Accession Number: 2016.16.1.1-78
Scope & Content: Technical drawings for tooling/manufacture of the American Printing House for the Blind's Tactile Graphics Kit. Design/drawn: Gary Davis. See container list for description of each of the 78 drawings (whiteprints and photocopies of whiteprints), which show details of dies, kit tools, and kit holder.
Creator: American Printing House for the Blind
Interview Date: / /
Collection: APH Archives / RG 12: Educational and Technical Research
Administrative History: In 1978, the American Printing House for the Blind began work on the development of a product for use by teachers, orientation and mobility specialists, transcribers, and others to create their own tactile graphics for people who are blind or visually impaired. The kit would include tools for embossing raised lines, textures and symbols on heavy-gauge aluminum-foil sheets (also included), which could then serve as masters for thermoforming finished copies. Originally referred to as the Tactile Display Kit, by 1979 the developing product was called the Tactile Graphics Kit. Gary Davis, an APH mechanical engineer and designer in the company's research department, worked on design and tooling for the kit's manufacture. The Tactile Graphics Kit became available in 1981.
Subjects: Instructional aids, tools, and supplies Mechanical drawings Tactile graphics