IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTRUMENTS AND MANUFACTURE OF THE MATERIAL EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, of the Firm of
Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTRUMENTS AND
MANUFACTURE OF THE MATERIAL EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication
from abroad by Paul Antoine Marie Chauvassaignes and Jacques Paul
Lambrigot, both of Paris, France.
Sealed the 23rd July 1867, and dated the 24th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th January 1867.
I, CLINTON EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and
Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTRUMENTS AND
MANUFACTURE OF THE MATERIAL EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention comprises, first, a special instrument for the previous
composing of telegrams by the aid of particular signs traced on a strip of tin
paper.

page_text: Secondly, a special instrument for receiving by the telegraphic conductor
the telegrams upon a strip of tin paper, capable of serving as an original for
a second transmission like the strips obtained by the composing instrument.
Thirdly, an instrument comprising an automatic transmission or reception
of the metallic strips, and an electro-chemical reception in a spiral form of the
signals sent.
Fourthly, the manufacture of the strips of tin paper for use as hereafter
described.
And, lastly, the particular working of the electric current, all as hereafter
described.
The composing instrument consists of a clock movement worked by a
spring, of an inking cup, of a manipulating lever for the manual printing of
the signs, and of a gas blowpipe or spirits of wine burner for melting the ink
in the cup. The clock movement turns two rollers between which a strip of
tin paper passes. The tin is at the top of the paper, is presented flat and
horizontally, and is sustained by guides to preserve the regularity of its
motion between the rollers. Above the middle of the strip of tin paper
the inking cup is suspended filled with solid fusible ink of the following
composition:-100 parts by weight of yellow or unbleached wax, 200
parts of resin, 100 parts of bitumen, and 10 parts of suet. This ink
can only escape when liquified by the heat of the burner and then
by a slit formed at the lower end of the cup terminating in a knife blade;
this slit in order not to allow the ink to flow constantly while. melted is
hermetically closed by a plug which extends a slight distance through it and
is tapered to correspond to the shape of the cup. The plug falls of its own
weight towards the orifice, and the ink cannot flow except when the plug is
raised. Under the tin paper is the end of a lever held in pivots which allow
it to oscillate in a support, at the other end of the lever is a bandle and below
the handle a stop. By lowering the handle the opposite end of the lever
rises and lifts the strip which comes against the plug, this in its turn rises
and the ink immediately runs; if the strip thus raised is drawn by the
rollers it is marked with a continuous black line, but this line will be
interrupted if the contact of the lever cease. It is thus by means of the
lever when raised and lowered that fractions of lines of greater or less length
can be marked on the strip as required by the composition. When the
composing instrument is to be used the cup is first filled with the fusible ink
in small pieces; the burner is next lighted, the flame being regulated by a
tap and directed against the cup, so as to heat its sides and melt the ink.
The plug is kept vertical by means of a rod surmounted by a button, by

page_text: WHICH It can be removed from the cup when required. If it is necessary
to have white signs on the tin instead of black, that is to say, that if in order
to represent this letter first in black
signs, which are obtained by
lowering the handle of the lever first an instant and then for an instant a little
longer, it is desired on the contrary to have them white, thus
the handle is made to act inversely to the manner indicated to obtain the
black signs; but as white signs are difficult to decipher if they are not
surrounded by an entirely black surface, I can employ during this composition
a drawing pen placed astride and resting upon the strip immediately behind
the cup; this pen stops a part of the ink of the signs before it cools, and
produces at each side a line which surrounds the signs as they are formed
thus
The band is not entirely coated with ink as the edges
remain uncovered and allow a metallic contact with the rollers; this contact
is necessary for the passage of the current.
