US386814A

US386814A - Art of telegraphy

Info

Publication number: US386814A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1888-07-31
Anticipated expiration: 1905-07-31

Description

I2'Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. GRAY. ART OF TBLEGRAPHY.

No; 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

(No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. GRAY.

Jro

N. PETiRS. Pholo-Mhogmphan Wuhmgficn. D. C-

(No Model.) 12 SheetsS.heet 3. E. GRAY.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY. No. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

(No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 4. E. GRAY. ART OF TELEGRAPHY.

N0. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

N: PETERS. Pmmh n m. Wuhinlmn. n. c

(No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 5.

E. GRAY.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY. No. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888..

N. PETERS. mow-umu n hnr. walhin wn, D. c,

(No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 6. E. GRAY.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY. No. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

N, wzrzns-mwm n m Walhinglm n. 0.

(No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 7.

E. GRAY.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY.

N0.-386',814. Patented July 31, 1888.

N. Farms. phmum n mr. Wannglon. n. c.

(No Model.) 12 Sheets.-Sheet 8. E. GRAY.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY.

No. 386,814. Patented July 31,1888.

Iii I (No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 9.

E. GRAY. ART OF TELEGRAPHY.

No. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

Jaye/{Z3171- 54416. A?

$7 647 Wow N. PEIERS FhowdJmcgrapbor. Washmgtan. D. c

(No Model.) 12 Sheets-Sheet 10.

E. GRAY.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY. No. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

(No ModeL) 12 Sheets-Sheet 11. E. GRAY. ART OF TELBGRAPHY.

No. 386,814. Patented July 31, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrce.

ELISHA GRAY, OF HIGHLAND PARK, ILLINOIS.

ART OF TELEGRAPHY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,814, dated July 81, 1888.

Application tiled May 31, 1888.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ELISHA GRAY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Highland Park, county of Lake, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Telegraphy, fully described aud represented in the following specifieation and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to a writing-telegraph of that class in which the act of writing the message at the sending station operates to reproduce it at the receivingstation.

In all the systems of telegraphy of this class which have been proposed prior to my inveir tion the transmitting-instrument proper (herein for convenience called a transmittingpen) was moved by the operator to form the message, such movement varying the strength of the currents according to the position of said transmittingpen in two electric circuits connected with electromagnetic de vices that moved the receiving instrument proper (herein called a receiving pen the extent of movement of said devices, and through them the receiving-pen varying with the varying strengths of said currents. Some of the objections to said systems are as follows: Variations in the constancy of the batteries or other generators of the currents, and in the strength of the currents, due to defective insulation, rain, and other causes, occurred,which caused aberrations in the movements of the receiving-pen, making the recording of a mes sage uncertain and defective. The transmitting and receiving pens have been capable of only sufficient or slightly more than sufficient movement to produce a single character, the successive characters to make up the words and sentences being produced one after another in the same or substantially the same field. In order to cause the characters thus produced to take their proper places one after another to form the successive words, and also to assist in forming the characters, the paper upon which the message was written by the receiving-pen, and also the paper upon which the message was written by the operator, if a copy of the message was to be preserved,\vas caused to move continuously beneath the pen by means of a feeding mechanism specially provided for that purpose and not under the Serial No. 275,593. (No model.)

control of the operator. From this it resulted that in order to produce characters of the proper form, and to cause them to take their proper positions in succession to form words and sentences,it was necessary for the operator to make allowance for the movement of the paper. To illustrate: If the operator formed his characters in too rapid snccession,tl1e second character would be reproduced before the paper upon which the message was being written had moved sufficiently far to carry the first character away from the receiving-pen, and the result would be that the two characters would overlap each other; or, if the operator formed his characters too slowly, they would be separated too far from each other. In addition to this it was necessary for the operator to distort his characters in such manner and to such an extent that the movement of the paper beneath the pen would exactly or approximately correct such distortion and produce characters of the proper form, and the amount and character of the distortion necessary on the part of the operator was dependent upon and varied with the speed at which he wrote and the speed at which the paper moved. All of these things made it difficult to produce good results and prevented the reproduction of the handwriting of the operator, and made it practically impossible for the systems to be operated except by trained operators. This continued movement of the paper by means not under the control of the operator, together with the limited range of movement of the transmitting and receiving pens, made it practically impossible to (lot an i or cross a t, or make corrections or alterations in a sentence or even in a word after it had been written, and thus made it necessary, if a mistake was made, to rewrite the whole matter, and this again resulted in trouble, because there was no means of erasing the erroneous matter. These diiliculties,and others not enumeratcd,in telcgraphs of this class, which have been proposed prior to my invention, were in the way of their being used practically for transmitting pictures, drawings, maps, or diagrams, or such characters as Hebrew or Chinese, or those employed in shorthand writing, which, in order to be of value or to be distinguished and read, must be made with at least comparative accuracy.

