US3447656A - Typewriter for flat surfaces having a type head movable relative to a stationary base - Google Patents

Description

June 3, 1969 R NYQUIST 3,447,656

TYPEWRITER FOR FLAT SURFACES HAVING A TYPE HEAD MOVABLE RELATIVE TO A STATIONARY BASE Filed July 26, 1967 Sheet INVENTOR. RICHARD A. NYQUIST M Mr I ATTORNEYS.

3,447,656 EAD R. A. NYQUIST FLAT 5 June 3, 1969 TYPEWRITER FOR URFACES HAVING A TYPE H MOVABLE RELATIVE TO A STATIONARY BASE Sheet Filed July 26, 1967 INVENTOR.

RICHARD A. NYQUIST M; M ZV IL rllli ATTORNEYS June 3, 1969 A. NYQUIST 3,447,656

TYPEWRITER F AT SURFAC HAV A TYPE HEAD MO LE A'I'IVE TO A TIO Y BASE Sheet 3 of 6 VAB Filed July 26, 1967 INVEN RICHARD A. NY ST Q9 .3 BY

ATTORNEYS June 3, 1969 3,447,656 EAD R. A. NYQUI FOR FLAT SURFACES E RELATIVE A TYPE Y BASE She H NG TO A ST ONAR TYPEWRITER MOVABL Filed July 26, 1967 WE H IQEDCB INVENTOR. RICHARD A. NYQUIST hwy-W ATTORNEYS June 3, 1969 R, NYQUIST 3,447,656

TYPEWRITER FOR FLAT SURFACES HAVING A TYPE HEAD MOVABLE RELATIVE TO A STATIONARY BASE I Filed July 26, 1967 Sheet of s I I4 I I 25 g! FlG. 13

INVENTOR. I RICHARD A. NYQU'ST ATTORNEYS June 3, 1969 R. A. NYQUIST 3,447,656

TYPEWRITER FOR FLAT SURFACES HAVING A TYPE HEAD Filed July 26. 1967 MOVABLE RELATIVE TO A STATIONARY BASE Sheet 6 of 6 INVENTOR.

RICHARD A. NYQUIST F|e 15 BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 197-2 22 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A typewriter for typing on the supporting sun-face on which it rests (e.g., a large drawing) in which the type elements are mounted outboard of the keyboard and mechanism housing so that the type head moves across the paper outside of the housing while the keyboard and housing stand still, and so that the type marks made on the paper are clearly visible as the head moves along.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 485,396, filed Sept. 7, 1965, now abandoned.

Summary of the invention This invention relates to a typewriter capable of typing directly onto the fiat surface which supports it. The invention is particularly useful for typing on drawings, blueprints, charts, or other large sheets as they lie on a flat surface, such as a drawing board.

The present invention eliminates the need for removing the sheet from the drawing board and inserting it into a carriage (as with the conventional typewriter) in order to type on it. Thus, it eliminates the inconvenience that normally occurs when a large sheet is removed from the board and, in most cases, necessarily folded, and then inserted into the conventional typewriter carriage.

The typewriter disclosed in the patent to Dohn, entitled Platenless Typewriter, US. 2,460,813, dated Feb. 8, 1949, has a capability of typing directly on its supporting surface.

The present invention represents a significant improvement over the Dohn design in a number of respects. Unlike the Dohn typewriter, the present invention has a sta tionary base. The Dohn typewriter, on the other hand, relies on a movable base. As a result, with the Dohn typewriter, the whole machine moves across the sheet in increments as the letters are typed. This means that the keyboard similarly moves and, accordingly, typing is made more difficult as compared to typing on a stationary keyboard. In the present invention the base and keyboard remain stationary as the type head alone travels across the sheet. Moreover, the present invention includes an electrically actuated printing mechanism (as opposed to operator-actuated) and, in addition, the type style may be quickly and conveniently changed by merely changing the type wheel. Since the Dohn design relies on a set of permanently mounted type levers, the type may only be changed with extensive effort.

