Improvements in or relating to Telegraphic Transmitting Instruments.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Telegraphic Transmitting
Instruments.
I, JOHN GARDNER, of Knott End, near Fleetwood, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to telegraphic transmitting instruments and its object
is to so construct or arrange them that they may be enabled to automatically and
continuously or intermittently transmit or repeat any desired word signal or
the like. This may be effected by operating the instrument by moving cam,
tappet, or other suitable and equivalent. devices.
pro-
A convenient method of carrying these improvements into effect in connection
with a
'Morse" key is to arrange in combination with the key a wheel or
rotatable disc the periphery or other part of which is provided with teeth,
jections or the like adapted to come into contact with the key or some part
connected therewith. The teeth or projections are of two sizes, long and short;
to represent dots and dashes. As the wheel rotates the projections successively
depress the key for greater or shorter periods according to their characters.
By suitably forming or arranging the projections upon the wheel the key may
be made to continuously repeat a word or words or other desired signal as long as the
wheel is rotated.
The rotation of the wheel, which may be continuous or intermittent, may
be effected by means of an electro-motor, clock-work or the like. The wheel,
together with its driving apparatus if desired, may be mounted in a frame which
may be pivotted to the back of the key, so that the automatic device may be
thrown out of place when desired and leave the key free to be operated by hand
in the usual manner. It is preferred that the throwing of the wheel out of action
also disconnects or stops the driving mechanism.
A transmitting instrument constructed or arranged as described is especially
applicable to the "wireless" system of telegraphy. A lighthouse, station, vessel
or the like may be furnished with the device and thus automatically and con-
tinuously or intermittently transmit its name or other pre-arranged signal or
word which would be recorded by any other vessel or the like similarly fitted
for "wireless telegraphy and coming within its sphere of influence.
"
If the instrument only required for automatic transmission the ordinary
"Morse" key may be dispensed with, and may be substituted by a spring or
other contact which forms or is connected to one terminal of the circuit. The
wheel may be connected to the other terminal and the circuit may be closed by
the projections coming into contact with the key or its substitute.
1000

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Telegraphic Transmitting
Instruments.
I, JOHN GARDNER, of Knott End, near Fleetwood, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to telegraphic transmitting instruments and its object
is to so construct and arrange them that they may be enabled to automatically and
continuously or intermittently transmit or repeat any desired word signal or
the like. This may be effected by operating the instrument by a movable or
moving cam, tappet, or other suitable and equivalent devices.
pro-
A convenient method of carrying these improvements into effect in connection
with a Morse or like key, is to arrange in combination with the key a wheel or
rotatable disc the periphery or other part of which is provided with teeth,
jections or the like adapted to come into contact with the key or some part
connected therewith. The teeth or projections are of two sizes, long and short.
to represent dots and dashes. As the wheel rotates the projections successively
depress the key for greater or shorter periods according to their characters.
By suitably forming or arranging the projections upon the wheel the key may
be made to continuously repeat a word or words or other desired signal as long as the
wheel is rotated.
The rotation of the wheel, which may be continuous or intermittent may
be effected by means of an electro-motor, clock work or the like. The wheel,
together with its driving apparatus if desired, may be mounted in a frame which
is suitably pivotted, so that the automatic device may be thrown or moved out
of place when desired, and thus leave the key free to be operated by hand in the
usual manner.
It is preferred that the throwing of the wheel out of action
also disconnects or stops the driving mechanism.
A transmitting instrument constructed or arranged as described is especially
applicable to the "
wireless" system of telegraphy. A lighthouse, station, vessel
or the like may be furnished with the device and thus automatically and con-
tinuously or intermittently transmit its name or other pre-arranged signal or
word, which would be recorded by any other vessel or the like suitably fitted
with a receiver for " wireless" telegraphy and coming within its sphere of
influence.
The accompanying drawings, to which I will refer hereinafter, illustrate one
form of apparatus constructed according to this invention.
Figures 1, 2, and 3 shew it respectively in elevation, plan, and cross section.
Figure 4 represents in section and elevation one form of rotatable transmitting
wheel.
Figure 5 illustrates that part of the contact device which is attached to the
Morse or similar key.
Referring to the drawings, A is a Morse key pivotted to the frame work of
the apparatus and normally maintained in its
"
open position by the spring B.
One end of the key may be furnished with a suitable handle or finger piece for
manual operation and the other end engages with a suitably pivotted arm C.
which has attached to it a contact strip D. The movement of the key thus

