United States patent 1549622



Patented Aug. 11, 1925.

1,549,622

United States Patent Office.

Burnham C. Stickney, of Rutherford, New Jersey, assignor to Underwood Typewriter Company, of New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware.

Typewriting machine.

Application filed February 9, 1923, Serial No. 617,912. Renewed April 9, 1925.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Burnham C. Stickney, a citizen of the United States, residing in Rutherford, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a keyboard for typing the Japanese katakana alphabet.

The main objects of the invention are to devise a keyboard which conduces to ease of learning and rapidity of operation, and in which the labor is divided about evenly between the right and left hands, and also appropriately divided among the fingers of each hand, and in which the dakuon mark is typed by one hand and the root character by the other hand in a machine in which the other desiderata are secured. Katakana is usually written downwardly in vertical lines; but an object of the invention is to give added impetus to the movement which has progressed for many years in Japan, to introduce horizontal writing from left to right. To this end the present typewriting machine is organized to type horizontally from left to right, as in ordinary English typing, and the machine is of the usual Underwood construction throughout, except for the characters on the keys and the types which correspond thereto. The characters typed by the machine are modified from the standard katakana, mainly by substituting vertical and horizontal straight lines for inclined and slightly curved lines, and by re-positioning the horizontal lines and re-proportioning the characters to bring them into harmony and enhance the elegance and attractiveness of the typed page, while preserving the salient characteristics of each character, so that it is easily recognized by Japanese, and rendering it easy to read words as groups, instead of picking out each syllable separately as in ordinary katakana.

A feature of the invention is the disposition of the relatively numerous katakana characters upon the relatively few keys of a single-shift standard typewriter, so that most of the typing will be performed in lower-case upon the most convenient keys, namely, those in the second and third banks of a four-bank keyboard, and so that for the most part the keys in the several groups follow the order of the katakana alphabet, and so that the lower-case characters less frequently used are disposed upon a less desirable bank of keys, namely, the front bank, and so that the remaining lower-case characters shall be disposed upon the fourth or rear bank, and also so that the letters which combine with the dakuon and semi-dakuon are placed upon one side portion of the keyboard (preferably the left), while the dakuon mark is located at the other side of the keyboard, for operation by the right hand, and so that relatively infrequent characters, (each being located in its own key group), are placed with regularity upon the upper-case shift and all in one bank, and so that the eleven special undersized characters, which are mainly vowels, are mainly placed upon the upper-case shift in a location where they are readily found, and so that upper-case numerals, punctuation marks and signs may be so disposed as to conduce to systematization of the keyboard and the desired grouping and ordering of the katakana characters, and so that the three front banks of keys may be substantially duplicated upon the 3-row double-shift Underwood or other portable typewriter, while the lower-case and upper-case characters of the fourth or rear bank of the standard machine may be put upon the second shift of the portable machine in such a way that they are readily located by the operators upon the standard machine, so that anybody skilled in operating either a 4-bank standard or 3-bank portable keyboard may readily use the other keyboard.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan of a three-bank katakana keyboard for the Underwood Portable typewriter.

Figure 2 is a plan of the keyboard for a standard 4-bank Underwood typewriter. It will be understood, however, that the invention is also applicable to machines of other makes.

Figure 3 is the improved design for alphabet of katakana, or the types for typing or otherwise printing the same.

The keys 10 at Figure 2 are connected by the usual lever trains 11 to the types 12, in which lie in the type-rest in front of the platen (not shown) in an order dependent upon the order of the keys as usual. There are shown the usual right-and-left-hand shift-keys 13, 14, also the usual shift-lock key 15, back-space key 16, and tabulator key 17. There are, at Figure 2, 42 keys, as usual in the standard No. 5 Underwood machine. The 4-bank keyboard at Figure 2 and the 3-bank keyboard at Figure 1 are standardized and harmonized in a manner that will be presently explained.

At Figure 2, the order of the keys is as follows:

First (front) bank, lower-case, TSU SA WO HI KO MI MO NE RU, and the prolongation mark; upper-case TSU (small), SE SO HE KE MU ME NU RO.

