Improvements in Type-writing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 26th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 2 th May, 1895
Improvements in Type-writing Machines.
I, THOMAS HEADLY STACKHOUSE, of 139 South Fourth Street, in the City
and County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of
America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of my invention is to furnish a type-writing machine the carriage of
which may be driven in either direction.
English and most other European languages are written and read from left to
right, and machines for writing these languages are consequently so constructed
Machines of this
that their carriages move, during the writing, from right to left.
character are not adapted for writing those languages that are written and read
from right to left, notably the Hebrew, and it is my purpose to furnish a machine
the carriage of which may be driven either from left to right or from right to left
as may be required for the language that is being written.
My invention consists in combining with a type-writing machine (of ordinary or
special construction) mechanism by means of which the carriage may be moved in
either direction with a step-by-step movement.
In my type-writing machine I preferably use a single main driving spring which,
through suitable mechanism, preferably two sets of gear-wheels arranged so that
when one is thrown into operative action, the other is thrown out of operative
action, and a rack, the latter of which is carried by the carriage, is adapted to drive
the carriage in either direction.
In connection with the means for driving the carriage in either direction, I use
two spacing mechanisms, which are operated by the keys of the machine, one of
which determines the spacing movement of the carriage in one direction, the other
the spacing movement of the carriage in the other direction, and in connection with
these spacing mechanisms I employ means for throwing one set of them out of
operative action when the other set is thrown into operative action and vice versa.
The spacing mechanisms that I prefer to use consist of two ratchets the teeth of
which are inclined in opposite directions and which are carried by the carriage, and
two sets of pawls, one set adapted to engage one ratchet and the other to engage
the other ratchet.
The ratchets are so arranged that, when one is thrown into gear with one set of
pawls, the other is thrown out of gear with the other set of pawls. The pawls are
carried upon the upper end of an arm which is rocked when the keys of the machine
are operated, the operation of the pawls and ratchets to produce a step-by-step
movement being well known.
The machine may be fitted with two or more sets of keys each of which would
contain appropriate characters for the languages to be written, or but one set of
keys may be used, each type being furnished with the characters of two or more
languages, in this latter case either the key-board or the carriage would have to be
furnished with mechanism to shift it so as to bring the desired characters under the

page_text: centre or printing point of the platen when the machine is at work. Any of the well-
known means for shifting the key-board or carriage may be employed for this
purpose.
Dated this 15th day of November 1894.
THOMAS HEADLY STACKHOUSE.
D. Young & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
I, THOMAS HEADLY STACKHOUSE, of 139 South Fourth Street, in the City
and County of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of
America, Manufacturer, 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:-
My invention relates to improvements in type-writing machines, and more
particularly to improvements in mechanism for driving the carriages of type-writing
machines, and the object of my invention is to furnish a type-writing machine the
carriage of which may be driven in either direction.
English and most other European languages are written from left to right, and
type-writing machines for writing these languages are consequently so constructed
that their carriages move, during the writing, from right to left. Machines of this
character are not adapted for writing the languages that are written from right to
left, notably the Hebrew and Arabic. and it is my purpose to furnish a machine the
carriage of which may be driven during the writing either from right to left or
from left to right as may be required by the language that is being written.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of this Specification and in which
similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views,
Fig. 1, is a rear elevation of a type writing machine embodying my
improvements;
Fig. 2, a plan of the rear part of a machine furnished with my improvements, the
platen being removed and some of the parts broken away so as to show my
attachment more clearly;
Fig. 3, a side elevation of the rear part of a machine furnished with my
improvements, a part of the frame of the machine being broken away;
Fig. 4, a side elevation of the double escapement motion, the levers for operating
the double racks, the gearing by which the carriage may be driven in either
direction, and the mechanism for throwing the intermediate gears into or out of
action with the main driving gear;
Fig. 5, a front elevation of the main driving gear, the rack which is secured
to the carriage, and the intermediate gears between the main gear and the
rack;
Fig. 6, a rear elevation of the spacing pawls or dogs, the rocking frame which
carries them, and part of the double ratchets ;
Fig. 7, a side elevation of Fig. 6 ;
Fig. 8, a rear elevation of pawl for engaging ratchet to prevent spring from
unwinding when carriage is removed from machine;
Fig. 9, a plan of Fig. 8;
Fig. 10, a plan of rocking lever which connects collars on hubs of intermediate
gears;
Fig. 11 a ulan of Fio 10.