I overcome these difliculties by my invention, which consists in the method of transmitting and recording a character by the movements of a transmitting-pen and a receiving-pen by transmuting the movements ofsaid transmitting-pen into pulsations of substantially the same effective strength in an electric circuit, varying in number with thelinear extent of the movement of said pen and varying in speed of succession with the rapidity of said movement and transmuting said pulsations into movements of the receiving'pen, and in other methods, all of which are described as carried out in the system hereinafter described, and which methods are particularly claimed.

I have shown in the drawings a system for carrying out my invention, which I term a telautograph, and which I shall now describe.

In order that the detailed description of the construction, organization, and operation of the instruments and the system for carrying out the invention, which will be hereinafter given,may be'more readily understood,a brief outline of the system will be first given.

The system consists, primarily, of two instrumentsa transmitting-instrument and a receiving-instrument-herein termed transmitter and receiver. The transmitter and receiver are provided with transmitting and receiving pens, which can be moved over fields of considerable extent. If thesystem is desigiied for transmitting messages in writing, the fields will be equal in one direction to the length of a line of the writing andin theother direction to the distance above and below the line occupied by any character. The transmitting-pen is connected to operate circuit making and breaking devices, termed interrupters, locatedin two electric circuits and arranged to interrupt the currents passing over the respective circuits at shortiutervals, producing pulsations therein as the pen is moved in two directions crosswise of each other in forming characters, the number of pulsations in the respective circuits being determined by the distance the pen is moved in the respective directions. These two circuits pass through the receiver and include electromotors, also hereinafter termed receivingmagnets, the armatures of which act through suitablcconnections to impart a step-by-step movement to the receiving-pen in two directions crosswise of each other, the number of steps in each direction being determined by the number of times the respective circuits are interrupted. By this means the movements of thetransmittingpen in the two directions operate through the interruptions in the currents passing over the circuits to impart corresponding movements to the receiving-pen, and thus reproduce the matter written or traced by the operator.

Oo-operating with the receiver or forming a part thereof is a means for supporting a recording-surface upon which the message is writing and is shifted after the completion of So each line; but this may be reversed, the pen being stationary and the necessary movements to form the characters being imparted to the paper, or the movement in one direction may be imparted to the paper and in the other direction to the pen. In any case, however, the paper is not fed continuously and independently of the control of the operator during the writing; but is only moved in conformity to the movements of the transmitting-pen. From this it results that the reproduction is in the handwriting of the operator and that the operator can pause at any point and for any length of time, and upon recommencing the writing the receiving-pen will continue the record from the point where it was interrupted and also that the operator can go back in the line and make a correction'addition or erasure-at any point. The operator is also permitted to write at irregular speeds and is relieved from the necessity ofdis'torting his writing.

The system is provided with connections by which whenever the transmitting-penis raised slightlythe same as in raising a pen or pencil from the paper in ordinary writing-the receiving-pen is correspondingly raised, and vice versa. By this means when the end of a line is reached and the transmitting-pen is moved back to commence a new line, or when it is necessary to go back in the line to make a change, or when it is desired to disconnect letters or words, it is only necessary to raise the transmitting-pen in the ordinary way in order to prevent the receiving-pen from making a continuous mark and thus marring the record.

The system thus briefly outlined will now be described more in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the transmitter. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same taken on the line 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of one of the interrupters and the parts immediately connected therewith. Fig. 4. is a sectional elevation of the same. Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of one of the polechangers. Fig. 6 is an elevation of the same. Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a pair of reversely-arranged temporary circuit-breakers, the purpose of which will be hereinafter explained. Fig. 8 is an elevation of the same. Fig. 9 is an enlarged plan view of a pen-rack for receiving the transmitting-pen when it is not in use, showing also a switch Ils mechanism for connecting the receiver or wound upon a small drum (see Figs. 1, 3, and

