US678579A - Tabulating attachment for type-writers. - Google Patents

Description

No. 678,579. Patent ed July l6, mm. W. J. MAUK.

TABULATING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE WRITERS.

(Application filed June 27, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets8heet I.

N 678,579. Patented luly l6, son.

w. .1. MAUK. TABULATING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE WRITERS.

(Applicatibn filed June 27, 1899*.)

2 Shuts-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT Trina.

YVILLIAM J. MAUK, OF TROY, ALABAMA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE OLIVER TYPEIVRITER COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,

ILLINOIS.

TABULATING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE-WRITERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 678,579, dated July 16, 1901.

Application filed \Tune 27, 1899- Serial No. 722055. (No model.)

To (ZZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. MAUK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Troy, in the county of Pike and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tabulating Attachments for Type-VVriters; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

. My invention relates to a tabulating apparatus arranged to be applied to a type-writing machine for expediting the printing in columnar form of a series of numbers of varying value.

One object of my invention is to so construct and arrange the parts that the apparatus can be readily applied to the most prominent of the existing writing-machines without materiallyaltering or reconstructing them in any part.

Another object of my invention is to enable the operator to quickly and easily set the apparatus to stop ata number or numbers (indicated by the scale of the writing-machine) desired, which setting of the apparatus having been accomplished no further attention on the part of the operator is necessary.

A further object of my invention is to automatically apply a brake mechanism at each operation of the device in such manner that the movement of the carriage from one point of the scale to another, however great the space over which it has to pass, will be per formed quietly and without shock or jar or danger of breakage.

Other special objects of invention will be described in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a plan view, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation, of my tabulating device applied to a type-writing machine which, as shown, is a Yost writing-machine. Fig. 3 is an under side View of my device, the base-plate being slightly modified. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan view of certain parts of my device arranged to more clearly illustrate the invention. Figs. 6 and 7 are views of opposite sides of a nu mber-indicating band used in connection with my invention. Fig. 8 is a perspective View of a stop-bar. Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 9 of Fig. 3.

On a base-plate l the various operative parts of my device are carried, said plate being adapted to be secured by any suitable means near the top of atype-writing machine 2 by a screw-clam p or other fastening mechanism.

Extending downwardly and forwardly from the front end of plate 1 is a bracket 4, its lower end and rear side being grooved -or slotted, as shown, at 5, within which slots elbow- levers 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, journaled on a common pivot 11, are arranged to rock. The elbow-lever 6 is forked. To the ends of said forkafinger-plate 12 is rigidly attached. (See Figs. 1, 3, and 5.) The outer ends of the elbow- levers 7, 8, 9, and 10 are flattened into or provided withfinger-keys 7, S, 9, and 10, as shown, which stand above the inner edge of the finger-plate 12.

Rigidly secured to the plate 1 near its center and projecting upwardly from its top surface is a pin 13, around which a wheel or disk 14 is made to rotate. The hub 15 of the Wheel or disk 14 is in this instance made hollow and contains a helical spring 16, by means of which the disk 14 is caused to turn in one direction in well-known manner. A pawl-andratchet device 17 of the form shown or some other means suitably applied is adapted to wind up the spring and retain it under proper tension. A groove 18 is made in the periphery of the disk 14,in which groove a cord, chain, or equivalent means 19 is seated, one end of said cord being secured to the disk, as at 20. After passing around the disk 14 the opposite end of the cord 19 is attached to the carriage 21 of the type-writing machine at the point 22. (See Fig. 1.) The arrangement is such that as the carriage 21 moves to the left in the operation of printing the cord 19 will be drawn with it, turning the disk 14 in distances between the subdivisions on thedisk on the pitch-line of the cord 19 running in" groove 18 being equal to the distances between the divisions of the said scale. Vertical slots 23 are formed on the inner and outer surface of the rim of the wheel or disk 14, preferably at each alternate subdivision, although they may be formed at each subdivision, if desired. A number of bars 24, each having an outwardly-turned end 25, are also provided with a depending lug 26 at each end, which lugs are adapted to enter the slots 23 in the disk 14 and hold the bar rigidly in position with its end projecting beyond the peripheral face of said disk 14.

