US353541A - cowper - Google Patents

Description

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ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. No. 353,541. Patented Nov. 30, 1886.

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E. A. COWPER.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. No. 353,541. Patented Nov. 30, 1886.

( o Model.)

4 Sheets-'Sheet 3-. E. A. OOWPER.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

Patented Nov. 30, 1886.

i'ilill ima- (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4. E. A. GOWPER.

ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. No. 353,541. Patented NOV. 30, 1886.

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5 the sending pen or style,

UNITED STATES,

' PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD ALFRED oowrnn, or WESTMINSTER, coUN'rr OF ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO BRnN'rcooD, OF NEW YORK,

MIDDLESEX ELEIQTRIC'TELEQRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,541, dated November 30, 1886. Application filed August 7, 1886- Scrial No. 210,467.- (No model.) Patcntollln England March 28, 1879, No. 1,242.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, EDWARD ALFRED COWPER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Westminster, in the county of 5 Middlesex, England, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Electric. Telegraphs, (for which I have received Letters Patent in England, No. 1,242, dated 'March 28, 1879;) and I do hereby declare that the following is a full description of the same. A

Myinvention relates to the method of transmitting telegraphic signals for which Letters Patent for Great Britain were granted to me on the th of June, 1878, No. 2,385. A0 15 cording to this method the movements of a pen or style at the sending-station were (aused to introduce varying resistances into two electric circuits connected with the receiving-station, so that the varying currents in acting upon two elect-romagnets at the latter station caused these to impart movements in two directions at an angle to each other to the receiving pen or style, whereby this was made to reproduce the writing or characters produced by the sending-pen.

According to my present invention, instead of making the movements of the style or pen introduce varying resistances into the linecircuit,I cause them to produce greater or less strength of current by bringing into the circuit a greater or less number of battery-cells or parts thereof, as illustrated in Fig. 12; or,

instead of employing the direct currents from the batteries or other-sources of electricity, I.

5 employ for the line-circuit induced currents varied in strength by the movements of the style or pen, for which purpose it may be connected to iron cores sliding longitudinally'within solenoids, or to solenoids sliding over fixed 0 cores. ,The variation, in the strength of currents sent into the line-circuit may also be offected by combining various numbers of batter'y cells with various resistances in the following mauner: The contact-bars worked by besides passing over successive plates connected through various resistances to the line wire, as described in the specification referred to, also pass over successive plates respectively connected to vato the resistanceprojection sliding over aconnected to the battery cells, and the pencil being connected to each by a connecting-rod, so that as the -;o. perator writes battery-cells are added and 'fresistancecoils left out of the circuit when is wanted, or battery-cells are left out and regreater power sistance-coils are taken into the circuit when less power is wanted. In the arrangement described in the specification referred to the receiving-pen was connected by-a system of threads or wiresto two horizontal soft-iron cores or bars mounted on axes withinfix'ed coils, through which the varying currents were passed, and situated between the poles of fixedmaguets; or the varying currents were passed through the coils of fixed electro-magnets, so that the varying movements of the said cores or bars were imparted through the threads to the pen.

According to'one of my present improvements I employ, in place of this arrangement, a single movable sol'tiron bar, tube. or needle, which is connected directly to and is in line with or parallel to the 'pen or style, being suspended between two fixed electro-magnets. or

two sets of such magnets, situated at aright or other angle to each other, through the coils of which electro-magnets the varying currents of the two circuits are made to pass. The needle being connected totwosprings acting upon it in opposite directiousto those in which the two sets of magnets act upon it, it will be seen that net or set of magnets will produce varying movements in the one direction in the needle, while the varying currents passed through the other magnet or setof magnets will produce varying currents passing through the one magvarying motions inthe other direction at a' right or other angle to the first,.and these mo- I tions being imparted directlyto the pen orstyle will cause this to reproduce the characters written by the sending-pen.

