US1193949A - tthlig - Google Patents

Description

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

llllll INVENTOR By Atzomeys, S una/IBM A 71 R. W. UHLIG.

TYPE WRITER.

APPLICATI'ON FILED MAY 21, 1913.

Patented Au 8,1916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

By Attorneys, 5W,

Patenfed Aug. 8, 1916.

INVENTOR 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- WITNESSES:

RICHARD W. UHLIG, OF ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO ATLAS TYPEWRITER GO.,"IN C., OF YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

To all whom it may concern: I

' Be. it known that .I, RICHARD W. UHLIG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Arlington, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Type-Writers,

of which the following is a specification.

" This invention relates to typewriting m achines of the'down-strike type-bar class, its

object being to produce a machine of such simplicity and cheapness of construction that it can be put on the market at an exceptionally low price, and yet have as far as possible the capabilities of the high priced standardmachines. The new machine has or may have the same key board as the most commonly used high priced typewriters; 1t

. has a light and owerful action, there is the minimum liability of interference of the type bars, and the types strike a sufiiciently sharp blow for the production of several lear manifold copies.

In the accompaying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the machine, being partly broken away in horizontal section; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section; Fig. 3 is a similar section showing one type bar in the act of striking; Fig. 4 is a sectional front view in planes to the rear of the keys, the key-levers cal mid-section through the slotted segment 7 showing the band 9' detached; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary front iew of part of the handy; Fig. 9 is a fragmentary plan partly 'in horizontal section showing the escapement; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary end elevation of part of the carriage; Fig. 11 shows part of Fig. 10 in a different position; Fig. 12 is a sectional side view showing a modification.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a frame, which may in general beof the customary design, so that it both supports and Specification of Letters Patent.

TYPE-WRITER.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

1 App lication filed May 21, 1913. serial-no. 769,001.

largely incloses the working parts; B B are the key levers carrying the usual. keys B, C C are the type bars, D is the platen or impression roller, and E is as ahwhole the carriage. I

Each of the key-levers B is pivoted on a fulcrum a, and its rear arm engages an up: right actuating part, best formed as a slide F so that as the key is depressed this slide is lifted. This engagement is best made by forming a lug on the piece F and turning it laterally so that it stands transverse to the direction of the rear arm of the key lever, the end of the latter projecting through a slot cut in this lug b, as shown in Fig. 7 so as to engage between shoulders formed by the ends of the slot. The slot confines the key-lever laterally and keeps it in correct engagement with the slide. The upper'part of the slide F is formed with teeth constituting, a rack c which engage with pinion teeth 0 on the type bar (3. The type bar carries preferably three types, the middle one of which normally strikes the impression roller or platen D, the latter being shifted as will be described in case it is desired to print either the outer or the inner type. The type bars are arranged in radial order, as shown in Fig. 1, their printing heads turned so that when thrown back to the printing point the type heads will each occupy the same position transversely of the platen, as is understood.

The key levers have their pivots a at vary-' ing distances from the printing point, these pivots being so disposed that each lever has the same ratio of front or key arm to rear arm, so that the keys have an equal dip. The pivots are formed by providing each lever with a transversely projecting pin, which pin enters into notches in asplit pivot post d projecting upwardly from a plate G which is fixed in-place in the frame A; the key le-' ver resting in the slit or kerf which is machined across the post. Each lever has its own individual spring '6 which may be variously constructed, being shown as a coiled spring guided on a rod, and reacting against a top plate 6' whichis are shaped and fastened to the main frame.

The type bars C are pivoted in aslotted segment f having an unslotted base fastened to the main frame. Its upper portion has radial slots in vertical planes, each 'slot re ceiving the rack portion a of the slide F and the pinion portion 0' and adjacent part of prevent the forward displacement of the parts and at the same time to conceal the slots as viewed from the front, a band 9 of I etal plate is carried around the curved iient face of the segment, being fastened the etc at its ends by screws. This band 9' thus guides the upper end of the slides F and keep their teeth in mesh with the pinion teeth 0'. The lower endsof the slides F F are suitably guided, being shown as moving freely through slots in a plate 11. which is fastened to the plate G. To enable the engagement of the band 9 with the slides a to be individually adjusted either in the origlnal assembling or to take up wear, the band is formed with a series of individual tongues or fingers 9 as shown in Figs. 8 and 8, which fingers can be bent more or less to enga e their-respective slides.

