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Patent Model of a Typesetting Machine
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This patent model demonstrates an invention for a typesetting machine which was granted patent number 166549. The machine was named the Electro-Magnetic Type-Setting Machine. Type was stored in vertical channels (right-hand box) and dropped into a funnel at a touch on the keyboard (lefthand box). The falling type hit a see-saw lever, making an electrical connection and exciting electromagnets. The magnets moved sliding blocks, pushing the type into place into a galley. When a line of type was complete, the operator reset the adjustable back of the galley to make room for the next line.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit linePatent Model of a Typesetting Machine. ca 1875. Pattyson, William D. C.. National Museum of American History. CC0.