Improvements connected with Tubular Electric Conductors.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left, 13th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 20th May, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements connected with Tubular Electric Conductors.
DAVID COOK, 1 Great Winchester Street London E.C. Electrical Engineer,
ERNEST PAYNE Albany Buildings 39 Victoria Street Westminster, London
S.W. Electrical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements connected with a system of tubular
electric conductors of which we were part inventors and for which a Patent was
granted to us No. 17402 1890 entitled "Improvements in and connected with
Electrical Conductors and Fittings combined therewith." The conductors are
usually arranged on the concentric principle; the inner conductor which may be
tubular or solid forms the lead and is separated from the outer conductor, which
surrounds it and which forms the return for the current, by rings -or studs of
insulating material which we call respectively the inner rings or inner studs. The
conductors are usually enclosed in an outer protecting tube or guard carrying no
current.
The outer conductor is separated from the guard by rings or studs of insulating
material which we call respectively the outer rings or outer studs.
Our improvements relate to the subdivision and insulation of the conductors.
We usually subdivide only one of the conductors using the other as a common
return but both conductors may of course be subdivided.
When the inner conductor is divided we make the inner ring with two or more
holes in it instead of one and pass the tubular or solid conductors through these;
the rings are held in position at suitable intervals by their mutual inward and
outward pressure against the outer conductor or by slightly flattening the tubular
conductors on either side of the ring-separators.
When the outer conductor is divided, we employ tubular or solid conductors
and sometimes we use only one insulating ring which has usually one large central
hole for the common return and a number of smaller holes outside this for the
separate leads. Instead of small holes for these outer conductors, grooves or slots
can be made on the outer edge of the ring-separators the conductors being held in
position by outer rings slipped along outside.
In combination with our tubular conductors we also use an improved form of
junction-support made of insulating material such as glazed porcelain, slate and
the like. We make these in one or more parts with holes to receive the ends of
the tubes and grooves inside for carrying the metal connecting pieces and for
separating these connecting pieces from one another. This junction-support forms
a convenient method of breaking the metallic continuity of the guard tube and at
the same time provides a convenient insulating support for the tubes thereby
giving better insulation and preventing leakage of current.
Metal connecting pieces can also be mounted inside and outside these boxes or
supports for holding fuses, connecting wires, and appliances for making and
breaking the circuits for the current. When these appliances are mounted outside,
an additional cover may be employed to protect them.
When these conductors are used underground or for high tension currents we
sometimes employ oil instead of air insulation in combination with the ring or the
stud separators.
Dated this Eleventh day of Juva 1899
DAVID COOK.
ERNEST PAYNE.

page_text: :
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements connected with Tubular Electric Conductors.
DAVID COOK, 1 Great Winchester Street London E.C. Electrical Engineer
ERNEST PAYNE, Albany Buildings, 39 Victoria Street, Westminster London S.W.
Electrical Engineer 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 relates to improvements connected with tubular electric
conductors. We usually employ a tube, or tubular casing, enclosing conductors
separated from one another and from the tube by means of insulators placed
between them at intervals.
Sometimes we employ this outer tube or tubular casing merely as a mechanical
protection and sometimes we use it as a conductor and fix it to insulators or carth
it as required. When not used as a conductor the outer protecting tube may be
made of non-conducting material such as vulcanized fibre or asbestos. We usually
employ this outer tube where convenient, but where it is not practicable to use a
tube that is made of a strip of metal brazed up along its edges or otherwise
manufactured, we use a tubular casing made usually in two parts and place the
conductors in these with the insulators already attached to them. We sometimes
arrange the conductors themselves on the concentric principle, using either a tube,
or tubular strip filled with bare wires, or a tube or tubular strip with one wire or
rod inside it and insulated from it, or at other times a central rod or wire with a
number of other wires, rods or strips arranged concentrically round it.
We sometimes use insulators in the form of dises, and in the form of rings and
employ them together in combination, especially when using tubular strips for our
conductors. We push a disc inside the tubular strip and a ring outside the strip,
the discs and rings being made of such a size that they fit tightly, inside and
outside the tubular strip by the mutual inward and outward pressure against the
strip.
