IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPOSING AND DISTRIBUTING TYPE
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of Kensington, Middlesex, for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR COMPOSING AND
DISTRIBUTING TYPE" A communication from abroad by Carl Gustav Fischer,
of Schloss Holte, and Alfred von Langen, of Düsseldorf, both in the German
Emnire
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th September 1881.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR COMPOSING AND DISTRIBUTING TYPE." A communication from
abroad by Carl Gustav Fischer, of Schloss Holte, and Alfred von Langen, of
Düsseldorf, both in the German Empire.
This Invention relates to machinery for automatically distributing or classing
and composing type. For the purpose of so classing or sorting type, such type are
provided with notches, each notch serving in turn for moving a mechanism which
sends the type to the type collecting tube. The classing machinery is constructed
as follows: Two discs are secured to a vertical spindle revolved by a friction
pulley, the lower disc supporting a number of tubes for containing the types to be
classed. The disc is provided at its outer edge with a number of slits corresponding
to the number of receiving or classing tubes, the slits being partly masked by
another dise placed underneath. Around the circumference of the upper disc is
fitted a concentrically moveable ring with similar slits fitting on those in the disc.
Above these devices is another vertical tube containing the types to be sorted out
by levers projecting into the tubes. The composing machinery is constructed as
follows: A belt combined with guide frames is used for carrying the types to the
composing galley; the types fall into channels which at first are made parallel, and
then successively join and finally form only one channel; springs are provided at
the points where the channels join for preventing the types from turning. From
the last main channel the types enter an inclined channel leading to the galley.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Herbert John Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th March 1882.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of Kensington, Middlesex. " IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR COMPOSING AND DISTRIBUTING TYPE." A communication from
abroad by Carl Gustav Fischer, of Schloss Holte, and Alfred von Langen, of
Düsseldorf, both in the German Empire.
The first part of this Invention is illustrated by Figures 1 to 10 of the accom-
panying Drawings, and relates to a machine for automatically distributing the letters
into the tubes which belong to the composing machine.
The distributing machine effects this by means of nicks or wards milled or cut
into the letters, so that each nick serves to set certain mechanisin in motion, which
releases the letter and delivers it into its proper tube. As however there is not
sufficient-space to distribute upon a letter a large number of nicks, and the size of
the machine increases in the same ratio as the number of type to be distributed,
therefore a particular method is employed, viz., the type is passed through the
machine more than once on the following system:-The-letters are sorted_for_the_
first-time-by-means-of-the-nicks.on_one_of_their sides into a number of separate
groups of nearly similar thickness; after this by means of the nicks on the opposite
side of the letter, the groups of letters one after another are separated one by one
according to their different signs.
By this method of increasing the number of nicks and by passing the letters
through the machine more than once, it is possible to automatically distribute an
unlimited number of letters in a proportionally small machine.
For the distribution of a composition of one or two hundred different type, it is
only necessary that they should pass through the machine twice, and that each
letter should have two nicks. For example, in order to be able to distribute a
composition of a hundred different type, the nicks must be arranged so that each of
the ten letters in one group having nearly the same thickness have on their front
side the same nick, while on their opposite side each letter has a different one;
Figure 9 shews the system of arranging the nicks; the third and largest nick is
necessary for setting the type by hand, and also is required to draw the type when
in the distributing box exactly into position. This nick is more particularly
required for spaces, which being shorter than type, with signs on them, might, if not
properly guided, be delivered into the wrong receiving tube.
Figure 1 is partly a front elevation and partly a vertical section of the
distributing machine, while Figure 2 is a plan of the machine partly in section so
as to shew the bottom disc, a portion of the bridge al being removed. On the
vertical spindle a (Figure 1) which revolves by means of the friction pulley b in
the foot step and bearing of the frame a' two discs c and d are fixed. The lower
disc & supports and carries the receiving tubes a by means of a second disc f which
forms a supporting ledge for the tubes. The disc d has in its periphery a number
of slots which corresponds to the number of receiving tubes, and is surrounded by
a ring g (Figures 1 and 2) which can be moved concentrically.
