IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WIRES OR CONDUCTORS OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Felix Marie Baudouin, of Paris in the Empire of
France, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WIRES
OR CONDUCTORS OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR THE
MANUFACTURE THEREOF."
Sealed the 23rd September 1857, and dated the 3rd April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Felix Marie Baudouin,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd April 1857.
I, FELIX MARIE BAUDOUIN, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE WIRES OR CONDUCTORS OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the preparation of conductors of electricity for
electric telegraphs, being wires insulated to prevent the loss or deterioration of
the electric currents used for that purpose, and also in the machinery for the
preparation or manufacture of such conductors. I coat the wires with bitu-
minous or such like fatty matters that are not liable to become hard or crack,
but, on the contrary, are constantly acted on by the temperature of the atmo-
sphere. Coatings of this material in themselves are insufficient to maintain the
proper protection and insulation for telegraph conductors, but when combined
with other materials, such as paper, woven fabrics of cotton, silk, wool,or hemp,
in a particular manner, are well adapted for the purpose.
The machinery constituting part of my present Invention is adapted forthe
application of the textile material or paper with the bituminou matter to such
Price 8d1

page_text: conductors, whereby they are completely isolated, such isolation being of an
enduring character and less liable to become defective than wires insulated in
the ordinary manner.
The machinery is of two kinds, one of which conducts the operation of
lapping the ribbons or strips of paper or other suitable material round the
coated wire, the wire having a motion of transmission in the direction of its
length, and also a rotary motion for winding on the ribbons.
The wire is wound on a reel or drum, whose axis is placed in a frame
mounted on an axis. The wire is conducted over suitable guide pullies
through the spindle, and in a line with the axis ofthe rotating frame and thence
to a drum in another similar rotating frame placed at a distance from the first.
The latter drum has a motion to wind on the wire, while the first wire drum has
a break to create sufficient tension on the wire in its being drawn off, thus a
motion of rotation and transmission are simultaneously imparted to the wire.
The ribbons or reels containing the ribbons or strips of material to be wound
on the wire are placed between the two rotating frames, with their axes placed
at such an angle or incline to the wire, that as the wire rotates and traverses
lengthways it winds upon it a helical coil from each bobbin whose edges are
closely united, the position of the bobbin being regulated to insure their close
contact. I prefer to use three ribbons and bobbins for this purpose, the first
covering of the wire being enveloped by the second in such manner that the
helical junction of the first ribbon is covered by the second, and the second by
the third. The wire is passed through a bath of hot bitumen, and has the
superfluous matter removed by passing through suitable dies or parts to scrape
and smooth its surface, and render it of uniform thickness.
The first and second ribbons are also passed through bituminous or other
suitable matter to render them more impervious to electricity. The coated and
lapped wire is passed through suitable dies to remove superfluous matter, to
smooth down the lapping of the ribbons, and to compress and cause their
proper adhesion. The ribbon reels are furnished with breaks to produce
sufficient tension of the ribbon. The ribbons may be applied without any
bituminous coating, or they may be coated previously to winding on the supply
bobbins.
In another arrangement of machinery according to my Invention, I wind the
wire to be coated on one wheel or drum and draw it off by another. These
drums have no rotary motion except on their own axes, the wire consequently
has no motion other than in the direction of its length. In its passage
from the one drum to the other it passes first through straightening rollers,
then through a bath of hot bituminous matter, of which it receives a coating,

