IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING BY ELECTRICITY and other PuRPOSES."
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hawkius Simpson, of Kilmeena, in Ireland,
Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING BY ELECTRICITY
and other PuRPOSES."
A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Hawkins Simpson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th September 1864.
I, JOHN HAWKINS SIMPSON, of Kilmeena, in Ireland, Esquire, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING BY
ELECTRICITY FOR TELEGRAPHIC AND OTHER PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the use of the following arrangements of
mechanism :-
At the place of transmission (or operation) I use in electrical conjunction
with the wire or wires (whether these wires are insulated or not) passing
between the sending (or operating) and the receiving (or printing) instru-
ments what I term a "printer," composed of one or more points of metal (or
other electrical conductor) which, in the case of more points than one being
used (as I prefer), I connect with each other by means of a rod or rods,
chain or chains, or other appliances for electrically connecting the points;
such points so connected are held in a frame for traversing the type or
whatever is to be copied. Each point in each "printer" is to be fixed at
such a distance from the next point as to permit only one of the points to be

page_text: in contact with type or the object to be copied at one and the same time, so
that although the points are not (as is the case in Bakewell's and Bonelli's
printing telegraphs) insulated, the electric current cannot be discharged
through the type or object to be copied by more than one point at one and the
same time.
When it is desired to have at the sending telegraph station a facsimile of
what is produced at the receiving or recording station, I can do this by placing
immediately over or at the side of the said "printer," paper or other substance
to be printed upon, which the points (being produced, as they can be, through
the back, side, or sides, in using a considerable number, of the frame of the
aforesaid." printer") will traverse at the same time that the type or object to
be printed from is traversed. A copy may, however, be produced by con-
necting electrically the "printer" which traverses the type with another
printer" of similar construction, or by electrically connecting any other kind
of electric printing apparatus with another corresponding printing apparatus.
The electric circuit must, of course, be completed. through. the paper or
surface to be printed upon by connection with a battery or source of electric
power.
"
If it should be deemed desirable to produce many copies instead of one,
that I can effect by connecting electrically a number of the herein-before
described "printers," but only one of the said "printers" need be furnished with
the type or what is to be copied, although the supply of
paper-or substance to
be printed upon will be the same for each of the said "printers." The same
"printer" or printer arrangements suffices to transmit and to record messages
or copies.
At the receiving station I use the same kind of "printer" as aforesaid
attached to the wire or wires connecting the stations. It does not follow,
however, that a number of the said "printers" arranged to act in concert as
herein-before referred to need be adopted at the sending station, as there it
may be usually necessary to make only one copy, whereas at the receiving
station a considerable number of copies may be required; nor am I obliged in
every case to use simultaneously both at the transmitting and recording
stations or places a similar description of apparatus for generating and directing
motive power.
If it is preferred I make the type or object to be copied pass or move under
or over the before described "printer," instead of making the "printer" move
over or under the type or object. The "printers" at the sending and
receiving telegraph stations must act in concert, movement for movement,
though perfect synchronous motion is not absolutely necessary.

page_text: The movement of the aforesaid "printers" may be produced by any of the
well-known arrangements, such, for instance, as those of Bakewell, Casselli,
or Bonelli.
By the use of the foregoing arrangements I am able to,-
(A), retain a facsimile copy or copies of any message or other thing at
the sending station; and to print off one or a large number of copies at the
receiving station at the same time.
(B), also to print off many copies from one transit of the "printer" instead
of, as in the case in printing as hitherto conducted, each copy requiring actual
contact with type or stereotype.
(C), also to readily and efficiently print off any number of copies, using only
one line wire in telegraphic printing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hawkins Simpson in the Great Sea! Patent Office
on the 16th March 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HAWKINS SIMPSON, of Kilmeena, in Ireland, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Hawkins Simpson, Her special licence that I, the said John
Hawkins Simpson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Hawkins Simpson, 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN PRINTING BY ELECTRICITY FOR TELEGRAPHIC AND OTHER PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Hawkins
Simpson, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Hawkins Simpson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The first part of my Invention consists of new combinations of mechanism
for the purpose of transmitting through a telegraphic circuit messages
previously prepared (by being either set up in type or written in insulating
ink on some metallic or other conducting surface), and causing the same to
be printed at a distant station, and for the purpose of printing by electricity
from type or writing without the use of a telegraphic circuit.
The second part of my Invention refers to manifold printing by electricity,
whether a telegraphic circuit is used or not.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, I will
now proceed to describe more particularly the several parts of my system of
printing by electricity for telegraphic and other purposes, and will set forth
and illustrate the best method with which I am acquainted for carrying the
same into practical effect.
The first part of my Invention consists of an instrument which I call a
"printer." The "printer" is composed of a frame made of wood, metal, or
other suitable material, in which are placed the required number of styles or
pens in metallic communication with each other. The aforesaid styles are
fixed or adjusted at such a distance from each other and in such a way as to
permit only one style to be in contact with the object to be traversed at one
and the same time, so that although the styles are not insulated from each
other, the electric current will pass through only one style, at one and the
same time.
I wish it to be understood that I employ two "printers," one at
each end of the telegraphic circuit; the one in contact with the type or other
object to be printed from or copied will herein-after be called the "s sending
printer," whilst that which comes in contact with the prepared paper or other
substance on which the printing is to be made is designated the "recording
printer." The same instruments and terms are also applicable to "printers".
where no telegraphic circuit is used.
The second portion of my Invention consists of mechanism attached either
to the "sending" or to the "recording printer," or to both of them, by means
of which I can multiply copies of telegraphic messages, or copies of whatever
has to be printed where no telegraphic circuit has to be used. This part of
my Invention will be more clearly understood on reference to the Drawings
accompanying this Specification.
In order further to illustrate my Invention, I will now refer to the accom-

