US1830620A - Ink transfer member and method of making same - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 3, 1931, G. E. PELTON' 1,830,620

lNK TRANSFER MEMBER AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed Oct. 29, 1930 Patented Nov. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE E. PELTON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE GEORGE E. PELTON COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE m1: mmsrnn MEMBER AND inn'rnon or MAKING SAME Applica'tipn filed October 29, 1980. Serial No.- 491,922.

This invention relates to ink transfer ribbon members such as typewriter ink ng r1bbons, inking ribbons used on weighing machines, multigraphing machines, adding and accounting machines, registers, time recorders, electric automatic tape printin machinesof all kinds, printing press ri bone for making imitation type written letters, and similar devices. For convenience of illustration only the invention will be described more particularly with relation to typewriter ribbons although it is adapted for use with all machines using inking ribbons. There-' -.fore, such expressions as typewriter or be too expensive, that it shall be capable of a large amount of writing, and particularly that all of the Writing shall be sharp and clear so as not to be too heavy when the ribbon is new 'and first placed in service, and that after continued use the writing shall remain rich in color and sharp and clean cut and shall remain of practically the same heaviness as when the ribbon was placed inuse.

An inking ribbon is primarily an ixik supply, and in the ideal ribbon just sufiicient ink to make a print-like impression on the aper would be fed uniformly out of the r1 bon,

and there should be a sufficient supply of ink to do this for an extended length of time,

In other words, the ribbon should be capable of holding a'relatively large amount of the ink and also should be so constructed that the ink will be fed uniformly and only in amounts to give a clear, clean cut impression.

Therefore, a primary object of my inventionis to provide a ribbonwhich will hold a relativelv large amount of'ink, .suflicient for extended operation. Also to provide a ribbon construction which will regulate and control the expenditure of the ink supply retained in the ribbon so that it will not be fed too rapidly at the beginning of use or when tional view of the platen and associate the ribbon is new or too slowly after the ribbon has been in use for some tlme, so as to giveuniform appearance, excellent color and sharp outline throughout the life of the ribbon.

Another object is to so construct the rib bon as to provide a smoother surface on the face thereof used towardthe paper or other article on which the impressions are to be made than is secured on the ribbons now commonly in use, so as to give clearer and more uniform impressions; and also to secure a smoother surface without the necessity of compressing the ribbon between rolls with the necessary resultin cuttin of the threads which weakens the fa ric, an the compressing of the threads to reduce their ink absorbing ability.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide an inking ribbon construction in which the threads are drawn and located more closely together on the surface of the ribbonwhich is used against the paper on which the impressions are to be \made, so as to carry agreater supply of ink both in-the'ribbon and adjacent the surface, to give a more even and smoother surface for more clear out im ressions, and to more evenly regulate the, eed of ink during operation to secure more uniform writing for a eater length of time... By providing ribons with a greater ink sup lyand with more uniform and retarding feding of the ink, much more work and better work can be secured with these ribbons, and will not nocessitate as frequent changing of ribbons with consequent. great saving in time as well as producing better and more uniform work. I

With'the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, as will be more fully disclosed in connection with the accompanying vdrawings, it being understood that the principles of-the invention may be embodied in various modifications;

In thesedrawings: Fig. l is a diagrammatic fragmentaiy see:

it bar of a typewriter machine withthe ed 4- ribbon between them; I

typewriter with the paper indicated at 11,

the ribbon at 12 and the end of the type bar at 13. b0 far as I am aware ink transfer ribbons such as typewriter ribbons and the like have heretofore been made of plain weave with both the Warp and filling threads passing first over one and then under the next one of the other threads and so on so as to be exposed equally on both sides of the ribbon.

This weave forms greater voids in the fabric and spaces between the threads, and as the ink is held primarily by the fibers of the thread, the ink capacity is relatively small as the amount of thread which may be gotten into a given area is limited.

