US3678851A - Imprinting attachment for autographic registers - Google Patents

Abstract

An improvement is autographic registers of the type having an open writing table area, a storage area for a supply of continuous stationery and means for advancing the continuous stationery over the writing table for writing multiple copies of a transaction and for further advancing the stationery beyond the writing table to permit separation of a written form from the remainder thereof, characterized by the provision of a card impression assembly including a card carrier slide mounted for insertion and retraction from one side of the register to place a card over the writing table and under the stationery near the forward end of the writing table, and an impression roller assembly pivotally mounted on the register over the writing table area for movement to a position in engagement with the stationery and away therefrom, the assembly including a laterally movable impression roller for transfer of the image of raised characters on a card-like element held in the slide to the several plies of stationery in the writing table area when the card carrier slide is inserted into the register.

Description

United States Patent Steidinger et al.

3,678,85 1 July 25, 1972 [54] IMPRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOGRAPHIC REGISTERS [72] Inventors: Donald J. Steidinger, Barrington; Donald H. Koepke, Elgin, both of I11.

[73] Assignee: Uarco Incorporated [22] Filed: Jan. 12, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 2,335

[52] U.S.Cl ..l0l/260,101/269,101/113 [51] Int. Cl. ..B41f3/46, B41f3/20 [58] Field of Search ..101/269, 274, 260, 45, 90, 101/55,56, 113

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,782,714 2/1957 Davidson 101/274 2,913,981 11/1959 Hermann 10l/113X 2,884,857 5/1959 Schwinn et al.. .101/260 3,083,641 4/1963 Childs et a1. ..101/269 3,138,091 6/1964 Maul ..101/45 3,236,177 2/1966 Perry et al... 101/269 3,402,665 9/1968 Barbour et a1... ...lOl/269 3,447,458 6/1969 l-lu ..l01/269 Primary ExaminerWilliam B. Penn Attorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord [5 7] ABSTRACT An improvement is autographic registers of the type having an open writing table area, a storage area for a supply of continuous stationery and means for advancing the continuous stationery over the writing table for writing multiple copies of a transaction and for further advancing the stationery beyond the writing table to permit separation of a written form from the remainder thereof, characterized by the provision of a card impression assembly including a card carrier slide mounted for insertion and retraction from one side of the register to place a card over the writing table and under the stationery near the forward end of the writing table, and an impression roller assembly pivotally mounted on the register over the writing table area for movement to a position in engagement with the stationery and away therefrom, the assembly including a laterally movable impression roller for transfer of the image of raised characters on a card-like element held in the slide to the several plies of stationery in the writing table area when the card carrier slide is inserted into the register.

13 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTED I973 3.678.851

SHEET 1 [1F 3 PATENTEDJMS m2 SHEET 2 BF 3 I l lz 76 70 I l I I IMPRINTING ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOGRAPI-IIC REGISTERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to autographic registers and, more particularly, to an improvement therein in the nature of the card impression assembly.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art Autographic registers are old and well known in the art. Typically, such mechanisms have a housing with a writing table and a cover over the writing table having an open central area. The registers are provided with a storage area for continuous form stationery and also with mechanism for advancing the stationery, preferably a single form length at a time, over the writing table, and beyond. Some stationery exits to the exterior of the register and is separated from the remainder of the strip and other plies of the stationery may be fed into a storage compartment for a permanent record for the storekeeper or the like. The stationery may be of the type which is treated to transfer images from one ply to another by impression, or strips of transfer material may be interleaved between the stationery plies.

The use of cards or card-like plates with raised indicia as an identification and recording element of a credit transaction has been increasingly popular. Typically, the card-like element is placed on a defined area of a holder and a ticket like assembly of forms is placed over the card, following which a roller like assembly is utilized to impress the raised characters of the card onto the plies of the assembly. Such operation is not easily usable in autographic registers wherein the record of the transaction is part of a continuous form assembly fed over a peripherally bounded open writing table.

In addition, in many wholesale sales operations, such as building materials and the like, the customer may have several authorized agents who are directed to maintain credit purchases for equipment or materials for several different projects. Recording the name of the purchaser, the agent and the project number is simplified by the use of card'like elements with impressed or embossed characters. Such transactions are preferably recorded on autographic registers with one copy of the several plies of continuous form stationery going to the customer and customers agent, and the underlying copies advanced to a storage compartment of the register for subsequent recording and billing purposes.

