Articulated Typewriter Frame

Abstract

The printer and keyboard of a typewriter are supported on independent frames by articulated connections that enable a wide variety of different relationships between the keyboard position and the writing line presented to an operator.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the basic developments in the mechanised typewriter was the achievement of a visible writing line through the use of typing mechanism that would print a character and then move to a position that enabled the operator to see the character and, if necessary, to make a correction. The electric typewriter was a further notable development in enhancing the relationship of the machine to the operator by reducing the manual labor involved of operating keys. Also, the electric typewriter gave added versatility to the typewriter frame configuration since space was not required to develop the mechanical advantage so essential to manual typing. The result of these developments has been a continued evolution of typewriters having more and more visible writing lines and more and more comfortable keyboards. For a given machine, however, the relationship between the writing line and the keyboard has been substantially fixed. Adjustments to accommodate operators of different height and posture have been made primarily in the furniture associated with the typewriter. Adjustable chairs and typing stands are common.

While clearly most typing is done at fixed typing stations, where appropriate furniture is available, it is not at all uncommon for occasional typing to be done on a table or desk that is neither of convenient height nor adjustable. My invention provides a typewriter that is adjustable to provide an optimum relation of comfort between the operator's hands and the keyboard on the one hand and the operator's eyes and the writing line on the other.

Typewriters having structurally independent printers and keyboards have been proposed in the past. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,971 shows a typewriter designed particularly for use by a bedridden person and includes a keyboard that is only electrically connected to the typewriter printer. While such an arrangement provides the ultimate in versatility of relationships between the keyboard and the writing line, it lacks the convenience of a self-contained unit ordinarily required of a typewriter. Accordingly, it has been an object of my invention to provide a self-contained typewriter having independently supported printer and keyboard frames that are adjustable to enable an operator to achieve an optimum comfort relationship with the typewriter. It has been a further object of my invention to provide a typewriter having an articulated frame structure that enables efficient and comfortable typing with the typewriter being used in a variety of non-standard situations.

These and other objects, features and advantages of my invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from reading and understanding the following description of a specific preferred embodiment thereof wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawing of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typewriter having articulated printer and keyboard frame supports in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a pivot connection employed in the typewriter shown in FIG. 1 and taken along lines II--II thereof;

FIG. 3 is a partly broken away side elevational view of the typewriter shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a holding device employed in the typewriter shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and taken along line IV--IV thereof;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view partly in cross section of a further holding device employed in the typewriter shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view of a pivot connection employed in the typewriter shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and taken along line VI--VI thereof;

FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are side elevational or profile views of the typewriter shown in FIG. 1 adjusted to different positions to show its versatility.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing, in FIG. 1 there is shown a typewriter 10 including a printer portion 20, a keyboard portion 30 and a stand 40. A stud or shaft 41 pivotally supports the printer portion 20 on stand 40 and through support arms 50 and 51 also independently supports the keyboard portion 30. Arms 50 and 51 are connected by pivot studs 52 to the keyboard portion 30 to enable its adjustment about an axis 53. Arms 50 and 51 include respective extension portions 54 and 55 that enable the keyboard portion 30 to be positioned varied distances from the printer portion 20.

More specifically, the printer portion 20 includes printing mechanism that can, for example, be like that of the IBM SELECTRIC I/O Keyboardless Printer as described in IBM Customer Engineering Universal Reference Manual Form/Part No. 241-5192-1 published Dec. 1, 1964 by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, New York. This printer includes a type element 21 that is supported on a print mechanism carrier 22 for lateral movement to define a writing line 23 together with suitable power and control mechanism for causing the printing of characters along the writing line 23. This mechanism is supported within a printer frame 24 and is encased by a cover 25. The operations of the printer portion 20 are controlled from electrical impulses provided on a plurality of wires within a flexible cable 26.

The keyboard portion 30 preferrably can be like that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,550 which responds to depression of keybuttons 31 to generate an electrically coded output suitable for controlling the printer portion 20. Flexible cable 26 provides the connection between the output of keyboard 30 and the control input of the printer portion 20. The keyboard 30 includes a keyboard frame 32 (FIG. 6) which provides structural rigidity. The keyboard 30 is housed in an external cover or casing 33.

Stand 40 includes at either lateral side edge thereof an upstanding flange or stand arm 42 only one of which appears in FIGS. 1 and 3. Each pivot stud 41 is rotatably supported by its respective stand arm 42 and is anchored to a lateral side edge of the printer frame 24 by a nut 43, see FIG. 2, to provide an articulated pivot connection 27 between the stand 40 and the printer frame 24.

Each pivot stud 41 also pivotally supports a respective support arm 50 or 51 by an articulated bearing connection 56 therein. Thus the printer portion 20 and support arms 50 and 51 are coaxially pivotally supported by stand 40 for pivoted movement about a common axis 44 for independent adjustment.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4, a spring biased pin 45 is carried by the left hand stand arm 42 for engaging one of a plurality of detent holes 28 in printer casing 25 that are concentrically associated with axis 44. The printer portion 20 thus can be held in any of several angular positions relative to the stand arms 42.

