Charles ThurberDied 7 Nov 1886 at age 83 (born 2 Jan 1803).American inventor of an early form of typewriter. He formed Allen & Thurber (Worcester, Mass) with his brother in law, Ethan Allen to manufacture firearms. On “Thurber's Patent Printer,” (U.S.patentNo. 3,228 on 26 Aug 1843), the type was mounted on a rotating cylindrical drum. As Scientific American described it, “the paper was secured to the drum, and was brought into the proper place under the type bar guide. The type wheel was revolved until the desired lever came over the guide. The key was then forced down with the finger, and the character was printed.” Thurber also patented a different machine which he called the Chirographer, “for writing or forming any kind of figures or characters on paper, and making copies thereof at the same operation,” but the machine was still far too slow to substitute for hand writing.« |
