A NEW WRITING MACHINE AVAILABLE REPORTING, CORRESPONDING, & OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Schoch, of 8, Temple Lanc, Liverpool,
for the Invention of "A NEW WRITING MACHINE AVAILABLE
REPORTING, CORRESPONDING, & OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."
FOR
Sealed the 21st March 1871, and dated the 23rd September 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Schoch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd September 1870.
I, HENRY SCHOCH, of 8, Temple Lane, Liverpool, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW WRITING MACHINE AVAIL-
ABLE FOR REPORTING, CORRESPONDING, & OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
with the points all in the
The pens to act separately
These pens by means of
The machine consists of a row of pens
same direction & the points close together.
& independently of each other if required.
keys & levers make marks in one or more colors or without color on
a ribbon of paper or other material, which ribbon is caused to move
continually forward under the pens. The points of the pens to be sp

page_text: arranged that when all the pens are made to act at once they will make
a straight line of dot marks right across the ribbon. The surface part of
the keys on which the finger presses to be so fixed as to form several rows
one behind the other. In this manner the said surface part has to reach
over some of the connecting bars of other neighbouring keys, but the
arrangement is such that the working of one separate key need not
affect any of the other keys. The pens to be tubes, or of the shape of
paper rulers, pens, or other shape, & if ink be used the ink to be supplied
by suction or filling. The ribbon to be moved by either fly wheel &
tradle, or by clockwork, or by means of shafting.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Schoch in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd March 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
SCHоси, of 8, Temple Lane, Liverpool, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Schoch, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Schoch, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others I, as the said Henry Schoch, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "A NEW WRITING
MACHINE AVAILABLE FOR REPORTING, CORRESPONDING, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Schoch, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry. Schoch, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto-
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thercon (that is to
say):
My Invention of "A New Writing Machine available for Reporting,
Corresponding, and other similar Purposes" consists of a machine in
which a row of pens or markers are arranged with their points or
outlets for the ink or coloring matter all in one direction and close.
together so as to admit of each pen being acted upon separately as
required by means of a key or lever when pressed down either by the
finger or acted upon by other agency as herein-after described. By
pressing down the keys or levers the pens respectively connected thereto
are caused to make marks on a travelling band or ribbon of paper, in
one or more colors, or without color, such ribbon being caused to move
continuously forward under the pens or markers. The marks thus made
are or may be uniform in character, but the several letters of the
alphabet are or may be identified by their respective positions or
distances from the sides of the band or ribbon of paper, while their
succession is indicated by their respective positions lengthwise of the
paper. And in order to bring all the marks conveniently within the
breadth of the band or ribbon of paper the pens or markers are brought
close together at their points, and arranged so as to pass separately
through a fixed comb, thereby forming a line of points across the paper.
Ordinarily the range of the points of the pens would extend from one
inch and a half to two inches. The several pens are supported by the
several keys or levers so that by pressing down any particular key or
lever the pen supported thereby will be lowered so as to bring the
point thereof down upon the paper and make a mark. When the
pressure on the key is removed the key is raised again by a spring
and the pen taken off the paper.
.
1
In order to give the required facility for acting upon the keys or
levers by the fingers the surface parts of the keys upon which the
fingers press are fixed in rows one behind another, and the keys are
arranged wider apart at this end so as to give the necessary room for
the fingers. By this arrangement the said surface part of one key
will extend over another key or lever, but the arrangement is such that.

page_text: Fig. 1 is an elevation shewing one key or lever and one pen with the
parts or connections by which they are supported and enabled to work
as required; Fig. 2 is a plan or horizontal view shewing a set or series
of twenty-six keys, or levers and pens representing symbols of sounds
or letters in the alphabet. In these two Figures the same letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts. A is an inclined table on
which the mechanism is mounted and which may be supported on any
suitable frame or foundation; B, B, are the keys or levers pivotted at C
and supported at their other end on springs D, D, by which they are
kept up as shewn when out of action and returned to their position on
the removal of pressure from the keys or levers. E, E, are supports
for the pens, which supports are fixed to the keys or levers B, B, and
have forked upper ends in which the pens lie, and on which they are
supported; F, F, are the pens, the upper ends of which are suspended
from fixed pins G, G, on which the pens may be adjusted to the required.
elevation by means of the nuts H, H, working on the screws on the
pins. The pens F, F, rest on their supports E, E, and their lower ends
or points pass through the spaces in the comb I and are brought
within a short distance (say one-sixteenth of an inch) of the travelling
band or ribbon of paper K so as to admit of their being applied to the
surface of the paper by their moveable supports E, E, being lowered by
the action on the keys or levers B, B. From the foregoing arrangements
and connections of the parts it will be obvious that by pressing on any
one of the keys or levers B, B, it will be brought into the position
shewn by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the spring D being compressed. The
lever B being thus lowered will allow the pen F resting on the support

page_text: E to fall and apply the point of the pen to the paper and cause it to
make a mark thereon. This is the effect produced by acting on any
one of the keys or levers B, B, separately, and it is obvious that by
acting on one lever B after another, the pens F, F, respectively resting
thereon, will be applied successively to the travelling band a ribbon
of paper K. It will also be further obvious that as each lever and pen
represents or may represent a letter of the alphabet that may be identified
by the position of the point of the pen in relation to the sides of the
ribbon of paper, the several marks made on the paper in succession will
represent according to their respective positions a succession of letters
forming words.
It is to be observed that the surface parts b, b, of the keys B, B, are
arranged as represented in Fig. 2 so as to be conveniently acted upon
by the fingers, but such arrangement may be varied if preferred. It is
also to be observed that the keys or levers B, B, may be acted upon as
required by means of electricity, and any suitable intermediate mechanism
may be employed so as to adapt the machine or instrument for use for
telegraphic or other purposes for which it may be applicable. And the
keys or levers B, B, may have springs differently formed and applied to
them and the pens F, F, may be differently suspended, provided that
they are made to rest on the levers, so as to partake of their downward
movement when the latter are acted upon, and to mark the paper with
their points when allowed to fall as described. By using the pen F in
the Morse telegraph instead of the ordinary steel indenter, the local
battery might be decreased or in some cases altogether dispensed with.
The continuous progressive movement of the paper may also be effected by
means of a treadle or by other well-known means.
Also for the purpose
of facilitating the subsequent reading and transcribing of the matter
produced on the paper in the form of uniform marks occupying distinc-
tive positions it has been found convenient to adopt four different colours
so that a mark of one colour in the first series may be readily distinguished
by the eye from one of the same colour in the next or following series.
But arrangements of this kind may be varied as required to suit the
particular purpose for which the machine or instrument is employed.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is, the use of a machine or instrument composed
of a set of keys or levers combined with pens so as to mark on a

page_text: travelling band or ribbon of paper in the manner and for the purpose
or purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Schoch, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane.
HENRY SCHOCH. (L.S.)