Cox- MUNICATING THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND FROM A VANE TO A DIAL OE REGISTERING APPARATUS BY MEANS OF ELECTRIC: WIRES AND WITHOUT THE AID OF SHAFTING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edward Henry Gordon, of King's College,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of “Cox-
MUNICATING THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND FROM A VANE TO A DIAL OE
REGISTERING APPARATUS BY MEANS OF ELECTRIC: WIRES AND WITHOUT THE
AID OF SHAFTING.”
Scaled the 29th July 1870, and dated the 1st February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edward Henry
"
Gordon at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 1st February 1870.
I, JAMES EDWARD HENRY GORDON, of King's College, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "COMMUNICATING THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND FROM A VANE TO A DIAL OR
REGISTERING APPARATUS BY MEANS OF ELECTRIC WIRES AND WITHOUT THE AID
OF SHAFTING,” to be as follows:-
"
My Invention consists in an apparatus for communicating the
direction of the wind from a vane placed on the top of a house (or other
convenient position) to a dial or registering instrument indoors by

page_text: means of three three telograph wires (two line and a return), and without
the aid of shafting.
The machine is mado in three forms; one, self-registering (thrée
wires), Nos. II. and II., one dial constantly indicating (three wires),
Nos. I. and I., and one a, b, dial, Nos. III. and III., which indicates t
only when contact is made (by pressing down a knob or otherwise), this
has only two wires (one line and one return).
I will describe, first, the dial A, B, Nos. 1 and 1, which is
constantly indicating; second, the registering instrument O, No. II*.;
third, the dial a, b, Nos. III. and III., for discontinuous work called 1
the coast vanc.
Nos. 1 and 1* consists of a vane A. and a dial B.
+
.
The vane (1) moves two contact breakers (2 and 3), one (2) when it
moves in one direction, the other (3) when it moves in the other
direction. Each makes and breaks contact 16 times for each revolution,
so that contact is either made or broken for each point of the compass
that the wind shifts. The mechanism is as follows:-On the same
axis (4) of the vane (1) and fixed to the axis are two ratchet wheels
(5 and 6).set opposite ways. Loose on the same axis 4 are two larger
ratchet wheels 7 and 8, each close to and set in an opposite direction to
one of the smaller wheels 5 and 6. Fixed on the rim of each of these
larger wheels 7 and 8 is a click 9, 10, gearing into the teeth of the
corresponding smaller wheels.5, 6. Fixed on,theistand of the instru..
ment are two clicks 11, 12, gearing respectively into the teeth of the
larger wheels 7, 8. These clicks carry each a slip of brass about two inches
long 2, 3, tipped- with platinum; every time the big wheel moves one
tooth the click is raised and presses the platinum tip of the brass slip:
against the platinum-point of a piece of brass 13, 14; held in an ebonite
-support 15, 16; when the vano (1) moves in one direction the top. big
wheel 7 is carried round, and the bottom one 8 remains stationary,
when it turns in the other direction the bottom big wheel 8 is carried
There are also two
round, and the top one 7 remains stationary.
and gearing into the
clicks 17, 18, fixed on the stand of the instrument
teeth of the large wheels 7, 8, at a distance of teeth from the other
clicks; they are put in because it is necessary that contact should be
made by the time the contact click gets half way up the tooth, and if
the vane were to move back again when the contact click is of the
way up the tooth contact would be made and broken without the vane