To the rear of the base-plate 1, near the edge of the disk 14, is fastened a frame or slide-box 27, one of its sides being concaved and placed in close relation to the periphery of the disk 14, as shown inv Figs. 1, 4, and 5. Through the slide-box 27 and separated a distance equal to one division of the scale or disk 14 in a direction radial to the axis of the disk 14 are formed a number of passages 28, five being here shown, each passage containing a slide 29, the forward ends of which lie flush with the concaved face of the frame or slidebox 27. The outer end of each slide 29 extends beyond the frame 27 and is pivotally connected each to a rod journaled to the upturned end of one of the elbow- levers 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Each rod 6 7 8 9, and 10", above referred to,passes through a hole made in a rib 31, formed on or attached to the under side of the base-plate 1, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4. Around each rod is a spiral spring 32, one end of each spring bearing against the rib 31 and being held under compression by a pin 32*. Each rod 7 8 9 and 10 extends rearwardly beneath the base-plate 1 in a substantially horizontal direction from its connection with its respective elbow-lever to a point behind the frame or slide-box 27, where it is turned vertically upward and connected to one of the slides 29. 'The upturned end of the elbow-lever 6 is not connected in precisely the same manner with its slide 29 as are the other elbow-levers; but its rod 6 first passes beneath the base-plate for a short distance, then to the upper surface'of said base-plate 1 through an opening 33, formed therein, under the disk 14, Where it is connected to a lever 34, which lever extends crosswise of the baseplate and pivoted thereto at 35. The rod 6 passes from the lever 34 to the rear end of the base-plate 1, being connected to its slide 29 in the frame 27 by means of a vertical pin 6. The cross-lever 34 extends beyond its pivot 35 to a point outside the periphery of the disk 14, where it is attached to one end of a strap 36, which partly encircles the forward portion of said disk 14 below the groove 18. The other end of said strap is attached to a pin 37 on the base-plate 1. \Vhen the elbowlever 6 is rocked, the cross-lever 34 turning on its pivot draws the strap 36 against the disk 14, serving as a brake to control the carriage and prevent it from moving with too great force when released from its ratchet mechanism to be hereinafter described.

A bell-crank lever 38, pivoted to the rear end of the base-plate 1, has one of its arms connected to the pin 6. Its other arm,through the medium of a connecting-rod 39, rocks a short shaft 40 in a bearing 40*, fixed to the machine 2, said shaft carrying a finger 41, which operating on the ratchet mechanism 42 (by means of which the carriage of the typewriting machine is advanced step by step) disengages it and permits the carriage to move under the influence of its operating-spring.

The finger-plate 12', which is fixed to the forked end of the elboW-lever6, lies in asubstantially horizontal plane at the right of the keyboard of the type-writing machine in po sition to be easily and conveniently manipulated. Passing around the plate in an end wise direction is a band 43, having numerals and other characters printed or otherwise formed, as shown in Fig. 6,thereon and arranged in four rows to, m, y, and z, the numerals in rows y and .2 being in reverse position, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

A cover 44 is hinged to the finger-plate 43, having a perforation 45 in front of each of the finger- keys 7, 8, 9 and 10, through which perforations the numerals and characters in row to or a may be seen. A spring 46 at each end of the finger-plate 12 presses on the cover 44 to hold it in place on the band, with the perforations over the numerals. A perforation 47 nearer the front of and on the central line from front to rear of the finger-plate 12 is made in the cover 44, through which perforation a number in either row 00 or y can be seen.

The downward movement of the fingerplate 12 under the hand of an operator is limited by means of an adjusting-screw 48, tapped into the bracket 4, as shown in Fig. 9, which screw serves as a stop against which the upstanding end of elbow-lever 6 strikes when the finger-plate 12 is depressed. A cushion 49, of rubber or other suitable material, may be placed on the end of the screw, as illustrated in Fig. 9. By properly adj usting the screw 48 the brake band or strap 36, through its connections with the elbow-lever 6, is made to bear on the periphery of the disk 14 with sufficient pressure to ease the travel of the carriage 21 and prevent it from stopping with a shock or a violent blow. If the distance to be traveled by the carriage be short, the screw may be advanced far enough to be struck by the lever before the brake can be operated, permitting the carriage to move at full speed. The band 43 (illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7) is the preferred form. I may, however, use a separate band for the rows of numerals w a: and a separate band for the rows y ,e' by printing them on separate bands or dividing the band shown on theline CL 1).

