AN IMPROVED MATERIAL FOR INSULATING THE WIRES OF ELECTRIC TELE- GRAPHS, FOR LINING ARTICLES OF DRESS, FOR COVERING CLOTHING, CASING OR LINING STEAM BOILERS, PIPES, CYLINDERS, AND OTHER VESSELS, CONDUITS OR CHAMBERS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES TO WHICH THE SAID MATERIAL IS OR MAY BE APPLICABLE AS A NON-CONDUCTOR FOR PREVENTING OR DIMI- NISHING THE TRANSMISSION OF HEAT, OR OF THE ELECTRIC FLUID
Year: 1859

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Job Hamer, of Longsight, in the Parish of Man-
chester, and County of Lancaster, Mercantile Clerk, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MATERIAL FOR INSULATING THE WIRES OF ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAPHS, FOR LINING ARTICLES OF DRESS, FOR COVERING CLOTHING, CASING OR
LINING STEAM BOILERS, PIPES, CYLINDERS, AND OTHER VESSELS, CONDUITS OR
CHAMBERS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES TO WHICH THE SAID MATERIAL
IS OR MAY BE APPLICABLE AS A NON-CONDUCTOR FOR PREVENTING OR DIMI-
NISHING THE TRANSMISSION OF HEAT, OR OF THE ELECTRIC FLUID."
aled the 27th April 1860, and dated the 9th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Job Hamer, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th November 1859.
I, JOB HAMER, of Longsight, in the Parish of Manchester, and County of
Lancaster, Mercantile Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven
tion of "AN IMPROVED MATERIAL FOR INSULATING THE WIRES OF ELECTRIC TELE-
GRAPHS, FOR LINING ARTICLES OF DRESS, FOR COVERING CLOTHING, CASING OR
LINING STEAM BOILERS, PIPES, CYLINDERS, AND OTHER VESSELS, CONDUITS, OR
CHAMBERS, AND FOR OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES TO WHICH THE SAID MATERIAL IS
OR MAY BE APPLICABLE AS A NON-CONDUCTOR FOR PREVENTING OR DIMINISHING THE
TRANSMISSION OF HEAT, OR OF THE ELECTRIC FLUID," to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists in adapting and applying waste silk or silk

page_text: waste shreds, or fragments of woven silk, or old silken fabrics, noils or
combings of silk, or of waste silk, or any kind of waste or refuse silk, as a
non-conducting material for preventing or lessening the transmission of heat
or of the electric fluid.
The preparatory process or processes by which the said material is to be
reduced into the form most convenient for the particular purpose in view are
necessarily discretionary, and will vary according to the initial state of the
material and the object to which it is to be applied. For lining garments
waste of a suitable kind, in the state of loose and untwisted fibre, may be
carded and formed into sheets of wadding by methods similar to those pur-
sued in the manufacture of cotton wadding.
For insulating telegraph wires the material in the state of fibre may be
formed into a roving by the processes of drawing and roving as commonly
practised. For covering or coating steam boilers or pipes, waste in a fibrous
state, or reduced thereto, may be formed into sheets or fleeces by the common
and well known process of "filling" upon a cylinder furnished with heckle
teeth, or by any other efficient method or machine. Or, if ravelled and un-
combed waste or shreds of silken tissue be used, they may be treated by
spreading and interlacing or uniting them into sheets of convenient size, with
or by any suitable binding material.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Job Hamer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOB
HAMER, of Longsight, in the Parish of Manchester, and County of Lancaster,
Mercantile Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Job Hamer, Her special licence that I, the said Job Hamer,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Job Hamer, 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention of "AN
IMPROVED MATERIAL FOR INSULATING THE WIRES OF ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, FOR
LINING ARTICLES OF DRESS, FOR COVERING CLOTHING, CASING OR LINING STEAM
BOILERS, PIPES, CYLINDERS, AND OTHER VESSELS, CONDUITS, OR CHAMBERS, AND FOR
OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES TO WHICH THE SAID MATERIAL IS OR MAY BE APPLICABLE
AS A NON-CONDUCTOR FOR PREVENTING OR DIMINISHING THE TRANSMISSION OF HEAT
OR OF THE ELECTRIC FLUID," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Job Hamer, my executors or adminstrators, 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 Job Hamer, 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
following statement :-
My said Invention consists in the use, application, or adaptation of any
suitable kinds of waste or refuse silk for preventing or impeding the trans-
mission of the electric fluid or of heat in certain cases, a purpose for which its
non-conducting properties render it peculiarly applicable, although its utility
in that capacity does not appear hitherto to have been taken advantage of.
The particular. uses or applications of this material which constitute. my
Invention are, firstly, the insulation of the line wires of electric or electro-
magnetic telegraphs; secondly, the lining of various articles of wearing
apparel, such as cloaks, mantles, tippets, muffs, certain articles of ladies
underclothing, such as petticoats and other things of the like kind, in which it
is desirable that the qualities of warmth and lightness should be united; and,
thirdly, the covering, casing, or enveloping the external and otherwise exposed
surfaces of steam boilers, steam pipes, engine cylinders, and valve chests, and
other vessels, conduits, or chambers of the same kind to prevent wasteful
.radiation of heat therefrom.
:
Waste silk or silk waste is of various qualities and denominations. Different
processes or operations in the manufacture of silk produce waste of widely
differing character and value. From the more valuable descriptions of gum
waste is separated by proper treatment a useful fibre fit for spinning, in the
recovery of which fibre secondary and less valuable kinds of waste are again
produced. Many kinds of soft or. discharged. waste are also made to yield
useful material for spinning, but generally speaking its recovery and conversion

