US929030A - Ribbon mechanism for type-writers. - Google Patents

Description

v F. snows. RIBBON MECHANISM FOR. TYPE WRITERS.

APPLiOATION FILED MAY 31, 1904.

, Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. I; Jami??? I P. snows. RIBBON MECHANISM FOR TYPE WRITERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 31, 1904.

- Patented July 27, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I Toiall whom may concern:

'FBEDE RI CK sHoLEs, OF cnrcAeo, ILLINOIS.

nrnnoinincmmsm FOR Tyre-WR TERS;

no ezaoeo.

- Specification of L area Patent. 'raeentedrui 'a'r, 1909'.

Application merixa er 1904. Serial No. 210,35.

Beit known that I, FnEDnRrcK SHOLES, "a

citizen of the United States of America, and. resident of Ohica'o, county of Cook, and

State of Illinois, av'e' invented a new and juseful Improvementin Ribbon Mechanism for Ty'pe-lvriters, of which the following. is v My, invention relates to improvements in ribbon mechanismfor typewriters, and con sists: First, in means whereby when the up per case type upon the type bars are used,

the ribbon is shifted bythe depression of the printing key fromits. normal 'osition-into position for engagement by sue upper case p type, and; second, in means for suitably controlling and guiding the ribbon at or near the Printin are point. These improvements artie arly adapted to the so-called -visf le writingmachines, since in such machines a narrow ribbon is employed, norinally resting to'one sideof the line of printing 'to avoid concealing the same and is 'caused toshift at the moment of printing to theproperposition to be struekjby the type, and again-to return to one side of the printing-point when the key is released. For- .suchflupper-caseprintinga shift key is eniployed for shifting or raising the. printing roller or platen to accommodate the upper caseetype, and it hasbeen common hereto fore to.- shift or raise the ribbon holding or fguiding. devices simultaneously with the platen t'operrnit making the proper impression fromthe upper case type. In my in:

1;; ventiom'however, 'Iprovide means whereby whenever it is desired'to employ-the upper,

'fl-ease type, the ribbon is caused-to shift or: raise for each depression of a printing key, from; its normal position to a sufficient dis-- tance or height to accommodatesuchupper case type; This method of operating the ribbon dispenses withthe mechanism necessa t'o' simultaneously shift the platen and riligonyfor upper case work, and otherwise simplifies and cheapens the cost of the ma 1 chines. such shifting of the ribbon for has been experienced withtherib on catch each character printed, whether of theloweror upper", case, renders the writing entirely visible atall times. Intheclass of ticularly of'the nt striking y e, trouble mgupon'the pointer in bein raised and lowcons'iderable trou le and expense have been"goliief to by various manufac aehjnes mentioned, '.par-' turers to avoidthe same, in some instances 11pOI1 '83,Cl1. side of theprinting point, but with the disadvantage that a portion of the writing is'thus concealed. In my improve.

ments I avoid the difficulty by providingv a the pointers being constructed with prongs ribbon guide in connection with the pointer,

which at all times prevents the trouble rne1ntioned and at the same time permits the use of a pointer that does not conceal ed matter.

the print- I My invention will be best understood by -r efer ence to the accompanying drawings, forming a part .of this specification," which show one. embodiment. of the invention which has been worked out for commercialpurposes, thesarne reference characters beingused throughout the several views of the drawings to designate. like parts, and in which:

lifting or shifting mechanism; Fig. 2 is a de: tail viewof the other side of the lifting cams; Fig. 3 is a side view of same parts as in Fig. 1,

showing their movement for ,upper caseprinting; Fig. i is a view of .the platen or roller shifting mech-anism; Fig. 5. is a front view of the ribbon and pointer; Fig. 6 is a bottom view of the machine. Fig. 7 is a front sectional view'of the same, on the line Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ribbon.

7-7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is another detail view;

- In these drawings, 2 designates the platenor printing roller mounted upon the carriageof the machine in the usual or desired manner, and 3 the type bars carry- .and Fig. 9 is a side View of the pointer and ing at their, outer ends the lower case type and the upper casetype 5. 'The type bars 3 are mounted upon the frame of the machine in any desired or usual manner and are 0p'- I erated fromthe keylevers 6 in any preferred way, as by the links 7; The key levers 6., or-

keys, as they are often termed, are provided at their outer ends with the ordinary buttons or tips 8, an'd'marked withcharacters corre sponding to the type carried by-thecoeperating type bar 3'. At their ends such levels 6 are pivotedto theframe-of the ma-.

chine. The-machine sofa'r described andto which my invention is shown applied, isv of the type known to. thetrade and a P011; t e mar et as the Visible Shol es. snagwhich: is manufactured under 464,902 and 464,903,"dated --Deeem ei 1891, granted to o. Lathe-m -machines of other types and in which the arran ement is eitherhorizontal or vertical.

