IM- PROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL APPARATUS BY WHICH MOTION CAN BE COM- MUNICATED OR TRANSMITTED FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, AND BETWEEN DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SHIP OR OTHER STRUCTURE, TO EXHIBIT ORDERS, MESSAGES, OR SIGNALS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sacheverell Gisborne, of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, Electrical Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL APPARATUS BY WHICH MOTION CAN BE COM-
MUNICATED OR TRANSMITTED FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, AND BETWEEN
DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SHIP OR OTHER STRUCTURE, TO EXHIBIT ORDERS,
MESSAGES, OR SIGNALS."
Sealed the 16th May 1865, and dated the 23rd November 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sacheverell Gisborne
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd November 1864.
I, JOHN SACHEVERBLL GISBORNE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICAL APPARATUS BY WHICH MOTION CAN BE COM-
MUNICATED OR TRANSMITTED FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, AND BETWEEN DIFFERENT
PARTS OF A SHIP OR OTHER STRUCTURE, TO EXHIBIT ORDERS, MESSAGES, OR
SIGNALS," to be as follows:-
My Invention may be conveniently described as consisting of three parts.
Firstly, the sending apparatus; secondly, the wires, ropes, bands, chains,
or jointed rods, which convey motion from the sending apparatus to, thirdly,
the receiving and exhibiting apparatus.
The sending and receiving ends are provided with corresponding figures,
letters, words, sentences, or devices, and the whole parts are so arranged to
work together that by bringing a pointer or its equivalent at the sending end

page_text: opposite to any desired signal, order, or message, the same or corresponding
signal, order, or message will be exhibited at the receiving end.
The said Invention can be employed for purposes of communication on
railway trains, from one part to another of factories, from the top to the
bottom of mine shafts, and elsewhere; but it is specially suitable for conveying
orders, a comparatively limited number being necessary, from the commander
of a ship to the engineer or steersman, and herein-after I will refer to an
arrangement of parts adapted for that purpose.
The sending apparatus has a pointer and an index with the necessary
orders inscribed or otherwise formed thereon, either of these is secured on a
shaft or spindle, free to rotate or "rock" on its axis, and to that part secured
there is affixed a handle, by which a person may move it and bring the
desired order and the pointer opposite to each other. On or to the said shaft
or spindle there is secured a disc wheel, a quadrant, or broad ended lever or
levers to which the ends of two, or duplicates of two if it be desired to
transmit the same order to more than one place, motion communicators are
made fast. These said motion communicators or transmitters are made of
wires, ropes, bands, chains, or jointed rods, and pass over friction rollers, or
are provided with cranks, or their equivalents, according to the form of the
parts through which they are led to the receiving apparatus, and as they are
conveyed away from the wheel, quadrant, lever, or levers from different sides
they move when in use in opposite directions, that is, the one from and the
other to the sending end of the apparatus.
At the receiving end of the apparatus, resting in suitable framework, are
two parallel shafts, free to rotate or "rock" to carry drums, quadrants, or
levers, between which there is stretched, the ends being connected, a flexible
sheet or web of canvas or other material having painted or placed thereon the
orders corresponding to those at the sending end. The ends of the motion
communicators are secured to the parallel shafts, drums, quadrants, or levers,
or to one of them only, so that the motion may rotate or "rock" them, and
bring the desired order opposite to an open or glazed space in the framework
which encloses the several working parts at this the said receiving end.
Should it be desired in connection with the above apparatus to employ a bell
or other sound-giving means of directing attention to the order transmitted,
the ordinary "bell arrangement" could be used, but if the bell or other
sounding apparatus is to be used for and with every order, then a small block
on the wires could trip or release a hammer or hammers every movement.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Sacheverell Gisborne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
SACHEVERELL GISBORNE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Electrical
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, Her special licence that I, the said John
Sacheverell Gisborne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, 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 MECHANICAL APPARATUS BY WHICH MOTION
CAN BE COMMUNICATED OR TRANSMITTED FROM ONE PLACE TO ANOTHER, AND BETWEEN
DIFFERENT PARTS OF A SHIP OR OTHER STRUCTURE, TO EXHIBIT ORDERS, MESSAGES,
OR SIGNALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Sacheverell Gisborne, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Sacheverell Gisborne, 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 (that is to say):-
For convenience in describing the improvements, which I have made, my
Invention may be said to consist of three parts.
Firstly, the sending apparatus; secondly, the wires, ropes, bands, chains,.
or jointed rods which convey motion from the sending apparatus to, thirdly,..
the receiving and exhibiting apparatus.
The sending and receiving ends are provided with corresponding figures,,
letters, words, sentences, or devices, and the whole of the operating parts of

