Improvements in Type-writing Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Dec., 1894-Accepted, 26th Jan., 1895
Improvements in Type-writing Machines.
I, ROBERT JOSEPH FISHER, of Athens, in the County of McMinn, and State of
Tennessee, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 :-
My invention relates to a type-writing machine, and has special reference
to machines for use in book work for forming court, bank, tax-office and similar
records.
The object of my invention is to provide a construction whereby the leaves
of the book upon which the record is being formed are held in position.to
receive the impression by the weight of the machine, and in which the tracks
or guides which bear upon the surface of the page are laterally adjustable
to suit the size of the book and enable them to be arranged at the margins of
the page.
A further object of my invention is to simplify and improve the construction
of a machine of the class mentioned and provide for the easy manipulation of the
book.
A further object of my invention is to provide a machine of the class described
which may be employed for letter and general writing without the use of auxiliary
devices with the exception of a platen to support the work and receive the impact
of the typebars.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following
description and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the
appended claims.
In the drawings:—
n:

page_text: rearwardly extending tracks 5, with means whereby the space between said tracks
may be adjusted to suit the size of the book. Said means of adjustment consist in
the construction illustrated, of a series of notches or seats 6, which receive the
tracks 5 and thereby hold the frame and tracks from independent lateral
displacement.
Mounted upon the transverse carriage guides is the carriage 7, which supports
the keys, type-bars, and operating connections, as well as the auxiliary devices
consisting of ribbon supporting and feeding mechanisms, etc. The carriage consists
essentially of a casing provided with front and rear pendent supports 8, upon which
are journaled the anti-friction rollers 9, which travel upon the above mentioned
carriage guides. The keyboard is arranged in steps, as in the ordinary construction,
such steps being provided with guide-openings 10, for the reception of the shanks
of the keys 11, said shanks being connected by means of the operating levers 12,
and the draw-wires 13, to the type-bars 14, which are pivotally mounted upon the
pendent supporting-ring 15. Said ring is held in place by means of the hangers 16,
which depend from the casing of the carriage, and the levers 12 are pivoted to the
parallel partitions 17, which are fitted at their front and rear edges in vertical
grooves formed in the inner surfaces of the front and rear plates of the casing, said
partitions being removable vertically from the casing with the levers and con-
nections carried thereby to facilitate the construction and assembling of the
mechanism and enable the injured or displaced parts to be removed or exposed for
purposes of repair. The pendent ring which is arranged horizontally in a plane
adjacent to that of the bottom of the supporting standards 4 is provided with
journal-plates 18, arranged in pairs and supporting the pivot-pins 19, upon which
the type-bars are mounted. These journal plates are extended a considerable
distance upon all sides of the pivot-pins, and the type-bars are provided upon
opposite sides with the lateral bearing lugs 20, which bear against the facing
Burfaces of the journal-plates near their peripheries to give lateral support to the
type-bars and prevent vibration and lost motion. The type-bars are further
provided with laterally-extended bearings 21, which bear at their terminals against
the inner surfaces of the plates.
The operating-levers 12, which are shown clearly in Figure 4 of the drawings,
are pivoted at points intermediate of their extremities, and preferably at or near
their centres, whereby the downward movement, which is imparted to one end of a
lever by the depression of a key, produces an upward movement of the other
extremity of the lever, and this upward movement is communicated, by means of a
draw-wire 13, the length of which is adjustable, to the off-set arm 22 of the type-
bar. It will be noted that this communication of motion is simple and direct and
does not depend for its accuracy upon the stiffness of the wires 13.
Arranged in rear of, and secured to the transverse carriage guides is a rack 23,
forming one member of the carriage-feeding mechanism, and engaging this rack is
a stop-dog 24, pivoted to the rear side of the casing and having a forward-extending
stud 25, which is engaged by an arm 26, of the crank-shaft 27. The arm 28, at
the opposite or outer end of this crank-shaft, is connected by means of a draw-
wire 29 with the rear end of a lever 30, which is connected to, and operated by, the
release-key 31, whereby, when said key is depressed, the dog is disengaged from the
rack to permit of the free movement in either direction of the carriage. A spring 32
is arranged to hold said lever in its normal position with the release-key elevated.
In connection with the said dog there is an auxiliary or working pawl 33, having
an arm 34, which engages a rearward extending stud 35, on the free end of the
dog. The auxiliary or working pawl is held normally out of engagement with the
rack by means of the dog, and the said arm 34, which acts as a counter-balance.
