US3458124A - Printing device with zero-position selecting mechanism - Google Patents

Description

' y 1969 BAROZZI GIAN PIERO ET AL 3,453,124

Filed June a, 1967 PRINTING DEVICE WITH ZERO--POSITION SELECTING MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR BARoZzr 6m PI Y0 Honescm warm/m0 BY Hall an/c UM ATTORNEY J y 9, 1969 BAROZZI GIAN PIERO ET 3,453,124

PRINTING DEVICE WITH ZEROPOSITION SELECTING MECHANISM Filed June a. 1967 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG 4 BAROZZI mrv PIERo I mvsm-oa HORESCH! emf/4m BY Haze, Pramn/ UM 5M4,

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,458,124 PRINTING DEVICE WITH ZERO-POSITION SELECTKNG MECHANISM Barozzi Gian Piero and Horeschi Giancarlo, Tokyo, Japan, assignors to Citizen Watch (10., Ltd., Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan Filed June 8, 1967, Ser. No. 644,672 Claims priority, application Italy, Aug. 1, 1966, 17,787/ 66 Int. Cl. G06m 1/28 US. Cl. 235-58 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A printing system for calculators and printing apparatus, having a series of arcuate oscillatory sectors each carrying on the arcuate surface thereof types of numerals from 0 to 9, racks operatively connected to the respective sectors in such a manner as to cause rotation of said sectors and springs connected to the associating sectors for urging said sectors to move in a stamping direction, whereby said sectors are imparted with the combination of rotational motion and linear advancing motion to stamp an assigned number on a paper on a paper holding roller.

The present invention relates to a printing system for calculators and other printing apparatus, which comprises arcuate sectors each slidably mounted on a guide by way of a pin and adapted to be rotated about said pin by the shaft of the calculator, so that numerals embossed on the sectors are stamped when said sectors have completed their movement consisting of the combination of rotational movement and linear movement.

As is well known, a calculator is provided with means to select racks, sectors or levers which are to be moved for stamping numerals other than zero and to be returned to their original positions, and to select those racks, sectors or levers which stamp zero at positions on the left-hand side of the first numeral other than zero of an assigned number on a paper holding roller.

Besides said means, the calculator must be provided with other means to impart a necessary movement to the racks, sectors or levers so as to scribe a number on a paper with types attached to scribing elements.

Each of the means described above principally has two drawbacks.

The first drawback is that the component parts are costly and complicate in structure and there must be pro vided all parts of said mechanism and additional parts for guiding and moving said mechanism, which add to the complicacy of the calculator proper.

The second drawback is that an extremely long time is required for the mechanism and its additional parts to be set in motion, to start and carry out each step of the operation and to return to their original positions.

The apparatus of the present invention has eliminated the aforementioned drawbacks, in which the number of compact is reduced and the configuration and arrangement of the same are simplified, whereby the cost of the apparatus is lowered drastically and in which the period required for printing operation is reduced to substantially the same period as that required for the arrangement of a numeral larger than zero, by the combination of only two movements consisting of upward and forward movements, owing to the unique structures and arrangement of the component parts.

The printing apparatus according to the present invention includes a key board and an ordinary numeral setting device such as numeral setting carriage adapted to slide on a lateral axis, and is further provided with a slidable horizontal brake device which is applicable to a calculator of the type which consists of a rack or the like means adapted to project from the carriage corresponding to the result of numeral setting and to hold the elevating elements in engagement therewith stationary in the positions corresponding to the set numeral. Besides the elements described above, the inventive apparatus may be provided with means to release a movable rack from a lowered position corresponding to zero and to elevate said rack by the action of a spring or the like so as to bring it in alignment with said brake device for the numeral carriage as usual, thereby indicating the motion of the stamping means.

The printing system of the present invention has a plurality of oscillatory sectors, each carrying on the outer arcuate surface types of 0 to 9. Each sector is rotatably mounted on a pin which is slidable within a horizontal comb-shaped guide fixed to the side wall of the machine, and is movable towards a paper holding roller of the machine under the action of a spring.

A bar is provided laterally and this bar, under the normal condition, holds all of the stamping sectors in a position away from the paper holding roller against the bias of said spring but, when the ordinary devices of the machine start operation for stamping, it moves away from the. sectors permitting said sectors to move in the same direciton.

