US2506456A - Copyholder - Google Patents

Description

C. T. JACKSON May 2, '1950 COPYHOLDER 4 Sheets-Sheet l lrL Filed Oct. 10, 1946 INVENTOR 65 /91 70/V fJ/M'ASO/V 2W! ATTORNEY May 2, 1950 c. 'r. JACKSON COPYHOLDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 10, 1946 Y INVENTOR 6%,?! TON Z'JAC/(SON 32 ATTORNEY C. T. JACKSON May 2, 1950 COPYHOLDER 4 Shee ts-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 10, 1946 llllllllllllllllll i P ATTOR EY y 1950 c. T. JACKSON 2,506,456

COPYHOLDER Filed Oct. 10, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 H l 7 X /2d Y* 26 "Hr a.

4/ 3 43 i I l INVENTOR CHRL TON I JAM/(SON ATTO R N EY fatented May 2,

2,506,456 COPYHOLDEIt Carlton T. Jackson, Conesus, N. Y., assigrior to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 10, 1946, Serial No. 702,520

This invention relates to copyholders for use with typewriting machines and the like.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved copyholder.

An object is to provide a copyholder which is more convenient to operate and more easily set by the operator of the machine when changing to different kinds of copy.

An object is to provide a copyholder which may be operated by foot power.

An object is to provide a copyholder which may be more easily and more accurately adjusted for line feeding purposes.

An object is to provide a copyholder which may be both operated and adjusted either manually or by foot power.

An object is to provide a copyholder in which the amount of feed of the copy may be accurately adjusted by direct reference to the copy through an auxiliary line finder.

An object is to provide a copyholder which is more adaptable to diiferent kinds of copy.

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

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the upper part of the copyholder.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the copy holder.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the upper part of the copyholder as viewed from the right in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the treadle.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the treadle.

Fig. 6 is a detail view on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a large scale detail view showing the line feed device in partly operated position.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 but showing the line feeding device in released position.

The main framework of the copyholder is most clearly shown in Fig. 2 and comprises a flat base plate II] to which are riveted or otherwise secured the vertical posts II. Vertically slidably mounted in the posts I I is the plate l2 composed of sheet metal having its edges formed with flanges l2a at right angles. For the purpose of guiding the plate I2 for vertical movement the bottom flange I2a is provided with holes to receive the posts II and the plate I2 has secured to it blocks I2b having holes through which pass the posts I I. The blocks I2b are provided with thumb screws I3 to permit the plate 2 to be adjusted up or down on the posts II to suit the operators height.

Also secured to the plate I2 is a block I3a (Fig. 2) which acts as a socket for a dash pot tube I4, the lower end of which is held in place by a plug I20 secured to the lower flange I 211. Guided 6 Claims. (Cl. 120-32) tions of the keyhole slots I8a.

in the block I3a and housed in the dash pot tube I 4 is the feed rod I5, the lower end of which is provided with a cup-shaped piston packing Wu.

in a block I6 fastened to the upper end of the copyholder plate I I.

Secured to the top of the copyholder plate ll (Figs. 1 and 3) is a cross bar I8 formed with the keyhole slots I3a at its ends in which is removaby mounted the copy clamping bar I9, the ends of the bar being bent like the arms of a bail and provided with grooves fitting in the narrower por- Loosely slidably mounted on the clamping bar I9 are the clamps 20 which, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3, are formed somewhat like a cam with the high part of the cam slightly greater in radius than the distance from the center of the bar it to the surface of the cross bar I8.

Preferably the clamps 26 are made of some material like dense vulcanized rubber or a suitable plastic formed with grooves 2831? (Figs. 1 and 3) which create double jaws for gripping slightly in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 3)

but as soon as the paper is released, the weight of the clamps 26 causes them to rock slightly clockwise and grip the paper.

For the purpose of line feeding the copyholder plate I1 and the copy sheet 2| supported on theface thereof, there is provided the mechanism shown in Figs. 2, 7, and 8. Under normal conditions the plate I1 is kept in an elevated position, to which it has been fed by the line feeding mechanism, by means of a pair of plates 22 which conveniently may be made of a material like a laminated plastic, such as Bakelite or Formica. The plates 22 are provided With holes very slightly larger than the rod 55 and the left hand ends of the plates 22 normally rest on a stud 23 carried by the plate l2 while the right hand ends of the plates 22 are free. A double leaf spring 2t carried by a slotted pin 25 on the plate l2 has one of its. fingers pressing on the top surface of the top plate 22 a little to the right of the center of pin 23, thereby tending to urge the plates 22 in a clockwise direction. Due to the small difference between the holes in the plates 22 and the diameter of the rod 55, the

plates hold the rod I5 against downward moveplates 26, the left hand ends of which rest on 2.,

