IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas Henley, of St. John Street Road,
Clerkenwell, Telegraph Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 22nd May 1857, and dated the 22nd November 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas Henley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd November 1856.
I, WILLIAM THOMAS HENLEY, of St. John St. Road, Clerkenwell, Telegraph
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS AND APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improvements in electric telegraphs and apparatus con-
nected therewith consists, firstly, of an improved mode of arranging the
armatures in the magneto-electrical machine.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a front elevation of an
instrument having my improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a side view
of the same. A is the magnet; B, B1, the armatures of soft iron surrounded
with coils of wire; in this arrangement the armatures are fixed between the
poles of the magnet. C is a piece of brass or other non-magnetic material,
carrying two curved pieces of soft iron, shown by the dotted lines c, c, and d, d.

page_text: The metal plate C is supported on an axle E, moved by the handle F. When
the curved iron c, c, is in the position shown, it connects the north pole of the
magnet with the end of the fixed soft iron of the armature B, making that a
south pole; the piece of iron d,d, being made a north pole by its proximity to
the south pole of the magnet. On moving the handle in an opposite direction
the poles of the magnet and the soft iron are reversed, thereby reversing the
polarity of the armatures, and inducing a current of electricity in the coils of
wire. Instead of two pieces of iron cand d being fixed on the plate C, there
may be a greater number, and as many currents obtained as there are pieces
of iron; and instead of moving the disc by a lever as shown, it may have a
rotary motion given to it, or be arranged in other ways, still keeping to the
principle of fixed armatures and moveable pieces of iron.
.
The second part of my Invention refers to an improvement in the recording
telegraph. In lieu of the paper ordinarily usod with these telegraphs, I cause
the messages to be recorded on a surface which may be readily cleaned, and
is always ready for use. For this purpose I use white porcelain, but do not
confine myself to this material; I prefer a circular plate presenting a plain
surface, which I cause to revolve slowly by means of a train of wheelwork;
and across the plate, from the centre to its circumference, 1 cause an electro-
magnet to traverse by means of a screw actuated by the train of wheelwork.
The electro-maguet is made to attract a piece of iron or keeper attached to a
lever, carrying at the other end a piece of black lead pencil. When the
electric current is made to pass through the electro-magnet by the attraction
of the keeper, the pencil is pressed on the plate, and signals are marked on
the surface. Instead of the plate revolving, the electro-magnet may be caused
to rotate on an arm round the centre of the plate, the magnet having also a
motion along the arm. If desired, the plate may be made of a suitable material,
or so prepared that the messages may be transferred either to paper or fabric.
The third part of my Invention relates to submarine ropes for telegraphic
purposes. I first coat or cover the gutta percha covered wire with tarred yarn
in the usual manner, then with tarred tape made of hemp or other suitable
material; over this I lay a coating of iron wire and strands of strong tarred
yarn; the strands of wire and yarn are placed alternately. The coating of
tape prevents the wire from cutting the gutta percha more effectually than
if the hemp covering alone were used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Thomas Henley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd May 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS HENLEY, of St. John Street Road, Clerkenwell, Telegraph Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
l'atent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of November, in the of
our Lord One thousand eigbt hundred and fifty-six, in the
year
year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
ne, the said William Thomas Henley, Her special licence that I, the said
William Thomas Henley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Thomas Henley, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and uo' others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS AND APPARATUS CON-
NECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said
William Thomas Henley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under his, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the late of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Thomas Henley, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
The first part of my Invention relates to that part of the apparatus from
whence the electrical currents are obtained, and consists of a new method of
arranging the armatures in the magneto-electrical machine A, Sheet 1.
Figs. 1&2 represent the magnet B, B. The soft iron and coils of wire
in this case placed between the poles of the magnet A. C is a piece of brass
or other non-magnetic material, carrying two curved pieces of soft iron c, c,
and d, d, Fig. 1 & 3, and shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1, the pieces
of iron and piece of metal having a motion on an axis E, moved by the
handle F. When the piece of iron c, c, is in the position shown, it connects