transmitter at any station with the line-wircs. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the same. Fig. 11 is a plan view of the receiver. Fig. 12 is an enlarged plan View of one pair of the receiving-magnet. Fig. 13 is an end elevation of the same. Fig. lat is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 15 is a vertical section taken on the line 15 of Fig. 11. Fig. 16 is an enlarged plan View of one of the polarized relays. Fig. 17 is an end view of the same with certain parts removed. Fig. lSis a diagram showing the electrical connections through which the system is operated. Figs. 19, 20, and 21 are views illustrating a modified arrangement of the receiving-magnets, Fig. 19 being a side elevation, Fig. 20 an end elevation, and Fig. 21 a plan view. Figs. 22, 23, and 21 are views illustrating a means of imparting a movement to the paper corresponding to the movements imparted to the receiving-pen in the system as illustrated in the other figures, Fig. 22 being a plan view, Fig. 23 a section taken on the line 23 of Fig. 22, and Fig. 24: a section taken on the line 24 of the same figure. Fig. 25 isa view indicating a modification of the form of recordingsurface shown in Fig. 11, and Fig. 26 is a modification of the receiving-pen.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 to 10 and 18, the principal features of the transmitter will be described. This instrument consists, primarily, of the transmitting pen A, which is moved by the operator to form the characters or other matter to be transmitted. This pen may be a simple handle of convenient form to be grasped by the operator and moved to describe the outlines of the characters; but, as it will usually be desirable to preserve a copy of the message, it will usually be a pencil OI fountain-pen, and it is therefore termed a pen, but this term,wherever used in a general sense, is to be understood as including any writing-instrument or a simple handle which can be moved to form the outlines of the characters.

The pen A is connected at its point to two cords or other flexible connections, 56,which extend horizontally crosswise to each other, and are connected to and operate the two cir cuit making and breaking devices B O, termed i nterru pters, located in two electric ci rcuits;

b c, termed main circuits, and so arranged that as the pen A is moved from left to right, and vice versa, the circuit 1) is interrupted or made and broken repeatedly in quick succession, producing pulsations therein varying in number with the linear extent of the movement of the pen A, and varying in speed of succession with the rapidity ot'such movement, while as the pen is moved up and down in forming the characters the circuit 0 is inter rupted and pulsations produced therein in the same manner.

The two interrupters B C and their auxiliaries are exact duplicates, and a description of one will therefore apply to both.

Each of the cords 55 56 is connected to and 4) upon a shaft, 9, to which one wire of the circuit is connected. The shaft9 is provided with an arm, 10, the end of which carries a brush, 12, which sweeps in contact with the face of a metallic disk, 13, to which the other wire of the circuit is connected. The face of the disk over which the brush 12 sweeps is provided with a series of channels or cuts located in close proximity and containing pieces of insulating material 8, so that as the brush sweeps over the face of the disk in either direction the current passing over the circuit in which the brush and disk are located will be interrupted or made and broken repeatedly in quick succession, the number and rapidity of the interruptions being determined by the extentand rapidity ofthe movement oftlie brush. Each of the shafts 9 is also provided with a second cord or wire, 14, which is wound upon the shaft in the direction the reverse of the cords 55 56, and is connected to a spring or other retractile, 15, the tendency of which is to unwind the cord 14c and wind the cord 55, (or 56,as the case may be.) Each of the cords 55 56 passes between guides 16, located between the pen and the shafts 9, and the cords are provided with stops l7,which engage with the guides '16 and arrest the cords and limit the movement given to the shafts 9 and brushes 12 by the springs 15.

The transmittinginstrument is provided with two local circuits, d, which include local batteriesf and the electro-magnets g of apair of pole-changers D E, (see Figs. 1, 5, 6, and 18,) which are located, respectively, in the main circuits 1) c, and which act fora purpose, which will be hereinafter explained, to automatically change the polarity of the currents passing over the respective circuits whenever the movement ofthe transi'nitting-pen in either direction is reversed.

The pole changers D E are of any of the common and well known forms, and are connected to the two poles of the main batteries F and to the two wires of the respective main circuits b c in the usual manner. For the purpose of operating the pole changers the cords 55 56 pass around pulleys 18, (see Figs. 1, 3, and 4,) mounted upon shafts 19, which operate circuit makers and breakers included in the respective local circuits (1. For this purpose the shafts 19 are provided with arms 20, which are frictionally connected to the shafts and have a limited movement between fixed stops 7. The arms 20 and one of the stops 7 of each arm are included in the respective local circuits, so that the rocking of the arms between their stops operates to make and break thelocal circuits and thus operate the pole-changers to change the polarity of the currents passing over the main circuits b c at each vibration of the arms.

