Improvements in Apparatus for Recording Signals between the Engine Room and Bridge and other places on Board Ship, and for Recording the Times of Sending and Receiving the same, and for Recording the Revolutions and Direction of Revolution of the Engine Shaft.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Nov., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 15th Aug., 1894-Accepted, 6th Oct.,
1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Recording Signals between the
Engine Room and Bridge and other places on Board Ship, and
for Recording the Times of Sending and Receiving the same, and
for Recording the Revolutions and Direction of Revolution of the
Engine Shaft.
We, ALFRED JONES COLLIN of The North Eastern Railway Company,
Darlington, in the County of Durham, Civil Engineer and ARTHUR WILFRED
BREWTNALL of No. 4 Cateaton Street, Manchester in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturer and Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
"
Apparatus constructed according to this invention is intended to automatically
record siguals as given and received between the engine room and bridge (and if
desired other places) on board ship and to record the times of sending and receiving
the same, such record being made in the chart room or other suitable place for the
captain to have perfect inspection thereof. For this purpose we provide on
the pulley of the telegraph in the engine room (or on the bridge) a contact finger.
This contact finger is adapted to make contact with double armed lever contacts,
two at each marked point at the circumference of the dial, which points are usually
nine in number viz.: Full, Half, Slow, Stand by, Stop and so on. Each lever consists
of two arms which are so fitted with stop and spring as to yield or bend when
pushed in one direction and be rigid when pushed in the opposite direction. As
two such levers are mounted oppositely at each marked point of the dial it follows
that the aforesaid contact finger when moved round with the telegraph handle in
one direction will move one lever in each of the said couples of levers while merely
bending the other lever without moving it and when moved back in the opposite
direction it will move the other lever in each such couple while merely bending the
first named lever. When moving a lever contact is made with a connection to
a bell. Then when moving the handle from say Stop" to "Stand by"
and then to "Slow" the circuits will be closed for each of the marked points
"Stand by" and "Slow" passed over on the dial thus recording the signals
for those points the last signal recorded viz.: "Slow" being the one to which
attention has to be paid but when moving the handle back to "Stop" again a
similar action in a reverse direction takes place, the recording magnets for the
separate marked points being put into circuit when the handle pointer enters any
given division. This action is effected in both directious. The motion of the
handle and consequent contact making thus puts in action the recording instrument
in the captain's room or chart room.
There are a number of such electromagnets
according to the number of signals. Each electromagnet operates a stylus, punch,
stamp or other marking instrument upon a moving band or tape of paper and at
the same time an electromagnet is energized which controls the travel of the paper
or the paper may be made to travel by an electromotor or other electromagnetic
device or by a clockwork train controlled by an electromagnetic clutch
connected in series with each of the aforesaid signal recording electromagnets.
Besides the signal electromagnets there are electromagnets, say, three or more for
recording the time that the signals are given by being connected to a clock, a
small contact maker being acted upon by a contact in connection with the minute
wheel, the hour wheel and so on as desired of a cabin or other clock. All the
armatures are connected to intermediate points in levers turning on a common
weighshaft at their one end having the stamp punch or stylus at the other end. Or

page_text: each armature may have the stamp or punch attached directly to it. The tension
of the band may be regulated by an adjustable spring or springs acting upon the
drawing rollers.
For recording at any desired time the number of revolutions per minute of the
engine shaft and as to whether it is running ahead or astern we provide two
additional electromagnets with suitable armatures and stamps or styles attached
as before described and which are each in circuit with a contact maker actuated,
the one for ahead and the other for astern, by a suitable stud or attachment on the
engine shaft, these electromagnets being in circuit with the travel controlling
magnet as before described. We also in each circuit provide a switch in order
that this record may be taken only when desired. The captain thus obtains a
check and record as to the carrying out of his orders by the engineer in charge.
A switch is also provided for putting the recording instrument out of action when
no record is required.
The record when formed of holes punched in the paper tape will be plainly
visible to the captain or commanding officer in the chart room if the paper moves
over a coloured surface and when the record tape is mounted in a book with
coloured leaves (either of one colour or with differently coloured columns) facility
is given for readily reading off the thus preserved record, which forms evidence in
case of doubt or dispute.
Dated this 15th day of November 1893.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Recording Signals between the
Engine Room and Bridge and other places on Board Ship, and
for Recording the Times of Sending and Receiving the same, and
for Recording the Revolutions and Direction of Revolution of the
Engine Shaft.
We, ALFRED JONES COLLIN of The North Eastern Railway Company
Darlington in the County of Durham Civil Engineer and ARTHUR WILFRED
BREWTNALL of No. 4 Cateaton Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster
Manufacturer and Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Apparatus constructed according to this invention is intended to automatically
record signals as given and received between the engine room and bridge (and if
desired other places) on board ship, and to record the times of sending and receiving
the same, and if desired to record the number of revolutions of the engine ahead
and astern, such record being made in the chart room or other suitable place for
the captain to have perfect inspection thereof.
For this purpose we construct the telegraph in the engine room (or on the bridge)
as hereafter described with reference to Figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying
drawings.