The instrument for receiving the despatches transmitted to a distance and
received on a tin strip capable of being re-transmitted like the original
furnished by the composing instrument is composed of the same parts as that
just described, viz., the inking cup and the burner, the only difference being
that it works automatically under the action of electro-magnets to produce a
composition by the same graphic mode. The strip is like that of the com-
posing instrument of tin or metallic paper. When the current passes into
the electro-magnets the soft iron which in this case serves as the handle of
the lever lowers, and the opposite end rises and lifts the metallic strip to
produce the same results as those obtained by hand as before explained; thus
a person at hundreds of miles distance produces the composition by sending
the electric currents to the electro-magnets of the receiving instrument;
every emission of current will produce a colored track upon the strip.
The instrument for the automatic transmission and reception, and for the
electro-chemical reception in a spiral form is composed of a weight giving
motion by a train of wheels to a pair of drawing rollers, and of a system of
reciprocating movement combined with a rotary movement. The rollers
serve for transmitting or for receiving, and I can pass between these rollers
either a strip of paper (for receiving) or a strip of tin paper (for trans-
mitting). When a band of tin paper has had composed thereon the signs
representing a telegram, this strip is engaged between the rollers, the signs
uppermost; it is drawn at the required speed subordinate to the distance to
be passed, and regulated by means of the driving weight. On the middle of
the strip during its movement a piece of spring steel bears, terminating in a

page_text: trident which represents the end of the conducting wire; this piece sends the
current along the line when it touches the metal of the strip, or rather, it
does not allow any current to pass when the insulating ink is interposed
between the tin strip and the points. The rollers in this instance represent
the positive pole of a galvanic pile. When, on the contrary, it is desired to
use this mechanism to receive, a commutating pin is displaced, so that the
rollers instead of being the positive pole are in communication with earth.
An endless strip of unsized paper is substituted for the metallic strip. Under
where this strip passes a small trough is placed filled with the decomposable
liquid hereafter described. In this trough is fitted a small metal wheel or
damper which turns easily, impregnating itself with the liquid. The in
passing and touching this damper tangentially causes it to turn, and its
circumference being always damped it will deposit upon the paper a thread
(so to speak) of the decomposable liquid; this thread afterwards passes
under a single iron point substituted for the trident, which when the current
arrives there will deposit on the paper an electro-chemical blue track. The
rollers communicate with earth and the iron point is the extremity of the
conducting wire; thus a treble point or trident is employed for transmitting
and a single point for receiving. These pieces are readily changed by dis-
engaging them from the slit in which they are held by a screw.
paper
On another part of this instrument are the parts forming another kind of
electro-cliemical receiver giving a much greater speed of reception. The end
of a long roll of unsized paper is engaged between two rollers, one of which
is in connection with a rod from a half toothed wheel of the reciprocating
movement, which by means of arms placed crosswise on the shaft of this
roller can cause the roll to advance a fraction of a revolution. The arms are
moved regularly by the rod which terminates in a bend and takes hold of one
of the arms, moving it an instant and then abandoning it. These movements
of the arms are combined so as to act only when the reciprocating movement
is near the end of a course, and the arms are abandoned only an instant after
the resumption of the retrograde course of a rack which moves in supporting
guides. Upon the paper strip which is moved only at the periods of rest of
the reciprocating movement a cup rests, being dragged by the rack of the
reciprocating movement. This cup, which terminates in a glass tube like a
thermometer tube, constantly bears with its own weight upon the paper;
the liquid in the cup flows continuously at the bottom, passing into the hole
which is in the glass tube, and is distributed on the breadth of the paper
following the course taken by the cup. Now, supposing all these parts
actuated by the reciprocating movement, there will be a liquid deposit on the

page_text: paper representing almost a continuous line, or a spiral, and containing all the
signs produced by the passage of the electric current. The liquid in the cup is
composed of 100 parts by weight of water, 100 parts of azotate of ammonia,
5 parts of yellow prussiate of potash, 5 parts of gallic acid, and 10 parts of white
sugar. Inside the cup is an iron arm which traverses it and stops at the level
of the orifice of the glass tube, so as to remove unevenness of the paper; this
arm serves to conduct the electricity from the line and furnish the metallic
oxide necessary to obtain a colored track at the time of the passage of the
Under the paper in the path always followed by the cup and by the
iron point is a gilt metal plate for the flow of the electricity to earth. When
the electric current is transmitted (positive) it arrives at the iron arm of the
cup, traverses the paper soaked with decomposable liquid, and passes to earth,
having left on the paper (negative of the point) a track of metallic oxide
(gallo-ferro), double cyanide of iron and of potassium, blackish blue, repre-
senting the metallic signs of the transinission.