page_text: having moved a tooth; and the instrument would get wrong. The sparo
click prevents this, for as contact is made by the lever click 11, 12, the
spare click 17, 18, falls and prevents the wheel moving back: Tho
relative strength of the springs of the spare and contact clicks must be
carefully adjusted. By proper adjustment it may be so arranged that
the points shall never or at least hardly ever remain in contact during a
calm. The spring of the spare click must be the strongest (the springs
to avoid confusion are not shown in the Drawings). To guard against
the possibility of a sudden gust of wind moving the vane faster than the
dial can follow a means of checking the rapidity of revolution is
contrived. It consists of a pulley wheel about 6 inches diameter fixed
on the spindle 4 of the vane 1; round this a cord passes to a pulley wheel
about 1 in. diameter fixed on the same axis with a fan consisting of a
piece of thin board or metal about 7 in. wide by 4 in. high. This is not
claimed as new, it is not shewn in the Drawing. B, No. I., the dial or
indicating part of the instrument, consists of two electro-magnets 19, 20;
placed vertically on a suitable support 21. The armatures 22, 23, consist
of two pieces of soft iron, cach fixed on a lever 24, 25; one end of each
lever is hinged to an upright 26, 27, and the other end is connected by
a cord or thin wire to one of two palattes 28, 29, working into two escape
wheels 30, 31. The armature is fixed at a distance from the hinge equal
to about one-third of the length of the lever. To the other end of cach
palatte a spring 32, 33, is attached, which can be adjusted by turning a
milled head 31, 35. The escape wheels have each sixteen teeth; one is
fixed on an axis 36, which carries a hand 37, the other is set (in the
same direction) on a tubular axis 38 passing over the first, and carrying
a dial consisting of an ordinary compass card. Every time either
lever is pulled down or released its escape wheel advances half a tooth,
that is, one point. The connections are thus:-One wire is connected
to both electro-magnets, passes from thence to one pole of the battery,
and from the other pole of the battery is continued to some part of the
metal work 40 of the contact breaker. Two other wires pass each from
one of the electro-magnets to binding screws 41, 42, forming part of the
picces of brass 13, 14, in cbonite supports against the platinum points
of which (picces of brass) the contact levers press. When contact is
made and broken at the upper contact lever currents pass through one
of the electro-magnets; the armature, say the one connected with the
hand, is attracted and released and the hand advances; when the vano
moves the other way the lower contact lever works, the other electro-

page_text: magnet comes into action and the dial advances, which is the same
thing (as regards the relative position of hand and dial) as if the hand
went back. When the machine is put up the vane and dial are set to
the same positions, and as they move together the position of the vane
can always be seen by looking at the dial. Nos. II. & II. shew the
registering apparatus, and is the same in principle as the dial. The
vane and contact breaker is the same for both. The registering appa-
ratus consists mainly of a dial machine XLIV., sec No. II., turned on
its back, so that the axes, which in the dial instrument carry the hand
and dial, are placed vertically. There is however neither dial nor hand,
but the hand axis 45 carries a drum 46, the dial axis 47 carries a hollow
cylinder 4S, inside which the drum moves at 3 points near the top of the
cylinder, and distant about 120° from each other are two friction rollers,
and a pencil 49 projecting inwards to the surface of the drum 46.
The axis 45a of the drum consists of a tube 45a rather more than twice
as long as the drum 16, slit down both sides from about of an inch
from tho top to a point rather more than half way down, so that the
slits are a little longer than the drum. On the upper end of the drum
are two bosses 50 (put so that a line joining them passes through the
axis of tho drum). The drum is put on the tube, and a metal pin 51 is
put through the bosses 50 and through the slit tube, so that the drum
can slide up and down on its axis, but cannot turn round unless the
axis turns too. A cord 52 is attached to the pin (inside the tube) by
means of a swivel joint 53 to prevent twisting. This cord passes up
through the tube, over pulleys, and down to a clock 54, and round a
barrel 53ª turned by the clock, on which barrel the cord is wound at
such a speed that the drum is raised through a distance equal to its own
length once in 24 hours. A paper is fastened on the drum and is ruled
with 32 vertical lines lettered with the points of the compass, and with
24 horizontal lines numbered with the hours. The effect of the motion
of the clockwork alone would be to traco a vertical lino, that of the
motion of the wind alone a horizontal line, the resultant of the two
motions is a zig-zag linc, from which the direction of the wind at any
particular time may be seen. A brass point and metallic paper may be
with advantage substituted for the pencil and common paper. It is
found convenient to have a duplicate drum to save time in changing the
papers. The arrangement of the pencil and drum is not claimed as new,
but simply its application to this instrument. Nos. III. & III*. show
the dial instrument for discontinuous work. In the dial before