Each of. the stamping sectors is connected to the corresponding rack by way of a pin which is slidably received in a horizontal guide formed on the rack and rotate about a pin on said stamping sector along with the upward movement of said rod, whereby a type corresponding to a set numeral is brought to a position in front of the paper holding roller on a line connecting the centers of rotation of said roller and said sector.

Simultaneously with the rotation of said sectors caused by said rods, a bar holding said sectors is moved by known means in the machine and thereby each sector is placed under the action of the spring so as to be movable towards the paper holding roller. The forward movement and rotation of the sectors are combined, that is to say that each sector moves forwardly towards the paper holding roller while being rotated about its center by the action of the rack as described above, and a numeral assigned thereto is stamped on the paper on said paper holding roller. Thus, it will be seen that selection of a numeral and stamping of the same are accomplished within the same period of time.

The system of this invention includes a device by means of which each sector is held in and/or released from its stationary position so as to prevent zero from being stamped on the left-hand side of the first numeral of a number greater than zero and to stamp zero which appears on the right-hand side of said numeral.

For this purpose, each of the sectors is provided with two projections, one of which is directed towards the right-side adjacent sector and the other of which is directed towards the left-side adjacent sector. The right-hand projection holds the right-side adjacent sector by engagement with the left-hand projection, and the left-hand projection of the leftmost sector is held by a fixed part of the machine.

Due to the arrangement described, the leftmost sector is held by said fixed part and holds the right-side adjacent sector. Thus, all sectors are connected to the fixed part of the machine in sequence.

The level of the projections is lowered when the associating sector is shifted from 0 position to 1 position or is shifted into a position corresponding to a numeral other than zero. Therefore, when numeral 1 is set, the holding projection is disengaged from the adjacent projection, whereby the sector is released from the adjacent sector and movable forwardly for stamping.

Accordingly, all sectors on the right-hand side of the one which has been released by the mechanism described above are movable forwardly for stamping, even if any of them are in the position.

It will be understood, therefore, that the sectors in the inventive system are capable of accomplishing the numeral selecting and stamping motions simultaneously without requiring any other device and also have the function of holding or releasing the adjacent sectors.

These and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which the scribing system of the present invention is illustrated as applied to a calculator of a known type, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the inventive system in a stationary position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation, similar to FIG. 1, of inventive system in the stamping position;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the inventive system in a stationary position, in which the sectors in the stamping position are indicated by the dotted lines; and

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3 of the inventive system in the stamping position.

In FIG. 1, there is shown schematically the inventive system, as applied to a calculator, in a stationary position. The computer is shown only by its supporting side well 1-1a, all other portions unrelated to the present invention being omitted.

The calculator, as is known, comprises a paper holding roller 2 and a numeral setting carriage 4 which is slidable on a lateral shaft 3 and provided with movable stoppers 5 attached to a portion not shown which is connected to a numeral setting head. In the present invention, the calculator is provided with a plurality of devices which are identical with each other, the number of said devices being determined by the capacity of the computer.

In the figure, only one device relating to the numerals of a single column is shown for the simplicity of explanation, all of the other devices being identical therewith.

The device in the inventive system has a rack 6 which is adapted to make a linear motion and which is constantly urged upwardly by the bias of a spring 7 provided between a fixed bar 8 fixed to the side wall of the machine and a hook 6n. on said rack. The bar 8 also serves as a guide to guide a vertical linear movement of the rack 6.