page_text: the excess being wiped and smoothed off by leather bushes or dies through
which it passes. The coated wire now passes through the hollow axis of
a rotating frame in which three ribbon bobbins are carried, disposed so that
they lap three helical coils of the ribbon around the wire during its trans-
mission through that frame, the disposition and effect produced being similar
to that before described with the last machine. The coated and lapped wire
passes through dies or smoothing holes both in entering and leaving the
rotating frame; these dies or smoothers have rotary motion, the better to
enable them to wipe and smooth the coated wire. The wires while under
operation may either be disposed vertically or horizontally; and instead of one
rotating frame with three or other number of ribbon bobbius, I sometimes use
one frame for each ribbon. The wires before coating are properly cleaned,
and in either method of coating may be straightened by passing between rollers
both before and after the application of the coatings.
.
The apparatus before described may be used for coating wire with imper-
meable bands, treated with coatings of solutions of india-rubber, mixtures of
tallow and resin, and other insulating compositions; but ofall others I prefer
natural bitumen, such as the Bastennes bitumen, as, although they have the
inconvenience of being affected by the temperature of the atmosphere, they
may be varnished over with solutions of india-rubber or gutta percha, or other
impervious matters.
In forming telegraph cables of wires covered, as described, I wind the wires
on reels and place them in a rotating frame round its axis; from the reels the
wires all converge to a point and pass out through the hollow axis of the frame,
by whose notion they are twisted together, the twisted end of the combined
wires being prevented rotating.
I also prepare telegraph conducting cables by tying the covered wires on a
strong flat band of fibrous material well impregnated with bitumen, and also
covering them with a band of strong or light material similarly treated.
Instead of tying the wires on by riveting or sewing, I can weave the wire in
the band or strap; I afterwards impregnate the strap thoroughly with bitumen,
and, if necessary, further cover the wires by another band or strip of material
on each side of the band in which the wires are placed, which strips are also
bitumenized if desirable. I impregnate the warp threads with bitumen
before weaving.
I further coat telegraph wires by strips or bands of woven or other suitable
material lapped round them, the seam or joint being in the direction of
its length, which I effect by drawing the wire through hot bitumen and
through a draw plate with the covering material, which is thereby lapped

page_text: round and encloses the coated wire; two or more such coatings can be applied,
in which case I place the joints of the covering at opposite sides of the wire.
In laying down these telegraph bands or strips, which may or may not have
been impregnated with bitumen, I first place in the bottom of the trench
a thickness of bitumen, and above the conducting strap a second thickness
of melted bitumen; I sometimes mix sand, gravel, or earthy matters with
the bituminous mastics when embedding the wires in solid blocks of this sub-
stance in a plastic state. In order to protect telegraph conductors when used
underground in towns where they are liable to the action of gas, which
injuriously affects bituminous matters, I coat the bituminous blocks in which
the covered wires are embedded with thickness of paper or metallic leaf,
which is not easily penetrated by the gas; the paper for this purpose should be
treated with insoluble soap or some material to better enable it to resist the
action of the gas. The metallic leaves should be soldered at the junctions
to render it impermeable to the gas. If the lower part and sides of the bitu-
minous bed be coated thus,it is some considerable protection, but it is better to
be entirely enveloped. A coating of potters' clay or even of plaster assists in
preserving the bitumen.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Felix Marie Baudouin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
MARIE BAUDOUIN, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Felix Marie Baudouin, Her special licence that I, the said Felix
Marie Baudouin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Felix Marie Baudouin, 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 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 THE WIRES OR CONDUCTORS OF. ELECTRIC TELE-

page_text: GRAPHS, AND IN THE MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Felix Marie Baudouin, 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 Felix Marie Baudouin, 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 reference being had to the two Sheets of Drawingshereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to a particular method of preparing the wires con-
ducting the electricity for electric telegraphs for the purpose of insulating
them, and thereby avoid loss and alteration of electric currents; and it also
relates to the mechanism, by the aid of which such preparation and manu-
facture of these conductors is effected.
The elastic and impermeable substances ordinarily employed for covering
the wire conductors of electricity for the purpose of insulating them generally
present this serious inconvenience: on account of their elasticity they get out
of form, and are easily impressed under greater or less pressure to which they
may be submitted, particularly when they are at the same time subject to a
sufficiently elevated temperature to soften them. Thus, under the influence
of heat, copper wires covered with gutta percha, simply by the effect of the
alterations of the metal in expanding or contracting,make holes through such
coverings and come in contact with the metal coverings, intended to protect
them on the exterior, and thus destroy their insulation. To remedy this
great inconvenience, I insulate telegraph wires by alternate coatings of
insulating matters, and covering bands or tapes of textile fabrics which are
themselves prepared with insulating matters, each layer being compressed,
and the continuity of the same preserved throughout, the whole producing a
body of such consistency and power of resistance to the alteration of form that
the insulating materials do not of themselves possess.
Among the substances suitable for producing good insulating coatings are
bitumens, which on account of their not being liable to change, and small cost,
appear to me capable of being advantageously employed, either alone or in
combination with other insulating matters of a more costly description, such
as gutta percha, india-rubber, &c.