This ring
contains the same number of equally sized slots as those on the periphery of the
disc d. When this ring is in its place (as shewn by Fig. 2) the openings to the
slots are closed, whereby the tubes which have entered them are locked in their
places. The upper ends of these tubes (Figs. 3, 5, and 7) enter into suitable holes
in the disc c and butt against adjustable receiving mouths which are attached by
scrows to the top side of the disc. The mechanism carried by the disc c has to

page_text: take out each letter separately from the distributing box h, and to regulate its
opening; it also has to deliver the letters into their respective tubes, and to press
them so far into the tube that there will be room for another letter before that tube
arrives again at the distributing box. The composition is put into a long tube h¹
(Figure 1) and falls from this tube into the distributing box. In the distributing
box the letters lie in such a position that the nicks by which the sorting is effected
are at the back of the box. On the same side of the box are the moveable feelers /
(Figures 3 and 5). The points of these feelers project as far into the distributing
box as the nicks in the letters are deep. The part of the feelers lying at the
back of the axle or fulcrum i is lengthened to act as a counterweight, and presses
the points of the feelers against the bottom edge of the distributing box. The
column of letters rests on the two arms of the fork 1 (Figures 3 and 5), and the
lowest letter presses the points of the feelers down to a depth equal to the
thickness of the thinnest letter, with the exception of that feeler whose point
finds a nick to enter. The counterweight end of this feeler, upon the underside
of which there is n tooth m, falls to a lower position than the other feelers, and
by so doing is able to actuate the extractor on the receiving tube which corresponds
with the feeler. The arrangement of the pins o on the extractor bolt n (Figures 2
and 4) corresponds with the position of the teeth m; these pins, as long as the
drum revolves, pass exactly under the teeth of the feelers k. As soon as one of the
teeth falls, which happens as often as the point of a feeler coincides with a nick,
the pin o pushes against it; this causes the pusher bolt n to turn about an angle
of 45° in its bearings, which are in the two raised flanges of the disc c. The
double pointed extractor w' works on an axle 8, which also has its bearings in the
two raised flanges of the disc; under the extractor there is a spring always
pressing it upwards against the bolt n, which passes through the extractor and is
recessed on one side, so that in turning it allows the spring r to raise the extractor
to a sufficient height to take hold of the latter and push it out of the distributing
box.
Figure 5 shews the position at the moment that the pin o comes in contact with
the tooth of the feeler. The position of the bolt after it has turned and the
extractor is raised is shewn in Figure 7.
When the extractors are down the turned up pins pass close under the letter
lying at the bottom of the distributing box; if they are raised they accurately
come in contact with their letter, and push it from under the column of letters.
The distributing box h has a moveable lid-cover t (Figures 3 and 4), which before
a letter is taken out is raised by the wedge-shaped part of the lever g. These
levers are set in gear in the same way as the extractors, viz., by the movement of
the bolts n on which they rest, the bolts having another recess on them, as shewn
in Figures 3, 6, and 8. The lever q allows the cover to drop as soon as the type
has passed out of the distributing box, so that the lid and the column of type fall
at once.
On the lid t and actuated by the same means there is a fork shaped
piece u; this by means of its two downward inclined arms, which correspond to
the arms of the fork L, serves as a top-guide for the type as they are moved
forward by the extractor. The fork u is so fixed to t that they are both raised at
the same time; but while t falls, u remains on the letter, notwithstanding the
differences of thickness as they are attached by screws in slots, which allow
movement in a verticle direction.
Figure 7 shews the position. The letter which is pressed forward by the
extractor slides down on both arms of the fork l, which inclines downward so as to
guide the letters as far as possible in the receiving tube, while at the top it is
guided by the fork u. The disc carrying the extractors continues to advance until
the letter on the fork falls into the tube e lying close in front of the extractor,
and the fork u returns to its normal position by means of a spring which presses
on it at the top. The letter is now lying in the upper end of the receiving tube.
