FATTY Daisy Wheel Printer Prototype
date: label: date made
content: 1970s
notes: label: Description
content: The United States Army once used teletypewriters (also known as teleprinters) to type messages communicated electronically. Devices used for printing took a variety of forms. This is the prototype for a printer that was part of the Army's Forward Area Teletypewriter (FATTY). It prints characters etched onsixty-four spoke a daisy wheel that is rotated by a small motor located on the carriage. The circular ink pad (made of Porion) is mounted on the print wheel shaft so that they rotate together. Two rollers, one in contact with the ink pad and the other in contact with the print wheel type faces, transfer ink from the pad to the print wheel. A print hammer drives the type face against the platen.
label: Description
content: Ragland, then of Atherton, California, filed for a patent for driving and stopping the print wheel on a daisy wheel printer on May 11, 1977, was granted it December 5, 1978 (#4128346), and assigned the rights to Periphonics Corporation of San Carlos, California.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Evan Ragland
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0412.01
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0412.01
label: accession number
content: 1991.0412
objectType: label: Object Name
content: printer component
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: machine made (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12.1 cm x 14.6 cm x 35 cm; 4 3/4 in x 5 3/4 in x 13 3/4 in