MEANS FOR FACILITATING THE IMPOSITION OF THE MATTER WRITTEN OR DRAWN) UPON THE TRANSMITTER SURFace.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left. 30th Dec. 1895-Accepted. 1st Feb.. 1896
Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left 30th Dec. 1895-Accepted. 1st Feb.. 1896
(b.) MEANS FOR FACILITATING THE IMPOSITION OF THE MATTER
WRITTEN OR DRAWN) UPON THE TRANSMITTER SURFace.
WHEN
The latter is, as a matter of convenience in working it past the contact roller,
cylindrical; and because it is cylindrical, the said surface is a difficult one to
impose the matter upon, either by means of pen or pencil, or any other instrument
wielded by the hand, or by means of the camera. According to the present
invention, I make use of a thin sheet or film of any of the materials specified in the
previous paragraph, or of a combination of them. Such sheet or film is held to the
cylinder by a clamp or wedge or holding strip or screws of any convenient and
suitable construction, so long as it extends longitudinally on the cylinder and is

page_text: capable of holding the sheet or him to the surface by grasping the two margins of
it which will then be opposite and adjacent to each other.
(c.) COMPOSITION AND NATURE OF INKS FOR THE MATTER TO BE
IMPOSED.
The insulating inks which have been proposed up to the present time possess
properties which, more or less, unfit them for use in connection with my instrument
described in Patent No. 147651894. For one thing, they are generally too brittle
to resist the pull of the end of the contact roller as it passes over the matter, and,
consequently, small pieces of the latter are broken off and remain on the said roller
and so maintain it in a more or less insulated condition, or the said pieces are
dropped on to the transmitter surface where they would be likely to act as imposed
material. According to this part of my invention, I make a suitable ink by
dissolving india rubber, gutta percha and bitumen in benzine, toluene, or their
homologues, or in other suitable solvents. The following proportions and process
give a typical ink for the purpose of this part of the present invention
Bitumen (preferably in the form of fine powder, as generally used for balf-tone
process" photographic reproductions), 12 parts (by weight :) pure india rubber
5 parts; and gutta percha 5 parts. These three materials are dissolved in 78 parts
of benzine. I find it more convenient to make separate solutions of each material,
the three solutions being of known strengths, and then mix them together in the
requisite proportions. After the mixture has been standing some time, it is carefully
filtered. It is advisable to exclude the light from the solutions and mixture as
otherwise the bitumen is liable to become insoluble. The proportions above
mentioned may be varied in either direction without going outside the present
invention.
Another very useful ink for the purpose is made as follows:―
150 parts of gelatine or glue (fish glue preferably) and 150 parts of the white
of eggs are dissolved in water (about 300 parts) and about 13 parts of bichromate
of ammonium, potassium or sodium dissolved in about 150 parts of water are added.
This mixture is preferably coloured with suitable colouring matter such as
soluble blue" and should be protected as much as possible from light.
"pure
The inscribed matter is written on the surface of the metallic sheet with an
ordinary pen and the sheet is then heated to a temperature of from 80° to 130°.
I find a good result is obtained at a temperature of about 100%. In any case the sheet
must not be heated to a higher temperature of 100° before it is dry or the ink will
boil and produce blisters.
The bichromate may be left out but the results are not quite as good as when it
is included.
(d.) KEEPING THE TRANSMITTER SURFACE CLEAN FOR THE PURPOSE
SPECIFIED.
It is possible even with the most elastic or firmly affixed inks that, now and then,
a bit of the imposed material might be rived up by the contact roller. To prevent
such accidental riving up, injuring by this means the image received on the
transmitter, I provide an air blast which is constantly playing upon the surface
immediately in advance of the contact finger, as well as upon the end of it. This
blast is conveniently obtained from a reservoir of compressed air.
(e.) THE USE OF A ROTARY DRILL FOR THE PURPOSE SPECIFIED.
I find also that the use of
1

page_text: revolve. There are many well known means by which the drill can be rotated
conveniently but I do not confine myself to any particular method.
Dated this 29th day of March 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: a socket turned in the end of a jib b the base of which is made fast to a saddle bl
fitted to embrace a double V bed upon which it can slide to and fro. This bed
is aligned parallel with the axis and surface of the drum A and the jib b overhangs
the latter just far enough for the axis of the contact finger B to be exactly over
the axis of the drum. The bed is carried by standards c', c¹ which are set
opposite to each other, and at a suitable distance apart, upon the base as above
mentioned. C is a leading screw. Its journals are supported in bearings c, c
carried by the standards c', c'. The leading screw is parallel with the axis of the
drum A and passes through a screwed nut c2 fast to, and depending from, the
underside of the saddle b', with which it engages for the purpose of traversing
the contact finger B from one end of the drum A to the other, during the time that
the latter is in motion. The necessary motions of rotation are imparted to the
leading screw C and the shaft a through a pair of gears a³, c³. These are of the
proper respective diameters to, in conjunction with the pitch of the screw C, give
to the drum A and the said screw C, their respectively necessary rates of motion.
