US2359853A - Printing machine - Google Patents

Description

0a. 10, 1944. I c H EBE 2,359,853

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 10, 1944. Q HUEBER 2,359,853

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q Jive/Z1 0? S51 CZ rd 1] ffaefiei" do @6644, M @MM/ Oct. 10, 1944-. c, J HUEBER v PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 Oct. 10, 1944-. c J 2,359,853

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PRINTING MACHINE 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed S ept. 8 1941 Ill/IIII/[IIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIa Jl -lll l C. J. HUEBER PRINTING MACHINE Ogt. 10, 1944.

Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 6 %N NWN www j 8 ANN m Oct. 10, 1944. v c J HUEBER 2,359,853

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 7 540 521 i fizverz 18 550 Carl 11 Haeker Oct. .10, 1944. I c HUEBER 2,359,853

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 8 ILL e72 507' 602% H 61/65 7" 1 ZMMM Jame /S Oct. 10, 1944. c, HUEBER 2,359,853

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 9 IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNEYS Oct. 1o, 1944.

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PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept, 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 11 Oct. 10, 1944. I I c; J. HUEBER $359,853

PRTINTINGY MACHINE FiledSept! s, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 12 Oct. 10, 1944. C..J. HUEBER 2,359,853

PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 l4 Sheets-Sheet l3 v F lEtZQ Oct. 10, 1944.

C. J. HUEBER PRINTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 8, 1941 14 Sheets-Sheet 14' ZUMAWMW Patented Oct. 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRINTING MACHINE Carl J. Hueber, Euclid, Ohio, assignor to Address- I ograph-Muitigraph Corporation, Wilmington,

Del.. a corporation of Delaware Application September 8, 194i, Serial No. 410,097

50 Claims;

' ing devices so that various selected parts of the data carried by a particular printing device are printed upon the form in a relationship which is different than the arrangement of such parts on the printing device.

In the use of printing machines of the aforesaid character it is customary to employ printing devices having a series of lines of printing characters disposed upon the printing device with the lines one above -the otherin what may be termed a single column, andthe printing impressions are usually made from the :printing characters on the printing device so that these printing characters are printed upon the sheet or form in precisely the same arrangement. Such printing machines are so constructed that the printingdevices are I withdrawn one byone from a sup'plymagazine and are advanced in a step-by-step manner to a printing position in the machine. ing position, the sheet or form is disposed in the desired relationship to the printing device and while'the printing device remains stationary at printing position a suitable impression means is operative to make the desired printing impressions from the type characters of the printing device onto the sheet. Various arrangements have heretofore been provided whereby selected portions of the type characters carried on a printingdevice, might be printed to the exclusion of other type characters, and hence the printing devices in many instances may embody considerable information pertaining to a particular sub- Ject or person, and selected parts of this information may be printed as desired. The information carried by the printing devices is advantageously arranged so that it is adaptable for the most.

common uses to which such printing devices may be put. Thus, for example, a printing device may embody the name, the street address and the ,city and State of residence of a person to which a particular device relates, and in addition there may be a fourth line of type characters, constituting a Salutation whereby the nameand address data and the salutation may At such printthe same arrangement in which such data are found on each printing device, there are certain applications or uses for such printing devices wherein it is desirable to distribute the various lines or classes of data carried on each printing device in a different relationship upon the sheet or form.- For example, a particular business form may embody a plurality of columns and the user may desire to print in one column of such a form the information or data be printed upon a letter which is to be sent of one class carried by a printingdevice and to print in another column the information of another class of data carried by the printing device. This is known in the art as multiple column or distributing listing, and it usually in, volves the distribution of the different classes of data from the printirm devices in two, three or more columns, usually in side-by-side relation. In all suchlisting'it may be desired to print one or more lines of type characters in each or selected ones of the columns, and where more than one line of. type characters is printed from a single printing device in a particular column it is customary to 'refer to such type matter as a group or a group of lines of type characters.

As one example, it may be desirable to print merely the first line of type characters from aprinting device in the first or left-hand column of the sheet or form, and to print all of the ad' dress data, that is, the street address and the city and State, in the second or right-hand col- In most instances the street umn of the form. address would be arranged on the printing device in one line of type characters while the city and State would be arranged in the next line of type characters on the printing device,

so that in such an instance a group of lines would be printed in the-second or right-hand column. It will be recognized of course that this distribution is merely illustrative and might in many instances be reversed or modified to meet varying requirements imposed by the use to which the form is to beput.

