IMPROVEMENTS IN TEACHING APPLIANCES
Year: 1885

page_text: I, WALDO LINCOLN GATES, of Bayonne in the County of Hudson and State of
New Jersey, one of the United States of America, gentleman do hereby declare the
nature of my invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN TEACHING APPLIANCES, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
It is adapted by the aid of a small electric bell and a small galvanic battery,
and short flexible wires, to indicate, by the striking of the bell, when the right
answer is given to a question.
.
Twenty or some other number of questions are printed up and down one edge of
a board or over a certain area of the board. The correct answers to the question's
are printed on the other portions of the board. Each question and answer is
adjacent to a copper or other metallic pin projecting a little above, and which leads
through the board to the back and thence by smaller wires attached thereto
connects across the back between each question pin and the proper answer pin, the
conductors being insulated so that there is no other communication.
In certain lines of inquiry the printed face for the answers may be a map which
is pasted or otherwise fixed on the board, and the pins may stand on points
corresponding to towns, battles, mines, quarries, bridges, railroad centres or special
agricultural or other industrial districts.
I have devised removable printed sheets of paper or analogous material, punched
to match over the pins on the face of the board so as to change the questions and
answers indifinitely with the same pins and connections.
In what I esteem the most complete form of the invention the removable sheets
are printed on both sides and each face thereof is provided with a turning flap,
which greatly increases the capacity of a given quantity of the apparatus. There
may be a series of questions and answers on one half of one face of each sheet of
paper and on one face of the attached flap. There may be another series on the
other face of the attached flap, and the other half of the same face of the paper,
thus giving two sets on one face. There may be a corresponding movable flap on
the other side, thus making two sets on that side of the paper or card.
In cases where there are several answers, as to 'the question "Who represented
the United States in the treaty of Washington on the Alabama claims in 1871"

page_text: there may be five conductors from the pin representing the question to the several
pins representing the answers; or, more simply and equally effective, a single wire
may lead from the pin representing the question to the several pins representing
the five answers successively in any order which may be most convenient.
One person, the questioner-but not necessarily well informed, applies a socket-
piece connected by one of flexible wires to the helix of the electric bell and
through it to one of the poles of the battery. He applies the socket piece upon
the question pin connected with the question which he wishes to ask.
Another person, the answerer,-who may be either more or less informed than
the other, holds a socket-piece connected by a flexible wire to the opposite pole of
the battery. With it he covers or matches, the answer pin on the board, which is
associated with, adjacent to, or surrounded by the answer which he elects to give.
Whenever he matches the right pin the bell strikes, because the -circuit is com-
pleted through a wire across the back of the board between that pin and the pin
adjacent to the question. Whenever he touches a wrong one he produces no result
because there is no electrical connection.
I have devised an arrangement of the battery and its adjuncts in immediate and
rigid connection with the board so as to constitute a single piece of apparatus.
The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent one
of the means of successfully carrying out this invention.
Fig. 1 is a plan view.
Fig. 2 is a partial side elevation: and vertical section. The section is taken on
the line xx in fig. 1.
Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal vertical sections of portions on a larger scale.
Figs. 5 and 6 are on a much smaller scale. They show a part detached.
Fig. 5 is a face view, and
Fig. 6 an edge view.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where
they occur.
A is a board of, well-seasoned. wood, having at one side or end an elevation A¹
adapted to receive a galvanic battery, of which see a description further on. The
best construction of the board, is obtained by gluing together three or other
.number of thin layers with the grain of each extending crosswise to the grain of
the next. On one face is pasted an elaborately printed sheet of paper a.
may be printed from a finely engraved steel or copper plate.
This
The back of the board is provided with edge strips A³ and a back shield plate A³
mounted at a sufficient distance from the main body A of the board to protect the
pins and wires arranged between.
B and C are metallic pins, each projecting upward as shown, and extending
through the board A from the face a to the opposite face which latter I will term
the back of the board. Each is a screw set in a corresponding hole in the wood,
with a collar to gauge the depth to which it is inserted. The largest pins B, are
used for the questions. The questions are printed along one edge or along two or
.all the edges of the board. There is one conductor or pin B for each question. It
is inserted in the midst of the question or immediately at the edge, so that there
can be no mistaking the question to which it belongs.
The smaller pins C, are for the answer. One pin C, is inserted at each point in
the map or at each point where the answer is printed in words or figures on the
'board. Each conductor B and C extends through the board and a little distance
beyond so as to project from the back face. An insulated wire D is soldered to
the back end of each question conductor B, and also to the answer pin C which
corresponds thereto. By using wires which are coated with an insulating material
I over a great portion of their length these wires may cross each other indefinitely
without inducing any mischief.
The smaller answer pins C may be aggregated very closely together as may
be sometimes desirable on a map to indicate points in the neighborhood of the
principal cities, dangerous reefs, or the like..

