Improvements in the Ejecting Mechanism of Linotype Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left 24th Aud 1907 Accosted 01th Nov
4007
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Ejecting Mechanism of Linotype Machines.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, of No. 188 Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Sole Proprietors of, and Manufacturers, Vendors, and Licensors under, the
"Linotype " Patents, and PHILIP CHARLES LAWLESS, of the same address, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to improvements in the ejecting mechanism of
linotype machines and the object of it is to promote a smoother action of the
members of the mechanism in question and to prevent fracture of any of them.
It is particularly applicable to the ejecting mechanism of the well known
Mergenthaler Linotype machine for a reason that will appear from the following
description of the said mechanism and of the strains to which it is possible that it
may be subjected.
In this machine the ejector blade, is fast to the front end of a part called the
ejector slide which receives a to and fro longitudinal motion through a connecting
rod. One-the front-end of the latter is attached to the rear end of the ejector
slide and the other-the rear-end to a lever. This latter is rocked to and fro in the
vertical plane upon a horizontal fulcrum, forwards by a gear wheel situated on one
side, and backwards by a wheel on the other side of it. When the lever is in its
rearmost position, it is in touch with a stationary horizontal bar standing behind it.
The gear wheel on the one side of it engages the said lever by means of a lateral
projection fast on its side and which finds in its path, a lateral projection on the side
of the lever. In order that the engagement. between the two projections may begin
and cease at the proper time, the lever is bent and continued to the front, the
projection being made fast to it close to the front end of such continuation.
The wheel on the other side of the lever engages with by means of an abutment
which is one end of an arcual recess in the side of such wheel and which abutment
finds in its path, a lateral projection from the respective side of the lever.
Referring to the engagement between the two lateral projections first mentioned,
as the path of the projection on the side of the gear wheel is circular, it leaves the
relative projection on the lever, above it. Now it frequently happens that the operator
wants to reverse the rotating and connected parts more or less, and that during such
reversal, the projection on the gear wheel will get under that on the lever and for the
reason that the paths of the two are eccentric establish a jam, the lever being
subjected to a strain transverse to its length. One of the two must yield, if the
eccentricity of the two paths does not provide for the projection on the wheel clearing
that on the lever, and as it frequently happens that they do not clear, the lever being
the weaker member of the two, is broken. Further, the chances of the two projections
clearing each other is further diminished by the backward motion of the lever being
limited by the stationary horizontal bar above mentioned.
The present invention, consists then in the combination with one or more of the
moving members-lever, gear wheel or wheel-of an automatic device capable of
providing for one of the projections or the abutment above mentioned swinging out
of the reversed path of itself and its fellow-the one with which it co-operates

page_text: normally of being returned to its normal position after they have cleared each other's
path, and of being held up to its work during the normal path of itself and its
fellow.
Numerous types of such devices are familiar to the skilled mechanic and we are
not limited by our invention to the selection of any one in particular.
Amongst those which we consider suitable for our purpose, are the following:-
(a.) A joint in the lever allowing it to yield before the reverse motion of the gear
wheel, a returning spring, and a stop or abutinent making the hinged portion
practically rigid with the inain portion of the lever.
(b.) The projection on the lever is pivotted upon it instead of being fast thereto so
that the reverse motion of the projection on the wheel rocks it out of its path. There
is a spring or its equivalent adapted to rock the projection back into its normal
position; and a stop or abutment suitably positioned to hold it rigidly to the lever
during the time that normal motion of the projection on the gear wheel brings it up
in contact with the same.
(c.) The reversal of the respective conditions of the two projections described
under (b.).
Dated the 24th day of November 1806
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements in the Ejecting Mechanism of Linotype Machines.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, of No. 188 Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Sole Proprietors of, and Sole Manufacturers, Vendors and Licensors under
the "Linotype" Patents, and PHILIP CHARLES LAWLESS, of the same address, 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 the ejecting mechanism of linotype
machines; and the object of it is to prevent fracture of any of the members of such
mechanisins during the time that the machine is being reversed.
It is now a matter of common knowledge that in a linotype machine; there is
composed or formed, a line of formative cavities corresponding with the characters in
a printed line of type; that a mould corresponding with the united bodies of as many
moveable types and spaces as would be required to print such a line, is then combined
in proper relative position with the said line of formative cavities and molten type
metal injected thereinto, thereby producing a printing bar as long as the column or
page in hand, and having on its edge in duly spaced and justified positions, a line of
type. The function of the ejecting mechanism of such a machine is to push the
freshly cast linotype out of the mould as soon as it has set hard enough to bear the
push.
