2015.13

Model 1921 Constancon Braillewriter

Constancon, Maurice

Black enameled tinplate case with piano-hinged lid, rectangular with a rounded front, nickel-plated steel "C" handle on front, four red rubber feet; large sized braille stamped onto top, "LA CONSTANCON"; two spring loaded buttons on the sides release pins that run through holes at the front base of the lid; black enameled aluminum frame with bright steel carriage bars; black enameled aluminum, steel, and brass carriage on carriage bars with seven-key keypad on front of carriage (keys move with the carriage as the operator works); the seventh key is located below and to the left and is formed from an oval piece of hard red rubber, allows the writer to be used one handed; space bar above keypad; stamped on bright steel faceplate of carriage, "SPHINX S.A. (between engravings of Egyptian Sphinx facing inward)/LA CONSTANCON/BRIT. PATENT No. 128920/1919/FRANCE BREVETE S.G.D.G/No. 499042/SUISSE BREVET NO. 80538"; behind carriage is a black enameled aluminum paper holder (original cardboard paper roll that fit inside the holder is missing): two paper rollers behind paper holder, smaller steel rod mounted with four red rubber rollers is in front of a second larger roller covered with sand paper; to right of rollers are a paper roller release and line space levers; behind rollers is a raised paper table allowing braille to be proofed; thin brass diebox bar arches from carriage to the matrix of six dots that punch the braille, located underneath the paper table; case also included a T-shaped tool and a tiny pad of paper.

H-4.5 W-10.5 D-8 inches

ca. 1921

Sphinx S.A., Belisaire S.A., l'Asile des Aveugles

Lausanne, Switzerland; Fleurier, Switzerland

Maurice Charles Constancon (1868-1944) was the director of the l'Asile des Aveugles (Asylum for the Blind) in Lausanne, Switzerland from 1901-1929. Constancon and Jean Jacques Auguste Aubert received a French patent in 1908 (FR460169-A) on a tablet like braillewriter, similar in concept to a Stainsby-Wayne braillewriter. In 1919, a corporation, Belisaire S.A., was created in Lausanne to market an updated version, arranged more like a typewriter. It was patented in Switzerland, France, and Germany by 1920, and manufactured by Sphinx S.A., a typewriter manufacturer in Fleurier, Switzerland.

Museum Purchase, 2015.13.