page_text: causes the strip D to move into or out of contact with the adjustable screw E
and close or open the circuit the wires of which are in connection with the
screw E and the strip D through the terminals F, F. Any other convenient
form of contact making and breaking device may be employed, but that described
is preferred, especially for "wireless" telegraphy, owing to the wide space
between the contacts when the circuit is open.
The end of the key which engages with and operates the arm C may con-
veniently be formed with a spring G to move the arm C into its contact closing
position. Movement of the key may thus be permitted after the closing of the
circuit. Instead of the spring being in the position shown it may be included
in any other convenient part of the contact device so as to compensate for any
errors in adjustment. For example, the strip D may be formed of or from a
spring.
The rotatable transmitting wheel or disc H is secured to a shaft J which is
mounted in the swing frame K. The swing frame is loosely mounted upon the
main shaft L of the apparatus so that it can be moved in either of its extreme
positions, as shown in dotted and full lines in Figure 1, and thus move the
wheel Hout of or into its active position relatively to the key A. M is a cross
rod in the frame K and serves to limit the motion of the frame in either direction
by coming into contact with the uprights of the frame work of the apparatus. The
shaft J also has secured to it the wheel N which engages with the pinion O
upon the main shaft L. The transmitting wheel H may be directly secured
to its shaft in any convenient manner or may be removable therefrom. In
this latter case a small disc P is rigidly fastened upon the shaft and the trans-
mitting wheel may be forced up against it by means of the nut Q screwing upon
the end of the shaft. The disc P may also be furnished with a projection adapted
to engage with a corresponding recess in the wheel H.
When the wheel H is in its inoperative position as indicated in dotted lines,
Figure 1, the key A is free to be operated by hand.
For automatic working the key A is formed with a step, projection or the
like a, which is adapted to be engaged by teeth, projections or the like formed
upon or attached to the periphery of the wheel H when the latter is in the opera-
tive position shewn to the left in Figure 1. The projections upon the wheel
may be shaped and arranged in any desired manner to transmit any desired
signal. Those shewn in the Figure 1 would, when the wheel was rotated in the
direction of the arrow, give a short and a long depression to the key, and signal
a dot and a dash, the letter A in the Morse code. Letters would follow in any
desired order and blank spaces would or might be inserted between them.
The main shaft of the apparatus may be rotated by a worm R fixed upon an
electro-motor shaft, and engaging with a worm wheel S secured to the shaft L.
The transmitting wheel is thus rotated through the pinion O and the wheel N,
and the key is automatically depressed and released.
In some cases it may be desirable to obtain an intermittent rotation of the
transmitting wheel with a continuous rotation of the main shaft. To effect this
the pinion O, which in this case is loose upon the main shaft, has a pin or the
like o secured to its inner face. T is a sleeve mounted upon the shaft in such
a manner as to rotate therewith while capable of sliding thereon, and provided
with a pin or projection t corresponding to that on the pinion O. When the
sleeve T is in the position indicated in Figures 2 and 3 it will rotate with the
main shaft, but the pinion 0 and the transmitting wheel will remain stationary.
When the sleeve is moved to the right of the position it occupies in Figure 3
its projection or pin comes against that on the pinion 0, and causes the latter to
rotate and drive the transmitting wheel.
The desired engaging or disengaging movement of the sleeve may be effected
by the following means. A worm U is mounted on the main shaft L and engages
with a worm wheel V mounted on the same spindle as the cam W. A further

page_text: 6
parallel shaft carries the arm X which is formed with a projection to engage
with a groove in the sleeve T, so that the position of the arm X governs the posi-
tion of the sleeve. A part of the arm is shown resting, upon the cam W in such
a manner that the rotation of the latter in the direction of the arrow will cause
the arm and the connected sleeve to move so as to bring the pin on the face of
the sleeve into the path of the pin on the face of the pinion O. The rotation
of the main shaft would then effect the rotation of the transmitting wheel.
I will assume that the transmitting wheel has made one revolution and it
becomes necessary or is desired to disengage it and bring it to rest. At the
completion of one revolution the bent pin on the face of the wheel N comes
against an inclined edge or face on the end of the arm X, which is in the path
of the bent pin when the sleeve is driving the pinion O. The arm X is then
forced by the bent pin to the position shown in the drawings, the sleeve and
pinion are separated, and the rotation of the transmitting wheel ceases.
To maintain the arm X against accidental displacement in either of its two
extreme positions, a pivotted arm Y is provided, furnished at its end with a
friction bowl Y¹ and forced in one direction by the spring y. The end of the
arm X is formed with two notches with either of which the spring controlled
arm Y may engage by its friction bowl, according to the position of the sleeve T.
The springy is not strong enough to prevent the action of the bent pin upon
the wheel N, or the projection upon the cam W, when the latter comes into
action to force the sleeve into its operative position, but is strong enough to hold
the arm X against the action of gravity or of vibrations.
It is evident that if the worm wheel V makes one revolution a minute, then
one tooth or projection on the cam W will cause one revolution of the trans-
mitting wheel per minute. Two teeth on the cam will cause two transmissions
per minute, and so on for any greater number..
.
The projections on the edge of the transmitting wheel, the dots, dashes and
the like, may be cut out of the substance of the wheel, but they may be more
conveniently separately formed and secured in place. Figure 4 shows the wheel H
with the characters or the like fixed between it and a supplementary ring or
wheel H which is held in position by suitable screws or equivalent devices.
If the instrument is only required for automatic transmission the ordinary
Morse" kev may be dispensed with, and may be substituted by a spring or
other contact which forms or is connected to one terminal of the circuit. The
transmitting wheel may be connected to the other terminal, and the circuit may
be closed by the projections coming into contact with the key or its substitute.
The transmitting wheel may be formed with part or some of the characters
readily removable so that details of the message or signal can be easily altered.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a telegraphic transmitting apparatus, a transmitting wheel constructed
arranged and operating substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described
and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
2. In a telegraphic transmitting apparatus, the combination of a transmitting
wheel and a circuit opening and closing device such as a "Morse" key, con-
structed arranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore described and as
illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
3. In a telegraphic transmitting apparatus, a swing frame carrying the trans-
mitting wheel and mounted upon the main shaft of the apparatus, substantially
as herein before described and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
4. In a telegraphic transmitting apparatus, a Morse or similar key adapted
to be operated by a transmitting wheel constructed and arranged substantially
as hereinbefore described and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 5. Telegraphic apparatus for automatically sending or repeating a message
or signal, constructed arranged and operating substantially as hereinbefore
described and as illustrated by the accompanying. drawings.
Dated this 12th day of February AD 1900
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.