US460349A - Fig--ig - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. A. OASSAGNES. PRINTING TELEGRAPHIG APPARATUS.

No. 460,349. Patented Sept. 29, 1891.

(No Model. 6 Shets-Sheet 3.

G. A. OASSAG-NES. PRINTING TELEGRAPHIG APPARATUS! No.460,349. V PatetedSept.29,189-1..

(No Model.)

I I I 6 Sheets-Sheet 4. G. A. GASSAGNES. PRINTING TELEGRAPHIO APPARATUS.

No. 460,349. Patented Sept. 29, 18-91.

FIG 8 (Nd Model.) 6 Sheets-Sheet 5.

G. A. GASSAGNES. PRINTING TELBGRAPHIG APPARATUS.

Patented Sept. 29, 1891.

FiG- F1046- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT ALFRED CASSAGNES, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PRINTING TELEG RAPHIC APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 460,349, dated September 29, 1891.

Application filed November 28, 1890. Serial No. 378,278-

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GILBERT ALFRED OAS- SAGNES, of Paris, France, have invented an Improvement in a new Printing Telegraphic Apparatus, of which the following is a specifiation.

My invention relates to a new improvement in printing-telegraph apparatus, and pertains v ,mainly to the printing-receiver.

The object of my invention is to construct a printing-telegraph apparatus which shall contain a new principle of construction over the patents previously granted to me, No. 807,841, of November 11,1884; No. 313,175, of March 3, 1885, and No. 313,176,0f March 3, 1885.

Reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which i Fignrelisaplan View of thekey-board. Fig. 2 shows the appearance of one style ofribbon. Fig. 3 is a plan view of akcy-board and punching device. Fig. 4 shows the appearance of one style of ribbon after being perforated by the punching device. Fig. 5 is a plan view of an automatic transmitter, a ribbon connect ing Figs. 3 and 5. Fig. 6 is an enlarged side ele-' vation, showing arrangement of a part of the mechanism contained in the receiving-ins trument. Fig.7 is a perspective view of a receiving-instrument.- Fig. 81s an enlarged side View of the same. Fig. 9 is a top viewof the same. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of the cam-spindle Fig. 11 is aside view of the type-wheel spindle. Fig. 12 is a face view of the typewheels. Fig. 13 is aside elevation of the spindie-actuating motor. Fig. 14 is a cross-section on line 1 2, Fig. 10. Fig. 15 is a crosssection on line 3 4, Fig. 10. Fig. 16 is a crosssection on line 5 6, Fig. 10. Figs. 17 and 18 illustrate the direction of a circuit between two points. Fig. 19 is a top view of a modifiedkey-board and punching device. Figs. 20 and 21 illustrate two codes, showing, respectively, the difference between the phonetic and orthographic systems.

To facilitate an understanding of this invention a brief description of the key-board by which the letters of the receiver are caused to move is given. Thekey-board is illustrated by Fig. 1 of the drawings, and consists of, say,

twenty keys, ten on a side, thus forming two sets. Each of these sets is divided, as indicated by the dotted lines in said figure, so that (No model.)

the first six keys from the left hand of the key-board will form one series and the remaining four keys of the same set will form the secondseries. The first four keys of thesecond set will form the third series, and the remain ing six keys of the same set the fourth series. The first series causes the first consonant of a syllable to print, the second series causes the second consonant of a syllable to be produced, the third series causes the vowel of the syllable to be printed, and the fourth series produces the last consonantof a syllable,as Ihave already clearly explained and set forth in the patent previously granted to me, No. 313,176, of March 3, 1885. In the manner well understood in steno-telegraphy these keys are capable of various combinations, which allow in this case a general total of seventy-four combinations.

The key-board can be manipulated according to two distinct methods: (a) It can be manipulated according to a short-h and method, so as to reproduce speech or any text whatever by means of phonetic sound, as illustrated by code No. 1, Fig. 20. (b) It may be manipulated by orthography, as is the case with telegraph-instruments now in use, to produce every letter of the word, as by code No. 2, Fig. 21. Of course this is only illustrative, as other combinations could be readily devised.

