Improvements in and in connection with Linotype Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in and in connection with Linotype Machines.
I, THOMAS HENRY CATHERALL, of 50, Novells Street, Poole Park, Fulham, London,
S.W., Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The improvements in, and in connection with linotype machines constituting my
invention, relates to a spacing or justifying device, and has for its object to
dispense with the spacing bands as at present made and used, and the lever
and block for operating the raising of same, for justifying the line of assembled
matrices subsequently to the closing up of these to the required length by
the vice-jaws ready for casting the line of type, and to provide in lieu of the said
band a spacing device of approximately the same shape and configuration as the said
inatrices, and so constructed and arranged as to be capable of distribution into the
same magazine, and by the use of the same mechanisın, as that employed for
distributing the said matrices.
For the purposes of my invention I provide of suitable metal or alloy of metals
a plate, in one or more parts and of the same size, and approximately the same shape
and configuration as that of an ordinary matrix, and hereinafter referred to as the
main plate, and in one side of the said main-plate I may provide a rectangular or
other shaped recess, which may be occupied by a like shaped metallic plate,
(hereinafter referred to as the spring-plate) having suitably formed return edges,
adapted to fit into like shaped apertures in the vertical edges of the said. main-plate,
and operating between the said main and spring plates I provide a suitable spring or
springs, the tension or tensions of which may serve to push the said spring-plate
away from the said main-plate, suitable catches, stops, or other device or devices
being provided to regulate the extent of such outward push, while the said spring or
springs and the said recess in the main-plate may be so arranged, as to permit the
said spring plate, when pressure is brought to bear thereon, to recede into the said
recess until the outer surfaces of both plates are flush with each other.
The device thus constructed constitutes my improved spacing or justifying device,
and a suitable number of these would be deposited in the matrix magazines, in such
a manner, that they may be brought into use in proper order for spacing the matrices,
by the operation of one or more of the keys of the key board, in exactly the same
way as that for operating the matrices themselves, and the line of assembled matrices,
and such of my improved spacing devices as may be assembled therewith, may be
conveyed by the usual mechanism from the place of assemblage directly to the
vice-jaws, the justification of the line of matrices being, according to my invention,
automatically effected by the compression of the spring-plates in the spacing devices
by the closing up of the vice jaws in the usual way, whereby I dispense with the
levers and justifying frame for driving up the spacing-bands as in present use.
According to my invention, the assembled matrices, and the improved spacing-devices
therewith, would, after casting therefrom the line of type, be conveyed together by
the usual mechanism for conveying the matrices, up to the distributing point, thus
dispensing with the means at present in use for separating the spacing bands from
the matrices, and the same mechanism as operates to distribute the matrices, and

page_text: deposit these in their proper positions within the magazine, would also distribute and
deposit the said spacing devices in their proper positions for re use, the upper ends
of the said spacing devices, being (like the matrices) suitably formed to facilitate
this.
By means of my invention and the manner of its use, I am enabled to dispense
with certain mechanical parts of a linotype machine in present use, thus materially
reducing the initial cost of the machine, and consequently the expense of repair and
renewal of the parts removed.
Improvements in and in connection with Linotype Machines.
I, THOMAS HENRY CATHERALL, of No. 50, Novells Street, Poole Park, Fulham, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer, 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 in and in connection with the
Linotype machine described in the Specification of Letters Patent 14582 of
1890.
The object of it is to provide an improved spring space compressible for
justification of the line.
Referring to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part of this
specification and read therewith?
Figure 1 is a side elevation, from the left hand, of an improved spring space made
according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a front edge elevation of the same space uncompressed.
Figure 3.is a front edge elevation of the same fully compressed.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of it from the right hand.
Figure 5 is a side elevation, from the left hand, of a modification of the
invention.
Figure 6 is a front edge elevation corresponding therewith.
Figure 7 is an elevation, from the right hand, of the spring plate of the same
modification.
Figure 8 is a side elevation, from the right hand, of the main plate only of the
same modification.
Figure 9 is a side elevation, from the left hand, of another modification of the
invention.
Figure 10 is a front edge elevation corresponding therewith.
Figure 11 is a section on line 11-11 of Figures 9 and 10.
Figure 12 is an elevation, from the right hand, of the spring plate of the same
modification.
Figure 13 is a side elevation, from the right hand, of a third modification.
Figure 14 is a front edge elevation corresponding with Figure 13.
Figure 15 is a section on the line 15-15 of Figures 13 and 14.
An improved space corresponds in shape and size with a matrix of the machine
above mentioned in all respects save that of thickness; the thickness of a space being
naturally independent of width of type face. Thus y¹, y¹, are the shoulders; y,
the V-shaped notch in the top; and y² the sustaining teeth to co-operate with the

page_text: notched edges of the distributor bar, and y30, the groove for the stop of the
distributor.
Referring to Figures 1 to 4, 236 is the main plate. It is rigid and serves as the
base plate of the action of the improved space.
