IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PAPER, AND TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING MESSAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Little at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th June
1873.
I, GEORGE LITTLE, of Rutherford Park, in the State of New Jersey,
United States of America, Consulting Electrician to the Automatic
Telegraph Company of New York, United States of America, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC
TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PAPER, AND TRANSMITTING AND RECEIVING
MESSAGES," to be as follows:-
:-
The first part of this Invention relates to the preparation of the paper
for transmitting the message. The perforations for one letter or
character are made at one operation, and the special features of novelty
relate to a range or ranges of perforating punches standing vertically,
above which are pressure bars in the form of hinged levers, and over
these are cross plates with downward projections; there are as many

page_text: cross plates as there are characters to be perforated, and a key is
connected to each of these cross plates by a link or bar, so that when one
key is depressed its cross plate is drawn down, and also the punches that
are required for the particular letter, the selection being effected by the
downward projections that extend from the cross plate to the pressure
bars.
The next feature relates to the preparation of ink to be used in a pen
that is moved into and out of contact with the receiving paper. The
ink must not dry easily but always be ready for use. The ink is made
of aniline blue dissolved in glycerine, heated in a sand bath; a small
quantity of water may be added.
The pen is preferable of gold with iridium points, quite flexible,
having a top and bottom guard, and the fountain is preferably filled
with a small syringe through a hole at the top, and a vent hole allows
air to escape, and to observe the filling operation.
This and other features of my receiving and transmitting devices are
improvements upon the means shown in my Patent No. 1207, granted
April 22nd 1872.
There are two rollers on the same shaft, but preferably insulated from
each other, one for the transmitting strip of paper, and the other for the
receiving strip. The base carrying these rollers is divided and the parts
insulated. The connections for the electric circuits are made to plates
bearing at the ends of the shafts.
The detaining brushes and rollers that act with the drums to draw the
paper are moved by the same levers, and the movement of these on the
transmitting side also throw out or in the rollers and levers that open
and close the circuit to the telegraph line.
The pen is vibrated by the pulsations, and moves between double
poles of an electro-magnet, and the pen can be inserted into or
withdrawn from the rocking armature, which is a metallic tube, and
may be of steel and polarized. A ferrule of non-conducting material
prevents adhesion of the armature.
The pen for marking the paper may be used in the Wheatstone
instruments with the rocking beam.

page_text: The perforated paper should be of nearly the same thickness or
quality, and the small rollers of the transmitter made of steel or other
very hard material.
A condenser is connected with the main line at both sides of the
receiving pen or stylus, and these condensers may be made of lead, and
the troughs for the paper of hard rubber.