The means for operating this feed mechanism to cause the carriage to advance upon
the depression of each key consists of a series of pivotal yokes 36, consisting of
parallel side-arms connected at their front ends by an integral cross-bar which is
ecgaged by pins 37, carried by the key-shanks. The side-arms of these yokes
are pivoted to the side-plates of the carriage and are connected, at their rear

page_text: extremities, respectively, to the vertically-slidable uprights 38, which are connected
at their lower ends by a horizontal connecting-bar 39. This bar is connected at
an intermediate point by means of a draw-wire 40 with the free end of an arm 41,
which is connected to the spindle 42 of the auxiliary pawl, whereby, when a key is
depressed, it depresses the front side of one of the yokes, elevates the slidable
uprights, and depresses the toothed extremity of the auxiliary pawl, at the same
time disengaging the stop-dog from the rack and allowing the carriage to advance
a distance equal to the interval between two adjoining teeth of the rack-bar. The
spring-pulley 44, which is of the ordinary construction, is connected by the cord or
strap 45, to the carriage to furnish the power for moving the carriage when the
feed mechanism is operated in the manner above described. Springs 46 are
arranged in operative relation with the side-arms of the yokes to normally hold
them with their front sides elevated; and return springs 47 are connected to the
draw-wires of the type-bar mechanism to return the type-bars and keys to their
elevated positions after depression. The connection of the draw-wire 40 with the
arm 41 is adjustable to enable the throw of the auxiliary pawl to be regulated, said
connection being clearly illustrated in Fig. 5.
The ribbon spools 48, which are arranged at opposite sides of the carriage, are
feathered upon the spindles 49 and are held in contact with the shoulders 50 formed
on said spindles, by means of the coiled springs 51, and the ribbon guides 52, which
are bifurcated at their upper ends and are fitted slidably upon the spindles,
extend downward to the pendent ring and are fitted in slots 53, formed in lateral
extensions 54 of the said ring. These ribbon guides carry the ribbon below the
lower surface of the pendent ring and maintain the same in a horizontal position,
and extend diametrically across the ring in the path of the type-heads carried by
the type-bars. The spool-spindles are fitted slidably in the guides 55, and extend
in rear of the carriage where they are connected by a transverse bar 56, provided at
an intermediate point with an inclined traveler 57. This traveler operates upon
an inclined guide-way 58, which is supported permanently in rear of the framework.
The amount of deflection of this inclined guide-way corresponds with the width of
the inking ribbon, and as the carriage is moved by its feed mechanism in forming
a line of writing the ribbon-spools are moved transversely of the line of writing.
The spool spindles are provided with ratchet wheels 58* which are arranged in position
to be engaged by ribbon feeding pawls 59, one of which is secured to an adjustable
bracket 60, at one end of the framework, and the other of which is carried by the
adjustable line-stop 61, which is fitted upon the rear transverse carriage guide. Only
one of these ribbon-feeding pawls is employed at one time, inasmuch as they are
intended to turn their respective ratchet-wheels in opposite directions to feed the
ribbon in opposite directions, and therefore the pawl which is not in use is elevated at
its outer end and held in the inoperative position by means of a slidable retaining-
pin 62. The outer ends of these pawls are weighted to hold them in their operative
positions when the retaining-pins are disengaged therefrom. The engaging position
of the ribbon feeding pawl is shown at the right in Fig. 5, and the inoperative position
is shown at the left in the same figure. It will be noted that by arranging the
right-hand ribbon-feeding pawl upon the adjustable line-stop, the ribbon will be fed
longitudinally at the end of each line of writing, whether that line be long or short.
In addition to the ribbon-feeding pawl the adjustable line stop carries a key lock 64,
which is provided with a shoulder to engage a lateral projection 65, carried by the
adjacent slidable upright 38, whereby when the carriage reaches the line-stop, said
projection passes beneath the shoulder of the key-lock and by preventing the
upward movement of said upright, locks all of the keys and prevents the bunching
of characters at the end of a line.
To give the requisite stiffness to the mechanism whereby the movement of the
keys is communicated to the feeding mechanism, I preferably employ a rock-
shaft 66, which is located transversely in the carriage at the rear thereof and is
provided, at its terminals, with rearward-extending arms 67, which engage notches 68
in the slidable uprights and communicate the motion of one upright to the other

page_text: directly and positively. This is of especial advantage when a key near one side of
the key-board is operated, in that there is a liability due to the flexibility of the
yokes, to cause a greater movement of one of the uprights than of the other, and
thus produce an irregularity of operation and a possible binding of the parts.