237 is a stiff plate held to the main plate 23 by any suitable means in a plane
parallel with one side of that main plate and adapted to stand away from that side.
and to be moved both up to and away from it, maintaining its parallelism therewith
all the time.
Each side margin of the plate 237 is bent at a right angle therewith, both margins
in the same direction, so as to produce a lip 238 which stands evenly across each edge
of the main plate 23, more or less according to the distance at which the plate 237
stands from that main plate. The latter is, narrower opposite the plate 237 than a
matrix by the joint thickness of the two lips 238, the plate 237 being of the same width:
as a matrix between its front and rear edges in order that when the improved spaces
are standing in the composed line, the surfaces of the lips 238, may register with the
respective edges of the matrices. The width of a lip 38 is obviously a little inore
than the maximum distance that the plate 37 can be moved away from the main
plate in order that those lips may never quite disengage. from the edges of the
latter.
The means for holding the plate 237 to the main plate 236, consists of tabs 200, one
at each corner of the former and standing respectively behind shoulders which are
portions of plates 240 rivetted to the main plate and overhanging it laterally.
The three plates 240 are, preferably, of a proper shape to make up from the top and
bottom edges of the plate 237 to the inclined edges of the notch yo, as well as to the front,
rear and bottom edges of the main plate 230, respectively, as clearly shewn in Figure 1.
Further, the said three plates 240 may be made in one piece with the main plate 236.
is a bent bar spring rivetted by a rivet 2 through its centre, to the plate 237,
and having both ends in contact with the main plate 230 as shewn best in Figure 2,
the natural resilience of that spring, holding the plate 27 away from the main plate 230.
If preferred, there is a recess 23 in the adjacent side face of the main plate 23, ex-
tending from the bottom edge up to the notch y for the ends of the spring to
move in and for the whole spring to lie in when the space is fully compressed as it is
shewn to be in Figure 3. It is to be noted that the extension of the bottom plate 240
across the recess 23 forins a pocket. When the recesses to receive the tabs 239 are
cut in the solid main plate, the plate 37 may be continued downwards as far as
the bottom edge of that plate to cover the respective portion of the recess 243. The
bar spring above described may be replaced by one of any elastic material capable
of withstanding the heat of the hot type metal, such as prepared india ubber.
Referring to Figures 5 to 8, the modification illustrated therein, consists in com-
bining the functions of the plate 237 and the spring 21 described above, in a single
piece, the latter being a spring plate. The central portion 24 of it is stiff and parallel
with the main plate, thereby being the equivalent of the plate 27. The top and
bottom portions of it, 245 and 248, are of resilient material and are bent towards the
main plate upon which they constantly bear, as clearly shewn in Figure 6. They
are thus the equivalent of the spring 24 already described. 27 is a recess in each.
front and rear edge of the main plate 230, and in which a corresponding piece 248
carried by a projection from the central portion 44, fits with a working fit.
These pieces are the functional equivalents of the lips 288 of Figures 1 to 4. It is
to be noted that a recess z" and its piece 248 must have such dimension and position'
as will provide for their registering with, and preferably extending both above and
below, the row of formative cavities in the row of matrices in which the type faces are
cast. In this modification the main plate 2 is as wide as the body of a matrix. The
notch in the top portion 5 is to provide for the latter clearing the notch y in the
main plate when the space is compressed, but the two portions 245, 21, are always of
equal strength. The whole spring plate is held to the main plate 2 by headed
pins 25 passed through holes 252 in the main plate 2 from the opposite side of the
latter and having their noses made fast in the central portion ***.

page_text: The modification illustrated in Figures 9 to 12 resembles the one last described
Each recess is replaced by a rectangular one 253 having a ridge 254 down that side
of it next to the spring plate but stopping short of the edge of the main plate 3,
by a certain distance. Each projection 29 is continued towards the respective edge
of the main plate 28, bent over the ridge, 254, continued towards the opposite side of
the main plate 230 in the same way as are the lips 238 described with reference to
Figures 1 to 4, thereby forming a lip 255, and then bent down into the recess z³ so
forming a stopping piece 250 adapted, in combination with the engagement of the
lip 25 in the recess 253, to hold the spring plate to the main plate 36. Each lip 255 is
adapted to move to and fro within the respective recess 23 flush with the adjacent
edge of the main plate 23.
The modification illustrated in Figures 13 to 16, consists in replacing the device for
holding the spring plate to the main plate, described with reference to Figures 9 to 12,
with a pair of bars 200, 200, fixed to the spring plate and fitting in countersunk slots
in the main plate. Each bar is held to the central portion 24 of the spring plate by
two rivets z³7. It fits with a working fit in a slot 258. The ends of a bar are tapered
to engage behind the countersunk ends 250 of the respective slot 258. When the
modified space is in full compression, the outer faces of the bars 200 are flush with
the respective side face of the main plate 230,
It is obvious that the act of justification may not always fully compress the
improved spaces. The recesses 47 of the modifications illustrated in Figures 5 to 15
will then be more or less open and so capable of receiving type metal which forms
low ridges across the linotypes between the words. Those ridges are too low to take
ink or to otherwise detract from the practical efficiency of the linotypes. Arcual
recesses such as the one illustrated in Figures 5 and 8, are better than the rectangular
ones illustrated in Figures 9 to 15, and may be substituted for the latter. The arcual
shape facilitates the escape of the air which is expelled from and through the
mould by the type metal injected into the latter. It has the further advantage of
not leaving any internal corners for the metal to lodge in.