Second bank, lower-case, CHI TO SHI HA KI KU MA NO RI RE.

Third bank, lower-case, TA TE I SU KA N NA NI RA dakuon.

Fourth (rear) bank, lower-case, FU A U E O YA YU YO WA HO. The corresponding undersized characters are placed in upper-case shift on the fourth bank.

In the third bank, upper-case shift, is undersized I, also the mark for yen. In the Japanese language there are sounds which cannot be denoted in ordinary katakana, such as KIA, KIU, KIO, etc., and it is a common practice to denote such combinations by the aid of undersized duplicate characters, which are nearly all placed upon the rear bank of keys, all of the keys in said bank being, therefore, for duplicate characters, whose location is rendered easy to memorize.

Nearly all of the Japanese katakana characters represent separate syllables each comprising a consonant and a vowel; and the fourth or rear bank of keys is set apart for the infrequent simple vowels, A, U, E, O, and also the infrequent compound vowels YA, YU, YO and WA. These are characters that are assigned to the rear bank or row, partly because of their relative infrequency of use, and partly because in using katakana it is also customary occasionally to write these characters in reduced size, as just explained. These small characters are upon the upper-case shift of the main characters, and hence when writing the character either large or small, the operator has only to memorize a single key therefor. Upon this bank are also placed the characters FU and HO, each of which is sometimes written in undersized form. The entire rear bank therefore consists of full-sized characters on the lower-case shift, and their undersized duplicates upon the upper-case shift. This conduces to the orderly and systematic character of the keyboard.

The simple vowel I, because of its frequency, is placed in the third bank, close to the A and U keys, that is, in the vowel group to which alphabetically it belongs. This key for I has also an undersized duplicate in the upper-case shift. The only remaining letter having an undersized duplicate is TSU, which, because of its moderate frequency, is placed in the first or front bank, but within the T group where alphabetically it belongs.

Of the T group of characters, TA, TE, CHI and TO are placed in the third and second banks, because of their great frequency of use, the group being completed by TSU at the left-hand end of the front bank. The alphabetical order of the characters in this and nearly all of the remaining groups is substantially employed throughout the keyboard, for ease of learning and speed of manipulation.

Of the S group, the frequent letters SHI and SU are placed in the second and third banks, while SA, because of its moderate frequency, is placed in the lower-case in the first bank. This group also includes two infrequently-used characters SE and SO, which are so seldom used that they are placed in the upper-case shift and in the first bank. It will be seen that the keys in the S group adjoin one another, and hence are easily memorized and located.

In the H group the character HA is placed in the second row because of its frequency, while upon an adjoining key in the front bank is placed the infrequent lower-case character HI. Upon the same key with HI is placed in upper-case the infrequently-used HE. This group also alphabetically comprises the character HO, but this key, because of its infrequency of use, and because of relative prominence of the vowel sound in the syllable, is placed in the rear bank (preferably at the right-hand end), and in common with other keys in this bank it carries an undersized duplicate character. The character FU, which also belongs in the H group, is also placed in the fourth bank because it carries an undersized duplicate, and preferably at the left-hand end of the bank.

In the K set the frequent characters KA, KI and KU are placed on the second an third banks, while the less used character KO is placed in lower-case on the front bank. The infrequent character ME is placed in the upper-case shift on the KO key. All of the K characters adjoin one another to form a group.

The M group comprises the frequent character MA in the second bank, the less frequent characters MI and MO in lower-case in the first bank, and the infrequent characters MU and ME in the upper-case shifts of the keys MI and MO. This group therefore comprises three adjoining keys, so that all letters in this group are easily memorized or located.

In the N set the frequently-used characters N, NA and NI are placed on the third bank, and the frequent character NO on the second bank (adjoining the key for NI). Adjoining NO is placed the key for NE in lower-case on the first bank; the same also carrying the infrequent character NU in upper case. It is noted that the various groupings differ in form and arrangement, but that this is unobjectionable, and that the desired orderly arrangement and systematizing of the keyboard are secured, and the desired placing of the frequent characters in the second and third banks, and the other numerous advantages gained, without breaking up any group in either the four-bank of the three-bank keyboard, (with the unimportant exception elsewhere noted).