When there is no passage of
the current there is no colored track.
current.
The strips of tin paper herein-before referred to are made as follows:-I
take sheets of tin foil or tin known as chocolate paper, and an endless strip of
paper of the same breadth as the tin; I apply paste on the paper and place
upon it the sheets of tin, which should be superposed where their ends meet
in order to constitute metallic continuity; the tin should be well spread by
means of brushes and cloth pads, then the metallic surface on which slight
traces of paste are left should be washed with a sponge; this tin paper is
wound on a sheave exposed to sufficient heat to effect the vaporization of the
water, and the dried strip is then submitted to pressure by rollers like those
used in presses for glazing photographs, in order to obtain sufficient uniformity
in the union of the paper and tin; the band is next wound on a spindle as
tightly as may be, and cut when the desired length has been obtained;
lastly, it is cut into strips of the required breadth.
The working of the current, according to this Invention, and with the aid of
the instruments before described, is regulated by means of a manipulator, the
commutating pin before referred to, and a commutator for establishing or
intercepting as required the communication between the three wires, viz., the
line wire, the pile wire, and the earth wire. The telegraphic despatch is first
transcribed in conventional signs upon the tin paper by means of the composing
instrument worked by hand; the strip bearing this despatch is cut off and
placed between the rollers of the automatic transmitting instrument, the
wheels of which are put in motion. The wire from the positive pole of the
pile after stopping at the manipulator is directed to the pin comumutator

page_text: which leads to the rollers, which are metallic, and form contact with the tin
strip. The line along which the current has to be sent is terminated at the
sending end by the trident point before referred to; this trident is lowered
upon the middle of the strip during its passage through the rollers; whenever
there is no insulating ink on the strip the current is sent to the conductor by
the metal of the strip in communication with the rollers. After the transmis-
sion the trident is turned over to the back, and the line wire is thus insulated
from this side. If it is required to receive, the commutating pin is placed in
the other hole, which communicates with earth, and the rollers therefore
communicate with earth. Let us suppose that it is desired to receive the
current at the electro-chemical spiral receiver before described; it passes into
the rack before referred to, from there to the cup and into the iron arm in the
cup in contact with the paper and runs to earth by the gilt plate below the
If it is
paper; each emission of current produces a portion of a colored line.
desired to receive the current at the automatic receiver it passes by the single
point before referred to as being substituted for the trident; the current
traverses the paper impregnated with the chemical solution and escapes to
carth by the rollers after producing colored tracks. If it is desired to receive
the current at the re-expediting instrument herein-before described next after
the composing instrument, it will pass into the electro-magnets and cause the
lever to oscillate in consequence of the magnetic attraction which it experiences.
This instrument is arranged so as to be capable of use as an ordinary receiver
of signals. It is by the metal of the tin paper strip acting automatically that
When it is not
the electricity is transmitted along the conducting wire.
required to use one portion of the automatic electro-chemical receiving or
transmitting instrument it ought to be separated. A special manipulator is
placed on this instrument with the object of being able to communicate by
hand for very short messages, and to send the signs necessary for the putting
of the motive parts in operation. The pile and line wires are united for this
purpose. The commutator on this instrument is for the purpose of allowing
the current to pass either into the electro-chemical receiver or into the
electro-magnets of the re-expediting receiving instrument. When the
operator transmits, or when he receives electro-chemically, the commutator
should be insulated. It is put in contact with its stud only when it is
required to work by the re-expediting receiving instrument upon metallic
strips.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 23rd July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CLINTON
EDGCUMBE BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman, and Company,
of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, 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 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 WORKING ELECTRIC
TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE INSTRUMENTS AND MANUFACTURE
OF THE MATERIAL EMPLOYED THEREIN," (communicated to me from abroad by
Paul Antoine Marie Chauvassaignes and Jacques Paul Lambrigot, both of
Paris, France,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Clinton
Edgcumbe Brooman, 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
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being bad to the Drawings bereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention comprises, first, a special instrument for the previous com-
posing of telegrams by the aid of particular signs traced on a strip of tin
paper.