Accordingly, the invention has among its objects:

To provide a typewriter capable of typing directly on its supporting surface, during which the base and keyboard remain stationary;

To provide a typewriter as described above, in which the type style may be quickly and conveniently changed;

To provide a typewriter capable of typing directly on its supporting surface, having an electrically actuated printing mechanism; and

To provide an electrically actuated type writer capable of printing directly on its supporting surface, having a rotatable type wheel and means for moving the type wheel incrementally across the supporting surface and engaging type carried by the type wheel with the supporting surface.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention and shows the housing, keyboard, printing arm, type head and the printing arm standard;

FIG. 2 is a top View of the first embodiment of the invention with the housing and keyboard removed, and shows the mechanical and electromechanical components;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the components shown in FIG. 2 and shows their relationship to the base and supporting surface;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 and shows the type wheel housing and the linkage for pivoting or arcuately moving the type wheel from the retracted position of FIG. 4A to the typing or printing position of FIG. 413;

FIG. 5 is a View taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 2 and shows the type wheel and its relationship to the type wheel guide. The type wheel appears in a retracted position in FIG. 5A and in a printing position in FIG. 5B;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial view of the incremental advancing mechanism. In FIG. 6A the components are shown in the position assumed at the end of one incremental advance of the type wheel, with the type wheel in the retracted position. In FIG. 6B the incremental advancing components are shown in the position they assume when the type wheel is in the printing position.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are end views of the enlarged partial views of FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged partial view of the incremental advancing mechanism and shows the components in the position they assume when the type wheel is in the retracted position and is being moved from the right to the left margin to begin a new line;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary circuit for electrically actuating the electromechanical components of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of a modification of the first embodiment incorporating a variation in the type wheel housing and method of mounting and rotating the type wheel;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken on the line 1111 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a figure similar to FIG. 2 but showing a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a figure similar to FIG. 3 but showing the second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the type head of the second embodiment; and

FIG. 15 is a section along line 1515 of FIG. 14.

Detailed description of the first embodiment In general, and with reference to FIG. 1, the invention 10 includes a housing and base 11 which may include a keyboard 15; a type wheel 12, means secured to the base within housing 11 which rotate the type wheel 12; and means for incrementally advancing type wheel 12 from left to right toward the support or standard 14. In operation, the machine of the present invention may be freely positioned on a supporting surface by the base 11 and the standard 14, or it may be secured to a drafting machine cooperating with the supporting surface.

In the first embodiment described therein, additional means are provided for arcuately moving the type wheel 12 from the printing position shown in FIG. 1 to a retracted position through the intermediary of a rockable sleeve 16 which surrounds and is slidable in the drive shaft 17. The type wheel 12 has embossed characters on its printing surface 12A, which, when inked, produce corresponding characters on the supporting surface when type wheel 12 is engaged therewith.

An electrically actuated motor, clutch and brake serve to selectively and intermittently rotate drive shaft 17 and type wheel 12. A solenoid serves to arcuately move type wheel 12 from a retracted position to the printing position shown in FIG. 1. The solenoid operates upon sleeve 16 to pivot it about its longitudinal axis. Keyboard consists of a double-pole, single-throw switch for each key, and each switch or key is connected with a rotary switch. Together these switches serve to clutch and declutch drive shaft 17 to motor 18 to thereby selectively position type wheel 12 according to the key touched.

The actuating components appear in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, and include motor 18, clutch and brake 19, and solenoid 20. Motor 18 is preferably capable of driving output shaft 21 at a rate of approximately 120 rpm. or more. Rotary switch 22 is positioned between clutch 19 and drive shaft 17, and rotates therewith. It preferably d should contain approximately 36 contacts to correspond to a similar number of characters on type wheel 12. It will be readily recognized that the number of contacts may vary greatly with a similar variation in the number of characters on printing surface 12a of type wheel 12 and, moreover, the number of switch contacts need not necessarily correspond with the number of characters as long as there is at least one contact per character.

Clutch and brake 19 may be selectively engaged and disengaged to cause drive shaft 17 to rotate. Accordingly, type wheel 12 may be positioned on its axis of rotation (by a linkage described below) at 36 points to correspond 36 characters embossed on the printing surface 12a on 10 centers. The solenoid includes plunger 23 which, through a linkage described below, when actuated, pivots sleeve 16 about drive shaft 17 and, accordingly, arcuately moves type wheel 12 from a retracted to a printing position. A relay co-ordinates the actuation of solenoid 20 with motor 18 and clutch and brake 19 in response to character selection made on keyboard 15. The relay may consist of a transistor circuit.

The mechanism for rotating type wheel 12 appears in FIG. 2 and includes drive shaft 17 which, when clutch 19 is engaged, is rotated by output shaft 21 through rotary switch 22. Drive shaft 17 extends rotatably through sleeve 16 to standard 14 and is rotatable in bearing 25 of standard 14. It is provided with groove 17a, which extends the length thereof.

