US3388781A

US3388781A - Diagram typewriter

Info

Publication number: US3388781A
Application number: US570546A
Authority: US
Inventors: Cecil S Effinger
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-08-05
Filing date: 1966-08-05
Publication date: 1968-06-18
Anticipated expiration: 1985-06-18

Description

June 18, 1968 c.'s. EFFINGER 3,388,781

DIAGRAM TYPEWRITER Filed Aug. 5, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR Cecil S. E ffinger ATTORNEYS June 18, 1968 C. S. E'FFINGER DIAGRAM TYPEWRITER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug.

INVENTOR Cecil S. Effinger Mme/{4Q ATTORNEYS June 18, 1968 c. s. EFFINGER 3,388,781

DIAGRAM TYPEWRITER Filed Aug. 5, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

A TTORNE Y5 United States Patent 3,338,781 DIAGRAM TYPEWRITER (Iecil S. Eiiinger, 435 College Ave, Boulder, Colo. 80382 Filed Aug. 5, 1966, er. No. 570,546 9 Claims. (Cl. 197-1) ABSTRACT OF THE BISCLOSURE A typewriter or similar device for making industrial diagrams, such as electrical and electronic circuit diagrams, piping diagrams, heat flow diagrams, liquid flow diagrams, plant process diagrams, schematic drawings, highway diagrams, weather diagrams, and the like, including a printing assembly having a plurality of type bars or type faces which are provided with symbols or parts thereof representing elements to be shown in the diagram, and other type faces provided with portions of lines, including horizontal, vertical and angular line portions, the lines made by such portions of lines representing the relationship between or structure connecting the elements. Some of the line portions may be used, in certain instances, to form a part of the representation of structural elements. In the typewriter embodiment of the device, the platen is normally rotatable in definite incremerits of distance and the escapement mechanism normally moves the carriage in definite increments of distance, with the preferred ratio between the carriage increments and the platen increments being optionally 1:1 and 2:1, so that a rectangular grid may be established, in each square or rectangle of which a similar part of the symbol may be printed, as well as a line portion. The angular lines of the type faces thus include the opposite diagonals of a square, as well as the opposite diagonals of a rectangle formed as half of the square. A printing point indicator is also provided, so that the symbols and lines may be more accurately placed, while the escapement mechanism, which is normally actuated when a key is struck, may be rendered inoperative by a special key or lever, to permit a space bar alone to actuate the escapement mechanism.

The type faces or type bars also include alphabetical and numerical characters for printing legends 0n the diagram, while the alphabetical and numerical characters are placed on the diagram by moving a shift key, which is preferably connected so that the escapement mechanism will be rendered inoperative when a shifted key is struck.

This invention relates to typewriters, and more particularly to a typewriter which is adapted to produce diagrams, such as industrial electrical or electronic circuit diagrams, logic diagrams, block diagrams, piping diagrams, heat flow diagrams, liquid flow diagrams, plant process diagrams, schematic drawings, highway diagrams, weather diagrams and the like.

In one sense, this invention is an improvement on the inventions of my prior US. Patents Nos. 2,672,228 of Mar. 16, 1954, and 2,904,156 of Sept. 15, 1959, each entitled Music Typewriter. Thus, the typewriter of the present invention includes certain of the additional parts and modifications of a conventional typewriter utilized in producing a typewriter of each of the aforesaid patents, but also utilizes additional parts and further modifications of a conventional typewriter, as well as modifications of the type characters and the key arrangement.

Among the objects of this invention are to provide a novel typewriter adapted to make diagrams of various types, such as electrical and electronic circuit diagrams, as well as other types of diagrams; to provide such a typewriter which may be produced as such, or which may be ice produced by converting a conventional typewriter, as through the addition of certain parts or modification of certain parts of such a conventional typewriter; to provide such a typewriter in which the keys may be actuated solely by a force produced manually or by a force assisted electrically; to provide such a typewriter which, by key modification, may be utilized in making a large number of and various types of diagrams; to provide such a typewriter which will print in ribbon ink or the like, symbols, parts of symbols and lines of various diagrams, as well as numerals, lettering and wording accompanying the same; to provide such a typewriter which will print such diagrams, as on tracing paper and the like, in a manner which will enhance the reproduction thereof in quantities in a conventional manner; to provide such a typewriter which may be produced economically; and to provide such a typewriter which will be efficient and effective in operation.

