US3110396A - Record strip controlled individual-type casting and composing machine - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 12, 1963 c. SINGER 3,110,396

7 RECORD STRIP CONTROLLED INDIVIDUAL-TYPE CASTING AND COMPOSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 18, 1961 Y 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 12, 1963 c. SINGER 3,110,396

RECORD STRIP CONTROLLED INDIVIDUAL-TYPE CASTING AND COMPOSING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 18. 1961 NOV. 12, 1963 c, SINGER 3,110,396

RECORD STRIP CONTROLLED INDIVIDUAL-TYPE CASTING AND COMPOSING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 18, 1961 e NN Q EEK Nov. 12, 1963 c. SINGER 3,110,396

RECORD STRIP CONTROLLED INDIVIDUAL-TYPE CASTING AND COMPOSING MACHINE Filed Sept. 18. 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 MDRIULIC C YL/NDEK United States Patent 3,110,395 RECORD STRTP CGNTROLLED lNDEVTDUAL-TYPE CASTING AND QOMPGSING MACHENE Charles Singer, Homewood, Ili., assignor to R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 138,847 7 Claims. {@l. 199'77) This invention relates to single-type casting and composing machines and to photo-typographical composing machines which are controlled by a record strip, and is directed particularly to an improved positioning mechanism for a matrix case or for a master character plate, as the case may be.

In type casting and composing machines of the above type the matrices for any particular layout or font are arranged in a rectangular case which is movable in two directions in the same plane to position any required matrix accurately over a mould; and in the photo-composing machines the characters are similarly arranged on a master plate adjustable in the same manner to position a character relatively to a lens for projection onto a light sensitive surface. In both kinds of machines individual members of two indexing or positioning mechanisms are selectively operated under control of the record strip to govern the positioning mechanisms which control the movements of the matrix case or master plate, as the case may be.

The existing gauging and positioning mechanisms for the matrix case or for the master plate comprise two pairs of primary positioning jaw levers cooperating with two stepped series of separately operated primary gauge pins, each of which determines only one positioning point for a matrix case or for a master-character plate. Each pair of these primary positioning levers adjusts a secondary gauge or stop, and, cooperating with each of these secondary gauges are two pairs of secondary positioning jaw levers one pair of which moves the matrix case or masterplate in one direction to the position indicated by one of the secondary gauges, while the other pair moves a carrying frame for the matrix case or the master plate in another direction to a position indicated by the other secondary gauge.

The matrix cases or the master plates normally used in machines of the present type have matrices for 225 characters arranged in 15 rows, each containing 15 characters. This number of matrices is sufficient for most type setting operations. For some publications, for example dictionaries, the numerous type faces and special typographical symbols required make the 225 characters inadequate. The present invention provides a modification of the commercially available equipment which permits the use of a matrix case having 21 rows of 15 characters each, rather than the conventional 15 rows.

The machine of the present invention is provided with a secondary positioning mechanism and matrix case indexing stop which shift the matrix case bodily with respect to the gauge pins, so that each gauge pin may locate the matrix case in either one of two positions. In a normal position, six rows of matrices in the outer end section of the case and nine rows in the center section are in use. In a shif position, the nine rows of matrices in the center section and the six rows in the inner end section are in use.

In the existing equipment, a drawbar which moves the matrix case in response to movement of the secondary positioning mechanism is provided with a fixed indexing stop.

In accordance with the present invention, the bodily shift of the matrix case is accomplished by so arranging the indexing stop means for the drawbar that a stop element cooperating with the secondary positioning mechaice nisrn may occupy a normal or a shift position on the drawbar and may be locked in either position.

The invention is described and illustrated as embodied in a matrix case positioning mechanism of an existing single-type casting and composing machine, and reference is had to the specification of U.S. Patent No. 625,998 issued to Lanston Monotype Machine Co. on May 30, 1899.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the existing gauging and positioning mechanism with the mechanism of the present invention embodied therein;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the matrix case drawbar and associated mechanism with a movable drawbar stop in solid lines in a normal position and in broken lines in a shift position;

'FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken as illustrated along the line -44 of FIGv 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary plan View of the matrix case, drawbar, and secondary positioning levers with the matrix case in its normal position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 with the matrix case in its shift position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section taken substantially as illustrated along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the record strip control means for shifting the drawbar stop.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, and referring first to FIG. 1, the existing machine contains two series of gauging and positioning mechanisms for the matrix case or master plate, one for shifting the matrix case longitudinally, and the other for shifting it laterally. Since only the longitudinal shifting mechanism is modified in the present invention, only that mechanism is described in detail.

The gauging and positioning mechanism of the existing machine includes an indexing pin assembly, indicated generally at ltl, containing a stepped series of fifteen indexing pins each adapted to be elevated, or projected as indicia in'a record strip R pass over a scanner S (see FIG. 8). The illustrated machine uses an air scanning system, the indicia are holes in the record strip, and the pins are elevated by air pressure.

