Improvements in Type-composing Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd June, 1891-Accepted, 4th July, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Type-composing Machines.
1, JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the County of
Middlesex Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention which has
been communicated to me from abroad by John Gustafson of Rockaway in the
County of Morris and State of New Jersey United States of America Machinist
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 the construction of machines for composing or
setting types and particularly to that form of machine which manipulates ordinary
types such as are in universal use. Machines of this character, as heretofore
constructed, have required power for their operation, and are somewhat costly and
complicated. Some of the improvements herein described are, however, applicable
to power-driven machines.
The presence of shafts and belting in the composing room of a printing establish-
ment is not desirable, and often is difficult to obtain. Moreover, that since the
rapidity of the operation must depend upon the quickness of the compositor's eye
and hand in reading his copy, seizing the proper type and depositing it in the
receptacle of the machine, the gain in speed that can be effected by a power-driven
machine is not productive of a gain in the operation of composing, after the limit
of speed, which the compositor's skill determines, has been passed. The setting up
of the copy necessarily requires a mental and a manual operation for each individual
type, and this fact fixes a practical limit to the advantage derivable from type-
setting or composing machines of every sort. It follows that the greatest room for
industrial improvement in this art lies, not in the direction of expediting the
machine operations, but in reducing, so far as possible, the cost and complexity of
the mechanical devices which perform all the steps of the operation, except those
which actually require and employ the intelligence and manual dexterity of the
compositor. This is the general object of the present invention, and more
specifically its object is to produce a type-setting or composing machine, which can
be operated by the hand of the compositor, and which will, with certainty and
precision, set the types properly in the composing stick, as fast as the compositor,
using his right and left hands alternately, can deposit them, (without regard of the
position of the nick,) in the hopper or receptacle provided for the purpose.
The machine herein described is provided with feeding devices, by the operation
of which each type, as soon as it falls into the hopper, is carried or pushed to its
proper place in the line then forming in the composing stick.
In its travel toward
the composing stick the type passes a series of trippers, or turning devices, which
turn the type, (unless it happen to be thrown into the hopper in the proper position,)
until its nicked side is turned out. According to the position in which the type
falls into the hopper, it may require one, two, or at the most three turns, on its
longitudinal axis.
Therefore it is only necessary to cause the types to pass three times in front of a
tripper (whether the same tripper or three different trippers arranged in series) in
order to insure the proper position of the types in the line.
As hereinafter explained, the tripping or turning devices are so constructed as to
cause very little friction upon the types so that the machine requires but a small
expenditure of force for its operation.
A special feature of the invention is that the types come to rest just in front of
each tripping tooth. Consequently the latter acts upon the type just as its advance
movement begins, and its momentum is at the minimum. The tripping tooth

page_text: requires, therefore, a very light spring to press it against the type. This
construction not only enables the machine to run with great case, but it avoids wear
and abrasion on the corners of the types.
The device for operating the machine consists of a lever whose free end lies near
the hopper or receptacle, in such position that the compositor's hand naturally
encounters it in carrying the types from the case to the hopper. By means of
this arrangement, the machine is operated without requiring the compositor to
perform any motions beyond those he makes in bringing the type from its case to
the receiving hopper.
In its preferred form, this actuating lever has two arms or branches, one to be
engaged by the right hand, and the other by the left hand of the user. The
position of these branches is determined in such manner that the disengaged
fingers, which are not used to grasp the type, strike the padded ends of these
branches and tilt the lever.
The lever is so pivoted that its movement guides the hand to the hopper, so that
in practice the compositor need not follow his hand with his eye, and his attention
is not distracted from his manuscript or copy, and type-case.
Apart from the gain in rapidity of setting the types and in justifying the finished
lines two other important advantages result. First. As the compositor is relieved
from an awkward and constrained position, and uses both hands and arms alike,
he can work for a given time with far less fatigue than in setting type in the
ordinary way.
Second. Long and steady application to the occupation of type-setting, in which
the left hand and arm are held in a cramped position, and the muscles of the left
side of the body but little exercised, often produces distortion of the figure, and,
particularly in the case of women, impairs the health of the compositor, and induces
physical disorders. The present invention will believe overcome this evil, and
render the occupation of type-setting a more healthy and less laborious employment.
The invention includes improvements in the feed-slide and means for guiding the
same and improvements in the means for actuating the alarm signal, as well as
other novel details of construction and combinations of parts, as hereinafter set
forth.