U feed plunger 2! and one of the fingers of the spring 24 presses on the top plate 25 to the right of the upper end of the feed plunger 21. Thus plates 26 likewise prevent the rod l from moving downwardly in Fig. 2. The rod 21 is guided at its upper end by a bracket 28 carried by the plate l2 and its lower end is pivotally connected to a hand lever 29 pivoted at 39 to the plate [2. The lever 29 is held in the position of Fig. 2 byme'ans of a coil spring 31 which urges -the lever 29 in a clockwise direction and which is'attached "at its upper end to a circular nut 32 on an adjusting screw 33 carried by the upper flange iZa. By turning screw 33 and holding the nut 32 against rotation the tension onthe spring 31 may be adj'usted.

"Upward movement of the rod 21 is limited by a Bowden wire 34; "the sheath 35 of which secured to the left'hand flange 12a (Fig. 2) by means of the clamping blocks 36. The lever 29 is formed with a handle piece 29a. by means of which the typist may operate'the feed mechanism with the right hand.

'The"base plate iii is narrow enough to he slipped underneath the average typewriter or, if desired; it maybe large enough so that the typewriter-may rest upon theplate and thereby hold the copyholder in place with the copyholder plate IT, and the copy sheet 2'! thereon facing the typist from the back of the typewriter. It will be'apparent that the operator may use the right hand to operate the lever 29 by pressing down onthe finger piece 29a.

When the lever 29 is rocked counterclockwise in Fig.2 the plunger 2? is drawn downwardly, thereby permitting the spring 2 to press the left" hand ends of the plates 26 downwardly and causing said'pl'ates to follow the upper end of the plunger 21 to the position of Fig. '7. The relieving oithe pressure of the upper end of the plunger 21. on the left hand ends of the plates 28 allows said plates'to pivot slightly in a counterclockwise direction on the rod l5, thereby losing their grip on the rod and permitting them to fall. 'I-Iowever; when the 'lever 29 is released and restored by spring 3| 'to the position of Fig. 2, the plunger 21. will be pushed upwardly. Due to the fact that the spring 21; acts on plates 26 to the right of the plunger 27, said plates will now'pivot in a clockwise directionon the end of the finger of spring 24', thereby causing the plates to grip the rod i5 firmly while plunger 21 isbeing raised. The springSl is inade'strong enough so as to be capable of raising the rod 15, the copyholder plate, and the copy sheet thereon an extent which is governed by the amount the plunger 21 has been drawndo-wnwardly; either by the hand of theoperator on the finger piece 29;; or by a pull exerted downwardly by the Bowden wire 34. The latter, as will be made clear hereinafter, may be operated by means of a foot treadle, thereby relieving the typist of the necessity for actuating the lever 29 by hand, thus efiecting a saving of time in performing a copy job and reducing hand motion by the operator.

The stroke of the lever 29 may be varied n0rmally to suit the spacing of the lines of the copy. Adjustment of the amount of feed is determined by an adjustable stop block 31 (Figs. 1,2, and 3) which is 'sli'dably mounted on a rod 38 secured to blocks 39 carried by the left hand flange l2a in Fig. 2. Inter-posed between the lower end of the stop block 31 and the lower block 39 is a relatively weak coil spring '40 which tends to elevate" the block" 31. The latter is'provided with a thumb screw 31a by means of which the block 31 may be clamped in any adjusted position along the rod 38. The block 3? also has formed therein a stop m are which projects underneath the left hand end (Fig. 2) of the lever 29. Assmning the block 3'! to be clamped to the rod 38 in the position shown in Fig. 2 it is apparent that the lever 29 may only be moved to the dotted line position, thereby permitting a relatively short vertical feed to be given the copyholder support plate 1?. After the typist has finished copying a page it is neeessary that the support plate ll be restored to the position of Fig. 2 and a new sheet 2! of copy inserted. Release of the copyholder is effected by the Bowden wire 4!, the sheath @2 of which is clamped to the plate l2,"'adjacent'the block l3, by means of theclaniping'blocks "93%, similar to the blocks 36. When the" Bowdenwire 4| is pushed upwardly it engages the right hand end of the lowest plate 26 androcks said plates to the horizontal position shown in Fig. 81 Owing to a long'pin 26a on the topmost plate 25, the plates 22 are likewise rockedfto'a horizontal position. This relieves the grip which' the " plates 22 and 25 have on the rod lfi'and 'allows'th'e rod [5 and the plate ii to drop. In order to 'prevent'the plate H and parts connected thereto from falling with a slam, the lower end of the tube M is formed with a bleeder aperture Ma (Fig. 2) which permits the air trapped between the piston Lid and the plug l2c to escape rapidly butsufficiently slowly to cushion the fallof' the rod 15 and the plate ll. The Bowden wire Q! also may be operated by a foot pedalin a manner which will be made clear hereinafter.