page_text: panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked
hereon, like letters and figures denoting similar parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figs. 1 and 2 show the form of "printer" which I prefer to adopt; S'being
he "sending printer," and R the "recording printer; Fig. 3 is an edge
view of the same. The said "printers "are caused to rotate either by a falling
weight, as shewn in Fig. 3, or by a spring or otherwise.
a, b, c, &c., represent the styles, which are metallically connected with each
other and with the line wire of the circuit or with the earth. Each style
accommodates itself to the inequalities of the type by means of a small spring:
They are placed helically round the periphery of the wheel, and are equi-
distant from each other, the distance between each being rather more than the
length of the object to be traversed, so that one style only can be in contact
with the type or object to be copied at one and the same time. D represents
a metal desk curved to suit the circumference of the "printer," upon which.
the tinfoil or whatever has to be printed from at Fig. 1, or the prepared
paper or other substance on which the printing is to be made in Fig. 2, is
placed, and is secured on the desk by a lid consisting of parallel bars fixed
upon it.
: :
Figs. 5, 6, 7, show different views of the said desk; Fig. 5 being an end
elevation, and Fig. 6 a section shewing the construction of the lid, the bars
extending the whole length of the curve, as shewn in Fig. 7. Fig. 4 shows
the form of detent which I adopt, though I am well aware there are many
other arrangements which will answer the same purpose.
A is an electro-magnet so placed that the metallic lever bar B may come
within its influence. The said bar works freely on a pivot secured to the
standard E of the frame F, in which the "printer" R rotates. Another small
bar B', which may be metallic or not, is also connected in the same manner
to the same standard E, and at its extremities are attached the connecting
bars C, C¹, affixed by pivots to the metallic levér bar B, so as to move freely
at all the joints. These connecting bars C, C', form the detent. They fall
nearer to each other by their own weight or by a spring when the lever bar B
is not raised by the action of the electro-magnet, and are thereby caused to
come in contact with a boss or notch on the periphery of the "printer." The
diameters of the "printers "S and R, and the number and arrangements of
the styles are so regulated that three styles traverse that part of the type or
object to be copied which lies between any two adjacent bars of the desk lid,
and that the whole of the type or object to be copied is traversed in one
revolution of the "printer." The operation of the "printers" is as follows:-