page_text: Fig. 12, a front elevation of rear ratchet which is loose on shaft to which the
driving spring is secured, and Fig. 13, a central sectional elevation through the
driving spring, the front and rear ratchets on shaft to which said spring is secured
and the main driving gear.
B the
A is the frame which supports the carriage and its connected parts.
carriage frame. C the platen. Da rack secured to the carriage.
E a gear wheel
gearing with rack D.
Fa gear wheel fast upon shaft G. H, I, gear wheels
carried loosely on studs J, K, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, which are adapted to engage
alternately with and be driven by gear F. The gear I gears directly with the
gear E, and the gear H gears with an interme late gear L which gears with
gear E.
The shaft G and gear F are driven, when the machine is in use. by a coil
spring M, shown by dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 12, and by full lines in Fig 13, the
arrows in full lines in Fig. 5 showing the movement of the wheels when the gear H
is in gear with and driven by gear F. In the drawings the gear I is shown out of
contact with gear F but is in gear with gear E and is running idly, the rack D and
the carriage being driven as shown by the arrows in full lines, that is from left to
right as the operator faces the machine. If it be desired to reverse the driving of
the carriage, the gear H is thrown out of contact with gear F and the gear 1 into
contact with it, the mechanism for accomplishing this being as follows: The
gears H, I, are carried upon studs J, K, which are carried by a suitable frame N
O is a lever pivoted
which may form part of frame A or be secured to said frame.
at its middle to a suitable support, and the ends of which are pivotally secured to
one of the ends of links a, a', the other ends of which are pivotally secured to the
upper ends of forks b, b, which pass downward and upon each side of a groove cut
upon the hubs of gears H, I.
Pivotally connected to one end of lever O is a U-shaped frame P the ends of
which project upwardly and are furnished with slots into which the lower end of a
frame R, which is carried by a shaft S, passes.
One end of shaft S is furnished
with a crank T, Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, which is connected with a lever U by a
link V.
When it is desired to reverse the movement of the carriage, the lever U is
thrown over, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, pushing over link Vani crank T
and rocking shaft and causing the frame R to be thrown out as shown by dotted
lines. This frame moves the frame P out, or in, as the case may be, and throws
one end of lever O in one direction and its other end in the opposite direction and
causes one gear, as I, to be thrown into gear with gear F, and the other gear, as H,
out of gear with gear F. The faces of gears E, L. are much broader than the
face of gear F, so that these gears may be at all times in gear with gears H, I.
It will be understood that this con-truction of the gears may be reversed, that is
the gears E, L, may have narrow faces and the gears H, I, broal faces.
As the carriage may be driven in either direction it is necessary that it be
furnished with two spacing devices, one of which will control its movement in one
direction, the other its movement in the opposite direction. These spacing devices
are so arranged that they are thrown into and out of operative action simultaneously
with that one of the driving devices whose motion they limit.
The lever U, through which the gears H, I, are thrown into or out of operative
action with the driving gear F, has its lower end secured to a shaft or stud c which
is carried in suitable bearings in the carriage frame B. Upon the opposite end of
Secured to shafts c, c', are
the carriage frame is a similar shaft or stud c'.
collars d, d¹, to which are secured two ratchets e, f. Pivoted to frame A of the
machine, or to bearings carried by this frame, is a rod g, and secured to this rod is
an upwardly projecting arm the upper end of which is furnished with two movable
pawls i, j and two stationary pawls k, l. The pawls i, k are adapted to engage
ratchet
e,
the pawls, to engage ratchet f.
m, n are springs carried by arms the free ends of which engage the outer ends
of the movable pawls, and return these pawls to their first positions after

page_text: having been moved forward by the movement of the carriage as hereinafter
described.
