US2886637A - Space suppression by-pass - Google Patents

Description

May 12, 1959 B. F. MADSEN SPACE SUPPRESSION BY-EASS 3 Shee'cs-Sheerl 1 Filed O01.. ll, 19,55

TTORNEY May 12, 1959 B. FQ MADSVEN SPACE SUPPRESSION BY-PAss 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. ll, 1955 INVENTOR BERTHEL F. MADSEN fw /f TTORNEY May 12, 1959 B'F. `MADSEN v 2,885,637

SPACE:l SUPPRESSION BY-PAss Filed oct. 11, 1955 'Y ssneets-sheet s INVENTOR BERTHEL F. MADSEN BY W7 A TORNEY United SPACE SUPPRESSION BY-PASS Berthel F. Madsen, Arlington Heights, Ill., assigner to Teletype Corporation, Chicago, lll., a corporation ci Delaware Application October 11, 1955, Serial No. 539,892

2 Claims. (Cl. 178-25) This invention relates to printing telegraph apparatus and more particularly to providing a page printer with a horizontal tabulating means therefor, whereby the type carrier may be advanced a predetermined amount along the platen in response to a prearranged signal.

On printers equipped with horizontal tabulation,l it is sometimes desired to tabulate beyond a predetermined right-hand marginal stop without having to reset said stop. With existing methods of preventing character spacing when the carriage reaches the right-hand margin position, it is not possible to tabulate beyond the margin setting. Moreover, if tabulation is attempted beyond the right margin setting, jamming and damage will occur. This jamming action will occur after the spacing drum has rotated to bring the printer carriage to the right-hand margin position. At this time, the space cutout lever located on the spacing drum of the printer according to the present invention engages the spacing cutout transfer bail. During normal spacing when this engagement occurs, the transfer bail is rotated slightly, thereby operating the space suppression mechanism, which prevents tripping of the space clutch and precludes additional spacing. However, when tabulating wherein the spacing clutch will remain tripped, the spacing drum will continue to rotate and the lever attached to the spacing drum would (unless prevented by the device according to the present invention) jam against the transfer bail. Consequently, since said lever is unable to by-pass the transfer bail, damage will occur. Therefore, in order to permit the space cut-out lever, located on the spacing drum, to by-pass the transfer bail during horizontal tabulation, the space suppression by-pass mechanism according to the present invention, is provided.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a means for rapidly advancing the type carrier across the platen to any predetermined point thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a space suppression by-pass mechanism so as to prevent injury to the parts of the printer through jamming.

A further object is to provide a simple and effective means for controlling the printing carriage through its own movement.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from a complete understanding of the invention which will be more readily acquired by reference to the following description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a page printer embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation of the tabulating mechanism and space clutch;

Fig. 3 is an elevation showing the space suppression by-pass mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a detail view of the space suppression by-pass mechanism; and

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the spacing and tabulating mechanism.

The horizontal tabulating mechanism is illustrated in Patented May 12, 1959 a telegraph page printer of the type disclosed in United States Patent No. 2,505,729, granted April 25, 1950, to W. I. Zenner, which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, and made a part hereof.

The tabular mechanism is activated by a signal operated function bar, under the selective control of a signal controlled means, exemplified by selector magnet 10, in Fig. 1, which causes the spacing clutch to be held unlatched and at the same time conditions the latching means to be disabled in response to the movement of the printing carriage cam against an adjustable tab stop on the tabular rail. ln ordinary operation, spacing is suppressed at some predetermined point of the printing carriage travel across the platen. In order that the tabu lation may take place beyond this margin point, a space suppression by-pass mechanism is provided to allow the spacing wheel to rotate without forcing or jamming any of the elements of the space suppression mechanism.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference nui merals represent like elements throughout, and more particularly to Figs. 3 and 5, the spacing mechanism which is more fully described in the United States Patent No. 2,701,045, issued February l, 1955, to B. F. Madsen is shown. As set forth in the aforementioned Madsen patent, a pair of spacing pawls 64 and 66 (Fig. 5) are each mounted on an eccentric cam 63 and have their pawl end associated with a spacing wheel 67. The spacing pawls 64 and 66 are driven, through their respective eccentric cams 63 which are in turn driven by shaft and gear (not shown) under control of the spacing clutch 53 (Fig. 3).

The spacing clutch 53 is held against rotation by the lower extension 51 of the clutch trip lever assembly 49.. Under normal spacing conditions, the lower extension 51 is moved out of engagement with the projection 52 on the spacing clutch 53 by rotation of the main rocker shaft 54 in a clockwise (Fig. 3) direction which moves the cam plate 59 against the latch lever bail 56 thereby moving the latch lever upward until the projection 61 is engaged with the shoulder 62 on the latch lever 57. As the printing cycle continues, the rocker arm 54 returns to its original position thereby moving the bail 5,6 and lever 57 downward to rotate the clutch trip lever as'- sembly 49 clockwise about its pivot 4S to disengage the lower extension 51 from the clutch projection 52 to allow the clutch to rotate and operate a gear means (not shown) and thereby rotate the eccentric cams 63 (Fig. 5 to impart reciprocative motion to the spacing pawls 64 and twhich in turn impart rotary motion to the spacing wheel 67 which, of course, advances the type carri-age as is described in the aforementioned Zenner and Madsen patents. As the clutch 53 rotates, the restoring cam 68 rotates and contacts the arm 69 of the latch lever 5 7 to rotate the lever 57 out of latching relationship with the trip lever assembly 49 so as to allow the trip lever assembly 49 to be rotated into latching engagement prior to one third of a revolution of the clutch 5,3.

