Typewriter

A typewriter is a mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic device with a set of "keys" that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a document, usually paper.

Innovations

No one person can be said to have invented the typewriter. Like the light bulb, automobile, telephone and the telegraph, a number of people contributed insights and inventions which eventually resulted in commercially successful instruments. In 1714 Henry Mill obtained a patent in Britain for a machine that from the patent sounds similar to a typewriter, but nothing further is known. http://www.precision-dynamics.com.au/typewriters/history.html. Other early developers of writing machines include Pellegrino Turri (1808) who also invented carbon paper. Many of these earliest machines, including Turri's, were developed to allow the blind to write.

Related Topics:
Light bulb - Automobile - Telephone - Telegraph - 1714 - Henry Mill - Pellegrino Turri - 1808 - Carbon paper

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In 1829 William Austin Burt patented a machine called the "Typographer." Like many of these other early machines, it is sometimes listed as the "first typewriter;" the Science Museum (London) describes it merely as "the first writing mechanism whose invention was documented," but even that claim may be excessive since Turri's machine is well known. Even in the hands of its inventor it was slower than handwriting. Burt and his promoter John D. Sheldon never found a buyer for the patent, and it was never commercially produced. Because it used a dial to select the character instead of having an individual key for each character, it was an "index typewriter" rather than a "keyboard typewriter", if it is to be considered a typewriter at all. From 1829 to 1870, many printing or typing machines were patented by inventors in Europe and America, but none went into commercial production. Charles Thurber developed multiple patents; his first in 1843 was developed as an aid to the blind. See Charles Thurber's 1845 Chirographer, as an example.

Related Topics:
1829 - William Austin Burt - Science Museum (London) - John D. Sheldon - 1843 - Charles Thurber - 1845 - Chirographer

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The first true typewriter as it is in use today was invented in 1855 by Italian Giuseppe Ravizza called " CEMBALO SCRIVANO o MACCHINA DA SCRIVERE A TASTI". Other say that the inventor was theAustrian Peter Mitterhofer 1864 but was never produced commercially. Mitterhofer continued to improve his original model and created 5 different enhanced typewriters until 1868. In 1865 Rev. Malling Hansen of Denmark produced the Hansen Writing Ball which went into commercial production in 1870 and was the first commercially sold typewriter. It was a success in Europe and was reported being used in offices in London as late as 1909. Additionally, Hansen used a solenoid escapement to return the carriage on some of his models, and was responsible for the first "electric" typewriter.

Related Topics:
Italian - Giuseppe Ravizza - Austrian - Peter Mitterhofer - 1864 - 1868 - 1865 - Malling Hansen - Denmark - Hansen Writing Ball - 1870 - Solenoid

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In 1867 Christopher Sholes, Carlos Glidden, and Samuel W. Soule invented another typewriter. The Sholes and Glidden typewriter was the first device that allowed an operator to type substantially faster than a person could write by hand. The patent (US 79,265) was sold for $12,000 to Densmore and Yost, who made an agreement with E. Remington and Sons (then famous as a manufacturer of sewing machines), to commercialize what was known as the Sholes and Glidden Type-Writer. Remington started production of their first typewriter on March 1, 1873 in Ilion, New York. Another early typewriter manufacturer was Underwood.

Related Topics:
1867 - Christopher Sholes - Carlos Glidden - Samuel W. Soule - Densmore and Yost - E. Remington and Sons - Sewing machine - March 1 - 1873 - Ilion - New York - Underwood

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The ability to view what is typed as it is typed is taken for granted today. In all early keyboard typewriters, however, the typebars struck upwards against the bottom of the platen. Thus, what was typed was not visible until the typing of subsequent lines caused it to scroll into view. The difficulty with any other arrangement was ensuring that the typebars fell back into place reliably when the key was released. This was eventually achieved with ingenious mechanical designs, and so-called "visible typewriters" were introduced in 1895. Surprisingly, the older style continued in production as late as 1915.

Related Topics:
Typebars - 1895 - 1915

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In the original design style, now known as a "mechanical" or "manual" typewriter, each key was attached to a typebar that had the corresponding letter molded into its other end. When a key was struck briskly and firmly, the typebar hit a ribbon (usually made of inked fabric) stretched in front of a cylindrical platen that moved back and forth. The paper was rolled around by the typewriter's platen which was then rotated by a lever (the "carriage return" lever at the far left) to each new line of text. Some typewriters used ribbons that were inked in black and red, each a stripe half the width and the entire length of the ribbon. A lever allowed switching between colors for typing bookkeeping entries, where negative amounts had to be in red.

Related Topics:
Typebar - Ink - Fabric

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