IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING WOODEN POSTS FROM DECAY, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO POSTS FOR SUPPORTING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Potter Burt, of Charlotte Row, Mansion
House, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROTECTING WOODEN POSTS FROM DECAY, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO
POSTS FOR SUPPORTING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES."
Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 30th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Potter Burt at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th May 1862.
I, HENRY POTTER BURT, of Charlotte Row, Mansion House, in the City
of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PROTECTING WOODEN POSTS FROM DECAY, MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE
TO POSTS FOR SUPPORTING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in protecting wooden posts or poles that are fixed in
the ground from decay by inserting the lower ends of the same into sockets or
tubes closed at the bottom, and made of cast or wrought iron, or other
suitable material, which are fixed in the ground, and are so formed that when

page_text: the pole is inserted a space or spaces exists or exist between the inner surface
of the socket and the surface of the pole. This space or these spaces I fill
with creosote or any other preservative solution or composition, which
becomes gradually absorbed by the wooden pole, thus protecting it from decay,
and is renewed from time to time. The form of the protecting socket or tube
may be variously modified to fulfil the above conditions; thus, in one arrange-
ment I form the internal surface of the same with flutings, or other suitable
projections, of a moderate height, between which the post is held; or I form
one or more projecting screw threads on the internal surface, and I introduce
the preservative solution or composition into the interstices between the
flutings, screw threads, or other projections; or I fix rings or collars with pro-
jections on the end of the post or pole, and make the sockets or tubes of such
an internal size that the aforesaid projections fit into them, leaving a space or
spaces all round between the pole and the inner surface of the socket.
either form the protecting sockets with a base plate at the bottom, or with a
screw blade, so as to be sunk into the ground without excavating the latter;
or I form them in any other suitable manner.
I
. SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Potter Burt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
POTTER BURT, of Charlotte Row, Mansion House, in the City of London,
send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Potter Burt, Her special licence that I, the said
Henry Potter Burt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Potter Burt, 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

page_text: Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING WOODEN POSTS FROM DECAY, MORE
PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE TO POSTS FOR SUPPORTING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Potter Burt, 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 per-
formed, 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 Potter Burt, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in protecting wooden posts or poles that are fixed in
the ground from decay by wholly or partially surrounding the lower end of the
same, which is sunk in the ground, with one or more receptacles containing
creosote, or other preservative solution or composition, which becomes gradually
absorbed by the wooden pole or post, and preserves it from decay, and which
is renewed from time to time as it becomes absorbed. I prefer to construct the
receptacle containing the preservative solution in the form of a socket, of
wrought or cast iron, earthenware, or other suitable material, closed at the
bottom, which surrounds the end of the post in such manner that a space or
spaces intervene between it and the surface of the post, which space or spaces
serves or serve to contain the preservative solution. In some cases, however, I
do not completely surround the end of the post with the receptacle containing
the preservative solution, but only a portion of the same, as the part of the post
which is left exposed will be sufficiently protected by the preservative solution
which it continually absorbs from the receptacle. It will be readily conceived
that the form of the receptacle for containing the preservative solution, and
also the manner in which it is fixed upon the post, are susceptible, of numerous
modifications, and the arrangements shewn on the accompanying Drawing only
serve to illustrate the general principle of my Invention.
Figure 1 is an elevation;
Figures 1, 2, and 3, shew one arrangement.
Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is a vertical section.
A is a socket of cast iron, or other suitable material, closed at the lower
extremity, the inner surface of which is formed with projections, flutings,
or corrugations a, a; B is the end of the wooden post, which on being

page_text: inserted into the socket A, is held between the projections a, a, so that open
spaces or receptacles b, b, b, are left between these projections, which recep-
tacles are filled with creosote or other preservative fluid or compound.. I
form the projections a, a, by preference, with a shoulder at the lower
extremity, as shewn, upon which the end of the post rests, thus leaving a
space c underneath the same, by means of which the receptacles b, b, inter-
communicate, and which also facilitates the absorption of the preservative fluid.
The socket A is provided by preference with a base plate or flange d at bottom,
by which the stability of the post in the ground is insured without having to
make the socket of any great depth. If requisite the upper open ends of the
receptacles b, b, may be closed with a cover, or in any other suitable
manner, so as to prevent their becoming choked with dirt or other materials.
In some cases I secure the post B in the socket A by means of a screw or
pin e, or I form a spike f at the bottom of the socket, which penetrates into the
post when it is driven in.
Instead of making the socket A circular, as shewn, with projections or
flutings inside, I sometimes construct the same of a corrugated form, both
inside and outside, as shewn in plan at Figure 4; or I make the same square,
as at Figure 5; or I construct the same in any other suitable manner, by
which, when the post is inserted, spaces or receptacles are formed between the
post and the socket.
Figure 6 shows an elevation and Figure 7 shows a longitudinal section of
another form of socket. The socket A is here made tapering, and has a screw
blade & formed upon its lower extremity for the purpose of being sunk into
the ground, in a manner well understood, without its being requisite to
excavate the ground for that purpose. This arrangement is particularly
applicable for hop poles. b, b, are the spaces between the pole or post B and
the socket A formed by the post being held between projections on the
inner surface of the socket, as before described. A screw or pin e may be
employed for securing the socket on to the post. In some cases I make the
projections on the inner surface of the socket as a screw thread. Instead of
forming projections on the inner surface of the sockets, as before described, I
sometimes fix or form projections or flutings on the surface of the post, or I
make it of a polygonal section.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I in no way limit
myself to the various arrangements herein-before described and shewn on the
accompanying Drawing; nor do I claim generally placing sockets of iron or

page_text: other material upon the ends of wooden posts that are fixed in the ground; but
what I claim is, surrounding the ends of wooden posts or poles that are fixed
in the ground, either wholly or partially with a receptacle or receptacles con-
taining creosote or other preservative solution or composition, which solution
is in contact with the pole, and becomes absorbed by the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Potter Burt, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
H. P. BURT. (L.S.)