he letter-feed movement is in general of the ordinary kind, comprising a universal bar H overlying the rear arms of the key levers so as to be lifted u on the depression ofany key, and connecte 'at its ends to lever arms H fixed on a rock shaft H carrying a rear arm H, which is. connected by an adjustable link It to the escapement J. A

.spring k pulling upward on an arm k retracts the parts and keeps the universal bar pressed down upon the key levers. A special spacing lever I is provided, mounted like the other key levers and carrying a space bar I, which is shown as extending in front of the keys. The escapement J is shown in itstwo opposits positions in Figs. 2 and 3. It comprises a rack bar hung between pivots z i at its opposite ends, which pivots are carried by a supportingxpiece i. The rack bar car-. r1es a rack j rack y" mounted to slide longitudinally moving as usual a distance of one tooth, and recapement racks engage a carriage rack 74' which is fixedly attached to the carriage.

When no key is depressed, as in Fig. 2, the carriage rack engages the movable escapement rack j; when any key is depressed the link 7:. pulls down u on its connection with the escapement bar and tilts the latter to the position shown in Fig. 3, thereby first engagin the rack j with the carriage rack is, and t en releasing the rack 7" therefrom, whereupon this rack is retracted by its I spring. Upon the release of the key the escapement tilts back to its first position, the

rack jengaging the carriage rack teeth just edly attached to it, and av before the rack j is released therefrom; thereupon the light spring 7' yields and the carriage feeds forward one space.

For releasing the escapement to permit the carriage to be moved backward, a sliding release bar K is provided having one end upturned to form a handle K, and mounted to slide obliquely by the engagement of its slots Z Z with fastenin studs l, sliding thus against the tension 0 a spring 1 When retracted by this spring its rear edge is out of contact with the escapement,

to the position shown .in Fig. 9, whereby its;-

rack teeth are pressed back out of engagement with the teeth of the rack k, as shown in said figure. To permit this, the movable rack y" is constructedso as-to have a double movement, being adapted to move rectilinearly in the ordinary letter-space feeds,

and to turn around a pivot so as to swing backwardly in this release motion. Asimple construction is that [best shown-in Fig. 9,

where the rack j iasasl'pt n engagin a pin n'so that it may either move longitu inally upon the pin or may tilt around the pin. The spring 7' .is arranged to pull obliquely, so that it acts to restore the rack 7".in either movement. To accomplish this the rack is formed with-a rearward arm n to which the spring is attached and which makes the rack essentially an elbow lever as to its tilting movement.

The carriage E comprises a base E which slides between stationar bars p 1) attached to'the main frame, ba s being interposed in grooves as usual to make themotion nearly frictionless. The rack attached to the rear bar of the base E. The platen D is supported in bearings formed in a platen carrier comprising horizontal end pieces L L which are connected by longitudinal rods L formin a horizontal y sliding frame, the bars L serving as slidesmoving in slidefrom lower case to capitals is accomplished by pressing down 9 a capital shift key -M' mounted on a lever M; and the shift to printfigures or othero-f the outer types is accom- 13 I point under one of the outer types.

plished by pressing down a figure shift key N mounted on a lever f N. Pressing the former key moves the platen forward to bring the printing point under one of the inner types, this being the position shown in Fig. 3; pressing the latter key, moves the inner platen backward to bring the printing The shift mechanism will now be described. The shift levers M N are pivoted on a rod 9 and areprolonged rearwardlyby arms M N respectively which as shown m Fig. l are curved toward the middle of the machine and terminate beneaththe platen. On their rear ends these arms carry cam plates P and P respectively. These cam lates have oblique cam slots either of which is adapted to engage a longitudinal .bar Q which is hung beneath the carriage on levers Q at opposite ends of the carria e, the upper arms of these levers being orked'and engaging the platen spindle at the opposite ends of the platen. The leversQ and bar Q constitute a rigid frame having parallel motion so that in whatever position thecarriage may be the cam grooves of theplates P P when they engage the bar Q will impart to it, and through the-levers to... the

platen, an equal and parallel movement to,

front or rear. The shift movement is shown in Fig. 3, which shows only the capital shift key lever M and itsconnections, the figure 7 shift lever being omitted. Each plate P P has in addition to the oblique cam slot an upright face P, the two faces P when the parts are in normal position being approximately vertical, and guiding the bar Q between them, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to keep it in its central position and thereby hold the platen in its normal line of travel for printing lower case types. The shift levers M N are retracted by springs 9 shown in Figs. 1 and 3, these springs being preferably helical compression springs held on rods passing through them, and reacting upwardly against the under side of the frame.-