A cross bar 9 is provided by means of which all of a series of racks 6 in the machine are held in a depressed position, with the lugs 6b thereof in engagement with said bar. The bar 9 is adapted to be moved upwardly in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1 by the action of known means in the machine, to thereby release all of said racks 6 from the depressed position. Cross bar 9 moves in a slot 24 formed in a supporting side wall 1-1a in parallel relation to the vertical rack 6 and is connected to one end of a lever 25. The other end of the lever 25 is connected to a swinging lever 26 by a pin 27. Swinging lever 26 is swingable about a shaft 28 fixed to the supporting side wall 1-1a and carries a roller 29 at the end thereof which is engaged by an operating cam 30. The cam 30 is substantially oval in shape so as to cause an upward and a downward movement of cross bar 9. Each of the racks 6 carries an arcuate sector generally indicated at 10, which carries along its arcuate peripheral surface 11 types from O to 9 as indicated at 12. The arcuate portion 11 of the sector has at its upper portion an integral lever 13 carrying a pin 14 and a lobe 13a which engages one end of a tension spring 16 the other end of which is connected to the fixed bar 8. The pin 14 is rotatable and is slidable in a pair of horizontal guides 15 formed by a bar (see FIG. 3) which has comb-shaped slits formed therein in which the arm 13 of each sector is received. A cross bar 19 is extending along the arcuate edges 14a of the levers 13 of all sectors in contact therewith, said arcuate edges being formed concentrically with the pin 14. The cross bar 19 is adapted to be moved forwardly in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 1 by the ordinary device in the machine at a suitable time as will be described later. Cross bar 19 slides in the guide bar 15 and is connected to a lever 31. Lever 31 is connected by a pin 33 to a lever 32 which swings about fixed shaft 28 and carries a roller 34 which is engaged by a cam 35. Cam 35 is provided with an indent 35a for operating the cross bar 19 instantaneously. The sector 11 also carries a pin 17 which is slidably received in a forked guide 18 integrally formed with the rack 6 and having sliding surfaces in parallel to those of the guide 15.

Since all sectors 10 are urged towards the paper holding roller 2 under the tension of the spring 16, it will be obvious that all sectors 10 move towards the paper holding roller 2 and effect stamping on the paper on said paper holding roller when the cross bar 19 is displaced in the direction of the arrow B by the rotating mechanism of the machine, and are returned to their original positions shown in FIG. 1 when said cross bar 19 is displaced in a reverse direction upon completion of stamping.

Such operation of the inventive system will be described in further detail hereunder.

When the calculator is in a stationary position, the inventive system is in the position shown in FIG. 1. Namely, the bar 9 is in the lowered position holding all racks 6 in their lowered positions against the bias of the respective springs 7. The sector 10 engaging the rack 6, therefore, is held, due to the engagement between the pin 17 and the guide 18, at such an angle at which the first one of the types 12 representing 0 is located just in front of the paper holding roller 2. The pin 14 and accordingly the sector 10 is also held in its position relative to the paper holding roller against the bias of the spring 16 by the cross bar 19 which is bearing against the arcuate edge 14a of said pin.

When a numeral other than 0, e.g. numeral 5, is set on the key board not shown, the stopper 5 of the numeral setting carriage 4 is projected as shown in FIG. 2. When the machine is set in motion under this state, the cross bar 9 is moved in the direction of the arrow A to a position indicated by 9' in FIG. 2, releasing the lug 6b of the rack 6 from the locked position. The rack 6, therefore, is pulled upwardly under the bias of the spring 7 until the lug 6b comes in abutment against the stopper 5. As a result, the rack 6 causes the sector 11 to rotate about the pin 14 due to the engagement of the pin 17 with the forked guide 18, and thus a type 12 representing numeral 5 is brought to a position squarely facing the paper holding roller 2.

During rotation of the sector 11 in the manner described, the bar 19 moves in the direction of the arrow B in FIG. 1 with a slight time delay to the position indicated by 19' in FIG. 2. In other words, the sector 11 commences its rotational movement about the pin 14, with the arcuate edge 14a in sliding contact with the bar 19, when the cross bar 19 is still held in its closed position, and then the sector 10 moves forwardly as a whole, with the arcuate edge 14a following the surface of the bar 19 as said bar is displaced slowly in the direction of the arrow B, to an intermediate position indicated by the broken lines in FIG. 2, as a result of the combination of the rotational movement caused by said rack 6 and the forward movement caused by the spring 16.

Such a combined motion continues until the lug 6b comes in contact with the stopper 5 and, upon contact of the lug with the stopper, the upward movement of the rack 6 and the rotational movement of the sector 10 are terminated. At the same time, the cross bar 19 is displaced to the position indicated by 19' moving away from the arcuate edge 14a. Thesector 10, therefore, is moved forwardly by the bias of the spring 16 to the position indicated by 11' and 12' in FIG. 2, bringing a type corresponding to the assigned numeral, that is 5 in this case, into contact with the paper holding roller on the line XX passing the centers of the roller 2 and the pin 14. In the manner described, the type 12 corresponding to the numeral 5 stamps the numeral 5 on the paper on the paper holding roller at a speed afl'orded by the spring 16. This stamping operation takes place immediately after the rack 6 is stopper by the stopper 5.

