US2235416A - Typewriting and like machines - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 18, 1941.

H. E. BRIDGWATER TYPEWRITING AND LIKE MACHINES Filed sept. 15, 195e March 18 1941 H. E. BRIDGWATER TYPEWRITING' AND LIKE MACHINES Filed Sept. l5, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TYPEWRITING ANDv LIKE MACHINES Herbert E. Bridgwater, Syracuse, N. Y., assigner to Remington Rand Inc., Buffalo, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 15, 1938, Serial No 230,117

7 Claims.

. found most desirable by individual operators.

The main object of my invention, generally stated, is to provide improved means of the character specified which are simple in construction, highly effective in use and convenient in operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide for touch regulation by improved means for varying the tension of a single spring which is stressed a-t each operation of any type action.

Another object of my invention i-s to provide touch regulating means of the character specified having improved manually controlled means'lo'- cated at the front portion of the typewriting machine for adjusting the tension of said spring and for indicating the position of adjustment.

A still further object of my invention is to provide manually controlled means for adjusting the touch regulating means for the type actions Ito any degree of adjustment within the limits thereof and for maintaining such regulating means in any such position to which they may be adjusted.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved means for varying the tension or effective force of a spring means which is stressed to a uniform extent at each operation of any type action during the latter portion of the movement of the associated type bar to the printing point.

To the above and other ends, which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the features of construction, arrangement of parts and combinations of devices set forth in the following description and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in the different views:

Fig. 1 is la side elevational View with parts omitted of a No. 8 Remington Noiseless portable typewriting machine equipped with the devices of my invention.

Fig. 2 is'an enlarged, detail fragmentary top plan view of a portion of the machine shown in Fig. 1, the view showing certain parts broken away and other parts omitted.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, detail, vertical sectional View of the same taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and viewed in the direction of the arrows at said line.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the machine, with parts broken away and showing the devices of my invention in one extreme adjusted posi-tion thereof.

Fig. 5 is a View similar to Fig. 4, except that said parts are shown in another extreme position of adjustment. Fig. 6 is an enlarged, detail, fragmentary, horizon-tal sectional View taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 4

and viewed in the direction ofthe arrows at said line.

Fig. 'l is an enlarged, detail, perspective View of the anchor member shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. I have shown my invention embodied, in the present instance, in a No. 8 Remington Noiseless portable machine Vin which the features of the present invention may be readily incorporated with but few changes in ythe existing structure of such machine. However, it is to be understood that my invention is not restricted to embodiment trated may be employed in substantially the same manner in the No. 1, No. 7 and No. 9 Remington portable machines.

I have shown in the accompanying drawings only so much of the usual construction of the No. 8 Remington Noiseless portable machine as is necessary to arrive at an understanding of my invention in its embodiment therein'.

The type actions in the present, construction may be the same or substantially the same as those shown in the patent to G. G. Going, No. 1,908,140, dated May 9, 1933.

Thelower portion of the machine in the present instance is provided with an outer metal shell or housing I0, which extends around the sides and front of the machine. The shell IU is carried by the usual inner frame which includes side plates I2 (see Figs. 2, 4 and 6) which carry the usual type bar segment and rear cross member not shown. The front end portions o-f the two side plates l2 are connect-ed to and support a key lever guide comb I4 of the usual construction which is mounted on inwardly turned portions vof the side plates l2 by screws l5, as shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4.

Each of the type lactions of the presen-t machine includes a type bar I1 pivotally mounted at |`8 to the usual type bar segment (not shown) which is located between and connects the side plat-es I2.` Each type bar I1 has on the heel thereof a depending semi-circular portion I9 received in a correspondingly shaped recess in a companion actuating slide 20 which is suitably guided for movement fore and aft of the machine. The

`forward end of each slide 2li is pivotally conprovided with a finger key 21, and the vario-us key levers are of four different lengths in the usual manner to provide a four bank keyboard, as shown in Fig. 1. The rear ends of the key levers forming the rst -three banks are pivoted upon a transverse fulcrum rod 28 extending between the side plates I2, and the key levers forming the four-th bank are pivo-ted upon an upper transverse fulcrum rod 29 also extending between the side plates I2.