It is a matter of indifference on to which-screw or shaft-the driving impulse is
delivered from the prime mover, provided that the speed of such impulse is correctly
adjusted. The shaft is shewn as projecting beyond its gear at far enough to receive
a driving pulley. It will be noticed that the drum A is twice as long as and twice
the diameter of, the receiving drum F described further on. The object of this
difference (4 to 1 in respect of area) is to provide for the reproduction of the
natural size of a photograph, for instance, which it had been necessary to enlarge
to 4 times its original area on account of the minuteness of its details. When the
design stands in insulated relief on the conducting surface, proper provision must
be made to allow of the contact finger rising and falling in the socket above
mentioned easily and quickly enough to always keep in touch with the surface-
conducting or design, as the case may be immediately under it. A suitable
enlargement of the finger socket is provided to receive a spiral depressing spring ba
the resilience of which is exerted between the top of the socket and an annular
shoulder 6 upon the steni. The spring is sufficiently weak to yield before the
resistance offered by the material of the design and strong enough to effect the
quick depression or return to the conducting surface of the drum A, of the tip of
the contact finger B. With reference to the construction of the tip of the contact
finger, it must be pointed out that it is necessary to make special provision against
its riving up the design material when the two come into contact and pass each
other. For if a fragment of such material were rived up by the tip, it might
maintain non-contact between the tip and the conducting surface for the remainder
of the time the transmitter was at work, and would do so until such time as the tip
cleared itself. According to the present invention, the contact between the tip and
material is always of a rolling nature, inasmuch as the tip consists of a smali
wheel (hereinafterwards called the "contact-roller ") free to turn upon an axis
in the bottom end of the finger. The said axis is parallel with the axis of the
drum A, and consequently, the wheel which constitutes the finger tip, works in a
plane at right angles with the last mentioned axis. Some provision is necessary to
prevent the capacity for vertical motion on the part of the finger B allowing it to
turn about its axis, for such turning would change the contact between the tip
and the drum A. from a rolling into a more or less scraping one. The one illustrated
in the figures consists of a screw-pin 6 screwed through the finger socket in a radial
direction and standing with its flat nose close up to, but not touching, the face of a
vertical flat surface 67 formed upon the adjacent side of the finger B and long
enough to allow of the necessary up and down motion of the finger tip b³.
(a.) The first part of the present invention consists in improvements in the
material of the conducting surface of the transmitter (= transmitter surface) and
of the contact roller. It is based upon my experience that the materials which
give the most satisfactory results as transmitter surfaces, are platinum, gold and
silver. My improved transmitter surface consists, therefore, of one of the metals
enumerated. It is either solid, as e.g., a rolled sheet, or deposited, as e.g., gold

page_text: electro-deposited upon a copper sheet, plate or cylinder. The reason why either of
the materials which I have specified, gives such satisfactory results as transmitter
surfaces is their power of resisting oxidation during the passage of sparks from the
contact roller to the transmitter surface. This part of the said invention includes
also a contact-roller of platinum, the advantage of such a roller over one of steel or
copper being due to the reason above mentioned in connection with the transmitter
surface.
(b.) The second part of the present invention consists in means for facilitating
the imposition of the design (when the latter is written or drawn,) upon the
transmitter surface. It is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The surface of the
transmitter is cylindrical, as a matter of convenience in working it past the contact
roller 6. (Flat transmitter surfaces are described in the Specification of my above
mentioned former Patent as part of the respective invention, but I prefer a
cylindrical surface for most purposes.) But for the reason that such surface is
cylindrical, it is a difficult one to impose the design upon, either by means of pen
or pencil or any other instrument wielded by the hand, or by means of the camera.
