IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC AND OTHER TELL-TALES FOR INDICATING AND REGISTERING
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Schweitzer of 130 Queen Victoria Street in the
•
City of London, Electrician, and Thomas Lawrie of 103 Cannon Street also
in the City of London Engineer for an invention of “ IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Albert Schweitzer and
Thomas Lawrie at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 6th July
1882.
ALBERT SCHWEITZER of 130 Queen Victoria Street in the City of London
Electrician, and THOMAS LAWRIE of 103 Cannon Street also in the City of London,
Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC AND OTHER TELL-TALES FOR INDICATING
AND REGISTERING
This Invention is designed as an effectual check on Clerks, Workmen, Watchmen
and others, and also on Barmen and others taking money in small amounts thus
preventing irregularities and fraud.
The first part of this Invention is for an Electric self Printing Tell-tale for
recording by automatically printing in plain figures without ink or chemicals, on
plain paper, the exact time of visits to certain places, of Night Watchmen in
Lunatic Asylums, Watchmen of Works, Timekeepers of Factories, Policemen, Fire-
men, Prison Warders and others. For this purpose we employ an Instrument
containing a pair of rollers, one of which has the numbers 1 to 12 fixed or
engraved upon the periphery, the plain paper from a roll and a piece of carbonic
linen, paper, or other transferring material, are continually being wound together
between the rollers by a train of Clockwork, so that the figures on the periphery
of the rollers print the hours of the day or night upon the paper. When
connection is made at any one of the appointed places by the Watchmen or others
the Current acting upon an Electro Magnet draws down a lever at the end of
which is a letter or figure. The paper then shows in plain figures, letters or other
symbols the exact time and place of each visit, and if any spaces are left without
such marks it shows at a glance which places have been visited or not at any
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.

page_text: particular time. The Carbonic paper or linen &c is simply run back periodically or
can be an endless band, in either case it can be used over and over again. It is
quite unnecessary to have the paper ruled or prepared in any way, as the machine.
can be made to print automatically in any style that may be required. Any
ordinary Apparatus may be employed for the purpose of making connection at the
appointed spots, but we prefer a push with a small spindle requiring a key to be
inserted instead of the usual press buttons. Circuit is made between these pushes
and the Indicating Instrument with Insulated wires & the whole apparatus worked
by Battery power in the usual manner.
The second part of our Invention is for a self printing Tell-tale watch. This is 1
more particularly intended to show that a Watchman is on the Alert at all hours
of the day or night. The Mechanism consists of a disc. of metal &c revolving at
the same rate and geared to the hour arbor or spindle of any ordinary watch,
preferably at the back, upon this disc two or more pins project, upon which is a
disc of paper printed with the hours 1 to 12 round the edge, lines radiating from 1
the Centre to between each hour, & concentric rings one to each place to be
visited, and covered by a case perforated with holes of a particular shape, opposite
to the concentric rings, commencing at the centre and advancing in a straight line
towards the edge, & by the insertion of the Key corresponding to a particular hole
a letter or mark is printed on the disc of paper through the medium of a disc of
carbonic paper or linen previously inserted in a similar manner to the former
Instrument.
On removing this disc it will at once be seen whether at any time the Watch-
man has neglected to insert any particular Key. The Keys may be fixed to any
particular spot so as to show the time of his visit to that place or he may carry it.
about with him and simply have instructions to insert it at stated intervals to
show that he is on the alert:
The third part of our Invention is for an Electric Tell tale money Till," this
is to check fraud on the part of Barmen & others, or their Customers in Public
houses and similar Establishments It consists of a Pedestal or other money till
with only one opening for the takings, from this opening inside is an inclined
plane with as many slots & of the different sizes of the coins to be taken, from
these openings are channels which lead, one to each compartment of a drawer, in
each one of these channels is a contact maker connected by insulated wires to any
ordinary self adjusting Electric Bell Indicator Board, placed either upon or at any
suitable distance from the Till. Upon a coin being dropped into the opening it
slides down the inclined plane until it comes to the slot of its own size, falling
through this & touching the contact maker it completes an Electric circuit through
the Indicator appertaining to its own denomination; the Indicator being marked
in large plain figures at once shows its value. A "Change" shelf can also be
attached to this Instrument to also show on the Indicator that change for a
particular coin has been given. In all cases it is preferred to attach a small Bell
to the Indicator to call attention to the amount indicated. It is worked by an
Electric Battery in the usual way.
•
The Fourth part of our Invention is for a self Printing Tell-tale Time keeper
recording by automatically printing the time of arrival or departure of clerks &
others, & is intended to supersede the present primitive fashion of signing in books.
