Patent GB-385031-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to typewriters, typewritingcalculating machines, high-speed telegraphs, type-printing telegraphs and the like
IPC: G09C3/00
Filed: 1931-09-14
Abstract: 385,031. Typewriters &c. MERCEDES BUROMASCHINENWERKE AKT.-GES., Benshausen, Thuringia, Germany, PEROTI, P., 161, Norwood Road, London, and HINRICHS, H., 21, Kleine Reichenstrasse, Christianshof, Hamburg, Germany. Sept. 14, 1931, No. 25694. Convention date, Nov. 3, 1930. Addition to 361,017. [Class 100 (iv).] Type-lever machines for coding.-Typewriters, calculating type machines, high-speed telegraph machines, and type-printing telegraphs of the kind described in the parent Specification are provided with ciphering- mechanism comprising letter rollers arranged on the paper carriage at a distance apart equal to that of the carriage step, these rollers being moved automatically to show the cipher characters as a result of typing the message to be ciphered and the key word. The pinion 119 is loosely mounted on the shaft 115 carrying the disc 116 of the selecting-device according to the parent Specification, but can be clutched to the shaft by a slidable but non-rotatable sleeve 364, Figs. 1, 5, and 6, when the selecting- device is to be used. The sleeve 364 is adapted also to couple to the shaft a bevel wheel 365 separately or at the same time as the pinion 119. The bevel wheel 365 gears with a bevel wheel 372 on a shaft 369 which carries at its upper end a pair of bevel wheels 374, 375 connected by a slidable but non-rotatable sleeve 373 so that either wheel 374, 375 can be moved into engagement with a bevel wheel 377 on a shaft 376. The shaft 376 carries a gear wheel 378 located at the centre of the machine and engaging at each carriage-escapement step with one of a number of gear wheels 381, Figs. 9 and 10, on a shaft 380 carried in a housing 379. The housing 379 is carried on a dovetailed bar 387 of the paper carriage and may be removably locked in place by spring-pressed levers 386c carried on the side walls of the housing and engaging between the teeth of a rack to enable it to be replaced by a totalizer for use as a calculating-machine. Each gear wheel 381 engages with a corresponding gear wheel 402 each of which is secured to a letter wheel 401. The letters on the wheels 401 are arranged according to the numerical value assigned to them and as on the disc 212. The letter wheels and gear wheels 402 are loosely mounted on a shaft 388 carried in the housing 379 and normally spring-pressed to the left. A spring 405 co-operates with each letter wheel to prevent unintentional rotation or over-running. The end of the shaft is provided with a wing nut 393 having a projection 391 held by the spring in a notch in the bearing 390. The shaft also carries a number of rigid pins co-operating with fixed stops on the letter wheels. Levers 406, 408, pivoted on the shaft 388, are connected by a bar 410 having projections 411 adapted to cover each fifth and sixth wheel 401, the lever 408 being adapted to engage with stops on the wall of the housing to retain the projections 411 in position for covering or exposing the wheels. A shaft 415, Figs. 5 and 6, is mounted in the machine frame and slidably but non-rotatably carries a sleeve 418 to which are fixed five double cams 419 .. 423 each of which is formed with three sections, each section on any cam being similar to the other sections but differing from the sections on the other cams. A knob 424 is fixed to the sleeve 418 and is connected with a printer 424a movable over marks on the machine frame, there being three principal marks 424d corresponding to the initial parts of the three sections of the cams and, between each principal mark, two secondary marks. The left and right parts of each double cam are arranged to co-operate respectively with rollers 450, 462 carried by levers 452, 471. The rollers can be lifted out of contact with the cams to facilitate setting by a cam 463 carried by a hand-operated shaft 464, the handle 465 of which is held by stops in either of two positions. The lever 452 is pivoted at 451 and is connected to a rock-shaft 458 controlling the movements of the sleeve 364. The lever 471 is pivoted at 470 and controls the movements of the sleeve 373. The shaft 415 also carries a nine-toothed driving-wheel 425 moved forward one tooth by a pawl 492 at each actuation of the carriagereturning key 481. The wheel 425 is held against unintentional movement by a spring- pressed roller 428. A pointer 494 is rotatably but non-slidably fixed to the sleeve 418 and slides over a part of the machine frame on which are marked indications showing the manner in which the machine is working (e.g. coding as in the parent Specification, ciphering, deciphering, &c.) depending on which cam is in position to engage the rollers 450, 462. To maintain the cams in adjusted position, grooves 418b are formed in the sleeve 418 and are engaged by a slot in a spring- pressed plate 418e on the machine frame. If the machine is to be used for ciphering a message, the