The operation of the transmitter as thus far described is as follows: The operator will take the pen A in his hand and form the characters in proper sequence in the usual manner, moving the pen up and down and fromleft to right in forming the characters and writing the line, the same as in ordinary writing. As the pen makes the downstrokes in forming the char acters, the cord 56 will be unwound from the shaft 9 of the interrupter 0, thereby revolving the shaft and moving the brush 12 over the disk 13 and interrupting the current over the circuit 0 repeatedly and in quick succession, the number and rapidity of the interruptions being determined by the speed and extent of the movement of the pen. As the pen makes the upstrokes the spring 15 will rewind the cord 56 and move the brush 12 in the reverse direction, interrupting the current in thesame manner. So long as the up or down movement of the pen continues the cord 56, acting upon the pulley 18, will hold the arm 20 against one of the stops 7 and the local circuit d will remain closed, (or broken, as the case may be,) so that the pole-changer E will not be operated and the polarity of the current passing over the circuit 0 will not be changed. As soon, however, as the movement of the pen is reversedz'. 0., changed from up to down or down to up the movement of the pulley 18 will be reversed and the arm 20 will be rocked against its other slop, thereby changing the condition of the local circuit d and operating the pole'ehanger, so as to change the polarity of the current passing over the circuit 0, and this change in the polarity of the current will take place as often as the up-and-down movement of the pen is reversed. As the pen is moved from right to left and left to right, the cord 55 and the spring 15 will operate the brush 12 ot' the interrupter B to interrupt the current over the circuit 1) in the same manner, and the cord 55,acting on the pulley 18, will act to close or break the other local circuit, cl, and thus operate the pole-changer D to change the polarity of the current passing over the circuit 1) whenever the movement of the pen is reversed, the same as described in connection with the pole'changer E. y

it is to be remarked that the construction and arrangement of the circuit makers and breakers formed by the arms 20 may of course be widely changed without departing from the invention, and it is also to be understood that the brushes 12 may bestationary and the disks 13 moved in contact with the brushes, if preferred.

Referring'how particularly to Figs. 11 to 18, the principal features of the receiver will be described. This instrument consists, primarily, of the receiving-pen G, which may be a writinginstrument of any suit-able form for recording the message. The term pen as applied to this instrument is therefore to be understood as including any form of writinginstrument. in the case shown a fountain-pen is employed, which is composed of a tube of very fine or capillary bore having its end formed into a Writing-point. This pen is conneeted by a piece of flexible rubber tubing, 57, with a capillary tube, 58, which enters an inkwell, 59, preferably located in such position that the surface of the ink in the well will be upon a lower level than the point of the pen.

To maintain the well at the proper height as the ink is lowered by use, it is provided with an adjusting screw, 60. By locating the ink-well below the point of the pen it is found that the ink will be properly supplied to the pen by the capillary action of the pen and the tube 58, while if the well is located-above the pen there is danger of the ink flowing too freely. The lwell may, however, be so arranged that the ink will flow to the pen by gravity, an arrangement to this end being shown in dotted lines at Fig. 15, suitable means being provided for regulating its flow; or the ink may be otherwise supplied to the pen. The pen iscarried upon the end of an arm, 6l,which ispreferably tubular to receive the tube 57, and is. connected by a universal joint, 62, to the end ofa rod, 21, which is free to move longitudinally in a bearing. 63, but is retained in any position to which it is moved by means of frictionaljaws (it, which are can ried by light spring-arms 65, and act to grip the rod with sufficient force to prevent its accidental movement, and also to overcome its inertia and arrest and hold it at the end of each step ofits movement, as will be presently explained.

Located adjacent to the rod 21 are a pair of I reversely-arranged receiving electro-magnets, H H, which are included in the circuitc, and are provided with armatures II, which are ar ranged to act upon the rod 21 in such manner as to impart a step by-step movement to the rod in opposite directions, according as one or the other of the magnets is energized. For this purpose the armatures h are divided at their centers, so as to form two parts, 5 6, which are connected at their outer ends to pivots 22, so as to be capable of swinging to and from the cores of the magnets. The piv' ots 22 are in turn supported in frames 23, which are connected to pivots 21 in such manner as to swing laterally, and thus carry the two parts 5 6 of the armatures to and from each other. The frames 23 are provided with springs 66, the tendency of which is to draw the two parts of the armatures away from each other, the movement of the parts in this direction being limited by back-stops 67. The movement of the two parts of the armatures away from the cores of the magnets is efiected by means of a spring, 68, connected to one of the parts, the part not connected to the spring being provided with a lip, 2, of non-magnetic substance,which engages with the other part. The movement of the armatures in this direction is limited by an adjustable back-stop, 69. The rod 21 and the magnets H H and their armatures are so arranged that the rod passes between the adjacent ends of the two parts 5 6 of each armature in such manner that when the two parts of either armature are moved toward each other they will act to grip the rod between them, and being then moved toward the magnet they will carry the rod with them and impart a corresponding movement to the pen G. i

