IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE WRITING APPARATUS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER of 3 Palace Grove, Upper Norwood in the County
of Surrey, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE WRITING APPARATUS
" to be as follows:-
My invention relates more especially to that class of type writing apparatus in
respect of which I applied for Letters Patent on the 10th day of March 1885,
No 3080, and on the 29th day of July, 1885, No 9120, but it is also partly
applicable to other type writing apparatus. In type writing apparatus of the kind
above referred to, and, so far as I am aware, in all other type writing apparatuses,
the printing type are moved to and from the the paper in order to effect the printing
operation. Now, according to one part of my present improvements, I cause the
paper to move to and from the printing type, whereby I am enabled to simplify the
apparatus considerably. For this purpose I cause the printing bar or pad, over
which the paper is passed, to be guided to and from the printing type, by means
of suitable guide rods, parallel motions, radius bars, or otherwise, and preferably by
the action of a key or lever operated by the finger. The paper to be printed on
may be passed over a roller or simply over the printing pad or bar, and be held
stretched by means of an elastic band passing round a pulley on a suitably placed
bar or frame, the ends of the elastic band being secured to the two ends of the
paper by suitable clips or otherwise, or there may be attached to the printing pad
or bar, a light frame arranged with flat bars or rods in criss-cross fashion to which
the paper is suitably fixed, and the frame pulled out or expanded as the paper is
written upon. By these arrangements, the part of the paper which has been
printed on, is left fully exposed to view; whereas, in the type printing apparatuses
heretofore devised, the part of the paper which has been printed on is, for the most
part, covered by portions of the apparatus and cannot readily be inspected.
When employing the indiarubber or other flexible type bands described in the
specifications filed in respect of my aforesaid two applications for patents, I propose
to employ the following improved arrangements of carriage for the said type bands.
Instead of the carriages and appurtenances described in the said specifications,
I make the carriage of one or more plain bars with a roller at each end round
which the type band is passed. On the top of this carriage is an index of the
letters or other signs it is required to print, and on the edge of the top bar, carrying
this index, are made a series of notches corresponding to the said letters or signs.

page_text: A thumb piece or handle is fixed on the type band and carries a V piece or other
projection which is placed in the notch on the side of the bar corresponding to the
letter or sign it is desired to print, and the type for which letter or sign is thereby
brought exactly opposite the paper. This carriage is adapted to slide on a guide
bar or rail fixed on a bed plate, and is moved the required distance each time a
letter or sign is printed, by the action of a key or lever which operates a sliding
bar or other mechanism whereby a feed and retaining pawl are caused to act either
upon the teeth of a feed and retaining rack, or upon strips of indiarubber which
serve the same purpose. When a line of printing is completed, the carriage can be
moved back to the commencement of another line by lifting up the rear end of the
carriage so as to disengage the pawls from the racks or strips of indiarubber, or
by disengaging the pawls from the racks or strips of indiarubber by suitable
appliances provided for that purpose, and then sliding the carriage back by hand
on its guide bar.
When it is required to print music, the paper may be mounted on a vertically
sliding block or frame on the printing bar or pad, or be otherwise raised or lowered
so as to bring the required line or space on the paper opposite the printing type
before the paper is moved towards the same for the purpose of being printed on in
the manner above described.
For printing in capitals and small letters, notches may be made on both sides of
the index bar, and the thumbpiece or handle, connected to the type band, be made
to pass round and work in the notches on either side of the index bar, or the
printing pad or bar may be raised or lowered by a suitable key and levers placed
so as to operate upon it. The capitals and small letter type on the type band in
this case would be placed in two rows, one above the other, and one' row of notches
on the index bar may be made to answer for both series of letters.

page_text: I, MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER, of 3 Palace Grove, Upper Norwood, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE WRITING APPARATUS" 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 accompanying two sheets of
Drawings and to the letters and Figures marked thereon:-
My invention relates more especially to that class of type writing apparatus in
respect of which I obtained letters patent dated respectively the 10th day of March
1885, N° 3080, and the 29th day of July 1885, N° 9120, but it may be also partly
applicable to other type writing apparatuses. In type writing apparatuses of the
kind above referred to the printing type are moved to and from the paper in order
to effect the printing operation. Now according to one part of my present
improvements I cause the paper to move to and from the printing type whereby
I am enabled to simplify the apparatus considerably. For this purpose I cause the
printing bar or pad, over which the paper is passed, to be guided to and from the
printing bar or pad by means of suitable guide rods, parallel motions, radius bars,
or otherwise, and I operate it preferably by the action of a key or lever operated
by the finger. One method of carrying this part of the invention into effect is
illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings in which, Figure 1 is a plan,
Figure 2 a side view without the type carriage, and Figure 3 a section on line X X
of Figure 1 shewing the type carriage in position, A is the base plate of the
apparatus, B is the type carriage to be hereafter more fully described, C is the
printing pad or bar which is mounted on two arms D, D, fixed on a rod or shaft E
which oscillates in bearings on the base plate A. F is a key or lever one end of
which is fixed on the shaft E and the other is formed suitably for the finger to act
upon to depress it against the action of a spring G. The paper H (Figure 3) to be
printed on is passed over the printing bar or pad C and is held firmly thereon by
the bars CC, which are arranged to turn on a common centre at C³ in order to
facilitate the introduction of the paper H and are held in position after the
introduction thereof by means of the perforated button C adapted to slide on the
printing pad or bar C. It will now be understood that by depressing the outer
end of the key or lever F the shaft E will be caused to turn in its bearings and
the printing pad or bar C with the paper on it will be advanced by its arms DD
to the type band I on the carriage B and the paper will receive an impression from
the type which happens at that moment to be opposite to it. On releasing the key
or lever F the spring G returns it and the printing pad or bar to their normal
positions ready for another operation.
When employing the indiarubber or other flexible type band described in the
specifications of my aforesaid two patents, I propose to employ the following
improved arrangements of carriage for the said type bands. Instead of the
carriages and appurtenances described in the said Specifications I make the carriage
of a plain bar J with a roller K K¹ at each end round which the type band I is passed.
On the top of this carriage is an index-scale L of the letters or other signs it is