- he ribbon 'is carried upon the usual spools at each side of the mac ungeandi's sup- 1 .ported andguided upon each side of the 14-, whereby the said arms 12'and constitute a U -shaped that whenever shaft 17 and cam word Shift? "printing point which are carried at the uppler ends. of. the.

rods 11, suitably guided in t efrarne of the machine.

hich in turn are loosely mounted upon the I shaft or rod 13-, their rear ends being rigidly connected together by the integral member er anrhthe arms 12 move in unison. One .nc arms 12 is provided with a roller '15 immediately beneath the same is located arr upright cam 16 fixedly securedto the shaft-17, that is ro tatabl mounted in the fram'eof the machine.

Thiss aft is provided with wire members 18 which extend forwardly and upwardly with theirhorizontal portions resting beneath the key levers 6, as shown in Figs. 1-, .6; and 7, so a 'key lever is depressed said 16 are rocked. This cam is, so shaped at its up rocked forwardly its inc med upper end en-' gages the roller 15 and liftsthe arms 12, which in turn lift the rods 11 and guides-'10, and ,by thismeans the ribbon 9, all as shown in dotted lines in Fig.1,this occurring when ever a key. is depressed to rint a character, so that at that time the ri the same to expose the matter written.

For printing capitals or othe'rnrpper' case characters, the cylmder or platen 2 1s raised or shifted by the depression of the shift key 20 in the usual or esired manner, the specific mechanism for accomplishin this being omitted, except in Fig. 4, for t e sake ofclearness. This'shift key, like the others, is

preferably pivoted at its rear end to the-frameand at its forward end bears a or button suitably marked, as by the link key 20*, 'anda lever 20 (Fig; 4) between the'shift key 20 and the of the machine key support of-theplaten 2, serve tobodilylift the latter when the key is depressed This shift key is provided with a depending lug or stri 21 rigidly secured thereto, the lower hoo ed end of which enga' es in h lever 23, which 1s pivoted at 24 to the brace or bar 25, the inner end 26 of a which is turhedinwardly to the shaft 17 for lever engages within support, while as shown, the outer end may be'suitably b'ent up and formed to receive the'ends ofshafts .17 and 13 and is secured the screws 27 beneath the side bar of the i The inner end 28 of this a slot. 29 in the lower machine frame.

*camplate 30- bythe guides'or loops 10;

The lower ends of said rods are pivoted to the forward ends of the arms 12,

. member 1.4:-

of the keys for 11 per case The lower end receive the shaft or end that when.

.have considerable bon will beover; the printing line but-at other timesisbelow right hand side,

the similarly end 22 (see end of. a second cam plate 30 secured. to the side'of the cam 16 by means Of the rivets or in the screws 31' passing th ough the \slot 32 earn plate 39, this fastening means being sufifiiently loose to permit the said'cam 30 to be raised by the end 28 of the lever 23. This therefore vibrates v or rocks 3 v the shaft 17 and is so 'formedntits upper end as normo-lly'not to lift the roller 15 of the ribbon lifting mesh with cam 16' .and

anism, but when 'the'shift key 20 isdepressed f the said cam is ed' to such an extent that when .a printing'kiy 6 is depressed and the upper end of said c'am'is rocked forwardly, it engages the roller 15, and the arms '12, rods 11 and ribbon 9 are raised-to a'sufiiciently greaterheight so that the latter is the ribbon-is lifted a'certain amount for each depression of the key when printing lower case, and by Fig. 2 it will be seen that it isthe? engsgedby the uppercase type 5.

Thus. as indicated in dotted lines 111 Fig. 1,

lifted a greater amount/for each depression work;

of the cam 30 is notched to 17, the upper-"edge; of the said notch serving, desired, as a stop against the shaft 17 to limit the downward movement of the cam. =The slot 29 permits the rocking of the cam Without interference from the end 28 of levere23. 'The full and dottedlines in Figs. 1, 2,3 and 7 indicate respectively, the lower and uppercase positions of the parts The hooks 21*and 22 4 lost: motion, as shown,

since only a slight action of the. cam-30 is necessary. By this arr'angementthe ribbon. is not shifted simultaneously with the'pla'ten,

but is raised from-the same normal position,

whether lower case or uppercase type is printed, whereby .struction of the parts "are much simplified the arrangement and and the writing for both lower and upper case printing is alw. ys entirely visible.

