US919241A - Art of making types and type-bars. - Google Patents

Description

I F. H. RICHARDS. ART OI MAKING TYPES AND TYPE BARS. APPLICATION FILED A'PB. 29, 1901. RENEWED MAR. 10, 1909.

91 9,241 Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

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F. H. RICHARDS. ART OF MAKING TYPES AND TYPE BARS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 29, 1901. RENEWED MAR. 10, 1909.

91 9,241 P ent d Apr. 20, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THE-NORRIS PETERS co.. wnsnmnnm, n. c.

F. H. RICHARDS. ART OF MAKING TYPES AND TYPE BARS. APPLICATION FILED APR. 29,4901. RENEWED MAR. 10, 1909.

919,241 Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

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THE mmms PETERS co., WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

FRANCIS 11.. RICHARDS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO AMERICAN TYPOGRAPHIC CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ART OF MAKING TYPES AND TYPE-BARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 20, 1909.

Application filed April 29, 1901, Serial No. 57,936. Renewed March 10, 1909. Serial No. 482,574.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Making Types and Type-Bars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of making types and typebars, and especially to a method of making from a solid blank or bar of metal a typebar adapted for use in the typographic art for printing a line of characters.

The present invention is in the nature of an improvement upon that shown, described and claimed in the application of Darien IV. Dodson, Serial No. 600,152, filed July 22, 1896, to which I have permission to refer. In the Dodson process the separate types are formed on the edge of a typebarblank by first removing excess material from the edge of a typebar-blank to set off a solid type-blank and then subjecting the face of this blank to the compressing action of a type-die to form a type. In this Dodson process the removal of the excess material is effected usually by slotting the edge of the typebar-blank at two separated points to set off between the slots a solid type-blank, and the die preferably operates upon the latter with a rolling movement in order to form the type. This rolling movement, however, in the Dodson process, is a simple one, it being a progressive cycloidal movement in a proper orbit.

Prior to the Dodson process many eiforts had been made to form by compression, in solid blanks or sheets, lines of composed types or typefaces, but in these experiments there was, so far as I am aware, no proper recognition of the fact that it is impracticable to form. in this manner and Without the employment of a subsidiary force or movement, clear-cut types suitable for the production of printed impressions. Moreover, when it is attempted to form consecutive types on the edge of a blank spaced according to the requirements obtaining in the art, the presence of those portions of the face of the stock between adjacent types not needed in the formation of the types, renders it ditlicult, if not impossible, to form in a blank by compression a series of types disposed sufficiently near to one another to meet the ordinary commercial requirements of typography.

In the Dodson process it has been demon strated that, by setting off successive portions of a suitable blank from the body of the stock, types may be formed by the compression of such set-off portions without 1n any way disturbing the position of any other portion of the main blankthat is to say, the surrounding uncompressed stock will not be affected by the compression of. a set-01f segment thereof to form in such segment a type or character; nor will the operation of any finished type be affected, either by a disturbance of the relative position of such type clue to compression caused by flowage of surplus stock from an adjacent type, or by the clogging of the face of such finished type through the overriding thereon of the dis placed metal. In this Dodson process the setting off of the type-blanks is usually accomplished by slotting the edge of the typebar-blank at two separated points, and the type-blank set off or isolated by the cutting of these notches is usually faced at one or both of its side edges before being impressed by a type-die. When the die is brought down upon the blank a considerable portion of the metal of the type-blank is forced out endwise of the typebar-blank andpartially fills the slots or notches adjacent to the typeblank, and hence these slots serve to accommodate the flowage from the type-blanks.

The present process, as before stated, is in the nature of an improvement upon the Dodson, and, broadly speaking, the same result is attained by bothviz., the formation of adjacent types in a solid blank by removing excess material not required for the making of said types; but the present process differs in many respects from that of. Dodson and is a distinct advance in the art, especially in point of simplicity of operation and when the quality of the product resulting therefrom is considered.

