US1560738A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 10, 1925- J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING mourns Filed 001:. 20, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 10, 1925- 1,560,738

I J. A. B. SMITH TYPEWRITING MACHINE il d 0 1;, go, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q Attorney Patented Nov. 10, 1925. I

PATENT OF Fv -v;

JESSE a. a. stun, or s'rmronn, connac'rrcur, ASSIGNOB 'ro UNDERWOOD mnwarren 001mm, on NEW man, n. Y., A COBPOfRA'IION-OF'DELAWABE.

rrr'nwmmc amount-E.

. Application filed October 20, 1923- Serial N0. 888,687.

To all wluom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JESSE A; B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing in Stamford, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticuhhave invented certain new and ,useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a Specification. v This invention relates to means in a typewriting machine for assisting the typing of individual monthly payrolls day by day, in

T which operation it is required to insert the individual pay-roll sheets one by one to the appropriate date line each day for typing the current entry. The invention is also useful forv other purposes.

It 's desirable to arrange the pay-roll sheets in a defin'ite'order, say al habetically,

and to preserve this order until the sheets have been fully typed, so that the memoranda from which each days entries are i iyhped may be arranged in similar order.

is obviates the necessity for shuflling through the memoranda for the data to be ty d on the sheets. It is'also desirable 'to resi lce as much as possible the handlin of the sheets, both in introducing them an removing them from the machine, since the amount of time required in handling the sheets is necessarily very large as compared with the time r In accordance with the present invention, provision 1s made of a-hopper on the car- "riage above and at the front of the platen for holding the sheets in conveniently accessible position for introduction to the platen, and provision is also made of a chute for l guiding the sheets 'from the hopper down to the platen at the front thereof. *The payroll'sheets are arranged in the hopper in the order in which they are to be type and are fed to the'machine one by one, each sheet ends of the worksheets out of the hopper,

and an upwardly-extending handle on the rock-shaft which includes a finger-piece adjacent the upper end of the hopperi uired for the actual typing of the usual sing e-line entries. Y

floor by actuating the finger-piecefor that The outer purpose with the ring-finger. work-sheet is then allowed to dropdown a chute to a position between the typed worksheet and the platen, and the fin er-piece is released to permit the return of t e other work-sheets to their original positions in the hopper. If. the line to be typed on the newly-inserted sheet falls behind the previously-typed sheet, the newly-inserted sheet may be held by'pressing it against the rear, wall of the hopper while the platen is'reversely rotated. until the upper edge of the previously-typed sheet uncovers the-desired writing line, after which the sheets may be fed in unison. The platen-is then rotated backward tobring the last previously typed line of the newly-inserted sheet to the printing point. The line-space lever is then operated, and this brings a line of writing exactly one line-space from the last previous line to the printing point, and also linespaces atally-strip that passes between the work-sheet and the platen, the tally-strip serving as a'composite record of all the entries.

The work-sheets are discharged at the rear 05 of the dplaten, and are automatically accumulate in the order of typing, which is the same order in which they were arranged in the hopper, without attention from the operator. To enable'this to be done, provision is made of a'sheet-accumulating receptacle at the rear of the platen. This receptacle includes the usual rear paper-table, an ex-' tension thereof to accommodate sheets of the required len th, and .side walls. The side walls are adjustable indeoendently of each other to vary the width of the receptacle inaecordan e with the 'widthiofthe work and to locate said walls in alignment with the side walls of the hopper and guide-chute.

When the days entries are completed, the.

for the sections of thehopper various adjusted positions of the hopper scale as weight of the work-sheets.-

be utilized to locate the hopper and chute in different desired fields of the platen and in the desired relation to the tally-strip. The rock-shaft forming part of the sheetiejecting mechanism serves also as a brace to prevent other under the The sheet-ejecting arms are adjustable along the rock-shaftto enable them to pass through openings formed in the rear wall of the hopper in their sagging "toward each sections.

The hopper and front-insertion chute are mounted on a bar which is detachably supported on brackets at the front of the machine. The hopper and front-insertion chute may therefore be quickly removed from the machine when not desired for use.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

v In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a part of a bookkeeping machine having the present improvements applied thereto.

