Summary

Portable typewriter of the type-wheel class, manufactured by the Blickensderfer Manufacturing Company, of Stamford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. This machine is the Blickensderfer Model 7 and is a development of the earlier Model 5. The designer of the typewriter was George C. Blickensderfer.

The mechanism of the Model 7 used a rotating typewheel with three rows of characters around its periphery. The typewheel was mounted in front of and above the platen. Pressing a key first rotated and shifted the type-wheel to bring the selected character in front of the printing point and then pressed the wheel down and forward against the paper and platen. Ink was applied via a roller against which the type-wheel brushed during its downstroke. The typewheel could be easily changed to accomodate different character sets.

The Model 7 was supplied with either a QWERTY 'Universal' keyboard or Blickensderfer's 'Scientific' keyboard. On the latter, the front row of keys comprised the letters DHIATENSOR which Blickensderfer claimed made up 70% of the letters used in English. This machine has a 'Scientific ' keyboard.

Physical Description

Metal frame mounted on wooden baseboard. Cylindrical black rubber-covered platen. Type-wheel mounted above and in front of centre of platen. Type-wheel carries three rows of characters around its periphery. Inking roller mounted on horseshoe shaped metal frame and positioned beneath and behind type-wheel. Keyboard has the DHAITENSOR 'Scientific ' layout with 28 keys for letters and other characters, and additional 'FIG' and 'CAP' keys on left-hand side. All keys are circular with white lettering on a black background. Metal spacebar extends along front and around both sides of keyboard. Wooden cover with leather handle on front, attached by hook catches to sides of baseboard.

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