US2123234A - Watch type cryptograph - Google Patents

Description

July 12, 1938. DE v I 2,123,234

WATCH TYPE CRYPTOGRAPH Filed Dec. 28, 1934 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

July 12, 1938. A. L. DE LIVl WATCH TYPE CRYPTOGRAPH 4 Shets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 28, 1934 m 5, g [5 ll/ 6 ATTORNEYS.

| DE UV! 7 2,123,234

WATCH TYPE CRYPTOGRAPH Filed Dec. 28, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 VENTORI. %i

A TTORNEYS.

Jul 12, 1938. A L DE 2,123,234

WATCH TYPE CRYPTOGRAPH Filed Dec. 28, 1934 4 Sheets Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS.

Patented July 12, 1938 2,123,234 WATCH TYPE CRYPTOGRAPH Alexandre L. de Livi, New York, N. Y., assignor to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 28, 1934, Serial No. 759,495

8 Claims.

This invention relates to means for cryptographically transposing an intelligible sequence of characters forming a message into a different and unintelligible sequence forming a code message, together with means for translating the incoherent and unintelligible sequence of characters into the initial and intended formation of the original message.

The combinations of alphabetical letters into 3 words and sentences having some meanings in the different languages are only apart of the total permutations possible with the number of letters contained in their respective alphabets. Permutations have a very great importance in mathematics and in cryptography.

Crypting is a science by means of which letters, words and sentences are moved from the clear field of coherent understandable permutations and are hidden in the haze of permutations not yet elected to convey human thoughts, emotions and understanding.

De-crypting is an art by means of which the incoherent suite of letters of the cryptic message are translated into its clear intended meaning. The time taken by the art to de-crypt any cryptic message is the coefficient of resistance of the message. All cryptic messages can be de-ciphered since it is only a question of time, which is the essence required to be successful in the particular translation.

Any method of crypting involves a number of tedious operations which can be accomplished by mechanical applicances. As the art has no definite mathematical base to work upon, but depends on information, knowledge, intuition and their respective correlation, any crypting ma:- chine to be .of any practical value has to be conceived'in such a manner as to reduce the order of repetition of letters various languages to absolutely a minimum.

The present invention is based on permutations, and as clear, intelligible writing in any language is by nature nothing but permutations of letters, it is necessary, first of all to select our particular field, to adopt a cryptic alphabet, such as represented by the key board of the average typewriter, or any other that may be desired. Since the mechanism, when in action, constantly shifts letters from the clear to the cryptic field, it is also necessary to establish a starting letter of the message and its relative position to the printing "mechanism; the starting letter of the key board; the relative position of the incoherer to the printing wheel; the direction in which the messages are crypted and de-crypted;

the various alphabets placed in the dial; the particular sequence of the letters of the alphabet inserted in the printing mechanism.

This outline of variables or number of keys, just set forth, is sufiicient to off-set the law of repetition of letters in various languages, it includes the whole permutation field given by the alphabets of any language, and also includes' the substitution of letters, transposition of ciphers, and superimposition of alphabets.

An object therefor of the present invention is to provide means by which the transposition of charactersLis continuously variable, in contradistinction to known devices in which transpositions are effected in an orderly and predetermined movement.

Another object of the present invention is to provide means for varying the operation of the device according to the sequence of characters in the message to be enciphered or deciphered.

A further object is to provide means for automatically and continuously varying the cycles of operation of the device without attention on the part of the operator.

Various other objects and advantages of my invention will be obvious from the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying the invention or from an inspection of the accompanying drawings; and the invention also constitutes certain new and novel features of the construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of the device along the lines l-l of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device.

Fig. 3 is another sectional view of the device showing the actuator and shifter mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a plan view through line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figs. 5 and '7 detailed views of ratchet wheels.

Figs. 6 and 8 detailed views of incoherer.