Two of the principal features which distinguish the practice of the present improvements from that of Dodson are these: I avoid the necessity of setting off the finished type-blank before a die is brought into action, and I subject each type-formable portion of the blank to repeated rolling operations, preferably of such a character that not only will the face of the type be perfectly finished, but the base portion will also be finished and strengthened to such an extent as to enable it to resist greater crushing forces and therefore last longer. In forming a type in stock that has not been entirely set off from the body of the blank I confine endwise of the typebar-blank a por tion of the edge thereof and compress the face of this confined portion while it is in contact with a type-die, the compressing action being exerted in such away as to force most of the surplus stock sidewise of the typebarblank instead of endwise thereof, as in the Dodson process, this surplus material so forced out being usually removed or severed from the bar after the completion of the types. The confinement of any particular portion of the blank and the compression of that portion may be effected at a single operation. Moreover, practically all of the surplus stock within any given character-field or type-field may be forced beyond the limits of such field in a direction transverse to the blank without disturbing the stock of any adjacent charac ter-field, the flowage being almost entirely in a direction crosswise of the typebarblank, and the metal so forced out being afterward severed from the typebar-blank if it projects beyond the planes of the sides of the latter, as is usually the case. The other feature which. I deem of special importance in this process is the gradual formation of a type by the repeated rolling of a transverse portion of the edge of the blank while in contact with a type-die, one of these two members being preferably reciprocated rapidly, in order that the type during the process of formation may be subjected to repeated rollings. In connection with this repeated rolling of the blank a feed movement may be imparted to one of the members to bring it more and more fully into engagement with the other, the result being that the type is gradually shaped to its finished form by a series of operations which coact to finish the type perfectly and also to strengthen the body of the type very materially during the shaping of the latter. hen a blank is rolled while in contact with a die it is not essential that either of these members be operated in such a way as to have a rolling movement, but merely hat the movement be such that the blank will be subjected to reduction by a rolling process. In the present case the blank is rolled that is, a rolled type is formedby oscillating one of such members about an axis and while the two members are in contact one with the other, and all of the various operations to which the material is subjected during the formation of the type results from two movements-win, a relative oscillatory movement and a feed movement of one member toward the other. These two movements may be varied as to their extent, duration, etc., and thus the operations to which the material is subjected may also be varied; but in every case where two movements are employed each type will be formed g adually and the type-formable material will be subjected to various operations that will condense the metal and result in the formation of a wrought-metal type. One of the most important features characterizing the present invention relates to the alteration in the position of this axis of oscillation occurring during the progress of the type-forming operation. In the manufacture of types and of typebars (lines of type), in carrying out the present method, this axis of oscillation is gradually shifted with the blank toward the die as the working advances, until as the die ceases its working such axis reaches a position in which itlies within the plane of the bottom ace of the die (corresponding to the common plane of the impression faces of the type) or immediately adjacent to such plane.

The principal operations to which the material will be subjected will be the rolling of the upper or face portion of the blank, the swaging of the face of the type, and the forging of the end walls thereof. The order in which these operations occur may of course vary, as may also the duration and extent of the same, and, of course, as any one of these factors is varied, the manner in which and the extent to which the material is operated upon and shaped will show a corresponding variation. In every case, however, I deem it desirable to shear out a type-block, by separating therefrom most of the excess which it is necessary to get rid of if the types are to be made in close succession to form a typebar. IVhen such material between the sides of the typebar-blank is rolled in this manner substantially all of the flowage is in a direction transverse to the blank, and there is practically no longitudinal flowa ge, especially when the rolled portion of the stock is substantially continuous with the remainder of the typebar-blank. The major portion of the surplus material is gotten rid of by rolling it away from a point where it will interfere with the formation of a type to a point where it will not so interfere, and preferably to a point or points beyond the sides of the bar, and the type itself is formed by shaping the material of the central typeblock sheared from the mass at any given point. The shearing of this type-block and. the formation of the type therefrom may be simultaneous or distinct and successive operations if desired. In the present case this surplus material and. the type-block or typehlank are operated upon substantially simultaneously, and during the time that the excess material is being rolled beyond the sides of the blank the type-block is also being shaped to bring it to its finished form. For

