Patent GB-675466-A (GB)
Title: Accounting and like machines
IPC: G06C23/06
Filed: 1947-05-20
Abstract: 675,466. Typewriters &c. UNDERWOOD CORPORATION. May 20, 1947 [June 27, 1946], No. 13561/47. Class 100 (iv). In an accounting or like machine having a printing platen mounted on a transversely-movable carriage and a front - feed mechanism movable with respect to the platen from " openthroat " to " closed throat " position and vice versa, independent devices are provided for controlling the movement into " open throat " position and restoring it to " closed throat " position, such devices including co-operating members on the carriage and on the machine frame which are independently moved into co-operating positions by the traversing movement of the carriage and are adjustable whereby the opening and closing of the front-feed mechanism may be determined by the carriage position. The opening and closing may also be effected by a manual control. As applied to a " Sundstrand" (Registered Trade Mark) Accounting-machine, comprising a carriage 2, Fig. 4, carrying a platen 7, a record sheet R on to which entries made on front-fed statement sheets S are to be duplicated, is fed at the rear of the platen along a table 136, and is held against the platen by rollers 134, 135. Usually, after one line entry on a sheet S it is removed and another presented, the sheet R remaining in the machine. The rollers 134 are carried by spring-pressed arms 156 which also form sheet guides and can be operated by a shaft 161 to release the sheet. The rollers 135 are carried by spring-pressed arms 144 slidably mounted on a cross-bar 141 which can be manually rotated by a finger piece 148 to raise the rollers. Each sheet S is front fed behind a transparent guide 170 the lower edge of which causes the sheet to bend around the platen. Rollers 168 press the sheet against the lower part of the platen as it passes to a table 186, and are carried by spring- pressed levers 175 operated to release the rollers by blades 182 on a shaft 176. The guide 170 which may extend along the whole or part only of the platen is fixed to a bar 171 carried by arms 173 pivoted at 174 to the carriage end walls 111. To remove or insert a sheet S it is necessary that the guide 170 be moved to open position and simultaneously the rollers 168 moved away from the platen. For this purpose a slide 196, Fig. 11, is provided mounted on one wall 111 and can be operated by a handle 195. It carries a roller 213 engaging a slot in an arm fixed to the shaft 176 to release the rollers 168 and another roller 209 which engages a lug 210 on a link 203 pivoted at 205 to the guide-carrying arms 173. The slide 196 is retracted by a spring 214 and is connected to the link 203 by another spring 215. A lug 218 on a latch arm 216 engages a tooth 219 on the slide to hold the parts in the sheet-feeding or releasing position. Further, to prevent movement of the guide 170 by manual force applied directly thereto, a blocking-arm 230 has a lug 233 which by engaging a shoulder 231 on the link 203 prevents movement of the link, but the slide 196 when operated releases .the lug 233 by the engagement of a cam 236 thereon with a projection 235 on the arm 230, the lug 233 then engaging the back 238 of the link 203. Restoration is effected by means of a key-operated lever 222, Fig. 6, which releases the latch arm 216, allowing the slide 196 to return and its roller .213 to raise the rollers 168. During such movement the link 203 at first remains stationary due to the action of lug 233, but later the cam 236 releases the lug 233, allowing the link to return.. Thus, the closing movement of the guide 170 takes place subsequent to the raising of the rollers 168. This is assisted by dash-pots 240, 241 which also control the return movement. The-table 186 has tongues. 184 which extend as far as the rollers 168, and between the tongues sheet guides 185 are clipped thereon. To prevent fouling of the front edge of a sheet S when being inserted between the platen and the rollers 168, deflectors 192, Fig. 4, are provided each of which consists of a four-sided member embracing the shaft between a pair of rollers 168 and having a depending part 193 mounted for vertical sliding movement on a pin 188. The upper 192a of the four sides forms the deflecting surface. When the rollers 168 are raised, their shaft engages the side 192a and raises the deflector close to but spaced from the platen. As the rollers 168 are lowered, their shaft engages the lower side 192b so that the deflector is lowered but its surface 192a is situated above the rollers and guides the sheet edge around the platen. Means are provided for the automatic opening and closing of the devices 168, 170 at desired columnar positions of the platen in response to a cycle of operations initiated either automatically or manually as described in Specification 401,904, [Group XIX]. For opening, a roller 270, Fig. 17, on a disc 101 driven by a onerevolution clutch actuates a linkage 268, 265, 259, 256 near the end of a cycle. Pivoted to the end of the link 256 is a member 254 carrying a roller 253, which roller if the link is raised as described below, engages over a ridge 308 on a bail 246 carried by levers 247 having a pin-andslot connection 251, Fig. 6, with the slide 196. A pair of levers 283, 286 pivoted at 284 on the machine frame are connected by a spring 287a for movement together. The lever 286 has a pin 278 engaging a slot 279 in the link 256 and the lever 283 carries a roller 281. One or more tapered stops 280 can be adjustably-mounted on the bail 246 at or in advance of certain column positions and act on the roller 281 to raise the link 256 and cause the roller 253 to engage the bail, so that a cyclical revolution of disc 101 at the column position causes opening of the devices 168, 170 at the end of the cycle. Automatic closure of the feed-devices at the beginning of a cycle is caused by a pin 326 on the disc 101 engaging a lever 324, Fig. 19, acting on a lever 320 having a pin 321 engaging a settable projecting clip 318 on a bail 314 carried by levers 312, 313 the former of which is integral with the latch-releasing member 216. One or more clips 318 can be set so as to cause closure of the feed-devices at the required carriage positions. The operations can be arranged to take place either during forward or return movement of the carriage. Further, a normalizer key is provided so as to prevent the tabulation of the carriage usually initiated by a cycle of operations. Specification 499,027, [Group XIX], and U.S.A. Specification 2,308,259 also are referred to.