US2973708A - Control means for the number printing mechanism of a calculating device for an office machine - Google Patents

Description

W. BECKER March 7, 1961 2,973,708 OF A CONTROL MEANS FOR THE NUMBER PRINTING MECHANISM CALCULATING DEVICE FOR AN OFFICE MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I'm entan- W 2 y Bea/fer W. BECKER March 7, 1961 2,973,708

I NUMBER PRINTING MECHANISM 0 ICE FOR AN OFFICE MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 CONTROL MEANS FOR THE CALCULATING DEV Filed Jan. 29. 1958 rn emon' W i 2 2 Becker Atty- March 7, 1961 BECKER 2,973,708

CONTROL MEANS FOR THE NUMBER PRINTING MECHANISM OF A CALCULATING DEVICE FOR AN OFFICE MACHINE Filed Jan. 29, 1958 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 .lm/emon' WZZZy Be ker nited States Patent CONTROL MEANS FOR THE NUMBER PRINTING MECHANISM OF A CALCULATING DEVICE FOR AN OFFICE MACHINE Willy Becker, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to Rheinmetal! Aktiengesellschaft, Dusseldorf, Germany Filed Jan. 29, 1958, Ser. No. 711,840

3 Claims. (Cl. 101-95) This invention relates to control means for the number printing mechanism of a calculating device for an 'mechanism is performing part of its normal function.

An important advantage of the present invention is that there is a saving in time as the printing of the digits is effected during the time normally taken by the ma chine for carryingout otherfoperations, and'fu rther as the digits are not printed simultaneously there is a considerable reduction in noise which is beneficial; to the user of the machine. H t

According to the present invention control means for a number printing mechanism of a. calculating device of an oflice machine comprises a series of reciprocablyjv mounted bars, a corresponding series of printing devices having means for-printing figures, each printing device being operable by one of the bars to dispose a selected figure. in printing" position, a reciprocably mounted slider for imparting a predetermined sliding movement to each bar equivalent to the value of one fig-1 me of a number calculated by saidcalculating device, and meansifor' actuating each printing device to print the selected figure of the number when its associated bar has completed said predeterminedsliding movement.

The said bars are moved, by sliders themselves movable through a distancegreater than the maximum length of. travel of the bars, the. arrangement. being such. that as the sliders move,,each bar movesa. distance corre responding to the figure ityistoprint whereupon, it is stopped in known manner .and the continued movement of the sliders controls the operation of anarm carrying a' printing wheel. so that the latteris actuated to print the selected figure. The sliders on their return to their original position reset the. control: mechanism ready for the next operation] a The arrangement is such that when a bar is halted the continued movement of sliders trips a catch, whereupon a system of levers: releases .an arm carrying the printing wheel allowing it toprint the appropriate figure on a surface. V r 3 The arm carrying the printing wheel may be-pivoted' and be urged into printing position by a spring which is loaded before the'start to move. The various figures of the calculated number will be printed separately immediately the respective barshave completed their movement, and accordingly ,the printing will-be effected step by. step*"du1'ing. -thel operation of the therewill result a;reduction; in thenoise of operation due to the "effect of fsp'aced individual printing ofthe 2 figures as compared with the simultaneous printing of all the figures.

In the case of a calculated number having one or more figures of the same value, for example the number 15524. The figures of the same value, in this case 5, will normally be printed simultaneously but as such numbers will not normally occur very frequently there will be no great disadvantage. In the case of figures having a series of zeros which may occur more frequently, provision is made for the zeros to be printed successively but in rapid sequence.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of control mechanism according to one embodiment of the invention, the parts being shown in the inoperative position; v

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the control mechanism immediately after a figure has been printed, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the control mechanism, the parts being shown in the inoperative position.

It will be understood that each position in the number to be calculated and printed has its own control mechanism, these mechanisms being mounted side by side between two parallel sliders which are connected by two parallel rods. For the sake of clarity only one of the control mechanisms is illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

As shown, a calculating rack 1 is able to slide, to and fro on square bars 2 and 3 which extend through rectangular slots in the calculating rack. Two parallel sliders 4 are provided which are able to move in the directions indicated by the arrow 4a, and are also mounted on the square bars 2 and 3 which extend through rectangular slots in the sliders. ,The sliders 4 are connected to one another by two parallel rods 5 and 6, and also by a plate 7 which guides part of the mechanism yet tobe described. The sliders 4, rods 5, 6

and plate 7 form a unit which is guided into its to and fro movements by slotted plates 3, one of which is shown. Acatch 9 is mounted on the rod 6 and has a recess 10 for engagement by a projection 11 depending from the rack 1.