The suspension of the needle, so as to enable it to move in every direction, may either be effected by resting it on a point or on a universal joint at any part be suspended from a spring or from a flexible thread or wire. It may be either rigidly fixed to the pen or style, or the latter may be supported independently ofthe needle, andbe s'o connected thereto that the pen is caused to reproduce the motions of the needle in a more or less magnified manner. a I In order to render the cores of the fixed electro-magnets as sensitive as possible to slight variations in the current, I make them of bundles of fine wires or thin plates in a mannerwell known. Instead of employing aseparate needle or separateneedles to which the pen is connected, the pen itself may be pivoted or suspended vertically overthe paper and have fixed on it a piece of iron exposed to the varying attraction of electro-magnets inthe two directions, acting in opposition to springs pulling it in the opposite directions. The elasticity of the pen itself or the needle'which carries it may serve instead-of such springs.

in order that the pen when it is pivoted may more easily traverse the sur'faceof the paper, it 18 of advantage to give the paper at the place where the pen moves overita concave form coinciding nearly with the circular path in which the pen moves round its pivot. For

this purpose I pass the paper under abent plate with a hole through it of sufficient-size to allow of the largest excursions of the pen,

the bend of the plate giving'the paper a cerwhere the pen moves'over it. p

' In order to secure the pen to the rods, strings,

needle, or bar which gives it motion, I insert its lower end in a light-spring-clip, sothat it can be readily withdrawn therefrom when vrequired, but is firmly held thereby whenin use. This clip may be made as a hole or slot in a light spring admitting of a small amount of vertical motion, soas to allow the pen to give to inequalities of the paper.

According to another improvement which has for its object to raise the pen from the pa.-

per w hen itceasestowrite,'aud which is applicable elther to the above-described arrangement or to that described in the specification of my previous patent, I apply to the pen-or style a spring acted on by an electro magnet or magnets, through the coils of which the currents of thetwo circuits are madev to pass, so that on the passing of such currents the pen is allowed to descend by'the action ofthe electro-magnet'sin opposition to the spring, so as to come. in contact with the paper strip, while when the currents are caused to cease, by raising the sending-pen on the completion of the word or character transmitted,the spring raises the pen out of contact with-the paper, thereby causing each word or character transmitted to be of its length, or it may written separate from the other or others adjoining it, as in ordinary writing.

I have telegraphic signals as being worked by two separate electrical circuits; but it will be e'videscribed my method of transmitting dent that by the application of the well-known "duplex system a single circuit may be used .for the purpose; also, that instead of using the currents" from these may be made to operate relays at the receiving-instrument in a well-known manner. For example, by rapid alternations of current, a single line-wire may be arranged to convey only positive impulses from one of the contact rods of the sending-pen to excite one of the eleetro-magnets' ofthe recei ving-pen, the same wire being arranged to convey only negative impulses fromthe other contact-rod of thesending-pen to ceiving-pen or, according to a known method, depending on the correspondence of vibrations of tuning forks or springs," each of the two electrormagne'tslmay be made to receive the impulses only from one of the barsjof the sending-pen. l

Although in the above description I have referred to batteries as the source of electricity 'employ'ed'i'n the apparatus, it is to be underthe line wire or wires direct fij the other electro-magnet of the re stood that electricity from other sources-such as that produced by magneto-electric or dyname-electric machines-may be applied to operate, asset forth. 7 g V Referring to the drawings,"Figure 1 is a plan,

and Fig; 2an elevation, of an instrument con- .structed according to my present invention,

a is the glass siphon receiving-pen suspended by a spring. "b is athin disk of soft iron hav ing a central 'hole,.into which is inserted a I plug of cork or other suitable material, 0. The t pen a fits into a central hole in the plug c,and

its lower end projects ashort distance below the said plug. The pen may fit the hole in v the cork plug with sufiicientfriction to sup-,

port the weight of the plug and diskand retain them in their proper position on'the pen;

or the pen may be a loose fit in the hole and.

be retained in position by wax or anysuitable cement. d e are electrmmagnets placed at right angles to' each other, each capable of moving the pen by attracting the .diskb,which acts as an armature to both. Each of-these magnets'is connected with one of theline-wires. ff are the fine springs, which'supply the necessary resistance to the pen againstthe pull of the magnets, the pen being connected to those springs by the threads f f f? f* f. f, the last two .of whichare attachedto the post f. gis

'the traveling slip of paper .upon which the message is written by the siphon-'pem It is I R driven by clock-work or 'othersuitable mechanical means at a uniformrelative speed to sending apparatus shown is similar in its construction to that described in my former specification,above referred to. The currents from, the two batteries, instead .of being conveyed thepaper in the sending-instrument. The

through wires fixed to the connecting-rods attached to the pencil,'are conveyed .to the springs A A, which bear upon the ends of the said connecting-rods, respectively. A A are small portions of insulating material' such aswood or vulcanite. The'resistance coils are formed of long continuons'wires wound on long bobbins h, Fig. 2. Connections are made by other shortwires, j, from the long ends ortails k of the contact-plates {IO to-loops 1, formed on the said continuous wires and projecting at the suitable intervals.

