Improvements in Paper Carriage and Index Mechanism for Typewriters.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd May, 1899-Accepted, 24th June, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Paper Carriage and Index Mechanism for
Typewriters.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the Firm of A. M. & Wm. Clark, of 53,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication
to me by The Wagner Typewriter Company (Incorporated under the laws of
the State of New York), of 220, Broadway, in the City, County and State of New
York, United States of America, Manufacturers) and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement;-
حب
This invention relates to paper feed mechanism and to index mechanism for
typewriters and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts
hereinafter described and claimed.
Typewriters have heretofore been devised which employ separately mounted
marginal feed rollers that were adapted to bear upon the paper near each side
edge of the paper and a central feed roll near the front of the platen and main
feed rollers that were adapted to bear upon the paper throughout a considerable
extent of the length of the platen. In such constructions, however, these feed
rollers or sets of feed rollers have been separately moved and maintained out of
action when it was desired to straighten the paper on the platen. It will be
understood that the several movements required to move these feed rollers out of
and into contact with the platen occasioned considerable delay every time it was
found desirable to adjust the paper on the platen.
The object of the invention is to overcome the difficulties heretofore encountered
in typewriting machines and to provide a simple and efficient mechanism for
simultaneously throwing the feed rolls, which co-operate with the paper platen,
out of operation by a single operation of a hand-actuated lever. A. further feature
of the invention consists in moving an indicator to and from the printing point
by a movement of the lever which causes the feed rollers to be moved into and
out of contact with the paper platen.
In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters indicate corresponding
parts in all the views-
Figure 1 is a plan view of sufficient-number of parts of a typewriting machine
to illustrate the invention;
Figure 2 is a front view of the same with parts removed for the purpose of
clearer illustration, the paper being shown in place in the paper carriage;
Figure 3.is a bottom view of the platen carriage and the parts carried thereby;
Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view of some of the parts illustrated in
Figure 1, the view being taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of the central feed roll displacing cam
and its carrier..
The invention in the present case is illustrated as adapted to the well known
Underwood" typewriter. It will be understood, however, that the invention
may be employed in any form of machine wherein an application of said invention

page_text: is found feasible, and that changes in detail may be made to adapt the improve-
ments to other types of machines than that illustrated.
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In
In the drawings, 1 indicates the main frame of an ordinary "Underwood
machine in which a paper carriage 2 is adapted to reciprocate from end to end for
the production of lines of writing. The paper carriage 2 is provided with an
auxiliary frame which constitutes the platen frame or carriage proper.
this platen frame 3 is carried the platen 4 which may be rotated in any suitable
manner to produce the spacing between the lines. Suitable mechanism (not
shown) is provided for moving the platen frame in a vertical direction in the
carriage, to bring the printing line into alignment with either the upper or
lower case characters a respectively, on the type bars, (see Fig. 4). The platen
frame or carriage is provided with a paper shield 5 which guides the paper
to the platen. This shield extends from the rear portion of the platen, as indi-
cated in Figure 4, to a point below the central front portion of the platen, as
indicated at 6, and apertures 7 are provided in the shield through which apertures
extend the main feed rollers S. The feed rollers 8 are shown as three in number
and are loosely mounted upon a shaft 9 which is carried by arms 10. These
arms 10 are provided with sleeve-like portions 12 that carry ratchet faces 18
which engage in corresponding ratchet teeth upon sleeves 14 which are loosely
carried upon a rod 15, and the sleeves 14 are preferably provided with open-
ings 16. Each of the sleeves 14 is connected to a coiled spring 17 which is in turn
connected to a sleeve 18 fixed to the shaft 15. It will thus be seen that a rotation
of the sleeves 14 will increase or decrease the tension of the springs upon the
arms 10 and feed rollers 8 in accordance with the direction in which said
sleeves 14 are turned. It will of course be understood that the engaging teeth
between the sleeves 12 and 14 will maintain the parts in the relative positions to
which they are adjusted. The shaft 9 herein before referred to is extended beyond
the armis 10, as indicated in Figure 3, and these extensions are provided with
cams 19 which co-operate with arms 20, near each end of the platen, that are
adapted to slide in the longitudinal direction of the shaft 9, as will be herein-
after explained. These arms 20 are fixed upon a longitudinally movable rod 21
that slides in bearings 21* of the platen frame and said arms are extended upon
the opposite side of said rod to form extensions 22. These arms or exten-
sions 22 are each provided with a cam finger 23 which co-operates with an abut-
ment or extension 24 connected with the support 25 of each of the marginal
rollers 26 (see Figs. 2 and 4). These marginal rollers 26 are adapted to bear
upon the paper near each end of the platen and are, as before stated, carried by
the supports 25 which, in the present instance, consist of spring arms bent as
indicated at 27 (Fig. 4), and secured as indicated at 28, to a portion of the platen
frame 3. It will thus be seen that the marginal rollers 26 are independently
mounted near each end of the platen and are adapted normally to be maintained
in contact with the platen by the spring pressure of the supports 25 in which
they are mounted and that a movement of the rod 21 in one direction will
cause the cam fingers 23 to move the marginal rollers 26 out of contact with the
platen or the paper on the platen, whereas a movement of said rod in the opposite
direction will bring the lowest portion of the cam fingers 23 under the abut-
ments 24, thereby allowing the rollers to simultaneously move into contact with
the platen or with the paper on the platen. In order to bring about this
longitudinal movement of the rod 21, there is provided a hand operated lever 29
which is pivoted as indicated at 30, upon the platen frame and is provided at its
lower end with a slot 31 in which a pin 32 upon the rod 21 engages.
Upon reference to Figure 2, of the drawing, it will be observed that an
independently mounted feed roller 33 is pivoted in a spring-pressed frame 34
secured to an extension 35 (see Figure 4) extending from the rod 15. This spring-
pressed feed roller 33, is adapted to be forced through an aperture, 36 in the
shield 5 and, to be normally maintained in contact with the paper platen by the
pressure of the spring-pressed frame of said feed roller. This spring-pressed

