Patent GB-711500-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to line-justifying apparatus for photographic type-composing machines
IPC: B41B15/24
Filed: 1951-08-01
Abstract: 711,500. Photographic type-composing machines. INTERTYPE, Ltd. Aug. 1, 1951 [Aug. 2, 1950], No. 18212/51. Class 98(1) Line-justifying apparatus such as disclosed in Specification 590,553, for a photographic typecomposing machine, is characterized in that the control rail is formed of a permanently horizontally disposed portion and a tiltable portion hinged to the forward end of the horizontal portion, the horizontal portion being slidably attached to a horizontally disposed and vertically-movable bar, the free end of the tiltable portion being slidably supported in a horizontally adjustable hanger, and the upper surfaces of both portions of the control rail being disposable in a common horizontal plane, so that by suitable manipulation of both portions of the control rail the whole or any preselected portion of a line may be justified or left unjustified at will. As shown in Fig. 1, when a composed line M<SP>2</SP> of character-bearing elements has been delivered by the line-follower 1 to the linemeasuring station, the line-follower 1 is momentarily latched to the rider 2, which has been manually pre-set along the line-feed rack 3 to a position corresponding to the length of the justified line to be produced. The line-follower carries a wedge member 13 shiftable vertically in guides within the follower body to drive the horizontally movable plunger 14 leftward in opposition to the spring 15 to an extent corresponding to the lineshortage and effect compacting of the composed line. The upward movement of the wedge member 13 is effected by the upward swinging of the pivoted control rail 19 and its engagement with the roller 18 attached to the wedge member 13, as described in Specification 590,553. The rail 19 is locked in the position it has assumed, and when it is in an inclined position, the line-follower, as it advances step-by-step from the line-starting position in response to each removal of an element from the leading end of the composed line, is permitted to move to an extent exceeding the thickness of the removed element by a fractional part of the total line shortage, such additional movement being obtained by the retreat of the plunger 14 permitted by the downward tracking of the roller 18 on the inclined rail and the consequent lowering of the attached wedge member 13. In the present Specification, the control rail 19 is hinged at 20, Fig. 4, to a block 21, the inner side of which is formed to slide on a T-section rack-bar 22 along which the block may be adjusted to different line-length positions relative to the line-starting position at which the follower 1 may be set, a sight-piece 23 on the block 21 indicating its set position along an em-scale 24 and a spring- pressed pawl operable by the button 26 locking the block 21 in the set position. The em-scale 24 and rack-bar 22 are carried by a cross-bar 25 secured to rods 27 vertically movable in a bracket 28, Fig. 1, fixed to the rigid housing 29, the rods being pinned to a cross-tie 30, Fig. 4, for movement in unison to elevate the block 21 and the hinged end 20 of the rail 19 and actuate the compacting members 13, 14 under the action of a spring-urged lever, the other end of which carries a roller co-operating with a cam on the main drive shaft. When a composed line of elements arrives at the linemeasuring station, a depressed contour of the cam allows the spring-urged lever to rock to elevate the rods 27, the bar 25, the block 21, and the hinged end of the control rail 19, the latter swing- ing downwardly about a supporting pivot. The wedge member 13 is driven upwards and drives the plunger 14 leftward to measure the line shortage. The depressed contour of the cam is of such depth as to permit elevation of the bar 25 and the block 21 sufficiently to measure the maximum amount of shortage it is practicable to leave in the.longest line the machine will produce. Since the hinged end of the rail 19 and the block 21 are elevated together and since the latter when at any linelength position along the rack-bar 22 can be elevated to any extent up to the maximum line shortage measuring capacity of the compacting members 13, 14, these members can measure the same amount of shortage in lines of any length. The top of the block 21 provides a level surface along which the roller 18 may track before the compacting members 13, 14 start retreating, thus rendering the justifying action ineffective over such portion of a line towards its starting end as may