FIG. 5 shows the holding connection between the right hand stand arm 42 and support arm 51 that is associated with the right hand pivot stud 41. This connection comprises detent tooth pawl 46 that is slideably carried by the stand arm 42 for movement radially of the pivot axis 44. A spring 47 biases pawl 46 into engagement with a ratchet or detent wheel 57 that is secured by screws 57a to support arm 51. Pawl 46 and teeth 57b of ratchet wheel 57 are preferably configured to prevent counterclockwise or downward movement of the support arm 51 while permitting clockwise or upward movement thereof. A handle 48 is connected to pawl 46 for manually moving the pawl 46 against its spring 47 to release ratchet wheel 57 to permit either up or down adjustment of arms 50 and 51.

The pivot stud 52 is secured to keyboard frame 32 (FIG. 6) by nut 58 and pivotally receives a bearing portion 59 of arm extension portion 54 to define an articulated connection therebetween. A friction washer 34 supported by keyboard cover mounted boss 35 holds the keyboard portion 30 in any of a plurality of angular orientations simply by friction.

Referring now back to FIG. 3 there is shown an enlarged view of the left support arm 50. The extension portion 54 of the support arm 50 is received between channel forming flanges 60 and 61 with a sliding fit. If desired, a friction brake can be incorporated within the arms 50 and 51 to maintain a positive drag on the extension portions 54 and 55 to hold them in any of a plurality of adjusted positions. A limit stop stud 62 engages an internal channel 63 of the extension portion 54 to prevent complete separation of the extension portion 54 from the flanges 60 and 61.

Operation

the operation of my typewriter 10 can best be understood by reference to FIGS. 7 through 10 which show some of its degrees of versatility. The typewriter 10 can be adjusted to approximate a conventional electric typewriter by pressing the cover 33 of the keyboard portion 30 flush up against the cover 25 of the printer portion 20. In this position, the typewriter 10 can be adjusted about axis 44 to provide the operator with a preferred machine orientation as shown in FIG. 7.

A short operator may prefer to adjust the machine as shown in FIG. 8 wherein the keyboard portion 30 is moved outwardly and downwardly to be more comfortably received by the operator and the printer portion 20 is tilted forwardly to more directly present the writing line 23 to the operator's vision. A more extreme version of the position shown in FIG. 8 is indicated by phantom lines and would actually place the keyboard portion 30 somewhat under the printer portion 20 and thus make it possible for a particularly near-sighted operator to be quite close to the writing line 23.

FIG. 9 shows an adjustment of the typewriter 10 that would accommodate typing while standing, as for example might be convenient to an operator working with the public at a counter where the typewriter 10 is used to complete forms. FIG. 10 shows the typewriter 10 adjusted for use by an operator in a reclining position as might be convenient, for example, for an invalid operator.

All of these examples show the versatility with which my typewriter 10 can be adjusted. To achieve the greatest benefit, it is necessary that both the keyboard portion 30 and the printer portion 20 be adjustable in order that the relationship between the typist's hands and the line of vision can be arranged for optimum comfort. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various additions, deletions and modifications to the particular illustrative embodiment I have shown can be made without departing from the spirit of my inventive concept. For example, various forms of locking devices within the skill of the art are suitable for use in securing the various articulated components of my typewriter 10 in their various positions. Also the securing means can be provided on one or both sides of the typewriter 10. Accordingly, the subject matter sought to be patented is to be limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A typewriter having a printer frame supporting character printing mechanism including means defining a writing line, stand means, first articulated connection means between said stand means and said printer frame to enable support of said printer frame by said stand means in varied orientations with respect thereto, a keyboard frame supporting a plurality of character selecting keybuttons, control connection means between said keybuttons and said printing mechanism, at least one support arm, second articulated connection means between said support arm and said stand means to enable positioning of said support arm in varied orientations with respect to said stand means, releasable holding means for fixing said support arm in a selected orientation with respect to said stand means so that said support arm extends from said stand means in cantilever fashion having a free standing end portion, and third articulated connection means between said keyboard frame and the free standing end portion of said support arm to enable support of said keyboard frame by said support arm in varied orientations with respect thereto.

2. A typewriter as defined in claim 1 wherein said third articulated connection means comprises a pivot shaft, and holding means associated with said pivot shaft for maintaining said keyboard frame in plural stable positions relative to said support arm.

3. A typewriter as defined in claim 1 wherein said support arm further includes an extendable section to enable support of said keyboard frame by said stand means at varied distances from said printer frame.

4. A typewriter as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and second articulated connection means comprise coaxial bearings on a common pivot shaft.

5. A typewriter as defined in claim 1 comprising a pair of said support arms, one of said support arms being supportingly connected between said stand means and said keyboard frame at each lateral side edge of said printer and keyboard frames.

6. A typewriter having a printer frame supporting character printing mechanism, including means defining a writing line and stand means for supporting said printer frame, a keyboard frame supporting a plurality of character selection keybuttons, control connection means between said keybuttons and said printing mechanism, and wherein the improvement comprises:

at least one support arm, means operatively connecting said support arm between said printer frame and said keyboard frame and including first articulated connection means between said keyboard frame and said support arm to enable support of said keyboard frame by said support arm in varied orientations with respect thereto,

second articulated connection means between said support arm and said printer frame to enable positioning of said support arm in varied orientations with respect to said printer frame, and

releasable holding means for fixing said support arm in a selected orientation with respect to said stand means so that said support arm serves as a cantilever support for said keyboard frame.

7. A typewriter as defined in claim 6 wherein said support arm further includes an extendable section to enable support of said keyboard frame by said printer frame at varied distances from said printer frame.