Fig. 9 is an assembly view showing the additional covers opened for operation of the device. Referring more particularly to the accompanying drawings, a preferred arrangement of .the apparatus is shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 for coding and de-coding messages. As here shown a part of the apparatus may be mounted in a suitable circular case I which is provided with a hinged cover 2. A plurality of indicators or pointers 3, 4 and 5 are shown in a cooperative relationship with the main dial 6. The said pointers are adapted to be positioned separately to select any particular character as viewed from be complete before actual the dial 6, and thus form three of the variables or keys in establishing the ensuing permutations. A brief description of the general operation of the device will now be given in order to render the specificexplanation of the construction and operation of the mechanism more comprehensible. Y

The following preliminary preparations must operation of the cryptograph is attempted. The pointers 3, 4 and 5 are positioned selectively to any desired character in view from the main dial 6, as shown in Fig. 2, the pointers are positioned opposite the characters F, M and X respectively. It must be understood of course, that the sequence of the letters in the alphabet may be varied as desired, that is, separate and difierent incoherent alphabet discs may be inserted in the main dial 6, reference may be made to Fig. 1 clearly indicating the individual discs which may be employed. Likewise, the printing wheel l3 adapted so as to be displaced by like wheels with the sequence of' the characters thereon arranged in a dilferent manner, must be selected and inserted as shown in Fig. 1.

The shifting mechanism 46 must be positioned properly by the control lever 55,v as shown in Fig. 2, that is either to its right and left position, which as will be understood, determines the direction of operation of coding and de-coding mechanism.

The paper feed and printing mechanism operated by the actuator is shown in Fig. 9 disposed in an additional cover of the device and shown in its open position maintained whenever the device is in action. In another cover as indicated, character indicating or counting mechanism is shown also operated upon each stroke of the actuator.

The-physical construction of the cryptograph device is such that in its entirety it can be. conveniently operated and held in one hand of the operator which clearly indicates its advantages in the particular field in which it is applicable.

Upon completion of the preliminary conditioning of the selective key devices, which of course must be noted for the later de-coding operations, the machine is now ready for preparing the cryptic message. If the message PARIS is desired to be recorded, the knob and stem arrangement I! controlling pointer 4 is turned so that the pointer is suicgssively positioned to the characters just no e At the end of each setting for every character the actuator 45 is depressed to record a charac- 'ter.

The second character of the message to be recorded is then set up as mentioned and the ac tuator again is depressed in a similar manner to effect recordinganother character on the'tape. This operation is continued until the complete message is recorded in its cryptic state which may be, KRLAM, depending, of course, upon the key selection, and the automatic operation of the incoherer which upon the operation of the actuator displaces the pointer 4 difierently for each operation, as will be understood as the description progresses.

Let it be assumed now, is to be de-ciphered. The machine is then conditioned as explained hereinbefore for the transmission of the message, which would be for this example, the setting of pointers 3, 4 and '5 to characters F, M and X, respectively, of a similar alphabet disc. The printing wheel with the similar sequential arrangement of the characters is that this code message used, and finally the shifter control lever is moved to its right position, if the left position as indicated in the Figure 2 was employed for coding the message. The characters KRLAM are then set up individually with the knob and stem arrangement controlling pointer- 4 to these individual character designations, and as mentioned hereinbefore, at the end of positioning the pointer to each character the actuator 45 is operated each time to record each of the decoded characters in order to reveal the clear identity of the message, which in this case would be PARIS.

As mentioned hereinbefore the operation of the actuator will cause the pointer 4 to remain in the position selected, or it may be moved to its adjacent character, or to the second or third character depending upon the position of the incoherer. It is this indefinite operationautomatically conducted in conjunction with the other variable key settings which renders this device effective to select an inconceivable number of permutations and combinations and in this manner be successful to hide the clear identity of the message recorded.

In Fig. 1, the pointer 3 is suitably attached to a centrally located arbor 1 having integral therewith at its other extremity a member 8 comprising a cylindrical sleeve section 9 and stud Ill (Fig. 3). Suitably positioned within the cylindrical sleeve are stops 5a urged outwardly by spring H and maintained in position by collars l2. The printing wheel l3 with character type It suitably disposed on its lower surface, is held in position against the member 8 by the stops 5a adapted to yield to the extent that the printing wheel may be removed from the sleeve. The printing wheel is provided with a centrally located opening I5 to permit the insertion of the wheel as explained, and a suitable hole l6 adapted to fit over the stud l8, thereby positioning the wheel rigidly.

In addition thereto, the member 8 has a cutaway or notched portion I20 on its periphery opposite the location of stud l0 into which a protruding pin or stud I2l on main wheel 24 is inserted and adapted to actuate or drive the printing wheel in either direction depending on the rotation of the main wheel.

