of engagement with the tooth 39 on the slide The slide then returns under the action of its spring 80 until the notch 82 is engaged by the latch 8| and the slide is thereby retained in its inactive position until it is again actuated as the result of a further predetermined control hole being sensed in a record card.

In order that the actuating member 2 shall not be raised in the event of the control hole being sensed in a card while the card-operated controlstop 64 is in its cut-out position, a cut-out lever 92 is pivoted on the pin 6'! and is resiliently engaged with the control-stop 64 by a spring 93. When the card-operated control-stop 64 is in the cut-out position, as indicated in Figure 5, the cut-out lever 92 is positioned in the path of the end of the slide "H so that should the latch 8| be tripped the slide 'l1 is prevented from moving to the left, as viewed in Figure 4, under the iniluence of its spring 80.

From the foregoing it will be understood that the control-stops I3, |11, and 64 can be simultaneously active and that each can be set independently of the others to eifect the desired line spacing when the actuating member co-operates therewith during the operation of the machine to which the control mechanism is tted, Similarly, any of the control-stops can be set to its cutout position and thereby rendered inactive, but in the embodiment described above the control-stop 64 is not effective in the event that the item control-stop |3 is inactive.

It will also be understood that although the control mechanism according to the invention has been described with reference to its application to a card-controlled tabulating machine of the kind described in United States Patent No. 2,242,095 it can also be applied to other forms of cardcontrolled statistical machines such for example as the machine described in United States Patent No. 2,496,138.

I claim:

l. Ina record card controlled statistical machine paper feeding mechanism comprising a driving member which during its idle movement is caused to follow the movement of an actuating member having a constant stroke until arrested by an adjustable control-stop placed in its path and during the return movement of the actuating member is picked up and driven positively thereby to effect a feed stroke, characterized in that two or more controlestops are independently settable from an inactive position to one of a plurality of predetermined active positions each to arrest the driving member during its idle movement at a predetermined position whereby the mechanism may be set to feed paper by a predetermined number of line spaces at each machine operation, the actuating member being normally positioned to co-operate with a selected one of said control-stops and locating means being operable to condition the actuating member for co-operation with another control-stop only during a machine cyclel during which a predetermined function of the machine is being performed.

2. Paper feeding mechanism according to claim l, wherein there are provided three control-stops settable respectively to co-operate with the actuating member during item, total and card-operated cycles of the machine.

3. Paper feeding mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the control-stops are guided for movement in planes parallel with the plane in which the actuating member is moved and each stop is provided with an abutment, said abutments being disposed relative one to the other for movement in the plane in which the actuating member is moved and thereby to co-operate with the actuating member to determine the positions in which the driving member is arrested.

4. Paper feedingr mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the actuating member is normally aligned for co-operation with the abutment on the item control-stop and the locating means includes an angularly movable lever connected with the actuating member and operable during a total-taking cycle of the machine to align the actuating member for co-operation with the abutment on the total control-stop.

5. Paper feeding mechanism according to claim 4, wherein a normally inactive sliding element connected with said lever is rendered active by the sensing of a control hole in a record card fed to the machine and operates the lever to align the actu-ating member for co-operation with the abutment on the card-operated control-stop.

6. Paper feeding mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the sliding element is spring urged to activate position and is rendered inactive by a pivotally mounted latch movable out of latching engagement with a sliding element by a transmission element actuated by a predetermined sensing element in card-sensing mechanism associated with the machine.

7. Paper feeding mechanism according to claim path of the Isliding element to prevent the sliding a lelement from being rendered active by the tripping of its latch. l

9. Paper feeding mechanism according to claim 2, wherein each control-stop is settable by a'setting member connected therewith, the setting members being mounted for pivotal movement about an axis common thereto.

SIDNEY ROBERT HAINES.

No reference cited.

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