Improved Mechanism for Actuating the Vertically Movable Assembling Block of a Linotype or analogous Machine.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 19th May, 1896-Accepted, 18th July, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by THE MERGENTHALER LINOTYPE COMPANY, of
Tribune Building, New York, U.S.A.]
Improved Mechanism for Actuating the Vertically Movable
Assembling Block of a Linotype or analogous Machine.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, of No. 6 Serjeants' Inn, Fleet
Street, in the City of London, Sole Proprietors of, and Manufacturers, Vendors
and Licensors under, the "Linotype Patents, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
"
The present invention relates to improved mechanism for actuating the
vertically movable assembling block of a linotype or other machine analogous in
respect of the necessity for, and construction and operation of, such assembling
block.
The invention consists in connecting with the vertical movable assembling
block of the Mergenthaler linotype machine, in which the row of units-matrices
and space bars-is assembled, suitable power (as distinguished from manual or
pedal) mechanism for putting the said block through its vertical motion to the
shifter and (it may be) back again. The present invention does not limit us in
respect of the type of the power mechanism in question. It is preferred to make
use of a horizontal shaft connected at one end, by a crank or pitman, with the
assembling block; and provided at the other end, with a pulley belted to any
constantly moving part of the machine. With the above, there is combined a
finger key and clutch adapted to control the action of the pulley, so that when
actuated, the parts will act to put the assembling block through its upward vertical
motion. After that, the said block is released and returned by any suitable agency
to its normal or lowest position.
Dated the 20th day of August 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicants.
CUMPLEIN DT DITTUATION
Improved Mechanism for Actuating the Vertically Movable
Assembling Block of a Linotype or analogous Machine.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, late of No. 6 Serjeants' Inn, but
now of No. 188 Fleet Street, both in the City of London, Sole Proprietors of, and
Manufacturers, Vendors and Licensors under, the "Linotype " Patents, 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 improvements iu mechanism for actuating the
assembling block of the Mergenthaler linotype machine described in the Speci-
fication of Letters Patent No. 145821800, or that of any other linotype machine
analogous thereto in respect of the necessity for, and construction and operation
of, such assembling block.

page_text: 66
The
In the Mergenthaler machine for instance, the selected matrices and space bars
are composed in a horizontal slot in the assembling block. The function of this
assembling block is to transfer the composed line from the place of composition to
a higher level, along which it is shifted by the "shifter" on its way to the
foundry" or that part of the machine where the linotype is cast. The to and fro
motion of advance and retire on the part of the said block, is a vertical one.
motion of advance is effected by a hand lever pivotted on the main frame and
connected by a link to the assembling block. This hand lever is aligned parallel
with the front of the machine. When the motion of advance is to be communicated
to the assembling block, a hand pressure not less than the total resistance of the
latter, must be applied to the free end of the said lever and continued during such
motion of advance. The actual strain upon the operator's haud and arın is more
than the said pressure by reason of the position of the lever. The assembling
block is fitted with an automatic detent adapted to lock it at the end of its motion
of advance, and to be unlocked as soon as the function attached to such motion,
has been discharged. The unlocking of the detent is followed at once by the
retiring or return motion of the assembling block, which motion is effected by an
automatic returning spring.
The object of our invention is to provide for the organ in question being put
through its to and fro motion of advance and retire, by power derived from the
machine itself, as distinguished from manual or pedal power specially applied by
the operator for either motion.
The invention itself cousists broadly in the combination with the assembling
block and a constantly or a regularly moving organ of the machine, of mechanism
under the control of the operator and capable of, at his will, taking power from
the said organ and applying it to the assembling block so as to put it through the
above mentioned to and fro motion. It further includes the automatic locking of
'the mechanism and block in their normal positions respectively. The last
mentioned mechanism may be widely varied in both construction and arrangement.
Our invention does not limit us as to its details or their characteristics-it includes
any which fulfils the conditions stated in the preceding sentence.
The accompanying figures represent one means of applying our invention to the
Mergenthaler linotype machine; and, as such, they are to be taken as part of
this specification and read therewith. Several of the organs of that machine
necessarily occur in some of the figures, where they are marked with the same
reference letters as in the specification already particularised, to facilitate
recognition.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the machine key board, the above mentioned
means, the assembling block and the adjacent organs.
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same, partly in section, from the right hand.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the driving clutch and controlling finger lever.
Figure 4 is a vertical section through the axis of the clutch.
Figure 5 is a side elevation, from the right, of the assembling block slide and of
a part of the assembling block locking detent.