The housing of rotary switch 22 is mounted to base 11 by means of bracket 24. Thus, the housing is fixed against rotation and the bracket contributes to the positioning of drive shaft 17 by fixing the axis of rotation of the shaft of rotary switch 22.

Sleeve 16 is circular in cross section and defines cavity 16a, through which drive shaft 17 extends. Sleeve 16 rotatably and slidably engages drive shaft 17 at 16b and 16c. It is slidably and rotatably mounted in sleeve mounting bracket 26, which is secured to base 11. A rack of teeth 27 is secured to the lower side of sleeve 16 (and may be integrally formed therewith) and extends longitudinally thereof, as shown in FIG. 3. Sleeve 16 also has rocker arm 28 fixed to one end thereof, as best seen in FIG. 2.

The relationship between sleeve 16 and mounting bracket 26 appears best in FIG. 11. Bracket 26 contains a notch 26a which accomodates rack 27. The sides of notch 26a extend radially from the axis of rotation of drive shaft 17 and define an angle of about 15, although the angle may vary. Thus, rack 27 engages the sides of notch 26a to limit the rotation of sleeve 16 from the retracted position (shown in FIG. 11), to the printing position with rack 27 in engagement with the vertical side of notch 260.

Type wheel housing 13 is integrally formed from sleeve 16 and includes bevel gear cavity 13a and inkwell cavity 1315. Type wheel shaft 29 is rotatably mounted in bearing 30 fixed to type wheel housing 13. Type wheel shaft 29 has bevel gear 31 fixed to one end thereof. Bevel gear 31 is engaged by bevel gear 32, which is slidable on and rotatable with drive shaft 17. Bevel gear 32 is seated in bevel gear cavity 13a by means of shoulder 32a and spacing sleeve 33, which is preferably integrally formed therewith. It is rotatable with drive shaft 17 due to a key (not shown) which is slidable in groove 17a. A splined shaft could, of course, be substituted for the groove and key relationship described. Sleeve 16 and bevel gear 32, along with type wheel housing 13 and type wheel 12, are therefore slidable on drive shaft 17 and rotation of drive shaft 17 causes rotation of bevel gear 32, bevel gear 31, type wheel shaft 29, and type wheel 12.

Type wheel 12 is mounted to type wheel shaft 29 by means of wing nut 34 which is threaded onto the threaded extension 2% of shaft 29. Type wheel 12 is indexed to shaft 29 by means of flattened face 29b of extension 29a which mates with the mounting aperture 12b (FIG. 4B) of type wheel 12.

An inkwell is provided in inkwell cavity 13b and communicates with roller applicator 35, which engages typing surface 12a of type wheel 12 and, accordingly, inks the embossed characters on surface 12a.

The mechanism for arcuately moving type wheel 12 from the retracted to the printing position appears in FIGS. 4 and 5. Type wheel 12 is pivotally or arcuately moved by rotating sleeve 16 about the axis of shaft 17. Rocker 36 is generally V-shaped in cross section (as best seen in FIG. 4) and is pivotally mounted to base 11 at hinge 37. The cross section of rocker 36 may, of course, vary considerably. Rocker bracket 38 is secured to one end of rocker 36 and is pivotally connected to solenoid 20 at solenoid plunger 23 by means of link 39. Solenoid 20 is secured to base 11 and thus rocker 36 is caused to pivot about hinge 37 by strokes of solenoid plunger 23.

Rocker 36 engages rocker arm 28, which is secured to sleeve 16, as best seen in FIG. 4. Thus, wall 36a of rocker 36 engages rocker arm 28 to force it upwardly and, as a result, sleeve 16 and type wheel 12 are caused to pivot about the axis of drive shaft 17 from the retracted position of FIG. 4A to the printing position of FIG. 4B.

Type wheel 12 is returned from the printing position (shown in FIG. SE) to the retracted position (shown in FIG. 5A) by means of type wheel guide 40, spring 41, and arm 42. Type wheel guide 40 is hinged to arm 42 at pin 43. Arm 42 is rigidly attached to the bottom of type wheel housing 13 and, accordingly, as spring 41 urges type wheel guide 40 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 5, type wheel housing 13 is pivoted upwardly. In so pivoting type wheel housing 13, wheel guide 40 slides slightly on the supporting surface, but remains in engagement therewith.

