IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGNETIC ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR SIGNS, LETTERS, OR SENTENCES, WITH BELL AND SELF-ACTING MECHANICAL SWITCH."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Beaufoy Wilder, of Sulham House,
Sulham, Reading, in the County of Berks, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGNETIC ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR
SIGNS, LETTERS, OR SENTENCES, WITH BELL AND SELF-ACTING MECHANICAL
SWITCH."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Beaufoy Wilder
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th February 1868.
I, HENRY BEAUFOY WILDER, of Sulham House, Sulham, Reading,
in the County of Berks, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MAGNETIC ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS
FOR SIGNS, LETTERS, OR SENTENCES, WITH BELL AND SELF-ACTING MECHANICAL
SWITCH," to be as follows:-
This magnetic apparatus consists of 4 parts, the sender, receiver,
bell, and self-acting switch. The sender is constructed as follows:-
A series of permanent horse-shoe magnets are fixed together so as to

page_text: form one compound magnet, on the face of which upon the north and
south poles are fixed vertically, about two-thirds of their own length,
two small independant electro-magnets wound with suitable insulated
wire. These electro-magnets are fixed firmly by means of iron angle
pieces screwed to the bottom part of each pole, while their top ends
are inserted through the holes of a brass angle piece, which is fixed
firmly on the top of the compound magnet, so that when planed off
they present one smooth flat surface, and form the termination of the
north and south pole of the compound magnet. The compound magnet
is then secured on a block of wood the size required by a strong brass
clamp which fits over it; on the top of this clamp in the centre is
fixed perpendicularly a steel axis, upon which is made to turn freely
a brass or gun metal cylindrical socket piece having a flange at the
bottom; this cylindrical piece is so arranged as to permit of a small
plate or nut in the interior to prevent its coming off from the axis.
Screwed on to the top of the flange of this socket piece is a cast or
forged iron plate, the diameter of which is about the same as the
compound magnet. The edge of the plate is divided into equal parts,
and alternately notched out in spaces equal to the projections left
remaining, the number of such notches and projections depending
upon the number of signs, letters, or sentences the instrument is
intended for. Upon the top of the socket piece a handle is fixed
horizontally, by which the socket piece and the plate fixed to the top
of the flange can be turned round at will, the iron plate being fixed
so as to rub slightly in its rotary movement upon the brass angle-
piece where the tops of the two electro-magnets have been inserted,
thus in its course passes on and off the tops of these magnets by
means of the vacancy caused by the notches or apertures in the plate,
and so excites positive and negative currents. This alternate quick
change in the current communicated to the electro-magnet of the
receiver causes the poles of such magnet to be alternately positively
and negatively charged, and by this means causes the vibration of a
small magnetized needle pivoted between the poles of the electro-magnet
in the receiver, and liberates by each vibratory movement of the needle
one tooth of a small escape wheel, which escape wheel is propelled
by a train of clockwork wheels, and a mainspring like the clockwork
of an ordinary watch. A divided and engraved dial on the outside of
the sender corresponds to the iron plate within; thus when the handle
is stopped over the message, sign, or letter intended to be sent it

page_text: moves the plate underneath in the way before described, and being
connected by conducting wires causes the receiving instrument on the
other side to correspond with it. In connection with these instruments
upon the same line is a clockwork arrangement for striking a small
bell to call attention. Also a self-acting switch so arranged as to
bring the instrument or bell in circuit at pleasure, and after it has been
set to keep the instrument in circuit as long as might be required,
returns of its own accord to the stud, which brings the bell in circuit
again, this being always required first to give notice of signalling.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Henry
Beaufoy Wilder in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BEAUFOY WILDER, of Sulham House, Sulham, Reading, in the County
of Berks, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Beaufoy Wilder, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Beaufoy Wilder, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Beaufoy
Wilder, 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 MAGNETIC ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC APPARATUS FOR SIGNS,
LETTERS, OR SENTENCES, WITH BELL AND SELF-ACTING MECHANICAL SWITCH," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Beaufoy Wilder,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing 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