The several improvements combined and organized as herein shown and
described, constitute a complete composing or type-setting machine, whose extreme
length, including the composing stick, may be less than twenty-five centimeters,
and which complete need not weigh more than about seven hectogrammes.
The accompanying drawings, which form a part of this Specification, represent a
machine constructed in accordance with the invention.
Fig. is a plan view; Fig. II, a front elevation and Fig. III, a top view,
showing the position of the parts when the actuating lever is moved forward;
Fig. IV is a rear view of the machine reversed:
Fig. Va detail of the bell movement;
Fig. VI, details of the guide grooves:
Fig. VII, details of the funnel and connected parts;
Fig. VIII, a detail of the gate opening to the composing stick ;
Figs. IX and X, details of the trippers;
Fig. XI. a detail of the guide pin;
Fig. XII, a detail of the parts beneath the funnel, and
Fig. XIII, a detail of the feeding devices.
The various devices are supported by a back plate, A, which is designed to be
fixed by screws to the front bar of the ordinary composing frame, directly under
the space box. To this support is attached a plate, B, inclined from the horizontal.
This attachment is effected by means of a screw, a, passing through a slot in the
vertical flange, B', of the plate B, and tapped into the support, A. The plate B
can thus be adjusted, with reference to its support, for the purposes hereinafter
described.
Upon the plate B are two upright parallel bars, C D, which constitute the sides

page_text: of the composing stick. The bar, C, is adjustably secured to the plate, B, by means
of screws, c, so that the width of the column may be varied.
The sill or ledge, E, along which the type is fed towards the composing stick, is
fastened to the back plate, A, by means of screw pius, d, e.
The feed-slide, F, is made of sheet-metal, folded over so as to embrace the
ledge, E. It carries type-feeding fingers, fand y. Fingers are three in number,
all made of strips of steel folded over and projecting beyond the ledge, E, both
above and beneath the same, so as to push forward the type when the slide moves
to the left. Fingers 9 are, as shown, made in one piece with the slide, and they
serve to give to the type its first motion, carrying it out from under the funnel-
shaped receptacles or hopper, G, in which it is placed by hand. The extremities, g²,
of the slide give the type its last movement.
The hopper G is supported in the socket H, attached to the screw pin, d.
I is the operating lever by which the feed-slide is reciprocated. Its shape
resembles the letter Y, and being placed just in front of the hopper Gits two
branches, which are provided with pads or cushions, I, lie in the way of the com
positor's fourth and little fingers as he carries the type from the case to the hopper.
The lever I is fulcrumed on a pin, h, carried by a bracket, i, attached to the fixed
sill, E, and a spring, j, coiled around the pin h, maintains the lever normally in the
position shown in Fig. I. Motion is communicated to the feed-slide through a bell-
crank lever, which is fulcrumed on the upright screw-pin e. One arm, k, of this
lever is connected to a link, K, whose other end is connected with the operating
lever, 1. The connections of the extremities of the link K are by ball and socket
joints.
The other arm, k, of the said lever is pivoted to one end of a link, L, whose
other end is pivotally attached to the feed-slide F.
When, in the act of depositing a type in the hopper, the compositor moves the
lever I forward, the feed-slide, F, moves towards the composing stick, carrying the
type forward one step. At the end of this motion, the parts occupy the positions
shown in Fig. III. When the compositor removes his fingers from the lever I to
take up another type, the spring jreturns the lever and feed-slide to their normal
positions.
When the feed-slide returns for another feed, it describes a curve so that its
fingers, fg, may clear the type then in transit to the composing stick. The motions
of the slide are controlled by the spring guide-pins, 1, and the grooves or guide-
ways m, m', in the ledge or sill E (see Fig. VI) by which the pins are confined and
guided. In moving to the left, that is in making a feed, the pins, 1, follow the
straight grooves m, and in returning they follow the curved grooves m'. The con-
struction of the pins, 1, is shown in Fig. XI. Each pin has a rounded head which
runs in the groove, and a stem which enters a hollow pillar, 4, on the feed slide F,
and bears at its upper end against the head of a similar pin, n, around whose shank
is coiled a small spiral spring n¹. In order that the pins, 1, may be switched from
the straight into the curved grooves, and vice versa, a step is formed at the inter-
section of these grooves at each end, that is to say, the straight groove m is inclined
upwards, being lower at its first end and higher at its last end than the curved
groove m', whose bottom is in a horizontal plane. Consequently, the pins must
take the straight groove in advancing and the curved groove in returning.
