IMPROVEMENTS IN SUB- MARINE AND SUBTERRANEAN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES, AND IN MACHI- NERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Sinnock, of Brompton, in the County of
Kent, Ropery Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUB-
MARINE AND SUBTERRANEAN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES, AND IN MACHI-
NERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF."
Sealed the 15th September 1859, and dated the 14th April 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Sinnock at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th April 1859.
I, WILLIAM SINNOCK, of Brompton, in the County of Kent, Ropery
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SUBMARINE AND SUBTERRANEAN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed more particularly for obtaining an improved
form of cable or rope for ocean telegraph purposes, and consists in so
arranging the constituent parts thereof as to combine lightness of weight
with great strength and flexibility without elasticity, and also to avoid
"kinking" of said cable or rope during the operation of "paying" out the
same.
It is proposed to effect the above-named objects and advantages by
constructing such said cables or ropes by building up or constructing the same
with yarns, threads, or filaments of silk, cotton, flax, hemp, or other fibrous
materials in one or more layers or thicknesses arranged and wrought somewhat

page_text: after the manner at present practised of weaving textile fabrics or materials,
that is to say, by interlacing the fibrous materials with warp and weft threads,
yarns, or filaments, which for the purpose of this Invention are intended to be
woven circularly around the centre core of the said cables or ropes, and if
desirable around other cores arranged concentrically with respect to the centre
core for insulating the same therein; and it is further proposed to place between
each layer of the aforesaid circularly-woven fibrous material or materials the
insulating substance or material, which may be of india-rubber, gutta percha,
and bitumen combined, or other suitable insulating substances or materials.
In some cases it is proposed to form the layers of fibrous materials of threads
or yarns not circularly woven, and only to form the extreme outer covering or
layer by circularly weaving the same as before stated.
The improved machinery, which it is proposed to employ for effecting the
above-named circular weaving or covering of the insulated conducting wires
or core of the said cables or ropes through which the electrical current is to
pass, is constructed of the following parts:-
First, a series of frames for guiding the yarns, threads, or filaments of
fibrous materials in their proper course, same being arranged or disposed
concentrically to any desired diameter which the cable or rope is intended to
be made. In connection with the aforesaid frames friction pulleys are to be
employed for embracing and imparting motion to a semicircular shuttle in a
circular direction. The depressing of the warp is to be effected by a planet
wheel, whose arms during the orbitulary motion of said wheel are caused to
fall upon and thereby to depress successively each alternate thread or yarn,
which is immediately taken hold of by the aforesaid semicircular shuttle
which contains the weft; the planet wheel during its rotation, as it passes
onwards over the circumference of the frame or series of frames, presses
between the before-mentioned friction pulleys, thereby imparting motion
thereto and impelling them forwards at the same rate of speed as the
planet wheel, the shuttle immediately following the motion of the said planet
wheel. The slot for the thread or yarn crossing the shuttle groove moves
downwards against a small spring, so that upon the shuttle having passed, the
aforesaid thread or yarn returns to its former position, and so on at each
impulse of the shuttle, each alternate thread or yarn being depressed in
continuous and regular succession.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Sinnock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th October 1859. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SINNOCK, of Brompton, in the County of Kent, Ropery Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Sinnock, Her special licence that I, the said William Sinnock,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Wil-
liam Sinnock, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SUBMARINE AND SUBTERRANEAN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH CABLES, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Sinnock, his 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 William Sinnock, 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):-
This Invention has for its object improvements in submarine and sub-
terranean electric telegraph cables or ropes, and in machinery for the
construction thereof. For this purpose, taking the electric conductor of wire
or strand of wires, and either insulated with india-rubber or gutta percha or
other suitable material, or without any such insulation, I apply one or more
layers of fibrous material completely saturated, either previously or in the
process of application to the electric conductor, with a compound of insulated
materials consisting of india-rubber, gutta percha, and bitumen; these layers
of fibre thus rendered insulating may be arranged around the conductor, either

