IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR PERFORATING PAPER FOR TRANSMITTING TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR PERFORATING
PAPER FOR TRANSMITTING TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES.' -A communication
from abroad by George Harrington, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America.
"
--
Sealed the 24th September 1872, and dated the 10th June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 10th June 1872.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISH FOR
PERFORATING PAPER FOR TRANSMITTING TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES," to be as
follows:-
--
A range of finger keys is employed, and -by depressing the keys in
succession the message is composed by perforations in a strip of paper.

page_text: The entire group of perforations composing one character is made and
the paper fed when that particular key is depressed.
The papers are perforated in two or more lines and the punches in
the machine arc sufficiently numerous and are contiguous so that by
actuating only the punches that are required for the given character the
same may be punched at one operation. This is effected by providing a
sliding plate for each punch; these plates are side by side and they run
at right angles to the finger key levers which cross them. In theso
sliding plates are notches or mortices for the finger key levers, and these
are made so that each finger key will only give motion to the proper
slides and punches for perforating the character allotted to that key.
The connection from the finger keys to their respective levers are
made by slides and cams or links, and the die with openings in which
the punches act is hinged to the stock carrying the punches so as to be
turned back when necessary. The paper is moved by a pawl that grasps
and carries the paper along the required distance and releases its hold
and lifts off the surface when moving back the distance required for
the character to be punched.
The perforations in two lines represent dots and dashes, where the
perforations occupy a triangular position a dash will be formed because
a metallic contact will be maintained through the three perforations
uninterruptedly. It is preferable that the perforations in one line should
be the largest as these aid in making the dash mark.
.
For smaller perforating machines five finger keys may be used, one
actuates a punch to make a single dot, another works three punches to
make the perforations necessary for a dash, the other keys move the
paper a greater or less distance according to the space required. The
punches are arranged in the triangular position aforesaid, and one of
them is actuated to make the single perforation, and all three arc
employed to make the three perforations for the dash.
This mechanism is available for any code of signals with two or three
lines of perforations, and the force exerted in punching may be the pressure
of the finger or there may be a separate motor brought into action upon
the designated punches when the key is depressed to give the motion to
said punches.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of Junc, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Newton, Her special licence that
I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at time
any 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, excrcise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MECHANISM FOR PERFORATING PAPER FOR TRANSMITTING TELEGRAPHIC MESSAGES,"
a communication to me from abroad from George Harrington, of the
City and State of New York, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Edward Newton,
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 Edward Newton, 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, reference being made to the Drawings hereto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say):-
This Invention relates to mechanism for perforating strips of paper
employed in transmitting telegraphic messages, the perforations in the
paper allowing the circuit. to be closed, as heretofore well known.

page_text: -
A range of finger keys is provided and also a range of slide plates
operating upon punches. A presser lever is connected by a cam with
each finger key, and contiguous thereto are projections upon such of the
slide plates as are to be actuated by the said finger key, thereby on
striking the finger key the proper punches are actuated to punch the
perforations necessary for the letter complete, and on releasing the finger
key the paper is drawn along the proper distance by a peculiar feeding
mechanism, and the perforations are made in two lines, so that when
three or more perforations are placed triangularly a long pulsation may
result from the metallic connection being made. through those per-
forations successively, the contact being made through the second
perforation before ccasing through the first, and so on.
For smaller perforating machines five finger keys may be used; onc
actuates a punch to make a single dot; another works three punches to
make the perforations necessary for a dash; the other keys move the
paper a greater or less distance according to the space required.
The punches are arranged to perforate the paper in two lines as
aforesaid, and one of the punches is actuated to make the single
perforation, and all three arc employed to make the three perforations
for the dash.
In the Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan of a portion of the instrument in
which the range of finger keys and slide plates for operating the
punches is employed; the paper feed is shown in section in this Figure;
Fig. 2 is a vertical section at the finger keys; Fig. 3 is an elevation of
thic paper feed and dies; Fig. 4 is a separate view of the cam that
actuates the presser lever; Fig. 5 is a cross section of the punches and
dies; and Fig. 6 is a modification of the device that connects the finger
key and presser.
The finger keys a, a, are mounted upon a fulcrum shaft and the
second range of keys a¹ swing on the shaft 6', this arrangement facili-
tating the construction and allowing the keys to be arranged compactly
and at the same time they are convenient for fingering. The vertical
bars c, c, slide in supports d and are jointed at their lower ends to the
keys a, a, or otherwise connected. These supports d form part of a
frame with end pieces that enclose the key levers and connected parts
and also sustain the shaft v¹ that is employed for actuating the paper
feed, the paper and mechanism that act upon the same being outside

