US1309854A - Combined type-writing and computing machine - Google Patents

Description

A. A. JOHNSON.

COMBINE'D TYPE WRITING AND COMPUTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN 30, 1918.

1,309,854. Putm1t .-dJuly15, 191$).

To all whom it may concern:

f D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AE'rmm-A. JOHNSON, or NEW roan, N. Y., ASSIGNOR r0 UNnEawoon comrurino MACHINE Comrm, or NEw YORK, N. Y., a CORPORATION on NEW roux.

comBI En'TYrE-wmTINe AND COMPUTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, 1919.

Application filed January so, 1918. Serial No. 214,447.

Be it known that I, ARTHUR A. J orrNsoN, a citizen of the United States,-res1d1ng 1n borough of the Bronx, in the county of the Bronx, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful 3 Improve ments in Combined Type-Writing and Gomputing Machines, of which the following aj slpecification. I

I his invention relates to computing machines, and'is herein disclosed as applied to a combined typewriting and computing machine of the I Underwood-Hanson type, I wherein the depression of the numeral keys,

in a ccmputin zone causes travel of the carriage to se certain denominational members, with the result that the depression of the several numeral keys will set up on the successively-selectcdmembers digits cor-.

responding to the numeral keys depressed.-

In such machines the numbers thus set up are'carried into the computing wheels by a general operator.

In this-partlcular type of machine, as in others, itis advantageous to have totalizers of large capacity. These are sometimes difiig-Q cult to replace with smaller total1zers,es+'

pecially when they are solidly built into the machine. When adjacent narrow columns are computed in such machines, it may sometimes happen that obscurities arise, owing to the fact that the denominational members are selected by selecting dogs which are p0- sitioned according to the columns on the carriage, with the result that two dogs may be efl'ective, each selecting a different denominational member for the same totalizer,

thus causing two digits to be set up for'that.

totalizer at each depression of a numeral key in a single zone. Under such a combination of circumstances two digits might be carried into the totalizer at the operation of the'general o erator, with the result that the totalizenwou (1 show a different number from the one represented by the digits printed through theactuation of the numeral keys.

It has in the ast been found possible to eliminate such uplex setting .up of digits by various kinds of connections, some including devices for disconnecting the connections between the carriage and the denominational members; such disconnection having been s metimes effected by moving carriage happens to stand in a computing zone, to restore the connections to make them effective throughout the totalizer aftcr some have been made ineffective.

I' have found it possible to avoid this and other difficulties by providing that the so lecting dog, which is normally effective, at the moment of depression of a typewriter hey, on denominational members such as the acksof the Underwood-Hanson machine, above referred to, may be in such position relative to any silenced member that at such a moment it is ineffective thereon. This resultmay be conveniently accomplished in the Underwood-Hanson machine by shifting the jacks longitudinally on the shaft about which they are normally rocked one at a time at the moment of position that, instead of ing depressed at the moment of printing, they are depressed only at the idle stroke of the key in the space the carriage of the typewriter moves through. When this form of the invention is used, thejacks'may be pivotally attached to the usual rods which extend therefrom to the transposing mechanism, through which they are connected to the usual denominational members. One advantage of this form of my invention arises from the fact that it may easily be modified to enable either any number or all of the jacks to be inefl'ective for computation purposes.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear. I In theaccompanying drawings,

rinting to such a Figure 1 is a sectionalside view, largely diagrammatic, of an Underwood-Hanson com bined Jtypewriting and computing machine, showing my invention as applied thereto.

; Fig. 2 is a perspective detail on handle for silencing the acks.

- Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the jacks,

showing certain of them silenced for comuting 1n closely adpcent columns.

Fig. 4 is a front view, partly sectional, of the parts seen in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the parts seen in Fig. 3, showing part of the cover of the housing of the jacks.

Fig. 6 is a sectional side view of the parts seen in Fig. 2.

One of the objects sought to be obtained in the construction of the usual Underwood- Hanson combined typewriting and computing machine is to avoid delicacy of structure or operation of the computing mechanism. The principal moving parts of the computing mechanism are mounted on a firm and solid frame and are entirely distinct from the typewriter carriage, thus enabling them to be made as substantial as may be desired, without interfering with the free travel of the typewriter carriage or with the proper operation of the parts associated therewith. To obtain such results, the usual Under wood typewriter numeral keys 10 and alphahot keys 11 are adapted to cause the usual type-bars 12 to print by the types 13 against the front side of the platen 14 which is mounted in a carriage 15. To effect this, the key levers 10 and usual manner to the type-bars 12 sub-levers 16.