The contact finger A Figure 1 Sheet 5 is fixed to the disc A' connected to the
pointer handle A Figure 4 Sheet 1. This finger is adapted to make contact with
double armed lever contacts Bo B₁ there being two at each marked point at the
circumference of the dial C but Figure 1 shews only one, the other being just the
same but reverse in position. The points are usually nine in number as shewn in
Figure 4 viz. "Full," "Half," "Slow," "Stand by," 37 66 Stop" and so on. Each
lever consists of two arms B° and B' which are so fitted with stop B on the lever B³
and spring B as to yield or bend when pushed in one direction and be rigid when
pushed in the opposite direction, the one indicated by the arrow. As two such

page_text: levers are mounted oppositely at each marked point of the dial, it follows that the
aforesaid contact finger A when moved in one direction will move one lever B° B¹
and therewith also the lever B' in each of the said couples of levers while merely
bending the other lever B° B without moving it, and when moved back in the
opposite direction it will move the last named lever B° B' in each such couple
while merely bending the first named lever B° B¹. When moving a lever, contact
is made with the spring B or other connection to a recording magnet. Then when
moving the handle A from say "Stop" to "Stand by" and then to "Slow" the
circuit will be closed for each of the marked points "Stand by" and "Slow"
passed over on the dial, thus recording the signals for those points, the last signal
recorded viz. "Slow" being the one to which attention has to be paid, but when
moving the handle back to "Stop" again, a similar action in a reverse direction
takes place, the recording magnets for the separate marked points being put into
circuit when the handle pointer enters any given division. This action is effected
in both directions. The motion of the handle A thus puts into action the recording
instrument in the captain's room.
Figures 2 and 3 Sheet 1 are sectional side view and plan of a modified arrange-
ment operating in an equivalent manner. We here use two leaves or plates B
and B at each marked point and provide slanting guide faces B and B with
springs B and B. According to the direction which the handle A' and peg A
travels, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 3 so will the peg A which is either
hinged or elastic to allow of the necessary side movement be deflected by the guide
face B or the guide face B' and thus make contact between the spring B or the
spring B' and their respective leaves or plates B and B putting the battery in circuit
so as to energize the required electromagnet of the recorder in the captain's room or
chart room.
There are a number of such electromagnets according to the number of signals.
Figure 5, Sheet 2 is a plan view, Figure 6 Sheet 3 a side view of the apparatus in
the captain's room or chart room and Figure 7 Sheet 5 is a detail side view.
Corresponding to the nine points on the telegraph Figure 4 Sheet 1 there are nine
such electromagnets D', D2, D3, D4, D', D, D², D8, D. Each magnet operates a
stylus, punch, stamp or other marking instrument E, Figure 6, upon a moving band
or tape F and at the same time an electromagnet is energized which controls the
travel of the paper, or the paper may be made to travel by an electromotor, or as
here shown by a clock work train & controlled by an electromagnetic clutch H
connected in series with each of the aforesaid signal recording electromagnets D¹
to D or the electromagnetic clutch H may be put directly in circuit with the
battery by the movement of any stamp in its printing stroke.
All the armatures are connected to intermediate points in levers K which carry
at their ends the aforesaid marking instruments E. These levers turn each on a
fulcrum pin K on standards K.
Referring to Figures 3, 6 and 7 the paper tape F is fed on by the rollers 3 and 4.
On the spindle of the latter is the driving tooth wheel 5 and the ratchet wheel 6
with an extending arm 7, the ratchet wheel and arm being free on the spindle.
8 is a lever also free on the spindle and carrying a pawl 9 provided with spring 10.
This pawl engages with the ratchet wheel 6. The lever 8 forms an armature to
the electromagnet H; the spring 11 pulls the lever 8 up against the adjustable
stop 12 when the current is interrupted. The pawl 13 prevents recoil. A spring 14
connects the arm 7 with the pin 15 which is fixed to the driving-wheel 5.
When the current is sent into the magnet H the armature on lever 8 is attracted
thus moving the ratchet wheel round, thereby separating the arm 7. and the
stop 16, when the tension of the spring 14 comes into play and pulls the large
wheel 5 round a short distance until the stud 16 again touches the arın 7. The
proportions of the parts are so arranged that the feed wheels 3 and 4 move
through a suitable distance, the wheels 20, 17 and 18 and fly 19 controlling the
speed of rotation. The magnet H is put in circuit with the battery every time a
mark is made on the recording tape.

page_text: Besides the electromagnets D₁ to D' there are three (or more)_electro-
magnets 12 for recording the time that the signals are given. For this
purpose they are connected to a clock.
Figure 8, Sheet 4, is a diagram view of such a cabin or other clock with electric
connections and Figure 9 a vertical section of the face and hands of the clock.