page_text: into yarn are attended with so much expense or difficulty that the marketable
value of such wastes is comparatively low. All descriptions of waste silk or silk
waste, whether in the gum, discharged, or dyed, whether raw or in part manu-
factured, or spun, whether twisted or untwisted; all noils or combings of silk
or silk waste; all winders' and weavers' waste, and even shreds or fragments
of silken tissue or old silken fabrics, are available for one or other of the
purposes-of-my-Invention. It is, however, to be observed that practically the
selection is limited by the price at which each sort can be obtained, the
costliness of the more valuable kinds precluding them from being applied to
purposes for which an indispensable qualification is cheapness. I therefore
desire it to be understood that the subsequent directions or statements are
intended to apply more especially to such kinds of waste or refuse silk of low
quality, the price or value of which points them out as likely to be adopted for
the contemplated purposes.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, I shall proceed to
explain, according to the best of my knowledge, the manner of performing or
carrying into effect the same, stating the preparatory process or processes,
which, by preference, I adopt in the treatment of each material specified or
suggested as best adapted to each or any of the several uses embraced by the
Invention. I wish it, however, to be understood that I by no means restrict
myself to the particular methods or processes set forth, or to any of them, nor
to the use of any of the particular kinds of waste pointed out as being in my
opinion most suitable respectively to the different purposes treated of, inasmuch
as the process or processes must depend in great measure upon the initial
state of the material selected, and the selection of the material may be
influenced by considerations of price and the facility of obtaining it. One or
other of the methods pointed out will be found adequate to the treatment of
any kind of waste purchasable in British markets. but the application of
each must necessarily be left in some degree to the discretion and judgment
of the operator.
The first useful purpose to which my Invention has reference is the insula-
tion and protection of the line wires of electric or electro-magnetic telegraphs.
For this use several kinds of waste may be made available, but silk noils and
winders' or weavers' waste are those which I consider most suitable. If silk
noils or any similar short fibred waste is selected it is to be carded, slubbed,
and rove in the ordinary manner of treating short stapled fibre, extra twist
being put into the roving by augmenting the difference between the speeds of
the front rollers and flyers of the roving frame as is done in making candle
wick; if preferred the silk may be spun into a coarse yarn by any of the

