US375251A - Type-writing machine - Google Patents

Description

' (No Model.) 2 sne ts-sn'eet 1.

- G. W. BALDRIGE.

TYPE WRITING MAGHINE No. 375,251. Patented Dec. 20, 1887.-

W @513 6 amen mud:

Nv PETERS. Pholc-Lilhvgmphw. Wnhingion. 0.0.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

v G. W. BALDRIGE.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 375,251. Patented Dec.20, 1887.

I w I @513 /z z": @Wcozm e134 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. BALDRIGE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 375,251, dated December 20, 1887.

, Application filed June .18, 18(6. Serial No. 206;411.

' panying drawings, forming part of this specification,and in which Figure l is a verticalatransverse section through the-keys of a typewriter, such as is shown in my application filed June 1, 1886,

- No. 203,814, the carriage and other parts being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail perspective view of .the rack-dogs and part of the rack. Fig. 3 is a side view showing part of the lining-bar and the mechanism for operating it. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are sections taken on line 4 6, Fig. 1, showing the partsin different positions. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are end views of the carriage, showing the parts in different positions. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the same and of the carriage as shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the twin dog.

My invention relates to certain improvements in typewriting machines; and my invention consists in features of novelty, hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, A represents part of the frame, and B the keys of the machine. I have not shown a complete machine, as it is unnecessary to a clear understanding of my present invention.

Grepresents the carriage provided with rollers O 0, between which the paper passes, as usual. The carriageis supported by and travels in grooved rollers (J It is moved forward in printing by mechanism hereinafter described, and it may be moved back (when another line is to be printed) by means of aspring, E, inclosed in a case, E, and connected to the carriage in any suitable way. The spring E is similar'to the spring used to move the carriage forward in other type-writers; but in my present invention this spring is employed to bring the carriage back instead of moving it forward. The carriage is provided with a rack or toothed bar, D. Engaging with the notches of the rack is a dog, D, secured to the (No model.)

frame of the machine by an arm, D, and held into engagement with the teeth by a,spring, D secured to the arm. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) In like manner there engages with the teeth of the rack a dog or pawl, D*, pivoted to the upper end of a bell-crank lever, D and held into engagement with the notches by means of a spring, D, secured to the lever, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The lever is pivoted at D to the frame of the machine, and it is connected to the frame by a spring, D".

D represents a bar extending under all of the keys, and to which the lower end of the bell-crank lever D is connected by means of a rod, D, as shown in Fig. 1. All of the letter, character, numeral, and spacer keys B of the machine operate this bar D and in doing so operate the lever D When the lever is thus operated, the dog or pawl D* is made to slip over one or more of the teeth of the rack, and

then, when the key operated is released, the

spring D" will pull the carriage forward the distance of the number of teeth passed over by the dog or pawl, as stated. As the dog or pawl is thus pulled back to engage a fresh tooth, the carriage is prevented from being pulled back under the influence of the spring E by means of the dog or pawl D, and then, as the spring D pulls the carriage forward, as stated, the dog or pawl D slips over the teeth, allowing the movement of the carriage. The spring D must of course be made sufficiently strong or with sufficient tension to overcome the spring E and cause the movement of the carriage when a key has been released after operating the lever D and dog D. Thespring pulls the lever and dog over until it brings the lever against a stationary stop, D.

As clearly pointed out in the specification of my application above referred to, it is desirable to have moreor less space for different letters or characters-as, for instance, the let ter 1 requires less space than the letter L, and the letter L requires less space than the letter M, &c. With my present invention this spacing for the different letters is accomplished in a cheap and effective manner.

The keys B are notched at B, as shown in Fig. 1, so that they will operate to move the bar D a greater or less distance, according to the space required, the key of the letter I not operating the bar so far as the key of the letter L, and the key of the latter letter not operating the bar so far as the key of the letter M, and so on, the notches B being made the proper length to give this result, the notch, for instance, in the key of the letter I being longer than the notch in the key of the letter N, and the notch in thekey of thelatterletter being longer than the notch in the key of the letter M, and so on, or the key of a letter the space of the let-ter M need not be notched at all, and the other keys be notched, as required.