In the R group the frequent characters RA, RI and RE adjoin one another on keys in the third and second banks, while the less-used character RU is placed upon an adjoining key in the front bank. The infrequent character RO is given an upper-case position upon the RU key. The order of the characters following mainly the alphabetical order in nearly all of the principal groups, is important, the problem being to prepare a keyboard which can be so easily mastered as to constitute a substantial aid to the introduction into the Japanese Empire of the typing of katakana in horizontal lines.

The dakuon key is placed at the right-hand end of the keyboard in the third bank, and may be written immediately after any of the first five characters in the third bank, or any of the first six characters in the second bank, or any of the first five upper or lower-case characters in the third bank, all of these keys being operable by the left hand, while the dakuon key is operated by the right hand, to secure celerity.

Moreover, by placing the dakuon key on the right-hand side of the keyboard, the work is more evenly divided up between the right and left hands; and the placing of the prolongation mark on the right-hand side of the keyboard conduces also to even division of work between the hands. The dakuon key is a silent key which does not feed the carriage, and the dakuon mark is typed closely to the right-hand side of the upper portion of the previously typed character on the work-sheet; the same being also true of the semi-dakuon mark on the same key.

The fewness of the keys compared with the number of characters of the alphabet, has rendered it necessary on a four-bank keyboard to place eight of the principal characters of the alphabet in upper-case positions, prime characters are necessarily placed in upper-case positions. For system and order there is also placed in the same bank the TSU key (which bears an undersized upper-case duplicate). This is done without separating this character from the T group. Thus all of the katakana keys in the first bank have prime lower-case letters, and they also have all of the upper-case characters. By adopting this arrangement, it is rendered possible to place all of the high-frequency lower-case characters in the convenient second and third banks, while at the same time grouping most of the characters alphabetically. That is, substantially all of the characters are, placed in close groups, in such a manner that the most frequent characters occupy the second and third banks, and the moderately frequent characters the lower-case positions in the front bank, with the characters in each group mainly following the alphabetical order. As a means to this same end, the numerals have been placed in upper-case positions upon the keys in the second bank. This placing of the numerals conduces to systematizing the keyboard, because it avoids the necessity of assigning the eight infrequent primary upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, NU, and RO to the second bank (which would render it necessary to put the numerals in upper-case on the first bank, and would therefore render it impossible to secure the desired grouping and the desired alphabetical order of the letters of several groups). It will be seen that the first bank is given up to the most infrequent characters, and also to characters which are somewhat more frequent but still not so frequent as those in the second and third banks. As further conducing to the orderly organization of the keyboard, the upper-case of the third bank of keys is (with the exception of the key I) devoted to punctuation marks and signs. This bank also preferably includes the dakuon key, which therefore occupies the same position in the portable keyboard, Figure 1. In other words, the first bank nearly all consists of lower-case letters of moderate frequency and upper-case letters of little frequency; the second bank consists mainly of lower-case letters of high frequency and upper-case numerals; the third bank consists of high-frequency letters and upper-case punctuation marks and signs; and the fourth bank consists of lower-case characters of low-frequency and having upper-case undersized duplicates, these keys being mainly vowels. The main vowel group and also the T, S, H, K, N, M and R groups are all represented in the second and third banks, and where necessary the various groups extend into the first and fourth banks. All of the principal characters are in lower-case positions in the second and third banks, and perform the largest proportion of the typewriting.

By assigning the upper-case numerals to the second bank, they do not prevent the placing of I, with its upper-case duplicate, in the third bank or row, nor the placing of TSU with its upper-case duplicate in the first bank, whereby the desired grouping of the vowels and T characters is secured.

The invention is not limited to four-row single-shift standard machines, inasmuch as upon a non-shift machine having eight banks, the four rear banks may contain the characters, numerals, signs, etc., seen in upper-case at Figure 2.

