US3045797A - Typewriter improvement - Google Patents

Description

July 24, 1962 v. w. WEAVER TYPEWRITER IMPROVEMENT Filed NOV. 28, 1960 This shows a normal line of typing in IBM Boldface Number 1.

This is doubleboldface with the special attachment.

A MORE EXAGGERATED VERSION INVENTOR Vance W. Weaver M M ATTORNEY 3,045,797 Patented July 24, 1962 3,045,797 TYPEWRITER IMPROVEMENT Vance W. Weaver, New York, N.Y., assignor to Vance Weaver Composition, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 72,159 15 Claims. (Cl. 197-81) This invention relates in general to typewriters and more particularly to a device for altering the position of the type basket in both the normal and the shift positions.

The invention has for an object the provision of means whereby bold-faced characters may be simply and easily typed on standard manual or electric typewriters.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a purely mechanical device which will enable a typist with only ordinary typing skills to produce uniform bold face typing simply and easily.

The invention has for a further object the provision of means whereby typed characters can be removed vertically from the normal alignment by a small fraction of an inch, so that a character struck twice, once with normal alignment and once with slightly vertically removed alignment, will produce a bold-faced character.

Other objects of this invention will become clear to those skilled in the art, in the course of the following specification.

The utility of the ordinary typewriter has been hampered, from its inception, by the availability of only one type face in lower and upper case characters. While this has not been a serious defect in ordinary business usage of the machine, this limitation has been more noticeable in specialized applications. In particular, the use of a typewriter in printing composition applications, called cold-type composition and normally associated with photo-offset printing, has suffered from the lack of multiple-type-face machines. A large number of devices has been developed, however, to increase the flexibility of a typewriter in this application. Typewriters have been developed with more-or-less readily interchangeable type faces, machines have been developed which can justify a typewritten line, special ribbons for use in composition work are available, and so forth. The main problem with present multi-type machines, line justification and similar devices is that they are all uncommonly expensive, and require a high degree of skill on the part of the operator. As a result of their expense, they can only be economically employed on copy which makes full use of their advantagescopy which requires multiple and intricate changes of type face on each and every page. This has no effect on the vast majority of cold-type composition work, which is straight copy, broken up only by occasional bold-faced head-s or sub-heads. The desirability of an otherwise standard typewriter which could type both a body type and a bold-faced type has long been recognized. Such desirability is obvious when it is considered that without such a machine, it is necessary to leave an exact amount of space for each head and subhead in the typed copy, type these on a machine equipped with the appropriate type face, and thereafter strip them into the original copy.

Two methods have been previously devised for circumventing this ungainly procedure, one involving a high degree of skill on the part of the operator and generally producing unsatisfactory results, and the other involving a complex and expensive mechanical system, the results of which are also unsatisfactory for quality oifset printmg.

The first method is an outgrowth of the common fact that if a letter is struck-over once or twice, it will appear darker in the typed copy, albeit not with anywhere near the characteristic heaviness of conventional bold-faced type. Skillful compositiors, however, conceived that if the copy were rotated slightly on the platen of the typewriter before striking over, all non-vertical lines in a character would be thickened by the amount of rotation, thus more nearly approximating a bold-face character. While this method can produce an entirely satisfactory bold-face character if perfectly and uniformly done, in practice it is rarely so. This is due to the fact that the platen must be revolved an exact distance each time, and this adjustment depends entirely upon the skill of the operator. Variations result in both uneven weight to the resulting typed characters and poor alignment of the typed line. This is especially noticeable, for example, when several lines are to be bold-faced, as the degree of adjustment of the platen, which must be disconnected from its normal positioning mechanism, tends to lessen by a minute amount with the typing of each character, resulting in the gradual lessening of boldness which is very noticeable when the line is looked at as a whole. The careful adjustment necessary and the frequent unsatisfactory results which necessitate retyping of a line combine to make this operation so time-consuming as to amount to a substantial portion of the total expense of typing what is generally regarded as easy copy.

