US2285350A - Ink ribbon reversing mechanism for business machines - Google Patents

Description

J1me 1942- H. NEUMANN-LEZIUS INK RIBBON REVERSING MECHANISM FOR BUSINESS MACHINES Filed Sept. 28, 1940 INVENTOR 4 ATTORNEY Patented June 2, 194 2 INK RIBBON REVERSING MECHANISM FOR 7 BUSINESS MACHINES Hans Neumann-Lezius, Berlin-Lankwitz, Germany, assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application September 28, 1940, Serial No. 358,895 In Germany January 16, 1940 4 Claims.

This invention relates to reversing mechanism for-the printing ribbon of a business machine. According to the present invention, as the ribbon is wound upon one spool, a follower is actuated by the increasing roll of ribbon and a spring is tensioned to store energy. When the opposite spool is depleted, +etrailing end of the ribbon, through a suitable clip or fastening, trips a latch and releases the stored energy to cause the ac,- tual reversal of the driving mechanism.

Other objects of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which discloses, by way of example, the principle of the invention and the best mode, which has been contemplated, of applying that principle.

In the drawing:

shown by means of a latch II. which is pivoted at l3 to an extension I! of the plate H. The latch ll engages in a notch I in the lower extremity of the arm 9, and the spring M (Fig. 3) normally bears upon the latch II to hold it in latching position in the notch l0. There are two latches ll provided, one to hold the lever 2 in the position shown and the other to hold the Fig. 1 is a view of the assembled mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a' view looking from the bottom of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing l1 represents the usual plate upon which the various parts are mounted, this plate being suitably attached to the printing machine. A pair of ears l8 extending from the plate'serves to support the slidable shaft 15 to which is secured a ratchet It. This ratchet is advanced step by step in the usual manner by means of any suitable'pawl device so as to advance the ratchet one step for each operation of the printing mechanism.

The opposite ends'of shaft l5 carrybeveled gears 26 which mesh with beveled gears 22 on the spindles 2| which carry'the ribbon spools I.

An arm 2 pivoted at 3 to the plate J! has integral therewith an ofi'set arm 9 which extends through a groove formed by flanges I9 on the shaft l5. This arm 2, when rocked about pivot 3, serves toshift shaft l5 to transfer the driving connection from one of the spools to the other.

A pair of follower members comprising arms 5 and 5 are pivoted on studs 8 in the plate l1. The upper ends of the arms 5 are connected by springs l to the upper extremity of the pivot arm 2. The arms 6 are arranged to lie in the path of the ribbon and to extend between the flanges of the ribbon spools so as to be acted upon by the ribbon as it accumulates upon the spool as shown in Fig. 1, where a full spool has rocked the associated arm 6 and caused tensioning of the related spring I while on the opposite side the exhaustion of the ribbon has released the tension in itsassociated spring I.

The arm 2 is normally held in the position lever in. its alternate position. It will thus be seen that with the lever 2 latched in the position shown, the left hand spring I will exert pressure upon the arm as the left hand spool accumulates the ribbon, and the opposing spring I gradually loses its tension as the related spool is unwound.

The manner in which the arm 2 is unlatched to effect reversal of the drive will now be explained. A latch-releasing plate 23 is provided, which is mounted for reciprocation upon the plate II by means of studs 24. The extremities of the plate are bent and slotted to provide a guide through which the inked ribbon 4 passes. The upper edge of plate 23 has two converging inclines designated 25 and 250. which are in line with one arm of the latch H (see Fig. 3). When the lever 2 is in the position shown, the latch 23 is toward the left with the low point of the incline in line with the left hand latch ll, so

that the spring I will hold the lever in the clockwise position shown in Fig. 3. If the latch plate 23 is now moved toward the right as viewed in Fig. 1, the extremity of the left hand lever II will be cammed upwardly causing depression of its opposite end and consequent release of the arm 9.

Such movement of plate 23 is brought about by the ribbon itself throughthe medium of a stop 26 fastenedto the ribbon. When this stop engages the slot in plate 23, the plate will be carried along with the ribbon and will actuate the latch II as described. Upon such release the tensioned left hand spring I will cause shifting of the drive shaft l5, so that the ribbon spool will With this arrangement the ribbon has the comparatively light task of rocking latch l I, and r the actual work of reversing the drive is effected by the springs l in which the necessary energy is gradually accumulated as one or the other of the spools winds up the ribbon.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: r

1. In a ribbon reversing mechanism having a pair of spools and a shiftable drive member positionable to drive either spool, the combination of a pivoted lever coacting with the drive member to shift the same, latching means to hold the lever in either of its two positions, a follower for each spool engageable with the ribbon, a tension spring between each follower and said shift lever, the follower, associated with the spool upon which the ribbon is winding, being caused by the ribbon to tension its related spring, and means controlled by the ribbon as it unwinds from the opposite spool for releasing said latching means whereby the tensioned spring will actuate the shift lever to reverse the drive for the spools.

2. The invention set forth in claim 1 in which the means controlled by the ribbon comprises a slidable bar movable forreleasing the latching means and both ends of the ribbon are provided with clips which move the bar to release the latching means.

3. In a ribbon reversing mechanism having a pair of spools and a shiftable drive member positionable to drive either spool, latching means to hold the member in driving relation with either spool, a follower for each spool engageable with the ribbon, a pair of springs one connected to each follower and both arranged to act upon said drive member, the follower associated with the spool upon which the ribbon is winding being caused by the ribbon to tend to urge the member toward its alternate position by means of the related spring, and means controlled by the ribbon as it unwinds from the opposite spool for releasing said latching means whereby said member will be urged by the spring into position to reverse the drive for the spools.

4. In a ribbon reversing mechanism having a pair of spools and a shiftable drive member positionable to drive either spool, the combination of a lever coacting with the drive member to shift the same, latching means to hold the lever in either of two positions, a follower for each spool engageable with the ribbon, a spring between each follower and said lever, the follower, associated withthe spool upon which the ribbon is winding, being caused by the ribbon to store energy in its related spring, and means controlled by the ribbon as it unwinds from the opposite spool for releasing said latching means whereby the spring will actuate the shift lever to reverse' the drive for the spools. v

HANS NEUMAN'N-LEZIUS.

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