It will be apparent that a depression of each of the key levers 26 will effect a printing operation of the companion type bar I'I through the pull wire 25, sub-lever 22 and slide 20 `associated therewith. A platen 30, shown in Fig. 1, is mounted on the usual case shiftable carriage, not shown. The usual means for effecting noiseless pressure printing operation of each type bar I'I is shown in Fig. 1 as includ-ing a toggle arm 32 and toggle link 33. The upper end of each toggle arm 32 is pivotally mounted at 34 in an upper segment (not shown) extending between the side plates I2. The lower end portion of each toggle arm 32 is connected through a link 33 to the upper end portion of the companion type bar |1.

An intermediate portion of each toggle arm 32' is connected through part of a momentum accumulator 35 to the upper end of an arm 36 pivotally mounted at 31 in a part of the same lower segment on which the type bars Il are pivoted.

The toggle members 32 and 33 of each type action operate in the usual manner to decelerate the movement of companion type bar Il as it approaches the printing position, and the momentum accumulator 35 operates to substantially straighten these toggle members to effect a noiseless pressure imprint Aof the type 39 on the paper carried by the platen 3|). A contractile returning spring d2 is provided between the rearward end of veach sub-lever 22 and the associated hanger 24 therefor for returning the companion type action to normal position. A supplemental contractile returning spring 43 is provided between a cross member 44 and each of the toggle sub-levers 36.

In 'the present machine, the usual universal bar and intermediate connections to the ribbon vibrator are provided for shifting the inking ribbon into and out of the path of the type 33 and also for effecting the longitudinal feed of the ribbon. This universal bar and associated mechanism is actuated by an operation of each of the type actions, and in the present instance includes a universal bar 43 mounted at. the forward end of arm/49 carried by a rock shaft 53. The universal-bar vrock-shaft 50 is square in cross section and extends transversely of the machine and is pivotally mounted to turn on cone shaped ends of pivot screws 5| extending inward from the two side plates I2. The screws 5| may be threaded into companion tapped openings in the side plates I2 and the position of the screws 5| is retained by companion lock nuts 52. The universal bar 48 extends transversely of the machine beneath all of the key levers 26, and the upper portion of the bar 48 is bent forwardly with slots provided therein between adjacent key levers to provide individual upstanding portions 4Sa each of which is engaged by a companion key lever 25. These individual contact portions 48a of the universal bar 48 may be bent downwardly or upwardly to provide individual `adjustment for the operation of the universal bar for each of the key levers 26.

The mechanism actuated by the universal bar 48 for eflecting longitudinal feed of the ribbon and for actuating the ribbon vibrator may, for example, be the same as that shown and described in the patent to G. G. Going No. 1,937,692 dated Dec. 5, 1933. A portion of such mechanism is shown in Fig. l as including two upstanding arms 54 and 55 carried by the universal-bar rock-shaft 59, the arm 55 being pivotally :connected to a link 55 for operating the ribbon feed mechanism, not. shown. The other arm 5d is pivotally connected to a link 5l which extends rearwardly of the machine to effect vertical movement of a ribbon vibrator 58 at each operation of a type action through the usual mechanism which it is not considered necessary to show or to describe in detail in the present instance.

The portion of the machine thus far described is not modied by the incorporation of the devices 'of my present invention therein and may be o'f the usual construction ordinarily employed in the No. 8 Remington Noiseless portable machine.

