Year: 1888

page_text: A communication from OTTO STEUER, of 243, Friedrichstrasse, Berlin, in the Empire
of Germany, Engineer.
1, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
M.I.M.E. do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The present invention relates to a type-writing machine in which a continually
rotating shaft is stopped from time to time by means of keys arranged on a key-
board in connection with bent levers for the purpose of printing one of the types
arranged on a type-wheel rigidly mounted to the said shaft, by means of the blow of
a hammer.
In the accompanying drawings
:-
Fig. 1 represents a plan of the apparatus.
Fig. 2 a vertical section.
Figs. 3 and 4 back views with modified driving mechanism for the hollow shaft.
Fig. 5 a detail of the notch bar.
In the frame a of the machine is mounted a hollow shaft b driven from a suitable
motor c by means of the gearing c¹¹. To the other end of this hollow shaft bare
rigidly mounted two type-wheels A B one of which carries the capital letters and the
other the small letters of the alphabet.
The hollow shaft bis formed with a series of drilled holes arranged spirally around
the said shaft. On both sides of this shaft are mounted bent levers d d on bars a¹ a²
said levers being under the influence of springs e.
With these levers d d' are
connected the keys ff guided in guide bars as a by their shanks. The levers d d'
bear upon barsh (fig. 2) laterally movable by means of the pivotted links h¹ so that
when the levers are depressed by the keys the bars h will be depressed by the said
evers d d

page_text: With the bars is connected the army which bears on the end of the pivotted
hammer arm and the bar s connected with the latter. The hammer extends under
the type-wheels B. To bring either type-wheel exactly above the hammer a sliding
The sleeve i
gear is employed consisting of the sleeve i with arm I and spring m.
is formed with a slot through which extends a pin n to guide the sleeve in its lateral
movement. The types are inked by means of a roller o mounted on the frame a and
in contact with the type wheels A B.
#
The paper carrier P is mounted on the plate p formed with lateral notches and
is constantly pressed in one direction either by a spiral spring or by a weight. The
plate is stopped by a spring catch 7 engaging in the notches or teeth and which is
disengaged by the rod or arms connected with the hammer arm. The spacing keys t
disengage this catch without operating the hammer for the purpose of making the
spaces between the words.
The paper is placed in the split tube and passes between the rollers w¹ over
the bar .
It will be noticed that the bent levers d d are bent in acute angles on one side of
the machine and in obtuse angles on the other; this is so that the levers should
leave the holes in the revolving shaft easily without unnecessarily stopping the
shaft.
The operation of the machine is easily understood and is as follows: When one
of the keys is depressed, the corresponding bent lever will bear on to the rotating
shaft until the corresponding hole in the shaft engages with it and thus stops the
shaft for a moment. At the same moment the haminer will be operated and print
the corresponding type on the intervening paper. Meanwhile another key may
already be depressed with the other hand as its bent lever cannot engage with its
corresponding hole in the shaft until the previous hole has been disengaged to allow
the shaft to revolve.
There are keys for one alphabet only so that the type-wheels must be adjusted
laterally by means of the above described mechanism according to whether capital
or small letters are to be printed.
If as represented 40 keys are used, there must be
which describe only one single screw-thread around the
be in the same line.
also 40 holes in the shaft,
latter as no two holes must
for driving the shaft ba
Instead of the motor represented in figs. 1 and
mechanism as represented in fig. 3 may be employed.
Here a roller or pulley W is mounted on the shaft instead of the gearing e, and
a band passes at least once around the pulley W and is fastened thereto. The
other end of this band is fastened to a larger pulley W mounted loose on the frame a.
To the spindles of these pulleys are fastened coiled springs H H wound in opposite
directions; the latter of these springs being the stronger. The other end of the
spring H¹ is fastened to a pivotted lever H on which the key T stands vertically.
This key T is depressed simultaneously with any of the keys thus depressing the
lever H and turning the pulley W₁ by means of the spring H¹ and the pulley W
with the shaft 6 by means of the band Z. This movement will wind up the spring H.
The shaft will turn until it is stopped by the depressed bent lever engaging with its
corresponding hole in the shaft, the spring H' bending under the superfluous force.
As soon as the lever His released and the bent lever is disengaged from the shaft b
the two springs H H will expand and return the two pulleys and the shaft b to
their normal position.
Fig. 4 represents a modification of this mechanism in so far as the lever H2 is
here depressed directly by the bent levers dd. The lever H2 is provided with a
fork H³ the two arms of which are fastened to horizontal rods or bars H' which are
depressed by the bent levers and communicate the movement to the lever H2. T
prevent an unnecessary turning of the shaft b, the bars H' are formed with notches
of different depths (fig. 5). As the forty holes in the, shaft only describe one single
screw thread round the shaft this only need make one-fortieth of a revolution fo
the first bent lever to engage with the hole in the shaft and the corresponding notel

page_text: in the bar H will therefore be the deepest, only for the last bent lever a whole
revolution of the shaft will be necessary and the corresponding notch in the bar H*
therefore the least deep. In the arrangement as represented in figs. 3 and 4 the
springs and band Z may be replaced by india-rubber or other elastic bands
one of which is attached to the pulleys W Win the same manner as the band Z
and the other is fixed and wound round the spindle of the pulley W₁ while its other
end is attached to the lever H.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :—
1. In a type-writing machine a hollow continually revolving shaft driven by a
suitable motor and formed with a series of holes arranged around it in the form of
a screw thread, in which holes spring actuated bent levers engage when depressed
by keys, for the purpose of temporarily stopping the shaft substantially as described.
2. In a type-writing machine two type-wheels such as A B mounted on
continually revolving shaft in combination with a mechanism for laterally adjusting
the said type-wheels on the shaft for the purpose of bringing the desired type-wheel
within the stroke of the printing hammer substantially as described.
L
3. In a type-writing machine the employment for the turning of the shaft b of a
mechanism consisting of two pulleys such as W W and two coiled springs such
as H H or elastic bands wound in opposite directions, of which the pulley W and
spring or elastic band are mounted on the revolving shaft and connected with the
pulley W by means of a band Z, while the end of the spring H¹ or elastic band is
attached to a pivotted lever H2 which when depressed by a special key or by the
bent levers of the type-keys by means of a fork and a horizontal bar such as H³
and H, turn the pulley Wand with it the shaft by the intermediate means of the
pulley W and the band Z substantially as described.
L...
Cantanhar 1988