IMPROVED COMPOUNDS FOR COATING OR INSULATING SUBMARINE OR OTHER TELEGRAPHIC WIRES; ALSO IN RENDERING THE GUTTA PERCHA OR INDIA-RUBBER COATINGS OF TELEGRAPHIC WIRES IMPERVIOUS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Macintosh, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVED COMPOUNDS FOR
COATING OR INSULATING SUBMARINE OR OTHER TELEGRAPHIC WIRES; ALSO IN
RENDERING THE GUTTA PERCHA OR INDIA-RUBBER COATINGS OF TELEGRAPHIC
WIRES IMPERVIOUS."
Sealed the 11th October 1860, and dated the 27th June 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Macintosh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
June 1860.
I, JOHN MACINTOSH, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED
COMPOUNDS FOR COATING OR INSULATING SUBMARINE OR OTHER TELEGRAPHIC WIRE3;
ALSO IN RENDERING THE GUTTA PERCHA OR INDIA-RUBBER COATINGS OF TELEGRAPHIC
WIRES IMPERVIOUS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in mixing stearic acid, generally called stearine or
paraffine, made from vegetable or animal substances, which is well known. I
take two parts of caoutchouc or gutta percha to one part of stearine or paraf-
fine and mix the compound by grinding rollers or masticnters until the whole

page_text: becomes a hot plastic homogeneous mass, in which state telegraphic wires may
be coated by any of the known means; the above proportions varying to suit
the different qualities of gutta percha or india-rubber. In some cases I com-
bine india-rubber and gutta percha with stearine or paraffine. I also apply
the above compounds over the insulating coating or coatings of india-rubber
or gutta percha to render such coatings impervious to moisture, in order to
give longitudinal strength; and to prevent chafing I surround the insulating
material with strands or fibres saturated with the above compounds laid
longitudinally.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Macintosh in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th December 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MACINTOSH, of North Bank, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Macintosh, Her special licence that I, the said John Macintosh.
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Macintosh, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVED
COMPOUNDS FOR COATING OR INSULATING SUBMARINE OR OTHER TELEGRAPHIC WIRES;
ALSO IN RENDERING THE GUTTA PERCHA OR INDIA-RUBBER COATINGS OF TELEGRAPHIC
WIRES IMPERVIOUS," upon the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said John
Macintosh, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Macintosh, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to render gutta percha, india-rubber, or
compounds of these substances when employed for insulating telegraphic wires
impervious; also in protecting telegraphic cables from mechanical injuries.
When telegraphic conductors are insulated with gutta percha it is found that
minute pores exist in the covering. When insulating with india-rubber it is
found to absorb from 18 to 25 per cent. of water. To remely these defects I
mix gutta percha or india-rubber with paraffine or stearic acid, which is well
known from their being extensively used as a substitute for wax and sper-
maceti in the manufacture of candles. The proportions of the substances
above mentioned may be varied, but it is preferred that the composition should
consist of 75 parts by weight of gutta perch or india-rubber, or of the two
combined, to 25 parts by weight of paraffine or stearic acid, preferring the
materials to be mixed by masticating or grinding machinery, as when mixing
gutta percha or india-rubber with other materials.
Another part of my Invention consists in rendering telegraphic cables more
impervious and durable by surrounding them with yarn, fillets, or ribbons made
of cords, strands of hemp, or other fibrous materials saturated with paralline or
stearic acid in combination with or without india-rubber. The process of
saturation is performed by putting the paraffine or stearic acid into a suitable
vessel heated by steam or otherwise to about 150° Fahrenheit. By immersing
the fibrous materials the interstices are filled up, rendering the fibrous mate-
rials perfectly solid and non-contracting when immersed in water, and in
passing them through suitable orifices the superfluous liquid is taken off. A
coating of india-rubber or compounds of india-rubber suitably prepared is put
over the fibrous materials so as to render them sufficiently adhesive to be put
on the cable by grooved rollers of other suitable means. An outer coating of
india-rubber or compounds of india-rubber is put on and vulcanized or cured,
as described (in my Specification, No. 2866, A.D. 1857), which renders them
not liable to be injured by tropical heat, and may be punctured several times
in the inch without admitting water from its superior power of contraction
caused by vulcanization.
Ilaving thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I am aware that com-
positions containing resin, tar, pitch, wax, and in some cases alone or in

page_text: combination with india-rubber or gutta percha for such like purposes; but
what I claim is the insulating of telegraphic wires as herein described; and I
also claim the protecting of telegraphic cables by outer coverings, as berein
described.
In witness whereof, 1, John Macintosh, have hereunto set my hand and 5
seal, the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JOHN MACINTOSH. (L.s.)