A is a portion of the machine frame; and D, the key board. I is the
assembling block; and, its automatic detent. The latter takes the form of a
pivotted spring catch standing up above the top of the block I. It presents its
operative nose to the right; and as the block approaches the end of its motion of
advance, the nose is engaged by a fixed shoulder and swung to the left, so as to
pass such shoulder and to be locked above it by the spring 18, as indicated by the
respective dotted lines in Figure 1. The parts are so proportioned as to position
and dimension, that the locking is effected at the moment that the assembling
block reaches the end of the above mentioned motion of advance. The automatic
detent just described acts only when the assembling block is in the position last
mentioned, its only object being to hold the block there for the purpose of
preventing its return before the composed line of matrices and space bars has been
shifted from it by the shifter already referred to. This consists of a pair of

page_text: parallel arms L, L¹. The former is fast to, and projects towards, the assembling
block from, a slide 20 adapted to move to and fro in a borizontal guide 21 in the
frame A, such motion being facilitated by antifriction rollers. The arm L¹ is
likewise fast to a corresponding and similarly acting slide 23. The increasing line
of matrices and space bars engages the arm I and pushes it away from its fellow,
the latter being kept back by an automatic detent ; so that when the act of
composition is complete, the two arms L, L', are separated by a distance equal to
the length of the composed line. The advance motion of the assembling block I,
places the said line between the arms L, L', and disengages the detent / from
before the latter, by means of the push pin 24 which is carried by the said block
for that purpose. The two arns are then moved horizontally to the left, carrying
the line with them through the guide block M on its way to the foundry before
mentioned. During this motion of shifting, the shoulder 22 on the slide of the
arm L, the last one to pass over the assembling block I, engages the upstanding
nose of the catch, and disengages it from the shoulder, thereby unlocking the
said block, and leaving it free to be returned to its normal position by the device
supplied for that purpose. a3 is the horizontal shaft situated behind the matrix
selecting mechanism, and from which the matrix delivering mechanism and the
distributor are driven. The two latter are outside the scope of the present
invention, and are, for that reason, omitted from the figures.
The foregoing organs are substantially of the same construction and operation as
are described in the specification above mentioned.
The
The one means of applying our invention, which we illustrate, is as follows.
is a shaft adapted to rotate in suitable bearings under the key board D.
left hand end of it stands under the assembling block I and is fitted with a half
crank 2. 3 is a pitman connecting the latter to the assembling block I in order
that, and so that, the latter shall receive its motion of advance from the half
crank 2 during one of its half revolutions, and its return motion during the other
and succeeding one. This pitman 3 may be connected directly to the assembling
block I, but it is preferred to introduce an adjustment between them. The one
illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 5, consists of a slide 5 adapted to move in a vertical
dovetailed groove in the assembling block I, a pivotted connection 4 between the
bottom of the said slide and the top of the pitman 3, and a set screw 6 with which
is combined a screw and slot adjustment 6 a in the length of the pitman 3.
7 is a pulley running loose on the shaft 1. Convenience places it and the
immediately co-operating organs, on the right hand side of the key board D. It
is driven by a belt 8 from a hub 8 a fast on the shaft a, and for that reason
revolves continuously. It is this shaft a" which is, in the means of applying our
invention now under specification, the above mentioned organ of the machine from
which power is taken. The application of such power to the assembling block I,
is placed under the control of the operator by means of a clutch and finger lever.
The clutch proper consists of a sleeve 9 provided on the face opposite the hub of
the pulley 7, with pins 9 a, or their equivalent, adapted to engage with corre-
sponding pins 7 a, or their equivalent, on the adjacent face of the hub of the
pulley 7. 10 is a pin fast to the shaft 1 and projecting radially from it through a
longitudinal slot 10 a in the sleeve 9. The object of the length of the slot is to
provide for the motion of engagement and disengagement on the part of the said
sleeve with the hub of the pulley 7, and that of the pin 10 to lock the sleeve 9 to
the shaft 1. 11 is a spiral spring surrounding the shaft 1 and compressed between
the sleeve 9 on its right and a collar 11 a fast on the said shaft, on its left, being
thereby adapted to engage the said sleeve with the hub 7a as soon as the former
is released.
