IMPROVEMENTS IN TYPE WRITERS
Year: 1885

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by Samuel Salmon Burt, of Chicago, Cook County,
State of Illinois, Miner, and Alvinus Brown Wood, of Ann Arbor, Washtenau
County, State of Michigan, Miner, both in the United States of America.]
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of Patent
Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TYPE WRITERS "
a communication to me from abroad by Samuel Salmon Burt,
of Chicago, Cook County, State of Illinois, Miner and Alvinus Brown Wood, of
Ann Arbor, Washtenau County, State of Michigan, Miner, both in the United
States of America to be as follows:-
This improved type writer comprises a rotating type disc provided with types
corresponding to the characters on an indicator the type disc and indicator being
carried by a sliding carriage, a printing key or lever which through suitable
connection actuates a plunger that forces the types upon the paper, mechanism for
depressing and rotating the type dial, propelling and escapement mechanism for
moving the carriage along and ensuring the spacing between the letters, space keys
connected through suitable levers with the escapement for enabling spacing to be
accomplished independently of the printing lever, means for withdrawing the
pallets of the escapement to allow the carriage to be thrown back, an inking plate
which forms the bottom plate of the carriage provided with a slot through which
the type is forced in printing and an inking ribbon upon which the types are forced
each time a letter is printed.
The sliding carriage runs along a rack bar that turns freely in the ends of the
frame, and carries on its front side a rack-The carriage is propelled along the rack
bar by a spring barrel geared with the rack.
The spacing or escapement mechanism consists of a lever pivoted in the carriage
and provided with fixed and spring detents so arranged that the vertical oscillation
of the lever will throw one of said detents into and the other out of engagement
with the rack thus making the spacing positive and putting the movement of the
carriage completely under control.
The lever is depressed by the printing or spacing key and raised by a spring.
The lever is pivoted in a slotted bearing to enable it to be drawn forward to
release the detents from the rack and allow the carriage to be pushed back to the
starting point.

page_text: The type disc is circular and of thin sheet metal-It is large enough in
circumference to allow of the placing of all the letters of the alphabet both
capital and lower case the digits, punctuation marks, etc.-The rim of this disc is
divided into as many tongues as there are characters represented in types by slitting
the dial radially so as to give each tongue elasticity and to permit of its being
depressed when the type is struck. The types are made of vulcanized rubber upon
a metal base and are removably secured upon the underface of the type disc-The
type disc has for its axis a vertical pin or stud which projects through the top plate
of the carriage and terminates in a circular head a spring on its axis holds the type
disc raised out of contact with the inking ribbon on to which it is pressed when the
head on its axis is depressed-The type disc has two movements one vertical by
which it is brought in contact with the inking plate and the other rotary by which
the types are successively brought into alignment with a slot in the inking plate
both motions being imparted to it by the printing lever or key which is fixed at
its rear end upon an axis mounted to turn in the top plate of the carriage just in
front of the axis of the type disc. This lever is hinged to this axis in such a way
that its free end may be raised and lowered and also turned from right to left or
vice versa the latter movement of the lever turning the axis in its bearings-The
type disc is geared with the axis of the printing lever by means of a nearly
semicircular internal rack fastened on a plate fixed to the lower end of the printing
lever axis and gearing with a wheel on the axis of the printing disc and fixed to
the latter so that when the printing key is rotated the printing disc will also be
rotated.
The length of the rack corresponds to the distance over which the outer end of
the printing key must travel in going from one side to the other of an indicator on
the top plate over which the printing lever works. It is evident that the printing
disc will have a motion in the same direction as that of the printing lever and the
letters of the indicator being placed so as to correspond with the types on the type
disc any letter desired to be printed is brought into position over the slot in the
inking plate by simply bringing the key to a point over the corresponding letter on
the indicator-The indicator consists of two serrated segments placed upon top
plate of the carriage. These segments have V notches terminating in vertical slots
the slots of the one segment alternating with those of the other segment.