We sometimes employ only one insulator in the form of a disc as shown in
Figures 1 and 2, with one or more holes in it through which we pass wires or rods
or strips of metal as required according to the size and number of the conductors we
wish to use.
When employed inside a tube of circular section as shown in Figures 1,
2 and 3. C. we make this insulating disc or ring with one large central hole and
a number of small holes arranged outside the central hole, as shown in Figure 2. I
and Figure 5. K.
The small holes are used for the leads and the large central hole for the return;
and we often employ a tubular strip A, Figure 1. for the common return filled
with bare wires according to the number of circuits to be supplied. Then, one of
the leads, E, is employed to supply any required branch circuit and one of the
wires, D, inside the tubular strip is led out to form a connection for the return.
This arrangement is conveniently employed where a number of lamps P,
Figure 6. are arranged along a tube, T, one lead being used for the lamp and one
of the wires contained in the tubular strip being connected up to the lamp as a
return. This arrangement avoids the use of any soldered joint and allows a great
amount of subdivision of the current so that only those lamps that are required
are switched on. The tubular strip is made to fit tightly inside the hole in the
insulators and thus holds them in fixed position along the tubes independently of
the wires.
When we make these conductors up in fixed lengths we usually arrange the
insulators so that there may be one at each end of a tube and projecting slightly
beyond the end of the tube as shown in Figure 3, so that the wires cannot come
in contact with the tube or other metal fitting such as a junction box into which
the end of the tube is fixed and we often make these insulators slightly larger than
the inside diameter of the tube so that they cannot be pulled or pushed inside;

page_text: and we make these insulators for the ends of the tubes slightly tapering as in
Figure 4. K so that they may fit conveniently into the end of the tube or we
enlarge one end of the insulator so that it fits into the end of the tube like a plug.
In Figures 3, 4 and 5, K is the insulator, L M and N are the conductors.
In combination with our tubular conductors we also use an improved form of
We make these in one or more
junction-support made of insulating material.
pieces with holes in the sides to receive the ends of the outside tube and grooves
inside to carry the conductors and prevent them from coming in contact with one
another. These junction supports form a convenient method of insulating the
conductors from the walls or ceilings etc. of a building and also of breaking the
metallic continuity of the metal tubes usually used as a protection when not
employed as an earthed return or used as a continuous conductor as described above.
When these junction supports are made in two parts one half of the hole into
which a tube is fitted may be in one part and the other half of the hole in the
other part so that the junction-support can be put on outside the tubes after the wires
and insulators have been drawn through and the position of the tubes determined.
Or one part of the junction support may be fixed up in position and the other part
put on afterwards when all joints have been made. We fix the junction supports
to walls, ceilings etc. by means of nails or screws passing through holes made in the
sides of these supports so that the screws or nails may not come in contact with any
of the tubes or metal fittings or conducting parts in connection with the supports.
And we make the holes in the sides of these supports, into which the ends of the
tubes are fitted, sometimes, partly of the same diameter as the tubes and partly
smaller so that the tubes cannot be pushed into the holes beyond a certain distance.
And we also make the holes with small tapering or straight slots in the inner
surface of the hole into which small projecting parts at the ends of the tube may
fit; or we make a slightly projecting part on the inner surface of the hole in the
support, which may fit into or slide into a hole or slot made at the end of the tube.
These slots and corresponding projections made in the tubes and supports as the
case may be prevent the tubes from coming out or being pushed in too far and also
allow for any contraction or expansion of the tubes without fear of breaking the
supports when the latter are made of such material as slate porcelain and the like.
These junction-supports are shown in Figures 7 to 19 inclusive. Figures 7, 8, 9
and 10 show supports in one piece, Figures 11 to 19 show them in two or more
pieces. Holes to receive the ends of the tubes are shown in Figures 7 and 9, S,
and Figure 10, R. Figures 11 and 12 show a junction support in two parts, one
part A can be erected first and the other part B erected after the tubes T have
been placed in position.
