US2506104A - Tabulator for typewriters - Google Patents

Description

May-2, 1950 G. PREZIOSO TABULATOR FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Sept. 9, 1947 G/l/sz z Pea z/ 030 Patented May 2, 1950 @PATENT OFFICE I "--TABUIATOR FOR 'TYPEW'RITERS aGiuseppe Prezioso Yverdon, Switzerland, assignor .,to.-Paillard.-S. A., (Paillaisd Ge, Paillard Limited), .a corporation ofswitze'rland ApplicatioWSeintember 9,119.47, Serial-No.- 772,923

Switzerland September 20, 1946 iaclaim's. 1 ;All r-moderna-typewritersaare provided with a tabulator. .Thei latteris :providedwith stops .in

. number equalfto. the. number of-lettere spacescorresponding with the length ..of the :platen and adapted .to v, co.-top.erate with the .stop 1 members noperatedxbyemeansof-the keys. sThe stops are generally formed by members sliding-between the teeth ofqaicomb' orsgofsa racklocated parallel to the cylinder:andasecuredwto. the-movable part :of

:thecarriage. .:.'I!he asetting .iin :the active posiaztion aandetherretractioniof-l thBIZStOPS may be efjfected either; manually,- or automatically, by the a'operation of. keys. :Thesetabulators do not give I entire .1 satisfaction, as they :necessitate a "very carefu1;-:and=:precise -..operation a in .the production -of the .:stops and-'-of-.:the=:racka.-in.order to avoid play deleterious-to ztheizprecision-of' the-stop'posi- :tionzofzthe.:carriage. -In.;:other-words thestops :must be guided ins-a verycprecise'mannen in. order to :sliderlparallel :to themselves without plays an without .IjSk'lOf wedging.

The present i invention rhas for .;its :subj ect a tabulatori for atypew'riter provided with a number of stops equal to the number of letter spaces corresponding with the length 'of f the platen and adapted to .co-operate with .stop *members mounted on the stationary partzof the machine, the stopsbe-ing. carriedibyva racklocated parallel to the platen and connected rigidly to the movable part of the carriage, the setting and retraction of the saidstops being contrb'lledby the keys.

"This tabulatontendsto eliminate the said disadvantages bythefact thatthestops are formed by rocking members mounted on a common shaft,

.each'rocking memberbeing'guided between two "teeth oft-hecomb-and-si1bjectdto the action of companying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of the rack cal rying and guiding the stops.

Fig. 2 is a view in section on a larger scale of a portion of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but in which are shown diagrammatically the members for -j contrclling the setting and the retraction oi the 'stops.

In the form .ot construction-shown .-.the.draw- ,ing,-. the .-.tabulator v.is provided with a comb or vrack Lsecuredrigidly to themovable partciof ..thecarriage. ..'I.he. rack. is located parallel to the .a .platen r. ..The.-teeth .2 of. therack for-m between .thema number ofg-uides 3 equalito the number .ofLletter spaces corresponding withthelength ..of' the platen.

..In .each .of these Fguides. is located a rocking =-member .4, .of which one part thereof only lis ..shown. ..All these-rockingmembersl aremounted .on..a.common.shaft.6 secured. rigidly-to .the comb. ..A spring 5, formed byrablade is located .injthe .bottom .df each of the guides]. The springs 5 ihaveat. one of.,their.ends abent ortion 8 adapted to. be engagedwi th aseat'l .of .the comb.

.-.-Each..rocking.member has two. armsill and .H .anda padl'Z. The' latter'is adapted to.co-

operate with .the. spring. 5 in order'to'hcldlthe Lmrocking memb.er -.automatically in-ea'ch of 'itstwo extreme positions. of which. one is dfinedbythe .engagement of one part ofthe arm ID with the loottomoi the guide 3.and the other by the enga ;inentof apartoffthearm. l I .with thebottom of -the,.guidel.3.