The second method, recently put into commercial production, is the provision in the typewriter of a cloth ribbon in addition to the carbon paper ribbon normally used for body type. When bold-faced typing is desired, an adjustment is made which interposes the cloth ribbon between the paper ribbon and the type striker bar as the imprint is made. This produces a substantially heavier, if less sharply defined, image than is produced by the paper ribbon alone. This system has two disadvantages, the first being the obvious expense of a multiple-ribbon machine, with the attendant elaborate mechanical system for its interposition in the typing position when bold-faced typing is desired. The second disadvantage is that any soft ribbon of this type is bound to produce a softer imagethat is, one which is less clear than normal body type, which has a certain degree of fuzziness, and which shows a marked tendency to smudge. If the first of these disadvantages can be overlooked, the second will be of relatively minor importance for general ofiice usage such as the typing of reports and similar documents where bold face is desirable, but the clarity of typed photo copy is of prime importance in all cold type composition work, and in this application such a defect will prove fatal, unless the quality of the printing is of essentially no concern.

The improvement comprising my present invention is grounded in the recognition of the following facts: (a) The hand-adjustment method of strike-over typing, described heretofore, produces an entirely satisfactory bold-faced character if done correctly; (b) a mechanical device which would substitute an automatic adjustment for the erratic hand adjustment of the platen would overcome this defect but would be both complicated and expensive. I have discovered, however, that the type basket, which must be movable to provide for the shift from lower case to capital letters, may be readily adapted to provide the same adjustment in an extremely simple manner.

Briefly, one embodiment of my invention comprises an arm or knob which is afiixed to the shift-stop screw controlling the height of the type basket relative to the platen of the machine. This arm, when connected through appropriate mechanical linkage, enables the operator of the machine to rotate the screw through an angle of the proper number of degrees, relative to the pitch of the screw, to

effect an upward displacement of the basket. Where two adjustment screws control the height of the type basket relative to the platen, the adjustment must be performed simultaneously on both screws, but again, through appropriate mechanical linkage this can be performed by the operator with a single lever conveniently located adjacent to the keyboard of the machine. When this displacement of the type basket has been accomplishedit generally amounts to approximately one hundredth of an inchthe operator can then retype the identical material over the original typed characters and produce bold-faced characters in which every non-vertical line of the characters involved is thickened by the amount of vertical displacement. The adjustment involved is entirely mechanical and in no way depends on the skill of the operator, thereby insuring uniformity of the bold-faced characters. Thus, operators having only normal typing skills may be employed, a given piece of copy will be entirely uniform whether one or several operators have worked on it, and whether one or several different machines have been used. In addition to the typing of straight copy with bold-faced heads and sub-heads, a typewriter employing my invention will find application in the typing of mathematical symbols which are often bold-faced, and the vertical displacement would be useful in the typing of super-superscripts and sub-subscripts, now common in technical literature, as well as double-underlines used in accounting practice.

It is fully realized that all typewriters are designed so that the type dies, both lower case and capitals, conform to the curved surface of the copy paper as it is stretched over the cylindrical platen at the point of impact, and that displacement of the type basket in the aforementioned manner tends to impair this alignment. However, it has been found that with the magnitude of the adjustment presently involved, approximately one hundredth of an inch, that this mis-alignment of type face to platen is negligible and can be disregarded.

It is believed that a more complete understanding will be had by the following detailed explanation of a single embodiment of my invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in which FIG. 1 is a simplified sectional side view of a typewriter, showing the relation of various parts of concern to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the shift-stop screw as modified in accordance with one embodiment of my invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the lever arrangement which may be used to actuate the invention;

FIG. 4 is a different embodiment of my invention, involving a modified shift-stop plate; and

FIG. 5 is a graphic example of the typographic variations capable of being produced by my invention, and comprises a normal typed line, a double bold face line, and a more exaggerated double bold face line.

FIGURES 2, 3, and 4 show, in simplified form, the mechanism of the typewriter which was used to type the sample lines shown in FIGURE 5. It is to be specifically understood, however, that this represents only two embodiments of my invention as applied to one particular typewriter, and this is in no sense to limit the scope of my invention to other embodiments on other typewriters, or to limit the scope of the appended claims to such other embodiments.

With reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, the normal operation of the typewriter may be described as follows: the platen 1 is rotatably mounted on the typewriter frame 2, to which the shift-stop plate 6 is rigidly attached. The type basket, comprising the type bars 4 (only one shown) with type dies for lower case 11 and upper case 12 characters is pivotally mounted 5 to the type carrier 3, which is usually a machined casting. The type basket is mounted independently of the typewriter frame 2 and is vertically movable from the normal position to the shift position by depression of the shift key (not shown). The limits of vertical travel of the type carrier in going from the normal to the shift position, and vice versa are determined by the shift-stop screw 8, which is threadedly engaged with the type carrier 3, and secured with a lock nut 14. Shift-stop screw 8 passes freely through a hole 7 in the shift-stop plate 6, and is equipped with an upper shift-stop contact 9 and a lower shift-stop contact 10. Thus, the type carrier 3 is caused to move vertically between the limits set by the shift- stop contacts 9 and 10 with plate 6, contact with the upper shift-stop contact 9 positioning the type bar 4 for typing capital letters, and contact with the lower shift-stop contact 10 positioning the type bar 4 for typing lower case letters. When the appropriate key on the keyboard of the typewriter (not shown) is actuated, type bar 4 pivots at its mounting 5, moving the type die 11 or 12 up to the point of contact 13 on the platen 1. As may be readily seen, the turning of shift-stop screw 8 counterclockwise within the type carrier 3 will have the effect of raising the shift- stop contacts 9 and 10 in relation to the shift-stop plate 6, thus raising the entire type basket with relation to the normal point of contact 13 on the platen 1. For example, on one typewriter it has been found that the pitch of the threads on the shift-stop screw 8 is approximately 0.045 inch, so that revolution of the shift-stop screw of from 60 to is sufficient to vertically offset the type basket and type dies by approximately one-hundredth of an inch, which is sufficient to produce, upon the striking over of a character typed before turning the shift-stop screw, a doublebold face character of the quality shown in the second and third lines of FIGURE 5. The outer limit of displacement is, of course, the point where a double image is produced, that is, where displacement exceeds the thickness of any non-vertical line. The term approximately one hundredth of an inch is understood to just fall short of this limit.

The function of the shift-stop screw in my invention will be more readily understood by referring to FIGURE 2, which shows a detailed view of this piece. As can be readily seen, in going from the normal to the shift position, the type basket, the type carrier 3, and the shiftstop screw 8 attached thereto will travel through the distance e, which is determined by the positions of the upper and lower shift- stop contacts 9 and 10 on the shiftstop screw 8. The lower shift-stop contact 10 is normally attached to the bottom of the shift-stop screw 8 while the upper shift-stop contact is secured to the shift-stop screw 8 at the proper point by means of lock nuts 15. It is to be emphasized that in employing my invention neither the upper or lower shift-stop contacts are moved from their normal positions on the shift-stop screw; that is, the distance e will at all times be the same. This insures that upper and lower case characters will always be in perfect alignment on the typed copy. Rather, this embodiment of my invention is effected by turning the shiftstop screw 8 within its mounting on the type carrier 3, thereby changing the relative position of the shift- stop contacts 9 and 10 to the shift-stop plate 6. This insures that both upper and lower case characters will be offset by the exact same distance, and in the same direction. By choosing to rotate the shift-stop screw 8 in a counterclockwise direction, the operator produces a second typing higher than the first, which will preserve perfect alignment of the bold-faced and lightfaccd characters in the typed line.

In practice, this embodiment of my invention is effected by first removing the lock nut 14 so that the shift-stop screw may rotate freely within its threaded mounting in type carrier 3. A simple embodiment of the invention comprises rigidly attaching a knurled knob to the top of the shift-stop screw by means of a set screw and providing a suitable mark or pointer on the knob and calibrations on an adjacent portion of the typewriter so that it may be turned from the normal setting to the boldface setting. The lock nut should be replaced by a spider or other tensioning device 19 which, while allowing the shift-stop screw to be turned, will prevent accidental turning due to motion of the type basket, vibration, etc.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGURE 3. In this embodiment an arm 17 is rigidly attached to the bottom of the shift-stop screw 8, said arm extending toward the front of the typewriter. At any point along the length of the arm 17 a track 16 is positioned so as to slidably engage the arm. Track 16 is attached in any suitable manner to the type basket so as to move therewith from normal to shift positions. The track 16 has two or more slots 18 which will rigidly hold the arm 17 in two or more calibrated positions. The arm 17 is preferably constructed of beryllium copper, spring steel, or other material which will hold enough tension to snap into the slots 18. One slot is positioned for normal typing, one for boldface typing and, if desired, an intermediate position between the two can be provided. The arm 17 may be extended to the front of the typewriter so as to be convenient to the operator.