In Figs. 5 and 9 I show means for suitably guiding the ribbon in this raising and lower ing, the pointer .35 being secured to theframe of the machine 111 the usual or desired manner, and having only one prong 36, upon the thus not covering the last letter written and being provided with a light wire 37, secured at itsupper "end to the upper'end of the prong or projection 36- and bent as shown Fig. 9, to extend downwardly and stand out away from the pointer.

The force of the typestriking the outer side of the ribbon is suflicient to carry the same against the roller, while when released the wire 37 prevents the-ribbon catching upon the point 35'. This wire may be resilient and maybe variously adjusted to secure the results sought. I i

While I have thus described my invention with specific reference to the details of construction shown in the drawings, I do not wish to be so limited in all respects, as it is obviousthat various changes and modifications may be made therein and still come Within""t'he scopeand principle of the invention. But1 j w v Ha'ving'th us described one practical method of carrying-the invention into eifect, What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a typewriter, the combination with type bars having upper and lower case type, of printing keys for: operating such bars, a platen, a key to shift said platen into position for uppercase printing, a ribbon normally at one side of the printing *oint whereby the writing is rendered visib e, a cam operated by the printing keys to shift said ribbon from normal position into printing position whenever a key is depressed, a second cam controlled by theshift key, whereby when the shift key is depressed the second cam, is

, brought into position, so that the depression of any printing key shifts the ribbon from normal position to osition for upper. case printing, substantial y as described.

2. In a typewriter, the combination with a \platen, of a stationary pointer to indicate the printing point, a ribbon normally at one side of the printing position adapted to be raised into printing position for each depression of a printing key, and a guide associated with said pointer, to prevent the ribbon catching thereon when being lowered, substantially as "described- 3. Ina typewriter, the combination with a platen, of apointer to indicate the printing point and having a projection extending l above said point and to one side of, the same,

a ribbon normally beneath the printing point but adapted .to be raised-intoprinting posi-:

' tion for each depression of aprinting key, andas described.- j 4. In a typewriter, the combination with a guide secured to said projection to normally hold the ribbon out away from the said pointer whereby the ribbon doesnot catch upon the pointer in lowering, substantially front striking type bars having upperand lower case type, of a platen, a key to shift the platen into position for uppercase type, a osition, cam' ribbon below the printing mechanism including a cam avmg an inclined working face, to shift the ribbon at each 0 eration of a key, and mechanism con.-

trolle by theshift key for adjusting thecam Witnesses:

mechanism whereby when such key is depressed and a rinting key is operated the said ribbon is s ifted from the normal posi- I tion to the described.

5'. In a typewriter, the combination with front striking type bars having upper and printing position, substantially as lower case type, of a platen, a key to shift the laten into osition for u er case t e, a i ock shafh' a ribbon 'nofihally belo vi the printing positions, cam mechanism including a cam mounted on-the rock shaft, to'shift the ribbon at each operation of a key, and means controlled by the shift key for adjus'tingth'e cam'mechanism, whereby when said shift key is depressed and a printing key is operated actuated by said cam mechanism for-shifting the ribbon to printing position, a key to shift the platen into position for upper case type, and means controlled by said shift key for adjusting said cam mechanism.-

7. In a ty ewriter, having frontstriking type barswit u per and'lower case-type, the

combination wit printing keys for-operatingsuch bars, of a platen, cam mechanism controlled by the printing keys, an inking ribbon held no rmally below printing position, means loosely carried on said cam mechanism for shifting the ribbon to printing position, a key to shift the platen into position for up er case type, and means controlled by said s ift 'keyfl'for adjusting said cam mechanism.

8-. In a typewriter or the like, in comblnation a cam rigidly mounted on a shaft, a second cam slidably mounted on said first-mentioned c'am, and, means .for' actuating said second cam independently of'the otherfto causerelative longitudinal movement of the cams.

Signed by meatObicago', county of Cook,-

State of Illinois, int'he presenceof two wit nesses,"

- FREDERICK SHOLES Q I A GUsr KELLER,

ROBERT Lnwls jAMES.

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