US438078A - Type writing machine - Google Patents

Description

A.(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheen 1. F. F. MAIN.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

Patented Oct. 7, 189()i (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. I P. P. MAIN.

TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

Patented Oct. 7

FRED F. MAIN, oF soUTH Nnw LYME, onro, AssIGNoR or ONE-HALF To VILLIAM S. DEMMING AND JOHN NOBLE, OF SAME PLACE..

TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,078, dated October 7, 1890.

Application filed April 17,1890'. Serial No. 348,852. (No model.)

Y .To all whom it may concern:

` lowing is a specification.

This invention relates to type-writers adapted to write in a book or upon a at sheet, and more especially to the carriage therefor which supports such book. The obj ect of the invention is to provide means for supporting a book, and especially a large one, and for holding its leaves iiat, so that the downwardly-striking type may have a level surface to print upon. This object I accomplish by the improved type-writer carriage, as hereinafter more fully described, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan View, and Fig. 2 a front elevation, of a type-writer embodying my improved carriage, and also embodying the rubber type-plate and key-board of the World Type-Vriter, although it will be understood that with but a slight change of parts other well-known forms of type, levers, and keys may be used, provided only that the type are adapted to strike downwardly onto the paper or book, and hence can be employed in a machine of this general construction. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the carriage, showing a book in position therein to be written in by the type. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section of the carriage. Fig. 5 is a similar section at right angles to Fig. 4.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the letter A designates the base, B the basket or printing mechanism, which may be of any preferred type, and O a coiled spring within a drum D, supported by the base, all as is usual and common in type-writers. Coming now to the present invention, 1 designates a lower carriage, having wheels 2, which travel upon tracks 3, laid across the base from front to rear thereof. Parallel with and between these tracks extends a rack-bar 4, and with the teeth of this bar engages a gear 5, journaled in suitable bearings upon the lower carriage and having ratchet-teeth 6 upon its hub. A lever 7 is pivoted to the carriage, and a pawl S, attached to said lever,

engages said ratchet when the lever is moved toward the operator,whereby the carriage may be moved so as to make the proper distance between the lines, and it can be moved forwardly on the base byphand when it is desired to commence writing at the top line of the next page.

10 designates the upper carriage, having wheels 11, which travel on tracks 12, arranged longitudinally on the lower carriage 1that is to say, from right to left thereon. 13 is a square shaft turned normallyin the direction of the arrow by the spring O within the drum, and 14 is a sprocket-wheel, having a square hole through its hub, whereby it is rotated by( but capable of sliding longitudinally upon the square shaft 13.

15 is a chain connected at its ends to the upper carriage 10, passing over an idle-wheel 16, carried by the lower carriage and engaged by the sprocket-wheel 14.

17 is an escapement taking into an escapement-wheel18, adjacent to the spring C, which escapement is operated by the printing mechanism every time a character is printed upon the page or a space made between the words, the operation of this escapement being well known in this class of machines, and whenever the lower carriage is moved to bring another line under the type the sprocket-wheel 14 is moved upon the shaft so as always to remain in engagement with the chain 15.

2O is the platen, which directly supports the book or sheet upon which the printing is being done. This platen slides vertically within the upper carriage 10, (see Fig. 5,) and is adapted to be raised by bell-crank levers 21, pivoted to a cross-bar of the carriage, as shown. The lower ends of these levers are bifurcated, and pivoted therein are blocks 22 provided with threaded openings. A shaft 23, having oppositely-inclined threads either side of its center, passes through the two blocks 22, and is journaled in slots 24 in the front and rear bars of the upper carriage, being provided with a milled wheel upon its forward end. When this wheel is turned, the blocks 22 are moved in opposite directions, and the levers 21 may be thus operated to raise the platen 2O or to lower it.

30 designates what l shall call the chase,

ICO

which is hinged, as at 31, to the rear bar of the upper carriage and connected by a suitable catch 32 with the front bar thereof. Thin metallic straps 33 extend forward Vand back between the front and rearbars of the chase, and when a book is pressed upwardly by the platen the outer edges of its leaves and the crease between two pages come up against these straps, whereby each leaf is firmly clamped and held in a horizontal'position, so that the writing may be done with ease. When a sheet of paper is to be written on, the chase may ormay notbe used, as preferred. If it is not to be used, the catches 32 are opened and the chase turned on its hinges entirely over and to the rear of the carriage, the platen being adjusted to bring the paper into place to be written upon. It will thus be seen that the lower carriage may be moved by the lever 7' to make the spaces between the lines, that the upper carriage is moved automatically from right to left by the spring C and the chain 15 to make the spaces between the letters or words, but must be returned by hand at the commencement of a new line, that the platen may be raised and lowered by turning the milled wheel 25 in the proper direction, and that the chase when turned on its hinges may be locked by the catch 32.

What I claim is l. In a type-writer, the combination, with the iiat base, the lower carriage thereon, and means, substantially as described, for moving it forwardly, of the upper carriage having wheels moving upon tracks on the lower carria-ge, a chain connected to said upper carriage at its ends and leading over idle-wheels on the lower carriage, a coiled spring turning a square shaft and an escapement-wheel, a sprocket-wheel engaging said chain and having a square hole through its hub loosely engaging said shaft, an escapement engaging said escapement-wheel and operated by the printing mechanism, and means, substantially as described, for supporting the paper being printed on, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a type-writer carriage, the combination, with the carriage proper and means for moving it, of a platen within said carriage, means, substantially as described, for adjusting said platen vertically, and achase hinged at one side to the carriage and detachably connected at the other side thereto, said chase having strips above said platen, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a type-writer carriage, the combination, with the carriage proper and means for moving it, of a platen within said carriage, bell-crank levers pivoted to the carriage-frame below said platen and bifurcated at their lower ends, blocks pivoted in said bifurcated ends and having threaded openings, a shaft having opposite screw-threads engaging said openings and journaled in slots in the carriage-frame, and a wheel upon said shaft, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED F. MAIN.

Witnesses:

JOHN H. CRAIG, EMORY L. DIAL

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