According to the present invention, the actual conducting surface is provided by
one side of a thin sheet or film of any of the metals before specified or of a com-
bination of them. Such sheet or film is held to the drum A by any suitable
device. This latter may be a clamp, a wedge, holding strip or screws, or of any
other convenient and suitable construction so long as it extends longitudinally of
the drum A and is capable of holding the sheet or film z to the surface of the said
drum by grasping the two margins of it which will then be opposite and adjacent
to each other. The device illustrated in the figures consists of a double V or
undercut groove formed in the face of the drum from one end of it to the other
end in a direction parallel with the axis of it. The two opposite margins 22, 23 of
the sheet or film z are turned down over the respective sides of the groove and held
thereto by a wedge z³, of the same contour as the groove. I also find the use of
corrugated sunk rollers actuated with a nut or lever works satisfactorily. The
above apparatus can also be used on the receiving cylinder to hold the paper sheet
metal or other surface to which the image is transmitted.
(c.) The third part of the present invention consists in improvements in the
composition and nature of inks adapted for the design to be imposed upon
the transmitter surface. The insulating inks which have been proposed up to the
present time possess properties which, unfit them, more or less for use in connection
with apparatus of the type forming the subject of the present invention. One
reason is that they are generally too brittle to resist the pull of the end of the
contact roller as it passes over the matter, and, consequently, small pieces of the
latter are rived up and remain on the said roller and so maintain it in a more or
less insulated condition, or the said pieces are dropped on to the transmitter surface
where they would be likely to act as part of the imposed design. According to
this part of my invention, I make a suitable ink by dissolving india rubber, gutta
percha and bitumen in benzine, toluene, or their homologues, or in other suitable
solvents. The following proportions and process give a typical ink for the purpose
of this part of the present invention :-
66
Bitumen (preferably in the form of fine powder, as generally used for half-tone
process" photographic reproductions), 12 parts (by weight :) pure india rubber
5 parts; and gutta percha 5 parts. These three materials are dissolved in
78 parts of benzine.
I find it more convenient to make separate solutions of each
material, the three solutions being of known strengths, and then mix them together
in the requisite proportions. After the mixture has been standing some time, it is
carefully filtered. It is advisable to exclude the light from the solutions and
mixture as otherwise the bitumen is liable to become insoluble. The proportions
above mentioned may be varied in either direction without going outside the
present invention.
.
Another very useful ink for the purpose is made as follows:-
150 parts of gelatine or glue (fish glue preferably) and 150 parts of albumen

page_text: 6
are dissolved in water (about 300 parts) and about 30 parts of bichromate of
ammonium, or potassium or sodium dissolved in about 150 parts of water are added.
This mixture is preferably coloured with suitable colouring matter such as pure
soluble blue" and should be protected as much as possible from actinic light until
imposed.
The inscribed matter is written on the surface of the metallic sheet with an
ordinary pen and the sheet is then heated to a temperature of from 80° to 130°.
I find a good result is obtained at a temperature of about 100°. In any case the
sheet must not be heated to a higher temperature of 100° before it is dry or the
ink will boil and produce blisters.
The bichromate may be left out but the results are not generally as good as
when it is included. These inks can also be used without heating.
With reference to the design-and by this word "design" is to be understood
the original which is required to be reproduced at the receiving station-I again
repeat from my previous Letters Patent, that it may be written, printed, photo-
graphed, or stencilled. My invention imposes no limit upon the nature of the
material in which, or the process by which, it is produced. The design may be of
conducting material superficially surrounded by non-conducting material in relief,
e.g., a negative photograph upon the drum A: or it may be in conducting material
flush with non-conducting surface, produced, e.g., by imposing the design in resist
upon the drum A, etching down the bare surface of the latter, cleaning off the
design and filling the etching with resist, or it may be intaglio, produced e.g., by
taking a negative photograph upon the drum A, etching the design, cleaning off
the resist and filling in the etched portions with resist flush with the surface of the
drum A. When the design is in relief upon the said surface, proper provision
must be made to allow of the contact finger rising and falling in the socket above
mentioned easily and quickly enough to always keep in touch with the surface-
conducting or design, as the case may he-immediately under it. A suitable
enlargement of the finger socket is provided to receive a spiral depressing spring b³
the resilience of which is exerted between the top of the socket and an annular
shoulder upon the stem. The spring is sufficiently weak to yield before the
resistance offered by the material of the design and strong enough to effect the
quick depression or return to the conducting surface of the drum A, of the tip of
the contact finger B.
(d.) The fourth part of the invention relates to keeping the transmitter surface
clean and covers special devices adapted to achieve that purpose. Experience
with transmitter surfaces and their contact fingers shews that it is possible, even
when the most elastic of the inks heretofore known have been used, for fragments
of the design imposed, in such ink to be rived up. The mischief which may be
done by this accidental riving up has been already explained. The mechanism
which I propose to use for removing the fragments above mentioned as well as
other foreign matter from either the contact roller or from the conducting surface,
is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. It consists of a reservoir y adapted to be kept
charged with high pressure air through a pipe y' controlled by a valve y³, and to
discharge an air blast through a pipe y³ and nozzle y controlled by a valve y³
directly against the front edge of the contact roller 6. It must be distinctly
understood that the invention is independent of the particular means by which the
blast is vented.
