IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES OR CONDUCTORS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES OR CONDUCTORS."-A
communication from Henry J. Rogers, resident at Baltimore, Maryland,
in the United States of America.
Sealed the 3rd May 1859, and dated the 19th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th November 1858.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
*** IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES OR CON-
DUCTORS," (a communication from Henry J. Rogers, of Baltimore, Maryland,.
in the United States of America, to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to an improved system or mode of covering, and pro-
'tecting electric telegraph cables, conductors, or cords, whereby: the incon-
veniences arising from the twisting or"" kinking" and "fouling" of cables or
conductors covered or protected by spirally laid wires or strands as at present
adopted is altogether avoided, whilst the serious and fatal injury arising from the

page_text: exposure of the insulating material by the breaking and consequent untwisting
of any one of the wires or strands is entirely obviated. In order to overcome
these serious objections it is proposed to cover or protect the insulated wires
intended for submarine or other telegraphic purposes when found desirable by
plaited, braided, or interwoven strands or wires in substitution of the ordinary
spiral or twisted strands or wires hitherto employed for that purpose.
For submarine cables to be submerged in deep water I propose to dispense
entirely with a metallic protection covering, and substitute therefor a plaited,
braided, or interwoven covering of fibrous material, such as hemp, thread,
twine, or cord, which is subsequently coated with a protection covering of
marine paint or suitable varnish. By this means the specific gravity of the
cable is greatly reduced. For shoal water or anchorage ground the previously
described cable is to be encased in a protection metallic covering compound of
wires plaited, braided, or interwoven thereon. The braiding or plaiting in
both cases may be accomplished by the well-known braiding machine suitably
modified and adopted of course to suit the increased strength of the materials to
be operated upon. The same principle of plaiting or braiding may equally be
applied to the electric conducting wires themselves where several of such
conducting wires are employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and
of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
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

page_text: '
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH
CABLES OR CONDUCTORS," a communication from Henry J. Rogers, resident
at Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner -the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
'following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention consists in covering and protecting electric telegraph
'conductors or cables composed of copper or other metal, by means of plaited,
braided, or interwoven strands of hemp, flax, or other fibrous material, instead
of the modes hitherto practised of overlaying such conductors with strands of
reeled, twisted, or spirally laid wires, or other material. Experience has
demonstrated that the "iron-bound" conductors or cables heretofore employed
are objectionable, from the fact that the covering is laid spirally or like the
strands of a rope, and is therefore liable to unwind and "foul" or "kink" the
cable during the process of laying. In addition to this defect of such con-
ductors, they are liable to serious and fatal injury from the exposure of the
insulating covering of the conductor, by the breaking of one or more of the
strands of the spiral covering, as these strands will continue to unwind for
some distance, and expose the gutta percha or other insulating material to
abraiding agents, and to injury from other causes. Experience has also
proved that the wire-covered cables are too heavy for deep sea telegraph lines,
and therefore it is proposed to dispense with the wire covering heretofore
employed, and to substitute for the same a covering composed of hemp, thread,
twine, cord, or other suitable fibrous material to be plaited, braided, or inter-
woven by well-known machinery over the gutta percha or other insulating
medium, so that the strands are woven together similar to those of a whip
lash. One or more of these plaited coverings may be employed, braided, or
plaited one over the other, and the whole may then be covered with any
marine paint or varnish adapted to the purpose. This covering for conductors
or cables will greatly reduce the weight and cost of submarine telegraph liues,

page_text: .
protect the insulating material and conductor from abrasion, and facilitate the
process of laying the cable, whether at sea or underground. For shoal water
or anchorage ground, the foregoing described cord should be incased in wires,
which may also be plaited or otherwise laid over the hemp or other fibrous
plaited material.
The plaiting process may also be applied to the manufacture of the electric
'conductor itself when several wires are to be used in its formation.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents an external view of
an electric conductor or cable covered with plaited fibrous material; and
Figure 2 represents a section of the same. a is the plaited covering of fibrous
material; b, the insulating material or gutta percha; and c, the insulated wire
or conductor.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as variations may be made therefrom without deviating
from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I con-
sider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction and arrangement of electric telegraph
conductors or cables, as herein-before described, and illustrated by the
'Drawings.
Second, the application and use of electric telegraph conductors or cables
composed of a metallic conductor enclosed in any suitable non-conducting
material, which material is covered with hemp, flax, or other suitable fibrous
'substance plaited thereon, as herein-before described and illustrated by the
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)