page_text: the apparatus are so arranged to work together that by bringing a pointer, or
its equivalent at the sending end opposite to any desired order, message, or
signal, the corresponding order, message, or signal, will be exhibited at the
receiving end.
The said Invention can be employed for purposes of communication on
railway trains, from one part to another of factories, from the top to the
bottom, and vice versa, of mine shafts, and elsewhere; but it is specially
suitable for conveying orders, a comparatively limited number being necessary,
from the commander of a ship to the engineer or steersman, and herein-after
I will refer to an arrangement of parts adapted for that purpose.
The sending apparatus has a pointer and an index with the necessary orders
inscribed or otherwise formed thereon; either of these is secured on a shaft
or spindle, free to rotate or "rock" on its axis, and to that part secured there
is affixed a handle, by which a person may move it, and bring the desired
order and the pointer opposite to each other. On or to the said shaft or
spindle there is secured a disc wheel, a quadrant, a broad-ended lever or
levers, to which the ends of two, or duplicates of two, if it be desired to
transmit the same order to more than one place, motion communicators are
made fast. These said motion communicators or transmitters are made of
wires, ropes, bands, chains, or jointed rods, and pass over friction rollers, or
are provided with cranks, or their equivalents, according to the form of the
parts through which they are to be led to the receiving apparatus, and as
they are conveyed away from the wheel, quadrant, lever or levers from
different sides they move when in use in opposite directions, that is, the one
from and the other to the sending end of the apparatus.
At the receiving end of the apparatus, resting in suitable framework, are
two parallel shafts, free to rotate or "rock" to carry drums, quadrants, or
levers, between which there is stretched, the ends being connected, a flexible
sheet or web of canvas, or other material having painted or placed thereon
the orders corresponding to those at the sending end. The ends of the motion
communicators are secured to the parallel shafts, drums, quadrants, or levers,
or to one of them only, so that the motion may rotate or "rock" them, and
bring the desired order opposite to any open or glazed space in the frame-
work which encloses the several working parts at this the said receiving end.
Should it be desired in connection with the above apparatus to employ a bell
or other sound-giving means of directing attention to the order transmitted or
signalled, the ordinary "bell arrangement" could be used; but if the bell or
other sounding apparatus is to be used for and with every order, then a small
block, or several blocks or tappets on one or both of the wires or tappets on