The characters YI and WE are omitted, as they are considered unnecessary in typing katakana.

The same characters that are placed on the first ten keys in each of the first three banks in the standard keyboard, Figure 2, are also placed on corresponding keys in the portable keyboard, Figure 1. In other words, the portable keyboard composes a unit which corresponds with a group of thirty keys, viz, the three front rows of the standard keyboard, namely, the first ten keys in each row. The small characters in the fourth bank of the standard keyboard are given second-shift positions in the rear bank of the portable keyboard. The ten main or large characters in the rear bank of the standard keyboard are given second-shift positions in the second row of the portable keyboard. The characters printed by the extreme right-hand keys of the second and third rows of the standard keyboard, are placed on the second shift at the right-hand end of the first bank in the portable keyboard.

It will be seen that so long as the foregoing groupings are substantially followed, and the letters in the several lines have substantially the specified arrays and substantially the specified relationships to other arrays, or other lines of letters, it is not essential in all cases that the separate arrays be upon separate banks of keys. For example, the two arrays seen upon the rear bank at Figure 2 may be disposed one upon the rear bank and the other upon the intervening bank, as at Figure 1. Likewise the array of lower-case letters in the next to the rear bank at Figure 2 may be placed upon the same keys with the array of undersized letters seen in upper case on the rear bank at Figure 2, such grouping being seen in the rear bank at Figure 1. In both figures the groups are so placed that the typing is mainly done upon the second and third rows from the front, while the main characters are also appointed into vowel T, S, H, K, M, and other groups, substantially as above set forth.

The katakana letters have been re-designed, re-proportioned and improved with a view to giving them a pleasing and acceptable appearance. In Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings, the first five lines of characters correspond with the following English letters and groups:

A I U E O KA KI KU KE KO SA SHI SU SE SO TA CHI TSU TE TO NA NI NU NE NO HA HI FU HE HO MA MI MU ME MO YA YU YO RA RI RU RE RO WA N

The sixth line contains the characters WI WE WO and the small characters A I U E O TSU.

The seventh line contains the small characters FU HO WI WE YU YO WA MU.

In the last line is the dakuon for use in making the component characters GA ZA DA BA etc.

Many of the right-to-left strokes of ordinary katakana are modified by making them horizontal, and many of the ordinary up-and-down strokes are modified into vertical lines. This gives the writing a trim and elegant appearance, and the characters are given a squareness and substantiality which makes them attractive and favors the reading thereof in groups.

A uniform height is established for the bodies of the letters, and the top lines of many of the letters are horizontal and extend in a single array across the page, conducing to the harmony of the characters and tending to render them easily readable in groups. The top portions of the different characters are made distinctive, whereby the letters are readily recognized in rapid reading of horizontal lines. To secure harmony and good proportioning, many of the stems are extended far above the top body lines of their characters, and some extend below the main bottom line. These extensions render it unnecessary to cramp the bodies of the letters, or give to any of them an undersized appearance.

General harmony is enhanced by having uniform height in nearly all instances for the lower of two horizontal lines employed in many of the characters.

The two strokes of the letter NI are made horizontal, the top one agreeing with the main top line of the system, and the second one being substantially elevated above the base line of writing, but below the middle of the letters. The strokes of the letter MI are also horizontal, the third stroke agreeing with the horizontal base line of the system of characters. The letters NI and MI are further embellished by means of terminal dots, one being formed at the right-hand end of the top stroke, and the other at the left-hand end of the bottom stroke. This distinguishes them from Japanese characters for 2 and 3, and also makes them more easily read and more distinguished and elegant.

Dots are also used at the upper ends of SO and NO and at the lower ends of SHI and N, for giving these characters added distinction and elegance, and enhancing the attractiveness of the page of typewriting or print.

Broadly curved corners are used in the place of angular corners in many of the letters. Many of the characters are otherwise modified from the ordinary katakana, in order to harmonize them with one another and give distinction and lend attractiveness to the page of print.

