USRE10542E - edison - Google Patents

Description

F. L. POPE & T. A. EDISON. Assignors. by mesne assignments, to THE GOLD AND Swocx TELEGRAPH COMPANY. PRINTING TELEGRAPH.

No. 10,542. Reissud Dec. 9,1884.

Q Q 9 Q ,9 I a m K W-Mmw 5W Q? %@m4e/ MOW ZZfifizw UNITED STATES FRANK Ii. POPE, OF ELIZABETH, AND THOMAS A. EDISON, OF MEN LO PARK, NEYV JERSEY, ASSIGNORS, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE GOLD'ANE STOCK TELEGRAPH COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, NI Y. 1

SPECIFICATION forming part of Reisaued Letters Patent No. 10,542, dated December 9, 1884-.

Original No. 102,520, dated April 26, 1370; Reissue No.7,(l21, dated April 17, 1871'. Application for reissue filed Novemberl'l, 1884i To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, FRANK L.POPE, of Elizabeth, in the county of Union, and THOMAS A. EDISON, now of, Menlo Park, in the county of Middlesex, both in the State of New Jersey, have iuventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Telegraphs,which improvements are fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

Our invention relates to that class of printing-telegraph instruments in which the typewheel is caused to rotate by means of a step-bystep escapem ent actuated or controlled by the armature bf an electro-magnet in the main circuit, and when any desired character upon the type-wheel has been brought round to a given point an impression of such character may be printed by bringing into action a'sec- 0nd armature controlled bythe same circuit.

Ourimprovements consist, first, of a polarized electro-magnet for imparting to the type-wheel of a printing-telegraph an intermittent rotary-motion by the action of successive alternate positive and negative currents of short duration, and of locking the type-wheel at any point, and at the same time printing a letter or character by prolonging the duration of the final current, whether the same is positive or negative, through a neutral electro-niagnet in the same circuit; second, in the combination of a type-wheel actuated or controlled by a polarized armature under the influence of alternate reverse currents of short required point, by prolonging the duration of the final current without reference to its polarity; third,in certain improved combinations of the mechanism of the several parts of the apparatus, whereby the efficiency and reliability of its action are-materially increased.

ferent figures.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of the receiving apparatus.

Fig.2 is an end elevation of the same, thetype-wheel being removed. Fig. 3 is a plan view ofa portion of said apparatus. Fig. 4 is a detached view, showing the details of the escapement in said apparatus. Fig. 5- is a plan View of the slotted presser; and Fig. 6 is a skeleton diagram, showing the arrangement of a number of instruments located at different stations and placed'in the same electric circuit, operated simultaneously in unison by a battery placed at one point in the circuit.

Similar letters refer to'like partsin the dif- E, Figs. 1, 2, and S, designates a 'perpcudicular electro-magnet, composed of two cores of soft iron united belowin the ordinary man ner by across-bar, 0, also of soft iron. The north pole of an angular-bent permanent magnet, N S, is screwed to the crossbar a, to which it communicates north polarity beyond the. point of contact, and also to both cores and poles of the electro-magnet E. The soft-iron armature G is supported upon a pivot, a, in a slot, 1), in the south end,S,of the permanent magnet N S, from which it receives south polarity, being secured in that position by a screw or otherwise. The said slot is situated at a short distance from the end of the magnet, exactly at the point of greatest magnetic intensity, so that the pivot end of the armature is completely surrounded by the magnetic mass, and becomes subject to the greatest possible amount of inductive influence.

The armature Ois so placed that it is free to vibrate to and fro in a lateral direction be-x end of the "armature O, passing between screwstops (1 and d, by means of which its lateral vibration is controlled and limited.

This arm The to-and-fro movement of the pawls, as

is constructed-of brass or. other nonmagnetic type-wheel, LT, upon. the circumference of' which type-wheel are engraved such letters,

numerals, or other characters as may be required, The characters on the type-wheel are supplied with ink by means ofa fountain inkroller, I, secured to amovable arm attached to thestandard A. The vibrating arm D-carries a curved bar, F, to .the extremities of which. are pivoted pawls h and h, which act, respectively, at opposite points upon the circumference of the ratchet-wheel H, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. v

well as each successive step. in the forward movement of the wheel H, which is driven by them, is limited by the adjustable screw-stops i and i. teeth of the wheel by springs j j, and when the arm D vibrates to and fro the pawls alternately fall into the interdental spaces of the wheel H and push it forward until the move-- ment of the pawl,.and, consequently that of the wheel,-also, is adjusted by the stops 1; and

i, which may be adjusted so as to allow of any desired amount 'of'm'ovemen t of the pawls'h and h; but we'will here remark that the pawls h and hi may be made of spring-steel, and so arranged as to automatically bear in the interwith. W l v By means of the above-described arrange ment the toand-fro vibrations of the arm D may lie-caused to communicate, through the pawls, a rapid intermittent rotarymotion totheratchetwheel H, sleeve 9, and type-wheel T in the direction shown by the arrow marked.

thereon. The screw-stops d d are so adjusted in reference to the-stops 'i a" that when the armatureO is acted upon by a powerful. current, tending to bend or otherwise" to disartheir appurtenances, the slightest deflection of the arm D after the pawls h or hhave come in contact with the stops 5 or-i' will bring said arm D against one of the stops d or d,','thereby relieving the mechanism from undue strain or pressure.

