The telautograph is an
analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
precursor to the modern
fax
Fax (short for facsimile), sometimes called telecopying or telefax (the latter short for telefacsimile), is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material (both text and images), normally to a telephone number connected to a printer o ...
machine. It transmits electrical impulses recorded by
potentiometer
A potentiometer is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding or rotating contact that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used, one end and the wiper, it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat.
The measuring instrume ...
s at the sending station to
servomechanism
In control engineering a servomechanism, usually shortened to servo, is an automatic device that uses error-sensing negative feedback to correct the action of a mechanism. On displacement-controlled applications, it usually includes a built-in ...
s attached to a
pen
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
at the receiving station, thus reproducing at the receiving station a drawing or signature made by the sender. It was the first such device to transmit drawings to a stationary sheet of paper; previous inventions in Europe had used rotating drums to make such transmissions.
Invention
![PSM V14 D424 Elisha Gray](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/PSM_V14_D424_Elisha_Gray.jpg)
The telautograph's invention is attributed to
Elisha Gray
Elisha Gray (August 2, 1835 – January 21, 1901) was an American electrical engineer who co-founded the Western Electric Manufacturing Company. Gray is best known for his development of a telephone prototype in 1876 in Highland Park, Illinois. ...
, who patented it on July 31, 1888. Gray's patent stated that the telautograph would allow "one to transmit his own handwriting to a distant point over a two-wire circuit." It was the first facsimile machine in which the stylus was controlled by horizontal and vertical bars.
The telautograph was first publicly exhibited at the 1893
World's Columbian Exposition
The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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held in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
![Telautograph-1888 electronic writing device](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Telautograph-1888_electronic_writing_device.png)
While the patent schema's geometry implies vertical and horizontal coordinates, systems used in the 20th century (and presumably before) had a different coordinate scheme, based on transmitting two angles.
In an 1888 interview in ''The Manufacturer & Builder'' (Vol. 24: No. 4: pages 85–86) Gray said:
By my invention you can sit down in your office in Chicago, take a pencil in your hand, write a message to me, and as your pencil moves, a pencil here in my laboratory moves simultaneously, and forms the same letters and words in the same way. What you write in Chicago is instantly reproduced here in fac-simile. You may write in any language, use a code or cipher, no matter, a fac-simile is produced here. If you want to draw a picture it is the same, the picture is reproduced here. The artist of your newspaper can, by this device, telegraph his pictures of a railway wreck or other occurrences just as a reporter telegraphs his description in words.
By the end of the 19th century, the telautograph was modified by
Foster Ritchie. Calling it the telewriter, Ritchie's version of the telautograph could be operated using a telephone line for simultaneous copying and speaking.
Usage
The telautograph became very popular for the transmission of signatures over a distance, and in banks and large hospitals to ensure that doctors' orders and patient information were transmitted quickly and accurately.
Teleautograph systems were installed in a number of major railroad stations to relay hand-written reports of train movements from the
interlocking tower
On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetabl ...
to various parts of the station. The teleautograph network in
Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
included a public display in the main concourse into the 1960s; a similar setup in
Chicago Union Station
Chicago Union Station is an intercity and commuter rail terminal located in the Near West Side neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. The station is Amtrak's flagship station in the Midwest. While serving long-distance passenger trains, it is also ...
remained in operation into the 1970s.
![PSM V44 D062 Sample work of telautograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/PSM_V44_D062_Sample_work_of_telautograph.jpg)
A Telautograph was used in 1911 to warn workers on the 10th floor about the
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on Saturday, March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city, and one of the deadliest in U.S. history. The ...
that had broken out two floors below.
An example of a Telautograph machine writing script can be seen in the 1956 movie ''
Earth vs the Flying Saucers'' as the output device for the mechanical translator. The 1936 movie ''
Sinner Take All
''Sinner Take All'' is a 1936 murder mystery film directed by Errol Taggart and starring Bruce Cabot and Margaret Lindsay.
Plot
When millionaire New York City businessman Aaron Lampier (Charley Grapewin) receives a death threat in the mail, he ...
'' shows it being used in an office setting to secretly message instructions to a secretary.
Telautograph Corporation changed its name several times. In 1971, it was acquired by Arden/Mayfair. In 1993,
Danka Industries Danka may refer to:
*A family affiliated with a Buddhist temple in Japan, or '' danka''.
People with the given name
*Danka Barteková (born 1984), Slovak skeet shooter
*Danka Kovinić (born 1994), Montenegrin professional tennis player
*Danka Pod ...
purchased the company and renamed it ''Danka/Omnifax''. In 1999,
Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (ha ...
corporation purchased the company and called it the ''Omnifax division'', which has since been absorbed by the corporation.
Machines like the Telautograph are still in use today. The Allpoint Pen is currently in use and has been used to register tens of thousands of voters in the United States,
and the
LongPen
The LongPen is a remote signing device conceived of by writer Margaret Atwood in 2004 and debuted in 2006. It allows a person to remotely write in ink anywhere in the world via tablet PC and the Internet and a robotic hand. It also supports an aud ...
, an invention conceived of by writer Margaret Atwood, is used by authors to sign their books at a distance.
References
External links
*Archive o
Xerox Omnifax Divisionwebsite, the successor to Telautograph Corporation.
historical description
*
Patents
''Patent images in
TIFF
Tag Image File Format, abbreviated TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processin ...
format''
* ''Art of Telegraphy'', issued July 1888 (first telautograph patent)
* ''Telautograph'', issued July 1888
*''Telautograph'', issued October 1891
* ''Art of and Apparatus for Telautographic Communication'', issued October 1891 (improved speed and accuracy)
* ''Telautograph'', issued February 1893
* ''Telautograph'', issued April 1893
{{Telecommunications
American inventions
Xerox
Telecommunications equipment
Office equipment
Telegraphy
19th-century inventions