Figure 2' is a sectional side elevation on a smaller scale, showing the manner in which the sheet to be inserted is separated from the pack and directed to the platen.

1 Figure 3 is a front elevation, on the same Figure 2, of substantially the same,

1 portion of the machine shown in Figure 1.

' against a cylindrical platen 13. The

Upon depression of type-keys I (not shown), type-bars 11 are swung upwardly and rearwardly to cause types 12 to'print p aten 13 is journaled'by its axle 14 in end plates 15 of a platen-frame 16 mounted in a traveling carria e 17. Feed-rolls 18, which are controlled by the usual cast-off means (not shown), co-operate with the platen 13 to feed the Work-sheets, the platen being arranged to be rotated by either of the knobs 19 or by line-space mechanism comprising a line-space lever 20, a line-space slide 21, a pawl 22 and a ratchet-wheel 23 fast to the platen-axle14.

Tally-strip mechanism similar to .that disclosed in the patent to Hart, No. 1,281,160,

' dated October 8, 1918, may be provided, the

tally-strip T serving as a composite record of all the days entries. Briefly, such tallystrip mechanism is mounted on brackets 24 upon the ends of the platen-frame 16, and

includes a receiving spool 25 which is driven through suitable gearing from a shaft 26 journaled in the brackets 24. The shaft 26 is rotated step by step by the line-space mechanism to draw the tally-strip T from a delivery spool 27 that is loosely mounted on a rod 28 journaled in the brackets 24. Connections for this purpose comprise a link 29 connected to the line-space slide 21, an

arm 30 loose on the shaft 26, a pawl 31 on the arm 30, and a ratchet-wheel 32 fast on the shaft 26, and against which the pawl 31 is yieldingly pressed. It will be understood that the operation of the line-space lever 20 advances the inserted pay-roll sheet A and t-he tally-strip T in unison.

.For use in storing a stack S of pay-roll sheets in conveniently accessible position ready for typing, and for guiding them to the platen at the front thereof, a combined front guide chute and hopper is mounted at the front of the platen by means of atransverse bar 33,having slotted ends 34'to engage with headed studs 35, mounted on brackets 36 supported by a transverse rod 37 connecting the ends of the platen-frame 16, and by the shaft 26 and rod 28. The combined guide chhte and hopper comprises two separate sections 38 and 39, each mounted for adjustment along the bar 33 by means of headed screws 40 which are threaded into the bar 33 and are received in slots 41 in the sections 38 and 39. The sections 38 and 39 have continuous side members 42 extending down to the platen 13, which serve as'side guides or gages for squaring the sheets and directing them to the desired field of the platen, and which also serve as the side walls of the hopper. itself includes, in addition to the side members 42, a bottom or floor portion 43 extending backward and slightly downward from the upper end of the chute 44, and a rear wall portion 45 extending upward and rearward from the floor-portion 43. Fingers 42" are turned in from the side members 42 to prevent aceidental dislodgment of the worksheets from the hopper.

Ears. 46 on the side members 42 of the hopper project form bearings for a rock-shaft 47 that extends longitudinally of the platen. Collars 48 may be adjustably secured by set screws 49 upon the rock-shaft 47 to abut the ears 46 and prevent the sagging of the hoppersections 38 and 39 toward each other under the weight of the work-sheet stack S. Downwardly-extending arms 50 are adjust- 1 ably secured h set screws 51 upon the rockshaft 47, and

gers 52 at their lower ends which may be rojected through holcs53 in the rear wall 45v of the hopper to thrust the lower end of the stack S clear of the hopper-floor 43 when introducing the first sheet B thereof to the rear thereof and iave forwardly-extending finv The sectional hopper at the front of the platen. An operating handle 54 fast on the rock-shaft 47 extends upwardly therefrom at one side of the hopper, and has at its upper end a fingerpiece 55 whereby the rock-shaft 47 may be rocked to cause the lower ends of the worksheets to be thrust forward clear of the hopper-floor 43. A return spring 56 is connected to the handle .54 and to the hopper for restoring the handle and the-connected rock-shaft 47 'and arms 50 to their normal positions when the handle is released by the operator. Such normal positions are determined by engagen'icnt of a stop 57 on the handle witl-rthe rear wall of the hopper.