page_text: m
M is a battery. I have used in my experiments the sealed battery patented to.
W F. McGinnis, Mch. 25th 1884, No 209574. A sufficient cavity is provided in
the elevation A¹, to receive the battery. It is retained by a spring catch M.
N is a copper wire leading from the positive pole p of the battery to the helix E.
A foot and a half or other convenient length of flexible insulated copper wire I con-
nects to the other end of the helix E, and terminates in a link or loop i, which is
electrically connected to an eyejin a metal pin J, which is equipped with a hard rubber
handle J. The lower or working end of the pin is also covered with a hard rubber
tube J' which projects beyond it, forming a non-conducting socket with a con-
ductor J.in the cavity. The questioner seizes the handle and by its means applies.
the socket J¹ upon one of the question conductors B. He may retain his hold on
the handle or leave it; his applying it on the question conductor B indicates
that that is the question asked. The question may be read aloud in addition if
preferred.
That question conductor is now in connection, through the helix connected with
the electrical bell, with the positive pole of the battery, and one or more corre-
sponding answer pins C are also connected thereto by means of the wire D,
extending across the back; but no current flows and the bell does not strike
because there is no connection between the answer conductor C and the negative
pole of the battery. It devolves on the other operator to make such connection.
K is a flexible insulated copper wire with one end electrically connected to the
negative plate or pole of the battery. The other end is linked to an eye l,.on a socket
piece LL, which is provided with a handle L' of hard rubber or other suitable
insulating material. This handle may be larger than the other. I propose to
make it, generally, about the size and length of a pen-holder. The tube L³, is of
hard rubber. The central pin L connected to the battery is of metal. The operator
who is to make the answers, takes hold of the handle L³ and applies the tube L' to
the specific answer pin C which he chooses to indicate for the answer. If wrong he
may shift the tube L', applying it in succession to a number of the answer pins C.
The application of the socket piece L L¹ produces no effect until it has been com-
pletely applied on a pin C, so that the latter touches the metallic pin L in the
cavity of the socket piece. When it is thus applied upon the wrong pin no result
is observed, but the moment the answerer applies the socket piece L L¹ properly
on that particular pin C corresponding with the right answer to the question, the
electrical circuit is completed, the electric current flows through the helix E and
the bell strikes.
I term this an automatic teacher because it will speak clearly to indicate the
correct answer without requiring any effort of the operator. It may serve as a
game at which a number may play, making rules to determine how many trials
each may make to hit the correct answer. The device will serve successfully
without either the questioner or answerer previously possessing the information
called for,
I give the preference to the McGinnis or analogous sealed battery, or some form
of dry battery, because it allows the board to be inclined or completely reversed
without in any wise deranging the battery.
The invention is capable of a great variety of applications. Instead of maps,
answers in words may be printed in squares or in various regular or irregular areas
on the board. After the pins are set for a map other papers a may be printed
containing entirely different questions not relating to that map or to that line
of inquiry, and holes punched in such paper corresponding to the irregularly
distributed answer-pins, and answers being printed around or otherwise plainly
associated with such pins, the same board and connections may, by a little
ingenuity in arranging, be made to serve for an indefinite series of questions and
answers.
Fig. 5 is a face view and fig. 6, an edge view showing a sheet of stout paper of
the proper size to cover the board and having a flap on each side, one edge of which
is attached to a narrow strip of muslin or other tough. flexible. material pasted. up

