IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS
Year: 1871

page_text: ĻETTERS PATENT to Augusto Guattari, of Kennington, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of “IMPROVEMENTS IN PNEUMATIC TELEGRAPH
APPARATUS."
Scaled the 9th April 1872, and dated the 19th October 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augusto Guattari at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th October 1871.
·I, Augusto Guattari, of Kennington, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PNEUMATIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS," to be as follows :-
==
My Invention relates to improvements in atmospheric telegraph
apparatus, such as that described in the Specification of a Patent
granted to me, bearing date June 20th, 1871, No. 1624.
According to my Invention I apply the power of a spring or weight
to operate by clockwork mechanism the index needle of the receiving
instrument described in my former Patent, instead of employing the

page_text: impulso of the air jet itself to move the said needle. In the present
Invention the mechanism which actuates and controls the needle is
simply liberated or set in motion by cach pulsation or current of the air
by which the clockwork is operated in a somewhat similar manner as by
the electric currents when electricity is employed. The Invention con-
sists therefore in applying the pressure of a jet of air conveyed through a
tubo to actuate by means of suitable apparatus herein-after described the
clockwork of an ordinary Bróguet receiving instrument, or to actuate any
other clockwork by which an index or needle can be made to move and
indicate different letters, signs, or signals.
In carrying out my Invention I employ clockwork and mechanism
similar to that of an ordinary Breguet receiving instrument, and in lieu
of the electro-magnet and its armature employed in electro-telegraphy,
I actuate the pallets of the escapement which controls the mechanism
by the simple impulsion of the air, which moves a valve or inflates
a diaphragm as in my former Patent, whose movements are commu-
nicated to the escapement by means of a rod and lever connected
thereto.
The improved transmitting instrument by which the currents or pul-
sations of the air in the tube are obtained consists of an air pump provided
with a pair of cylinders, the pistons of which are operated alternately
by a lever handle or manipulator, and impel a jet of air through the
air tube connecting the two stations between which it is desired to
signal at each stroke. of the said handle. Bellows similarly operated
may be substituted for the cylinders. The currents of air which take
effect on the receiving instrument at the distant station as before.
described, may also be made to actuate a similar instrument (which
serves in turn as receiving instrument for signals from the distant
station placed near the transmitting instrument to guide the operator,
both receiving instruments working synchronously. Or the movements
of the lever or manipulator may be communicated to an "anchor"
which actuates a wheel carrying on its spindle an index needle, working
over a dial provided with signs corresponding to that of the receiving
instrument to guide the operator in signalling.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Augusto Guattari in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th April 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTO
GUATTARI, of Kennington, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord' One thousand eight, hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Augusto Guattari, Her special
licence that I, the said Augusto Guattari, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Augusto Guattari, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PREUMATIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Augusto Guattari, my exccutors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Augusto Guattari, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say:
My Invention relates to improvements in atmospheric telegraph
apparatus such as that described in the Specification of Letters Patent
granted to me bearing date June 20th, 1871, No. 1624.
According to my present Invention I apply the power of a spring
or weight to, operate the index needle of the receiving instrument,

page_text: instead of employing the air in the conducting tube as the medium for
transmitting the impulse required to move the needle. In the present
instance the pulsations or currents of air convoyed by the tube are
merely required to liberate the clockwork mechanism by which the
needle is actuated whereby messages may be conveyed with greater t
rapidity and to longer distances than by the apparatus described in
my said former Patent.
In carrying out my Invention I employ an arrangement of clockwork
and controlling mechanism similar to that of an ordinary Bréguet re-
ceiving instrument, but in lieu of the electro-magnet and its armature]
employed in electro-telegraphy to actuate the escapement which controls
the movements of the needle, I cause the pulsations or currents of air
conveyed through the tube to move a valve or inflate a diaphragm (as
in my said former Patent,) whose movements are communicated to the
pallets of the escapement by means of a rod and lever connected thereto.. 1
The improved transmitting instrument by which the said currents or
pulsations of the air are produced consists of a bellows or a pair of air
pump cylinders operated by a lever handle to impel at each stroke a
current of air through the air tube connecting the transmitting and
receiving instruments. The pulsations or currents of air which take a
effect on the receiving instrument at the distant station as before described
may also be made to actuate a similar instrument (which serves in turn
as receiving instrument for signals from the distant station) placed near
the transmitting instrument to guide the operator, both receiving in-
struments working synchronously. Or the lever handle may be pro- 1
vided with a double pawl or anchor which actuates a wheel carrying
on its spindle an index needle working over a dial provided with signs
corresponding to those of the receiving instrument to guide the operator