page_text: the end picce d' of said frame.
The presser levers e, e, arc connected
by screws or pins 2 on the frame or bar c¹ so as to swing horizontally,
and arc each actuated by a cam fupon the bar c, as in Fig. 6, or by a
swinging cam upon a sleeve surrounding the stationary bar g, as shown
in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, said swinging cams being provided with jaws 4 in
which the pins 5 of the bar c slide as the latter are depressed by the
finger key. These cams are shaped so as to give a definite movement
to the lovers e and slide plates & sufficient to operate the punches, and
then the levers e are relieved to allow the springs of the punches to
throw them back out of the paper, the presser c and punch or punchies
being operated as the key is depressed, and as the key is relieved the
movement of the cam fin the other direction ensures the drawing back
of the presser lover c. Each finger key is raised by a spring / and there
are to be as many finger keys and parts operated by each as there are
letters or separate characters employed in telegraphing. Beneath these
pressers e are the slide plates k, k, corresponding in number to the
punches employed. The punches i, i, are round steel rods sliding in the
Leads l, m, and acting against the dies n to punch the paper that is
introduced between m and n, and the rear ends of these punches should
be made smaller as shown at in order that there may be room for the
ends of the slide plates to pass between the adjacent punches and only
act upon its own punch. The ranges of springs o enter notches in the
punches and throw the punches back, and the punches are positioned
in two lines, as seen in Fig. 5, the distance between the punches being
less than the diameter of the punch, and the punches of the upper range
are above the spaces between the lower punches; thereby, if three
contiguous punchies are simultaneously actuated the perforations will be
equivalent to a dash, and cause a long pulsation from the transmitting
instrument and produce a dash at the receiving instrument. Upou the
slide plates are projections S contiguous to the pressers c, and these
projections S are to be upon only such of the slide plates as are required
to be moved by the presser to which they are contiguous, so that only
those slides will be moved upon depressing a finger key that operates.
the punch or punches that make the perforations for the corresponding
character; hence, the necessary perforations can be made in the strip
of paper for composing the message by dots and dashes, the dashes at the .
receiving station being of any desired length according to the number of.
consecutive perforations in the two lines of perforations made in the

