Improvements in Linotype Machines.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Sept., 1890
Complete Specification Left. 11th June, 1900-Accepted, 8th Sept., 1900
Date of Application, sin dept. o
Complete Specification Left. 11th June, 1900-Accepted, 8th Sept., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in Linotype Machines.
We, WILLIAM HENRY LOCK, Manager and Secretary of The Linotype
Company Limited, of No. 188, Fleet Street, in the City of London, and FERDINAND
JOHN WICH, of The Linotype Works, Broadheath, in the County of Chester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to mechanism for adjusting the assembling
mechanism shifter and vice of the linotype machine described in the Specification
of Letters Patent 14582 of 1890, for variations in length of the composed line and
object of it is to connect the assembler and vice in such a way that the adjustment
of the latter shall automatically effect the adjustment of the former and the shifter.
The invention includes an improvement upon the third part of the invention
described in the Specification of Letters Patent 8228 of 1898.
In carrying the invention into effect, a measuring scale such as that described
in the Specification of Letters Patent 1355 of 1896, is fixed on the front of the vice
frame. An index finger to work along this scale is fixed to the backing up nut
of the moveable vice jaw.
A rod made fast by one end to the said nut, is continued across the front of the
machine so as to work to and fro in suitable guides. The opposite end of the said
rod carries the warning bell of the assembling mechanism. The moveable vice
jaw is set at a greater or shorter distance from its fellow jaw, according to the
length of linotype to be cast, by moving the backing up nut, and as the rod above
mentioned connects the said nut and bell, it follows that the act of setting the vice
sets the bell also, making it warn when the operator has composed a line of
matrices as long as the vice will take.
The backing up nut above mentioned is moved to and fro by a screw, one end
of which engages in the nut while the opposite end projects beyond the machine
where it carries a hand wheel, the screw being shouldered down to bear against
the machine frame. The screw carries a disc the periphery of which has a series
of transverse notches of the same size and at equal distances apart. The disc is
fast to a sleeve which latter turns within a second sleeve. A stop having an
external thumb piece slides in a guide in this second sleeve, so as to be
engaged in any one of the notches, the guide being at the same radial distance
from the axes of the screw as the circle of notches. A spring detent is so mounted
as to be kept pushed up to the outer face of the stop. There are two cavities in
the said face in either of which the detent engages when they are opposite each
other, the position of one cavity corresponding with the engagement of the nose
of the stop in the notch then opposite it, while that of the other corresponds with
the disengagement of the stop from the disc.
The vice frame being pivotted to the main frame so as to be swung from it and
back again at certain times, there is a suitable automatic parting and re-engaging
joint in the length of the rod above mentioned to allow the part of it near the
vice to follow the motion of the vice frame.
The assembly bar carries a stud or trigger as heretofore, to engage the bell

page_text: clapper, and also a shoulder to butt against a stop on the rod to stop the said
bar.
The assembling block that receives the composed line of matrices has a rising
and falling motion. By the former it places the line between two shifter arms
one of which must be moved away horizontally from its fellow for the proper
distance. This is generally done by the end of the assembler bar. According to
the present invention, the moveable shifter arm is moved away from its fellow armı
independently of the assembler bar by the following means. The rod that connects
the backing up nut and the warning bell carries a finger, the latter being prefer-
ably made fast to a sleeve which is held in position on the rod by a collar on each
side of it. There is a horizontal rib on the assembling block, which rib comes in
contact with a similar one on the sleeve above mentioned. These two ribs are
so positioned as to meet at a given point in the descent of the assembling block
after it has delivered its composed line, to rock the finger over into the path of
the moveable shifter arm, before the latter returns to its fellow. Or the finger
may be pressed forward by a spring so as to effect the same result. In either case,
it follows that as the arm is held to the rod, the finger will move it through the
proper distance from the fixed one and keep it there.
Dated this 9th day of September 1899.
CHAS. S. WOODROFFE.
Chartered Patent Agent.
Improvements in Linotype Machines.
We, WILLIAM HENRY Lock, Manager and Secretary of The Linotype
Company Limited. of No. 188, Fleet Street, in the City of London, and FERDINAND
JOHN WICH, of The Linotype Works, Broadheath, in the County of Chester,
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 linotype machines and con-
sists of means for making the adjustment for length of linotype, of the vice of
the Mergenthaler linotype machine, automatically adjust the assembler gong and
the line shifter to suit that length. The said machine is fully specified in Letters
Patent 14582 of 1890 and those parts of it which occur in the accompanying draw-
ings are marked with the same references to facilitate identification. The inven-
tion includes an improvement in connection with the vice screw. Referring to
the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part of this specification and
read therewith-
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the tops of the vice frame and yoke.