page_text: the-north pole of the magnet with the end of the fixed soft iron B, making
that a south pole; the piece of iron B' being made a north pole by its
proximity to the south pole of the magnet. On moving the handle to the
opposite side, the relative position of the curved pieces of iron c, c, and d, d,
with the poles of the magnet and the fixed soft iron are reversed, thereby
causing a corresponding reversion of the polarity of the latter, and inducing
a current of electricity in the coils of wire surrounding the same. The
advantages of this plan are that, not having to move the weight of the soft
iron armature and coils of wire, as is the usual plan, but only the small curved
pieces of iron c, c, and d, d, much less labor is required, and consequently a
much greater speed of working is obtained; also a longer armature and much
greater length of wire can be used. In the machines in which currents are
obtained from coils wound on the poles of a maguet by means of a piece of
iron in front of such poles only a very feeble current is obtained, as the
excitation is due only to the difference between the inagnetism of the
when its poles are connected by the pieces of soft iron and when not; but in
my improved machine above described the full effect is obtained from thu
complete reversion of the soft iron poles. Instead of two pieces of iron on
the disc of metal more could be placed there, and as many currents would be
obtained in each revolution as there are pieces of iron; and instead of moving
the disc by lever, a rotatory motion conld be communicated to it, or it might
be arranged in various ways, still keeping to the same principle of fixed
armatures and movable pieces of iron.
magnet
The second part of my improvements relate to that description of telegraph
called recording, in which the signals are impressed or made visible on paper
or other materials, instead of being momentarily presented to the eye by the
motions of needles or otherwise. The recording telegraph possesses several
advantages over the signal telegraph, inasmuch as in the latter, if the eye does
not catch the signal when made it is lost, and must be repeated or its meaning
guessed at, which leads to many mistakes; whereas in the recording instru-
ment the eye can dwell on the signals until they are understood.
This is the chief advantage of the recording telegraph, and not the fact of
being able to keep the marked paper or other materials as a copy of the mes-
sage, for all messages, whether recording or otherwise, are reduced to writing,
and copies kept, which are produced by the manifold process.
The disadvantage of the recording system is the necessity of preparing
paper chemically, if for the chemical telegraph, and in long strips or ribands if
for Morse's telegraph, the preparation of such paper being attended with
much trouble and expence, and in some situations it cannot be obtained..

page_text: Now, what I claim as my improvement and as new is, the use of a material
capable of receiving an impression and retaining it during the process of
reading or copying the message, and then allowing it to be cleaned, so as to
presenta fresh and cleaned surface for receiving a second communication, thus
the instrument can always be made ready for use without the trouble and
expense of preparing paper.
I do not confine myself to any particular material so long as this principle
is carried out, but I find the description of porcelain used in schools, and
generally known as white slate, very well adapted for the purpose; or white
opaque glass, ground and not polished, or even ordinary ground glass, and of
course many other kinds of material, will answer the purpose.
The material may be cylindrical or of any other form, but one description of
machine that answers very well is shewn in Sheets 2 & 3, Figs. 1, 2, & 3 (the
same letters of reference show in each). The material is in the form of a flat cir-
cular plate A, removed in Figure 3, to show the work underneath; it rests on a
flat wheel with rim; this is made to revolve slowly by a train of clock work;
accross this plate, from the centre to the circumference, an electro-magnet C is
made to traverse, with the supporting arm on the slide frame by means of a
screw D, worked by the same train of wheelwork. This electro-magnet is
made to attract a piece of iron or keeper d, attached to a lever carrying at
the other end a piece of common black lead pencil or other suitable marking
material enclosed within the hollow screw f; this is pushed out when required
by the smaller screw g. This pencil, when the magnet is not attracting, either
barely touches the plate, or rests so lightly on it that no mark is made; but
when the electric current is made to pass through the electro-magnet by the
attraction of the keeper, the pencil is pressed on the plate, and signals are
marked on the surface. One advantage of this plan is, that owing to the
extremely small distance required for the keeper to move, a much less elec-
trical power is required thau in Morse's telegraph, as in the latter case to
emboss the paper it is necessary for the keeper of the magnet to move a
considerable distance. Of course, instead of the plate revolving and the
electro-maguet moving in a straight line across it, the plate may be stationary,
and the electro-magnet revolve ou an arm round the centre of the plate, the
electro-magnet at the same time baving a motion along the arm. The effect
in either case would be that the pencil attached to the arm of the electro-
magnet would make a series of marks in a spiral direction from the centre
to the circumference, or the reverse, according to the motion given to the
machinery.
When the electro-magnet has arrived at the outside of the plate in the