The typewriter carriage normally tends to by the travel to the left, being under the tension of. and is adapted to be letter-fed, a step at a time, by the a spring barrel (not shown),

alternate action of loose and fixed dogs 17, which are efiective on an escapement wheel 18 connected to a pinion 19 meshing with a rack 20 connected to the typewriter carriagc,the dogs being actuated by heels 21 on the type-bars 12, which are adapted to strike against the universal bar 22 and ther by vibrate the dogs 17.

To effect computations, there is usually provided a set of nine or sometimes more numeral computing wheels 23, each of which is adapted to be actuated by its own denominational member 24, after the setting of the appropriate pin 25 on said member. To effect this setting, the pins 25, which are normally out of range of key-operated setting bars 26, are moved, one at a time, into the range of said setting bars through the usual transposition mechanism 27, in which there is one transposition member between each denominational member 24 and each of nine bell-cranks 28, viz., the number of numeral wheels. To actuate these bell-cranks, the typewriter carriage is provided with a frame 29 on which are settable, at letterspace intervals, a plurality of dogs 30, in the form of pivoted one-way cams 31, which are adapted in the leftward travel of the type Writer carriage to ride and raise aem'atim a series of jacks 32 pivoted intermediate their ends on a fixed shaft 33 and adapted at their rear ends to depress each its own rod 11 are connected in the 34, each rod 34 normally pivoted to and resting in the rear end 35 of its own bell-crank 28. The shaft 33 is mounted in a solid fixed frame 36, which is provided with a cover 37 in the rear end of which, for simplicity of showing in the present disclosure, the jacks 32 are each connected to their rods 34 by pivots 38. The connections are therefore such that the jacks 32 may be regarded as denominational members themselves.

In addition to the jacks 32 which lift the computation members 24, there are intermediate identical jacks 39, which'are adapted to actuate the usual Underwood-Hanson comma-lock device 40, which is disclosed in the patent to Frederick A. Hart, No. 1,188,933, patented June 27, 1916.

In order to actuate the pin-depressing or setting bars 26, each numeral key is rovided'with a pendent 41, which is adapted to strike a wrist 42 forming part of the end of a shaft 43, which is connected to a linkage 44 of which the pin-setting bar 26 forms one member, the connections being such that each pendent 41 actuates only its own wrist- 42 and its own pin-setting bar 26. In addition to the pendent 41, each numeral key has attached thereto an extension '45 of the pendent which forms part of the comma-lock mechanism described above.

When a series of digits have been set up by the depression of a series of pins 25., so that the entire number represented by the digits written is set up, the number represented thereby is carried into the numeral wheels 23 by the usual general operator 46, which may be actuated either manually or by power, as in the commercial machine, to drive the denominational members 24 by the de ressed pins 25.

0st of the parts so far as described up to this point are very similar to those in the patent referred to and in many commercial machines.

In order to apply my invention to such a machine, I find it most convenient to provide that the shaft 33 shall permit some or all of the jacks 32 to be slidable therealong, so that for normal computing purposes the jacks may be in position to cooperate with the selecting dogs while the carriage is at rest atthe moment of rinting; but when shifted axially along said shaft, preferably to an extent less than a letter-space travel of the carriage, they may stand in. position where the selecting dogs are ineffective on them at the moment of printing. To effect this shifting, there may be provided a handle 47 in the form of a bell-crank 48 of which one arm comprises a cam 49, said cam adapted to be moved downwardly between the jacks by the actuation of the handle, thereby camming all the jacks to the right of it to their respective ineffective points. This handle may be journaled on a transverse shaft 50 adjacent the jacks, but advantageously above them. The shaft on which the handle is adapted to slide may be beneath the cover 37 which usually covers the 5 framework in which the jacksare mounted, so that th ehandle is slidable axially of that shaft and projects through a slot 52 in the cover above the shaft. This permits the cam to be shifted along the shaft by its handle to any desired jack on which it is desired the cam should be effective. y

In order to hold the jacks in their normal positions, in which they are effective to compute, the shaft on which the jacks are mounted maybe encircled by a strong spring 53 bearing against the end 5401? the casing 36, and the cam may shift the jacks to the right against the pressure of its spring. In order to enable the cam on the handle to operate more easily, the elongated hubs 55, on which the jacks are mounted to prevent them from wabbling, may be provided with cams 56 at their upper edges adapted to cooperate with the cam on the handle.