The receivinginstrument, hereinafter fully explained, causes a tape to be printed by type through the manipulation of the key-board whether the key-board is operated according to the combination shown in code No. 1, Fig. 20, or the combination shown in code .No. 2, Fig. 21. These tapes, when printed, carry short syllabic lines transversely, as shown 011 Fig. 2, and may, according to the method of manipulation, represent simple phonetic sounds without orthography or the full orthography. It is obvious that the system of electric transmission between the key-board and the receiving-instrument may vary. If the distance is short, each key of the board may be put in direct connection with the receiving-instrument, thus necessitating the use of twenty conductors to and one return-wire from the receiver. Between two stations that are fart-her apart the keys of the keyboard: may be connected with contact-segments of a transmittii g-distributer, the trailer of which is kept in synchronism with the trailer of the receiving-distributor either by the processes patented to me on August 30, 1887, No. 368,931, and on December27, 1887, No. 375,339, or by any other well-known method. The contactsegments of the receiving-distributer should be electrically connected with the printing parts of the receiver. By this method a single line-wire may be used to transmit the signals.

The manipulation of the key board of twenty keys in time with the uniform motion of a trailer on a distributer is practicallyimpossible, and a direct connection between the key-board and the distributer has the drawback of causing a great many contacts to be lost by the operator, thereby producing an inefficiency of the instruments. 1 therefore utilize a special punching-machine m, Fig. 3, operated by a. key-board of twenty keys, according to either code, and by which lam enabled to obtain from one hundred and eighty to two hundred words per minute with the phonetic system and from one hundred to one hundred and twenty words per minute with the orthographic system, or even more, according to the skill of the operator. This speed, vastly superior to that of type-writing machines worked by the most skillful operators, is rendered possible by the manipulation and arrangement of my key-board. The hand of the operator once in place remains almost stationary and is so situated that the same finger can always operate the same two keys. The combinations of two or three keys in each series are so chosen that they can be formed most rapidly-that is to say, everything is arranged in the key-board and in the choice of the combinations to arrive at the greatest possible rapidity of operation. Instead of printing a single letter at a time, as with a type-writer, I am enabled to depress from one to twelve keys at. a time and thereby perforate from one to ten separate letters or characters at the same time on one line of my ribbon. Each key in a keyboard of this construction is connected with a cutter, so that when any key is depressed the corresponding cutter will perforate a traveling tape. These perforations allow the production of signals according to the processes of multiplex telegraphy, said signals being finally printed, as in Fig. 2, upon a tape at the receiving-station.

The pu-nchingmachine 00, Fig. 3, and the automatic transmitter y, Fig. 5, are only represented diagrammatically on the drawings without any constructive details, as I make no claim with reference to these instruments. The tape of the punching-machine can be punched according to three different arrangements: first, by placing the key-board on the pu nching-machine itself, in which case the keys operate directly and mechanically on the punches, Fig. 3; second, by separating the key-board from the punching-machine and electrically connecting them by means of a cable working the different electro-magnets 0 0' 0 whiclract mechanically on the perforating-punches, Fig. 19; third, by acting on these electro-magnets 0 0' o with currents no longer produced by the depressions of the keys of a key-board, but arising from the motions of line-relays placed at a receivingstation.

The receiving-instru ment consists of twenty electro-magnets E E E &c. (To make the description clearer, only three of these electro-maguets are shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings, which figure is merelyintroduced to facilitate the description and should not be understood to be a correct illustration ofa working model.) The armatures a a a &c., of these electro-magnets are attached to rods 25 t 29, 850., which, when no current is actuating the electro-magnets, are pressed outward by the springs h h h, &c, placed under the armatures. These rods 25 t t extend into corresponding slots 6 6' 6 &c., of slide-bars G G G 850. These slide-bars are constantly drawn to one sid e-say to theleft-by a spring B, Fig. 6. The top slide-bar is longer than the others and has a shoulder g, which bears against the next lower and inner slide-bar, which is itself supplied with a shoulder which bears against the next slide-bar, and so on, Fig. 8, for the purpose hereinafter specified. In front of this set of slide-bars is placed a spindle A. Upon this spindle four type-wheels'r r r r are hung, Fig. 11. On the circumference of the first type wheel 0" are engravedthe letters or groups of letters arising from the combination of the first six keys, which form the first series on the keyboard. On the circumference of the second wheel 0" are engraved the letters or groups of letters arising from the combinations of the next four keys, forming the second series on the key-board. On the circumference of the next wheel 1' are engraved the letters or groups of letters arising from the combinations of the third series, and on the circumference of the remaining type-wheel r are engraved the letters or sets of letters which arise from the combinations of the keys in the fourth series. These typewheels 1" r r 1' are frictionally hung on the spindle A. Each of these type-wheels is 'provided with a toothed snail S S S S Figs. 6, 9, and 11'. Each snail is provided with a number of teeth equal to the number of letters on its corresponding type-wheel, and each snail is set at such an angle with regard toits type-wheel that when any tooth of the said snail is caught by the horizontal slidebar G, Fig. 6,the letter or group of letters corresponding to that tooth is stopped for that moment directly under the printing pad or roller T. Therefore if a current is passed through any one of the electro-magnets of the apparatus its armature is attracted, and the rod 25 on this armature sets free the corresponding slide-bar by being retracted from the slot 6.