page_text: required to print, and on the edge of the bar L' adjacent to this index-scale is
made a series of notches corresponding to the said letters or signs marked on the
index-scale. A thumb piece or handle M is fixed on the type band I and carries a
V piece or other projection on the underside thereof which is placed in the notch
on the bar L¹ corresponding to the letter or sign on the index it is desired to print,
and the type on the type band for that letter or sign is thereby brought to the
outer periphery of the roller K exactly opposite the paper on the printing pad or
bar C. This carriage is adapted to slide on guide bars or rails N, N, fixed on the
base plate A and is moved the required distance each time a letter or sign is
printed by the action of a key or lever O, which is centred loosely on one end of
a sliding rod or bar P and is provided with an inclined plane O' in contact with
the under side of the bar A¹. When the key or lever O is depressed it is forced
outwards to the left by the action of the inclined plane against the resistance of
the spring P¹ and draws the rod or bar P in the same direction. Or the key or
lever O may be centred at its end and be provided with a suitably shaped cam
surface acting directly on the sliding rod or bar P. This sliding rod or bar P is formed
with a series of teeth into which take the spring ratchet pawl or pawls Q on the
under side of the carriage. The sliding rod or bar P is urged in the direction of
the arrow by the spring P¹ so that after being moved in the opposite direction by
the key or lever O the spring returns it in readiness for another operation, the
carriage caused to slide on its guide bars with a certain amount of friction by
the action of springs R so that as the rod or bar P moves backwards towards the
key its teeth pass the spring pawls Q without moving the carriage, but when the
bar is moved by the key O in the opposite direction the pawls take into
the teeth on the rod or bar P and the carriage is moved the distance necessary for
spacing the letters or words. The finger piece of the key O is placed partly below
the finger piece of the key F, so that when the latter is depressed to bring the
printing pad forward to the type it also depresses the key O to move the carriage
a space. But, when it is required to move the carriage a space without printing a
letter, as for the space between two words the key O can be depressed for that
purpose without depressing the key F.
When a line of printing is completed the carriage B can be moved back to the
commencement of another line by disengaging the pawls Q from the teeth on the
rod or bar P by pressing the lever arms Q₁ of the pawls towards each other with
the finger and thumb, and then sliding the carriage back by hand on its guide bars
or rails N N, and the paper may be moved forward directly by hand or it may be
arranged to be moved forward by revolving the bars C¹ C or in any other suitable
or convenient manner.
For printing in both Capital and small letters a second notched bar may be
placed on the opposite side of the index on the type band carriage corresponding
to a second row of letters on the index-scale and the thumb piece or handle
connected to the type band be made to pass round and work in the notches on
either side of the said index. Figure 4 is a front elevation, Figure 5 a back
elevation, and Figure 6 an end view of a printing block, bar, or pad, and means of
actuating the same for printing music.
The previously ruled paper may be mounted on a vertically sliding printing
block bar or pad S, which is fitted with tubes S¹ which slide on guide rods S* and
it also carries a toothed rack S³ at each end gearing with toothed pinions S* fixed
on a shaft S which can be turned into any required position by either of the two
wheels S, S7 is a wheel the circumference of which is toothed or notched to
correspond with the spaces, and staff and ledger lines of the music and S8 is a
spring provided with a V piece or tooth to take into the said notches and hold the
wheel in the correct position. S is an index or pointer sliding on the bar $10 and
adapted to move with the type carriage (which is not shewn in these Figures)
along the surface of the paper to be printed upon. In printing music with this
apparatus the paper with the sliding block, bar, or pad S, is brought by means of
the racks and pinions into such a position vertically that the horizontal pointers of

page_text: the index S coincide with the staff line or space on which it is required to print a
note or sign. The type carriage is then moved along and with it the index or
pointer S until the vertical pointers of the latter coincide with the position of the
note or sign to be printed and the note or sign on the type band being brought
into the necessary position, the block bar or pad is brought forward by hand from
its normal position shewn in dotted lines in Figure 6 into the printing position
as shown in full lines in same Figure and the required note or sign is thereby
printed.
The block, bar or pad S may be raised or lowered by any other suitable means
so as to bring the required line or space on the paper opposite the printing type
before the paper is moved towards the same for the purpose of being printed on in
the manner above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First In type writing apparatus, in which an endless type band is employed,
the combination of the printing bar or pad with mechanical devices whereby it,
and the paper thereon, can be moved to and from the printing type, as hereinbefore
described, and illustrated in the Drawings hereto annexed.
Second-In type writing apparatus, the construction of the type carriage,
consisting of a plain bar with a type band roller at each end, the index-scale of the
letters or other signs it is required to print, the thumb piece or handle and pointer
fixed to the type band, the notched bar for guiding the thumb piece into position
and the retaining pawl or pawls as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the
Drawings hereto annexed.
Third-The improved type writing apparatus, consisting of the type carriage,
sliding on guide ways and operated by a reciprocating ratchet bar, actuated by a
spring key or lever, arranged independently of the carriage, and of the printing
bar or pad moveable to and from the printing type by a spring, key, or lever, all
arranged, combined, and operating as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the
Drawings hereto annexed.
Fourth-In type writing apparatus, the appliances for writing or printing music,
consisting of the vertically sliding block or frame on the printing bar or pad,
arranged, combined, and operating as hereinbefore described, and illustrated in the
Drawings hereto annexed."