page_text: frame or support 34 is provided with a pin 37 (see Fig. 4) with which co-operates
a cam 38 (shown in detail in Figure 5) carried by the longitudinally movable
rod 21. The cani 38 is so located with relation to the pin on the spring-pressed
support 34, that the roller 33 will be moved out of contact with the platen when
the longitudinally movable rod 21 is moved in a direction which will cause
the marginal rollers 26 and the main feed rollers 8 to be forced out of contact
with the platen and the parts will be maintained in such position until the
rod 21 is moved in an opposite direction by the hand operated lever 29. The
rod 21 is likewise provided with studs 39, each of which carries a pin 40 that
passes through a cam groove 41 in a movable indicator-bar or scale 42. This
scale 42 is connected by a link 43 to one end of the platen frame, as indicated
at 44. This scale is mounted so that the upper edge thereof may be brought
directly beneath the line of writing by the hand operated lever 29, as indicated
in Figure 2 of the drawing whether the platen be in the lower or elevated
position. This is due to the fact that the scale and its co-operating parts are
carried by and move bodily with the platen frame. The indices 45 upon said
scale are so arranged that no matter at what point the carriage be with relation
to the printing point, an index 45 will always be brought to the printing point
when the scale is elevated by the hand operated lever 29. The indices are
equably arranged so that any one index brought to the printing point will indicate
the relative positions of each character throughout the line, as the spacing on the
scale corresponds to the distance between the characters written. It will thus be
understood that the scale not only affords an indication of the printing point,
but that it likewise indicates the line on which the characters will be written.
However, where an indication of the line alone is desired, the bar 42 may be
made without indices thereon. When the scale is moved by the hand operated
lever 29, to the dotted line position represented in Figure 2 of the drawing, it is
conveyed to a position where it does not interfere with the writing, as will be
seen by reference to Figure 4 of the drawing. In this view a type bar 46 is
shown in the printing position with a ribbon 47 interposed between the characters
on the type bar and the paper on the platen. This ribbon 47 is carried by
suitable mechanism, such, for instance, as a guide 48, which in the present
instance is automatically operated by suitable mechanism. (not shown) to convey the
ribbon into the path of the characters on the type bar just before such character
reaches the platen, and to automatically move the ribbon out of the line of writing
after each character is written.
It will be observed that by this invention it is possible to move all of the
feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen and to simultaneously move
the scale or indicator to the position where it is available to indicate the printing
point and the position of a line of writing and that the only movement required
to bring about this movement of the scale and the feed rolls is that given to the
hand operated lever 29, whereas in the type of machine wherein such rollers
were heretofore employed, it was necessary to make several movements in order to
carry the marginal, central and main feed rollers, out of contact with the paper
on the platen.
The indicator or scale is seldom required except when the paper is to be adjusted
upon the platen and when this is necessary it is desirable to force all of the feed
rollers out of contact with the paper on the platen so that the
paper will be
entirely free from the pressure of the feed rollers and may be readily moved to
any position desired. In accordance with this invention, the rollers are moved
out of contact with the paper, the scale is automatically moved into the indicating
position and is automatically moved out of such position when the rollers are again
allowed to bear upon the paper.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The combination with a platen of independently mounted marginal feed

