Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 12th July, 1887.
Specification Accepted, 30th Aug., 1887.
1, EUGENE FITCH, of Des Moines, County of Polk, State of Iowa, United States of
America, Manufacturer, 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 present invention, which relates to type writing machines embraces; first,
improvements in the spacing and feeding mechanism, consisting of a fine toothed
rack, pivoted to the paper carriage, the carriage being actuated by a spring; a fixed
tooth engaging in the rack when the rack is depressed; and a pivoted tooth whose
relative initial position to the fixed tooth is determined by a cam slide connected to
the type carrying frame, which tooth engages in the rack when it is in normal
position, whereby the carriage is moved varying distances when different letters are
printed, and the word spacing also may be varied as desired; second, controlling
levers arranged to act on the type carrying frame, by the manipulation of which the
lower case letters and characters and numeral type may be set so as to impress
the paper above the line of printing, thus allowing them to be used as indices to letters
and figures impressed on the line, and the numerals may also be set to print below
the lines, as in writing fractions; third, improvements in the inking device which is
located in the path of the type as they descend towards the paper, consisting of a
small shaft with a square projecting end upon which the inking roller frame is placed,
and a spring acting on the shaft for retaining the ink roller in the path of the type,
and holding it away from the type after inking them; fourth, type blocks provided
with two sets of type, either of which are brought into active position by simply
turning the type blocks half way round on the type carrying arms; and other minor
improvements in construction, all of which will now be fully described by reference
had to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of my improved type writing machine, partly in section;
Fig. 2 is a section on the line x, x, fig. 1;
Fig. 3, is a vertical central section ;
Fig. is a section on the line y, y, fig. 1, looking towards the type controlling
lavors

page_text: Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are, respectively, a front view, a side view looking towards the
right, and a plan view, of the feeding and spacing mechanism, on an enlarged scale,
with the frames &c. partly in section;
Figs. 8 and 9 are detached plan views of the inking mechanism representing the
roller in its two extreme positions ;
Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the type blocks;
Figs. 11 and 12 are, respectively, an enlarged sectional and a plan view of one of
the connections between the ends of the key bars and the connecting links;
Fig. 13 is a front elevation of the type arms and their directing guides; and
Fig. 14 is a plan view of the same."
All of the key bars a', a', carrying the finger pieces a, a, are pivoted on the shaft b,
held in the main frame c, which is extended around the key bars and provided with
slots c², e, in which the front ends of the key bars work.
The shaft d, held in the frame j, pivoted at to the frame c, carries the parts e, e,
of the hinge joints of the type arms, the other parts e¹, e¹, having the type arms
secured on the ends of the wire arms e², e², projecting therefrom, by means of fine
screw threads, as shown at fig. 10, thus permitting close and fine adjustment of the
type to cause them to impress the paper uniformly and in straight lines.
,
The type blocks have, on one side of them, three sets of letters or characters i, i¹,
and on their opposite sides three sets of letters or characters 3, 4, 3, made in a
different style of type from the first set, if desired. To bring the set of type 2, 4, 5,
into active position it is only necessary to turn the type blocks half way round on
their wire arms e³, the screw threads thereon fitting sufficiently tight in the type blocks
to hold them firmly in position when once set.
The stopf, provided with the guide slots f¹, f', in which the type arms are held, is
secured to the upper arms j³, j¹, of the pivoted frame j, so that said stop bar moves
with the frame and type arins when they are adjusted to print from the different sets
of type.
In front of the shaft d is a bar, attached to or. forming part of the frame ), and
provided with guide pins or pieces 3, between which the front ends of the parts e of
the hinge joints enter when the type are depressed, thereby forming, with the front
guides, h, a perfect controlling device for the type arms, which insures uniform
printing of the letters, even though considerable wear has taken place.
To protect the type from injury, a guard plate or bar is secured to the ends
of the arms,, of the pivoted frame j, and passes around the outer ends of
the type blocks. This guard plate ƒ may, if desired, be made integral with the
frame j.
The key bars a¹ are made of wood, and their rear ends are connected to the lower
ends of the links g by means of a simple and effective device, consisting of a piece
of sheet metal g², bent around and riveted to the end of the bar, and having a lip g³
which sets into a slot formed in the edge of the link g. This slot is slightly tapering
to allow for the rocking motion between the bar and link. After the slotted edge of
the link has been placed over the lip g³, on the piece g³, a strip of the metal projecting
from the upper end of the piece, is bent around the link y, as shown at figs. 11
and 12, thus holding the parts permanently together with sufficient play to allow for
any angular position they may assume.