contain tabular matter. A toggle-action lock is provided to hold the rods 27 in the elevated position, the lock being operated and released by an operating rod controlled by another cam on the main drive shaft. The control rail 19 has spaced upper and lower members providing a slot 44 accommodating the shoe 45 of a stirrup bracket having upright arms 46 carrying pins 47 projecting through slots 48 in the plates 49 to provide a rockable pivot for the stirrup and the rail 19. When the block 21 is adjusted endwise on the rack-bar 22, the rail 19 slides freely over the stirrup shoe 45. When the block 21 is elevated, the rail swings downwardly about the hinge 20 and rocks the stirrup about the pivot 47. The plates 49 are mounted on a block 50 embracing a T-section rack-bar 51 secured to the rigid bracket 28. A spring-pressed pawl housed in the block 50 is operable by a button 53 to lock the block 50 in different adjusted positions with reference to the em-scale 55 along the rack-bar 51. If the block 50 is adjusted by a given number of ems to the right along the scale 55, the full retreat of the compacting members is attained at that number of ems short of the line-ending position, and over the last portion of the line the justification adjustment is inoperative, the roller 18 leaving the rail 19 and proceeding horizontally. Thus, tabular matter may be recorded without justification adjustment for desired portions of the beginning or the end of the line or both. To produce lines of random length with a fixed left-hand margin or with a fixed right-hand margin, a bolt 56, Fig. 5, is provided which is normally urged by the spring 60 into inactive position with the pin 61 against the bearing 59, the inner end clear of the recess 56a in the right-hand rod 27, and the outer end in the path of a pin 62 fixed in the collar 63 on the shaft 64 carrying the collar 65 to which is attached the hand lever 58. The bolt 57 has several notches 67 engageable with a spring-ball detent 68 and in retracted position its outer end is flush with the front face of the bar 22. A gear 73 engaging teeth 74 on the bolt 57 is chain-driven from a sprocket 70 on the shaft 64, the endless chain 69 passing over idler sprockets 76, 77. Movement of the lever 58 to the position F.R. thus drives the bolt 56 inwardly to lock the rods 27 against upward movement, while movement of the lever 58 to the F.L. position projects the bolt 57 into the slot 44 in the rail 19 to lock it to the cross-bar 25. The movement of the lever 58 to the position F.R. merely produces a short backward movement of the bolt 57 to the extent of the distance between the two close detent-engaging notches 67. With the bolt 56 in operative position, the control rail 19 cannot elevate and the linecompacting members remain inoperative. Accordingly, the line-follower and the film-holder, when released from their line-starting positions partake of a free initial advance until the first element of the composed line reaches removal position in the feed channel, the lines produced being of random length with a common right-hand margin determined by the engagement of the line-follower with the wall of the feed channel. With the bolt 57 in operative position and the rail 19 locked to the cross-bar 25, elevation of the bar 25 by the rods 27 effects elevation of the rail 19 so that it remains horizontal, elevation of the bolt 57 out of mesh with the gear 73, and elevation of the stirrup 46, the pivots 47 moving upwardly in the slots 48. The line-compacting members are actuated to the full extent of the line-shortage, but since the rail 19 is locked in a horizontal position retreat of the compacting members is not possible and the justifying action is rendered ineffective, the lines produced being of random length with a common lefthand margin. The rib 80 on the lower member of the rail 19 reduces the width of the slot 44 except at the left-hand end thereof, thus preventing the bolt 57 from entering the slot unless the block 21 is set at the extreme right for the longest line within the capacity of the machine. Elevation of the rail 19 while remaining horizontal will thus not be prevented by the camera housing. To obtain a common left-hand margin, the line of elements must be composed to within the maximum line-shortage measuring capacity of the compacting members to avoid a free movement of the linefollower and film-holder to the extent of the difference between such maximum line-shortage and the excessive shortage; a shorter line may be composed. to within the desired range by the addition of spacer elements. Specifications 496,886, 496,927 and 650;630 also are referred to.