Disposed above the member 8 is a main wheel 24 adapted to be positioned on bearings 65 movable on a circular race support [6, and provided with a plurality of slots 6! equally spaced and equal in number to the characters or letters in the language to be employed. A gear wheel I9 is attached to the main wheel at 6,8 and is adapted to engage the gear I 8 attached to the knob and stem arrangement II. A bottom lock wheel 2|, with equi-distant triangular cuts 22 in its periphery, the number thereof equal to the letters of the alphabet, is disposed above the main wheel 24 and separated therefrom by the ball bearings 26; A look spring 23 engaging the slots of lock wheel 2| is suitably supported and fastened to the main wheel 24. Ratchet wheels 21 and 28 separated by lock washer 10 are suitably locked or pinned together to .the bottom lock wheel 2|. The teeth of the ratchet wheels 21 and 28 are pitched in the opposite direction, the purpose of which will be clear as the description progresses. The lock washer I0 is suitably fastened to a sleeve 20 to which the pointer 4 is attached. Pointer '5 is secured to a top lock wheel 35 engaging ball bearings 39 rotating against the top plate 48. Ratchet wheels 4| and 42 with' oppositely directed teeth and incoherer" 29 are all fixed or pinned to the top lock wheel 35 which is provided with a lock spring 36 suitably attached to the top plate 48. The incoherer wheel 29 (Figs. 5-8) is provided with a notched cylindrical rim or skirt 3|, the latter surrounding and interruptedly covering or straddling the ratchet teeth of wheels 21 and 28 which as will be seen are acted upon by individual pawls, and said rim or skirt is interrupted by irregular openings or notches 32, and the rim portion when between the pawls and corresponding ratchet-wheels prevents the engagement thereof with the ratchet teeth.

The notches or openings are made so as to open up or uncover sometimes one and sometimes two or more of the ratchet teeth of the wheels 21 and 28 as shown in the shaded portions 32a around the wheels. .In Figure 8 a development of the incoherer illustrates the relative positions of the cuts or openings 32, and that there are two levels of openings, the lower one straddling the bottom ratchet wheel 21 and the upper level the wheel 28, also that the openings are arranged in reverse order in the two levels. The purpose of this arrangement will be evident since it was mentioned that this device is capable of coding and de-coding cryptic messages formed thereby. One level of openings with its correspondingly straddled ratchet wheel is employed for coding the message, and the other level of openings and ratchet wheel are used in conjunction with the-de-coding procedure. Due to the arrangement of the super-imposed ratchet wheels in reversed order and the reversed arrangement of the incoherer openings, the message formulated in code can be deciphered correctlyif the same positioning of the various keys is made before the start of each operation.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, a protruding plunger or actuator 45 is shown connected to a shifter mechanism 46 constructed to embody a plurality of cylindrical sleeves 41 and 48, and to engage a set of supporting springs 49 suitably attached to the casing The sleeves 41, two on each side of the shifter 46, are adapted to support pawls 52 and 53 which engage the lower and upper ratchet wheels respectively. Depending on the position ofthe shifter mechanism, pawls 52 are in position to act upon ratchet wheels 42 and 21 to rotate the device in one direction, and in a reversed position of the shifter 46 the pawls 53 act upon ratchets 4| and 28 to rotate the device in the opposite direction. It is obvious, of course, that the pawls always act in the same direction by virtue of the depression of actuator 45 against the action of the springs 49 to cause the pawls 52or 53 to engage the adjacent teeth of the corresponding ratchet wheels, and upon release of the actuator the springs restore the shifter 46 and supported pawls to normal position, the said movement of the actuator causing the rotation of the engaged ratchet wheels. A small adjustment comprising an eccentric cam 88 is attached to plate 40 and permits the shifting of the pawls 52 or 53 into engagement with the respective associated ratchet wheels. It has been mentioned hereinbefore that the engagement of pawls 52 with the associated ratchet wheels 21 and 42 operate the mechanism in one 'direction and the engagement of pawls 53 with wheels 28 and 4| operate the mechanism in the opposite direction. The control lever 55- which can be set in a right or left position as indicated in-'Fig.-2 is attached to the cam 88 which in turn cooperates with a settable plate 8|. The positioning'of the pawls 52 and 53 is controlled by lever 55 and the said positioning is effected by the connecting pin 55a attached to plate 8| and to the tube 58 inserted in sleeve 48 of the shifter mechanism 46.