Space suppression on certain functions is accomplished by the function lever (not shown) moving the spacing suppression bail 71 against the spacing suppression slide 72 to move the slide 72 to the right (Fig. 3) thus causing the pin '73 to contact the extension 74 of the latch lever 57 out of engagement with the horizontal extension 58 of the trip lever assembly 49. p

Space suppression at the right-hand portion of the type carriage travel is controlled by the adjustable cutout lever 77 which is mounted on the spacing wheel 67; As the spacing wheel 67 rotates to thereby advance the carriage, the cut-out lever 77 will contact the suppression transfer bail extension lever 74, the structure and func-` tion of which will be discussed later, to operate the suppression lever 78. As the suppression transfer baill 81ris rotated countercloclwise (Fig. 3) the projection 7.5,

on the upper extension 76 of the suppression lever 78 moves the suppression slide 72 to the right to suppress the spacing operation as set forth above.

' Referring now to Fig. 2, a pawl mounting lever 11 is suitably mounted on the printing `carriage assembly (Fig. 1), at the point 12 with a pawl 13 mounted thereon in a position to contact an adjustable tabulator stop 14 which is adapted to be selectively positioned on the tabulator shaft assembly 16. Rigidly attached to the shaft assembly 16 is the shaft extension 17 which is in turn pivotally connected with the blocking link 18 at a point 19. The lower portion 21 of the blocking link 18 is slidably connected to a pin 22 to allow vertical movement of the blocking member 18.

A tabular slide arm 23 is positioned to be moved to the right, as seen in Fig. 2 by the tabular function lever 25 in the familiar manner which is described in the Zenner patent. An operating lever cam plate 24 is positioned to be moved along with the slide arm through cooperation of the projection 26 and the shoulder 27` An operating lever 28 is pivotally mounted on the frame at the point 29 and is articulated with the cam plate 24 by a pivoted connector 31. An operating lever extension 88 is pivotally connected to the lower portion of the operating lever 28 and is in blocking relationship with the blocking link 18. A latch lever adjusting plate 32 is rigidly fastened to the operating lever 28. A latch lever having two separate projections 33 and 34 is pivotally attached to the adjusting plate 32 and is normally urged against the extension 36 of the adjusting plate by ythe action of the spring 37 which is positioned between the extension 33 and the projection 60 on the operating lever 28. The arm 34 of the latch lever has a Iatching surface on its upper end which is associated with the horizontal extension 58 of the lever assembly 49 to selectively hold the lever assembly 49 in its rotated position. A blocking extension 88 is pivotally xed to the lower extremity of the operating lever 28 and its outer projection 79 is so positioned as to be selectively blocked by the extension 21 of the lever 18.

Referring now to Fig. 4 which shows the space suppression transfer bail assembly in detail. Suppression transfer bail 81 is pivotally fastened to the frame of the printer by its pin 82 and has a second pin 83 rigidly fixed at its lower extremity 84. The suppression transfer bail extension lever 74 is held in elastic contact with the pins 82 and 83 of housing 81 by the spring 86 which is positioned between the projection 87 on the transfer bail extension lever 74 and the projection 90 of the transfer bail 81 with sucient tension that as the transfer bail extension lever 74 is pivoted in a clockwise direction (Fig. 4), the transfer bail 81 will be pivoted with it. If the transfer bail 81 is not permitted to rotate for any reason, the transfer bail extension lever 74 is permitted to pivot counterclockwise (Fig. 4) about the pin 82 or clockwise about Ithe pin 83 against the tension of the spring 86 without any further movement of the transfer bail 81. This, of course, permits the tabulatng to take place beyond the right-hand margin limit and also permits the spacing wheel to be returned in the normal manner without jamming the mechanism.

When a tabulation signal is received, a function bar 25 is selected in the usual manner and moved to the right (Fig. 2) to move the tabulator slide 23 in that direction. The cam plate 24 is thus moved to the right by cooperation of the projection 26 on the slide 23 and the shoulder 27 on the cam plate 24. Rightward movement of the cam plate 24 pivots the operating lever 28 clockwise (Fig. 2) about its pivot point 29 so that the extension link 88 moves to the left to allow the blocking link to move upward in response to the clockwise rotation of the 'shaft assembly 16 by its spring 15 (Figs. 1 and 5), so that the laterally directed lower end of the lower portion 21 of the blocking lever 18 is in position to engage the vertical surface of the outer extremity of projection 79 of the blocking link 88 to thereby prevent the operating lever 28 from returning to its normal position.