The said invention is particularly applicable to the ejecting mechanism of the well
known Mergenthaler Linotype machine described in the specification of Letters
Patent 14582 of 1890. It is also applicable to the ejecting mechanisms of other
linotype machines just in so far as the strains to which they are or may be subjected
and the circumstances under which such strains are suffered, are analogous to the
corresponding conditions in the case of the said Mergenthaler machine.
In the latter, the piece that actually does the ejecting, is known as the ejector
blade. It projects forwards in the direction of the mould above mentioned, from the
front end of a piece known as the "ejector slide" in part so called because it slides

page_text: to and fro in a suitable guide in the machine. It receives this sliding motion from &
connecting rod. One-the front-end of the latter is pivotally connected to the rear
end of the ejector slide and the other-the rear-end to a lever. This latter is
rocked to and fro in the vertical plane upon a horizontal fulcrum. The forward
motion is derived from a gear wheel situated on one side of it. The lever works in a
plane intersecting and intersected by the axis of the shaft of the gear wheel, its
fulcrum being lower than the axis of the said shaft.
When the lever is in its rearmost position, it is leaning against a stationary
horizontal rod extending across the back of the machine frame, at a height inter-
mediate of the top end of the lever and its fulcrum, and nearer to the latter than to
the former.
The gear
wheel engages the lever by means of a lateral projection fast on the side
of the latter, and which projection finds in its path, a lateral projection fast on the
side of the lever. In order that the engagement between the two projections may
begin and cease at the proper time, the top end of the lever is bent and continued to
the front, the projection in question being made fast to it close to the front end of
such continuation.
With reference to the said engagement between the two projections it must be
borne in mind that, as the path of the projection on the side of the gear wheel is
circular with a radius much shorter than that of the lever, it leaves the relative
projection on the lever, above it. Now it frequently happens that the operator
wants to reverse the rotating and connected parts more or less, and that during such
reversal, the projection on the gear wheel will get under that on the lever; and, in
consequence of the eccentricity of their respective paths, establish a jam, whereupon
the lever is subjected to a strain transverse to its length. One of the two must yield,
as the eccentricity of the two paths, does not provide for the projection on the wheel
clearing that on the lever, and as it frequently happens that they do not clear, the
lever being the weaker member of the two, is broken. Further, the chances of the
two projectious clearing each other is diminished by the backward motion of the lever
being limited by the stationary horizontal bar above mentioned.
The present invention consists then in the combination with either the lever or
the gear wheel, of an automatic device capable of providing for one of the projections
above mentioned, being swung out of the reversed path of itself and its fellow-the one
with which it co-operates normally,-being returned to its normal position after the
two have cleared each other's path, and of being held up to its work during the
normal path of itself and its fellow.
Numerous types of such devices are familiar to the skilled mechanic and we are
not limited by our invention to the selection of any one in particular.
Amongst those which we consider suitable for our parpose are the following:-
(a) The projection on the lever is pivotted upon it instead of being fast thereto so
that the reverse motion of the projection on the wheel rocks it out of its path. There
is a spring, or its equivalent, adapted to rock the projection back into its normal
position; and a stop or abutment suitably positioned to practically incorporate it with
the lever during the time that normal inotion of the projection on the gear wheel,
brings it up in contact with the same.
(b) A joint in the lever allowing it to yield before the reverse motion of the gear
wheel, a returning spring and a stop or abutment adapted to make the hinged portion
perfectly rigid with the main portion of the lever against the opposite motion of the
said wheel.
(c.) The reversal of the respective conditions of the two projections described
under (a).
Such is the nature of the risk of fracture which the present invention is adapted to
obviate and such is the nature of the means by which such risk is obviated.
The accompanying figures illustrate in detail some of the means above mentioned.
They all illustrate the application of the invention to the two projections already
described. But the Specification of Letters Patent 9438 of 1896 describes a second
pair of projections shared between the same lever and gear wheel; and which projec

page_text: tions are, moreover, so related to each other, that an analogous risk of fracture might
occur for them. The present invention includes the combination with them of an
automatic device possessing the threefold capability above specified.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ejecting mechanism of a Mergenthaler Linotype
Machine including one type of automatic device.
Figure 2 is a rear elevation corresponding with Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are, respectively, rear and side elevations, on an enlarged scale, of
the type of automatic device illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 5 and 6, are respectively, side and rear elevations, on an enlarged scale of
an alternative construction of the same type.