The directing guides h, h, form parts of the standards c¹, c', and cause the type
arms, when depressed, to move laterally towards the centre of the machine.
The inking roller m, which is located in the path of the type, in front of the
directing guides h, h, is held in the light metal frame m', through the sides of which
are formed square holes, adapted to fit on the squared projecting end of the small
shaft n.
This shaft n is held in the frame n', secured to one of the directing guides h,
and has bearing against it the spring n², to hold it in its two extreme positions, in one
of which it is placed by a descending type knocking the ink roller down out of its
path, after taking ink therefrom, as shown in fig. 9, and the other by the type arm as
it ascends, moving the ink roller up into active position by coming in contact
with the wire arm m², which projects from the shaft n, as shown in fig. 8.

page_text: Two flat surfaces are formed on the shaft for the spring to bear against in these
positions.
m, its
From the ink roller frame m¹, extends the guard piece m³, under the roller
object being to prevent the paper from coming in contact with the roller when being
placed in or removed from the machine. And the frame m' has an extension m* to
act as a handle by which it may be slipped off from the shaft n, to be supplied with
fresh ink; which ink is contained in boxes or reservoirs n³, n*, secured to the frame c.
Different colored inks may be placed in these boxes, and two or more separate ink
rollers used, but little time being required to change them, as they merely slip on the
square end of the shaft, their fit thereon, and the inclined position of the shaft, as
shown at fig. 3, maintaining them in place.
The pivoted frame is held by the spring k against the stop when the first set of
type i, which are the lower case letters, are being printed from. The arm extends
from the lower part of the frame along one side of the frame c, and has located
under its free end the rear ends of the three levers 1, 11, 12, which act on different
parts of the arm. These levers 1, 11, 12, have fulcrum bearings on the stud 13, and
are provided with finger pieces, in line with the printing finger pieces a, on their
forward ends. When depressed, these levers 1, 11, 12, come against the screw
stops 1,1,1, respectively, and these screws are so adjusted as to cause the levers,
when in contact therewith, to impart different positions to the frame j, and the type
blocks carried by it. The first lever 1, moves the type blocks so as to cause the
middle set of type 2, which are the upper case or capital letters, to impress the paper
when the type keys are operated. The second lever throws the frame j further back,
and brings the outer set of type 2, which are the numeral and character type, into
active position. The third lever 12 moves the frame j and type so that the numeral
and character type are caused to make their impressions somewhat above the line of
printing, thus allowing indices to letters or figures, as 27 or 8%, to be printed without
moving the paper, as is now done on type writing machines in producing this kind of
work. This movement also admits of certain combinations of the character type being
made; as, for instance, the single dash type may be used to produce the equality sign,
by first printing the dash (-) in the ordinary way with the lever depressed, and then
repeating the impression with the lever held down, thus or the plus sign (+)
may be produced by the combination of the horizontal dash and vertical bar signs.
During the operation of printing one sign above or upon another, the paper is
prevented from being fed forward by holding down the feed lever after the first
impression has been taken.
8!
and
The production of fraction signs and mathematical formulae corresponding to
ordinary letter press printing is also provided for by causing the denominators to be
printed somewhat below the line, thus which is done by moving the spring stop 1,
pivoted to the inner side of the frame c, under the finger piece of the lever l',
then depressing this lever until its finger piece comes in contact with the stop; the
dash is then printed over the denominator with the lever fully depressed, thus 8
and the numerator printed over the dash in the same manner as the indices are
produced, thus . The extension of this principle will readily occur to the operator
and be as easily performed as ordinary work. It is evident that, with a limited
number of keys and type, a large number of characters can be produced, greatly
in excess of what can be done on ordinary machines having the same number of keys.
To lock the frame j in position for printing capital letters, as is sometimes
advantageous, I provide the small lever 18, pivoted to the frame c, alongside of the
lever 1, having a cam stud 1, arranged to bear on the top of the lever 1, and to fully
depress and hold it in this position when the lever is raised up into the position
shown at fig. 4. The lever and frame are released by simply throwing the lever 18
down. This lever is further utilized to move the frame j a short distance, to cause
the lower case letters to print above the line, as in printing the prefix Mc, and to
enable them to be used as indices, if desired. This is done by depressing the lever 1
when in the position shown in figs. 1 and 3, the pin 10 then bearing upon the top of
the lever . The set screw 11 determines the amount of motion.