In order to enable the typist to follow the lines of copy more conveniently there is provided a line finder 44 (Figs. 1 and 3) whichmay take the form of a thin fiat strip of transparent plastic on which may be scribed a horizontal line 4 which conveniently may be filled'with red ink to make it clearly distinguishable from lines on the copy. The line finder 44 is attached to the upper end of a block 45 rotatably slidably mounte'd"on the rod 38 between a collar 86 fixed 'onthe rodland a spring il, the upper end of which abuts the upper lug 39. As most clearly shown in Fig. 3, the collar 66 is transversely "slotted toforin a cam face 46a and the block451sshapedatits lower end to conform'to the shape'of the upper face of the collared. Owing tci "the combined effect of the weight of'the block %5 and finder {i4 and the spring M, the'finder i i isheld a position parallel with the fron't'face" (Figfl) 'of the copyholder' plate'll. 'Howieve'r, theco'nstruc tion just described permit the finder and be swung forwardly and to the right "(Fig 1) during the course of which the cam face 46g will cause the "finder 44 to be. carnr'n'ed' upwardly slightly against the compressionof the spring permitting copy sheets to be'ch'anged more eonveniently.

Means is provided to enable the operator, either by hand or by foot, to adjust the'feed of the copy to suit the line'spacing of the'material being copied. For this purpose there is Qseci ired was rod 2'! a cross bar 38 (Fig. 2) which extends across the back of the copyholder and is pro vided with forwardly proj ec'ng lugs 18a, 586, which among other things serve to guide the plate I! vertically by coacting with the edges of plate I2. Attached to the right hand lug 5181) (Fig. 1* is a block 49 which conveniently may be made of l This bleek i .fermedw ih p lity vertical bores arranged in a'row; a's'inost'el'early trastmg' colofto'the sc'r'ibed line Ma which "Je l e n eshq l en elly with the-li e .4a h eh weihlbwered 9 91. h positi n lens. 1 e e e e ieece 9i llestr and to avoid com ose o line b twe the. rinee ss and 5 he R -t. m er. 1 o ed wit a can face .0 li mam fa e. 154 wh n cponerates w th. a r l 491 rm d lon the. uppe left. h nd a ee f th ldcl: 4. F 1 Thus th fliery fi der n rma l ends to take the pcsi..-. tion shown in his. 1, sl ht in fro t or the eft. and nd. Q? he finder 44. but. ike the lattenmayhe were out cithe wa t desi ed to insert the opy, The pivot elem n 50.-

merely loosely received in the hole in block .49 and may e Shift o w rd y o. difierent. holes. to accus me a e d f er n th cknes es o copy. Thus, if it s. desired to cop so ething. the. pages. ofwhich cannot be separated, the finder 4.4 may. be swung out o the wa and the au iliary finder my be moved forwardly to accommodate the thick: less or he. cop .an used a a in fi r- The. manner in which this isdone. will be made, clear. her inafter.

Th Bowden wires 3.4.41; ar perated by. 00 Power b m ans. of the treadle mechanism shown in Figs. l, 5 and This mechanism includes a base plate 5 th underside. of which may be. faced with friction material.v 52a, suchas soft rubber, to, preventslipping on. the floor, since. it

would seldom be, convenient or desirable tofasten the treadle mechanism to the floor. Secured to the top face of the plate. 5.2 are. the; brackets. 53; having th pivots.5,4 for the; foot treadle 55, the latter being provided with suitable brackets. 55. receiving the pivots 54. The treadle. 5.5. is nor.-. mally inclined asshownv in Fig. 5 and'isprovided. W h heelplate. 5.1; which may be adjusted. to. accommodate, thetypists foot. For this purpose the heel plate 51; is. formed. with the lugs 5.1a.

which are bent downwardly and totheright to. enable the. lugs -t be insertedinholes55ain the.

treadle 55, The left hand;edge of the. heelplate 1 is formed with a flange. 51b to prevent the.

yp s is fo t. fr m slipn down. the treadle. Br

rasping. this flange-and lifting the. plate 5:1 it may be rocked in a. clockwise direction to dise n. gage the lugs 51;]. from the holes with which they; are registering. and reinsert-thelugs in a. different pair oi holes ina manner-which will be obvious r m. the drawin s- For the. p lrposeofl operating the vBowdenv wire.