Secondly, a special instrument for receiving by the telegraphic conductor
the telegrams upon a strip of tin paper, capable of serving as an original

page_text: for a second transmission, like the strips obtained by the composing instru-
ment.
Thirdly, an instrument comprising an automatic transmission or reception
of the metallic strips, and an electro-chemical reception in a spiral form of
the signals sent.
Fourthly, the manufacture of the strips of tin paper for use as hereafter
described.
Fifthly, an improved arrangement for effecting the deposit of the ink upon
the strip of tin paper.
And, lastly, the particular working of the electric current, all as hereafter
described.
The composing instrument is represented at Figure of the annexed
Drawings; it consists of a clock movement worked by a spring, of an inking
cup a, of a manipulating lever j for the manual printing of the signs, and of a
gas blowpipe or spitits of wine burner 1 for melting the ink in the cup. The
clock movement turns two rollers, between which a strip of tin paper X
passes. The tin is at the top of the paper, is presented flat and horizontally,
and is sustained by guides to preserve the regularity of its motion between
the rollers. Above the middle of the strip of tin paper the inking cup a is
suspended filled with solid fusible ink of the following composition:-100
parts by weight of yellow or unbleached wax, 200 parts of resin, 100 parts
of bitumen, and 10 parts of suet. This ink can only escape when liquified
by the heat of the burner l, and then by a slit formed at the lower end of
the cup terminating in a knife blade. This slit in order not to allow the
ink to flow constantly while melted is hermetically closed by a plug k,
Figure 1, which extends a slight distance through it, and is tapered to.
correspond to the shape of the cup. The plug falls of its own weight
towards the orifice, and the ink cannot flow except when the plug is
raised. Under the tin paper is the end of the lever j held in pivots which
allow it to oscillate in a support 9; at the other end of the lever is a
handle f, and below the handle a stop e. By lowering the handle the
opposite end of the lever rises and lifts the strip which comes against the
plug, this in its turn rises and the ink immediately runs ; if the strip
thus raised is drawn by the rollers it is marked with a continuous black
line, but this line will be interrupted if the contact of the lever cease.
It is thus by means of the lever when raised and lowered that fractions of
lines of greater or less length can be marked on the strip as required by the
composition. When this composing instrument is to be used the cup is first
filled with the fusible ink in small pieces; the burner is next lighted, being

page_text: by a tap m, and directed against the cup a so as to heat its sides and melt
the ink. The plug k is kept vertical by means of a rod surmounted by a
button 6 by which it can be removed from the cup when required. If it is
necessary to have white signs on the tin instead of black, that is to say, that
if in order to represent this letter first in black
signs, which
are obtained by lowering the handle of the lever first an instant, and then
for an instant a little longer, it is desired, on the contrary, to have them
white, thus
the handle is made to act inversely to the manner
indicated to obtain the black signs. But as white signs are difficult to
decipher if they are not surrounded by an entirely black surface
1b, placed
This pen
I can employ during this composition a drawing pen c, Figure
astride and resting upon the strip immediately behind the cup.
stops a part of the ink of the signs before it cools, and produces at each side
a line which surrounds the signs as they are formed, thus
The
band is not entirely coated with ink as the edges remain uncovered and
allow a metallic contact with the rollers; this contact is necessary for the
passage of the current. The instrument for receiving the dispatches trans-
mitted to a distance, and received on a tin strip capable of being re-transmitted
like the original furnished by the composing instrument is represented in
Figure 2; it is composed of the same parts as that just described, viz., the
inking cup and the burner, the only difference being that it works automatically
under the action of electro-magnets to produce a composition by the same
graphic mode. The strip is like that of the composing instrument of tin or
metallic paper.