page_text: The paper is carried upon a laterally sliding carriage p, and controlled by the large
impression roller o, and small spring acting rollers o'; it being placed in the paper
holder ",
with its top edge started between the rollers o and o¹, and passing into the
receiver q as it is fed forward by these rollers. The carriage p is moved across the
machine from the right to the left hand side by means of a coil spring p', placed in
the drum p³, and the cord p³, one end of which is secured to the drum p, and the
other end to a stud projecting from the main frame e; and the movement of the
carrier is controlled and allowed to take place, through variable distances when
different letters are printed, and for word spacing, by means of the following mechanism.
Beneath the key bars a¹, a', is placed the spacing bar s, having bearings on the
ends of the shaft b, and upheld by the springs s'. The spacing key s² has its bearing
on the shaft b, and acts on the top of the bars when it is pushed down by either of
the finger pieces secured to its front end. It is upheld by the spring 3. To the
central part of the bar & is connected, by means of the links, an arm projecting from
the shaft t, and this shaft t, by means of its forked arm t', 'carries the lever t, one
end of which is forked and embraces the edge of the main frame c, constituting the
fulcrum of this lever. The other end of the lever t2, which end is located at the centre
of the machine, supports and controls the toothed edge of the rack plate u, which is
pivoted at u¹ to the carriage p. The under side of the rack plate rests on the upwardly
projecting part of the end of the lever 12, and the small roller t rests on the top of the
rack plate and is carried by a small slide fitted in the lever and held down by the
spring. The object of making this roller vertically yielding will be hereafter
explained.
8
When the rack plate u is in normal position, as shown at figs. 1, 2 and 3, it is held
by the tooth ², projecting from the side of an arm on the shaft u³, which shaft is
provided with a spring constructed to turn it towards the right. This shaft, when the
tooth u² engages with a tooth of the rack u is, by the action of the spring p' on the
carriage p, turned towards the left, the arm then resting against the adjustable screw
stop, which passes through the piece e, secured to the cross bar c³ of the main
fraine. A stationary tooth e, projects from the piece v, in a plane below the toothed
edge of the rack plate u, and the screw u is so set that the tooth 2 holds the rack in
position with the tooth immediately below a space between the rack teeth, as shown
at fig. 1; and when the rack plate is moved down, either by the manipulation of
any of the type keys or of the spacing key, the fixed tooth enters this space and
holds the carriage stationary while an impression is being taken, as shown at
figs. 5, 6 and 7. In moving down, the rack slips off the tooth u² after it has passed
over the tooth, and the tooth u² is, by the spring acting on its shaft u³, moved back
to and held against the controlling plate w, which is laterally adjustable on the slide w
so that the tooth u² is directly over a space in the rack plate u. As the manipulated
key is released, the rack plate u moves away from the fixed tooth v¹, and on to the
tooth 2, and as soon as the rack is clear of the fixed tooth, the spring p' causes the
carriage to move, the rack plate u carrying the tooth u with it, until the stop screw u*
is encountered, which then holds the carriage normally at rest, as before.
The number of teeth of the rack the carriage is allowed to move forward each time
a key is operated, is determined by the distance the tooth is moved back by the
spring on its shaft, and this is controlled by the position of the type carrying frame j,
which is connected to the slide w¹ by the link w², so that as the frame is moved by
the levers 1, 1, 12, the part of the plate w against which the arm of the tooth u² bears,
is moved in relation thereto, and by means of notches therein the tooth is caused to
assume different positions so as to take up different numbers of teeth of the rack u.
As shown in the drawings, a feed of two teeth takes place when the frame is in
position to print from the lower case letters and from the character type, see
figs. 1 and 2, and a feed of three teeth when the capital letters are used, see
figs. 5, 6 and 7, the frame j then holding the slide so that the notch w³ in the
plate w is located in line with the arm of the tooth ², allowing the tooth to fall back
sufficiently to engage with one more tooth of the rack u than it does when the other
parts of the plate to control the movement of the tooth u².

page_text: This plate w may be made to hold the tooth in a different position for each
position assumed by the frame j, if desired, so as to vary the spacing to a greater
extent than here shown, but I have found that for practical purposes it is sufficient,
to produce good work, to have an increase of feed for the capital letters only.
