functional LEGO typewriter punches letters onto reusable board to write messages

"LEGO enthusiast Koen designs a functional brick-made typewriter that punches letters onto a reusable and rotating board for writing messages. The project is inspired by the official typewriter set that LEGO released in 2021, where the keys move and the carriage slides, but it can't write anything. Koen then makes his own functional LEGO typewriter that, instead of writing the letters, the machine places or punches them onto the board."

"The design improves over time because the early versions of the project tried to throw letter tiles forward like real type bars. With 26 letters to fit into one machine, space quickly became a problem for Koen, and his solution is a better layout, not a bigger structure. He arranged the keys then in staggered rows, with the top row pushed slightly back and the bottom row pushed forward."

"Each key in Koen's functional LEGO typewriter does two things. First, when the key is pressed, it releases one letter tile from a vertical magazine using gravity. Then, when the key is released, a rubber band pulls a pusher forward, pressing the tile onto the white plate. Rubber bands are used throughout the build because they act as springs and return systems."

Koen built a functional LEGO typewriter that punches letters onto a reusable rotating plate serving as paper. Each key releases a letter tile from a vertical magazine using gravity and, on release, a rubber band pulls a pusher to press the tile onto the plate. Space constraints led to a staggered key layout with rows offset to prevent mechanism interference, allowing all 26 keys to operate within a near-real typewriter size. Rubber bands provide spring and return functions for adjustments. A curved LEGO arch rotates each tile 90 degrees to ensure correct orientation before placement.

Read at designboom | architecture & design magazine