US2615552A - Tabulating mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 28,l 1952 E, L wlsE 2,615,552

TABULATING MECHANISM 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Feb. 4, 1950 ATTORNEY Oct. 28, 1952 E. l.. wlsE 2,615,552

TABULATING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 4. 195o 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 I N V EN TOR. ELMER L WISE BYWQJM:

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 28, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TABULA'HNG MECHANISM Elmer L. Wise, Bridgeport, Conn., assigner to Underwood Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 4, 1950, Serial No. 142,438

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates t typewriting machines of the class wherein the type head or carriage is tabulated to various columnar positions upon the depression of any one of a plurality of keys, and more particularly to means for tabulating the carriage by power under control of the keys.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a mechanism which, upon the depression of certain keys, is connected with power means to positively operate an escapement mechanism and tabulate the carriage.

Another object of the invention is to prov-ide a power driven escapement operating mechanism which is operable by either a space lbar or by any of a group of tabulator keys.

Still another object of the invention is toprovide, as a part of a tabulating mechanism, a power driven escapement operating mechanism which is simple in construction and reliable in operation.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of `construction and combinations of parts, the important elements of which are set out in the preferred embodiment of the invention hereinafter described with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this description.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in vertical section of a machine embodying the invention and particularly illustrating the escapement operating mechanism occupying its normal position,

Figure 2 is a fragmental view in rear elevation illustrating the escapement in its normal or carriage movement restraining position,

Figure 3 is a fragmental detail View showing certain of the parts shown in Figure 2 inthe position they assume upon the depression of a tabulator key, I

Figure 4 is a fragmental 'detail view showing certain of the parts of Figure 1 in actuated position, and

Figure 5 is a perspective showing of the central part of the mechanism shown in Figure 1.

The invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in an Elliott-Fisher Flat Platen Typewriting and Accounting machine of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No, 1,280,697, issued to Harry A. Foothcrap, October 8, 1918, and in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,239,023 and 2,370,505, issued to Oscar J. Sundstrand, April 22, 1941 and February 27, 1945, respectively, to all of which patents reference'may be had for an understanding of features of construction not fully illustrated or described herein,

Such machines include, generally, a line space frame mounted for forward and rearward movement over a flat `platen arranged to receive and hold a work piece. A type head or carriage is mounted on the line space frame for movement in letter spacing direction under the urge of a band spring, and for return movement thereon by means of power supplied by an electric motor. The type head or carriage includes type bar mechanisms which, upon the depression of the usual keyboards, are selectively connected with the power means to drive the types into contact with the work piece and t0 operate an escapement mechanism for advancing the carriage letter space by letter space in the manner disclosed in the Patent No. 2,370,505 referred to. It also includes a space bar arranged to operate the escapement mechanism in substantially the same manner as is disclosed in the Patent No. 2,239,023 previously referred to.

In the illustrated construction, the carriage structure only is shown, comprising a plate I0 on which is mounted brackets II and I2 supporting an escapement shaft I3. Rotatably mounted on the shaft I3 is a gear I4 meshing with a rack I5, rigid in the line space frame (not shown). Afxed to the gear I4 is an escapement wheel I6 having teeth I1 spaced so as to provide the desired letter spacing of the carriage. at I8 in the bracket II, normally engages the teeth II of escapement wheel I 6, as shown inl Figure 2, to position the carriage in a columnar position over the work piece. Tabulation of the carriage is effectedv by rocking the dog I9 from engagement with the teeth II- of the escapement wheel I6 as is shown in Figure 3, whereupon the carriage is free to be advanced by means of the band spring previously mentioned.

Mounted on the plate I0 are carriage frame members 20, one at each side thereof, tied together by means of a top plate 2 I, Figure l, plate j 2| carrying upper frame members 22 in which is 21 to stop against the underside of the plate 2I. Two other keys, a carriage release key 29 and a column tabulator key 3I are pivoted in the frame members 20 on shafts 28 and 30' respectively.

