US2202595A - Paper equipment for calculating machines - Google Patents

Description

R. L. MULLER PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Jul 23, 1930 May 28, 1940.

r 0w .U WW II] R m E mm /m 9w w 8 WM n 0 pm mm W 4 I ma 5 m N B J Q m g mm Q3 @Q 9% R. L. MULLER PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING MACHINES May 28, 1940.

Filed July 23, 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 F mw N m m E I T y 28, 1940- R. MULLER 2,202,595

PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed July 23, 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR BY Robe/f A. IVE/Her I 4; Ma, 0 m, 4?

ATTDRN EYS JIIIIIIIII;

y 23, 1940- R. L. MULLER 2,202,595

PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed July 23, 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Rode/T AMI/er ATTORNEYS May 28, 1940.

R. 1.. MULLER 2,202,595

PAPER EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed July as, 1930 s Sheets-Sheet s 'INVENTOR BY HoberTAPfi/Ner oz TORNEYS v May 28, 1940.

6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 23,1950

considerable carriage movement.

Patented May 28,1940

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2.202.595 PAPER. EQUIPMENT FOR CALCULATING monmns Applicationluly 23,-1'930, Serial No. 469,951

135 Claims.

This invention relates to paper equipment for calculating machines of the type used for bookkeeping, accounting, statistical work, and the like where numerous entries have tobe made and some of the papers changed from time to time.

. In certain classes of bookkeeping and accounting work, it is frequently necessary to keep a running record of all the entries over a given. period of time and, during the making of suchentries, to insert and remove a number of individual ledger or work sheets on which onlya few entries. are made. The record. sheet is held in the machine during the entire run while the work sheets are inserted and removed from'a front feed throat that may be opened or closed. In order to speed up operations, it is desirable to have the front-feed throat controlledautomatically. Equipment for this purpose has already been provided 'as shown in Trew Patent No. 1,723,668, but, in the Trew construction, the paper carriage actuates the connections that open the front-feed throat. This places an undesirable load on the carriage and also requires a paper carriage is already burdened with having to actuate a large number of controls which vary in diflerent positionsot the carriage. For example, when the carriage is moved to one position, it may be required to move only one small control member; but, when it is moved to another position, it may be required to actuate a half down or more devices. The spring for moving the carriage must be'adjusted to some predetermined tension. when it is strong enough to move the maximum number of controls, it is too strong to move a small -number and the carriage will move against its stop with a bang and jar that 'is undesirable. On the other hand, if the spring is weakened, the speed of the carriage is decreased and the carriage may stick and fail to move the maximum number of controls. Furthermore, in order to actuate the controls, particularly throat opening, the carriage must move through a'suilicient distance to enable the actuating mechanism to operate, which means. that the distance between its stationary positions must be wider than might otherwise be necessary.

The present invention is directed to an im'provement in which the load is removed from. the

The control can still be by the paper carriage. carriage and, where this control is exercised by movement of the carriage, only a very slight movement is required. Provision is also made for a manual control.

Often, the

, bookkeeping machines used for posting ledgers,

(Cl. 197-128) V I In prior constructions, including the Trew construction above mentioned, it has been necessary, after a new work sheet has been placed in front of the platen while the latter is in front-feed position, to manipulate some lever, latch orkey 6 in order. to return the platen to printing position. The present invention contemplates making this manual operation unnecessary by the provision ra construction which operates 'entireiy automatically. For example, when the 10 paper carriage reaches a predetermined position, the work sheet is released so that the operator may remove it andlreplace it by another. 'He can immediately enter an item upon the keys and give the machine a cycle of operation with-- out paying any attention to the insertedwork sheet, the work sheet being automatically gripped about the platen as the machine operates and in proper timed relation to operation of the print:

ing mechanism.

The general object of the invention is, therefore, toprovide an improved paper equipment for calculating machines. v

A more specific object is to improve the elliciency and speed of operation of paper equip- 95 ment in a machine of thetype in whichcertain of the papers have to be removed from time to time and replaced by others, as for example, in

where a continuous record is kept of all the entries and diflerent ledger sheets are inserted and removed from time to time.

Other and more particular objects are to provide an equipment that operates auton tically without placing the load on the paper carriage; one that operates automatically under the control of the carriage, and,"where movementoi the carriage is employed for control, only a very short movement of the carriage is necessary; one 40 that enables the plates to be moved to several positions away fromprinting position; one that restores the platen to printing position automatically :1 one that enables the front-feed throat to be closed automatically and one that enables both the platen and the feed rolls to be movedaway from each other. H

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following specification and drawings.

An embodiment of the invention isshown in w the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a left side elevationof a calculating machine with the'invention applied thereto, the parts being shown in normal position Fig. 2 is a right side elevation of the pa equipment with the parts shown in normal con= olition;

Fig. 3 is a partial right -side elevation and section showing the mounting of the platen and the controlling devices therefor, the platen being in its full throw-back position;

Fig. 4: is a partial right-side elevation and section similar to Fig. 3 with the platen in a partial throw-back position;

Fig. 5 is a partial rear elevation with some of the parts cut away to show others more clearly, the parts being shown in normal position;

Fig. 6 is a partial front elevation of some of the automatic controls, the view being taken with the main body of the machine and the carriage omitted, the parts being in normal position;

Fig.7 is aview similar to Fig. 6 with the parts in the position they occupy when the platen occupies a partial throw-back" position;

Fig. 8 is another view similar to Fig. 6 showing v the parts in the position they occupy when the platen is in its full throw-back position;

Fig. 9 is another view similar to Fig. 6 showing a modified construction of controls;

The invention is shown applied to the wellknown Burroughs calculating or bookkeeping machine indicated generally by. the numeral it in Fig. 1. This machine is equipped with the usual mechanisms provided on a machine of this type. Not all of these have been illustrated and described because they are well known in the art and shown in numerous prior Burroughs patents. The machine is illustrated only in a gen eral way and only a brief description of the parts more particularly associated with the present invention will be given.

GENERAL FEATURES or MACHINE bar S which, when depressed, causes the motor to give the machine a cycle of operation. The motor and its controls are described in detail in Vincent Patent No. 866,750 where. the motor is shown as a continuously running motor. When the machine is given a cycle of operation by the motor, the main drive shaft I3 is rotated through a single revolution, said shaft being connected by suitable cranks, links and levers, some of which are shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, to one of the main shafts it of the machine.

An amount indexing means is provided comprising a plurality of depressible amount keys it upon which items may be indexed for entry into the machine, a suitable registering mechanism (not shown) of the usual Burroughs type being provided.

The machine has a printing mechanism for printing the amounts entered as well as the totals thereof, a. portion of said printing mechanism being shown at It in Fig. 1. Normally, at an appropriate time during the machine cycle, generally near the end of the first half of the cycle,

the printing mechanism is operated to drive its type against record material held about a platen 'P. This printing mechanism is described in detail in Burroughs Patent NO. 595,078.

aeoaaos Provision is made for enabling the printing to occur in difierent columns on record material supported about the platen P. This is accomplished by means of a columnar-printing control means in the form of a traveling paper carriage C, together with means for moving and con= trolling the movement of said carriage. The carriag'e C, which supports the platen P, is urged across the machine to the left, viewing the machine from the front, by a spring drum D (Fig. l) and its movement is controlled by a tabulating mechanism, one of the tab stops it of which is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Normally,near the end of each machine cycle, the carriage moves from one stationary position to another. This movement may be from one column to a column immediately adjacent or it may be to some other column, the control being variable as described, for example in Rinsche Patent No. l,58il,534-. The carriage is arrested by the tab stops is, shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and also in said Rinsche patent. Said stops are freely adjustable so that the stationary positions of the carriage and the width of the columns may be readily changed. When it is desired that the paper carriage remains stationary, the tabulating mechanism may be disabled by the usual carriage normal" key (not shown).

The carriage ma be returned to the right by hand or it may be returned by a motor through.

.Pla ten mounting The platen P is not only mounted so that it may rotate for line spacing but also so that it may be moved from its normal printing position adjacent the printing mechanism to an out-ofprinting or throw-back" position. to facilitate insertion or removal of papers as will be presently explained. In the present machine, the platen may be moved to two different throw-back positions, one of which-is called the partial or intermediate throw-back" and the other the full throw-back" position.

