Typewriter

Typewriter, writing machine activated manually or electrically by means of a keyboard. In the classic model, when a key is depressed, a pivoted bar bearing a type character strikes an inked ribbon against a sheet of paper carried on a cylindrical rubber “platen.” The platen carriage then automatically moves a space to the left. In some electric models all type is carried on a single rotatable sphere that moves from left to right and strikes a fixed platen. The first efficient typewriter was developed in 1868 by C.L. Sholes.

See also: Sholes, Christopher Latham.