Electronic stencil engraving machine stylus and support

Claim 1

A replaceable stylus support unit for use in an electronic engraving machine of the type wherein a stencil or the like is removably affixed to a rotatable drum and swept past an adjacent stylus, the machine being provided with a base member for receiving the stylus unit, a magnet mounted adjacent to the base member and means for selectively bending the unit onto the drum, the stylus support unit comprising a first blade having a front end portion and a rear portion having an edge, which rear portion is made of a magnetic material, and which front portion has a stylus mounted thereon; a second blade attached at one of its ends only to said first blade and positioned in an overlying and normally contacting relationship with respect thereto, the opposite end of said second blade being freely movable forward and away from said first blade for dampening vibrations of said stylus by the friction created due to the movement of said second blade against said first blade; whereby, said stylus support unit has its rear portion received by the base means and releasably captivated there by the magnet in a position overlaying the drum and may be bent into the drum by the means for selectively bending the unit, and whereby the stylus support unit may be selectively and easily removed and released from the stencil engraving machine by moving it away from the magnet.