A shift key lock is provided shown best in Fig. 4; it consists of a lever B, its upperarm serving as a handle, and its'lower-arm.-having lock shoulders on opposite sides, sov that when turned to one side it engages and locks the lever M when depressed, and when turned to the other'side it engages and locks the lever N. To release either shift-key the lever B may be ushed back toward its mid dleposition; or y merely pressing down'on the depressed key its engagement: with the lock lever will be released and the'locklever will be restored to its central position by its spring 1', which is a leaf spring tending to press it from either side toward the middle;

To renderthe writing visible, the ribbon which is advanced over the printing-point beforethe impression of the type, is retractedduring the return swing of the typebar. The ribbon s is carried between spools. S S and v-throughja r'ibbonlguide, ,Shaving fingers forming slides through. which..the.ribbon passes, as shown.in.Fig.,1.. This guide i S. lies nearly horizontally, being pivoted ,at

its frontpart to anlelbow-lever. having its, short armv T. engaged by an arm. T attached to the, universal bar: .11. and projecting upwardly and: .rearwardly" therefrom' so .as 5 to overlie the. armTfl'." Theupper armof theleverT has 'a cross piece engagedb y a spring. 8'. In-thenormal position of. he parts the guideE-S is held in its forward or retracted position by the arm :as, shown in "Fig. .2, thus. exposing the. printing point (shown at m. inwFig. v 1) ,,VVlien a,.key. is struck, the rising of the universal .-ba r releases thelever T; andathe spring a. tilts the a lever T; and advances-, .the..guide;S, to. the positionshown'in Fig.3.

Inasmuch vas. the actual location of -t he printing point, ehanged by.v the operation of the shift keys, it. is necessary to effect an r: equal ShlftfOf the,ribbon'-guide,;.in; orderthat the ribbon. may.follow. the printing point. This is-accomplished by pivoting the lever T at .t to. a;:slide t. which moves'in-forward or backward direction ways-.25 (Fig-. 2.) a: and is so connectedto-theplaten carrierL as to participate in theshiftingimovements of theplaten. This connection is madewby fixing to. the slide t a --projecting fork which engages :a rod. w, which rod-forms .e part of the .platen-carrierL U, bei-ng'isupiported from the frlontrod L" by meansof rigid connecting pieces at its opposite .ends. Thus. as theplatenr' is shifted forwardlfyi or backwardly of its niormaLm-id positionit H carries-the slide t with it, and consequently equally shiftsthe-ful'crum' t, and hence-the lever T and-ribbon guide S's, thuscarryi-ng the ribbon to the: new; locationof-the print ing point. f -'r 1 L- The ribbon is" advanced in; usual manner byits spoolsbeing geared to' pinions-zen upright shafts *v. '0: Which at their lowerzends carry bevel gearsm oneror other of whichis driven by bevel pinions b en a longitudinal /shaft Uhaving-bearingswin the mainframe and proj ecti-ng at its opposite ends, so "that the operator maypress upon the projecting end and thereby throw the-shaft? toward the oppositeends, thereby throwingonepinion out of' gearyand the other into g'ear,- and re 12.0 versing the ribbon. The shaft has grooves U engagedby a spring U The shaft U carries a ratchet wheel 20' (Fig.-2) which is operated by'a "pawl ll/hung on a lever w having fork arms embracing betweenthern the universal bar H. T I f The carriage has the usual: paper holder V. The platen is turned to impart the-line feedby meansof theusual ratchet wheel D engaged by a pawl 3/ carried on a line feed lever D. The feed pawl works between stops one of which 1s adjustable to va the hne spacing. The forward stop is z Fig. 5) an the rear stop is 2, the latter lieing movable to zary the line spacing. The stop 2 is an arm turning on the platen shaft and having a slight movement toward or from a plate It. fixed to the platen carrier and huh pins' between which the sto z isheld. o shift the stop, it is presse to the right, this being resisted by a light spring z' (Fig. 1) whereby to withdraw a pm 2 which it carries from one of two holes in the plate E, and upon being displaced is dro ped into the other hole. The plate E an its holes is shown in Fig. 10, the stop a being shownin dotted lines. The ratchet clicks against a roller or pin carried by a lever arm W pressed toward the ratchet by. a spvrafig' to hold the laten after the line feed. en it is desire 'to turn the platen freely, this arm. W is pushed away by moving a cam lever W the lower arm of which has a cam face which engages the lever W main' frame.

