US3506189A

US3506189A - Control magnet arrangement

Info

Publication number: US3506189A
Application number: US672526A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wilhelm Breitling
Original assignee: Triumph Werke Nuernberg AG
Current assignee: TA Triumph Adler AG
Priority date: 1966-10-05
Filing date: 1967-10-03
Publication date: 1970-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 1987-04-14
Also published as: DE1524528A1; GB1202427A; JPS4924529B1; SE340902B; FR1565355A

Description

April 1970 w. BREITLING 3,506,189

CONTROL MAGNET ARRANGEMENT Filed Oct. 3, 1967 In vinzor: 1 M M United States Patent O 3,506,189 CONTROL MAGNET ARRANGEMENT Wilhelm Breitling, Villingen, Black Forest, Germany, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Triumph WerkeNurnberg Aktiengesellschaft, Nuremburg, Germany Filed Oct. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 672,526 I Claims priority, application Germany, Oct. 5, 1966, S 106,374 Int. Cl. B41j 5/08; G06c 11/04; H01h 50/42 US. Cl. 235-58 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A row of permanent magnets controls the ordinal setting means of a register of a high speed printer for a calculator or accounting machine. Each permanent magnet has an armature movable between two end'positions abutting the pole shoes of the permanent magnet. A winding is provided for each permanent magnet to move the armature, which is connected with the locking means of the setting means, out of one end position and beyond an intermediate position so that the magnetic flux of the permanent magnet continues to move the armature and the respective locking means to the other end position in which the setting means is locked in a selected position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a control magnet arrangement for operating the locking means of the setting means by which the ordinal wheels of a register are set to selected digital positions. According to the prior art, control magnets serving this purpose have a winding, and a magnetizable armature which is shifted to control the setting means of a register when the winding is energized by an electric control impulse. Control magnet arrangements of this type cannot operate at high speeds, which is particularly disadvantageous if the register wheels of a high speed printer are to be controlled since the limited printing speed which can be obtained is much slower than the calculating speed of the calculator. Another disadvantage of control magnets according to the prior art is the greater amount of space required, which causes difficulties if the register elements of the printing register are spaced small pitch distances from each other, as is customary in high speed printers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is one object of the invention to provide a control magnet arrangement overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art, and being capable of operating at high speed, while requiring little space.

Another object of the invention is to only start the movement of the armature by energizing the winding, and to finish the movement of the armature under the control of a permanent magnet. I

With these objects in view, the present invention relates to a control magnet arrangement which comprises a permanent magnet for holding an armature in two end positions, and winding means energizable by an impulse for moving the armature out of either end position and beyond an intermediateposition from where on the armature is moved by the permanent magnet to the other end position. A permanent ferrite magnet of suitable permeability is preferably used in the arrangement.

Since the permanent magnet assists the electrical y excited winding in moving the armature, the winding can be comparatively small so that the size of each unit is reduced as compared with prior art constructions. Since the permanent magnet holds the armature in two stable end positions, only a short impulse has to be supplied to 3,506,189 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 ICC the winding for actuating the control magnet, and the magnetic field produced by the winding lasts only until the armature has been moved out of an end position and beyond an intermediate position whereupon the magnetic field of the permanent magnet snaps the armature to the other end position.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, a perma nent magnet has two pole shoe members in the form of legs attached to the poles of the permanent magnet and carrying pole shoes between which the movable end of an armature rod is located whose other end rests on a neutral zone of the permanent magnet. The winding surrounds the armature rod and is located between the pole shoe members, the permanent magnet, and the pole shoes so that the magnet flux is increased in one of the pole shoe members, and decreased in the other pole shoe members when the winding is energized and influences by its temporary flux, the flux produced by the permanent magnet. In this manner, the magnetic field between the pole shoes acts on the armature rod to shift the armature from one end position to the other.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the free end of the armature rod projects above the pole shoes,

" and is connected with a locking member by which the setting wheel of one order of a register is locked in a selected digital position when the armature is shifted to one end position and shifts the locking member to a locking position in which the setting means is locked in a selected digital position. For example, the setting means may be a setting wheel having teeth of sawtooth shape which abut the locking member when the same is in a locking position, and thus stop the corresponding register wheel in the desired digital position.

In the preferred embodiment, the free movable end of the armature is fork-shaped and engages recesses in a locking bar consisting of a non-magnetizable material.

Each control magnet unit according to the invention controls a locking member, the locking members being respectively associated with the ordinal setting wheels which control the ordinal register elements of a printing register, for example. All toothed setting wheels are simultaneously turned in one direction, and then permitted to turn in the opposite direction by a control rail extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the setting wheels, which are preferably gear segmen s having ten teeth respectively associated with the ten digits.

