US2602616A - Machine supporting foot - Google Patents

Description

y 1952 w. F. HELMOND MACHINE SUPPORTING FOOT Filed Dec. 24, 1946 IN HE TOR. U7 0ND A TTORNEY Patented July 8, 1952 MACHINE SUPPORTING FOOT .-poration of Delaware Application DecemberZd, 1946, Serial No. 718,175

"This invention relates to resilient, sound deadening'footstructures for 'typewriting and other machines. I "It-has been found that sound vibrations producedin machines such as typewriters. are considerably muted and prevented from being transmitted' to the underlying support by theprovision or -a resilient-"foot in whi'chthe weightfof the machine is for the major part sustained upon a central regionof a suspended foot web that has a downwardly extending marginal foot flange, the web-being adapted to sag under the weight of the machine. However; such feet have insuflicient' horizontal stability inasmuch as the resiliency of such "foot, and especially the flange results in yield" and shim-my thereof as parts ofthe machine arebeingoperated. I v

'Itis an "object" or the invention to'provide a foot structure which has a high sound deadening characteristic; is economical to'manufacture, and yet'supports the machine with a great stability.

--A "more specific object of the invention is to produce an. improved foot structure in which the machine load is carried upon a central region of a. marginally sustained web, such web resiliently supporting the machine at least in part by a sagging action,'and' constituting an upper part of an inherentlyresilient and horizontally unstable body; horizontal stability being lent to thesaid resilient body by a'substantially rigid constraining element on the machine, having horizontal constricting contact with the resilient body under the loadexertedby the machine. 7

"With these-and other objects in view, the invenfion includes certain novel features of construction andcombination of elements, the elements; of'which are set'forth in appended claims, and' ja preferredform'or embodiment of which is hereinafter described with reference to the drawingswhich accompany and form a part of this specification. s

Referring now to the drawings, a

Figure 1 is a sectional ront elevation of the novel footstructure, showing the same attached to the bottom of a side wall of a typewriting machine. The-foot structure is shown without any load-being imposed thereon.

=Fisure2. is a sectional bottom viewline-2--.2 of Figure 1. a

Figure 3"is'a 'frontsectional view similar to Fig-ore" 1-, but the foot structure is shown under load condition.

"Figure i 'showsa side elevation of the foot structure under load as in Figure 3.

5 isairontsectional iew imilar'to taken along -9 Claimsr (Cl.,24824i) Figure 1, the foot being under no-load-condition as the foot in Figure l, but outfitted with a spacer element modifying the foot to carry a greatermachine load with proper sound deadening and Inachine stabilizing action,

Figure 6 embodies the spacer element-oi Figure 5 but the foot structure is under load. J 5 The drawings show a'side 'wall l9 of'a type writing machine having fixed to the underside a boss I l,'the latter having a threaded 'hole l2 for afilxin'g the novel foot structure thereto.

The foot structure comprises a body Id of resilient material; such as rubber,'having'-a horizontal top-web i5 merging into adownwardly reachingperipheral or bordering flange it, the flange H5 forming a bottom cavity Il The said flange may be of rectangular outline asseen in Figure 2, or any other desired form; Thei foot structure is held to the under side of the boss .I I by means of aiscrew l 8 threadedly associatedwith thehole' E2 of theboss-l I.. Thescrew. extends upwardly through ahole in the Web l 51 and through a perforation in a strong sheet-metal'capili, a washer 24 being interposed between the boss H and" the cap, and .the cap' andwasher being Web l5, and its underside is rounded? asshown. A head 21 at the lower end of the screw'ret'ains the resilient foot body it. The aforesaid washer 24' is inserted between the boss 24 and the. cap

on such of the feet as require 1evelingwith.re'-

spect: to other feet, and, the washers, or course, may be of select thicknesses for the. purpose.

The cap 23 has a downwardly reachingrim 28 of considerable height, skirtingdown on the outide of the'downreaching flange 16 of the resilient body it. When the foot isnot. supporting a machine, as depicted in Figure 1, there isa considerable space vertically between the cap 23, and

1 the topside of the web. l5. .lZ-Iowever, underthe.

load exertedby the. machine, as is illustrated Figures 3 and 4, the web Irisags-idown.centrallyofthe bordering flange l6 and. the cap. descends withrespect to the flange [6. From-Figures3 and T 4 it will be seen that the rim 28 of the cap has a will have the desired horizontal stability, "while. at: the Same time the loadof the maohine is efficient Said annular element covers a'relatively small central region ofthe- 1y sustained by the hammock-like provision of the web l which heads the flange l6.

Preferably in accordance with the embodiment of the invention shown, the exterior of the flange I6 is tapering upwardly and the interior of the cap rim 23 is correspondingly tapering, but slightly spaced from the taper of the flange under no-load condition as seen in Figures 1 and 5. When the machine rests by its feet, the internal taper of the rim contacts and preferably presses slightly upon the taper of the flange. The annular spacer is of such select thickness that the rim of the cap 23 will contact the flange, preferably with light pressure, thereby not to destroy the resilient machine supporting action of the Web IS. The bottom of the foot body I4 is soft enough to have good traction upon a supporting surface. For substantially maximum horizontal stability the rim of the cap reaches nearly to the bottom of the flange [6 when the foot is under load. See Figures 3 and 4.