The numbers on the band 43 in row to begin with 1, then follows 10, 100, a comma, 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, then a second comma followed by 1,000,000, and, lastly, 10,000,000. This is the tensrow and corresponds in position to the perforations 45. The row .2 on the opposite edge of the band also lie beneath the perforations when the band is reversed,which must be done when the row zjs to be used. The difference between the rows to and z is in the absence of commas in row z and the addition of the numbers 1000,000,000 and 1,000,000,000. When this row is used, the numerals will not be pointed off by commas, as is the usual practice, and which are provided for by in the row w, but be printed solid. The rows a; and y are the unit-rows and correspond when in place on the finger-plate 12 with the perforation 47. These numbers run from period or decimal-point to 1000,000 in row 00, with a comma between the number 100 and 1,000, while in row y, starting with the period, the numbers increase by ten as high as one million, no commas being used in this row.

The operation of my device is as follows: The base-plate 1 being secured to the frame ofthe type-writing machine in such position that the finger-plate 12 and finger-keys are in an accessible position at the right of the keyboard, the cord 19 is secured to the carriage 21 by being hooked into a hole or on a pin 22 thereon, and the spring 16 wound to the desired tension. The bearin g 10 is screwed in position so that the finger 41 will when operated engage one part of the ratchet mechanism of the writing-machine and disengage it from its coacting part. If it is desired to write on a sheet of paper two or more columns of numbers varying between 1 and 10,000 and properlypointed 01f bya comma, the band 43 is placed on the finger-plate 12 under the cover 14: and in such position that the tens numbers, 10, 100, comma, and 1,000, in row 20 are visible through the perforations 15. This will cause the unit-number 1 in row 00 to be seen through the perforation 47. Bars are then placed in notches or slots 23 of the disk 14 at numbers corresponding to the positions desired for the units-number in. each column to be written as measured by the scale on the writing-machineas, for instance, at 20, 4:8, and

Paper having been placed in the machine and the carriage moved to the extreme right, if the first number to be writtenis 9 the finger-plate 12 must be depressed. This will release the ratchet mechanism 22 in the manner heretofore described,causing the car riage 21 to move under the influence of its spring to the left, rotating the disk 14 by means of the cord 19 and winding up the spring 16. The movement of the carriage 21 will be uninterrupted until the bar 45, set for the number 20, strikes against the slide 29, which'had been thrust forward at the' time the finger-plate was depressed. If the numeral 9 on the keyboard of the writingmachine be now struck, the number 9 will be printed on the paper opposite the number 20 on the scale. Should the number to be printed in the second'column be 875, the fingenplate 12 and the finger-key 8 are bothdepressed, the former to disengage the ratchet mechanism, which returned to position on releasingthe finger-plate, and the latter to thrustforward its slide 29, which will stop the carriage two points in advance of the unit-number, which being 48 the carriage will stop at -16. The final number to be printed on the line, say, is 9,82%. The finger-plate 12 is depressed in connection t the finger-key 10. The unit-number being 60, the carriage will be stopped by the bar 45 in line with the notch by the slide operated by the finger-key 10, which will arrestithe carriage at the number 56, at which place the numeral 9 will be printed, followed in order bythe comma, (j) 8, 2, and 1, which will bring the latter number at the unitpoint 60.

The unit-number may be changed to any number on the scale in the unitsrow x, and if at such time a lesser number is to be printed-as, for instance, if the unit has been made 100 and it is desired to print 1- the finger-plateis operatedto move the car riage into position, and before printing the number the space-key of the type-writing machine is pressed twice, thus advancing the carriage two spaces before printing the number. 1

Each time the linger-plate 12 is depressed it operates the strap-brake, as heretofore described. The amount of pressure applied by the band or strap to the disk 14 regulates the speed of the carriage, which pressure is governed by the position of the adjustingscrew' 48 with relation to the elbow-lever 6.

When the disk leis made, as shown in the drawings, with the slots 23 at each alternate subdivision, when it is desired to stop the disk at a subdivision between slots a bar 24 is inserted in the notches on the subdivision following the one desired with the turned end 25 of said bar directed toward the selected sub-- division. (See Fig. 5.)