The finger-piece is so located that the operator may grip the upper margin of the first work-sheet B between the thumb and forefinger, clamp the remainder of the stack S against the rear wall 45 of the'hopper with the middle finger of the same hand, and actuate the handle 54 with the ring-finger of the same hand. This operation is illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawings. lVith the parts in the positions indicated'in Figure 2, the operator releases his grip on the first worksheet B, dropping said sheet down the chute 4 between the sheet A in the machine and the platen 13. He then releases the finger-piece 55, permitting the other work-sheets to return to their original positions in the hopper, and rotates the platen backward by means of one of the knobs 19 to draw the new sheet B down to locate its old writing line at the printing point. The tally strip T i s-not affected by this backward feeding of the platen. The newly-inserted sheet B may be adjusted accurately by reference to wingscales 58 and then line-spaced to locate the next succeeding writing line at the'printing point. This line-spacing also advances the tally-strip T to bring a blank line upon it to the printing point. lVhen the writing on the sheet B has been completed the sheet B is used as a front-insertion guide for the succeeding sheet, and is finally discharged at the rear of the platen into a sheet-accumulating receptacle 59. This receptacle includes the usual rear paper-table 60, an extension or. floor member 61 hinged thereto by a rod 62, and side walls 63. The

, floor-member is supported in part by brackets 64 mounted on the ends of the platen frame, the brackets 64: being secured to the platen-frame by screws 65 which also help to secure the tally-strip brackets 24 in place. Thumb-screws 66 secure the floor-member 61 to the brackets 64. The floor-member 61 has a rearwardly-curved upper end 67, and the upper ends of the side walls 63 are similarly curved and are bent back upon themselves, as seen at 68 in Figure 1, to embrace the curved end 67 of the floor-men'iber 61. Screws 69 pass through the plies of the from the machine.

It will be seen that the sheets are thus maintainedin the same order from day to day, so that they can be put through the machine again and again. in the same sequence without having to berearranged.

The location and arrangement of the hopper enables the sheets to be placed in itfac-- ing outward, toward the operator. This affords a safeguard against errors since the operator can see at a glance whether the card he is about to insert corresponds with the memorandum from which he is to copy.

Should the operator inadvertently pass two sheets around the platen together, he will be likely to discover the discrepancy betweenthe work-sheet and the memorandum at once and correct it before any typing has been incorrectly done.

' It will thus be understood that I have provided a device-for mounting and successively feeding sheets or cards to the platen of a typewriter, wherein the sheets are supported resting against an upright holder, with a bottom support engaging the lower edges of the sheets; and means are further provided for moving thev sheets, or the front sheet, away from such bottom support; and which means is controlled by a member operable at the upper part of the holder, in convenient position to be engaged, by the fingers of the operator. By means of this arrangement the front sheet is easily separated from the other sheets and released to fall by gravity into the chute that will direct it to the platen of the machine.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention. I claim: v

1. A typewriting machine arranged to facilitate the passing of a succession of worlr sheets through the machine in the same sewhich they are to be typed. means for guiding the wort-sheets from the ho per tothe platen at the front thereof, an an-aocumulating receptacle on the carriage at the rear of the platen in which the work-sheets are in which they were arranged in the hopper, wherefore they may be placed again in the hopper and typed in the same order without rearrangement.

A typewriting machine arranged to facilitate the passing of a succession of worksheets through the machine in the same sequence again and again and to produce a composite record of the entries made on all of them, having, in combination, a traveling carriage, a revoluble'platen journaled thercin, a hopper on the carriage above the platen for holding the work-sheets preparatory to typing, means for guiding the work-sheets from the hopper to the front of the'platen, tally-strip mechanism, platen-feeding means for rotating the platen independently of the tally-strip mechanism to draw the last previously written line on the inserted worksheet down to printing position while the tally-strip is stationary, line-spacing mechanism arranged to line-space the tally-strip and work-sheet together, and an accumulating receptacle at the rear of the platen to i receive the work-sheets and accumulate them automatically in the same order in which they were arranged in the hopper.