page_text: usual modes.
In either case all the processes and machinery used being of
ordinary character in general use, and well known, do not require to be
described. The class of material however, which I prefer and recommend for
this purpose is that obtained from weavers' or winders' refuse or other twisted
and dyed waste which I break up by subjecting it to the process and machinery
described in a certain Specification filed in the Great Seal Patent Office in
pursuance of the condition in that behalf expressed in Her Majesty's Letters
Patent bearing date the Twenty-second day of December in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven (numbered 3145), and
granted to George Bridge and Job Hamer for an Invention of "A New
Process or Manufacture for Converting Woven Silken Fabrics or Silk Waste
into a Fibrous Material, fit for being Spun into Yarn or thread, or for being
mixed with Silk, Woollen, Cotton, or any other material to be Spun into Yarn
or Thread, and of Improvements in Machinery to be employed in such Process
or Manufacture," to which Specification I refer the reader for full information
and detailed particulars on the subject of the said process and machinery.
The slivers so obtained I rove on machinery adapted to the treatment of long
stapled fibre, such as flax, worsted or silk waste. Machinery adapted to the
latter material is well known and in extensive use, and can be obtained from
the makers thereof well suited to the present purpose. In roving I modify the
speeds of the front rollers and flyers of the roving frame, so as to put in extra
twist as before; otherwise I rove the material in the usual manner, and then
spin it into coarse yarn upon throstles on the "long ratch" principle.
Having, by any of the preceding methods, reduced the material selected
into the form of a coarse yarn or hard twisted roving, I apply the same by
winding it round the wire in close successive coils in the manner ordinarily
practised in covering wire with thread. This operation is effected by the aid
of machinery similar to that used in the wire covering process before mentioned,
but of suitably larger dimensions. The process and machinery are both well
known, and in common use, and therefore description of them would be
superfluous. One, two, or more layers of the silken yarn or rove may be wound
on at discretion, and I prefer to wind each alternate layer in the contrary
direction to that of the layer next preceding or succeeding it.
Another mode by which the material may be applied to insulate the wire is
by enclosing or enveloping the latter with strands of one of the yarns or rovings
before described, in the manner of braiding or plaiting, according to the
method and by the machinery described in the Specification inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery, in pursuance of a condition contained in
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, One thousand eight

page_text: hundred and fifty (Number 12,991), and granted to William Brown, of
Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Electrician, and William Williams, the younger, of
Saint Denis, in the County of Cornwall, Gentleman, for their Invention of
"Improvements in Electric and Magnetic Apparatus for Indicating and Com-
municating Intelligence," to which Specification I refer for full particulars of
the said method or process, and for a detailed description of the machinery
employed, which is very similar to ordinary braiding machinery and may be
adapted to work either by hand or power.
In the cases of subaqueous and subterranean telegraph ropes or eables the
combinations or collections of previously insulated wires, so called, may be
protected by an external covering or coating of one of the kinds before
described applied in either of the manners set forth, and the strands of yarn or
roving used may be of stouter dimensions in proportion to the thickness of the
cable or rope of wires.
The second purpose of utility to which my Invention has reference is the
lining of articles of wearing apparel, such as cloaks, mantles, tippets, muffs,
ladies petticoats, and other vestments of like character, in which the union of
warmth with lightness is desirable. The kinds of waste which I consider most
applicable for this purpose are the noils of gum waste, obtained in combing
that material and weavers' and winders' waste, or any waste produced by the
spinning, throwing, or manufacturing of silk, which can be purchased at a
suitable price. For convenient application to the present purpose the material
requires to be reduced to the state of a fleece or sheet-like cotton wadding.
To convert silk noils into this form I treat them by the well-known process of
carding upon an ordinary silk carding engine, but instead of finally taking off
the material from the doffer in the form of a sliver, I receive it upon a lap
drum under a pressing roller, allowing it to accumulate upon the drum until
the thickness of the layer is deemed sufficient. This mode of receiving the
material is well known and commonly practised in carding silk waste. Having
in this manner obtained a continuous fleece of silk fibre I gum it on one side,
cut it across, and remove it from the drum, when it is ready for use. In lieu
of this process any other method applicable to the manufacture of cotton
wadding may be substituted.
In the case of weavers' and winders' waste a different mode of procedure
must be resorted to, waste of this description being in a state so entangled, and
its filaments so long, twisted, and strong as to be intractable by ordinary
carding. I therefore break up, straighten, and disentangle them by the
process and machinery described in the before-mentioned Specification of
George Bridge and Job Hamer, under Letters Patent dated the Twenty-