Wheel guide 40 is provided with upstanding portion 40a, which is preferably triangular. Upstanding portion 40a is engageable with mating triangular cavities spaced on 10 centers on the periphery of type wheel 12, each of which corresponds to one letter or character on the printing surface 12a of type wheel 12. Thus, as type wheel 12 is moved from the retracted position of FIG. 5A to the printing position of FIG. 5B, upstanding portion of FIG. 5A to the printing position of FIG. 5B, upstanding portion 40a engages the mating triangular cavity in type wheel 12 which is in most direct proimity. As type wheel 12 completes its arcuate movement into engagement with the supporting surface, triangular upstanding portion 40a adjusts the position of type wheel 12 on its axis of rotation to ensure proper engagement between the character on the printing face 12a and the supporting surface. Wheel guide 40 therefore compensates for any small error in the position of type wheel 12 and, accordingly, type wheel 12 need only be stopped in a position where the desired letter is nearer triangular portion 400 than the adjacent letter. Wheel guide 40 also ensures that type wheel 12 does not rotate during engagement with the supporting surface due, for example, to any slight rotation of drive shaft 17 that may be imposed, even though clutch 19 is disengaged. Spring 41 is chosen to provide only sufiicient biasing force to return type wheel 12 to the retracted position, so that it may be easily overcome or dominated by the action of solenoid plunger 23 on rocker 36 and arm 28.

The incremental advancing mechanism for advancing type wheel 12 along the axis of drive shaft 17 to thereby provide the proper letter or character spacing is best seen in FIGS. 6-8. It includes a detent assembly 44 which engages the teeth of rack 27 which extend rigidly from sleeve 16. Detent assembly 44 includes housing 45, which defines detent slot 46 and includes stop 47, upper shoulder 48, and lower shoulder 49. Detent 50 is mounted on pin 51, the ends of which ride in slot 46. Detent 50 includes detent stop 50a, which is integrally formed by a flange on detent 50. It also includes arm 50b, which extends between upper shoulder 48 and lower shoulder 49, as well as arm 50c. Arm 500 is connected to housing 45 by means of spring 52, which is in tension. Detent 50 is therefore slidable in housing 45 from a position as shown in FIG. 6A to the position shown in FIG. 6B. It is pivotable about pin 51 from the position shown in FIG. 6B to the position shown in FIG. 8. The limits of the pivoting alre defined by upper shoulder 48 and lower shoulder 49, which is engaged by arm 50b.

Detent assembly 44 operates in conjunction with the pivoting of sleeve 16 about drive shaft 17. With sleeve 16 (and type wheel 12) in a retracted position and with detent assembly 44 in a stationary upright position, rack 27 is pivoted out of engagement with stop 47 and into engagement with detent stop 50a, as best seen in FIG. 7A. When detent stop 50a is so engaged by teeth 27, advancing spring 53 (see FIG. 2) advances sleeve 16 from the left to the right, as viewed in FIG. 6A.

Advancing spring 53 is secured at one end to base 11, extends around pulley 54, and is secured to bracket 16d of sleeve 16. Since advancing spring 53 is chosen to easily overcome the force in detent spring 52, sleeve 16 is caused to move one increment from the left to the right with one tooth of rack 27 in engagement with detent stop 50a until detent 50 assumes the position shown in FIG. 6A. In the position shown, detent stop 50a prevents sleeve 16 from further advancement, since pin 51 has reached its limit of travel in slot 46, and arm 50b, in engagement with upper shoulder 48, prevents rotation of detent 50 about pin 51. Sleeve 16, after an advance of one increment as described immediately above, is then in a position with type wheel 12 retracted, which ensures proper letterspacing as type wheel 12 subsequently moves into the printing position.

As type wheel 12 moves from the retracted postion to the printing position, rack 27 moves out of engagement with detent stop 50a and into engagement with stop 47. Stop 47 assumes the load previously assumed by detent stop 50a and prevents advancement of sleeve 16 against the force of advancement spring 53. When detent stop 50a is disengaged from rack 27, it is free to move in slot 46 to the position shown in FIG. 6B, due to the force of spring 52. After detent 50 completes its travel in slot 46 and assumes the position shown in FIG. 6B, the advancing cycle is completed with type wheel 12 in the printing position shown in FIG. 5B and sleeve 16 and rack 27 in the position shown in FIG. 7B. As type wheel 12 returns to the retracted position and rack 27 is disengaged from stop 47 and re-engages detent stop 50a, sleeve 16 is advanced one increment, as described above.

The spacing between letters may be varied by varying the length of slot 46. Thus, the travel of pin 51 may be adjusted to include two or three spaces without varying the mode of operation of detent assembly 44.