The printing lever has a slot at its outer end in which works a stud provided
with a handle and terminating at its lower end in a wedge shaped lug adapted to
engage in the slots of the segments and which by sliding the stud in its slot may
be made to engage with either segment at will-Opposite to the respective slots the
letters and other characters are indicated in the same order in which their
corresponding types are placed upon the type disc-The arrangement of the letters
may be as follows-The small letters may be placed on the outer segment in a
group the digits and other characters being disposed at the respective ends of the
segment or the letters and other characters may alternate with each other-
However arranged the capital and lower case letters should be placed on the type
disc alternately that is to say, if lower case a, be placed at any given point on the
type dial capital A should be placed next to it. And if the lower case letters be
indicated on the outer segment then the corresponding capital letters should be
indicated opposite the next slot to the right of the inner segment-These segments
are so arranged that a movement of the printing lever over the space between two
given slots will cause one letter on the type dial to pass the slot in the inking
plate and the next letter to come into position over said slot. Hence if the printing
lever be moved over the space between two slots of the outer segment the type
dial will be revolved so as to move one letter past the slot in the inking plate and
bring the second letter into position over said slot-Thus if a, be placed on the
type dial and indicated on the outer segment A being placed next to it on the type
dial and indicated on the inner segment followed by b, on the type dial and
indicated next to a, on the outer segment, and it is desired to print a, b, a
movement of the printing lever from a to b will rotate the type dial so as to

page_text: make A pass the slot and bring b, into position over the slot-But if desired to
print A following a, in the above arrangement the thumb piece above mentioned is
brought back to the first notch to the right on the inner circle and A. is thereby
brought into line.
The outer end of this lever may swing from one end of the indicator to the other
and in so doing a complete revolution of the dial is made.
The printing key or lever rests upon the head of the printing disc axis which it
depresses every time a letter is printed.
This head bears upon a crank on a rock shaft mounted on the carriage which is
rocked when the head is depressed..
This rock shaft carries an arm that works through a slot in the top plate and
when the shaft is rocked this arm comes in contact with the escapement lever
depressing said lever thus withdrawing the detent then in engagement with the
rack and allowing the carriage to move one space-When it is desired to space
without printing this is done by means of space keys which are sleeved upon the
rock shaft and provided with an arm which when the sleeve is rocked is brought
into contact with the escapement lever depressing it and withdrawing the detent
then in engagement with the rack allowing the carriage to move one space.
Thus the spacing is accomplished by the printing key or by means of the spacing
keys and independently of cach other-The type disc is depressed every time that
the printing lever is depressed and the type on its lower face are forced upon an
ink ribbon circular in form and lying in a ribbon plate which forms the bottom
plate of the carriage-Thus each letter is inked every time the type disc is.depressed
except the one which passes through the slot and comes into contact with the
paper.
The mechanism for forcing the type upon the paper consists of an arm on the
rock shaft engaging by a pin and slotted connection with a curved bar which lies
on the top plate and moves thereon in suitable guides-This curved bar is connected
by pin and slot with an elbow lever pivoted on a standard on the top plate, the
other or horizontal arm of which lever rests upon the head of a plunger fitted to
move vertically in a guide in the top plate immediately over the slot in the inking
or bottom plate-A spring surrounds the plunger and holds it out of contact with
the type dial except when the lever is depressed.
The operation of printing a letter is as follows.
The printing key is brought to a point in one of the notched segments opposite
the desired letter when it is depressed its' wedge shaped lug being guided to the
slot by the V shaped form of the latter.
The pressure on the printing key depresses the printing disc axis whose head in
turn bears upon the crank on the rock shaft thereby rocking it and through the
mechanism just described depressing the plunger which in turn strikes the tongue
of the printing disc directly beneath it and forces the letter carried thereon through
the slot in the bottom plate on to the paper.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of the firm of A. M. and Wm. Clark, of
53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Fellow of the Institute of
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TYPE WRITERS" (a communication to me from abroad by Samuel Salmon
Burt, Miner, of Chicago, Cook County State of Illinois, United States of America
and Alvinus Brown Wood, Miner, of Ann Arbor, Washtenau County State of
Michigan United States of America) and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
:
This improved type writer has the following parts. A frame whose base is of
rectangular form and the top sloping from rear to front, a scale marked upon the
top bar at the rear end of said frame, a rack bar upon which moves a sliding
carriage, a platen or base piece on which the paper rests, a feed roller having com-
bined therewith a paper holder marked with a scale corresponding to the scale on
the bar before mentioned; a sliding carriage provided with an indicator having
letters and other characters marked thereon; a rotating type disc provided with
types corresponding to the characters on said indicator; a printing key or lever
which through suitable connection actuates a plunger, the latter forcing the types
upon the paper; mechanism for depressing and rotating the type dial; a coiled
spring or equivalent device which furnishes the power to propel the carriage from
side to side; an escapement whereby the spacing between the letters is secured;
space keys connected through suitable levers with the escapement by means of
which the spacing may be accomplished independently of the printing lever; means
for withdrawing the pallets of the escapement to allow the carriage to be thrown
back; an inking plate which forms the bottom plate of the carriage provided with
a slot through which the type is forced in printing and an inking ribbon upon
which the types are forced each time a letter is printed..