this reason I deem it advantageous to make use of a die so constructed as to be capable of operating upon both the type-block and the excess material at opposite sides of such block. When the blank and the die are in contact with each other, and one of them is oscillated and a feed movement is also im parted to one of them to advance it toward the other, the type-block will be sheared gradually from the mass and the surrounding material will be rolled off while the shearing operation is taking place. Moreover, the type-die will also operate upon the type-block to shape the same into a type before the completion of the shearing action, and also, of course, before all of the surrounding excess material has been rolled beyond the sides of the blank. As the rolling and feeding operations continue the base of the type-block is reduced at opposite sides of the bar and the metal condensed by a forging action and the upper portion of the typeblock is forced to fill the die, which serves to swage the face of the block and shape the face of the type. Thus not only may the die be completely filled and the face of the type perfectly formed, but the end walls of the latter will be so condensed by the forging operation as to form a base having the maxi mum amount of strength for supporting the head of the type and resisting any crushing force that may be exerted upon the latter when in use.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, a plan and a side elevation representing a typebar made by my improved process. Fig. 3 is a plan view upon a somewhat larger scale than the preceding figures of a portion of a partly finished typebar and illustrates the appearance of finished types on the edge of a typebarblank, this figure also showing in a conventional way a device for trimming the excess or surplus material forced beyond the sides of the bar or blank. Fig. 4 is a side elevation drawn to the same scale as Fig. 3 of a portion of a typebar-blank provided with a number of types, illustrating in section the operation of a die for forming a type. Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are vertical cross-sectional views drawn to the same scale as Fig. 4 of the blank shown in the latter figure as well as the die set forth therein, and illustrates various stages in the type-forming operation. Fig. 8 is an edge view of a die-wheel and shows a blank in elevation, and means for elevating the blank whereby the axis of oscillation is shifted during the making of a type. Fig. 9 is a sectional end elevation of the various parts shown in Fig. 8 and inclicates an oscillator-link for imparting an oscillatory motion to the blank-holder. Figs. 10 and 11 are end and side elevations of an organization of mechanism adapted for the carrying out of the present improvements. Fig. 12 is a sectional elevation of a die and a typebar-blank on a very much enlarged scale and illustrates diagrammatically certain movements and positions which will be hereinafter more fully explained. Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic View representing the shifting movement imparted to the axis of oscillation of the blank-holder during its oscillation from side to side, this figure being designed more particularly to indicate the relations existing between the oscillatory, the feed and the shifting movements of the blank and blank-holder during the formation of a type. Fig. 14 is a diagram illustrating the variable feed movement which I prefer to impart to one of the memhere when the die and the blank are in contact with each other.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The Dodson process of forming typebars from cold metal has beenhereinbefore described, and it has also been stated that the present process is an improvement upon it. Although said process results in the production of typebars suitable for the purposes of typography, yet it is desirable for many reasons to make types and typebars of the highest quality in the simplest manner that is, with the smallest possible number of toolsand the principal object of the present process is to attain these results and thus permit the manufacture, in the most economical manner, of typebars that will with stand the most rigid tests of commercial use. In order to obtain these results ithas been found advantageous, although of course it is not absolutely necessary, to form each type by means of a single tool or die coacting with a proper blank, and to so operate one or both of these members relatively to the other or to each other as to compact and condense most perfectly the material of the type proper before the completion of the same. The many experiments that were made to determine the best method of forming types and typebars from cold blanks demonstrated that it is desirable to condense the metal of the finished type as much as possible both at the face of the type and at the base thereof, and it is also found that the dies fill. more perfectly and the dies are of maximum strength when the material is subjected to repeated rollings and each type gradually formed by a series of operations, which might be either a sequence of movements of the same kind and extent, or a sequence of movements of different kinds or different. extents, or a sequence of move ments varying both in kind and extent.