Additional objects and the novel features of this invention will become apparent from the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typewriter constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a keyboard diagram, illustrative of one possible combination of keys and type bars which may be utilized in the typewriter of FIG. 1, for making electrical and electronic diagrams;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a modified escapement mechanism, through which the escapement may be made inoperative, as when parts of an electrical diagram are being placed on the paper, but may be made operative to advance the carriage one step each time a key is struck, as when lettering or numbers are being placed on the diagram;

FIG. 4 is a condensed, fragmentary perspective view, taken from the position of line 44 of FIG. 3, showing certain of the parts shown in FIG. 3 and also additional parts for connection to an escapement shift lever shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an end elevation, on an enlarged scale, taken from the position of line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an oblique section, taken along line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an end elevation, similar to FIG. 5, but illustrating a portion of an alternative form of an escapement mechanism actuator which may be adjusted, as by a shift lever, to cause the escapement mechanism to be operative or inoperative;

FIG. 8 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale and taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 1, illustrating a modification of the platen ratchet mechanism;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are respectively illustrations of smaller and larger grid patterns, with parallel lines with the former, and a series of vertical lines and a series of horizontal lines with the latter, all produced by the typewriter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a representation of a transformer, produced by the typewriter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a representation of a full Wave rectifier, produced by the typewriter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is an industrial electrical circuit, produced by the typewriter of FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is an electronic circuit, produced by the type Writer of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 15 is a diagram on an enlarged scale, of the relationship between certain lines produced by the type bars and the normal platen and carriage spacing.

In my aforesaid US. Patents 2,672,228 and 2,904,156, some of the features thereof, which are utilized in the typewriter of the present invention, include the platen,

which is optionally freely movable, the printing point in dicator, which enables the user to determine accurately the exact printing point relative to which a character or symbol will be printed, the lever for connecting and disconnecting the platen to a ratchet mechanism, and the Vernier knob, for fine lateral adjustment of the carriage to any point intermediate to the horizontal increment points. Features of the present invention, not present therein, include a special lever for connecting and disconnecting the key action to the escapement mechanism, as through a lost motion connection in said escapement mechanism, without affecting the action of the space bar on the escapement mechanism, and particularly the coordination of the platen ratchet mechanism with the escapement mechanism, so that the normal movement resulting from the platen ratchet mechanism will be equal to or a low integer fraction of the movement normally provided by the escapement mechanism. Stated in another way, the relationship between the longitudinal movement normally provided by the escapement mechanism should be equal to or a low integer multiple of the vertical movement normally provided by the platen ratchet mechanism. The width or length of the characters or symbols provided on the keys is normally also correlated with the normal escapement mechanism movement and the normal platen ratchet mechanism movement, so that the diagram may, in effect, be placed upon a grid having either square or rectangular spaces. Such a grid concept has been found to simplify to a high degree the placement of characters, symbols and the like on paper, to produce a desired diagram with ease and rapidity. Furthermore, the printing by the typewriter keys of such symbols, characters and the like, in the combination necessary for the particular diagram, provides a resultant diagram which is more readily reproducible than one made in pencil, and also avoids the necessity of inking the diagram, after it has been laid out in pencil. Thus, the diagrams made directly by the typewriter of this invention can be reproduced in diazo or other form, such as electrostatic reproduction, in any quantity desired. Such reproduction is particularly desirable for use in making installation diagrams, connection diagrams, construction diagrams or manuals or the like, and for other types of use. In this connection, it will be noted that the keyboard diagram of FIG. 2, as well as each of FIGS. 914, were made on the drawing paper itself by the diagram typewriter shown in FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, the typewriter illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a frame F provided with a laterally reciprocable carriage C, which is preferably laterally elongated, so as to receive a relatively large piece of paper 10. The carriage is provided with a platen 11, which is mounted on' a shaft 12 and provided at each end with a wheel 13, either of which may be utilized to turn the platen. Normally, the platen is turned through one or more radial increments determined by a special gear or ratchet 14, both the gear and the parts associated therewith being described later, while a conventional space bar 15 is utilized normally to advance the carriage, from right to left, in increments. The typewriter shown is a modification of a commercial alphabet typewriter, i.e., an R. C. Allen Model BC, and thus includes a plurality of keys K, connected with type bars having appropriate letters and symbols or characters thereon, such as illustrated by the keyboard diagram of FIG. 2. The frame is provided with a ribbon spool 16, from which ribbon 17 is fed past the printing point through a ribbon guide having bars 18, and the exact printing point is indicated to the user by the printing point indicator 19, constructed as in my U.S. Patent 2,904,156. The carriage is also provided with conventional rollers 20 mounted on a pivoted, spring pressed bar 21, for holding the paper against the platen 11, as well as other conventional parts of such carriage. The frame F is further provided with conventional shift keys 22, with which conventional shift locking keys 23 are associated, a back space key 24-, a tabulator key 25, a tab set key 26 and a tab clear key 27.