handle 465 is first moved to raise the rollers 450, 462, and the knob 424 is then moved until the pointer 494 stands opposite the " ciphering " indication, in which position the cam 423 is in position to engage the rollers 450, 462. The knob 424 is turned until the pointer 424a coincides with one of the principal marks 424d in order to set the cams in their initial position. The handle 465 is then swung over to permit the rollers 450, 462 to engage the cam 423. The part 423a engaging the roller 450 is a complete disc and causes the sleeve 364 to clutch the bevel wheel 365 to the shaft 115 and so to rotate the shaft 369 and bevel wheels 374, 375. A raised section of the part 423b of the cam 423 engages the roller 462, and moves the bevel wheel 374 into engagement with the bevel wheel 377. The message to be ciphered is then typed, and each operation of a letter key 3 causes the rotation of the shaft 115 as described in the parent Specification. Through the parts 365, 372, 369, 374, 377, 376, 378, 381, 402, the rotation is communicated to the letter wheels 401 so the message is displayed at the aperture 412 in the housing 379. Preferably the space key 4 is operated after each fifth letter of the message, so that the letter " o " appears between each fifth and sixth letter in the aperture 412. When a line of typing has been concluded, the carriage-returning key 481 is depressed to return the carriage and to rotate the wheel 425 one step to rotate the cams. The shape of the cam parts 423a, 423b is such that at this movement the relative positions of the rollers 450, 462 is unaffected. The cipher key word is then typed beneath the message, the space key 4 being again operated after each fifth letter. The rotations of the shaft 115 resulting from the typing of the key word are again communicated to the letter wheels 401, so that the numerical values of the letters of the key word are added to those of the letters already appearing in the aperture 412. At the end of the line, the carriage returning key 481 is again depressed, causing the rotation of the cams a further tooth of the wheel 425. This will not affect the setting of the sleeve 364, but a depression in the part 423b of the cam 423 will cause the bevel wheel 375 to engage the bevel wheel 377 and rotate the letter wheels 401 in the opposite direction. The letters appearing at the aperture 412 are then typed, this resulting in setting the wheels 401 in original position. The three typed lines then show the original message, the key word, and the ciphered message. Preferably the sheet on which the typing has been effected is provided at the back with a carbon composition at each third line, so that only the ciphered message appears on a second sheet. Subsequent lines of the message to be ciphered are typed similarly, the three actuations of the carriage-returning key having returned the cams to a position corresponding with the initial position as indicated by one of the marks 424d. For deciphering, the parts are set so that the cam 422 engages the rollers 450, 462. In the initial position, the bevel wheel 365 is coupled to the shaft 115, and the bevel wheel 374 drives the shaft 376. The ciphered message is typed out and appears at the aperture 112. The carriage-returning key is actuated and resets the cam 422, the sleeve 364 ,being unaffected but a depression in the part 422b moves the bevel wheel 375 into engagement with the bevel wheel 377. The key word is then typed, the space key being actuated after each fifth letter. This results in the numerical values of the letters of the key word being subtracted from those of the letters of the ciphered message, and the deciphered message, with the letter " o " between each fifth and sixth letter appears at the aperture 412. The carriage-returning key is again actuated, but the movement of the cam 422 does not affect the setting of the sleeve 364 and bevel wheel 375. The message shown in the aperture 412 is then copied, thus returning the letter wheels 401 to initial position. For use of the machine for selecting the control signs of code words as in the parent Specification, the knob 424 is moved to bring the cam 419 into operation. The cam is circular so no particular setting of the pointer 424a is necessary. The bevel wheel 365 is thus disconnected from the shaft 115 and prevents actuation of the shafts 369, 376 and the letter wheels 401, and the pinion 119 is connected to the shaft 115. The machine can also be used for ciphering the code words. In this case the cam 421 is positioned to engage the rollers 450, 462. When in an initial position with the pointer 424a opposite one of the marks 424d, the cam 421 causes the bevel wheel 365 to be coupled to the shaft 115 and the bevel wheel 374 to be in engagement with the bevel wheel 377. The code words, which each consist of five letters the last of which acts as a control letter, are then typed with the omission of the control letter of each word, the space key 4 being operated twice after each fourth letter. The lever 408 is moved into forward position