page_text: 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 Henry Beaufoy Wilder, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
This Invention consists of a magnetic apparatus and is divided into
four parts as follows, see Drawings.
Sender, Figs. 1 and 2; receiver, Figs. 3 and 4; bell, Figs. 5, 6, 7, and
8; and self-acting switch Fig. 9. In the simplicity and novel con-
struction of the sender, improvements on the receiver and bell, merits
of the self-acting switch, and combination of the whole, originality is
.claimed.
The sender is constructed as follows:-A, Figs. 1 and 2, a series of
permanent horse-shoe magnets, are fixed together so as to form one
compound magnet, on the face of which upon the north and south
poles are fixed vertically (about two-thirds of their own length) two
independent electro-magnets B wound with suitable insulated wire.
These electro-magnets are fixed firmly by means of iron angle pieces
'screwed to the bottom part of each pole, while their top ends are
inserted through the holes of a brass angle piece C which is fixed firmly
upon the top of the compound magnet, so that when planed off they
present one smooth flat surface and form the termination of the north
and south poles of the compound magnet; the compound magnet is
then secured on a wooden block or the bottom of the case by a
strong brass clamp D which fits over it; on the top of this clamp in
the centre is fixed perpendicularly a steel axis E upon which is made
to turn freely a brass or gun metal cylindrical socket piece F having
a flange at the bottom, this cylindrical piece is so arranged as to
permit a small plate or nut G in the interior to prevent it coming off
from the axis. Screwed or fixed on to the top of the flange of this
socket piece is a cast or forged iron plate H the diameter of which
should not be less than eight inches. The edge of the plate is divided
into equal parts and alternately notched out J, Fig. 1, in spaces
equal to the projections left remaining, the number of such notches
and projections depending upon the number of signs or sentences
the instrument is intended for. Upon the top of the socket piece
(horizontally) a handle K is fixed or screwed. This handle has a

page_text: moveable joint or hinge, and has a small steel plate affixed at the
bottom part of it to form a rest when the handle has been lifted up;
it has also a projection K' about an inch distant from the knob K"; by
means of this handle the socket piece and the iron plate fixed to
the top of the flange can be carried round at will. The iron plate
being fixed so as to rub slightly in its rotary movement upon the
brass angle piece where the tops of the two electro-magnets have
been inserted, thus in its course passes on and off the tops of these
magnets by means of the vacancy caused by the notches or apertures
in the iron plate, and so excites positive and negative currents; this
alternate quick change in the current communicated to the electro-
magnet (A', Fig. 4) of the receiver causes the poles of such magnet
to be alternately positively and negatively charged, and by this
means causes the vibration of a small magnetic needle B¹. pivoted
between the poles of the electro-magnet a' in the receiver, and liberates
by each vibratory movement of the needle one tooth of an escape wheel
G', which escape wheel is propelled by a train of clockwork, whicels, and
mainspring as shown in Fig. 4; these wheels must be made as light as
possible, either four or five wheels in the train, the latter preferable; it
has also a mechanical adjustment for the needle C', as shewn in section
Fig. 4 for setting the needle to any letter independent of the current;
this mechanical adjustment is constructed as follows:-In the interior
of the receiver, through the centre of the top of the front plate, is a
steel axis D held by a brass angle piece, at the extreme end of the
axis in the interior a small brass piece like an inverted T is fixed,
the broad end at the bottom being half an inch in width; attached on
either side about three-eighths apart are fixed two thin wires which
reach down perpendicularly a little beyond both sides of the small
magnetic needle carrying the pallet B', a small handle F is fixed on
that part of the axis which goes through the front plate and by means
of this handle the axis the handle carrying the inverted T picce and
wires can be moved backwards and forwards, thus pressing the small
magnetic needle carrying the pallet right or left and allowing one
tooth of the escape wheel G' to be liberated at each movement. The
same axis carrying the escape wheel carries the hand in front of the
dial and thus can be set to zero or pointed to any letter at will. To
keep the two wires perpendicular and equal distances from the magnetic
needle so as not to impede its movement two long narrow springs of
equal strength are placed on both sides, see section H.

page_text: electro-magnetic bell which can be made on two different plans, both
equally available and constructed in the following manner. Figs. 5
and 6 shew the views of first bell. Fig. 5 is a plan, and Fig. 6 is a side
view of it.
Construction of First Bell. Two brass plates of the same size and
thickness 3 inches wide and 4 inches long are framed together at
the four corners by pillars one inch apart; these form a framework
for containing a spring barrel 1 and train of wheels marked 2, 3, 4, 5,
and 6 (as shewn by dotted lines Fig. 5), lever 7, bell 8, sliding piece 9,
tell-tale card 11, and a few other pieces necessary to the mechanism
of the whole. The wheel marked 2 has four short pins fixed on the
surface, as shewn a, a, b, bl. When the train is set in motion the
two pins a, a, which are almost on the extreme of the wheel 2 and
exactly in the half, would pass under the lever 7 and lift it up or
keep it suspended, while the wheel remains stationary and drops of
its own weight as soon as one of the pins has passed from underneath
it; it is then lifted up by the next pin a', which is on the same radius
and at equal distance from the edge of the wheel. Upon the same
axis which carries the lever 7 another lever is fixed axactly parallel
with it, both close to the inside faces of the front and back plate, yet
not touching them; thus wheel the lever 7 is lifted up by one of
the pins passing under it the other lever is also lifted up with it and
drops with lever 7 when the pins pass from under it in like manner.
When the lever 7 is lifted upon by one of the pins of the wheel 2 the
lever parallel with it pushes up a sliding piece 9; this sliding piece
is a narrow strip of brass ths wide and two inches long, and is
made to slide longitudinally by being dovetailed between two strips of
brass the same length; it slides easily and drops of its own weight
when not supported from underneath. Suspended upon this sliding
piece about of an inch from the top edge (by a screw which forms
the pivot) is a long narrow strip of brass the shape shewn in the
Diagram marked 10, easily movcable right and left by a magnetic
needle M pivoted at right angles with it, see Diagram 6, but kept
when at rest in a perpendicular position by a spring S₁ pressing
the bottom edge against the pin P, which is fixed upon the inside
When thus at rest it
surface of the back plate of the frame.
stops the wheel 6, and through it the whole train, for the following