After the prining operaton, the armatures of the control magnets have to be returned to the normal end position, which is preferably effected by the back faces of the sawtooth-shaped teeth of the setting wheels when the same are turned in reverse direction of rotation. It is only necessary to move the armature beyond the intermediate position, whereupon the magnetic field of the permanent magnet moves the armature to its normal position in which the locking member is retracted and in an inoperative position spaced from the respective setting wheel. However, it is also possible to return the armature and locking member to the normal inoperative position by energizing the winding to produce a magn tic field opposed to the magnetic field produced by the first energization by which the locking member was actuated.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention a plurality of control units is arranged in several rows, and adjacent control units are staggered in transverse direction. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, three rows of transversely staggered control units are provided.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side view, partially in section along line 1-1 in FIG. 2 and illustrating an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a control magnet arrangement as shown in FIG. 1, shown partially broken off and in section.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The illustrated embodiment consists of twenty-four units arranged in three rows I, II, III, the individual units being staggered in longitudinal and transverse directions. FIG. 1 illustrates three adjacent units, the unit in the second row II being shown in vertical section. Each unit comprises a permanent magnet 1 to whose poles two pole members 2 and 3 are attached which terminate in inwardly

bent flanges

4 and 5 which are the pole shoes of the permanent magnet, and define a gap 6. An armature rod 8 has a lower end 9 resting on permanent magnet 1 in a region equally spaced from the poles of the same so that end portion 9 of armature rod 8 is located in a zone where there is nearly no magnetic field. The upper free end portion of armature rod 8 is located in'the gap 6 and projects beyond

pole shoes

4 and 5, ending in a forkshaped portion whose prongs 17 are located in opposite lateral recesse of a locking bar 12 which is guided between a pair of guide members 19. Each unit has an armature 8 connected with a locking bar 12, the locking bars of the three rows I, II, III being of different length so that the free ends 13 of the locking bars are aligned. A winding 7 in the form of a coil is located between pole members 2 and 3, and has an inner space in which armature rod 8 is located.

When an electric impulse is supplied to winding 7, a magnetic flux is produced in pole members 2 and 3 which has such a direction as to be opposed to the flux in one of the pole members, and to increase the flux in the other pole member. Of course, the conditions are reversed if the polarity of the winding is reversed.

Assuming that the armature rod abuts pole shoe 4 in one end position, and that the magnetic flux in pole member 3 and pole shoe 5 is increased when Winding 7 is energized, While the magnet flux in pole member 2 and pole shoe 4 is decreased, armature rod 8 will be moved from the end position abutting pole shoe 4 to the other end position abutting pole shoe 5. Since the respective locking bar 12 is connected with the forked-shaped end 17 of the armature rod 8, it is shifted to the right as viewed in the drawing from the previous inoperative position to a locking position located between two teeth of a setting gear member 15 which is turnable between a plurality of digital positions. A rail 16 is driven from the operating means of a calculator or accounting machine, abuts the lower edges of all setting members 15, and is operable to raise and lower the settinggear members 15 during an operational cycle of the apparatus. The teeth 14 of setting gear member 15 are sawtooth-shaped, and have a steep flank and a sloping back face. In a position of rest, rail 16 holds all setting members 15 above locking bars 12. When rail 16 is moved downward, the setting members 15, which are spring-biassed, follow rail 16, and are stopped by the correlated advanced locking bars in dilferent digital positions. A similar setting mechanism is disclosed in the US. Patent 3,384,009.

Assuming that armature rod 8 is in the left end position abutting pole shoe 4 so that the corresponding locking bar 12 is in the left inoperative position in which its free end 13 is spaced from the teeth of setting gear member 15. All setting gear members 15 are lowered from a high initial position by downward movement of rail 16 when it is desired to transfer the values calculated in the calculator to the ordinal printing wheels of a printing register, not shown, which are respectively controlled by the ordinal set of setting gear members 15. As soon as any one of the setting gear members 15 arrives in a position associated with a desired digital position of the respective register element, winding 7 is momentarily energized by an electric impulse which represents the respective digit and is generated as described in US. Patent 3,384,009, so that the magnetic flux produced by the impulse flowing through the winding is superimposed on the magnetic flux produced by the permanent magnet 1, and the magnetic field between the

pole shoes

4 and 5 is changed in such a manner that armature rod 8 is shifted from its left end position abutting pole shoe 4 to its right end position abutting pole shoe 5, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

Locking member 12 is shifted from its previous inoperative position to a locking position in which its end portion 13 is located between two teeth 14, the flank of the trailing tooth 14 abutting end portion 13 so that further movement of the respective setting gear member 15 under the action of springs, not shown, is blocked and the corresponding register element of the printing register is set to a corresponding digital position. Due to the small mass of armature rod 8 and of locking member 12, shifting can take place very rapidly, and since only a very short electric impulse is required for energizing winding 7, the impulse can have a very high current since the short time of energization prevents an overheating of the winding.

Due to the sawtooth shape of teeth 14, any actuated unit can be mechanically returned to its initial inoperative position. Rail 16 is operated to raise all setting gear members 15 to a high initial position in which all teeth 14 are located above the plane of locking members 12 so that the sloping back face of the previously leading tooth 14 slides along the end face of end portion 13 of locking bar 14, urging the same to the left together with theend portion 11 of armature rod 8 which was held in the end position abutting pole shoe 5 by the magnetic field of the permanent magnet 1 after deenergization of winding 7.