When it is desired to move type wheel 12 from the right margin to the left margin to begin a new line, detent 50 is overridden, as shown in FIG. 8. With sleeve 16 in the retracted position, rack 27 engages detent stop 50a. As sleeve 16 is manually moved to the left, detent 50 pivots about pin 51 as the force of spring 52 is overcome and detent stop 50a is pushed out of the way by rack 27.

The left margin is defined by engagement between portion 16b of sleeve 16 and coupling 63. The right margin is defined by engagement between sleeve bracket 26 and rocker arm 28.

Spacing, such as between words, is accomplished as a result of the pivotal mounting of detent assembly 44 which appears in FIGS. 6 and 7. Detent housing 45 is pivotable on pins 60 which are rotatable in brackets 61 secured to base 11. Housing 45 is normally held in an upright position such as shown in FIG. 7 by linkage not shown. When it is desired to space, i.e., advance sleeve 16 while retaining type wheel 12 in the retracted position, housing 45 is caused to pivot on pins 60 to the position shown schematically in FIG. 7. Thus, the spacing is accomplished by moving detent assembly 44 with relation to sleeve 16 and rack 27 rather than moving the latter with relation to the former, which occurs when the type wheel prints. The pivoting of detent housing 45 as described above may be accomplished by any linkage, as those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize. Such linkage may be actuated by a spacing bar such as spacing bar 62 shown in FIG. 1.

The electrical circuit for actuating the invention appears in FIG. 9. It includes key 15, motor 18, clutch and brake 19, solenoid 20, rotary switch 22, relay 55, diode 56, and capacitor 57 wired as shown. Thirty-six keys are provided, one for each contact in rotary switch 22 and character on type wheel 12, although only two are shown. The components may be chosen by those skilled in the art from over a wide range of specifications for operation at any suitable power supply voltage. In the circuit shown, capacitor 57 is 125 mfd., 250 v.; and relay 55 is v., cycle.

Operation When the circuit shown is energized the shaft (not shown) of motor 18 rotates. Depressing normally open letter key 15 makes electrical contact to the appropriate position or contact on rotary switch 22 and simultaneously completes an electrical circuit to clutch and brake 19 which engages output shaft 21 to motor 18. The shaft of rotary switch 22 is therefore caused to rotate, and drive shaft 17 rotates therewith. When the shaft of rotary switch 22, through rotation, makes contact with the contact corresponding to the key depressed, power is fed to double-pole, double-throw relay 55, causing the relay to move from its normal position.

In moving to its new position, relay 55 cuts power from clutch and brake 19, thereby disengaging output shaft 21 from rotary switch 22 and applying brake thereto. Simultaneously, it disconnects capacitor 57, which has been charging through diode 56, and connects it to solenoid 20. Capacitor 57 discharges and plunger 23 of solenoid 20 retracts, pivoting rocker 36 about hinge 37. Rocker arm 28 is pushed upwardly by rocker 36 and type wheel 12 is arcuately moved into printing position.

When the key is released, the circuit to rotary switch is opened and relay 55 moves back to its normal position and capacitor 57 recharges through diode 56.

During the engagement of clutch 19, drive shaft 17 is rotated by output shaft 21 as previously explained. Drive shaft 17 rotates bevel gear 32 which, in turn, rotates bevel gear 31, type wheel shaft 29, and type wheel 12 to position the appropriate letter for printing.

The incremental advancing mechanism operates in conjunction with the pivotal movement of sleeve 16 as described above.

Type wheel 12 may be easily changed to provide a different letter style, size or set of characters merely by loosening wing nut 34, removing type wheel 12 from type wheel shaft 29 and replacing it with a different type wheel.

The present invention is particularly adaptable to operation by means of a remote input which discriminately closes the switches normally closed by pressing keys 15.

It will be readily recognized that various changes, in addition to those referred to intermittently above, may be made in the embodiment shown without departing from the scope of the inevntion. Type wheel 12, for example, could be constantly rotated and stopped when a key is depressed rather than remaining stationary until the key is depressed and then rotating an appropriate angular distance. In addition, the incremental advancing mechanism could vary widely within the scope of the various mechanisms used on conventional typewriters. Moreover, the type wheel housing and type wheel mounting may vary as shown in FIG. 10.

