Pastor Hans Rasmus Malling Johan Hansen, of Copenhagen, said to have been a minister of the Lutheran church, was the inventor of the "Schreibkugel", the first machine regularly manufactured for sale to the public. It was originally designed for the blind but the principle was later applied to a machine for business use. The heavy carriage of the machine interfered with the speed, but the use of electromagnetic action applied to the sector of the "Writing Sphere" eased it considerably. The machine sold for 400 Kr. In Denmark and 600 Gulden in Austria for the electric machine, but these prices were found to be too high at that time for satisfactory merchandising. It was patented in the United States on April 23, 1872.