This feature of the rock-shaft may, however, be substituted by other equivalent 5
means, or may be dispensed with if the yokes are made sufficiently rigid to
communicate motion equally to the two uprights.
The line spacing mechanism comprises the longitudinal tracks 5, which have the
raised smooth portions 69 and the depressed racks 70, and spur wheels 71, carried
by a transverse shaft 72, mounted in brackets 73, on the front of the framework.
These spur-wheels engage the racks of the longitudinal tracks and are adjustable
upon the shaft to suit the interval between said tracks. To one end of the shaft is
fixed a ratchet 74, which is engaged by a spacing-lever 75, having a spring-tooth 76,
which is adapted to yield when the spacing lever is swung in a direction opposite
to that which is necessary to turn the ratchet forward. A gravity retaining
pawl 77 is arranged to prevent backward rotation of the ratchet-wheel. The
length of the spaces between the lines, or the amount of movement of the frame-
work at each movement of the spacing-lever, is regulated by an adjustable gage 78,
which is fitted for movement in suitable guides 79, formed in the adjacent
bracket 73, and is provided with an extension or enlargement 80, which, when
arranged in the path of the spring-actuated tooth of the spacing-lever, limits the
movement of said lever. and hence of the frame-work, to an extent commonly known
as a "single space." When the gage is repressed the spacing-lever may be moved
sufficiently to cause a 66
double-space" movement of the machine.
In order to facilitate the adjustment of a book with relation to the mechanism as
above described, and maintain the machine in position when the book is withdrawn
for the purpose of turning a leaf, I preferably employ a table 81, provided, at its
front and rear edges with transverse ways 82, upon which are mounted the slidable
carriers 83 having notches or seats 84 to agree with the corresponding notches or
seats in the base of the framework. The ends of the toothed tracks 5 are fitted in
the proper notches of these carriers to suit the width of the book; and the entire
mechanism is capable of lateral adjustment by the movement of these carriers upon
the supporting ways. Between said ways are arranged two similar adjustable leaves
or traps 85, provided with adjusting devices which may be of any preferred
construction, whereby said leaves or traps may be adjusted vertically to cause the
page of the book upon which the record is to be made to be pressed firmly against
the under surface of the longitudinal tracks. The adjusting mechanism which I
have illustrated in the drawings consists, for each leaf or trap, of a bracket 86
having a pendent track arm 87, located at each end and engaged by a pinion. The
two pinions which are employed for the adjustment of each leaf or trap being
carried by a common shaft 88 having a handle 89, whereby, when the shaft is
rotated, both of the said pinions, which are shown at 90, are rotated simultaneously
and cause the vertical movement of the leaf. It will be understood that, while in
the drawings I have shown this supporting mechanism as part of a table or stand,
it properly forms the base for the type-writing machine, and may be constructed
as part of a desk, or any other device as may be found must convenient. The
advantage of the means described consists in the fact that the book may be
dropped vertically without altering the position of the machine proper to enable a
leaf to be turned, and when brought to its operative position that leaf or trap
which supports the smaller side of the book, in case the latter is not opened exactly
at the centre, may be arranged at a greater elevation in order to ensure accuracy
and uniformity of work.
As above mentioned the machine may be used, also, for letter-writing and
general work, in which case a flat platen, as shown in Fig. 12, is employed. The
platen which is shown at 91 and may be of hard rubber or similar material, is
provided upon its lateral edges with racks 92, and is slidably mounted in a
stationary frame 93, having vertical side edges 94 upon which the base of the

page_text: framework rests. As the line spacing lever is operated, the platen is move.l
rearwardly, instead of the framework moving forwardly as when the writing is
upon a book.
From the above description it will be obvious that the construction and manner
of mounting the connections between the keys and the type-bars are simple, and
by the use of the parallel partitions which are fitted in the grooves in the front and
rear sides of the carriage, the connections may be mounted upon the partitions
before the latter are adjusted, thus materially facilitating the removal of the
working parts of the machine.
The construction and manner of mounting the ribbon spools and guides enable
the ribbon to be moved rearwardly to uncover the line of writing to permit the
operator to view the same without altering the position of the machine, said parts
being returned to their operative positions when released by the return-springs
which are coiled upon the spool-spindles.