A primary positioning mechanism includes a pair of oppositely movable levers 11 and 12 provided, respectively, with jaws 13 and 14 which cooperate to grip any one of the fifteen indexing pins which has been elevated in response to the indicia on the record strip. The rear ends of levers 11 and 12 are coupled together by a link 15, and intermediate its ends the lever 11 is connected by a link 16 to a pivot pin 17 mounted on an arm 18 which is rockable about a stationary pivot 19. The lever 12 is connected to a stationary pivot 2 8 by a link 21.

When rocking lever 18 is moved to the right as viewed in PEG. 1, the lever 11 is moved to the right until the jaw 13 contacts the elevated pin of the assembly 19, and the lever 12 then moves in the opposite direction until its jaw 14 contacts that pin. In closing on a projected indexing pin the jaws 13 and 14 carry with thema secondary gauge which is formed by an upstanding l-ug 22 on a rack bar 23 (see FIG. 7) so that the lug 22 is aligned with the projected pin of the series 10.

As soon as the rack bar 23 is positioned with the lug 22 aligned with the elevated pin, a lock plunger 24 (FIG. 7) moves into engagement with one of the teeth of the rack bar to lock the bar in place so that the primary positioning levers may separate and the elevated pin may be retracted without disturbing the indexing of the rack bar.

The secondary positioning mechanism which cooperates with the lug 22, comprises a pair of oppositely movable levers 25 and 26 which carry at their outer ends jaws 27 and 25, respectively. The levers 25 and 26 have their rear ends joined by a link 29, and the lever 26 is connected to the pivot pin 17 on the rocking lever 18 by a link 3 19, while the lever 25 is connected to a stationary pivot 31 by a link 32. During movement of the levers 11 and 12 to close the jaws 13 and E4, the secondary levers 25 and 26 are opened by the movement of the rocking lever 18 to the right. As the rocking lever 18 returns toward the left as seen in FIG. 1, the primary levers 11 and 12 are separated and the secondary levers 25 and 26 are brought together until the jaws 27 and 28 encounter the rack bar ing 22. As the jaws 27 and 28 close they contact and carry into alignment with lug 22 an indexing stop 33 which is mounted on a drawbar 34. The drawbar is connected to a matrix case, indicated generally at 35, so that lengthwise movement of the drawbar moves the matrix case longitudinally as stop 33 is aligned with lug 22..

All of the foregoing mechanism is found in the existing machines, in which stop 33 is fixedly mounted on drawbar 34. The present invention consists in apparatus for mounting the stop 33 so it may occupy either of two positions lengthwise of the drawbar 34, i.e., a normal position and a shift position, and in controlling said move ment of the stop by special indicia in the record strip R, as will be hereinafter described.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 to 7, at the outer end of drawbar 34 is a cross-head 36 having a slot 37 in which a connecting arm 38 of the matrix case is laterally slidable with respect to the drawbar. Accordingly, it may be seen that end-wise movement of the drawbar 34 controls the longitudinal position of the matrix case 35 so as to index any desired line of character forming matrices to a type casting position, while a second positioning and indexing mechanism similar to that heretofore described operates through another drawbar to move the matrix case transversely with respect to the drawbar 34 in order to index any desired matrix in a selected line of the matrix case to the type casting position.

Drawbar 34 includes a base member 39 at the ends of which are upright spacer blocks 40 and 41 supporting a top member 42, and a bracket 43 between the rear ends of members 39 and 42 carries a two-way hydraulic cylinder 4 containing a piston 45 having a piston rod 46; and a connector block 47 rigidly connects piston rod 46 to a push rod 48 on which the stop 33 is fixedly mounted. Thus it is plain that operation of the fluid cylinder 44 to move piston 45 and piston rod 46 toward the left, as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, moves stop 33 to the broken line shift position illustrated in those views. Connector block 47 carries an upstanding guide pin 49 which extends between one side of top member 42 and a guide bar 56 mounted on said top member.

Referringnow particularly to FIGS. and 6, matrix case 35 is seen to be divided into three sections designated as I, II and III. The outer end section I and the inner end section 111 each contain six rows of matrices, while center section II contains nine rows of matrices. In FIG. 5 the indexing stop 33 is in its normal position, while in FIG. 6 it is in its shift position. In the normal position of FIG. 5 any row of matrices in sections I and II or" the matrix case may be aligned with the type forming apparatus of the machine, while in the shift position of FIG. 6 any row of matrices in sections II and III may be aligned with the type forming apparatus. Accordingly, it is apparent that the shiftable indexing stop 33 permits any indexing pin in the series to locate the matrix case in either one of two positions.

The mechanism by means of which the hydraulic cylinder is actuated to move indexing stop 33 between its normal and its shift positions is illustrated in FIG. 8. A

conventional record strip R which is prepared in the customary manner has special control indicia R which take the form of two holes punched side by side in the record strip so as to simultaneously admit air to air lines 51 and 51a, which would normally elevate pins B and C of the series of indexing pins in assembly it However, the existing commercial machine, which is modified in accordance with the present invention, is so organized that simultaneous admission of air to the lines for the B and C pins elevates neither pin, but rather causes the control air to by-pass from the assembly 1% into a bypass line 52 from which the air enters an air exchange block 53 where it extends a pair of pins 54. The pins 54 contact a switch arm 55 of an electric switch 56 to close a circuit 57 to a first solenoid 58 of a four-way solenoid valve 59. The switch 56 and solenoid air valve 59 are added to the existing machine to control hydraulic cylinder 44.

