IMPROVE- MENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC CABLES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Walton, of the British Grove Works,
Chiswick, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC CABLES."
Sealed the 14th June 1864, and dated the 23rd December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick, Walton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd December 1863.
I, FREDERICK WALTON, of the British Grove Works, Chiswick, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in telegraphic cables. In
order to insulate the conducting wire of the cable, the insulating material is
formed by forcing it through dies into cords or strings; the dies are arranged in
a circle, the wire or conductor being in the centre of the circle, and it is caused
to move forwards at the same speed as that at which the cords or strings of
insulating material is formed. These cords or strings are as they issue from
the dies conducted inwards and laid on to the wire or conductor around which
they form a complete cylinder, the dies being of such a shape as to cause them
[Price 8d.]

page_text: to do so. The insulator is consolidated around the conductor by pressing
rollers. The insulating material which I prefer is oxidized oil, either alone or
mixed with other materials. Over the insulated wire or conductor I apply
strips or tapes cut from a fabric coated with oxidized oil mixed with ground
silica or other similar powdered insulating material and hardened by heat.
These strips or tapes, rendered plastic by heat, are laid longitudinally on the
insulated wire or conductor, which they completely enclose and surround; the
edge of one tape overlapping the edge of the next, they adhere together so as
to form a complete tube, which when cold is to a considerable extent rigid.
In this mannera cable core is produced containing one conductor, or if desired
several insulated wires or conductors may be enclosed in a semi-rigid tube
produced as above explained. Around the telegraphic core I proceed to apply
protecting wires or rods.
In constructing telegraphic cables it is now common to apply around the
core external protecting wires, circular in section, spirally around the cable
core, in order to protect it from injury, but these wires are found occasionally
to get displaced, and they then press unduly on the core on one side, tending
to press out the insulator from around the wire and so destroy the insulation.
Now according to my Invention I employ protecting wires or rods of metal
hollowed out on two opposite sides and conveniently flat on the other sides;
the wires or rods are applied spirally, as heretofore, and so that one of the flat
sides comes in contact with the core and between the wires, there is at the same
time laid in a yarn saturated with tar or composition. The wires or rods as
they are laid around the core compress the yarns between them, and the com-
pressed yarns then form as it were keys between the wires or rods which
prevent them moving inwards independently the one of the other. The side
of the wire or rod which comes in contact with the core is conveniently made
somewhat narrower than the outer side. A small wire may if desired be laid in
the hollow between the protecting wires or rods together with the yarn, butit
is advisable that the protecting wires or rods should be kept out of contact the
one with the other by a compressible material, otherwise the cable will be too
rigid. The cable may be served round externally with yarn or wire, and over
this I apply a coating of oxidized oil mixed with ground silica and poisonous
materials to resist the attacks of marine creatures. A mixture of oxidized
oil with poisonous materials may also be advantageously applied in other ways
to prevent the penetration of marine creatures to the wire or conductor.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Walton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
WALTON, of the British Grove Works, Chiswick, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Frederick Walton, Her special licence that I, the
said Frederick Walton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Frederick Walton, 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 the Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Frederick Walton, 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 Frederick Walton, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in telegraphic cables. In
order to insulate the conducting wire of the cable, the insulating material is
formed by forcing it through dies into cords or strings, the dies are arranged
in a circle, the wire or conductor being in the centre of the circle, and it is
caused to move forwards at the same speed as that at which the cords or
strings of insulating material are formed. I employ to produce these strips

page_text: apparatus such as is commonly employed in covering telegraph wires with gutta
percha, and consisting of two cylinders working alternately. The insulating
material in a hot and plastic state is placed in the cylinders, and plungers,
with which the cylinders are furnished, being forced forward into the
cylinders by hydraulic or other power, cause the composition to issue through
a die.
The die is constructed in the manner shown at Figure 1 of the annexed
Drawings, with a central passage just sufficiently large to let the wire or con-
ductor pass freely and around it; other passages are arranged radially to form
cords or strings of insulating material. These cords or strings are as they
issue from the die conducted inwards and laid on to the wire or conductor,
around which they form a complete cylinder, the orifices of the die being of
such a shape as to cause them to do so; the insulator is consolidated around
the conductor by pressing rollers. A frame containing these rollers is set a
short distance in advance of the die, and the rollers are set around in a
circle at angles the one to the other, as is shown at Figure 2, so that they
form a central eye, through which the conductor and strings or cords of
insulating material pass, and the latter, which are still hot, plastic, and adhesive,
are compressed around the former, and are at the same time united into one
piece. The conductor, covered with insulating material, then passes on and
is cooled and hardened by immersion in a trough of water, it is then wound
around a roller, which is driven at such a velocity as to draw it forward at
a speed equal to that at which the cords or strings of insulating material are
formed by the dic. The insulating material which I prefer is oxidized oil,
either alone or mixed with other materials.
The following I find a very suitable composition:-