page_text: cause-The wheel 6 has a pin head fixed near the extreme edge
facing the suspended piece of brass referred to, which has also a pin
fixed so that the pin of the wheel facing it rests on the top of it
when not in motion. Therefore when the magnetic needle M is
caused to oscillate by the current passing through the magnet
m, m (Fig. 6), it causes the strip of brass also to oscillate upon its
pivot, the end of the magnet fitting in a slit at the top of the piece of
brass; by this oscillatory movement the pin head upon the face of the
strip of brass 10 is removed from under the pin on the face of wheel 6;
the train is then set free until the strip of brass returns again to its
When the
perpendicular position stopped by the pins, as described.
piece of brass referred to is set oscillating by two or three movements
right and left, and the train set in motion, the pin a in the wheel 2 slips
from under the lever 7 which causes that and the lever parallel with it
to drop of their own. weight, thus causing the sliding rod 9 to lose its
support, and with it the strip 10; the pin which it carries is by this
means taken out of the way of the wheel 6 and the whole train is
uninterrupted in its course until the wheel 2 has made the half revolution,
when the other pin a lifts up the lever, and with it the sliding rod 9
and the piece 10, so again bringing the train to a stand; upon the same
axis which carries the wheel 3 is a ratchet wheel R, as shewn in Fig. 5;
upon it is pivoted a pallet L which carries a hammer. When the ratchet
wheel is set in motion by the movement of the train, as before described,
it causes the hammer to vibrate and strike the bell. The train has been
described as consisting of a barrel and five wheels, (2, 3, 4, 5 and 6),
which are geared within each other. By the fifth wheel, which offers
but slight resistance, the train is stopped or set going, being however
such a long train of wheels, and the sixth wheel of large diameter, the
spring in the barrel could not exert sufficient power to ring the bell with
the necessary force, and the bell would therefore be defective. To
obviate this the train is divided into two parts, namely wheels 2, 3, and
4, 5, and 6, the pivot of wheel 4 on the side of the pinion is not run in
the back plate, but through the flat side of the end of a thin piece of
brass o, Fig. 5, hook shaped toward the bottom, which is fixed on to the
back plate by a screw through its centre forming a pivot allowing it
to turn easily, but supported under curve at the bottom by a lever
which is fixed upon the extreme end of the axis carrying the other
levers, (but outside of the back plate yet parallel with the lever which
supports the sliding piece 9 and therefore drops at the same time with

