Improvements in Telephonic Apparatus.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 9th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 26th Nov., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Telephonic Apparatus.
I, HENNING HAMMARLUND, of Svångsta, in the Kingdom of Sweden, Watch
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention consists of the combination of a telephonic apparatus (microphone
and telephone) as they are used in practice for communicating from one station to
another, with supplementary devices connected to both the call apparatus and to
the receiver and intended to be acted upon by the current produced in the receiving
apparatus when the bell-crank of the call apparatus is rotated and to give into
the microphone of said receiving apparatus certain signals by sounding a bell or
sounding springs or the like, or by putting into action a phonograph, when the
owner of said receiving apparatus is not at bome or not disposed to answer; said
signals may be combined so as to indicate to the person who rung the bell of the
call apparatus, at what time or at what date the person whom he was calling will
be at home or disengaged.
As mentioned above there may be disposed in each telephonic apparatus a small
phonograph the cylinder or disc of which may be rotated either by the action of
a mainspring wound up from time to time, or by the action of an electric current
acting upon a small electric motor or in any other way whatever. A stopping-
device, is provided for stopping the rotation of the cylinder or disc of the
phonograph and adapted to be acted upon by the current produced in the apparatus
when the bell of the calling-apparatus is rung. The stopping-device being then
temporarily released will leave the phonograph free to produce the predetermined
strokes or sounds into the microphone so as to automatically give an answer to the
calling person, for instance informing the latter of the day and hour at which the
person called upon will be present.
The apparatus thus arranged will of course only be connected to the bell-circuit
of the station when the owner of the telephonic station in question is desirous to
be exempted from answering calls during a predetermined space of time. The said
phonograph may of course be used for any other automatic communication what-
ever to be transmitted by means of the microphone of the telephone station in
question.
Instead of using a phonograph, as above stated there may be combined with the
microphone of the telephonic apparatus or station, a suitable sounding device acted
upon by means of a mainspring or weights or the like and provided with a suitable
stopping-device usually preventing any sounding but arranged so as to sound a
predetermined series of regular or irregular strokes when the said stopping device
is temporarily released by means of the electric current produced by ringing the
bell of the call apparatus or station.
The said sounding device will of course only be connected to the circuit of the
station when the owner of the telephonic station in question desires to be exempted
from answering calls during a predetermined space of time.
There will further be provided suitable means for predetermining the series of
strokes for which one arranges the aforesaid apparatus before setting the same into
action and for recalling the person receiving such a sounding communication, how
the said series of signals or sounds is to be interpreted or understood.
It may for
instance be agreed that each double stroke of the bell indicates ten and each single
stroke indicates unity so as to have, for instance the date 25th inst. indicated by
means of two double strokes and five single strokes.
The hours may be indicated by double strokes of a deeper sounding bell of the
same apparatus and the minutes by single strokes on the same, and so on.

page_text: The sounding-device above referred to may be constructed like the usual
mechanism of a sounding-watch or clock or in any other suitable manner whatever,
the main feature of the invention being the combination of a telephonic apparatus
or station with any suitable device arranged so as to be connected at will with the
bell-circuit of the said apparatus so as to be acted upon when an electric current is
sent into the said bell-circuit, and to act upon the microphone of the said telephonic
apparatus or station so as to automatically reply to the calling person in giving to
the same any suitable information whatever by means of any suitable signals.
Dated this 13th day of June 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Telephonic Apparatus.
I, HENNING HAMMARLUND, of Svångsta, in the Kingdom of Sweden, Watch
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The invention consists in the combination of a telephonical apparatus (combined
telephone, microphone, and clock-work) with a device which is to be intercalated in
the clock-work-circuit when the owner of said apparatus desires to cut himself out
or to avoid having to answer telephone calls, during a certain lapse of time, and to
give the person who may call him during that time, a predetermined answer, as for
instance, the day and the hour at which he will be at liberty to answer telephone calls.
The said device is so combined as to produce, each time a current is sent into the
clock-work-circuit of the telephone to which it is adapted, a series of sounds which
will be transmitted to the person who calls by means of the microphone of the
apparatus.
These sounds may be produced either by means of a phonograph or by means of
a clock-work, musical-box or other mechanism. In both cases the answering-device
is acted upon by means of an electro-magnet through which runs the electric-
current intended by the sender of the message to ring the call-bell.
As the phonograph, which may be used as aforesaid, is not claimed herein it is
not necessary to particularly describe the same in the present Specification it being
sufficient to state that, when the answering-apparatus is composed of a phonograph,
the mover or motor of this latter is provided with a stopping-lever which is thrown
out of action by an electro-magnet, each time the calling-bell is rung in the
apparatus in question; the phonograph will then work during a predetermined
time, and then be stopped again by the said lever, when this latter is no longer
acted upon by the electro-magnet. The phonograph-roller when so intercalated, is
prepared so as to give the desired answer, for instance; "You may call on me
from 3 to 4 o'clock or the like.