Disposed on the extremities of the tube 58 are wire springs 5| suitably engaging the pawls 52 and 53 and as shown in Fig. 4 when the tube and pawl device is positioned to the left the pawls 52 are urged to cooperate with its corresponding ratchet wheels, andwhen set to the right the pawls 53 are called into action by its springs 5| to rotate its corresponding ratchet wheels in an opposite direction, upon depression of the actuator 45 and shifter mechanism 46.

The positioning of the plate 8| by cam 88 also actuates the connector rods 82 to rotate the stop 83 about its pivot 84 so that the stop 83 engages the slots 61 in the main wheel 24, thereby preventing the main wheel from being rotated in adirection opposite to the one permitted by the setting of the control lever 55.

Attached to the arm of actuator 45 is a cam roller 85 adapted upon the depression of the actuator to force a small piston 86 upwardly as viewed in Fig. 3 against the action of an inserted spring 81 andfastened to piston 86 is an arm 88 which has disposed on its extremity a printing hammer 89, and it is obvious upon depression of the actuator 45, the printer hammer is broughtinto engagement with the type l4 on the printing wheel l3. Referring now to Fig. 9 in an additional cover 98, a suitable paper reel 9| is pivoted about 92 so that the paper 93 can be distributed over the printing hammer 89 when the cover is in open position as shown and returned between a paper feed roller 94 and roller 95 pivoted at 96 and held in this position by spring 91. Integral with roller 94 is a ratchet wheel 98 engaging pawl |||l on an arm 99 bearing a rotatable arm I08 which whenthe cover 98 is opened can be extended to cooperate with the printing hammer 89 and which is always urged against the said hammer by virtue of a coil spring |8|.

Therefore, when the printing hammer 89 is forced upwardly against the type l3, the springpressed arm I88 follows the printing hammer to step the pawl ||8 ahead to the adjacent tooth on ratchet 98 so that upon the downward movement of hammer 89, arms I and 99 of the pawl ||0 urges the roller 94 ahead to feed the paper 93 held tightly between rollers 94 and 95. The tape 93 may consist of two thin layers of paper with a double carbon paper between the separate strips of paper to effect printing on both strips of paper when the hammer 89 engages the type 89. The tape strip of paper should be thin enough to permit the impression on its under, surface to be seen from the top surface, in this manner effecting two separate records of the message.

Disposed in a top cover is the indicating or counting mechanism 6 of any standard type suitably arranged to be operated by plunger 1 which when the cover is opened is adapted to be actuated by the up stroke of the piston 86 (Fig. 3). This indicating mechanism 6 may be convenient to count the number of letters recorded during the coding or decoding of the message and may be attached to the device if so desired.

It has been shown that the three superimposed pointers 3, 4 and 5 are eachseparately fixed to associated mechanism; pointer 3 is fixed in direct connection with the printing wheel l3 and if the arrangement of the characters on the printing wheel and the alphabet disk are similar, the pointer indicates exactly the position of the selected letter on the printing wheel and clear recording can be efi'ected by the operation of this pointer alone.

The pointer 3 is directly connected to the ratchet wheels 27 and 28 which are disposed inside the incoherer by virtue of the fact that the pointer 6 is physically attached to the sleeve 20 and the said sleeve is fixedly attached to lock washer l0 interposed between ratchet wheels 27 and 28. It was mentioned hereinbefore that the ratchet wheels 21 and 28 and the lock washer 10 are suitably locked or pinned together to the bottom lock wheel'2l. Now, due to the arrangement that pawl 23 is secured to the main wheel 24 and adapted to engage the teeth of the lock wheel 2!, the control pointer i is impositively connected to the main wheel 24 and printing wheel I 3. The pointer 4 is also connected to the knob and stem arrangement I? by means of the gears l8 and 09 so that by positioning pointer i by means of the knob and stem arrangement to a selected character on the disk, the printing wheel is positioned, not necessarily so as to record the same character selected by the pointer 41, but anyother character depending upon the original preliminary setup and the automatic operation of the incoherer; pointer 5 is fixedly connected to ratchet wheels M and 42 which control the incoherer 29 and by positioning the pointer 5 to any given position it will shift the position of the incoherer to control subsequent operations of the coding mechanism and finally the positioning of the printing wheel. The positioning of control lever 55 either to the right or left position as indicated in Fig. 2 determines the direction of rotation of the device by selecting the operating pawls 52 or 53.

