IMPROVE-· MENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Neale, of Stoke-upon-Trent, in the County
of Stafford, Telegraph Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-·
MENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS."
Sealed the 12th May 1874, and dated the 17th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Neale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th December 1873.
I, JOHN NEALE, of Stoke-upon-Trent, in the County of Stafford,
Telegraph Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object to enable the telegraphist to read or
interpret the signals sent by a single needle or other commutator, both
by the eye and the ear, the motion of the needle in either direction
producing sound; the sound produced by the motion of the needle in
one direction being more acute or more grave than that produced by
its motion in the other direction.

page_text: By my Invention the different sounds produced are as readily
distinguished and interpreted by the ear as the motions of the needle
are observed and interpreted by the eye. Moreover the interpretation
of the signals by the ear leaves the telegraphist at liberty to direct his
attention more effectually to the recording of the message by writing.
I am aware that signalling by bells has been resorted to, but the
objections inherent in that method of signalling have caused it to fall
into disuse.
Signalling by my Invention is free from the objections attendant on
signalling by bells.
In carrying my Invention into effect I form a dial plate or face of
brass or other suitable material, and at the back of the said dial plate
I fix a horizontal electro-magnet, its two poles protruding through the
dial plate and standing out in front thereof some half inch, more or
less. In front of the dial plate I support a light steel moveable magnet
or magnetic needle, or a piece of soft iron, in which magnetism is
induced by a permanent magnet or magnets, suitably fixed for the
purpose. One end of this small magnet or magnetic needle terminates
in an axle with pivots, which latter work in bearings carried by the
dial plate. The other end of the small magnet or magnetic needle is
free, and is placed so as to be able to vibrate between the poles of the
electro-magnet described. The small magnet or magnetic needle is
kept in its normal position midway between the poles of the electro-
magnet by light adjustable springs.
When a current of electricity is passed through the electro-magnet
it causes the small moveable magnet or magnetic needle to be deflected
to the " right" or to the "left," according as the electrical current is
passed in one or other direction, and signals may be read from it in the
ordinary way with the eye.
On each side of the vibrating magnet or magnetic needle is a sounding
pin made of metal or other good conductor of sound, and the moveable
magnet or needle as it moves to the right or to the left strikes against
one or other of these sounding pins. These sounding pins are connected
respectively with two sounding boards or drums of wood or other
sonorous material. These drums are of such size and thickness of
material as to produce sounds of different quality or pitch; these sounds

page_text: respectively corresponding with the two motions of the vibrating magnet
or needle, and are easily distinguishable as signals by the ear.
The poles of the electro-magnet may be in the same line, the
moveable magnet or needle vibrating between their inner ends. In
this case the cores of the electro-magnet are hollow, and the sounding
pins work through the said hollow cores to convey the taps they receive
to the drums. In this arrangement I prefer to have an indicating
needle in front of the dial plate, but both dial plate and indicating
needle may be dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,.
filed by the said John Neale in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
NEALE, of Stoke-upon-Trent, in the County of Stafford, Telegraph
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Neale, Her special license that I,
the said John Neale, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Neale, 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 ELECTRIC TELE- .
GRAPHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Neale, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
}
:

page_text: 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 Neale, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object to enable the telegraphist to read or
interpret the signals sent by a single needle or other commutator, both
by the eye and the ear, the motion of the needle in either direction
producing sound; the sound produced by the motion of the needle in
one direction being more acute or more grave than that produced by
its motion in the other direction.
By my Invention the different sounds produced are as readily
distinguished and interpreted by the ear as the motions of the needle
are observed and interpreted by the eye. Moreover the interpretation
of the signals by the ear leaves the telegraphist at liberty to direct his
attention more effectually to the recording of the message by writing.
I am aware that signalling by bells has been resorted to, but the
objections inherent in that method of signalling have caused it to fall
into disuse.
Signalling by my Invention is free from the objections attendant on
signalling by bells.
In carrying my Invention into effect I form a dial plate or face of brass
or other suitable material, and at the back of the said dial plate I fix
a horizontal electro-magnet, its two poles protruding through the dial
plate and standing out in front thereof some half inch, more or less.
In front of the dial plate I support a light steel moveable magnet or
magnetic needle, or a piece of soft iron, in which magnetism is induced
by a permanent magnet or magnets suitably fixed for the purpose.
One end of this small magnet or magnetic needle terminates in an axle
with pivots, which latter work in bearings carried by the dial plate..
The other end of the small magnet or magnetic needle is free, and is a
placed so as to be able to vibrate between the poles of the clectro-

page_text: magnet described. The small magnet or magnetic needle is kept in
its normal position midway between the poles of the electro-magnet
by light adjustable springs.
When a current of electricity is passed through the electro-magnet
it causes the small moveable magnet or magnetic needle to be deflected
to the "right" or to the "left," according as the electrical current is.
passed in one or other direction, and signals may be read from it in the
ordinary way with the eye.
On each side of the vibrating magnet or magnetic needle is a sounding
pin made of metal, wood, or other good conductor of sound, and the
moveable magnet or needle as it moves to the right or to the left strikes
against one or other of these sounding pins. These sounding pins are
connected respectively with two sounding boards or drums of wood or
other sonorous material. The drums are of such size and thickness of
material as to produce sounds of different quality or pitch; these sounds
respectively corresponding with the two motions of the vibrating magnet..
or needle, and are easily distinguishable as signals by the ear.
The poles of the electro-magnet may be in the same line, the
moveable magnet or needle vibrating between their inner ends. In
this case the cores of the electro-magnet are hollow, and the sounding
pins pass through the said hollow cores to convey the taps they receive
to the drums. In this arrangement I prefer to have an indicating
needle in front of the dial plate, but both dial plate and indicating
needle may be dispensed with.
My improvements are particularly, applicable to single needle com-
mutators, but may also be applied to other signalling instruments.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying, Drawings, the manner
in which the same is to be performed.
"
Figure 1 represents in front elevation, and Figure 2 in plan, the
receiving part of a single needle telegraph containing my improve-
ments; Figure 3 represents a portion of the same in side elevation;
and Figure 4 a portion of the same in back elevation. In Figures 3
and 4 the sounding boards or drums are omitted. The same letters of.
reference indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4.
a is a dial plate or face of brass, zinc, or other rigid material, at the
back of which is an electro-magnet b; the poles of the electro-magnet b

