IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Highton, of Putney, in the County of
Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Highton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th December 1873.
I, HENRY HIGHTON, of Putney, in the County of Surrcy, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC
TELEGRAPHS," to be as follows:-
-
The object of this Invention is to multiply the power of a current at
the receiving end of a cable or telegraph line. For this purpose I pass
the line wire round the legs of a horse-shoe magnet. Between the poles
of this magnet or in its magnetic field I place an iron armature properly
wound with copper wire, and cause it to rotate rapidly by a steam engine
or other means, so that by the aid of proper commutators I produce a
secondary current, which will act more powerfully than the original linc
current. If the rapidity of the rotation be constant the power of the

page_text: line current will be multiplied in a. constant ratio. The secondary
current thus produced may be either applied directly to the relay or
receiving instrument, or else by being thrown upon a condenser, or an
induction coil, or electro-magnet, or other such instrument, may produce
a tertiary current, which shall act more strongly and effectually than
the original current passing through the line wire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Highton in the Great Scal Patent Office, on
the 30th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HIGHTON, of Putney, in the County of Surrey, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Highton, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Highton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Highton, 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
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Henry Highton, 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 Henry Highton, do hereby declarc
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, that is to say :—

page_text: The object of this Invention is to multiply the power of a current at
the receiving end of a cable or telegraph linc. For this purpose I pass
the line wire round the legs of a horse-shoe magnet. Between the poles
of this magnet or in its magnetic field I place an iron armature properly
wound with copper wire, and cause it to rotate rapidly by a steam engine
or other means, so that by the aid of proper commutators I produce a
secondary current which will act more powerfully than the original linc
current. If the rapidity of the rotation be constant the power of the
line current will be multiplied in a constant ratio. The secondary
current thus produced may be oither applied directly to the relay or
receiving instrument, or else by being thrown upon a condenser, or an
induction coil, or electro-magnet, or other such instrument, may produce
a tertiary current, which shall act more strongly and effectually than the
original current passing through the line wire, or instead of an electro-
magnet the line wire may be formed into a coil, within which the
armature may be made to rotate.
The following Figures will explain the action:-Let A, B, Figures 1 and
2, be an electro-magnet of which the coils are in connection with tho
line wire; the poles are prolonged to C and D, and the actual contact
of the poles is prevented by two brass strips E & F, and the armature
revolves between them.
Figure 3 shows a section of the armaturo and of the poles of the
magnet.
Figure 4 shows a side view of the armature; it is a soft iron cylinder
grooved deeply on either side, and with its wire wrapped round it in a
longitudinal direction, and with some suitable substance to prevent the
wires being thrown out by the rapid revolution. It has a driving pulley
upon it and pivots at its ends, which are also the terminals of the coil,
one at least of the pivots being insulated from the iron of the armature.
They are connected through a commutator with the receiving instru-
ment.
Figure 5 shows the construction where a coil is used instead of an
electro-magnet, C, D, representing the armature revolving on the axis E,
F, within the coil G, H; no rule can be given for the lengths and thick-
nesses of the wire, which is coiled round the electro-magnet or which
forms the coil, or again of that which is wrapped round the armature, as
these must depend on the resistances of the line wire, and of the

page_text: signalling instrument respectively, to which the resistances aforesaid
should be proportioned, so as to approach more or less to equality.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Highton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- 5
four.