As the drum goes on the eccentric w presses the rammer v down, so that it pushes
the letter as far into the tube as the letter is thick..

page_text: rammers v are fixed on the disc c so that they can pivot on the hinge y; they are
pressed to the eccentric, which is fixed to the frame a¹ by the springs 2. This
eccentric is so arranged that the rammers are in their highest position when they
pass the distributing box, and in their lowest when they are opposite to it, as
shewn by Figure 1.
The pin (Figures 3, 6, and 8) on the bolt n touches the pin c¹ (Figures 1 and 2)
as the disc revolves; this turns the bolt so that the extractor and lever q are
thrown out of gear.
The friction pulley which drives the machine works in an eye of the arm e',
and is pressed against the friction pulley b by the hooked lever g' holding the
catch n¹.
On the sliding blocks there are projecting horizontal pins, and as soon as a
receiving tube is full, this projecting pin pushes the bolt p down against a spiral
spring, which holds it in its normal position; this bolt (when down), as the drum
revolves, forces the hooked lever g' away from the catch n', the friction of both
-pulleys.d-and-b-ccases,-and-the-machine-is-in-this-way-automatically-stopped.each
time a tube is full.
During the second sorting, that is to say, the one that assorts the first groups of¯
different thicknesses of letters, the levers q can be dispensed with, and the cover
of the distributing box is then fixed so that the width of the outlet corresponds to
the thickness of the group of letters which are being assorted.
The distributing machine which has been described here can be varied in
construction and increased in size. Twenty and even more feelers can easily be
used with the ordinary length of type. When these are put into two groups, one
group working for the first sorting and the other for the second, one can assort
about a hundred different letters with two nicks on one side of each letter, as
shewn in Figure 10. So long as this arrangement is preserved and nicks on the
other side of the letters are made, 10,000 different letters can be sorted, but would
have to pass through the machine four times.
In order to increase the out-put of the machine with regard to the time the
distributing requires, the number of distributing boxes as well as receiving tubes
may be increased (multiplied) and their length varied.
If the former aro increased, the raminers have to be worked between each pair
of distributing boxes, which can easily be done by a suitable form of cam. If the
latter are increased, the receiving tubes of the letters which occur most frequently
must be augmented.
The second part of this Invention consists in further improvements in the
composing machine described by the Specification of the Letters Patent, No. 3925
of the year 1879, which improvements have for their object to guide the letters
from their tubes into the composing frame with greater exactness, to render the
self-acting feed motion of the composing frame more accurate, and to simplify the
arrangement of the tubes for releasing the letters.
This part of the Invention is illustrated by Figures 11 to 16 of the accompanying
Drawings, which will be referred to in the following description.
In the arm A (Figures 11, 12, 14 and 15), are pins J, on which the tubes E are
supported by means of the bent plates K. On the pins J there are recesses as
long as the plates K are wide, so as to give a side support or guide to the tubes
and only allow then a to-and-fro-motion; the bottom ends of the tubes are guided
in the same way by pins which are carried by the levers U. By this arrangement
the tubes can be easily placed in or removed from the machine from above.
The levers U correspond with the key-levers Q, and are connected to them by
the springs M; these springs are clamped between the top plates of the levers Q
and the key-blocks S by means of screws, which also hold the key-blocks in their
places. By pressing on one of the keys the two levers Q and U are moved in the
same direction, and the spring M is at the same time bent upwards (Figure 16)

page_text: which, after the pressure is removed, brings the levers into their old position
against the pins L.
The bottom ends of the tubes are closed by the feet B, which are not quito so
wide as the tubes; the letters lie on these feet which also support the tubes,
and they stand in the corresponding recesses N in the bars which form the sides
of the chases C; these recesses N are a little deeper than the feet are thick, but
not wider.
Each longitudinal row of tubes stands over a chase or canal C, under which
there is a revolving endless band R.
When the tubes are in their normal position their inside areas are exactly over
a chase, and the bottom letter lies partly in the chase.