page_text: described the wires cannot be used for any other purpose, as if the
vane moves while the connexions are broken it gets wrong, and has
to be reset. To enable observations to be taken by the use of the
existing telegraph wires, which are used also for other purposes, the
following arrangement has been contrived, which merely requires the
use of the wires while an observation is being made:-It requires only
two wires (one line and the return). It uses much less battery power
than the other, as the battery only comes into action while an
observation is being made. Its disadvantages as compared to the other
) dial are, that it does not continuously shew the direction, but only when
a knob is pressed The construction is as follows:-The vane 55 carries
a horizontal circle 50 of platinum (to avoid confusion only part of this
is shown in the Drawing). The circle is however not quite complete,
but is interrupted by a picce of ebonite 57 filling about 20° of the
3 circumference of the circle. Under this is an instrument like the
receiving part of a dial telegraph LVIII., only instead of a pointer it
carries a stiff arm 59 of brass with a friction roller 60 at the end; the
arm is turned up at right angles near the end so that the axis of the
friction roller is horizontal, and in the same line as the horizontal part
of the arm.
The instrument is in such a position that the centres of
the platinum circle and of the axis of the dial telegraph are in the same
vertical line, and the friction roller presses on the platinum circle.
Pressing on the armature lever 50 is a continuous stroke spring 61 like
those used in the continuous action electric bells, so that when a current
5 is sent the arm will go on revolving till the current ccases. The
connexions are so made that the current can only pass by going along
the arm through the friction roller to the platinum circle. The path of
the current is shewn by the lines 1 in the Drawing. On the same axis
as the escape wheel 62 is a ratchet wheel 63 put the opposite way to the
escape wheel to prevent the circle ever carrying the hand round with it.
The ratchet wheel prevents it going back, and the pressure of the cscape
wheel on the palattes prevents it going forward unless moved by the
current. b at the receiving station is the receiving instrument of
another dial telegraph b, only without the continuous stroke, and
3 carrying an ordinary pointer 61; its dial 05 consists of a compass card,
it is in the same circuit as the other. The escape wheel of each instru-
ment has sixteen teeth. There is a break in the wire at some convenient
place near the dial, which can be closed by pressing a spring knob 66.
When the knob is pressed a current passes the band of the dial instru-

page_text: ment, and the arm of the other simultaneously advance till the friction
roller comes to the ebonite gap, then the current ceases and both instru-
ments stop. The point at which the 64 hand stops shews the position
of the vane 55.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Edward Henry Gordon in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 1st August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDWARD HENRY GORDON, of King's College, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Edward Henry Gordon, Her special 1
licence that I, the said James Edward Henry Gordon, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Edward
Henry Gordon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might 2
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "COMMUNICATING THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND FROM A VANE TO A DIAL OR
REGISTERING APPARATUS BY MEANS OF ELECTRIC WIRES AND WITHOUT THE AID
OF SHAFTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said 2
James Edward Henry Gordon, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six 3
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW
11
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חיד.
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page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
Since the Provisional Specification was filed I have made considerable
improvements in the instrument, though the general principle remains
the same. The vane moves two contact breakers, one when it moves
in one direction the other when it moves in the other direction. The
mechanism by which the contact breakers are moved is new, and is a
modification of that described in the Provisional Specification. The two
contact breakers send currents through two electro-magnets in the dial
instrument.
In the instrument described in the Provisional Specification one
electro-magnet moves the hand forward by means of an escapement,
the other moves the dial forward, which is the same as the hand going
back. In the present instrument one electro-magnet moves the hand
forward by means of an escapement, the other moves the hand back.
This escapement is not entirely new; it is a modification of an old
escapement.
The instrument mentioned in the Provisional Specification and called
the "coast vane" is no longer used. The vane works two contact
breakers, one when it moves in one direction, the other when it moves
in the opposite direction.
The mechanism is as follows, and in order that my Invention may be
readily understood reference is made to the accompanying Drawings, in
which the same figures refer to like parts throughout :-
On the axis 1, Fig. 1, Sheet 1, of the vane 2 is a crown cog wheel
with 256 teeth. The axis and cog wheel are supported in suitable
bearings. One very convenient form of bearing is shown in the Drawing.
19 is a parallelogram of brass with a bracket to support the horizontal
axis 8. The large cog wheel gears into a smaller one 4 of 16 teeth,
thus giving a multiplying power of 1=16. The absolute number of
teeth is immaterial as long as the multiplying power is 16 (or 32). Of
course thero must be a sufficient number of teeth in the small wheel to
enable it to work smoothly; is the most convenient number. The
small wheel 4 is fixed on an axis 8 which turns with 4. The axis 8
carries two discs 5, 5'. Ebonite is perhaps the most convenient material
to make them of, but brass will do. In these discs 5, 5¹, are turned
grooves, Fig. II. One groove 14 is concentric with the axis of rotation,
230
10