The present invention provides means to move A, dog I9 from engagement with the teeth II of the escapement wheel I6 by power upon the depres- 'sion of any one of the keys 25, 29 and 3l.

A dog I9, pivoted The space bar mechanism The machine disclosed in the above noted patents to Foothorap and Sundstrand includes means operated by a space bar 35, Figures l and 5, to momentarily release the escapement dog I9 from the teeth I1 of escapement Wheel f5 to permit letter space movement ofthe typing head. In the present embodiment, this mechanism cornprises the space bar 35 mounted on a pair of arms 36 connected by a yoke 31 across their rearward extension and freely pivoted on shaft 38. An-

other larm 38 pivoted on shaft 39 is connectedito:

one arm 36 by a sleeve 39 and is perforated at its forward end to engage a pin 40 xed inv one sidel of a flanged flat plate 4I also pivoted on shaft 38. The other side flange of plate 4I is forwardly extended and is pivoted at 4.2 to a link 43 connected at its other end to an arm 44 pivotedon a shaft 45 and tensioned upwardly by a spring 46.

Arm 44 carries a stud 41 resting above an arm of a lever 48 pivoted adjacent arm 44 on shaft'45, the other arm of lever 48 extending-upwardly intol a slotted guide 49 and being tensioned rearwardly by a spring; Lever 48 carries an arm I projecting'rearwardly therefrom, a spring 52 connected between the lever 48 and arm 5I serv'- ing to tension arm 5I clockwise against a stud 53 on a power lever 54'with a shoulder'55 of the arm 5I to the rear' of stud 53. Lever 54 is similar to the levers for the type actions of the aforementioned patents and carries a snatch pawl 58 pivotedv thereon for engagement with the luted power shaft 23. Lever 54 is pivotedl on' a lever 51, pivoted in turn on a wire 58, a spring 59' connected between lever 48 and lever 54 normally holding lever 54 clockwise against a stop plate 68. Actuaticn of the space bar 35 will through the linkage set out rock levers 48 andA 54' counterclockwise to engage snatch pawl 56 with the flut-ed shaft 23, Lever 54 will thereupon be driven downwardly rocking lever 51 about wire 58 until the pawl 56 disengages from shaft 23 after which spring 59' will act to restore the parts to the position of Figure l with the exception that if the space bar 35 is retained in depressed position, stud 53 will engage the arm 5I to the rear of shoulder 55.

Connected to the forward end of lever 51 and actuated upon each operation of lever 54 is a link 64. Link S4 is connected at its lower end to an arm 65 pivoted on a stud 58 screwed into the side frame 20. Arm 55 is slotted'at 6l and embraces a pin 68 of. an armA 89 on shaft 3D to rock arm 69 counterclockwise upon each operation of lever 54. Arm Sil-extends rearwardly, seeFigure 5, and is connected by a bail 18 to an arm 1I also pivoted on shaft 38. A spring 12 connected to arm 1I assists spring59. in maintaining the parts in normalpositionas determined by the engagement offan arm 6I of` lever 59 Withastud 62 xed in the side frameK 20. Arearward.. extension of arm 1I lies, under, a, collarY 13. secured to a. wire 14n operated by the universal bar upontyping. operations as, set forth inthe., noted. patents to Sundstrand Wire 14 is the. escapement operator. and, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, serves, when raised by either the type barA mechanisms or the space bar linkage set forth, to release the. escapement dog- I9 from thetooth I1 of the esoapementwheel I6.. Wire 14 is connected at its lower endto, an arm of a lever pivoted on plate I I, aspring 16 connected between the lever 15 and dog I9 `normally maintaining thedog. in engagementwithtooth I1 and an arm of lever 15 against a stud 11 xed in plate il. A link 18 connected to dog I9 and provided with a slot 19 embracinga stud 88 of lever 15 provides a one-way driving connection between the dog I9 and lever 15.