A returning spring is usually provided for the universal bar and the parts controlled thereby, and my invention in the present instance is particularly concerned with the provision of an improved means for readily Varying the tension of such returning spring to thereby regulate the operating touch of the type actions to accord with the individual desires of different operators.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2, 4 and 6, it will be seen that a contractile spring 5! is connected at its upper end to an arm 6I attached at 62 to the universal-bar rock-shaft 563 to extend upwardly and rearwardly therefrom. The lower end of the 'spring 60 is connected to the forward end of an anchor member or arm 54 which is pivotally mounted on a headed shouldered pivot screw 65 threaded into a tapped opening in the right hand side plate I2 and in a bracket 66 which is ordinarily secured to and carried by said side plate I2, as shown in Fig. 6. A slide,

member or link r66 is provided at its rear end portion with -a longitudinally extending slot 6l which receives the stem portion of the screw 65 to support the member E6 at its rear end for sliding movement fore and aft of the machine. Theforward end of the slide 551s pivotally connectedat 68 to the depending arm of a bellcrank 'In which constitutes a manually adjusted touch regulating device, control member or lever. The bellcrank 'l0 may be mounted to turn around a bushing (see Fig. 3) seated on the body portion of the right hand -screw 5I between the associated lock nut 52 and the cuter surface of the iight hand side plate I2. The forwardly extending arm of the bellcrank 'I0 is turned upward and terminates in a finger piece l2. As may be seen in Fig. 2, the upwardly extending portion of the bellcrank lil extends past the inside edge-of the bead formed by the inwardly turned portion IIla along the upper edge of the outer shell II! of the machine` The finger piece 'l2 overlies the bead Il!a along the upper edge of the righthand side of the shell o1' housing Ill and is thereby positioned for convenient manipulation lby the operator at the front of the machine near the keyboard.

The link or slide 66 and the (body portion of the anchor member 64 are thus mounted between the right hand side plate I2 and the outer shell member l0 of the machine, as shown in Fig. 6. The forward end of the anchor member 64 is vward/ly of themachine toward an extreme position illustrated in Fig. 5 to afford a relatively bent inward at. 64a to pass vthrough an opening l2a in the lowerfront corner of the right-hand side plate l2 (see Figs. 3 and 6) so that the end of this portion 64a to which the spring 60 is connected lies beneath .the end of the arm 6I of the rock shaft 56.

Means are provided for effecting a pivotal movement of the anchor member 64 by a sliding movement of the -member 66. Thus, a headed pin 'I5 is riveted at a reduced diameter portion thereof to the slide member 66, and the stem of this pin 15 is received in a diagonally disposed cam slot or elongated opening 16 provided in the central portion of the anchor arm 64. This pin and slot connection provides in effect a cam operating connection whereby a fore and aft sliding movement of the member 66 effects a pivotal movement of the arm 64 about the pivot screw 65.

It will now be apparent that an operator can readily manually adjust the control lever or bellcrank 'l0 by the finger piece 'l2 at the front portion of the machine to effect a sliding movement of the member 66 which in turn will cause a pivotal adjustment of the anchor member 64 and thereby increase or decrease the tension of the spring 60. However, the construction and arrangement of the parts are such that the reactive force of the spring 60 in any adjustment of the parts of the touch regulating means will not displace such parts from the positions to which they have been adjusted. Thus it will ,be seen that the greatest component of the reactive force of the spring 60 is exerted to turn the member 66 upward around the pivot 65 as a center, but that such force is exerted longitudinally against the depending arm of the control lever 10' and against the fixed pivot of said lever whatever may be the adjustment ofthe lever. The reactive force of the spring 60 to displace the parts of the touch regulating means from their adjusted positions is therefore effectively resisted without the necessity of employing any special detent mechanism. y

It will be clear that the range of adjustment of the present mechanism will be determined by the length of the slots 6"l and 16, and the engagement of the end walls of the slot 61 with the body portion of the pivot screw 65 provides an eiective stop for limiting the two extreme adjusted positions of the control lever 'l0 and the parts controlled thereby. Inasmuch as the pin and slot connection between the members 64 and 66 does not permit the tension of the spring 60 to cause a movement of the control or adjusting lever 10 and the parts controlled thereby, it will be clear that any degree of adjustment of the tension of the spring 60 within the limits of movement of the touch control mechanism` may be effected as the control lever 10 and parts operated thereby will be retained in any position to which they are moved by the operator.