Many'variable factors are involved in the attainment of the desired distribution and selection of the type characters to be printed upon a multiple column form, and it is the primary object of the present invention to simplify and facilitate the attainment of the desired selection and distribution of the printing impressions in multiple column listing.

The performance of multiple column or distributive listing on a printing machine of the aforesaid character must take into account the different line or group spacings which may be desired in the different types of forms which may be encountered, as well as the different column spacings, the different and widely varying top and bottom margins which may be desired upon such forms, and the different selection of lines to be printed from each printingdevice. In addition to the foregoing it will be recognized that the lines of type characters on the printing devices may vary considerably as to line spacing when different types of printing devices are encountered, and in some instances different line spacings may be used between the lines of type characters on a particular printing device. In this connection, however, it should be observed that in a particular run of printing devices through a printing It is also another important object of the present invention to enable a wide variety of varying conditions to be met with a multiple column lister of a particular design, and further objects related to the foregoing are to enable such varying conditions to be met through adjustment of the 'machine by the usual operator thereof rather than by a skilled service man, and to enable the adjustments which are made in the apparatus to be preserved even though the listing mechanism is removed from the printing machine for the purpose of enabling the printing machine to be utilized for the performance of other classes of printing.

Another object of the invention is to simplify the association of a multiple column listing mechanism with a printing machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a multiple column listing apparatus which may be readily adapted for reversing the normal distribution or columnar printing of the data on the sheet or form.

Another object of the invention is to provide multiple column listing apparatus which is adapted to cooperate with selector means in the printing machine with which it is associated to thereby enable uniform arrangement of the When such a distributing or multiple coma}.

lister is operated in timed relation to the operation of the printing machine it is often desirable to skip a particular line or space in the columns of the form, and another object of the invention is to enable such spacing of the form to be attained, and a related object is to enable this to be effected manually.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic distributing lister whereby the printing characters or type matter carried on the printing devices may be readily distributed in three different columns on a form, and an object related to the foregoing is to enable such three column distribution to be attained in a distributing lister which is produced through but a slight modification of a lister designed and built primarily for the performance of two column listing operations.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a multiple column lister which is unitary in character and which may be simply and easily mounted upon or removed from a printing machine; to so construct such, a lister that the various operative movements of the parts thereof are effected through but a single operative or driving connection with the driving means of the printing machine; to utilize cams for the attainment of the desired line spacing operations of the paper holder of such a multiple column lister, and to so locate such cams as to facilitate changes in the adjusted relationship thereof; to" attain proper alignment of the related lines of type characters printed in different columns of the form through the use of a plurality of independently adjustable spacing or actuating mechanisms for the paper holder; to effect longitudinal movement of the sheet or form in a multiple cplumn lister in both advancing and back spacing directions; to provide independently actuatable sheet advancing and back spacing means in such a lister; to enable the strokes of the line spacing and back spacing means to be independently adjusted or varied; to condition the line spacing means of such a multiple column lister for a succeeding line spacing or sheet advancing movement during a period when the sheet is being retracted for purposes of aligning the related lines of type in different columns; and to so construct such a multiple column lister that a basic embodiment thereof may be readily modified to provide for either hand spacing of the form or for the distribution of the printed matter in a varying number of columns.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show preferred embodiments and the principle thereof and what I now consider-to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying that principle. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a printing machine equipped in accordance with the present invention for the automatic distribution of the type matter or printing characters from a single column arrangement on a printing device into a plurality of columns upon a sheet or form;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the distributing lister mechanism shown in Fig. 1, the cover of the lister-mechanism being removed and a portion of the table top of the printing machine being broken away to illustrate details of construction; f

Fig.- 3 is a fragmental vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan section taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig. 3;

view being taken so as to show the opposite side oi the lister mechanism as compared with the showing thereof in Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a fragmental horizontal sectional view taken along the line I--| of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 88 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 9 and 10 are similar horizontal sectional views showing portions of the actuating mechanism for the paper holder, the parts being shown in diflerent relationships in two views;

Fig. 11 is a view showing some of the control elements from Fig. 6;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged plan view shown partially in broken away section and illustrating the paper clamping portion of the paper holder;

