US780663A - Method of operating printing-telegraph receivers. - Google Patents

Description

. PATENTED JAN. 24, 1905.

J. M. JOY. METHOD OF OPERATING PRINTING TELEGRAPH REGEIVEBS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 1, 1902.

\ yg invcwlfoz 971 V @151 4 -12 al'fozncl 6 I E] J t UNITED STATES Patented January 24, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. JOY, OF NEW YORK, Y., ASSIGNOR TO PAGE MACHINE OOM- PANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION NEW YORK.

METHOD OF OPERATING PRINTING-TELEGRAPH RECEIVERS- SPECIFIGA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 780,663, dated January 24, 1905.

Application filed August 1, 1902. Serial No- 117,995.

of a printing-telegraph receiver, although the method may be used in connection with any class of apparatus to which it is applicable.

The object of my invention is to increase 1 5 the rate of speed at which a printing-telegraph receiver or other like apparatus may be worked with a minimum of power and high efficiency.

Further objects of my invention will herein' after appear;- and to these ends my invention consists in the method of operating electrical apparatus, substantially as hereinafter fully set forth in this specification, suitable apparatus for carrying out my method being illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which represent diagrammatically a sending and a receiving station with circuits and apparatus for operating a printing-telegraph receiver.

While many different kinds of apparatus may be provided for carrying out my im- 0 proved method of operation, I have chosen to illustrate diagrammatically apparatus for carrying out my invention such as shown and described in my copending application, Serial I No. 118,524, filed August 5, 1902-, and entitled Improvements in printing-telegraph receivers, for I have shown the apparatus in the aforesaid application as operated bythe method herein described, although the method has not therein been claimed. 4 I Since the mechanical construction of the printing-telegraph receiver forms no part of mypresent invention, I have illustrated the parts in diagrammatic relation, with sufficient of the apparatus only shown to enable my present invention to be understood.

Referring to the drawing, X represents a sending-station, and Ya receiving-station, with suitable circuits and apparatus connecting the two for transmitting messages .and for recording them according to my invention. At

the sending-station any suitable form of apparatus may be provided for transmitting impulses over the line, while at the receivingstation Y a printing-telegraph receiver is located, preferably of substantially the same construction and having the general mode of operation as that described in my application above referred to, wherein polarized electromagnetic apparatus is provided for control ling the operation of the type-wheel, while unpolarized apparatus is provided for controlling the operation of the mechanism for printing the character selected and for controlling the paper-feeding mechanism. Oircuits are shown having a number of receivers connected to distributing bus-bars or mains a a, and in the diagrammatic representation of apparatus at the receiving-station Y the escapementlever 131 is actuated by means of a polarized relay comprising the magnets 151, 152, 153, and 15 1, the circuits of which are diagrammatically shown. Means are provided for polarizing the cores of these magnets, as shown the coils 151 and 152 being used for this purpose, while alternating currents or impulses of different signs are sent through the coils 153 154:, alternately strengthening one core and weakening the other, and thereby vibrating the escapement-lever 131, thus allow ing rotation of the escapement-Wheel 130 for selecting the desired characters or space on the type-wheel 7. The magnet 201 is also included in the circuit of the coils 153 154 for a purpose hereinafter to appear.

In the diagram M, denotes a suitable motor connected to the shaft 133, from which the power for actuating the mechanism of the receiver is derived, while Ais a suitable source of electric energy for the motor, represented as a storage battery. A circuit including coils 151 and 152 and a switch 200, controlled by magnet 201, is also derived from the battery A, and said coils 151 and 152 are so wound that the cores 155 and 156 are polarized with the oppositely-arranged poles of the same sign, as indicated by the letters S S and N N in the diagram. The coils 153 and 154: are then so wound that upon passing a positive impulse through them the magnetism of one of the cores, as 155, will be strengthened, while that of the other, as 156, will be neutralized, and then upon passinga negative impulse through these coils themagnetism of core 156 will be strengthened, while that of core 155 will be neutralized, and thus the escapement-lever 131 will be attracted to one side or the other, according to the character of the impulse transmitted over the line.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, suitable means are shown at B of anyordinary or usual character for determining the number of alternations in the current sent over the line, and, as shown, a common form of pin-cylinder 157 is provided, with thirty-eight pins arranged on a shaft 158, which by any suitable means tends to rotate, but is held therefrom by controlling-levers 159, corresponding to the characters on the type-wheel, butone of whichlevers is shown. A driving-pulley 160 may be connected with a suitable source of power for operating the pin-cylinder 157, and a friction-clutch 161 is shown in this instance between the gearing connected to the driving-pulley 160 and the pin-cylinder shaft 158, so that the drivingpulley may at times rotate with the driving pin-cylinder. I also provide a shaft 163, which may be driven by any suitable power and, as shown, is connected to be driven from the driving-pulley 160, and I have shown it connected therewith by a friction-clutch 162. Said shaft 163 carries an escapement-wheel 164k, controlled by an escapement-lever 165,

