IMPROVE- MENTS IN SHIP TELEGRAPHS.
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Sacheverell Gisborne, of No. 8; Craig's Court,
Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SHIP TELEGRAPHS.
"
Sealed the 1st November 1878, and dated the 30th August 1878
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sacheverell Gisborne
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th August 1878.
JOHN SACHEVERELL GISBORNE, of No. 8, Craig's Court, Charing Cross, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP TELEGRAPHS."
My Invention relates to telegraphs to be used on shipboard for the purpose of
conveying orders from officers to engineers, steersmen, gunners, or other attendants,
and of repeating back these orders to shew that they have been received, similar
apparatus being applicable for the purpose of communicating the direction and rate
of the engines or the angle of the rudder. For this purpose I provide in a convenient
part of the vessel, as, for example, on the poop, a transmitter or instrument having
a dial with divisions marked respectively with the different orders that have to be
transmitted, and an index moveable by hand over that dial. In the other place,
as, for instance, the engine room, I provide a receiver or instrument which has a dial
and index corresponding with those of the transmitter. Each dial has also another
hand for repeating the signals sent.
On the axis of the main index hand of the transmitter I fix a ratchet wheel with
as many teeth as there are divisions on the dial, and I mount a spring lever with a
roller bearing against this ratchet wheel, so that as the index is turned by hand the
lever is caused to make as many strokes as there are divisions of the dial passed over
by the index. At each stroke the lever makes electrical contact, whereby a current
of electricity is transmitted by a wire to the receiver.
In the receiver there is an electro-magnet with a spring armature having a pawl
which engages with a ratchet wheel on the spindle of the index hand of the receiver,
the said ratchet wheel having the same number of teeth as there are divisions of the
[Price 6d.1

page_text: dial; thus as the hand of the transmitter is moved over a certain number of the
divisions, a corresponding number of electric currents being transmitted to
the receiver, the armature of the electro-magnet makes a corresponding number of
strokes, causing the ratchet wheel and axis of the receiving index to turn round, so
that this index points to the same division of its dial as the index of the trans-
mitter.
The engineer or other attendant on observing the signal thus sent works the
second index of his instrument round to the particular division of his dial, and this
by a like mechanism moves the second index of the transmitter instrument, shewing
that the order has been received and observed.
The contact lever in each case is so arranged as to alternately make and break
contact with the electro-magnet of the receiver, and for that which works .the
repeating hand of the transmitter.
When the transmitter, hand, has by making successive contacts moved the receiver
hand, as above described, and has come to rest at some division of its dial, then
contact is broken between the. battery and the distant electro-magnet, but contact
exists between the battery and the electro-magnet which works the repeater hand
of the transmitter; and conversely the repeater is thrown out of contact when its
hand rests at a division, restoring contact for the transmitter.
In order to call attention audibly to the transmission of an order I provide at
the receiver a bell or gong, which may be worked by any known electrical means.
I prefer however so to arrange it that it is struck by a hammer worked by a spring,
the movement of the receiving armature releasing a detent for that purpose. For
keeping the spring wound up I fix on its axis or barrel a ratchet wheel with a
spring pawl,, which is worked by the movement of the repeating handle.

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
25th February 1879.
JOHN SACHEVERELL GISBORNE, of No. 8, Craig's Court, Charing Cross, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SHIP TELEGRAPHS."
My Invention relates to telegraphs to be used on shipboard for the purpose of
conveying orders from officers to engineers, steersmen, gunners, or other attendants,
and of repeating back those orders to shew that they have been received, similar
apparatus being applicable for the purpose of communicating the direction and rate
of the engines or the angle of the rudder. For this purposo I provide in a convenient
part of the vessel, as, for example, on the bridge, a transmitter or instrument having
a dial with divisions marked respectively with the different orders that have to be
transmitted, and an index moveable by hand over that dial. In the other place,
as, for instance, the engine room, I provide a receiver or instrument which has a dial
and index corresponding with those of the transmitter. Each dial has another hand
for repeating the signals sent.
I will describe the construction and operation of these instruments, referring to
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 represents a vertical section of the transmitter, which is conveniently
mounted on a low column or pedestal presenting its face horizontally.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the faces as adapted for transmitting orders to the engine room;
the receiver thero having a similar face, which however is most conveniently pre-
sented in a vertical position.
Fig. 3 is a sectional plan shewing the mechanism under the face of the trans-
mitter.
i
- And Fig. 4 is a vertical secti) shewing the mechanism behind the face of the
receiver.
-
A is the index hand turned by the handle a to any one of the divisions of the
dial marked with the order which it is desired to transmit.
On the axis of the index A under the dial is fixed an arm B carrying a roller b,
which is pressed by springs against the interior surface of an insulated ring C.; this
ring has notches filled in with non-conducting material, such as ebonite, as marked
by its darkened divisions. When on turning the index A the roller b is made to
pass over a conducting portion c of the ring C, an electrical circuit is completed by
fine wires (one connected to the dial and handle, and the other to the ring C), with
a battery and the receiver, but as the roller b passes over the non-conducting por-
tions of the ring C the circuit is interrupted. The line wires at the receiver bring
into circuit the coils of an electro-magnet D, the spring armature d of which by
means of a pawl works a ratchet wheel F fixed on the spindle of the receiving index,
turning the wheel one tooth and the index over one division of the dial at each
stroke of the armature. At the same time, when the armature & begins to move, a
contact is shifted so as to complete circuit from a local battery to another electro-
magnet E. The spring armature e of this electro-magnet works the hammer of a
bell or gong G, and continues to do so as long as the local circuit is maintained;
thus when by turning the transmitting index A over one, two, or more divisions of
the dial the roller b is caused to pass over one, two, or more conducting portions ċ
of the ring C, making thereby a corresponding number of electrical contacts, the
ratchet wheel F is by the pawl of the armature d caused to turn a corresponding
number of its teeth, turning the receiving index over the like number of divisions of
its dial, so that it finally points to the same signal as that at which the transmitting
index rests. At the same time as the wheel F is being turned, the bell or gong G
is sounded, calling attention to the giving of a signal, and continues to sound after
the signal is shewn on the receiver.
On the same framing with the receiver is fitted a secondary 'dial H, with
5 mechanism similar to that of the dial of the transmitter, and on the dial of the