If the mechanism is desired to be so formed that all the jacks may be silenced, to enable all of the computing mechanism to be rendered ineffective, each of the "computing jacks may be provided with a cam 56 on its hub 55 to enable the jack to be shifted to its ineffective position. In order to hold the jacks against being shifted too far'to the left by the spring, the shaft, onwhich they are mounted, may be provided with a fixed collar 57 against which the hub .of the jack for the units of cents wheel bears, thus en-- ablin the cam 49 to shift the units jack to the right by entering between said jack and the collar which serves as an abutment.

As will be seen from Fig. 4, wherein the cam 31 of the left-hand denominational dog 30 is lifting the third jack from the left, for computation purposes, the righthand dog 30 is between two jacks, and is therefore ineffective to cause computation. It is thus ineffective because in said figure the cam 49 has been swung down between the hundreds jack and the comma-lockjack adjacent thereto, as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, shifting all the jacks to thev'right. of the hundreds jack to their ineffective positions, viz, approximately the distance of one-half of a letter-space. To accomplish this shifting of half a letter-space, the plate of which the cam forms a art is advantageously 1/20 of an inch t ick in an ordinary machine, because in ordinary machines 1/10 of an inch represents one ful letter-space.

In order to assist the o e'rative in positioning the handle for shifting the jacks,

the upper cover of the casing may have slots 58 cut into it, which have their outer ends slightly beveled so that they are 66 adapted to properly center thehandle, so

that the cam 49 will always strike the cam 56 on the jack at the most effective point.

When all the jacks are to be silenced, the cam may be positioned in a slot 59 adapted to center the cam, so that it will shift the units-of-cents jack one-half letter-space to the right, carrying with it all the jacks higher in denomination, thus making all the jacks ineffective. There are similar slots for each of the jacks which act as denominational members for the computing mechanism. It will be observed, however, that there is no slot provided for shifting the units-of-dollars jack or. the thousands-of-dollars jack, this being so because it is usually desirable to silence the comma-locking jack, lying adjacentto each of those jacks at the left, if the jacks themselves are silenced. For this reason the slots permit the silencing of the decimalpoint jack between dimes and dollars, and the pointing-off jack between the hundreds of dollars and the thousands of dollars, but

do not permit the silencing of the units-ofdollars jack and the thousands-of-d'ollars jack, individually.

Since in the usual Underwood-Hanson machine there is no jack at the point-off place between the hundreds of thousands and millions, the millions jack is made with ahub extending a double distance toward the hundreds-of-thousands jack, so that the silencing'of the millions jack is effected by the slot60 adjacent the hundreds-of-thouhold it with the cam 49 in its lower position.

From the above description, it'will be seen that my invention may be applied to existing machineswith very'little change, and that itwill' have substantially no effect in weakening their structure. The handle 47 may be operated, irrespective of the position of the carriage or of any other part of the mechanism, without any possibility of injuring" any other part of the mechanism. The handle 47 also serves as an indicator to the operative of how the computing mechanism.is effective, and, for con-. venience, the cover 37 (may be provided with scale numerals '63 opposite the various slots 58, 59 and 60, to enable the operative to read 'ofithe position of the handle,

-to indicate the highest denomination of the numeral computing wheels in use.

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:

1. In a machine of the class described,-

the combination with a series of jacks, of a shaft on which they are slidably journaled, a traveling denomination-selector adapted to select said jacks semrtim "to effect computations, and a device for shifting a pre determined number of jacks to position where the denomination-selector will be ineffective thereon to effect computations.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a series of jacks, of a shaft on which they are slidably journaled, a spring normally pressing said jacks toward one end of the shaft, a traveling denominational-selector adapted to select said jacks seriotim to e'li'ect computations, and: a device for shifting a predetermined number of jacks to position where the denomination-selector will be inefi'eictive thereon to effect computations.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a fixed shaft, of a plurality of denominational members journaled on said shaft, an elongated hub for each member, and means for engaging said hubs to slide said members along said shaft.