A further embodiment of my invention involves modification of the shift-stop plate 6 rather than the shift-stop screw 8, and is illustrated in FIGURE 4. The same end result as described in connection with previous embodiments is here brought about by employing an offset, sliding shift-stop plate 6 which, at different positions, presents surfaces at varying heights to the shift- stop contacts 9 and 10. In this embodiment, the plate 6 is provided with two longitudinal slots, the extremities of which are shown at 21 and 22. The plate is mounted on the typewriter frame 2 by means of a bolt, rivet, or other suitable fastener 23 upon which'suitable tensioning adjustments can be made so that the plate will firmly but slidably engage the typewriter frame. Slot 22 is large enough so that the shift-stop screw 8 may pass freely therethrough, and this portion of the plate is offset on both sides 24 at one or more places (two shown) so that surfaces of varying height are presented to the shiftstop contacts 9 and 10. The forward extremity of the shift-stop plate is connected by a shaft 25 or other suitable connecting means to the front of the typewriter 27, which shaft passes therethrough and terminates in a suitable knob or handle 28. There is enough give in the shaft 25 so that it may readily be drawn through the aperture in the front of the typewriter 27 but will at the same time be secured when at the positions indicated by notches 26. In operation, normal typing is achieved with the mechanism pushed all the way in to the extreme notch, thus presenting the lowest surface to the shift- stop contacts 9 and 10, typing a line such as is shown at the top of FIGURE 5. Pulling the knob out'to the middle notch presents the middle surface to the shift stop contacts, and striking over a line with this arrangement would produce typing resembling the middle line of FIG- URE 5, and pulling the knob all the way out would produce the more exaggerated version shown at the bottom of FIGURE when struck over. A single offset in the shift-stop plate would advantageously be of approximately one hundredth of an inch, thereby producing a strong bold-faced appearance when struck over; with two offsets as shown in FIGURE 4, having the first surface oifset 0.008 in. and the second 0.012 in. will produce the effects shown in FIGURE 5 on a typewriter with a typeface similar to that shown. Naturally, the particular adjustment necessary will vary with the typeface used and with the particular effect desired.

This embodiment of the invention is advantageous in that it involves no modification of the shift-stop screw, and simply involves the replacement of a standard shiftstop plate with the modified version described.

It is to be noted that some typewriters have two shiftstop mechanisms, one being located at either side of the type basket. In this case modifications of the type de scribed must be employed with each mechanism in order to practice the present invention. It is also to be noted that other typewriters have a single shift-stop mechanism located beneath the type basket; in all cases the principle of the invention is the same, the means employed for changing the position of the shift-stop contacts, or their equivalent, or altering the shift-stop plate, or its equivalent, being changed to suit any individual typewriter. Other types of actuating mechanisms will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and might employ such devices as flexible shafts or an electric circuit with a switch on the keyboard.

Having thus described the subject matter of my invention, what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a process for the production of bold-faced typing on a typewriter having a standard type face mounted in a conventional type basket, the improvement comprising typing a character, vertically displacing said type basket by approximately one hundredth of an inch in a regulated manner, and striking over said character with said type basket in said vertically displaced position.

2. In a process for the production of bold-faced typing on a typewriter having a type basket movable to operative regular and shift positions for the typing of lower and upper case characters, respectively, said positions being determined by coaction of stops on a shift stop screw mounted on said type basket with the surfaces of an independently mounted shift-stop plate, the improvement comprising typing a character with said type basket in an operative position, vertically displacing said type basket by approximately one hundredth of an inch in a regulated manner, and striking over said character with said type basket in said vertically displaced position.