The calculating rack 1 has a row of teeth 12 at the end further from its rectangular slots, the teeth meshing with a gear wheel 13'which is adapted to rotate the gear 7 16A of a printing wheel 16 through the intermediary of gears 14, 15. The wheel 16 has. the raised numerals 0 to 9 on a section of its circumference.

A spring 17 is secured between the lower end of an arm 18 pivoted at 18A toa bracket 19. The printing wheel 16 and gear 15ers mounted on an extension of the arm18.

A cam 20 operates on a lever 21 pivoted at 34A, and

is connected to a stud 21B on aplate 19B. The plate 13B is able to rotate about the pivot 18A in the direction indicated by arrow 22, and has a projection 19A engageable with the arm 18.

The upper end of the arm 18 has a jaw 23 with which a bent web 24011 the end of a lever 25 is adapted to engage.

The gear wheel 14 has a cam 26 which on a predeterminedrotation of the gear wheel 14 moves a lever 27 mouted on a' rotatable rod 275, the cam 26 rotating the lever against the'action of a spring 27a. Lever 27 also has a projection 27C at its upper end which engages in a projection on the upper end'of the arm 18.

q There is also aprojecticn 28 on the lower end of lever 27 which engages the adjacent control mechanism. Pivoted on the rod 5 is a lever29, ,to one end of which is attached a spring 28a anchored on the 'plate7. The

7 spring 28a serves to hold the lever 29 against the underside of the catch 9 which rests in one of two grooves 9A, 9B in the upper surface of the lever. The end of the lever 29 opposite to that having the'spring has a lateral projection 29B, which is adapted to make contact with one arm 30 of the lever 25 which is mounted on the rod 27B.

A three armed lever 31 is pivoted at 31C, one arm 31' being adapted to engage a notch 31A in the upper edge of lever 25 under the action of a spring 313. The arm 31 of the lever 31 is so positioned that on rotation of the lever it will engage between the teeth of gear wheel 14 for a purpose to be described. The arm 31 of the lever extends under the adjacent end of another lever 35.

An arm 32 is pivoted on the arm 18 about 32A and has a nose 328 which can engage between the teeth on the printing wheels 16, but is normally held away from the teeth by the bent web 24. When in contact with the teeth, it is held there by a cam surface 33.

A bell-crank lever 34 is pivoted at 34A, one arm carrying a follower engageable with a cam 34B, the other arm having a stud 34C for engaging the arm 31 of lever 31. v

The nose 35B of the lever 35 is normally held in contact with the rack '37 on the calculating rack 1 by a by the parallel sliders 4 moving from their normal position to the full extent of their travel and returning again to their normal position.

The extent of travel of each individual calculating rack 1 is limited by known means according to the particular figure which its controlling mechanism is to record. This limitation is provided by adjustable stops controlled by the calculator itself. It is arranged, however, that the extent of travel of the parallel sliders 4 is greater than the maximum travel of the calculating racks, as this is necessary for the full action of the controlling mechanisms.

Before the sliders 4- commence their travel, a cam 20 moves the lever 21 in an anti-clockwise direction which in turn moves the plate 19B in a clockwise direction, tensioning the spring 17. The arm 18 tends to move in a clockwise direction but is prevented from doing so by the projection 27C and the bent web 24.

As the parallel sliders 4 commence their operative travel, from right to left in the drawings, the connection provided by the catch 9 effects a corresponding movement of the calculating rack 1, and the teeth 12 rotate the wheel 13 and through the gear wheels 14 and 15 rotate the printing wheel 16. The figures on the circumference of the wheel 16 are arranged in the order 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and when the printing wheel has been rotated to the Fig. 1 position the cam 26 moves the lever 27 against the spring 27A thus disengaging the projection 27C from the upper end of the arm 18. Also the projection 28 at the lower end of lever 27 actuates in known manner the lever 27 on the adjacent mechanism controlling the next lower unit in the number to be printed, and thus successively all the levers 27 on the mechanisms controlling the lower units in the number to be printed are actuated.