Two principal movements are utilized ordinarily in practicing my improved process, one of them being usually a reciprocatory or oscillatory movement in a curvilinear path and the other a feed movement. This reciprocatory curvilinear movement may be one Of varying extent, as may also the feed movement, and in the preferred mode of practicing my invention the former will be varied only during certain stages of the operation, while the latter may vary progressively throughout substantially the whole period of operation. lVlien these two move ments are combined, not only will each type be formed gradually by repeated reductions and shapings of the type-formable material, but the amount of work accomplished during any given period of time by any particular movement may also vary, and thus the extent to which the type-block is shaped at a given moment may also be varied, and the point or' surface at which the action takes place may be progressively shifted in order to produce the desired results. The blank may be subjected to these repeated operations in any suitable manner, but while hand-operated tools may be employed for the purpose, suitable mechanism will ordinarily be used. Moreover, while different tools may be employed for operating upon each separate face of atypeblock or type blank, I have deemed it preferable to make use of a single tool or die, as when one of the two cooperating members is moved properly relatively to the other a single die is sutlicient to subject the type-blank to all of the various operations which it undergoes before becoming a finished type. Any proper die may be employed, and this may be mounted in any desired manner, thus one or more type-dies such as (Z may be mounted on a. carrier such as D in the form of a disk or wheel secured to a shaft 2. Some suitable device or combination of mechanism is employed for causing the selected die to locate itself at the type-forming point. I have shown for the purpose of illustration, as one instance of a mechanism of this character, the die-carrier to be adjustable by hand, the shaft of the carrier being journale'd in suitable bearings in an upright 2 ex tending from a base-plate 7. As a means for locking the die-carrier in its adjusted position there is provided a locking-pin l thrust toward the die-carrier by the tension of a spring i and adapted to engage with any one of a series of openings in the diecarrier, by which means the carrier may be locked in any position to which it may be turned by the manipulation of the adjusting-disk 6 This particular arrangement it will be understood is illustrative only of an operative device for bringing a die to the type-forming point and does not in any way limit the application of the present invention to the particular mechanism shown. The blank, which may be of any material suitable for the purpose, but will usually be of type-metal of proper composition, is

designated herein in a: general way by b andmay be supported by a carrier, such as B, which in this case is mounted on supporting studs at its ends defining its axis of oscillation. Any suitable means may be employed for imparting this feed movement to the blank, but I prefer to make use of a wedge,

such as w, coacting with an incline, such as 2',

general way by G, which is gibbed to the base-plate to have a longitudinal movement, for the purpose of bringing different portions of the edge of the blank in juxtaposition with the selected dies, and upon which carriage there is fulcrumed a lever 7 connected at one end with the wedge 10 and at the other end operative from a cam 8 secured to the cam-shaft 9 driven from a suitable source of power by a pulley attached to that shaft. It will, of course, be understood that in this arrangement the wedge must be actuatable in all positions which the carriage may assume, and to enable this resultto be attained the shaft 9 is connected with the carriage to move longitudinally therewith. Thus, for instance, and as shown, the shaft is provided with a grooved collar 9 with which engages an arm 10 extending from the carriage. The opposite wall of the groove in cam 8 serves to move the camroller 12 on the lever 7 in the reverse direction. It will, of course, be evident that either the blank- *arrier or the die-carrier might be oscillated, and also that either of these members might be fed toward the other in order to permit the gradual formation of a type.

A special advantage of employing a die of the construction shown in the drawings is that it permits the confinement of a given portion of the typebar-blank endwise thereof by a body which operates as a single mechanical part, and indeed is actually constructed in one piece, although it has many functions that might be carried out by a large number of tools each having a single function. The principal feature of con struction that distinguishes the die employed herein from other type-dies is the employment in connection with the die proper of a wall or blade at one or both sides of the die for the purpose of compressing and displacing a narrow strip of the stock at one or both sides of the point where atype is to be made, and thereby confining endwise of the blank the portion of the stock to be operated upon at any given time for the formation of a type.