page_text: Bitumens, in fact, although they have the inconvenience of being influenced
by heat, possess, on the other hand, the all-important property of being
indefinitely preserved without alteration, while their softening by the action of
heat is rendered immaterial by the interposition of the narrow bands of textile
fabric with which I cover them, and which hold the thin layers of this
substance placed between their coils or folds. Care must be taken not to
confound pure bitumens, bitumens properly so called, such as good bitumens
of Bastennes, for example, with tars and other analogous matters, which con-
tain when mixed either a considerable quantity of volatile substances, the
subsequent evaporation of which renders the coating friable, or even of water,
and substances having an affinity for water, such as alkaline matters or acids,
which may consequently compromise the insulating power of the coatings. I
will further remark, that although I prefer bitumens for the coatings of
telegraph wires, my process is equally applicable to all fatty or resinous
substances possessing sufficient insulating power, for example, to gum-lac
varnishes, fatty varnishes, solutions of india-rubber, &c.
The mechanism I employ in order to effect the insulating coating of the
conducting wires is of two kinds; the first, represented at Figures 1 and 2,
Sheet 1,effects the operation of winding the ribbons or bands of woven fabric,
paper, or other suitable material around the coated wire, the wire receiving a
travelling or advancing motion in the direction of its length and at the same
time a rotary motion, in order to wind around it the ribbons or bands. This
apparatus is arranged as follows:-Figure 1, Sheet 1, represents a plan of the
apparatus; and Figure 2, Sheet 1, represents an elevation of the same.
The wire to be covered is wound on a drum T, which I call the winding-off
drum. This drum is carried by an axis, on which it can revolve, obeying the
traction of the wire in being unwound. The motion of this drum is moderated
by a sufficiently powerful friction brake, so that the wire may be kept in
sufficient tension when being unrolled. The bearings in which the axis of the
drum turns are carried by a frame B, which can itself take a rotary motion
on its axis A, A, on which the frame is mounted, the direction of which is at
right angles to that of the axis of the druin T. The axis A, A, one end of
which is hollow, revolves in bearings C, C, mounted on uprights, as shewn.
The wire unrolling from the drum T passes on to a grooved pulley P,intended
to straighten it, and bring it in the direction of the hollow end of the axis A,
through which it passes.
Opposite this first drum apparatus, and at a distance of about two or three
yards, there is another drum apparatus, similarly arranged and disposed, with
the exception of the following modifications, which arise from the fact that it

page_text: is on this second drum T' that the wire has to be wound after its preparation.
For this purpose, after the wire has received its insulating covering in the
mannerherein-after explained, it passes through the hollow end of the axis A¹
of the second apparatus, thence over the groove of the pulley Pl,and on tothe
drum T on which it is wound.
gears
The drum frame B' carrying the drum T itself revolves on its axis A', A',
This retary motion is imparted to it by a toothed wheel E',deriving itsmove-
ment from any motive power, and on the same shaft another toothed wheelE
imparts the same motion to the frame B, so that the whole system revolves
round the line F, F, which is at the same time the axis of the part of the wire
stretched between the two drum frames, and consequently the wire also
receives a rotary motion with the whole system. At the same time as the
wire revolves on its axis, and by reason of this motion, it also takes a
traversing longitudinal movement from right to left, which is given to itbythe
following mechanism :-On the upright or support carrying the bearing C'of
the left-hand frame a toothed wheel R is fixed, through which the hollow end
of the axis A and turns. This toothed wheel
passes
with anothertoothed
wheel R',termed a satellite wheel, the axis of which turns in bearings fixed
to the frame B¹, and it is controlled by this frame in its rotary motion around
the hollow end of the axis A'. In consequence of this arrangement, when the
frame revolves onits axis, the satellite wheel which it controls cannot obey this
motion otherwise than by itself taking a rotary motion around its own axis.
The number of revolutions it thus makes on its axis at each revolution of
the frame depends on the relative diameter of the said satellite wheel R'with
that of the fixed wheel R with which it gears. At its opposite end the pro-
longed axis of the satellite wheel carries an endless screw V,which gears into
a screw wheel R", concentric with the drum T', and rigidly connected there-
with. Each revolution of the endless screw V causes one tooth of the wheel
R" to pass,and consequently causes the drum T¹ to perform the equivalent
amount of revolution; for instance,if the wheel R has forty-eight teeth the
drum T will turn one forty-eighth part of a revolution on its axis.
It will be understood that in this manner at each revolution of the frame B',
and consequently at each revolution of the wire,the drum T on which the
wire is wound (after it is covered) revolves a determined extent on its axis,
and causes the wire F,F,to advance so much; thus the wire receives adouble
motion,one on its axis, and an advancing motion from right to left. But in
order to assure the proper action of the apparatus, I have added other
mechanism to regulate the winding of the wire on the drum T¹ according as
it receives its coverings.