Fig. 13 is a front elevational view of the paper holder;

Fig. 14 is a fragmental end elevational view of the paper holder as viewed from the line |4--|4 of Fi 13;

Fig. 15 is a transverse sectional view of the paper holder taken along the line |5--|5 of Fig. 12; Fig. 16 is a fragmental plan view showing a portion of the actuating and control mechanism for the lister mechanism; I Fig. 17 is a front elevational view of the cam mechanism and control means of Fig. 16, certain elements being shown in section;

Fig. 18 is a transverse sectional view showing the lister control'clutch, the view being taken along the line |t|8 of Fig. 17;

Fig. 19 is a transverse sectional view of the driving cam mechanism, the view being taken substantially along the line iii-i9 of Fig. 16;

Fig. 19A is an enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line ISA-49A of Fig. 2;

Fig. 20 is a rear elevational view of the printing machine taken partially in vertical section to show the details of connection of the lister driving cam with the operating means of the printing machine;

Fig. 21 is a front face view of a sheet or form having two columns in which type characters may be distributed through the use of the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 20, inclusively;

Fig. 22 is an enlarged fragmental portion of Fig. 21;

Fig. 23 is a front elevational view of a printing device adapted to be used with the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 20, inclusive;

Fig. 24 is a plan view of the fiexiblerack employed in imparting-advancing or line spacing movement to the paper holder of the lister mechanism; Fig. 25 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the lister of the present invention constructed and arranged to print the first line or lines of type characters from a particular printing device in the second column of a sheet rather than in the first column;

Fig. 26 is a schematic wiring diagram illustrating the electrical connections employed with the apparatus of the present invention;

Fig. 27 is a fragmental plan view similar to Fig. 2 and illustrating an alternative embodiment of the invention which enables hand or manual spacing of the form to be attained;

Fig. 28 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 2828 of Fig. 27;

Fig. 29is a fragmental plan view similar to Fig. 2 and illustrating another embodiment of the invention whereby the lines of data carried on a printing device may be distributed in three characters which may be employed'in the three' Y column listing work. v

General description In the form chosen for disclosure in Figs. 1 to 26, inclusive, the invention is embodied in a printing apparatus comprising a printing machine 40 having a multipl column listing device 4| operatively associated therewith in such a manner that through automatic shifting of a sheet such as the form F by the listing device 4| in timed relation to the operation of the printing machine 4ll the data embodied in the printing means of a printing device D, Fig. 23, may be distributed in a multiple column relationship on the form F despite the single column arrangement of such data on the printing device. The multiple column listing device 4| of the present invention is unitary in character and is con-' structed and related to the printing machine 40 ings on the form as well as different selection 01' type characters or lines of type characters from the printing devices for printing on the form. The multiple column listing device 4| also provides for controlling the top and bottom margins on the sheets or forms which are printed through the use of the listing device, and the I action 'of the topand bottom margin controlv means of the present listing device may be adjustably varied to conform with the desired arrangement or size of the form upon which the impressions are to be printed.

The listing device of the present invention is so constructed and arranged that when a particular adjustment or series of'adjustments-have b en made upon the lister it is possible for the user to remove the lister as a unit from its operative association with relation to the printing machine without disturbing the adjustments which have been made in the lister, and when While the particular form and arrangement of the printing machine 40 is in many aspects of the present invention immaterial, the particular printing machine 40 which is herein shown is of the type wherein a series of individual printing devices D, Fig. 23, each bearing printing means thereon, are advanced one by one from a supply means such as an upstanding magazine M to a printing position provided in the machine. The printing position may in the present instance be considered as being defined in part by an impression means such as the platen mechanism P. The magazine M is supported on a printing machine frame 42 which in the form herein shown is generally desk-like in character so as to provide a table top T upon which sheets, forms and the like may be supported beneath the platen mechanism P {or the performance of the printing operations thereon. In the operation of the printing machine 40 the printing device D are device D located at such printing position, and

it is while the printing device D is at rest at printing position that th platen mechanism ,P is operated to produce a printing impression from all or selected portions of the type characters embodied in the printing device. After one or more printing operations have been performed thereon or therefrom, the printing device is further advanced so as to be discharged into a collector means such as a drawer K. The form and construction of the printing machine 40 will be described herein onlyin so far as it is directly related to the attainment of the desired distributive listing, and for further details of the construction and operation of the printing machine 40 reference may be had to my copending application Serial No. 388,998, filed April 17, 1941.