and throws it away from the ratchet wheel, so that this roller clears the ratchet teeth.-

For causing the types to'register accurately at the printing point, the usual gage 14 isprovided, having as usual a tapered notch mto which the ty e bars enter. This gage is carried on a bri ge piece 15 fast ned y screws 16 to the opposite ends of the segment 7', whereby it is easily removable by unscrewing these screws. The bridge piece .15 also serves to hold down the ribbon guide S havingefor this purpose fingers 17 17, the latter ing elongated at 18 to serve also for holding down the paper. The paper is held around the platen by a guide roller 19 and fingers 20 as usual.

The type bars fall back against an arcsha d cushion 21, of felt or other noisedea ening material, which is held in a groove formed between flanges 22, -23 on the This invention admits of improvements m' the proportioning of the type bars whereby superior results are attained. The type bars instead of being of a length approximating 5 inches, are reduced to approximately 3 inches in length or less. The head carrym the three types may be of the same size an weight as heretofore; but the type bar extending thence to the pivot is not onl shorter, but is made of lighter material than heretofore, this being made possible because of its diminished length, which rmlts of the same stiffness being gained y the use of a thinner and narrower bar, so that the weight of the'type bars need not exceed one-quarter of those heretofore used.

Thus the inertia of the type bar is greatly dlmmished, particularly so as the weight of the type head is brought so much nearer the pivot that its eifective weight is correspondingly reduced. Hence 'even if other proportions were unchanged, the ty e head will be set in motion with less resistance. tofore the type bars have ordinarily moved through an arc of about a quarter circle or 90 degrees; but in this new machine they are given a movement approximating 180 degrees. A three-inch bar moving 180 degrees travels a proximately 9 inches, where'- Hereany mass accelerated by the application of' mechanical force.

In a down-strike machine, giving the bars a throw of 180 degrees, brin s the types face up, where they lie norma ly against the cushion 21, where they are readily accessible for inspectionor cleaning.

The type bars lie normally in vertical planes radiating from a point forward of the printing point and nearly. coinciding with the center of the gage 14. The type bars are thus most closely related at their pivotal ends, diverging thence to their heads. It results from this that there is such divergence of the type head paths that the types may clear each other when an approaching and receding type'bar pass at less than 90 degrees from the striking point.

The opportunity for high speed is thus afforded, since while one type bar is receding its successor may be advancing to print. Thus for more than one half of the stroke of the type bars they are non-interfering.

The machine is rendered very compact by reason of the short type bars and their bein so closely assembled. This is possible on y through the construction of the slotted segment f, which enables the type bars to be brought very closely together.

The various'features of improvement result in a typewriting machine of extremely simple, light, and compact construction, having all the essential capabilities of the standard high priced machines, and yet of such cheapened construction, that it can be roduccd at about 'one-quarter the cost. In ightness of touch, speed, and manifolding power, this machine excels the heretofore standard machines.

It is not strictly necessary to 'myinvention that the type bars have the full 180 degrees swing which is preferable. Fig. 12

degrees. This arrangement will somewhat increase the speed, but will slightly diminish the manifoldlng power. Otherwise it has the same advantages already explained.

The carriage is provided with a marginal space bar pivoted to it at points 26 at opposite ends, its main portlon bemg extended parallel with the platen andhaving a series of holes 27 into which may beinserted a pin 28 the end of which projects beneath the bar and serves to stop it agamst a fixed stop 29 attached to the main frame of the machine. The pin 28 is preferably screwthreaded and screws into the holes to hold itsecurely. The pin is set in one or other of the holes according to the width of margin desired. When it is desired to writev a full line the frame 25 is lifted to carry the pin 28 over the stop 29. For so lifting the frame a handle 30 is provided projecting upwardly from it and serving as a lifting lever. In printing such full line the pin- 28 should clear the stop 29 without stopping the feed, and for this purpose the stop 29 carry the latter, beyond the is beveled so that it allows the pin to ride .j'bver it in moving in-the active direction. The handle 30 projects up adjacent to the line space handle D so that the operator may conveniently operate both simultaneously by pinching them between the thumb and finger of the right hand, whenever he desires in making the return line feedvand return stroke of the carriage to position for which the margin stop is set.

The invention may be modified in many respects as will be apparent. Its novel features are those set forth in'the claims.