The manner in which the vibration of the armature O and arm-Dis made to revolv'ethe ratchet wheel H will be understood more clearly by. reference to Fig. 4; Suppose the arm D to be moved fremits position, as shown, toward the left, carrying with it the bar F and the pawls ht. The pawl h will engage with a tooth of the wheel'H, and carry it forward in the direction of the arrow until its movement is arrested by the pawl comingin contact with The pawls are pressed against the the stop t; thesame time the pawl]; will]. slip over one tooth of. the wheel without obstruction. When the arm D, bar F, and pawl's h h are moved from left to right, the operation of the respective pawls is reversed, although the wheel H continues to be moved in the same direction as before,

arm D, either to the left or to the right, therefore advances the ratchet-wheel H the distance of one tooth.

Each vibration of the The apparatus for takin'gthe, impression M, Figs. land-"3, is an electro-magnet of the usual form, its poles being united by thecross bar m,'which issecur'ed by 3 lug, K, to the magnetic meta-hfor'the purpose of cutting ofi' the magnetic; induction which would other; wise take place between the permanent mag passes through a slot in the standard A. The, lever is capable of a Vertical movement upon the adjustable screw-stop 01.

wheel, q, with a sharp serrated edge. Upon wheel, r, actuated by a hook-shaped pawl, 8, attached to the extremity of the type-wheel shaft f. A roller, t, of hard. rubber or other suitable material, is mounted upon a springaxle, u, in such a manner-as to be pressed firmly against the serrated edge of the wheel q. A ribbon of paper (not shown in the-drawings) may be made to pass-horizontally across the lever L and beneath the slotted pre'sser Q, (shown in plan in Fig. 5,) the ,edge of said the roller t in such a manner that the rotation of the wheel q will cause theribbon to be drawn forward from right to left. The slotted presser Q serves to keep the pa'perfrom coming in contact with any portion of the typewheel, except the letter of which the 'impression isdesired. The two electro-magnets unit, the connections being arranged as shown in Fig. 3; v

The manner in which the above-described currents is as follows: If a momentary current of electricity be sent from the positive pole of a battery through the electro-magnets E and M, its tendency would be to magnetize the pole N" of the electro magnet E north? and the pole N" south, but as both poles were previously north by the inductive influsouth end, S, of the permanent magnet N S.- This lug is made of brass or anyiother no.n-'

To the extremity of the lever L is attached Q a slotted adjustable standard, up, carrying a- E and Mare placedinthesameeleetrical cir-' after the type-wheel has been brought to the desired position may be described as follows:

. 93 L, one end of which is pivoted at O, and which,

0 as its fulcrum,,the extent of such move- 7 I ment being limited in one direction by the, facepf thetype-wheel T, and in the other by paper passing between the serrated wheel q and apparatus is actuated by means of electric .ence of the permanent magnet N S, the efl'ect 100 the samesh-aft with saidwheel q is a ratchet- I of this current is to strengthen the north magnetism of N and to weaken or entirely de-' stroy that of N. The armature O is therefore attracted to N with double force, and remains on that side after the cessation of the current, being still attracted by the pole N, whose distance from G is now much less than that of N. If, new, a momentary negative current is sent, thisefieet is reversed. The pole N in turn attracts the armature, and it moves to that side, remaining until the polarity of the exciting-current is again changed. Thus by transmitting through the helices of the electro-magnet E a rapidly-alternating series 01 short positive and negative currents, it will readily be understood that the armature 0 and its attachments may be caused to vibrate to and fro with great rapidity, cansing a correspondiugly-rapid revolution of the ratchet-wheel II and the type-wheel T, and that the latter may readily be brought to any required position simply by transmitting in succession the requisite number ofalternate positive and negative currents through the electro-ma-gnet E. These alternate currents ofshort duration necessarilytraverse the coils of the clcctro-magnet M, which is included in the same circuit, but the armature of the lat ter is not affected by them. The reason of this that a polarized or permanentlymagnetic armature responds much more promptly to the attraction ot' an clectro-magnet than a non-polarized or neutral armature, other conditions being the samefand therefore the polarized armature G of the magnet E responds perl'ectlydo the short alternate currents,wliile the more sluggish non-polarized or neutral armature I of the magnet M remains at.rest. In order, therefore, to print an impression of any desired character upon the type-wheel, a succession of alternate positive and negative currents is sent through the wire 1 2 3, Figs. 1 and 3, of such short duration as not to afi'ect in any manner the neutral armature Z of the elect-ro-1nagnet M, while, by the action of the polarized armature G- of the electro-magnet the type-wheel T may be revolved until the desired character upon its circumference is brought opposite the im n'ession-levcr I). The duration ol'the iina-l current is then prolonged, the ell'ect of which prolongation is to cause the type-wheel to be firmly locked in its position, tllti pawl h or it being wedged'between the point of the stop i or- '13 and a tooth of the wheel 11,) and to allow sufficient time for the neutral armature Z of the clectro-magnet M to act, which raises the lover L, and bringst-he paper ribbon in contact with the type upon the wheel '1, the same having been previously inked by the lountain-roller I. The armature I living of soft iron and neutral, it, is immaterial, so far as the' result is oncerned, whether the prolonged terminal current is positive or negative, as itresponds with equal certainty in either case. When the attraction ofthe eleetro-maguet Mceascs, thelever Lfalls back to its original position. At the same time the hooked pawl s catches a tooth ol' the ratchet-wheel r, and causes it, together with the wheel q, to revolve a short distance, thus drawing the paper ribbon forward and leaving a clear space in readiness for the next impression. A click, x, prevents the ratchetwheel 1', and consequently the wheel q, from revolving in the opposite direction. downward movement of the lover I! may be assisted by a retract-ingspring, it necessary.

