U.S. patent number 3,902,034 [Application Number 05/457,513] was granted by the patent office on 1975-08-26 for adjustable keyboard.
This patent grant is currently assigned to NCR Corporation. Invention is credited to Hiromi Isozaki.
United States Patent |
3,902,034 |
Isozaki |
August 26, 1975 |
Adjustable keyboard
Abstract
A keyboard for a data terminal device which is manually
adjustable to a plurality of operating positions best suited to the
operator. The keyboard is hinged at its forward edge and has
secured thereto a pair of slotted support members which coact with
a detent member to position the keyboard in a plurality of elevated
positions. The keyboard is normally urged to a home position. Upon
disabling the action of the detent member, the keyboard is manually
positioned by the operator which is then secured by the detent
member.
Inventors: |
Isozaki; Hiromi (Kanagawa,
JA) |
Assignee: |
NCR Corporation (Dayton,
OH)
|
Family
ID: |
23817028 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/457,513 |
Filed: |
April 3, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
200/239; 248/397;
235/145R; 400/682 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B41J
29/02 (20130101); B41J 5/105 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B41J
29/02 (20060101); B41J 5/10 (20060101); B41J
5/00 (20060101); H01H 009/02 (); B41J 005/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;200/293,5R,5A
;197/98,186A ;248/397 ;235/145R ;340/365 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Schaefer; Robert K.
Assistant Examiner: Smith; William J.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Cavender; J. T. Hawk, Jr.; Wilbert
Lavin; Richard W.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A data terminal device comprising
a. a housing having a front panel extending generally in a vertical
direction;
b. a keyboard pivotally mounted to the top edge of said front panel
for rotational movement around said panel to a plurality of
adjusted operating positions;
c. a first support member positioned adjacent to and intermediate
the top and bottom edges of said front panel;
d. a pair of torsion springs mounted between said first support
member and the lower portion of said keyboard for normally urging
said keyboard to a first adjusted position;
e. a plurality of depending support arms secured to the lower
portion of the keyboard, each of said support arms having control
surfaces which are arranged on said support arms in the same
direction as the rotation of said keyboard;
f. a locking assembly slidably mounted on said first support member
for movement in a direction to engage and lock said support arms in
a plurality of adjusted positions including a second support member
slidably mounted on said first support member and extending to a
position adjacent the front panel of the terminal device;
g. a push button member secured to one end of said second support
member and extending through said front panel to a position for
selective movement by the operator of the terminal device;
h. a detent member secured to the other end of said second support
member, said detent member having a plurality of upstanding hook
portions each positioned adjacent the control surfaces of a
corresponding support arm;
i. and an extension spring mounted between said first support
member and said second support member for normally moving the
second support member in a direction to move the hook portions of
said detent member into engagement with one of the control surfaces
of said support arms thereby locking the keyboard in an adjusted
position, said second support member being moved by movement of
said push button in a direction against the action of said
extension spring to disengage the hook portions of said detent
member from said arm members whereby the keyboard can be moved
against the action of said torsion springs to another adjusted
operating position.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Prior keyboards used in business machines such as cash registers,
data terminal devices, adding machines, etc. have been designed for
an operator whose characteristics with respect to height, arm reach
etc., have been averaged out. It has been found that with respect
to those operators who do not conform to the average statistics,
use of the keyboard has produced error, fatigue, etc., due to the
elevated position of the keyboard. In the case of mechanical
business machines, it was not economically feasible to provide an
adjustable keyboard due to the mechanical structure of the
keyboard. But with the advent of electronic data terminals, wherein
the keyboard is connected to the various elements of the terminal
by electrical circuits rather than by mechanical elements, the
limitation described above has been removed. It is therefore an
object of this invention to provide a keyboard for use on a data
terminal device which is manually adjustable by the operator to a
position which provides greater efficiency in the operation of the
keyboard. It is another object of this invention to provide an
adjustable keyboard which is simple to adjust to any desirable
elevation and which is low in cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to carry out these objects, there is provided a keyboard
hinged to a terminal device at its forward edge. Mounted on its
rear edge are a pair of support arms each containing a plurality of
aligned slots. Slidably mounted on the terminal device is a detent
member supporting a pair of locking detent arms which coact with
the slots in the support arms to position the keyboard in a
selected position. A resilient member normally urges the keyboard
to a predetermined home position. By actuating the detent member to
release the keyboard, the operator can rotate the keyboard against
the action of the resilient member to the position most suitable
for operation by the operator.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a generally perspective view of the keyboard showing the
mechanism for adjusting the elevational position of the
keyboard.