page_text: .
protruding a short distance through the plate a and terminating at 6², 6³.
Between the terminal poles 62, 6*, is a vertical needle or indicator c.
The said needle or indicator has at its lower end an axle or pivot d, by
which it is supported, which axle turns freely in the bearings e, e.
The needle or indicator c may either be made of steel, and permanently
magnetized, or it may be made of soft iron and have magnetism induced
in it by a permanent steel magnet.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4, I have represented the latter arrangement.
The bar is a single or compound steel permanent magnet, in a recess
in the upper end of which the lower end of the needle or indicator c
is situated. The magnetism of the permanent steel magnet f induces
magnetism in the soft iron needle or indicator c. The needle or
indicator c is kept in its central position between the poles 62, 63, of the
electro-magnet b (when no electric current is passing around and
inducing magnetism in the electro-magnet 6) by means of two light
coiled springs g, g, hooked at one end to the needle or indicator c near
its lower end, and at the other end to a thread passing round the peg h.
By turning the pegs h by their heads the tension of the springs g, g,
may be increased or diminished, and the said springs made exactly to
balance one another; i, k, are shallow boxes, boards, or drums made
of wood or other sonorous material. The vertical side of the box or
drum i is much thicker than the vertical side k² of the box k; and when
the sounding pins, herein-after described, of the boxes or drums are
struck by the needle c the said boxes or drums produce sounds one of
which is more grave or more acute than the other. On each side of
the needle or indicator c is a sounding pin; these pins are marked
respectively and k³. The inner or opposed ends of the said pins ³, k³,
are so situated with respect to the needle or indicator c that when the
said needle or indicator is deflected to the right or to the left, as
indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, it strikes against one or other
of the pins 3, k³, by which pin its motion is arrested, and it is
thereby prevented from coming into actual contact with either of the
poles 62, 63, of the electro-magnet b. The pins 3, k³, are firmly fixed
to the vertical sides, k², respectively of the drums or boxes i, k, and
the said pins are capable of being accurately adjusted by screwing them
a greater or less distance into the metallic pieces m, n, on the sides i³ k²,
of the boxes or drums i, k. The positions of the pins ³, k³, are fixed

page_text: The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When a current of
electricity is sent through the wire p magnetism is inducted in the
electro-magnet b, and its poles 63, 6³, become highly magnetic. The
character of the polarity in the poles 62, 63, depends, as is well under-
stood, on the direction of the current of electricity through the wire ¨p.
When the said current of electricity is in one direction the needle or
indicator c is suddenly and forcibly attracted into the position 6³, when
it strikes a sharp blow on the sounding pin k³. The blow is transmitted
by the said pin k³ to the vertical side k³ of the box or drum k, and the
sound proper to the vibration of the said vertical side ² is produced.;
In like manner when the current of electricity is passed through the
wire p in a direction contrary to that last supposed the needle or
indicator c is drawn into the position 6%, the sounding pin is struck,
and a sound produced by the vibration of the vertical side of the
sounding box or drum i. These sounds are so different in their pitch
that the telegraphist can read or interpret the motions of the needle c
by his ear with equal if not greater certainty and readiness than ho
can with his eye. Moreover the said sounds can be heard by the ear
and interpreted under circumstances which render the motion of the
needle c invisible.
Figure 5 represents in front elevation, and Figure 6 in side elevation,
a modification of my Invention, in which the poles of the electro-magnet
are in the same line instead of being parallel to one another.
In this modification the sounding boxes or drums are not represented,
but they are the same as those represented in Figures 1 and 2; q, q², q³,
is the electro-magnet, the poles q, q, being in the same line; r is the
vibrating needle or indicator, and 8, 82, are the sounding pins. These
pins are situated in holes in the axis of the poles q, q², of the magnet,
and a blow struck by the needle or indicator r on either of the sounding
pins 8, 82, is transmitted to the sounding boxes or drums situated
respectively at the points indicated in dotted lines and marked t, t, in
Figure 5.
Although I have only represented my improvements as applied to
a single needle commutator, to which they are especially applicable,
yet I wish it to be understood that my improvements may also be
applied to electric telegraph commutators other than single needle
commutators; but I believe that the description and representation
herein given will render my improvements sufficiently understood
'

page_text: in their application to telegraphic instruments other than single needle
commutators.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention of improve-
ments in electric telegraphs, constructing, arranging, and working the
reading or receiving part of single needle or other telegraphs,
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, whereby the motion of the needle or indicator in
one direction is made to give or transmit through a sounding pin a
blow to a box, board, or drum, the vibration of which box, board, or
drum, produces a sound of a certain pitch; the motion of the said needle:
or indicator in the opposite direction giving or transmitting through a
sounding pin a blow to another box, board, or drum, the vibration of
which produces a sound of a pitch essentially different from that given
by the first-named box, board, or drum, by which sounds the ear of the
telegraphist can readily read or interpret the motions of the needle or
indicator.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Neale, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witness,
HENRY BALL,
Stoke-upon-Trent.
JOHN NEALE. (L.S.)