US1802787A - Typewriting machine - Google Patents

Description

April 1931. J. A. B. SMITH 1,802,787

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Se t 7. 1928 I NVENTORZ ATTORNEY;

Patented Apr. 28, 1931 eave;

A, B. SMITH, O1? STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT, FISHER CQMPANY, F NEVJ YORK, N. Y., A

ASSIGNOR, TO UNDERWOOD ELLIOTT CORFGRATION OF DELAWARE TYPEWRITING- MACHINE Application filed September 7, 1928. Serial 110.304,?(8.

This invention relates to clip-s for holding labels and other small work-pieces in typing position on a platen, especially a platen of small diameter, such as is used in portable 5 typewriting machines.

It is an object of the invention to facilitate the insertion of the work-piece and the gaging thereof, and to improve the means for holding the work-piece fast against the plat- 1 en, and to provide for convenient typing close to all the edges of the work-piece.

In the preferred form of the invention the sheet-metal shell-like card-holder is selfolasping upon the cylindrical body of the platen. For this purpose the card-holder may have a spring-body which extends a little more than half way around the platen to give it the self-clasping effect, althoughcertain features of the invention are not limited to 20 this type of body.

By means of a series of inverted U-shaped incisions, adjacent one longitudinal edge portion of the shell, there are provided a series of tongues enclosed by the shell for clasping the platen, and a work-clip which is formed along one entire longitudinal edge of the device. The work-clip is supported upon bars which extend from the clip to the body of the device, said bars alternating with said tongues. Said work-clip is offset or spaced a little away from the platen, while the tongues tightly clasp the platen.

After the device is placed in position upon the platen, the bottom edge of the work is inserted downwardly between the clip and the platen, and rests upon the tips of said tongues, which thus form a bottom gage for the work. The tongue-tips are provided with indentations or short raised ribs, to give depth and improve the eificiency of the gages. The platen is then rolled backwardly, together with the card-holder and the card or label, and the bottom rolls which usually run upon the and will press upon said bars, thereby causing the clip to clasp the label firmly against the platen. To aidin this rolling operation, the bars are formed with longitudinal ribs, which project above the body of the device, so as to be engaged by said bottom rollers. The

platen will now run upon the card-holder.

clip is held with exceptional firmness to the platen, the grip thereon not being dependent upon the rigidity of thewea-k body of the card-holder, so that the label is held much more firmly than has been practicable here-Is tofore, and the work is more accurately gaged upon the platen. V

One-piece label-holding devices are usually effective because of the resiliency of their spring-tempered bodies. Such devices are not suitable to withstand severe usage or abuse, since their thin bodies can be easily bent so as to destroy the accurately-gaged tension requi red for properly gripping the work-pieces. Also, such devices require the use of both'fi hands of the operator in using them, since the resilient holder must be held released with one hand while the workpiece is inserted with the other hand, and this usually slows down the speed of the operator.

The work-pieces may be readily inserted with one hand between the platen and the label-holder when the latter is in work-receiving position, and be clamped automatically upon bringing the work-piece to typing posi-. tion.

The body-portion and integral forwardlyextending fingers are made from a single piece of spring-tempered sheet-metal, and are curved to clasp the platen closely. V The label-gripping memberis disposed in advance from the fingers and is carried by members which extend rearwardly between the fingers, and are integrally and flexibly joinedtothe bodysportion. The label-grip- -8 ping member, when in a work-receiving position, is normally disposed far enough away from the platen to permit a work-piece to be readily front-inserted therebetween. Then the platen is rotated rearwardly to bring the 99 label to typing position, and the label-gripper carrying members are engaged by the lower feed-rolls and the label-gripping member is pressed firmly against the label. When the label is typed, the platen is rotated ahead 35 to bring the label-holder to label-receiving position, and the typed label is automaticaL ly released by the gripping member and may be conveniently removed.

The-integral, lengthwise, radially-project ing ribs in the movable members which carry the label-gripping member secure an effective coaction of the lower feed-rolls and the labelholder, and also make the movable members transmit more of the pressure of the feedrolls to the label-gripping member.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, front to rear, through the platen-carriage of an Underwood portable typewriting machine having my invention applied thereto. In this view the label-holder is shown in work-receiving position.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, the label-holder being shown in effective labelholding position, and the label being shown in typing position.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an end view from the left side,

of the label-holder of my invention.

