IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC AND GALVANIC CONDUCTORS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY OR APPA-
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Michael Henry, of 77, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC
AND GALVANIC CONDUCTORS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY OR APPA-
Sealed the 30th April 1858, and dated the 14th November 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Michael Henry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
November 1857.
I, MICHAEL HENRY, of 77, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN ELECTRIC AND GALVANIC CONDUCTORS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," (communicated to me by a foreigner
residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
This improved electric and galvanic conductor consists of wire insulated by
gutta percha or india-rubber firmly enclosed in a coating of lead or other
ductile metal. For giving the metallic coat to the gummy matter which
covers and insulates the wire, an improved process is employed, which consists
in arresting the progress of caloric conducted from the hot metal, by receiving
it into and conveying it off by a fluid caused to flow in a current through a
suitable vessel or vessels between the lead (or other ductile metal) and the

page_text: insulated wire, to prevent the caloric passing into and heating the insulating
gum, thereby keeping the gum coating cool as it and the melted metal move
along on opposite sides of substances which would otherwise furnish an easy
passage of the caloric from the metal to the gum, thus securing a proper
relative temperature of the hot metal and the cold gum while they are moving
in the same direction towards and by the time they reach the point of union,
by the action of an interposéil current of fluid.
For this manufacture apparatus or machinery is employed in which the
metal and insulated wire are caused to move in separate channels towards a dio
where they are to be united, and the gum is prevented from being heated while
it and the ductile metal advance towards the die by a current of fluid passing
in a suitable vessel or vessels between the metal and the gum to receive and
carry off the caloric.
In the machinery constructed for the purposes of the Inyention, tubes or
other equivalent conductors for a current of fluid are combined with the dio;
and the apparatus which I prefer is thus constructed-A tube through which
the insulated wire passes is surrounded by another tube, which so surrounds it
as to leave or form an annular space between the two for the circulation of
fluid; at the end of the last-mentioned tube is an opening or tapering orifice
or hollow point, of such form and calibre that the insulated wire being coated
with gutta percha or india-rubber will pass freely but closely through it (but so
as not to allow any fluid to pass). A chamber is provided (with a suitable
opening or hopper) to receive the lead or other ductile metal, and a plunger
fitting it, and formed with an opening to receive the outer tube; there is a
suitably placed die, into which the end or point of the outer tube just enters,
space being left around it to allow the lead or other melted metal to pass into
the die and around the gum; and there are an inlet and an outlet at the end of
the tubes opposite to that of the die for admission and emission of the current
of fluid, and the whole is supported by a suitable framework. A hydraulic
press or other suitable means are provided for actuating the plunger.
The distance of the mouth or opening of the outer tube from or into the dic
may be regulated by an adjusting screw. There must bo sufficient spaco
between the inner tube and the wire, to allow a current of fluid to flow, and
the tubes are so contrived, that the fluid having been forced along, either one
of them will find its way into the other and be carried off, so as to keep up an
uninterrupted circulation.
A hydraulic press may be used to actuato the plunger, and combined with
the other parts of the apparatus for the purpose, the piston being attached to
the lead chamber pluüger, & having an orifice through it for the tubes to pass