page_text: . It must be remarked, that the wire, after having passed over the groove of
the pulley P, which is tangential to the direction of the axis of rotationofthe
hollow shaft A', through which it passes,should deviate in its direct course, in
order to distribute the wire fairly on the drum; for example, if the winding-on
is commenced on the side of the drum next the left flange, it should be
guided gradually towards the right flange, come back to the left, return to the
right,and so on,inclined a determined extent depending on the thickness of
the covered wire so that the successive coils may be wound regularly till they
have formed a first stage,covering the surface of the drum; they then form a
second stage, being guided in the contrary direction, and then a third, &c.,
without which, the wire being always wound in the same place, the coils would
be-wound on without order,and would be liable to produce irregularity in the
winding and working of the apparatus.
To conduct the winding, therefore, I have established a guide, to which the
motion of the system itself imparts a to-and-fre motion, suitably calculated for
the purpose.
The guide G,intended to conduct the wire, consists of a pulley, the groove
of which is V-shaped; the arm carrying the guide pulley G is connected and
forms one body with two bosses M,M,sliding with slight friction on two rods
parallel to the axis of the drum T, and rigidly connected with the frame
which carries the axis of the said drum. This arm carrying the guide is pro-
longed, and terminates at its other extremity in a fork carrying two rollers,
between which the thread of a cam is gripped; it is composed of two segments
of screws Hand B, uniting at their two extremities, and each of which
comprises in its action the distance between the two cheeks or flanges of the
drum T. This cam is carried on an axis parallel to that of the drum,and turns
in two bearings fixed on the frame of the revolving machine. A toothed
wheel is attached to this shaft, and is connected by a series of toothed wheels
which receive motion from a pinion fixed on the drum T. These gearings
are calculated to transform the rotary motion of the drum around its axis into
slower rotary motion, so that if, for example, the covered wire with its covering
inclusive be about one-third part of an inch in diameter, and if the distance
between the flanges or cheeks of the drum be about ten inches, there would be
room for winding thirty coils side by side on the drum; the toothed gearing
should be so arranged that while the drum T makes thirty revolutions on its
axis the screw cam H, H', may make halfa revolution, or, what amounts to
the same thing, while the drum makes sixty revolutions the screw cam
makes one revolution on its axis. The cam is besides so arranged, that when
the fork which it moves is at the le t-hand angle, formed by the meeting of

page_text: the two half screws, forming the cam, the guide is in close relation with
the left-hand flange or cheek of the drum, consequently every time that the
drum turns on its axis and that a coil of wire is wound on the drum the cam
accomplishes one-sixtieth of a revolution, and the wire is thereby traversed
one-thirtieth of the breadth of its traverse, that is to say, the thirtieth part
of ten inches, equal to the size of its diameter, or the necessary amount
for placing a second coil in position; after thirty revolutions of the drum,and
the winding on of thirty coils, the wire arrives at and touches the right cheek
of the drum, at the same time that the fork guided by the movement of the
first half of the cam arrives at the extremityof this first part, when the second
half screw or part of the cam which makes an angle with the first, and is
inclined in the inverse direction, acts by the continuation of the rotarymotion
and traverses the fork in the opposite direction, which it conducts from right
to left, and in this manuer the wire takes a gradual to-and-fro motion, which
causes it to bewoundwith perfect regularityand in successive stages or layers
on the drum T.
I would remark, that by means of the separation of the two frames
having hollow axes, which carry the one the drum containing the naked wire,
and the other the winding-on drum on which the wire is wound after it has
received its covering, the space between these two revolving frames remains
free and perfectly accessible to the attendant while they are performing their
common rotation.
It is in this interval or space that the baths of melted bitumen or other
substance are placed suitable for furnishing the coatings as well as the bobbins
charged with coverings of textile fabric,the guides and smoothers for regula-
ting the winding, the fire or gas burners serving to keep the bitumen and the
various parts of the apparatus hot, without which the bitumen might become
solid too soon.
Figures 1 and 2 show some of the detail arrangements of this part of the
apparatus. As seen, there is in the direction of the length of the wire to be
covered, and at a sufficient distance, a frame or bed, consisting of two hollow
cast-iron girders QQ. This bed is hollow,so that a jet of steam can be passed
through it in order to keep it hot. The various guides, smoothers, or other
necessary parts inay slide and be fixed by nuts between these two girders.
In front of this bed and under the wire to be covered a long box I, I, is
hooked, filled with melted bitumen, and kept hot by fires or jets of ignited
gas. J, J, other gas jets, made moveable by means of flexible tubes, which
can be moved and conducted below all the parts which it may be necessary
to heat.