An example of a prior attempt in the art to utilize characterized cards with an autographic register is shown in Herman U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,981. Limitations of this structure are that the card imprinting apparatus is fixed to the remainder of the case so as to overlie a portion of the continuous form stationery and is not selectively removable therefrom. Further, the imprinting structure involves a printing platen separate from the stationery writing platen and the characterized card itself must be fed through an opening in the casing to the platen which is fixed in place within the casing. It is believed that this type of imprinting and register structure is relatively difficult to manipulate, limits the use of the instrument as an autographic register alone, and cannot be easily adapted to existing autographic register structures without substantial reconstruction thereof.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed, in brief, to the provision of an autographic register having a card impression assembly in association therewith.

The best mode currently contemplated by us for carrying out the invention includes the provision of a card carrier slide slidably mounted in one side of the autographic register for movement between an inserted position, wherein the carrier slide and the card mounted thereon is positioned over the register writing table, but under the plies of continuousstationery, and a retracted position wherein the carrier slide is withdrawn from the register and the card receiving portion thereof is exposed for removal or placement of a card. In addition, an impression roller assembly is pivotally mounted on the register for movement about an axis generally transverse to the direction of stationery travel so that it may be swung into an impressing position over the writing table or away therefrom. The impression roller assembly includes a laterally movable impression roller for transferring the image of characters of a card to the stationery when the roller assembly is in the impressing position and the carrier slide is inserted into position on the writing table under the plies of stationery.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an autographic register utilizing the card impression means of this invention with a portion of the register broken away for illustration of the interior thereof;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged section view taken generally along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing the impression roller assembly;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view of the forward and upper end of the register shown in FIG. 1 with portions thereof broken away for clarity of illustration of the relationship of the impression rolier assembly to the card carrier assembly;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the portion of the register shown in FIG. 1 with the cover thereof moved to an open position and the card carrier assembly in a retracted or withdrawn position relative to the writing table of the register;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary top plan view similar to FIG. 4 but showing the card carrier assembly in an inserted position overlying the writing table of the register;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged section view taken generally along lines 6-6 of FIG. 5 illustrating the relationship between the card carrier assembly and a guide and latch means therefor;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged section view taken generally along the lines 7-7 of FIG. 5 also illustrating the relationship between the card carrier assembly and a guide means and latch means therefor;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 taken along the lines 8-8 of FIG. 4 and showing the relationship of the card carrier to the guide means and latch means when the card carrier is in the withdrawn position;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an autographic register similar to FIG. 1, but showing the card carrier assembly withdrawn and the impression roller assembly swung away from the position where it overlies a writing table portion of the register; and

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 9 but further showing the cover for the register also moved to an open position exposing the writing table and showing a card element about to be inserted into the card carrier assembly.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail a specific embodiment therefor, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The autographic register 10 shown herein is generally of the well known type including a housing 12 having a cover 14 which may be moved between an open position, as seen in FIG. 10, and a closed position, as seen in FIGS. 1 and 9 by means of its hinged connection with the housing. The cover has a generally medially positioned, substantially rectangular, writing opening 16 and overlies a writing table 18 in the housing interior.

Typically, continuous form, multiple ply stationery 20 is fed from a storage compartment 22 in the housing interior, at the rear of the register, across the writing table 18 whereby a record of a transaction can be made. Of the multiple plies of stationery fed in strip form across the writing table, typically at least one of the plies is returned to a storage area 24 for the purposes of a record of the transaction and the remaining plies given to a recipient. Upright walls, such as 26 may separate the supply and storage portions of the interior of the register.

Multiple copies of each transaction may be made by utilizing chemically treated paper which makes a reproduction of an image made on a ply by means of pressure, such as typical writing pressure, through the engagement of adjacent plies of paper in the area of the impression. Reproduction may also be made through the provision of interleaved transfer paper 28 which may be fed from a roll 30 extending in the direction of paper travel with 'the transfer paper 28 being fed laterally across the writing table 18 in the area of the opening 16.

Advancement of the stationery 20 through the machine is accomplished by means of rotation of crank 32 which, through suitable well known mechanical interconnection, causes paper gripping pins 34 to grasp stationery 20 while, at the same time, a driven friction roller 36 is rotated and the relatively vertically adjacent idler rollers 38 are maintained in contact with the paper so that rotation of the handle advances the paper forwardly with some of the plies being fed to the exterior of the machine and the remainder stored in storage compartment 24. Generally speaking, all of the structure mentioned herein above is common and well known with respect to autographic registers.

