Stickney's another key=typebar connection exchanger

Owing to the necessity of moving the typebars of writing-machines through the smallest practicable space during their printing strokes, it has been customary to make the type-bars of small dimensions and to pack them as closely as practicable in the typebasket at the nearest possible point to the printing-center. In order to reduce the consequent liability of the types to collide when operated at high speed, it has been customary in making under-strike machines, in which the types occupy a complete circle, to arrange some of the frequently-operated types at one side of the circle and other frequently-operated types at the opposite side of the circle, In other words, the types have been given a staggering arrangement, one key-lever being connected to a type at the forward part of the basket, the next key-lever -having its type at the rear part of the basket, the next lever a type at the forward part, the next lever a type at the rear part, and so on. In machines of the front-strike or top-strike class, however, in which only one-half or less of a circle is occupied by the type-bars, such a staggering arrangement obviously cannot be adopted, and hence it has been customary simply to place the types in the basket in the same order that the key-levers or keys occupy at the keyboard, and in consequence the objection has been made to this class of machines that the types are prone to clash, this defect being all the more noticeable because the types have to be crowded even more closely than customary in under-strike machines.
The main object of my invention is to reduce the liability of the types to collide when operated at high speed, and to this end I ef feet a rearrangement of the order'in which the types are placed in the basket without corresponding rearrangement of the order of the keys or key-levers at the keyboard. I provide between the keys arranged in one order and the types arranged in a different order one or more groups of transposed connections, so that each key is connected to its type and is enabled to operate the same whether or not said type has a natural or unnatural location in the basket. The transposition of the connections is preferably secured by crossing them at some point or points between the types and the keys. By this means I am enabled to separate types which are frequently operated in direct succession—that is, I am enabled to place between two of such types a third type, which is infrequently operated, thereby greatly reducing the liability of clashing, and hence enabling a higher speed of operation than heretofore. It is not necessary to transpose all of the connections, since some of the types may remain in their natural order in the basket without incurring the liability of collision.

Burnham C. Stickney, Type-Writing machine., Patent number: 676208., Filing date: Dec 29, 1900., Issue date: Jun 11, 1901
Patent US676208 - TYPE-WRITING MACHINE - Google Patents:

This is older than the other.

Here is new one.