By pressing on one of the keys the tube is moved, and the foot B is drawn back
with it from under the bottom letter, while the top edge of the chase frame
prevents the letter from moving with the tube, and so it falls into the chase, the
head or type end of the letter striking the wire P, while the bottom-end drops on
to the endless belt, which thus draws the letter on to it and carries it away.
The outlets or openings at the sides of the tubes between the bottom edges and
the top-sides of the feet, are the same heights as the thicknesses of the letters, so
that only one letter can fall out at once.
By pressure from the spring after a letter has been released, the tube is moved
back to its original position, and the column of letters which rested on the surface
of the bar C again falls on the foot B.
The chases of the frame C run parallel so long as they are under the tubes, but
after that they converge towards the mouth of the fall, running into the middle
chase, as shewn in (Figure 11). Where the chases join one another, the bars which
form their sides are pointed, so that they form a portion of the middle chase, and
the inside of the pointed portion is parallel to the middle line of the machine.
Where one chase runs into another some light-springs V are placed so as to prevent
the letters from turning over while their course is being changed.
The letters which are carried by the belt pass out through the funnel end of the
chases bottom end foremost into the fall D (Figures 11, 12, 13), when owing to
the angle of the fall, they slide down in front of the pusher F (Figure 12), which
sets them up and pushes them into the composing frame.
The lift of the tongue H which guides the letters on their top side in the fall is
regulated by a pin in the side of the fall.
The inside of the fall is exactly the width of the fount of letters that are being
used, as is also the top of the pusher F, while the lower portion of the pusher is
not so wide, so as to allow on each side of it place for an angular piece of plate X,
which nearly forms the bottom of the fall; these plates prevent the letters from
turning as they fall to the bottom of the composing frame. On the pusher are
two projecting teeth, the upper being above the composing frame, while the
second one at the end of its stroke enters the frame, which has a recess in it, so
that when it moves forward it passes the second tooth without coming in contact
with it.
The ratchet tooth O is moved by the direct action of the sliding block W.
The composing frame is set at an angle to the machine, so that the letters
T
Janhante acain into the fall
CLARE.
1. The described method and system of nicking the type for the purpose of
distributing them in automatic distributing machines, consisting in the application
of uniformly shaped nicks, only one of which comes into operation at once, although
every type has at least two nicks in it.
2. The method of automatic distribution by repeated distribution, or by
sorting the type into various groups, every one of which is again distributed in
the same manner as described.

page_text: 3. The construction of an automatic distributing machine in which easily
moveable feelers project into a recess of the type, but only one acting at once,
which thereby sets in action the extracting mechanism, also the shape of the
feelers and their method of working.
4. The extracting or releasing mechanism of automatic distributing machines,
and the mode of their being set in and out of action, and in particular the bolt n
with its surfaces and pins, as well as the arrangement and construction of the
upper disc which carries the extractors.
5. The moveable lid of the distributing box in conjunction with the guiding fork
and the levers which lift them.
6. The arrangement and mode of motion of the extractors.
7. The automatic disengagement by the spring bolt actuated by the pin on the
slide blocks after a receiving tube has been filled, and the movable friction pulley
applied for this purpose.
8. The construction of the lower disc for holding and taking out the receiving
tubes.
9. The arrangement and' combination of the various parts of the distributing
-machine.
10. In composing machines with endless belt serving as type carrier, the guide
frame composed of several chases or channels and containing appliances which
co-operate-or-contribute-to-disengage-the-type-also-the-nozzle-shaped-mouth-of-the-
_frame_consisting of chases having the same width as the type channels and
serving to guide the type in a converging direction.
11. The mode of releasing the type by moving the tube and the apparatus
therefor, in particular the apparatus for moving and guiding the tube, also the
guide lever, and the mode of connecting it with the key by a tie, which serves at
the same time as a spring, also the shape of the fixed foot at the bottom of the
tube in combination with the recessed bars which form the sides of the chases.
12. In composing machines with automatically advancing composing frames the
arrangement of the pusher for delivering the type directly into the frame, and the
construction of the fall,
The whole substantially as described an illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.