Those features of the typewriting machine herein set forth which relate to the case shift and the corresponding ribbon shift, are not herein claimed, being claimed in my divisional application No. 857,465 filed August 19, 1914.

That feature of thetypewriting machine herein set forth which relates to the margin stop, is not claimed herein, being the subject matter of divisional application No. 858,013 filed August 22, 1914.

I claim as my invention 1. In a typewriter, a down-strike typebar moving through approximately a half circle, having pinion teeth, an upright slide having rack-teeth at its upper end engaging said pinion teeth, and a key-lever connected to the lower part of said slide to lift it and impart the printing movement to .the typebar.

2.. In a typewriter, a platen, a series of down-strike type-bars, a fixed segment having radial slots receiving the pivotal portions of the type-bars, and upright actuating slides for the type-bars moving vertically in said slots and having a toothed engagement with the type-bars.

3. In a typewriter, a fixed slotted segment, a down-strike type-bar pivoted in a slot of said segment, and having pinionteeth, an upright slide movable. insuch slot and having rack-teeth at its upper end engaging said pinion teeth, and a keyelever connected to the lower part of said slide to liftit for imparting the printing movement to the type-bar.

4. In a typewriter, a slotted segment, down-strike type-bars pivoted in the slots thereof and having pinion teeth in such slots, upright slides having their upper ends in such slots with rack-teeth engaging said pinion teeth and their lower portions projecting below such segment, and key-levers beneath such slides.

5. In a typewriter, a slotted segment, down-strike type-bars pivoted in the. slots thereof, upright slides in front of the piv-' ing said slots, and occupying the front portions of the slots, and a removable part fas-' tened against the front of the segment, and closing the slots to guide the slides and hold the type-bar pivots in place. i p

7. In a typewriter, a segment having radial slots and a horizontal slot intersecting them, type-bars in said radial slots with their pivots'i'n said horizontal slot, upright slides in said radial slots, having toothed engagement withsaid type-bars, and an arcpiece fixed to the front of said segment to close said slots, and engaging the fronts of said slides to guide them and hold them in operative engagement with the type-bars, and thereby to hold the pivots in place in said horizontal slot.

8. In a typewriter; a platen, a series of down-strike type bars, a fixed segment having radial slots receiving the pivotal portions .of the type-bars, and an intersecting slot opening away from the platen receiving the pivots of the type-bars, actuating'slides for the type-bars moving in said slots, and a band closing the outer ends of said slots and holding the slides in engagement with down-strike type-bars, asegment having.

radial slots receiving the pivotal portions of the type-bars, slides. for the type-bars.

moving in said slots, and a band closing, the

outer ends of said slots and holding the slides ineugigment with the type bars,

said band havlng fingers engaging the re- .spective slides-and adjustable indlvidually.

v 10. ha typewriter, a platen, a series of said slide, said slide crossing said key lever.

down-strike type-bars with their pivots, a segment having radial slots receiving the pivotal portions of the type-bars, and a horizontal slot intersecting the radial slots and receiving the pivots of the type bars, 1

upright slides for actuating'the type-bars, moving vertically in said slots, and means for holding said slides in engagement with the type bars and thereby retaining said pivots in said horizontal slot.

11. In a typewriter, a type-bar, an upright actuating slide having at itsupper part toothed engagement with the type-bar, and a key lever engaging the lower part of and having a lateral projection engaging said key lever.

12. In a typewriter, a series of type-bars and actuating'slides therefor having toothed key lever entering and confined laterally by the slot in said ear.

" 14. In a typewriter, a segmdhthaving radial slots, type-bars pivoted in said slots,

upright slides with their upper ends guided 15. In a typewriter, a series of key-levers having on their front arms keys arranged in straight rows, a series of down-strike typebars moving through approximately a halfcircle, a slotted segment having closely-adjacent slots in which said type-bars are pivoted, a series of upright slides having at their upper ends' a toothed engagement with said type-bars, and connected at their lower portions to the rear arms of the respective key-levers, the latter arranged in converging order and of varying lengths with intermediate pivotsarranged to afford for the respective-1evers similar ratios of front to rear lever-arms, to give a uniform throw to the types for equal dips of the keys.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' (RICHARD W. UHLIG.

Witnesses:

THOMAS F. WALLACE, FRED WHITE.

Come! 0! this patent may be obtained for live cents each, by addressing the "commissioner of Patent:

Washington, D. 0."

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