page_text: Type or foil is placed on the desk D, Fig. 1, and prepared paper on the
desk D, Fig. 2. The desks may be connected with earth or with the line wire:
The electro-magnet A, which actuates the detent, Fig. 4, on the "printer" R,
'must be connected with earth and with the desk D, or with the styles and the
line wire, and retains the "printer" R'in position, with style a, for instance,
pressing against the metal of the desk D. The "printer." S being set in
motion and the style a coming in contact with the type or tinfoil on D, the
electric current traverses the coil of the electro-magnet A, which acting upon
the detent releases the "printer "R, and the "printer" is set in motion by
weight, spring, or otherwise. ." Printer " R continues to revolve until checked
by the detent, which, when style a of "printer "S has cleared the desk D, and
before style has touched it, is no longer acted upon by the magnet, the
electric current traversing the magnet being then cut of, and the détent acting
upon a boss or notch in the "printer," is made to check it at the same instant
that the style 6 on "printer" R has come into contact with D. The motion
of "printer" R may thus be regulated by the action of the electro-magnet
each time there is no style of "printer" S in contact with its desk, and it is
released only when à style at S comes into contact with its desk. But as the
detention of the "printer" depends upon the number and position. of the
bosses or notches, by regulating such number and positions I regulate the
number and periods of stoppages. By this means the corresponding styles of
the two "printers" S and R are made to traverse their respective desks in the
same interval of time. It will be readily seen that the "printer" R may be
used as a "sending printer" and "printer "S may be used as a recording
printer." The desks D, D, may be made to slide into position in transverse
or longitudinal slots, as shewn in Figs. 5 and 6.
66
Instead of the arrangements just described the "printer" may be stationary,
while the type or whatever has to be copied or the prepared paper is made to
move under it, as is shewn in Fig. 8, where styles a, b, c, are stationary
and fixed and develope a telegram in one long line. A revolving wheel T
carries the type, foil, or prepared paper, and that portion of its periphery on
which these are placed must be in metallic connection with the earth, but
-insulated from the rest of the wheel, the styles of course being in connection
with the line wire, or vice versa. The "printers" S and R, Figs. 1 and 2,
and the wheel T, Fig. 8, may, if preferred, be caused to revolve in a hori-
zontal position instead of vertical, as represented.
Fig. 9 is an elevation of another form of "printer" P, in which the styles
are caused to traverse the type, foil, or prepared paper in a straight line;
Fig. 10 being a plan of the same 'printer" frame P with three styles
66

page_text: marked a, b, c, the said "printer" being in metallic connection with the earth-
or the line wire, whilst the desk D is connected with the line wire or the
earth. As stated in the explanations at Figs. 1, 2, and 8, the "printer" in
Fig. 9 may be stationary, whilst the desk D is made to travel under or over
the "printer." Fig. 11 is a section shewing the guides in which the "printer"
P travels over the top of the desk.
Fig. 12 refers to the second part of my Invention, namely, the multiplication
of copies of what has to be printed, whether a telegraphic circuit is used or
not. This Fig. 12 represents an arrangement of "printers" numbered 1,2,
3, 4, 5, for the multiplication of copies by the use of the straight form of
"printer" described in Figs. 9, 10, 11. To multiply copies at the "recording
station," the requisite number of "printers," of which I shew.five in Fig. 12,
are fixed in a frame, all the "printers" being metallically connected with each
other, and the motion of the frame. being the same as would be necessary if
only a single printer were employed. In this manner five or any requisite
number of copies are thus produced on a sheet of prepared paper. The same
thing is effected where a circular form of "printer" is used, as in Figs. 1, 2,
and 8, by increasing the breadth the breadth of the rim of the "printer," and
placing thereon a series of arrangements of styles, each such series being identical
the number and positions of the styles with that which would be necessary if
only one copy were required; the desk must be enlarged to correspond, or a
separate desk may be used for each series of styles. In this case relays
or local batteries might be necessary. Should copies be required at the
"sending" station, or in cases where no telegraphic circuit is used, the
requisite number of "printers," whether longitudinal or circular, is set
up in the same way as has just been described for multiplying copies at
the recording station, but in this case "printer" No. 1 would alone traverse
type, and the "printers" 2, 3, 4, 5, or any requisite number of "printers,"
would be made to traverse chemically prepared paper. Such chemically
prepared paper must be placed on a desk or desks insulated from that on
which the type or foil is placed, but in connection with the line or with
earth.
Having now fully described and illustrated the nature and object of my
said Invention for "Improvements in "Printing by Electricity for Telegraphic
and other Purposes," together with the best means I am acquainted with for
carrying the same into practical effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details described, as the mechanical details
and proportions may be much varied without departing from the principle of
my Invention; but what I do claim is,

page_text: First, the use of a "printer" as described in this my Specification, an.
essential feature of which is a frame, on which is arranged a number of styles
in metallic connection with each other, the disposition of the styles in the
printer" being such as to allow of only one style at a time being-in contact
with the type or whatever has to be copied at the sending instrument or
station or with chemically prepared paper. at the recording instrument or
station, whether a telegraphic circuit is employed or not.
Second, I claim the use of a detent, such as that before described for the
purpose of procuring the requisite concerted movement of the sending and
recording "printers," the motion of which is regulated as herein-before
described.
Third, I claim the means of multiplying copies of whatever has to be
printed, whether a telegraphic circuit is used or not, as before set forth in this
my Specification, by an adjustment of similar "printers" electrically and
mechanically connected with each other...
In witness. whereof, I, the said John Hawkins Simpson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
CHARLES S. BAKER,
71, Fleet Street.
JOHN HAWKINS SIMPSON. (L.S.)