Electric designs
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Electrical typewriter designs removed the direct mechanical
connection between the keys and the element that struck the paper.
Nevertheless, up to the 1980s, electric typewriters could be better
described as "power-assisted typewriters." They contained only a
single electrical component in them, the motor. Where the keystroke
had previously moved a type bar directly, now it engaged mechanical
linkages that directed mechanical power from the motor into the type
bar. This was also true of the forthcoming IBM Selectric.
IBM and Remington electric typewriters were the leading models until
IBM introduced the IBM Selectric typewriter, which replaced the type
bars with a spherical type ball (more correctly, "element"),
slightly smaller than a golf ball, with the letters molded on its
surface. The Selectric used a system of latches, metal tapes, and
pulleys driven by an electric motor to rotate the ball into the
correct position and then strike it against the ribbon and platen.
The type ball moved laterally in front of the paper instead of the
former platen-carrying carriage moving the paper across a stationary
print position. |
The type ball design had many advantages, especially in eliminating
of "jams" when more than one key was struck at once, and in the
ability to change the type ball, allowing multiple fonts to be used
in a single document. Selectric mechanisms were widely incorporated
into computer terminals in the 1970s, because the typing mechanism
was fast and jam-free; could be initiated by a short, low-force
mechanical action; and did not require the movement of a heavy "type
basket" in order to shift between lower- and upper-case.
Later models of Selectrics replaced inked fabric ribbons with
"carbon film" ribbons that had a dry black or colored powder on a
"once-thru" clear plastic tape. These could be used only once but
they were in a cartridge that was simple to replace. They also
introduced auto-correction, where a sticky tape in front of the
print ribbon could remove the black-powdered image of a typed
character, and introduced selectable "pitch" so that the typewriter
could be switched among pica ("10 pitch"), elite ("12 pitch"), and
sometimes agate ("15 pitch"), even in one document. Even so, all
Selectrics were monospaced -- each and every character was the same
width. Although IBM had produced a successful type bar-based
machine, the IBM Executive, with proportional spacing, no
proportionally spaced Selectric office typewriter was ever
introduced. There was, however, a much more expensive proportionally
spaced machine called the Selectric Composer which was considered a
typesetting machine rather than a typewriter.
The final major development of the typewriter was the "electronic"
typewriter. Most of these replaced the type ball with a daisy wheel
mechanism (a disk with the letters molded on the outside edge of the
"petals"). A plastic daisy-wheel was much simpler and cheaper than
the type ball but wore out more easily. Some electronic typewriters
were in essence dedicated word processors with internal memory and
cartridge or diskette external memory-storage devices. Unlike the
Selectrics and earlier models, these really were "electronic" and
relied on integrated circuits and multiple electromechanical
components.
Towards the end of the commercial popularity of typewriters in the
1980s, a number of hybrid designs combining features of computer
printers and typewriters were introduced .
These typically incorporated keyboards from existing models of
typewriters and the printing mechanism of dot-matrix printers. The
generation of teletypes with impact pin-based printing engines was
not adequate for the demanding quality required for typed output.
Newly developed, thermal transfer technologies used in thermal label
printers had become technically feasible for typewriters.
IBM produced a series of typewriters called Thermotronic with
letter-quality output and correcting tape along with printers tagged
Quiet writer. Brother extended the life of their typewriter product
line with similar products.
The development of these proprietary printing engines provided the
vendors with exclusive markets in consumable ribbons and the
possibility to use standardized printing engines with varying
degrees of electronic and software sophistication to develop product
lines.
The increasing dominance of personal computers and the introduction
of low-cost, truly high-quality, laser and inkjet printer
technologies are displacing typewriters. |
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