History of the Typewriter

pulling down the connecting wire, 3, causes the long bearing, A B, to turn, and so brings the typeblock to the paper. The Remington typebar, as we have seen, is secured in a U-shaped yoke by means of pivots. It will be apparent that to secure permanent alignment is almost impossible, as the constant movement of the typebar in its whirling flight to the printing point has a tendency to strain the binding screw. Not only this, but the pivots themselves must inevitably wear out. The Remington and many other machines depend absolutely upon the rigidity of the bearings. The Yost, however, has a loose bearing, per- mitting the typebars to move in any direction. Alignment is secured by locking the typeblock at the printing point, as is clearly shown by the accompanying illustration. This does not, it is averred, cause the faces of the type to wear out by contact with the centre guide ; the Fig. 37 opening is bevel-shaped, the typeblock is correspondingly bevelled, and the type face cannot therefore strike against the guide. There is an important point to consider in all machines, viz., the question of inking the types. In Fig. 38 we have the ribbon movement of the Reming- ton typewriter, in which the ink ribbon is wound on two spools, T T, on opposite sides of the machine, and the object is to feed it continuously backwards and forwards, from one spool to the other, so that it needs no attention from the operator, and, at the same time, move it transversely, so that the ink from every part of the ribbon is used up, and not from one line only. These two movements are quite distinct from one another. The first is performed by means of the shaft, S, which runs across from one spool