AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTED DELAY FUNCTION FOR TIMED REPEAT CHARACTER CAPABILITY OF A KEYBOARD

摘要

A typewriter is described which has an electronic keyboard utilizing a timed delay to determine whether a depressed key is indicative of the desire to print or display repetitive letters represented by that key. The typewriter is provided with a technique for automatically adjusting the length of the delay such that a slow typist with sluggish finger movement will automatically cause the extension of the delay time and thereby prevent unwanted repetitive characters while a fast, very rhythmic typist will not cause the automatic extension of the delay time and thereby will benefit from a shorter delay time and will have a higher output or productivity as a result thereof. The automatic extension is accomplished by timing the period of time that keylevers are held depressed and when that time approaches but does not exceed the preset automatic delay time, the delay time is then extended a predetermined amount.