IMPROVEMENTS IN SUBMARINE AND OTHER CABLES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRICITY
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Highton, M.A., of Putney, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUBMARINE AND
OTHER CABLES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRICITY."
Sealed the 1st November 1872, and dated the 27th August 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Highton at.
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th August 1872.
I, HENRY HIGHTON, M.A., of Putney, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SUBMARINE AND OTHER CABLES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRICITY," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in submarine and
other cables for the conveyance of electricity. For this purpose I apply
to the insulated conducting wire over the insulatory coating of gutta
percha, india-rubber, or similar material, a coating of boiled linseed oil
or other drying oil, mixed with a pigment, by preference red lead.

page_text: When this coating is thoroughly set I apply the outer strands of the
cable around the conductor in the usual manner.
The coating of boiled oil and red lead fills any minute pores in the
insulator, and greatly improves the insulation, and in many cases a
single thin covering of gutta percha thus coated will suffice to give a
practically perfect and durable insulation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Highton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th February 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HIGHTON, M.A., of Putney, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Highton, Her special license that
I, the said Henry Highton, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Highton, my executors, admini-
strators, 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 SUBMARINE AND
OTHER CABLES FOR THE CONVEYANCE OF ELECTRICITY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Highton, 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 Henry Highton, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same is:

page_text: be performed, 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 submarine and
other cables for the conveyance of electricity. For this purpose I apply
to the insulated conducting wire over the insulatory coating of gutta.
percha, india-rubber, or similar material, a coating of boiled linseed oil,
or other drying oil, mixed with red lead. Or in place of a drying oil I
have found that vegetable tar which contains oils suitable for the
purpose may be employed, and litharge. (another oxide of lead) may be
used instead of red lead.
It is advantageous to mix together tar and oil, and to use a diluent,
such as naptha or turpentine, to keep the composition sufficiently fluid,
and to enable it to combine more thoroughly with the surface of the
insulator. The consistence should be that of ordinary oil paint. The
exact proportions of the ingredients is not important and may be con-
veniently varied to suit the convenience of application.
It will be a sufficient guide in practice to bear in mind that the tar
gives hardness to the compound and the oil elasticity, but that they
may be used either of them, alone or combined, in any proportions. I
find that naptha or turpentine, to the extent of from 15 to 30 per cent.
by measure, acts as a sufficient diluent of the tar. The red lead or
litharge should be used in sufficient quantity to coat fairly the surface
of the insulator. Other oxidising pigments, such as oxide of iron or
manganese, have partially the same effect as the oxide of lead, but are
not nearly so good. The gutta percha, or india-rubber coated conductor
is passed through the composition, which is used cold. Or the coated
conductor may be passed through tar, or a mixture of tar and oil, and
then red lead may be dusted or brushed over it, and so the composition .
may be produced upon the surface of the insulated conductor.
After the composition is applied, I apply, if thought necessary, first
another coating of gutta percha or india-rubber, and then the outer
strands of the cable around the conductor in the usual manner, or the
outer strands may be applied immediately over the composition.
The composition fills any minute pores in the insulator, and greatly
improves the insulation, and in many cases a single thin covering of
gutta percha thus coated will suffice to give a practically perfect and

page_text: before applying the insulator. .
What I claim is the use in the construction of submarine and other
cables for the conveyance of electricity of compositions substantially as
described to fill any minute pores in the insulator, or to improve the
insulation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Highton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
HENRY HIGHTON. (L.s.)