It will be observed from the above description, furthermore, that the con-
struction of the framework, and the relative construction of the carriage is such
that the bearing of the latter upon the former is in such a plane as to equalize,
approximately, the weight above and below, thus insuring the stability and the
uniformity and regularity of movement of the carriage upon the guides, and
preventing binding and vibration and similar disadvantages. It will be noted that
the connection of the carriage-operating spring is in the plane of the guides for the
Carriage.
In order to prevent binding upon the transverse guides, and maintain the weight
of the machine over and between the same, I have arranged the keyboard upon the
main portion of the carriage instead of upon a projecting portion of the frame
as in those machines in which the framework is stationary, and the only movable
part is the platen carriage.
I have now described a simple and preferable construction of my improved type-
writing machine, which embodies the essential features for the attainment of the
object in view, namely, facility and accuracy in book work, as well as means for
accomplishing the ordinary work for which a type-writer is employed, but it will
be understood that various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of
construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing
any of the advantages of this invention.
By the use of the adjustable bracket 60 and the line-stop 61 I am enabled to
regulate the margin at both sides of a page, said bracket performing the function
of a stop, and therefore, as the spool-spindle operating pawls are carried respectively
by said bracket and stop, they are set to change or shift the ribbon longitudinally
at the end of the line of writing. The advantage in having two adjustable stops
for the carriage is, that in book work it is often necessary to make definite margins
at both sides, in order that the writing may be arranged between margin lines which
set off a special portion of the page for the running work, while terminal columns
are reserved for figures, annotations, etc.
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 a framework having an elevated guide for the carriage
and provided at its base with series of notches or seats, tracks feeding in said
notches or seats and capable of relative lateral adjustmeut thereby, a line spacing
mechanism for moving the framework upon the tracks, with a carriage mounted
upon said elevated guide and having a pendent type-bar supporting ring, carriage
feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys, and operating connections between said parts,
substantially as specified.
2. The combination of a framework having elevated carriage guides, parallel
tracks supporting said framework, means for adjusting the tracks laterally with .
relation to the framework, and line spacing mechanism including a transverse.shaft,

page_text: spur-wheels carried by said shaft and adjustable thereon to agree with the interval
between the tracks and adapted to engage racks on said tracks, and means for
rotating said shaft, with a carriage mounted upon said guides, carriage-feeding
mechanism, type-bars, keys and operating connections, substantially as specified.
3. The combination of a framework having carriage guides, tracks supporting
said framework, means for adjusting the tracks laterally with relation to the
framework, a transverse shaft journaled upon the framework, spur-wheels adjustably
secured to the shaft and engaging racks with which the tracks are provided, a
ratchet fixed to the shaft, a spacing lever having a spring-tooth to engage said
ratchet, a gravity-pawl to prevent backward rotation of the ratchet, and a sliding
gage arranged in the path of the spacing-lever to regulate the throw thereof, with
a carriage mounted upon the guides, carriage-feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys,
and operating connections, substantially as specified.
4. The combination of a framework having elevated carriage guides, laterally
adjustable tracks arranged to guide said framework in a direction transverse to the
line of writing, line-spacing devices for feeding the framework upon said tracks,
and laterally-slidable supports mounted upon suitable ways and supporting the
extremities of the tracks whereby the framework may be moved laterally to expose
the work, with a carriage mounted upon said guides, carriage-feeding mechanism,
type-bars mounted upon a ring depending from the carriage between said guides
and arranged slightly above the plane of said tracks, keys and operating connections,
substantially as specified.
5. The combination of a framework having elevated carriage guides, longitudinal
tracks supporting said framework, line spacing mechanism for feeding the frame-
work upon the tracks, laterally-slidable supports for the extremities of the tracks,
vertically-adjustable leaves or traps arranged below the plane of the tracks, means
for adjusting said leaves or traps independently, with a carriage mounted upon said
guides and having a dependent type-bar supporting ring, type-bars, carriage
feeding mechanism, keys and operating connections, substantially as specified.
6. The combination with a framework provided with laterally movable carriage
feeding mechanism for the carriage, type-bars, keys, and operating connections, of
ribbon spools mounted on the carriage, slidable spindles supporting said spools, a
stationary guide-way arranged at an inclination to the direction of the movement
of the carriage and in a plane parallel with the carriage-guides, and a traveler
mounted upon said guide-way and carried by a bar connecting said spindles,
substantially as specified.