The type-dies shown herein have two learly order that the type may be roughed out blades each, one of them being designated by 5 and the other by 5', and as these blades are somewhat thin the notches made by them in the edge of the typebanblank will be somewhat narrow, as will the strips of material forced out thereby. These blades form a means for confining between them endwise of the bar the material within any given type-field, but as there are no corresponding end walls on the die to check the fiowage during compression the material will, of course, be free to flow out crosswise of the bar. Each of the blades 5 and 5 projects, usually throughout its whole length,

beyond the outer wall or surface 6 of its die, and hence throughout the whole period during which a type is being formed these blades serve to confine between them the mass of material that is being shaped. The bottom surface 6 of the die serves to roll out sidewise the major portion of the material not required for the making of a type. The end walls of the die-space, which are indicated herein by 6, intersect the bottom surface 6 in the usual way, and the edge 6 formed by this intersection serves to shear or cut away from the mass of the blank a type-block or type-blank containing sutlicient material to fill the die-space and form a finished type; and that part of the edge of the typebar-blank which is operated upon, but is not compressed by the blades 5 and 5, and is not contained within the die-space, is obviously compressed by the bottom surface 6 of the die and is rolled off sidewise of the typebar-blank, but is always confined endwise of the bar by the die-blades just mentioned. Hence none of this surplus material is operated upon in such a manner as to force it into the field of an adjacent type, but instead all of the excess, whether it is forced out by the edges of the blades or by the bottom surface 6 of the die, fiows sidewise of the blank and may afterward be severed from the bar to bring the sides of the latter into parallelism with each other. According to the mode of op oration herein illustrated the surplus material that is to be gotten rid of is rolled off during the oscillating movement of the blank itself while the die is located at the working point. The major portion of the work of forming a type is effected during the time that the blank is oscillated, and, if desired, the whole type-forming period may be coextensive with that in which the blank is oscillated.

The manner in which, and the extent to which, the type-formable material confined between the die-blades is operated upon are dependent upon the oscillation of the blank and also upon the feed movementthereof. Usually a somewhat rapid feed movement will be imparted to the blank during the stages of the oscillation thereof in rapidly and afterward finished somewhat more slowly as the work approaches completion. So long as the blank is operated upon in this manner no arbitrary relation between the oscillatory movement of the blank and its feed movement need be maintained, but, for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the blank may be operated to produce good results, I have illustrated in Fig. 14 the extent of the feed movement that may be imparted during any given period of oscillation. Here the baseline of the chart is divided into thirty-two equal parts, the divisions being indicated at 12 by heavy lines, and the intermediate light lines 18 divide each of these spaces again into two equal parts. The heavy division lines 12 are intended to indicate that during one complete type-making operation the blank may have imparted to it thirty-two semi-oscillations, or sixteen complete oscillations; that is to say, the blank may oscillate thirty-two times from a normal central position, indicated by the dotted line 14 in Fig. 12, through an angle of about six de grees to the line 16 in said figure and back again to line 14-the equivalent of this, of course, being the movement from'the line 14 through a similar angle to the line 15 and back again to its central position l4 or the blank may oscillate sixteen times from the central position 14 to 16 to 15 and back again to its central position 14or the blank may oscillate sixteen times from the central position 14 to 16 to 15 and back again to its central position 14the equivalent of this, of course, being a movement from 14 to 15 to 16 and back to 14. Thus those divisions on the chart in Fig. 14 which are indicated by heavy lines 12 correspond to the central position of the blank, as shown by the dotted line 14 in Fig. 12,while the divisions indicated by the light lines 13 correspond to the extreme right and lefthand positions of the blank, which'are indicated in Fig. 12 by lines 16 and 15, respectively. Horeover, the odd divisions 13 of this scale indicate the extreme right-hand position of the blank, as represented by the line 16 in Fig. 12, while the even divisions 13 indicate the extreme left-hand position of said blank, as illustrated by the line 15 in said figure. The curved line 18-is the feed-movement curve, and is onethat has been found in practice to be suitable for the purpose. This curve, it will be seen, rises rapidly during the first part of the typeforming operation and more gradually during the later stages thereof.- The last line in Fig. 14, indicated by 38, represents the total feed movement which the blank has during the type-making operation; and the amount of feed movement which the blank has during any single semi-oscillation thereof will, of course, be represented by the diderence in vertical heightbetween the adjacent lines 13 marking the beginning and end of such semi-oscillation. Thus, during the first quarter-oscillation of the blank that is, from the line l-l to the line 16 as seen in Fig. l2-the blank rises a distance measured by the first line in Fig. 10, while during the next semi-oscillation-that is, from the line 16 to the line l5the blank rises a distance equal to the difference between the first and the second lines in Fig. 1%. Of course, it should be understood that the chart shown in Fig. 14 is also drawn to the proper scale to correspond to Fig. 12.

