IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE-WRITING AND IN STENOGRAPHIC CODES AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED: THEREIN
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TYPE-WRITING AND IN STENOGRAPHIC CODES AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED:
THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Antoine Michela, Jean Michela,
and Gabriel do Petro, all of Turin, in the Kingdom of Italy.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th September 1878.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE-WRITING AND IN STENOGRAPHIC CODES
AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Antoine.
Michela, Jean Michela, and Gabriel de Petro, all of Turin, in the Kingdom of
Italy.
This Invention relates to type-writing and to the apparatus employed for that.
purpose, and to the signs or characters used with the said apparatus,
In carrying out the said Invention it is proposed to employ stenographic signs.
or characters of an elementary shape, such, for example, as the following series,
1, the whole or a portion of which are quadrupli-
cated, so as to produce the requisite number of signs to represent without ambiguity
the whole of the phonetic elements which the vocal organs are capable of pronouncing
in any spoken language. Assuming that twenty elementary signs or characters are
sufficient for this purpose, they are arranged on a double keyboard, each half con-
taining 10 keys, and corresponding to double the number of fingers on the human hand
so that each hand may operate one key board and each finger manipulate two of the.'
keys of the same. Thus the six signs or characters herein-before enumerated may
.:

page_text: occupy the first six keys of one of the two keyboards, of which the double key-
board is composed, and the same signs or characters in the reverse order may occupy
the last six keys of the other keyboard, whilst the remaining four keys of each
keyboard may be occupied by four of the said signs or characters in reverse order
on each keyboard. There will thus be produced four series of stenographic signs
or characters, which it is proposed to appropriate as follows, viz., the first series to
represent the initial consonants or initial phonetic consonantal elements of syllables,
the second series to denote the second consonants (in the cases where two consonants
occur together, the third series, the vowels or vocal clements, and the fourth series
to represent the final consonants or final phonetic consonantal elements of syllables.
Each of these consonants or phonetic consonantal elements, and each of these vowels
or vocal elements, is assumed to be of the numerical value of 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, or 18, or
of a number formed by the addition of say two of the first five or of the first four
of the before-mentioned figures, and on the keys of the double keyboard are marked
the figures 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 1, 2, 3, 6, 6, 3, 2, 1, 18, 9, 6, 3, 2, 1. If therefore in either
of the series the number of the sound to be reproduced is simple, its appropriate
stenographic sign or character will be found on the corresponding portion of one of
the keyboards. When it is compound it is to be reproduced by two of the keys
in accordance with the componant numbers forming the numerical value of the
sound.
In writing with this code each syllable composed of the requisite number of
phonetic elements is impressed or printed separately in a transverse direction upon
a strip or web of paper, which is fed forward intermittently by the action of the
apparatus, as herein-after explained. Suitable conventional signs may be employed
for denoting a parenthesis and the termination of a sentence, and number may also
be represented in a similar manner to the consonantal and vocal elements.
The mechanism of the apparatus for printing the stenographic.signs or characters
is divided into two parts, one of which performs the operation of printing or
impressing the signs or characters upon the paper, and the other effects the automatic
feed of the strip of paper upon which the said signs or characters are printed or
impressed.
The printing mechanism is constructed with a double keyboard, each portion
containing ten keys, as above mentioned. These keys may be of a similar descrip-
tion to the keys of a pianoforte, or of any other suitable form, and be suspended
on fixed centres at one end, and provided with guides or springs to maintain them
in the proper positions.
1
The keys rest at or about their centres upon the ends of vertical rods connected
to the front ends of a series of equal armed levers of the first order, arranged
underneath and transversely to the keys, and connected at their other ends to a
corresponding number of types or punches situate underneath an opening in a table
between the keyboards, over which types or punches the strip of paper is drawn as
it is unrolled from a suitable reel or roller. The feed motion of the strip of paper
is obtained by means of a lever arranged underneath the keys, the said lever being
common to the whole series of keys and receiving motion from the same simul-
taneously with the types or punches; the extent of motion is the same, irrespective
of the number of keys operated at once. When one or more of the keys are.
depressed the lever acts upon a spring or weight by means of a pulley or other
contrivance in such a manner that when the key or keys rise after each impression
upon the paper, a forward motion is imparted to a pawl engaging with the teeth of
a ratchet wheel fast on the axis of a cylinder, causing the said ratchet wheel and
cylinder to rotate to the extent of one tooth at each motion of the lever.
Two small rollers are maintained in contact with the cylinder herein-before
referred to, and are caused to partake of its motion by friction, being pressed against
its surface by a screw. The strip of paper, after receiving the impression of the type
or punches as they rise through the opening in the table, berein-before referred to, is
drawn between the two small rollers and the cylinder by the intermittent rotatory
motion of the latter, and issues from the apparatus with the characters impressed