3. In a typewriting machine,in combination, a traveling carriage, a revoluble platen journaled therein, tally-strip mechanism directing a tally-strip to a definite field of the platen, and a combined hopper and workguiding chute on the carriage for storing work-sheets preparatory to typing and for directing themone by one to the platen, said combined hopper and work-guiding chute being adjustable longitudinally of the platen to cause a predetermined field of the worksheets to be superposed on the tally-strip.

4:. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, a revoluble platen journaled therein, a hopper above the platen for storing Work-sheets pre aratory to typing, said hopper having si e walls extending down to the platen, means for adjusting the width of the hopper between the side walls to direct work-sheets of different widths, an accumulating receptacle at the discharge side of the platen for accumulating the work-sheets without attention from the operator, said receptacle having side walls, and means for adjusting the side walls of the accumulating receptacle in accordance with the adjustment of the side walls of the hopper.

5. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a revoluble platen, a hopper above the platen for storing work-sheets preparatory to typing, a chute for guiding the worksheets downward to the platen, manually operable ejecting mechanism for moving the lower edge of a sheet to be inserted in the machine clear of the hopper bottom and into tending to and around the platen, an extension of said shelf hinged thereto, brackets on the ends of the platen-frame to assist in supporting said extension and to fix the position thereof, and side walls on the extension adjustable therealong to adapt the receptacle to accumulate sheets fed around diflerent fields of the platen and to accumulate sheets of different widths.

7 In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, a platen therein, a hopper mounted on the carriage above the platen for holding a quantity of work-sheets in conveniently accessible position for introduction around the platen, said hopper comprising a floor portion for supporting the sheets on edge and a rear wall against which the sheets normally rest, a chute for directing the sheets from the hopper down to the platen, and a manually operable ejector for moving the lower edge of a sheet to v be inserted clear of the banner floor and into position to pass down the chute.

8 In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, a platen therein, a hopper on the carriage above the platen to hold work-sheets in conveniently accessible position for introduction to the platen, a sheet-guiding chute for .directing the sheets from the hopper to the platen, said hopper comprising a floor to support the Work-sheets on edge and a rear wall against which the work-sheets rest, and a worksheet ejector comprising means for thrusting the lower ends of the work-sheets clear of the hopper and an operating handle adjacent the upper end of the hopper, the arran ement being such that the, operator whi e clamping the upper ends of all but the first of the work-sheets against the rear wall of the hopper may actuate the handle of the ejector with another finger of the same hand to thrust the lower ends of the work-sheets clear of the hopper and thereby move the first work-sheet to a position to be dropped down the chute to the platen.

9. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a traveling carriage, a platen therein, a hopper on the carriage above the platen to hold work-sheets in conveniently accessible position for introduction to the platen, said hopper comprising right and left sections independently adjustable lengthwise of supported on edge in the hopper clear of the hopper to facilitate the introduction of one of said sheets to the platen, said ejector comprising a rock shaft, rock-shaft hearings on the hopper sections, and collars adjustably fixed on the" rock-shaft to abut the hearings on the hopper sections, whereby the rockshaft serves as a brace to prevent sagging of the hopper sections toward'each other under the 'Weightof'the work-sheets.

10. In a typewriting machine, in combina' tion, a traveling carriage, a platen therein, a hopper 'on'the carriage above the platen to hold worksheets in conveniently accessibleon t e rock-shaftarr'a'nged to act through the openings in the rear wall, and means for securin ent adjusts positions on therock-shaft corresponding to, the adjustments of the hop: per sections.

11. In atypewriting machine, in combina tion, a traveling carriage, a platen therein,

a hopper on the carriage above the platen to hold Work-sheets in conveniently accessible 1 positions ior introduction to the platen, said hopper comprising right and left comple' mental sections, an ejector to facilitate the removal of work-sheets from the hopper one by one, comprising a rock-shaft, and cooperating means on the hopper sections and on the rock shaft to enable the rock-shaft to serve also as a brace for theihopper-sections to revent sagging of the sections toward eac other. a v 12. In a typewriting machine, in combine tion, a traveling carriage, a platen therein, a hopper on the carriage for holding a quan tity of work-sheets in conveniently accessi his position for introduction to the platen, and an ejector for assisting theintrodnction of the work-sheets to the platen one by one, comprising right and left ejecting arms and common operating means for said arms.

13. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a travel ng carriage, a platen therein,

a hopper on the carriage for holding a quan 1 tity of worksheets in convenientlyaccessi his position for introduction to the platen, and an ejector for assisting the introduction of the worksheets to the platen one ivy one, comprising right and left electing arms, means for relatively adjusting said arms in accordance with the width of the work, and

common operating means for the arms.

the ejector members in differ:

1 4. In a typewritingmachine, in combinaahopper on the carriage for holding a quantity of work-sheets in conveniently accessition, a traveling carriage, a platen therein,- i

ble position for introduction to the platen,

and an ejector for assisting the introduction of the work-sheets to the platen one by one, comprising right and left ejecting arms, a rock-shaft on which the arms are last, an

finger-piece for actuating the handle to operate the ejector, and means "for returning the ejector to its original idle position when the finger-piece is released bythe operator.

operating handle fast to the rock-shaft, 213

15. In a typewritingmachine, the combi- 30 nation with a carriage and a platen, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of work-sheets 1n upright position and including a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, said support ha v-ing a hot-tom 8 rest for the sheets at theirdower edges, a

rear wall support extending upward from said rest, and means arranged to cause a relative movement of the work-sheets and. said bottom rest whereby the front sheet is '90 brought beyond position supported by said rest, and such sheet will fall )y-gr'avity when free to drop and be fed to the platen.

16. In atypewritin'gmachine, the combination with a carriage and a platen, of a holder on the carriage to support a setof work-sheets in upright position and including a guiding means for directing-the sheets to the platen. said support having a bottomv rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a 9

rear wall support extending upward from said rest, means arranged to cause a relative movement of the work-sheets and. said bottom rest whereby the front sheetis brought beyond position supported by said rest, and" 1 such sheet will fall by gravity when' 'free to dropand befed to the platen, and an operating member for said last-mentioned means remote from said rest. i

. 17. In a typewriting machine, the combi- 1 nation with a carriage and a platen, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of work-sheets in upright position and including a guiding means for directingthe sheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a' rear wall support extending upward from said rest, and control means arranged to dislodge the front sheet from said bottom rest that is manually operable at a place remote from said rest. I

18. In a-typewriting machine, the combination with acarriage and a platen, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of worksheets in upright position and including a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a

rearwall support extending upward .from said rest, and control means arranged to dislodge the front work-sheet from the boting a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a rear wall support extending upward from said rest, means arranged to cause a relative such sheet will fall b movement of the work-sheets and said bottom rest whereby the front sheet is brought beyond position supported by said rest, and gravity when free to drop and be fed to t e platen, and an operating member for said last-mentioned means extending to' the upper part of the support.

- 20. In a nation with a carriage anda platen, of a holder on the carriage to support a set of work-sheets in upright position and including a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a

rear wall extending upward from said rest, and a sheet ejector comprising means for thrustingthe lower edge of the front worksheet beyond said support whereby such typewriting machine, the combimeow/ea sheet will fall, by gravity when free te drop and be fed to the platen. r

21. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage and apla'ten, of a holder on the carriage to supporter .set of work-sheets in upright position and including a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom ed s, a

rear wall extending upward from sai rest, a sheet ejector comprising means for thrust-- ing the lower edge of the front work-sheet beyond said support whereby such sheet will fall-by gravity when free to drop and be fed to the platen, and an operating member for said last-mentioned means extending to the upper part of the support.

22. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a carriage and a platen, of a holder on'the carriage to support a set of work-sheets in upright position and includ ing a guiding means for directing the sheets to the platen, said support having a bottom rest for the sheets at their bottom edges, a rear wall extending upward from said rest, and a control member operable rearwardly at the upper part of the support and which will engage the sheets at their lower portions to shiftthem forward.

Jesse A, B. SMITH.

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