The platen P is fixed to a shaft 28 (Fig. 4) that is journalpd in a set of pivoted end plates 2|. that is journaled in the sliding raceway frame 23. The platerris urged toward printing position in a manner that will be described later.

The platen is thus mounted so that it is not only free to rotate, but it may also be moved from its printing position shown in Fig. 2, to different positions removed from its printing position, such as the full throwback position shown-in Fig. 3

and the partial throwback position shown in Fig. 4, either of which may also be called a frontfeed position as His in these positions that one work sheet may be removed and another frontflexible strips 25 or which there is one near each,

end of the platen. These strips have sent ends The end plates 25 are fixed to a shaft 22 v from printing 26 which are removably snapped over a shaft 21 carried by the movable end plates 2| that support the platen. The record sheet thus moves with the platen as it moves awayfrom printing position and it is held about the platen by the flexible strips 25.

Provision is also made for feeding work sheets W about the platen from the front and, for this ,purpose, a front-feed paper chute or table 28 is used which is pivoted at 29 to the side plates 30 of the paper carriage. When the platen is in printing position, the paper chute 28 occupies a substantiallyvertical position as shown in full lines in Fig. 1. This may be called the worksheet-holding position of the chute, or the printing position, as this is the position the chute occupieswhen an inserted work sheet is held in position and it is the position the chute occupies while a printing operation of the printing mechanism takes place.

toward front-feed position, the chute is swung clockwise (Fig. 1) toward thebody of the machine until it occupies an inclined position close to and substantially parallel with the inclined rear portion of the machine casing as shown in dot-and-dash lines in Fig. 1. In this position, the chute is adapted to receive and guide work sheets bottom end first into front fed position relative to the platen. This position of the chute may be called the work-sheet-receiving" position. The inserted work sheets are, in the embodiment shown, guided under the platen by a suitableapron 3| shown in Fig. 4.

The front-feed chute is pivoted so that it tends to move to the dot-dash position of Fig. 1 by gravity. It is moved from this position, which is the work-sheet-receiving position, to its worksheet-holding or printing position by engagement of the chute with the platen shaft 20. For ex-.

ample, referring to Figs. 3 and 4, it will be observed that the chute has a cam edge positioned to engage the shaft 20. When the platen is in front-feed position, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the paper chute occupies its 'work-sheet-receiving position, but, when the platen is moved to its Fig. 4 position or printing position, the shaft 2|! engages the cam edge of the .paper chute and swings the chute on its pivot 23 to its sheet-holding or printing position. An important function of this chute is that it not only enables a work sheet to be fed bottom end first in front of said platen but, as the platen is moved to printing position, the paper chute moves the front unfed end of the inserted work sheet to vertical position and acts as a sheet-holding means or a sheet-engaging means to hold the inserted sheet about the platen. This is best illustrated in Fig. 2 where it will be observed that the bottom edge of the chute 28 is moved far enough to the rear of the front face of the platen to move the inserted work sheet about the platen and hold it in a substantially vertical position. It thus functions in place of a set of feed or pressure rolls or other holding devices for holding the unfed end of a work sheet about the platen.

A front-feed throat is provided for the receipt of work sheets, which throat may be moved from closed to open position and vice versa-as will later appear. For this purpose a plurality of paper holding devices in the form or feed or pressure rolls 32 are provided for cooperation with the platen. These pressure rolls 32 are journaled on the ends of arms 33 fixed to a shaft 34 journaled in the movable endplates,2|. The pressure rolls are urged into engagement with the As the platen moves the edge of a lever that any tendency of the levers 46 and platen bysprings 35, one of which is shown in Fig. 3. The right hand arm 33 (Fig. 3) has an extension 36 on the end of which is a stud 31 positioned to engage an abutment 38 on the end of an arm 39 pivoted at 39' to one of the side plates 30 of the paper carriage. As the platen is moved away from printing position the shaft 34 carrying the pressure roll arms 33 moves with it and stud 31 strikes the abutment 38. This blocks movement of the arm 33 having the extension 36 and, since this arm is fixed to shaft 34, further movement of the platen away from printing position causes shaft 34 to turn thereby moving the pressure rolls away from the platen. The throat that receives the front-fed work sheet is thus quickly and widely opened to permit one sheet to be readily removed and another inserted.

The platen may be moved away from printing position to front-feed positions by manipulating a hand lever 40 (Fig.3) which operates connections as follows:

The lever 40 is loosely pivoted'on a cross shaft 4| supported by the carriage side plates 30, the lever being urged clockwise by a spring 42 and its clockwise movement being limited by the engagement of a projection 43 on the lever with a limit stud 44 on the right hand plate 36. The projection 43 carries a stud 45 adapted to engage 46 fixed to the shaft 4|. A similar lever 41 is fixed to the opposite end of shaft 4| as shown in Fig. 1. The forward end of the lever 46 is provided with a curvedcam slot 48 in which is positioned a stud 49 on the end of an arm 50 fixed to the shaft 22 to which the side plates 2| carrying the platen are also fixed. Another arm 5|, similar to arm 50 is fixed to the opposite end of shaft 22 and this arm has a stud operating-in a curved slot in the end of arm 41. These slots are curved so that, when the parts are in the position of Fig. 2, the platen is latched in printing position. This is due to the fact that the studs 49 are in such position in the slots platen to move out of said studs engag- The operation is printing position is resisted by ing the rear edges of the slots. as follows:

When the operator pulls the lever 40 forward from its Fig. 2 position, the stud 45 engages the edge of lever 46 and rocks the shaft 4| counterclockwise. This also moves lever 41 counterclockwise. The counterclockwise movement of 41 first unlatches the platen and then, as the studs 49 engage the upper curved ends of slots 48, cams the arms 50 and 5| clockwise which rocks shaft 22 clockwise, thereby causing a corresponding movement of the plates 2| carrying the platen P so that the platen is rocked clockwise away from its Fig. 2 position toward its Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 positions. The platen is urged toward its printing position by a spring 52 (Fig. 1) acting on lever 41 and, hence, if no provision were made to prevent it, the platen would return to printing position when the operator released the lever 40.

In order to hold the platen in front-feed position a latch 60 is provided which is pivoted at 6| to the carriage side plate 30. This latch is urged counterclockwise by a spring 62 connected at one end to a stud on the latch and at'its other end to a stud on the lever 46. Movement of the latch 60 is normally prevented by the engagement of its edge with a stud 63 on lever 46. The latch 60 has a shoulder. 64 adapted to engage over a flat face of the stud 63 on lever 46 when the latter is swung downward to the position of Fig. 3. This movement of the latch does not occur until the lever 46 has been moved downward far enough to move the platen to its full throwback, or fullfront-feed, position, but, when the platen is moved to this position, the latch automatically snaps to its Fig. 3 position and prevents return of the lever 46 thereby holding the platen in front-feed position.

The latch 60 is preferably released by hand through the medium of a finger or thumb operated releasing lever in the form of a bell crank. One end of this bell crank lever has a thumb piece 66 and the other end has an offset projectlon provided with a nose 6'! adapted to engage a stud 68 on the upper end of the latch 60. Referring to Fig. 3 it will be evident that, if the bell crank lever 85 is swung'counterclockwise, its

nose 6! will contact the stud 68 and cam the latch 60 clockwise. The movement is sufficient to release the latch whereupon the platen will move to printing position under the influence of spring 52 (Fig. 1) assisted by its own weight. The spring 52 swings the arms 50 and- SI counterclockwise and moves levers 46 and 41 clockwise to their Fig. 2 position, the lever 40 having been returned by means of spring 42 as soon as released by the operator.

The pressure rolls are also released to close the front-feed throat by the lever 65. Referring to Fig. 3, the nose 6'! of lever 65 is provided with a cam slot 10 in which is positioned a stud II on the end of lever 39. When lever 65 is moved counterclockwise the arm 39 is rocked clockwise and the abutment 38 is moved away from stud 37 thereby permitting the feed roll arms to swing toward the platen under the influence of the springs 35, the timing being such that the feed rolls are released to hold the paper against the platen before the nose 61 acts on the stud 68 to release the latch 60.