The operation of the receiving-magnets H H and their armatures is as follows: Whenever the magnet H is energized by the closing of the circuit 0, in which it is located, the two parts of its armature will be attracted toward each other and toward the cores of the magnet. The springs 66 are so adjusted as to be slightly weaker than the spring 68, so that upon the magnet becoming energized and thus magnetizing the two parts of the armature they will move toward each other and grip the rod in advance of being moved toward the magnet. After gripping the rod the two parts of the armature will move toward the magnet, thereby imparting a corresponding movement to the rod. As soon as the magnet is de-energized by the interrupting of the current over the circuit 0, the springs 66 will draw the two parts of the armature apart, thereby releasing the rod, and the spring 68 will draw theparts back against the back-stop 69. This operation will be repeated as often as the current over the circuit 0 is interrupted, so as to energize and de-energize the magnet H, and thus the rod 21 and the pen G will be moved with a step-by-step movement, the number and rapidity of the steps being determined by the number and rapidity of the interruptions in the current over the circuit 0. The movement thus given to the pen G will constitute the upward movement of the pen in forming the characters. Whenever the magnet H is energized and de energized, the same operation will take place, except that the rod 21 and the pen will be moved in the reverse direction. From this it will readily be seen that in order to cause the up and down movements of the receivingpen G to conform to the corresponding movements of the transmitting-pen A it is only necessary to cause the interruptions in the circuit 0, occasioned by the movement of the brush 12, as the tlansmitting'pen is moved upward, to de-energize and energize the magnet H, and the interruptions in the same circuit occasioned by the reverse movement of the brush, as the transmitting-pen is moved in the reverse direction, to de-energize and energize the magnet H. To effect this the circuit c, which, as before stated, includes both the magnets H H, also includes the magnet l of a polarized relay, 1, (see Figs. 11, 16, 17, and 18,) the polarized armature 25 of which is connected by a wire, it, with the circuit 0 between the magnets H H, while the contactpoints 3 4, between which the armature vibrates, are connected to wires m n, which respeetively connect with the circuit 0 beyond the magnet H and between the magnet H and the relay.

The relay I is so organized that the polarity of the current passing over the circuit a while the transmitting-pen is moving downward will cause the magnet Z to vibrate the polarized armature 25 into contact with the point 3. The

current passing over the circuit 0 will then pass over the wire 12, armature 25, and wire k, and through the magnet H, thus short-circuiting the magnet H and leaving the magnet H to be energized and deenergized, and thus move the rcceiving-pen G in the same direction. As soon, however, as the movement of the transmitting-pen is reversed, the polarity of the current passing over the circuit will, as before explained, be changed, and this will cause the magnet I to vibrate the armature 25 against the point 4. The current then passing over the circuit a will then pass through the magnet H and over the wire k, armature 25, and wire at, thus short-circuiting the magnet H and correspondingly reversing the movement of the pen G. 3y this means the receiving-pen is caused to reproduce the up and down movements of the transmitting-pen.

At some suitable point, preferably near the pen G, the rod 61 is pivotally connected to a rod, 70, which is connected by a universal joint, 71, to a rod, 26, which extends in a direction crosswise of the rod 21, preferably at or substantially at right angles thereto. Located adjacent to the rod 26 are two receiving magnets, K K, which are included in the circuit I), and are provided with armatures h, which are arranged and act upon the rod 26 in exactly the same manner as the armatures of the magnets H H act upon the rod 21, so that the energizing and de energizing of the magnet K operates through its armature to move the rod 26 and the pen G from left to right, while the energizing and de-energizing of the magnet K operates in a similar manner to move the pen in the reverse direction. The circuit 1) is provided with a polarized relay, J, similar to the relay I, which is arranged and acts to short-circuit one or the other of the magnets K K whenever the polarity of the current passing over the circuit 1) is changed, the same as described in connection with the circuit a. The relay J is so arranged that so long as the transmitting-pen is moved from left to right the current passing over the circuit 1 will pass through the magnet K and act to move the receiving-pen in the corresponding direction,and that when the movement of the transmitting-pen is reversed and the polarity of the current changed the current will pass through the magnet Kand act to reverse the movement of the receivingpen.

It has now been explained how the movement of the transmitting pen along or at right angles to the line upon which the message is being written in either direction will cause the receiving-pen to move in the same direction, the movements of the latter pen being made up of a series of short steps. From this it follows that any movement of the transmitting-pen in any direction oblique to the line or intermediate these two directions will cause the receiving-pen to move in a corresponding direction, but with a compound movement made up of a number of steps taken at right angles to or crosswise of each other, the relative number of steps in each direction depending upon the obliquity of the direction in which the transmitting-pen is moved. Bythis means the receiving-pen is caused to substantially follow any movement of the transmitting-pen, and thus reproduce a substantial fac-simile of whatever is written or traced by the latter.

