IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PIPES OR CONDUITS FOR CONTAINING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS OR WIRES."
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th December 1881.
A com-
munication from abroad by Clément Labye and Leon de Locht-Labye both of
Paris in the Republic of France.
"
JOHN HENRY Johnson of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman. IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH PIPES OR CONDUITS
FOR CONTAINING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS OR WIRES." A communication from
abroad by Clément Labye and Leon de Locht-Labye both of Paris in the Republic
of France.
This Invention relates to pipes or conduits for containing electrical conductors
or wires and it consists of an improved method of arranging and enclosing the
said conductors or wires in a conduit or chamber constructed with a removeable
cover as hereinafter described. This conduit is first placed in position in the
ground after which the wires are arranged in its interior in layers being imbedded
in asphalte or other suitable insulating material are further protected from injury
by a cover which is subsequently attached to the conduit.
In carrying out this Invention the body of the conduit is divided transversely
into sections composed of troughs or boxes of cast iron, wrought iron or other
suitable material these sections may be of any convenient length and are connected
together end to end the conduit may be rectangular or circular in transverse
section at its lower part and is constructed to receive a cover of the same
materials.
The sides of the trough shaped boxes or sections are thickened at the extremities
and are provided at one extremity with a rectangular groove and at the opposite
extremity with a tongue.
In laying down the conduit the tongue on one section is inserted in the groove
in the adjacent box or section. The tongue is rounded and slightly reduced in
thickness at its edge and somewhat shorter than the depth of the corresponding
groove in order to allow room for a small quantity of tar, putty gutta percha or
the like for the purpose of making a water tight joint.

page_text: This
The joints are consolidated by an iron stirrup the legs of which are slightly
inclined inwards at the extremities after the manner of a tuning fork.
stirrup is driven on with force so as to cause it to accommodate itself to an
angular shoulder or dovetail formed by the enlargement or thickening of the ends
of the boxes.
When two or more boxes or sections have been placed in position the cover may
be put on. This cover is likewise made in pieces or sections of any convenient
length and which are capable of being fitted together as hereinafter described.
The lateral edges of the cover are each provided with two longitudinal tongues or
projections on the underside forming between them a longitudinal groove or
channel into which the upper edges of the box or trough which are rounded and
slightly reduced in thickness are fitted tar putty or other suitable packing being
interposed in order to make a tight joint.
In order to attach the cover securely to the box or trough a key is employed
being in the form of a wedge and acting on one side upon a pendant claw
projecting from the cover and on the other side upon studs or projections on the
side of the box. If required a padlock or a locking screw may be provided on the
end of the key.
The cover is constructed in the same manner as the trough in sections of any
convenient length cemented together by means of overlapping edges provided with
grooves and tongues. The tongues are rounded at the edge the bottoms of the
grooves being rectangular and a small space is left for the reception of impermeable
packing as in the case of the other joints herein before described.
The cover may be strengthened_by_the_addition_of_webs_or_ribs-on-its-upper-
side. The details of construction of the sections of the conduit are susceptible of
numerous modifications.
According to one modification for example in lieu of the pendant claw herein-
before described two pendant arms provided with slots are employed passing on
each side of a projection on the side of the box and a key or wedge is driven
through the slots and under this projection so as to draw the cover down forcibly.
The improved conduit constructed and arranged as herein before described in
short lengths or sections is capable of accommodating itself regularly to irregu-
larities of the ground and every facility is afforded for laying and arranging the
wires as the operation of laying down and fitting together the boxes or sections is
perfectly independent of the operations of laying the wires and putting on the
cover.
Any description of electrical conductors or wires may be employed such as wires
coated with gutta percha or india rubber tarred cotton or other materials. These
wires may be laid together in horizontal beds or layers the interstices being filled
up with sea sand pounded glass or with a mixture of asphalte resin or tar with the
substances.
Each horizontal layer of wires may be covered with plates of glass or with the
mixture herein before described. Naked wires may also be employed being main-
tained at the required distance apart by being einbedded in a thin covering of
asphalte or other insulating material.
At intervals regulated by the probable demand the conduit is provided with a
hollow box in the side a short distance below the edge of the cover for the passage
of a wire.
This boss is provided with an internal screw thread for the reception of a
binding screw or other suitable device for making the requisite connections.
The cover may be connected to the trough and the sections of the trough may be
connected together by any suitable description of joint. For example in lieu of
the keys or wedges herein before described the cover may be secured by bolts
passed at suitable intervals through lugs or flanges projecting from the side of the
box each bolt being caused to engage in a corresponding prolongation or projection
on the edge of the cover.

page_text: The sections of the 'conduit may be connected together by means of bolts, by
dispensing with the thickened part at the ends herein before described and
substituting therefor a flange projecting at right angles to the side. These flanges
are screwed together by means of suitable nuts and bolts. A strip of elastic
impermeable material being interposed between the adjacent flanges in order to
make a tight joint.