Figure 5 is a view illustrating how my label-holder may be easily removed from the platen.

Thev present invention is illustrated as applied to an Underwood portable typewriting machine in which types strike against a platen 11 supported in a laterally-movable platen-carriage 12 which carries a usual linefinder scale 13. For inserting work-sheets from the rear around the platen, a usual rear paper-table 14 is provided which terminates in a flexible front apron 15 on whose forward extremity may be supported a usual paperscale 16 whose upper edge is disposed a short distance from the surface of the platen.

Lower feed-rolls 17 may be carried as usual by the apron 15, and springs 18, supported on the platen-carriage 12, are employed in a well-known way to press upwardly against the apron, and are effective to hold the feedrolls 17 firmly against the platen.

A label-holder, generally designated as 20,

*is made of thin spring-tempered sheet-metal, and 1s provided'with a curved rear bodyportion 21 and integral fingers 22 which extend forwardly from the body 21 and are spaced away from each other fora purpose to presently appear. The peripheral distance from the rear edge of the body 21 to the forward end of a finger 22 is slightly more than one-half of the periphery of the platen 11. The curve of the body 21 and fingers 22 is made slightly smaller in radius than the curve of the platen, and the holder maybe easily opened or spread to engage around the platen, and will clasp the same securely.

Positioned slightly in advance of the front end of the fingers 22 is a laterally-disposed label-gripper member 23 which is carried on the forward ends of narrow webs or bars 24, hereinafter called label-gripper carriers,

which are integrally oined to the member 23 and which extend rearwardly to be integrally and flexibly joined to the body 21. One label-gripper carrier is disposed between each two adjacent fingers 22, the latter being spaced away from each other slightly more than the width of the carrier. A carrier 24 I may also be disposed at each side of the row fingers 22, terminate substantially in line with the ribs 25. This construction, while stiffening the label-gripper carriers 24, will also permit the carriers to be readily swung about their flexible junctions with the body 21;

When detached from the platen (Figure 4), the label-gripper 23 and the carriers 24 are disposed outwardly, i. e. in advance of the fingers 22, ashort distance. Also,when the holder 20 is in work-receiving position, clasping the platen (Figure'2), the inner face of the label-gripper 2 3 is disposed a short distance in front of the surface of the platen parallel thereto, whereby a label may be readily inserted between the platen and the gripper. To facilitate insertingthe label, an upper or leading edge 31 of the label-gripper may be beveled away from theplaten- For aligning the label 30, short outwardly-projecting beads 32 are formed in the end of each finger 22 for engaging the lower edge of the label. In Figure 1 position the front extremity of each bead 32 extends forwardly beyond the inner face of the label-gripper 23 and serves to prevent the label from slipping down betweenethe gripper 23 and the fingers 22, which would often'occur if the beads were not provided.

A side-edge gage for laterally positioning each of a series of labels 30 may be provided by moving a usual left-hand upper feed-roll 33 along a lateral shaft 34 to proper position relative to the labelholder, the shaft being supported in the usual manner for carrying the feed-roll.

After inserting and gaging a label 30, when the platen is in work-receiving position as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, the platen may be reversely rotated by a usual finger-wheel,

not shown, until the first line of writing, is

brought to the printing line, which may be determined by the line-finder scale 13. A usual curved work-guide finger 36 on the linefinder scale presses the label 30 against the platen at the printing point. lVhen the label is in typing position, the lower portions of the rib 25 are engaged by the lower feedof said machine,

rolls 17, the stifi" label-gripper carriers 24 are swung toward the platen, and the labelgripper 23 is pressed firmly against the label. It will be noted that the lengths of the label- 5 gripper carriers 24 and the rib 25 are such that the rear ends of the ribs pass under the feed-rolls 17 before the bottom-edge portion of the label 30 is disposed at the printing line.

When a label 30 has been typed, the platen may be rotated ahead to bring it to workreceiving position, whereupon the feed-rolls will ride off the ribs 25, and the label-gripper will automatically be swung forward by spring-tension and will release the label 30, which may be quickly and safely removed without danger of tearing.

According to one method of detaching the label-holder, the platen, after being moved to its leftmost position, is rotated backwardly, as indicated by arrow (see Figure 5), until the bottom edge of the body 21 engages the upper or ge of the movable front scale, which, by the operators finger, is pressed against the platen. A slight additional turn given to the platen 11 will cause the holder to smoothly slip off the platen without excessive manual force being applied, the yielding fingers 22 not ofi'ering excessive resistance.