34, thebase plate. 52iisformed.with abracketex. tension52b. (Fig, 6)- having an. offset lug to which is secured the sheath of; theBowden wire (it: Th latter is provided. with. an adjustable, collar 34a, which limitsv the eigtent to which the wire 34 is pulled into the sheath 35 (Fig. 6) by the tension of the spring 3i, (Fig. 2) acting onthe other end of the Bowden wire '34 through the lever 29. It is this collarMa which limits the extent towhicl the plunger 21 moves upwardly upon release oh the lever The Bonden. w re. ..iis. p ovided with a second collar 34b in engagement with. a bracket extension 55b of treadle.55,v the extension being forked to loosely receive theBowdenwire 34. It is evident that rocking of the treadle 55 in a clockwise direction (Fig. 5) will result in depression of the extension 55b, thereby transmitn r d .8. nd. fo ow. h ever;

ne movement to the Bordenwire 34 in adirec the t9 withdrawals wire tram the sheath. This. of cours res ts i the ethe end oi the :Bcwden w re 4. (Fig. moving d .dly. operatin the l ver. 2;9 and effect n the. line snacinsofthe 6911313.

or the purpo e of operating he Bewclen. wire .1 ba e. pla e zit-" derided with brac et 52.10pm whic is p oted @fifi'td. a 1i pedal 58. a -ins th toe engag ng surface The pedal 5% is p votallyconne ted at 5%. to. a collar 5.9 se u d to a plunser fit fastened to theiBowden wire 4 i- The sheath of. the Bowdenwire 4:2 is secured to a bracket 52c to-the. base .52 anda spring 61- is in erposed between the bracket EiZ'eand the collar 5e. When the.- pedal 58a is rockedclocks wise bylthe typists toe, the plunger 691s push-ed to. the. left (Fig. 5) thereby pushingtheBowden wire .412. upwardly cutofitssheath 62 inFig. 2 to release. the plates 22, zdas described above.

The copyholder may be operated in several different ways, depending upon'the typists' preferences and upon the type of copying job involved. For copying ordinary typewritin g where the-lines are uniformly spaced on loosesheets, the typist-, after placing. the first oopysheet 2 I in place, under the clamps 28 will loosen the. thumb screw- 3% and then depress the lever 29a, either'by thesame hand as loosens the thumb screws cm or bymeans of the treadle 55. In depressing the lever 29a by either method, it is'moved slowly until the index line cm on. the auxiliary finder 5| reaches a position a little below the first line or typing as in- Fig. l, the sheet 2'! being initially inserted so that the line Maonthemainfinder 44 is atrifie belowthe first line to be copied; While holding the lever 2-9a-depressed; the thumb screw 32 amaybe tightened. Owing to the action of the spring 46 the lugtlb will be held in Contact with the lever- 29a and moved therewith while-the lever-29 is being operated to position the finder 5ias -shown in Fig. 1. The tightening of" the; thumb screw- 3'51 will i'ixthe'stroke of which the; lever 29a is capable and thereby" will limit the feed to one line space interval on thc-copy-.--

Preferably the; setting of" the stop. 3-! in the manner just described will come afteethe. first; line has: been copied; asotherwise the adjustment which is so effected will cause the copy to be line-spacedone line and it isdesirable that this not ta'ke place untilafter the first line has been; copied. It is necessary-that. the first act;

be to position the first line inproper relation-to the scribed line 44a as otherwise there will; be; difiiculty in; determining where tp'sgtitheauxile iary finder- 5-I. Afterwriting thefirst line and setting the finder 5i; the relaxation f-pressure; on the treadle 55will cause, the copyholdertobe automatically indexed one line space to position h c nd. in n. oo e a o th. he cribed' line Mo on the finderl lz' After this, it me necessary at the end of each line-to depress the; r e n t ring n ce a. as at s t: will go.

n copy-ins mat r' n. Whichthe pa ineis like y. o be r gular a d." anno be: re e mined. bytti s he fi der. 5. n. he. mann r, described: above,'the thumb screw 31a'wi1l' be'l'le ftloose so; that the block 31 is free to req pliQl-i itfi vertically After c pyin each. i eh twist. wi mere y. press. wn. an. h tread e; 5.5-. a the lever. un l-i hafisd 51 regi t rs with; h nexltlineo: be. copied and release the treadle or the" lever 29'? This will cause the copy to be spaced in proportion to th actualspacing and enables'the operator to vary the amount the lines'are indexed. to suit variations in spacing on the copy sheet.