With reference to FIG. 10, type wheel 12 may be mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to drive shaft 17' as distinguished from rotation about an axis perpendicular to the axis of drive shaft 17'. Thus, spur gear 32 is slidable on but rotatable with drive shaft 17. Sleeve 33' is formed integrally with spur gear 32' and is seated for rotation in type wheel housing 13' formed integrally with sleeve 16. Type wheel 12 is fixed to type wheel shaft 29. Spur gear 31' is keyed to shaft 29' and engages spur gear 32'. Thus, rotation of drive shaft 17 causes rotation of type wheel 12' and type wheel 12 advances with advancement of sleeve 16. Sleeve 16" is caused to pivot and advance to thereby advance and arcuately move type wheel 12 into and out of engagement with the supporting surface as described above.

Detailed description of the second embodiment Referring now to FIG. 12, it will be noted that the contents of the housing 11 in the second embodiment of the invention are identical to those of housing 11 in FIG. 2 except for the omission of solenoid 20 and parts 23, 28, 36 and 38. In lieu of the sliding bearing 26 of FIG. 2, which permitted a rocking movement of sleeve 16, the second embodiment of the invention uses a keyed bearing 126 which permits only axial movement of the sleeve 116. This axial movement of sleeve 116 is controlled by the spacing mechanism 144 (FIG. 13) which may be analogous to the spacing mechanism 44 or may be of the conventional type ordinarily used to advance a typewriter carriage.

The type head 113 of the second embodiment carries a type wheel 112 coaxial with the sleeve 116, and a solenoid 120 fixed to the sleeve 116. The type wheel 112 is keyed for sliding movement along the same grooved shaft 17 which was used in the first embodiment, but in the second embodiment the type wheel 112 is rotatably supported on the sleeve 116 by conventional means such as a sliding bearing so that the type wheel 112 moves axially in unison with sleeve 116 but rotates with respect to sleeve 116 in unison with shaft 17. The type wheel 112 carries resilient type bars 170 in turn carry at their outer ends characters 172.

The resiliency of the type bars 170 is such that they will not be appreciably deformed by the centrifugal forces arising from the rotation of type wheel 112, but that they can be resiliently depressed into contact with the supporting surface 11 when struck by the hammer 176 which is attached by an arm 178 to the shaft 180 of solenoid 120. It will be appreciated that when the solenoid 120 is momentarily energized by the discharge of capacitor 57 in the circuit of FIG. 9, the hammer 176 will move to the dotted line position of FIG. and will strike against the supporting surface 11 whichever character 172 is at that moment in the bottom position of the type wheel 112. The solenoid 120 is spring-biased so as to return to the full line position of FIG. 15 immediately after striking a character.

It will be appreciated that although the indexing and printing circuit of FIG. 9 can be used, it is equally feasible to keep the type wheel 112 rotating continuously and to energize the solenoid by means of the commutator 22 at the precise moment during which a desired character reaches the bottom position on the type wheel 112 during the first revolution following the depressing of a desired key on the keyboard 15.

The second embodiment is preferable to the first in that the depressibility of individual type bars makes it possible to space the characters much closer to one another than was the case with the type wheel 12 of the first embodiment. Likewise, the movement of only a single type bar rather than of the whole type wheel for printing a character makes the machine considerably lighter and less noisy.

The characters 172 may be inked by any suitable inking device 182 (FIGS. 12 and 13), as for example by an inking roller as described above in connection with the first embodiment.

Precise positioning of the characters 172 for printing may be accomplished by any desired aligning means. For example, one practical method of arranging the continuously-rotating version of the device includes driving shaft 17 at ten revolutions per second by a motor 18 rotating at 360 r.p.s. through a 36:1 speed reducer (not shown). The shaft 184 (FIGS. 12 and 13) of motor 18 therefore makes one complete revolution each time the type wheel moves through the are from one type bar to the next. By providing a vernier disc 186 on shaft 184 and picking off a contact or induced signal in a pick-off device 188 each time a predetermined spot on disc 1S6 pase the pick-off device 188, a timing signal can be fed into the solenoid actuating circuit in any well-known manner so as to precisely time the energization of the solenoid to coincide with the correctly aligned position of any selected type bar Obviously, the concept of this invention can be carried out in many different Ways, of which the embodiments shown and described are merely illustrative. Consequently, I do not desire to be limited by the embodiment shown and described, but rather to encompass everything within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A typewriter for writing on a flat supporting surface which comprises:

a base engageable with a portion of said surface;

a key actuated mechanism supported on said base;

a shaft rotatable by said mechanism having a portion extending outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a type wheel rotatably coupled with said shaft portion outwardly beyond said base for engagement with said surface;

a support engageable with a portion of said surface and receiving said shaft beyond said type wheel, said base and support engaging said surface during a writmg operation;

means for rotating said type wheel about an axis of rotation;

means for selectively moving said wheel from a retracted position above said surface arcuately to a printing position in engagement with said surface to thereby define a plane of arcuate movement, and means for returning said wheel to said retracted position;

means operative when said wheel is in said retracted position for incrementally moving said wheel in a path transverse to said plane of arcuate movement; and

means for selectively positioning said type wheel on said axis of rotation in said printing position.

