Method of and Means for Enabling Code or Cypher Printing or Signalling to be effected by Means of the Ordinary Keyboards of Type Writing Machines, Telegraphic Apparatus, Type Composing Machines, or the like.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan 18.98
Complete Specification Left, 13th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 5th Nov., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 13th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 5th Nov., 1898
Method of and Means for Enabling Code or Cypher Printing or
Signalling to be effected by Means of the Ordinary Keyboards of
Type Writing Machines, Telegraphic Apparatus, Type Composing
Machines, or the like.
I, JOHN BALLOT, of No. 113, Cannon Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object to enable correspondence or other communica-
tions, or telegraphic messages to be readily printed, composed, or telegraphed in
cypher or code by means of an ordinary keyboard such as is used for typewriting
machines, composing machines or telegraphic instruments, the operator having
nothing farther to do than to operate the keyboard in the usual manner for
printing composing or telegraphing in ordinary language.
For this purpose I provide for each key of the keyboard a separate cap, flap, or
slide bearing upon its face a different letter; thus for example the key marked A
may have a cap marked Z, the key marked B a cap marked S, and so on, accord-
ing to a predetermined code in which each letter of the alphabet is represented by
a different letter.
When it is desired to print, compose, or telegraph according to the said code,
the operator first fits upon the keys the said caps &c. and then operates in the
usual manner for printing, transmitting or composing a communication in the
ordinary language, whereupon the printing will appear in the desired code or
cypher language. The receiver of such communication has a key board machine
provided with similar caps &c., he can at once reprint from the communication in
code or cypher the communication in the ordinary language.
It will be seen that with my said invention the individual who actually operates
the key board may be in perfect ignorance of the code or cypher language used,
as the person who is conversant with this would prepare the keyboard with the
requisite caps &c. without the knowledge of the operator, who would then simply
operate the keys in the ordinary manner, that is to say, for copying or trans-
mitting in code or cypher a word in the ordinary language which he has before
him either in shorthand or in longhand, he simply depresses the keys marked
with the same letters as the letters of the said word.
It will be evident that if the said caps are made detachable from the keys,
they can be made to serve for any desired number of different codes, by merely
arranging them in a correspondingly different manner.
The printing or transmission of messages in code or cypher by the above
described method may be rendered still more secure, by providing one or more
additional sets of caps &c. which may be marked with the alphabet, cypher or
symbols while the printing type of the machine, instead of consisting of ordinary
letters may consist of cyphers or letters of different languages.

page_text: the correspondence &c. can be indefinitely varied; for translating such corre-
spondence back into ordinary language again, it would of course be necessary
when symbols are used to provide caps marked with such symbols.
On the accompanying drawings are shewn by way of example various arrange-
ments for carrying my above described invention into effect, Figure 1 shews a
vertical section of a key a of an ordinary type-writing machine, telegraphic
transmitter, type composing machine, or the like, bearing for example a letter A,
on which is fitted a cap b bearing for example the letter Z. as shewn in plan at
Figure 2; Figures 3, 4 and 5 shew respectively a perspective view, a side eleva-
tion and a plan of the cap b detached. In order to illustrate how these caps are
employed in carrying out my said invention I have shewn in the diagram Figure 6,
by way of example, a code in which each letter of the alphabet is represented by
a different letter. In this case I have taken the simplest form of code for facility
of description, namely that in which the alphabet is simply inverted. A being
represented by Z and Z by A, B by Y and Y by B, C by X and X by C, and so on.
In order now to type-write, print or signal according to this code by means of
an ordinary keyboard, I fit upon the key marked A, a cap marked Z (as at
Figure 1) on key B a cap marked Y and so on as indicated at Figure 7, where the
upper alphabet represents the keys and the lower one the caps. If now the keys
thus altered be depressed in the order, say for forming the words "type written
cypher" as indicated by the top row at Figure 8, it will be seen that the printing
produced, instead of forming those words, will form the sequence of letters indi-
cated in the lower row at Figure 8 which sequence will consequently constitute
the said words printed according to the code at Figure 6.
Assuming now that these code words have been thus printed and transmitted
to a correspondent, and that the latter is provided with a typewriting machine
and set of code caps, then by fitting the caps upon the keys according to the same
code as above, that is to say Z on A, Y on B &c., and then operating the keys in
the order: G, B. K, V, D
it will be evident that he will print upon the
paper the words "Type-written cypher" thus translating the code words back
into ordinary language.