Means are also provided in the present instance for indicating the position of adjustment of the touch regulating mechanism. Such indicating means are provided in the lpresent instance by the indices L and H and intermediate scale or division lines 18 suitably marked on the upper edge portion l0a of the shell I0 of the frame of the machine, as shown in Fig. 2. These indices are positioned beneath the nger piece 12 and cooperate therewith to indicate to the operator the existing position of adjustment of the touch regulating mechanism. The indicium L indicates that the linger piece 12 is to be moved rearspring 60.

light operating touch, while the indicium H indicates that the finger piece is to be moved forwardly of the machine toward an extreme poi5 sition shown inFig. 4 to obtain a relatively heavy operating touch. The scale division lines 18 will of course indicate various intermediate degrees of touch between the lightest and the heaviest which can be afforded by the range of .10 adjustment of the regulating means.

' `Referring to Figs. 1 and 4, it may be seen that certain of the key levers 26 have a relatively different extent of pivotal operating movement before the shoulder portion 26a thereof engages a .15 resilient stop strip mounted at the lower end of the guide comb l4 Thus, the key levers 26 which have keys 21 forming the first or lower transverse row or bank of keys have the shortest extent of pivotal movement while the second, U20 third and fourth banks successively increase slightly in their extent of pivotal movement. In order that the four groups of key levers having these relatively different extents of travel may all afford a uniform actuating movement of the universal bar mechanism, the portions 26b of these four groups of key levers which overlie the universal bar 48 are staggered in different vertically spaced relationship to provide different extents of lost motion between the key levers and :30 the universal bar. In this manner the universal bar returning spring 6U will be stressed to a uniform extent irrespective of the variation in the dip or pivotal movement of the Various key levers 26.

From the above it will be clear that the extent of lost motion between the key levers and the universal bar is relatively different in the four groups of key levers associated with the diiferent banks of keys, and accordingly Aa change in the 40 tension or eifective force of the spring 66 will be ineffective to alter the touch throughout slightly different portions of the initial movement of these different groups ofv keys. Therefore, during such initial movement of each type action '45 it is necessary to overcome the force of the returning springs 42 and 43 only, thereby affording a light initial touch on the keys irrespective of the adjustment of the tension of the 'I'he tension or effective force of the '50 spring 60 is not exerted against each type action until after the parts thereof are set in motion when the resistance of such force is felt less upon the keys. The spring 66 then provides a uniform resistance throughout a fixed extent of the "55 latter portion of the movement of the actuated type action, Accordingly, a change in the tension or effective force of the spring 60 will uniformly alter the operating touch during the latl ter portion of the movement of all of the type *60 actions. Inasmuch as the returning spring 66 for the universal bar mechanism aids materially in the initial portion of the return movement of each type action from the printing position, it will b e clear that the tension of the spring 66 T65 in the present instance will be equally effective on'all of thetype actions during this initial portion of the return movement thereof.

.From the aspect of effecting a snappy quick return of each type bar from its printing position, -7'0 thereby preventing interference or collision between the various type bars near the printing point, or within the danger Zone, it is very desirable that the universal bar returning spring 66 act uniformly on all of the type actions dura 15 ing the latter portion of the travel of the type bars to and from the printing point to aiord a uniform fast operation of all of the type bars in the zone Where the danger of interference or collision is the greatest.

It will be seen that I have thus provided a very simple and yet highly effective touch regulating means which may be readily adjusted to simultaneously regulate the operating touch of all of the type actions to accord with the individual desires of different operators. I have valso provided a convenient indicating means whereby the operator may readily determine the different quality of touch to be afforded fby the different positions of the control or adjusting member.