4. In a machine of "the class described, the combination with a fixed shaft, of a plurality of denominational members journaled on said shaft, an elongated hub for each member, a cam on each hub, and a cam slidably mounted adjacent said hubs and. adapted to be swung down in contact therewith to cam them along the shaft.

5. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with com puting wheels and a traveling carriage, of denominational members, one for each computing Wheel, a denominationselector adapted to be effective on said members, letter-feedin devices for said carriage adapted to arrest the denomination-selector at a position to select the denominational members, and means for moving a predetermined number of members along the travel of the carriage to position where the letter-feeding devices will not arrest the carriage at a position to hold the selector effective thereon.

" 6. In a combined type/writing and computing machine the combination with computing wheels and a traveling carriage, of denominational members, one for each computing wheel, a denomination-selector adapted to be efiective on'said-members, letterfeeding devices for said carriage adapted to arrest the denomination-selector at a position to select the denominational members, a

fixed shaft on which said denominational members are journaled, a spring normally holding said members toward one end of said shaft, and a cam slidably mounted adjacent said shaft and adapted to be inserted between said members, to. move a predetermined number of members along the travel of the carriage to positions where the letter-feeding devices will not arrest the carriage at a position to hold the selector effective thereon.

7. In a combined typewriting and computing vmachine, the combination with a traveling carriage and denominational members, of letter-feeding devices for said carriage adapted to hold it arrested at the moment of printing, a denomination-selector adapted to be effective on said members at the moment of printing, a shaft on which said denominational members are journaled, and means for moving said members along said shaft to a position intermediate the points where the carriage is arrested by the letter-feeding devices, so that the denomination-selector will be ineii'ective thereon at the moment of printing.

8. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and denominational members, of letter-feeding devices for said carriage adapted to hold it arrested at the moment of printing, a denomination-selector adapted to be eiiective on said members at the moment of printing, a shaft on which said denominational members are journaled, a cam on each denominational member, a camming device adapted to be variably positioned along said members, and'a handle for making said camming device effective and ineffective, the connections being such that when the coming device is efi'ectiveit moves all the denominational members higher in denomination than the one it is effective on to ineffective position.

9. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and denominational members, of printing numeral keys, a selecting dog adapted to be effective on said denominational members serz'atim at the moment of printing letter-feeding devices by which the carriage is fed along at the operation of said keys, for holding it arrested at the moment of printing, and means for shifting certain of said denominational members along the travel of the carriage, so that they lie intermediate the points at which the. dog will be effective on the denominational members.

10. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage, of denominational members, a dog adapted to be effective seriatim on said members at regular intervals in the travel of said carriage, =1 shaft on which said denominational members are journaled, means for moving said members along said shaft to points intermediate the points at which the dog would be effective thereon, a handle for operating said means, a coverplate for said denominational members, and

slots in said cover-plate adapted to hold said handle in position for causing it to be effecgieye on any one of said denominational mem- I'S. v

11. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage, of denominational members, a dog adapted to be effective scm'atim on said members at regular intervals in the travel of said carriage, a shaft on which said denominational members are journa-led, means for moving said members along said shaft to points intermediate the oints at which the dog would be effective t ereon,'a handle for operating said means, a coverplate for said denominational members, slots in said cover-plate adapted to hold said handle in position for causing it to be effective on any one of said denominational members, a collar on said shaft forming an abutment for the units denominational member,

and a spring tending to hold all the remaining denominational members in their computing positions by pressing them tandem fashion against said collar.

12. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage, of denominational mem bers, a dog adapted to be effective seriatim on said members at regular intervals in the travel of said carriage a shaft on which said denominational members are journaled, means for moving said members along said shaft to points intermediate the points at which the dog would be effective thereon, a handle for operating said means, a coverplate for said denominational members, slots in said cover-plate adapted to hold said handle in position for causing it to be effective on any one of said denominational members, a collar on said shaft forming an abutment for the units denominational memher, a spring tending to hold all the remaining denominational members in their computing positions by pressing them tandem fashion against said collar, a cam for each denominational member, and a cam connected to said handle to be operated thereby, tforn'iing the means by which said denominational members are shifted axially along said shaft- I 13. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a series of denomi;

national members relatively to which the carriage travels, of a denomination-selector for making said members effective seriat'im,