Figure 2 is a front elevation of the assembler and shifter. These two figures
include the full width of the machine, continuing each other at the respective
vertical dot and dash lines 1-2.
Figures 3 and 4 are plans, partly in section, generally corresponding respectively
with Figures 1 and 2 and continuing each other at the respective dot and dash
lines 3-4.
Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 5-5 of Figure 2.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are respectively detail front elevation, plan and sectional
side elevation. all on an enlarged scale, of a modified form of the improvement
illustrated in Figure 5.
In the Mergenthaler linotype machine, the matrices drop vertically from their

page_text: This
magazine on to an inclined belt H. This belt travels at a high speed from right
to left and delivers the matrices one by one into the assembler box I.
assembler box consists of two parallel and horizontal side plates held together-
see Figure 4-and is, as a whole capable of vertical motion up and down between
suitable guides. The matrices enter the right hand end of the box, each travel-
ling vertically past non-return spring detents i. As the first matrix clears the
detents it meets a sliding resistant J. This is a finger fast on the end
of the assembler bar j and as the latter is mounted in horizontal guides ³, j*;
in the main frame A of the machine, the resistant J is capable of a horizontal
motion through the assembler box I. The increasing length of the matrices in
the latter does so push the resistant J before them against the pull of a returning
spring acting on the assembler bar through the link . A gong worked from
the assembler bar is sounded to warn the operator when nearly all the matrices for
the line are in the assembly box I, so that he stops composing in time. The
resistant J finds itself pushed over to the left end of the said box as shewn in
Figure 4, by the time all the matrices for the line are in it.
At a short distance above the assembler box I, there is the shifter. This consists
of a pair of fingers L. L' depending from their respective slides. The normal
position of the finger L' is over to the right close against the finger L', but the top
of the resistant J engages the bottom or tip of the finger L and carries it into
the position shewn in Figures 2 and 4. Each of the shifter slides has its own
returning device.
There is a special driving device (not included in the figures) for overcoming
the resistance which the resistant J and the finger L present to the travel of the
line of matrices along the assembler box I.
When nearly all the matrices for the line, are in the assembler box I, the
assembler sounds the gong. As soon as they are all in, the assembler box I is
raised between its guides, till it puts its line between the shifter fingers L, L¹.
These move it horizontally to the left through the guide block M, deliver it into
the top of the voke or transporter N. and are returned into their normal position
above described. The transporter N then moves down till it presents the line of
matrices between two vice jaws 1, 2 The jaw is fixed to the vice frame P,
while the jaw 7 is adjustable to and from it in a suitable guide in the vice
frame P. The adjusting device consists of a backing-up nut 185 traversed by the
vice screw p³ controlled by a hand wheel, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3.
Up to the present time, three adjustments have been necessary, viz.:-first, that
of the relation between the assembler bar j and its gong to make the said bar
sound its gong at the right moment; second, that of the left hand shifter finger L
to make it stop on its return journey at the length of the line, from its fellow
finger L' and third, to adjust the position of the backing-up nut 285 so that when
the line of matrices is being justified between the vice jaws, the nut 7,85 shall keep
the vice jaw held at the proper distance from its fellow, so that the linotypes
shall be exact to length. And all these adjustment have been independent of each
other, that is, each one has presented a chance of error on its own account.
The objects of the present invention are attained by the following means.
Referring to Figures 1 to 5, the face of the vice block P carries a scale of ems, 20,
fixed in such a nosition as to be readily read by the operator, and 21 is an index
piece, carried by the vice nut 285 and indicating by its reading on the scale 20,
the distance of the jaw from the jaw p². 1 is a rod fast by one end to the
nut 85 and extends to the right through the vice frame P out of the way of the
adjacent moving parts, as far as the front of the assembler box I where it connects
with a second rod 2. These two rods are for the purpose of the invention, one
and continuous, but as the vice frame P must often be swung down to give access
to the casting mechanism behind it. a suitable automatic disconnecting and re-
connecting device is interposed at the junction of the two rods. This device
consists of a fork 3 projecting to the front from the end of the rod 2, having its

page_text: prongs at a distance apart less than the diameter of the rod 1 which is there
shouldered down to pass in and out of the fork 3, and an enlargement 4 on the
end of the rod 1 to prevent the two drawing away from each other in the direction
of their length. The rod 2 is carried by brackets 5, 6 on the machine frame A
and through which it can slide freely to and fro in the direction of its length.
