US2625459A - Recording apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 13, 1953 F T. JQHN ET AL 2,625,459

RECORDING APPARATUS Filed April 5. 1952 JNVENToR.

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i vide reliable operation Patented Jan. 13, 1953 RECORDING APPARATUS ,Frank .'1. John and Jo `poration of hn. Cannon, Jr., State College Pa., .assignors to The Pennsylvania Research Corporation, State College, Pa., a cor- Pennsylvania Application April 3, 1952, Serial No.A 280,406

- 9 Claims.

,This vinvention .relates ito a recording appan ratus, and more particularly,:to a printing mechanism for use in a multiple channel polygraph for. selectively marking on a record receiving member data from one or more datum originat- Ling sources.

In their conventional-form, these polygraphs .use inkpensfor recordingthe desired data and.

as a result, have certain disadvantages. Not only :must the ink reservoir .bev lled at intervals', but .also the pens must frequently be cleaned, especialIy, if they are used only intermittently. rIn addition, the pens maynot function properly if the apparatusV is mounted on a support that is subject to vibration or if mounted otherwise than in a particularly oriented position.

It is accordingly amongthe objects of this in` `vention to provide a recording apparatus of the type referred-.to that will not be subject to the `foregoing disadvantages andthat, inaddition,

maybe cheaply and ruggedly constructed to prounder severe service conditions.

vIn the recording .apparatus vof this invention, the recording ismade by'one or more rapidly vibrating vrecording wires striking .an inkedribbon and transferring an ink .impression there,- from to a recordV receiving member on the other side vof .thezribbon .The vibration of each recording wire is effected .by the impacts of a rapidly rotating cam, or other impact means, with Awhich each recordingV wire can be selectively brought into impact engagement by electromagnetic or mechanical means that are responsive to aparticular datum originating source, or event, that is to be recorded. If, as is usually the case, the record receiving member is continuously and uniformly moved during the operationof the device, the series of dots made thereon by a vibrating recording wire as it strikesv the inked ribbon will merge into a solid line, the length Aof which `is a measure ofthe duration of the recorded event.

The invention is illustrated in the .accompanying drawings, in which Figi is asomewhat diagrammaticfsectional elevationof a portion of a multiple channel polygraph embodying the Vinvention, and Fig. 2 is an isometric view,-partly in sectionof the essential-apparatus shown 'in Fig. 1.

Referring tothe drawings, the recordA receiving member is represented-as a yweb of paper I, which is led from a supply roll 2 vovergaplaten roll. 3 and .between the friction drive rolls 4 and l5.to..a.takeup roll 6. A conventional drive (not ported in a plane shown) is connected to the drive rolls to move 'them and the paper at .a uniform speed. Other rconventional means (likewise not shown) are .platen roll 3 and is held by any suitable means in spacedprinting relation tothe paper.

A recording wire 8, usually one of a plurality of such wires, preferably made of stiff but resilientsteel wire, such as piano wire, is mounted with its free upper end adjacent to the inked ribbon 'I and to an impact cam 9, but normally out of contactwith both the ribbon and cam. The lower end of each recording wire is hingedly connected to an armature It of an electromagnet II, there being a separate armature and electromagnet for each recording Wire that is used. Integral with each armature I t, or attached thereto at its hinge I2, is a stop member I3, which makes an obtuse angle with the armature and comes in contact with a back plate I4 of the electromagnet II to support the armature in its down position. To provide intermediate lateral support for the recording wires 8, each wire passes .through a separate hole I5 in a lguide plate I5, which may be mounted on top of the electromagnets Il, or otherwise suitably supnormal to the plane of the recording Wires. As a result of this construc- Avtion, only the upper part of each recording wire is free to vibrate.

Each of the electromagnets II is controlled by a separate electrical circuit, which is normally open, so that each armature I0 is normally in its down position under the urging of a tension spring I7 extending between each armature and a spring support member I8. When any one circuit is closed by the occurrence vof an event to be recorded, which'for simplicity is here represented by the manual closing of a switch I9, the electromagnet included therein will be energized and attract its armature I0 to raise the recording wire 8 connected thereto a predetermined distance that will bring' the free upper end of the wire into contact with the continuously rotating impact cam 9, which is supported parallel to the platen roll 3 and the inked ribbon 'I and at right angles to the plane of the recording Wires. The impact cam is here shown as asquare bar, but may be of any suitable crosssection; and it is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in each gure, so that its lower surface is rotated towards the recording wires. The speed of rotation of the cam is desirably high; and, since it has a square crosssection, it will deliver four impacts to an engaged recording wire with each revolution, for example, '7000 impacts per minute when driven at 1750 R. P. M. by a standard electric motor 20. Since the upper end of each recording wire is otherwise unrestrained, when that end is brought into impact engagement with the cam 9, it will be vibrated with suiiicient amplitude to strike the inked ribbon 'i and produce an inked dot or mark on the platen supported paper on vthe other side of the ribbon. These blows of the recorder Wires are delivered so rapidly that, even if the paper is moving continuously at considerable speed, the marks printed thereon merge into a continuous line or trace, the length of which is a measure of the duration of the event re-v corded. When that event ends, as by the manual opening of switch l1, the electromagnet ll in the responsive electrical circuit will be deenergized, and its armature I will drop down under the urging of spring l1 and withdraw the recorder wire out of engagement with the cam 9.