Fig. 3 is an elevation, and Fig. 4 a'plan, of another form of the armature attached to the pen. I is a piece of thin soft sheet-iron the lower end of which is bent to the form of a right angle, and presents one of two flat faces to each of the magnets o 1)! Above the flat faces is a shank, m, of a trough-like section, in the hollow of which the pen can be placed. At the top of theshank m is a hole, into which is inserted the end of the fine spring, which sn pports the whole. Atthe bottom isa springclip, to'hold the'pen in position, and near the top the pen is steadied in the trough-like shank by a ring of wire or string or by cement.

Fig. 5 is anelevation, and Fig. 6 a plan, of

another modification of the armature, the material and the form of the shank being thesame as in that last described. .The lower end is in this case formed into a cylinder, from the upper edge of which two narrow strips ortongues project inward and downward, forming together a pair of clips to hold the pen in the axis of the cylinder. The shank is bent or cranked just above the cylinder into the line of the pen.

Fig. 7 is an elevation, and Fig. 8 a plan drawn to an enlarged scale of another form of arinature,difi"ering from those above described in. having no shank, being supported solely by its attachment to the pen. This consists of a strip of sheetiron bent into acylinder, one end of the strip being extended inward toward the axis of the cylinder, where it is bent to 5 form a trough-like recess, 7', into which recess the pen is pressed by a spring tongue or clip, .9, projecting upward from the lower edge of the cylinder. In this case the pen itself is hung to the suspendingspring above, and the pressure of the clip is suflicient to sustain the weight of the light armature. In each of the cases above described threads and springs similar to thoseshown in Figs. 1 and 2, or other convenient means, are employed to resist the 55.pnll of the magnets.

Another method of carrying out my invention is shown in Figs. 9 and 10. In this arrangement the siphon-pen t is held by a bar of soft iron, u, of a tubular section, which I call the needle. 22 is a fixed bracketprojecting into the interior of the needle through a hole in the side thereof, and having a small hollow at its extremity to receive a steel point,

fixed in the axis of the needle. The needle thus supported is free to vibratein any direction, and to move with it the pen t, which has its longer leg passed in through a hole in the side of the needle andprojeetsout through another hole a the lower extremity of the same. The shorter leg of the siphon dips into the ink-reservoirw. x'x are stationary coils ofwire surrounding the needle u, of sufficient ,internal diameter to permit the required plane. ffaresprings. f'fffiff are threads to give the necessary resistance to the needle, against the pull of the n agnets,-as in Figs. 1 and 2. The one set of stationary magnets, y y 3/ y, are connected to one line-wire, and the other set, z z z z', to the other, while a local battery is connected to the needle-coils a w to keep the needle constantly magnetized, as in one method of working the two-needle instrument constructed according to the specification above referred to. Aswill be seen in Fig. 9, the paper'g is made to pass under a curved plate, 9, so as to present to the pen a surface approximately corresponding to the are in which the point of the pen moves. An-

zz'ztz" are a setof- ICO other modification of the arrangement last described consists of a permanently-magnetized steel needle in place .of that. of soft iron, in which case the coils and the local battery are not required; or the magnetism may be induced in the needle by strong permanent magnets in close proximity to it.

Fig. 11 is an elevation of the mechanism for raising the pen from the paper, and is described as follows: B is a light spring which partly supports the weight of the pcnu. allowing it to bear upon the paper with the requisite amount of pressure for writing. C is a stronger spring, capable of lifting the spring B and the whole weight of the pen by means of the connecting-thread D. E is an armature attached to the spring 0, and capable of being attracted by the electro-magnet F when a current is passing around either of the two coils with which the latter is wound.. The ends of the said two coils are so connected that each is in the circuit of one ofthe two IIO currents which flow through the line wire or latter will rise, and bythe tensionof the thread D will lift the pen ofi the paper. The

- edit with one resistance coil.

discontinuance of the currents and consequent lifting of the pen may be efiected by the lifting of. the pencil by the operator, lifting the contact-rods oil the contactplates and so stopping all currents; or it may be done by a switch or other contact breaker.