page_text: former plan by pressing on the pedal seen above the slide frame, the electro-
magnet with the supporting arm can be pushed back to commence again, the
pedal pushing the nut out of gear with the screw. E is the lever for starting
or stopping the clockwork; and F is a handle for winding up when necessary,
and is placed in the most convenient position.
By employing a plate of stone or other suitable material the marks may be
trusferred from the plate to paper or other fabric properly prepared in the
usual manner for receiving such impressions, or the plate may be removed to
be copied, and another put in its place, or a sheet of paper may be used. In
that case it should be prepared to give it somewhat of an abraiding surface,
as it then marks much easier with the pencil than ordinary paper. I find
washing the surface over with pumicestone powder and water to do very well,
letting it dry before using.
Sheet 4 shows the cylindrical form of the machine; it. consists of a train
of wheelwork, with spring G driving an upright spindle; revolving slowly
on this is placed a cylinder of wood or other suitable material H. An
upright frame for carrying the slide, with its electro-magnet I and marker
K, is fixed on the upper plate; this slide is actuated by the screw, the same
as the horizontal slide in Sheets 2 & 3. It has also a similar arrangement
of lever and spring for throwing the nut out of gear, for moving the slide
and electro-magnet back after it has traversed the length of the cylinder. A
hollow cylinder of thin ground glass answers very well, placed on the wond
cylinder, for receiving the marks, which may be removed and replaced by
another, or the message wiped off, as before explained, and the surface used
again; or a sheet of prepared paper may be used instead, with the edges
gummed together so as to form a tube for slipping on the wood cylinder,
which after receiving the message may be preserved; of course the cylinder
may be placed horizontally or in any other position, the other apparatus being
suitably arranged.
I do not of course confine myself to any particular arrangement of ma-
chinery for the sune, so long as the principle I have described is carried out.
This telegraph of course can be worked either by battery or magneto-electric
current, and either the current sent from the distant station direct to the
electro-maguet on the apparatus, or the latter can be excited by a local
battery brought into action by a relay of any kind, as in the Morse
telegraph.
Another part of my improvements relato to submarine ropes for telegraphic
purposes, which I propose to make of a lighter material, ns the great weight
of the ordinary description of submarine ropes is a serious objection to their

page_text: use in deep water. I propose to first coat the gutta percha covered wire with
tarred yarn in the usual manner, then with tarred tape made of hemp or other
suitable material. On this I lay a coating of iron wire and strands of strong
tarred yarn, the strands of wire and yarn placed alternately, so that the wires
do not touch each other, being separated by the strands of yarn. The coating
of tape prevents the wire strands from cutting the gutta percha wire more
effectually than the first hemp covering alone would do.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and how the same
is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to
the precise details herein set forth, and that I do not claim the several parts
and arrangements taken separately and without reference to my peculiar
combinations; but I claim,-
Firstly, as new the magueto-electro arrangement, as above described, by
which the poles of the soft iron in the coils of wire are reversed at pleasure
without motion in themselves.
Secondly, the method of constructing recording telegraphs in which the
signals are marked on slate, glass, or other suitable material, so that they can
be rubbed off and the material used again for any length of time, and for
the method of marking on the prepared paper, and giving the paper a suitable
surface.
Thirdly, the method of constructing submarine or subterranean telegrapa
ropes by the use of a combination of wire and tape and tarred yarn, in the
manner before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Thomas Henley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.