IMPROVEMENTS IN INSULATING AND PROTECTING TELEGRAPHIC AND OTHER WIRES AND RODS, AND IN MACHINERY CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hooper, of the London India-rubber Works,
Mitcham, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN INSULATING AND PROTECTING TELEGRAPHIC AND OTHER WIRES AND RODS,
AND IN MACHINERY CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 21st August 1868, and dated the 24th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hooper at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
February 1863.
I, WILLIAM HOOPER, of the London India-rubber Works, Mitcham, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN INSULATING AND PROTECTING TELEGRAPHIC AND OTHER WIRES AND RODS,
AND IN MACHINERY CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in insulating and protecting
telegraphic and other wires and rods, and in machinery connected therewith.
When covering and protecting telegraphic and other wires and rods with
india-rubber or compounds of india-rubber, I obtain the tapes or narrow strips
to be employed by cutting a continuous sheet of india-rubber or compound of
india-rubber from a block of the material caused to rotate in front of a knife,
and afterwards I divide this sheet into tapes or narrow strips by a series of
cutting edges, the interval between which is the width of tape required. I

page_text: apply these tapes to the wire or rod usually by lapping it around the same, as
heretofore practised.
India-rubber and sulphur (or a substance having a similar action), com-
bined by preference with tar or any of the articles usually employed with
india-rubber and sulphur, may be cut into tapes or narrow strips, and applied
as above described; and I vulcanize the same by any of the well-known
methods of vulcanizing after the wires or rods are coated; or I combine
india-rubber with gutta percha, prepared tar, French chalk, silica, oxyde of
zinc, shellac, or any one or more of the articles usually employed in con-
nection with india-rubber, and any such compound of india-rubber I cut
into sheets and tapes and apply as before explained; or such compounds
of india-rubber or compounds of india-rubber containing sulphur (or a sub-
stance having a similar action), may be rolled into sheets either by passing
the same between rollers or by rolling the same on to a suitable surface;
and I divide such sheets into tapes or strips of the width desired by means
of a series of cutters or dividers; these may be used in combination with
the rollers through which the sheet is rolled or passed so as to cut the sheet
upon or in connection with the said rollers, or they may be used to cut
the tapes, fillets, or strips when the sheet is rolled up on a mandril, and
caused to revolve; or these cutters or dividers may be used to cut the said
sheets on a flat table or other plane surface. I also employ similar cutters or
dividers to cut lengths of cotton or other cloth into tapes for lapping round the
aforesaid tapes of india-rubber or india-rubber compounds. I varnish such
sheets, tapes, or strips of india-rubber or india-rubber compound to keep them
from adhering together, and also to prevent them taking up dust or dirt that
may come in contact with them or absorbing moisture from the atmosphere.
This varnish may be composed of lb. shellac, gallon of water, and two or
three fluid ounces of strong liquid ammonia. When only one side of a sheet
is varnished a small quantity of coloring matter is mixed with the varnish to
show on which side of the sheet or tape the varnish has been applied. Before
coating the wires or rods with the tapes or strips, I submit the latter to a
uniform temperature (I prefer about 60° Fahrenheit) to cool them in the
summer, or to warm them in the winter, as the case may be, by which means,
when they are lapped on the wires or rods, or passed through discs to coat the
same, they will work more accurately than heretofore when the tapes or strips
have been applied without regard to temperature, which has given rise to
unequal suppleness, and as a consequence eccentricity of the conductor.
For making joints in india-rubber or gutta percha or their compounds, I
employ a heater constructed as follows:-Two chambers, having separate con-

page_text: necting pipes for being heated by steam, as well as separate condensed steam
pipes, are placed over each other, there being a semicircular groove or grooves
in each, so that when they come directly over each other they form a tube or
tubes, in which is laid the joint or joints to be heated; or in the case of
vulcanized india-rubber or compound I sometimes immerse the joints in a tar
and sulphur bath, or a bath of metal, or other bath of suitable temperature; and
to cause vulcanized india-rubber to unite, I coat the surface with india-rubber
solution, and ignite the same to produce tackiness; over the surface so
prepared I lay a coating of india-rubber and sulphur, or sulphur compounds,
and submit the same to heat, as herein-before explained for heating joints.
In constructing a lapping machine for putting on india-rubber and other
tapes, I give motion to the drum or apparatus, which carries away the covered
wire or rod by means of two cones, one of which drives the other by a belt or
band. By shifting the belt on these cones the speed of the carry-off motion
can be regulated, and a uniform thickness of insulated material obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hooper in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st
August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOOPER, of the London India-rubber Works, Mitcham, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Hooper, Her special licence that I, the said William
Hooper, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Hooper, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN INSULATING AND PROTECTING TELEGRAPHIC AND OTHER WIRES AND RODS, AND IN
MACHINERY CONNECTED THERE WITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Hooper, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly

page_text: 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 Hooper, do hereby declare.
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in insulating and protecting
telegraphic and other wires and rods, and in machinery connected therewith.
When covering and protecting telegraphic and other wires and rods with
india-rubber or compounds of india-rubber, I obtain the tapes or narrow strips.
to be employed by cutting a continuous sheet of india-rubber or compound of
india-rubber from a block of the material caused to rotate in front of a knife,
and afterwards I divide this sheet into tapes or narrow strips by a series of
cutting edges, the interval between which is the width of tape required. I
apply these tapes to the wire or rod usually by lapping it around the same, as
heretofore practised.
India-rubber and sulphur (or a substance having a similar action), combined
by preference with tar or any of the articles usually employed with india-
rubber and sulphur, may be cut into tapes or narrow strips, and applied as
above described; and I vulcanize the same by any of the well-known methods
of vulcanizing after the wires or rods are coated; or I combine india-rubber
with gutta percha, prepared tar, French chalk, silica, oxyde of zinc, shellac, or
any one or more of the articles usually employed in connection with india-
rubber, and any such compound of india-rubber I cut into sheets and tapes,"
and apply as before explained; or such compounds of india-rubber, or com-
pounds of india-rubber containing sulphur (or a substance having a similar
action), may be rolled into sheets either by passing the same between rollers:
or by rolling the same on to a suitable surface; and I divide such sheets into
tapes or strips of the width desired by means of a series of cutters or dividers;
these may be used in combination with the rollers through which the sheet is
rolled or passed, so as to cut the sheet upon or in connection with the said
rollers, or they may be used to cut the tapes, fillets, or strips when the sheet
is rolled up on a mandril and caused to revolve; or these cutters or dividers
may be used to cut the said sheets on a flat table or other plane surface. I
also employ similar cutters or dividers to cut lengths of cotton or other cloth
into tapes for lapping round the aforesaid, tapes of india-rubber or india-rubber
compounds. I varnish such sheets, tapes, or strips of india-rubber or india-

page_text: rubber compound to keep them from adhering together, and also to prevent
them taking up dust or dirt that may come in contact with them, or absorbing
moisture from the atmosphere. This varnish may be composed of lb.
shellac, gallon of water, and two or three fluid ounces of strong liquid
ammonia. When only one side of a sheet is varnished, a small quantity of
coloring matter is mixed with the varnish to shew on which side of the sheet
or tape the varnish has been applied. Before coating the wires or rods with
the tapes or strips, I submit the latter to a uniform temperature (I prefer
about 60° Fahrenheit) to cool them in the summer or to warm them in the
winter, as the case may be, by which means, when they are lapped on the
wires or rods or passed through discs to coat the same, they will work more
accurately than heretofore when the tapes or strips have been applied without
regard to temperature, which has given rise to unequal suppleness, and as a
consequence eccentricity of the conductor.
For making joints in india-rubber, or gutta percha, or their compounds, I
employ a heater constructed as follows:-Two chambers, having separate con-
necting pipes for being heated by steam, as well as separate condensed steam
pipes, are placed over each other, thefe being a semicircular groove or grooves
in each, so that when they come directly over each other they form a tube or
tubes in which is laid the joint or joints to be heated; or in the case of
vulcanized india-rubber or compound, I sometimes immerse the joints in a tar
and sulphur bath, or a bath of metal, or other bath of suitable temperature ;
and to cause vulcanized india-rubber to unite, I coat the surface with india-
rubber solution, and ignite the same to produce tackiness. Over the surface
so prepared I lay a coating of india-rubber and sulphur or sulphur compounds,
and bind the same with cloth or other suitable material, and submit the same
to heat, as herein-before explained, for heating joints.
In constructing a lapping machine for putting on india-rubber and other
tapes, I give motion to the drum or apparatus, which carries away the covered
wire or rod by means of two cones, one of which drives the other by a belt or
band. By shifting the belt on these cones the speed of the carry-off motion
can be regulated, and a uniform thickness of insulated material obtained.
The axis of one of the cones is constantly driven by the engine at as an
uniform a speed as may be, and such cone by a strap gives motion to the
second cone, the larger end of which comes opposite the smaller end of the
cone, which is driven by the engine. On the axis of the second cone there is
a screw, which gives motion to a screw wheel on the axis of the pulley or
drum, which moves the coated wire away from the lapping apparatus, which
is caused to rotate as uniformly as possible round the passing wire; hence, by

page_text: varying the strap by a hand lever and fork on the cones, the speed of the wire
in respect to the lapping apparatus may be varied with great exactness, and
the coating of the wire made uniform to gauge.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hooper, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM HOOPER. (L.S.)