Movement of the actuator mechanism 45 and 46 causes the pawls 52 and 53 to be displaced, and as mentioned hereinbefore, to engage the adjacent teeth of the associated ratchet 'wheels. However at certain periods the pawls are prevented to engage the teeth of one group of the associated wheels due to the surrounding skirt of the incoherer" 29. Therefore it is obvious, that by variably positioning the settable pointers 3, 4 and 5 before operating the device, the subsequent operations of the elements controlling the positioning of the printing wheel are varied in accordance with the said setting of the pointers.

characters to be coded, but due to the differential action of the groups of ratchet wheels, the pointer may be moved automatically away from the character setting during the printing operation.

Due to the change of the setting of the pointers automatically while the character is recorded, and of course the change of the setting varies depending upon the selection of a particular character, it is obvious that the number of permutations generated due to the selection and transposition of the characters is sufiiciently great enough to prevent or ofiset any repetition of the sequence of characters recorded.

It was mentioned hereinbefore, that coding could be efiected by operating the device in both directions, that is, by setting the control lever in either right or left position as indicated in Fig. 2. If one position is chosen for coding, the other position must be used for decoding the message, thereby operating the device in re- The pointer 4, as stated, is used to select the claims.

verse direction for decoding as compared to the original direction for formulating the cryptic message.

When using the device to decode the message, in addition to setting up the pointers 3, 3 and'5 in accordance with the setting recorded original- 1y for coding the message, and reversing the setting of the control lever 55, the alphabet disk 60. must be positioned in accordance with the coding or decoding operation. Referring to Fig. 2, the disk 6a is shown to have the characters arranged in an incoherent order in one direction; 'for instance, the characters A, V, F and H as viewed from the dial 6 are set up in a clockwise direction, the same characters are included on the said disk to be read in a counterclockwise direction when the disk is shifted to enable them to be viewed from the dial 6.

A plurality of superimposed disks 6a, having the alphabet arranged in a different incoherent order on each one, are grouped in the cover 2. It is understood that the disks are interchangeable so that each can be placed as desired to be viewed from the dial 6. Each disk has two extensions IZU to limit the manual movement of the disks between the stops HI and I22. The uppermost disk as maintained in the manually set position due to the friction exerted thereon by the other disks included in the cover 2.

The printing wheel I3 is adapted to have the same argangement of the type characters and upon the operation of the device in a reverse direction the printing wheel is adjusted in accordance with the letter arrangement of the disk 6a due to the cutout section I20 on the member 8.

Therefore, for decoding it is seen that the machine is operated in exactly the reverse direction as compared to the coding operation, and

since the operations are begun from a similar setup of the various keys, and the automatic action of the incoherer in effecting variable displacement of the pointer 41 during the printing' operation is the same as during the coding operation, the setup of the characters of the cryptic message individually, will cause the clear and original message to be recorded.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a device of the character described, comprising a plurality of settable means, a character printing wheel associated with one of said settable means, a plurality of ratchet wheels associated with another of said settable means, a plurality of similar ratchet wheels associated with still another of said settable means, and

means cooperating with certain of said plurality of ratchet wheels during the coding operation and during the decoding operation with the others of said plurality of ratchet wheels, to

control the characters recorded by said print- 2. In a device of the character described, comprising a plurality of settable means, recording means associated with one of said settable means, a group of controlling elements associated with another of said settable means, a second group of similar controlling elements associated with still another of said settable means, and means cooperating with certain of the controlling elements of said groups to control the recording means whereby the characters recorded differ from the characters selected by one of said settable means.

3. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein the last named means is arranged to automatically vary the selection of the characters recorded upon the successive selection of the same characters by one of said settable means.

4. The invention set forth in claim 2 wherein the original positioning of the plurality of settable means automatically aflects the selection of the unintelligible characters recorded upon acters.

5. The invention set forth in claim 2 comprising additional settable means the operation of which controls and aifects the recording of intelligible characters and corresponding to the original characters selected upon the selection of the aforementioned recorded characters by the same said settable means.

6. The invention set forth in claim 2 in which the last'mentioned means comprises a cylindrical rim surrounding and interruptedly covering the said second group of controlling elements.

7. The invention set forth in claim 2 comprising a stem' arrangement cooperating with one of said settable means to be operated to position the said settable means to select the characters which are to be recorded and represented by different characters.

8. The invention set forth in claim 2 comprising an actuator cooperating with the two said groups of controlling elements to be operated to eifect the recording of the said characters.

ALEXANDRE L. DE LIVI.

Images