The operation of the slide-bars which form a combinator is based on the principle that if any one of them is set free then all the other slide-bars of the same set placed immediately above the one which has been set free become free to move under' the action of the spring R, and the linear distance through which they travel is equal to the distance fixed by the adjustment of the screw at the rear of that particular slide-bar which has been set free. If two or three slide-bars are set free, the upper slide bar will travel through a total distance made up of the sum of the two or three displacements of the two or three slide-bars set free. Moreover, the slide-bars are so arranged that the action of a special cam on the fork R, through the lever R pushes all the slide-bars back in their initial position. This is how this result is obtained, Fig. 6: If the rod 25, for instance, is depressed, the upper slide-bar G is set free and is drawn to the left by the spring R through a distance adjusted beforehand by means of the screw V. It catches the snail S and is pushed back in its initial position after the printing of the corresponding letter. If the rod 23 is depressed alone, the two slidebars G and G will move through a distance adjusted by means of the screw V, and after the printing of the corresponding le tter, when the upper slide-bar G is pushed back, it will carry back with it the slide-bar G through the action of its shoulder 9 until that slide-bar G is again locked in its initial position by the rod t re-entering its slot 6. If the rod t is depressed alone, the three slide-bars G, G, and G will move forward through the pulling action of the spring R, and the displacement will be that resulting from the adjustment of the screw V The upper slide-bar G pulls G through its rod t, which has not left the slot 6, and G pulls G through i, which has not left 6. After the printing of the corresponding letter, when G is pushed back, it will carry back with itself the slide-bar G through its shoulder g. G will communicate this motion to G through its shoulder g, and the set willbe locked again in its initial position when the rod 23 (the only one depressed) has re-entered its slot 6 and so on for the operation of the rods depressed one at a time. If two rods are depressed at a timesay t and t Fig. 6then the operation will be the following: t having left its slot, while thas not been depressed, the two slidebars G and G are set in motion by the spring R and travel through the distanceadjusted by the screw V, which abuts against thelower slide-bar G This last, being also set free through the depression of the rod 29, will be drawn forward with the other two until V abuts against the fixed frame of the instrument. The total distance traveled by the upper slide-bar G is therefore made up of the sum of the displacements of G and G as ad justed by the screws V and V If the three rods 1, t, and t are depressed at the same time, Fig. 6, G will travel through the distance determined by the adjustment of screw V, which abuts against G, and will carry G forward until V abuts against G This slide-bar G will also follow the motion until its screw V abuts against the fixed frame of the instrument in the case of Fig. 6 or against the next slide-bar G, if there are more than three slide-bars, Fig. 8. The total displacem ent of the upper slide-bar G is in both cases made up of the sum of the individual distances traveled by G, G, and G respectively, as adjusted by the screws V, V, and V They are all set back in their initial position through the action of the cam acting 011 R and R. The slide-bar G pushes back G, and G pushes G? through their shoulders g g, Fig. 8, and the rods it t will reenter their respective slots e, e, and 6 thereby locking the system in its initial position.

