Improvements in Apparatus for the Production of Printing for the use of the Blind.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 8th May, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 17th Oct., 1891-Accepted, 2nd Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for the Production of Printing for the
use of the Blind.
I FREDERICK WILLIAM SMITH 8 North Street, Brighton Sussex, Type-writer
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide a means by which blind persons will
be able to write to each other or to people not suffering from blindness (in blind
characters) or by which persons not suffering from blindness will be able to
communicate with blind people, also in "blind "characters.
It is proposed to make this machine principally of metal but certain parts of
wood, indiarubber, vulcanite, and other substances as may be found advisable.
The blind characters will be embossed upon suitable paper, leather, linen, or
other substances, by means of raised, sunk, or raised & countersunk type fixed
upon or cast on or otherwise worked upon a wheel or wheels, placed in a vertical
or horizontal position or positions. The impression to be made upon paper or
other substances by means of a puncher or lever (fitted with indiarubber or other
substances) which shall be withdrawn from the printing surface by means of a
spring or springs.
A dial having raised "blind" characters and also ordinary longhand letters in
English or other languages shall be fixed upon the machine, upon which the
operator shall work a movable pointer, the said pointer being in communication with
the wheel or wheels upon which are the type for embossing (as before described),
the cogs of the said wheels to be so arranged that upon turning the pointer to the
desired letter (the operator if blind feeling the raised letter upon the dial through
the end of pointer
or otherwise) a corresponding letter on the embossing wheel
shall come into position at the striking point.
"
The paper or other substance that is to be embossed shall be fed into the machine
by means of "feed rolls worked at either end by a knob or knobs with other
necessary mechanism.
The carriage shall be worked from left to right & from right to left by means
of levers or other mechanism and as the carriage approaches either end of the
machine warning shall be given by means of a bell or bells.
The machine shall be supplied either with or without a "stand," cover or base,
manufactured either in wood, metal or other substances or materials.
71 1001
3
FRED. W. SMITH.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
5 Improvements in Apparatus for the Production of Printing for the
use of the Blind.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM SMITH, of 8 North Street, Brighton, Sussex,
Typist &c., do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
O by the following statement :-
This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for the production of
printing for the use of the blind whereby such apparatus can be readily operated
either by a blind person or by a person that is not blind as may be desired.

page_text: "
To this end characters of the kind used used by blind persons and hereinafter
termed blind characters are embossed upon leather, linen, or other suitable
material (hereinafter referred to as paper) by compression between raised, counter-
sunk, or both raised and countersunk type characters carried by a wheel or wheels
and a spring puncher or stamp faced on its operative end with india rubber or other
elastic substance.
The apparatus is provided with a dial or index plate having raised blind
characters, and also ordinary English characters or characters of any other desired
alphabet, the said index plate having a movable radial pointer or index in com-
munication by suitable gearing with the wheel (or wheels) upon which are the blind
characters (and hereinafter called the embossing. wheel) so that by turning the
pointer to the desired character on the index plate the corresponding character on
the embossing wheel will be brought into position beneath the aforesaid stamp.
The paper to be embossed is fed into the machine by means of feed rollers
worked from either end by a knob or knobs or by other suitable mechanism. These
rollers are carried by a carriage or frame that is traversed from left to right and
from right to left by means of levers or pawls engaging a rack or by other suitable
mechanism, and a bell is provided to give warning when the carriage approaches
either end of its travel.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a sectional plan on the line a Fig. 3;
Fig. 2 is a front elevation; and
Fig. 3 is an end elevation, of apparatus constructed according to this invention.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the index and index plate.
Figs. 5 and 6 are detail views to a larger scale hereinafter referred to.
A is a base plate upon which the apparatus is mounted, and A' a framing for
supporting the various parts of the apparatus. B is a carriage or frame which
carries the paper to be embossed and which is movable upon guide bars CC. D is
an embossing wheel carrying near its circumference raised blind characters D' for
embossing the paper. The characters may advantageously be each composed of
one or more short projections extending from the upper surface of the wheel as
shewn. E is a toothed wheel carried by the embossing wheel D and to which
motion is communicated through toothed wheels F, F, fixed on a vertical shaft F2
from a corresponding toothed wheel G, to the spindle of which is rigidly secured a
spring index H arranged to move over a fixed index plate I. The index H has a
projection on its lower side adapted to successively enter recesses I' in the said index
plate whereby the proper position of the index for embossing is readily obtained.
The index plate shewn separately in Fig. 4 is provided with a set of blind
characters I corresponding to that on the embossing wheel and with a set of
ordinary characters 13. J is a lever pivoted at J' and jointed at one end to a
handle J which can when desired be turned down into the position shewn in dotted
lines for packing. This lever is connected by a pin and slot connection to a
stamp K faced with india rubber. At its other end the lever J is jointed to a
vertically movable slide L carrying pawls L L which work in conjunction with
a rack B' on the movable frame B for reciprocating the same as hereinafter
described. The stamp K is provided with a spring K that acts against the
collar K² to raise it when downward pressure is removed from the handle J. Lis
a spring for depressing the slide L when the handle J2 rises. M is a plate that
supports the paper after it passes the stamp K. This plate is curved at M to
receive one end of a sheet of paper whilst the other end is being embossed, so that
the machine can be made narrower than would otherwise be necessary for any given
length of sheet.
The paper is fed into the apparatus between rollers N N¹ carried in supports B
on the frame B, the upper roller being pressed against the lower one, which is
preferably covered with india rubber, by springs N. The rotation of the lower
roller for intermittently feeding the paper to form lines of embossed characters is