page_text: through, and the parts being suitably packed when required. To illustrate
the operation, the wire coated with the insulating medium) is introduced into
the inner tube and pushed along it till it enters the die, and the melted metal
forced by the plunger out of its chamber through the die closes around the
wire with sufficient impingement to draw it down, so that every part of the
wire in succession is exposed to its action, and this, after their proper relative
condition of temperature has been obtained, for when the hot metal comes in
contact with the outer tubo the caloric is conducted from the former to the
inner surface of the latter, along which the current of fluid is kept flowing,
and which, receiving the caloric, bears it away to its exit, so that while
the metal is carried along in a hot state, the gum travelling in the said
direction through the other tube remains cold.
The wire as it comes from the die should be received in cold water, or
otherwise thoroughly cooled as fast as formed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Michael Henry in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MICHAEL
HENRY, of 77, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Michael Henry, Her special licence that I, the said Michael Henry,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Michael
Henry, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRIC AND
GALVANIC CONDUCTORS, AND IN THE MODE OF AND MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR
MANUFACTURING THE SAME," communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Michael Henry, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to bo
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar mouths next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Michael Henry, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, as communicated to me, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked theroon, that is
to sny:-
This Invention relates to a new and useful protected insulated electric and
galvanic conductor, and now and useful improvements in the process and
machinery for making the same.
My improved conductor or new article consists of wire insulated by a
covering of gutta percha or india-rubber, firmly enclosed in a coating of lead
or other ductile metal.
My now process in giving a metallic coat to the gum which covers and
insulates the wire, consists in arresting the progress of caloric conducted from
the hot metal, by receiving it into and conveying it off by a fluid caused to
flow in a current through a suitable vessel or vessels between the lead and the
insulated wire, to prevent the caloric passing into and heating the insulating
guin, thereby keeping the gum coating cool, as it and the melted métal move
along on opposite sides of substances which would otherwise furnish an casy
passage of the caloric from the metal to the guin, thus securing a proper
relative temperature. of the hot metal and the cold gum, while they are moving
in the same direction toward, and by the time they reach the point of union
by the action of an interposed current of fluid.
My improvement in the machine employed in my said process to produce
my said manufacture, consists of a combination of tubes or other equivalent
conductors for a current of fluid with the die. The whole machine used
consists essentially of a tubo through which the insulated wire passes; a second
tube surrounding the first, and forming an annular ring or space between the
two for the circulation of fluid; a hollow point at the end of the last-mentioned
tube, of a calibre of such size that the insulated wire being coated with gutta
percha or india-rubber will pass freely but closely through it; a plunger fitting
the lead chamber, and with a hole in it to receive the outer tubo; and a lead
chamber with a hopper to receive the lead; a die into which the point of the
outer tube just enters, leaving suflicient space it around it to allow the lead
to pass into the die and around the gum; an inlet and outlet at the end of the

page_text: tubes opposite to that of the dic for admission and emission of the current of
fluid; and all supported by a suitable framework and connected with a
hydraulic press, as hereafter described.
I now proceed to describe this Invention and the parts and operation thereof
more in detail, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, in all
of the Figures of which like numerals and like letters indicato like parts.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Figure 2 is a vertical section ;
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section of a piece of the new manufacture; and
Figure 4, a transverse section of the same.
A is a frame or table, supporting the cylinder and other parts, and which
may be made in the form of a square bench widest at the bottom, with a
flange at the top to surround the bottom of the cylinder and keep it from
slipping off (or in any other suitable form). B is the lead cylinder, and
receives the lead into the chamber M, which lead is poured into it through a
suitable opening or hopper at the top. This cylinder has the upper external
part made square, and projecting sufficiently to form a shoulder or flange, for
the purpose of being taken hold of by the clamps or supports C, C. D is the
bottom of the lead cylinder, and is securely bolted to the cylinder by the bolts
1, 1, so as to resist the downward pressure of the ram; F is a die, fitted into the
bottom D, which die I make circular on the outside; on the inside it may be
of any form in which it is desired to have the outside coating when finished,
but it is most commonly used, and in the Drawing it is represented, circular on
the inside, with a bore large enough to allow of a coating of lead sufficiently
thick to form around the gum which covers the wire. J is a tube or con-
ductor passing down through the machine from the top to the die, terminating
at the end in a hollow steel point 2, of the proper form and sizo to allow the
wire with its coat of gum to pass easily through it, but at the same time not
so loosely as to allow water to pass between the gum and the inner surface of
this point. The distance of this point from or into the die can be regulated
by means of a nut k, screwed on to the tube J, and resting on the head of
the cylinder H. The hollow steel point 2 and the die F are both moveable,
so that
any others can be substituted, or adapted to any form and size of the
insulated wire. O is a tube, extending through the bore of the tube J from
near the lower end of it and out of the top of it, and terminating in the
bottom of the cup 7, to which it is soldered or otherwise attached, with the
inside of which it communicates. The bottom of this cup is screwed upon
the upper end of the tube J. The insulated wire 5 is to be passed through
this inner tube, and its size is to be such as to leave an annular space between
its inner surface and the gum coating the wire, sufficiently wide for a current