letter-feeding devices for said carriage for holding the carriage arrested at the moment of con'iputing, so that the denominational members are made effective at that moment, said denominational, members normallybespace apart. and means riage a fraction of a letter-space, to hold them out of cooperating positionwith said selector while the carriage is held arrested. 14. In a combined typewriting and com puting machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and a series of denominational members relatively to which the carriage travels, of, a denomination-selector for makin said members effective aeriatim, letter-feeding devices for said carriage for holding the carriage arrested at the moment of'computing, so that the denominational members are made effective at'that moment, said denominational members normally being spaced a letter-space apart, a shaft on which said members are journaled, a collar holding the end one of said members against moving on said shaft, a spring pressing against the extreme member at the other end of the series for holding the members tandem fashion against said collar, a cam on each member, and a manually-oper able cam ,shiftable along said members adapted to selectively cooperate with any one of the first-named cams, to move any member axially along said shaft to ineffective position.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a plurality of denominational members, of a selector adapted to be effective on said members, a carriage, a step-by-step feeding device for said carriage adapted to hold said carriage arrested while said selector is effective on a denominational member, and means for shifting any number of said members longitudinally of the travel of said carriage, beginning with the left-hand member, to such a point that the selector is ineffective thereon when. the carriage is held arrested by the step-by-step feedin device. I

16. n a machine of the class described, the combination with a plurality of denomi national members, of a selector adapted to be effective on said members, a carriage, a step-bystep feeding device for said carriage adapted to hold said carriage arrested while said selector is effective on a denominational member, means for shifting any number of said members longitudinally of the travel ii" of said carriage, beginning with the left hand member, to such a point that the selector is ineffective thereon when the carriage is held arrested by the step-by-step feeding device, and locking devices interposed between certain of said denominational members and adapted to be made effective at points determined by said step-by-step feeding device, said locking devices slidable in the same manner as the denominational members and adapted to be made ineffective when moved similarly to a denominational member.

17. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a plurality of denominational members and alocking device lying between two of said denominational members, of a traveling carriage, adenomination-selector adapted to cooperate with-said members and also said locking device, a step-by-step feeding device for said carriage adapted to hold said selector at rest, so as to cooperate with said members and said locking device for the purpose of efiecting for each jack connected to its computation member, the connections being such that the jack is always effective on its rod, a letterfeeding device for said carriage adapted to hold said selector at rest at the moment of effecting computations, a shaft on which said jacks are journaled, and means for moving a plurality of said jacks along said shaft, so that the selector will be inefi'ective thereon at the moment when computations might be efi'ected.

19. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with computation members and a traveling carriage, of a selector on said carriage, jacks on which said selector is adapted to be effective, a rod for each jack connected to itscomputation member, the connections being such that the jack is always efi ective on its rod, a letterteeding device for said carriage adapted to hold said selector at rest at the moment of effecting computations, a shaft on which said jacks are journaled, a cam on each jack, and a finger-piece adapted to be inserted between each cam and its adjoiningjack, to move a plurality of jacks to a point where the denomination-selector will be ineffective thereon at the time when computations might be effected.

20. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with com-.

putation members and a traveling carriage, of a selector on said carria e, jacks on which said selector is adapted to e efiective, a rod foreach jack connected to its computation member, the connections being such that the jack is always eifective on its rod, a letterfeeding device for said carriage adapted to hold said selector at rest at the moment of efi'ecting computations, a shaft on which said jacks are journa1ed,'a cam on each jack, a finger-piece adapted to be inserted between each cam and its adjoining jack, to move a plurality of jacks to a point where the denomination-selector will be ineffective thereon at the time when computations might be effected, a shaft on which said finger-piece is slidable, and a cam on said finger-piece by which it engages the cams on the jacks to move them.

21. In a combined typewriting and computing machine, the combination with a traveling carriage and denominational members, of letter-feeding devices for said carriage adapted to hold it arrested at the moment of printing, said member spaced at letter-space intervals except at a pointingoif place where a member is lacking, a denomination-selector adapted to be efiective on said members at the moment of printing, a shaft on which said members are journaled, and means for moving said members along said shaft to a position intermediate the points where the carriage is arrested by the letter-feeding devices, so that the denomination-selector will be ineffective thereon at the moment of printing.

ARTHUR A. JOHNSON.

\Vitnesses:

CATHERINE A. Newma EDITH B. LIBBEY.

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