This invention is directed to the provision of an improvement or a novel additional feature for such machines in the form of a card impression means 40 comprised of the basic components of a card carrier assembly or card holder as sembly 42 and an impression roller assembly or imprinter assembly 44.

Turning first to the card carrier assembly 42, included therein is a generally thin, sheet-like carrier member 46 preferably made of two superposed sheets of thin, .durable material, such as metal or the like, 46a and 46b. A central card receiving recess 48 is provided in carrier 46, such as by making a cut out in one of the sheets 46b. A punch out opening 50 is preferably formed in the card receiving recess 48 to provide a means for easily extracting a card 52 from the recess following the recording of the transaction therewith. Card 52 may be of the well known stiff plastic type, or metal type, having certain embossed or offset indicia thereon, such as a name 52a and account number 52b.

The distal end of carrier 46 has a third lamination or thin metal sheet 54 thereon which partially overlies the card receiving recess 48 as indicated in dotted outline at 56. This provides a lip or overhang under which the card can be inserted to assist in retaining the card in recess 48 during insertion and withdrawal of the carrier 46.

The carrier 46 is movable between an inserted position, wherein it overlies the writing table 18 as best seen in FIG. and is in contact therewith as best seen in FIG. 7, and further illustrated by the relative positioning thereof in FIG. 1; and a retracted or withdrawn position, wherein the card-like element 52 may be positioned in, or withdrawn from the carrier 46, as best seen in FIGS. 4, 9 and 10. Movement of the carrier between these positions is facilitated with the aid of a generally upright handle 58 connected to the outer end of the carrier. The carrier is guided in its movement between these positions by means of a guide 60 which is a generally inverted shallow U-shaped member which closely embraces the sides of the carrier, but has clearance on the top to pass the raised indicia on the card. Guide 60 is connected to the housing by suitable fasteners such as screws 60a and 60b which lie to either side of the path of travel of the carrier 46. The guide 60 has an inwardly opening flared edge 62 to encourage thecard 52 to remain seated in the recess 48 when the carrier 46 is retracted or withdrawn from a position overlying the writing table 18.

An extension member 64 in recess 64a underlies the guide 60 and is substantially coplanar with the writing table 18.

Member 64 has an opening 66 generally centrally thereof. Underlying member 64 in recess 64a is a latch member 70 pivoted at 72 to an arm 74 connected to the register by means of fastening member 75. Latch 70 has a pointed upper end 76 which extends through opening 66 in member 64. In addition, the underside of carrier member 46 is provided with a recess 78 near the distal end opposite the handle 54. As best seen with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, when the carrier 46 is inserted into the register so that it overlies the writing table 18, latch member 70 is pivoted so that the end 76 occupies only slot 66. However, when the carrier is withdrawn relative to the writing table 18, the latch member 70 is pivoted in the opposite direction by the unbalanced weight thereof until such time as it engages recess 78. This prevents further retraction of the carrier relative to the register. It is intended that the recess 78 would be positioned, relative to latch 70, and relative to the positioning of the card receiving recess 48 so that the card receiving recess would be substantially exposed when the carrier 46 is withdrawn to a point wherein the latch member 70 prevents further retraction thereof. Further reverse pivoting of the latch member 70 is prevented by its engagement with the edge 79 of the housing 12 of the register.

Means are further provided for insuring the proper positioning and registering of the carrier 46 when it is in the inserted position overlying the writing table 18. To this end, the carrier 46 and the register are provided with co-operating members or elements in the form of a Vshaped notch 80 in the distal end of carrier 46 and a generally mating V-shaped projection 82 in the register which overlies the writing table 18. Thus, as the carrier is inserted inwardly of the register over the writing table, any lateral deviation thereof will be overcome by the guiding efiect of the V-shaped element 52 in the slot 80 so that proper alignment of the carrier will be insured.

Turning now to the impression roller assembly, a pair of upstanding brackets 84 and 86 are provided on opposite sides of the register just forwardly of the area of the opening 16 and writing table 18. A U-shaped bail 88 is pivotally mounted in these brackets, including rearwardly extending arms 88a and 88b and a cross-bar 880 which spans the arms. Bail 88 receives downward pressure of imprinter frame 92 through pin 104 so that where roller 108 does not overlie the raised indicia 52a and 52b, no smudge is made on stationery 20. The arms are spaced apart a distance so that they lie outside of the opening 16 and the cross-bar spans the distance between the arms and normally rests upon the housing 12 in the area outside of opening 16.