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view, Figure 2 is a transverse
cross section taken on line 2, 2, of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a cross section taken on
line 3, 3, of Figure 2, some of the parts being omitted. Figure is a side eleva-
tion of the roller upon which the paper is carried. Figure 5 is a bottom view of
the carriage and rack bar, the inking plate and type dial being removed to show
the mechanism for rotating the type dial. Figure 6 is a detail view (side eleva-
tion) of the lever and other devices for operating the escapement. Figures 7 and 8
are also detail views of the same showing particularly the detents which engage
with the teeth of the rack bar Figure 9 is a bottom view of the type dial having
two types thereon. Figure 10 is a top view of the inking plate and inking ribbon,
showing also the slot or opening through which the types are forced and Figures 11
to 21 inclusive are detail views of detached parts which figures will be more fully
described when describing such parts.
The frame A is made preferably of light metal bars and is rectangular in its
outline, except that the rear side is higher than the front and the top is beveled or
slopes towards the front. A bar 1, forms the top and rear of the frame and is

page_text: marked with a scale to correspond to the whole number of letters, figures, punctua
tion marks and other characters on the type dial. An index is provided on the
sliding carriage which points to the scale on bar 1. as the carriage advances. The
paper is carried upon a roller 3 whose ends rest in the end bars of the frame
the said roller having at one end a milled head 4 by which it is rotated to advance
the papers. The paper may be fed to the roller 3, in sheets, or from a continuous.
roll. This roller shown in Figure 4 has parallel grooves cut around its body which
facilitate the even and true movement of the paper. The paper is held upon said
roller by means of a paper holder 5 which, is hung upon a rolling bar 6. whose
ends turn freely in the end bars of the frame work. This holder shown in
Figure 2 has its down hanging portion long and so heavy that the holder being
pivoted in the rear of the centre of roller 3 will be sufficient to hold the paper
firmly without the aid of springs or other devices. The upper portion of the paper
holder 5 may be of substantially the same curve as roller 3 and its lower portion
less curved so as not to break the paper.
scale corresponding to the scale on bar 1.
a platen or bar 7 parallel to said roller and
the frame.
The paper holder 5 is marked with a
The paper passes from the roller 3 over
having its ends secured in the ends of
The sliding carriage B is formed of a top plate C secured upon side bars b, b,
which are sleeved at their rear ends upon a rack bar 2 the latter extending longitu-
dinally across the frame, its ends passing through said frame and being provided
with burs or nuts, whereby said rod may be adjusted Rack bar 2 turns freely in
the ends of the frame and carries on its front side a rack c.
The power by which the carriage is propelled along the rack bar is furnished by
a spring E coiled within a drum or barrel D provided with cogs d, which engage
with the teeth of rack c.
The spring E has one of its ends fastened to a centre pin or post e and the other
to the inner wall of barrel D. This device is shown partly in dotted lines in
Figure 1. and is also shown in Figures 2 and 5-The spacing or escapement
mechanism consists of a lever F¹ pivoted upon the inside of one of the side bars b.
Lever F carries at its rear end a fixed detent f. and on its opposite side a spring
detent f. Lever F has a vertical movement and its detents are so arranged that the
vertical oscillation of the lever will throw one of said detents into and the other
out of engagement with the rack thus making the spacing positive and putting the
movement of the carriage completely under control.
A flat spring G is fastened to the underside of top plate C, its free end pressing a
stop g, on lever F, so that the inner end of said lever is always returned against top
plate C, after being depressed by the printing or spacing key.
A pin or stud H passes through side bar b into lever F at right angles to the
latter. The pin H works in a slot inside bar b, and it has a coiled spring h, set in
front of it, this spring having a bearing within a shield or tube H¹. By pressure
on pin H, lever F is drawn forward to release the detents and allowing the
carriage to be pushed back to the starting point-The carriage moves from left to
right, being propelled by the coiled spring E, but the movement is arrested by the
detents before described. When it it is desired to space without printing, this is
done by means of space keys I which are sleeved upon a rod 8 carried in
bearings i, i, on top plate C. The sleeve of keys I has an arm J which when the
sleeve is rocked is brought into contact with the front end of lever F, depressing
said lever and withdrawing the detent then in engagement with the rack allowing
the carriage to move one space. This clearly appears in Figures 6, 7 and 8.