page_text: A grooved pulley of sufficient diameter turning on an axis supported by a
moveable part D dips a sufficient distance into the bath of bitumen, and is in
contact with the surface of the wire which causes it to revolve.
thus keeps its periphery constantly loaded with hot bitumen.
This wheel
Above the apparatus are suspended a sufficient number of reels K,K,K,K³,
of large diameter, on each of which a sufficient length of each of the tapes or
ribbons serving to cover the wire is wound. These bobbins are furnished with
brakes, so that the ribbons may be kept in sufficient tension while being
wound on the wire, each of these tapes or ribbons 6, 61, &c. before passing
on to the wire dips into the bath of bitumen passing between the two prongs
of a horizontal fork f, which can be raised and lowered at the will of the
operator by means of a slide made in the part D which carries it. The tape
or ribbon on rising passes above a small cylinder c of polished iron, placed
horizontally below the wire F, F, so that the said ribbon may be presented in
a position inclined to the wire, and at any suitable angle, which is easily
determined, as follows :-If a, Fig. 6, Sheet 2, be the distance the wire
advances each time it revolves on its axis and y its circumference, and if a
right-angled triangle be formed having x and y for the sides containing the
right angle,the angle formed by the hypotheneuse and the side will be
that the ribbon should make with the axis of the wire. The hypotheneuse
will be the length of each coil, and the perpendicular w will be its width.
In order that the wire may not make a kink or twist when turning on its
axis, but that, on the contrary, it may be wound well, according to the axis of
the general rotary motion, and that the winding of the ribbon i Inay be effected
with regularity, I place supports g is front of and behind the point where the
ribbon is wound, through which supports the wire to be covered passes;
they are carried by slides which permit of their position being regulated
exactly.
Independent of these guides,which act as smoothers, intended to throw off
the excess of bitumen with which the covered wire may be loaded, I arrange
one or several smoothers, the function of which is to compress and regulate
these successive coverings.
The parts which carry these various parts are arranged as indicated in the
Figures, so as to allow of their being moved from right to left, and from front
to back, and reciprocally, and even to allow of some of them, fand c, being
placed at various angles.
By means of these arrangements I can cover the wire at one operation
with as many coatings and insulating coverings as I wish. For which purpose
it is sufficient to vary the number of pullies which apply the bitumen, and o

page_text: the bobbins carrying the supply of tapes or bands, and of the
smoothers, &c. I can also vary at will the nature of the coverings and also
that of the coatings by having several different baths of coating material; I
can also in certain cases use tapes, strips, or bands of impermeable tissue and
paper, &c. instead of the tapes or bands of cloth. Among other combinations
the following is a very efficient and cheap covering :-
First, a coating of bitumen on the surface of the wire.
Secondly, a covering of cotton, ribbon, or tape which has been dipped into
the bitumen.
Thirdly, the application over this first ribbon covering the bitumen of a tape
or narrow band of gummed taffetas or fine cotton, prepared in the same way
as gummed taffetas.
Fourthly, a second covering of tape or ribbon permeated with bitumen.
Fifthly, a last covering of dry tape or ribbon, intended to absorb the excess
of bitumen, and to obviate the viscosity it would present if it remained
uncovered.
I can substitute for this last covering of dry ribbon a covering composed of
strong threads of hemp or linen, or even narrow strips of card, in order to
give greater solidity to this exterior protection. I can also substitute for this
last covering of dry ribbon a narrow band of waxed cloth which has been
well dried at a stove.
Experience has shewn me that the varnished cloth which covers the
gummed taffetas, or the materials prepared in the same manner, cannot be
attacked by the essential oils of gas tar, so much to be feared for the other
coverings, therefore I think that in certain cases it would be well to double or
even treble this covering of gummed stuff, care being taken to superpose on
each a bituminous covering in order to cement them well together.
The same apparatus serves to obtain analogous results with other insu-
lating preparations, such as preparations of india-rubber,resin, gum lac, fatty
oils, &c.
Figure 3, Sheet 2, represents another arrangement of mechanism with
which I can obtain the same results.
I first wind the wire to be covered round a pulley or a drum T, from which
I unwind it by the aid of another drum T¹. These two drums revolve on
their axes and remain in the same position; the wire F has consequently no
other motion than its advance in the direction of its length. In its passage
from one drum to the other it passes through straightening rollers P, theu
through a bath of hot bitumen I, I, or over the groove of a pulley dipping
and revolving in the bath of hot bitumen, as before described, and by this