Screws or nails for fixing the supports will pass through holes in the sides of
the supports as shown in the plans, Figures 9 and 14. X. Straight holes for
receiving the conductors are shown in Figure 8, S. and in Figures 12 and 14;
a hole partly smaller than the tube as above described is shown in Figure 10. R.
In Figure 10, Q, is shown a slot to receive a projecting piece from the tube ;
and in Figure 9, Q.
Grooves inside the supports, to prevent the conductors from touching one
another as above mentioned, are shown in Figures 12 and 14. The central
conductors of a concentric arrangement would meet and be jointed in the
space F, and the outer wires or connecting parts joining the tubular conductors
would pass along in the groove E.
Figures 18 and 19 illustrate junction-supports more or less ✓ shaped and
constructed in a manner similar to the circular supports shown in the other
figures, three way and four way supports are made in a similar manner.
We also fix metal connecting parts on to these insulating supports to form
joints for the conductors. When an insulating base forms one of the parts
of a junction support as shown in Figures 16 and 17, metal connecting parts
provided with screws may be fixed to this. base as in Figure 17 K K. If the
separate base is not used, a support that is closed at the back may be employed

page_text: similar to that illustrated in section in Figure 12. A safety fuse may be fixed
between two of the metal pieces K, K, Figure 17, to which the conductors are
joined. Connecting pieces for fuses, or clips or similar fittings for movable parts
such as wall-connectors wall plugs and switches may be fixed to one half of
these junction supports. In Figure 13 the lower half of the support, B, may
be constructed with holes L L on the surface through which the conductors
may pass when it is required to fix them to connecting pieces for fuses, wall-
connectors, switches, or other fittings and a suitable cover may be fixed on in
the usual way as shown in Figure 13, D, and Figure 15, S. When the con-
necting parts for a switch are attached to the back of the support or to a base
plate as shown in Figure 17 the movable portion may be attached to a handle V
Figures 15 and 20, passing through a hole in the upper half of the junction-
support, the metal connecting bar M Figure 20 makes contact between the
connecting plates fixed to the lower half of the support as above described. In
this case a separate cover, S, is not required.
When these conductors are used under ground or for high tension currents
we sometimes make use of oil instead of air insulation. In this case the
insulators above described as fitting tightly into the ends of the tubes may be
conveniently employed. And when laid in more or less horizontal positions the
tubes may be bent up at the ends to prevent the oil from running out the
conducting wires or rods being jointed across from one bend to the next, the bends
being introduced as far as possible where branches are required. When we
employ these conductors in vertical positions, as for instance, for the mains in
a large building rising from floor to floor we either suspend the conducting wires
or rods or strips from supports fixed in the junction supports as above described,
or we employ the insulators that fit tightly into the ends of the tubes as
described above and fix a nut or other convenient fixture to the end of the
conducting rod, wire or strip to prevent the same from slipping down. This
arrangement allows the conductors to be made up in lengths in the workshop
and sent out ready for erection in a complete form.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In electric conductors the combination of a tube or tubular casing enclosing
insulators at intervals with any number of wires or strips passed through
separate holes in the insulators and tubular strips filled with wires for branches
substantially as described.
2. In electric conductors the combination of tubes of any fixed length euclosing
insulators at intervals and tightly fitting insulators or plugs at one or both ends
of the fixed length of tube with wires or strips passing through holes in these
insulators substantially as described.
3. In combination with a system of tubular conductors the improved form of
insulating junction-supports with holes diminishing in size to receive the tubular
conductors and keep the same in position substantially as described.
4. In combination with a system of tubular conductors the improved form of
insulating junction-supports with holes in the sides to receive the ends of the tubes
with or without tapering or straight slots or grooves to keep the tubes in position
substantially as described.
5. In combination with a system of tubular conductors the improved form of
insulating junction-support made in two or more parts to be fitted over the ends of
the tubes with or without interchangeable metal fittings substantially as described.
Dated this 10th day of March 1893.
DAVID COOK.
ERNEST PAYNE.