In Fig. 12, G indicates a number of contactplates, over which the contact-pieces, pressed thereon by a spring, move, and the contactplatcs G are connected, as shown, to a. series of battery-cells, H.

It will be seen that as the'contact-pieces are moved. by the action of the stylus to and fro over the contact-plates the strength of the current will'be varied" by bringing into the circuit a less or greater'number of the batterycells H. e v In Fig. 13 the contact-plates are indicated by G G; the plates G being connected to the batteries H by wires g, and the plates G by wires 9' having resistance-coils. When the contact-piece has moved onto the first plate G, all the battery-cells are then in circuit without any resistance-coils. When the contactpiece has moved onto the next contact-plate G, the same number of cells are still in cir- Moved onto the next contact-plate G all the battery-cells but the first one will be in circuit. Moved onto the next contact-plate G, (the fourth plate,) the same number of cells as the last will be in circuit, but through a'resistauce-coil, the first cell and resistance-coil being cut out entirely, and so on down to one cell of battery withthe resistancecoil in.

. I am aware of Patent No. 80,452,aud what is therein shown and'described ishereby dis-' claimed. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, :s-

1. ,The combination, with two electro-magnets placed at an angle to eachother, of a laterallymovable armature-carrier pivoted or supported between said electro-magnets, sub-"- stantially'as described.

2. The combination, with two electro-magnets placed at an angle to each other, of an armature-carrier pivoted or supported between said electro-magnets, and a pen or stylus connected with said carrier, substantially as described. V

3. The combination, with two electro-magnets placed at an angle toeach other, of a lat-. erally-movable armature-carrier pivoted or supported between said electro-magnets and provided with an armature common toboth, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with twoelectro-mag' nets placed at an angle to each other, of an armature-carrier pivoted unsupported be tween said electro-magnets and provided on its lower end with a pen or stylus, substai itially as described.

5. The combination, with two electro-magarmature-carrier supported by a spring and provided at its lower end witha pen or stylus,

carried by said pen, snbstantiallyas described.

. 5 nets phtced at an angle to each other,-ol' an 7. The combination, with contact-plates, of a a sending-stylus, contact-makers, and springs connected with the circuit andarranged to bear on said contact-makers, substantially as,

described.

- 8. The combination, with the receivingstyf hrs, of a curved' perforated plate un'derwhiclil;

the paper is arranged to pass, whereby a surface approximately corresponding to the arc in which the {point of the pen moves is presented 'to'the pen, substantially as described.

9. The combination; with the receiving stylus laterally movable in-iauy'xdirection, of

means for lifting the same from the paper when the circuit is broken, substantially as described. a

10. The combination, with the receivingstylus laterally movable in any direction, of e."" an armature connected thereto, and an electro-magnet in circuit with the sending appa-,

ratus, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with the receivingstylus laterally movable in any direction, of 5- aspring-armature connected to said stylus and arranged to normally lift the-latter, of an electro-magnet in circuit with the sending ap paratus, and arranged, vhen energized todepress the armature, so as to allow the stylus to come into contact with the, paper, substan-v tially as described.

12. The combination, with a movable sending style or tracer, of contact-pieces con- 'nected thereto and to the circuit, and a series of contact-plates connected to a series of battery-cells, whereby varying numbers of battery-cells may be included in and excluded from the circuit, substantially as described.

13. The combination, with the movable sending style or tracer, of contact-pieces connected thereto and to the circuit, and a series I of contact-plates connected to a series of battery-cells andto aseries of resistances, whereby varying numbers of battery-cells and also vary? ing" resistances are included in or excluded from the circuit, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto sub scribed my name. i EQWARD Witnesses:

T. J. OSMANS, THOMAS LAKE, Both of 17 Gracechurc'k St, London, E. 6'.

ALFRED oowrnnl

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