page_text: By this arrangement any desired character of alphabet or code of
signs can be adopted within the scope of the instrument, and it is
remarked that the number of punches may be increased at pleasuro,
and also the number of finger keys. By boring the holes in l, m, n, for
the punches all at the same time they will all be properly in line with
each other, and the punches i being round parallel wires notched for
the ends of the springs are easily made or replaced. The cutting end
of each punch is to be a conical or concave hole, and the sharpening
is to be effected by deepening this holo by a proper tool. These punches
will cut the paper with less power and more reliably than the flat ended
punches heretofore used. The parts m, n, are to be hinged together
at r to allow the dic plate n to be swung open in removing any obstruc-
tion. The clip holds the die in place when shut. The paper carrier t
is moved back towards the punches i each time a finger key is depressed,
and during the time that the paper is being punched and the feed
takes place as the key rises. The backward movement is to be the
distance required for the character that is simultaneously punched. The
-mechanism for giving this motion may be of any suitable kind. The
device which is employed for this purpose is next described. A rack
bar swinging upon the screw 45 is provided, and in the lower edge
are inclined or cam-shaped teeth and upon the carrier t is a pawl 20
with an inclined finger 9, hence as the carrier t is moved back the
pawl u is lifted from the paper by the finger 9 turning upon the teeth
of the rack bar v, and the carrier and pawl can be moved back any
required distance and the paper remain unacted upon, and is held by
the spring pawl 10, but as soon as the carrier t commences to move in
the other direction the inclined finger 9 slips into the first opening
between the inclined teeth of the rack bar allowing the end of the
pawl u to approach the paper and clamp it against a thin carrier plate
on t that is in front of the fence s, and as the carrier moves along the
paper is drawn through between m and n until the carrier reaches its
extreme movement, and the finger 9 clears the last tooth on the rack
bar v.
During this movement the pawl 10 has been entirely raised
from the paper by the end of the rack bar acting thercon, while tho
finger 9 has travelled between said rack bar and the paper.
1
It will be thus seen that the paper is very firmly held while being
moyed, and that there is nothing that is moving in contact therewith
and tending to injure the paper as the carrier draws back, and that the

page_text: feeding motion can be to any desired extent. The motion given to
the sliding carrier is shown as derived from the rock shaft v² and arm u¹.
Upon the rock shaft are forked cams &¹ contiguous to the slide bars c.
The pins 15 on the slide bars c enter the fork as the keys are depressed,
and give the required motion to the rock shaft to move the sliding carrier
back. The spring 16 acts through the shaft v¹, arm u¹, carrier t, and
clamp u, to move the paper forward as the key rises. By positioning
the pin 15 higher up or lower down it will be brought into action later
or sooner in the movement of the key, and hence move the carrier t
to a greater or less distance, and the amount that is required for the
character or letter perforated by the depression of that key. It will
be apparent that when a key is struck the appropriate punches will bé
operated and instantly retracted, and that simultaneously the carrier
and paper feeding mechanism will be thrown back without acting on
the paper. The inertia of the parts will carry the slide slightly further
back, and the spring 16 brings it forward before the key is relieved suffi-
ciently for the finger 9 to enter between the tecth of the rack bar and
place the parts ready to move the paper as the key is liberated.
The movement given to the paper feed is four-fold :-First it is
relieved; second, it draws back clear of the paper; third, it comes upon
the paper and clamps it; and fourth, it moves with the paper. The paper
is drawn along suddenly as the feed takes place, hence the paper reel is
suddenly moved and the paper thrown off the reel in a bow or loop. The
reel, Fig. 7, is constructed so as to prevent this occurrence; it is made
in the usual manner and mounted upon a vertical axis, and around the
base of the reel, vertical projecting pins c³, are provided close to, but
not touching the said base of the reel, so that upon the sudden rotation
of the recl the paper coil will be thrown out but cannot pass beyond
these pins, thereby the paper will be held in place, and it will draw
off casily to the perforating machine, as required. The transmitting
machine is to be provided with a wire or spring brush to close the
circuit through the perforations, and if the end of this brush were
diagonal, the long pulsation would be produced from the two lines of
perforations even if the perforations were nearly in line transversely of
the strip of paper.
The smaller or hand perforating machine is made with keys that
perforate cither a single dot or three openings to form a dash, one of
the three openings being larger than the other, so as to produce a longer