page_text: the drums at the receiving end could trip or catch a hammer or hammers in
such manner as to cause it or them to strike a bell or bells, or to operate
otherwise to cause sound.
That details of the best arrangements with which I am acquainted-for
carrying my Invention into practical effect may be clearly seen and under-
stood, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of explanatory Drawings, on which
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section through the sending apparatus and motion
communicators, and an end elevation of the receiving and exhibiting parts,
from which latter the end of the enclosing case is removed; Fig. 2, a plan
view of the apparatus shown by Fig. 1, with the top of the case of the
receiving and exhibiting parts removed. With these two views, the bell signals
in common use are shown.
Fig. 3, a longitudinal section, and Fig. 4 an end elevation illustrative of
receiving and exhibiting parts wherewith tappets are employed to operate
hammers to strike bells.
Fig. 5, a front elevation, and Fig. 6 an end elevation (the end of the
enclosing case being removed in the latter) of a receiving and exhibiting
apparatus with an angular front, this form being suitable for placing in a
position under the level of the eye of, say, the steersman of a ship.
Fig. 7 is a side elevation of complete apparatus with an exhibiting piece,
consisting of a sliding board, and showing trip blocks on the motion com-
municators, and Fig. 8 a front elevation of the said sliding board and its
frame.
In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and on the sending and motion transmitting
parts of Fig. 7 the same letters are marked on like parts.
a denotes the frame or case of the sending apparatus, the top of which
serves as a surface or dial, whereon there are spaces marked 6 for orders,
messages, or signals; seven orders are shewn. c, the handle, arranged so
that it can be moved laterally in either direction, by and from which motion is
given to all the moving parts; d, a thumb spring attached to the handle c,
and shaped to fit into the notches e to retain the said handle c in any desired
position, and to bring the pointer f, which, as well as the handle c, is affixed
to the spindle or shaft 9 opposite to any of the orders b; h is a lamp to light
the dial at night. The order spaces 6 and the dial might in some cases be
affixed on the shaft or spindle g, to move therewith, and the pointer f made.
stationary. On the spindle or shaft g, which can be moved on its axis, there
is secured the disc wheel i, and on the periphery thereof there are secured the
motion, transmitting, or communicating wires.j, carried, as shown, over small
pullies through tubing 7.

page_text: As herein-before stated, ropes, bands, chains, or jointed rods could be used,
and bell-cranks or other arrangements could take the place of the pullies k,
but the form of the way by which the motion has to be conveyed will
determine which of these is most suitable. m, the casing and framework of
the receiving and exhibiting apparatus; n, the axes and drums; o, the canvas
on which the orders, messages, or signals are written or formed, at such
distances apart that when the pointer f points to any order, message, or signal
on the dial at the sending end, the corresponding one on the canvas o will
stand opposite to the opening or glazed space p, and that order, message, or
signal, and no other, will be seen.
In Figs. 1 and 2 the wires j are carried over a small pulley q, thence round
another pulley r on the spindle of one of the drums n, and as here shown, the
band of canvas o conveys motion to the lower drum. In these views (Figs. 1
and 2) s is the handle, and t the wire for sounding the bell v, and w is the
handle, and x the wire for sounding the return or answer bell y.
In Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6, the wires ; are crossed above the pulley a', and
pass thence over pullies b¹ attached on the ends of the drum spindles n.
Figs. 3 and 4 show tappets or blocks c¹ on one of the pullies 6' attached to
the drum spindle n, and a hammer d¹ for striking the bells e¹. Springs are
used to bring the hammer d¹ quickly into position. In Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive,
the wires are not secured or attached at the receiving end, but are simply
passed around or over the pullies named, and the object of this is to get all
the parts into a small space.
The receiving and exhibiting parts shown by Figs. 7 and 8 are denoted as
follows is the sliding board, on which the orders, messages, or signals
are formed. The wires; are attached the one to the top and the other to the
bottom of the said sliding board, the top one being guided over the pulley g',
supported by the framework h¹; i¹ the opening where the order, message, or
signal is exhibited; j¹ are trip blocks on the wires, to catch when moving in
either direction the lower end of the hammer k¹ for sounding the bell l¹.
Having now described the nature and particularized practicable modi-
fications of my said Invention, I would here state that I do not confine
myself to the exact details of all the parts shown on the Drawings, and herein
described. I would also have it understood that I do not claim all the parts
as of my Invention, those parts which I do claim taken separately are,―
Firstly, in sending apparatus, the thumb spring d to take into the notches e.
Secondly, two wires j, or their equivalents, for transmitting or com-
municating motion, and blocks or tappets j¹ thereon, to operate sound-giving
apparatus.

page_text: Thirdly, in receiving apparatus, two shafts and drums n, and for exhibiting
parts, canvas o or its equivalent.
But I also claim, finally, the arrangement and combination of parts herein
described, operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
In the presence of,
JOHN T. KING,
JOHN SACHEVERELL GISBORNE. (L.s.)
Patent Agent,
4, Clayton Square,
Liverpool.