When a printing device D is located in printing position, as shown in Fig. 2, the lines of type characters are disposed parallel to the forward edg 42' of the printing machine frame 42 with the upper or first line of such type characters located closest to the rear edge of the printing machine frame. Hence in the performance of a. println operation the form F is located with its top edge closest to the rear edge of the printhis machine frame. and the location of the result ng printing impression vertically of the form F is determined by the relative vertical positioning of the form in a direction from front to rear of the printing machine frame. Similarly the location of the printing impression laterally of the form F is determined by the relative lateral positioning of the form in a direction parallel to the forward edge of the printing machine frame.

Since each printing device 1D remains stationary at a predetermined and fixed printing position, the desired distribution of the type characters from the printing devices to a multiple column relationship on the sheet or form F is attained through controlled shifting of the form F by the listing device 4| in timed relation to the operatiori of the printing machine. Thus the listing device 4| embodies a paper holder 43 to which the upper edge of the form is clamped. and the holder 43 is carried beneath a laterally shiftable lister carriage. for lateral movement therewith. The carriage is supported for such lateral shifting or reciprocating movement by means of a lister frame 45 secured detachably to the print- February 26, 1935, may be employed.

ing machine frame 42, and means is provided, as will hereinafter be explained, in association with the lister carriage 44 whereby appropriate movementsare imparted to the paper holder 43 in longitudinal or vertical direction with relation to the vertical columns of the form F.

The present lister is so constructed and arranged that the lower line or group of type characters on a printing device is printed in the last printing operation pertaining to a particular printing device, and the lister is such that this last printing impression may be made in either the right-hand or left-hand column of the form F. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 24 of the drawings the lister is arranged to make the last impression in the right-hand or last column of the form, while in, Fig. 25 the lister is shown in an embodiment which reverses the sequence of operation and causes the last impression, from the lower line or lines of the printing device, to be made in the left-hand or first column of the form F.

' The Printing devices The printing devices'D may be of many different types, and the characteristics of the printing device means must of course be related in each instance to the construction and operational characteristics of the printing machine. For use in 'connection with the printing machine 40 herein shown a printing device of the character disclosed, for example, in Gollwitzer Patent No. 2,132,412, patented October 11, 1938, may be employed. In other, instances, where a different construction and arrangement is Provided in the printing machine, a different type of printing device, such for example as the printing device shown in Gollwitzer Patent No. 1,992,661, patented In other instances the present invention may also be utilized with printing machines which employ printing devices of the stencil type wherein a thin sheet of stencil paper is incorporated in a protective carrier or frame. In all of the various kinds of printing devices of this general class, the printing means of each printing device is arranged to embody various classes of data to be printed, and such data is disposed in a plurality of lines disposed one above another upon the operative face of the printing device so as to constitute what may be termed a single column arrangement. Such a single column disposal of the various lines of type characters is embodied in the printing device D hereinillustrated, and as shown in Fig. 23 it will be evident that the several lines of type are formed upon one or more printing plates 51 which are carried on one face of a frame 50. The printing device D is, in the present instance, provided with two separately formed printing plates 5| which are removably held in position on the operative face of the printing device D by means formed on the frame 50.

The lower printing plate 5! is'held in position by a curled lower edge 52 and lugs 53 and 54, and a spring latch 55 serves to releasably engage a notch in one end edge of the lower printing plate 5| to hold the same inposition on the frame -50.' The other or upper printing plate Si is held in place by lugs 56, 51 and 58 and a spring latch 59. Above the upper printing plate 5| a plurality of lugs 60 and a reversely bent upper edge 6| provided on the frame 50 serve to hold an index card 63 in position on the frame 50. A printing impression as at 64 may be formed on index card edge in the general manner disclosed in the aforesaid Gollwitzer Patent No. 2,132,412, and in this connection it will b noted that a relatively large number pf identifying positions are provided along the upper edge of the frame 59 and that the identifying means or tabs 65 in Fig. 23 are disdimensioning lines being extended from the lowermost points on each of the several lines of type. Thus the linespacing between line 1| and line 12 is indicated at 8] and this line spacposed in but selected ones of such identifying positions.