page_text: means receiving a coating, the excess of which is wiped off by scrapers or
smoothers 7, made of copper or other elastic material, through which it passes.
The wire being thus coated, then passes through the hollow, end of the axis À
of a revolving frame, which carries three bobbins charged with tapes or
ribbons, and arranged so that in turning with the frame on which they are
mounted they deposit three helicoidal turns of the tape or ribbon around the
wire during its passage through the said revolving frame. The wire after
being covered passes through other smoothers l, which, like the frame on
which the bobbins are mounted, receive a rotary motion from any motive
power. This arrangement produces a similar result to that obtained by the
preceding mechanism.
This apparatus instead of being horizontal may be placed in a vertical
position. Instead of having a single revolving frame carrying the three
bobbins, I can employ a revolving frame for each bobbin, and multiply the
number as much as may be required. These bobbins are besides furnished
with friction brakes, in order to give sufficient tension to the ribbon. In this
arrangement, as it is not the wire that turns, but, on the contrary, the bobbins
charged with the covering ribbons or tapes, it is not possible to pass these
ribbons into a bath of bitumen at the moment of covering the wire with them,
but they may be coated previous to being wound on the bobbins.
The method of covering the wires which I have described, whether effected
by one or the other of the above two descriptions of mechanism, may be
advantageously applied to wires already covered with gutta percha or india-
rubber,and itwould have the result of completing and perfecting the insulation
and of preventing deterioration of the currents of electricity.
According to my method of covering telegraph wires, the inner coating of
gutta percha may be very thin, at the same time rendering it as continuous as
possible, and by applying one or several alternate coverings of bitumen and
impermeable tapes or bands, I not only completely obliterate the interstices
or other defects which the gutta percha may present, but also make it less
easily put out of shape, as these coverings of textile fabric hold it, and do not
allow it to be so easily displaced.
The application of my process also furnishes another means of preventing
damage being received by gutta percha coverings of wires. Gutta percha has
the defect of not uniting well with the wire and not adhering to it; it is there-
fore more liable to be cut; but if a first covering of ribbon impregnated with
bitumen, or other adhesive insulating matter, or a covering of linen, hempen,
or cotton threads perfectly cemented be applied, first on the wire by the aid of
a glutinous insulating coating, and ifa layer of gutta percha be placed over the

page_text: wire thus previously furnished with a covering susceptible of being aggluti-
nated when hot with the gutta percha, then the gutta percha, owing to the
adhesion it will contract with this first insulating covering, which cannot be
displaced, will be less easily damaged or put out of form even if pressed
upon when it softens by high temperatures of the atmosphere; having
besides its external surface held by the covering of textile fabric with
which it will be covered, it will present all desirable solidity and security.
This combination, simple as it may appear, seems to me of importance.
The wire being thus covered with insulating coverings, I can collect them
in bundles and form them into long coils of cables, submitting them to a slight
twisting by the ordinary means. For this purpose I have obtained a very good
result from the mechanism represented at Figures 4 & 5, Sheet 2. In this
mechanism I wind the covered wires on drums T, T, and place them in a
frame B, revolving round its axis A, A. From these drums the wires all
converge towards one point by means of guide rollers P, and go out through
the hollow end of the axis A of the frame, by the motion of which they are
twisted together. The twisted end of the wires collected together is held so
as to prevent it from turning, and it is wound on a large winding or drum,
which is put in motion by any motive power whatever, and exercises a
sufficient drawing force on the cable at the same time that it winds it. I can
besides, by the same means as before, cover the cable before rolling it on the
winding-on roller with coats of bitumen and impermeable coverings, which
will be another guarrantee for their insulation.
Instead of arranging the groups of wire covered thus in round cables, I
can give them when united the form of a flat cable or kind of strap, either
by attaching the covered wires on strong flat bands of textile or fibrous
matters well impregnated with bitumen, or by weaving them with strong
hempen or other threads previously prepared and impregnated with bitumen,
so as to form an open work band in the chain or warp of which the con-
ducting wires are placed; I then impregnate these kinds of bands or flat
cables with bitumen, and cover them either on one side or on both sides, if
necessary, with bands also impregnated with bitumen.
When these bundles of covered wires are to be placed underground, whether
they are in the form of round or flat cables, I either simply lay them in the
trenches, coating them at the same time with hot bitumen, or I bury them in
a long block or a sort of girder of bituminous mastic, with which I incorporate,
for greater solidity and economy, sand, gravel, or other earthy matters, taking
care that such matters are in a very dry state. For this purpose I first apply
to the bottom of the trench a thickness of bituminous mastic, and above the

