IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE CABLES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Augustin Godefroy, of Kingsmead Cottages,
New North Road, Islington, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE CABLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Augustin Godefroy
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th October 1859.
I, PETER AUGUSTIN GODEFROY, of Kingsmead Cottages, New North Road,
Islington, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE CABLES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in covering the wires of submarine telegraphs in a
more perfect manner than heretofore, and is as follows:-I propose covering
or insulating single or combined conducting wires with a coating of gutta
percha or india-rubber or a combination of the two materials, or with a
coating of compound gutta percha (patented by me on the 4th day of June
1855, No. 1268) the thickness of which is to be regulated according to the
size of the cable to be manufactured; the wire or wires being thus covered
I take them to my insulating machine (patented by me on the 26th day of
July 1858, No. 1687) in the front of which are a number of reels containing
fine steel or iron wire as may be required sufficient to completely cover the.

page_text: insulated conductors, and placed around them in a parallel line, these outer
wires are to be covered with any suitable material of a light texture according
to the size or construction of the cable, the outer wires being always placed
in a straight or parallel line with the conducting wires.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Augustin Godefroy in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
AUGUSTIN GODEFROY, of Kingsmead Cottages, New North Road, Islington, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Peter Augustin Godefroy, Her special licence that I, the said Peter
Augustin Godefroy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
aš I, the said Peter Augustin Godefroy, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF SUBMARINE CABLES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter Augustin
Godefroy, 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 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 Peter Augustin Godefroy, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in covering the wires of submarine telegraphs in a
more perfect manner than heretofore.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now

page_text: same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side view of the insulated conducting wires in the first stage
or process of manufacture; Figure 2 being an end view of the same; Figure 3
side view of parallel wires laid around the insulated conductors; Figure 4 end
view of Figure 3; Figure 5 side view of parallel wires covered with insulating
material; Figure 6 end view of Figure 5; Figure 7 side view of cable
complete; and Figure 8 end view of Figure 7. Similar letters of reference
denote corresponding parts in so far as such parts appear or can be seen at
each of such said Figures respectively.
I cover or insulate single or combined conducting wires a, a, with a coating
of gutta percha or india-rubber b, b, or a combination of the two materials, or
with a coating of compound gutta percha (patented by me on the Fourth day
of June One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, No. 1268) the thickness of
which is to be regulated according to the size of the cable to be manufactured,
the wire or wires a, a, being thus covered I take them to my insulating
machine (patented by me on the Twenty-sixth day of July One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-eight, No. 1687,) or some other suitable insulating
machinery, in the front of which are such a number of reels containing fine
steel or iron wire as may be sufficient to completely cover the insulated
conductor or conductors a, a, so as to form a tube of wires, and the said
steel wires c, c, are laid around the insulated conductor or conductors a, a, in
straight parallel lines Figures 3 and 4, these outer wires c, c, are to be covered
with one of the above-named insulating materials d, d, Figures 5 and 6, after
which the cable may be still further protected when thought necessary with
any suitable material of a light texture as at e, e, Figures 7 and 8, according
to the size and construction of the cable, the outer wires c, c, being always
placed in a straight or parallel line with the conducting wires and in the
closest contact with each other.
Having now fully described the nature and object of my said Invention of
"Improvements in the Construction of Submarine Cables," together with the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark in conclusion
that I do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details herein described
and shewn in the accompanying Sheet of illustrative Drawings, as many slight
modifications may be made therein without at all departing from the principle

page_text: of my Invention; but what I claim as my Invention intended to be secured
to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is the using of steel or iron
wires in close contact with the material employed to insulate the conducting
wire or wire, said steel or iron wires being laid around in a straight parallel
line, and in the closest proximity to each other in the manner shewn and for
the purpose herein fully described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Augustin Godefroy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
PETER A. GODEFROY. (L.S.)
ALEX. PRINCE, Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.