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the keyboard shown in FIG.
1.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of the
mechanism for adjusting the keyboard of a data terminal device to
various elevational positions. As shown, the keyboard 20 is
attached to the top edge of the front panel 21 of a terminal device
by means of a pair of hinges 22, allowing the keyboard to be
rotated about the edge of the terminal device. Secured to the rear
underside of the keyboard 20 are a pair of curved support arms 23
each containing a plurality of slots 24. While only three slots 24
are shown, it is obvious that any number of slots can be used
depending on the number of positions of the keyboard that are
desired for the installation.
Associated with the support arm 23 is an elongated detent arm 25
having at each end an upturn hook portion 26 which coacts with the
slots 24 in each support arm 23 to position the keyboard at a
predetermined elevational position. The detent arm 25 is secured to
one end of a slide member 27, the other end of which is bent at a
90.degree. angle and to which is attached a push-button member 28.
The slide member 27 is slidably supported on an angle member 30 by
means of a pair of screw members 31 mounted to the angle member 30
and which extend through elongated slots 32 located in the slide
member 27. The length of the slots 32 will control the length of
movement of the slide member 27. The slide member 27 is normally
urged in a direction towards the front of the terminal device by a
spring 33 mounted between a stud 34 secured to the slide member 27
and a stud 35 secured to the angle member 30 and which extends
through an elongated slot 36 located on the slide member 27.
The angle member 30 is secured to one side of an upright support
member 37 mounted within the terminal device. Secured to the other
side of the support member 37 is a second angle member 38
positioned opposite a rear portion 40 of the angle member 30. Both
the angle member 38 and the rear portion 40 of the angle member 30
each support one end of an associated torsion spring 41. The other
ends of the torsion springs 41 engage a plate 42 secured to the
underside of the keyboard 20. The action of the torsion springs 41
is to move the keyboard in an upright direction. This upright
movement is limited by a depending arm 43 secured to the plate 42
and having an L-shaped lower end portion 44 which will engage the
portion 40 of the angle member 30 upon movement of the keyboard in
an upright direction.
In operation, the keyboard 20 will normally be urged into its
top-most position by the action of the torsion springs 41 on the
plate 42. In this position, the spring 33 will move the slide 27
forward until the hook portion 26 of the detent arm engages the
lower-most slots 24 in the support arm 23 thus locking the keyboard
in this position as shown in FIG. 1. If it is desirable to adjust
the keyboard to a position which is comfortable to the operator,
the operator pushes the button 28 inwardly. This action moves the
slide against the action of the spring 33 to disengage the hook
portions 26 from the support arms 23. The operator will then rotate
the keyboard 20 in a downward direction to one of two positions
corresponding to the location of the slots 24 in the support arms
23. If the lower-most position is selected, the operator will hold
the slide in its disengaged position until the proper slots 24 are
aligned with the hook portions 26. The pressure on the button 28 is
then released allowing the spring 33 to move the hook portions 26
through the aligned slots 24 in the support arms 23 thus
positioning the keyboard at the elevation selected by the operator.
It is obvious that by reversing the movement of the spring 33 and
the mounting of the hook portions 26 of the detent arm 25 that the
locking and unlocking of the keyboard can be accomplished by
movements reverse to the movements of the slide 27 and push button
28 described above.
It will be seen from this construction that the keyboard can be
rotated by simply activating the push button and moving the
keyboard to the desired elevational position. Whenever the keyboard
is required to be used by another operator, simply depressing the
push button will allow the keyboard to automatically return to its
home position if this is the required position. If not, the
operator may adjust the keyboard to its new position. Thus, it will
be seen that this construction allows any number of operators to
easily adjust the keyboard during the time they are using the
terminal device.
While there has been described a form of the invention and its mode
of operation, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that
changes may be made in the apparatus described without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the
appended claims and that in some cases, certain features of the
invention may be used to advantage or modified without
corresponding changes in other features, while certain features may
be substituted for or eliminated as appreciated by those skilled in
the art.
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