This present method of checking attendance is always open to objection, as the
Register may at any time be falsified by collusion between the person signing and
the one in charge of book. By our Invention the signatures will be made on
a slip of paper covered with carbonic linen or cloth, the edge of which is made to
pass under a roller with figures as in a former Instrument. The whole Instrument
is encased leaving an opening in the glass top only sufficiently large to take the
signature. The pressure caused by signing through a contact maker, completes the
Electric circuit which causes an electro magnet to press the paper against the
figures on to the roller corresponding to the hour, a pointer worked by the same
electro magnet marking the exact time of signing, or preferably more than one

page_text: roller may be used on the same principle as an ordinary counter, worked by a
reciprocating motion from a clock, giving the exact hour and minutes in plain
figures that each signature is affixed. The paper in these cases would be stationary
and only pulled forward when signing, but the paper could be continuously fed
through as in former instrument only being pulled forward when there was not
room for signature. Or a trigger or clutch may be fitted, that by one movement
completes the Electric circuit, which marks the time & feed the paper a sufficient
distance to receive the fresh signature. A modification may be made to work by
Mechanical means only, by the intervention of a lever so that the pressure in the
act of writing, or the weight of the hand presses the paper against the figures on
the roller or rollers. These Instruments may be made also for two or more persons
to sign at the same time.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed.
by the said Albert Schweitzer and Thomas Lawrie in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th January 1883.
ALBERT SCHWEITZER of 130 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Electrician and THOMAS LAWRIE also of 130 Queen Victoria Street, but formerly
of 103 Cannon Street, also in the City of London Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ELECTRIC AND OTHER TELL-TALES FOR INDICATING AND REGISTERING
"
This Invention is designed as an effectual check on Clerks Workmen Watchmen
and others and also on Barmen and others taking money in small amounts
preventing irregularities and fraud
The first part of this Invention is for an Electric self printing tell tale for
recording by automatically printing in plain figures without ink or chemicals on
plain paper, the exact time of visits to certain places of night attendants in
Lunatic Asylums, Watchmen of Works, Time keepers of Factories, Policemen,
Firemen, Prison Warders and others, For this purpose we employ an Instrument
containing a pair of rollers, one of which has the numbers 1 to 12 fixed or
engraved upon the periphery: the plain paper from a roll and a piece of carbonic
linen, paper, or other transferring material are being continually wound together
between the rollers by a train of Clockwork, so that the figures on the periphery
of the rollers print the hours of the day or night upon the paper. When connection
is made at any one of the appointed places by the Watchman or others the current
acting upon an electro magnet draws down a lever at the end of which is a letter
or figure. The paper then shows in plain figures, letters or other symbols the
exact time and place of each visit, and if any spaces are left without such marks it
shows at a glance which places have been visited or not at any particular time.
The Carbonic paper or linen &c is simply run back periodically, or can be an
endless band, in either case it can be used over and over again. It is quite
unnecessary to have the paper ruled or prepared in any way as the Machine can
be made to print automatically in any style that may be required. Any ordinary
apparatus may be employed for the purpose of making connection at the appointed
spots, but we prefer a "push" with a small spindle requiring a key to be inserted
instead of the usual press buttons. Circuit is made between these pushes and the
Indicating Instrument with Insulated wires and the whole apparatus worked by
Battery power in the usual manner.
The second part of our invention is for an "Electric Tell-tale Money till " this is
to check fraud on the part of Barmen or others, or their Customers in Public
Houses and similar establishments. It consists of a Pedestal or other Money till
with only one slot for the takings, leading from this, inside, is an inclined plane
with as many openings and of the different sizes of the coins to be taken from
these are channels which lead one to each compartment of a drawer, in each of
these channels is a contact maker connected by insulated wires to any ordinary
self adjusting Electric Bell indicator board, placed either upon or at any suitable
distance from the till. Upon a coin being dropped into the slot it slides down the
inclined plane until it comes to the opening of its own size, falling through this
and touching the contact maker completes an Electric circuit through the Indicator
slide appertaining to its own denomination The Indicator being marked in large
plain figures at once shows its value. A Change Shelf can also be attached to
this Instrument to also show on the Indicator that change for a particular coin has
been given. In all cases it is preferred to attach a small Bell to the Indicator to
call attention to the amount indicated. It is worked by an Electric Battery in the
usual way.

page_text: The third part of our Invention is for a self printing Tell tale Time-keeper
recording by automatically printing the time of arrival or departure of Clerks and
others and is intended to supersede the present primitive fashion of signing in
books. This present method of checking attendance is always open to objection
as the Register may at any time be falsified by collusion between the person signing
and the one in charge of the book. By our invention the signatures will be made
on a strip of paper partly covered with a piece of carbonic linen or cloth the plain
and carbonic paper passing under a roller with figures as in the Instrument shown
on sheet 1 The whole instrument is encased leaving an opening in the glass top
only sufficiently large to take the signature. The pressure caused by signing
through a contact maker completes the Electric current which causes an Electro
magnet to press the paper against the figures on the roller corresponding to the
hour, a pointer worked by the same electro magnet marking the exact time of
signing, or preferably more than one roller may be used on the same principle as an
ordinary counter, worked by a reciprocating motion from the Clock giving the
exact hour and minutes in plain figures on any signature being affixed The paper
in these cases would be stationary and only pulled forward when signing but the
paper could be continuously fed through as in the former instrument, only being
pulled forward when there was not room for signature Or a trigger or catch may
be fitted that by one movement completes the Electric circuit which marks the
time and feeds the paper a sufficient distance to receive the fresh signature. A
modification may be made to work by mechanical means only by the intervention
of a lever so that the pressure in the act of writing, or the weight of the hand
presses the paper against the figures on the roller or rollers These instruments
may be made for two or more persons to sign at the same time.
