GB409138A - Improvements in or relating to keyboard arrangements for typewriters - Google Patents

Abstract

409,138. Typewriters. DVORAK, A., 6021, 31st Avenue N.E., and DEALEY, W. L., 10219, 57th Avenue South, both in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. May 9, 1933, No. 13472. Convention date, May 21, 1932. [Class 100 (iv).] Keyboards.-The keys of a standard typewriter for the English or other language are arranged to comprise some or all of the groups set out below, the composition of the groups being based on the relative frequency of letter-sequences, and being such that awkward finger-reaches are eliminated. The vowels are arranged together, preferably in the middle row, and consonants of high frequency are so arranged in relation to each other and the vowels as to facilitate typing of sequences. The keys for the vowels and for the letters f, g, c, r, l, d, h, t, n, s, b, m, and ware arranged for operation by opposite hands. The top row includes the keys for the letters p, y, f, g, c, r, l, and the punctuation marks. The middle row includes the keys for the letters a, o, e, u, i, d, h, t, n, and s. The bottom row includes the keys for the letters z, q, j, k, x, b, m, v, and w. The keyboard shown in the Figure includes all the groups set out above, and comprises, as compared with an ordinary keyboard, the following features. The most frequent digraphs are typed by alternate hands, and almost all the digraphs include a key in the middle row, a large number, moreover, being confined to the middle row. Fewer digraphs are typed by the same finger or adjacent fingers, or necessitate crossing the middle row. For digraphs that have to be typed by fingers of the same hand, the movement in the majority of cases is from an outer to an inner finger, and the right hand is generally used. The lateral halves of the keyboard can be transposed for left-handed operators. Specifications 7316/13 and 179,678, [both in Class 100 (iv)], are referred to.