page_text: the other 15 is excentric and of larger radius than the other. The two
grooves run into one for about half the circumference (as shown in the
Drawing, Fig. II.). In the grooves are two slides or valves 16, 17; these
move on a pin at one end, and the other end has a piece of wire fastened
to the end. The wire passes through a little curved slot cut through the
bottom of the groove. (The radius of curvature equals the length of the
valve.) The pin a projects right through the slot and is pressed on
by a spring fixed on the back of the disc. There is also a third valve 16ª
to prevent the disc moving back while the point is in the excentric
groove. In one of the discs the valves rest in the position shewn, Fig. II. ;.
in the other they are in the position which they would appear in if
Fig. II. were held up to the light and looked at from behind. There are
pieces of thin brass 6, 6', fixed on an upright 19ª. (6 and 6¹ are insulated
from each other.) The ends of 6 and 6' are fixed at 20, and dip into
the grooves (see Fig. I.). The points are made circular and can revolve
so as to lessen the friction against the sides of the grooves. When the
disc 5 revolves in the direction of the arrow the point of 6 is caused by
the valve 17 to travel in the inner concentric groove, and no effect is
produced on 6. When however the disc turns in the direction opposed to
that of the arrow the point of 6 is caused by the valve 17 to travel in the
outer excentric groove, and the spring 6 is depressed, and the platinum
button on it presses on the corresponding platinum button of the
spring 7, and a current passes between 6 and 7. The valves of the two
discs are so arranged that the direction of motion that makes contact
between 0 and 7 does not make contact between 6 and 7', and vice
vers. The weight 9 is most important. It revolves with the axis end
the discs. It prevents the vane ever stopping with either point in
contact. If it were not for this the points might remain in contact, and
a battery that ought to last six months would be worked out in an hour.
It also prevents the vanc making contact and then going back without
passing a whole point, as it is so adjusted that when the points 6 and 7
are just making contact the weight is falling and has passed the vertical
about 30°. Contract is broken just as the weight is at the bottom; its
impetus carries it a little beyond its position of rest and brings the
point 6 clear through the valve 17. After that 9 may swing as much as
it likes without making contact. The red lines shew the path of tho
current. 13 is the base of the instrument; 18, 18, are holdfasts to
clamp it down; 10 is the cover to protect the mechanism from rain.
The axis 1 passes through the top of the cover 10 water-tight and

page_text: without friction by means of the plan shewn 11, 12, in the Drawing.
11 is a short piece of tin tube fixed in the cover and projecting about
half an inch above it; it is large enough to allow the axis to pass
through without touching it. 12 is a disc of india-rubber fixed tight on
the axis 1 and turning with it. Any rain running down the axis is
stopped by the disc and shot off clear of the tube 11. As the tube
projects above the cover no water can run into it.
THE LAU
Fig. III., Sheet 2.-On the stand of the dial instrument are two
electro-magucts 20 and 20a (only the cross piece of 20a is visible).
Opposite the poles of the electro-magnets are armatures 21 and 21'a.
These armatures form part of levers the upper parts of which 25
are brass or thin steel.
At the top of each lever is a piece of brass 27
hinged so that it can rise a little, but is prevented from falling by
the piece 28. Fixed rather lower down is a piece 26 also of brass.
There is a ratchet wheel 30 with sixteen teeth (as shown in Drawing).
When contact is made in magnet 20 the armature 21 is attracted, the
point 27 presses on a tooth of the wheel and moves it on one tooth, (the
hinge allowing it to rise over the top of the wheel; at the same time
the stop 20 prevents the wheel moving more than one tooth. This
escapement is not entirely new, but is a modification of an old escape-
ment. When the current ceases the armature is drawn back by a
spring 24. This spring is adjusted by being wound on a pillar 23,
and can be tightened by turning the pillar with a key (in the same way
as a piano wire is tightened). A set screw and nut 22 prevents the
armature going back too far. The two wheels 30 and 30a and the
hand 29 are fixed on one axis. 30a is put with its teeth in the opposito
direction to the teeth of 30. 30 a is not shown in the Figure. The two
wheels are put as near together as the thickness of the magnets will
allow. There is also a slight spring pressing on the edge of one of the
cog wheels to prevent the hand being jerked round accidentally (not
shewn in Figure). The magnet 20 drives the hand
The

page_text: Having thus described my said Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I declare that what I claim and desire to bo secured
to me by the herein-before recited Letters Patent is, the communicating
the direction of the wind from a vane to a dial or registering apparatus
by means of electric wires and without the aid of shafting, substantially
as herein-before described and illustrated on the Drawings, or any mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edward Henry Gordon, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Thirtieth day of July, in
the year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy.
JAMES EDWARD HENRY GORDON. (L.S.)