Instead of using electromagnets to actuate the recording wires, as described above, it will be obvious that equivalent electrical or mechanical actuating means may be used, as for example, a mechanically operated lever connected to the lower end of each recording wire.

It is among the advantages of the foregoing apparatus that it may be used in any position, even upside down from the position shown in the drawings, because the recording wires are brought into engagement with theimpact cam by the positive action of the relay armatures, thrown against the inked ribbon by the operation ofthe cam, and withdrawn from engagement with the cam by the positive action of the springs attached to the relay armatures; in other words, the functioning p-arts operate independently of gravity.' The recording apparatus is also adapted to very rugged construction and will operate reliably under eXtreme service conditions, involving vibration and shocks to the equipment. In addition, the apparatus will record simultaneously a large number of events on a minimum width of record receiving surface, because the recording wires and their actuating relays, especially if the latter are staggered as shown in Fig. 2, can be contained in a minimum of space.

According tothe provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principles of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. A recording apparatus for printing data on a Vrecord receiving member through an inked ribbon,

comprising impact means spaced from the inked ribbon, a recording member of resilient wire niaterial, one end of said member being free to vibrate and being normally held adjacent to the impact means but out of engagement with it, engaging means connected to the other end of the recording member for moving it longitudinally to bring its free end into impact engagement with said impact means at a point between said means 'and the inked ribbon, whereby the free end `of the recording member when engaged by said impact means will vibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receiving member.v

2. Apparatus according to claim l, in which 4 said impact means includes a rotatable impact cam and means for rotating the cam.

3. A recording apparatus for printing data on a record receiving member through an inked ribbon, comprising a rotatable impact cam spaced from the inked ribbon, means for rotating the cam, a recording member of resilient wire material movably supported at an angle to the axis of the cam, one end of the recording member being free to vibrate and being normally held adjacent to the cam but out of engagement with it, engaging means connected to the other end of the recording member formoving it longitudinally to bring its free end'into impact engagement with the cam at a point between the cam and the inked ribbon, whereby the free end of the printing member lwhen engaged by the rotating cam will vibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receiving member.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3J in which the 'impact cam has a square cross-section and is `mounted substantially parallel to the inked ribbon.

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 that includes the following additional elements: a rigidly mounted guide plate having a hole therethrough for slidably receiving the recording member to provide lateral support to an intermediate portion ci that member. Y

6. Apparatus according to claim 3, in which the engaging means comprises an electromagnetand armature, the armature being` connected to said other end of the recording member.

7. A printing mechanism for selectively print- Ying data from a plurality of datum originatingV sources, the printing being made on a moving record receiving member through an inked ribbon interposed between said member and the printing mechanism, the latter comprising a rotatable impact cam spaced from and substantially parallel to the inked ribbon, means for rotating the cam, a plurality of spaced parallel recording wires movably mounted at right angles to the axis of the cam and substantially parallel to the plane A of the inked ribbon, one end of the recording wires being free to vibrate and being normally held adjacent to the cam but out of engagement with it, separate electromagnetic means connected to the other end of each'recording wire for selec-V tively moving each wire longitudinally to interpose its free end between the cam and the inked ribbon into engagement with the cam, each electromagnetic means being responsive to an electric current controlled by a particular datum originating source, whereby the free ends of the recording wires when selectively engaged by the rotating cam will vibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receiving member in accordance with data from the `datum originating sources.

8. Apparatus according to claim 4 that includes as an additional element a guide plate having a plurality of holes therethrough, each hole slidably receiving a recording wire to provide lateral support to an intermediate portion of that wire.

9. A printing mechanism for selectively printing data from a plurality of datum originating sources, the printing being made on a moving record receiving'member through an inked ribbon interposed between said member and the printing mechanism, the latter comprising a rotatable impact cam spaced from and substantially parallel to the inked ribbon, vmeans for continuously rotatingV the Vcam at high speed, a plurality of spaced parallel recording wires movably mounted at right angles to the axis of the cam and substantially parallel to the plane of the inked ribbon, one end of the recording Wires being free to vibrate and being normally held adjacent to the cam but out of engagement with it, a guide plate having a plurality of holes therethrough for slidably receiving the recording wires to support the wires against appreciable vibration at a point intermediate of their ends, a separate electromagnetic relay mounted adjacent to the other end of each recording Wire and having an armature hingedly connected to said end of the wire for selectively moving each Wire longitudinally to interpose its free end between the cam and the inked ribbon into engagement with the rotating cam, and a plurality of electrical circuits, eacn circuit including one of said relays and being controlled by a particular datum originating source, whereby the free ends of the 6 recording wires when engaged by the rotating cam will vibrate and strike the inked ribbon to mark the record receiving member in accordance with data from datum originating sources.

FRANK T. JOHN. JOHN B. CANNON, Ja.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 4file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 872,193 Orling Nov. 26, 1907 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 524,047 Great Britain July 29, 1940

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