Shaft 90 extends between the brackets 84 and 86 and an imprinter frame 92 is rotatably mounted thereon with the shaft 90 passing through aligned openings 94 at the forward end of the imprinter frame. Preferably, at least one end 90a of shaft 90 is enlarged near one bracket 86. The rear end of the imprinter frame 92 is provided with an extension in the form of a handle 96 which is generally U-shaped in top plan and comprised of generally spaced, parallel upwardly curved arms 98 and 100 and a vertically offset cross-bar 102 which joins arms 98 and 100. A guide finger in the form of a pin 104 projects rearwardly from the imprinter frame 92 and rests on the top of cross-bar 88c of bail 88. Thus, by means of the mounting of imprinter frame 92 on shaft 90 and the rolling engagement of pin 104 on cross-bar 880, the imprinter frame 92 is mounted for relatively lateral slidable movement across the width or from side to side of the register in the area of the forward end of the writing opening 16. Travel of the imprinter frame 92 on the mounting shaft 90 may be limited by enlargement 90a at one or both ends of shaft 90.

The imprinter frame 92 further includes a lift finger as a lip 106 which extends under bar 88c in the area of the writing table 18. Thus, the bail 88 and the imprinter assembly may be simultaneously lifted by raising upwardly on handle 96 and swung or pivoted from an impression position, overlying the writing table 18 and opening 16 as best seen in FIGS. 1 through 3, to a position forwardly removed therefrom, as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 3, and further shown in FIGS.

9 and 10. Thus, additional information concerning the details of a transaction may be hand written on the body of a form length of stationery 20 through opening 16.

The impression roller assembly further includes an imprinting roller 108 preferably made of a hard rubber or plastic, rotatably mounted on a shaft 110, the opposite ends of which are received in spaced apart slots 112a and ll2b formed in depending flange 114 of the underside of imprinter frame 92. A spring clip 116, generally U-shaped in elevation, is secured to the underside of imprinter frame 92 and has opposite depending looped ends 116a and ll6b which are wrapped about, and support, portions of shaft 110 that project outwardly beyond opposite ends of roller 118. A pair of set screws 118a and ll8b are threadably received within threaded bores 120a and 12Gb in imprinter frame 92 and bear against opposite ends of roller shaft 110 to provide a means for vertically adjusting the same with respect to good imprinting engagement with stationery 20 and a card held in carrier 46.

In use, a customer seeking to make a credit transaction may hand a card 52 to a clerk. The card is placed in the recess 48 in carrier 46 and the carrier is inserted into the register over writing table 18. If the impression roller assembly 44 is in the position shown in FIG. 9, which is preferable prior to insertion of carrier 46, handle 96 may be grasped to bring the assembly 44 to an impression position as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. Here the carrier 46 and card 52 and the roller 108 are in a position in the opening 16 so as to be just below the normal heading area of continuous form stationery typically used in registers.

Following this, the clerk may laterally traverse frame 92 by grasping handle 102 causing roller 108 to create pressure in the area of indicia 52a and 52b. This will thereby create a transfer of the indicia on the front of plies thereabove either through the provision of interleaved carbon sheets or chemical interaction of treated stationery sheets. Where transfer is by means of carbon paper, the indicia will be transferred on all of the stationery plies except for the top ply unless the top ply is a previously described, chemically treated ply or unless it is translucent with face up carbon thereunder. The best copy is created on the bottom ply which is most desirable since it will be returned to the storage area 24 and subsequently extracted therefrom for billing purposes by the proprietor. Preferably, lateral movement of the frame 92 and therefore, roller 108, is limited to the area of the card to reduce possible smudge in the plies outside of this area.