2. The typewriter of claim 1 wherein said mechanism includes an electrically actuated motor secured to said base.

3. The typewriter of claim 2 wherein said means for selectively moving said wheel in said plane of arcuate movement includes a solenoid secured to said base for rotating said shaft.

4. The typewriter of claim 3 wherein said means for selectively positioning said type wheel on said axis of rotation includes a clutch disposed intermediate said motor and said type wheel, a rotary switch, and means passing through said switch for co-ordinating the actuation of said clutch and solenoid.

5. A typewriter for writing on a flat supporting surface which comprises:

a base adapted for being supported by said surface;

a drive shaft rotatably mounted to said base and extending therefrom in spaced parallel relationship to said surface;

means for rotating said drive shaft;

a sleeve slidable on and pivotable about said drive shaft;

a type wheel rotatably mounted to said sleeve;

means for transmitting rotation of said drive shaft to said type wheel;

means for pivoting said sleeve about said shaft from a retracted position with said type wheel above said surface to a printing position with said type wheel in engagement with said surface to thereby define a plane of arcuate movement, and means for returning said wheel to said retracted position;

means for selectively positioning said type wheel in said printing position; and

means operative when said wheel is in said retracted position for incrementally moving said sleeve along said drive shaft.

6. The typewriter of claim 5 wherein said means for rotating said drive shaft comprises an electrically actuated motor secured to said base.

7. The typewriter of claim 6 wherein said means for selectively positioning said type wheel on said axis of rotation in said printing position comprises:

a clutch disposed between said motor and said drive shaft which, when engaged, transmits rotation from said motor to said drive shaft;

a rotary switch rotatable with said drive shaft, said switch having a plurality of contacts;

a keyboard secured to said base, said keyboard having plurality of keys consisting of switches;

said plurality of keys being electrically connected, re-

spectively, to said plurality of contacts and to said clutch.

8. The typewriter of claim 7 wherein said means for pivoting said sleeve about said shaft includes a solenoid secured to said base and means for co-ordinating the actuation of said solenoid with said clutch.

9. The typewriter of claim 5 and a standard rotatably mounted to said drive shaft at the end thereof remote from said base, said standard extending from said shaft to said supporting surface.

10. The typewriter of claim 5 and means for applying writing fluid to the printing surface of said type wheel.

11. The typewriter of claim 5 wherein said means for returning said type wheel to said retracted position comprises a member adapted for engagement with the said supporting surface, an arm extending from said sleeve toward said surface, hinge means mounting said arm to said member for pivotal movement about an axis parallel to said drive shaft, and spring means for urging said arm angularly away from said member.

.12. A typewriter for writing on a flat supporting surface which comprises:

a base adapted for being supported by said surface;

a drive shaft rotatably mounted to said base and extending therefrom in spaced parallel relationship to said surface;

means for rotating said drive shaft;

a sleeve slidable on and pivotable about said drive shaft;

a type wheel shaft rotatably extending from said sleeve in a direciton transverse to said drive shaft;

a type wheel mounted for rotation with said type wheel shaft by means of a removable retaining member; means slidable on and rotatable with said drive shaft for transmitting rotation of said drive shaft to said type wheel shaft;

means for pivoting said sleeve about said shaft from a retracted position with said type wheel above said surface to a printing position with said type wheel in engagement with said surface to thereby define a plane of arcuate movement, and means for returning said wheel to said retracted position;

means for selectively positioning said type wheel in said printing position; and

means operative when said wheel is in said retracted position for incrementally moving said sleeve along said drive shaft.

13. A typewrier for writing on a flat supporting surface which comprises:

a base engageable with a portion of said surface;

driving means carried by said base;

a shaft rotatable by said driving means having a portion extending outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a type wheel rotatably coupled with said shaft portion outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a support engageable with a portion of said surface and receiving said shaft beyond said type wheel, said base and support engaging said surface during a writing operation;

means for selectively positioning and engaging said type wheel with said surface; and

means for incrementally advancing said type wheel relative to said base.