From the linkage thus far described, it will be clear that upon depression of space bar 35, lever 54 will be engaged wthzilu-ted shaft 23;for a resulting downwardl movement. This downward movement is transmitted through levers 51, 95, 59'. and 'II to an upward motion of wire 'I4 which throughlever 15 and link 18 will disengage dog I9 from the escapement wheel tooth I1. As soon as the` lever. 54 is free. from shaft 23, springs 59, l2V andi 18 restore the parts to normal position and dog: I9 into engagement with escapement wheel f5. The interval of release of dog I9 is sufficiently short and the inertia of the typing head so. great that the dog I9 will be released in ample time to engage the next tooth Il and soholdrthes movement of the typing. head to one letterspace.

The decimal tabulator keys The machine is provided. with a plurality, usu.-.

ally ten, decimal tabulator keys 25 to release the carriage from the escapement mechanism and to project a. stop to arrest` the carriage in a. selected positionof the next typing column. These keys 25` project one of` a. groupof tabulator stops (not shown) in the manner set forth in V Foothorap Eatent No. 1,280,697, above, to. determine arrest of the carriage. In prior machines4 of this type it has been the practice to connect these keys 25 to withdraw the escapement. dog- I9 from escapement wheel. I 5 at the same tme'that a tabulator stop was projected. It has been found that the forcey required inA such withdrawal of dog I 9 is the major load involved in operating a keyv 25. The present invention relieves key 25 ofV such load bya simple, and inexpensive connection to the above described spaceibar mechanism.

Underlyingrall of the keys 25. is a bail 84.pivoted at 85. toears 850i theplate 2I. At one side, bail 84 is pivoted to a vertical wire,81 connected at its lower end to an arm of a lever 884 and at its upper end to an arm of a lever-89 pivoted on an upper side plate 22. The other arm of lever 89 is connected to a sliding link 90, the forward end of which isslotted to embrace the upper end of the space bar` lever, 48. Thus, the depression of any tabulator key 25 will Yrock the bail 84 tc move slide. 98 forwardly and rockl leverI 48. to throw in thepower actionand to releaseescapernent dog I9 in the manner. previously described.

This operationv of thefpower action would-normally resultr inV merely a one step advance ofl the type carriage and not in a tabulating movement. Mechanism to retain the escapement dog- I9 disengaged fromlthe escapement wheel I6 and so allowV freev carriage movement must therefore be provided. This retention of esoapement dogA I9' is. controlled by lever, 88 connected tor the lower end of wire B1. As.- shown in Figures 2V and 3, lever 88 is Apivoted at 9 I. tothe lower sideoff plate I5 and extends. to thefproximity of escapement dog I9.. The.V4 right end of lever 88 as viewed in these figures is` connected by a spring 92 to a slide;93.andI is provided with a bent ear 94 overlying a shoulder. on. slidev 9.5 to normally retain slide 93 depressed. Slide 93 is freely movable vertically on the pivot. I8 of .dog I9 and on a stud 95 of frameplateII andis. notched at 98. A stud 91 on dog I9 is normally positioned in notch 96 so that the slide 93 does not interfere with the mers-,1552

normal reengagement -of` dog' I9 lwith teeth '|1 'I'he parts will remain in the positions setiout` above so long as a tabulator key 25 is retained depressed. Upon release of keyL 25 either at the tabulated position or earlier if desired, the upward movement of wire r81 will move slide 93 downwardly until the notch 96 aligns with stud 91 after which escapement dog I9 is free to reengage escapement wheel I9.

It is to be noted that due to the one way driving connection between stud 41 of arm 44 and the arm of lever 4B, operation of lever 48 by the tabulator keys 25 will not cause a motion of space bar 35 since lever 48 merely moves away from stud 41.