7 is the gong dog on the assembler bar but it is not adjustable thereon. S is
the gong fixed to a plate 9 made fast to the rod 2. 10 is the hammer on the end
of a flexible stem 11, the opposite end of the latter being fast in a socket 40 capable
of turning on a pin 12 fast to the plate 9. 13 is a lever pivotted on the pin 12,
holding one arm 14 in the path of the dog 7 and a second one 15 under the
stem 11. 16 is a pin fast to the plate 9 and serving to stop the stem 11 when it
drops. 17 is a bracket on the right hand end of the assembler bar j and 18 is a
similar one on the corresponding end of the rod 2, the bracket 18 thereby serving
as a stop for the forward motion of the resistant J. 19 is the stop for the return
motion of the latter, both stops getting at the resistant J through the assembler
bar j.
25 is a specially shaped slot in the front plate of the assembler box I. This is
shewn clearly in Figure 5. 26 is a backwardly bent arm pivotted upon the rod 1
by being made fast to a socket 27 from which it projects upwards. The socket 27
is held in the desired position on the rod 1 but so as to rock thereon, by an arm 28
on each side of it, the three being adjustable lengthwise on the said rod. 29 is a
spiral spring surrounding the rod 1 within the socket 27 (which is suitably cut
away to receive it) and is kept in torsional stress by having one end made fast
to the rod and the other to the socket 27, in order that it may project the nose
of the arm 26 through the slot 25 when they register with each other in a vertical
sense as shewn in Figure 5. The object of the adjustability of the socket 27 along
the rod is to adjust the position of the said socket thereon so that the arm 26
shall rock between the shifter arm L and the resistant J as shewn in Figures 2
and 4. 30, 30 is a duplex-catchi having its arms connected by a transverse bar 31,
as shewn in Figures 2 and 5. It is pivotted on pins 32 projecting towards each
other from the two arms 28. Each pin 32 carries a spiral spring 33 the ends of
which are made fast to the said pin and the respective arm of the duplex-
catch 30, 30, so as to be in torsional stress thereon for the purpose of rocking the
operative noses of the duplex catch 30. 30, into notches 34 in the socket 27, as
illustrated in Figures 2 and 5. There is a notch 34 in each end of the socket 27.
It is frequently necessary to swing the vice frame P to the front from before
the casting mechanism to give the operator access to the latter. At such a
time, the assembler box I is in its lowest position. As the vice frame P carries
the rod and the latter, the arm 26, the said arm 26 will then be rocked so far
to the rear by the spring 29, that its rearwardly projecting nose will strike against
the closed front 37 of the assembler box I as the vice frame P is being swung up
again. To prevent the arm 26 being so rocked too far, there are provided one or
two catches 35 (only one is shewn in Figure 5-the other one being immediately
behind it) projecting rearwardly from the socket 27, to rest upon the respective
nose of the catches 30. 36 is a plate fast upon the lower part of the assembler
box I and projecting to the front therefrom. The function of this plate is to rock
the catches 30 out of the notches 34. For that reason, it must occupy such a
position upon the said box I, that enough of it is vertically below the transverse
bar 31 to engage it when the assembler box I is raised.
Figures 1 to 5 show the vice open to receive a line of matrices, the rod 1. 2
and the parts controlled by it in the respectively corresponding positions. the
assembler bar. being at the end of its working stroke, i.e., in the position which
it occupies iust before the assembler box I rises. The action of the invention is
as next described. To make it easier to understand it, it is assumed that, after
the line of matrices described as having entered the assembler box I, has been
cast from the machine will start upon a different length of linotype. The

page_text: assembler bar will have been returned to the stop 19 by its returning spring j₁.
The said different length of linotype being known, the position of the jaw is
adjusted accordingly by the screw ", the nut 28, the scale 20 and the index 21.
The motion of the nut 85 is communicated through the rod 1, 2, to the bracket 18
and to the arm 14 or gong trigger. Consequently, the moment at which the gong
will be sounded and the length of the working stroke of the resistant J, both
become adjusted to suit the different length of line, because the bracket 18 is in
the path of the bracket 17. Just before the latter comes up to the former, the
log forces the trigger 14 down, thereby raising the hammer 10.
the dog 7 has passed the trigger 14, the Hexible stem 11 drops upon the pin 16
and being flexible lets the hammer 10 strike the bell 8, and then lifts it again.
The dog is so shaped that it will not ring the bell 8 during the return motion
of the assembler bar j.
