AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND PROVISIONALATION OF AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN DISTANT PLACES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Edgerton, of Chesterton, in the County
of Stafford, Engineer, Edward Hordley, of Fenton, in the same
County, Pattern Maker, and John Newton, of Tunstall, in the same
County, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Edgerton,
Edward Hordley, and John Newton at the Office of the Com-
missioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 20th November
1873.
We, JOSEPH EDGERTON, of Chesterton, in the County of Stafford,
Engineer, EDWARD HORDLEY, of Fenton, in the same County, Pattern
Maker, and JOHN NEWTON, of Tunstall, in the same County, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN DISTANT PLACES," to be
as follows:-
C
Our Invention is applicable to collieries and in other places where it is

page_text: desirable to communicate from one station to another either by signals,
alarums, or messages.
Our improved apparatus consists of two hydraulic rams and cylinders,
one placed at each station. The cylinders are connected by pipes,
which are kept full of water, oil, or other liquid.
Each ram is connected to a working lever and to a pointer, which
latter works on a fulcrum and points to the letters of the alphabet or
other figures on a fixed dial. The working lever is also connected to the
hammer of a bell or to any other alarum or signal.
In communicating from one station to the other the motion of one
ram is instantly transmitted to the other by the displacement of the
liquid in the connecting pipes, thereby either striking the alarum,
actuating the signal, or moving the pointer to the letters of the alphabet
or other figures for spelling words or communicating other messages as
may be required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Edgerton, Edward Hordley, and John
Newton, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
EDGERTON, of Chesterton, in the County of Stafford, Engineer, EDWARD
HORDLEY, of Fenton, in the same County, Pattern Maker, and JOHN
NEWTON, of Tunstall, in the same County, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three,
in the thirty-fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Edgerton, Edward
Hordley, and John Newton, Her special licence that we, the said Joseph
Edgerton, Edward Hordley, and John Newton, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Joseph Edgerton,
Edward Hordley, and John Newton, our 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

page_text: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF And Apparatus
FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN DISTANT PLACES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Joseph Edgerton, Edward Hordley, and John
Newton, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Joseph Edgerton, Edward Hordley,
and John Newton, do hereby declare the nature of our 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) :-
Our Invention is applicable to collieries and other places where it is
desirable to communicate from one station to another either by signals,
alarums, or messages.
Our improved apparatus consists of two hydraulic rams and cylinders,
one placed at each station. The cylinders are connected by pipes,
which are kept full of water, oil, or other liquid.
Each ram is connected to a working lever and to a pointer, which latter
works on a fulcrum, and points to the letters of the alphabet or other
figures on a fixed dial. The working lever is also connected to the
hammer of a bell or to any other alarum or signal.
In communicating from one station to the other the motion of one
ram is instantly transmitted to the other by the displacement of the
liquid in the connecting pipes, thereby either striking the alarum,
actuating the signal, or moving the pointer to the letters of the alphabet
or other figures for spelling words or other messages as may be
required.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Fig. 1 is an elevation and Fig. 2 an edge view of our improved
apparatus for communicating between distant places. a and b are two.

page_text: places, one of which is fixed at each of the stations between which it is
desired to establish communication.
When our improved apparatus is employed at a colliery the plate a
would be fixed in the engine house at the top of the pit and the plate b
at the bottom of the shaft or in any of the workings. To each plate is
fixed a hydraulic cylinder marked a¹ and 6', in which are rams or pistons
connected to the rods a², b³. The cylinders a¹ and 6¹ are connected
by the pipes c, which are kept full of water or other liquid, and the
leakage is counterbalanced by a charging ram connected to the bottom
of the cylinder a¹ at a³. The rods a³, 62, are connected by links to the
working levers d, and both the rods are provided with a toothed rack
gearing into the pinions e, which revolve on studs fixed to the plates a
and 6. To each pinion is fixed a finger e¹, which points to the letters of
the alphabet or other figures on the dials f. The working levers d are
also made to give motion to the spring hammers of the bells h.
-
The mode of operation is as follows: -When the attendant at one
station moves the working lever d up or down he raises or lowers the
ram in the cylinder, and a corresponding motion in the contrary direction
is instantly transmitted to the other ram at the other station by the dis-
placement of the liquid in the cylinders and connecting pipes, and as the
levers d are connected by the racks on the piston rods and pinions e to
the fingers e¹ of the dials f, it is evident that the attendant at one station
can transmit to the attendant at the other station any message composed
by spelling words, or by figures or otherwise.
The object of the bells h is to call the attention of the attendant at 2
the receiving station before a message is sent, or the signals may be
given by striking the bell at varying intervals or otherwise..
The mode of arranging the dials and bells, or other alarums or signals,
may be considerably varied.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described a 3
convenient mode of performing the same, we wish it to be understood
that we do not intend to limit ourselves to the details given, but that we
claim,-
First. Transmitting alphabetical or other signals or alarums from one

page_text: And, secondly. The apparatus shewn and described for communicating
between distant places, or any modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Newton, for myself and
on behalf of the said Joseph Edgerton, and Edward Hordley,
have hereto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
JOHN NEWTON. (L.S.)