In the accompanying drawings, the mechanism is shown in the process of printing the figure 2.

When the calculating rack has moved a distance corresponding to the required -figure,.its moticnis automatically stopped in known manner as mentioned above, so

4 that as the sliders 4 however continue to move, the projection 11 is brought against 'the right hand side of the recess 10 and rotates the catch 9 in a clockwise direction.

The catch 9 forces the lever 29 down against the spring 28a, whereupon the lateral projection 29B contacts the arm 30 pushing it down, then raising the bent web 24.

This bent web pushes the plate 32 into contact with the teeth of the wheel 16 to hold it against further rotation. As the bent Web 24 continues to rise, it moves clear of the jaw 23 allowing the arm 18 to move in a clockwise direction under the force of spring 17, and the printing wheel 16 which is mounted on the arm 18 is moved into contact with the platen roller P to print the selected figure.

The sliders 4 move on to the full extent of their travel so that all the controlling mechanisms are actuated.

The return movement of the calculating rack 1 is prevented by the nose 35B of lever 35 engaging in the teeth 37.

Each controlling mechanism is released in order of magnitude of the figures which it is adjusted to print, i.e. Os will be printed first and 9s last, since the lower the figure the less distance the calculating rack 1 has to travel.

For example, in printing the number 157.25 the order of printing will be as follows:

(a) Controlling mechanims five from the right 1.

(b) Controlling mechanism two 2.

(c) Controlling mechanisms four and one .5 5

(d) Controlling'mechanism three .7.

As the sliders 4 start on their return journey, the cam 34B moves the lever 34 in an anticlockwise direction, which in turn moves the lever 31 in a clockwise direction. The arm 31 of lever 31 rotates lever 35 to displace the nose 35B from the teeth 37 on the underside of the calculating rack 1, and the arm 31" is disengaged from the gear wheel 14. Similarly the cam 20 allows the lever 21 to rotate clockwise about 21A to move the arm 18 in an anti-clockwise direction to retract the printing wheel to its previous position.

As the sliders 4 continue their return journey, the catch 9 is moved anti-clockwise allowing the projection 11 on the underside of the calculating rack 1 to fall into the recess 10, and also allowing the lever 29 to rise, releasing the arm 30 of the lever 25, so that the bent web 24 again secures the arm 18 and the catch 32.

The cam 34B is now positioned to actuate the lever 34 into the position shown in Fig. l, and cam 20 moves to re-tension the spring 17, thus the controlling mechanism is ready for the next operation.

All identical figures in the number are printed simultaneously, but as a succession of the same figures in the range 1-9 will not occur very frequently there is no disadvantage in this. A succession of zeros such as 100,000 may occur more frequently and a modification is provided in the mechanism to ensure that the printing of a succession of zeros is staggered. This modification comprises the sloping surfaces 36 on the arms 30. When a 0 is printed the contact of the lateral extension 29B on the arm 30 is arranged to be at the point 36 which is placed further towards the end of the arm 30 on each successive controlling mechanism, so that if Os are to be printed, the mechanisms are actuated successively and not simultaneously.

I claim:

1. Control means for the number printing mechanism of a calculating device of an otfice machine, comprising a series of reciprocably mounted bars, a corresponding series of printing devices having means for printing figures, each printing device being operable by one of the bars to dispose a selected figure in printing position, a'

calculating device, a rocking arm connecting each rack with its associated slider and means operable by rocking movement of said arms on the completion of said predetermined sliding movement of the racks to efiect the operation of the printing devices to print the selected figure.

2. Control means according to claim 1 wherein operation of the printing devices is controlled by lever means operated by the rocking movement of said rocking arms.

3. Control means according to claim 1 wherein operation of the printing devices is controlled by lever means operated by the rocking movement of said rocking arms, and in which the lever means for each rack includes a lever having a sloping face, the levers being arranged so that sloping surfaces of the respective levers are in side by side relation and are staggered in the longitudinal direction of the racks. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,121,826 Greve Dec. 22, 1914 2,019,901 Furman -2 Nov. 5, 1935 2,433,679 Williams Dec. 30, 1947 2,629,549 Butler Feb. 24, 1953 2,824,513 Johnson Feb. 25, 1958 2.834289 Haberkom May 13, 1958

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