One of the most important features of my improved process is the subjection of the stock to a series of operations by means of which a type may be formed without im pairing the strength of the type-formable material of the typebar-blank. It has been stated that these blanks will be a suitable composition of type-metal, and, moreover, they may be in the form of separate typebar-blanks or a continuous strip or ribbon of metal from which the typebars may be severed after aeing completed. In every case, however, wrought-metal blanks, fm'med ordinarily by the usual rolling operations, should be employed, as l have found in practice that castanetal blanks are undesirable for the purpose and are not so well adapted to be wrought into shape by such operations as are employed in the process. The principal reason for this is that cast ietal when rolled and forged in this man ner tends to crush and crumble beneath the die in tead of compressing and flowing properly, and hence the cast-metal will not till the dies so well as the wrought metal, nor form the smooth faces and sharp edges that the latter will.

The best results that I have been able to obtain in the manufacture of typebars from cold metal have been secured by subjecting wrought metal blanks to such operations as will tend to preserve, instead of impair, the strength of the material. The operations by which this result is obtained are those by which wrought metal is usually formed or to which wrought metal is ordinarily subjected--that is, rolling, swaging, etc.-and by means of these operations types are wrought into form on the edge of a typebar-blank according to my improved process. I

hile, in the preferred mode of practicing my invention, a single die may be emi ployed for performing all of the operations to which the cold-metal blank is to be subjected, yet it should be understood that the several operations to which it is necessary to subject a solid blank in order to form a Wrought-metal type may be carried out in forging,

any suitable manner so long as the desired result is obtained. Here, however, the swaging of the face of the type will be performed by the face or inner wall of the die; the rolling will be accomplished chiefly by the base or outer wall of the die and by the edges of the die-blades; and the forging of the typebody will be effected principally by means of the end walls of the die, which will usually be considerably inclined in order that -the type may be shaped properly and sufficient room left between such walls and the corresponding sides of the type to assure the filling of the die-space during the final stages of the type-making operation.

I have set forth in Figs. 10 and 11, more par ticularly, a combination of mechanism suitable for carrying out the present invention. The oscillating device therein shown for imparting an oscillatory movement to the blank-holder embodies a shaft 40 mounted in suitable bearings supported on the base-plate TV and driven from a suitable source of power-as, for instance, by a pulley-wheel l. Extending from this shaft 40 is a crankpin which engages with a rockarm e2 aflixed to a rock-shaft transversely to which there is disposed at guide-frame at, lengthwise of which and transverse to the rock-shaft is adapted to move a slide-block 45 which constitutes the oscillator for imparting the oscillatory motion to the work-holder. A link pivoted to the work-holder at one end and at the opposite end to the slidingblock serves as a means for imparting the motion of the latter to the work-holder. It is evident from this construction that when the axis of the pivotal connection of the sliding-block with this link coincides with the oscillatory axis of the rockshaft no motion will be imparted to the work-holder, even thou 'h the oscillator be in rapid motion. As the sliding-block is shifted, however, from this position outward from the guideframe an oscillating movement will be imparted to the work-holder increasing in ex tent of amplitude of oscillation with the continued outward radial movement of the sliding-block. Evidently this construction provides a means for varying the extent or degree of the oscillatory movement which the work-holder is designed to have, as well as permitting it to be suppressed at any time by a proper shifting of the sliding-block. in the present organization this shifting of the slide-block to and fro is accomplished by a cam l8, which, when its shaft is rotated by hand, for instance-operates through the connecting-link 4:9 provided with a cam or antifrictiona'oller e9 to slide the block in a desired direction dependent upon the configuration of the cam. If this configuration be made to correspond any desired character of oscillatory motion within limits may be imparted to the work-holder.