With reference to the transmitter surface; as well as to the receiver and local
circuits, they do not, either severally or in combination, form any part of the
present invention, being only repeated here from the Specification of the previous
Letters Patent for the reason already stated.

page_text: finger B, e.g., through a connecting screw d¹ on the jib b. It is of course a matter
of indifference how the current is led to the tip of the contact finger B, so long
as an efficient insulation, as d², is inserted between it and the conducting surface z..
From the other pole of the battery, the line wire d³ is led away to the receiving
station. As the contact finger 6 is insulated from the conducting surface, it
follows that current can flow through the line circuit only when it is closed by
contact of the tip with the surface z. During the time that the tip is
rolling over any portion of the design, the line circuit is, of course, opened
and kept open by the non-conducting property of the material of such design.
RECEIVER AND LOCAL CIRCUITS.
The receiver consists of a receiving surface; a local electric circuit containing
one or more electro magnets (the latter having a common armature) as well as a
circuit closer or switch adapted to open the receiver circuit when the line circuit
is closed; and a striker or marker connected to, or carried by, or under the control
of, the armature of the said one or more electro magnets. In addition to the
above there must be an electro magnet (part of the circuit close above mentioned).
in the line circuit adapted when it is excited to operate the circuit closer or switch.
in the local or receiver circuit; the last mentioned electro magnet and switch
constituting a relay. The above enumerated members of the apparatus are.
illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5. It is preferable that the relay be fixed at, or-
near to, the receiving station. A current of ordinary strength in the transmitter
circuit or line wire will meet the requirements of the present invention.
The striker or marker and the receiving surface are moved in unison with each.
other, or relatively to each other, on the same principle and for the same reasons.
that decide the respective motions of the conducting surface and the contact roller
of the transmitter. Mechanisms analogous to those specified in connection with
the transmitter may be used for producing the said respective motions in the
receiver. The one illustrated is substantially the same as the one illustrated in.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 and has been selected because, for some purposes, I regard it as
the most convenient one.
F is a parallel drum. Its perimeter, or a sheet held thereto, is the receiving
surface upon which the graphic matter on the conducting surface A of the trans--
mitter is reproduced. This drum is fast upon a shaft the journals of which are-
supported in bearings f¹¹ carried by a pair of standards f², f2 set opposite to.
each other and at a suitable distance apart, upon a firm base f³.
G, is the striker, graver, or marker. Its body is a round rod adapted to move.
freely to and fro in a direction radial to the drum F, in guides g, g fast upon a.
saddle g. This saddle is carried lathe-wise upon a double V bed g' upon which it.
can slide to and fro. This bed is aligned parallel with the axis and surface of the-
drum F and supported upon standards 9, 9° set opposite to each other and at.
suitable distances apart from the base f³. The traverse of the saddle to and fro
upon the bed 9 is effected by a leading screw 93, the journals of which are
adapted to revolve, without imparting any linear motion to the screw, in bearings g
carried by the standards 98, 9. The leading screw g³ is parallel with the axis of
the drum F and it passes through a screwed nut 9 fast to and depending from the
underside of the saddle g¹ with which the said screw engages for the purpose of
traversing the striker from one end of the drum F to the other during the time.
that the transmission of matter upon the conducting surface of the transmitter is-
proceeding. The necessary motions of rotation are imparted to the leading
screw 3 and the shaft through a pair of gears f^, g'. These are of the proper-
respective diameters to, in conjunction with the pitch of the screw 93, give to the
drum F and the said screw, their respectively necessary rates of rotation. It is a
matter of indifference on to which-screw or shaft the driving impulse is.
delivered from the prime mover provided that the speed of such impulse is.

page_text: correctly adjusted. The shaft is shewn as continued beyond its left hand bearing
and there broken off, thereby indicating a connection (omitted from the figure) to
some other mechanisın. The type of motor by which, and the mechanism through
It
which the gears f, g' are driven is outside the scope of the present invention.
is of importance however that the rates of the transmitter and of the receiver
shall be identical, or according to any predetermined ratio; and also. subject to
this ratio synchronous. If the said rates are identical and the surface of the
transmitter and receiver of the same size, the reproduction will be fac simile. If
these surfaces differ in diameter the reproduction will be either larger or smaller
while if the number of the rotations of the transmitting and receiving cylinders
differ a corresponding distorted reproduction will be produced. If a reversed
image is required on the receiving surface for the purpose of etching and printing
or engraving and printing, this can be produced by reversing the relative linear
motions of the receiving or transmitting cylinders. One cylinder can be used as
a receiving transmitting cylinder provided that it is fitted with the receiving and
transmitting mechanism before described.