The former figure shows diagrammatically the electrical connections to the clock
for recording automatically the minutes, quarters and hours or any other desired
time divisions. On the spindle of the minute wheel is mounted a balanced lever 1
having one arm longer than the other. This lever is electrically connected
through the minute recording magnet L with one pole of the battery. The other
pole of the battery is connected to the spring contact prong 2 against which the
longer arm of the balanced lever 1 touches once in each revolution, thus actuating
the minute recording magnet L. For recording the quarter hours there are placed
in front of the clock dial three tongues a, b, and c which are connected with the
quarter hour magnet M and through it with the battery pole. The minute hand h
has on its end a shoes which bears upon the spring prongs a, b, c, and d,
consecutively in its passage round the dial. The spindle of the minute hand is in
electrical connection with one pole of the battery through the magnet L. Now
when the shoes is passing over any one of the prongs a, b or c on the dial front
the maguet M is placed in parallel circuit with the magnet L when the minute
wheel contact completes the circuit to the battery and both the recording magnets
make their marks. In the same manner when the shoes is passing over the
prong d the hour recording magnet N is for the time being put in parallel circuit
with the magnet L, these two magnets recording together when the circuit is
completed to the battery by the minute wheel contact. The sizes of the shoe s
and prongs a, b, c and d are so proportioned that the duration of their contact will
not allow of more than one revolution of the minute wheel thereby ensuring only
a single mark for the hours and quarters (or any other time division desired such
as 10 minutes or 5 minutes). In the sectional clock face view Figure 9 the minute
hand is in a vertical position and its shoe in contact with the prong d.
For recording at any desired time the number of revolutious per minute of
the engine shaft and as to whether it is running ahead or astern we provide
two additional electromagnets O and P Figure 5 with suitable armatures and
levers with stamps or styles attached as before described with reference to the
electromagnets D' to D and I, 1', and 12; these magnets O and P are each
in circuit with a contact maker actuated the one for ahead and the other for
astern by a suitable stud or attachment on the engine shaft, or by the air pump
lever or other convenient part of engine, these electromagnets being in circuit
with the travel controlling magnet H as before described. We also in each
circuit provide a switch in order that this record may be taken only when
desired. The captain thus obtains a check and record as to the carrying out
of his orders by the engineer in charge. A switch is also provided for putting
the recording instrument out of action when no record is required.
We also provide a means whereby the recorder when switched off for a time as
will occur in long voyages may automatically be put into action when telegraphing
is begun say on the appearance of fog or the near approach of another vessel. This
we accomplish by putting on the handle of telegraph spoon-shaped contact
springs S. S, Fig. 4, Sheet 1, so that when the handle is grasped a circuit is closed
to a magnet T as shown in the diagram Fig. 4. which magnet releases a spring
Bwitch connecting up the recorder to the battery. This spring switch is shown
at T, Fig. 6, Sheet 3.
Figure 10, Sheet 5, shows an example of a record on the moving band F. The
two upper converging rows of signal marks, 9 in each row, indicate the movement
of the telegraph handle or pointer twice over the whole dial. Next below and to
the right is shown a number of short lines or strokes leaning over to the right,
these indicate the number of revolutions, that is to say, a proportion of them such
as a record of every fifth revolution; next to the right a little higher up is shown

page_text: a number of strokes leaning to the left; these indicate the number of revolutions
astern, or rather a proportion of them, say, a record of every fifth. Near the
bottom edge of the band F there are three rows of marks, namely the two dots for
the hours, the stroke at the left for the quarter hour and the bottom strokes for the
minutes.
The record when formed of holes punched in the paper tape F will be. plainly
visible to the captain or commanding officer in the chart room, if the paper moves
over a coloured surface, and when the record tape is mounted in a book with
coloured leaves (either of one colour or with differently coloured columns) facility
is given for readily reading off the thus preserved record which forms evidence in
case of doubt or dispute.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
1. Apparatus for automatically recording signals as given and received between
the engine room and the bridge (and if desired other places) on board ship and for
recording the times of sending and receiving the same cousisting of a contact finger
moved by the handle of the telegraph on the bridge (or in the engine room) lever
contacts two at each marked point at the dial circumference but one only acting
when the handle is moved in one direction and the other only when the handle is
moved in the opposite direction, a number of electro magnets, corresponding in
number to the number of signals on the engine room telegraph dial, armature levers
for the said electromagnets each having a stylus or other marker, electromagnets
for recording the time that the signals are given, armature levers for the said
electromagnets each having a stylus or other marker, electric clock devices for
recording the time that the signals are severally given, a tape or band for receiving
the record marks, and suitably regulated clockwork or other motor for moving the
band, substantially as described.
2. The application with apparatus operating as firstly claimed of two electro-
magnets each with armature lever provided with stylus for recording the number
of revolutions of the engine shaft, the one electro-magnet for ahead the other for
astern both in circuit with an electromagnet for controlling the clockwork for
moving the record band, two studs or attachments on the engine shaft, two contact
makers operating with said studs and in circuit with the two electromagnets, and
switch appliances for putting the revolution recording gear in or out of action
substantially as described.
3. The application with apparatus operating as firstly claimed of means for
putting the recorder into action namely the contact springs S and magnet T Figs. 4
Sheet 1, and 6, Sheet 3.
4. The construction of recording apparatus shown on the drawings.
Dated this 15th day of August 1894.
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.