The column tabulator key The column tabulator key 3|, Figures 1 and 5, is provided to advance the carriage directly to a desired column printing position, and is therefore arranged to set up a stop for positioning the carriage in the same manner as do the decimal tabulator keys 25 and must also be held depressed until the carriage reaches the desired position. Key 3|, pivoted on the shaft 39, is tensioned by means of a spring |99 tocrock clockwise, its movement being limited by means of a slotted bracket |9| aixed to the carriage frame 29. A link |92 connects the key 3| with a lever |93 pivoted at |94 on a bracket |95 secured to the plate I9. The lever |93 overlies a collar |99 secured to the wire 81. Upon depression of the key 3|, the member |93 is rocked clockwise about its pivot |94 through link |92 to move the wire 81 downwardly, and thereby actuate the power action to release dog I9 and retain it released in the same manner as when wire 81 is actuated through operation of a tabulator -key 25,

The carriage release key It is desirable at times to free the type carriage from its escapement mechanism to enable the carriage to be positioned at a selected location. For this purpose a carriage release key 29 is provided. This key 29, pivoted on shaft 29, is connected to wire 81 by a stud |91 on the wire engaging in a slot |98 of key 29. This key 29 is not connected to move a tabulator stop into carriage stopping position. Depression of key 29 operates wire 81 to release and hold dog I9 disengaged as above described. The carriage may then be moved to any desired location along the typing line without interference after which release of the key 29 will allow dog I9 to reengage an escapement tooth |1 and hold the carriage in the desired position.

From the above description of the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that the distinguishing feature of this invention is the provision of a common escapement releasing mechanism for the space bar and the tabulating keys. A further feature is that the carriage will tabulate only so long as a tabulator key is retained depressed.

8 'What'is ciaimedn: 1 f l s 1.In a typewriter having a space capement mechanism, and power means controlled by said space bar to momentarily release said escapement mechanism, the combination of a plurality of keys, means operated by each of said keys to control said power means to release said escapement mechanism,amember yieldably connected to said key operated means and operable thereby to retain said escapement mechanism released, and cooperative abutments lon said key operated means and said member to restore said member upon release of said key operated means. Y

2. In a typewriter having a1 space bar, an

escapement mechanism, power driven means to i momentarily disable said escapement mechanism, and means operated by said space bar to control operation of said power means, the combination of a plurality of keys, means common to said keys to actuate at least a part of said space bar operated means to cause operation of said power means, a latch member, connections from said latch member to said common means 1 and means to enable said latch member to resaid keys, means from said common means to said space bar connections to cause actuation of said power means upon operation of any of said keys, a latch plate operable to retain said dog in the released position and yieldable connecting means between said common means and said latch plate to move said latch plate into retaining position when said dog is released by said power means.

4. In a typewriter or the like having an escapement mechanism vcomprising an escapement wheel and a holding dog therefor, power means momentarily operable to disengage said dog land said escapement wheel, a member operable to control said power means, a space bar, connections from said space bar to said member, a plurality of keys and a bail common to said keys,

'the combination of a connection from said bailv to said member to operate said member upon depression of any of said keys, a latch to retain said holding dog and said escapement wheel disengaged and a'yieldable connection from said common bail to said latch to move said latch into retaining position upon movement of said bail Aby said keys and disengagement of said wheel and said dog.

5. In a typewriting machine or the like, the combination of an escapement mechanism, power operable means to release said escapement mechanism, a member normally engaged with a part of said power operable means and movable to control actuation of said power operable means, said member being thereupon disengaged from said part, a space bar, connections from said space ybar to operate said member, a plurality of tabubar; an esing position upon operation of', any of. saidv keys.

6; Inv a. typewriter or the like, a space ban a plurality of Vtabulator keys, an escapement meehanism, power means to, disable said escapement mechanism, means opera-ble'by said space bar or by` any of. said tabulator keys to cause operation of saidvpower means, a. latch operableftorretain saidlescapement mechanism disabled, and. means oauserreleaserof said dog. from said Wheel, a latch plate normally free of said dog and movable to a position. wherein said plate will prevent reengagement of said dog with said wheel, and means common to said tabulator keys toy yieldingly urge said latch plate into said reengagement preventing position upon operation of any of said tabulator keys.

ELMER L. WISE REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the rilev of. this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,059,799 Lang Nov` 3, 1936 2,185,742 Thompson Jan. 2, 1940

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