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. The combination with a typewriting machine platen, of a label-holder including a sheet-like resilient body curved for engagement around said platen, a label-gripper member disposed in advance of said body, and carrier-members integrally joined to said label-gripper member and to said body, said gripper-member being normally spaced in work-receiving position slightly away from said platen, said carrier members being arranged for engagement by a resilient element whereby to press said gripper-member firmly against said platen.

2. Ina typewriting machine having a platen and lower feed-rolls, a holder for a work-piece arranged for attachment to or detachment from said platen and having a body curved to yieldingly clasp the same without exterior means, and provided with an integral movable part arranged forengagement with said lower feed-rolls to be 0 pressed thereby against said platen for gripping said work-piece.

3. A label-holder for a typewriting machine platen including a flexible sheet-metal body curved to be sprung around said platen, an offset label-gripping member integral with said body, carrier-members integrally joined to said label-gripping member and flexibly joined to said body, tongues sepa- I rated from the gripping member and from the carrier-members by U-shaped piercings in said body,

- part being .ing position, and the rear end of said and stiffening ribs struck up from each carrier-member to project above said body and be compressed during a rotary movement of the platen to bring the labelgripping member against the platen.

4. A label-holder for a typewriting machine platen includinga flexible sheet-metal body curvedto be sprung around said platen, an ofi'set label-gripping member integral with said body, carrier-members integrally oined to said label-gripping member and flexibly joined to said body, tongues separated'from the gripping member and from the carrier-members by U-shaped piercings in said body, and stiffening ribs struck up from each carrier-member to project above said body and be compressed during a rotary movement of the platen to bring the labelgripping member against the platen, each rib beginning at the forward end of its carriermember and extending lengthwise thereof, and terminating adjacent the junction of said member with said flexible body, whereby to stiffen said member throughout its length while leaving it free to be swung about its flexible junction with said body.

5. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen and lower feed-r0lls, of a holder for a work-piece including a platenclasping part, and a work-piecegripping part flexibly connected to said platen-clasping member and disposed forwardly beyond the same, the forward end of said gripping disposed slightly away from said platen when ,said holder is in work-receiv pping part arranged for engagement bysaid feed-rolls for pressing said forward end against said work-piece when said platen is rotated to bring said workpiece to typing position.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen and. platen-fed rollers, of a holder for a work-piece including a platen-clasping body-portion having a row of fingers spaced away from each other and formed to clamp around said platen, a workpiece-gripping part disposed in advance of the forward ends of said fingers, bars intermediate said fingers gripping part, stiffening beads for each bar, each bar extending downwardly to be flexibly integral with said body-portion, said gripping part being resiliently disposed away from said platen for a work-receiving position, and beads integrally formed in the forward ends of said fingers for increasing the thickness of the fingers as stop-means for the leading edge of the work-piece inserted between said gripping part and said platen, said rollers engaging the beads of the bars to depress the gripping part to clamp the work-piece to the platen.

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen and lower feed-rolls,

and integral with said of a holder for a work-piecearranged for attachment to and detachment from said platen, said holder having a body-part curved for clasping said platen, a lateral member forwardly disposed from said bodypart and normally positioned slightly away from said platen, said member being movable toward said platen for gripping a work-piece thereagainst, and members integrally and flexibly joined to said body-part and extending forwardly therefrom for carrying said work-gripping member, said carrying members being arranged to be pressed toward said platen by said lower teed-rolls for bringing said movable member into engagement with said work-piece when the latter is in typing position.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a platen and lower feed-rolls, of a holder for a work-piece arranged for attachment to and detachment from said platen, said holder having a part curved for grasping said platen and a part made effective by the pressure of said feed-rolls for gripping said work-piece against said platen.

9. In a typewritmg machine, the combination with a platen and lower feed-rolls, of a holder for a work-piece arranged for attachment to and detachment from said platen, said holder having a part curved for clasping said platen and a part whose upper portion is arranged for gripping a workpiece against said platen and' whose lower portion is arranged for engagement with said feed-rolls so as to make the pressure of said feed-rolls effective for pressing said upper portion against said platen.

' J .JSSE A. B. SMITH.

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