For purposes of the present disclosure, it must be understood that the arrangement by which control air for the B and C pins is by-passed to the air exchange block 53 for operation of pins 54 is a pre-existing part of the type casting control mechanism, and the present invention merely utilizes these pre-existing components of the machine in a new way to close the switch 56 and actuate the solenoid valve for the necessary operation of hydraulic cylinder 44. Accordingly, the bypass structure is not described in detail herein since it is not a part of the present invention.

Assuming that the stop 33 was in its normal position, shown in solid lines in FIG. 8, movement of the upper set of indicia R to the scanner S acts through energization of solenoid 58 to operate valve 59 to admit hydraulic fluid from a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure (not shown) through a supply line 69, and thence through a control line 61 to the rear of hydraulic cylinder 44 to move piston to the left as seen in FIG. 8, and thus move indexing stop 33 to its broken line shift position. The fluid pressure locks piston 45 in its extended position, where it remains until the next succeeding special pair of control indicia R on the control tape R reach the scanner S. At that point, electric switch arm is again moved to close a circuit 62 to a second solenoid 63 for four-way valve 59, reversing the valve to admit fluid under pressure to a control line 64 at the forward part of the cylinder while fluid from the rear of the cylinder bleeds through control line 61 and a return line 6%, thus returning piston 45 to its retracted position and indexing stop 33 to its normal position.

As used in the appended claims the phrase type forming member is a generic term which is intended to include either a casting matrix case or a master plate.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clarity of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a positioning mechanism for a shiftable type forming member of a record strip controlled single type casting and composing machine, or for a master plate of a photo-typographical composing machine, in combination: a series of indexing pins; a drawbar connected to the type forming member; an indexing stop on said drawbar, said stop being movable lengthwise of the drawbar between a normal position and a shift position; shift means for moving said stop between said positions and for locking said stop in each said position; positioning mechanism including jaws engageable with said stop both in its normal and its shift position to move the drawbar endwise until said stop is aligned with a selected one of said series of indexing pins, whereby each indexing pin may position the type forming member in either of two positions; and record strip controlled means for actuating said shift means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the shift means includes a fluid cylinder, apiston in said cylinder to which the stop means is directly connected, and fluid valve means for locking the piston at either end of its travel.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which the record strip controlled means includes movable pin means actuated in accordance with indicia in the record strip, and means actuated by movement of said pin means to selectively admit fluid to the fluid cylinder.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 which includes a solenoid, an electric switch actuated by movement of the pin means to energize said solenoid, the fluid valve means actuated by said solenoid to selectively admit fluid to the fluid cylinder.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the record strip controlled means includes movable pin means actuated by the record strip, and means actuated by movement of said pin means to operate the shift means.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the means actuated by the pin means includes an electric switch which is moved by said pin means to selectively close or open an electric circuit.

7. In a positioning mechanism for a shiftable type forming member of a record strip controlled single type casting and composing machine, or for a master plate of a photo-typographical composing machine, in combination: a series of indexing pins; a drawbar connected to the type forming member; indexing stop means mounted for longitudinal movement on said drawbar, said stop means providing a stop in either of two positions lengthwise of the drawbar for engagement by positioning jaws; shift means for moving said stop means on the drawbar between a normal position and a shift position in each of which the stop means is locked against movement lengthwise of the drawbar; positioning mechanism including jaws engageable with a stop in either of said two positions to move the drawbar endwise until said stop is aligned with a selected one of said series of indexing pins, whereby each indexing pin may position the type forming member in either of two positions; and record strip controlled means for actuating said shift means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED ST TES PATENTS 1,024,524 Pierpont Apr. 30, 1912 2,762,498 Dewhurst Sept. 11, 1956

Claims (1)

1. IN A POSITIONING MECHANISM FOR A SHIFTABLE TYPE FORMING MEMBER OF A RECORD STRIP CONTROLLED SINGLE TYPE CASTING AND COMPOSING MACHINE, OR FOR A MASTER PLATE OF A PHOTO-TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE, IN COMBINATION: A SERIES OF INDEXING PINS; A DRAWBAR CONNECTED TO THE TYPE FORMING MEMBER; AN INDEXING STOP ON SAID DRAWBAR, SAID STOP BEING MOVABLE LENGTHWISE OF THE DRAWBAR BETWEEN A NORMAL POSITION AND A SHIFT POSITION; SHIFT MEANS FOR MOVING SAID STOP BETWEEN SAID POSITIONS AND FOR LOCKING SAID STOP IN EACH SAID POSITION; POSITIONING MECHANISM INCLUDING JAWS ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID STOP BOTH IN ITS NORMAL

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