The type dial K shown in figure 9 is circular in form and cut from thin sheet
metal. It is large enough in circumference to allow of the placing of all
the letters of the alphabet, both capital and lower case, the digits, punctuation
marks etc. The rim of this dial is divided into as many tongues as there are
characters represented in types This is done by slitting the dial from its rim
towards the centre to give each tongue elasticity and to permit of its being

page_text: depressed when the type is struck. The types are made of vulcanized rubber upon
a metal base and are removably secured upon the type dial by screws.
The type
dial has for its axis a vertical pin or stud Ki which projects above top plate C and
terminates in a circular disc L. A vertical slot is made through pin K¹ and a
pink, passes through said slot, its ends having a bearing in a collar kl on top
plate C. A coil spring k² surrounds pin ¹, being seated on collar k¹ with its upper
end against disc L. This spring holds the type dial out of contact with the inking
ribbon and the slot in pin K permits an up and down movement of said pin
whereby the type dial is forced into the inking ribbon, when the disc L is
depressed. The type dial has two movements one vertical by which it is brought
in contact with the inking plate and the other rotary, by which the type mounted
thereon is brought into alignment with the slot in the inking plate; both motions
are imparted to it by a lever or key M, which is secured at its rear end upon
a post or stud M' just in front of the stud K¹. The construction of this lever is
shown in Figure 11 where M. represents the lever proper, m, a slot in the outer
end thereof, m', a thumb piece, the lower end of which projects through slot m and
terminates in a wedge shaped portion m³. This lever may be secured to the
stud M by means of a cap piece carrying a sleeve. A pin passes through the ear
pieces on lever M and through said sleeve. This cap piece is fixed upon stud M¹
by a pin and the ear pieces rock on said pin so that the movement of the lever
from right to left will turn the pin in its bearings and thus rotate the type dial by
means of the segment rack hereinafter described. The type dial is revolved by
means of a segment rack N fastened on a plate n, which is rigidly secured to the
lower end of stud M¹. This segment rack meshes with the gear wheel O carried
by stud K gear wheel O is provided with fixed pins o, o, which project downward
through holes in dial K. Thus it will be apparent that when the printing key is
moved in either direction stud M' will be revolved thereby swinging the rack in
the direction of the motion of the lever and turning the gear wheel, thus imparting
through the fixed pins, a rotary motion to the dial. The length of the segment
rack Ñ corresponds to the distance over which the outer end of the printing key
must travel in going from one side to the other of the indicator. It is evident that
the dial will have a motion in the same direction as that of the printing lever, and
the letters of the indicator being placed so as to correspond with the types on the
type dial, any letter desired to be printed is brought into position under the
plunger and over the slot in the bottom plate by simply bringing the key to a
point over the corresponding letter on the indicator.
I provide an indicator consisting of two serrated bars P, P, in the form of a
segment placed upon top plate C. These bars have vertical slots p extending from
the bottom of a V shaped notch formed in their upper surface down to the base
plate upon which they rest. Opposite these slots the letters and other characters
are indicated upon a suitable surface in the same order in which their corre-
sponding types are placed upon the type dial. The arrangement of the letters
may be as follows. The small letters may be placed on the outer segment in a
group the digets and other characters being disposed at the respective ends of the
segment, or the letters and other characters may alternate with each other. How-
ever arranged, the capital and lower case letters should be placed on the type dial
alternately, that is to say, if lower case a be placed at any given point on the type
dial capital A should be placed next to it. And if the lower case letters be
indicated on the outer segment, then the corresponding capital letters should be
indicated opposite the next slot to the right of the inner segment.
Thus if a
be placed as indicated in Figures 1 and 9, A should be placed as there indicated.
A detail view of these segments is shown in Figure 14, where it will be observed,
that the centre of the teeth of the inner segment coincides with the slot p of the
outer segment. These segments are so arranged that a movement of the printing
lever over the space between two given slots, will cause one letter on the type dial
to pass the slot in the bottom plate and the next letter to come into position over
said slot. Hence if the lever Ñ be moved over the space between two slots of the

page_text: outer circle, the type dial will be revolved so as to move one letter past the slot
in the bottom plate and bring the second letter into position over said slot. Thus
if a be placed on the type dial and indicated on the outer segment, A being placed
next to it on the type dial and indicated on the inner segment followed by b, on
the type dial and indicated next to a on the outer segment, and it is desired to
print a. b a movement of the printing lever from a to b will rotate the type dial so
as to make A pass the slot and bring b into position over the slot. But if desired
to print A following a in the above arrangement, the thumb piece is brought back
to the first notch to the right on the inner circle and A is thereby brought into
line.