In accordance with this invention, the typewriter is provided with a lever 30, for causing the escapement mechanism to be inoperative, when up, but also causing the escapement mechanism to be operative, when pushed down. The carriage is also provided with a lever 31, conveniently at the left end, which, when pushed rearwardly, causes the ratchet mechanism for the platen to be operative but when pushed forwardly, causes the ratchet mechanism to become inoperative, so that the platen 11 is freely rotatable. As indicated above, the distance which the carriage C is normally caused to travel horizontally, through the escapement mechanism, is equal to or a small integer multiple of the distance which the paper is normally moved vertically, through the ratchet mechanism associated with special gear 14. Lever 31 is mounted on a bracket B having an outboard flange 32 which provides additional support for the platen shaft 12 In the design of a typewriter for printing musical characters, the consideration which enters into the size and shape of the notes is the readability of the notes and the distance which the carriage is moved by the escapement mechanism, when used, is correlated with the width of a note head. If a ratchet mechanism for the platen is utilized, the distance which the platen is rotated is determined by the distance between the staff lines which are, in turn, based on the vertical dimensions of the note head. Since the heads of musical notes are generally elliptical or egg-shaped, the distance between the staff lines is less than the width of a note head. Thus, in music there is no critical relationship between vertical and horizontal increments of movement. For alphabet typewriters, the size of the letters or numerals is again determined by readability, while the distance which the carriage is moved, after each letter or number is struck, is deter-mined by the spacing between letters which will produce the maximum readability, consistent with other design factors, but a compromise between the requirement for a lesser space between letters, such as i having a lesser width than may other letters. In an alphabet typewriter, there is no vertical connection between characters and there is no critical relationship between vertical and horizontal increments of movement. Thus, both single and double spaced typed pages are legible.

In the typewriter of the present invention, the relationship between the horizontal movement through the escapement mechanism and the vertical movement through the platen ratchet mechanism is based upon the grid concept set forth above. Most diagrams, including electrical and electronic diagrams, both circuit and wiring, have lines which extend both vertically and horizontally and normally few lines are angular thereto, except lines forming symbols of specific parts. For this reason, the special gear 14 is provided with a number of teeth which will provide the desired vertical movement. For instance, in the case of the typewriter shown in FIG. 1, the increments of movement of the platen measured on the paper 10 provided by the gear 14 is inch, while the horizontal movement provided by depressing the space bar 15 is also 5 inch, with an additional 4 inch of movement provided by releasing the space bar, or a total of inch. Thus, the ratio between the total movement provided by one depression and release of the space bar 15 and the vertical movement provided by turning the platen from one tooth of gear 14 to the next is a ratio of 2:1. Also, when the depression and release of the space bar is considered as resulting in two movements, as is customary in the escapement mechanisms of conventional typewriters, the resultant ratio is 1:1. This is illustrated by the grids shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, in each of which the grid lines form squares. As will be evident, the dimensions of the squares of the grid of FIG. 9 are onehalf of the dimensions of the squares of the grid of FIG. 10.

The type bars are conveniently provided with letters and numerals, which will be typed with a shift key 22 in one position, and symbols or characters, which will be typed when the shift key is in the other position. Since the upper portion of a type bar is wider and permits vertical extension, the larger characters, i.e. upper case letters, are placed on the upper portion of the type bars, in a conventional alphabetical typewriter. The diagram characters and symbols are placed on the upper portion of the type bars, for a similar reason, and the keys relating thereto will be struck with a shift key 22 depressed. Also, the lower half of each type bar will normally be provided with a letter or number. Of course, some of the latter may include punctuation symbols, while if there are insufficient keys to accommodate all of the diagram symbols or characters on the upper portions thereof, one or more may be placed on the lower portion of a type bar, particularly when a narrow type bar is desirably interspaced with two Wider type bars.