The irregular or wavy character of the oblique lines made by the receiving-pen will not detract materially from the appearance of the writing, and will not be sufficiently marked to prevent the handwriting of the person at the transmitting-instrument from being readily recognized. The length of the steps with which the receiving-pen is moved may be varied considerably; but the receiver will preferably be so adjusted that the pen will take from seventy-five to one hundred steps to the inch.

If it is desired that the characters formed by the receiving-pen shall correspond in size to those formed by the transmitting-pen, the receiver will be so adjusted that the receiving pen will at each interruption of one of the circuits be moved a distance equal to the movement of the transmitting-pen required to effect the interruption. By changing the relative movements of the two pens the reproduction may be enlarged or reduced.

It has already been stated that it is important that the receivingpen should be so under the control of the operator at the transmitter that when he desires to break the connection between letters or words in the message or to go back along theline for the purpose of making an addition, correction, or interlineation, or when he has completed one line and wishes to move the transmitting-pen back to the point to commence a new line, the receiving'pen will make the corresponding movements without making any mark on the paper. To effect this,the system is so organized that the operator can when he desires cause the receivingpen to be raised from the paper. The bore of the pen is so fine that no ink will flow from the pen except at such times as its point rests upon the paper, andvthus when the pen is raised it will respond to the movements of the transmittingpen without producing any mark. For this purpose the receiver is provided with a vertically-moving pen rest, 27, (see Figs. 11 and 15,) which extends horizontally beneath the pen and is supported upon arms projecting from a rock-shaft, 28, and provided with a spring or other retractile, 29, by which it is normally held in position to raise the point of the pen slightly from the paper. The penrest 27 may be arranged to act upon the rod 61; but it will preferably be arranged to act upon a light extension, 30, projecting beyond the pen.

Acting upon the rest 27 is a pivotal arm, 31, which carries the armature 32 of an electro magnet, 0, of comparatively high resistance, which is included in a local circuit, a, which also includes a part of the arm 31, a circuit closer, 33, carried by the arm, and a local bat- The circuit-closer 34 is also acted on by a spring, 35, which tends to move it to position to complete the circuit through the branch q.

The circuit a is also provided with a branch, 8, which includes a reversclyacting circuitcloser, 34, which is similarly arranged with relation to the magnet Z of the relay J.

The transmitter is provided with a yielding table or platform, 36, (see Fig.2) which is located directly beneath the point of the transmitting-pen and extends over the entire range of movement of the pen. This table is supported upon arms 37, which are pivoted at 38, so as to permit the table to yield slightly when the point of the pen A is brought down upon it with a pressure equal or about equal to the pressure exerted upon a pen or pencil in ordinary writing. One of the arms 37 is provided with a forward extension, 39, which plays between stops 40 42, which limit the movement of the table, and is provided with a spring, 41, the tendency of which is to normally hold the table in its raised position with the arm 39 out of contact with the stop 40. The stop 40 and the arm 39 form a circuit-closer which is included in a local circuit, t, which includes a local battery, 1 and an electro magnet, w. The armature 43 of the magnet to (see Figs. 1, 7, and 8) is secured to a pivoted lever, 44, which is normally held against a backstop, 45, by a spring, 46, and carries upon its 0pposite sides two contact-points, 47 48, which are insulated from each other. Located upon opposite sides of the lever 44 are a pair of pivoted levers, 49 50, which are provided with springs 51, which act to normally hold the lever 49 in engagement with the contact-point 47 and in close proximity to, but not in engagement with, a back-stop, 52, and the lever 50 in engagement with a similar back-stop, 54, and in close proximity to, but not in engagement with, the contact-point 48. Each of the levers 49 50 is provided with an adjustable weight, 53, by which the inertia of the levers can be increased or diminished to any desired extent to secure the proper operation of the levers, as will be hereinafter explained. The lever 49, contact-point 47, and back-stop 52 are included in the main circuit 1), while the lever 50, contact'point 48, and back-stop 54 are included in the main circuit 0. The levers 49 50 form reversely-acting temporary circuit-breakers for the respective circuits b c, as will presently appear.