When the current passes into the electro-magnets m the
soft iron which in this case serves as the handle of the lever lowers, and
the opposite end rises and lifts the metallic strip to produce the same results
ง
as those obtained by hand as before explained. Thus a person at hundreds
of miles distant produces the composition by sending the electric current to
the electro-magnets of the receiving instrument; every emission of current
will produce a colored track upon the strip.
The instrument for the automatic transmission and reception and for the
electro-chemical reception in a spiral form, is represented in Figure 3 ; it
is composed of a weight-giving motion by a train of wheels to a pair of
drawing rollers, and of a system of reciprocating movement combined with a
rotary movement.
The rollers serve for transmitting or for receiving, and I

page_text: can pass between these rollers either a strip of paper (for receiving), or a
strip of tin paper (for transmitting). When a band of tin paper has had
composed thereon the signs representing a telegram this strip is engaged
between the rollers j, the signs uppermost; it is drawn at the required speed
subordinate to the distance to be passed, and regulated by means of the.
driving weight; on the middle of the strip during its movement a piece of
spring steel h bears terminating in a trident which represents the end of the
conducting wire; this piece sends the current along the line when it touches
the metal of the strip, or rather it does not allow any current to pass when
the insulating ink is interposed between the tin strip and the points. The
rollers in this instance represent the positive pole of a galvanic pile; when,
on the contrary, it is desired to use this mechanism to receive, a commutating
pin r is displaced, so that the rollers instead of being the positive pole are in
communication with earth. An endless strip of unsized paper, is substituted
for the metallic strip (see Figure 3*). Under where this strip passes, and at
the point shown in the Drawing, a small trough p is placed filled with the
decomposable liquid hereafter described; in this trough is fitted a small
metal wheel or dampers which turns easily, impregnating itself with the
liquid. The paper in passing and touching this damper tangentially causes it
to turn, and its circumference being always damped, it will deposit upon the
paper a thread (so to speak) of the decomposable liquid. This thread after-
wards passes under a single iron point h¹ (Figures 3 and 3b), substituted for
the trident, which, when the current arrives there, will deposit on the paper
an electro-chemical blue track. The rollers communicate with earth, and the
iron point is the extremity of the conducting wire; thus a treble point or
trident his employed for transmitting, and a single point for receiving;
these pieces are readily changed by disengaging them from the slit in which
they are held by a screw v. On another part of this instrument are the parts
forming another kind of electro-chemical receiver giving a much greater speed
of reception. The end of a long roll of unsized paper a is engaged between
two rollers g, one of which is in connection with a rod d from a half-toothed
wheel of the reciprocating movement, which by means of arms c placed
crosswise on the shaft of this roller can cause the roller to advance a fraction
of a revolution. The arms are moved regularly by the rod d, which ter-
minates in a bend, and takes hold of one of the arms, moving it an instant
and then abandoning it. These movements of the arms are combined so as
to act only when the reciprocating movement near the end of a course, and
the arms are abandoned only an instant after the resumption of the retrograde
course of a rack e which moves in supporting guides 1. Upon the paper

page_text: strip, which is moved only at the periods of rest of the reciprocating move-
ment, a cup brests, being dragged by the rack of the reciprocating movement.
