IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPHING AND SIGNALLING BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of Bridge Road, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPHING AND SIGNALLING BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY,"
A communication 'from abroad by Mattheus Hipp, residing at Neuf-
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the
Office of the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Retition, on the
19th September,1862.
I, JOHN IMRAY, 'of Bridge Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN' APPARATUS FOR TELEGRAPHING' AND SIGNALLING BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY,"
'to be as follows!
67
My improvements apply, in the first place, to apparatus for actuating the
distance signals of railways, and for securing their correct action by means
electricity. For this purpose on the column of the distance signal I mount
a fane, disc, 'arm, or colored light, 'which when it is turned in one direction
shall indicate that the line 'is clear, and when turned partly round 'into
another position stall indicate that the line is stopped, or that it is unsafe
for a train to proceed farther. I arrange in the column suitable clockwork' of
ordinary construction to act by a spring or weight, and I keep the same con-
stantly wound up and ready to turn the varie or light when a detent is
withdrawn. This detent is acted on by electro-magnetic apparatus connected
by conducting wires with the station or place from which the signal is to be

page_text: worked, so that an operator by moving a suitable handle when he desires
to stop a train introduces a battery into the circuit which actuates the
electro-magnetic apparatus, and causes the detent to be withdrawn. In
combination with this arrangement there are placed at the station or else-
where bells, also connected with electro-magnetic apparatus and the con-
ducting wires, so that when the battery is put in connection with the signal
circuit the bells commence to ring, and continue to do so until the distance
signal has moved to its new position, when they cease to sound in consequence
of the electric current being cut off from the magneto-electric apparatus of
the bells by the change of position of the vane of the distance signal break-
ing contact with the wire that communicates with the bell apparatus. I
also arrange minature vanes at the station or place where the operator is
situated, which by the action that stops the ringing of the bells are caused
to turn to a position corresponding to that of the distance signal they
represent, so as to show that it has obeyed.
I sometimes connect the distance signals with instruments, which I
fix along the line to be acted on by passing trains, so as to make or break
contact and work the electro-magnetic apparatus in such a manner that a
train in passing one of these instruments actuates a lever or arm connected
with the electric wires of the signal, and thus makes or breaks contact,
which causes the signal to be moved, so as to indicate that the line is closed
until an attendant or the train in passing a farther instrument causes the
signal to be moved again, so as to indicate that the line is clear.
My improvements apply, in the second place, to apparatus for indicating
at a railway station the progress of trains approaching to or departing from
it. For this purpose I provide suitable wires extending from the station in
either or both directions, and connected with electro-magnetic apparatus.
At various distances from the station I fix instruments to be acted on by the
passing trains, so as to make contacts and work the electro-magnetic
apparatus. This apparatus is in connection with a detent, which arrests a
train of wound-up mechanism until it is withdrawn on contact being made
by a passing train, as above mentioned. The wound up mechanism is
connected with an index at the station, which is caused to move one step
forward each time the detent is withdrawn, so as to shew successive posi-
tions of the train at succeeding intervals of time.
My improvements apply, in the third place, to a mode of giving and receiving
the signals ordinarily employed for the writing or printing telegraph.
These, when working with the well-known Morse instrument and other similar
instruments, consist of different combinations of dots and strokes, or of short

page_text: and long strokes, marked upon a band of paper, which is caused to travel by
clockwork, the length of the stroke being determined by the time during
which a marker is caused to press against the travelling paper; one handle
is used to make and break electrical contact, which handle is pressed down a
longer or shorter time according as it is desired to make a long or a short
stroke on the paper. Instead of using one handle and one marker, I employ
several keys arranged in two sets or rows like those of a pianoforte, and two
markers, one to mark single dots, and the other to mark either strokes or
several contiguous or multiple dots. I connect these keys with electric wires
leading to the positive and negative poles of a battery, and also with wires
leading to and from the distant station (one of which may be replaced by the
earth as a conductor), so that when I depress any one of the one row it
makes contact for the current of electricity to circulate in one direction, and
when I'depress one of the other row it makes contact for its circulation in the
reverse direction. The wires are connected with two electro-magnets at the
distant station, which act on the two markers respectively, and are so
arranged to attract and repel the respective armatures according as the..
positive cr the negative current is transmitted through these coils; that when
the current of electricity circulates in the one direction, the one marker is
pressed against the paper, and when it circulates in the other direction, the
other marker is pressed against the paper.
I sometimes make the armatures of the electro-magnets also magnetic or
electro-magnetic, so as to be repelled or attracted according as 'the circuit
renders the adjacent poles like or unlike. By this arrangement I can, by
depressing any one of the one set of keys, cause single dots to be marked on the
paper, or by depressing any one of the other set of keys I can cause multiple
dots or strokes to be marked thereon. The object of employing more than one
key to produce dots, and more than one other key to produce lines or multiple
dots, is to enable the operator to finger the keys more rapidly and conveniently.
Instead of transmitting the signals by hand, I sometimes employ paper
prepared with suitable perforations in the following manner :-I mount in
bearings a cylinder or roller having numerous holes bored in its surface, and
capable of revolving freely on its axis. Immediately over the cylinder I
mount side by side two levers, each having a pointed end to drop into the
holes in the surface of the cylinder as they come under it. These levers are
connected with the electric wires like the two rows or sets of keys already
described, so that when the one lever falls into a hole in the cylinder, contact
is made to cause a circulation of electricity in one direction, and thereby to
actuate one of the markers at the distant station; and when the other lever