The description thus far given has been directed mainly to a construction in which the platen is moved from its printing position to a full throw-back position where it is latched, such movement and the release of the platen being hand controlled. This construction has been explained first because an understanding of it is necessary in order that the automatic control may be clear. In operation, the automatic control is used mostly but the hand control has been provided: for use where desired.

Automatic full throw-back and throat opening As previously mentioned the platenis automatically moved away from printing position without placing a load on the carriage and without requiring anything but'a very small carriage movement.

The levers 46 and 47 extend rearwardly for a considerable distance and, at their rear ends, they support a cross bail 80, portions of which are shown in Figs. 2, 5, 6, and 7. Positioned to engage the lower edge of this cross ball, but normally slightly below it, as shown in Fig. 2, is a conical shaped roller 85 (Fig. 6) carried on the end of an arm 82 pivoted at 83 on a slide plate at. This slide plate 84 is mounted on a stationary supporting plate 85, the plate being fastened to the housing ll of the carriage return mechanism (see Fig. 2). It will be evident that, when the slide tit is moved upwardly, the roller ill will engage the bail to and move the latter upward which will rock the levers (it and ill! countercloclv wise to first unlatch the platen and to then move said platen away from printing position in the manner previously explained. Provision is made for moving the slide 84 upwardly under the control of the operating means of the machine through connections as follows:

Connected to the slide 84 is a link 86 whose lower end 'is connected to one arm 81 (Fig. 1) of a, bell crank lever pivoted at 88 to a. bracket on the machine frame. The other arm 89 of this bell crank lever has one end of a relatively strong spring 90 connected to it. The other end of said spring is connected to one arm of a station.-

ary bracket 9i that supports the shaft 14 and? the spring tends to rock the bell crank lever 8l-89 clockwise. Movement of the bell crank lever is damped by means of a dash pot 92 which may or maynot be used, its function being to prevent the spring 90, which is rather strong, from operating the parts too suddenly.

Mounted on the drive shaft l4 between the arms of its supporting bracket 9| is av snail cam 93 positioned to act on a stud 94 on the arm 89 of the bell crank lever 9l89. This snail cam makes one revolution for each operation of the machine, its direction of rotation being clockwise as viewed in Fig. 1. In the Burroughs machine, the drive shaft l4 with the snail cam on it completes its revolution slightly before the general operating mechanism of the machine completes its cycle. If the bell crank lever 81-89 should be held in the position shown in Fig. 1, the cam 93 has no effect on it during rotation of the shaft I4. However, when the bell crank lever occupies a position such that the stud 94 is in one of the dotted positions of Fig. 1, the snail cam engages the stud upon rotation of shaft I4, and the lever 8'|89 will be cammed counterclockwise and the spring 90 retensioned. The snail cam 93 is positioned so that it will rock the lever 8l--89 counterclockwise during the first part of the revolution of shaft I4 or during the first half cycle, or forward stroke, of the machine. The spring 90 is thus tensioned by power from the motor driving means during the first half of the machine cycle and said power is available for use during the second half of said cycle. This indirect application of the power of the motor drive through a spring mechanism is advantageous in that it gives a range of adjustment as to the time when the. power may be applied. It has the further advantage that the power may be applied under the control of a key without requiring a machine cycle as will be presently explained.

A latching device normally prevents upward movement of the slide .84 and this normally holds the bell crank lever 81-89 in its Fig. 1 position. This latching device includes a latch I00 (Fig. 6) pivotedat II to the stationary supporting plate 85-. On its lower end the latch I00 has a nose I02 adapted to engage an upper notch N13 or lower notch I04 in the slide 84, or to occupy a free position such as illustrated in Fig. 8. The other end of the latch Hi0 carries a pass-by pawl I05 pivoted to the end of the latch and urged counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. 7 by a spring B06, the pass-by pawl being provided with a suitable lug I ill limiting its counterclockwise. movement. The normal position of the parts is shown in Fig. 6 where the nose i02 of the latch I00 engages the upper notch H13 in the slide 84 to hold the slide in its lower position.

The latching device is preferably controlled automatically by the paper carriage but provision is made for control by a special key on the keyboard if the latter type of control is desired.

The automatic control by the paper carriage is effected by means of studs on the ball 80 which travels with the carriage. Two of these studs H and III are shown in Figs. 6 and '7.v As the paper carriage moves from right to left as viewed in Fig. 6, one of these studs will, at the appropriate time, engage the edge of the pass-by pawl I05 and release the latch I00 whereupon the spring 90 (Fig.

lever 8'l-89 and the link 06, will move theslide 84 upward causing the ball 00 to be raised and the platen to be moved away from the printing position. During the return movement of-the paper carriage the pass-by pawl I05 will yield and the studs will not have any effect in releasing the latch.

It will be recalled that the carriage tabulates to a new columnar position near the end of a cycle of operation of the calculating machine. The

studs H0 and III on the bail 80 which control the latch I00 are preferably positioned so that the latch is released just prior to the time the carriage engages the stop that arrests it in the columnar position to which it is moving. The se-- quence of operations is that, near the end of a cycle of operation of the machine, the carriage tabulates to a new columnar position and just before the carriage reaches this position the latch I00 is released whereupon the automatic throw-back' mechanism operates to move the platen from printing to front-feed position and the front-feed throat to open-throat position so that the operator can remove the necessary papers and insert new ones. It has been foundthat, when the parts are so adjusted, the power operated throat-opening means does not really become effective toperform its function until the paper carriage reaches astationary position. This is due to the fact that the paper carriage 4,0 is moving very rapidly at the time the latch is tripped and that said carriage completes its travel before the parts have had a chance to operate. The rapidity of movement of the carriage depends in part upon the width-of the column or columns through which it moves since .the carriage accelerates under the action of its spring. When the latch I00 isreleased,the sprin and move the lever 81-.49 against the retarding '50 action of the dash poIrSZ which resists too sudden movement. This lever 01-00 must move the slide 84 a short distance before roller 0| will engage the ball 00. As the bail arms 46, 01 must first move an appreciable dis- 55 tance to unlatch the platen. After these movements and the lost motion are overcome, the platen starts to move but the front-feed-throat is not opened until the platen is near the end of its rearward movement. In fact, ithas been 00 found that, if the. latch I00 is released when the carriage is within 5 inch of the stationary position toward which it is moving, assuming an average column width of IV: inches, the platen will just start to move as the carriage reaches 65 a stationary position but no real movement of the throat-opening means will have occurred and the throat is not opened until quite an appreciable period after the carriage is stationary.,

. If the latcliis released when the carriage is with- 70 in inch of the stationary position toward which it is moving, the platen will start to move twelvethousandths of a second before the carriage reaches its stationary position, but the throat will not be opened until a considerable timeafter 7 the carriage is stationary. While the throat is' 1) acting through the bell crank tion.

00 moves, its.

carriage is not tabulated until toward the end thus actually opened after the carriage is stationary in its new columnar position, the opening is so rapid that it ordinarily takes place in sufilcient time to suit the wishes of the operator. On the other hand, if an earlier opening is de-- 5 sired, it is possible to change the relative position of the studs H0 and the tab stops I9 so that the latch I00 will be tripped out earlier in the travel of the carriage in which event the throat may be opened slightly earlier, and, where there is a longtravel of the carriage, it cantake place before the carriage reaches its stationaryposi- This adjustment may be obtained very easily as the tab stops I9 are freely adjustable as disclosed in many prior Burroughs patents, for 15 example, Rinsche 1,580,534. 7

Since the snail cam enters into the operation of the parts during a machine cycle, an explanation of thetiming with respect to this cam will be made. Assume that the throat has been 20 opened in a preceding cycle and that the stud 90 is in engagement with the low part of the snail cam 93. Assume also that the operator has inserted anew sheet and operated the hand lever 05 to cause the throat to close. He then depresses the motor bar which causes the machine to be given a cycle of operation during which the cam 93 is given a revolution. This cam is shaped so that, during the first half cycle, the lever 81-89 is rocked to tension spring 90, whereupon the latch I00 acts tolatchthe slide 84 in position.