Instead of a phonograph use may be made of mechanism similar to that of
striking or repeating-watches or clocks, as shown in the accompanying drawing in
which-
Fig. 1 shows the said mechanism out of action.
Fig. 2. shows the same when in action.
Fig. 3 is a partial section showing the arrangement of the snails and hands.
Fig. 4. represents the automatical-winding-up-device of the motor of the
answering-apparatus.
In all the figures the same letters of reference refer to the same parts.
Fig. 1 shows diagrammatically the combination of the said device with two
telephone stations A & B in which the call-bell-circuit of these stations is alone

page_text: indicated. A is the calling station and B the answering-station. The answering-
device shown in detail in Fig. 1. is in reality lodged in the inside of the said
apparatus B.
The answering-apparatus may be intercalated in the call-bell-circuit of the
apparatus A & B by placing a commutator C in the position indicated in full lines
in Fig. 1. The current starting from A runs through the wire 1' to the electro-
maguet D and from there through the wire 2', the commutator C and the wire 3 to
the apparatus A.
When the commutator C is placed in the position indicated by dotted lines, the
current starting from A runs through the wire 1 to the call-bell-work of B and thence
through the wire 2, the commutator C and the transmission 3 to the apparatus A.
The answering-device is then out of gear.
As soon as the current runs through the electro-magnet D, this latter attracts
the gear-lever E of the answering-device and this causes the motor of the latter
to start in the case of a phonograph as well as in the case of other apparatus.
In the apparatus shown and described this takes place by reason of the fact that
the arm E of the lever E is placed out of reach of the pin fixed upon one of the
wheels F of the motor. The lever E oscillating around e, has a tooth or projection E
against which bears, when the apparatus is out of gear, the racks G H or I intended
to act upon the clock-work-hammers of the answering-apparatus.
The rack G is pivoted at 9, and the racks H and I are both pivoted at / so
that the toothed segments of the racks H and I do not describe the same arc as the
toothed segments of the rack G. This displacement of the teeth of rack G with
regard to the teeth of the racks H and is so calculated, that, as long as the
projection E is engaged in the teeth of one or the other of the racks H or I, the
rack G is free to pass in front of the said projection E without the latter engaging
in its teeth, this engagement only being possible when both racks H and I are lifted
to the position shown in Fig. 2 in which position they leave the said projection free
to pass under their lower edge.
As long as the projection E is engaged either in the teeth of the racks H and I
or in that of the rack G, the arm E of the lever E is kept out of reach of the
pin so that the motor may cause the wheel F to rotate freely, but as soon as the
three racks G, H and I are lifted high enough to enable the tooth or projection E
to pass under their lower edge, the arm E' falls back into the position of Fig. 1.
in which it stops the wheel F. The fall of the racks G H and I is limited, as in
the repeating-watches, by means of suitably shaped snails G' H' and I'. Those
snails are placed in the desired position by means of hands G' and 1' which are
moved by means of the fingers in front of a dial provided with suitable indications,
indicating for instance the number of single or double strokes struck by the apparatus,
when the hand and consequently the snail is placed in a determinated position.
A star-wheel R with a double-headed-brake-spring is intended to keep the
snail I in the desired position. The rack I is provided with a projection to prevent
the fall of the lever E when the star-wheel is placed by means of its hand I' so
that one of its points engages in the slit of the spring as it is the case in Figure 1.
The train continues to run and the pin-wheel L strikes single strokes. Immediately
afterwards, the cam K lifts up the rack I so that the lever E is free to fall back
and stop the mechanism.
When it is lifted the rack I strikes strokes which, in connection with those struck
by the pin-wheel L, produce double-strokes.
If, on the contrary, the wheel R is placed by hand, with the help of the finger I'
in such a position that the spring r engages between its two teeth, the projection of
the rack does not prevent the fall of the lever E and no double stroke will
result.
In the apparatus shown by the drawing the snails G¹ and H' are firmly affixed
with one another. The snail H' has three steps and the snail G¹ has three
corresponding series of each ten steps. It follows therefore that to each of the

page_text: 3 positions of the rack H determined by the snail H₁ correspond 10 different
positions of the rack G determined by the 10 steps of each arm of the snail G
according to the position given to the hand G2 on its dial.
The lifting of the racks is effected by means of a cam K rotating continuously
as soon as the apparatus is brought into gear. The lever is so arranged that the
starting of the motor only takes place when the tooth E has enabled the
racks G H and I to fall on their respective snails. But owing to the above described
arrangement of the teeth of the racks G H and I, the rack G is only lifted when the
racks H and I have reached the position shown in Fig. 2, that is to say, when the
tooth of the lever E has passed under the lower edge of the said racks and is
engaged in the teeth of rack G. In this way the latter is the last to be lifted, then
as long as the tooth E is not engaged in its teeth though each turn of the
cam causes the said rack G to be liftel by one of its teeth, the same falls back
every time on to its snail.