Figures 7 and 8 are, respectively, rear and side elevations of an alternative type
of automatic device.
Figures 9 and 10 are, respectively, rear and side elevations of an alternative con-
struction of the same type.
Figure 11 is a side elevation of the ejecting mechanism of a Mergenthaler Linotype
Machine, including an alternative type of automatic device.
Figure 12 is a detail vertical section, from the rear, on an enlarged scale and along
the line 12-12 of Figure 11.
Figure 13 is a detail sectional plan on an enlarged scale and along the line 13-13
of Figure 12.
Figure 14 consists of a side elevation and a plan of the projection on the gear
wheel in Figures 11, 12 and 13.
2
Referring to Figures 1, 2 and 11, 0 is the ejector blade; 0, the ejector slide;
08 the connecting rod; A, the lever; A, the pivot connecting the rear end of
the said rod to the said lever; A3, the fulcrum of that lever; a5; the gear wheel; a" its
axis; A, the stationary horizontal rod extending across the back of the machine
frame; As, the lateral projection on the side of the forward bent top of the lever A²;
and A, the lateral projection fast on the side of the wheel a, parts already referred
to as having been described in a previous specification. A is a plate adjustable on
the projection A' to regulate the length of the engagement between the projection A
and it. It is not a part of the present invention. The bottom edge of the
projection As is nearer to the axis of the wheel a than is the operative nose of
the projection A. Farther it should be pointed out that the top of the last mentioned
projection is a decline in the direction of the centre of the gear wheel a³.
When the ejecting mechanism is out of action, the lever A2 is leaning against the
rod A. The rotation of the gear wheel a carries the projection Aº up behind the
projection A on the lever A. The projection Aº pushes the projection A before it as
long as the latter continues in its path, but it is evident from a consideration of the
relative positions of the respective axes and the lengths of the respective radii, that a
time must soon come when the projection A will clear the projection A and leave the
lever A2 standing still. This stationary position of the said lever corresponds with
the completion of the ejecting act. The normal return motion of the ejector blade 04
is effected by means of a certain drum which acts upon the lever A2 through the
arm A Figures 1 and 2. The drum in question is not included in the figures.
It is a trifle smaller in diameter than the gear wheel as and is fast on the axle a on
the opposite side of the lever A2. There is an arcual recess in its periphery along
the edge next to the said lever and parallel with the wheel as; and into that recess,
is the nose of the arm A pushed by the forward motion of the lever. The length of
the recess is about a quarter of a circle. At the moment when the return motion of
the ejector blade O' should begin, the end of the said recess which was then in front
of the arm A, comes up to it and rocks it and the lever A2 back. The recess in
question clears the nose of the arm A" at the moment when the return motion of the
lever A is completed, leaving it leaning against the rod A. This is nearly the
position illustrated in Figure 1. The arm A is functionally no more than a
projection to the front from the lever A². Its duty is to be pushed into the recess
in the drum and to be then engaged and rocked back by the front end of the said
recess. It is therefore necessary that the position of the top of the said arm-the

page_text: operative part of it should be adjusted accurately. To facilitate such adjustment,
the connection between the arın Al and the lever A2 is by means of a screw threaded
and nutted stud or bolt AS and a second bolt A13 through the arm A" and a slotted
bracket A projecting from the lever A².
Now it frequently happens that the operator wants to reverse the machine. This
is done by hand as distinguished from the pall of a driving belt. At any rate it
involves a reversed rotation on the part of the wheel a³; and the extent of such
reversed rotation may be enough to require the passage of the projection Aº past the
projection A. Figures 1 and 2 shew the wheel a as being reversed, the projection A
having been backed nearly up to the projection A". It is evident that if the
wheel a' is reversed enough, the projection A will before it can reach the highest
point in its circular path, jam under the projection A8, try to lift it up, back the
lever A up against the rod A", bend the top of the said lever still further backwards
and either bend it or snap it across. Of course the foregoing explanation assumes
that the projection A is fast to the top end of the lever A in the sense of being
incapable of motion independent of such top end.
It is when the projection A° would be about to jam under the projection A, that
the present invention comes into action.
Referring to Figures 1 to 4 the type of device therein illustrated is as follows. The
projection A is pivotted to the top end of the lever A2 by the pivot A¹ which projects
laterally from the said end in the direction of the gear wheel ab. The pivot A" is,
preferably, horizontal, because that position puts it at right angles with the plane in
which the lever A2 rocks and so facilitates its own pivotting. A is a stop or abutment
fast on the same side of the lever as the projection A and lower than, and partly to
the rear of, the axis A", so that gravity will always tend to keep the said projection
down upon the said stop. The said stop also suffices to practically incorporate the
said projection with the lever A during the time that the normal rotation of the
wheel -the one indicated by the arrows-from the rear, holds the said projection A'
up to and in contact with the projection A8.