Now the operation is this: \Vhen the key of the letter I (or ofa letter requiring the same space) is operated, the bar B is depressed sufficiently to cause the pawl or dog D" to engage the next tooth to the one occupied by it. This will cause the carriage to be moved forward the distance of one tooth. \Vhen the key of the letter N (or letter requiring like space) is operated, the bar will be depressed farther than before, so that the dog 1)" will engage the second notch behind the one occupied by it, and when this key is released the carriage will of course be moved forward the distance of two notches, thus giving the required space for this letter, or for a letter requiring a like space. Now when the key of the letter \l (or of a letter requiring like space) is operated, the dog or pawl D" will be made to engage the third notch from the one last occupied by it, and the carriage will now be moved forward the distance of three notches, and thus the required space be given for this letter. This method for giving the various spaces to the letters requiring more or less room will at once be seen to be cheap and effective in performing its functions. Vhen a line or part of a line has been written and it is desired to return the carriage to its forward position to commence another line, it is of course necessary that the dogs or pawls D D be disengaged from the rack D, and when thus disengaged the carriage is returned by the spring E. As a means for disengaging the dogs from the rack D, I have shown a lini ng-bar rail or plate, F, pivoted to the carriage at F by arms F the plate being held and working in slots G of the ends 0 of the carriage, and held in its upper position by a spring or springs, H, (see Figs. 7. S, and 9,) which connect it or the arms F to the ends 0* of the carriage. Fitting over this plate or rail is a grooved stationary pulley, I, jourualed in the upper end of a plate or arm, I, the plate or arm extend ing downward and being connected at I to a key, J, which is preferably located in the center of the machine, as shown in Fig. l, and which is notched out at J, so as not to come in contact with and operate the bar D Pivoted to this plate at L is an arm, L, provided with wings L, which engage over projections D on the dogs D and D", when the arm is held out into its normal position, by a spring, L as shown in Figs. 8, 4, and 6. Now it will be seen that when it is desired to return the carriage, after the completion of a line or part of a line, it is only necessary to press on the key J, when the arm L, being pulled down, will disengage the dogs from the carriage, as shown in Fig. 6, and the carriage is free to be moved back. As soon as the key J is released, the arm L, plate I, and rail F (which have been moved down with it) are returned to their normal position by the spring or springs H, and the dogs again engage the rack of the carriage.

Vhen a line has been written, it is of course necessary to turn the roller (3 of the carriage to feed the paper forward for a new line. This is done with my invention when the dogs are disengaged from the carriage,as just described, by means of an elongated pawl, M, connected to an extension, F, of one of the arms F", as shown in Figs. 7,8,9, and 10. This dog or pawl engages a ratchet-wheel, 0'', on one end of the roller G, and it will be seen that when the rail F is lowered this pawl will cause the turning of the roller C through means of its connection with the arm F", and consequently with the rack, and when the rail F rises the pawl M. will slip over and engage the next tooth of the ratchet-wheel 0", so as to move the roller another notch the next time the rail F is operated. This elongated pawl is made sufficiently thin to allow it to spring without operating the plate or rail F when pressed from above, so that when it is desired to turn the roller 0 without operating the rail F it can be done by sim'plypressing on a knob, M, on top of the pawl, and located there for that purpose. The movement of the pawl is checked, so that the roller will only move the distance of one notch,by means of a sliding stop, N, dovetailed into blocks N, secured to the end 0 of the carriage beneath the ratchetwheel, and provided with a knob, N", by which it may be moved, the pawl being formed with a lug or projection, M", beneath the ratchetwheel, that comes against this stop.

Vhen it is desired to move the roller the distance of two notches, it may be done by simply moving the stop back from the position shown in Fig. 7 to that shown in Fig. 8, so that the lug or projection M will not come in contact with it.

It is sometimes desired to turn the roller 0 for a fresh line by means of the key J and without disengaging the pawls from the rack, and to do this I have provided a means whereby at such times the arm L may be moved inward, compressing the spring L so that it will not engage the projections D of the dogs, as shown in Figs.5 and 8. This means consists of a rod or bar, 0, fitting in a slot, L, of the arm L and provided with a cross-head, O, on its upperend, that [its upon the upper face of thearm. (See Fig. 3.) This rod-O is guided in keepers O and extends down beneath the keys, terminatingin a loop, 0, into which enters the inclined end P of a sliding bar or plate, P, held and guided in support P 7 Thus, when it is desired to turn the roller C by moving the railF by the key J, and this without disengaging the dogsfrom the rack, the bar or plate I? is shoved from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5, its inclined end bearing upon the bottom ofthe loop O and forcing the rod 0. and arm L downward, disengaging the latter from the projections D, as shown in Figs. 5 and 8, so that the roller 0 can be turned without disengaging the dogs from the rack. WVhen the rod or plate P is pulled outagain, the spring L returns the arm L and rod 0 to their normal position, so that the wings of the arm L will again engage the projections D of the dogs or pawls D D. I

Though I show the pawl D as in one piece or single, I prefer to make it double, orcon- 'sisting of two parts, D D", (see Fig. 11,) theprojeetion D being secured to one of the parts and fitting in a short slot, D in the other part, and both parts. being equal in width to the width ot the teeth of the rack and both being held into engagement with the teeth of the rack by the spring D (See Figs. 1 and 2.) The distance between the points or ends of these two parts is equal to half the length of each tooth of the rack, and the object of the double dog is that, should one member fail to engage in the notch intended, the other member will engage the next tooth, and thus the carriage would be prevented from moving the distance of a whole tooth, but only be allowed to move the distance of half a tooth. A still less movement of the carriage could be prevented by having three or four parts to the dog.

Some other means than the dogs D could be employed to prevent the retrograde movement of the carriage, and some other means than the spring E could be employed to move the carriage back.

