IMPROVE- MENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Harling, of Silvertown, in the County of
Essex, Telegraph Instrument Maker, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS."
Sealed the 1st December 1868, and dated the 22nd September 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Harling at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd September 1868.
I, ROBERT HARLING, of Silvertown, in the County of Essex, Telegraph
Instrument Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in telegraphic instruments
constructed to work on the Morse principle, the object being to work
them with a small amount of electro-magnetic power and to give the
pen (when that is used) a continuous supply of ink.
The improved instrument is intended not only to record messages by
means of ink or other fluid upon bands of paper, but also to emboss

page_text: messages thereon, and also when required to transmit them audibly.
Instead of the ordinary style or pen I use a rotating pen or marker
for printing or embossing the paper which is traversed in the usual
way under the pen and by friction of contact serves to turn the pen
or marker on its axis.
The pen consists of two concave discs of steel or other metal
(with tapered edges) placed together so as to form a hollow chamber.
These discs are attached to the open end of a metal box or thimble
which serves as an ink reservoir. This box is made with a hollow
central stem to receive a screwed spindle, and a clamping nut serves
to retain the outer disc in place and adjust its position with respect
to the disc nearest the ink reservoir. In this latter disc holes are
made to open a communication with the reservoir for the purpose
of supplying ink to the pen. The spindle is mounted in a forked
bearing forming a portion or keyed to the axle of the armature that
is operated by the electro-magnet, and the pen or marker is left free
to rotate as the paper passes forward in contact therewith. Beneath
the pen or marker a notched anvil is placed, and over this anvil the
strip of paper passes, the anvil serving to hold up the paper to the
pressure of the pen or marker. If the paper has run out and the
working of the instrument is continued the sides of the notch will
take the pressure of the pen and thus prevent its edges being injured.
Between the discs forming the pen I may place a disc of blotting paper
to prevent the undue escape of the ink from the periphery of the pen.
The rotary pen is kept at the required distance from the paper by a
spring which yields to the attractive force of the magnet and allows
the pen to mark so long as this force holds the pen in contact with the
travelling paper.
The advantages of this arrangement over the marking pens in present
use are that by the rotary motion of the pen the ink or fluid is kept
continually at the point required, and by changing its position when
in contact with the paper the periphery of the pen is kept perfectly
clean and the ink in a fluid. state. For marking or embossing I use
a knife edge roller consisting of a disc of steel bevilled at the edge and
mounted on a moveable axle at the extremity of the lever before
described. It also moves in a V-grooved anvil over which the paper
is caused to pass, producing the required mark or indentation. As the
roller travels in the same direction as the paper the friction is small

page_text: in comparison with that of the ordinary style or marker and it admits
of more delicate adjustment. In order to read by sound without
inking or embossing the paper I mount the anvil on a moveable arm
which when tipped on its fulcrum by a cam will put the paper out
of reach of the pen or marker when vibrated and the beat of the
armature on the bankings (as is customary) will enable the operator
to read the message transmitted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Harling in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
HARLING, of Silvertown, in the County of Essex, Telegraph Instrument
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Robert Harling, Her special
licence that I, the said Robert Harling, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Harling, 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 TELEGRAPHIC
INSTRUMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Harling, 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 Robert Harling, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to

page_text: be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference. being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :-
:-
This Invention relates to "improvements in telegraphic instruments
constructed to work on the Morse principle, the object being to work
them with a small amount of electro-magnetic power, and to give the
pin (when that is used) a continuous supply of ink.
The improved instrument is shewn in side elevation at Fig. 1 and
in front elevation at Fig. 2 in the accompanying Drawing. It is not
only to record messages by means of ink or other fluid upon bands
of paper, but also to emboss messages thereon, and also when required
to transmit them audibly. Instead of the ordinary style or pen I use
a rotating fountain pen or pen connected with an ink reservoir for
printing the paper which is traversed in the usual way under the pen
and which by friction of contact serves to turn the pen on its axis.
The peculiar construction of this pen will be readily understood on
reference to the enlarged Figures of the same, where Fig. 3 is an edge
view of the pen with a reservoir; Fig. 4 is a section of the same taken
in a line parallel with its axis; Fig. 5 is a side view the cover of the
reservoir being removed, and Fig. 6 is a view in the opposite direction,
one side of the pen and some internal fitting being removed.
The pen consists of two concave discs of steel or other metal a, a³,
(with tapered edges) placed together so as to form a hollow chamber.
The disc a¹ is attached by solder or otherwise to the open end of a
cylindrical metal box or thimble 6 which serves as an ink reservoir.
This box is provided with a hollow central tube 6', one extremity of
which is tapped to receive a screwed centre pin 6 fixed to the lid 68
of the box, and the other end of the tube b' fits a spindle c to which
the disc a is affixed. The outer ends of the centre pin 62 and spindle c
enter bearings in a rocking frame of the telegraph instrument to be
presently described and are free to turn therein. In the disc a¹ holes are
made to open a communication with the reservoir for the purpose of
supplying ink to the pen and between the disc a steel plate d notched
on its periphery, as shewn at Fig. 7, is placed (it being centred on the
tubular stem b) to prevent the undue escape of ink from the periphery
of the pen.