adapted to be actuated by a magnet 166, and also upon the shaft 163 is arranged acommutator 167, with brushes 168 169 bearing thereon connected in circuit with a generator C, which generator is also connected with brushes 170, bearing upon a commutator 171. In this instance a switch 203 is shown included in the circuit of the generator C, while another generator, 204, is adapted to be connected in series with generator C or cut out of circuit. The generator C in this instance is a directcurrent machine and supplies current for actuating the polarized magnets controlling the operation of the letter-selecting escapement 81, the direct current being commutated at the commutator 171 into alternating positive and negative impulses and passing from the commutator by brushes 17 2 to the distributing-line a a, from which connection is made, as by the leads 5 6, to coils 153 and 154 of the polarized relays connected to actuate the escapement-lever 131,

Means are provided for rotating the coinmutator 171, as shown a connection being made through gearing to the pin-cylimlei' shaft 158, and any suitable form of commutator may be provided, it only being necessary that as the commutator rotates with the brushes 170 and 172 bearing thereon the direct current from the generator l shall be transformed into alternating impulses. The number of these impulses is controlled at will by means of the levers 159, and means are provided for automatically printing each character after it has been selected, and this is accomplished by means of the printing-magnets or controlling-magnets 96 and the mechanism which they control. After the character desired to be printed has been selected and is in position to have an impression taken there from the circuits and apparatus are so arranged that the printing or controlling magnets 96 become operativel y energized, thereby affecting the armature 97, actuating the escapement-lever93, withdrawing thepawl 173 from engagement with the tooth 171 on the escapement-wheel 70, and allowing said escapement- Wheel to rotate in the direction of the arrow until the tooth 175 comes into engagement with a pawl 176 on the other side of the escapementlever 93. It will thus be seen that the tooth 177 on the escapement-wheel is about in readiness to engage the pawl 173 when the magnets 96 become dei'mergized after the printing has taken place.

Suitable means are provided, as shown in the application above referred to, for feeding the type-Wheel; but this means has not been illustrated in the present case, and, furthermore, as the figure is but a diagrammatic representation of one means of carrying out my invention the apparatus has been much simplilied for the sake of clearness, and in this connection any suitable means are shown for causing the printing-platen to strike the type-wheel 7. In this instance a bell-crank lever 178, pivoted at 179, is adapted to beactuated by pins or stops 180, connected to the escape1nent-wheel 70. As the alternating impulsestraverse the circuits connected with the generator C, the switch 203 being in the position shown in the drawings, magnets 153 and 15 1 are operated by means of such impulses to actuate the escapementlever 131, the printing or controlling magnets 96, which are u1'1polarizcd,are notoperatively energized by the alternating current, and, as

shown, they are so connected in the shunt as to receive the alternations in the line. \Vhile the printingor controlling magnets 96 may be connected in the circuit in any desired manner, they are preferably connected in shunt to the line, since with this arrangement the controlling-magnets may be constructed to have a greater impedance than that of the coils 153 and 154: in the main circuit. This arrange ment causes the greater portion of the alternating current to traverse the circuits in the magnetism to attract the armature 97 against magnets 158 and 154 rather than that of the controlling or printing magnets 96. Other ad vantages are gained by this arrangement of circuits, which will hereinafter appear. The magnet 166, controlling the escapement-lever 165, is also not operatively energized by alternating currents passing through its circuit cl d, shown as connected in shunt to the main line. As soon as the pin-cylinder 157 comes to rest with the desired character on the type-wheel selected and in position to be printed a constant current will momentarily flow from the generator C through suitable resistances R R and through commutator 171 to the magnet 166, energizing said magnet and causing it to attract its armature, thereby releasing the escapement-wheel 164 and allowing it to rotate through half a revolution, thereby causing the conducting portions 181 on the commutator 167 to pass momentarily beneath the brushes 168 and 169, thus short-circuitingthe resistances R R for an instant of time and allowing more direct current to' momentarily flow from the generator 0 to and through the commutator 171 to the line a a, energizing the printing or controlling magnets 96 sufficiently to cause them to attract the armature 97. This increase of current which caused the magnet 96 to attract the armature 97 was but momentary in order to provide sufficient its spring, and then the normal strength of the current passing from the generator 0 to resistance R R is sufficient to hold said armature 97 in a retracted, position as long as desired. By arranging the controlling-magnets 96 in 'a shunt to the line and in shunt to the escapement-magnets and making the controlling-magnets of less resistance than those controlling the escapement, but of greater im-' pedance, more direct current will flow through the controlling-magnets, which is to be desired.