In other words, during the first half cycle, the power of the motor drive is temporarily stored ina spring mechanism which is cocked, ready for action. The snail cam continues its movement 35 during the remainder of the cycle and reaches Y the end of its travel slightly'before the general operating mechanism of the machine completes its movement. If the latch I00 were released immediately at the beginning of the second half 40 of the machine cycle, the throat-opening means would not operate immediately because the stud 00 would engage the high portion of the cam 93. The cam 93 has to move a suilicient distance to place its low point below the stud 90 before the spring 00 can rock the lever 8'l --89 clockwise. The cam 93 thus exercises control of the opera- 90 must nrstovercome the inertia of the parts tion of the throat-opening means not only in the matter of tensioning the spring but also in the timing of the operation. Where the latch I00 istripped by the carriage just before the carriage reaches its stationary position, the cam 93 com-. pletes its rotation at about the time or slightly before the latch I00 is released, because the paper of the machine cycle.

From the abov it will be apparent that'the releasing of the latch I00 by the paper carriage places no appreciable load on said carriage, and the platen may be thrown back andthe'frontfeed throat opened without creating any difliculties in the matter of carriage movement. If the parts are adjusted to obtain control by the movement of the carriage, then onlya small movement is required as distinguished from a very considerable movement that is required in a carriage-actuated device.

After theoperator has inserted a new work sheet in position hedesires to have the sheetsgripped against the platen and the platen returned to printing position. The slide 80' is not restored until the machine is operated and if the roll 8| were to remain in engagement with the bail 00 it is evident that, even though the releasinglever 05 were manipulated, theplaten 75 could not move back to printing position because it would be held by the throw-back mechanism engaging the bail 38. Accordingly, provision is made for disabling the eiiective connection between the throw-back or throat-opening mechanism and the bail iii? during the latter part of the movement of the throw-back mechanism.

Referring to Fig. 6, it will be observed that the arm 82 carrying the roller 811 is urged counterclockwise by a spring [12 connected at one end to a stud on the arm 82 and at its other end to a stud on a lateral projection l 53 on the slide 84. The arm (:32 is normally latched against movement by a small sliding latch plate HG mounted to slide on the plate 3d and urged upward by a spring M5. The upper end of this latch plate has a nose lift adapted to engage a shoulder ill! on the hub of the pivoted arm 82. The normal position of the parts is that shown in Fig. 6 where the shoulder llll'engages the sliding latch Mil and the arm 82 is restrained against movement under the influence of the spring 802.

During the latter portion of the upward movement of the slide S6, and after the platen has moved far enough away from printing position to permit it to be latched against return, a lateral projection l l8 on the slide latch l M engages a stationary stud ill) on the supporting plate 85.

Upward movement of the latch plate M 3 is thus 3(larrested while the slide plate 8d continues its is moved from upward movement slightly, carrying the arm iii. a ong with it. This disengages the shoulder ill from the nose lid of latch M 3 whereupon the spring 952 swings the arm 82 around to the dot and dash position of Fig. 8. This disables the efiective connection between thethrow-back mechanism and the bail all and frees the bail for downward movement. Now,'when the operator trips the thumb latch 65, the platen may return to printing position without any interference by the automatic throw-back mechanism.

The pivoted, arm 82 is automatically restored to normal during the lowering movement of the slide 84. As the slide 84 moves downward the edge of arm 82 engages the stud H9 (see Fig; 8) which acts to swing the lever clockwise. During the latter portion of the downward movement of slide 88 a stud 020 engages a cam edge iZl on the plate 85 (Fig. 5) which cams the arm 82 further clockwiseuntil the stud I20 enters a slot H2 in plate 85. As the parts reach this position the nose H6 of latch H4 snaps over the shoulder H1- and the arm 82 is latched in its Fig. 6 position. The arm 82 is cammed slightly past latch H4 so as to give the latch plenty of clearance to snap to that the arm 32 is really held in position by stud l2il until the plate whereupon the latch From the above it 84 moves upward slightly H4 acts. will be seen. that the platen the front-feed throat opened by a throw-back mechanism actuated by power derived from the operating means for the machine and without placing any load on the carriage. The operation is entirely automatic under the control of thecarriage and the construction is such that the eflfe'c-- tive connection between'the throw-back mechanism and the platen is disabledafter the platen has been moved to front-feed position so that the throat may be closed and the platen returned to printing position without interference from the throw-back mechanism. The parts are restored to normal during a succeeding operation of the printing to front-feed position and by referring ip 5 aaoasee machine and without any attention on the part of the operator.

Automatic control during return of carriage the carriage moves from left to right instead of For example, in some ma.- chines a number of entries may be made on the paper after which the carriage is automatically returned a short distance or the full distance and it may be desired to move the platen away from printing position and open the front-feed throat as the carriage-is being returned. The modification for accomplishing this result is shown in Fig. 9.

In this construction the pass-by pawl 030, which is similar to the pass-by pawl N35, is mounted on the end of a bell crank lever till pivoted at 032 to the supporting plate 85, the pass-by pawl being urged clockwise by a spring The bell crank lever has a pin and slot connection with a latch 63% which cooperates from right to left.

with the notches in the slide plate @3 3 in the same" manner as the latch lilil previously described.

The operation of this form of carriage control is the same as that first described except that, in this case, the latch 5-36 is released by the studs Md and ill when the carriagemoves from left to right as viewed in Fig. 9 instead oi when it moves from right to left.

requlring any atsion is made for enabling him to do this at his option in any position of the carriage by simply depressing a special key on the keyboard.

Referring to Fig. 1, a special key I40 is provided which key is normally urged upward by a spring MI. The lower end of the key is connected to one end of a pivoted lever 842 that in turn is connected by means of a link 3 to one end of a pivoted lever M4. The other end of the lever I carries a stud operating in a slot in one arm N6 of a pivoted yoke 14'! whose other arm 148 is connected bya-link 149 to a sliding latch'i50' (Fig. 5) urged upward by a spring l5l, connected at its lower end to a stud on the latch I50 and at its upper end to a, stud extending through a slot in the latch I50 into the supporting plate 85. The upper end of this latch E50 has'a nose H52 engaging a shoulder 653 on a pivotedrtripping member- I54 urged clockwise by a spring H55. The member Hi l has a lateral lug I56 adapted to engage the pass-by pawl I05 as will be evident When the key M0 is depressed the yoke H7 is rocked counterclockwise which pulls downon the link M9 and moves the latch 550 to its released position. This releases the pivoted memher 654 which is then moved clockwise by spring 855 whereupon the lug i156 strikes the pass-by pawl H05 and releases the latch flllll. when this occurs the automatic throw-back mechanism moves the platen from printing to front-feed position and opens the front-feed throat. in the manner heretofore described.

In order to restore the member 054 to normal position, it is provided with a projecting nose is? which, when member I54 moves clockwise in Fig. 5, moves into the path of a stud I58 on slide 84.

When slide 84 moves upward after being released,

stud I58 strikes nose I51 and returns the member I54 counterclockwise far enough to'permit nose I52 on latch I50 to engage behind shoulder I53 to hold member I54 in its restored position.

Automatic closing of throat and return of platen to printing position Speed is an-important factor whena machine of the character described is used on certain classes of work. It is desired to leave the operator as free as possible to do nothing but manipulate the amount keys to make the proper entries.

tor may remove a sheet such as a ledger sheet Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, it will be observed that the studs H and III on the bail 80 are located at different heights on the bail. As the paper carriage moves from right to left in said figure, the stud that engages'the pass-by pawl I eventually passes off the end of the pawl allowing the" latter to be returned by the spring I06. If the stud is located in a relatively low position as is the stud IIO, the pawl I05 with its latch I00 is held. in a counter-clockwise position for an appreciable length of time which is suflicient to allow the slide 84 to move upward to the position illustrated in Fig. 8. If, however, the stud is located in a higher position, as shown for stud III,the pawl I05 with its latch I00 is moved counter-clockwise only momentarily. The

latch is almost immediately -released whereupon it is snapped back to position in timeto' engage the lower notch I04 of slide 84 as shown in Fig. 7.