Since the auxiliary finder always normally stops with the scribed line 51a in register with the line 44a. which may be termed the normal sighting line it is possible to use the finder 5! to draw the eye to a line which must be copied in cases where the material to be copied is in bound form and cannot be separated. An illustration is legal papers which are ordinarily bound with ribbon in such fashion that they cannot be taken apart without destroying the legal value of the documents. Such documents are usually bound at the top and in copying them it is possible to swing the main finder M out of the way and insert the pivot element iii of finder 5! in the nearest hole in the block 43 which will accommodate the thickness of the copy material. The block 31 may then be set in the manner described above where the spacing is uniform or the thumb screw may be left loose and the finder 5| moved downwardly variable distances to accommodate variations in the spacing of the copy. When the finder 5| is to be used in this manner, the copyholder may be provided with a third finder which is long enough to span the copy and the short finder may then be replaced by the longer finder.

One of the biggest advantages of the copyholder described above is the feature whereby the typist may instantaneously adjust the spacing to suit the copy by direct reference to the lines to be copied, making it unnecessary to make repeated adjustments in a screw or other device with which present copyholders rely upon for producing fine variations in the spacing or rely upon fixed adjusting devices limiting the feed to fixed line spacing increments which do not always coincide exactly to the line space of all typewritten material. This is important because of the fact that, according to the number of carbon copies made, the actual spacing on the ribbon copy, or first sheet may not be the same as the spacing of the carbon copy next to the platen. For example, when a large number of carbon copies are made, the outer sheet always has slightly greater line spacing than the innermost sheets owing to the difference in diameter of the pack of sheets and the platen. Commercial copyholders are not capable of accommodating such variationsexcept by trial requiring the turning of a fine pitch screw stop which requires that at least several lines be typed before the spacing becomes accurate enough for the typist to rely upon it. With the arrangement disclosed herein the typist in one stroke can adjust the finder 5| to exactly the right line spacing.

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

What is claimed is:

1. In a copyholder for typewriting and other oflice machines, a support, a copy carrier mounted on said support, a line finder mounted on said support, adjustable means for effecting a line-byline indexing movement of the carrier on said support and relative to said support, and an auxiliary line finder juxtaposed with the first line finder and movable on said support by said adjustable means to denote the extent of movement of said carrier when adjusting the adjustable means.

2. In a copyholder for typewriting and other office machines,-a support, a copy carrier movable vertically on the support and having releasable means for holding a sheet of copy, a main line finder pivotally mounted on said support for movement in a horizontal plane from a copying position in front of the copy sheet to an inactive position permitting insertion of the cops sheet from in front of the copy carrier, means for indexing said carrier on said support relative to said finder, and an auxiliary finder movable on said support by said indexing means in a direction opposite the indexing movement of the carrier prior to indexing the carrier and in register with the next line to be copied, said auxiliary finder also being movable in a horizontal plane to an inactive position to permit insertion of the copy sheet.

3. A copyholder for typewriting and other office machines comprising a. base plate, a support, means to adjustably movably mount said support on said base plate, a copy carrier movable on said support; a pair of line finders mounted on said support, one of said finders being normally stationary in register with a line to be copied, the other finder being movable to the next line to be copied, means for first moving said other finder to next line position and thereafter moving said carrier in a direction to bring said next line into register with the first finder, and means for setting the stroke of the moving means while said second finder is in next line position.

4. A copyholder for typewriters and other office machines comprising a support, a copy carrier mounted for indexing movement on said support, a line finder mounted on the support for following a line to be copied, and means for moving said carrier including a second finder movable by the moving means to coincide with the next line to be copied prior to moving the carrier to bring the next line into register with the first finder.

5. In a 'copyholder, a, copy carrier, means operable to effect a line spacing movement of the copy carrier, and a pointer device movable over the copy on said carrier for visually predetermining the line spacing movement of the carrier, said device being operated by the first named means in advance of movement of the carrier.

6. In a, copyholder, a copy carrier line indexing means including means variably settable to determine the amount of line spacing movement of the copy carrier, and a pointer device moving over said copy and actuated by the indexing means for determining the setting of the determining means by direct measurement of the copy.

CARLTON T. JACKSON.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Van Berkel Nov. 27, 1917

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