I The manner in' which a type "is shaped when it is subjected to the action of the die during the oscillating and feed movements of the blank is somewhat complex, but is clearly illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13, which illustrate the advance of the axis of oscillation'toward the die as the blank is fed into the latter and oscillated. In Fig. 13 which is drawn to a comparatively large scale to exaggerate the movements taking place thirty-four positions for the axis of oscillation are chosen corresponding to the described arbitrary uniform increments of feed set forth in Fig. l-l. The progressive positions of this axis are indicated by the points Z and it Will be noticed from an examination of the figure which indicates in a general way a preferred series of conditions prevailing during each single type-making operation that the advance of the axis takes place with great rapidity in the early stages as compared with such movement later on. It will further be observed that oscillation does not occur until the die has entered the blank some distance when it rises rapidly to its maximum, decreasing gradually thereafter and ceasing altogethersoinewhat before the feed terminates. This oscillation is indicated-in'both figures by the inclination of the lines Z to the horizontal while in Fig. 12the movement of the axis of oscillation is indicated by the various circles Z As the blank is swung toward the right and toward the left alternately, and is simultaneously fed toward and against the die the stock at the base of the type-blank 0r type-block t is forged first at the right-hand side, and then at theleft-hand side, the forging action being of course the greatest near the base of the type-block because this part of the typeblock is farthest from the axis ofoscillation. The forging action, however, extends up the entire length of the side being operated upon and results in a thorough compacting or condensing' of the particles of the blank. The forging action being greatest at the base of the type-block the latter will be strengthened most in the region of its base, but the strengthened base will also be connected with the face of the type by a thick layer of condensed metal thoroughly compacted by the forging operation. At the same time that this metal. 's compressed by the forging action of the end walls 6 of the die-space the central portion of the type-blank is forced upward into the die; the space created by the withdrawal of the side of the type-blank from the wall of the die-space forms an outlet through which air confined between the type-blank and the die may escape. As the operation continues and the blank is swung first to one side and then to the other the opposite ends of the type-block, especially near .the base thereof, are more and more condensed by the forging operation, and the upper portion or head of the type-block is forced'up' farther and farther until the metal completely fills the die-space. As the two movements-viz.,'the oscillation and the feed continue the cutting edges 6 of the die shears into themetal of the typebar-blank and gradually completes the cutting out of the type-block or type-blank from the mass of the metal. This typeblank it will be seen is not completely sheared from the typebar-blank until the actual completion of the making of the type. In other words, the shearing of the typeblank and the formation of a type from that type-blank are substantially coincident when my improved process is carried out in the manner just described. 'Each time that a feed movement and an oscillation occur an additional portion of the surplus material confined between the die blad'es 5 and 5 is forced out sidewiseof the blank both by the lower edges of these blades and by the bottom surface. After such portion of the surplus has been forced out manner the cutting edge 6 at the nextoperation shears farther into the body blank, and the metal at the pointat which such cutting edge previously operated is forced farther out toward or-beyond the side of the blank. The result is that when the type is completed those faces of the surplus material which are in contact with the outer surface 6 of the die and are rolled throughout present the appearance of plane faces cut by a series of parallel lines or serrations. Theselines correspond in contour to that of the cutting edge by which they are formed.