I secure a much greater ink capacity by so weaving the threads that they may be drawn closely together on the surface of the ribbon permitting the use of a much greater amount of fibre in a given section of the ribbon for absorbing and holding the ink supply and doing away to a large extent with the objectionable voids between the threads. I secure this by weaving with either the warp or filling threads, after passing under one or more of the other threads, skipping or passing over more than one of the other threads. Thus, for example, as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 the warp threads are the shaded threads indicated at 14 and the filling threads are the unshaded threads indicated at 15. If now,

we take any given warp thread it will be noted that it passes under a filling thread at point 16 and then passes over a plurality of filling threads 15, in the present instance five of these threads,.until it passes under another filling thread'at 17 and so on throughout the weave. The same is true of the other warp threads, and although I'have shown them as skipping five filling threads, I am not limited to this arrangement, but the same effect is secured where they skip two or more threads. In Fig. 4 I have shown the warp thread as skipping three filling threads. By weaving the threads in this manner, they may be drawn and positioned closely together, much more closely than in a'plain weave, and it greatly reduces the voids or openings be tween the threads. In other words, the threads are more congested on the surface of the ribbon. However, I am not limited to securing this effect by having the warp threads arranged in this manner but I may arrange the filling threads the same way. In other words, ihis congested surface may be secured by either the warp or filling threads, and it may be either on one surface, or on both surfaces as shown in Fig. 5.

For satisfactory work a ribbon must not carry a large amount of surface ink, and the ink should most of it be absorbed by the fibres and not carried in the voids or spaces between the threads. For example, each cotton thread or fibre is hollow and these fibres are what hold the ink in the ribbon and, therefore, the more of these fibres that can be gotten into a given space, the more ink can be properly and effectively carried by the ribbon. As suggested above, with this ribbon more threads and therefore, more-fibre can be congested or located in a given space and, therefore, a much larger amount of ink can be carried by a given amount of this ribbon than in the old plain weaves which have heretofore been used. Also, with this rib-- bon we can get more uniformity in the impressions throughout the life of the ribbon,

both in the degree of color and in the clear- I mess up until the time that the ink supply is nearly exhausted, say when the ink is about three-quarters gone. This is because of the greater absorbent effect of the ribbon so that it holds a greater supply of ink, and the fibres being closer together on the surface so control the feed of ink as to give a more uniform and better regulated supply of ink for the impression. As there are more threads and more fibre in a given space we additionally have more strength as well as a greater ink holding capacity, so that the ribbons wear longer, and a much smoother surface is secured on the face of the ribbon adjacent the article on which the impression is to be made which produces a more uniform and continuous impression and much more clear cut.

Thus, as suggested this skipping weave gives much nearer to a plane surface and a smoother surface on the face of the ribbon. In other words, it gets rid of the hills and valleys in the cloth and gives much clearer and more continuous impressions. Manufacturers have attempted to secure this plain flat surface without hills and valleys in the plain weaves heretofore used by passing this plain weave through calender rolls, that is, bv calendering and pressing the fibres down flat and smooth. This tends to break the threads, weakening the weave, and it decreases the ink carrying capacity of the fibre as they are compressed together. With my improved ribbon, I secure the smooth surface desired without breaking or weakening the threads and without decreasing the ink carrying or absorbent capacity of the fibre or thread in any way. Still further, the closely adjacent threads on the surface act as a sort of barrier or control medium through which the ink pases from the threads in the woven leaving the threads with the natural one side of the woven fabric 19 it being undergum on the surface of the ribbon, and as these threads are less absorbent they form a substantial carrier or control medium on the surface ofthe ribbon for the ink. If it is desirable to havea stronger feed of ink to the writing paper, the fabric may be boiled for a given period say not to exceed about thirty minutes so as to remove a part of the gum. This would permit a faster feed of ink, but we would still have a substantial barrier for controlling theflow of the ink.

