Patent GB-191307316-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Stenographic Writing Machines.
Inventor: IRELAND WARD STONE
IPC: B41J3/26
Filed: 1913-03-27
Granted: 1914-03-27
Abstract: 7316. Ireland, W. S. March 27. Stenographic machines; keyboards.-In a machine for writing the English language stenographically, a single-case keyboard is provided with keys which are associated with type-members and are arranged as described below so that the prefixes and suffixes can be printed simultaneously with the stems of words. The keys are arranged in an order or sequence conforming to the order or sequence in which prefixes, initial consonants of stems or words, vowels, final consonants of stems or words, and suffixes occur in words. The keys may bear characters corresponding to those on the typemembers, but if desired the keys may be blank. In the preferred form, the keys are arranged as shown and the keyboard is divided into three groups A, B, C for manipulation respectively by the fingers of the left hand, the fingers of the right hand and the thumbs, the selected keys in the three groups being depressed simultaneously. A numeral-printing key D, described below, is also provided. The keys in group A can print any initial consonant or combination of initial consonants or combination of initial consonants and prefixes, the missing letters and the prefixes being represented by combinations of the letters in the keyboard. Thus " b " is represented by PW, "1" by HR, "b1" by PWHR and "spl" " by SPHR, the combinations of initial consonants being generally built up by combining the elemantary representations in the manner shown. The prefixes are given conventional representations, for example S for "circum-," K for "com" and TPH for " in." In printing prefixes and initial consonants, the corresponding representations are combined and in some cases some of the letters of the combination are omitted. Thus the prefix" " re " and the initial consonant "g" are represented respectively by STK and TKPW but the combination " reg " is represented by SPW. The order of the keys in group A is determined (1) by the order in which the letters occur in initial consonants of stems or words, for example the existence of combinations such as " st," " sn," " sl " renders it necessary that the S key shall be at the left of the keys or combinations of keys for T, N, and L, and (2) by the relation of the prefixes to the initial consonants, this relation rendering it necessary that the representations of the prefixes sball combine in the manner indicated above with the representations of the initial consonants. The order of the keys in group B is determined with reference to the final consonants and suffixes by considerations analogous to those set out above. The keys in group C depressed singly or in combination represent vowels and combinations of vowels. As an example of the manner of operating the machine, the word "complaining" is printed K P HR A PB G, " com " being represented by K, " p " by P, " 1 " by HR, " a " by A, " n " by PB and " ing " by G. The numeral-key D consists of a bar which is marked with the numerals 1 to 9 and is adapted to print a mark such as an asterisk. The numeral key is depressed simultaneously with a selected key in groups A or B, thus the numerals 2, 4 are printed respectively by depressing the numeral-key with the " T " key and the numeral-key with the " H " key. Specification 29,805/10 is referred to.