In the case of a group of six slide-bars G to G Fig. 8, locked by the six rods 25 to t and provided with adj Listing-screws V to V and shoulders g, the operation is the following: If in such a system two rods-say t and t -are depressed at the same time, the upper slidebar G, drawn by the spring R, will move toward the type-wheel, and its rod 25, which has not been set free and therefore looks it with G, will cause it to carry G in its motion until the screw V abuts against G The rod 15 being also depressed will allow G to follow the motion, urged as it is by the pressure communicated by the screw V, abutting against G and the rod 25*, looking it with G until its own adj usting-screwV abuts against G The total displacement on the upper slide-bar G is therefore that made up of the sum of the distances traveled by G and G as adjusted by the screws V and V The system will resume its initial position by the shoulders g of G, G, and G acting each one in its turn until the rods 25 and t re-enter their respective slots 6 and e and will be ready for a new combination. For a combination of three rods-say 25, t and i -depressed at the same time the .two slide-bars G and G will move together as they are interlocked by the rod 25, which has not been depressed. The screw V will abut against G after having traveled its adjusted stroke, and will carry forward the two next slidebars G and G which are interlocked by the undepressed rod 25 until V abuts against G". A similar action is repeated on G and G which are also interlocked by the undepressed rod i until finally V abuts against the fixed frame. The total stroke of the upper slide-bar G is therefore that made up of the preadjusted displacements of G, G and G and that upper slide-bar G will catch the tooth of the snail which. corresponds to the combination. \Vhen the fork R is pushed back by the cam and thelever R the shoulders g of the slide-bars will act, each in its turn beginning with the upper slide-bar until the system is locked again by the rods 15, 15 and 25 having re-entered their respective slots 6, e and a Such is the principle on which the operations of my combinator are based and the different combinations of slide-bars rendered eifective and the system forced back in its initial position after the printing of the letters corresponding to the various combinations.

A second spindle A, Fig. 10, is provided with cams O C, set to effect the printing action of the pad T. Other camsNN', Fig. 14, on this same spindle serve to push back the slide-bars G G G &c., to a position where they are again caught by the vertical rods t 29, &c., which are pushed into the slots 6 8 e &c., by the springs h h h 850., (as explained,) and maintained. in their positionof rest until they are again released by said vertical rods, and so on. A spring R draws the lever R by which the cams N N act on the actuating-fork R of the upper slide-bar Gr, back against the shaft A. When the slidebars G G, 850., are pushed back, the teeth of the snails are freed, and the snails and type-wheels are again setin motion by the spindle A and complete the revolution which. they had begun when they were first set free and which had been interrupted by the action of the slide-bars on the snails. The rotation. of the type-wheels is stopped at the zero-point (or the space where there are no letters) by the catch M, Figs. 6, l1, and 12, which at every revolution of the shaft A is released, as hereinafter explained, thereby allowing the typewheels to make intermittent revolutions. If it so happens that one of the type-wheels should not be called upon to print any letter, its corresponding set of slide-bars is of course at rest. This wheel will therefore be carried 011 by friction on the spindle A and will go through a complete uninterrupted revolution, stopping again by the action of the catch M, while its neighbors will be stopped on the letters or groups of letters which they are required to print. The typewheels are provided with equal divisions, on which a single letter or a group of letters is engraved, according to the requirements of the method, and ittherefore follows that a letter or a group of letters can be caused to stop by the action of only one electro-magnet and the upper slide-bar; but in practice a letter or a group of letters may be stopped by the combined action of electro-magnets taken two at a time or three at a time, as hereinbefore explained. When the printing of a syllable has been completed, the slide bar or bars are pressed back into the normal position by the action of the cams N N through the medium. of arms R and R and the shoulders g on each slide-bar, that cause the next lower bar .to be pushed back at the same moment. The paperis advanced through the space between two consecutive lines by means of. the special camj, Fig. 10, operating a pawl which engages the toothed wheel H, Fig. 9, so as to be ready for the printing of another syllable, and so on. The use of a single. snail for each series would necessitate a snail of (in this case) twenty-six teeth in the first and fourth series and eleven teeth in the second and third. Hence for some of the combinationsthose of the first and fourth series, for instance-this would have led to a displacement of the slide-bars much too considerable for a rapid instrument. I have therefore divided each of the extreme snails S and S into three sectors set one by the side of the other, Fig. 11, in such a way that the teeth of one of them will be in angular continuation of the teeth of the one before .it, as clearly shown by Fig. 12. On account of this arrangement of the snail inthree sectors placed side by side on the same typewheel I have introduced a corresponding modification in the constructive arrangement of the upper slide-bars of the first and last series without in any way altering the principle of their operation, Fig. 9. It will be seen from the top view of the instrument, Fig. 9, that the first and fourth series are each provided with three upper slide-bars, each of them intended to operate on one of the toothed sectors of the corresponding typewheel. The sets of slide-bars in the first and fourth series consist, therefore, of four slidebars arranged according to the principle shown diagrammatically by Fig. 6, together with two lateral slide-bars placed one on each side of the upper slide-bar of the four just mentioned. According to the method of manipulation these two lateral slide-bars never form part of the same combination, and consequently are never called upon to operate at the same time. As is clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9, they are each provided with a coil-spring, which causes them to move forward toward their corresponding snail when their rods are released. Their adjusting-screws, whenone or the other of them is operated, abut against the rear of the middle upper slide-bar. Consequently for combinations made up of one of IIO these lateral upper slide-bars and of one or two of the other slide-bars the lateral slide-' wheel that those which are to be operated by the lateral slide-bars precede in. the order of rotation that which is operated by the middle upper slide-bar for all combinations in which one of the lateral slide-bars comes into play,