7. The combination with a frame-work having carriage guides, a carriage
mounted upon said guides, carriage feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys, and
operating connections, of ribbon-spool spindles carrying ribbon spools and capable
of longitudinal movement, a stationary horizontal guideway inclined to the carriage
guides, a traveler mounted upon said guideway and connected to the spool spindles,
and means for rotating said spindles at each limit of movement of the carriage,
substantially as specified.
8. The combination with a framework baving carriage guides, a carriage
mounted thereon, carriage-feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys, and operating
connections, of an inclined guideway, a traveler mounted upon said guideway,
ribbon spools, spindles carrying said spools and connected for longitudinal
movement to the said traveler, a line-stop arranged in the path of the carriage, and
a pawl carried by said line-stop to engage a ratchet on one of said spindles,
substantially as specified.
9. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, and
feeding mechanism for the carriage, of type-bars mounted upon a pendent
supporting ring, keys, partitions removably fitted in the carriage, and operating
connections between the keys and type-bars carried respectively by said partitions,
whereby the operating connections may be removed independently by the removal
of the partitions, substantially as specified.
10. The combination with carriage. guides, a carriage mounted thereon, and

page_text: feeding mechanism for the carriage, of type-bars, keys, operating connections
between the type-bars and keys, slidable uprights, pivotal yokes connected to the
said uprights and having cross-bars arranged between contiguous rows of keys and
connected thereto, and means for communicating the motion of the uprights to the
carriage feeding mechanism, substantially as specified.
11. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, feeding
mechanism for the carriage, type-bars, keys, and operating connections between
the keys and type-bars, of pivotal yokes having cross-bars arranged between
contiguous rows of keys, pins carried by the key-shanks to engage said cross-bars,
slidable uprights connected to the side-arms of said yokes, and means for
communicating the motion of the uprights to the carriage-feeding mechanism,
substantially as specified.
12. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, feeding
mechanism for the carriage, type-bars, keys, and operating connections between
the keys and type-bars, of pivotal yokes having cross-bars arranged between
contiguous rows of keys and adapted to be engaged by lateral pins carried by the
key-shanks, slidable uprights connected to the side-arms of said yokes, operating
connections between the uprights and the carriage-feeding mechanism, and a
rock-shaft journaled in the carriage and having arms engaging said uprights to
insure uniformity of movement thereof, substantially as specified.
13. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, carriage-
feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys, and operating connections between the keys
and type-bars, of uprights slidably mounted upon the carriage and operatively
connected to the carriage-feeding mechanism, means for communicating the
movement of the keys to said uprights, an adjustable line-stop arranged in the path
of the carriage, and a key-lock carried by said adjustable stop and adapted to
engage the projection upon one of said uprights, substantially as specified.
14. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, carriage-
feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys, and operating connections between the keys
and type-bars, of ribbon spools, slidable spindles carrying said spools, means for
moving said spindles longitudinally as the carriage is fed laterally to cause a
lateral feed of the ribbon, slidable uprights mounted upon the carriage and
operatively connected to the carriage-feeding mechanism, operating connections
between the keys and said uprights, and an adjustable line-stop arranged in the
path of the carriage and carrying a pawl to engage a ratchet upon one of the spool
spindles to feed the ribbon longitudinally, and a key-lock to engage a projection
upon one of the uprights, substantially as specified.
15. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, carriage
feeding mechanism, type-bars, keys, and operating connections, of longitudinally
movable spool spindles having stop shoulders, ribbon spools feathered upon said
spindles and movable independently thereof to expose the writing, return springs
to normally hold the spools in their operative positions in contact with the said
shoulders, and means for sliding and rotating said spindles to give lateral and
longitudinal feed to the ribbon, substantially as specified.
16. The combination with carriage guides, a carriage mounted thereon, carriage-
feeding mechanismn, keys, and operating connections between the keys and said
feeding mechanism, of a pendent type-bar supporting ring provided with lateral
slotted extensions, type-bars mounted upon said ring and operatively connected to
the keys, ribbon guides mounted for longitudinal movement in said slots, ribbon-
spool spindles supporting the upper ends of said guides, spools feathered upon said
spindles, return springs, and means for feeding the spools longitudinally and
transversely, substantially as specified.
Dated this 17th dow of Desemba 1901
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.