They
The improved spaces are stored in a special groove in the magazine. They are
released from the groove as they are wanted by a mechanism identical in all respects
with the mechanism by which the matrices are released from their grooves.
pass from the casting mechanism to the distributor with the matrices and are dis-
tributed into their special groove in the same general way as are the various matrices
into their respective grooves.
Seeing that justification of the composed line must be effected by compression
instead of by expansion, the line must always be overset by the compositor. The
vice mechanism must be modified accordingly. The moveable vice jaw stands at a
distance from the fixed one greater than the normal length of the line, and after the
overset line of matrices and improved spaces has been introduced between those jaws,
the moveable one is moved up by any suitable mechanism till it stands at the normal
distance from its fellow. That motion suffices to reduce the line, to the normal
length and to compress all the spaces equally, so justifying the line. The storage,
release, compression and distribution above mentioned may all be affected by any
of the well known means.
The preceding specification and the following claims describe and claim the
improved space as having a lip or its equivalent for, and a corresponding recess in,
each front and rear edge. One of the objects of a lip is to cover the space between
the main plate 230 and the stiff plate 37 or its equivalent, to prevent metal being
squirted thereinto at the moment of casting. So, if a space had only one lip, the
latter would have to be for the rear edge. But if a single lipped space were to be
accidentally reversed during, or previous to, the act of composition so as to place
its front and unlipped edge where its rear and lipped edge ought to be, the former
would be presented to the mould and metal would be squirted into the space above
mentioned, thereby making a washer instead of a linotype, spoiling the space, and
soldering it and the adjacent matrices together. A further advantage of the lip and
recess for and in each front and rear edge of the space, is to prevent the plate 237, or

page_text: its equivalent, working askew with reference to the main plate 23, for that would
throw a single lip out of its recess. So that it is preferred that there should be two
lips and corresponding recesses. In fact they are necessary in the modification
described with reference to Figures 9 to 12, to hold the spring plate to the main
plate. But the improved spaces described with reference to the other figures, more
particularly Figures 5 to 8 and 13 to 15, might have only one lip and recess.
However it is to be understood that such a one-lipped construction is, so far, within
the scope of the present invention and that the specification and claims must be read
accordingly.
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 of rigid main plate of the same shape as the matrices with
which it is to be composed; a stiff plate moveably held thereto, adapted to be moved
to or from that main plate, and to maintain a position always parallel therewith; an
intermediate spring adapted to keep the moveable plate at the maximum distance
from the main plate; and a lip along each front and rear edge of the moveable plate
adapted to overlap the respective edge of the main plate; as set forth with reference
to Figures 1 to 4.
2. The combination of rigid main plate of the same shape as the matrices with
which it is to be composed; a stiff plate moveably held thereto, adapted to be moved
to or from that main plate and to maintain a position always parallel therewith; a tab
at each corner of the stiff plate and shoulders on the main plate behind which the
said tabs can respectively engage; a bar spring interposed between the two plates; a
recess in the main plate to receive the said spring bodily when the space is com-
pressed; and a lip along each front and rear edge of the moveable plate adapted to
overlap the respective edge of the main plate; as set forth with reference to
Figures 1 to 4.
3. The combination of rigid main plate having a recess in each front and rear
edge; spring plate having a stiff central portion, resilient top and bottom constantly
bearing upon the main plate to hold the said portion away from it, and projections
carrying pieces adapted to move with a working fit in the said recesses in the main
plate; and headed pins fast by their noses to the said central portion of the spring
plate and holding the two plates moveably together by engagement in corresponding
holes in the main plate; as set forth with reference to Figures 5 to 8.
4. The combination of rigid main plate having a recess and a ridge on one side of
the latter in each front and rear edge; spring plate having a stiff central portion,
resilient top and bottom constantly bearing upon the main plate to hold the said
portion away from it, and projections each carrying a lip adapted to move to and fro
within the respective recess in the main plate flush with the respective edge of the
latter, and a stopping piece; as set forth with reference to Figures 9 to 11.
5. The combination of rigid main plate having a recess in each front and rear edge
and a pair of slots; spring plate having a stiff central portion, resilient top and
bottom constantly bearing upon the main plate to hold the said portion away from it,
projections each carrying a lip adapted to move to and fro within the respective
recess in the main plate flush with the respective edge of the latter; and tapered
bars fast to the said spring plate and adapted to work in the said slots and to hold the
spring plate to the main plate; as set forth with reference to Figures 13 to 15.
Dated this 04th day of Tune 1900