In order to fill the die completely and thus to form a perfectly finished type it is desired to reduce the angle of-oscillation of the blank during the latter portion of the type-forming operat'on and to finish the type by a simple feed movement after the oscillations have ceased. The manner in which the material is shaped when the blank is operated in this way,'is clearly shown in my application Serial No. 740,512, filed Dec. 16, 1899, to which reference may be made. During the final stages of the operation when the oscillation ceases the die will operate principally as a means for swaging the face of thetype to its finished form. Of course when the die and the blank are separated they should 'be drawn from one another insuch 'a' manner as not to mar the finished type.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that during the early stages of the typemaking operation one of the two members which cooperate to form the type will be reciprocated in a curvilinear path of fixed length, which will vary and gradually decrease until it disappears entirely just before the operation is concluded, the arc in which the blank oscillates in this case desidewise in this of the creasing from one of about 6 degrees at each side of a central position until the oscilla- I tion ceases. Thus not only may the feed movement of one of these members be varied while the type is being formed, but the oscillation of the swinging member may also be varied during the period of the variable feed movement and may cease entirely before the latter.

The location of the axis of oscillation may vary somewhat in practice, but in every case I deem it desirable that it pass either through or below the face of a finished type. It is so shown in the present case, and as there illustrated, is disposed longitudinally of the typebar-blank.

After any one type has been formed on I may be shaped the typebar-blank another in substantially the same way, but in every case the blade or fin 5 should be so located as to lie close to the side of the next adjacent, finished type, in order when finished may be suliiciently close to one another.

The fins f and f, which are rolled off from the sides of the bar by the bottom sur face of the die and by the edges of the blades 5 and 5, respectively, chiefly by the surfaces 6 and 5,) may be removed at any proper time and in any suitable manner, a pair of cutting tools, such as a, being shown herein for the purpose, these preferably operating after a series of types has been formed.

It should, of course, be understood that the spaces between groups of letters or words may be formed in any suitable way, but preferably by means of blank dies (not shown) which will roll the metal off in substantially the manner just described, but will leave the faces of the blank spaces or space types considerably below the faces of the others, illustrated in F 2. These blank spaces may be of any suitable width and, of course, the letters themselves may be of varying widths, but in all cases it is desirable to form between the words spaces of such width as to make typebars of uniform lengths, whether the blank spaces be of the width or of varying widths, thus assuring the formation of type-bars having the types thereon properly composed and spaced.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. That improvement in the art of makthat the types l I l I I I I I I I l I l I I I I I I I I I i I 1 ing typebars which consists in confining eudwise of a blank a portion of the edge thereof, 1n imparting to one of the typeforming members an oscillatory movement in one plane while the die is in contact with the confined portion of the blank and in shifting the axis of oscillation toward the working point during the progress of typeforming.

2. That improvement in the art of making type bars which consists in maintaining one of the type forming members stationary and in imparting to the other of them oscillatory movement and in shifting the axis of oscillation toward the stationary member during the progress of type forming.

That improvement in the art of making typebars which consists in imparting to one of the type-forming members a trans verse oscillatory movement and in shifting the axis of oscillation toward the die during the progress of type-forming.

fl. That improvement in the art of making typebars which consists in imparting to one of the type-forming members a varying oscillatory movement, in retardingly shifting the axis of oscillation toward the working point during the progress of type-forming, and in simultaneously feeding one of said members toward the other with a varying speed. 5. That improvement in the art of mak ing a line of type, which consists in successively applying selective type dies individually to successive portions of a blank, in oscillating the blank during each such application to form a type, and in retardingly shifting the axis of oscillation during each type-forming operation toward the working die.

6. That improvement in the art of making typebars which consists in imparting to one of the type-forming members an oscillatory movement of gradually diminishing range of oscillations, in shifting the axis of oscillation toward the working point with gradually diminishing speed, and in feeding one of said members toward the other with gradually diminishing speed.

FRANCIS H. RICHARD S.

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