The operation of this part of the system is as follows: When the parts are in their normal position-that is to say, when the transmitting-pen is not in use-the spring 41 will hold the table 36 in its raised position and the arm 39 out of engagement with the stop 40, so as to break the local circuit 25 and de-energize the magnet to. So long as the magnet is not energized, the lever 44 will be held against its back-stop 45 and the lever 49 will remain in engagement with the contact-point 47, so as to close the circuit 1) at that point,

and the lever 50 will remain in engagement with the back-stop 54, so as to also close the circuit 0 at that point. So long as both the circuits b 0 remain closed the magnets Z of the relays I J will both be energized, so as to attract their armatures and rock the circuitclosers 34 into position to break the connec tion through both of the branches qs, and the penrest 27 being then raised so as to raise the arm 31, the circuit-closer 33 will be operated to break the local circuit a and tie-energize the magnet 0, and the spring 29 will hold the penrest in its raised position, so as to raise the pen Gfrom the paper and hold it in that posi tion, and this will continue as long as the table 36 remains in its raised position. hen it is desired to commence the transmission of a message, the operator takes the transmittingpen in his hand, and, moving itto the proper position to commence the writing, places the point against the table 36 and forms the characters with the same pressure on the pen as in ordinary writing. .The pressure of the pen against the table acts to depress the table, so as to rock the arm 39 against the stop 40 and close the local circuit t. This will energize the magnet 20 so as to rock the lever 44 and cause the contact-point 48 to strike against the free end of the lever 50, and the blow thus given to the lever will cause it to swing away from both the contact-point 4S and the backstop 54, and thus temporarily break the main circuit 0. The spring 51 will, however, act to very quickly overcome the inertia of the lever and its weight 53 and swing it back against the contact-point 4S, and thus again close the circuit 0. The break thus made in the circuit 0 will be of exceedingly short duration; but the time between the breaking and closing of the circuit may be regulated with great nicety by adjusting the posit-ion of the weight 53 so as to cause the lever to swing a greater or less distance. As the lever 44 is rocked by the movement of the armature 43, as just described, the lever49 will follow the movement of the lever 44 until it engages with its backstop 52, so that the main circuit b will not be broken. The temporary breaking of the circuit 0, caused by the swinging of the lever 50, will operate to de energize the magnetl of the relay I and permit its circuit-closer 34 to be rocked by its spring 35, so as to close the local circuit a through the branch g. This will cause the current from the battery 10 to pass through the magnets o 1'; but the magnet 0 being of high resistance and the magnet 1' of low resistance, the former will alone be energized, thereby rocking the arm 31 and depressing the pen-rcst 27, so as to lower the point of the pen G onto the paper. As

soon as the arm 31 is thus rocked the circuitcloser 33 will close the circuita, so as to shortcircuit the magnet r and circuit-closer 34, and the magnet 0 will remain energized, so as to hold the pen-rest depressed until tie-energized by the raising of the transmitting-pen, as will be presently explained. As soon as the circuit 0 is closed by the return of the lever 50 against the contact-point 48 the magnet Z of the relay I will be reenergized and the cit cuit-closer 34 will be rocked, so as to break the connection through the branch q. Vhenever the operator desires to break the connection between words or characters or to go back along the line for any purpose, or, having completed one line, wishes to commence a new one, he has only to raise the transmittingpen off the table 36, the same as in ordinary writing. As soon as the pen is raised from the table 36, the spring 41, acting upon the arm 39, will raise the table and at the same time rock the arm 39, so as to break the local circuit t. This will dc energize the magnet to and release the armature 43, so as to permit the lever 44 to be rocked back against its backstop 45, and as the lever 44 is thus rocked it will strike the end of the lever 4-9 and swing it, the same as has been described in connection with the lever 50, so as to temporarily break the circuit 1), the circuit 0 remaining closed, the same as described in connection with the circuit b. This temporary breaking of the circuit Z) will operate to deenergize the magnet Z of the relay J and permit its circuitcloser 34 to close the branch 8 and short-circuit, and thus decnergize, the magnet 0, so as to release the arm 31 and permit the spring 29 to elevate the pen-rest 27 and raise the pen G from the paper, and at the same time operate the circuit-closer 33 to break the local circuit a. The pen G will then respond to the move ment of the transmittiligpen, as already described, but without making any record upon the paper. The transmitting and receiving pens having been moved to the position where it is desired to recommence the writing, the operator has only to depress the point of the transmitting pen against the table 36 and the receiving-pen will be lowered onto the paper, as already described. In order to prevent the magnets of the relays I J from being entirely tie-energized, so as to release their armatures, and thus allow the circuit-closers 34 to close the branches qs each time the circuits I) care interrupted by the movement of the brushes 12 over the disks 13, the springs 35 are so adjusted that the amount of energy required to overcome their tension is much less than the energy required to operate the armatures h of the receiving-magnets H H K K, and the main circuits 1) c are provided with shunt circuits y, which connect with the main circuits upon opposite sides of the interrupters and include resistance-coils or other resistances 2', which are so adjusted as to allow a constant current to pass over the main circuits sut'ficient to energize the magnets Z to overcome the springs 35, but not sufficient to operate the armatures h. It is to be understood, therefore, that when the circuits 1) care referred to as being broken or interrupted by the interrupters B C it is not to be understood that those circuits are nccessaril y completely broken, so as to entirely stop the currents, but only that the currents are sufficiently interrupted to release the armatures of the receiving-magnets.