page_text: of fluid to flow through it; and the relative size of the tube J and tube O
must be such as to leave an annular space between them, also wide enough
for the circulation of fluid. The tube me communicates with the water space
between the two tubes, and the tube 2 communicates with the inside of the
cup ; and through that with the inner tubo O, so that if the water be forced
into the tube m, it, will travel down the water space between the tubes until
it reaches the bottom of the inner at 4, where, passing under that tube, it
will enter the space between the sides of the inner tube and the gum on the
wire, and travel up that space to the top, and be deliverod into the cup I, and
thence run off through the tube n, or if water be forced down through the
inner tube, it, travelling the opposite direction from that described, will be
discharged from the tube m; and in either case there will be a current of
water preventing tho insulating gum from being heated.
The article as it comes from the die through the bottom D should be
received into cold water to thoroughly cool it as fast as formed. Other fluids
may be used instead of water, but water is bost.
The modo and means of operating are as follows:-A current of water or
other fluid is started through the watercourses, as described, the wire covered
with the gum is introduced into the inner tube through the bottom of tho
cup 7, and pushed down until it enters tho dio F, the melted metal is then
poured into the recess M; the ram E is then forced down by hydraulic
pressure or other sufficient force, whereupon the metal will be forced out of
the chamber M through the die, and as it leaves, the steel point 2 is closed
around the gum, and with sufficient impingement to draw the wire down, as it,
the metal, advances, so that each part of the insulated wire in succession is
caused to pass the point where the metal leaves the steel point 2, and is
therefore at the point exposed to the action of the metal, and this too after
the proper condition of temperature has been obtained between them. In
this process it is obvious that to subject the gum (which insulates the wire) to
the heat, which unarrested would be communicated to it from the lead through
tho tubes, would practically destroy the gum.
The conditions and operations in reference to temperature, and the method
of keeping the gum at a low temperature, while the lead around the outer
tube, when pressed into the chamber, must be of a high temperature, and the
process of disposing of the surplus caloric, are as follows:-The tube J being
a good conductor, when the hot lead comes into contact with it, readily and
rapidly conducts caloric from the lead to the insido surface of the tube.
Along this inside surface of the tube is constantly flowing the current of
water, which enters cold at the end of the tube; this water receives the

page_text: caloric from the inner surface of the tube J, and bears it on with it to the
place of exit, when it is thrown out with the waste water, and thus to render.
it practicable to pass the lead hot along and against the outer surface of the
tube J, and to allow the gum to remain cold. While being passed in the
same direction through the tube O, a proper agent is kept travelling between
the lead and the gum to intercept the caloric in its transit from tho hot
toward the cold body, and to carry it away without the injury which its further
presence would cause.
The ram or plunger E may be operated by any power sufficient for that
purpose, but hydraulic pressure is most efficient; and when this is used, tho
ordinary hydraulic press must be adapted to and combined with the other parts
described, as shown in the Drawings, where H is the water cylinder; G is
the piston, with a hole through it for the tubes above described operating
upon the plunger, and for that purpose may be attached to the ram or
plunger E, or the piston and plunger may be made in one piece. I is a
packing ring, bolted firmly on the lower end of the cylinder H, to form a
bottom to the annular space 6 outside of the piston. This space is packed
top and bottom to make it water-tight. As the tube J passes through the
piston and out of the top of the cylinder H, it is exposed to the water
between the top of the piston and head of the cylinder H, and therefore
requires to be suitably packed to make the joints water-tight. This may be
done by the cup packing, as shown in the Drawing, 8 being the leather, and
9 metallic plates, holding the leather by the screws 10. The pipe p is to
conduct the water into the cylinder II.
What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-
First, I claim as a new manufacture, the improved conductor or article
herein-before described, consisting of an insulated wire (or wire insulated by a
covering of gutta percha or india-rubber) firmly enclosed in a protective
coating of lead or other ductile metal, as described.
Second, I claim the mode of giving the metallic coating to the insulating
gummy material, according to or in which the caloric from the metal is inter-
cepted and prevented from passing into the gum by means of an interposed
current of fluid, whereby a proper relative temperature of metal and gum is
secured while they are moving toward, and by the time they reach, the point
of union, as herein-before described.
And, third, I claim the combining and arranging or mode of construction
of machine or apparatus in such manner that the protective metal and insu-
lated wire may move in separate channels towards a die, where they are to be
united, and the gum may be prevented from being heated while it and the

page_text: metal advance towards the die; by means of an interposed current of fluid,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Michael Henry, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
C. H. LANGMEAD,
Fleet Street.
M. HENRY. (L.S.)