Thus, through the provision of this invention, means are provided for imprinting a customers name and account number during an autographic register recorded sales transaction while retaining all of the advantages of the register including locked-in copies of invoices and sequential numbering of invoices to facilitate accounting studies of sales transactions. This is possible even though the continuous web of stationery obscures the position of the card during use and requires that the card be inserted under all of the continuous plies which are already in position in the writing table.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom, as some modifications may be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. In an autographic register having a housing, a writing table, a cover having an opening in the area of the writing table, a stationery supply compartment, and a stationery advancement means for advancing stationery from the stationery supply compartment across the writing table, the improvement which comprises: a card element carrier movably connected to the housing and having a card element retaining portion for receiving a type carrying card, the carrier being mounted for movement between a withdrawn position, wherein the retaining portion is exposed exteriorly of the register housing and a card element may be placed thereon or removed therefrom, and an inserted position wherein the carrier and card retaining portion overlie the writing table in the area of the cover opening; an impression roller assembly mounted on the housing for movement between an impression position overlying the writing table in the area of the cover opening, and a position removed therefrom whereat the cover opening is fully exposed, the impression assembly including an impression member mounted therein for image duplicating engagement with stationery at the writing table when the carrier with a card retained thereon is in the inserted position and the impression roller assembly is in the impression position, said impression roller assembly being mounted on the housing for rotation about an axis generally transverse to the direction of stationary advancement so that the assembly may be moved forwardly of the writing table area of the register to the removed position and including stop portions for engagement with the register housing when the impression roller assembly is in the impression position, the impression roller assembly further including a ball pivotally secured to said housing and a roller carrier movably mounted on the ball and including an impression roller thereon with the impression roller extending below the stop portion of the pivoted bail for duplicating engagement with the stationery at the writing table when the impression assembly is in the impressed position.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the roller carrier is movably mounted for lateral sliding from side to side of the pivoted bail.

3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein the roller carrier includes a guide finger which extends over and rides on top of a portion of the pivoted bail.

4. The structure according to claim 3, wherein the roller carrier further includes a lift finger which extends under a portion of the pivoted bail for lifting the bail together with the roller carrier when the roller carrier is lifted from the writing table.

5. The structure according to claim 2, wherein the impression roller is mounted in the roller carrier for rotation about an axis which is generally parallel to the direction of paper travel across the writing table.

6. An autographic register comprising: a housing,

said housing including a cover having an opening,

a writing table within said housing and having an image duplicating portion and a manual entry portion both underlying said opening and accessible therethrough,

a stationery supply compartment within said housing,

stationery advancement means within said housing for advancing stationery from said supply compartment across said writing table and adjacent said opening whereby entries may be made on the stationery backed by said writing table and through said opening;

a card carrier mounted on said housing and movable relative thereto for movement between (a) an inserted position overlying said image duplicating portion of said writing table whereby a type carrying card on said carrier may be brought into image duplicating engagement with stationery overlying said writing table image duplicating portion, and (b) a retracted position whereat a card carried thereby will not overlie the writing table in the area of said cover opening and whereat a card may be placed thereon or removed therefrom; and

an impression roller assembly pivotally secured to said housing for rotative movement between (a) an image duplicating position overlying said writing table image duplicating portion, and (b) a withdrawn, manual entry position forwardly of said writing table whereat the cover opening is fully exposed, said impression assembly including an impression member movable through said cover opening to cooperate with type on a card carried by said carrier when said carrier is in said inserted position to duplicate the type image on stationery overlying said writing table image duplicating portion when said assembly is in said image duplicating position, said impression assembly, when in said withdrawn manual entry position, cooperating with said carrier when said carrier is in said retracted position to allow manual entries to be made on stationery overlying both said image duplicating and manual entry portion of said writing table, said impression assembly including a stop portion for engagement with said housing when said impression assembly is in said image duplicating position;

whereby information in type on cards may be quickly impressed on stationery when cards bearing such information are available or may be manually entered at the same location on the stationery when a card bearing such information is unavailable.

7. An autographic register according to claim 1 wherein said card carrier is mounted on said housing such that it will be in contact with said writing table when in said inserted position.

8. The structure of claim 6 wherein said impression roller assembly is pivotally secured to said housing for rotation about an axis generally transverse to the direction of stationery advancement.

9. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the card carrier is mounted for slidable insertion and withdrawal from one side of the housing 10. The structure according to claim 9, wherein the retaining portion of the card carrier is a recessed area thereof.

11. The structure according to claim 10, wherein a through opening is provided in a portion of a card element retaining on said card carrier,

12. An autographic register according to claim 1 wherein the impression roller assembly axis of rotation is defined by an elongated shaft and said impression roller assembly further includes a roller carrier mounted on said shaft for side-to-side movement thereon, said roller carrier including an impression roller pivotally secured thereto.

13. The structure according to claim 12 further including means for adjusting the vertical position of the impression roller with respect to the roller carrier.