To each end of the rack plate u is secured a handle in close proximity to the
hand piece p on the carriage, the function of said handles being to raise the rack
teeth clear of the tooth u², the spring to allowing the roller t' to move up with the rack
plate. This spring to is sufficiently strong to hold and control the rack plate during
the ordinary work of the machine. When the rack plate is so raised, the carriage is
free to be moved by hand to any position, and the paper carried by the roller adjusted
to a nicety to receive an impression at any part of the line of printing. To facilitate
this adjustment of the paper, a small pointer or index h is attached to the lower part
of the directing guides h, and extends over the paper in close proximity to the place
of impression.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In a type writing machine, type blocks secured on the ends of wire arms by
means of fine screw threads, and having series of type formed on opposite faces
thereof, either of which may be brought into active position by turning the blocks on
the wire arms, substantially as described.
Second. In a type writing machine, in combination, the pivoted frame j, the hinged
type carriers e, e', e, having bearings on the shaft d, held in the frame j, and the
stop barf, provided with the slots f¹, ƒ¹, and attached to the frame j, substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. In a type writing machine, in combination, the pivoted frame j, the shaft d,
the type carriers e, el, e, the stop bar f, the guide pins on a bar located in front of the
shaft d, and secured to or forming part of the frame j, and the fixed directing
guides h, h, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the pivoted frame j, the shaft d,
the type carriers e, e, e², type blocks on the ends of the parts e, the upwardly
projecting arms, of the frame j, and the guard plate f³, extending from the
arms around the ends of the type blocks when they are in normal position,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fifth. In a type writing machine, the combination with a key bar a', and link g,
of a connecting device consisting of a piece of sheet metal g³ bent around and
secured to the end of the bar a, having a lip g³, arranged to set into a slot formed
in the side of the link g, and a projecting strip which is bent around the link to
hold the lip g³ in the slot of the link, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. In a type writing machine, the combination with the shaft n having a square
projecting end, and the spring n³ arranged to bear against the shaft to hold it in
any position in which it may be placed, of the ink roller m and its frame m², provided
with square holes adapted to fit on the squared end of the shaft n, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
Seventh. In a type writing machine, the combination with a pivoted frame and
type arms carried thereby, of a spring bearing on the frame, a stop against which the
frame is held by the spring when in normal position, and levers arranged to act
independently on an arm projecting from the frame, and provided with finger pieces
by the manipulation of which the frame and the type on the ends of the type arms are
set in different positions, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Eighth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the frame j, j, the spring k,
the stop k¹, the levers 1, 1, 1, and the adjustable stops 14, 15, 16, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
Ninth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the frame j, j, the spring k, the
stop k¹, the lever 1, the adjustable stop 4, and the lever, pivoted to the frame in
close proximity to the lever 1, having a cam stud l arranged to bear on the lever / to
fully depress it when the lever 18 is raised, and a pin to arranged to bear on and

page_text: partly depress the lever when the front end of the lever is depressed, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
17
Tenth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the frame j,j, the spring k, the
stop k¹, the lever and the spring stop by which the number and character type are
caused to print below the line, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Eleventh. In a type writing machine, in combination, the frame j, j, spring k,
stop k¹, and lever 1, by which the number and character type are caused to print above
the line, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Twelfth. In a type writing machine, in combination, a laterally moving spring
actuated carriage, a fine toothed rack pivoted thereto, a fixed tooth with which the
rack engages when in one position, a spring actuated tooth with which the rack
engages when in another position, a stop in contact with which the spring actuated tooth
is brought by the forward movement of the rack and carriage, a stop against which
this tooth rests when released by the rack, and a spacing bar actuated by the operating
keys, connected substantially as described to the pivoted rack to move it down from
the spring actuated tooth on to the fixed tooth when any of the keys are depressed, as
and for the purpose set forth.
Thirteenth. In a type writing machine, in combination, a pivoted frame carrying
type arms having two or more sets of type on their ends, levers for setting the frame
in different positions, a laterally moving spring actuated carriage, a fine toothed rack
pivoted thereto, a fixed tooth with which the rack engages when in one position, a
spring actuated tooth with which the rack engages when in another position, and a
variable stop controlled by the pivoted type frame against which the spring actuated
tooth rests, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Fourteenth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the spring actuated
carriage p, toothed rack u, the spring actuated tooth u², the fixed tooth, the
controlling plate w, the slide w', link we, and type carrying frame j, substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
Fifteenth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the carriage p, toothed
rack u, the spring actuated tooth u, fixed tooth v¹, the lever t, provided with the
yielding roller t*, the shaft t, the links, the spacing bar s, and the handle u, on the
rack bar u, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Sixteenth. In a type writing machine, in combination, the spring actuated
carriage p, the toothed rack u, the spring actuated tooth ², the fixed tooth v¹, the
controlling plate w, slide w¹, link w³, the type carrying frame j, and the levers 1, 1, 12,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.