Having thus particularly described the nature of our said Invention we will now
proceed to particularly describe and ascertain in what manner the same is to be
performed or carried out in practice which we shall do by referring to the Drawings
accompanying this specification as follows
Sheet No 1 represents our attendants or Watchmans Tell tale, Fig 1. is a front
Elevation, Fig. 2. is a Transverse section and Fig 3 Plan. A. B are the rollers which
feed the paper C off the roller D taking their motion from the Clock E through the
bevil wheels a. and pinion b. F. the carbonic linen or paper (in figs. 1 and 3 the
carbonic paper is removed to show the paper as it appears after having been
printed) G the type wheel which by its pressure on the carbonic linen or paper
continuously marks the figures 1 to 12 upon the paper C, corresponding to the hours
of the day or night H. H. are electro magnets I. are the armatures or levers on
the ends of which are letters c. The action is that when an electric circuit is
completed through any one of the electro magnets H. it draws down the armature
or lever I which stamps an impression of the letter on its end upon the paper C.
through the intermission of the carbonic paper F. The figure at the margin
opposite the letter showing the time it was struck. Fig 4 is a section and Fig. 5 a
front elevation of communicator or "push" for completing the electric circuit A is
a disc. of metal capable of being pressed on to the two screws a. a. under which the
ends of the wires are cramped and so connecting them. B is an antagonistic spring
to bring the disc out of contact again
Sheet No. 2 represents our "Electric tell tale Money-till Fig. 1 is an elevation
in isometrical projection. Fig. 2. Transverse section Fig. 3 Longitudinal section,
Fig 4 enlarged view of channel and electric contact pieces with coin shewn in the
act of dropping through Fig 5 is a section and Fig. 6 a plan of coin sorter The
action is upon a coin being dropped through the slot a. it slides down the coin
sorter b until it drops through the hole that suits it in size into its respective
channel c. and in its descent it pushes back the contact piece d till it touches the
other contact e. they being in electrical communication with any ordinary self
adjusting indicator and bell, causes the bell to ring, and moves the slide of indicator
corresponding to its own denomination thus showing the value of the coin
dropped in

page_text: Sheet No 3 represents our "Clerk's tell-tale time Keeper" Fig 1 is a longitudinal
section Fig 2 transverse section and Fig 3 is a plan A is the type wheel having
figures 1 to 12 projecting at equal distances from its periphery and intermediate
divisions at five minute spaces it has one revolution in 12 hours imparted to it by
clock B. C is a roll of paper a. a. are rollers for pulling the paper along by
the handle b. D is an electro magnet. E. is the armature. E is a lever on the
end of which is a pad c. and marker d. G is a table and leg H held up by a spring &
but capable of being depressed by a very light pressure so as to touch the electrical
contact The action is that upon persons signing their names upon the paper g.
it depresses the table G on to contact sends a current through the electro magnet D
which by attracting the armature E throws up the pad c against the underside of
the paper stamping the hour which is presented to it on the type wheel by the
intermission of the carbonic linen h. On the pad c registering the hour the marker d
makes a line showing the exact time of the signature.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we hereby declare that we claim
First, The method or arrangement of recording by automatically printing in
plain figures without ink or chemicals on plain paper the exact time of visits to
certain places of night attendants in Lunatic Asylums &c &c as herein described
and illustrated by drawings Sheet No. 1.
Second. The method or arrangement by which the act of passing a Coin into a
Till, automatically shows its value on an Indicator, thus checking fraud on the
part of Barmen and others as herein described and illustrated in drawings.
Sheet No. 2
Third. The method or arrangement of recording by automatically printing in
plain figures without ink or chemicals on plain paper the exact time of the arrival
and departure of Clerks and others in Banks Public Offices &c. as herein described
and illustrated in drawings Sheet No. 3.
In Witness whereof We the said Albert Schweitzer and Thomas Lawrie
bave hereunto set our hands and seals this sixth day of January in the
year of Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty three.
Witness.
EDW J S YOUNG
9 Elm Gardens Hammersmith
London.
ALBERT SCHWEITZER (L.S.)
THOMAS LAWRIE (L.S.)