As the operating lever 28 is pivoted clockwise, the latch lever 33 is rotated by the spring 37 in the same direction until the projection 34 of the latch lever 35 engages the projection on the spacing trip lever arm 58 and is urged thereagainst by the spring 37. At this point in the cycle the normal spacing action as described in the afore-mentioned Zenner patent occurs by the main rocker shaft 54 being rotated clockwise (Fig. 3) so the cam plate 59 raises the latching lever 57 so that the shoulder 62 engages the projection 61 on the member 58 and is moved downward by the spring 89 when the rocker shaft 54 and its cam plate 59 return to their normal position. Downward movement of the latching lever pivots the clutch trip lever assembly 49 about its pivot point 48 and moves the extension 51 out of blocking engagement with the projection 52 on the clutch 53 to allow the clutch to rotate. As the horizontal arm 58 of the trip lever assembly 49 is moved downward it is latched by the extension 34 of the tabulating latch lever. The spacing clutch is thereby free to rotate and operate the spacing wheel 6 7 as mentioned above and as more fully described in the afore-mentioned Madsen patent so long as the operating lever 28 is in its rotated position. As the clutch rotates, the stripper arm 91 is pivoted clockwise (Fig. 2) by the restoring cam 68 to move the operating lever cam plate 24 downward out of engagement with the slide arm 23 so that the operating lever 28 drops back slightly until the lever extension link 88 butts up against the blocking portion of the lower portion 21 of lever 18. In the event that the subsequent tabulator stop is only one space from the point where the tabulating signal is received, the blocking lever 18 will have been moved out of its blocking position so that the operating lever 28 will return to its normal position to release the lever 49-to thereby block further rotation of the clutch 53. This is necessary because the lever 25 is not returned to its unactivated position until the spacing mechanism has advanced the carriage more than one space.

As the type carriage assembly 20 is moved across the platen by the spacing wheel 67, the pawl 13 on the hinged lever 11, which is a part of the carriage assembly, contacts the selectively mounted tabulator stop 14 on the tabulator rocker shaft 16 and causes the shaft 16 to be rotated in a counterclockwise (Fig. 2) direction, thereby moving the blocking lever 18 downward to unblock the extension link 88 of the operating lever 28 and allow the lever 28 to return to its normal position. As the operating lever 28 returns to its rest position, the latch lever 35 is also moved to the left thereby releasing the clutch trip lever assembly 49 to allow it to be rotated counterclockwise (Figs. 2 and 3) by its spring 50 to block further rotation of the clutch 53.

As the spacing wheel 67 rotates, the space cut out lever 77 will contact the transfer bail extension lever 74 on the space suppression mechanism (Fig. 4) and pivots the transfer bail 81 about the pin 82 to pivot, through extension 76, the suppression lever 78 clockwise so that the projection moves the suppression slide 72 to the right to move the trip lever 57 out of engagement to suppress spacing as above described. In the event that the tabulating mechanism has taken over so that the above action would result in jamming there is provided a space suppression by-pass wherein the transfer bail extension lever 74 is positioned on the transfer bail 81 by means of two C shaped brackets 93 and 94 cooperating with the pins 83 and 82 respectively and the spring 86 so that the transfer bail extension lever 74 may pivot independently of the transfer bail 81 in response to a force in either up or down direction when the force becomes sufcient to overcome the tension of the spring 86. It can p readily be seen that this results in the space cut out lever 77 on the spacing wheel 67 being allowed to pass the transfer bail extension lever 74 without. undue forcing or jamming and that once having passed, it may be returned when the spacing wheel is returned to its left-hand margin position.

It is understood that the above-described arrangements are merely illustrative of the applications of the principles of the invention. Other arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1 In a telegraph printer, a movable type carriage, a spacing wheel, means for advancing said carriage in proportion to the rotation of said wheel, a power means for rotating said wheel, a trip means operable to initiate actuation of said power means during a predetermined portion of each printing cycle, a space cut-out lever rigidly Xed to said spacing wheel, a space suppression transfer bail assembly comprising a transfer bail and a transfer bail extension lever, said transfer bail extension lever having two open sided bearing sockets poistioned to facilitate rotation of said extension lever by said space cut-out lever at a predetermined point of spacing wheel rotation, and a space suppression lever operable to render said trip means inelfective, said transfer bail extension lever yieldably mounted on said transfer bail by pivot pins at each of said bearing sockets, whereby the transfer bail extension lever will pivot about the transfer bail in either direction when the resistance to rotation of the transfer bail exceeds a predetermined amount.

2. In a recorder, a traveling carriage, recording mechanism carried thereby, a rst means for effecting normal spacing movement of said carriage, a carriage return mechanism, a second means for effecting the continuous movement of said carriage through variable sequences of character spaces, a third means effective at a predetermined point in the travel of said carriage for rendering said first means unable to effect said normal spacing movement of said carriage, and means comprising a dually pivotable instrumentality having yieldable facilities cooperable with said third means, whereby to and fro movement of said carriage under the control of said second means to a point beyond said predetermined point and return therefrom by said carriage return mechanism is facilitated.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,904,164 Morton et al Apr. 18, 1933 2,250,717 Long July 29, 1941 2,349,674 Potts May 23, 1944 2,390,664 rPotts Dec. 11, 1945

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