A particular feature of the present invention is in the provision of a highly effective touch regulating means by varying the tension or effective force of the spring means such as is ordinarily employed to return the universal bar mechanism to normal position, inasmuch as such spring means is of course stressed at each operation of any type action and accordingly any change in the tension of such spring means simultaneously affords a variation in the operating touch of all of the type actions.

A further feature of the present invention is the provision of an adjusting means for spring means stressed by the operation of the type actions wherein there are no dened increments or fixed positions of adjustment and which thereby aifords any degree of infinitely ne adjustment of the operating touch Within the limits thereof.

Although in the present instance the touch regulating mechanism of the present invention has been shown applied to the returning spring for a universal bar mechanism employed for effecting the usual feed movement of a ribbon and the actuation of the ribbon vibrator, it will be clear that the present mechanism could be employed in a similar manner to vary the tension of the returning spring for a universal bar ordinarily provided for other purposes such for example, as for operating the usual carriage escapement mechanism. It will also be clear that from certain aspects of my invention the `present touch regulating mechanism could be applied to vary the tension of a returning spring for a universal bar operated by different parts of the type action other than the key levers, such for example as the sub-levers or the type bars. In other instances a univa-rsa1 bar may be provided solely for tensioning purposes without being connected to operate or control other elements of the machine.

Various changes may be made in the construction, and certain features thereof may be employed without others, without departing from my invention as it is defined in the accompanying claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination of type actions, a universal bar actuated thereby and operatively connected to actuate a part of the machine, a single spring for returning said universal bar to normal position, and manually controlled touch regulating means for varying the tension of said spring, said touch regulating means comprising a pivoted member to which one end of said spring is anchored, a hand controlled pivoted member, a slide that is actuated thereby, and cam connections between said slide and said rst named pivoted member.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination of type actions, a universal bar operated thereby, a single spring which is stressed at each operation of said universal bar, a pivoted anchor member to which one end of said spring is connected, a slide, operative connections between said slide and anchor member to eifect a pivotal movement of the latter by a sliding mpvement of the slide, and a control lever having a finger piece at the front portion of the machine and operatively connected to said slide to adjust it.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of type actions, a universal bar actuated thereby,

a spring for returning said universal bar to nor-- mal position and touch regulating means therefor comprising a pivoted anchor member to which one end of said spring is connected, a slide, cam connections between said slide and anchor member to eiect a pivotal movement of the latter by a sliding movement of the slide, a control lever having a finger piece at the front portion of the machine and operatively connected to said slide to adjust it, and indices for indicating the position of adjustment of said control lever.

4. In a. typewriting machine, the combination of type actions, a universal bar operated thereby, a single spring which is stressed at each operation of said universal bar, a pivoted anchor member having an inclined slot therein and to which one end of said spring is connected, a slide having a pin received in said inclined slot, and a manually adjusted control lever operatively connected to said slide.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination of type actions, a universal bar actuated thereby, a spring for returning said universal bar to normal position, and touch regulating means for varying the touch on the printing keys comprising a pivoted arm having an inclined slot therein and to which one end of said spring is anchored, a link mounted at one end to receive `a sliding movement and provided with a pin; received in said inclined slot, a control lever having a iinger piece near one side of the frame of the machine at the keyboard, said control lever being pivoted to the opposite end of said link, and indices with which said control lever coacts to indicate `the position of adjustment thereof.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a plurality of type actions, a universal bar operated by each of said type actions, a spring for returning said universal bar to normal position, a movable anchor to Which'one end of said spring is connected, an adjusting member mounted for sliding movement, and cam operating means for moving said anchor by movement of said adjusting member.

'7. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a plurality of type actions, a universal bar operated by each of said type actions, a spring for returning said universal bar to normal position, a movable anchor to which one end of said Ispring is connected, an adjusting member mounted for sliding movement, cam means on said anchor inclined with respect to the direction of movement of said adjusting member, and means on said adjusting member coasting with said cam means to cause movement of the anchor by movement of said adjusting member.

HERBERT E. BRIDGWATER.

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