The key board, the type bars, the type, etc., are not shown as their arrangement
and construction are so well known as to render this unnecessary, it will be under-
stood that they may be of any of the well known and suitable patterns. It will
also be understood that in writing, English and Hebrew for instance, that two
complete sets of type bars, key boards, etc., should be used, one being removed from
the inachine in order to make place for the other, or that other suitable provision
should be made for the use of the different letters or characters that may be
necessary in writing the different languages.
In the drawings the machine is shown geared so as to drive the carriage from
left to right as the operator faces it, and its operation is as follows:
9,
One of the keys being struck depresses the lever o which is fast to rock shaft
this rocks shaft and moves in arm h which is fast to this shaft ; as the upper end
of this aim is moved in, movable pawli is moved out of contact with the tooth on
ratchet e which it is engaging, and at the same instant the stationary pawl k is
moved into contact with the next tooth on this ratchet and prevents the ratchet
and the carriage from moving. As soon as the movable pawl is moved out of
contact with the teeth of the ratchet the spring m throws this pawl back until it is
directly opposite stationary pawl k, and when the key is released the spring P,
Figs. 1 and 3, returns arm and its connected parts to their first position, drawing
the stationary pawl out of contact with ratchet e and moving the movable pawl into
contact with the tooth on this ratchet that the stationary pawl has just left.
soon as this is done the spring M, through gears F, 11, L, and E, and rack D,
drives the carriage forward until it is arrested by the stopping of movable pawl i,
which may be accomplished by a pin carried by the arm and which passes
through a slots in the pawl or j, see Fig. 6.
As
When the machine is to be driven in the opposite direction, the lever U is moved
down, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4, the ratchet e is then lifted out of
contact with the pawls i, k, and the ratchet is thrown down so as to be engaged
by the pawls j, l. At the same instant the frame R on shaft S moves out frame P
on lever O and this lever moves gear H out of contact with the driving gear F
and the gear I into contact with gear F and the driving of the carriage will be
reversed. When this is done the action of the pawls j, l, and the ratchet f will be
similar to that described for the pawls i, k, and the ratchet e.
1, Figs. 1 and 3, is a pawl that engages with a ratchet wheel u, Figs 1, 3 and 13,
which is fast to shaft G to which inside end of spring M is secured.
v, Figs. 1,
2 and 3, is a thumb wheel upon the end of shaft & by means of which this shaft
may be turned in order to wind up or increase the tension of spring M. The
ratchet wheel u and pawl t prevent the spring from unwinding.
w, Figs. 1, 2, 3, 8 and 9, is a lever which is pivoted at w, and the lower end of
which is furnished with a tooth and the upper end of which is adapted to pass
under and to be engaged by a flat surface D' carried by the rack. Ordinarily the
flat surface D¹ on the rack D engages the upper end of lever w and holds this end
down, but if the carriage be removed for any purpose from the machine, the lower
end of this lever drops and tooth r engages one of the teeth on the ratchet y and
prevents this ratchet and the gear from revolving and the spring M from
unwinding, which it would do when the carriage is removed from the machine were
it not for some device of this kind.
The upper end of spring M is secured to a pin M' which passes through a slot y'
in the ratchet wheel y and through a slot F¹ in the gear F. When the carriage is
pushed forward so as to commence writing a new line, the spring M, as is the case
in all type writing machines, is wound up, and when this is done the pin M' is
drawn down to the bottom of the slots y¹, F', hence when the spring is tightly
wound and exerts its greatest force, this force is applied near the centre of the
wheel F and ratchet y. As the spring unwinds the pin M rises and its force is
applied further from the centre of the gear and ratchet. By this device the spring

page_text: transmits to the gear F and ratchet y very nearly as much power when it is unwound
as it does when fully wound.