page_text: transmitter is a secondary dial I, with mechanism corresponding with that of the
receiver, omitting, if desired, the bell or gong G and its electro-magnet E; thus
when an order is signalled on the receiver the attendant there gives the same signal
on the dial H, and that is transmitted back and presents itself on the dial I to shew
that the order transmitted in the first instance has been received and attended to.
At the same time the movement of the handle of the repeater H breaks the contact
for the electro-magnet:E, and the bell or gong G ceases to sound.
A modified form of transmitter and receiver is shewn at Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8. The
transmitter has a dial similar.to that shewn in Fig. 2, but the receiver has a dial,
such as shewn in Fig. 5, with a number of arrow-head holes through it, each corre-
sponding,, with one of the orders to be signalled. Behind each of these holes is
mounted a light screen K, as shewn in. Fig. 7, which is a section taken behind the
receiver dial, and in Fig. 8, which is a vertical section of the receiver. Each of the
screens K is coloured, one half say white, and the other half say.red, and is made to
oscillate towards the one side or the other by means of electro-magnets L, of which
there is a set for each screen, acting on them in the known manner adopted in the
telegraph instruments employed for block signalling on railways..
In order to maintain a signal securely until it is observed and acknowledged by
the attendant, the screws K may be locked by the following arrangements :-
The arm on which each screen K is fixed has a spring tail projecting beyond its
pivot, and resting lightly on the edge of a ring M, which has cut in it a number of
notches, one for each screen; this ring is fixed on the armature of an electro-magnet
N, and kept up by a spring.
The ring C of the transmitter, shewn in Fig. 6, has conducting portions o let into
its non-conducting segments. Each of these conducting pieces o is connected by a
wire with one of the electro-magnets L in the receiver, and the ring C itself is con-
nected by a wire with the electro-magnet N, and also with another electro-magnet
in the same circuit, for working a gong or bell in the manner shewn at E and G in
Fig. 4.
When the index of the transmitter is turned, the roller b on the arm B makes
successive alternate contacts with the pieces o and the conducting parts c of the
ring C. At every contact made with a piece o one of the electro-magnets L at the
receiver is excited and one of the screens K is deflected, so as to presents its coloured
half through one of the holes in the receiver dial. When a screen is thus deflected
the tail of its arm drops into one of the notches of the ring M, and the screen is thus
locked in its deflected position, provided the roller b does not travel over a part c of
the ring C. When it does travel over one of these parts c it makes a contact,
whereby the electro-magnet N is excited, attracting its armature, and so retracting
the ring M and releasing the previously locked screen, which returns from its
deflected position, and thereupon presents its white half at the hole in the.dial; thus
when it is desired to transmit a certain order, such as "stop," the transmitter index
is turned round, making by the roller b a succession of contacts as it passes over the
parts o and c of the ring C, thereby causing deflections and lockings of the succes-
sive screens K and their unlockings by the movements of the ring M, accompanied
by soundings of the bell or gong to call attention, until at last the roller b is brought
to rest on a non-conducting portion of the ring C, as, for example, between o¹ and c¹
of Fig. 6, whereupon the screen, say K₁, which was last deflected, remains, locked in
its deflected attitude, presenting its red colour through, the hole in the dial corre-
sponding to the signal "stop," while all the other screens present their white colour
at their respective holes. The repeating instruments for acknowledging receipt of a
signal may in this case be of either of the forms described above..
T
In both forms of instruments, in order to prevent the roller b from being ever left
at rest against a conducting part of the ring C in such positions as are shewn in
Figs. 3 and 6 (which would involve a continued and unnecessary expenditure of
electrical force), the index spindle has fixed on it a wheel P. (see, Fig. 1). having
inclined teeth, with which a spring pawl p engages; this pawl, by its effort to enter
the space between two of the inclined teeth, causes the index spindle to turn so far

page_text: either way as to bring the roller 6 off from a conducting portion of the ring C, such
as c or o, and on to a non-conducting portion, so breaking the electrical circuit, and
leaving the battery quiescent.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I claim,―
First. Transmitting orders or signals on shipboard by turning an index over divi-
sions on the dial of a transmitting instrument, and thereby making successive
electrical contacts, which by exciting electro-magnets at a receiving instrument
cause an index there to turn over corresponding divisions of a dial, substantially as
herein described.
Second. Combining with main transmitting and receiving instruments, such as
are referred to in the preceding claim, secondary receiving and transmitting instru-
ments, whereby signals received are repeated back to the transmitter, substantially
as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Third. Combining with receiving instruments, such as are referred to in the pre-
ceding claims, an electric gong or bell acted on by the currents which work the
index for the purpose of calling attention to the transmission of a signal.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sacheverell Gisborne, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine.
JOHN S. GISBORNE. (L.S.)