page_text: rollers and hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying said feed
rollers into and out of contact with the platen and for maintaining said
feed rollers in either of such positions.
2. The combination with a platen of independent marginal feed rollers, an
independent support for each of said rollers at each end of the platen and
hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying said feed rollers into
and out of contact with the platen and for maintaining said feed rollers in either
of such positions.
3. The combination with a platen of independent marginal feed rollers, an
independent support for each of said rollers at each end of the platen, an
independently mounted centrally located feed roller and hand operated mechanism
for simultaneously conveying all of said feed rollers into and out of contact with
the platen.
4. The combination with a platens of main feed rollers, independent marginal
feed rollers, an independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each
end of the platen and band operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying
all of said feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen.
5. The combination with a platen of main feed rollers, independent marginal
feed rollers, an independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each
end of the platen, an independently mounted centrally located 'feed roller and
hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying all of said feed rollers
into and out of contact with the platen.
6. The combination with a platen of independently mounted marginal feed
rollers, an indicator and hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying
said feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen and for maintaining said
feed rollers in either of such positions and for simultaneously moving the said
indicator to and away from the printing point.
7. The combination with a platen of independent marginal feed rollers, an
independent support for each of said rollers at each end of the platen, an indicator
and hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying said feed rollers into
and out of contact with the platen and for maintaining said feed rollers in either
of such positions and for simultaneously moving said indicator to and away from
the printing point.
8. The combination with a platen of independent marginal feed rollers, an
independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each end of the
platen, an independently mounted centrally located feed roller, an indicator and
hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying all of said feed rollers
into and out of contact with the platen and for simultaneously moving said
indicator to and away from the printing point.
9. The combination with a platen of main feed rollers, independent marginal
feed rollers, an independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each
end of the platen, an indicator and hand operated mechanism for simultaneously
conveying all of said feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen and for
simultaneously moving, said indicator to and away from the printing point.
10. The combination with a platen of main feed rollers, independent marginal
feed rollers, an independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each
end of the platen, an independently mounted centrally located feed roller, an
indicator and hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying all of said
feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen and for simultaneously moving
said indicator to and away from the printing point.
:
11. The combination with a platen of independently mounted marginal feed
rollers, a scale, the indices on said scale being equably spaced and each index being
adapted to be brought into register with the printing points and hand operated
mechanism for simultaneously conveying said feed rollers into and out of contact
with the platen and for maintaining the feed rollers in either of such positions
and for simultaneously moving said scale to and away from the printing point.
12. The combination with a platen of independent marginal,,feed, rollers, an

page_text: independent support for each of said feed rollers at each end of the platen, a
scale, the indices on said scale being equably spaced and each index being adapted
to be brought into register with the printing point and hand operated mechanism
for simultaneously conveying all of said feed rollers into and out of contact with
the platen and for maintaining the feed rollers in either of such positions and for
simultaneously moving said scale to and away from the printing point.
13. The combination with a platen of independent marginal feed rollers, an
independent support for each of said feed rollers at each end of the platen, an
independently mounted centrally located feed roller, a scale, the indices on said
scale being equably spaced and each index being adapted to be brought into
register with the printing points and hand operated mechanism for simultaneously
conveying all of said feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen and for
simultaneously moving said scale to and away from the printing point.
14. The combination with a platen of main feed rollers, independent marginal
feed rollers, an independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each
end of the platen, a scale, the indices on said scale being equably spaced and each
index being adapted to be brought into register with the printing points and
hand operated mechanism for simultaneously conveying all of said feed rollers
into and out of contact with the platen and for maintaining said feed rollers in
either of such positions and for simultaneously moving said scale to and away
from the printing point.
15. The combination with a platen of main feed rollers, independent marginal
feed rollers, an independent support for each of said marginal feed rollers at each
end of the platen, an independently mounted centrally located feed roller, a
scale, the indices on said scale being equably spaced and each index being adapted
to be brought into register with the printing points and hand operated mechanism
for simultaneously conveying all of said feed rollers into and out of contact with the
platen and for simultaneously moving said scale to and away from the printing
point.
16. In a typewriter, the combination of a reciprocating carriage, a platen
carriage which is vertically movable to bring the printing point
into the path of the upper or lower case characters, an indicating bar
carried by said platen carriage, feed rollers co-operating with said platen and
means for moving the indicating bar to and away from the printing point when
the platen is in either the lowered or elevated position and for simultaneously
conveying the feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen.
17. In a typewriter, the combination of a reciprocating paper carriage, a platen
carriage which is vertically movable to bring the printing point into the path of
the upper or lower case characters and which is independent of but is carried by
said paper carriage, a scale carried by said platen carriage, the indices on said
scale being equably spaced and each index being adapted to be brought into
register with the printing point, feed rollers co-operating with the platen and
means for moving said scale to and away from the printing line when the platen
is in either the lowered or elevated position and for simultaneously conveying the
feed rollers into and out of contact with the platen.
18. In a typewriter, the combination of a reciprocating paper carriage, a platen,
feed rollers co-operating therewith, a platen carriage which is vertically movable
to bring the printing point into the path of the upper or lower case characters, an
indicating bar carried by said platen carriage and being adapted to be moved
to and away from the printing point in a perpendicular plane when the platen
is in either the lowered or elevated position and means for moving said scale and
simultaneously conveying said feed rollers into and out of contact with the
platen.
19. In a typewriter, the combination of a reciprocating paper carriage, a platen,
feed rollers co-operating therewith, a platen carriage which is vertically movable
to bring the printing point into the path of the upper or lower case characters and
which is independent of but is carried by said paper carriage, a scale carried by

page_text: said platen carriage, the indices on said scale being equably spaced and each
index being adapted to be brought into register with the printing point and means
for moving said scale in a perpendicular plane to and away from the printing
line when the platen is in either the lowered or elevated position and for simul-
taneously moving said rollers into and out of contact with the platen when the
scale is moved with relation to the printing line.
Dated this 2nd day of May 1899.
A. M. & WM.. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.