Some Notes ON THE Mechanism OF THE Oliver Typewriter.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 9, 2 July 1906, Page 245

Some Notes ON THE Mechanism OF THE Oliver Typewriter.

The following interesting particulars of the mechanism of the Oliver standard typewriter have been supplied us by the agents, Messrs. H. Oscar Hewett & Co., Ltd. Such essentials in a modern typewriter as visible writing, manifolding simplicity, durability and speed are not missing in the Oliver.

The working parts of this machine are about live hundred ; this number, compared with the fifteen hundred to three thousand pieces in most standard typewriters, is eloquent of the comparative ease with which the Oliver may be repaired or overhauled. One of the special features of the Oliver is the type bar (Fig. i), which is a double or U shaped

bar of steel with the type in the centre thus solving the question of permanent alignment. When permanent alignment is secured by slots or guides, for a type bar, there is metallic contact and consequent friction and noise as well as wear-and-tear. This machine has all the advantages of forced alignment without the metallic contact. It is absolutely impossible to lock two or more bars in case of interference. The carriage is unique in many ways. Being light, it does not require much tension on the operating spring, and responds more readily to the escapement. The carriage moves on antifriction travellers that run on the guide rail, thus ensuring an easy, steady motion, and obviating the necessity of cleaning and oiling the guide rail. The carnage is instantly released from the escapemen t by pressure at the left, and can be brought to any point of its travel with the atraost rapidity and convenience. The controlling action of the carriage is placed at its left, so that the right hand of the operator, which is usually overworked, can be relieved of as much strain as possible. An important feature of the Oliver in filling m dates, writing on ruled documents, filling blanks of any kind, or doing tabulated work, is that the printing point is always visible, while the platen can be turned either way and any distance, irrespective of the ratchet wheel at the end of the platen. The platen is turned automically, giving a single, double or triple line space as desired whenever the carriage is thrown against the marginal stop, the marginal stop being instantly adjusted for any desired width of margin, and the left hand stop is at once released for the insertion of marginal notes. The platen may also be reversed to make additions or corrections. Only when the columns are irregular is the scale , bar a necessity. Another feature of the Oliver is its system of interchangeable carriages, enabling the operator to readily substitute a long for a short carriage, a foolscap carriage takes paper up to 9 inches in width, the brief size for legal work up to 15 iches. The ribbon holder removes the ribbon from the printed line after the impression is made, so that every letter is plainly seen as soon as printed. There is no comparison scales or lifting of the carriage to see if errors have been made, and the beginner is saved much unnecessary practice by the simplicity of this machine. Any desired colour can be obtained, by placing the piece of carbon paper of the required shade linder the ribbon when writing. This is exceedingly useful in case the operator should desire to emphasise any particular word, or rule lines, and it is also valuable in correcting errors when minifoldmg. For manifolding, this machine is said to! have no equal, the imprint being obtained by the downward stroke of the bar, and is intensified by the tendency of the bars to drop toward the plateh. The bar being double, having a bearing on both kides of the type it is impossible by any stroke of the key to strain or twist the bar. Another claim made by the Oliver people is that their machine is the only one that will do tabulating work without a special accessory, both vertical and horizontal lines can be drawn without difficulty. This is of great importance to persons who have

Water clocks were probably invented by the Greeks thousands of years ago, and are to this day used extensively in the East, more especially in China. Those first used by the Greeks consisted of two water jars so arranged that the water from the upper ran into the lower, and the time of day was determined by measuring the depth of water in the lower jar, and at sunrise each day the water was returned to the upper jar. In the City of Canton there is a water clock which has been running for 800 years, and at the present time it is the standard clock of that city. This clock consists of four water jars, each having a capacity of eight or ten gallons. The jars are placed one above the other, in the form of a terrace, the three upper ones being provided with a small orifice near the bottom, through which the water drops into the jar next below, and so on from one to the other, until the water reaches the lowest or registering jar. In this there is a float, to which is attached an upright, having graduations for the hours and parts of hours, and as the water rises the time can be determined by noting the height of the float in relation to the cross-bar at the top of the jar. In this improved form of water clock the variation in the flow of water due to the difference in height is over-

come by having a series of jars, the outlet of the upper being so graduated that there is but little variation in the height of water in the second jar, and in the third the height remains practically^ uniform, thus ensuring a constant head for the water which drops into "the registering jar. At tRe beginning of each day the water is taken from below and carried up a flight of steps at the top.