..The rocking .of ."these members from one .01 .itheireextreme positions. into their. other extreme position is. controlled by means -of.two keys'll, ..ltnfrthemachine. The key l5.is connected" by 0.ltransmission.members 'to alever-lfi pivoted on -a-shaftv'l'l. (The vfree end [8 of the lever acts on a. ..control. member 19,.piv0ted on a shaft 20. "This ..controimember has ..abeak 2| adapted to move -angularl 'the rocking member from its retracted positionfiposition shown inchainedotted lines) .upto itsgactiveposition (position indicated in fi'full .sli'nes) .Whenthe l-pad 12i has" .beenisubjec'tedito an angular movement of sufiicient amplitude to cause it to pass to the opposite side of the plane perpendicular to the spring 5 and passing through the shaft 5, the spring produces automatically the rocking of the member 4 up to its active position (position shown in full lines), and holds the member 4 in this active position. The same occurs during the retraction of the member. The key M is connected mechanically to an actuating member 22 pivoted on the shaft l1 and provided with a finger 23 adapted to actuate the rocking member for the purpose of Withdrawing it from its active position and for returning it to its inactive position (shown in chain-dotted lines).

When the pad I2 has been subjected to an angular movement sufiicient to pass the neutral zone, that is to say to be again located on the same side of the plane perpendicular to the spring 5 and passing through the axis 6 as the arm I l, the spring 5 produces the automatic rocking of the member 4 up to its retracted position defined by the arm Hi.

The rocking members, placed into the active position, are adapted to come into engagement with a stop member 25 mounted on the stationary part of the machine in such a manner as to be movable vertically between two extreme positions. cally to a control key 26 and is subjected to the action of a spring tending to hold it in the inactive position (position shown in Fig. 1). When pressing onthe key 26 the operator can move the member 25 upwardly and place its upper end in the path of the arm ll of a member 4 placed in the active position.

The operation of the device described is as follows.

The placing in the active position of a stop is obtained in the following manner:

The operator first places the carriage in the longtudinal position in which he desires to obtain the stopping of the carriage. By operating the key 15 he produces the rocking of the member 4 from its position shown in chain-dotted lines up to its position in full lines. When the operator afterwards desires to move the carriage from right to left automatically into the selected position it is sufiicient for him to act on a key 26 connected mechanically on the one hand to the stop 25 and effecting the placing of the latter into the active position (position shown in Fig. 2) and on the other hand to the retaining pawl (not shown) and producing the release of the carriage. The latter, under the action of its return spring, then moves from right to left up to a longitudinal position defined by the engagement of the stop 25 with the arm I l of the member 4.

v The retraction of a stop, that is to say the placing in the inactive position of a member 4 (position shown in chain-dotted lines) is obtained by placing the movable carriage into a longitudinal position corresponding to the position of the said stop 4 and then acting on the key 14 so as to produce the rocking of the said stop from its position shown in full lines up to the position shown in chain-dotted lines.

Finally, in order to allow of the simultaneous retraction of any number of stops placed in the active position, an actuating member 21 is provided. The latter is formed by a plate 28 of which one of the ends is bent, located parallel to the comb and of a length equal to the latter. The plate 28 is secured to a shaft 29, pivoted in the lateral walls of the movable carriage and carrying the operating member 2'! which, operated in The stop member is connected mechanii 4 the direction of the arrow F, produces the retraction of all the riders 4.

From the foregoing and by examination of the drawing, it will be seen that, by reason of the fac that the stops are formed by rocking members, mounted on a shaft, their guiding can be effected much more easily and their operation is much more certain than when, as in known devices, the stops carry out a movement of translation. In fact no risk of wedging is to be feared.

Further, the positions of the said stops are clearly defined and they are held in each of their positions (active and retracted) by the action of a simple flat spring placed in the bottom of grooves of the rack.

.I claim:

1. In a typewriter having a stationary part and a carriage movably mounted on the part, a tabulator comprising a toothed rack rigid with said carriage, a plurality of stops each mounted on the rack for movement guided between a pair of adjacent rack teeth and including a part projecting laterally and toward the rack, and a plurality of yieldable means each anchored with its upper end in the rack and having a smooth surface engaged on its intermediate portion only by the projecting stop part.

2. In a typewriter according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of stops are pivoted on the rack.

3. In a typewriter having a stationary part and a carriage movably mounted on the part, a tabulator comprising a toothed rack rigid with said carriage, a plurality of stops each mounted on the rack for movement guided between a pair of adjacent rack teeth and including a part projecting toward the bottom of the guide constituted by said pair of teeth, a plurality of yieldable means of arcuate shape, and retaining means, retaining each of said yieldable means on the bottom of a guide, each said yieldable means being in engagement, by its intermediate portion, with said projecting part of one of said stops.

GIUSEPPE PREZIOSO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,157,053 Crumrine May 2, 1939 2,196,790 Dobson Apr. 9, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 518,525 Germany of 1931

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