IMPROVEMENTS IN "LAYING TELEGRAPH CABLES OR OTHER INSULATED ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
"LAYING TELEGRAPH CABLES OR OTHER INSULATED ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS AND
APPARATUS THEREFOR." -A communication from abroad by T. J.
Waters, at present in Japan.
Sealed the 28th August 1874, and dated the 10th March 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th March 1874.
I, JOHN IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of. the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LAYING TELEGRAPH CABLES OR OTHER INSULATED ELECTRIC
CONDUCTORS AND APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a method of and apparatus for laying
insulated telegraph cables or conductors, either under water or on land,
.so as to imbed them under the surface of the bottom or soil, whereby
they are protected or concealed.

page_text: The apparatus for this purpose consists of a species of plough mounted
on wheels or rollers, which can be drawn along the bottom of the water
or along the surface of the soil in which the cable or conductor is to be
imbedded. The plough is provided with a tubular shank extending
obliquely downwards behind its wheels, so as to cut a furrow in the soil
or bottom, and at or near the lower end of the shank are two thin flukes
or palms extending horizontally from the shank, one on each side thereof,
which as the plough is drawn onwards serve to keep the end of the
shank down at the required depth below the surface on which the wheels
or rollers travel. The electric cable or conductor is passed down the
interior of the hollow shank, and is thus guided down to the bottom of
the furrow cut by the plough, and being paid out at a rate equivalent to
the travel of the plough it is thus laid continuously and imbedded in
the soil.
By laying telegraph cables in this manner under water they are pro-
tected against the action of waves or the fouling of anchors, and lighter
cables, may therefore be used than those generally employed for shore
ends or in shallow waters, and by laying in this manner insulated con-
ducting wires on land they are protected and concealed, as may be
desirable, for example, in military operations.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jolin Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th September 1874.
TO, ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did; for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John -Imray, Her special
license that I, the said John Imray, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said John Imray, my executors, i
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with and no
"

page_text: 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 LAYING TELEGRAPH CABLES OR OTHER INSULATED ELECTRIC CONDUCTORS AND
APPARATUS THEREFOR," a communication to me from abroad by T. J. Waters,
at present in Japan, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Imray, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly 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 Imray, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:-
This Invention relates to a method of and apparatus for laying
insulated telegraph cables or conductors, cither under water or on land,
so as to imbed them under the surface of the bottom or soil, whereby_
they are protected or concealed.
The apparatus which I employ for this purpose consists of a species of
plough mounted on wheels or rollers, which can be drawn along the
bottom of the water or along the surface of the soil in which the cable or
conductor is to be imbedded. The plough is provided with a tubular
shank extending obliquely downwards behind its wheels, so as to cut a
furrow in the soil or bottom, and at or near the lower end of the shank
are two thin flukes or palms extending horizontally from the sliank,
which as the plough is drawn onwards serve to keep the end.of.the.
shank down at the required depth below the surface on which the
wheels or rollers travel. The electric cable or conductor is passed down
the interior of the hollow shank, and is thus guided down to the bottom
of the furrow cut by the plough, and being paid out at a rate equivalent
to the travel of the plough it is thus laid continuously and imbedded in,
the soil.

page_text: The construction of plough which I prefer to employ for the above
purpose is shewn on the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 shews
a side elevation of the plough; Fig. 2 shews a plan of the same; Fig. 3
shews a full size transverse section through the tubular shank, and
Fig. 4 shews a transverse section, half full size through the flukes. E
The towing rope A of steel or other material is connected to the
shaft B carried on broad wheels or drums C, C, which run on the
surface D of the bottom or ground beneath which the cable or conductor
is to be laid. To the shaft B the tubular shaft E is connected by its
forked end; it is by preference constructed of tough steel of the form 1
shewn more clearly in the transverse section at Fig. 3, and has forked
on its lower end the thin flat flukes or blades F. The tubular hollow of.
the shank is curved at its lower end, so as to have its lower mouth in a
horizontal position over the flukes F, as shewn, the upper mouth being
splayed out or rounded, so that the cable or conductor G may pass into 1
it freely and without abrasion.
The plough being imbedded in the ground in the position shewn in
Fig. 1 it is drawn along in the direction of the arrow by the towing
rope A, while at the same time the cable or conductor G passes through
the tubular shank, and issuing at the lower end thereof is laid in the
furrow formed by the plough. The flukes F serve both to cut the
requisite furrow in the soil, and to maintain the shank E imbedded in
the soil at the requisite depth as it is drawn along.
By laying telegraph cables in the manner above described under water
they are protected against the action of the waves or the fouling of 2
anchors, and lighter cables may therefore be used than those generally
employed for shore ends or in shallow waters, and by laying in this
manner insulated conducting wires on land they are protected and
concealed, as may be desirable, as for example, in military operations.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what a
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The method of laying telegrap cables or conductors below the
surface of the ground or bottom of the water by passing the same
through the tubular shank of a plough imbedded in the ground, and 3

page_text: drawn along in the direction in which the cable or, conductor is to be
laid, substantially as herein described.
Seconds The use, for laying telegraph cables or conductors, of a plough
or instrument consisting of a tubular shank connected at one end to
wheels or drums serving to support its upper end above the level of the
soil, and having at its lower end flukes or blades serving to cut a furrow
in the soil, and to maintain the shank in its imbedded position, sub-
stantially as herein described.
In witness wherein, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
JOHN IMRAY. (L.S.)