Suitable means are provided for deenergizing a circuit of the battery A, and thus prevent the operation of the receiver as long as desired. The means thus provided are preferably controlled from a distance, as at the transmitting-station X, and to these ends the magnet 201 and switch 200 are includedin the operating-circuits at the receiver, while the generator 204 is arranged to be switched into circuit at the transmitting-station and momentarily increase the tension of the line to operate the magnet 201. The magnet 201 may be included in any suitable portion of the receiving-circuits; but as shown it is included in series with c'oils 153 and 154: and'in shunt to the printing-magnet 96. Switchmagnet 201 is so designed and adjusted that it will not become sufficiently energized to actuate its armature 205 under the ordinary working condition of the circuits, and means are provided for boosting the line when desired in order to actuate switch-magnet 201.

For this purpose the additional generator 20& is provided at the transmitting-station, for by throwing the switch 208 from contact 206 to contact 207 generator 204 may be included in series with generator C, and thus raise the potential of the lines sufiiciently to cause magnet 201 to become energized and actuate its armature 205. This armature 205 is shown as one arm of a bell-crank lever 208, pivoted at 209 and having at its other end a crosspiece 210, provided with stops 211, while pivoted at 214: is a flier or arm 218, provided with a stop 218 and connected to move with a pinion 215, meshing with a gear 216, to which the switch 200 is connected. I Contacts 217 cooperate with the switch 200, and to these contacts are connected wires leading from the battery A, so that the switch 200 is in series with the battery. The object of these mechanical and electrical connections is .to enable the battery-circuit to be broken when desired; but other suitable means may be substituted for those illustrated without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The shaft to which the switch 200 is connected is provided with. a pinion 220, meshing with a gear 221 upon a winding-stem 222, from which the switch mechanism is actuated when released by the arm or flier 213. Upon lever 208 being actuated to release stop .218 from stop 211 the arm 213 will make nearly one revolution under the influence of the spring-actuated gearing connected thereto and it will be brought to a stop again against stop 212. The gear 217 will have been rotated through nearly one whole revolution to break the circuit at switch 200. By moving the switch 203' to the position shown in the drawings the high-potential current sent to the line is reduced, reducing the operative current sent through magnet 201, so that by thus deenergizing magnet 201 and releasing armature 205 the stop 218 will be released from' stop 212 and brought against stop 211, thereby allowing the arm 213 to complete a full revolutionand complete the circuit at the switch 200. This brings. the potential of the line back to normal. The switch 200 is used simply to connect and disconnect the battery A of the receiving instrument into and out of operative circuit, so that battery-power can be saved when the receiving instrument is out of operation for any continued length of time.

Obviously some features of my invention may be used without others, and my invention may be embodied in widely-varying forms.

Therefore without enumerating equivalents nor limiting myself to the construction shown and. described, I claim, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent, the following:

1. The method substantially as herein described of operating a printing-telegraph receiver,which consists in transmittingimpulses of alternating current to said receiver for selecting a character to be printed, transmitting a direct current over the line, automatically momentarily increasing the line-potential for printing the character selected, and then automatically reducing the line-potential again to normal strengh.

2. The method substantially as herein described of operating a printing-telegraph receiver, which consists in transmitting alternating current over the line for selecting the characters to be printed, then changing from alternating current to direct current, and automatically increasing the normal strength of said direct current momentarily to cause the printing of the character selected.

3. The method substantially as herein described of operating a printing-telegraph receiver, which consists in transmitting impulses of alternating current to the receiver for selecting the characters to be printed, preventing the printing until desired by means of impedance, transmitting over the line a direct current of insuflicient strength to cause the printing of the character selected, and then momentarily increasing the line-potential to cause the printing of said character.

4. The method substantially as herein described of operating a printing-telegraph receiver,which consists in transmitting impulses of alternating current to the receiver for selecting the characters to be printed, transmitting over the line a direct current of insuflicicnt strength to cause the printing of the character selected, automatically momentarily increasing the line-potential to cause the printing of said character, and then automatically reducing the line-potential to normal strength.

In testimony \vhereoiI have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN M. JOY.

Witnesses:

WM. L. VAIL, HAMILTON MUsK.

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