page_text: effected by a pawl O that engages a ratchet wheel O' on the spindle N³ of the lower
roller, and is operated by a lever 02. 03 is a spring detent to prevent backward
rotation of the ratchet wheel. P is a milled disc.secured to the spindle Ns whereby
the lower roller can be rotated to quickly feed a sheet of paper into a position to
be embossed.
Fig. 6 shews more clearly the arrangement of pawls L¹ L². These pawls are
connected together and mounted to turn freely on a stud L³ secured to the slide L,
and are acted on alternately by pins Q1 Q2 on the face of a disc Q³ also mounted
to turn freely on the stud L³ and carrying a weighted arm Q. By this arrange-
ment when the arm Qis in the position shewn in full lines, the pin Q' will act
against the pawl L' and on each ascent of the slide L the pawls will be caused to
move into the position shewn in dotted lines thereby causing the pawl L to move
over a tooth of the rack B¹ so that on each descent of the slide L by the action of
the spring *, the pawl L' will push the rack B₁ and frame B in the direction
indicated by the arrow. If the arm Q be thrown over to the right after a line
of embossed characters has been formed, the pin Q2 will in like manner bring the
pawl L into action to intermittently move the rack B₁ and frame B in the opposite
direction to that shown by the arrow (Fig. 6).
R is a bell provided with two loosely pivoted hammers R¹ one or other of which,.
on the completion of a line, is caused by a pivoted catch R², of which there is one
at each end of the frame, to ring the bell in the ordinary manner.
The blind characters on the embossing wheel D are arranged in the reverse
order to those on the index plate I, the latter being illustrated more clearly
in Fig. 4.
In using the apparatus the paper is inserted between the rolls N N' till it is in
the proper position below the stamp K. The index H is then moved over the index
plate I until it is brought opposite to the required character, the operator if blind
being guided by the blind characters on the said index plate, or if not blind by the
ordinary characters thereon.
This movement of the index is transmitted through the gearing G, F, F, E to
the embossing wheel D and causes the same character to be brought under the
stamp K as that to which the index H is pointing. The handle J' is then depressed
thereby forcing the stamp K down and causing it to press the paper onto the raised
character on the wheel D thereby forming a corresponding raised character on the
paper. The slide L is simultaneously raised, and that pawl L' or L' against which
the weight of the arm Q4 rests is caused to engage a fresh tooth or recess in the
rack B', so that on the lever being raised the pawl will be forced downward and
will move the frame B and paper into position for another character.
When the end of a line is nearly reached, the bell R rings and gives notice to
the operator who then feeds the paper forward for a fresh line by raising the outer
arm of the crank lever 02, and the weighted arm Q is thrown over to cause the
other pawl to bear on the rack and intermittently move it and the paper in the
opposite direction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An apparatus for the production of printing for the use of the blind, com-
prising an index plate provided with one or more sets of characters, an index
arranged to move over the same and geared with an embossing wheel provided
with a corresponding set of blind characters, and a stamp, the arrangement being
such that when the index is brought opposite to a character on the index plate, the
corresponding character on the embossing wheel will be brought opposite the stamp
so that, upon operating the latter, a corresponding blind character will be produced
on paper or other material placed between the stamp and embossing wheel, sub-
stantially as herein described.

page_text: 2. The improved apparatus for the production of printing for the use of the blind,
constructed and operating substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 16th day of October 1891.
W. Lloyd Wise,
TRED. WY DALI III.
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.