The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-09-03
THE MATRIX- WRITER.
An Inventor Who Proposes to Dispense with
Type-Setters and Movable Type.
Chicago Tribune.

Chicago Tribune.
The inventor of the new process of print
ing, vino has just returned from a two
months visit to Europe, his business there
being to secure patents in England and
France, Belgium and Germany, was inter-
viewed by a Tribune reporter yesterday and
his machines carefully examined. Mr. De-
ment, who labors under many of the difficult
ties which beset inventors, has not had a
perfected machine built yet, but the two old
typewriting and treadle combinations which
have served as frameworks for his trial ma
chinery, and over which he has prayed and
perspired and built up and pulled down for
three long years. are sufficient to exhibit his
system OF printing in practical operation.
The new process consists IN substituting
for the slow and tedious operation of type
setting method of making tyre indenta-
tons in strips of papier-mache. These strips
are combined in page or column form and
then stereotyped or electrotyped.
The machine for making the indentations
consists of a type-wheel and a cylinder
which are run by power at the rate of $50 to
300 revolutions a minute. The type-wheel
contains alphabets of hardened steel types
In the cvliders are a series of bars. each
bar being arranged to operate upon a par
ticular type. The bars are operated by
series of keys-a cross between typewriter
keys and the keys OF pano-each key be-
ing lettered and working upon a particular
bar The bar until set in motion, remains
at rest in the revolving cylinder When a
key is pressed it operates upon the CORE
spending bar, causing it to pass
upon bevelled plate or cam. As the bar
passes along the surface of the cam, it comes
in contact with the paper, and by pressing it
upon the type makes the indention. While
thus held between the bar and the type the
paper is carried along as to bring the in
dentation out of the way and place the paper
in position for the next letter. To provide
for giving each letter its proper space the
bars are made OF different widths: the bar
for the letter wv" for instance being quite
wide, while that for the letter 'I'' is quite
narrow The whole operation is so rapid that
some 500 letters can be printed in minute.
A uniform depth of inclination is secured
as the cam, being fixed and solid, is posi-
tive in its action, and presses the bars on
the paper and type uniformly, while a
fixed guard prevents any one letter being
indented deeper than another. The linden
tations are made upon a strip of paper
rather than upon a sheet for convenience
of what printers call justification, or even
spacing, and correction. The inden.cd strip
is first proof read. and as errors are found
the words, or incorrect portions of words.
are marked on the strip, and also written
correctly on slip of paper. The words on
the slip are then indented on another piece
of strip by the same machine, or by any
other having the proper font of type this
strip of corrections is run in the Justify
ing apparatus by the side of the original
strip which is being justified, and as the
marked words are reached they are cut out
and the corrected words, which come out
in order are cut off and put in their places.
In this manner whole paragraphs. when
omitted, can be readily inserted, and the
OF W tu