With reference to the exact kind or type of the receiving surface and of its
striker, graver, or marker, the present invention does not impose any limit. The
two are co-related so as to produce the desired result-a re-production in some
superficial form-by means of the actuating mechanism described. Any suitable
pen or pencil or style and transfer paper may be made use of. I find a very
convenient means is to cover the receiving surface with resist and then take off
the transmitted design with the graver. But I unreservedly disclaim the use of
chemically prepared paper with a fixed receiving style and any combination in
which the local or any current passes through the receiving style or marker.
H is the electro magnet of the relay above mentioned. As already explained,
it is included within the line circuit which is connected with one of the terminals,.
the other terminal being connected to earth. I is its armature. The latter is
pivotted at in order that it can swing freely between two contacts J, J¹ according
as to whether it is under the attraction of its magnet H or under the pull of the
spiral spring k. K, K¹ are a pair of electro magnets. Both are in the local
circuit as far as wiring is concerned but only one can be excited at a time by the
current in that circuit. The magnet K and the contact J are connected together
and the magnet K¹ connected with the contact J¹, as indicated by the course of the
conductors j, j L is the local battery. One pole of it is wired to the armature I,
and the other to the remaining terminals of the magnets K, K. The said
magnets K, K' are held in a frame M, with the axis of their coils respectively
aligned with each other and their pole pieces opposite each other at a sufficient
distance to allow of an armature N to oscillate between them according to which
of them is excited. The frame M is carried upon the top of the guides 9, 9 to
which it is made fast. The armature N hangs from pivots n, n supported above
the magnets by a gallows O which is erected upon the top of the saddle g¹. The
bottom of the armature is connected to the body of the striker G in such a way
that its motion of oscillation may put the striker into work or withdraw it. It is
shewn as bifurcated and embracing the body of the striker or marker G between
two collars n', n¹ fast on the striker and close enough to be always in touch with
the armature bifurcations, yet far enough apart to prevent their interfering with
the free oscillation of the armature between the magnets K, K¹.
(e.) The fifth and last part of the present invention relates to an improved tool
or graver for the receiver and is illustrated in Figures 3, 4 and 5. It consists in
making the tool to rotate about its axis and to therefore cut after the manner of a
drill. G is the improved tool. It is fitted to revolve about its axis in the
guides g, g as well as to slide to and fro therein. The necessary rotary motion is
communicated to it by any suitable mechanism driven in any convenient way.
The present invention does not limit me in respect of either the motor or the
intermediate mechanism by and through which the aforesaid rotary motion is com-
municated to the improved graver. The motor and mechanisın illustrated in the

page_text: figures, consist of a shaft Q carried in bearings q, y, in the ends of brackets g', 7,
bolted upon the standards f2, f2, and having a pinion q² fast on one end of it and
gearing with the wheel 9. 23 is a shrouded pulley adapted by the engagement of
a feather qt on the pulley in a straight groove q' in the shaft Q, to travel to and fro
upon the said shaft and to be carried round with it. The to and fro motion
aforesaid is communicated to the said pulley by fingers 98, 98, fast on the frame M
and standing on both sides of the boss of the said pulley. q' is a shrouded
pulley fast on the shank of the tool G and 9' is a band passed round both
pulleys 93, 9º.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I
claim is :--
1. In an electric transmitter, the combination with the conducting surface
thereof, of a platinum contact roller.
2. In an electric transmitter, a conducting surface of either platinum, silver,
or gold.
3. The combination with the cylinder of a transmitter of a detachable thin
sheet or film and a suitable device for holding it to the said cylinder in an
operative position.
4. The improved ink for the production of a non-conducting device on the
conducting surface of an electric transmitter, consisting of a solution of bitumen,
india-rubber and gutta percha in any suitable solvent.
5. The improved ink for the production of a non-conducting device on the-
conducting surface of an electric transmitter consisting of a solution of gelatine
or glue, albumen and a bichromate of an alkali in water.
6. The improved ink for the production of a non-conducting device on the
conducting surface of an electric transmitter, consisting of a solution of gelatine
or glue and white of egg in water.
7. The combination with a transmitter surface and its contact finger of a jet
adapted to deliver air blast as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 30th day of December 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,.
Agents for the Applicant.