This cup (see Figure 3), which terminates in a glass tube like a thermometer
tube, constantly bears with its own weight upon the paper; the liquid in the
cup flows continuously at the bottom, passing into the hole which is in
the glass tube, and is distributed on the breadth of the paper following
the course taken by the cup. Now, supposing all these parts actuated by
the reciprocating movement there will be a liquid deposit on the paper
representing almost a continuous line or a spiral, and containing all the signs
produced by the passage of the electric current. The liquid in the cup is
composed of 100 parts by weight of water, 100 parts of azotate of ammonia,
5 parts of yellow prussiate of potass, 5 parts of gallic acid, and 10 parts of white
sugar. Inside the cup is an iron arm which traverses it and stops at the level
of the orifice of the glass tube so as to remove unevenness of the paper. This
arm serves to conduct the electricity from the line, and to furnish the metallic
oxide necessary to obtain a colored track at the time of the passage of the
current. Under the paper in the path always followed by the cup and by
the iron point is a gilt metal plate m for the flow of the electricity to earth.
When the electric current is transmitted (positive) it arrives at the iron arm
of the cup, traverses the paper which has imbibed some of the decomposable
liquid, and passes to earth, having left on the paper (negative of the point)
a track of metallic oxide (gallo-ferro), double cyanide of iron and of potassium,
blackish blue representing the metallic signs of the transmission; when there
is no passage of the current there is no colored track.
The strips of tin paper herein-before referred to are made as follows:-I
take sheets of tinfoil, or tin known as chocolate paper, and an endless strip of
paper of the same breadth as the tin; I apply paste on the paper, and place
upon it the sheets of tin, which should be superposed where their ends meet
in order to constitute metallic continuity; the tin should be well spread by
means of brushes and cloth pads, then the metallic surface, on which slight
traces of paste are left, should be washed with a sponge; this tin paper is
wound on a sheave exposed to sufficient heat to effect the vaporization of the
water, and the dried strip is then submitted to pressure by rollers like those
used in presses for glazing photographs in order to obtain sufficient uniformity
in the union of the paper and tin; the band is next wound on a spindle as
tightly as may be, and cut when the desired length bas been obtained; lastly,
it is cut into strips of the required length.
The improved arrangement for effecting the deposit of the ink is represented
in Figures 4, 4, and 4". Clockwork turns two rollers d, d, between which a

page_text: strip of tin paper is engaged, as in the instruments shown in Figures 2 and 3;
at the middle of this strip before it passes between the rollers and at a slight
distance from it is a roller or wheel g, the horizontal spindle of which is
connected to the clockwork in such manner that it turns in the opposite
direction to the movement of the strip during the action of the mechanism.
Under the strip an extremity of a lever j acts, being held between pivots i,
which allow it to oscillate; at the other end of the lever is a handle or
electro-magnets for producing a raising or lowering of the strip until it
comes in contact with the roller, as in the instruments shown in Figures 2
and 3. The roller, the thickness of which is about one-third the breadth of
the strip, is placed so as to touch the middle of the strip when raised. If the
roller is constantly covered with a material which it will deposit by contact the
result is that when the paper drawn by the clockwork is raised a black
continuous or interrupted track is formed on it, according to the action of the
lever j. To apply the material regularly on the roller I fit above the roller
on the horizontal rod fixed to the plates of the clock movement an inking
cup a, which consists of a part in wood or ivory to prevent the heat extending
and to support the cup of a copper cage or frame formed at the two ends
with two openings, one for introducing the fusible material, the other to allow
it to flow, of a tape, diaphragm, or fabric, maintained by the screw (this
diaphragm goes round the cup and closes the lower opening of the copper
frame), and of a tube t traversing the wooden portion to hold the cup with
little friction on a horizontal pin placed above the damper. The copper
roller or wheel which turns by the action of the wheel work has at its cud
outside the mechanisin and on its spindle a long rods fixed thereto. To
heat the roller I bring under this rod the flame of an alcohol lamp for of a
gas burner. The rod becomes heated as well as the roller on which the cup
bears with its own weight by the lower part of the copper frame, which is
closed by the diaphragm. The fusible, material for the composition is reduced
to powder by crushing (this material is the same as that before described);
it is supplied by a spoon or otherwise at the upper open part of the cup; it
falls to the bottom, and is stopped there by the diaphragm which touches the
roller. As soon as the roller is sufficiently hot to beat the sides of the copper
frame and the interior filled with fusible material this material is filtered by
the diaphragm, and is deposited on the roller, which in turning and running
against the cup will be covered with it over its whole cylindrical surface; it
is then only necessary to raise the strip of thin paper by means of the lever j
in order to obtain the desired tracks or signs. The supply of fusible material
to the cup is renewed as required by the opening at the top. To substitute a

page_text: new diaphragm when that in the cup is used up or worn it is only necessary
to remove the screw, to take out the old diaphragm, and insert the new one.