page_text: falls into a hole, the contact is altered so to reverse the circulation, and thus
to actuate the other marker. I wrap paper round the roller, so as to cover
all the holes, and then with a blunt point I poke through the paper the
holes into which I wish the levers to descend to correspond with the dots
or strokes of the desired signals; then by causing the roller and paper to
revolve under the levers I transmit the signals to the markers at a distance.
In order to extend the useful surface of the cylinder I make it of some length,
and give it by means of a worm or screw a longitudinal as well as a rotary
motion, so that in each revolution it brings a fresh portion of its surface
under the levers. The paper need not be perforated on the cylinder, it may
be first perforated and afterwards placed thereon.
In the apparatus for receiving the signals I employ the following mode of
marking: I mount two rollers on bearings, and cause them to revolve at
some distance apart, with their axes parallel to one another, and round
these rollers I pass thin caoutchouc or other elastic bands. The lower roller
is immersed in a vessel of ink, and another roller presses against the band, so
as to prevent them from carrying too much ink. The bands are arranged to
move near to the surface of the paper which is intended to receive the signals,
but not in contact with it, and the markers are mounted so as to bear on the
other or further side of the bands, and to press them against the p paper when
they are actuated by the electric apparatus, and thereby to make on the paper
impressions corresponding to the forms and positions of their points.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Imray, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
19th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of Bridge Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in theyear of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Imray, Her special licence, that I, the said John Imray, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Imray, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
TELEGRAPHING AND SIGNALLING BY MEANS OF ELECTRICITY," a communication
to me from abroad by Mattheus Hipp, a person resident at Neufchatel,
Switzerland, upon the condition (amongst others) that the said John.
Imray, my executors 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 John Imray, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
The improvements apply, in the first place, to apparatus for actuating the
distance signals of railways, and for securing their correct action by means of
electricity. For this purpose on the column of-the-distanco-signal-I-mount-a-
vane, disc, arm, or colored light, which when it is turned in one direction
shall indicate that the line is clear, and when turned partly round into another
position shall indicate that the line is stopped, or that it is unsafe for a train
to proceed farther. I arrange in the column suitable clock work of ordinary
construction to act by a spring or weight, and 1 keep the same constantly
wound up and ready to turn the vane or light when a detent is withdrawn.
This detent is acted on by electro-magnetic apparatus connected by conducting
wires with the station or place from which the signal is to be worked, so that
an operator, by moving a suitable handle when he desires to stop a train,
introduces a battery into the circuit which actuates the electro-magnetic
apparatus, and causes the detent to be withdrawn. I combination with this
arrangement there are placed at the station or elsewhere bells, also connected
with electro-magnetic apparatus and the conducting wires, so that when the
battery is put in connection with the signal circuit the bells commence to
ring, and to continue to do so until the distance signal has moved to its new
position, when they cease to sound in consequence of the electric current being
cut off from the magneto-electric apparatus of the bells by the change of
position of the vaze of the distance signal breaking contact with the wire
that communicates with the bell apparatus. I also arrange miniature vanes
at the station or place where the operator is situated, which by the action
that stops the ringing of the bells are caused to turn to a position correspond-

page_text: ing to that of the distance signal they represent, so as to shew that it has
obeyed.
I sometimes connect the distance signals with instruments which I fix
along the line to be acted on by passing trains, so as to make or break contact
and work the electro-magnetic apparatus in such a manner, that a train, on
passing one of these instruments, actuates a lever or arm connected with the
electric wires of the sigual, and thus makes or breaks contact, which causes
the signal to be moved so as to indicate that the line is closed, until an
attendant or the train in passing a farther instrument causes the signal to
be moved again, so as to indicate that the line is clear.
Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings shews apparatus such as above
described for actuating the distance signals of railways, and for securing
their correct action by means of electricity.
Figure 1 is an external elevation, and Figure 2 is a section of a signal.
a is a column, the lower portion of which is hollow to permit the descent of a
clock weight; the middle portion contains the mechanism acted on by the
weight, which is protected by a moveable casing fitted round it. The upper
portion is formed of three tubes, the central one of wliich encloses' a vertical
spindle 6; one of the others encloses a vertical rod h. On the top of these
tubes is fixed a circular plate, a portion of which is represented on an enlarged
scale in Figure 6, and above this plate another plate 6' is fixed on the vertical
spindle b, and above it is also fixed to the spindle a signal disc 62, which is
usually of a red color, and is fitted with a lantern with colored lenses for
signalling at night. The plate 6' has four stops or teeth projecting down from
its under side, and a lever i is mounted on the top plate of the column; this
lever i, when it is raised, prevents the signal disc from turning by catching
one of the teeth projecting down from the plate 6', but when it is depressed,
permits these teeth to pass it, when the plate 6' is caused to turn by power
applied to its spindle b. Another lever is also mounted on the top plate of
the column, and it is kept up by a spring m, its upper side being inclined, so
that the projecting teeth can pass it in the direction of the arrow, but would
be stopped by it if force were applied to turn the spindle 6 in the opposite
direction. The lever i is jointed to the vertical rod h, so that when this rod
is kept up the lever stops the disc from turning, but when the rod is lowered,
and then quickly raised again, one of the four teeth is permitted to pass the
lever i, but the next tooth is stopped by it. The disc is thus allowed by each
movement of the rod h to turn one quarter of a revolution, so as to change its
appearance from side view to edge view, or from edge view to side view.
The raising and lowering of the rod h is effected by the mechanism con-

page_text: tained in the middle part of the column a,enlarged views of which are repre-
sented in Figures 3, 4, and 5. k is a barrel round which is wound the string
of the weight which descends in the lower part of the column; this weight
has to be wound up from time to time, and it is fitted with a ratchet and
pawl of the ordinary description. A lever k¹ is arranged below the ratchet
wheel of the barrel, so that when the weight is fully wound up it raises the
lever k³, and causes its extremity to catch into the ratchet teeth, and thereby
prevent farther winding up. On the axis of the barrel, and connected with it
by the ratchet and pawl, is fitted a bevil wheel 2, which gears into a bevil
pinion of half the diameter fixed on the vertical spindle b. An electro-
magnet q, q, is fixed at one side of the barrel; and c, the armature of this
electro-magnet, is mounted on an axis to which a bent lever d is fixed; e is
another lever which has a projection resting on the top of the lever d, so that
when the armature c is attracted by the magnet, and the lever is thereby
thrown back, the lever e being no longer supported upon it, is permitted to
drop. On the axis of the lever e is fixed a notched piece f, and the point of
another lever g rests in this notch. The vertical rod / is jointed to this lever g
and thus when the armature c'is attracted by the magnet, the detent dis with-
drawu, the lever e drops and turns the notched piecef, and the lever g drops,
and with it the rod h and the stop lever i at the summit of the column, which
permits the signal disc to be turned by the weight acting through the bevel
wheel and pinion on the vertical spindle b. There are eight teeth or projec-
tions ³, fixed on the bevil wheel k², and the lever y has an arm g¹, bent ut
right angles, so that before the signal disc can be turned through a quarter of
a revolution, or the wheelk through one-eighth, one of those projections ³bears
against gl, and pushing it back lifts the lever g and rod h, and thereby raises
the stop lever i and thus prevents the signal disc from turning more than one
quarter of a revolution. This same raising of the lever g turus back the
notched piece f, and lifts the lever e, which by means of a small adjustable
bent lever e' mounted thereon throws back the detent d and armature c, the
attraction of the electro-magnet having been caused to cease by the movement
of the wheel 2 in the following manner:-A lever o is mounted on an axis at
the side of the bevil wheel k²; one end of this lever is fitted with a roller o²,
and the other end is pressed by a spring o³, so that the roller o' is always
made to bear against the side of the wheel 2. On the side of the wheel are
formed eight projections and hollows, which press the roller away from or
allow it to approach the wheel during its revolution. There are two springs
r and s, with conducting points arranged on opposite sides of the axis of o,
so that when the roller o¹is pressed away from the wheel, the lever is brought

page_text: into contact with the spring 7, and out of contact with s; and when the rollero¹
drops into a hollow of the wheel, the lever o ceases to have contact with ", but
makes contact with s, and either of these changes is effected during one-
eighth of a revolution of the wheel k³, that is to say, during one quarter of a
revolution of the spindle band signal disc b. The electro-magnetic coils q, q,
have one of their wires or conductors connected directly with a manipulating
instrument and battery at the distant station, as will hereafter be described;
their other wire is connected to the lever o, and each of the springs rands has
a conducting wire also connected to the manipulating instrument, which is so
arranged that one or other of these wires may be brought into the electrical
'circuit. If the wire connected to be brought into the circuit as r is
in contact with o, and so with the coils 2, 2, the electro-magnet is brought into
action, the armature c is attracted, and the mechanism is put in motion by the
weight as above described, but the wheel in turning through one-eighth of a
revolution allows the lever o to recede from the spring r, and thereby breaks
contact and causes the electro-magnetic power of the coils to cease. The
contact formed with the other springs is ineffective until the wire connected
with s be brought into the circuit at the manipulating instrument. I
generally make this instrument of the form represented in Figure 7. Itconsists
of a small case or cabinet, which may be fixed against the wall or in any
convenient place in the station. On the front is mounted a lever or handle,
which can be moved along an arc, one half of which is white and the other
half red. There is a glazed aperture in the case with a white background,
and within the case a small red disc is mounted on a pendulum fixed on the
axis of a permanent magnet, which is surrounded by an electrical coil like a
galvanometer of ordinary construction. When electricity is caused to pass
'through this coil in one direction, the magnet is deflected to the left, and thus
causes the small disc to appear at the aperture; but when the electricity passes
in the epposite direction the small disc disappears from the aperture and is
concealed within the case as indicated by the dotted circle. The case is
surmounted by an electric bell which is caused to sound by the passage of a
current of electricity in the ordinary manner. Figure 8 represents diagram-
matically the mode in which the electrical connections are made, no regard
being paid to the actual positions or proportions of the various parts, but only
to the nature of their connections. A is the handle, and C and D are two
springs enclosed within the case; a semicircular piece of metal is fixed on the
axis of A, which is made to press against the spring C when the handle is
turned to the left, and against D when it is turned to the right. E is the bell
apparatus; B, a battery; Q, the electro-magnetic coils; q which actuate the

page_text: turn.
signal disc O,the lever o,and R and S the twospringsrand salreadydescribed.
The wire 1 conducts from the piece of metal on the axis of A through the
bell apparatus E to the battery B, and thence to the coils Q, and from them
to the lever O. The wire 2 connects the springs R and D, and the wire 3
connects S and D. When the handle is turned to the position represented
in the Figure making contact with D, there is a complete circuit of electricity
through the wires 1 and 2, and the bell is thereby caused to sound and the
electro-magnet Q to act upon the armature so as to permit the signal disc to
But the turning of the disc as already described throws the lever O
into the position marked by the dotted lines, and thereby breaks contact with
R, and makes contact with S, and as S by the wire 3 communicates with C,
which is not in contact with the metal on the handle, the electric circulation
is arrested and the bell ceases to sound. When the handle A is turned into
the position marked by the dotted lines, the circuit is again completed, the
bell sounds, and the signal turns, the lever is thrown back to its first position,
and the circuit is again broken. Thus by moving the handle to right and
left alternately the sigual disc is caused to turn by successive quarters of a
revolution, and to present alternately its side and its edge view, and during
every movement the bell sounds, nor can it cease to sound until the movement
be effected, for it is only by the actual movement of the disc acting on the
lever O that the circuit is interrupted. The coil G, which acts on the small
disc, is connected by very sinall wires 4 and 5 to the two wires 2 and 3, and
this coil having very numerous convolutions, the resistance to the passage of
electricity is so great, that though enough passes to deflect the magnet which
moves the small disc, there is not enough to render the electro-magnet Q
capable of lifting its armature. When the lever O is moved by the action of
the disc mechanism, this much-resisted circuit takes place, and the small disc
is deflected to the right,as marked by the dotted lines; and when the handleA
is turned to the right, the direction of this resisted circuit is reversed and the
small disc is deflected to the left. Any one of the wires 1, 2, or 3, can be
replaced by earth conduction in the usual manner.
Although I have described the mechanism as applied to railway signals, for
the discs of which a movement of one quarter of a revolution at a time is
sufficient, it may be readily understood that in other cases another fraction of
a revolution may be preferable. When, for instance, it is desired to transmit
six different signals, as in a ship for steering or for working the engines,
I modify the mechanism in the following manner :-Instead of a disc turning
one quarter of a revolution at each movement, I use a cylinder or hexagonal
prism, mounted on an axis, and having the six different signals marked legibly

page_text: on divisions of its sides. Instead of the four stops or teeth on the signal
plate 61, I employ six, and on the wheel I fix twelve projections as k³, and
twelve projections and hollows for moving the lever o, and with this modifica-
tion the action of the signal mechanism is the same, only that it gives the
spindle b a motion through one-sixth of a revolution instead of one-fourth, as
already described. For the manipulating apparatus in this case I retain the
bell, to announce by its ceasing to sound that the signal has turned; but
I replace the small disc by a signal cylinder or hexagonal prism,corresponding
with the distant signal, and acted on by the same electric current. Figure 9
represents diagrammatically the electric connections which I employ for
this purpose. His a handle of non-conducting material, which can be turned
round a circle divided into six equal parts, each marked with one of the signals
to be transmitted. On the axis of H is fixed a triple metallic cam, and at
each side of it there are two springs K, K', and L, L, each pair being
arranged side by side, and the cam being sufficiently broad to extend over the
width of both, so that when the handle is turned in the direction of the arrow
it brings one of its cam surfaces to press on the pair of springs K and K', and
thereby to bring them into electric contact; and if it be turned one-sixth of a
revolution farther, the cam surface leaves K and K', and another of the cams
bears on L and L',and thereby brings them into contact, so that by successive
movements of the handle over arcs of 60° the pairs of springs K, K¹, and
L, L¹, are successively brought into electric contact. The springs K and L
are connected respectively by wires 6 and 7 to springs R and S, arranged in
connection with a lever O and electro-magnets Q, and the signal mechanism
at the distant station and the springs K' and L' are connected by wires 9
and 10 to springs R and S¹ arranged in a similar manner in connection with
a lever O¹ and electro-magnet Q', and similar signal mechanism near the
manipulator. The two electro-magnetic coils Q and Q¹ are connected by the
wire 8 to the bell apparatus E and battery B. When the handle is in the
position represented in the Diagram electric connection subsists from the
battery B by wire 8 to the electro-magnet Q, the lever O, the spring R,
wire 6, and spring K, thence by the spring K¹ to the wire 9, the spring R', the
lever G³, the electro-magnet Q', the bell E, and battery B, and thus the bell
is caused to sound, and both signals, the distant and the near, are caused
to turn one-sixth, but in doing so they throw the levers O and O' to the
positions marked by the dotted lines, and thereby break contact with R and R¹,
so that the bell ceases to ring, and the signals move no farther. On turning
the handle H so as to bring another cam to bear on the springs L and L',
the levers O and 0¹ being now bearing on the springs S and S', com-

page_text: munication is again effected, and another sounding of the bell and move-
ment of the signals takes place. Similar arrangements are applicable to a
number of signals exceeding six, as may be readily understood; and
although I have described the movements of the signal axes as being effected
by weights acting on clockwork, springs may be used instead thereof where
they may be found more convenient.
gone
When, instead of using the manipulating instrument above described for
actuating the railway signals, I cause them to be actuated by passing trains,
I prefer the following arrangement:-I will suppose that a signal is placed at
a quarter of a mile or other convenient distance in advance of a station, and
that it is desired after a train shall have passed it towards the station to shew
a danger signal to any succeeding train until the former train shall have
some suitable distance beyond the station. Near the signal itself, and also
near the desired point beyond the station, I mount several levers on an axis,
parallel to the line of rails, and connect their extremities by a bar or rod lying
along the inside of one of the rails, and having its upper surface brought.to
be nearly level with the rail by counterbalance weights or springs,so that when
the wheels of a train pass along this part of the line, their flanges shall press
down the bar acting on the axis of the levers. The length of the bar exceeds
the distance from wheel to wheel, so that when the flange of the first wheel
bears it down, it is kept down during the passage of the rest of the wheels,
and can only rise again when the whole train has passed it. When the bar
is thus depressed, the axis of the levers which carry it is made to turn in
its bearings, and an insulated metal cam or lever fixed upon it is made to
press upon two contiguous springs, and thus to bring them into electrical
contact; and conductors being arranged in connection with these springs, a
snitable battery, and the signal constructed as above described, the latter is
caused to turn to danger by the passage of the train over the first bar, and
remains so until the train passing the farther point depresses the second bar
and again making electrical contact, causes the signal to turn to safety.
When it is desired to indicate at a station the progress of a train approach-
ing it or departing from it, I fix at convenient distances, such as intervals of
1,000 yards, along the line levers and bars, as above described, which are
successively depressed by the passage of a train, and make contact with
conducting wires leading to an indicating instrument at the station. I construct
this instrument to work like the cylinder or hexagonal prism already described,
so as to shew successive sides or divisions as the successive contacts are made;
or I sometimes mount. two drums on parallel.axes at some distance apart, and
put a band round them both, having a mark thereon to represent the train,

page_text: and fix side by side with it a scale of distances corresponding to those of
the bars along the line. One of these drums is caused to turn through a cer-
tain part of a revolution by each electric contact, and the band being thus
caused to move a certain distance, the mark upon it is successively brought
to different points on the scale, which indicates that the train has attained
a certain distance from the station, and must be somewhere between that
distance and the distance corresponding to the next point on the scale.
The improvements apply farther to a mode of giving and receiving the
siguals ordinarily employed for the writing or printing telegraph. These, when
working with the well-known Morse instrument aud other similarinstruments,
consist of different combinations of dots and strokes, or of short and long
strokes, marked upon a band of paper, which is caused to travel by clockwork,
the length of the stroke being determined by the time during which a marker
is caused to press against the travelling paper; one handle is used to make
and break electrical contact, which handle is pressed down a longer or shorter
time, according as it is desired to make a long or a short stroke on the paper.
Instead of using one.handle and one marker, I employ several keys arranged
in two sets or rows, like those of a pianoforte, and two markers, one to mark
single dots and the other to mark either strokes or several contiguous or mul-
tiple dots. I connect these keys with electric wires leading to the positive and
negative poles of a battery, and also with wires leading to and from the distant
station (one of which may bereplaced by the earth as a conductor), so that when
I depress any one of the one row,it makes contact for the current of electricity
to circulate in one direction, and when I depress one of the other row, it makes
contact for its circulation in the reverse direction. The wires are connected
with two electro-magnets at the distant station, which act on the two markers
respectively, and are so arranged to attract and repel the respective armatures,
according as the positive or the negative current is transmitted through these
coils, that when the current of electricity circulates in the one direction the
one marker is pressed against the paper, and when it circulates in the other
direction the other marker is pressed against the paper. I prefer to make
the armatures of the electro-magnets also magnetic or electro-magnetic, so as
to be repelled or attracted according as the circuit renders the adjacent
poles alike or unlike. By this arrangement I can, by depressing any one of
the one set of keys,cause single dots to be marked on the paper; or by depres
sing any one of the other sets of keys, Ican cause multiple dots or strokes to be
marked thereon. The object of employing more than one key to produce dots
and more than one other key to produce lines or multiple dots, is to enable
the operator to finger the keys more rapidly and conveniently.

page_text: In carrying out this part of the Invention I prefer to retain the same com-
binations of dots and strokes as those generally used in Morse's telegraphs,
and I replace the ordinary stroke by one at right angles to the line, or by
a dot marked on a lower line, or by two or more dots, as may be understood
from Figure, Sheet II., where the line M represents several of the ordinary
symbols. H represent the same symbols with the strokes at right angles,
and H2 the same symbols with the stroke replaced by a dot under the line,
one on and one below the line. Of these, I profer H¹, because the system
of dots and strokes M having-come into. general use, this mode H₁ most
nearly resembles it, as before mentioned. In order to produce these marks
I employ two styles or other markers in the receiving apparatus, one for
the simple dot and the other for the stroke or double or lower dot, and
cause them to be pressed against the paper respectively by electro-magnets,
arted on by a current in the one or the other direction.
In Sheet II., Figure 1 is a plan, and Figures 3 and 4 are respectively side
and end views of so much of my receiving apparatus as differs from that
ordinarily in use, the mechanism for moving the paper being of the usual
construction.
a is a permanent magnet, shaped so as to form the framing of the electro-
magnets, and c, c¹, are two armatures mounted on parallel axes on one end of
the magnet, so that they have always the same polarity as a; d, d¹, are the
poles of the electro-magnets, and e¹, e², e³, e, are adjusting screws, which are
made to bear against the armatures c, c¹, respectively, so that while the arma-
ture c is permitted to approach nearer to the pole & than to the pole d¹ the
other armature c¹ is permitted to approach nearer to the pole d' than to
the pole d. To the axes of these armatures are fixed levers fif¹, which are
fitted with styles or other suitable markers, that can be made by the movement
of the armatures to press against paper which is caused to pass between the
styles and a fixed face g, in the manner usually employed in such apparatus.
When the instrument is inactive the armature cis, by its permanent magnetism,
attracted to the pole d, which is then neutral, while the other armature c¹ is
attracted to the pole d', which is also neutral, and thus both styles are kept
apart from the paper. When a current of electricity is caused to pass in theone
direction through the coils of the electro-magnets, the armature c is repelled
from the pole d, while the other armature c' is attracted the more strongly to
the pole d', and thus the style of fis pressed against the paper, while the style
off' is kept apart from it; but when the electrical current passes in the
opposite direction, the polarity of the electro-magnets being reversed, the
armature e is attracted to d, while the armature c' is repelled from d', and thus

