Writing machines

Claim 1

A writing machine including a writing instrument, means for moving said instrument longitudinally in relation to a writing surface, and mounting means permitting movement of said instrument in two orthogonal directions, a plurality of mechanical memory stores for controlling the movements of said instrument in said two orthogonal directions, each said memory store comprising first and second cooperating cam elements, all of the first cam elements of said memory stores being mounted for simultaneous rotation on a common drive shaft, and all of said second cam elements being independently movable relative to each other, motion transmitting means operatively connecting each of said second cam elements to said instruments, said transmitting means including an actuating rail extending parallel to the longitudinal movement of said instrument, and means for moving said rail in a direction transverse to its length, and a plurality of manual keys each operatively associated respectively with one of said pairs of cooperating cam elements and acting selectively to connect said cam elements with said instrument, said actuating rail being pivotally mounted for rocking movement about an offset axis parallel to the length of said rail, each of said second cam elements comprising a step-down mechanical transmission such that the movement of said rail is less than the corresponding movement of the respective first cam elements, the motion transmitting means connected between said rail and said instrument comprising a step-up mechanical transmission which provides increased movement of said instrument in relation to the movement of said rail.