page_text: and down the middle. This I esteem the most complete form of the removable.
attachments for use in this connection. The main body of each sheet of paper and
the flaps should be punched to correspond with the pins in the board and for this
use the pins in the main board should be located symmetrically.
P is the sheet of paper or pasteboard. It may be of the fine tough material known
as Bristol-board. P1 P2 are narrow strips of muslin; one glued or otherwise
secured up and down the middle of each face; and P3 P4 are pieces of paper
preferably well sized, firm, linen paper, each one half the size of the sheet P, and
glued by one edge to one of the strips of muslin. The Bristol board P and the
paper flaps P P are all punched or otherwise smoothly perforated, the holes being.
arranged to correspond with the pins B and C in the board, whether the flaps are
turned in one direction or the other.
To use this part of the apparatus, one set of questions are printed on the first
half of one face of the Bristol board P; the corresponding answers are printed on.
the adjacent face of the corresponding flap Ps. Another set of questions are
printed on the other face of the same flap Ps and the answers corresponding
thereto are printed on the remaining half of the same face of the Bristol-board.
The other face of the board and its flap are correspondingly printed. Thus four
complete sets of questions and answers are carried on one of the pieces of Bristol-
board P and its attachments, and the whole are attached and detached together by.
a single operation, carefully matching each upon the board A¹ and its attached
pins B and C.
Modifications may be made in the details. Parts of the invention may be used.
without the whole. It is not essential that the answer socket have a non-con-
ducting rim or tube L', adapted to engage on the proper answer pin C; it may
be otherwise formed and the answerer may merely touch a knob. It is more
important but still not absolutely essential to some degree of success that the
question socket be adapted to engage and remain locked on its proper question
pin B. I much prefer the capacity for locking these parts together as shown,
because otherwise a little carelessness or trickiness on the part of the questioner,
by allowing J to slip from B, might defeat the operation even when the answerer
touches the right answer pin C.
There is an advantage in having the answerer operate by a deep socket with a
non-conducting edge L. With an ordinary wire or knob terminal on the piece
held in his hand, he could run rapidly through the whole series of pins and defeat
the object of the study or game. The socket compels him to apply the device with
considerable formality upon the pin which he selects, in order that the bell shall
speak even when he selects the right pin.
I can, instead of producing a hole in the question socket J, form each pin B with
a hole and adapt the movable question piece J to fit within it.
When the end of the question piece J is socket-formed as shown, it is not
essential that the rim be non-conducting. Tolerably good effects can be produced
by making the rim J of metal, because this, the question piece, unlike the answer
piece, L will be usually applied under such circumstances that it is immaterial
whether its rim is a conductor or not. The bell will not speak unless the answer
piece L is already on the proper answer pin, which will rarely occur in practice.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
(1.) The board A. carrying questions and answers, in combination with pins or
conductors B, C, and with wires D, electrically connected thereto, and with the
battery M, conductors I, K, and bell E or equivalent signaling device, arranged to
give intelligent answers to questions as herein specified.
(2.) The question conductors B, in combination with the board A and means
as J, for locking and thus maintaining the contact of a conductor as J, from the
battery M, and with such battery, and with a connected electric bell or equivalent.
:

page_text: signaling device E, and the pins or answer conductors C and their several con-
nections I, K, and means as L L³, for conveniently making electrical connections
with the various answer conductors or pins C, as herein specified.
(3.) The separate sheets a of paper or other non-conducting material perforated
to correspond with the conductors B, C, protruding upward above the surface of
the paper as shown, in combination with the latter and with the board A carrying
questions and answers and with the connections D, battery M, bell E or equivalent
signaling device and flexible conductors I, K, arranged for joint operation, as herein
specified.
(4.) The detachable perforated sheets each with one or more flexibly attached
perforated pieces P3 P4, in combination with the board A, pins B, C, and electrical
connections D, adapted for joint operation relatively to each other and to the
socket pieces J and L, and suitable connections from each to a battery or source of
electrical force, all substantially as herein specified.
Dated this eighth day of May 1885,
Witnesses:
THOMAS DREW STETSON,
Patent Solicitor,
New York City.
CHARLES ROBINSON SEARLE,
Draughtsman,
23, Murray Street, N. Y. City.
WALDO LINCOLN GATES.