The shaft 1 is held stationary during such times as the assembling block I is out
of work, by locking the sleeve 9 against the action of the spring 11. The device
for effecting such locking consists of an arm 12 fast on the sleeve 9 and projecting
radially from it; a pin 13 projecting laterally from the arm 12; and the finger
lever 14 already mentioned: This latter has its fulcrum in a stud 15 projecting

page_text: from the frame A on the adjacent side of the key board D for a sufficient distance,
stands under the sleeve 9 to the right of and clear of the radial arm 12, and
presents its front end near to the side of the said key board and therefore within
easy reach of the operator. 16 is its returning spring; and 16 a, its stop. 17 is a
vertical extension of the finger lever 14. It stands in the path of the pin 13 so
long as the said lever is not depressed, being thereby adapted to prevent the
rotation of the sleeve 9. The adjacent sides of the arm 12 and the extension 17,
are inclined or bevelled away from each other along their meeting edges, to
facilitate the former engaging with the left side of the latter, the left side being
the one farthest from the clutch. The extension 17 being, in respect of its
thickness, a clutch-opener, the width of the bevel or incline on it, measured in a
line parallel with the shaft 1, is not less than the corresponding dimension of the
engagement of the clutch proper with the hub of the pulley 7.
The invention acts as follows. When the operator wants to put the assembling
block I into action, he depresses the finger lever 14. This latter is a lightly
working finger lever as distinguished from the hand lever of the previous specifica-
tion, loaded as such hand lever is with the resistance of the assembling block. The
depression in question, has the effect of putting the clutch-opener 17 below the
path of the pin 13; the height of the said opener, the motion of the lever 14
and the distance of the pin 13 from the axis of the shaft 1, being dimensioned
accordingly. The resilience of the spring 11 forthwith closes the clutch, whereupon
power is taken from the shaft a3 and applied to the assembling block I through
the shaft 1, crank 2 and pitman 3, giving to it, its motion of advance. At the end
of the latter motion, the half crank 2 has made half a revolution; the said
assembling block is locked by the detent. 8, and with it the above mentioned
rotating parts as far back as the pulley 7 inclusive; whereupon the band 8 begins
to slip and continues to slip until the detent is unlocked, when it bites its pulleys
again and sends the half crank 2 through its next half revolution, thereby effecting
the return of the assembling block I to its normal position. The finger lever 14
was released by the operator and returned by the spring 16 to its normal position,
before the return motion of the block I had even commenced, so that as the arm 12
is completing its revolution, the leading edge of it engages with the left side of the
clutch-opener 17, and is forced by the thickness of the latter away from the hub
of the pulley 7, thereby opening the clutch. By the time the clutch is opened,
the pin 13 will be engaged with the front end of the clutch-opener 17, such
engagement locking the sleeve 9 and stopping the shaft 1. The opening of the
clutch, locking of the sleeve 9 and completion of the return motion of the assembling
block I are synchronous.
With reference to the shaft a" and the belt 8, it should be understood that the
former is a constantly moving organ; that the present invention demands an
intermittence of motion, or pause, on the part of the assembling block I ; and that
this intermittence or pause is obtained with such constantly moving organ and belt,
by the faculty of slip possessed by the latter. The present invention is not limited
to the selection of a constantly moving organ as the, source of power, but may
make use of any regularly moving one capable of supplying the intermittent
impulses necessary to put the assembling block through its double motion in proper
time.
Thus it will be seen that the present invention provides for the momentary
depression of a finger lever at the will and by the finger of the operator, being
followed by the mechanical or automatic advance and return of the assembling
block and locking of the actuating mechanism in its normal position, without any
further attention on his part.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
.1. In.a linotype or other type composing machine in which the assembling block

page_text: is elevated at the completion of each line of composition preparatory to the
transfer of the line to the casting mechanism, an automatic mechanism for effecting
the raising of the said assembling block, retaining it when raised, and finally
returning it to rest in its original position, for the purposes described; the said
mechanism being driven by connection to a moving organ of the machine and
being put in operation by a relatively small pressure on a finger key or other
suitable lever.
2. In a linotype or other type composing machine in which the assembling block
is elevated at the completion of each line of composition preparatory to the
transfer of the line to the casting mechanism, the combination of parts forming
the automatic mechanism for operating the assembling block, as and for the
purposes described and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In a linotype machine, the combination with the assembling block, of a finger
lever adapted to be operated by a light tap of the operator's finger, together with
mechanism adapted to be released by such operation, to transfer power from the
machine to the assembling block and to be locked, and to consequently lock the
said block, in their normal positions, respectively.
4. In a linotype machine, the moveable assembling block, the crank shaft and
pitman, the clutch for connecting the shaft and pulley, the clutch closing spring
and a device adapted to open the clutch and hold the shaft stationary.
Dated this 19th day of May 1896.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.