Having thus described my invention and set forth its merits, What I claim is- 1. In a tabulating mechanism for type-writing machines,the combination ofabase-plate, a series of operating-levers pivoted thereto, means for attaching the plate to a type-writing machine, a stop mechanismcarried by the plate, and adapted to contain a number of .TOO

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stops, a ratchet-trip-moved by one of the 0perating-levers and a brake mechanism adapted to retard the movement of the stop mechanism operated by the same lever, substantially as described.

2. Inatabulating mechanism for type-Writing machines, the combination with the carriage, of a rotatable member operatively connected with the carriage and having a stop adapted to be shifted into one of several positions to insure the carriage stopping at a predetermined point, ratchet-tripping mechanism for releasing the carriage, and a lever having a part adapted to be projected into the line of movement of the stop on said rotatable member, substantially as described.

3. In a tabulating mechanism for type-writing machines,the combination ofabase-plate, means for attaching the plate to the typewriting machine, a stop mechanism adapted to contain a number of stops, a brake mechanism, and a ratchet-tripping mechanism mounted on said plate, and a lever pivoted to the plate and adapted to operate the stop, the brake and the ratchet-tripping mechanisms, substantially as described.

4. In an attachment for type-writing machines, the combination of a base-plate, a rotatable disk mounted thereon, a spring for rotating the disk in one direction, a chain, a cord or other means for turning the disk in opposite direction, and a brake device for regulating the speed of the disk while being revolved by the chain or cord.

5. The combination of a base-plate, a rotatable disk mounted thereon and provided with a scale, a spring for rotating the disk in one direction, a chain, cord or other means for turning the disk in opposite direction, movable stop-bars adapted to be applied to the disk, means for projecting one or more slides into the path of the bars, and a brake device for regulating the speed of the disk While being rotated by the chain or cord.

6. The combination of a base-plate, a rotatable disk mounted thereon and having a scale, means for rotating the disk in one direction, movable stop-bars adapted to be applied to the disk to arrest its rotation, a brake device for retarding the rotation of the disk, spring or similar means for turning the disk in opposite direction, a series of slides adapted to be projected into the path of the bars, a series of finger-operating levers for projecting the slides, and a belt or band having indicating-numbers carried by one of the levers.

7. A base-plate carrying a rotatable stopdisk, adapted to contain a number of stops, a ratchet-disconnecting mechanism, a brake device, and a series of slides adapted to cooperate with the stops of thestop-disk, in combination with a series of levers, each lever being arranged to project one of the slides into cooperation with the stop-disk.

8. In a tabulating mechanism for type-writing machines, the combination with the carriage, of a rotatable member operatively conneoted with the carriage and having a stop, ratchet-disconnecting mechanism including a releasing-lever having a part adapted to be projected into the line of movement of the stop on said rotatable member, and independently-operating levers each operating to project a part into the line of movement of the stop member upon the release of the ratchetdisconnecting mechanism by its lever, substantially as described.

9. A base-plate carrying a rotatable stopdisk, a ratchet-disconnecting mechanism, a brake device and a series of slides, in combination with a series of levers each lever being connected with one slide for projecting it into cooperation with the stop-disk, one of said levers carrying a finger-plate containing indicating-numbers for itself and the other levers, said lever being also arranged to 0perate the ratchet-disconnecting mechanism and the brake device.

10. A lever for operating a recording or indicating mechanism having in combination with a finger-plate secured thereto, a belt or band adapted to be moved around the fingerplate, two or more rows of numbers on said band, a cover-plate hinged or otherwise secured to the finger-plate, and having perforations formed therethrough for exposing certain of the numbers on the band.

11. A lever having a finger-plate, a belt or band adapted to be moved around said fingerplate, two or more rows of numbers on said band, a cover-plate having a series of perforations through Which certain numbers in one of the rows of numbers on the band may be seen and another perforation through which one number only in one of the other rows is visible, in combination with a series of levers having finger-keys resting normally above the finger-plate and each key being in close relation to one of the perforations of the series of perforations.

12. In an attachment for type-Writing machines, the combination of' a base-plate, a rotatable disk mounted thereon, a spring for rotating the disk in one direction, a chain, cord or other means for turning the disk in opposite directions, a brake device for regulating the speed of the disk while being revolved by the chain or cord, a lever for operating the brake device, and means for limiting the movement of said lever to vary the pressure of the brake device.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. MAUK.

Witnesses:

WM. G. HENDERSON, GEO. W. REA.

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