page_text: upon it in the form of small indentations, or if required the characters may be
printed in ink by providing suitable mechanism for the purpose.
Each key corresponds to one of the characters of the system of stenography
adopted, and when depressed by the finger of the operator the key causes the
corresponding type or punch to rise through the opening in the table supporting the
strip of paper, and makes the required impression on the latter, a suitable pad or
block being provided above the strip to afford the requisite support.
The apparatus may be modified in the details of its construction and arrange-
ment; for example, the keyboard may be situate below the mechanism, and the
keys in this case may be arranged to pull the levers in lieu of pushing them.
The feed motion for the strip of paper may be effected by means of a small rod
secured to the common lever, which being provided with an oblique notch serves to
actuate a small apparatus with two arms acting upon a wheel attached to the
cylinder, one arm acting during the forward stroke and the other on the return
stroke. The motion of the printed strip may also be transmitted to it in any
suitable manner by clockwork or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filéd by
the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
March 1879.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE-WRITING AND IN STENOGRAPHIC CODES
AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Antoine
Michela, Jean Michela, and Gabriel de Petro, all of Turin, in the Kingdom of
Italy.
The said Invention relates to type-writing and to the apparatus employed for that
purpose, and to the signs or characters, or combinations of signs or characters used
with the said apparatus.
In carrying out the said Invention stenographic signs or characters are
employed of an elementary shape, such for example as the following series
✓, the whole six or a portion of which are quadru-
plicated so as to produce the requisite number of signs to represent without
ambiguity the whole of the phonetic elements which the vocal organs are capable
of pronouncing in any spoken language. Assuming that twenty elementary signs
or characters are sufficient for this purpose they are arranged on a double key-
board, each half containing ten keys and corresponding to double the number
of fingers on the human hand, so that each hand may operate one keyboard
and each finger manipulate two keys, the same finger being always employed.
to actuate the same pair of keys. Thus the six signs or characters herein-before
enumerated may occupy the first six keys of one of the two keyboards of
which the double keyboard is composed, and the same signs ar characters in the
reverse order may occupy the last six keys of the other keyboard, whilst the

page_text: remaining four keys of each keyboard may be occupied by the first four of the said
signs or characters in reverse order on each keyboard. There will thus be produced
four series of stenographic signs or characters, which it is proposed to appropriate as
follows, videlicet the first series to represent the initial consonents or inital phonetic
consonantal elements of syllables, the second series to devote the second consonants
(in cases where two consonants occur together before a vowel), the third series the
vowels or principal elements of syllables, and the fourth series to represent the final
consonants or final phonetic consonantal elements of syllables. Each of these
consonants or phonetic consonantal elements, and each of these vowels or principal
elements is assumed to be of the numerical value of 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, or 18, or of a
number formed by the addition of two or more of the before-mentioned numbers,
and on the keys of the double keyboard are marked the figures 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 12,
3, 6, 6, 3, 2, 1, 18, 9, 6, 3, 2, 1. If therefore in either of the series the number of
the sound to be produced is simple, its appropriate stenographic sign or character
will be found on the corresponding portion of one of the keyboards, and when it
is compound it is to be reproduced by two or more of the keys in accordance with
the componant numbers forming the numerical value of the sound.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the corresponding Figures.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of the accompanying Drawings is a diagram illustrating the
relation of the several keys on the two halves of the double keyboard to the steno-
graphic signs or characters according to the said Invention with the different
perinutations or combinations of the six numbers employed as herein-before described,
and Figure 1a is another diagram, showing the application of the system to the use
of the blind.
•
Figure 2 (Sheet 2) is an end elevation, and Figure 3 is a corresponding plan of
a type-writer or apparatus for printing the signs or characters herein-before
referred to.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section drawn to a larger scale, showing one half of the
same apparatus, the section being taken along the line 1-2, Figure 3, and Figure 5
is a corresponding transverse section, the section being taken along the line 3, 4, 1, 5,
Figure 3.
Figure 6 is a full-size detail of a lever herein-after described.
Referring to Figure 1, Sheet 1 of the Drawings, P, Q, F, E, is a set of 10 keys to
be manipulated by the fingers of the left hand, and P, Q, F¹, E', is a similar set of
ten keys to be manipulated by the fingers of the right hand. The combinations of
signs corresponding to these sets of keys are represented by the corresponding
numbers in the rectangles H, E, G, F, and H', E¹, G', F', respectively, and the
numerical value of the sounds with the corresponding letters and sounds in Latin
characters are represented in separate columns marked X, Y, Z respectively, on the
lelf hand of the diagram, the sounds figured in the diagram being chiefly those
peculiar to the French language, although the Invention is obviously applicable to
the sounds of any other language.
In the centre of the diagram are four columns B containing the stenographic
signs as they are printed upon the paper, showing the combinations for the phonetic
elements and the relative position of the said signs, corresponding to and reproducing
the numbers in the rectangles H, E, F, G, and H', E¹, F¹, G¹.
In writing with this code each syllable composed of the requisite number of
phonetic elements is impressed or printed separately, and instantaneously in a
transverse direction upon a strip or web of paper, which is fed forward intermittently
by the action of the apparatus as herein-after explained; suitable conventional signs
may be employed for denoting a parenthesis and the termination of a sentence, as
well as the notes of interrogation and admiration. Numbers may also be represented
in a similar manner to the consonantal and vocal elements, and may be reproduced
instantaneously in sets of three at a time by arranging the hundreds in the first

