IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPH POLES, AND IN THE MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR FASTENING AND SECURING THE TELEGRAPH WIRES THERETO, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES AND TO EXISTING TELEGRAPH POLES AND INSULATORS
Year: 1872

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Alexander Lyttle,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th January 1872.
I, WILLIAM ALEXANDER LYTTLE, of the Grove, Hammersmith, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPH POLES, AND IN THE MEANS AND
APPARATUS FOR FASTENING AND SECURING THE TELEGRAPH WIRES THERETO, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES AND TO EXISTING
TELEGRAPH POLES AND INSULATORS," to be as follows:-
I construct the pole of two or more pieces or joints of hollow cast iron,
such iron being either cylindrical, square, or of any other desired
sectional form, and may if required be strengthened by having cast upon
them two or more longitudinal ribs of the same metal projecting at
opposite sides, and extending either the whole or part of the length of
each joint. These joints have at those ends which are to be connected
together widely projecting flanges or radiating arms so formed that when
the bottom portion of the pole is erected, its top and flange or radiating
arms will form a horizontal base, on which the similarly shaped flange

page_text: or radiating arms at the butt of the next or top joint can stand. These
ends should be so toothed or otherwise geared together that when the
joints are properly united they cannot rotate without being lifted
asunder. When the two pieces are thus erected they are braced securely
together (if such was not done before erection) by connecting them by
means of rods or stout wires of wrought iron passing between the top of
the second or upper joint and the outer edge of the flange or ends of the
radial arms belonging to the first or bottom joint. If, however, the pole
is not high or not subject to a heavy strain, it will suffice if the wide
flanges or radial arms are cramped or bolted directly together without
the aforesaid rods, or with one only on the side liable to most pressure.
These rods may be screw-threaded at the lower end, passed at that end
through a hole or slot in the flange or arm, and then tightened by
means of a nut; at the other end they may be provided either with a
head to hold in a similar hole or slot in a similar but smaller flange or
arm at the top of the second joint, or they may be provided with eye
loops, and so be hooked on to projecting horns cast for that purpose at
the top of the pole.
The butt of the pole terminates in a shoe piece projecting across at
two opposite points for the purpose not only of acting as a foundation
for the pole, but also of being secured to the aforesaid flanges or one or
two of the aforesaid radial arms by rods or bars of iron. These rods are
connected each to a slot or hole in the said flanges or radial arms, and
pass through holes in the ends of the shoe piece, where they are made
tight by nuts underneath, or they are attached by means of eyes to the
ends of the shoe piece, and arc made tight by nuts at their other ends
to the flanges or radial arms at the top of the first joint. When a
lateral strain is feared only on one side, it is not necessary to have
more than one of the latter stay rods. The poles can also be stayed in
the ordinary way.
Any number of joints can thus be connected together, the leading and
essential principle of construction being,-
Firstly. To impart stability at the joints by means of wide bearings at
those points.
.11.. n

page_text: These poles thus realize the structure of the limb of an animal,
namely, a hard central core of cast iron answering to the bone, with
bracings of wrought iron like the tendons and muscles. The joints may
also if desired have socket connexions as well as the aforesaid bearings.
The top joint of the pole may be cast with chair picces on one side, so
faced as to carry the cross arms steadily, and at these points there may
be holes through the pole for the passage of the arm bolt of each cross
arm.
In order to bind the line wire to the insulator and therefore to tho
pole, I prefer to employ the following clamp:-I prepare a U shaped
piece of iron rod with both legs screw tapped, and provided each with
two nuts. When used it is placed in the groove now provided round the
top of the insulator with its legs projecting across and under the line
wire. The two pair of nuts are then opened, and the line wire is screwed
or clamped firmly between them. The inner or back nut on each leg of
this bend should have a transverse groove in its face into which the line
wire should be clamped by the front nut, and the position of the nuts
should be so advanced that the wire when clamped by the nuts shall be
forced tightly against the insulator.
In order to secure the insulator and its wire attachment from injury
by stone throwing, I surround it with a piece of sheet iron, ordinary or
galvanized, and either plain, corrugated, or perforated. This shield is
bent into a cylinder or truncated cone so as to surround the sides of the
insulator, and it is slotted at two points, one at each end of its upper
edge, so that having been bent round the insulator it can be slipped
upward between the nuts of the U clamp, and so be clamped firmly into
its required position at the same time as the line wire is being secured to
the insulator. This U clamp with or without the shield is applicable to
insulators on any kind of pole; and iron poles constructed with the
peculiar joints and lateral bracing herein-before described can also be
employed as railway signal posts.