Lorenz SZ42 — patent cross-reference
Twenty-one C. Lorenz AG patents mapped onto the mechanisms of the Schlüsselzusatz 42. Grimsen filings are marked with a star and shaded.
The mechanical description of the machine follows D. W. Davies, “The Lorenz Cipher Machine SZ42”, Cryptologia 19(1) (1995). Patent titles below are English renderings of the German specifications. Rows in gold are patents naming Dr Gerhard Grimsen.
★ Dr Gerhard Grimsen (Lorenz AG) · Source file: Patentsammlung Lorenz AG 1920–1945.
Index by mechanism
| Patent | Filed | Inventor | Title (English) | Where it bears on the SZ42 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE652476A | 11.04.1933 | Lorenz AG | Secrecy of wireless messages | Early wireless secrecy; background only |
| DE767350A ★ | 21.05.1938 | Grimsen, Gerhard | Method for generating and sending secret multi-alphabet telegrams | Core XOR / multi-alphabet principle — essay §§ Vernam, How it worked |
| DE767624A | 07.04.1939 | Weber, Karl | Method for generating and sending secret multi-alphabet telegrams | Parallel filing to DE767350; same cipher idea |
| DE767451A ★ | 23.04.1939 | Grimsen, Gerhard | Magnetic storage for adjustable time-delay of key signals | Key-signal storage and timing; camlet readout; staggered A-wheel lock |
| DE948984B | 28.07.1938 | Eulenhoefer / Scheppmann | Encryption device for facsimile telegraph apparatus | Related Lorenz encryption work, same year as DE767350 |
| DE709424A | 27.01.1938 | Lobe, Fritz | Five-unit alphabet printing telegraph using relay selector | Five-unit Baudot path that feeds the attachment |
| DE759709A | 08.08.1940 | Scheppmann, Wilhelm | Teleprinter method using the five-unit alphabet | Transmit / receive alphabet; automatic direction changeover |
| DE727771A | 05.04.1938 | Bahr, Otto | Multi-cam switch (Vielfachnockenschalter) | Camlet wheels; sequential cams on A-wheel locks and M-wheel logic |
| DE687758A | 20.12.1936 | Rohbeck, Kurt | Current-pulse generator for synchronous speed control of step switches | Step drive and motor governor |
| DE718748A | 25.02.1938 | Bachmann / Putz | Synchronous transmission of rotary movements and pointer positions | Receive–transmit gear train |
| DE722305A | 03.09.1939 | Bergmann, Herbert | Synchronous transmission of rotary movements | Drive into the cryptographic unit |
| DE880317B | 25.04.1940 | Wegener, Gustav | Fine phase regulation for synchronous shafts | Receive / transmit timing |
| DE882165B | 25.06.1940 | Scheppmann, Wilhelm | Mechanical device for phase position between synchronous shafts | Phase between receive clutch and crypto shaft |
| DE883922B | 29.06.1940 | Scheppmann / Wegener | Device for correct phase position between synchronous shafts | Same family as DE882165 |
| DE899515B | 25.06.1940 | Wegener, Gustav | Device for correct phase position between synchronous axes | Phase correction of the wheel drive |
| DE911027B | 31.07.1940 | Steiner, Fritz | Arrangement for synchronising a controllable motor to an AC source | Motor speed lock |
| DE871771B | 18.12.1942 | Boettcher, Helmut | Phase adjustment of a motor synchronised by frequency division | Motor phase |
| DE866662B ★ | 03.01.1942 | Grimsen, Gerhard | Storage units for teleprinter systems | Five-bit mechanical memory (emf / emo); what the UM magnet clears |
| DE759713A | 30.07.1940 | Gossel / Puhlmann | Secret message transmission via a high-frequency carrier | Radio-path secrecy context for the limitations |
| DE906229B ★ | 03.09.1943 | Grimsen, Gerhard | Method for driving devices for wireless transmission of encrypted multi-alphabet pulses | M-wheel intermittent drive; limitation era |
| DE928773B ★ | 25.07.1943 | Grimsen, Gerhard | Fully automatic cipher converter for enciphering / deciphering | The attachment as a complete system, including limitation circuitry |
How to read the dates
Grimsen’s DE767350 was filed on 21 May 1938, within months of the start of SZ development as later described by the Lorenz engineer Augustin to Davies. The 1942 memory patent and the two 1943 filings sit on the machine as issued and on the limitation period. Weber’s parallel 1939 cipher filing and Bahr’s 1938 multi-cam switch cover the mechanical side that Grimsen’s cryptographic patents assume.
Related specifications discussed in the Signal article but not given a row above — including Weber’s adjustable-cam wheel DE767410 and Grimsen’s DE767367 / DE767351 — can be added as the printed copies in the collection are checked page by page. This table is the set already lined up against Davies’s section headings.
Related pages
- SZ42 essay — what the attachment was, Grimsen, Vernam, limitations.
- German radio, 1939–45 — field power, SZ42, Enigma, air.