IMPROVE- MENTS IN COVERING WIRE FOR TELEGRAPHIC PURPOSES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of the Patent Office, London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Moses Poole, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Moses Poole, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Moses Poole, my
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COVERING WIRE FOR TELEGRAPHIC PURPOSES," communicated to me from
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
Moses Poole, shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner, the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
annear

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Moses Poole, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner of performing the same, are fully described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:
My Invention consists,-
First, of employing flexible varnish on wire before coating it with insulating
materials.
of
.
Secondly, the Invention consists of applying coatings and successive coatings
gutta percha or india rubber, or of gutta percha and india rubber. And,
Thirdly, the Invention consists of constructing apparatus suitably arranged
for applying two or more coatings simultaneously as the wire passes through
the apparatus.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means of working as com-
municated to me:-The flexible varnish which is first applied to the wire
I prefer to be pitch or other bitumen; and in order to coat the wire there-
with, when for a preparatory coating, before applying gutta percha or india
rubber, or mixtures of these materials, I cause the wire to be drawn through
a trough containing melted bitumen, at such a distance from the covering
apparatus that the bituminous varnish may be set before it comes to the other
covering apparatus; or, in place of using pitch or bitumen alone, india
rubber or gutta percha can be combined therewith, by masticating the two
together with or without heat; and for this purpose a good compound is at
about the rate of four parts by weight of pitch or other hard bitumen to
one of india rubber or gutta percha, or of the two combined; and the use of
india rubber or gutta percha with bitumen for coating wire for telegraphic
purposes is far better than the use of bitumen. This compound, though it
may be used in a comparatively fluid state by employing heat to that extent,
it is better to spread it on to the wire in a plastic state from a masticating or
kneading machine, and this is most readily accomplished by means of dies
such as are ordinarily employed for coating wire with gutta percha, or such
as hereafter explained.

page_text: pulley a from a steam engine or other motive power. a is another pulley,
also turning freely on the hollow axis 6; and the pulley a¹ receives motion
by the pulley a being brought in contact with it by the forked lever c, there
being a friction cone on the side of the pulley a', which enters into a corre-
sponding hollow cone on the side of the pulley a. a is a disc affixed to the
side of the pulley a', which carries a bobbin d, on which the india rubber is
wound. The axis on which the bobbin d revolves is attached to the side of the
disc a by a joint d', so as to be capable of fixing the bobbin at an angle to the
wire; and there is a spring d² against which one end of the bobbin is pressed
by the nut ds on the other side of the axis of the bobbin to obtain friction to it.
In order that the india rubber may be given off in a distended state, motion
being given to the pulley a, and by it to the pulley a' and disc a², the bobbin d
is caused to revolve round the wire as it passes through the hollow axis, and a
band or fillet of india rubber is thus wound spirally around it. The wire is
drawn off the reel e through the hollow axis b in the following manner:-
An endless band around the pulley a¹ gives motion to the pulley on the
axis f, carried by bearings on the side framing of the machine. The worm fa
on the axis f gives motion to the worin wheel g' on the axis 9, supported. in
bearings on the main framing, as shown. 9 is a pulley on the axis 9, around
which the wire, as it is covered, takes one turn, and is from thence taken and
wound upon the wheel or bobbin h¹ on the axis h, the axis h having motion
communicated to it by an endless band around the pullies he and 9, all which
will be readily understood on examining the Drawings. The wire as it leaves
the reel e passes between the fixed studs e', and any bends or irregularities are by
that means taken out, and it passes through the hollow axis in a straightened
condition ready to be covered. When two or more coverings of india rubber
to the wire are required, I cause the wire as it receives one covering to pass
through another hollow axis, and in its passage it may receive a coating of a
solution of india rubber or solvent of india rubber, so as to unite the next
ribbon or fillet (which is wound over it in a similar manner to the first)
closely over the previous one, the wire thus covered may be afterwards coated
or covered with gutta percha or other material, as is well understood.
I would here remark, that although I have mentioned the covering band or
fillet to be india rubber, gutta percha or mixture of these materials may be
used, or in addition thereto bitumen, as above described. It is found that
telegraphic wire covered with gutta percha alone, after long exposure to the
atmosphere or to the moisture of the earth, undergoes considerable change,
and its power to insulate becomes less perfect; this is obviated by combining
india rubber in the proportion of one sixth to five sixths of gutta percha, or

page_text: thereabouts. The power of insulation will be maintained more perfect under
such circumstances, notwithstanding its exposure to the atmosphere or moisture
to which it may be subjected, and this compound will be found more durable
than gutta percha alone. And I would wish it to be understood, that one
part of the Invention consists in covering telegraphic wire with a compound
of gutta percha and india rubber, not confining the Invention to the exact
proportion above stated; and I would state, that it may be desirable in some
cases to cover telegraphic wire with the compound of india rubber and gutta
percha alone, and in other cases it may be desirable to first cover the wire
with india rubber, as before explained, and afterwards to cover it with the
compound of india rubber and gutta percha.
I will now describe the third part of the Invention, which has for its object
the construction and employment of apparatus for covering wires, having two
or more dies, so that a wire in passing may receive successive coats of the
covering material. Figure 3 shows a section of apparatus having three dies
a, b, c, similar to the single dies or orifices heretofore employed for such pur-
poses. d is the opening into which the gutta percha or other covering
material is forced in a plastic state. The wire passes through the guide e,
as is shewn, and at first becomes covered with a thin coating at a; then
another coating is applied at b, and another at c; and in order to prevent the
joins of the successive coatings coming opposite each other, the supports fof
the successive dies or moulding orifices should not be placed in a line or
opposite each other. In like manner may apparatus be made with two dies,
or with more than three dies. It should be remarked, that the apparatus
shewn is suitable for covering only with the same material at the different
openings or dies, but it will be evident that successive coatings may be laid
on over the other by causing the material to be forced in separate compart-
ments in communication respectively with the several dies.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,-
First, coating of wires with a flexible varnish of bitumen, and then apply-
ing gutta percha or other insulating materials herein described; and also the
combining india rubber or gutta percha in combination with bitumen, as a
flexible varnish or coating.
Secondly, I claim the mode herein described of applying coatings and suc-
cessive coatings of gutta percha or india rubber, or of gutta percha and india
rubber. And,

page_text: Thirdly, I claim the combination and use of apparatus for employing two
or more moulding dies or orifices to obtain successive coatings to wire.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moses Poole, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Moses Poole came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.