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I learned about the most delightful little device today at @SFCB.
You know these typical old-school restaurant bills in America?
You know these typical old-school restaurant bills in America?
@SFCB I never thought twice about the numbers on them, but it’s a tricky challenge.
You want the number to be different on every copy, but typesetting a completely new number every time is cumbersome – and numbering by hand afterwards might be equally annoying.
You want the number to be different on every copy, but typesetting a completely new number every time is cumbersome – and numbering by hand afterwards might be equally annoying.
@SFCB Say hello to the Ultra-Force numbering device.
It seems like a regular rotary stamp. You can rotate the digits to whatever number you want by hand if you want to.
But that extruded typeset numero is not a weird accident.
It seems like a regular rotary stamp. You can rotate the digits to whatever number you want by hand if you want to.
But that extruded typeset numero is not a weird accident.
@SFCB Turns out, it is actually a *button*. Each press increments a number by one. That’s more convenient, I suppose, just pressing it every time you print another copy…
…but here’s the kicker: the button is meant to be pressed by the printing press itself.
…but here’s the kicker: the button is meant to be pressed by the printing press itself.
@SFCB Every time the press goes down to make an impression on the digits and the №, it also presses that numero, incrementing the number just before printing.
It’s so wholesome!
It’s so wholesome!
@SFCB I love the ingenuity and practicality of this little device. It is tangentially related to earliest automatic typing machines, or mail merge, or…
We haven’t tried it out today, but if I ever do more letterpress – I would love to use it, just for fun.
We haven’t tried it out today, but if I ever do more letterpress – I would love to use it, just for fun.
@SFCB And, if anyone is interested, here’s the patent: patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/cd/33/9a/64ad4…
/cc @robinsloan + @GlennF + @mkirschenbaum
/cc @robinsloan + @GlennF + @mkirschenbaum
@SFCB @robinsloan @GlennF @mkirschenbaum (It’s funny how one could confuse it for an old, broken counter that’s really, *really* hard to press – but the point is that this is a rare button not meant for human fingers!)
Nice context:
