IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING TELEGRAPHS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING TELEGRAPHS."-A com-
munication from abroad by George Baker Field and Elisha
Whittelsey Andrews, both of the City and State of New York,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th March 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRINTING TELEGRAPHS,"
a communication, to be as follows:-

page_text: When used as a transmitting instrument a small magnetic motor
driven by a local battery makes and breaks the main circuit by a rotary
pulsator, and the pulsations operate through a magnet in the trans-
mitting machine and also in the receiving machine or machines to rotate
the type wheels by a step-by-step movement, and the type wheels hence
move in harmony.
When a finger key at the transmitting station is depressed the type
wheel of that machine is stopped when an arm upon its shaft comes in
contact with the said key; this causes the simultaneous stoppage of
pulsations over the main line, arresting all the type wheels at the same
point. The impression is now made simply in consequence of the pause
that ensues, for the arm that operates the type wheel by pawls or a step-
by-step movement closes the circuit of the transmitting instrument
through its own printing magnet and the other printing magnets of the
line, and the impression is taken.
The movement of the impression lever breaks its own circuit, so that
the pad is drawn instantly back by the spring of the impression lever, and
the circuit to the printing magnet remains broken until the type wheel
is set in motion again, which throws a switch that again closes the
circuit to the printing magnet. The rapidity of movement however of
the type wheel lever is such that the printing magnet does not have
time to become sufficiently charged to move the printing lever before
the circuit to the said magnet is broken; hence the printing magnet is
not brought into action except when the pause takes place upon stopping
the type wheel.
The circuit through the printing magnet may either be the main
circuit or a local circuit.
The pulsator is made of alternate conducting and non-conducting
surfaces, and is stopped by the key acting through an arm and a sleeve
on the type wheel shaft with an inclined slot that moves a slide and
finger that takes a catch on the pulsator to hold the same.
The pul-
sators at the receiving stations are disconnected, and that at the
transmitting station is the only one in operation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent;
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 PRINTING TELEGRAPHS," a communication to me from abroad by
George Baker Field and Elisha Whittelsey Andrews, both of the
City and State of New York, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 made to the Drawings hereto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This instrument is termed the "universal printing telegraph," and it
is intended as a transmitting and as a receiving instrument.

page_text: When used as a transmitting instrument a small magnetic motor
driven by a local battery makes and breaks the main circuit, and the
pulsations operate through a magnet in the transmitting machine
and also in the receiving machine or machines to rotate the type
wheels by a step-by-step movement, and the type wheels hence move in
harmony.
When a finger key is depressed at the transmitting station the type
wheel of that machine is stopped when an arm upon its shaft comes in
contact with the said key; this causes the simultaneous.stoppage of
pulsations over the main line, arresting all the type wheels at the same
point. The impression is now made simply in consequence of the pause
that ensues, for the arm that operates the type wheel by a step-by-step
movement closes the circuit of the transmitting instrument through its
own printing magnet and the other printing magnets of the line, and the
impression is taken.
The movement of the impression lever breaks its own circuit, so that
the pad is drawn instantly back by the spring of the impression lever,
and the circuit to the printing magnet remains broken until the type
wheel is set in motion again, which throws a switch that again closes
the circuit to the printing magnet. The rapidity of motion however of
the type wheel lever is such that the printing magnet does not have
time to become sufficiently charged to move the printing lever before
the circuit to said magnet is again broken; hence the printing magnet
is not brought into action except when the pause take place upon
stopping the type wheel.
The circuit through the printing magnet may either be the main
circuit or a local.
In the Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan of the instrument; Fig. 2 is an
inverted plan; Fig. 3 is a partial side view; Fig. 4 is a plan of the motor
and connections; and Fig. 5 is a section showing the loose sleeve and
incline that operate the stop for the revolving pulsator. In Figures 1
and 4 the parts are shown in full size; in the other Figures the parts are
shown upon a reduced scale.
The bed A is provided with a shaft b, upon which is the type wheel c.
This shaft is the center of the semicircular range of keys d, d', the
number of which corresponds to the divisions upon the type wheel, and

page_text: they should be marked with similar characters arranged properly for the
type wheel.
Upon the bed A is a magnetic motor made of a pair of magnets e, e,
armature 2, and spring circuit closers 3, 4, connected with the binding
screws 5 and 10 and a local battery, by means of which the armature 2
will be rotated with rapidity. The armature 2 is on a vertical shaft in
the frame f', and upon this shaft is the pulsator g and a friction spring
that causes the necessary power to be applied to rotate the pulsator,
but allows the motor to continue when the pulsator is arrested. This
pulsator is made cylindrical, but of alternate conducting and non-
conducting materials, and a spring h rests against the sides thereof, and
is supported by a column of non-conducting material /¹. The metallic
connection from the main line battery is through the binding screw 10
to the bed of the machine, through the shaft and conducting surface of
the pulsator g, spring h, and wire 11 to the magnet k that moves the
type wheel, thence to the binding screw 12, main line, and distant
instrument. At the distant instrument the switch is moved to the
insulated anvil 13, and connects the bed and screw 10 of the machine
with one of the wires of the magnet k, the other wire of the magnet
going to the binding screw 12, and the pulsator of the receiving machine
is instantaneously stopped, so that all the instruments in the line may be
moved by the pulsator at the sending station only. Upon the pulsator g
there are catches 15, and an arm 16 upon a vertical sliding shaft m is
raised by the finger 17 of the switch 7, so as to be in the path of one of
the catches 15 to arrest the further revolution of the pulsator of the
receiving machine at a point when the spring his upon the non-
conducting surface, thereby the circuit through the pulsator is broken,
but connected through the switch 1, as aforesaid. The motors at the
receiving station may continue to revolve, but are not operative. All
the magnets in the line are operated in unison by pulsations from the
pulsator of the transmitting machine, and in each machine the arma-.
ture ¹ swings on the shaft 20 and operates the lever n that carries the
pawls 21 and stops 26 to the ratchet wheel n¹ upon the shaft b of the
type wheel c; hence all the type wheels will move around in unison
with a step-by-step motion, and when the pulsator at the sending station
is stopped all the type wheels in the circuit stop, and they stand at the
same points.

page_text: station when its type wheel and all others in the circuit are in position
to have letters impressed corresponding to the finger key d or d¹ that is
acted upon. The type wheel shaft carries a sleeve o, with fingers 22
and 23 on opposite sides, and one below the other. The keys d, d', being
in semicircular ranges, each key has an arm below the bed A extending
radially toward the shaft b. The arms p are upon the keys d, and act
with the finger 22; and the arms p' are upon the keys d', and act with
the finger 23. In the normal position the fingers 22 and 23 revolve
clear of the arms p, p¹, but when a key is depressed the arm of that key
stops the finger 22 or 23 and sleeve o. In this sleeve o is an inclined
slot, with a pin 24 from the shaft b therein, and a slight spring 25 yields
as the sleeve is stopped, and the shaft 6 continues to move sufficiently to
give the sleeve o a downward movement by the pin 24 in the inclined
slot, and by the lever o² lift the vertical sliding rod m and arm 16,
stopping the pulsator and all the type wheels with the types corre-
sponding with the depressed key in position ready for printing.
The means for giving the impression are as follows:-The printing
lever is upon the shaft r that is operated upon by the armature r¹ of
the electro-magnet q. The paper passes from the reel q¹ in front of
the impression pad, and then between the roller segments 8, s¹, and
clamps 32. These roller segments are upon a stationary stud 30 that is
adjustable by the slotted frame and screw 31, and upon the respective
roller segments 8, s¹, are arms 33, carrying the feeding clamps 32, and
slotted ends to the arms 33 are acted upon by pins in the printing
lever t. The parts are in reverse position, so that one clamp acts to
pull the paper along as the printing lever moves one way, and the other
clamp acts as the lever moves the other way, thereby moving the paper
along each impression. By this arrangement the printing lever acts to
better advantage to swing the feeding clamps than in the devices here-
tofore employed. A spring 38 draws back the printing lever. A circuit
*closer comes in contact with the type wheel lever n every pulsation,
but the contact is so instantaneous that the electro-magnet has not
time to act against its tension spring to give the pulsation; but the
moment the pulsator stops and the type wheel also stops by the circuit
of the pulsator being broken, the contact of vand n closes the circuit
from the screw 10 and bed of the machine through the lever n, closer v,
lever, insulated plate ², and wire to the magnet q, thence to the
binding screw 42; and this circuit may be part of the main line or a

page_text: Seventh. The printing lever magnet in an electric circuit that is
closed by the movement of the lever that operates the type wheel, sub-
stantially as set forth, so that the printing magnet is brought into action
by a pause in the rotation of the type wheel.
Eighth. The lever or switch v¹ in combination with the impression
magnet and printing lever, substantially as set forth, for breaking the
circuit automatically to the printing magnet.
Ninth. The printing lever t´and magnet in combination with the type
wheel lever n, arms x and 39, and switch lever v¹, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth.
Tenth. A type wheel moved with a step-by-step movement, an electro-
magnet for the same, and a pulsator in combination with a secondary
circuit to the printing magnet operated automatically, substantially as
set forth.
Eleventh. A series of printing telegraph instruments arranged in one
main electrical circuit, and operated by the pulsator of any one machine
in that circuit acting as a transmitter, and all the machines acting in
harmony as receiving machines, the pulsator in each receiving machine
being stopped or thrown out of action, substantially as set forth.
Twelfth. A printing telegraph instrument containing a pulsator, type
wheel, type wheel magnet, a switch, and letter keys, substantially as
specified, so as to act as a receiving or transmitting machine by the
movement of the switch, as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
WM. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)