As is customary in typewriters, the symbols or characters which each type bar will print are preferably indicated on the key associated with that type bar, and the keyboard diagram of FIG. 2 shows the keys of the typewriter of FIG. 1, with the characters and symbols which will be printed by the corresponding type bar, when the key is struck. For reasons stated above, the lower portion of each type bar is provided with a letter or numeral, except for a few, which are provided with electrical or electronic symbols or characters. Each upper half of a type bar also is provided with an electrical or electronic symbol, or a portion thereof, such as a portion of a symbol which is larger than canbe accommodated on a single type bar. One exception is the asterisk on the upper portion of the right hand type bar in the third row from the top. Thus, FIG. 2 shows the keys as they appear on the keyboard of the typewriter of FIG. 1, it being noted that there are eleven keys in four rows, except for the second row from the top, which contains twelve keys.

The symbols or portions thereof or characters and the letters or numerals contained on the keys of FIG. 2, from left to right, are as follows.

Top row 0 keys Upper character: Lower character Half circle, radial lines Omega (ohms). Large circle segment 2. Large circle segment 3. Large circle segment 4. Large circle segment 5. Solenoid 6.

Second row of keys Upper character: Lower character Half circle, radial lines Q. Large circle segment W. Large circle segment E. Vertical line, /8 in R. Vertical line, A in. T. Line, 45 down Y. Line, 45 up U. Line, 27 up I.

Line, 27 down 0. Line, 63 up P Line, 63 down Vertical line, heavy. Pressure switch symbol Circle, intermediate.

6 Third row of keys Upper characters: Lower character Bottom row of keys Upper characters: Lower character Circle, A in., left half Z.

Circle, A in., right half X.

Solid triangle, left C.

Solid triangle, right V.

Open relay symbol B.

Closed relay symbol N.

Switch, pole (down) M.

Switch, limit (down) Comma. Switch, contact portion (down) Period.

Flow switch symbol Square, small.

As will be evident, the two half circles with short radial lines, on the two keys at the extreme left of the first and second rows, may be combined to form a full circle with radial lines, to indicate a lamp, such as the green lamp G of FIG. 13. Also, the circular segments of the second to fifth keys in the top row and the second and third keys in the second row may be combined to form a large circle, as for the transistor Q7 of FIG. 14. A series of either the smaller half circles of the first or second key of the third row may be combined to indicate a capacitance,

such as the capacitance L3 of FIG. 13, or a relay winding or the like, or to indicate the windings of the transformer of FIG. 11. Similarly, a series of the half circles of the first or second key of the fourth row may be combined to produce a transformed winding, such as the windings L1 and L2 of FIG. 14. A series of the resistance or similar winding symbol, of the seventh key of the third row, may be combined to indicate a resistance or the like, such as the resistance R2 of FIG. 13, or the resistances R2 and R3 of FIG. 14. It will be noted that the letters and numerals on FIGS. 13 and 14 are not reference numerals, but are rather the characters which appear on the specific elec trical and electronic diagrams, to indicate the parts thereof. Similarly, a pair of laterally spaced, parallel lines pro duced by the fifth key of the second row and the heavy bars of the last key of the first row, either two or three ofeach combined both above and below, may be used to produce the fuse P1 of FIG. 13. The solid triangle of the fourth key of the third row may be utilized to produce the transistor of FIG. 14, together with the slanting lines of the eighth and ninth keys of the second row. The heavy dot of the sixth key of the third row may be utilized to show the various junction or connection points of FIG. 13, while the circle segments of the first and second keys of the fourth row may be utilized to produce the symbol of the motor M of FIG. 13. As will be evident, the remaining symbols, or parts thereof, of the type bars may be utilized in producing other electrical or electronic symbols, as shown and as will also be evident to those skilled in the art.

By maintaining the escapement mechanism or the platen ratchet mechanism operative, the vertical and horizontal parallel lines of FIG. 9 may be produced, while by releasing the escapement and platen ratchet, the varied spac ing of the horizontal and vertical lines of FIG. 10 may be produced. Long horizontal and vertical lines may be produced by placing shorter vertical or horizontal lines end to end, while, in a similar manner, longer lines slantshorter lines end to end. In the latter instance, the use of the printing point indicator 19 is essential, as is also the coordination of vertical and horizontal incrementation. It will be noted that the slanting lines of the keyboard are diagonals, either of a square or of a rectangle which itself is one half of a square, i.e., a 45 line is a diagonal of a square, a 27 line is a diagonal of a horizontal, half square rectangle, while a 63 line is a diagonal of a vertical, half square rectangle.