The printing key or lever M rests upon disc L, which it depresses every time
a letter is printed. The outer end of this lever may swing from one end of
the indicator to the other and in so doing, a complete revolution of the dial is
made
The handle m¹ slipped out or drawn back in slot m, according to the desire to
print a letter indicated on the inner or outer circle of the indicator. The disc L
bears upon a crank 7 on rod 8 and as the disc is depressed it acts through crank L
to rock rod 8. Rod 8 has rigidly sleeved upon it an arm R which works through a
slot in top plate C; when rod 8 is rocked arm R comes in contact with lever F,
depressing said lever, thus withdrawing the detent then in engagement and
allowing the carriage to move one space. Rod 8 with its crank is shown in
Figure 15 and arm R in Figure 13. Thus the spacing is accomplished by printing
key M or by means of the spacing keys I and independently of each other. The
type dial K being secured upon the stud K', is depressed every time that the
printing lever is depressed. The type dial carrying the types on its lower face is
forced upon an ink ribbon S circular in form and lying in a ribbon plate S¹ which
forms the bottom plate of the carriage. Thus each letter is inked everytime the
type dial K is depressed except the one which passes through the slot on the paper.
The bottom plate S may be slipped into grooves in side bars b.
The mechanism for forcing the type upon the paper consists of an arm T con-
nected to the outer end of rod 8 and having a slotted end embracing a pin u
on the end of of a curved bar U which lies on top plate C and moves thereon in
suitable guides. This curved bar is shown in figure 20 and arm T in figure 13.
The curved bar U has on its inner end a pin u¹ which is embraced by a slot in the
lower end of an elbow lever W (Figure 21) the latter being pivoted on a suitable
standard on top plate C. The end of the horizontal member of lever W rests
upon the head of the plunger V. Plunger V moves vertically in a guide v which
has a seal therein. A coiled spring v surrounds plunger V and holds it out of
contact with the type dial except when the lever is depressed. A cross section
through this plunger and showing the lever W, is shown in figure 19 and the
guide vis shown in Figure 16.
The operation of printing a letter is as follows.
The printing key M being grasped by the operator is brought to a point in one
of the segments P opposite the desired letter, when it is depressed the wedge
shaped piece m being guided to the slot p by the bevelled sides of the teeth of
the segment. This pressure on the printing key depresses disc L which in turn
bears upon the crank 7 on rod 8, thereby rocking said rod. As rod 8 rocks; the
arm T presses pin u, drawing bar U backward. This movement of lever U acts
through fixed pin and the elbow lever w to depress plunger V, which in turn
strikes the tongue of the dial directly beneath it, and forces the letter carried
thereon through the slot in the bottom plate, and upon
the paper.
Many of the parts which are herein described will be constructed in modified
forms, and equivalents may often be used. I have given the above particular
description without interjecting description of modifications as such course usually
tends to render the Specification confused and not easily followed but I do not
intend by such particular description to limit the invention to its precise terms.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a type writer, the combination with a type disc having upper and lower
case letters alternately represented in types placed in a continuous series thereon,
of an indicator having the upper and lower case letters alternately arranged but in
different series and a printing lever adapted to said indicator, substantially as
described and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a type writer, the combination with a pivoted printing key or lever of a
disc lying under the lever, a rod carrying an arm and adapted to be rocked by the
lever, a plunger and means substantially as described for connecting the rod and
plunger, all constructed and operated substantially as described and for the purpose
set forth.
3. In a type writer, the combination with a printing lever, of a rotating stud
carrying the segmental rack, a gear wheel operated by said rack and having fixed
pins and a type disc adapted to slide up and down on said pins and to be rotated
thereby substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
4. In a type writer, the combination with a printing lever and rocking bar
provided with a crank and a fixed arm and means substantially as described
between the crank and lever of an escapement lever constructed and arranged
substantially as described, so that pressure on the printing lever will operate the
escapement, for the purpose set forth.
5. In a type writer, the combination with a feed roller, of a paper holder having
a down hanging skirt and a rolling bar said holder being pivoted to said bar in
such a manner that it holds the paper upon said roller by its own weight,
substantially as described.