I claim as myinvention 1. In a type-writer or similar machine, the

combination, with the keys and a carriage having a rack, of the spring for retracting the carriage, dog D, dog-spring D fixed supporting-arm D bell-crank lever D, dog D*, dog-spring D", lever-spring D", stop D, rod D, and bar D 2. In a type-writer or similar machine, the combination, with the carriage having a rack, of the pawls D and D engaging the rack, having projections D, the plate I, pivoted arm L, providedv with wings L, for engaging the projections, spring L5, for throwing pivoted arm outward,and rod 0, having crosshead 0, for pressing the pivoted arm inward.

3. In atype-writerorsimilarmachine,incombination with the spring-dog for causing the forward movement of the carriage, provided with a projection,a double dog provided with a proj ection secured to one of the parts and fitting in a slot in the other part, an arm engaging said projections, and mechanism, substantially as described, for operating the arm to 16 disengage the dogs from the rack of the carriage, substantially as shown and described.

4:. In a type-writer or similar machine, the carriage provided with a main paper-roller, mechanism for turning the roller, consisting of a ratchet-wheel and pawl, plate or rail to which the pawl is connected, a rod provided with a pulley engaging with the plate, and a key to which said rod is connected for operating the parts, substantially as set forth.

5. In a typewriter or similar machine, in combination with acarriage provided with a main paper-roller and ratchet-wheel, a pawl engaging the ratchetwheel, a plate to which the pawl is connected, a spring for holding the plate in its upper position, and mechanism, substantially as described, for depressing the plate, consisting of a rod provided with a pulley and an operating-key to which the rod is connected, substantially as set forth.

6. In a type-writer or similar machine, the combination of the carriage provided with a main paper-ro1ler having a ratchet-wheel, a pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, a plate pivoted to the carriage by means of arms, to one of which the pawl is connected, a spring for holding the plate in its upper position, and means, substantially as described, for depressing the plate, substantially as set forth.

7. In a type-writer or similar machine, in combination with a carriage provided with a main paper-roller having a ratchet-wheel, a pawl for engaging the wheel, and mechanism, substantially as described, for operating the pawl, consisting of aspring-plate to which the pawlis connected, and a key for operating the plate and to which the plate is connected,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a typewriter or similar machine, in

combination with the carriage having a main paper roller provided with a ratchet-wheel, a flexible pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel, provided with a lug, M", beneath the ratchetwheel, mechanism, substantially as described, to which the pawl is connected and by which it is operated, and a stop beneath the lug with which the lug engages for limiting the movement of the pawl, substantially as set forth.

9. In a type-writer or similar machine, in combination with the carriage provided with a main paper-roller having a ratchet-wheel, a pawl engaging theratchetwheel,provided with a lug, M mechanism, substantially as described, to which the pawl is connected and by which it is operated, and a check for said pawl, consisting of a block having a sliding stop against which the projection on the pawl engages, substantially as shown and described, for the purpose set forth.

10. In a type-writer or similar machine, in combination with the carriage provided with a main paper-roller having a ratchet-wheel, a pawl engaging the ratchet-wheel,and mechanism for operating the pawl, consisting of a sliding plate, arms connecting the plate to the ends of .the carriage, and to one of which the IIO said pawl is. connected,operating-key,rod connected to the operating-key, and pulley on said rod engaging over said plate,snbstantially as shown and described, for the purpose set forth.

11. In a type-writer or similar machine, in combination with the carriage having a main papcr-roller provided with a ratchet-wheel, and having a rack, dogs engaging said rack, pawl engaging said ratchet-wlieel,and mechanism, substantially as described, for operating said dogs, whereby when the dogs are disengaged from the rack the pawl turns the paperroller, substantially as specified.

12. In a type-writer or similar machine, in combination with a main paper-roller having a rack, a ratchetwheel, dogs provided with projections and engaging said rack, mechanism for disengaging said dogs, consisting, essentially,of an arm engaging said projections and a key to which the arm is connected and by which it is operated, a pawl engaging said ratehet-wheel, and mechanism for operating said pawl, consisting,essentially, of a plate and rod by which the pawl is connected to said operating-key, substantially as set forth.

13. In a typo-writer or similar machine, in combination with the carriage provided with a rack and a main paper-roller having a ratchet-wheel,d0gs provided with projections and engaging said rack, spring-arm having wings engaging the projections on the dogs,

rod 0, having a cross-head to which the arm is connected, operating-key to which the rod is connected, :1 plate, 1, to which the arm is pivoted and which is connected to said oper ating-key, a bar having an inclined end for operating the rod to disengage the arm from the projections, pawl engaging the ratchetwheel on the paper-roller, and mechanism, substantially as deseribed,conneeting the said pawl to said operating-key, the whole being arranged substantially as shown and described, whereby when a key-is operated the dogs may be disengaged from the rack, or the paper-roller turned without disengaging the dogs i'romthe rack, substantially as Set forth.

GEO. W. BALDRIGE.

In presence of GEo. H. KNIGHT, EDw. S. KNIGHT.

Images