The data which is to be printed from each printing device is, as aforesaid, disposed upon the operative face of the printing. device D in a series of lines, and when a printing device such as that shown in Fig. 23 is employed, the type characters may be formed on the printing plates 5| through the use of an embossing machine such as that shown in the patent to Duncan No. 1,518,- 904, patented December 9, 1924. With such a machine type characters are embossed in the metal of the printing plates 5] so that when a sheet is pressed into operative association with the embossed faces of such type characters a corresponding printing impression is made there- 1 from. It will be recognized, of course, that the type characters must in every instance be properly inked and this may b properly attained through inking of the type characters prior to the printing operation or through the use of an ing is considerably more than the line spacing between lines .12 and 13 which is indicated in Fig. 23 at 82. The line spacing between lines 13 and 14 is indicated at 83, the line spacing between lines 14 and 15 is indicated at B4 and the line spacing between the lines 15 and 16 is indicated at 85, such individual indication of the several dimensions being employed for convenience in subsequent reference to the operation of the listing mechanism of the present invention,

although the line spacing indicated at 82', 83,

84 and 85 is in the present instance uniform.

, j The sheet orlform In the use of the apparatus of the presentinventionthe various elements or portions of the data includedin the printing means of a'particuinked ribbon whichis interposed between the typecharacters and the sheet at the time when the printing impression is made. I

It will be observed in Fig. 23 that an upper line H of type characters is formed in the upper printing plate 5| near the upper edge thereof, but since this particular line of type characters does not enter into the example chosen to illustrate the functioning of the apparatus of the present invention, this line 61 will hereinafter be disregarded. Adjacent'to the lower edge of the upperprinting plate 5| a line H of type characters is formed, and hereinafter this line 1| will be considered as the first line of the printing device D. Beneath the first line 1|, lines 12,,

13, 1tand 15 of type characters are formed in succession, these lines of type characters being formed parallel to the lower edge of the printing device .D. Thus as shown in Fig. 23 the printing device D has five lines of type charac-" ters formed thereon and it will be'observed that sufficient space is provided along the lower edge of the lower printing plate 5| to accommodate a lower line 16 of type characters, theline 16 being indicated by a dotted line in, Fig. 23 loqa'ted so as as that hereinbefore referred to, thespacing of the lines is ordinarily uniform, but in the printing device herein shown it will be observed that the use of two separately formed printing plates 5| necessitates a non-uniform-line spacing. To

illustrate this diiference in line spacing, dimensioning lines have been extended from the various lines of type characters in Fig. 23, these lar printing device may be distributed upon a.

sheet or form in many different relationships, and one such relationship is illustrated in Figs. 21 and 22 of the drawings. The form F shown in Figs. 21 and 22 is one in which the data embodied in the printing means of a printing device D is intended for distribution in two columns.

The form F is one which is printed with suitable ruling to provide a first or left-hand column 90 and a second or right-hand column 9l ,"and the columns 90 and 9| are each intended to receive, a part of ,the data embodied in the printing means of each printing device D. In the present instance a binding or side border portion 93 is provided along the left-hand edge of the form F; and the division between this binding portion 9| and the first column 90 is formed by a vertical printed line 93'. The division between the first and second columns is defined by a printed vertical line 94, while the right-hand edge of the column 9| is defined by a printed vertical line 95. Other vertically arranged printed lines define a plurality of other vertically extending columns 96 which are intended and'adapted to receive other and related data which may be placed therein by writing, typing or printing.

The form F is also divided into a plurality of horizontal lines or areas extending horizontally across the form, that is, parallel to e upper ,edge 91 of the form. Thus a top marginal portion 98 is provided by a series of horizontal lines 99 printed on the form. Beneath'the upper marginal portion 98 a plurality of horizontal printed lines I00 divide the form into a series of related or horizontally extending areas; and for purposes of the present descriptioneach horie zontally extending area will be termed a line of the form F. The form also has a lower border strip or area |0| along its lower edge and this lower border area or border strip llll serves to receive additional data which may be placed thereon as\by writing, typing or printing after the performance of the distributive printing in the columns and 9|.

