History of the Typewriter

— 31 — description, drawn from the catalogue of the exhibits in the South Kensington Museum, will be found of interest by mechanically minded readers, those, however, who are not “ built that way ” will probably be content to examine the illustrations, of which we present two, representing the front and back views of the machine. “ The comb is still retained, but forms part of the sur- face of a cylinder whose axis is the centre of a swinging segmental plate containing cams, by means of which it can be swung into various positions. On an elevated keyboard are twenty-six round keys forced upwards by springs (see account of the “ National ” typewriter later); each key carries a small pin on its side that engages with a separate cam groove in the segmental plate. By causing the keys for the symbols further from the printing point to act in the centre of the plate, it was possible to make the grooves nearly alike. Change of case was accomplished by mounting on the segmental plate a second comb that is brought beneath the printing hammer, by sliding it along the arbor, by a key provided for this purpose.” Inking is effected by a small revolving wheel.