IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Leon Alexandre Brasseur, 20, Rue Fonsny, St. Gilles-
lez-Bruxelles, and Stanislas William Meldon de Sussex, of 157, Rue du Progres,
Bruxelles, both at present residing at the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace
Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS."
Sealed the 22nd February 1878, and dated the 29th September 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Leon Alexandre Brasseur and
Stanislas William Meldon de Sussex at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents on the 29th September 1877.
LEON ALEXANDRE BRASSEUR, 20, Rue Fonsny, St. Gilles-lez-Bruxelles, and
STANISLAS WILLIAM MELDON DE SUSSEX, of 157, Rue du Progres, Bruxelles, both
at present residing at the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS."
This Invention has for its object improvements in electric telegraph apparatus,
and the improvements relate more especially to the well-known Morse receiving
apparatus.
-
In the ordinary Morse apparatus the point or blade by which marks are pro-
duced upon a travelling strip of paper is carried by a lever, which has also upon
it the armature of an electro-magnet, the wire coils of which magnet are coupled
up to the line wire. The armature is ordinarily held away from the magnet by a
light spring; but when a current from the line wire passes through the coils of the
magnet, the armature is drawn towards the magnet and the printing point or
blade is brought against the travelling paper.
In place of drawing the armature away from the poles of the electro-magnet
by a light spring, we place on the opposite side of the armature and near to it, the
ends of two soft iron cores similar to the cores of the electro-magnet. The opposite
ends of these cores we couple together by a permanent horse-shoe magnet. This
magnet, acting through the soft iron cores, attracts the armature and holds it away
from the electro-magnet.

page_text: The soft iron cores are surrounded by fine wire coils similar to the coils of the
electro-magnet, and the currents from the line wire are caused to pass through all
the coils.
When a current passes from the line wire through the wire coils, the electro-
magnet attracts the armature, whilst the poles of the permanent magnet are
reversed and repel the armature, which is feebly magnetized from its proximity to
the poles of the permanent magnet; for short lines the armature may itself be a
weak permanent magnet.
The wire composing the several coils is arranged to offer the same resistance as
the resistance of the line wire.
The Drawing annexed shews part of an electric telegraph receiving instrument
with our improvements applied to it.
A is a permanent magnet, the power of which can be increased or diminished by
sliding across it the soft iron regulator R.
B and B¹, bobbins carrying fine wire coils, the wire being of a section calculated
to give the same resistance as the resistance of the line wire.
In the apparatus shewn, the section is calculated to give a resistance of 4,500
kilometers, that is to say, that the bobbins carry a thread of 4,500 of resistance,
which is equal to the resistance of the Atlantic cable, for which the apparatus is
designed.
It is known that it is not practicable to use bobbins larger than a certain
diameter, as magnetization is no longer or but feebly produced when this limit has
been passed. It is therefore necessary to obtain the requisite small diameter of
bobbin by employing extremely fine wire.
G, cross bar of copper for supporting the cores of the two upper bobbins, and
also by means of a piece projecting from it for supporting the permanent magnet A.
T, bar of soft iron connecting the two cores of the lower bobbins.
P, soft iron armature for actuating the printing blade of the Morse apparatus.
Note. If the line resistance is small, this armature, in place of being of soft iron,
might be a steel magnet.
a, south pole of the magnet A.
b, north pole of the magnet A.
a', south pole of the cores of the lower bobbins at the time when a current
passes.
b¹, north pole of the cores of the lower bobbins when a current passes.
M, a portion of the ordinary Morse apparatus. The current from O through the
several wire coils to S, magnetizes a¹ and b¹; a¹ south, 6' north. At the same time
the poles a, b, of the permanent magnet are reversed, a becoming north and
b south.
The armature P, which always retains a portion almost infinitessimal of residual
magnetism, remains north at the end b and south at the end a, is repelled by
a and b of the upper bobbins, a having been changed to b and b to a. Simul-
taneously it is attracted by a', and b' of the lower bobbins, a¹ and b' then becoming
magnets inverse to the magnetism remaining in the armature.
The same effects are produced at each passage of the current, and consequently
the apparatus works easily with almost an unappreciable quantity of electricity.
We would observe that one of the results obtained from the above construction is
that the return currents are prevented from giving any false signals. In fact the
passage of a reverse current, the stronger it is the more it restores the normal action
of the permanent magnet, its poles being then no longer reversed.
In cases where it is thought desirable to employ so small a quantity of electricity
as to render it insufficient to work an apparatus like the Morse, which necessarily
requires a certain amount of force, we construct on the same principles a relay so
sensitive as to be acted upon with a minimum of electricity, which really acts as
key to a local battery with Morse receiving apparatus, and reproduces on this
apparatus the signals which have been sent through the line.
The Drawing annexed shews the construction of such a relay. To increase its

