or Conductors.
Year: 1886

page_text: or Conductors.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-—
This invention has for its object to provide a receptacle or conduit within
which telephone, telegraph or other electric wires or cables may be readily laid and
effectively retained in operative. position above or below or upon the ground level
of streets, or elsewhere, as may be desirable or necessary to meet the, varying
requirements and contingencies which present in operating an electric system for
any purpose in contra distinction to the employment of aerial. wires; and consists
in the improvements hereinafter set forth.
The said invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the conduit which, as a matter of preference,
I construct of cast iron, but which may be composed of any suitable material.
Figure 2 shows in transverse-section the conduit laid in contiguity, with the.
curb-stone or outer edge of the pavement; the wire entering portion of the conduit
projecting above the plane of the street paving.
Figure 3. shows in transverse-section the conduit laid in the centre or other.
portion of the street, with its wire-entering portion extending to the level or plane
of the street paving..
Figure 4 shows the construction which I employ at the intersection of streets, or
elsewhere, for carrying wires or cables in a direction, or directions divergent from.
the main line of conduit, or from the line upon which the same is primarily laid.
Figure 5 shows a vertical central-section on the line x, x of the apparatus'
illustrated in Figure 4, taken on the line x, x, thereof.
.1.
Figures 6 and 7 show the means which I preferably employ for securing the
sections of the conduit together when the same are constructed of cast-iron.'
The main portion of the conduit preferably having substantially an oval con-
figuration; is provided with a longitudinal slot or continuous opening a, through

page_text: which the wires or cables to be laid are introduced to the interior thereof; said slot
or opening being formed by the projecting or extended portions a, a as shown.
Between the outer extremities of said extended portions a, a, and the interior A
of the conduit, one of said portions a is provided longitudinally with a continuous
lateral projection or lip b which extends athwart said slot a¹ into a corresponding
continuous longitudinal groove or recess b₁ formed in the face of the opposite
extended portion a; said last mentioned portion being likewise provided with a
continuous longitudinal lateral projection .or. lip 62, which is extended across said
slot below, and in a direction converse to the lip b. These parts are so arranged as
to form an irregular passage from the exterior to the interior of the conduit,
through which wires or cables can be readily passed in laying the same, but which
effectually prevents their being interrupted or tampered with thereafter.
In the upper portion of said slot a¹ I employ a closing-bar G of any suitable
material, which is securely driven or fixed between the portions à, a; said bar and
the immediately contiguous surfaces of the conduit being coated with some bitu-
minous or other suitable substance g¹ for securely sealing the conduit against the
action of air, moisture or water, which might otherwise enter therein through said
slot. As an additional precautionary measure in this regard, I also locate within
said slot a¹, below said closing-bar G, a caulking rope g, or equivalent device or
material, which I coat with tar or other suitable substance.
At such points as it may become necessary to run main-diverging, or connecting,
or auxiliary-wires or cables into buildings, or at an angle at street-intersections, or
elsewhere, or where it may be desirable to locate points (for the purposes of this
specification termed stations), from, through or at which the wires or cables
contained within the conduit can be readily reached for the purpose of testing, or
repairing the same, or for the purpose of connecting and laying additional wires or
cables, a section of the conduit, constructed substantially as shown in Figures 4,
and 5, is employed; said section being provided with an opening F, preferably
circular, to which is snugly fitted a cap G³, provided with devices for locking or
fixing the same in position.
The slot a¹ being extended into the opening F, as shown particularly in Figure 4,
the cap G¹ overlaps the same for a sufficient distance, and is provided on its lower
face with two or more downwardly projecting L-shaped lugs f¹, which, passing
through said slot or slots as said cap is placed in position, engage with the under
surface of the rim f of the opening F as said.cap is turned upon its seat, thereby
locking it securely enough in position for all practical purposes.
Other locking
devices, however which I do not deem it necessary to describe, may be employed
for furthur securing said cap in position; if desired.
To connectedly arrange the sections of my conduit when composed of cast-iron,
the ends of each section form bevelled seats a³ to which is adjusted a wrought-
iron strap H having a conformation similar to that of the outer configuration of
the conduit sections, of which it practically becomes a part; said strap being
expanded by heating and shrunk upon said seats a².
The conduit being located in position, wires or cables to be laid therein are
inserted through the slot a¹ into the interior of the conduit, and likewise into the
station F, from which they may be inserted and extended into and through
the main line of. conduit beyond said station or in any desirable direction into
and through a diverging member or branch of the conduit. The caulking-rope g,
if employed and the closing-bar G are afterward inserted into said slot, and the
cap or cover G located in position.
To lay additional wires or cables within the conduit after.it has been closed, or
for repairing or other purposes it is necessary to temporarily remove the caulking-
rope, if employed, and the closing-bar G.
To remove a defective wire or cable, or section thereof from. the conduit, the
wire or cable being severed or otherwise made free at two.points, is drawn through
one of the openings F.

page_text: While I have shown and described the opening F of circular form, with the cap
or cover G¹ adapted to the configuration thereof and provided with special devices
for locking the same in position, I wish to be distinctly understood as not limiting
myself to any particular form of opening F, or to any special arrangement of
locking devices; it being only essential that said opening, (into which is extended,
for the purpose herein before set forth, the longitudinal slot through which the
wires are inserted to the conduit) shall be of such form as will admit of access
therethrough to the wires contained within said opening, and that said opening
shall be provided with a suitable cap or cover for securely closing the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign Correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
First. A conduit for electric wires or cables provided with an irregularly shaped
longitudinal slot a¹, through which the wires or cables are introduced to the
interior of said conduit, substantially as described.
Second. A conduit for electric wires or cables provided with a longitudinal slot
or opening through which the wires or cables are introduced into the interior
thereof, and which is closed by a bar G and with one or more sections or stations
each having an opening F into which said slot is extended substantially as
described.
Third. The combination with a conduit for electric wires or cables provided with
a longitudinal slot or opening through which the wires or cables are introduced
to the interior thereof, of a caulking-rope g and a closing-bar G, substantially as
described.
Fourth. The combination with a conduit for electric wires or cables provided
with a longitudinal slot or opening through which the wires or cables are intro-
duced to the interior thereof, of one or more sections or stations each provided
with a cap G¹ having devices for securing the same in position, substantially as
described.
Fifth. The combination with a conduit for electric wires or cables, of the means
for securing the sections thereof together, consisting of suitable seats a³ formed on
the jointing ends of said sections, and the strap H applied thereto substantially
as described.