IMPROVE. MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF MAGNETO-ELECTRIC APPARATUS, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO SIGNALLING AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur Samuel Hickley, of Prince of Wales Crescent,
Kentish Town, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF MAGNETO-ELECTRIC
APPARATUS, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO SIGNALLING AND OTHER
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 18th January 1878, and dated the 21st September 1877.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Arthur Samuel Hickley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st September 1877.
ARTHUR SAMUEL HICKLEY, of Prince of Wales Crescent, Kentish Town, in the
County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ARRANGEMENT
OF MAGNETO-ELECTRIC APPARATUS, AND THE APPLICATION OP THE SAME ΤΟ
SIGNALLING AND OTHER PURPOSES."
My said Invention consists in improvements in the construction and arrangement
of magneto-electric apparatus and modifications thereof, and the application of the
same to signalling and other purposes, for instance, to actuating indicators or
bells for the purposes of sending messages or signals, and also for giving an alarm
in the case of fire, communicating between passengers and guards, also in connection
with the sounding apparatus of ships to ascertain when it has reached the bottom,
communicating with divers, denoting the speed of engines or machinery, and for
blasting and firing mines or torpedoes, whereby such operations are effected in a
more simple, efficacious, and convenient manner than is the case with apparatus
at present in use, whilst at the same time all necessity for the employment of
batteries, either voltaic or galvanic, is entirely avoided.
To each pole of a simple or compound permanent magnet which is mounted
horizontally in suitable bearings which are insulated when necessary, is attached
one end of a small bar of soft iron, the other end having attached thereto a vertical
rod of the same metal which acts as a core to a coil of covered wire, through the
centre of which it passes and projects slightly above the top of the same. A bar
of soft iron rests upon the tops of the two vertical rods which are connected with
the respective poles of the magnets, and forms an armature. The said armature is
attached to one end of a lever, the other end being capable of being depressed by

page_text: means of a rod and stud or other suitable contrivance; and when so depressed, the
lever turns on a pivot and raises the armature off the tops of the vertical rods.
When it is desired to utilise the apparatus above described for the purpose of
signalling, the armature is raised, thus causing the cores of the coils to become
polarized, and producing a current of electricity in the latter, and such current is
conducted by wires suitably arranged, as will be well understood by persons con-
versant with the nature of such apparatus, to the signal apparatus or bell, and
actuates the same.
When the pressure is removed from the end of the lever and the armature is
allowed to regain its normal position on the tops of the vertical rods, a reverse
current is created.
When used for the purpose of a fire alarum, the apparatus is constructed and
arranged as follows: The coil and soft iron rod or core are suspended from the
under side of the projecting piece of soft iron. The armature which is connected
with a strong spring, having a tendency to force the same away from the exposed
end of the core, is kept in position against the latter by the pressure of one end of
a bent lever, the other end of the latter being so formed as to be capable of resting
upon, and of being supported by one side of a pivoted disc or detent.
In order to counterbalance the weight of the lever upon the disc, one end of a
rod is caused to rest upon the opposite side, the other end of such rod resting upon
the top of a compound vertical rod formed of two upright bars of metal, by pre-
ference, one being steel and the other brass.
On a fire or a certain increase in temperature taking place, the compound rod
becomes heated and opens and lets fall the end of the rod resting thereon, causing
the end resting on the pivoted disc to become displaced, the latter partially turns
on its pivot by reason of the weight of the bent lever, and the latter falls, releasing
its pressure upon the armature, which is then forced away from the ends of the
cores by the action of the before-mentioned spring. A current of electricity is
immediately generated and is conducted by means of wires to the indicator bell or
other alarum, which is actuated thereby and the alarm given.
"
When it is desired to employ this Invention for the purposes of communication
"between a diver under water and the ship or land, the wires are connected to a
sounder constructed on the principle of thepolarized relay or' magneto-electric
indicator;" the said sounder is fixed on the inside of the diver's helmet, and by
means of the transmitting instrument on land or sea, is made to strike a bell, metal
plate, or the surface of the helmet, the diver, when desired, being also provided
with a transmitting instrument, by means of which he is enabled to send signals
to the ship or land.
This Invention may also be employed for the purposes of denoting and registering
the speed of marine or other engines. The above-described magneto-electric
apparatus or one of the modifications of the same, herein-after described, is placed
in such a position with regard to the piston rod or cross head, or other convenient
part of the engine, that at every revolution the armature or coils, according to the
form of apparatus employed, shall be released and replaced, thereby causing a
current of electricity to pass to a clockwork or other indicator situated in any
suitable part of the ship or building and to actuate the same. By these means
the speed of the engine can be ascertained at a glance by reference to the said
indicator.
In order to apply this Invention to the points, siguals, and lamps of railways,
the following arrangements of apparatus are employed:-The apparatus is attached
to the signal or point, and connected in such manner with an indicator in the
signal box, as will be well understood, that, by reference to the said indicator, the
exact position of the signal or point is ascertained. When employed in connection
with signal lamps for the purpose of giving an alarm when the same become
extinguished, the apparatus is placed in or above the lamp, and is arranged in a
somewhat similar manner to that herein-before described as a fire alarum, except

page_text: that in this case, by a slight modification in the arrangement of mechanism, the
current of electricity is generated when the light is extinguished.
I will now proceed to refer to the annexed Drawings, from which the nature of
my said Invention will be more clearly understood.
Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus as firstly herein-before described; Figure 2
is a plan of the same; and Figure 3, an end view.
Figure 4 is a side view of the apparatus arranged, as herein-before described, for
the purpose of giving an alarm in the case of fire.
Figure 5 is a detached view of the compound vertical rod.
In these Figures the same letters of reference indicate similar parts.
M is the magnet; E, the soft iron bar; I, the soft iron vertical rods acting as
cores to the coils C; A is the armature; L is the lever pivoted at B for actuating
the latter; and R is the rod for depressing the opposite end of the lever; S, S, are
the wires. In Figure 4, G is the spring attached to the armature; K is the bent
lever; D is the pivoted dise or detent; Li, the rod resting on the disc and compound
rod W..
Figures 6 and 7 are respectively side and end views of a modification of the
apparatus, in which are shown two sets of coils C, C, each set being provided with
an armature A, A¹, being connected by the rod or bar R and attached to one end of
the lever L in such a manner that when the pressure on the lever is exerted and
removed, the respective armatures come alternately into contact with the cores of
the coils in connection with which they work, thus two currents are obtained instead
of one.
In Figures 8 and 9, the armatures A are shown connected with a coil C, the
whole being so arranged that they can be placed, when desired, in contact with the
poles of the magnet M.
Figures 10 and 11 show two sets of armatures A, A', and coils C, C¹, connected,
as shown in Figures 8 and 9, the two sets being connected together in such a
manner that, on the lever L being actuated, they alternately come into contact with
the poles of the magnet M.
The several bearings and connections of the magnet and other parts of the
apparatus are insulated, as will be well understood by persons conversant with the
construction of such apparatus.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would observe in conclusion that
what I consider novel and original, and therefore claim as constituting the Invention
secured to me by the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, are the
improvements in the construction and arrangement of magneto-electric apparatus
and the application thereof to signalling and other purposes, substantially as herein-
before described and set forth, or any mere modifications thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur Samuel Hickley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
ARTHUR SAMUEL HICKLEY. (L.S.)