page_text: Referring to Figures 1 aud 2, A is an electro-magnet mounted on
a stand B which is fitted with a drawer O for containing, among other
things, a roll or band of paper D for receiving messages. This paper
is led up through a slit in the drawer and passed under a guide roller 1
mounted on one of the side plates B' of the box in which the clockwork
for drawing forward the paper band is enclosed. The paper passes from
under the roller 1 to a grooved roller 2 carried by a rock frame E
pivotted to the side plate B', and having passed over this roller it is
led under a roller 3 on the rock frame, and thence to a drum F which is
driven by the clockwork and serves to deliver the printed band from
the instrument. The rocking frame in which the pen is mounted is
shewn at G (H being the pen). This rocking frame is keyed to the
axle I of the armature I¹ that is operated by the electro-magnet A,
and the pen or marker is left sufficiently free in its bearings to rotate
as the paper passes forward in contact therewith. The pen or marker
it will be seen is situate immediately over the grooved roller 2 which
serves to hold up the paper to the pressure of the pen or marker. If by
inattention the paper has been allowed to run out and the working of
the instrument is continued, the sides of the groove in the roller 2
will take the pressure of the pen and thus prevent its edges being
injured. The motion of the armature I¹ is limited by a finger projecting
from it and playing between two set screws i, i, and a tendency for the
armature to leave the bankings or retire from the magnet, lifting at
the same time the rotary pen and keeping it at the required distance
from the paper is given it by a coiled spring ", the tension of which
is made adjustable. This spring yielding to the attractive force of the
magnet allows the pen to mark so long as this force holds the pen in
contact with the travelling paper.
The advantages of this arrangement over the marking pens in present
use are that by the rotary motion of the pen the ink or fluid is kept
continually at the point required, and by changing its position when
in contact with the paper the periphery of the pen is kept perfectly
clean and the ink in a fluid state. For marking without ink or embossing
I use a knife edge wheel consisting of a disc of steel bevilled at the
edge and mounted on a loose axle at the extremity of the rock frame G
before described. It also moves in a V-grooved anvil set in place of
the roller 1, or that roller may be used if thought desirable. Over
this anvil or grooved roller the paper is caused to pass by the clockwork

page_text: mechanism as usual, and by the depression of the wheel upon the paper
the required marks or indentations of shorter or longer lengths will
be produced, as the wheel travels in the same direction as the paper
the friction will be small in comparison with that of the ordinary style
or marker and it admits of more delicate adjustment. In order to
read by sound instead of inking or embossing paper I use the rock
frame E to carry the grooved roller 1 or the equivalent anvil. This
frame is held in position by a spring e at which time it is in contact
with a cam-shaped stop e¹³, Fig. 1. By turning this cam stop by a screw
head provided for the purpose the spring e will come into action
and will depress the roller or anvil which carries the paper out of reach
of the vibrating pen or marker. When therefore the pen or marker
is vibrated the beat of the armature on the bankings (as is customary)
will enable the attendant to read the message transmitted. The turning
of this cam stop should also arrest the traverse of the paper by putting
a brake on the clockwork employed to drive the drum F.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements
in Telegraphic Instruments," and explained the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First. The means above described for reducing the friction which the
electro-magnetic power has to overcome in working telegraphic
instruments.
And, secondly. The means above described for maintaining a con-
tinuous supply of ink to the pens of telegraphic instruments.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Harling, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
ROBERT HARLING. (L.S.)