page_text: round or flat cable I run a sufficient thickness of this same mastic to unite
with the first and surround the conducting cable on all sides:
For telegraphic conductors placed underground in towns and exposed to the
action of gas used for lighting purposes, which affects more or less most insu-
lating matters, and particularly bituminous matters, in a pernicious manner, I
cover the last covering of these cables, or the bituminous blocks in which the
.wires are buried, with a covering of paper or sheet of metal, which is not
easily penetrated by the gas. Paper used for this purpose should be
treated with a solution of sulphate of copper or of a silicate, then with
insoluble soap, or any other preparation best capable of resisting not only the
'action of gas, but any alteration which might result from humidity. The sheets
of metal are soldered at their junctions to render them impermeable to gas.
If the bottom and sides of the bed of bitumen are thus covered it may be
'a sufficient protection, but it is better to cover it altogether. In some cases a
covering of potters' clay, plaster, or other plastic substance may also con-
tribute to preserve the block of bitumen. This means of preservation from
the dissolving action of gas applied to the external covering of the wires is
independent of that resulting for each wire from the presence of gummed
taffetas or gummed cotton tissue, which I include, as above mentioned, in the
composition of the insulating coating of each of these wires, and which I
could also use for the exterior covering of my cables, and the bituminous
blocks in which I may enclose them.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, intended to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the insulation of the wires or conductors of electricity by the applica-
tion of insulating coatings or coverings, consisting of tapes or ribbons of tissue
of textile or thread material themselves, either previously impregnated or not
with insulating matters, applied alternately with layers of insulating matters,
as herein-before described.
Secondly, the use and application of the apparatus or combination of parts
represented at Figures 1 and 2, Sheet 1, for the purpose of covering and
insulating the wires or conductors of electric telegraphs, as herein-before
.described.
Thirdly, the use and application of the apparatus or combination of parts
represented at Figure 3, Sheet 2, for the purpose of covering and insulating the
wires or conductors of electric telegraphs, as herein-before described.
Fourthly, the combination of this particular method of covering telegraph
wires or conductors with the means heretofore adopted for their insulation, and

page_text: particularly with coverings of gutta percha or of india-rubber, either by first
covering the wire with a case of gutta percha, for example, and applying
thereon coverings of the kind herein-before described; or, on the contrary, by
first applying the covering on the wire and then applying the gutta percha or
india-rubber coating, as described.
Fifthly, the manner of congregating and forming the wires covered as
herein-before described into the form of round cables, to which cables the
same mode of covering may be applied.
Sixthly, arranging and uniting the wires covered as herein-before described
in the form of flat cables or straps, either by attaching them on to flat imper-
meable or bands by weaving them with hempen threads which may previously
be rendered impermeable to electricity, the said flat cables or straps can be
doubled or covered above and below by thicknesses of tissue, also rendered
impermeable to electricity.
Seventhly, the modes herein described of insulating and embedding a con-
gregation of wires intended to form a telegraphic conductor when embedded
underground, particularly by placing them in long blocks of bituminous
matter.
Eighthly, the means herein-before described of preserving telegraphic con-
ductors thus placed underground from the destructive effects of gases used for
lighting purposes, by surrounding them with coverings which are not attacked
by gases or the essential oils thereof.
In witness whereof, I, Felix Marie Baudouin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
F. M. BAUDOUIN. (L.S.)