Improvements in Telegraphic Alphabets.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 30th June, 1896-Accepted, 19th Sept., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Telegraphic Alphabets.
I, SAMUEL VAN BUREN ESSICK, a citizen of the United States and a resident
of Yonkers, in the County of Westchester, State of New York, United States of
America, Inventor do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the saine is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to telegraphic alphabets, and it has for its object to simplify
such alphabets, and more especially to provide a complete telegraph alphabet in
which each and every letter or character may be terminated by the use of a single
impulse, and to these ends my invention consists in a telegraphic alphabet having
the characteristics hereinafter more particularly set forth..
In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated my invention sufficiently to
enable those skilled in the art to understand the same, and in which:
Fig. 1, is an enlarged detail view, illustrating the principles on which my
invention is based, and
Fig. 2, above a continuous line including the entire alphabet and certain
invention.
punctuation marks, characters, and signs, made in accordance with my
Heretofore many attempts have been made to improve and simplify the ordinary
code of signals comprising the alphabet or characters necessary to be transmitted
in telegraphic operations, and without attempting to recite them and state their
distinguishing features in detail, it may be said that they differ from my improved
alphabet, as will more clearly appear hereafter.
One of the special features of my alphabet is its adaptation to the transmission
of cable messages, where the impulses which can be transmitted in a given time
are limited to a comparatively small number, owing to the static capacity and
other qualities of the cable, and in the use of which it has been demonstrated that
it is most advantageous to send into the line successive currents of alternating
polarity, and as will appear hereafter, as each and every one of the letters or
characters of the alphabet can be produced by a single electrical impulse or
reversal of polarity, the advantages of the use of my alphabet in this connection
will be apparent.
I will now proceed to describe the characteristics of my alphabet, and it will be
understood that it may be used in connection with various forms of electrical
devices or machinery.
Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, which shows an enlarged view of a portion
of my alphabet, it will be seen that there is what I have termed a zero line a, and
while this is indicated in the drawing as a real line, in practice it will preferably
be an imaginary line. Each and every letter or character of my alphabet
comprises a lateral line b, which extends on each side of the zero line a, and
crosses the same, and a longitudinal line c, which extends parallel with the zero
line and is connected to the lateral line b. In all of the letters or characters the
lateral line is of the same length, while the longitudinal line varies in length for
the different characters.
It will thus be seen that all the letters or characters can follow each and any
one of the others, making a continuous line or record, well adapting the alphabet
for use with the siphon ordinarily used in cable practice. It will further be seen
that the longitudinal portion of each letter or character may be placed on either

page_text: side of the imaginary or zero line a, while its lateral line crosses the same,
extending preferably from the end of the next preceding letter or character.
In practice as the receiving strip in traveling constantly, the lateral line
naturally assumes a slight inclination to the longitudinal line, and the degree of
this inclination depends upon the speed at which the receiving strip travels; but
a strip is supposed to travel at a uniform rate of speed, all the lateral lines will
have the same angle with respect to each other and with respect to their
longitudinal extensions.
From the above it will be seen that with my improved telegraphic alphabet
each and every character is composed of a lateral line, which is uniform in length
in all the characters, and a longitudinal line which varies in length in each and
every character, and it is immaterial on which side of the imaginary line these
longitudinal lines may appear. It will be observed the record is a continuous
record or line and that each and every letter or character is made by a single
impulse or reversal of current.
While I have shown the character representing a space as having a shortest
longitudinal line, and the longitudinal lines increasing in regular order of the
alphabet, it is evident that I can change the relations of the letters to the length
of the longitudinal lines to suit any particular character of work. For instance,
the shortest longitudinal line can represent e, and the next t, or any other letter or
character, and the next one a, and so on according to the relative values or uses of
the letters.
It will further be observed that it is immaterial from which side of the longi-
tudinal line the lateral line extends, that is, whether it extends from the right or
left of the longitudinal line, but in all instances it extends across the imaginary
zero line. This is a very important feature, as it provides for a continuous record,
regardless of the relative order of the letters or characters used, and any letter or
character may follow immediately after any other letter or character and may be
entirely distinct and definite, and the longitudinal line of each succeeding character
will be parallel with and on the opposite side of the zero line from the longitudinal
line of the character which immediately precedes it.
So also the lateral line of each character extends from the terminal of the
longitudinal line of the next preceding character.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A telegraphic alphabet for transmission of impulses successively alternating
in polarity, in which each letter is represented by a single impulse and determined
by a characteristic independent of the polarity of the impulse, substantially as
described.
2. A telegraphic alphabet for transmission of impulses successively alternating
in polarity, in which each letter is represented by a single impulse and determined
by the length of the impulse independent of its polarity, substantially as
described.
3. The telegraphic alphabet herein described, in which each of the character
comprises a lateral line and a longitudinal line, the lateral line in each and all of
the characters being of the same length, and the longitudinal line in each and all
of the characters varying in length.
4. A telegraph alphabet substantially as herein described, in which each of the
characters comprises a lateral line and a longitudinal line, the lateral line extending
across an intermediate line and each succeeding longitudinal line being parallel
with and on the opposite side of the zero line from the longitudinal line of the
character which immediately precedes it.
5. A telegraphic alphabet substantially as herein described in which each
character comprises a lateral line and a longitudinal line, the lateral line of all the
characters being of the same length and the length of the longitudinal line of

page_text: each character from all the others, and the lateral line of character being
connected to the terminal of the longitudinal line of the character next
preceding it.
Dated this 30th day of June 1896.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.