IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING BY ELECTRICITY
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Eugene George Bartholomew, of Frederick Street,
Hampstead Road, in the County of Middlesex, Telegraphic Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING BY ELECTRICITY."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Eugene George Bar-
tholomew at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th May 1871.
I, EUGENE GEORGE BARTHOLOMEW, of Frederick Street, Hampstead
Road, in the County of Middlesex, Telegraphic Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING
BY ELECTRICITY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to making an electrical contact by a subsidiary
needle or armature, which is acted upon by the main coil, coils, or
electro-magnet, whereby a local battery is brought into action to increase

page_text: the effect of the line current, and also to the breaking of the said current
by the main needle or armature or by some suitable arrangement
brought into action by the said main needle or armature.
A subsidiary armature or needle is so placed in juxtaposition with
the main or principal coil, coils, or electro-magnet, which is in circuit
with the line wire, so that it is acted upon and moved by the current
sent through the line wire from the sending station, and when so acted
upon and moved it makes a contact whereby a local battery is brought
into action, by which the effect of the line current is increased, the said
contact continuing to be made until it is broken by the main needle or
armature itself or by any suitable lever or other arrangement brought
into action by the said main needle or armature.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Eugene George Bartholomew in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 8th November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EUGENE
GEORGE BARTHOLOMEW, of Frederick Street, Hampstead Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Telegraphic Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Eugene George Bartholomew, Her
special licence that I, the said Eugene George Bartholomew, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Eugene
George Bartholomew, 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 SIGNALLING BY ELECTRICITY," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Eugene George Bartholomew,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,

page_text: 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 Eugene George Bartholomew, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :—
According to my Invention a subsidiary armature or needle is so placed
in juxtaposition with the main or principal coil, coils, or electro-magnet,
which is in circuit with the line wire so that it is acted upon and
moved by the current sent through the line wire from the sending
station and when so acted upon and moved it makes a contact whereby
a local battery is brought into action, by which the effect of the line
current is increased, the said contact continuing to be made until it is
broken by the main needle or armature itself, or by any suitable lever
or other arrangement brought into action by the said main needle or
armature.
The manner in which I prefer to carry my Invention into effect is
represented in the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows
a front view of an instrument in its complete form, and with the sub-
sidiary armature before referred to fitted to it, the subsidiary armature
or needle a being pivotted upon or to brackets or uprights 6 upon
the base plate c so that it lies across the poles d, d, of the electro-
magnetic coils e, e, without touching them. The free end f of the
subsidiary armature or needle a takes between the points of two
screw pins g, h, one of which is insulated at the tip while the
> other forms the connection with a local battery through a wire
secured to a screw i fitted in the insulated cock j during the time a
current is passing through the poles d, d, from the sending to the
receiving station. By this means the intensity of the current is in-
creased in its passage and the needles of the receiving instrument are
5 acted upon with greater force than by the present method of transmitting
signals in which no relay or subsidiary armature in connection with a
local battery is employed. The main armature k has on one end of it

page_text: a projecting plate through which an adjustable screw pin is passed
a sufficient distance to press against a depending arm or lever m of a
pivotted piece n, so that when the armature is drawn towards the
poles d, d, by the action of the current, the arm m is pushed, and this
causes another arm o to come against the under side of the subsidiary
armature a and thus break clectrical contact with the local battery in
the manner before recited.
The working of the parts will be understood by referring to the
several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings; Figure 2 being a side or end
view, and Figure 3 a plan of the instrument shown in Figure 1. The
opposite end of the subsidiary armature or needle a is provided with a
spring tail p to be acted upon by a screw stud q by which the delicate
touch or vibration of the needle a can be ensured. The base plate c in
the instrument shown has a bridge r for supporting a gong s, which can
bo struck by the hammer or pallet teach time the main armaturo k is
acted upon to warn the attendant at the receiving station of a signal or
message being dispatched.
I do not confine myself to placing or arranging the subsidiary arma-
ture in the manner shown in the Drawings, nor to the class of instrument
represented, as it is applicable to all other kinds in or through which
electric currents are passed, the main features in my Invention being,
first, increasing the power of line currents by means of a local battery
and a subsidiary armature or needle arranged in connection with the
main coil, coils, or electro-magnet; secondly, breaking the said contact
by the main needle or armature or by apparatus attached to it.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly. The employment of a subsidiary armature or needle in con-
nection with a local battery in electrical signalling apparatus, in the
manner and for the purposes set forth.
Secondly. I claim making an electrical contact by a subsidiary needle
or armature which is acted upon by the main coil, coils, or electro-magnet
whereby a local battery is brought into action to increase the effect of
the line current, without the necessity of employing an additional coil
or coils for the purposes of a relay substantially as described and
shown.

page_text: Thirdly. I claim breaking electrical contact by the main needle or
armature of an instrument or by apparatus connected therewith sub-
stantially as described and shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Eugene George Bartholomew, have
hercunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of November
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
E. G. BARTHOLOMEW. (L.S.)