As soon as
The same motion of the rod 1, 2, that adjusts the bracket 18 and the trigger 14
in the way above described, adjusts the position of the shifter finger L by putting
the arm 26 in the plane immediately to the left of the outward position of the
resistant J and therefore in the one best adapted to prevent the finger L exerting
any pressure thereupon, as shewn in Figure 2. The said arm 26 is put into work-
ing position between the shifter finger L and the resistant J by the spring 29
forcing the nose of it through the slot 25 into the assembler box I until its rear-
wardly projecting nose bears upon the back of the said box I as shewn by the
dotted lines in Figure 5. The arm 26 must be disengaged from the assembler
box I before the latter has gone through half its upward motion, and this dis-
engagement is effected by the suitably shaped edge 37 of the slot 25 as the said
box I moves upwards. As soon as the arm 26 is in the disengaged position-the
one shewn by the dotted lines in Figure 5-the operative noses of the catches 30, 30,
are rocked into the notches 34 in the socket 27, by their springs 33, thereby lock-
ing the arm 26 in that position, to prevent it being rocked by the. spring 29
through the open front of the assembler box, during the latter part of the
upward motion of the said box.
In the modification illustrated in Figures 6, 7 and 8, the above described com-
bination of notches 34, catch 30, 30, its pivots and springs, transverse bar 31 and
plate 36, is replaced by one consisting of a vertical surface 50 on the front of the
assembly box I which prevents the rearwardly projecting nose of the arm 26
The two depend-
entering the box I through the above mentioned open front I¹.
ing armis 28 are replaced by a collar 43 fast on the rod 1 outside each end of the
socket 27. The combination of the pins 35 and the operative noses of the
catch 30, 30, is replaced by that of a projection 41 on the end of the socket 27
working in and adapted to engage with the top end of an arcual slot 42 in the
adjacent collar 43 as shewn best in Figure 6.
The specification of a prior patent 8228 of 1898 describes a certain device for
holding the vice screw and consequently the backing-up nut 75 in a definite
position, such device consisting of a notched disc and a spring detent, which locks
the said disc whenever the detent is left to the action of the spring. But the
detent must be held out of engagement with the disc by the operator during the
whole time that is occupied by the adjustment of the vice screw. According to
the present invention, the detent is a rod 50 adapted to slide longitudinally in
either direction, in a suitable guide to engage in any one of the notches in
the notched disc above mentioned, and presenting an external handle or knob 52.
53 is a small locking bolt urged by a spring 54, radiating towards the detent 50
and engaging in either of the sockets 55 or 56 in the said detent according as to
whether it is in engagement with or out of engagement with the notched disc.
Thus is the detent 50 locked automatically in either of its positions. The operator
is not required to give any attention to holding it out of engagement with the
5 notched disc-it suffices that he should disengage it and the locking bolt 53 holds
it so, thereby freeing his attention and one of his bands to do something else.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is-
1. The herein before described combination with the vice, assembler gong, and
line shifter of a linotype machine, of means by which the adjustment of the vice
for length of linotype automatically adjusts the said gong and shifter for the
same length.
"
2. The combination in a linotype machine, of the backing-up nut of the adjust-
able vice jaw; gong mechanism continuous rod connecting the said vice jaw and
gong mechanism; assembler bar dog to actuate the gong; arm pivotted on the
said bar to hold back the shifter finger, and connection between the said arm and
the assembler box to actuate the said arm.
3. The combination in a linotype machine of the adjustable vice jaw; gong
mechanism continuous rod connecting the said vice jaw and gong mechanism;
assembler dog to actuate the gong; stop on the continuous rod to stop the
assembler bar; arm pivotted on the said bar to hold back the shifter finger; and
connection between said arm and the assembler box to actuate the said arm.
4. The hereinbefore described combination with the line shifter of a linotype
machine, of arm adapted to be rocked into the assembler box to adjust the shifter
finger and to be rocked out of the said box.
5. The herein before described combination with the adjustable jaw of the vice
of a linotype machine, of gong mechanism; continuous rod connecting the two;
assembler bar; and dog thereon to actuate the. gong.
6. The herein before described combination with the adjustable jaw of the vice
of a linotype machine, of gong mechanism; continuous rod connecting the two;
assembler bar; dog thereon to actuate the gong, and stop on the continuous rod
to stop the assembler bar.
7. The herein before described combination with the vice screw and its notched
disc, of sliding detent, locking bolt, and sockets in the said rod, to be respectively
presented to the said bolt when the detent is either engaged with or disengaged
from the said notched disc.
Dated this 9th day of June 1900.
CHAS. S. WOODROFFE,
Chartered Patent Agent.