As the reversal of the wheel as takes the projection A up to and under the
projection A' the latter is swung up on its pivot A by the former passing under it;
and returned to its seat on the stop A by gravity, as soon as the projection A' has
cleared it, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1.
Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the type of automatic device illustrated therein, is
the same as the one just described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The difference
in construction is no more than this-the pivot A7 and the stop A72 are both carried
by a detachable piece A which is incorporated with the lever A by a holding
screw A74
It is obvious that a returning spring may be relied upon instead of gravity for
effecting the return of the pivotted projection A to its sent. A¹2
Referring to Figures 7 to 10, the projection A is incorporated with the lever A³ns
heretofore, that is as far as incorporation per se is concerned. The lever A is parted
across lower down, but not lower down than the rod A. The two portions of the
said lever are held together by a pivot A" which is passed transversely through them
both. This pivot discharges virtually the same functions as the pivot A" described
above. A is a stop or abutment on the main portion of the lever, and corresponds
functionally with that A already described with reference to Figures 1 to 4. The
opposite edge of the other, or pivotted, portion of the lever A, is shaped to sit fairly
upon the stop A when the projection A is in proper position for being engaged by
the projection Aº. So long as the above described relationship between the two
portions of the lever A2, is maintained, the position of the parting between them as
well as the details of the pivotted joint, may be varied. A variability is clearly
indicated by the differences between the respective construction illustrated in
Figures 7 and 8 and that illustrated in Figures 9 and 10. A" is a returning spring.
It is weaker than the backward push of the projection A against the projection A
and pulls from two fixed points, one on each portion of the lever A, to pull the
pivotted portion into its normal position as soon as the reversal of the wheel a' has

page_text: carried the projection A9 past the projection A*. It may be replaced by one on the
opposite side of the pivot A7, adapted to push against two fixed points. The
action of either spring replaces that of gravity described in connection with
Figures 1 to 4.
Referring to Figures 11 to 14, the projection As is incorporated with the top end
of the lever A² in the way already described, and the lever itself is rigid throughout
its length. The projection A is pivotted on the side of the wheel as by a pivot A78
in such a way that it will swing downwards thereupon, as it is carried under the
projection As by the reversal of the said wheel. A79 is a returning spring held fast to
the side of the wheel a' by a screw A% or its equivalent. It is led over a supporting
stud As likewise fast to the said wheel, and its free end set to force the free end of
the projection A⁹ upwards. The free end of the spring A" stands, preferably, in a
small cavity A made to receive it. Tue spring is now in compression and tends, in
conjunction with the pin and stop next described, to keep the projection As in its
normal position. As is a pin fast to the pivotted projection A and projecting into
a cavity A4 in the wheel as. The top end of this cavity-the one farthest from the
spring A serves as a stop to prevent the said spring returning the pivotted
projection A past its normal position-the one illustrated in Figure 11.
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. The combination with the ejecting mechanism of a linotype machine; of
wheel; projection thereupon; lever projection thereupon; and automatic device
capable of providing for one of those projections being swung out of the reversed path
of the wheel and its fellow projection, being returned to its normal position after they
have cleared each other's path and of being held up to its work during its normal
travel up to its fellow.
2. The combination with the ejecting mechanism of a linotype machine; of lever;
projection pivotted thereupon; wheel; projection fast thereupon to engage the
pivotted projection on the lever in one direction and to rock it out of its own path in
the other.
3. The combination with the ejecting mechanism of a linotype machine; of lever;
projection fast on the end thereof; pivotted joint, stop or abutment and returning
spring in a certain position of the said lever; wheel; and projection fast on the side
thereof and adapted to engage the said projection on the lever when it rotates in one
direction and to turn it out of its path when it is reversed.
4. The combination with the ejecting mechanism of a linotype machine; of lever;
projection fast on the side thereof; wheel; projection pivotted thereupon, and
adapted to engage the projection on the lever when it is rotated in one direction and
to pivot out of the path thereof when it is reversed; and a returning spring and stop
adapted to hold the said pivotted projection up to its work and to allow of its pivotting
out of the path of the projection on the wheel.
Dated this 24th day of August 1807
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.