Ángela Ruiz Robles was a Spanish teacher, writer, pioneer and inventor of the mechanical precursor to the electronic book. In 1949, Ruiz was awarded Spanish patent 190,698 for the "Mechanical Encyclopedia". Ruiz Robles wanted to lighten the weight of the books carried by her students, so she devised a device consisting ofa series of text and illustrations on reels, all under a sheet of magnifying glass with a light for reading in the dark, and was to incorporate spoken descriptions of each topic. Her device was never put into production but a prototype is in display at the National Museum of Science and Technology in A Coruña.
Mechanical Encyclopedia
The following is a translated description of the device: 'When opened, it consists of two parts. On the left there is a series of automatic alphabets, in any language: slight pressure on a button displays the required letters, making words, sentences, a lesson or a topic, and all manner of writings. In the upper right-hand part of the alphabets is a coil with all manner of line drawings, and on the left there is another coil with ornamental and figure drawings. In the lower part of the alphabets there is a plastic sheet for writing, editing or drawing. On the inside there is a box where subjects can be stored. The subjects are stored in the right-hand part, passing beneath a transparent, unbreakable sheet; these can be enlarged, and the books can be illuminated so that they can still be read if there is otherwise no light. The right-hand and left-hand sides of the section the materials pass through contain two coils in which the books the user wants to read in any language are placed; moving these allows all the topics to pass by, stopping as and when the user wishes, or to be collected. The coils are automatic and can be moved from the box and expanded, so that the whole subject remains visible. The device may be placed either on a table or perpendicular to it, which is handy for the user, since it eliminates a great deal of mental and physical effort. All the components are replaceable. When closed, it is the same size as an ordinary book, and easy to handle. For authors and publishers it greatly reduces production costs, for it does not require either paste or binding, and can be printed either in a single print run, or section by section – a procedure of value to all.'
Honors
Ruiz Robles appears in the 2011 Spanish publication 200 Years of Patents in the "Women" section, published by the Spanish Ministry of Industry. Ruiz Robles’s 121st birthday was the subject of a Google Doodle on March 28, 2016.