page_text: Figure 1 is an elevation, and Figure 2 is a plan of a machine arranged
according to my Invention for applying the woven covering of fibrous material
to the telegraphic cable.
a, foundation plate, with bearing blocks a¹ and a¹¹, cast on; b, driving shaft,
fitted in bearing blocks a¹ and a"; c, bevel wheel fitted on shaft b; c¹ and c",
dead and alive pulleys, also fitted on shaft b; d, cam wheel, having on its under
side a bevel wheel gearing into c; this wheel works on an upright hollow shaft e,
and has on its upper edge a spur wheel d¹; on the edge of this cam wheel are
two grooves extending around about of its circumference, the remaining is
occupied by a crossing, so as to lead the bottom groove into the top groove,
and the top groove into the bottom groove. At equal distances are mounted
seventeen slide pieces f, nine of these being at one time in the top groove,
and 8 in the bottom groove, or vice versa. To each of the slide pieces f is
attached, by means of a pin, an upright rod g, having in its upper end a hole
for the passage of the covering material which is to serve as warp; these rods
travel in suitable holes situated equidistant in the circular plate h. h, a strong
circular plate supported by uprights h¹ secured to foundation plate a; in the
centre of this plate is secured the hollow shaft e, and at suitable distances round
this plate are mounted six shafts J, working in suitable bearings; J, pinion
shafts working in plate h, having pinions J¹ on their lower ends, and J" on
their upper ends. In place of these pinions and the spur wheels with which
they work, friction wheels may be employed, but spur wheels and pinions are
preferred. k, a spur wheel corresponding exactly with spur wheel d'; a portion

page_text: of this wheel, equal in extent to the crossing in cam wheel d, is removed and
in the same position, so that the crossing in cam wheel d and the gap in this
wheel travels together. On the upper surface of this wheel is fitted a plate of
the shape shown, having a corresponding opening; 1, a bobbin mounted under-
neath the plate of wheel k, which thus acts as a shuttle, carrying the weft
bobbin, and laying in the weft between the warps; m, two uprights for
supporting a guide tube; n, guide tube supported by uprights m, and situated
exactly over the centre of hollow shaft e.
To cover a core by this machine the bobbin is filled with yarn of a suitable
size, which is led through a hole in the plate of rim wheel k, and through the
holes in each of rods g, g, are passed the covering strands, seventeen in
number, which are brought through the nipper n, and are of a sufficient size to
cover the core. Upon motion being given to the driving shaft the cam wheel
d is caused to revolve, and as the crossing meets the slide pieces g, they are
either raised from or depressed to the upper or lower groove, according to
their previous position, that is, those in the upper groove are alternately
depressed into the lower groove, while those in the lower groove are alter-
nately raised into the upper groove. It will be seen that the gap in the rim
wheel k enables the covering strands to be raised or depressed, and in conse-
quence the
yarn from bobbin is passed alternately over and under each
succeeding yarn. The electric conductor passes up through the hollow axis e,
and is drawn continuously forward by suitable apparatus at a speed regulated
by the closeness of the weaving required, and as it passes it has a coating of
fibrous material woven around it. Two or more layers of weaving may be
applied, if desired. In preparing the compound of insulating materials I prefer
to employ equal parts of india-rubber, gutta percha, and bitumen, these materials,
before mixing them, I reduce to a very plastic and almost liquid condition by
the application of heat, and I then stir the whole together. When the com-
pound is required for use it is kept heated in a suitable vessel to a degree
sufficient to keep it fluid, and the fibrous materials are by preference caused
to pass through the compound just before they are applied around the
telegraphic conductor.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would remark that I am aware that telegraphic
conductors have before been surrounded with fibrous material, and afterwards
covered by braiding them over with yarns or cords of the same materials; the
operation of braiding is, however, very different from that of weaving, as in
braiding, the yarns or cords employed, while interlacing the one with the other,
all pass spirally around the cable, whereas in weaving, the warp yarns or

page_text: cords run in a longitudinal direction, while the weft yarn or cord alone passes
spirally around it. I would remark also that I am aware that telegraphic
cables have before been covered by weaving wire around them; what I
claim is,―
1st, the covering of the electric conductor by weaving fibrous materials
around it, as herein described.
2nd, the covering of the electric conductor (previously insulated or not)
with fibrous material arranged spirally, longitudinally, or otherwise, in com-
bination with an exterior coating formed by weaving fibrous materials around
the cable, as herein described.
3rd, the covering of the electric conductor (previously insulated or not)
with fibrous material saturated with the insulating compound herein described.
4th, the combination of machinery for the construction of a woven covering
around an electric conductor, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Sinnock, have hereunto set my 1
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-nine.
WILLIAM SINNOCK. (L.s.)