page_text: Figure 4 shows a plan of another arrangement of transmitting instru-
ment.. In Figures 1 and 2, a, a are the plates holding the ordinary clock-
work mechanism (not shown) which sets the index needle 6 in motion:
c is the escapement wheel, on the spindle of needle b and d are the two
oscillating pallets which control the movements of the needle. The
pallets are fixed on a rock shaft e provided with a fork fin which works
a ping on a lever h, at each oscillation of which the clockwork is
released and moves the needle 6 one tooth of wheel c precisely as in an
ordinary Bréguet instrument. Lever his pivoted at hand has an arm i
which bears on the extremity of a rod j sliding in a bearing and fixed
to the centre of a flexible india-rubber or other diaphragm k by which
the end of the air conducting tube A is closed air tight, the edges of
this diaphragm being clamped between a flange k on the end of the.
tube and a ring k". The momentary compression of the air in tube A.
by the instrument shown in Figure 3 expands the diaphragm outwards,
and oscillates the lever and pallets d in one direction, thus allowing
the needle 6 to be moved by the clockwork mechanism over one division
of the signal dial. is the ordinary spring by which the lever and pallets
are returned when the pressure of the air is relaxed, whereby the needle
is moved over another division of the dial. The transmitting instrument
shown in Figure 3 consists of a compressible air ball or bag m or its
equivalent worked by a hand lever n pivoted at n³ and connected at
to the rod o working in bearings o¹, o'. p is a spring to withdraw the
lever and expand the air bag after compression; q is a needle working
over a dial similar to that of the receiving instrument'; is a pin-wheel
on the spindle of said needle which is rotated by the oscillation of the
pallets fixed to lever n so that needle q moves over a division of the
dial at each movement to-and-fro of lever n., D is an instrument similar
to that shown in Figures 1 and 2 for receiving signals. It is connected
with tube A by a branch pipe A', a cock A serving to establish commu-
nication in either direction at will. Figure 4 shows a transmitting
instrument by which the air in the tube is not merely compressed, but
a current is impelled through the tube A and escapes at a valve fitted
to the extremity of said tube in lieu of the diaphragm k before described.
The rising and falling movements of the valve produced by the escape
of the air in jets are conveyed by rod ; to the arm of lever has before.
t, t are a pair of bellows connected by rod o and worked alternately by
lever n connected to said rod as shown. Each bellows has a valve to
admit air which when the bellows is compressed is impelled through a
'

page_text: tube into the conducting tube A, other valves being placed at u to
prevent the return of the air. The currents of air serve also to operate
a receiving instrument E near the transmitter simultaneously with that
at the distant station to guide the operator in signalling; o is a three-
way cock to cut off the communication of the bellows with pipe A when
messages are being received from the distant station.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same I declare that what I claim as my Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The combination of the diaphragm k (or its substitute the valve 1
herein-before mentioned) with the lever hand escapement pallets d of
an ordinary Bréguet receiving instrument or one analogous thereto, the
said diaphragm or valve being actuated by the pressure of air in a tubo
substantially as and for the purpose herein-before described and shown
in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawings.
2ndly. The combination with the mechanism for compressing the air
in the tube of the needle q operated by the oscillations of lever n sub-
stantially as and for the purpose specified and shown in Figure 3 of the
Drawings.
1
3rdly. The combination of the transmitting and receiving apparatus 2
shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawings substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
4thly. The employment in combination of the transmitting instrument-
shown in Figure 4 and the receiving instrument shown in Figures 1 and
2, a valve being substituted for the diaphragm substantially as and for 2
the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof I, the said Augusto Guattari, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
AUGº. GUATTARI. (L.s.) 3