pou TV NORDED INSTR FOR SDELVING TEL BODA
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward John Houghton, of No 1 Pilkington Road,
Peckham in the County of Surrey, Electrical Engineer for an Invention of
{pou་་་་་ང་་ TV NORDED INSTR
FOR SDELVING TEL BODADUS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward John Houghton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th September 1882.
EDWARD JOHN HOUGHTON, of No. 1 Pilkington Road, Peckham, in the County
of Surrey, Electrical Engineer, "IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLE INSTRUMENTS FOR
SPEAKING TELEGRAPHS
"
The object of this Invention is to render the movements of the needle of the
ordinary speaking needle instrument perceptible to the ear as well as to the eye,
so that those engaged in working it may be enabled to read the words received on
the instrument by sound, as well as by sight.
My Invention consists in attaching to the needle of the instrument a piece of
some light resonant substance by which the vibrations set up in the needle by its
contact with the stop pegs on the dial are taken up and rendered audible, and
which also enables the operator, when the stop pegs are of different materials, to
distinguish which peg has been struck.
I fasten to the needle on the face of the instrument, by any convenient means,
but preferably by slots, split pins, screws, or wire with a double loop, a piece or
pieces of resonant material, for which purpose I prefer to use talc, but veneer,
parchment, or paper, and many other substances will answer the purpose.-The
resonant material may be fastened to any part of the needle provided the needle
be not thrown out of balance or its movements impeded, but I find it most
convenient to attach it at two points about equidistant one above and one below
the centre on which the needle turns, in such manner that it is bent into and
retained in a state of tension.
In order to distinguish the sound produced by a negative current from that
given forth when a positive current is received, I make one of the stop pegs of a
different material from that of the other; for instance I make one stop peg of
wood or leather, and the other of brass or ivory, or I attach to one of the pegs a
piece of metal or glass &c to effect the same object.-I also attach one or more stop
pegs to the lower ortion of the dial if necessary.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward John Houghton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th March 1883.
EDWARD JOHN HOUGHTON, of No 1 Pilkington Road, Peckham, in the County
of Surrey, Electrical Engineer, IMPROVEMENTS IN NEEDLE INSTRUMENTS
SPEAKING TELEGRAPHS
FOR
The object of this invention is to render the movements of the needle of the
ordinary speaking needle instrument perceptible to the ear, as well as to the eye,
so that those engaged in working it may be enabled to read the words received in
the instrument by sound, as well as by sight.
My invention consists in attaching to the needle of the instrument a piece of some
light resonant substance by which the vibration set up in the needle by its contact
with the stop pegs on the dial are taken up and rendered more distinctly audible,
and which also enables the operator, when the stop pegs are of different materials,
to distinguish which peg has been struck.
I fasten to the needle on the face of the instrument by any convenient means,
such as slots, split pins, screws, or wire double loops, but preferably by one of the
methods hereinafter described, a thin plate or piece or pieces of resonant material
for which purpose I prefer to use tale of the kind more usually known as mica, but
veneer, parchment or paper, and many other substances will answer the purpose.
The resonant material may be fastened to any part of the needle provided the
needle be not thrown out of balance or its movements impeded, but I find it most
convenient to attach it at two points about equidistant, one above, and one below,
the centre on which the needle turns, and in such manner that it is bent into, and
retained in a state of tension.
In order to distinguish the sound produced by a negative current from that
given forth when a positive current is received I make one of the stop pegs of a
different material froin that of the other, for instance I make one stop peg of wood,
or ivory, and the other of brass, glass or porcelain.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed to
describe the same more in detail and for that purpose shall refer to the Sheet of
drawings annexed hereto, in which Figure 1, is a front view of a single needle
instrument with my improvements.-Figure 2, is a side elevation of the same-
Figure 3, represents a front and end view of the needle separately. Figures 4, and 7,
the piece of resonant substance hereinafter called the resonator-Figure 5, is an
enlarged oblique view of one of the wire clips for holding the resonator. Figure 6,
represents a needle with the resonator attached, showing a slightly different method
of attaching the resonator; and Figure 7, shows the resonator for the same
separately. A, indicates the needle on the face of the instrument; B, a piece of
thin light resonant substance called the resonator, for which I prefer to use mica,
although many other substances will answer the purpose, but none with which I
am acquainted answer so well, the highly resonant quality of mica together with
its lightness, transparency, and its independence of atmospheric conditions, render
it admirably adapted for the purpose-This resonator is shewn at B, in figures 1,
2, and 6, attached to the needle, and bent into an arched form and thus retained in
a state of tension by which in my opinion its power as a reinforcer of sound is
increased. It is also shown on Figures 4, and 7, detached and flat.
I prefer to attach the resonator to the needle by one of the methods shown in
the drawings, and it is desirable that such attachments should be very light, so as
not to lessen more than is necessary the sensitiveness of the needle, and yet that

page_text: they should be tolerably firm so as to hold the mica firmly and steadily notwith-
standing the jar produced by the striking of the needle against the stop pins c, c,
For this purpose I prefer to employ double loop wire clips d, d, of the form shewn
on an enlarged scale in Figure 5, and which I solder or rivet to the needle through
boles pierced partly in small lugs formed for the purpose on the sides of the needle
so as to give it extra width at those points, or I employ the arrangement shewn in
Figures 6, and 7, where ee represent two lancet shaped openings, punched through
the needle, each leaving a tongue forming part of the needle and attached to it at
the end nearest the points of the needle, which tongues I bend to the formn shewn
at f, f, in Figure 6, and which serve to pass through holes cut to receive them in
the mica and which are shown at g, g, in Figure 7.
I make the two stop pins of different materials, as for instance one of brass and
the other of ivory, or one of ivory and the other of glass or porcelain, so that the
sound produced by the needle striking them may be different.
Holes may advantageously be punched in the needle, as shown at 8, 8, in Figures 1
and 3 to lessen its weight.
Having now fully described my invention and in what manner the same is to
be carried into effect I wish it to be understood that what I claim as the Invention
secured to me by the here'nbefore in part recited Letters Patent is attaching to
the needle of speaking telegraphs a piece of resonant material as herein before
described by which the vibrations set up in the needle by its contact with the stop
pegs are rendered more audible than they would otherwise be substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof I the said Edward John Houghton have hereunto set
my hand and seal this
day of March in the year of Our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty three
Signed and sealed by the above
named Edward John Houghton
in the presence of
NEWNHAM BROWNE
Patent Agent
91 Queen Street Cheapside E.C.
E. J. HOUGHTON. (L.S.)