IMPROVEMENTS IN FLAT WIRE RODE
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edge, of the Firm of Edge and Sons, of
Madeley, in the County of Salop, Wire Rope Manufacturers, for
the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN FLAT WIRE RODE "
Sealed the 25th February 1870, and dated the 25th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1869.
I, JAMES EDGE, of the Firm of Edge and Sons, of Madeley, in the
County of Salop, Wire Rope Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FLAT WIRE ROPE,"
to be as follows:-
Flat wire rope as ordinarily made is composed of a series of separate
wire ropes or compound strands of steel or iron wires combined together
side by side. Each single strand is composed of several wires coiled
upon one another, and these single strands are coiled upon one another
to form the compound strands or single wire ropes of which the flat
rope is made. During the coiling of the series of compound strands to
form the flat rope sewing or tying wires are interlaced between the

page_text: several compound strands to tie or bind them securely together. These
sewing or tying wires are partly situated on the outside of the flat rope,
and are thereby exposed to friction against the sides of the barrel or
winding gear, and also give an uneven edge to the flat rope.
The object of my Invention is to remedy these defects, and my said
Invention consists in so interlacing the sewing or tying wires by which
the several compound strands or single wire ropes are secured together
to form the flat rope that the said sewing or tying wires are situated
entirely inside the flat rope. This I effect by causing the sewing or
tying wires to be interlaced in such a manner that instead of the said
wires passing around the single strands forming the edge of the flat rope
as usual, the said wires pass under the adjacent single strands, then
across the rope in the interior thereof to the opposite edge of the flat rope
and under the single strands adjacent to those at the said opposite edge,
and so on in a zig-zag direction through the whole length of the rope.
In this way the interlaced sewing or tying wires are situated inside the
flat rope, and the said wires are consequently not exposed to friction
when the flat rope is in use, and the said flat rope is without the uneven
edge which flat rope of the ordinary manufacture possesses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Edge in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDGE, of the Firm of "Edge and Sons," of Madeley, in the County of
Salop, Wire Rope Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Edge, Her special licence, that I,
the said James Edge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Edge, 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

page_text: 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 FLAT WIRE ROPE," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Edge, 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 James Edge, 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 (that is to say) :-
:-
Flat wire rope as ordinarily made is composed of a series of separate
wire ropes or compound strands of steel or iron wires combined together
side by side. Each single strand is composed of several wires coiled
upon one another, and these single strands are coiled upon one another
to form the compound strands or single wire ropes of which the flat
rope is made. During the coiling of the series of compound strands to
form the flat rope sewing or tying wires are interlaced between the
several compound strands to tie or bind them securely together. Theso
sewing or tying wires are partly situated on the outside of the flat rope,
and are thereby exposed to friction against the sides of the barrel or
winding gear, and also give an uneven edge to the flat rope.
The object of my Invention is to remedy these defects, and my said
Invention consists in so interlacing the sewing or tying wires by which
the several compound strands or single wire ropes are secured together
to form the flat rope. that the said sewing or tying wires are situated
entirely inside the flat rope. This I effect by causing the sewing or
tying wires to be interlaced in such a manner that instead of the said
wires passing around the single strands forming the edge of the flat rope
as usual, the said wires pass under the adjacent single strands, then
across the rope in the interior thereof to the opposite edge of the flat
rope, and under the single strands adjacent to those at the said opposite
edge, and so on in a zig-zag direction through the whole length of the
rope. In this way the interlaced sewing or tying wires are situated
inside the flat rope, and the said wires are consequently not exposed to

page_text: friction when the flat rope is in use, and the said flat rope is without the
uneven edge which flat rope of the ordinary manufacture possesses.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in which the
saine is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in elevation a flat wire rope constructed according
to my Invention, and Figure 2 is a cross section of the same taken on
the line X, X, Figure 1. In Figure 1 the lower end of the rope is repre-
sented spread out for the purpose of better exhibiting the strands of
which the flat rope is made.
The flat wire rope consists of a series of strands marked a, a, cach strand
consisting of six (or more) wires coiled or twisted together. Four of
these strands a, a, are coiled or twisted into ropes, and the said ropes are
sewn or tied side by side by means of sewing or tying wires so as to
form a flat rope. The sewing or tying wires by which the several ropes
are secured together are marked b. These sewing or tying wires are
annealed before being used.
The coiling or twisting of the strands into the several ropes is effected
by the ordinary machinery, and the fastening of the several ropes
together by the sewing or tying wires 6 is effected by hand. The said
sewing or tying wires bare situated in the middle of the flat rope, the
said wires being passed alternately over and under the strands of the
several combined ropes, excepting those strands which are situated at
the edges of the rope. The manner in which the sewing or tying wires
are interlaced with the strands a, a, will be readily seen by an examina-
tion of the Drawing. By referring to the Drawing it will be seen that
the sewing or tying wires b, besides passing alternately in a zig-zag
direction over and under the strands at and near the middle of the
rope, also pass around those strands situated near the edges of the rope,
that is to say, commencing at the top of the rope the sewing or tying
wires pass from the side B of the rope to the side A, but instead of
passing around those strands situated at the edge of the rope the said
wires b pass around the adjacent strand marked c; the sewing or tying
wires then pass from the side A to the side B of the rope, and pass
around the strand marked d adjacent to those at the side B of the rope;
the sewing wires b then return from the side B to the side A, and pass
around another strand marked e adjacent to those at the side A of the
rope, the last-namned strand e being a different strand from that marked

page_text: c, around which the sewing wires b previously passed at the side A of
the rope. The sewing wires then proceed to the side B of the rope,
and pass around the strand fat the said side B of the rope, and so on in
a zig-zag direction through the whole length of the rope. In this way
the sewing or tying wires bare coiled in succession around the several
strands of which the single ropes at the edges of the flat rope are
composed, and the said strands are thus securely tied to the other
parts of the flat rope without the tying wires ever appearing at the
outside of the edges of the said flat rope, the sewing or tying wires
being situated entirely within the flat rope, as best seen by the section
Figure 2.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated as
the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Inven-
tion, but I claim as my Invention the improvements in flat wire rope
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing
(that is to say), interlacing the sewing or tying wires, by which the
several compound strands or single wire ropes are secured together sido
by side to form the flat rope, so that the said sewing or tying wires are
situated entirely inside the flat rope, substantially as and for the purposes
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edge, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 19th day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
JOHN EDGE.
JAMES EDGE. (L.S.)

page_text: A
A
d
X
a
á a
a a
a
FIG. 2.