In order to enable the cypher caps to be readily fitted to their proper keys
without reference to the code, the keys may, in addition to their respective letters
be marked with consecutive numerals as at Figure 6, and the caps be marked with
the numeral of the corresponding key to which it requires to be fitted, for trans-
mitting a particular code, as shewn at Figures 3 and 4, so that the operator merely
has to place each cap on the correspondingly numbered key for preparing the
machine for transmitting the said code. As the above described code would he
a comparatively easy one to decipher, it is preferable to use a code in which the
code letters are irregularly displaced, such as that shewn in the lower row at
Figure 9. In this case it will be seen that the order in which the caps have to be
fitted on the keys of the transmitting instrument does not correspond to the order
of the code, the order necessary being that shewn in the lower row at Figure 10.
as on reference to Figure 9 it will be seen that the code letter for X is A, and
consequently to produce A in code printing, the cap X must be placed upon key A,
and so on. Thus if the operator depresses the altered keys in the order of the
words "typewritten cypher" he will in this case produce the code words shewn in
the lower row at Figure 12. For the receiving or transmitting instrument, how-
ever, the cap letters must in this case be arranged differently from the transmitting
instrument, namely in the same order as the code, as shewn in the lower row at
Figure 11 because, as T is represented by V in the code, Y by T &c., it will be
evident that cap V must be placed on cap T &c. in order, when depressing the
keys in the order of the code words V, T, K. . . . . to print the words "type-written
cypher." With codes of this kind it will therefore be convenient to mark each
cap (or keep a code list) with two numbers instead of only one as described with
reference to the simple reversed alphabet code, these numbers being marked on
respectively with the prefix T and R as indicated at Figure 13 where the cap

page_text: "
roller his shifted into different positions in order to bring the one or the other
type into action, in a similar manner to some typewriting machines, such as the
Williams" typewriter, where the type bar has one set of type for capitals and
another set for small letters. Figure 24 shews an arrangement for moving
the type roller into one or other of the three positions, the roller carriage i
being mounted on longitudinal bars ; carried by transverse sliding rodsk that
are moved by a lever / into one or other of three positions indicated on a
the lever being held securely in either position by a spring stop such as shewn at
plate m,
Figure 25.
Figures 26 and 27 shew in side elevation and plan the arrangement for applying
this method of operating to machines such as the "Hammond" type-writer, and
to transmitters in which the type is carried on an oscillating cylindrical segment,
while Figure 28 shews the arrangement for a revolving type cylinder. Here
there are assumed to be a set of ordinary type and two sets of code type, and the
segment or cylinder n is shifted up or down on its support o for bringing the one
or the other set into action. Or, instead of having the code type on the same
segment or cylinder as the ordinary type, they may be situated on one or more
separate segments or cylinders, so that for printing in cypher, the ordinary
segment or cylinder is removed and is replaced by a code segment.
It will be evident that any one making use of my above described invention can
make use of any code or cypher of his own designing, and is in no way limited
to the use of any existing or published codes or systems.
In writing, printing, composing or telegraphing code or cypher messages, it
will be found of advantage to transmit the letters cyphers or symbols without
spaces between the words as this will render the unauthorised interpretation
thereof much more difficult.
The copying of letters messages &c. by a typewriting machine or other device
can be considerably facilitated by writing the letter or message on paper divided
into vertical spaces, or columns, each adapted to contain a number of letters, and
as indicated at Figure 29 of the drawings, and in printing the code letter &c.
upon sheets similarly ruled, so that if the operator be interrupted from any cause
during the writing of a line then instead of requiring to count the whole number
of letters or symbols in the line to the point where he left off, he only requires to
count those in the column where the printing off was interrupted. It would also
be of advantage to provide special letters or symbols for representing double
consonants, or double vowels instead of repeating these letters or symbols.
For increased security in the transmission of letters &c. the ordinary writing
may for example be first transposed by one operator into one code, say the "
code, this may then be transposed by another operator into say the "6" code, and
so on through any desired number of transpositions in alphabet or cypher, all
of which would then require to be translated successively in the reverse order, as
above described with reference to a simpler code, in order to obtain the original
message in ordinary language again.
Letters, messages &c. printed in cypher or code by means of my above described
invention might possibly be transmitted to a distance as a picture by the electrical
process described in the Specification to Szczepanik and Klemberg's Application
for a British Patent No. 5031 of 1897 and a record of the image thereof produced
at the distant station be obtained by photography from which record the transla-
tion could then be made in the manner described above. This could be effected by
rapidly exposing a code written message to the mirrors at the transmitting station
and receiving the transmitted images at the receiving station upon a sensitised
plate film or band, travelling past the mirrors at the same speed as that of the
message exposed to the mirrors at the transmitting station. The code messages
may be written or printed either in the ordinary way or in a continuous line on
a band or tape.
This mode of operating would have the advantage of insuring complete secrecy