page_text: sensitiveness at great distances, a vacuum should be made in the box containing
the relay.
Figures 3 and 4 show a relay thus constructed.
A and A' are permanent magnets, the power of which can be increased or
diminished by sliding across them the soft iron regulators R.
B are bobbins of fine wire whose section is calculated in proportion to the
resistance of the line; when extreme sensitiveness is required, the bobbins at each
pole of the permanent magnets will be composed of a number of bobbins of lesser
diameter but giving a similar resistance and connected together by a " plate" of
soft iron.
G are the sides of a copper box in which the bobbins are adjusted, and which is
covered with glass. This box should be so made that a complete vacuum may be
obtained.
P, soft iron or steel blade. This blade rests at one end against the foot of a brass
column D, from the top of which it is suspended by a silken string, another silken
string suspending the other end from the same point of the brass column.
The lower end of the brass column is coupled to one of the wires leading to the
Morse or other receiving apparatus. The other wire of the receiving apparatus is
coupled to one pole of a battery, whilst the other pole of the battery is coupled to
one of the two stops S which limit the movement of the blade P.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patont filed by
the said Leon Alexandre Brasseur and Stanislas William Meldon de Sussex
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th March 1878.
LEON ALEXANDRE BRASSEUR, of 20, Rue Fonsny, St. Gilles-lez-Bruxelles, and
STANISLAS WILLIAM MELDON DE SUSSEX, of 157, Rue du Progres, Bruxelles, both
at present residing at the Grosvenor Hotel, Buckingham Palace Road, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH APPARATUS."
This Invention has for its object improvements in electric telegraph apparatus
and the improvements relate more especially to the well-known Morse receiving
apparatus.
In the ordinary Morse apparatus the point or blade by which marks are produced
upon a travelling strip of paper is carried by a lever, which has also upon it the
armature of an electro-magnet, the wire coils of which magnet are coupled up to
the line wire. The armature is ordinarily held away from the magnet by a light
spring; but when a current from the line wire passes through the coils of the magnet
the armature is drawn towards the magnet and the printing point or blade is
brought against the travelling paper.
In place of drawing the armature away from the poles of the electro-magnet by
a light spring, we place on the opposite side of the armature, and near to it, the
ends of two soft iron cores, similar to the cores of the electro-magnet. The opposite
ends of these cores we couple together by a permanent horse-shoe magnet. This
magnet, acting through the soft iron cores, attracts the armature and holds it away
from the electro-magnet.
The soft iron cores are surrounded by fine wire coils, similar to the coils of the
electro-magnet, and the currents from the line wire are caused to pass through all
the coils.
When a current passes from the line wire through the wire coils, the electro-
magnet attracts the armature whilst the poles of the permanent magnet are reversed
and repell the armature, which is feebly magnetized from its proximity to the poles
of the permanent magnet; the armature may itself be a weak permanent magnet in
certain cases, especially in the case of a short line.
The wire composing the several coils is arranged to offer the same resistance as
the resistance of the line wire.
The Drawing annexed shews part of an electric telegraph receiving instrument
with our improvements applied to it.
A is a permanent magnet, the power of which can be increased or diminished by
sliding across it the soft iron regulator R.
B and B', bobbins carrying fine wire coils, the wire being of a section calculated
to give the same resistance as the resistance of the line wire.
G, bar of copper for supporting the cores of the two upper bobbins and also by
means of a piece projecting from it for supporting the permanent magnet A.
T, bar of soft iron connecting the two cores of the lower bobbins.
P, soft iron armature for actuating the printing blade of the Morse apparatus.
Note. If the line resistance is small, this armature, in place of being of soft iron,
might be a steel magnet.
a, south pole of the magnet A.
b, north pole of the magnet A.
a², south pole of the cores of the lower bobbins at the time when a current
passes.
61, north pole of the cores of the lower bobbins when a current passes.
M, a portion of the ordinary Morse apparatus. The current from O through the
Beveral wire coils to S, magnetizes a¹ and b¹; a south pole, 6' north. At the same
time the poles a, a, of the permanent magnet are reversed, a becoming north and
b south.

page_text: The armature P, which always retains a portion almost infinitessimal of residual
magnetism, remains north at the end b and south at the end a, is repelled by a and
6 of the upper bobbins, a having been changed to b and b to a. Simultaneously it
is attracted by a¹ and 6¹ of the lower bobbins, a¹ and b₁ then becoming magnets
inverse to the magnetism remaining in the armature.
The same effects are produced at each passage of the current, and consequently
the apparatus works easily with almost an inappreciable quantity of electricity.
In cases where it is thought desirable to employ so small a quantity of electricity
as to render it insufficient to work an apparatus like the Morse, which necessarily
requires a certain amount of force, we construct on the same principle a relay so
sensitive as to be acted upon with a minimum of electricity, which relay acts as
key to a local battery with Morse receiving apparatus, and reproduces on this
apparatus the signals which have been sent through the line.
As will be readily understood, the construction shewn in the Drawing annexed
can thus be used as a relay, the clockwork movement of the Morse apparatus being
removed.
We may remark that the duplex system of working can advantageously be used
when apparatus constructed as above described is employed.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention and the manner of performing
the same, we would have it understood that we claim the improvements herein-
before described in electric telegraph apparatus.
In witness whereof, we, the said Leon Alexandre Brasseur and Stanislas
William Meldon de Sussex, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-eight.
L. BRASSEUR. (L.S.)
S. DE SUSSEX. (L.S.)