The types are shown as having substantially uniform width, for typewriting purposes. The invention is also useful for ordinary printing, in which the width of the characters does not need to be uniform.

The dakuon shown in the last line occupies a uniform position in relation to the main characters, one of which is shown, for example KI, in dotted lines. This dakuon mark is placed so that it will clear characters on both the left hand and right hand thereof, and it is curved towards the left to indicate clearly to which character it belongs.

The small characters in the sixth and seventh lines are adapted to a well-known use in writing katakana, and are made of harmonious proportions and are distinctive and add to the elegant appearance of the printed page. They correspond to the main characters in width, and are a little over half as tall.

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, all of said characters having substantially the order given, whereby the keyboard is divided into groups corresponding roughly with katakana groups.

2. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, and the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank; the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU and the remaining characters of the usual katakana alphabet being in the first bank.

3. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located.

4. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located, and having upper-case punctuation marks and signs filling the third bank.

5. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located, having upper-case punctuation marks and signs filling the third bank, and having upper-case numerals in the second bank.

6. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located, having upper-case punctuation marks and signs in the third bank, having upper-case numerals in the second bank, and having upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, RO in the first bank.

7. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located, having upper-case punctuation marks and signs filling the third bank, having upper-case numerals in the second bank, having upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, RO in the first bank, and also having FU and HO in the fourth bank together with their own upper-case undersized duplicates.

8. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE RU in the first bank, having upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, RO in the first bank, and also having a dakuon mark on a silent key at the right-hand end of the keyboard.

9. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, having upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, RO in the first bank, also having a dakuon mark on a silent key at the right-hand end of the keyboard, and also having a lower-case prolongation mark at the right-hand side of the keyboard

10. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI. TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located, said key for I in the third bank having an undersized upper-case duplicate.

11. A four-bank keyboard having the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA in the fourth bank, the characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA in the third bank, the characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI KU, MA, NO, RI, RE in the second bank, and the characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE, RU in the first bank, said keyboard having undersized upper-case characters in the fourth bank corresponding with the lower-case characters there located, said key for I in the third bank having an undersized upper-case duplicate, and said key for TSU in the first bank having an upper-case undersized duplicate.

12. A multiple-bank Japanese katakana type-controlling keyboard having grouped in the rear portion of the keyboard the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA, with undersized duplicates thereof, and also lower-case characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA, and having a front bank upon which are grouped lower-case characters TSU, SA, SO, WO, HI, HO, MI, MO, NE, and RU, and upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, ME, NU and RO, and having an intervening bank upon which are grouped lower-case characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU MA NO and RI.

13. A multiple-bank Japanese katakana type-controlling keyboard having grouped in the rear portion of the keyboard the characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA, with undersized duplicates thereof, and also lower-case characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA, and having a front bank upon which are grouped lower-case characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE and RU, and upper-case characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, NU and RO, and having an intervening bank upon which are grouped lower-case characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU MA, NO and RI, and the English numerals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 in upper case; said keyboard also having the characters RU and RE grouped with said characters RA and RI.

14. A multiple-bank type-controlling Japanese katakana keyboard, having grouped in the rear portion of the keyboard the array of characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA and the array of characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA, and having a front bank bearing the array of characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE and RU, and also bearing the array of characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, NU, RO, and having an intervening bank bearing the array of characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO and RI.

15. A multiple-bank type-controlling Japanese katakana keyboard, having grouped in the rear portion of the keyboard the array of characters A, U, E, O, YA, YU, YO, WA and the array of characters TA, TE, I, SU, KA, N, NA, NI, RA, and having a front bank bearing the array of characters TSU, SA, WO, HI, KO, MI, MO, NE and RU, and also bearing the array of characters SE, SO, HE, KE, MU, ME, NU, RO, and having an intervening bank bearing the array of characters CHI, TO, SHI, HA, KI, KU, MA, NO and RI; said keyboard also having the characters RU and RE grouped with said characters RA and RI.

Burnham C. Stickney.

Witnesses:

Marion R. McCaffrey,

Jennie P. Thorne.