When the type falls into the hopper it comes to rest against the top of the
plate B. The lower end of the type is then confined on one side by the curved
end of a bar, o, fixed to screw-pin O by a set-screw, and adjustable vertically
thereon, and on the other side by a light spring, o'. The upper end of the type is
confined by the walls of the funnel G and by a swinging gate, L, carried by an
arm, M, attached to the screw-pin d, and closed by a small spring, N. This gate
is opened, as the feed-slide advances, by a cam or lug, P, carried by the link L.
which passes behind a projecting part, L2, of the said gate, swinging the latter
forward, and returning, passes in front of and out of contact with, the gate. (See!
Fio VILY

page_text: ?"
The turning of the type to the proper position, that is, with the nicked side out
or away from the operator, is effected by means of three trippers, R, R¹, R².
(Figs. IX and X.) These trippers are in the form of curved fingers pivoted on
pins attached to a horizontal flange of the back plate A, and pressed by means of
small springs, p, against the ledge or sill E, so as to exert a light pressure upon the
type as it is fed along. Each finger is provided with a tooth, projecting into the
path of one of the nicks of the type, so as to trip the type and cause it to make a
quarter turn, except when the nicked side is presented towards the tooth, in which
case the latter fits in the nick and does not act. On the trippers R, R', the
teeth are fixed; but the tooth g', on the third tripper, R2, is adjustable so as to
project a greater or less distance from the finger R². This adjustment is necessary
because the nicks of different fonts of type vary in depth. The teeth on the first
two trippers need to project only a very slight distance to insure their action; but
the third tooth, 7', should be adjusted so as to project a distance equal to the depth
of the nicks. The reason for this is that when the first two trippers are required to
act, they have a straight edge, or corner, of the type presented to them; but when
the third tripper is required to act, the type is always presented with its nicked side
forward, (that is, towards the composing stick), and the tooth consequently has a
curved or notched edge to act against, instead of a straight edge. To insure its
catching and holding this edge until the type makes the full quarter turn, it should
project a distance about equal to the depth of the nick.
As shewn in Fig. X, the tooth q is formed on a spring plate Q, attached to the
back of the finger R² by small screws s, s, the tooth projecting through a slot in
the said finger. The plate Q tends to spring out away from the finger R², and the
extent of the projection of the tooth may therefore be regulated by tightening or
loosening the adjusting screw s.
S is a holding finger, similar in construction to the fingers R, but without any
tripping tooth. S is a gate which the type pushes aside in entering the composing
stick, and which springs back after the type passes. (Fig. VIII.)
T is a lever pivoted on the screw pin d, and pressed by a spring, t, towards the
composing stick. It carries a spring arm, T', which presses lightly against the
types as they rest against the rule U.
The lever T can be swung out against the pressure of its spring, t, to give access
to the type for the purposes of justifying, as shown in Fig. 111. When swung out
to the limit of its motion, it will remain in that position, being held by the
pin t', which is pressed by the flat spring u into the stop hole in the frame or
support, A.
The rule, U, forms a continuation of the sill, E. It is held in place at one
end by a little groove in the edge of the sill, and at the other by the spring-latch 2.
It can be removed by lifting it up so as to admit the line of type into the space
in front of it.
Vis a friction block, which can slide in the composing stick to accommodate
additional lines of type.
Heretofore, in type-composing machines, the alarm bell has been actuated by
causing the line of types to force back the hammer against its spring until a certain
point was reached, when the hammer fell. Such construction offered considerable
resistance to the movement of the type, which in the present machine is avoided.
According to this invention, the holding lever, T, when swung back into place after
the line has been justified, retracts the bell hammer until engaged by a dog or catch,
and a very slight touch from the first of the line of types serves to trip the hammer
and sound the hell.
These devices are shewn in Figs. II, IV and V. The bell hammer, 10, is
pivoted at 11 to the under side of plate B, and has a heel, 12, in which is a small
notch, 13 15 is a lever pivoted on the pin 16 and connected by a link, 17, with
the hammer, 10. The latter connection is by a slot and pin. By turning the
lever 15 slightly on its centre, the hammer 10 is raised against its spring, 20,
until the notch 13 is caught by the end of a dog, 18, which is also pivoted on

page_text: the pin 16, and is controlled by a light spring, 19. When lever 15 moves away
from the bell, the dog, 18, is compelled to follow by the contact therewith of
the pin 21. This reverse movement withdraws the dog 18 from the notch 13.
allowing the hammer to fall.