When the operative tooth 14 has moved locking bar 12 far enough to the left so that armature rod 8 is moved beyond a central intermediate position, the magnetic field passing through pole shoe 4 becomes effective to move armature rod to the left end position abutting pole shoe 4 so that locking member 12 is held in its inoperative position spaced from the points of teeth 14. It is not necessary to construct the teeth to such heightas to move the armature rod all the way from the end position abuttingpole shoe 5 to, the end position abutting pole shoe 4. Instead of mechanically moving

members

12 and 8 to the inoperative normal position, an electric impulse may be supplied to Winding 7 and energize the same in a polarity opposite to its previous polarity so that the fl-ux in pole shoe 4 is increased, and the flux in pole shoe 5 is reduced, and armature rod 8 is shifted to the left end position. r I

The arrangement of themagnetic unit in three staggered rows, .as best seen in FIG. 2, permits it to dispose a great number of locking rods. 12 adjacent each other spaced a, verysmall pitch distance from each other, as best-seen in the lower right hand portion of FIG. 2. The setting gear members 15 are spaced the same pitch distance, so that the register elements of theprinting register, not shown, can be spaced also the same pitch distance. Since onlyvery short electric impulses are required for shifting the armatures and locking members, the compact construction and arrangement of the magnetic unit does not cause any overheating'of the apparatus.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful-application in other types of control magnet arrangements'diifering from the types'descri-bed above} Whilethe invention has-been illustrated and described as embodied in a control magnet arrangement including a permanent magnet and an energizable winding for influencing the magnetic flux so that the armature is shifted, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

1. Control magnet arrangement for use with a register, comprising, in combination, permanent magnet means ineluding two stops; an armature movable between two end positions respectively abutting said stops, and an intermediate position, and being attracted to either end position when moving beyond said intermediate position and held in the respective end position by the magnetic flux of said permanent magnet means; a winding temporarily energizable for producing another flux for moving said armature out of either end position and beyond said intermediate position so that said armature is moved by the flux of said permanent magnet means to the respective other end position; setting means for the register movable between a plurality of digital positions; and control means connected with said armature and activated by the same in one of said end positions to place said setting means in a selected digital position.

2. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control means include locking means movable between an inoperative position and a locking positiori for locking said setting means in a selected digital position, and wherein said locking means is connected with said armature for movement therewith so that said locking means is in said inoperative and locking positions, respectively, when said armature is in said end positions, respectively.

3. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 1 wherein said permanent magnet means include a permanent magnet forming a yoke, and two opposite pole members having pole shoes' forming a gap and constituting said two stops; wherein said armature has a movable free end located between said pole shoes; and wherein said winding is positioned so that said other flux increases the flux in one of said pole members, and decreases the flux in the other pole member when said winding is energized.

4. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 3 wherein said winding is located between said pole members and has ends respectively located adjacent said pole shoes and said permanent magnet.

5. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 4 wherein said armature is a rod having another end resting on said permanent magnet equally spaced from the ends of the same in a zone free of a magnetic field so that said rod is pivotable about said other end between said end positions.

6. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 5, said control means comprising a locking member movable between an inoperative position and a locking position for locking said setting means in a selected one of said plurality of digital positions; wherein said rod has said free end projecting beyond said pole shoe; and wherein said locking member is made of a non-magnetic material and is connected with said movable free end so that said locking member is in said inoperative and locking positions, respectively, when said rod is in said end positions, respectively.

7. *Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 6 wherein said setting means include a setting wheel turnable between said plurality of digital positions and having teeth respectively associated with said digital positions, selected teeth being respectively engaged by said locking member in said locking position depending on the time of energization of said winding by an electric impulse during turning movement of said setting wheel.

8. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 7 wherein said teeth of said setting wheel have a steep flank and asloping back; wherein said locking member projects between adjacent teeth in said locking position, and wherein when said setting wheel turns in one direction the flank of a tooth abuts said locking member in said locking position whereby rotation of said setting wheel is stopped in a selected digital position; and wherein when said setting wheel turns in the opposite direction, said locking member is shifted by said sloping back of the respective adjacent tooth to move said armature rod beyond said intermediate position so that said armature rod moves further to the end position in which said locking member is in said inoperative position.

9. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 1 comprising a plurality of said permanent magnet means and a plurality of said windings disposed in a row; said control means including a plurality of locking members respectively connected with said armatures to be moved by the same between inoperative and locking positions when the respective armatures move between said end positions; and a plurality of movable setting means having a plurality of digital positions and adapted to be stopped in selected digital positions by said locking members in said locking positions, respectively.

10. Control magnet arrangement as claimed in claim 9 wherein said magnet means are disposed in a plurality of parallel rows, the magnet means of each row abutting each other in the longitudinal direction of said rows, and wherein adjacent magnet means of said rows are staggered.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,046,977 7/1936 Sortore et al 340324 2,244,601 6/1941 Barth 74142 3,065,904 11/1962 Parker 235-61 3,302,045 1/ 1967 Dotto 310-37 3,302,141 1/1967 Mayer 33594 FOREIGN PATENTS 882,139 2/ 1943 France.

STEPHEN J. TOMSKY, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.