Movement of the throw-back mechanism is thus arrested after it has been only partially completed. During such "movement, the roller 8I moves the ball 80' upwardly which moves the platen away from printing position in the same The movement of the roller 8I is not suflicient to result that the arm 82 with its roller 8I' remains in a vertical position and holds the bail 80 in the partly raised position to which it has been moved.

The movement of the ball 80 and or the levers 46 and 41 is not suflicient to move theplaten P far enough to permit the latch 60 to latch the platen in the position to which it has been moved. Instead, the parts are moved to theFig. 4 position where they are held by 'the throw-back mechanism through the engagement of the roller 8| with the bail 80. Provision is made, as hereinafter described, .for opening the throat between the feed rolls and platen when the platen is.

moved-to its intermediate position, to thereby permit one work sheet W to be removed and a new one inserted. After this has been done thev operator enters the next item on the amount keys and gives the machine a cycle of operation. When the machine operates the cam 93 (Fig. 1)

rocks the bell crank 81-89 counterclockwise and moves the slide 84 downward to return the throwback mechanism to normal, thus releasing the bail 80 and permitting the platen P to automatically move to printing position. The parts are timed so that this occurs during the forward stroke of the calculating machine and before the printing mechanism operates so that the papers are gripped about the platen and the platen is in printing position prior to the time that the printing hammers are fired and before any tabulating movement of the carriage occurs. The operation takes place entirely automatically andwith out any attention on the part of the operator.

In addition to moving -the platen to its partial throw-back position, the. present embodiment of the invention provides for simultaneously moving the pressure rolls away from the platen to quickly open the front-feed throat between the rolls and the platen. For convenience, this will be called theintermediate or partial-open throat position. The advantage of doingthis is that a smaller movementof the platen will sufiice to free the work sheets when the pressure rolls are moved than would be the .case if the pressure rolls were allowed to remain stationary while the platen alone was moved. The-construction for moving the pressure rolls away from the platen is as follows:

As shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the paper carriage supports a bail I60 pivoted on arms :I6I, one of which is shown in Fig. 2, the bail being urged clockwise as viewed in Fig. 2 by a spring I62. The

movement of the bail in clockwise direction is normally limited by a-stud "53' on a part I64 (Fig. 6) I These parts are used on a Burroughs machine in connection with the skip tabulating mechanism described in Rinsche Patent No. 1,580,534.

Mounted on the bail I60 which travels with the paper carriage is an adjustable slide I65 (Fig. 5) positioned so that, at the time the upper stud NI releases the latch I00, the slide I65 engages the stud I63 with the result that the bail I60 is cammed upwardly. "This bailhas an extension I66 at its right-hand end as shown inFig.

-5 positioned under a vertically movable slide member I61 best shown in Fig. 4. Whenv the bail I is moved upwardly the slide I6'I is also moved I upward and a lateral lug I68 on the upper end of the slide moves into the path of a stud I69 on the upper end of the right hand arm 36 (Fig. 5)-

attached to the pressure 'roll shaft 34. This occurs before the platen moves away from printing position. 'As'the platen moves from printingposition, the shaft 34 moves with it but, because the arm 36 is blocked by stud I.69 engaging lug If it should be desired, in some columnar position of the carriage, to move the platen to partial throw-back position without releasing the pressurerollsanother stud III can be used without using a slide I in. which event the work half of a given cycle of operation of the machine and hence at the end of a cycle of operation when a stud l i i has been active, the throat stands open. During the beginning of the next cycle of machine operation the throat is automatically closed as heretofore explained. in other words, the front-feed throat is automatically opened during one cycle of machine operation and then automatically closed during the succeeding cycle.

But it is to be noted also, that the front-feed throat can be both automatically closed and automatically opened during a single cycle of machine operation. For example, referring to Fig. 6 it will be observed that a stud i Mi is positioned on the bail not far from the stud it i. When the carriage tabulates, the bail moves in the a direction of the arrow. Assume that, during a given cycle of machine operation, the carriage tabuiates from one column to the other during which tabrlating movement the stud l l El becomes active to cause the front-feed throat to be moved to its intermediate-open position. At the start of the next cycle of operation the throat is therefore open. Euring the initial part of this cycle, the front-feed throat is automatically closed, the printing mechanism then operates, and, during the latter part of this same cycle, the carriage tabulates tothe next column. But, during this last tabulating movement, the stud l it becomes active to cause the front-feed throat to be moved to its fully-open position. Accordingly, considering this second cycle of machine operation, the front-feed throat is first automatically closed and then automatically opened during said cycle. It is obvious, of course, that instead of employing a stud Mo to open the frontfeecl throat to fully open position a stud i it could be used to move it to partially open position, if such action is desired.

Safety interloclts In order to warn the operator and prevent him from operating the machine when the platen is in its "full throw back position, a lock has been provided for preventing depression of the motor' bar it. The details of the motor bar and the disabling connections are shown and described in my co-pending application, Serial No. 373,170 now Patent No. 1,814,178, and of which the present application is a continuation-in-part.

The paper chute 28 controls the disabling of the machine. When the platen is in printing position, the chute 28 occupies an inclined position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. As the platen is moved to its full throw-back position, the

paper chute moves toward the inclined part of motor bar because the return of the platen isunder the control of the machine and it occurs during the succeeding machine operation and prior to operation of the printing mechanism. This is nicely taken care of by proportioning the parts so that the paper chute 2% does not push the member llil inward when the platen is in its partial throw-back position. Instead, it leaves the member in substantially the full line position illustrated in Fig. l where the motor bar is free to be manipulated 'to cause the machine to operate.

The term front-feed means as used herein is a broad term including all types of front feeds,

associated with them and irrespective of whether the front-feed throat is formed by pressure rolls and-a platen or by separate sets of pressure rolls. it also includes such devices as sheet-engaging means that engages the sheet above the printing line. Also, it is understood that, while the platen is described as being moved to front-feed position to facilitate the removal and insertion of work sheets, it also can be moved to one of its front-feed positions with the throat closed.

it is to be understood that the construction shown is for purposes of illustration only and that variations may be made in it without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A front-iced calculating machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage supporting a platen which is normally in printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to a front-feed position to facilitate the removal and insertion of worlr sheets, a bail extending substantially the width of said cariiage and operatively connected with said platen to move it to front-feed position, an operating means capable of being operatively connected to said bail in various positions of said carriage and being movable by power derived independently of the power of travel of said carriage, means con-- trolling said operating means, means for releasably latching said platen in front-feed position when it is moved to said position, said operating means having portions moving automatically at substantially the time the platen reaches its front-feed position to free said bail to thereby enable the platen to be returned to printing position without interference from said operating means, and means for releasing said latching means to enable said platen to be returned to printing position.

2. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a printingmechanism, a platen normally in printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to either of two out-of-printing positions, a bail operatively connected with said platen to move it away from printing position, an operating means for said ball having portions capable of being operatively connected to said ball to move the platen to its out-of-printing positions, means for selectively controlling said operating means to. cause it to move said platen to the selected one of said platen positions, said operating means having portions moving automatically at substantially the time said platen reaches one of its out-of-printing positions but remaining unmoved when said platen reaches its other position, whereby, in one case, the bail is freed to enable the platen to return to printing position without interierence'from said operating means and, in the other case, the platen remains under the control of said operating means.

whether or not they have platen throwbacks class described having a trave on said carriage having a platen normally in .printing' position relative to a printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to a front-feed position, a bail operatively connected with said platen to move the latter away from printing position, a slide having a pivoted arm 'on its end positioned to engage said bail, said arm being urged away from bail-engaging position but beingnormally restrained against such movement by a latch on said slide, means for moving said slide, and means for releasing said latch automatically after said slide has moved said'bail to move the platen away from printing position a predetermined amount.