When the work of composing ceases it is necessary to withdraw the cup from
contact with the roller; for this purpose I fix to the horizontal pedal u,
which allows the clock work to escape or stops its movement, a hook c,
which according as it is pushed in one direction or the other causes a lever l
to act; the axis of this lever is fixed at the point z, and the other end
touches the cup so as to raise it when the work is stopped, and when the
pedal is at the left, or so as to allow it to fall when the pedal is at the right
and the wheelwork is in action.
The working of the current according to this Invention and with the aid
of the instruments before described is regulated by means of a manipulator i;
the commutating pin before referred to, and a commutator k for establishing
or intercepting as required the communication between the three wires, viz.,
the line wire, the pile wire, and the earth wire. The telegraphic despatch is
first transcribed in conventional signs upon the tin paper by means of the
composing instrument (Figure 1) worked by hand. The strip bearing this
despatch is cut off' and placed between the rollers of the automatic transmitting
instrument (Figure 3) the wheels of which are put in motion. The wire
from the positive pole of the pile after stopping at the manipulator (red wire)
is directed to the pin commutator r which leads to the rollers which are
metallic and fe contact with the tin strip. The line along which the
current has to be sent (yellow wire) is terminated at the sending end by
the trident point h; this trident is lowered upon the middle of the strip during
its passage through the rollers. Whenever there is no insulating ink on the
strip the current is sent to the conductor by the metal of the strip in
communication with the rollers. After the transmission the trident is turned
over to the back, and the line wire is thus insulated from this side. If it is
required to receive the pin r is placed in the other hole, which communicates
Let us
with earth, and the rollers therefore communicate with earth.
suppose that it is desired to receive the current at the electro-chemical spiral
receiver (Figure 3, yellow wire); it passes into the rack e, from there to the
cup and into the iron arm b¹ in contact with the paper, and runs to earth
by the plate m below the paper (blue wire). Each emission of current
produces a portion of a colored line. If it is desired to receive the current
at the automatic receiver (Figure 3) it passes by the single point h¹ sub-
stituted for the trident. The current traverses the paper impregnated with
the chemical solution, and escapes to earth by the rollers after producing
colored tracks. If it is desired to receive the current at the re-expediting

page_text: instrument (Figure 2, yellow wire) it will pass into the electro-magnets and
cause the lever to oscillate in consequence of the magnetic attraction which
it experiences; this instrument is arranged so as to be capable of use as an
ordinary receiver of signals. It is by the metal of the tin paper strip acting
automatically that the electricity is transmitted along the conducting wire.
When it is not required to use one portion of the automatic electro-chemical
receiving or transmitting instrument it ought to be separated. A special
manipulator is placed on this instrument (Figure 3) with the object of
being able to communicate by hand for very short messages and to send the
signals necessary for the putting of the motive parts in operation; the pile
and line wires are united for this purpose. The commutator k on this
instrument is for the purpose of allowing the current to pass either into the
electro-chemical receiver or into the electro-magnets of the re-expediting
receiving instrument. When the operator transmits or when he receives
electro-chemically the commutator should be insulated. It is put in contact
with its stud only when it is required to work by the re-expediting receiving
instrument upon metallic strips.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction and employment for working electric telegraphs of
the several instruments, each and all of them arranged and acting substantially
as herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the manufacture of tin paper, substantially in manner and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Third, the system or mode of working the electric current or electric
telegraphs, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Clinton Edgcumbe Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-seven.