page_text: second day of December, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven
(numbered 3145), but instead of passing the material through calendar
rollers, and receiving it in the form of a sliver, I take it off upon a lap drum
in the same way as the carded noils. The fleece obtained in either case is
applied between the garment and the lining material in the same way as cotton
or wool wadding or eider down is usually applied.
The third purpose to which my Invention is applicable is the covering or
casing of steam boilers, steam pipes, engine cylinders, valve chests, and other
vessels, conduits, or chambers of like nature, from the surfaces of which it is
important that the radiation of heat should be prevented. The practice;
now almost general, of using steam of very high temperature, renders some
means of checking the attendant waste of heat by radiation almost indis-
pensable. The choice of waste for this purpose is necessarily limited by
considerations of expense to the very lowest qualities, and the great variety of
condition in which such waste is found renders it impossible to give particular
directions for the application of every available kind. Any means, how-
ever, by which a sufficient coat or covering of the material can be attached
to and retained in contact or close contiguity with the heat radiating surface
will answer the purpose. The kinds of waste which I consider best adapted
to the purpose are the inferior qualities of weavers' and winders' waste, the
cheapest kinds of silk noils, and disintegrated or partially disintegrated silken
fabric. The mode of applying it is by breaking it up, straightening, and
forming it into sheets or fleeces upon a lap drum, in the manner before
directed for preparing this kind of waste for lining garments by means of the
process and machinery patented, as herein-before mentioned, by George Bridge
and Job Hamer, and described in the Specification filed under their said
Patent. The fleeces or sheets will of course require to be thicker than for
lining dresses. They may be applied and secured to the boilers, pipes,
cylinders, or other vessels, in precisely the same manner as hair felt is usually
applied, which is well known, and commonly practised, or they may be used
as a lining for the wood jackets or casings of boilers, pipes, or cylinders, where
such are applied. Weavers' and winders' waste may also be reduced into
sheets or fleeces by cutting it into short lengths, and carding it according to
the method in which such waste is most commonly prepared for being spun,
doffing it upon a lap drum, so as to form a thick lap as before. Waste in a
ravelled and uncombed state and shreds of silken tisue may also be made
available for this purpose by cutting them into pieces, and spreading them
upon the boiler or other vessel, retaining them by means of cement and canvass
or by wood casing, as is usually done in the case of hair felt. Ravelled waste

page_text: or fragments of silk tissue may also be formed into sheets by spreading them
upon thin coarse cloth, and interlacing the substances with stitches of some
cheap binding material, such as hempen or cotton yarn. One very convenient
and useful application of waste silk to the purpose now under notice is to
apply it in fleeces or sheets, as before directed, in combination with hair felt,
placing the silk between the felt and the boiler, in which situation it will
protect the felt from being charred or burned.
I would here remark that I am aware that a certain description of silk
waste has heretofore been interwoven with cotton warps into a fabric known as
"silk drugget," and that this drugget has been applied between hair felt and
the surfaces of boilers, for the purpose of protecting the felt from being burned
or charred. I therefore desire it to be understood that I do not include, nor
intend to include, under the designations of" waste silk or "silk waste," as
used in the present instrument, nor amongst the materials or substances to be
used under those denominations for the purposes of my aforesaid Invention, any
"silk drugget," nor any woven fabric composed partly of "waste silk" or
"silk waste," nor any "waste silk" or "silk waste" which may be contained
in or form part of any "silk drugget" or similar fabric.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and one or more modes
by which the same may be performed or carried into effect for each of the
useful purposes to which the said Invention has reference, I would observe,
that I do not claim as included in the Invention and sole privilege secured to
me by the Letters Patent firstly herein before recited any of the said described
modes of application, nor any preparatory process or processes, machine or
machines whatsoever, nor any method or methods of operating upon or
applying the waste silk or silk waste to any of the uses herein-before specified;
neither do I restrict or confine myself to the application of the said material
to the said uses, or any of them, in or by any particular mode or means, so
long as the effect and result of such application is to derive advantage from the
non-conducting properties of the said material for any of the purposes or in any
of the ways herein-hefore set forth; I therefore further declare and desire it to
be understood that what I do claim as of my Invention, and the subject of the
sole privilege granted to me, as herein-before mentioned, is,―
Firstly, the art or method of insulating the line wires of electric or electro-
magnetic telegraphs by the application thereto of a covering of silk waste or
waste silk of any suitable kind.
Secondly, the art or method of increasing the warmth of articles of wearing
apparel by lining them with any suitable kind of silk waste or waste silk.
And, thirdly, the art or method of preventing the loss of heat by radiation

page_text: from steam boilers, steam pipes, engine cylinders, valve chests, and other like
vessels, conduits, or chambers, by covering or enveloping the same with any
available kind of silk waste, waste silk, or shreds, or fragments of silken tissue,
or with combinations of any of the said materials, and hair felt, or any other
non-conducting substance (always excepting "silk drugget" or woven fabric
partly composed of waste silk or silk waste in the manner of the said "silk
drugget," as herein-before mentioued).
In witness whereof, I, the said Job Hamer, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JOB HAMER. (L.B.)