History of the Typewriter

—185— ten wide, with a carriage-guide-rail extending an inch and a half on either side, and it weighs about i61bs. The Daugherty keyboard is universal and the shifting arrangement does not depend on one small shift-key at one side, but there is a shifting arm with a large finger plate at either side of the board. The type-bar action is thus described by the makers :— “ When the bar is at rest, the power is applied at the lowest leverage and moves towards the pivot as the bar rises to print. This gives the bar an accelerated motion. The farther it moves, the faster it travels, till the imprint is made. The slightest release of pressure on the key permits the bar to return with increasing speed to its normal position. The type-bars rest in a slightly inclined position, in the arc of a circle below and in front of the paper. They strike up into a central vibrating guide which brings the type to the point of writing in true alignment. The bars rest between division plates, and and each travels in a separate path or groove. They are pivotted in such a way as to prevent end play, and yet permit of a little yielding or sideways movement. Then each bar has a safety shoulder on its back edge. Should a bar be at the point of writing and another struck against it, the flat space on the face of the second type block strikes the safety shoulder on the back of the first and thus prevents the type on the second bar being battered.” Fig. 139. Looking at the rear part of the machine will be noticed the ribbon carried on its guide. As the type-bar rises to print, the guide is thrown against the paper ; and im- mediately pressure on the key is removed and the type commences its return journey, the ribbon guide resumes