The above relationship is illustrated in FIG. 15, in which the solid line 75, produced by one of the type bars, represents the base of a square, while the dotted lines '76, 77 and 7 8 represent the other three sides of the square, which also correspond to the normal increment of platen and carriage movement.

Solid lines

79 and 80, produced by other type bars, are the diagonals of this square. Solid line 81, produced by another type bar, represents the vertical center line of this square and also one longer side of an upright rectangle, whose area is one-half of the area of the square with the opposite side of this rectangle being the dotted line 76.

Solid lines

82 and 83, also produced by other type bars, are the diagonals of the upright rectangle whose area is one half of the area of the square having

sides

75, 76, 77 and 78. The dotted line 84 is the horizontal center line of the square and also the longer side of a rectangle whose area is one half of the area of the square, with the opposite longer side of the rectangle being line 75.

Solid lines

85 and 86, also produced by other type bars, are the diagonals of the latter rectangle.

In order to provide an escapement mechanism which will be normally inoperative, but may be made operative when desired, such as when letters or numbers are to be typed in a conventional manner, the typewriter maybe modified as illustrated in FIGS. 3-6. As in FIG. 3, the conventional typewriter will normally include a part corresponding to an upper universal "bar frame assembly 35, which will be engaged by a tape bar 36 when a key is struck, to automatically shift the carriage one space, through engagement of escapement trip plate 37 with a roller 38 at the end of escapement trip lever 39. The trip plate 37 is normally mounted on an angular flange 40 of the universal bar frame, as by a screw 41 and a second screw inserted through a hole at the position of hole 42 in flange 40, and extending through a hole in a corresponding position in trip plate 37. In accordance with this invention, the hole 42 and the corresponding hole 43 in trip plate 37 are enlarged to the diameter of a deactivating rod 44, having a reduced end 45 with 21 preferably conical surface 46 connecting end 45 with the remainder of the rod 44. When rod 44 is extended, as in the position of FIG. 4, the rod 44 will fill

holes

42 and 43, so that the movement imparted by the type bar will cause trip plate 37 to engage roller 38 and actuate trip lever 39 in the same manner as though trip plate 37 were solidly attached to flange 40 of hole 42. However, when rod 44 is withdrawn, as in FIG. 6, trip plate 37 will merely pivot about screw 41, to the dotted position of FIG. 5, and will not push against roller 38 with suflicient force to trip the escapement mechanism. It will be noted that the normal position of trip plate 37 is lightly against roller 38.

To extend and retract rod 44, a lever 47 of FIG. 4 may be connected to lever 30 and to a cam plate 48, so that when lever 30 is pushed up, cam plate 48, through cam edge 49 engaging a button 50 mounted on the end of rod 44, will withdraw rod 44 to the position of FIG. 6. How

ever, when lever 30 is pushed down, cam plate 48 will be moved back to the position of FIG. 4, permitting a coil spring 51, which also maintains button 50 against cam edge 49, to move rod 44 into

holes

42 and 43, thereby, in effect, locking trip plate 37 to flange 40. Such movement is, of course, facilitated by conical surface 46. Rod

conveniently attached between button 50 and flange 52. Flange 53 is also conveniently provided with a support and guide of a conventional nature (not shown) for maintaining cam plate 48 in position.

In the alternative construction illustrated in FIG. 7, trip plate 37 is aflixed to flange 40, as by a screw 56, in addition to screw 41 of FIG. 3, but the upper end of the trip plate has a bevel 56, so that in the lower posiLion, shown in full, bevel 56 will prevent trip lever 39 from being actuated. However, when flange 40 and trip plate 37' are in the upper, dotted position, movement of trip plate 37 against roller 38 will actuate trip lever 39. As will be evident, trip plate 37' is placed in the full position when the escapement is to be inoperative and in the dotted position when the escapement is to be operative, as when typing words or letter and number designations. For shifting trip plate 37 between the full and dotted positions, the upper universal bar frame 35 may itself be mounted for upward and downward movement and connected to the shift keys 22, for dead key operation for diagram function and live key operation'for alpha-numeric function.