3. Process as claimed in claim 2, wherein said vertical displacement is regulated by rotating said shift stop screw within said mounting, thereby altering the position of said type basket relative to said independently mounted shift stop plate in each of said regular and shift positions.

4. Process as claimed in claim 3, wherein said rotation of said screw is effected by electrical actuating means engaging said screw.

5. Process as claimed in claim 3, wherein said rotation of said screw is effected by mechanical actuating means engaging said screw.

6. Process as claimed in claim 3, wherein said rotation of said screw is counterclockwise and said vertical displacement is an upward displacement.

7. Process as claimed in claim 2, wherein said vertical displacement is regulated by displacement of said shift stop plate relative to said stops, thereby displacing the position of said type basket in each of said regular and shift positions.

8. Process as claimed in claim 7, wherein said displacement of said shift stop plate is parallel to said stops, said plate having a plurality of pairs of parallel upper and lower surfaces, all but one of which pairs are vertically offset, and only one of which pairs coacts with said stops in any given position.

9. Process as claimed in claim 8, wherein said vertically offset pairs of surfaces are adapted to produce, upon coacting with said stops, an upward vertical displacement of said type basket.

10. A device for effecting vertical displacement of the type basket in a typewriter comprising shaft means attachable to the shift stop screw of said typewriter, said means capable of rotating said screw, and calibrated means defining preselected operative positions for said shaft means, whereby said shift stop screw may be rotated to said operative positions.

11. A device for use in a typewriter comprising arm means attachable to the shift stop screw of said type-. writer, and track means attachable to the type basket of said typewriter, said track means coacting with said arm means so as to provide a plurality of preselected operative positions for securing said arm means, whereby said shift stop screw may be rotated to said operative positions.

12. A device for use in a typewriter comprising a shift stop plate, said plate having a plurality of pairs of parallel upper and lower surfaces, all but one of said pairs being vertically offset and the total of said vertical offset not exceeding approximately one hundredth of an inch and means for effecting the displacement of said plate in a direction parallel to said vertically offset surfaces.

13. In a typewriter having a type basket movable to regular and shift positions for the typing of lower case and capital characters, respectively, said positions being determined by coaction of stops on a shift stop screw mounted on said type basket with the surfaces of an independently mounted shift stop plate, an improvement enabling the typing of bold-faced characters, said improvement comprising, in combination, means for effecting the rotation of said shift stop screw whereby said type basket may be vertically displaced, and calibrated means for measuring the amount of said displacement so that said type basket may be so displaced by approximately one hundredth of an inch A in both regular and shift positions.

14. In a typewriter having a type basket movable to regular and shift positions for the typing of lower case and capital characters, respectively, said positions being determined by coaction of stops on a shift stop screw mounted on said type basket with the surfaces of an independently mounted shift stop plate, an improvement enabling the typing of bold-faced characters, said improvement comprising, in combination, an arm mounted on said screw, said arm being capable of effecting the rotation of said screw whereby said type basket may be vertically displaced, and calibrated means for measuring the rotation of said arm and the consequent displacement of said type basket so that said type basket is displaced by approximately one hundredth of an inch in both the regular and shift positions, so that a character typed once with said type basket in the normal position and struck over with said type basket in said vertically displaced position acquires a bold-faced appearance.

15. In a typewriter having a type basket movable to regular and shift positions for the typing of lower and upper case characters, respectively, said positions being determined by coaction of stops on a shift stop screw mounted on said type basket with the surfaces of an independently mounted shift-stop plate, an improvement enabling the typing of bold faced characters, said improvement comprising, in combination, a plurality of parallel pairs of upper and lower surfaces on said shift stop plate, all but one of said pairs being vertically offset, the total vertical offset not exceeding the maximum thickness of any non-vertical line in any of said characters, means for effecting the displacement of said shift stop plate whereby successive pairs of said surfaces may be brought into an operative position relative to said stops, and means for securing said surfaces in said operative position, whereby the position of said stops and said type basket is vertically displaced, so that a character typed once with said type basket in the normal position and struck over with said type basket in a vertically displaced position acquires a bold faced appearance.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,202,094 Ordonez Oct. 24, 1916 1,945,097 Thompson et al Jan. 30, 1934 2,544,998 Kissell Mar. 13, 1951

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