With either silk or cotton or other threads we can produce this barrier by treating the warp which is woven on the skip thread basis with cellulose before weaving to form on the surface of these threads a coating which is less-absorbent. This will form a surface barrier and the remaining portion of the fabricor in this Lease, the filling threads, are theink absorbent threads to carry the greater portion of the ink supply.

Another way in which this barrier may be produced on the surface of the fabric is to apply the cellulose to this surface after the fabric is woven. Preferably the material of which this coating is made is of cellulose like character. I prefer, for ordinary coating material, a mixture of pyroxylin solution and pyroxylin cement, about half of each. The

pyroxylin solution may be composed of about,

four parts of pyroxylin to five parts ofa softener such as castor oil to which is added a low boiling point solvent which may be ethyl acetate diluted with a quick-drying liquld such as gasoline, alcohol or acetone. Pyroxylin cement is thesame as pyroxylin with the softener omitted and gum added. The addition of gums or resins seems to give greater flexibility and adhesion. The coating must be of such character that the blow ofpreissure of the type would cause a regulated supply of ink to be driven through the coating onto the paper or tape. The supply of ink so furnished is regulated bythe number of coats and the thickness. It is important that the coating material be of such characteras not to penetrate and saturate any substantial portion of the fabric or base unless intended so to do. This conserves the ink-carrying capacity of the base or fabric. In Fig. 6 I have sh'ownthis control coating at 18 applied to a much clearer writing.

in a lain weave stood this fabric is Woven on the skipping thread basis as illustrated in and described in connection with Figures 2 to 5 inclusive. In Fig. 7 the same weave is shown with the cellulose or other control coating on both surfaces. The coating on the back serves to decrease adhesion of ink to the type and thus prevent them from clogging. Thus, they can be kept clean and clear for a longer time. As.

in this weave the threads are closer together on thesurface the cellulose coating is retained on the surface where it should be for best results. That is, with plain weave the larger holes and cavities between the threads hold the cellulose which is objectionable as it tends to give a broken writing. However, with my improved ribbon these holes or cavities are so greatly reduced that the cellulose is held on the surface of the ribbon and does not get down into the body of the fabric. This The coating is applied to any suitable width or length of the base material and to the surface of the fabric on which the threads with the skip weave arrangement are located.

That is, onto the smoother surface of the fabric. If the material coated iswider than is required for a single ribbon of the kind 'desired, then the sheet after being coated can be cut into strips of the desired width. The same is true of the ribbons whichare not coated with the ,pyroxylin as they may be satgives til urated with the ink in strips or sheets of any desired width and then cut up to' the desired width for use. The coating being applied in liquid form is'then dried either in the air or by the use of heated metal rolls or by running the ribbon through a drying oven.

I do not limit myself in this invention, however, to cotton fabric or spun silk or to the fibres above mentioned, but am able to use any sort of fibres or fabric material capable of absorbing and giving off typewriter ink, such for example as wool, linen, artificial silk, either rag or wood pulp 1papers or other papers, or mixtures or the bres above or of'other types of fibres desired.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I-claim is:

'1. An ink transfer ribbon member including a woven fabric in which either the warp or filling threads skip or pass over two or more ad acent threads of the other type on one side of the member whereby the skipping threads may be more closely drawn together to provide more threads in a given space than threads of said fabric.

2. An ink transfer ribbon member including a woven fabric in which one type of the woven threads after passing under a thread of any of the and ink carried by the of the other type then passes over a plu- 1 'rality of adjacent threads of the other type on one surface of said member, and said mem her being impregnated with ink. I

zen

. 3. An ink transfer ribbon member includmg a woven fabric in which one type of the v woven threads skip or pass over a plurality of adjacent threads of the other type on one surface of said member so that these skipping threads are placed closely together, said member being impregnated with ink, and the said skipping threads being less absorbent of the ink than the other threads to forms. control larrier for the ink on the surface of the mem- 4. .An ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising a set of'warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that one set of the threads lies mostly on one surface of the member, and said member being impregnated with ink.