The sector 10 is released from all external forces when the cross bar 19 is displaced in the direction of the arrow B, so that it is movable towards the paper holding roller 2 under the tension of the spring 16. However, such a motion should be taken place only on the sectors on the right-hand side of the one representing the first numeral other than zero of the number desired to be stamped, including those representing zero, if there is any, and those on the left-hand side of said one must be held stationary. In order to make this possible, in the present invention, each sector 10 is provided at its upper portion with two projections 20 and 21 as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As is seen, the projection 20 is extending towards the right-side adjacent sector, while the projection 21 is extending towards the left-side adjacent sector. Since the projection 20 on each sector is so arranged as to engage the projection 21 on the right-side adjacent sector, the right-side adjacent sector cannot move forward unless the left-side adjacent sector moves. The projection 21 on the leftmost sector is held immovably by a fixed projection 22 which is secured to the machine frame by means of, e.g. screws 23. It will thus be obvious that, according to the arrangement described above of the present invention, each sector is retained by the rightside adjacent sector while retaining the left-side adjacent sector.

However, in the present invention, since the projection 20 of a sector 11, which has been shifted from 0 to l, is lowered, the projection 21 of a sector, which is assigned with a numeral larger than zero, is released from the projection 20 of the left-side adjacent sector and releases all sectors on the right-hand side for stamping. From FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, it will be seen that the position of the apparatus shown therein corresponds to the case of stamping the numeral 5000.

As stated previously, the fourth sector from the right has the numeral 5 on the stamping line XX, while the three sectors on the right-hand side have the numeral 0 on said stamping lines respectively and are released for forward movement. As the bar 19 is displaced, the four sectors thus released stamp the numerals respectively assigned thereto on the paper on the roller 2.

The configuration and construction described and illustrated herein of the printing system according to the present invention may be modified for comformance with the characters of a calculator to which it is to be applied and as required, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A printing system comprising a plurality of vertical racks, a laterally extending shaft, a number setting carriage slidably mounted on said shaft, said number setting carriage having movable stopper means thereon, each of said vertical racks including a lug for engaging an associated movable stopper means, a plurality of arcute oscillatory sectors each having number types thereon, each of said vertical racks having guide means thereon, each sector having guide means thereon cooperating with guide means of the associated vertical rack to guide movement of the sector, additional guide means for guiding movement of said sectors, each of said sectors being provided with a projection facing the right-side adjacent sector and a projection facing the left-side adjacent sector, the right-hand projection of each sector being in engagement with the left-hand projection of the right-side adjacent sector whereby said right-side sector is retained in position, and a fixed projection engaging the left-most sector for retaining it in place.

2. A printing system as defined in claim 1 including spring means operatively associated with each of said sectors for pulling the sectors in a printing operation, a cross bar for returning the sectors to their original stationary positions after a printing operation, said cross bar being guided by said additional guide means, and means for operating said cross bar.

3. A printing system as defined in claim 1 wherein said first-mentioned guide means comprises a pin secured to each sector and a forked guide fixed to each vertical rod, each of said pins being slidably positioned within one of said forked guides.

4. A printing system as defined in claim 1 wherein said additional guide means comprises a bar defining a pair of horizontal guide portions having slits formed therein for receiving parts of said sectors, each of said sectors including a pin rotatably and slidably positioned between said horizontal guide portions.

5. A printing system as defined in claim 1 including periodic drive means operatively connected with said cross bar so that all of said sectors may be returned to their stationary position at one time.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,533,119 4/1925 Lasker 235-58 2,100,213 11/1937 Garbell 101-93 2,832,283 4/1958 Westinger et a1. 101-93 3,142,441 7/1964 Edwards 235-60 3,221,644 12/1965 Gelling 101-93 3,232,223 2/1966 Thevis 101-94 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner STANLEY A. WAL, Assistant Examiner

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