.14. A typewriter for writing on a fiat supporting surface which comprises:

a base engageable with a portion of said surface;

driving means carried by said base;

a shaft rotatable by said driving means having a portion extending outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a type wheel rotatably coupled with said shaft portion outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a support engageable with a portion of said surface and receiving said shaft beyond said type wheel, said base and support engaging said surface during a writing operation;

means for rotating said type wheel about an axis of rotation;

means for selectively moving said wheel from a re tracted position above said surface to a printing position in engagement with said surface, and means for returning said wheel to said retracted position;

means operative when said wheel is in said retracted position for incrementally advancing said wheel relative to said base; and

means for selectively positioning said type wheel on said axis of rotation in said printing position.

15. The typewriter of claim 14 wherein said driving means includes an electrically actuated motor secured to said base.

:16. The typewriter of claim 15 wherein said means for selectively moving said wheel includes a solenoid secured to said base.

17. The typewriter of claim 16 wherein said means for selectively positioning said type wheel on said axis of rotation includes a clutch disposed intermediate said motor and said type wheel, a rotary switch, and means passing through said switch for co-ordinating the actuation of said clutch and solenoid.

18. A typewriter for writing on a flat supporting surface which comprises:

a base engageable with a portion of said surface;

a key actuated mechanism supported on said base;

a drive shaft rotatable by said mechanism and extending outwardly therefrom in spaced parallel relationship to and overlying said surface;

sleeve slidable on said drive shaft and having a portion positioned outwardly beyond said base;

a type wheel mounted on said sleeve and positioned outwardly beyond said base for engagement with said surface;

a support engageable with a portion of said surface and receiving said shaft beyond said type wheel, said base and support engaging said surface during a writing operation;

means for transmitting rotation of said drive shaft to said type wheel;

means for pivoting said sleeve from a retracted position with said type wheel above said surface to a printing position with said type wheel in engagement with said surface, and means for returning said sleeve to said retracted position;

means for selectively positioning said type wheel in said printing position; and

means for incrementally advancing said sleeve relative to said base.

19. A typewriter for writing on a fiat supporting surface which comprises:

a base engageable with a portion of said surface;

driving means carried by said base;

a shaft rotatable by said driving means having a portion extending outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a type wheel carrying type elements, said type wheel being rotatably coupled with said shaft portion outwardly beyond said base and overlying said surface;

a support engageable with a portion of said surface and receiving said shaft beyond said type wheel, said base and support engaging said surface during a writing operation;

means for selectively positioning and engaging said type elements with said surface; and.

means for incremently advancing said type wheel relative to said base.

20. A portable electric typewriter for typing onto a flat surface onto which it is placed, comprising:

(a) a housing containing type head control mechanism adapted to be placed onto said flat surface;

(b) type head carrying means extending laterally outwardly of said housing;

(c) type head means including type elements and means for selectively impressing said type elements against said flat surface;

(d) means for moving said type head along said carrying means through spaced positions all lying laterally outwardly of said housing;

(e) keyboard means cooperating with said control mechanism to selectively move said type head and cause said type elements to be impressed against said fiat surface; and

(f) support means spaced from said housing and adapted to support on said flat surface the end of said carrying means remote from said housing;

(g) said type head means being movable along said carrying means between said housing and said supporting means;

(h) said carrying means fixed shaft;

(i) said type head means including a type wheel slidable on but keyed to said shaft and carrying individually resiliently mounted type elements, and electrically actuated hammer means for resiliently impressing a selected one of said type elements against said flat supporting surface; and

(j) said type head moving means including an axially movable but rotationally fixed sleeve concentric with said shaft on which said type Wheel is mounted for free rotation.

21. The typewriter of claim 20, further comprising aligning means operatively associated with the movement of said rotatable but axially fixed shaft to enable actuation of said hammer means only when a type element is in precisely aligned printing position.

22. The typewriter of claim 21, on which said aligning means include a vernier disc rotatable at a predetermined multiple of the rotational velocity of said axially fixed shaft, and means cooperating with said vernier disc and said hammers means to enable actuation of said hammer means only when said Vernier disc is in a predetermined position.

being a rotatable but axially References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 460,901 10/1891 Way 197-2 825,261 7/ 1906 Bontempi 1972 1,954,373 4/1934 Walker l97-2 XR 2,541,840 2/1951 Stinson 1972 3,283,869 11/1966 Hiss 1972 3,356,199 12/1967 Robinson 197-53 XR EDGAR S. BURR, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 197S3,

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