5. An ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that one set of the threads is exposed to a greater extent on one surface of the member than on the other, and said member being impregnated with ink.

6. An ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that one set of the threads lies mostly on one surface of the member, said member being impregnated with ink, and said first set of threads being less absorbent of the ink than the other threads to form a control barrier for the ink on one surface of the member.

7. An ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that one set of the hreads is exposed to a greater extent on one surface of the member than on the other, said member being impregnated with ink, and said first set of threads being less absorbent of the ink than the other threads to form a control barrier for the ink on one surface of the member.

8. An ink transfer member including a woven fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads, one of said sets of threads on the surface used adjacent the surface to be typed skipping and passing over a plurality of adjacent threads of the other set to provide a smooth surface, and said member being impregnated with ink.

9. An ink transfer member including a woven fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads, one of said sets of threads on the surface used ad-.

jacent the surface to be typed skipping and passing over a plurality of adjacent threads of the other set to provide a smooth surface, said member being impregnated with ink, and a relatively nonabsorbent surface portion on said smooth surface acting as a screen to regulate the ink fed from the ink transfer member.

10. An ink transfer member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that the threads of one set are exposedto a greater extent on the surface used adjacent the surface to be typed than on the other surface, anld said member being impregnated with 1n r.

11. An ink transfer member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads anda set of filling threads so woven that the threads of one set are exposed to a greater extent on the surface used adjacent the surface to be typed than on the other surface, said member being absorbent and impregnated with ink, and an ink retarding face portion on said first mentioned surface wherey a regulated and uniform quantity of ink may be driven from the transfer member when disposed with the ink retarding face adjacent the surface for receiving the impressions.

12. An ink transfer member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that the threads of one set are exposed to a greater extent on one surface of the member than on the other, said member forming an ink carrying base, and an ink retarding material on the first mentioned surface thereof through which the ink is to be transferred and acting as a screen through which ink is driven uniformly and under control.

13. An ink transfer member including a fabric comprising a set of warp threads and a set of filling threads so woven that the threads of one set are exposed to a greater extent on one surface of the member than on the other, said member being of ink absorbent material, and an ink retarding material including pyroxylin on the first mentioned surface through which the ink is to be transferred and to act as a screen to control the flow of ink therethrough.

, 14. An ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising warp and filling threads, the warp threads skipping or passing over a plurality of the filling threads on one surface of the member whereby they may be placed closely together and form a smoother surface, and the member being imover a plurality of the filling threads on one surface of the member whereby they may be placed closely together and form a smoother surface, said fabric being impregnated with ink, and an ink-retarding material on the smoother surface thereof through which the ink is to be transferred and acting as a screen through which the ink is driven uniformly and under control.

17'. An ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising Warp and filling threads, the warp threads skipping or passing over a plurality of the filling threads on one surface of the member whereby they may be placed closely together and form a smoother surface, said fabric being impregnated with ink, and an ink-retarding material including pyroxylin on the smother surface of the member through which theink is to be transferred and to act as a screen to control the flow of ink therethrough.

18. An ink transfer ribbon member inclu'ding a fabric comprising warp and filling threads, the warp threads being of silk containing the natural gum and skipping or passing over a plurality of adjacent filling threads on one surface of the member whereby they may be placed closely together and form a smoother surface, the filling threads being of a more ink-absorbent material such as cotton or spun silk, and the member being im regnated with ink.

19. n ink transfer ribbon member including a fabric comprising warp and filling threads, the warp threads carrying a material which renders them less ink-absorbent, said warp threads skippin or passing over a 3 plurality of adjacent lling threads on one side of the member to produce a smoother surface and so that these threads can be laced closely together, the filling threads belng of a more ink-absorbent material, and the memher being impregnated with ink.

In testimony whereof I affix my si ature.

GEORGE E. PEL ON,

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