page_text: the style of 7 is pressed against the paper while the style of f is kept apart
from it. According then to the direction of the current, the one style or
the other is made to mark the paper, and these styles baving differently shaped
points, being arranged side by side, either produce different marks, such as
a dot and a stroke, or marks in different lines on the paper.
I sometimes arrange the instrument differently, as represented in Figures 5
and 6, where a is the permanent magnet arranged between the electro-
magnetic coils, and where the two armatures h, h³, are fixed on one axis on the
end of the magnet a, the adjusting screws being fitted in the poles of the
electro-magnets, to permit the one armature to approach the one pole, and
the other to approach the other pole, their action under a current in the one
direction or the other being similar to that described above..
.
For causing the styles to make visible marks on the paper I sometimes
use the arrangement represented in Figure 2. i, i, are two rollers connected
by a thin flexible and elastic band, or two such bands side by side, which
are caused to move at the same rate as the paper by the ordinary mechanism.
These bands pass along with the paper, but at a little distance from its
surface, between the styles f and the fixed face g, and the lower roller being
immersed in a trough of colour, or the bands being supplied with coloring
matter by an inker of ordinary construction, whenever either style presses
the colored surface of the band against the paper it makes a visible mark
thereon.
In Figures 6 and 7 another method of effecting the same object is
represented. k, k³, are arms fixed to the armatures h, h', above described;
1, 1, are two small rollers fixed on axes, which are made to turn freely in holes
provided in the arms k, k¹. On the ends of these axes are pinions, which gear
respectively into two wheels m, m³, fixed on an axis, which is caused to revolve
by the mechanism which gives motion to the paper. n is a small trough con-
taining ink or other coloring matter, into which the lower sides of the
rollers,, are immersed; and p is the paper passed round a roller in the
ordinary manner. When the arm is caused to rise by the action of
the electro-magnet on the armature h, the roller is lifted out of the ink and
pressed against the paper, making a mark thereon; and when the other arm k¹
is acted on, the other roller is in like manner caused to mark the paper, and
as either roller is in contact with the paper only for a very short time, the
mark made by it is exceedingly short. By making the edges of the rollers
very narrow, the marks they produce appear merely as dots arranged in two
parallel lines; or by making one of the rollers broader on the face than the
other, its mark resembles a stroke at right angles to the line of marks.

page_text: Sometimes, instead of employing a permanent magnet a, as above described,
I use an electro-magnet with its polarity constantly sustained unchanged,
as may be readily understood.
The apparatus aia distantstation by which the electrical current is caused to
pass in the one direction or the other through the electro-magnetic apparatus
above described is as follows: As before mentioned, Iarrange several white
keys and several black keys like the portion of the key-board of a pianoforte,
the white keys being so connected with the conductors that they shall always
transmit the current in the one direction, and the black keys being arranged
so as to transmit the current in the opposite direction. For this purpose a
single white and a single black key would suffice, but I employ several of
eicli to give facility of fingering, and thereby to increase the speed with which
the signals can be transmitted. Figure 8 in Sheet II. of the accompanying
Drawings represents one of these keys, and Figures 10, 11, and 12, Diagrams
representing the mode in which they are connected with the battery and the
conducting wires. The extremity of the key has a hook o jointed to it, which
catches under an arm projecting from a conducting axisq which extends along
the one row of keys, and which is connected by a conductor to a similar axis
extending along the other row of keys. When the key is not in use this arm
rests on a conducting pin a connected with the line of telegraph wires, so that
a current of electricity can pass from the pin x through the axis q belonging
to the one row of keys to the axis belonging to the other row of keys, and to
another pin in connection with this axis, and thus when the keys are not
touched, the ordinary telegraphic circuit is permitted to go on. The axis
has fixed on it two cam-shaped projections s, each insulated from the axis
itself, but extending some distance along it, and immediately below the axis
are four springs r, side by side, connected with the telegraph wires, but
insulated from the axis q when it is in repose. The two cam-shaped projections
on the axis q extend respectively over a pair of these springs r.
When the
point of the key is depressed, the hook o lifts the arm off the pin a, and
this interrupts the ordinary circuit, and causing the axis y to turn, brings
its projection to bear on the springs r, pair by pair, and thus makes
electrical contact between each pair of these springs. Immediately on this
contact being made, the resistance of the spring causes the hook o to slip
from under the arm, and the arm to fall back on x, its descent being insured
by a spiral spring t acting on a lever fixed to the axis q. On the point of
the key being allowed again to rise, the ratchet form of the extremity of
the hook-o-permits it to pass the point of the arm, and again to catch
under it ready for lifting it when the key is next depressed.