From the foregoing it will be seen that all of the movements required to form the individual letters or characters, and also to bring them in proper position one after another to form the words of a line, are made by the receiving-pen, the paper remaining stationary during the writing. \Vhen, however, one or more lines have been written, it is necessary that the paper should be shifted so as to bring a new portion into position to be written upon. If the message is to be written in the form of a single line extending along the length of a narrow ribbon of paper, the paper must be shifted longitudinally the length of the line which has been written, so that when the writing is resumed it will continue from the point on the paper where it wasinterrupted. If, on the other hand, the message is written in lines extending across a sheet or wide ribbon of paper, the paper must be shifted forward a distance equal to the space between one or more lines. In either case it is important that the mechanism for shifting the paper in the receiver should be under the control of the operator at the transmitter.

As herein illustrateththe message is written in the receiver upon a'wide ribbon of paper, L, which is supported at rest upon a stationary paper-support, 0, while the writing is in progress. The paper L is led from a roll, and after passing over the support 0, beneath the point of the pen, passes downward out of the instrument, where it is attached to a clip. 73, of sufficient weight to maintain it at the proper tension and to draw it off the roll when the latter is permitted to turn. Suitable guides, as 74, will preferably be provided to hold the paper smoothly and evenly beneath the pen. The roll upon which the paper is wound is provided at one end with an escapcmentwhcel, 75, which is controlled by an escapement-lever, 76, to which is attached the armature 77 ofthe magnet r, the lever 76 being so arranged that when rocked by the action of the magnet it will permit one tooth of the 68031361118111? Wheel to pass and the weight 73 to unwind and shift the paper L. The escapement-lever 76 is provided with a spring or other retract ile, 78, which, as soon as the magnet r is deenergized, will rock the lever in the opposite direction, and thus permit another toothrto pass and the paper to be again shifted. The movement thus given to the paper each time the magnet r is energized and de-energized is equal to the space between two lines.

It has already been explained that whenever the circuit a is temporarily broken by the action of the lever 50 the current from the local battery 19 is caused to pass through the magnet r, but without energizing it. If, however, both the circuits 1) c are simultaneously broken, the branches q s of the local circuit a will both be closed and the current from the battery p will pass over the wires a q s and through the magnet r without passing through the magnet 0, and the result will be that the magnet r will become energized, so as to attract its armature and rock the escapement-lever 76 to allow the paper L to be shifted. as described.

For the purpose of simultaneously breaking b th the circuits b c to effect the shifting of instrument is provided with a circuit-breaker, M, (see Fig. 2,) by which the operator can when he desires break both the circuits b e simultaneously. For this purpose the circuits 0 0 include contact springs orbrushes 79,which rest upon a pair of metallic blocks, 80, set in a head, 81, of insulating material, which is carried upon a shaft, 82, having a handle, 83, which is in convenient position to be moved by the operator. The shaft 82 is acted on by a spring or other retractile, 84, which normally holds the shaft and head 81 in such position that the blocks connect the brushes 79 and close the circuits 1) 0. By operating the handle 83, however,the shaft can begiven a partial turn, so as to carry the blocks 80 out from under the brushes 79,and thus break both the circuits and effect the shifting of the paper L, as described.

In the practical operation of the system it will usually be desirable to make a copy or duplicate of the message at the sending-station, and for this purpose the transmitter is provided with a wide ribbon of paper,N,similar to the paper used in the receiver, which is also supported at rest while the writing is in progress. The paper N is led from a roll and passes forward over the table 36 beneath the transmitting-pen, and after passing over a roll, 85, mounted upon the shaft 38, is led from the instrument. A guide, as S6,will preferably be provided, which will operate to hold the paper smoothly beneath the pen. To effect the shifting of the paper N,the roll is provided with a small cooperating spring-pressed roll, 87, which is journaled in the arms 37, and between which and the roll 85 the paper passes. The roll 85 is provided with a ratchet, 88, which is engaged by a pawl, 89, carried upon one end of a lever, 90, the other end of which is connected by a rod, 91, with an arm, 92, upon the shaft 82 in such manner that whenever the handle 83 is operated to break the circuits 1) c and effect the shifting of the paper L the pawl 89 will also be operated to shift the paper N a corresponding distance.

The general operation of the system is as follows: The instruments having been supplied with the paper L N, the operator will take the transmitting'pen and, holding it out ofcontact with the paper N, move it to the the paper L when desired, the transmitting-