In Figures 5 and 6 there is shown'a washer or spacer interposed between the screw shoulder I9 and the cap 23, thereby to convert the foot shown in Figures 1 to 4 to sustain a greater machine load without the cap rim 28 bearing too tightly upon the resilient foot body 14 and thereby robbing the web (5 of its intended machine supporting function. In Figure 5 the foot structure is illustrated as not loaded by the weight of the machine, and it will be noted that the resilient foot body l4 protrudes farther below the cap 23 than in Figure 1, and that consequently the space between the tapers of the rim 23 and the flange I6 is greater. It follows therefore that the web I5 of the modified foot structure of Figures 5 and 6 can receive a greater sag before the taper of the cap rim 23 contacts the external taper of the flange [6. In other words the foot of Figures 5 and 6 is capable to support a greater weight without the taper of the rim bearing too firmly on the flang I6 and cancelling the intended function of the web l5.

It is to be understood that the thickness of the' washer 30 is selected to give the foot structure the desired properties hereinabove noted. Further, it will be seen that introduction of the washer 30 between the cap 23 and the screw shoulder I9 permits the various remaining parts of the foot structure to be identical in size and proportionas the-preceding parts illustrated.

in Figures 1 to 4.

While only one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that the invention is susceptible of modification and change and comprehends other constructions and details without departingfrom the spirit of the invention.

What'is claimed is:

1. A foot structure for a machine, comprising, a foot body of resilient material having a flexible horizontal top-web bordered by a heavy supporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface, said flange being so heavy in structure as to virtually retain its normal form under vertical load exerted by the machine, and said top-web being flexible enough to sagunder load applied at an inner region of said web, means for associating a machine restingly on said inner region of said flexible web and with capacity for some vertical movement free of an outer web region that merges with said flange, said asso ciating means providing for a free range of sagging action of said web, and wall means rigid on the machine and in horizontal-movement-conbody for horizontal constricting action on the body when said web under the load of the machine is ina sagged condition.

3. A foot structure for a machine, comprising, a foot body of resilient material having a flexible horizontal top-web bordered by a heavy supporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface, said flange. being soheavy in structure as to retain virtually its normal form under vertical load exerted by the machine, and said top-web beingflexibleenough to sag ,under load applied at'an inner regicnof saidweb, means for associating a machine restingly on said inner region of said flexible web andwith capacity :for some vertical movement'free Of'anouter; web region that merges with said-flange, saidyassociating means providing for afree range of-saggingaction' of said web, and ,means'for rigid association with, the machine; and including wall means for horizontal-movement:llgn l lfict ing contact around the flange above its -ltwvermost portion when said web: sags at the-,irmer-region rest on a surface, said flange beingso-heavy in structure as to retain its normal form-under ver-. tical load exerted by the machine, and'said 'topweb'being flexible v.enoughto sag under load applied; at an inner region of said :web, means for associating a machine restingly onan inner-re gion of said flexible web and with capacityfor some vertical movement free of an outer webregion merging with said flange, said associating means providing fora free range of sagging action of said web, and a rim rigidly associablewiththe. machine and in a relation to saidv body to corn strict the latter by contacting'it horizontally, around an upper outside portion of. the flan'glin the sagged condition of the web prevalentunden the load of the machine.

5. A foot structure :for a machine,

a foot body of resilient material having a flexible horizontal top-web bordered by a heavy supporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom;- for rest on a supporting surface, said flange, beingso.

heavy in structure as to retain virtuallyitsnor mal form under vertical load exei'ted by. the. machine and said top-web being flexible enough, to sag under load applied at an inner region of said web, a cap of relatively rigid material associable with the machine'and having a down-reaching rim for belting an appreciable upper portion-of said flange, spacing means introduceable vertically between said cap and an inner regionof said web and leaving under no-load condition of the foot structure a clearanceioutside fot ;the&

spacing means vertically-between said capand an outer region of said web, for the cap toxicscend freely under the load of the machine,;Saidj rim dimensionally proportioned with respect to the outside of the flange to-permit it tomove:

down under the load of the-machine, and-having in the sagged condition of the web horizontal- V movement-constricting contact around the flange and thus horizontal stabilizing action on the foot body and, therefore, on the machine.

6. A foot structure for a machine, comprising, a body of resilient material having a horizontal top-web which has a central perforation, the said top-web being bordered by a supporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface, at least an upper portion of the exterior of said flange being tapering upwardly, a cap of relatively rigid material for said body, having a central perforation and including a downreaching rim bordering the tapered upper portion of said flange and having an internal taper substantially corresponding to the flange, annular spacing means vertically between said cap and the central region of said web, leaving a clearance vertically above the outer top portion of said body, for the cap to descend under load, a shouldered screw for reaching upwardly through said perforations and said annular member, said screw having a threaded end for association with the machine and having a shoulder for engagement against the underside of said cap to clamp said cap to the machine, the flange and the rim, where tapered, being slightly separated under no-load condition, but the rim being settling on said tapering portion of the flange under load, thereby to restrict and stabilize the resilient body horizontally.

l. A foot structure as set forth in claim 6, and washer means introduceable underneath the cap and above the screw shoulder to regulate the noload separation between the taper of the flange and the rim so that for a given weight of a machine the taper of the rim settles upon the taper of the flange only firmly enough to give the latter the proper horizontal stability.

8. A foot structure for a machine, comprising,

a resilient body having a horizontal top-web which has a central perforation, the said topweb being bordered by a supporting flange reaching downwardly therefrom for rest on a surface,

a cap of relatively rigid material for said body, having a central perforation and including a down-reaching rim surrounding an upper portion of saidflange, and annular spacing means vertically between said cap and the central region of said web, leaving a clearance vertically above WILLIAM F. HELMOND.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,830,058 Helmond Nov. 3, 1931 1,911,010 Brawley May 23, 1933 2,128,216 Armington Aug. 30, 1938. 2,172,004 Anderson Sept. 5, 1939

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