Claims (13)

1. In an autographic register having a housing, a writing table, a cover having an opening in the area of the writing table, a stationery supply compartment, and a stationery advancement means for advancing stationery from the stationery supply compartment across the writing table, the improvement which comprises: a card element carrier movably connected to the housing and having a card element retaining portion for receiving a type carrying card, the carrier being mounted for movement between a withdrawn position, wherein the retaining portion is exposed exteriorly of the register housing and a card element may be placed thereon or removed therefrom, and an inserted position wherein the carrier and card retaining portion overlie the writing table in the area of the cover opening; an impression roller assembly mounted on the housing for movement between an impression position overlying the writing table in the area of the cover opening, and a position removed therefrom whereat the cover opening is fully exposed, the impression assembly including an impression member mounted therein for image duplicating engagement with stationery at the writing table when the carrier with a card retained thereon is in the inserted position and the impression roller assembly is in the impression position, said impression roller assembly being mounted on the housing for rotation about an axis generally transverse to the direction of stationary advancement so that the assembly may be moved forwardly of the writing table area of the register to the removed position and including stop portions for engagement with the register housing when the impression roller assembly is in the impression position, the impression roller assembly further including a ball pivotally secured to said housing and a roller carrier movably mounted on the ball and including an impression roller thereon with the impression roller extending below the stop portion of the pivoted bail for duplicating engagement with the stationery at the writing table when the impression assembly is in the impressed position.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the roller carrier is movably mounted for lateral sliding from side to side of the pivoted bail.

3. The structure according to claim 2, wherein the roller carrier includes a guide finger which extends over and rides on top of a portion of the pivoted bail.

4. The structure according to claim 3, wherein the roller carrier further includes a lift finger which extends under a portion of the pivoted bail for lifting the bail together with the roller carrier when the roller carrier is lifted from the writing table.

5. The structure according to claim 2, wherein the impression roller is mounted in the roller carrier for rotation about an axis which is generally parallel to the direction of paper travel across the writing table.

6. An autographic register comprising: a housing, said housing including a cover having an opening, a writing table within said housing and having an image duplicating portion and a manual entry portion both underlying said opening and accessible therethrough, a stationery supply compartment within said housing, stationery advancement means within said housing for advancing stationery from said supply compartment across said writing table and adjacent said opening whereby entries may be made on the stationery backed by said writing table and through said opening; a card carrier mounted on said housing and movable relative thereto for movement between (a) an inserted position overlying said image duplicating portion of said writing table whereby a type carrying card on said carrier may be brought into image duplicating engagement with stationery overlying said writing table image duplicating portion, and (b) a retracted position whereat a card carried thereby will not overlie the writing table in the area of said cover opening and whereat a card may be placed thereon or removed therefrom; and an impression roller assembly pivotally secured to said housing for rotative movement between (a) an image duplicating position overlying said writing table image duplicating portion, and (b) a withdrawn, manual entry position forwardly of said writing table whereat the cover opening is fully exposed, said impression assembly including an impression member movable through said cover opening to cooperate with type on a card carried by said carrier when said carrier is in said inserted position to duplicate the type image on stationery overlying said writing table image duplicating portion when said assembly is in said image duplicating position, said impression assembly, when in said withdrawn manual entry position, cooperating with said carrier when said carrier is in said retracted position to allow manual entries to be made on stationery overlying both said image duplicating and manual entry portion of said writing table, said impression assembly including a stop portion for engagement with said housing when said impression assembly is in said image duplicating position; whereby information in type on cards may be quickly impressed on stationery when cards bearing such information are available or may be manually entered at the same location on the stationery when a card bearing such information is unavailable.

7. An autographic register according to claim 1 wherein said card carrier is mounted on said housing such that it will be in contact with said writing table when in said inserted position.

8. The structure of claim 6 wherein said impression roller assembly is pivotally secured to said housing for rotation about an axis generally transverse to the direction of stationery advancement.

9. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the card carrier is mounted for slidable insertion and withdrawal from one side of the housing.

10. The structure according to claim 9, wherein the retaining portion of the card carrier is a recessed area thereof.

11. The structure according to claim 10, wherein a through opening is provided in a portion of a card element retaining on said card carrier.

12. An autographic register according to claim 1 wherein the impression roller assembly axis of rotation is defined by an elongated shaft and said impression roller assembly further includes a roller carrier mounted on said shaft for side-to-side movement thereon, said roller carrier including an impression roller pivotally secured thereto.

13. The structure according to claim 12 further including means for adjusting the vertical position of the impression roller with respect to the roller carrier.

Images