page_text: pulsation. The paper is fed the proper distance each perforation, and
word spaces, pauses, and sentence spaces are produced by keys, and these
keys are arranged in a small compass, and the instrument is cheap and
adapted to local offices or to individual use.
Fig. 8 is a vertical section centrally of this machine and in linc
with the strip of paper; Fig. 9 is an elevation of the spacing bars for
words and sentences; Fig. 10 is an clevation of the spacing bars for
letters and pauses; Fig. 11 is a sectional plan at the plane of the paper
and Fig 12 shows a piece of the perforated paper.
The bed a carrics the standards b, c, and frame d. The die e is
made with three openings, as in Fig. 11, for the three punchies. 52, 53, 54,
that are raised by springs and depressed by the key lever * so as to punch
the three holes at once, or when the key lever g² is depressed only the
punch 54 is moved. In Fig. 8 it will be seen that the lever acting
on the upper end of 52, carries that down, and by the arm 55 and pin 56
the punches 53 and 54 are also moved, but the pin 56 being below the
arm 55, the punch 54 can be moved down separately. The perforations
from the punches 52, 53, and 54 represent a dash, and in consequence
of the punch 52 being the largest, it removes sufficient paper to insurc
a metallic contact of the brush or transmitting stylus between one of
the smaller perforations and the other, thereby producing a dash mark.
Upon each depression of the key for g the paper foeding mechanism. is
operated so that as the key is raised the feed takes place sufficicutly to
produce the required space between one letter and the next.
The paper passes above the die e and through the slotted standard
between the feed roller and holding roller . The roller ² is made
with the ratchet teeth 58 in the middle and m³ is the stop pawl; n² the
actuating pawl on the lever p²; and of is the stop or blocking pawl on
the lever 2, taking the second range of reverse ratchet teeth. The
lever 2 has its fulcrum at 60 and receives more or less vibration,
according to the amount that the paper is to be fed. The yoke q* and
spring serve to raise the lever p³ to its full hight as determined by
the stops 61 on the rods 62, and these rods 62 extend to the key s²,
that gives motion to the lever 2³ sufficient to space off between one
word and the next, as at a pause. The movement of the lever pis;
arrested by the notched slide 2, see Fig. 10, and this slide is moved
endwise to bring a deeper notch below the lever p and allow greater
anotion when the dash key lever f. is depressed, because the pin 65
"

page_text: upon the slide rod 66 running down the incline 67 on & moves the same
endwise against the action of the spring 68, when the said key leverƒ³
is struck. When the dot key lever g is struck, the slide 70 moves
the lever p³, and feeds the paper the same distance as when the space
key & is depressed. The slide us with a knob at its upper end has a
movement limited by the stop 71 and by the pin 74 moves the lever på
and paper only a short distance, sufficient to separate one word from
another, but the slide with its pin 73 acting upon the incline 67, and
also upon the yoke 22 of the lever 2³, depresses the latter to its full
extent and feeds the paper a distance to denote the end of a sentence.
In case the lever på should be depressed its full extent and it is desired
to shorten the length of paper feed, the pawl n is lifted out of the
ratchet teeth 5$ by the swinging finger and pin a that is actuated by
the slide and key w³, so that as the lover p³ rises, the pawl will go
forward and take the ratchet. tecth, but only move the feed roller
a short distance.
The mechanism above described is available for any code of signals
with two or three lines of perforations, and the force exerted in punching
may be the pressure of the finger or hand, or there may be a separate
motor brought into action upon the designated punches, when the key
is depressed, to give motion to said punches.
What is claimed and to be secured by Letters Patent is,―
First. Two ranges of punches for perforating telegraphic paper with
holes representing dashes, or dashes and dots, substantially as set forth.
Second. A strip of telegraphic paper perforated in two lines with
the perforations arranged so that the long pulsation in transmitting is
obtained from perforations in both lines, substantially as set forth.
Third. A series of perforating punches arranged in two or more lines
and supported in heads that are perforated in the line of the opening in
the dic, substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The dic plate n hinged so as to be opened in combination
with the punches for the purposes set forth.
Fifth. The springs o combined with the punches i and arranged in
the manner specified to retract the punches from the dic plate nas set
forth.
Sixth. The combination of the sliding punches and sliding plates /
with the actuating levers e, substantially as set forth.

page_text: their equivalents.
Nineteenth. In an instrument for punching paper for telegraphic
purposes a series of cams cach adapted to operating the mechanism
that moves the punches and then relcasing said punches during the
downward movement of the key, substantially as set forth, so that said
punchies may be out of the paper before the feed takes place.