The motions to the bell movement, are communicated by a bent finger, 23,
connected to the lever 15 by a screw-pin, 24, passing through a slot in the finger
and a slot in the lever. These slots intersect, so that the finger 23 can be adjusted
in the direction of the type's movement, and also transversely thereto. The former
adjustment is to cause the ringing of the bell at a longer, or shorter, time before
completion of a line, and the latter to provide for the tripping of the hammer by
types of different thickness.
When the holding-lever, T, is swung back to its place, a depending bracket, 25,
fixed thereto, pushes back the finger 23, thereby turning the lever 15 and raising
the bell hammer. The end of the finger 23, which overlies the plate B, has an
inclined edge, and as the first type of the advancing line acts upon it, the lever 15
begins to turn in the reverse direction. The bell-hammer, 10, does not partake of
this motion of the lever because of the slot in the link 17 but when the lever 15
has turned so far as to withdraw the dog 18 from the notch 13, the hammer, 10, falls
upon the bell, 28, and gives notice that the line is nearly completed.
As already stated, the plate, B, is adjustably connected with the support A. by a
set screw, a. This adjustment is provided in order that the machine may accommodate
itself to different fonts of type. During its entire movement, the type rests
on the plate B, and to adjust the machine initially, it is only necessary for the
compositor to take one of the types he is about to use, and raise or lower the plate B
until the teeth of the trippers register with one of the nicks.
In operation the compositor seizes the type as is customary, between the thumb
and forefinger, by the face end, and brings it to the hopper. In this movement
(whether of the right or left hand) his disengaged fingers encounter the lever, 1, and
press it toward himself until the limit of its movement is reached, at which time the
type will come in contact with the front wall of the hopper. He then releases the
type and lever, the latter dropping to the plate B, and the former swinging back to
its first position.
At the next movement of the lever, when the feed-slide advances, the cam or
lug, P, on the link L, opens the gate L', and the fingers y feed the type forward
along the sill E, leaving it just in front of the tooth, 7, of the tripper-arm, R. The
next feed carries it past this tooth, by which it will be tripped, unless the nick side
be already turned out. Thus the type advances, by a separate movement, past each
tripper, until finally it is pushed by the end, g², of the feed-slide F past the gate
into the composing stick. When the line is full, of which due notice is given by
the alarm-bell, the compositor swings out the holding lever, T, thus exposing the
types in a position convenient for justifying. When this has been done, he lifts out
the rule, U, drops it behind the line just completed, and brings back the lever T.
In so doing the lever T presses the rule until it snaps into place behind the spring
latch, the friction-block yielding sufficiently to admit the newly completed line
of types. The same motion of lever T resets the bell-hammer, and the apparatus is
now in position to proceed with setting the next line.
It is obvious that many modifications may be made in the details of construction
of the several parts, without departing from the spirit of the invention, and that
some of the improvements described may be used without others. For example, the
principle of the lever for actuating the moving parts by the hand of the operator,
may be combined with type-feeding and turning devices of different construction
from those herein before described.
Having now particularly described and explained my said invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :
1. In a type-composing machine having devices for turning types to the
proper position, the application and use of actuating means adapted to be worked

page_text: by the hand of the operator, substantially as and in the manner hereinbefore set
forth.
2. In a type-composing machine provided with a receptacle for types and with
devices for turning the same, the actuating lever constructed and arranged to be
operated by either hand in the act of bringing a type to the receptacle, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
3. The general combination of a receptacle for type, feeding devices, trippers or
type-turning devices, a composing stick or space for receiving the types in lines,
and a hand lever connected with the feeding devices so as to impart the motions for
carrying the types from the receptacle past the trippers into the composing stick,
substantially as herein before described.
4. The construction and arrangement of a series of trippers for acting successively
upon types fed past them, each tripper being provided with a tooth in the line of onc
of the nicks of the types and the last tripper having an adjustable tooth, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
5. The arrangement of a tripper or trippers adapted to give the necessary turns
to a type, in combination with feeding devices which bring the type to rest in
front of the tripper or trippers, substantially as and for the purpose herein before
described.
6. The construction and arrangement of the composing stick, provided with its
holding lever and removable rule, when combined with type-feeding and turning
devices, as hereinbefore set forth.
7. In a type-composing machine, the particular construction of the alarm
bell and its actuating mechanism, whereby the bell-hammer. when set may be
tripped by light contact of type with a device projecting into the path thereof, as
hereinbefore set forth.
8. The general construction and combination of parts constituting a hand-actuated
type-composing machine, substantially as herein described, and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
and and T 1001
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
Agents.