Information about Linotype Machine

In the printing industry, the Linotype machine, pronounced "Line-O-Type," ['laɪnəˌtaɪp]) uses a keyboard consisting of 91 keys to create an entire line of metal type at once, hence a line of type. The Linotype allows much faster typesetting and composition than the handset composition method developed by Gutenberg, which requires composers to assemble one pre-cast metal letter, punctuation mark, or space, at a time. The Linotype machine revolutionized printing throughout the world, with its first, greatest impact being in newspaper publishing, for one Linotype operator can now compose several pages of straight matter in a single day.

History

In 1883, a German clock maker, Ottmar Mergenthaler, who had emigrated to America in 1872, conceived the idea of assembling metallic letter molds, called matrices, and casting molten metal into them, all within a single machine. His first attempt proved the idea feasible, and a new company was formed. Always improving his invention, Mergenthaler further developed his idea of an independent matrix machine. In July, 1886, the first commercially used Linotype was implemented into the printing office of the New York Tribune. Here it was immediately used on the daily paper and a large book. The book, the first ever composed with the new Linotype method, was titled, "The Tribune Book of Open-Air Sports."

Initially, The Mergenthaler Linotype Company was the only company producing linecasting machines, but in time, other companies would begin manufacturing. The Intertype Company, which produced the Intertype, a machine closely resembling the Linotype, and uses the same matrices as the Linotype, started production around 1914. Where Mergenthaler prided themselves on intricately formed cast-iron parts on their machine, Intertype machined many of their similar parts from steel and aluminum.

Linotypes can still be found today, composing as they have done for well over 100 years, producing printing slugs for use with handset type, in small job shops and newspaper museums throughout the world.

Operation

The complexity of the Linotype machine was necessary, not only that it would place matrices in the proper place as the operator typed on the keyboard, but that it would return the matrices to the proper channels, or slots, in the storage magazine for immediate reuse. Prior to the Linotype, not only was handset composition very time consuming, but the individual letters and spaces also needed to be redistributed, by hand, to the type cases. The Linotype machine uses a clever design of coded notches on each matrix. The notches correspond to their position within the main 90-channel magazine, or a 34-channel auxiliary magazine. Certain seldom-used characters, referred to as pi matrices, or simply sorts, have all of their teeth, which keeps them from falling into any of the channels in a magazine. These pi matrices proceed to the far end of the distributor rail, where they are released into a metal tube, and slide down to a pi stacker. From the stacker, the operator can place them into one or more easily accessed trays for future use. The frame holding these trays is known as the pi rack. Here the operator can easily choose again, a special matrix, such as a percent sign, fraction, slash, or a decorative ornament.

In addition, a Linotype can produce justified composition, where the spaces within a line of copy are expanded so that the text fills the line to the right-hand margin. It does this with the insertion of spacebands, rather than solid, fixed-width blank spacing, whenever the operator presses the spaceband key. Spacebands are wedge-like devices, approximately 4.25" in length. When released from the spaceband box, they fall into place wherever the operator wants a space. During the assembly of a line of matrices, the spacebands are at their minimum width. When the line is completely composed, the operator rocks a lever at the bottom of the keyboard, using either of their hands, or both. This lever lifts the composed line of matrices, and begins the machine cycle. The composed line is automatically transferred from the composers assembly mechanism, sliding into the first of two elevators. This first elevator now decends in front of a wheel, which may hold several line molds. Most Linotypes, 30 pica machines, can hold four molds; others, 42 pica machines, will only hold three. This wheel, called the mold wheel, advances gently against the line of matrices, aligning them with the desired mold, getting them ready for the next step in the cycle. Now the line of matrices is ready to be justified, and the bottoms of the spacebands are pushed upward by powerful coil springs within the machine, proportionally expanding all of them. This is a great force exerted by the machine. The smallest fleck of dirt or debris between two matrices will literally crush the sides of the letter mold faces, damaging the delicate brass matrices forever. The mold wheel now advances tightly against the line of matrices. This part of the casting process is called the lockup. Molten type metal is then rapidly pumped, in one swift, downward stroke of a plunger inside the lead pot. The printing slug has been cast. The mold wheel is pulled away from the casting position, and it then rotates 270 degrees, shaving the back of the newly formed slug, creating the exact height of .918. The mold wheel is stopped, and once again moves forward into the lockup position, this time for the ejection of the slug. A metal blade, called the ejection blade, forces the slug through two side knives, trimming it to the exact line width. The slug then slides into a metal galley, where it takes its place next to slugs that were cast only seconds earlier. An experienced operator, setting a 12 pica line, can set approximately seven lines per minute. From the initial moving of the lever below the keyboard, initiating the machine cycle, to the ejection of the slug, all operations are fully automated; however, the operator may engage the clutch to stop the machine at any given moment.

The melting pot on the Linotype contains molten type metal, an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, at a temperature of approximately 280 °C (535-540 °F). The channel from the bottom of the pot, called the throat, is constantly heated, as is the mouthpiece, from where the lead is literally sprayed forth. Here the temperature is lower, approximately 440-465 degrees. Lead, by nature, is very soft, and pure lead will not harden fast enough for a Linotype to function efficiently; another element needs to be added. That element is tin. Tin causes the lead to harden quickly, and being harder than lead, makes the printing slug last longer while being used in the printing press. Unfortunately, lead and tin will not combine to make a workable metal. Only by adding antimony, will lead and tin join and flow together in a molten state.

The Linotype is remembered, by the observers of its operation, for the layout of its keyboard, which has letters arranged in decreasing order of frequency in everyday English. The first two vertical rows of keys are ETAOIN and SHRDLU, and if Linotype operators should make a mistake in composing, they will sometimes run their fingers down these two rows, thus filling out the line with nonsense; example: etaoinshrdluetaoinshr. This is known as a run down. It is often quicker to cast a bad slug than to hand-correct the line within the assembling mechanism. The slug with the run down is removed once ejected, or during the printing form setup by another individual. If not there, it will be caught by the proofreading department. Run downs are occasionally used to quickly fill out a line, should that line have only a few words or characters in its beginning. In this case, only the run down will be trimmed from the top of the slug, with the remaining slug still intact.

The Linotype keyboard has the same alphabet arrangement given twice, once for lower-case letters, the keys in black, on the left side of the keyboard, and once for upper-case letters, the keys in white, located on the right side of the keyboard. The blue keys in the middle are punctuation, numbers, and solid spaces. In proper keyboard operation, the experienced operator's left hand operates the spaceband key, and the left vertical row of keys only. The operator's right hand strokes the remaining keys on the entire keyboard.

See also

• Monotype machine

External links

• Metal Type — "For Those who Remember Hot Metal Typesetting"
• Typesetting: Linotype vocational instruction film: part 1 and part 2.
• Video of a Linotype being operated in Iowa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0hDWOrnWA

Patents

• Linotype machine