IMPROVEMENTS IN COVERING WIRES AND OTHER METAL CONDUCTORS FOR TELEGRAPHIC PURPOSES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Chatterton, of 7, Devonshire Street, Islington,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COVERING WIRES AND OTHER METAL CONDUCTORS FOR TELEGRAPHIC
PURPOSES."
Sealed the 4th November 1859, and dated the 14th May 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Chatterton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
May 1859.
I, JOHN CHATTERTON, of 7, Devonshire Street, Islington, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for " IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COVERING WIRES AND OTHER METAL CONDUCTORS FOR TELEGRAPHIC
PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in covering wires and other
metal conductors for telegraphic purposes, which improvements consist in
means of affording protection to insulated wires during the process of their
being made into cables or ropes, and afterwards when being transported and
submerged in the sea, and also when being laid in the earth.
In carrying out this Invention, I apply over the insulating coating or
coatings of gutta percha, or compounds thereof, an elastic ribbon or fillet
of india-rubber, or a compound thereof, or a fabric prepared with india-
rubber, preferring vulcanized india-rubber; the ribbon or fillet is wound
spirally around the insulated conductor, and it is preferred that this shall
be done in such manner that the edge of each succeeding layer shall
overlap the edge of the preceding one, and over such elastic spiral coating
of the previously insulated wires or conductors, the external wires or

page_text: strands of wires, or the external yarns or strands of yarns, or the external
strands of wire and hemp, or other fibrous material combined, are applied,
in order to produce a cable or rope. Before putting on the ribbon or
fillet of elastic material, I some cause the insulated wire or wires to pass
through a vessel of insulating or adhesive compound, and thus unite the
insulated wires and the spiral coating firmly together; or in lieu of an insu-
lating compound I use wood tar, which is a well-known preservative of gutta
percha. When two or more insulated wires are used to form a multiple cable,
I subject them to the same protecting process. In some instances after the
elastic spiral coating has been applied to the insulated wire or wires, I pass it
or them through a vessel containing either an adhesive compound or any of
the known solvents of india-rubber (if the india-rubber employed be not
vulcanized), by which the edges of the elastic coating become united; and,
further, I sometimes pass it through the ordinary machine, which puts on a
coating of gutta percha or compounds thereof. In some cases, in place of or
in conjunction with the spiral bind above described, I apply a fillet of
vulcanized or other india-rubber longitudinally around the insulated wires, and
cement and overlap the two edges of such fillet.
The principal object of my Invention is to interpose a more elastic substance
between the insulating material and the external wires or other strengthening
materials, by which any blow, or pressure, or action on the external surface of
a cable or rope will be prevented passing to the insulating coating of gutta
percha, or compounds thereof, and afford a much better protection to the
insulated wire or wires than the tarred yarn now generally used for that
purpose; and the elastic material I propose to employ being non-absorbent, the
specific gravity of the cable will not be altered during immersion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Chatterton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
CHATTERTON, of 7, Devonshire Street, Islington, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said John Chatterton, Her special licence that I, the said John Chatterton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Chatterton, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COVERING WIRES AND OTHER METAL CONDUCTORS FOR TELEGRAPHIC PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Chatterton,
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 John Chatterton, 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, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in covering wires and other
metal conductors for telegraphic purposes, which improvements consist in
means of affording protection to insulated wires during the process of their
being made into cables or ropes, and afterwards when being transported and
submerged in the sea, and also when being laid in the earth.
In carrying out this Invention, I apply over the insulating coating or
coatings of gutta percha, or compounds thereof, an elastic ribbon or fillet of
india-rubber, or a compound thereof, or a fabric prepared with india-rubber,
preferring vulcanized india-rubber; the ribbon or fillet is wound spirally
around the insulated conductor, and it is preferred that this should be done in
such manner that the edge of each succeeding layer shall overlap the edge of
the preceding one, and over such elastic spiral coating of the previously
insulated wires or conductors, the external wires or strands of wires, or the
external yarns or strands of yarns, or the external strands of wire and hemp,
or other fibrous material combined, are applied, in order to produce a cable or
rope. I would state that the wires or yarns, or strands, are applied exterior of
the elastic interposed coating in any of the ordinary manners at present
practised. Before putting on the ribbon or fillet of elastic material, I some-
times cause the insulated wire or wires to pass through a vessel of insulating or
adhesive compound, and thus unite the insulated wires and the spiral coating

page_text: firmly together. When using such an adhesive matter, I prefer to employ a
compound of gutta percha, wood tar, and rosin, such as has heretofore been
employed between the wires and the gutta percha coating, and as is described
in the Specification of a Patent granted to Willoughby Smith, dated the
Ninth day of August 1858; or in lieu of an insulating compound, I use wood
tar, which is a well-known preservative of gutta percha. When two or more
insulated wires are used to form a multiple cable, I subject them to the same
protecting process. In some instances, after the elastic spiral coating has been
applied to the insulated wire or wires, I pass it or them through a vessel con-
taining either an adhesive compound or any of the known solvents of india-
rubber (if the india-rubber employed be not vulcanized), by which the edges
of the elastic coating become united, and, further, I sometimes pass it through
the ordinary machine, which puts on a coating of gutta percha or compounds
thereof. In some cases, in place of or in conjunction with the spiral band
above described, I apply a fillet of vulcanized or other india-rubber longi-
tudinally around the insulated wires, and cement and overlap the two edges of
such fillet; or in place thereof, I, by an ordinary covering machine, apply over
the gutta percha insulating coating, a compound of gutta percha and india-
rubber, which on the one hand will admit of its being used by a covering
machine, and on the other hand retain such a degree of elasticity as will
accomplish the end in view, and I have found that a compound, consisting
of two parts of india-rubber and one of gutta percha fully answers the
purpose.
The principal object of my Invention is to interpose a more elastic substance
between the insulating material and the external wires or other strengthening
materials, by which any blow or pressure or action on the external surface of a
cable or rope will be prevented passing to the insulating coating of gutta percha
or compounds thereof, and afford a much better protection to the insulated
wire or wires than the tarred yarn now generally used for that purpose, and
the elastic material I propose to employ being non-absorbent, the specific
gravity of the cable will not be altered during immersion.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Chatterton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
JOHN CHATTERTON
JOHN CHATTERTON
(ra)