- The series of related areas or lines which-extend in a horizontal direction between adjacent" printed lines I00 will hereinafter be referred to as lines I05 of the form F, and it will be evident that in any one line H15 in a. particular column 90 or 9| it is possible to print one or more lines of type characters, as lines 1| and 12, from a print ing device D. The form F shown in Fig. 21 of the drawings is intended and adapted to receive printing impressions from two lines of type in each line I of the form, and because of this intended use of. the form F the vertical extent or dimension of each line I05 of the form is relativelygreat. In other cases it may be desirable to print but a single line of type characters per line H of printed characters formed in the first or upper space of each column is located in spaced relation to the upper limit of the line I05 while the lower line of type is correspondingly spaced from the lower limit of the line I05. Moreover, it will be evident that the upper line of printin in the second line I05 of the form is spaced from the upper line of printing in the upper line' I05 in the form in a distance which is equal to the vertical spacing of the horizontal lines I00. This dimension is indicated at H0 in Figs. 21 and 22, and the dimension IIO may be ing fram I25, the specific construction of which considered to be the line spacing of the partin the successive lines of the form. and this mode of dimensioning will be followed throughout the present description so that in each instance the point of reference employed as to a. line of type characters will be the lower limit or base of such characters. The location of the uppermost printing impression in each form Fmust of course correspond with the printed divisionlines provided on the form F,' and the distance of the upper line of printing on each form from the upper edge 91 of th form may be termed the top margin of the form. The dimension of this top marginds indicated in Fig. 21 of the drawings at III. The bottom margin of the form F is also indicated in Fig. 21at II2, this bottom dimension being shown as extending from the lower edge II3 of the form F to the lower edge of the to forms for either one or more lines of type characters in each line I05 of the form.

' The first letter or character printed in each of the columns 90 and 9| should of course be spaced in a predetermined relation to the left-hand border edge of the column in which it is printed, and in most instances the distance between the first character in the column 9I would be equal to the distance between the division lines 93 and 94. However, since the character of the work may in some instances call for a different location of printing in the two columns. the distance between the first characters printed in the two columns has'been indicated at II5 as being the column spacing dimension of the form F.

The printing machire The printing machine herein illustrated is ofthe type wherein the impression mean is prois illustrated and described in my copending application Serial No. 350,678, filed August 3, 1940,

now Patent No. 2,275,439. patented March 10, 1942. The printing frame I25 is in the-present case disposed so as to project upwardly from the table top T at a point located a considerable distance rearwardly and to the right of the printing position. and the printing-frame extends forwardly at an angle of substantially 45 with respect to the forward edge 42 of the printing machine frame, thereby to locate the forward end of the printing frame I25 directly above the printing position. -The magazin M is located just to the right of the vertically extending portion of the printing frame I25 and the printing device D are advanced from the bottom of the magazine M in a forward direction and then along a suitable guide path beneath the table top T and to printing position. The particular arrangement and construction of the printing device advancing path is disclosed in my aforesaid copending application Serial No. 388,998. The printing device advancing means of the printing machine is arranged to advance the printing devices in a step-by-step manner such that each printing device comes to rest at a plurality of different stations along the printing device guideway. and in the machine herein disclosed the first of these stations constitutes a sensing station at which suitable identifying means such as the one or more selected identifying positions there- .on. The sensed presence or absence of selected identifying means on the printing device when 40 the printing device is at sensing station may be rendered operative to control the operation of the platen mechanism P when the printing device from which the sensed indication is derived realches printing position; The selector mechanism whereby such controlling action is attained is but fragmentally shown in the present drawings wherein a control plunger I26 is shown on the front panel of the machine frame for rendering the, selector mechanism active or inactive a desired. Further details of the construction and operation of the selector mechanism may be had by reference to my copending application Serial No. 392,151, filed May 6. 1941.

The platen mechanism P is herein illustrated as being of the form which is incorporated in the'printing machine shown in my copending applications, Serial No. 350,678 and Serial No.

388,998, and this platen mechanism is described.

in detail in my copending application, Serial No. 361,530, filed October 1'7, 1940. The p1aten mechanism P comprises a carriage C supported for reciprocation in a direction from front to rear of the printing machine along a guideway provided beneath a head I30 mounted beneath the forward end of the printing frame I25, and a platen roller PR is supported on and carried by the carriage C. The platen roller PR is arranged in a horizontal position at right angles to thepath of reciprocation of the carriage C. that is, parallel to the forward edge 42 of the printing-machine frame. The platen roller PR is supported by means such as toggles so that the platen roller may be shifted from a normal elevated or inactive position to a lower or active position wherein the platen roller may be effec-

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