page_text: tube, which when cold is to a considerable extent rigid. I prefer to employ
strong linen tapes and to coat them on both sides by means of rollers or by a
gauge spreading machine with the following composition :-
Oxidized oil
Kaurie gum
-
Ground glass or ground silica
Sugar of lead or oxide of zinc
Coal naptha
6 parts.
6
"
-
-
24
"
-
1
,,
-
12
"
-
In place of employing tapes a width of fabric may be coated and afterwards
cut into strips. After spreading the tapes or strips the naptha should be
evaporated out of the composition, and the tapes or strips submitted to a heat
of from 120° to 180° Fahrenheit until they harden completely on cooling.
The tapes or strips thus produced are wound upon rollers, and when
required for use they are drawn off and conducted through a chamber con-
taining steam coils or plates so as to heat them strongly, and to render them
soft and adhesive, theyare then laid longitudinally on the insulated conductor
and they are consolidated into one piece with it by passing the whole through
rollers similar to those shown at Figure 2, which squeeze the tapes or strips
tightly down on to the insulated conductor.
I generally employ from 6 to 9 tapes or strips around the insulated
conductor, they are arranged regularly around it and made to lap at their
edges. In this manner a cable core is produced containing one conductor, or
if desired several insulated wires or conductors maybe enclosed in a semi-rigid
tube produced as above explained. If several insulated conductors are to be
enclosed in one cable core, they should be laid together and the interstices
filled with composition so as to make of them one solid core. Before applying
the covered tapes or strips around the telegraphic core, I proceed to apply
protecting wires or rods. It is now common to apply protecting wires,
circular in section, spirally around the cable core, in order to protect it from
injury, but these wires are found occasionally to get displaced and they then
press unduly on the core on one side, tending to press out the insulator from
around the wire, and so destroy the insulation. Now according to my Invention
Ie mploy protecting wires or rods of metal hollowed out on two opposite sides
and conveniently flat on the other sides, the wires or rods are applied spirally,
as heretofore, and so that one of the flat sides comes in contact with the core,
and between the wires there is at the same time laid in a yarn saturated with
tar or composition. The wires or rods as they are laid around the core

page_text: compress the yarns between them and the compressed yarns, then form as it
were keys, between the wires or rods which prevent them moving inwards
independently the one of the other. The side of the wire or rod which comes
in contact with the core is conveniently made somewhat narrower than the
outerside. A small wire may, if desired, be laid in the hollow between the
protecting wires or rods together with the yarn, but it is advisable that the
protecting wires or rods should be kept out of contact the one with the other
by a compressible material, otherwise the cable will be too rigid.
Figure 3 showsin section, and about three times the natural size,a protecting
wire or rod, such as I employ, and Figure 4 shows on about the same scale a
section of the completed cable. The protecting wires or rods are applied to
the core by a laying machine,as isat present practised, and they, together with
the yarns or cords to separate them, are all passed through a guide plate,such
as is shown at Figure 5 just before they come uponthe core to ensure each being
properly placed. Afterwards the cable passes on through other rollers, such
as are shown at Figure 2. All the parts are thus firmly compressed together,
and almost immediately the cable escapes from the nip of the rollers it should
be served around with strands of hemp or with wire. The hempen yarns or
cords I introduce between the protecting wires or rods, I saturate with water-
proof and insulating materials, sayl lbs. oxidized oil and 3lbs.resin dissolved
in naptha. The saturation may be conveniently effected in a cylinder by
exhausting the air admitting the solution, and then employing pressure (say
60lbs. to the inch). The yarns or cords are afterwards dried. Over the
protecting wires and the serving I apply a coating of oxidized oil mixed with
ground silica or similar material toresist the attacks of marinecreatures, say,―

page_text: First, the method of applying insulating compositions of oxidized oil or other
material to the conducting wires or rods, as herein described.
Second, the enclosing the insulated conductor or conductors in a semi-rigid
tube composed of a fabric having oxidized oil composition spread upon it,
the fabric being then applied to the insulated conductor or conductors, as
herein-before described.
Third, the method of forming and applying the protecting metal wires
or rods of telegraphic cables, as herein described.
Fourth, the mixing ground silica or ground glass with oxidized oil or other
insulating material to prevent the penetration of boring animals, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Walton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
FRED. WALTON. (L.S.)