4; A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a traveling paper carriage supporting a platen, front-feed means on said carriage for receiving and holding a work sheet in frontfed position relative ently of the power of travel of said carriage,

means for latching said front-feed means in open-throat condition when it is moved to such condition, said operating means having portions moving automatically at substantially the time said front-feed means dition to free said bail to. thereby enable said frontfeed means to be returned to closed-throat condition without interference from said operating means, and means for releasing said latching means to enable said front-feed means to be returned to closed-throat condition. I

5. In a front-feed machine of the class de-' scribed, a platen, pressure rolls cooperating with said platen to form a front-feed throat for receiving work sheets, said platen and pressure rolls being mounted to enable a relative movement to occur between them to open and close said front-feed throat, a bail operative'ly connected with the movable one of said elements to move it to open-throat position, moving means having a pivoted arm positioned to engage said bail to move it, said arm being urged away from bail-engaging position but strained against such movement, and means for releasing said arm automatically after said moving means has moved said bail to open said throat whereby said bail is free to return to normal without interference from said moving means.

6. A front-feed calculating machine of the 'ng paper carriage supporting a platen, front-feed means on said carriage for receiving and holding a work sheet in iront-iedposition relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition and vice versa, a bail operatively connected to said front-feed means to move it to front-feed condition, an operating means capable of being operatively connected to said bail to operate it in various positions of fsaid-carriage, means for selectively controlling said operating means to enable it to move to two different positions in "both of-which said front-feed means is moved toppen-thmat condition, said operating means having portions moving automatically at substantially the time said operating means reaches said front-feed means throat condition independently of said operating and vice .versa but being to said platen, saidfront-feed means being movable from-a closed to reaches open-throat coni said. platen and, for

being normally re-- one of its positions, but remaining unmoved when said operating means reaches its other position, whereby, in one case, saidbail is freed to enable to be returned to closedmeans, and, in the other case, said front-feed means remains under the control of said operating means.

'7. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having printing mechanism,-a platen' normally in printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to a front-feed position, front-feed means for,

enabling a work. sheet to be front-fed relative to I said platen and for holding said sheet in frontfed position, said front-feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition closed while said platen isin printingposition, platen-moving means operable to move said platen to front-feed position, means capable of operating automatically to cause said front-feed means to be moved to openthroat condition as said platen is moved to frontfeed position, and means for selectively controlling said automatic throat-opening means todetermine whether said front-feed means shall be automatically moved to open-throat condition or shall remain in closed-throat condition when said platen is moved to front-feed position.

8; A machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen normally in printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to two difierent outof-printing positions, front-feed means for enabling a work sheet to be front-fed relative to holding said sheet in frontfed position, said front-feed means being movable from closed to open-throat condition and vice versa, and means operable to move said platen to one of its out-of-printing positions while said front-feed throat remains closed and to move said platen to its other out-of-printing position and to open said front-feed throat.

9. In a front-feed machine of the class described, a printing mechanism,

"ed to enable a relative movement to occur between them'to open and close said front-feed throat, means operable to move said platen to an intermediate position away from printing position and to a fully moved position away from printing position, means acting automatically to cause a relative movement between said platen and pressure rolls to open said throat in either of the 'moved positions of said platen, means for holding said platen in either of' its moved positions, and means for closing said throat as the platen is' returned to printing position from either of its positions;

10. A front-feed bookkeeping machine of the class de'scribed having a front-strike printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage, a. on said carriage having a printing line, means for holding a recordsheet about said platen, a front-feed paper chute movably mounted on said carriage, 'said chute being movable from a forin sheet-receiving position,- to form'a guide ena platen movable to and from printing position relative to said said chute serving, when;

platen ill) abling a work sheet to be freely and easily ted past said printing mechanism in any columnar position of said carriage to a. front-Zed position relative to said platen, sheet-engaging means associated with said chute and movable simultaneously therewith to engage an inserted work sheet above said printing line, and means for moving said chute from sheet-receiving to sheetholding position and to move said sheet-engaging means into engagement with an inserted work sheet above the printing line to move said sheet about said platen and to hold it in printing and feeding relation thereto.-

11. A front-feed calculating machine oi the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen normally occupying a printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom. to a front-feed position to iacili= tate the removal and insertion or" work sheets, a front-feed paper movable from a forward sheet-receiving position where it is spaced from said platen to a rear,

sheet-holding position adjacent said platen, said chute serving, when in sheet-receiving position, to form a guide enabling said work sheet to be freely and easily inserted to a front-feed position relative to said platen in any columnar position of the carriage, said paper chute having'sheetengaging means associated with it and movable simultaneously with it to engage the inserted work sheet above the printing line, means for moving sai'd'platen to front-feed position, and means operated by said platen as it moves to printing position for causing said paper chute to move to sheet-holding position.

, 12. A iront-feed bookkeeping machine of the class described having a trout-strike printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage, a platen on said carriage having a printing line, means for holding a record sheet about said platen, low- 1 er sheet-engaging means positioned below said printing line and forming one element of a frontfeed throat, said sheet-engaging means being movable toward and from said platen, a. frontfeed paper chute on said paper carriage, said chute being "movable from a forward sheet-receiving position where it is spaced from said platen rearwardly to a sheet-hold ing position adjacent said platen, said chute serving, when in sheet-receiving position, to form a guide en'- abling a work sheet to beireely and easily fed past said printing mechanism in any columnar position of said carriage to a front-fed position relative to said platen, upper'sheet-engagin means associated with said 7 simultaneously therewith to engage an inserted work sheet abovesaid printing line, and means for moving said lower sheet-engaging means to engage the work sheet below said printing line and to simultaneously move said chute from sheet-receiving to sheet-holding position and said upper sheet-engaging means into engagement with said work sheet above the platen print-i ing line, to thereby hold said work sheet in printing and feeding relation to said platen.-

13. A front-feed bookkeeping machine of the class described having a calculating mechanism,

a front-strike printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage having a platen, means for holding a record sheet about said platen, front-feud means on said'carriage for enabling a work sheet to be front-fed relative to said platen and for holding, saidsheet in iront=ied position, said I front-feed means'being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition and vice versa, a

chute mounted so as to be acts, as said chute chute and movable.

I insertion of any columnar position of said carriage to a frontfeed position relative to said platen and acting, as said chute is moved rearwardly, to move the noted end of an inserted work sheet'about said platen, and means operable to move said frontieed means from open to closed-throat condition and said front-feed paper chute from. sheetreceiving to sheet-holding position.

it. A front-feed machine of the class described havinga platen provided with a printing line, printing mechanism, means for holding a record sheet about said platen, front-feed means for enabling a work sheet to be front fed relative to said platen and for holding said sheet in frontied position, said front-feed means being movable irom closed to open throat condition and vice versa, means for moving said front-feed means to open throat condition, a pivoted front-feed paper chute for receiving and guiding work sheets into saidiront-ieed throat in an inclined position while said throat is open, said chute being movable from a work-sheet-receiving to a work sheet-holding position and vice versa, and means for closing said throat and moving said frontif'eed chute rearwarolly to work-sheet-holding position, said chute having a. bottom edge which is moved rearwardly, to move the unfed end of the inserted work-sheet rearwardly to hold said sheet about said platen in feeding relation thereto.

15. In a front-feed machine of the class described, a printing mechanism, a platen movable from printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a front-feed position and vice versa, means for holding a record sheet about said platen in feeding relation thereto, front-feed means for enabling a work sheet to be front-fed relative to said platen and for holding said sheet in front-fed position, said front-feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition andvice versa, means for moving said platen from printing to front-feed position and said front-feed means to open-throat condition, a pivoted paper chute in front of said platen, said paper chute being movable from a worksheet-receiving to a work-sheet-holding position and vice versa, and means for moving said platen to printing position, for closing said throat, and for movingsaid chute to work-sheet-holding position, said chute having portions cooperating with said platen to move the unfed end of the inserted work sheet to and hold it about said platen as said platen moves to printing position.

16. In a front-deed machine of the character described, the combination of a record material supporting means including a ,movable platen, means, to move said platen. from a. working to a front-iced position to facllitate the removal and record material, means to operate said moving means, normally ineifectlve means for. operably connecting said moving means to said operating means, a control device movable to various positions in connection with the conditioning of the machine for different functions, and means cooperating with said control device and effective when it is in certain positions for al and insertion of work sheets, columnar-printing control means including a device movable during a machine cycle for controlling the columnar-printing condition of said control means,

normally ineffective platen-moving means operable by power derived from said cycling means independently of the power of movement of said movable device for moving said platen to frontfeed position, ,and means for conditioning said platen-moving means to enable it to operate to move said platen to front-feed position while said movable device remains stationary.

18. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a general operating mechanism for the calculating mechanism of the machine and means for giving said general operating mechanism and said machine cycles of operation, a printing mechanism, a, platen normally occupying a printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to a front-feed position, columnar printing control means including a device movable during a machine cycle for controlling the columnarprinting condition of said control means, normally inefiective platen-moving means operated by power derived from said cycling means during a cycle of said general operating mechanism and independently of the power said platen-moving means to enable it to operate during selected cycles of machine operation. 7

19. In a front-feed machine of the class described having power driven main operating means for the calculating mechanism of the machine operable through cycles of operation, the combination of a rockable platen adapted to be moved from working to open-throat position for the insertion and removalof record material, normally ineffective platen rocking means conditioned by said main operating means during a cycle of operation of said main operating means for rocking said platen to open-throat position, a device for controlling the nature of the operations performed by said machine, and means under the control of said device for rendering said rocking means effective to cause thethroat to be opened. 1

20. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a general operating mechanism for the calculating mechanism of the machine, printing mechanism, means for giving said general operating mechanism cycles of operation,

a platen normally occupying a printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable to a front-feed position to facilitate the removal and insertion of work sheets, power operated platen-moving means for moving said platen to front-feed position, control means for determining when said platen-moving means shall operate, and means operated by said cyclingmeans during a cycle of operation of said general operating mechanism for conditioning said platen-moving means for operation under the control of said control means. I

21. A front-feed calculating machine .of the 15 'class described having a printing mechanism, mo-

of-movement of said movable device for. moving said platen to frontfeed position, and control means for conditioning tor driving means for operating said machine, a platen normally occupying a printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable to a front-feed position to facilitate removal and insertion of work sheets; platen-moving means for moving said platen to front-feed position, means operating during the first half of a machine'cycle to store power from said motor driving means for operating said platen-moving means, and means variable as to its time of operation for controlling the release of said stored power whereby said platen-moving means may be caused to operate at different times during the second half of said machine cycle or after said cycle has ended.

22. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a motor driving means for giving it cycles of operation, printing mechanism, a platen normally occupying a printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to front-feed position to facilitate the removal and insertion of work sheets, spring mechanism for moving said platen to said front-feed position, means operated by said motor driving means during the first half of a machine cycle for cocking said spring mechanism, and means variable as to its time of operation for releasing said spring mechanism.

23. A'front-feed calculating machine of the classdescribed having a motor driving means for giving it cycles of operation, a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage supporting a platen normally occupying a printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to afront-ieed position to facili--- tate removal and insertion of work sheets, normallyinactive platen-moving means operable by power derived from said motor driving means independently of carriage travel for moving said platen to front-feed position, and means for conditioning said platen-moving means to cause it to operate to move said platen to front-feed position while said machine remains uncycled.

24. A front-feed machine of the class described having a platen normally in printing position relative to a printing mechanism but movable away therefrom'to different positions, and means oper-- ably connected with sa1d platen to automatically move said platen to different positions away from printing position, during, predetermined operations of said machine, said means having 7 portions acting in one position of the platen to hold-said platen in the position to which it is moved and in another position to automatically disable the effective connection between said means and platen to free said platen with respect to said platen moving means.

25. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a platen urged to its normal printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to an intermediate and to afull throwback posi-- tion, power means acting automatically during predetermined operations of the machine to selectively move said platen to its different throwback positions with provisions forholding said platen in each of the throwback positions to which it is moved, and means for moving said platen to printing position from each of said throwback positions.

to an intermediate and too. full throwbackposition, power means actinw automatically during predetermined machine operations to selectively move said platen to its different throwback positions, said power means having portions acting to hold said platen in its intermediate position, a latching device for holding said platen in its full throwback position, and means for releasing said power means acting automatically during predetermined machine operations to selectively move said platen to its diii'erent throwback positions, said power means including portions acting to hold said platen in its intermediate position when the platen is movedv to such position and acting automatically to disable the connection between said power means and said platen when the latter is moved to its full throwback position,

a latching device for holding the platen in'its full throwback position, and means for releasing said latching device. v

28. A machine of the class described'having a printing mechanism, a platen normally in printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to diilerent out-oi printing positions, power means operable to move said platen irom its printing to its out-oi-printing positions, a latching device normallyrestraining said means, and means for variably releasing said latching device to thereby control said platen moving means to enable it to selectively move said platen to its dii'lerentout-of-prlnting positions.

.29. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a platen, front-feed means for receiving and'holding a work sheet in front-.-

fed position relative to said platen, said frontmeans for holding a record sheet about said platen feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition and'vice versa, means to move said front-feed means to open-throat condition,means to operate said moving means, normally ineffective means for operably connecting said movingmeans to said operating means, a

control device movable to various positions in connection with the conditioning of the machine for different functions, and means cooperating with said control device and effective when it is I in certain positions for rendering said connecting means effective.

30. In a front-feed machine of the class de-' scribed, a printing mechanism,'means for holding a record sheet in printing position relative to said printing mechanism, front-feed means for re,- ceiving and holding a front-fed work sheet in printing position relative to said printing mechanism, said front-feed means being movable from.

closed to open-throat condition and vice versa,

power means operable to movev said front-feed means to open-throat-condition, a latching device normally restraining said power means, means for releasing said latching device to tree said power means to enable it to open said throat, means for guiding a worksheet into said openthroat from the front, and mechanism operating automatically during a machine operation to return said power means to normal latched condition.

31. in a front-feed machine of the class described, a platen, means for holding a record sheet about said platen in feeding relation thereto, pressure rolls cooperating with said platen to form a iront-leed throat to receive work sheets, said platen being movable away from said pressure rolls to an open-throat position, power means operable to move said platen to openthroat position, a latching device normally restraining said power means, means for releasing said latching device to free said platen moving means to enable it to move the platen to openthroat position, means for latching said platen in open-throat position, -means for guiding a work sheet under said platen from the front while it is in-open-throat position, means for releasin said latching means, and mechanism operating automatically during a machine operation to return said platen moving means to normal latched position.

32. In a front-feed machine of the class described, a traveling paper carriage, a printing mechanism, means for holding a record sheet in printing position relative to said printing mechanism, a platen, frontfeed means for enabling a work sheet to be front fed relative to said platen and for holding said sheetin front-fed position, said front-feed means being movable from closed to open-throat condition and vice versa, power means operably connected to said front-iced means and operating by power derived independently of travel of said carriage to move said fronticed means to open-throat condition, a latching device for holding. said front-feed means in openthroat condition, said moving means including portions acting, after said front-feed means has been moved to open-throat condition, to automatically condition the connection between said moving means and said front-feed means to enable said front-leed means to return to closedthroat condition without interference from said moving means, and means for releasing said latching device.

33. In a front-feed machine of the class described, a traveling paper carriage, a platen,

said latching device, saidthroat opening means 5 includingportions acting automatically to disable its operative connection with said movable element after said element has been moved to open-throat position whereby, when said latching device is released, said moved element may return to closed-throat position without interference from said throat opening means. i

34. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having means for giving it cycles of operation, a traveling carriage, a platen, front 0:

iced. means for receiving and holding a work sheet in front-fed position, said front-feed means being movable from closed to open-throat conditlon and vice versa, columnar-printing control means including a device movable during a ma- 7 chine cycle to control the columnar-printing condition of said control means, normally ineiiective throat-opening means operable by power derived from .said cycling means independently of the power of movement oi said movable device tor 7 operated by power ary.

35. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a general operating mechanism for the calculating mechanism of the machine and means for giving said general operating mechanism cycles of operation, a platen, frontieed means for receiving andholding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition and vice versa, columnar-printing control means including a device movable during a machine cycle to control the columnar-printing condition of said control means, normally ineffective throat-opening means derived from said cycling means during a cycle of operation of said general operating mechanism and independently of the power of movement of said movable device, and

control means for conditioning said throat-opening means to enable it to operate during selected 'cycles of machine operation.

36. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a general operating mechanism for the calculating mechanism of the machine and motor drivingmeans for giving said general operating mechanism cycles of operation, and holding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable irom closed to open-throat condition and vice versa, normally ineffective throat-opening means conditioned by said motor driving means during a cycle of operation of said general operating mechanism, a device for controlling the nature of the operations performed by said machine. and means under the control of said device for rendering said throat-opening means efiective to move the front-feed means to open-throat condition.

3'7. In a front-feed machine of the character described having a front-feed means provided with a portion movable from a normal to a more accessible position to permit ready removal and insertion of record material, the combination of a power-driven main operating mechanism for said machine, a member adapted to be given a definite movement by said main operating mechanism during a cycle of operation of said machine, a contrivance ,operably connected to said front-feed means and yieldingly urged into engagement with the member, means to hold saidcontrivance out of engagement with said mem her, a device for controlling the nature of the operations performed by said machine, and means controlled by said device for rendering said holding means ineffective to thereby permit said contrivance to engage said member to enable it to be conditioned so as to move the movable portion of said front-feed means position. I

38. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a general operating mechanism for the calculating mechanism of the mamechanism cycles of operation, a platen, front feed means for receiving and holding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition and vice versa. throat-opening'means for moving said front-feed to open-throat conopen-throat condition, means I class described having a to 'a more accessible independently of chine and means for giving said general operating means to open-throat condition, control means for determining when said throat-opening means shall operate, and means operated by said cycling means during a cycle of operation of said general operating mechanism for conditioning said throat-opening .means foroperation under the control of said control means.

39. A. front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a motor driving means for giving it cycles of operation, a platen, frontfeed means for receiving and holding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable from closed to open-throat condition and vice versa, throatopening means for moving said front-feed means to open-throat condition, means operating during the first half of a machine cycle to store power from said motor driving means for operating said throat-opening means, and means for controlling the time when said stored power shall be applied to open said front-feed throat whereby said throat-opening means may be caused to operate at different times during the second half of the machine cycle or after said cycle has ended.

40. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a motor driving means for giving it cycles of operation, a platen, front-feed means for receiving and holding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable from a closed to an open-throat condition and vice versa, spring mechanism for moving said front-feed means to operatedby said motor driving means during the first half of a machine cycle for cooking said spring mechanism, and means variable a: to its time of operation for releasing said spring mechanism to cause it to move said front-feed means to open-throat condition. is

41. A front-feed calculating machine of the giving it cycles of operation, a platen, front-feed means for receiving and holding a work sheet in front-fed position relative to said platen, said front-feed means being movable from aclosed to an open-throat condition and vice versa, normally ineffective throat-opening means conditioned by power derived from said motor driving means during a machine cycle for moving-said frontfeed means to open-throat condition, and means for rendering said throat-opening means efiective to move said front-feed means to openthroat condition while said machine is in a noncycling condition. I

42. A machine of motor driving means the class described having a for giving it cycles of operation, a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage, a platen movable from a printing position relative to said printing mechanism to a trout-feed position and vice versa but being urged to printing position, front-feed means for enabling a work sheet to be front fed relative motor driving means for to said platen and for holding said sheet in frontfed position, said front-feed means being movable from closed to open-throat condition and vice versa, and power means operating during a cycle of operation of said machine by power derived travel of said carriage for moving said platen to front-feed position and opening said-throat, latching means for holding said platen and iront feed means in the position to which they are moved, said platen moving means having portions acting automatically to disable the effective connection between itself and said platen after the platen has been moved to frontgiving said machine cycles of feed position to thereby iree the platen with respect to the moving means, and manually operable means for releasing said latching means to free the platen for return to printing position.

43. A front-feed calculating machine of the position, front-feed means for receiving and holdin front-fed position relative to front-feed means being movable ing a Work sheet said platen, said from a closed to an open-throat condition and vice versa, platen-moving means operable by power derived from said motor driving means for moving said platen to front-feed position and automatically to move said front-feed means to open-throat condition, and means controlling said platen-moving means for conditioning it to enable it to move said platen .to front-feed position with said front-feed means remaining in closedthroat condition and without causing a cycle of machine operation.

44. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a motor driving means for giving said machine cycles of operation, a printing mechanism, a traveling carriage supporting a platen normally occupying a, printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to a front-feed position, sheetengaging devices movable bodily with said platen as it moves toand from printing position and adapted to cooperate with said platen to form a front-feed throat for receiving work sheets, said platen and sheet-engaging devices being mounted to enable a relative movementto occur between them to open and close said front-feed throat, platen-moving means operable by power derived from said motor driving means independently of carriage travel for moving said platen to front-feed position and automatically tocause a relative movement between said platen and sheet-engaging devices to open said throat, and means associated with said platen-moving means for conditioning it to enable it to move said platen to front-feed position while said sheet-engaging devices and platen remain in closed-throat position.

45. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage provided with a platen, means for holding a record sheet about said platen, a front-feed paper chute for guiding awork sheet bottom end first into front-fed position relative to said platen, said paper chute being movable from a worksheet-receiving position to a printing position and vice derived independently of travel of said carriage for moving said chute from printing to sheetreceiving position in a predetermined position of said carriage. I

46. A front-feed machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage provided with a platen, means for holding a record sheet about said. platen, a front-feed paper chute for receiving and guiding a work sheet bottom end first into front-fed position relative to said platen, said chute being movable from a work-sheet-receiving to a sheet-holding position and vice versa, sheet-engaging means for engaging an inserted work sheet to hold it in printing position during a printing operation of said printing mechanism, said sheet-engaging means being movable from a sheet-engaging to a versa, and power means operable by power sheet-releasing position and vice versa, means operable to move said chute from sheet-receiving to sheet-holding position and to move said sheetengaging means to engaging -position,-and power means operable by power derived independently of carriage travel for movingisaid chute from sheet-holding to sheetreceiving position and sheet-engaging means to sheet-releasing position in a predetermined position of said carriage.

47. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having means forgiving it cycles of operation, printing mechanism, a platen having a printing line, a front-feed paper chute for receiving and guiding a work sheet bottom end first into front-fed position relative to said platen, said chute being movable from a sheet-receiving to a sheet-holding position and vice versa and having devices associated with it for engaging a front-fed work sheet above the printing line of said platen, sheet-engaging means for engaging a front-fed work sheet below the printing line of said platen, said sheet-engaging means beingmovable from a sheet-engaging to a sheet-releasing position and vice versa, means operable to move said chute from sheet-receiving to sheetholding position and to move said sheet-engaging means to engaging position, columnar-printing control means including a device movable to effect changes in columnar printing, power means operating by power derived from said cycling means independently of the power of movement of said movable device for moving said chute from sheetholding to sheet-receiving position and said sheet-engaging means to sheet-releasing position, and means for selectively controlling said power operated means.

48. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a shiftable traveling carriage; a rockable platen carrying frame supported thereby; means controlling the columnar positioning of said carriage; and means rendered effective by the carriage and functioning after the carriage is moved to a predetermined columnar position for rocking the platen carrying frame into a more accessible position to facilitate the insertion and removal of material therein.

49. A machine of the class described having a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage 3 supporting a platen, said platen being mounted on saidcarriage so as to be movable from its normal printing position relative to said printing mechanism to an out-of-printing position and vice versa, power means operable in each of the columnarvpositions or the carriage by power derived independently of traveling movement of said carriage to move said platen to its out-ofprinting position, said power means being normally in ineffective condition, and means controlled by said carriage operating automatically to render said power means effective in a predetermined columnar position of said carriage.

50. A front-feed calculating machine of the class described having a power driving means for giving it cycles of operation, a printing mechanism, a traveling paper carriage supporting a platen normally in printing position relative to said printing mechanism but movable away therefrom to a front-feed position to facilitate the removal and insertion of work sheets, platen-moving means for moving said platen from printing to front feed position, means operated during the first half of a machine cycle for storing power 53m said motor driving means'for operation of said platen-moving means, and means governed by said paper carriage ad iustable as to time

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