page_text: In the Diagrams, Figures 10, 11, and 12, B represents the battery;
1 and 2 represent the conducting wires, one of which may be replaced by
earth conduction in the ordinary manner; Q' is one of the key axes q already
described, extending along the four springs R1, R2, R3, and R4; and Qis
another axis of the same kind extending along the other four springs R5, Rº,
R7, and R8, it being understood that Q' is moved by the white, and Q² by the
black keys; X' is one of the pins x connected with the conductor 1, and
under the arm of the axis Q1 and X2 is another similar pin connected to
wire 2, and under the arm of the axis Q2. These axes are connected together
by a conducting wire 3, but otherwise insulated; when they are in repose,
electrical conimunication can take place from the wire 1 to the pin X¹, thence
to axis Q', thence by wire 3 to axis Q, thence to pin X2, and so to the wire 2.
or vice versa, the battery B being excluded from the circuit. The springs R4
and R8 are connected to the wire 1, R¹ and R5 to wire 2, R and R' to
opposite poles of the battery B, and R³ and R³ also to opposite poles of B by
wires crossing each other. When either of the axes Q or Q2 is turned,
contact with its pin X' or X2 is broken, and the general electrical current is
thus interrupted. If, referring to Figure 11, Q2 be turned by depressing any
one of the black keys, as already described in reference to Figure 8, not only
is contact broken with the pin X², but the two springs R5 and R are brought
into communication with each other by means of one of the cam-shaped
projections & on the axis Q, and also the two springs R7 and Rs are
brought into communication, and thus the circuit from the battery B moving
in the direction of the arrow is permitted to pass through the springs R
and R³, and wire 1 to the distant station, and back by wire 2 through the
springs R and Re to the opposite pole of the battery B. When, on the
other hand, the axis Q¹ is moved by depressing any one of the white keys,
as in Figure 12, contact is broken with the pin X and the two springs
R' and R', as well as R³ and R4 are brought into communication by the
cam projections on the axis Q. In this case the current proceeding in the
same direction (that of the arrow) from the battery B passes through
springs R2 and R¹ to wire 2, thence to the distant station, and back by the
wire 1, springs R and R³ to the opposite pole of the battery.
To the arrangement of keys, springs, and axes thus describer, I sometimes
add two levers, which move respectively like the white and black keys, and
act on the axes and electrical communications in the same manner; but
instead of moving these levers as I do the keys by the pressure of the fingers,
I cause projections on their points to be pressed by springs or weights upon a
paper covering a roller. The surface of this roller has holes bored in it at

page_text: f 1
1
of
suitable intervals in spiral or screw rows around and along it, and the roller
being mounted in bearings is caused to turn round by hand, and at the same
time by means of a screw on its axis working in a fixed nut to advance
longitudinally, Before the paper is wound round the roller I perforate it
with holes at proper intervals, or after it is placed on the roller I poke holes
through it by a bluntpoint at points corresponding to the holes in the surface
of the roller, and i
in such succession for dots and strokes as may be required
for the signals which are to be transmitted. When one of these holes passes
under the point of one of the levers above mentioned, that lever drops into it,
and thus acts upon the electrical communications as if it were one of the
white keys depressed by the finger, and the roller continuing to revolve agáin
lifts it. When a hole comes under the point of the other lever, it likewise
drops, and acts as if it were one of the black keys. By this arrangement I
am enabled by relays of rollers, or of sheets of paper to be wound on them,
to prepare several messages or series of signals apart from the manipulating
instrument even while it is in operation, and on placing a roller covered with
paper
'so prepared under the-levers, and putting it in motion, those.siguals.are
transmitted. My object in giving the roller a longitudinal as well as a rotary
motion; is to bring successive lengths of its circumference under the levers,
and thus to arrange on its surface a considerable length of message.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein described or represented on the
accompanying Figures, and that as many parts of the mechanism which I
have described are already well known, 1 do not claim such as the Invention;
but I do claim,-
First, themode herein described of actuating by means of electricity signals,
such as the distance signals of railways, and of securing their correct action,
and the construction of the manipulating instrument, and arrangement of
conductors in connection with the bell apparatus and the indicating signals,
as herein described.
Secondly, the mode herein described of actuating such signals by a passing
train.
Thirdly, the application of similar mechanism to actuate an indicator at a
station for shewing the progress of a train along the line.
Fourthly, the modes herein described of constructing electro-magnetic
apparatus for producing two kinds or rows of marks upon slips of paper,
according as the electrical current is caused to circulate in the one or the
other direction:

page_text: Fifthly, the modes herein described of making such marks in ink, or
other color.
Sixthly, the arrangement herein described of two sets of keys in connection
with the conducting wires, so that by depressing any key belonging to the
one set the electrical current is caused to circulate in the one direction, and
by depressing any key belonging to the other set the direction of the current
is reversed.
Seventhly, the arrangement herein described of levers and other parts in
connection with the keys, by which, when the keys are not in use, the electrical
communication is maintained past the manipulating instrument.
Eighthly, the mode herein described of applying two levers to a perforated
roller covered with paper, having holes in suitable places, so that these levers
act as keys for transmitting electric currents in either direction, according
to the arrangement of holes in the paper.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
JOHN IMRAY. (L.S.)