|
Who Invented The Typewriter? |
|
Typewriters are a very modern development and are still being constantly improved. But did you know that a patent for a typewriter was given to an Englishman called Henry Mill as long ago as 1714?
This typewriter, however, was never manufactured. At first, typewriters were patented as devices to aid the blind. In the United States the first typewriter was patented by William Burt in 1829. It was called “a typographer,” and there is no example of this machine in existence today.
In 1833, a Frenchman, Xavier Progin, invented a machine which used type bars with a key lever for each letter. You can see that the development of the typewriter was the work of many men, each making some contribution.
In 1843, an American, Charles Thurber, patented a machine which made use of a set of type bars placed around a brass wheel. The wheel moved on a central pivot. |
|
|
It was brought around by hand to the letter desired, and the inked type struck directly upon the paper below. This operation, however, was too slow to make this machine practical.
Another step forward was made in 1856 with a machine that used the principle of a circle of type bars making an impression upon a common center, which is what we use today.
The first practical typewriter, and one that could be manufactured on a large scale, was the work of three United States inventors. They were Christopher Sholes, Samuel Soule, and Carlos Glidden. They perfected their machine in 1873 to the point where it could be sold.
This machine had paper inserted around a rubber cylinder, an inked ribbon, reversible spools for the ribbon, and a moving carriage. So it had many of the features of the modern typewriter.
In time other improvements were added, and today we have portable typewriters, noiseless typewriters, electric typewriters and electronic typewriters with memories. |
|