page_text: series, the tens in the second series, and units in the fourth series; the third series
being vacant it will at once be apparent that numbers are being represented and not
syllables, as the latter always include vowels.
As an example of the application of the Invention let it be assumed that it is
required to write the word " place;" on referring to the rectangle H, F, G, E, it
will be ascertained that the value of the initial consonant p is 9, and the corre-
sponding key will be found in series 1, the same being manipulated by the middle
finger and producing the sign
The value of the next consonant "1" is
1+ 3, and the corresponding keys in series 2 operated by the forefinger and thumb
respectively give the signs' ✓. On referring to the rectangle H¹, F, G, E¹,
the value of the vowel a is ascertained to be 1, its corresponding key being found
in series 3 to be operated by the forefinger and its sign being
Lastly the numerical value of the final sound ce is 3, its key manipulated by the
ring finger being found in series 4 and its sign
The whole word "place"
is thus denoted as follows
.
..
It will be obvious that the receiver of the message may readily by the converse
operation translate the signs, the position of the several parts of the syllable preventing
any ambiguity.'
The mechanism of the apparatus for printing the stenographic signs or characters
is illustrated in Figures 2 to 6 (Sheet 2) of the Drawings. The apparatus is divided
into two parts, one of which performs the operation of printing or impressing the
signs or characters upon the paper, and the other effects the automatic feed of the
strip of paper upon which the said signs or characters are printed or impressed.
The printing mechanism is constructed with a double keyboard, each portion
containing ten keys, A, arranged in the manner herein-before described with reference
to the diagram Figure 1 (Sheet 1). These keys may be of a similar description to
the keys of a pianoforte or of any other suitable form, and be suspended on fixed
centres at a and provided with guides a' and springs a² to maintain them in the
proper positions.
The keys rest at or about their centres upon the ends b of vertical rods B connected
to the front ends b¹ of a series of equal armed levers C, which are mounted on
centres c and are connected at. their other ends c¹ to a corresponding number of
types or punches situate underneath an opening d in a table e, between the key-
boards, a strip of paper H being drawn over such types or punches as it is unrolled
from a reel or roller h.
The feed motion for the strip of paper is obtained by means of a lever I, Figure 6,
pivotted on a fulcrum i, the said lever being common to the whole series of keys and
receiving motion from the same simultaneously with the types or punches; the
extent of motion is the same, irrespective of the number of keys operated at once
in order to represent one syllable. When one or more of the keys are depressed the
endj of the lever I is also depressed, and the other end k rises, carrying with it a
pawl L, which is thereby caused to engage in a fresh tooth on a ratchet wheel l, fast
on one end of an arbor I, carrying a feed roller m, and when the key or keys are
allowed to return to their normal position the end k of the lever with the pawl L
is caused to descend by the action of a weight K or of a spring, thus turning the
ratchet wheel to the extent of one tooth, and imparting an intermittent rotary
motion to the arbor and feed roller m. Two small rollers o are maintained in
contact with the feed roller m, and are caused to partake of its motion by friction
being pressed against its surface by a screw P. The strip of paper H, after receiving
the impression of the type or punches f as they rise through the opening d in the
table e is drawn between the two rollers o and the feed roller m by the intermittent
rotatory motion of the latter, and issues from the apparatus at z with the characters
impressed upon it in the form of small indentations, or if required the characters
may be printed in ink by providing suitable mechanism for the purpose.
Each key corresponds to one of the characters of the system of stenography
.

page_text: adopted, and when depressed by the finger of the operator the key causes the
corresponding type or punch to rise through the opening d in the table e and makes
the required impression on the strip of paper, a suitable pad or block being provided
above the strip to afford the requisite support.
The apparatus may be modified in the details of its construction and arrangement.
For example, the keyboard may be situate below the mechanism, and the keys in
this case may be arranged to pull the levers in lieu of pushing them.
The feed motion for the strip of paper may be effected by means of a small rod
secured to the common lever, which being provided with an oblique notch serves to
actuate a small apparatus with two arms acting upon a wheel attached to the
cylinder, one arm acting during the forward stroke, the other on the return stroke.
The motion of the printed strip may also be transmitted to it in any suitable manner
by clockwork or otherwise.
The said Invention may be employed with advantage for conveying a speech or
address to different distances simultaneously with its delivery. It may also be
adapted to the use of the blind in reading and writing, in which case the modified
code represented in Figure 1a (Sheet 1) is by preference employed, and the several
series are separated the one from the other by lines in relief.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect,
I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The system or mode of type-writing by the employment of stenographic
codes and apparatus, arranged and applied substantially in the manner herein-before
described.
Second. The general arrangement and combination of parts formning apparatus
for type-writing, substantially as herein-before described, and illustrated by the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my Specifica-
tion set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-nine.
HENRY JOHNSON. (LS)