In the ratchet disconnecting mechanism of FIG. 8, gear 14 is mounted on the platen shaft 12 in a position spaced from bracket B, so as to accommodate a portion of lever 31, which is pivoted on a pin 60. The various rods and bars, shown in section, are conventional parts of the carriage C, but with the exception of bar 61, which provides a stop for lever 31, are not material to the ratchet mechanism. An arm 62 is pivoted at one'end beneath gear 14, on a pin, not shown, but secured on the pin by a screw 63 which may be smaller than shown, or cut away as shown, toavoid contact with gear 14. Arm 62 carries a round detent 64 which is held against the teeth of gear 14 by the pressure of a coil spring 65, extending between an car 66 on arm 62 and a pin 67 mounted on bracket B. Lever 31 is provided with a lower pin 68 which is adapted to engage a concave surface 69 on the outboard end of arm 62, to move detent 64 away from the teeth of gear 14 and permit the platen to be freely rotatable, in either direction,

when the lever 31 is moved forwardly from the position shown in FIG. 8. As the lever is moved forwardly, pin 67, to which one end of spring 65 is attached, acts as a stop for the outer end of the arm 62 and pin 68 wedges against concave surface 69. Surface 69 also normally presses against pin 68, to hold lever 31 in its rear position against stop bar 61. However, when the lever is released, i.e. moved from the above described forward position to the rear position shown, spring 65 will again pull arm62 upwardly and cause detent 64 to engage the teeth of gear 14. The detent 64, of course, does permit the platen to be rotated through any desired angle or any desired number of turns, clicking past each tooth as it is turned. However, detent 64 permits the platen to be moved more readily through a measured increment of distance on the printing surface of the platen 11, in this case the distance of inch previously described. As will be evident, other suitable ways of releasing the detent for gear 14 may be utilized, and the conventional clutch arrangement for connecting the ratchet to the platen may be utilized.

It is significant that the number of teeth of gear 14 is selected so that the vertical increment of movement of the paper, when the platen is rotated to cause detent 64 to click between one tooth and the next, is precise. Thus, the gear 14, for a platen which is 1 /1 inches in diameter, has 75 teeth.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that a diagram typewriter of this invention fulfills to a marked degree the requirements and objects hereinbefore set forth. The use of the symbols or parts thereof on the type bars, corresponding to the keys of the keyboard of FIG. 2, enable electrical and electronic diagrams to be produced with ease and rapidity. Also, the placement of letters and numerals on the lower halves of the type bars permits wording and numbers to be placed on the diagram in a normal manner. The correlation of the distance which the platen is moved,

by the ratchet mechanism, with the distance which the carriage is moved, by the escapement mechanism, when used, is essential for the making of such diagrams. Also, the escapement and platen ratchet mechanism can be used in a normal manner when desired.

The grid concept is rendered possible by the low integer incrementation relationship between the platen and escapement, preferably on a 1:1 ratio, to provide a square grid. This makes possible the construction of symbols from several component portions on different type bars, oriented both vertically and horizontally. Furthermore, additional flexibility in typing a diagram is obtained by the possibility of shifting the grid relative to the paper by Vernier adjustments of the platen, horizontally and ver tically, which positioning may be precisely established by the pointer 19. This flexibility also permits the paper to be repeatedly removed from and replaced into the typewriter.

It will be understood that symbols other than those shown on the keyboard diagram of FIG. 2 may be utilized, in order to adapt the typewriter of this invention to make other types of diagrams, although the lines and circles or parts thereof are generally useful in making diagrams for plant layouts, piping diagrams, heat flow diagrams and the like. Thus, only those symbols which are specifically related to electrical or electronic parts need be varied to adapt the typewriter to make other types of industrial diagrams. For highway diagrams, symbols, such as for trafiic lights, stop signs, yield signs and the like, will be appropriate. For piping diagrams, conventional symbols for valves, elbows, T's and the like, will be appropriate. For plant process diagrams, symbols for heat extractors, evaporators, condensers, dryers, filter presses, disc filters, cyclone collectors and separators and the like will be appropriate. Specialized equipment may be indicated by circles or rectangles, with appropriate words or abbreviations indicative of such equipment. In fact, the type bars of the typewriter of this invention are readily modified to suit almost any particular type of operation, in order to produce diagrams or charts relevant thereto.

Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been illustrated and described and various changes indicated, it will be understood that other improvements may exist and additional changes made, all without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A typewriter for printing diagrams having:

type bars provided with symbols and parts thereof representing elements to be shown in said diagram; type bars having portions of lines thereon, including horizontal, vertical and angular lines, said lines including the diagonals of a square having horizontal sides equal to a normal carriage space movement and vertical sides equal to a normal line space movement, said lines additionally including the diagonals of two rectangles, each of said rectangles having an area equal to one half the area of said square, one of said rectangles having its longer sides in a vertical direction and the other of said rectangles having its longer sides in the horizontal direction;

:a series of keys associated with said type bars;

a carriage provided with a platen normally rotatable in predetermined increments of distance; and

an escapement mechanism normally moving said carriage in predetermined increments of distance, said platen increments and said carriage increments having an optional one to one and two to one relationship.

2. A typewriter as defined in claim 1, and in combination therewith:

an indicator for showing the point relative to which the characters on said type bars will be printed.

3. A typewriter as defined in claim 1, including:

means for normally actuating said escapement mechanism when a key is struck; and

means for rendering said escapement mechanism inoperative when a key is struck.

4. A typewriter as defined in claim 3, wherein:

said typewriter is provided with a space bar for actuating said escapement mechanism; and

said means for rendering said escapement mechanism inoperative when a key is struck permits said space bar to actuate said escapement mechanism.

5. A typewriter as defined in claim 3, including:

a shift key and mechanism for shifting said type bars to print at different portions thereof; and

means connecting said shift key with said means for rendering said escapement mechanism inoperative when a key is struck.

6. A typewriter for printing diagrams having:

type bars provided with symbols and parts thereof representing elements to be shown in said diagram;

type bars having portions of lines thereon, including horizontal, vertical and angular lines;

a series of keys associated with said type bars;

a carriage provided with a platen normally rotatable in predetermined increments of distance;

an escapement mechanism normally moving said carriage in predetermined increments of distance;

means for normally actuating said escapement mechanism when a key is struck, including an escapement trip lever;

means for rendering said escapement mechanism inoperative when a key is struck, including a movable lever mounted adjacent said keys;

a universal bar frame;

a trip plate mounted on said frame for engaging said trip lever, said trip plate being pivotally mounted on a part of said frame and said plate and frame part having corresponding holes spaced from the pivot point of said plate; and

a rod having a reduced portion and movable toward said holes and into said holes to cause said trip plate to move with said frame part and away from said holes to place said reduced portion in said holes and permit said trip plate to pivot and thereby prevent said trip plate from moving said trip lever.

7. In a device for producing industrial diagrams:

a printing assembly having a plurality of type faces including type faces provided with symbols and parts thereof representing structural elements to be shown in said diagram and type faces provided with lines, including horizontal, vertical and angular lines, ex tended lines formed by selected lines representing the relationship between said structural elements and normally representing structure connecting said structural elements, said lines including the diagonals of a square having horizontal sides equal to a normal carriage space movement and vertical sides equal to to a normal line space movement, said lines additionally including the diagonals of two rectangles, each of said rectangles having an area equal to one half the area of said square, one of said rectangles having its longer sides in a vertical direction and the other of said rectangles having its longer sides in the horizontal direction.

means including a series of keys operatively associated with said printing assembly for causing selected type faces to be actuated.

8. In a device as defined in claim 7, wherein said means operatively associated with said printing assembly includes:

a platen rotatable in predetermined increments;

means for effecting a relative movement between said platen and said printing assembly in the direction of the axis of said platen in increments equal to said platen increments;

an indicator for showing a single point relative to which the characters on said type faces will be printed; and

means for providing actuation of said type faces by said keys independently of the relative movement between said platen and said printing assembly.

9. In a device as defined in claim 7, wherein:

said angular line portions include lines portions sloping in opposite directions and each comprising a diagonal of a square and line portions sloping in opposite directions and each comprising a diagonal of a rectangle comprising one half of a square.

1,001,359 8/1911 Crowell '197-8 Ferretto 197-8 OI-Iare 197-1 Bell 1971 Rundstatler 197-8 Molin 1978 Effinger 1978 Efiinger 1978 Gordon 197-1 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

E. S. BURR, Examiner.