its corresponding toothed sector will be stopped at the required tooth before the wheel can turn round far enough to be operated by the middle slide-bar. It is seen, therefore, that the lateral slide-bars need only travel through the distance corresponding to one tooth of the divided snail, and this considerably decreases the stroke which they would otherwise have to make for a combina tion if the snail consisted of one continuous toothed spiral. This method of construction facilitates more rapid and smooth work 011 the part of the type-wheels and avoids the possibility of misadjustment on account of shocks. For the second and third series, as each snail only consists of eleven teeth, a similar arrangement is unnecessary, and the slidebars and snails are constructed according to the principle shown diagrammatically by Fig. oand hereinbefore explained. The spindle A, upon which the type-wheels are mounted, may be driven by any suitable motor. Its speed does not require any mathematical precision. It need only be sufficient to carry the type-wheel from the zero position to the printing position with convenient rapidity, and, as soon as the slide-bars have set free the teeth of the snail, to continue to carry the type-wheels onto the zero position, where the wheel is checked by the stop M, and so on. A starting arrangement, Figs. 9 and 13, consists in a grooved pulley Z, mounted on a spindle P, Fig. 9. This spindle P is driven by the type-wheel spindle A through two gear-Wheels Q and Q, set to reduce the speed to about half that of A. The spindle A, on which the various cams are set, is placed in a line with the spindle P, and is provided with a lever L, of which the left-hand extremity L is hinged, and is pressed down by the spring Y, Fig. 13. At the two extremities of the lever L and L are attached the ends of a string n, which string makes one or two turns around the groove of the pulley Z.

WV is a special electro-magnet for starting into motion the cam-spindle A at the required instant. To attain this object, the end L is held elevated by the upper part of the armature of the electro-inagnet WV, Fig. 13. In this position the hinged end L of L loosens the string it around the groove of the pulley Z. The spindle P is then rotated, but the spindle A remains stationary. If a current is sent through the electro-magnet WV, its armature is attracted, and the extremity L of the lever L, being no longer supported, escapes and drops, thereby tightening the string it on the grooved pulley Z. The spindle A is then clutched on the spindle P and turned with it. After it has made one complete turn L will meet again the upper part of the armature of the electro-magnet WV, which is no longer attracted, the current havin g ceased to flow. L is again closed against the spring Y and loosens the string it around the groove of the pulley Z, thereby unclutching the spindle A, which will stop again in this position, while the spindle P continues to rotate. The cam j, which works the lever of the paper-feed, bears at intervals against the lever, which is provided at one of its ends with a pawl working the teeth of a ratchetwheel H, Fig. 9, and of the two feeding-rollers B 1).

Having now described my invention, I claim 1. The combination, in a receiving printin g1 instrument, of series of printing-wheels r 0" T 820., on the same shaft or carrier, with the corresponding series of toothed snails S S S 850., and with a corresponding series of superposed slides G G G 850., supporting-stemst 73 F, &c., and electro-magnets E E E 650., all arranged for conjoint action upon one or more of said printing-wheels at one time, as set forth.

2. The combination of the printing-wheel r and its toothed snail S on the shaft A with the cam-shaft A, lever Risprings R R Stern R, slides G G G rods t t 25 and electromagnets E E E all arranged substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

3. The combination of the sliding rods G G G with the adj HStlIlg-SCTGWS V V V rods 25 25 t and electro-magnetsE E E for conjoint and separate action, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have hereto signed my name, in presence of two witnesses, this 27th day of October, 1890.

GILBERT ALFRED CASSAGNES.

Witnesses:

ROBT. M. Hoornn, ALPHONSE Bmt'rnv

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