I do not desire to confine myself to the precise construction that I have shown
in my drawings, for the details of my invention may be considerably modified
without departing from the spirit of my mvention, and in applying the invention to
type writing machines of a different construction from that shown in the drawings
it might be necessary to make modifications in order to adapt it to the different
construction of the carriage and its connected parts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination, in a type writing machine, of a carriage, a main driving
spring, mechanism operated by said main driving spring by means of which said
carriage may be driven in either direction, mechanism operated by the keys of the
machine by means of which the carriage may be caused to move in either direction
with a step by step movement, and means whereby one set of driving and one set
of spacing mechanism may be thrown out of operative action when the other set is
thrown into operative action.
2. The combination, with the carriage of a type writing machine and means for
driving the same in either direction, of two movable and two stationary pawls,
means for operating said pawls by the movements of the keys, two ratchets carried
by said carriage the teeth of which are inclined in opposite directions and one of
which is adapted to be engaged by one set of pawls, the other by the other set of
pawls, and means for at the same time throwing one set of pawls and one ratchet
into gear and the other set of pawls and the other ratchet out of gear.
3. The combination, with the carriage of a type writing machine, of a main
driving gear and means for driving the same in one direction, mechanism controlled
by the keys of the machine for dictating the movements of said driving gear,
mechanism actuated by said driving gear for driving the carriage in the opposite
direction, mechanism controlled by the keys of the machine for dictating the move-
ments of said second driving gears, and means for throwing said driving mechanisms
alternately into and out of operative action.
4. The combination in a type writing machine, of a carriage, a rack secured to
said carriage, a main driving gear and means for actuating the same, a set of gears
driven by said main driving gear for moving said rack and carriage in one direction,
a set of gears actuated by said main driving gear for driving said rack and carriage
in the opposite direction, means for throwing one set of gears out of operative
action with said main driving gear when the other set of gears is thrown into
operative action with it, and mechanism operated through the keys of the machine,
for imparting a step by step movement in either direction to said carriage.
5. The combination, with the carriage of a type writing machine, of a rack
secured to said carriage, a gear wheel engaging said rack, a main driving gear and
means for actuating the same, an intermediate gear adapted to gear into said main
driving gear and into said rack engaging gear, an intermediate geur adapted to
gear into said gear and into said main driving gear, and means for throwing one of
said intermediate gears out of contact with said main driving gear when the other
is thrown into gear with it.
6. The combination, with the intermediate gear wheels and the studs upon which
they are supported, of a lever pivoted at its centre, links pivoted to the ends of said
lever and to forks engaging the hubs of said gears, said forks, a lotted frame
secured to one of the ends of said lever, a frame extending into said slots, a shaft
upon which said latter frame is carried, and means for rocking said shaft.
7. The con.bination, with the carriage of a type writing machine and an
actuating spring or springs by means of which said carriage may be moved in either
direction, of two escapement movements, one of which is adapted to determine the
spacing movement of the carriage in one direction, the other to determine the

page_text: spacing movement of the carriage in the other direction, and mechanism for
throwing one of said escapement movements out of operative action when the other
is thrown into operative action.
8. The combination, with the carriage of a type writing machine and means for
driving the same in either direction, of an arm adapted to be rocked by the action
of the keys of the machine, two movable and two stationary pawls carried by said
arm, two ratchets carried by said carriage the teeth of which are inclined in opposite
directions and one of which is adapted to be engaged by one set of pawls and the
other by the other set of pawls, and means for throwing, at the same time, one
ratchet into gear with one set of pawls and the other ratchet out of gear with the
other set of pawls.
9. The combination, with the carriage and means for driving the same in either
direction substantially as herein before described, of a ratchet-wheel attached to
the gear-wheel which is driven by the main spring, and a pawl which, when the
carriage is on the machine, is held out of contact with the said ratchet-wheel, and
which is adapted to engage with the said ratchet-wheel when the carriage is removed
from the machine.
Dated this 1st day of March 1805
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.