One of the wheels of the motor, for instance the
the usual clock-work-wheels with a series of pins
lift and let fall again successively the arm m of a
a bell M'.
dotted wheel L is provided, like
which when wheel L' is rotating,
hammer M which strikes against
The stopping of the movement being determined by the racks G it is the teeth of
the said rack which is to be lifted after the fall of the projection E into the teeth
of said rack, which determines the duration of the motion of the motor when the
latter has been started as above specified. Now it appears that the position of the
snail G¹ determines the tooth of the rack G on which the projection E² falls, and
consequently the number of strokes struck by means of wheel Lagainst the bell M'.
It may be agreed that each stroke of that bell signifies for instance, one hour or
that the number of those strokes indicates one conventional answer printed on
a table placed near the calling-apparatus, so that each stroke, for instance from
1 to 12 is equivalent to a predetermined sentence.
For instance it may be agreed that ;-
1 stroke means; I shall be away all day.
2 strokes mean; Please call again in the afternoon.
3 strokes mean; You may call on me from 8 to 10 o'clock in the morning.
4 strokes mean; You may call on me from 10 to 12 o'clock.
5 strokes mean; You may call on me from 12 to 2 o'clock.
6 strokes mean; You may call on me from 2 to 4 o'clock.
7 strokes mean; You may call on me from 4 to 6 o'clock.
8 strokes mean; You may call on me from 6 to 10 o'clock.
9 strokes mean; Do not call at night.
And so on.
In this way a series of conventional answers may be given by means of a single
rack and of a single bell.
But if one desires the apparatus to give a greater number of diverse signals, it
may be moreover provided with a bell N₁ acted upon by a hammer N this latter
being combined with a device hereinafter described and which enables it to strike a
predetermined number of single or double strokes.
•
This device is composed of the racks H and I and of the crank O pivoted at o
and which is intended to convey the strokes from the rack H to the arm n of the
hammer N while the rack I is transmitting its strokes directly to the pin n¹ fixed
on said arm n.
The same cam K which raises, as above described, the rack G, raises likewise
the rack H; the rack I is lifted by means of a cam K₁ fixed to K and rotating
with the latter, but the tooth of which is placed somewhat behind the tooth K; it
follows therefore that the strokes of I always take place somewhat after the strokes
of H, this causing the abovementioned double strokes. If the double strokes are
struck against the bell N¹ nearly about the same time as part of the single strokes
struck against the bell M' triple strokes are produced. The meaning of the single,

page_text: double or triple strokes being predetermined the apparatus is able to give a great
number of conventional answers. It may be thus agreed for instance, that double
strokes mean the unities and triple strokes the tens of a date, or the like.
Instead of acting, by means of their number of teeth, upon levers of bell-hammers,
the racks G H and may be combined with suitable electrical contact-pieces with
which they are successively put into or out of contact thus establishing or breaking
the current and causing an electric bell to ring, the teeth of said racks successively
pressing a contact-spring against a fixed contact so as to complete a circuit.
The above described answering-apparatus may be completed by the addition of
an automatic winding-up device for its motor such as a spring, weight, or the like
acted upon by the same current as the answering-apparatus. A device of that kind
is shown in Fig. 4.
P is the axis round which the motor-spring or the string carrying the weight,
intended to move the mechanism of the answering-apparatus is coiled. A wheel p
engaging with a wheel Q pivoted at g to the plate of the work, is fixed on this axis.
A lever S oscillating on the same pivot y carries a click s engaging in the teeth
of Q. The lever S always tends to fall back, by means of its proper weight or of
a suitable spring upon a bearing T but it is lifted with the aforesaid lever E
whenever the calling-bell-current of the telephone runs through the electro-magnet
throwing the answering-apparatus out of action. Said electro-magnet causes, by
lifting the lever S, the rotation of the wheel Q and the winding-up of the motor.
A click ' prevents the inverse rotation of the wheel Q.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination of a telephone apparatus B (combined microphone, telephone
and bell-work) with an automatic answering-apparatus, which may be temporarily
intercalated in the circuit of the bell-work of the said apparatus and arranged so as
to produce near the microphone of the latter a predetermined number of sonorous
signals as soon as the call-bell mechanism of a telephone apparatus A connected
with the aforesaid apparatus B is put in action for the purpose of calling on the
apparatus B.
2. In a combination of the kind above specified an electro-magnet acting upon a
stop-lever E the arm E¹ of which stops the motor when the apparatus is thrown out
of gear and the arm E of which keeps the racks G, H, I, lifted, these racks falling
down upon the corresponding snails G', H', I', as soon as the current of the call-
bell-circuit passes through the electro-magnet D, attracting the lever E said racks
being afterwards lifted by means of the cams K and K', determining the number of
strokes struck by the hammers M and N upon the bells M¹ and N' or their
equivalents substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. The combination in an apparatus of the kind above specified with a winding-up
device intended to wind up the motor of the answering-apparatus acted upon by
means of an electro-magnet traversed by the bell-current of the calling-apparatus.
Dated this Ninth day of September 1892.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.