It will be understood from theabove description that this apparatus is actuated entirely by electromagnetic power derived from the battery at the transmitting stat-ion without the assistance of local or secondary batteries, or of mechanical power derived from any source other than the said battery at the said transmitting-station, and that any required number of such apparatus may be placed at various points included in the sameelectric circuit, and operated simultaneously in unison by the action of a single battery placed at the transmittirig-station. 'lhiswillbe-more clearly understood by reference to Fig. 6, where we have given a skeleton diagram illustrating an arrangement ofinstruments in connection with a main battery and circuitdncaker, whereby an operator can, at one point form a conncction with a' main battery, so as to complete an electric circuit in such manner that the current of said. battery shall 'pass through as many instruments on a main line unprovided with local batteries as desired, and record simultaneously in printed characters at each instrument the same-message. For instance, at a point lettered X, there may be located a circuit-breaker of any suitable construction,

and at the point lettered Y a main battery of suilicient power, or in lieu thereof a number of small main batteries, located at such point or elsewhere in the main circuit that a current may be caused to pass from the main battery or batteries through the electro-magnets ofinstruments I II III, &e.; hence it will be The understood without further explanation that a communication may be printed simultaneously at as many different stations as may be desired without the use of local batteries or of mechanism-such, for instance, as weights or springs-for operating each instrument In such casesthe actionol' such local bat-teries or mechanism is simply controlled by the action of the main electrical circuit.

It is obvious that another elec'tro-magnet can be placed in the same circuit foreffecting other useful purposes-such as striking a bell to call attention, &c.which maybe actuated by increasing the strength of the electric current which operates the printing mechanism.

\Vc do not confine ourselves to the particular formand arrangement of parts shown in the drawings. There are numerous and wellknown means of producing the vibratory movement of a lever by the use of alternate positive and negative currents, in combination-with a permanent and an electro magnet acting upon each other, and of applying the same to the movement of a type-wheel. Neither do we wish to confine ourselves to any particular method of producing or transmitting alternate positive and negative currents for the purpose specified, as there are many well-.

known appliances for these purposes, which have heretofore been used in connection with other printing-instruments, and may be employed in like manner with advantage in con nection with our improved apparatus.

We are aware that others have heretofore employed a polarized electro-magnet and a neutral electro-magnet in the same circuit, one to control the rotation of the type-wheel by short impulses and the other the operation of the press mechanism by strengthening the short impulses. diiferent from the foregoing, in that the press mechanism is operated by. prolonging rather than by strengthening an impulse, thus enabling the dispensing of extra battery to, cf-

feet printin W'e claimas our invention- 1. The combination of a polarized electromagnetwhose armature is operated'by' alternate positive and negative currents of short duration with a neutral el'ectro-magnet placed in the same circuit whose armature communicates its power directly to the printing-lever and isaetuated by prolonged impulses of'either polarity, and a type-wheel actuated or controlled by said polarized electro-1nagnet, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of a polarized electromagnet whose armature is operated by. alternatepositive and negative currents with a neutral eleetro-magnet placed in the same circuit 40 whose armature is actuated by, prolonged im- Our invention, however, is

pulses of either polarity, a type-wheel actuated or controlled by said polarized electromagnet, and a press mechanism actuated or controlled by said neutral elect-ro-magnet, the whole being arranged for operating a printingtelegraph by first moving the type-wheel into any required position by the action of the alternate positive and negative currents of short and uniform duration, and then locking the type-wheel in such position, and at the same time causing the printing to be effected by prolonging the duration of the current last sent irrespective of its polarity, substantially as described. v

3. A type-wheel actuated or controlled by the to-and-fro movements of a polarized armatureunder the influence of alternate positive and negative currents of short duration, in combination with an impression device actuated or controlled by a neutral armature which is under the direct magnetic influence of the same alternate positive and negative currents of short duration, but which is not actuated thereby, when the arrangement is such that the type-wheel is locked at any required charactor, and the neutral armature brought into action to effect the printing of such character by one of the said alternate currents when sufliciently prolonged, whether positive or negative.

4. The combination of the safety-stops d d, with the stops 0' i, escapement-pallets h h, and

the armature-lever D, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

FRANK L. POPE. THOMAS anmsox.

Witnesses:

I WM. ARNOUX,

O. L. BUQKINGHAM.

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