page_text: that and the lever 7. Pressing at the tip of the curved end of this
piece of brass is a spring S, S, which exerts a downward pressure, but
as soon as the lever underneath drops simultaneously with the others,
the spring S, S, pressing downwards as before described, lifts the top
end up and so disconnects the pinion of the wheel 4 from the outside
teeth of the wheel 3, by this means the wheels 4, 5, and 6 are
disconnected from the first two wheels of the train and remain
stationary, consequently the power of the mainspring is concentrated
in the ratchet wheel R which causes the hammer to strike the bell
with force until pins a, a', lift up lever 7 with it, the parallel lever
and the outside lever under the curved piece of brass attached to
the back plate lifting it up from the bottom and gearing the pinion
of wheel 4 into the teeth of wheel 3. The train is again completed
but stopped from going on by the pin of the wheel 6 coming in
contact with the pin of the thin strip of brass 10, 11.
Figs. 5 and 6 is a tell-tale plate in an upright position, this is
to shew whether the bell has been ringing during the absence of
an attendant, it is constructed as follows:-A long lever 11, as
shewn at side view Fig. 6, is pivoted at the bottom to the face of
the front plate 12, having a card or piece of metal (one side of which
is blacked longitudinally) about three or four inches square screwed
to the top of it. The right-hand side of this plate or card is made
heavier and would fall over on that side if not retained in an upright
position by the bottom of the lever having a brass tooth pointed at the
end which slides in a notch of the long spring k, Fig. 5, fixed to the
front plate. Midway on the long spring is fixed a small piece of brass
projecting into the interior of the plates so far as to face the wheel 2
without touching it. The inner pins b, b, of the wheel 2 when in
motion slide under this piece of brass attached to the spring and pressing
it to the left disengages the tooth from the notch, allowing the card to
fall to the right, thus shewing that the bell had been rung. When
placed in a case the tell-tale card shews through an aperture a black
surface, but when the bell has been rung and it falls down as described
it will shew a white one; a small cord brought through the case attached
to the lever returns the card again to its upright position (if pulled
by the attendant) after the bell has been rung.
Figs. 7 and 8 are front and side views of the bell arrangement, where
some of the parts are constructed on a different plan. By this plan the
back plate has not a piece of brass fixed to it like that marked o, Fig. 5,

page_text: but the pivot of the wheel 4 is run on to the back plate and not
removeable. The pinion of the axis therefore carrying the wheel 4
remains always geared into the wheel 3, but the wheel 3 itself not
being a fixture upon its own axis slides casily backwards and forwards.
On the extreme end of its axis by the side of the pivot that runs into
the back plate a narrow long piece of brass is soldered, about the
same diameter as the wheel itself. This piece of brass has a short pin
at the extreme end of it facing the wheel, the wheel itself having also
a short pin projecting at the extreme edge facing that on the brass.
When the wheel is pressed against this piece of brass or carrier the pin
of the carrier coming behind the pin on the wheel takes the wheel
round with it, setting the whole train of wheels in motion, but when not
pressed against it a long steel spring fixed the whole length of the
face of the carrier between the carrier and the wheel would push the
wheel away, disengaging the pins from each other, the carrier would
then revolve without taking the wheel with it, in this case the wheels
3, 4, 5 and 6, would remain stationary while the power of the main-
spring is exerted on the ratchet wheel R which is fixed upon the same
axis as the carrier. When lever 7 described at Fig. 5 is lifted up by
the pin a, a', it lifts up an arm parallel to it fixed upon the same axis.
This arm reaches beyond the axis carrying the ratchet wheel and
wheel 3, between which a small brass wedge is suspended, see W, Fig. 8,
therefore when the brass arm rises through the lever 7 being lifted up
by the pins a, a', of the wheel 2, it lifts the wedge up and so presses the
pin of the wheel 3 against the pin of the brass piece or carrier, which
again takes the wheel round with it and completes the train until
stopped as before described.
Description of Self-acting Switch.-Fig. 9 is the self-acting switch
arrangement made to short circuit the bell while a message is being
sent or received, after which the operator might cither bring back the
bell again in circuit, or if forgotten the switch would return of its
own accord to its original position so as to allow the bell to be in
readiness to give notice of another messuage.
It is constructed in the following manner:-1
-Upon the end of the
arbor of the fusee of an ordinary watch movement, which is fixed in a
case as shewn at letter A, an arm 3 is fixed, 1 being the dotted line of
the fusee, and 2 being the spring barrel. The other wheels are not
shewn as they are merely those of an ordinary watch movement. In

page_text: the position upon the diagram the arm 3 is perpendicular and rests
against a brass angle piece 6 which forms a stop so as to prevent it
going further to the left, but if the arm 3 be moved to the right it
would wind up the chain on the fusee and return of itself until it comes
to the stop. A short metal piece marked 4 is insulated from the arm
and watchwork and connected by a wire to the terminal B. The
arm D has on the top of it a short piece of platinum wire which is
in constant contact with the spring 5, if the metal arm 3 be turned upon
the top of the insulated piece 4, spring 5 would be brought in contact
with it, therefore if the bell be included in the circuit of the instruments
in the ordinary way, and one end of its coil clamped under terminal B,
the other end under terminal B' by pushing the arm upon the insulated
piece 4, it would be equivalent to connecting the two ends together and
so prevent the current passing through the coil of the bell which is
thus cut out of circuit. The arm has (at the end of it) an index which
points upon a divided scale 7 and may be set to any specified time the
operator may consider the message would last, but should the message
not last as long as the figure to which the arm is set he can return the
arm to the stop without interfering with the clockwork, the arm having
a joint 8 for that purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Beaufoy Wilder, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
HENKY BEAUFOY WILDER. (L.S.)