Visible Signals. Electromagnetic Signal. Practical visual signals are of two general kinds:  electromagnetic devices for moving a target or pointer, and incandescent lamps.  The earliest and most widely used visible signal in telephone practice was the annunciator, having a shutter adapted to fall when the magnet is energized.  Fig. 22 is such a signal.  Shutter 1 is held by the catch 2 from dropping to the right by its own gravity.  The name “gravity-drop” is thus obvious.  Current energizing the core attracts the armature 3, lifts the catch 2, and the shutter falls.  A simple modification of the gravity-drop produces the visible signal shown in Fig. 23.  Energizing the core lifts a target so as to render it visible through an opening in the plate 1.  A contrast of color between the plate and the target heightens the effect.

[Illustration:  Fig. 22.  Gravity-Drop]

The gravity-drop is principally adapted to the magneto-bell system of signaling, where an alternating current is sent over the line to a central office by the operation of a bell crank at the subscriber’s station, this current, lasting only as long as the crank is turned, energizes the drop, which may be restored by hand or otherwise and will remain latched.  The visible signal is better adapted to lines in which the signaling is done by means of direct current, as, for example, in systems where the removal of the receiver from the hook at the subscriber’s station closes the line circuit, causing current to flow through the winding of the visible signal and so displaying it until the receiver has been hung upon the hook or the circuit opened by some operation at the central office.  Visible signals of the magnetic type of Fig. 23 have been widely used in connection with common-battery systems, both for line signals and for supervisory purposes, indicating the state and the progress of the connection and conversation.

[Illustration:  Fig. 23.  Electromagnetic Visible Signal]

[Illustration:  Fig. 24.  Lamp Signal and Lens]

Electric-Lamp Signal. Incandescent electric lamps appeared in telephony as a considerable element about 1890.  They are better than either form of mechanical visible signals because of three principal qualities:  simplicity and ease of restoring them to normal as compared with drops; their compactness; and their greater prominence when displayed.  Of the latter quality, one may say that they are more insistent, as they give out light instead of reflecting it, as do all other visible signals.  In its best form, the lamp signal is mounted behind a hemispherical lens, either slightly clouded or cut in facets.  This lens serves to distribute the rays of light from the lamp, with the result that the signal may be seen from a wide angle with the axis of the lens, as shown in Fig. 24.  This is of particular advantage in connection with manual-switchboard connecting cords, as it enables the signals to be mounted close to and even among the cords, their great visible prominence when shining saving them from being hidden.