IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN LAYING DOWN SUBMARINE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Stirling Newall, of Gateshead, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN LAYING DOWN
SUBMARINE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES."
Sealed the 3rd August 1855, and dated the 14th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Stirling Newall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th May 1855.
I, ROBERT STIRLING NEWALL, of Gateshead, do hereby declare the nature
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN LAYING DOWN
SUBMARINE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of apparatus combined and acting in the following
manner-The cable or rope containing the insulated wire or wires is passed
round a cone, or, if it is a long cable, round several cones, so that the cable in
being drawn off the coil is prevented from kinking by means of the cone, and
there is a cylinder on the outside which prevents the coil from shifting in its
place. The cable passes over a pulley above the cone and on to a break
wheel, round which it takes several turns to obtain sufficient holding, and from
the break wheel it passes over the stern of the vessel on board which the
cable or rope is placed; or I use two or more break wheels, the one behind
the other; the cable or rope comes up from the hold of the vessel and round
the first break wheel several times, then on to the second break wheel. round
which it also takes several turns. When the break is applied to the first
wheel it increases the friction on the second, and so on. according to the

page_text: number of break wheels used; or I use two break wheels, coupled together
either by spur gear or cranks and connecting rods; the cable in such case
passes round only a part of the circumference of each. There are grooves in
the wheels, which guide the cable or rope from one to the other, and prevent
its getting foul; or a guide is used to push the cable from one side of the
wheel to the other, so as always to keep one part from riding over another.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Stirling Newall in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
STIRLING NEWALL, of Gateshead, 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-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Robert Stirling Newall, Her special licence that I, the said Robert
Stirling Newall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Robert Stirling Newall, 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 APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN LAYING DOWN SUBMARINE ELECTRIC
TELEGRAPH WIRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Stirling Newall, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Robert Stirling Newall, 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 thereof (that is to say):
-
This Invention consists of apparatus combined and acting in the following
manner The cable or rope containing the insulating wire or wires is passed
round a cone, or, if it is a long cable, round several cones, so that the cable in

page_text: being drawn off the coil is prevented from kinking by means of the cone, and
there is a cylinder on the outside which prevents the coil from shifting in its
place. The cable passes over a pulley above the cone and on to a break wheel,
round which it takes several turns to obtain sufficient holding, and from the
break wheel it passes over the stern of the vessel on board which the cable or
rope is placed; or I use two or more break wheels, the one behind the other;
the cable or rope comes up from the hold of the vessel and round the first
break wheel several times, then on to the second break wheel, round which it
also takes several turns. When the break is applied to the first wheel it
increases the friction on the second, and so on, according to the number of
break wheels used; or I use two break wheels, coupled together either by
spur gear or cranks and connecting rods; the cable in such cases passes round
only a part of the circumference of each. There are grooves in the wheels,
which guide the cable or rope from one to the other, and prevent its getting
foul; or a guide is used to push the cable from one side of the wheel to the
other, so as always to keep one part from riding over another. The greatest
difficulty in laying down submarine telegraph wires or cables hitherto has
been the limit to speed in paying them out, arising from the necessity of the
leading off part of the coil being kept clear of the others, by a great number
of men handling it to prevent its getting into kinks or becoming entangled
one part with another. This is remedied by coiling the wire or cable round a
cone (or several cones if required), so that the wire in being drawn off the coil
is prevented from kinking by means of the cone. The apparatus I employ is
shewn in the accompanying Drawings, which represent a section and plan.
A, B, C, D, is the cone; it is formed of wood, or it may be of iron, so as to
present an even surface on the outside, so that the wire in passing round it
may not be caught by any projection. This cone is firmly fastened to the
bottom of the vessel, and reaches at least as high as the top of the coil.
Around the cone is formed a cylinder or sories of uprights m, strongly
fastened to the bottom and deck, so as to prevent the coil of wire or cable
which is coiled around the cone from shifting in its place. A strong iron ring
or hoop is fastened outside the supports to brace them together at n. Over
the cone is placed a pulley, one side of it being in a line with the axis of
the cone.
At a convenient distance between the cone and the stern of the vessel is
placed either one or two break wheels, depending on the weight of wire or
cable hanging over the stern, and the power of the break wheel (which must
be sufficient to prevent the cable from running out when the ship or vessel is
passing over the greatest depth of water), so that by easing the break the wire

page_text: may be paid out at the same speed, or nearly so, as the vessel is passing over
the ground. I prefer the diameter of the break wheel to be about eight or
nine feet, and arranged in a framework, as shewn in the Drawing. The
cable is carefully coiled round the cone in horizontal layers, beginning from
the outside next the cylinder and coiling towards the cone.
When the space
is filled up, the bight of the rope is taken to the outside of the coil at b, and
another layer is coiled, and so on, until the whole length is coiled round
the cone.
The use of these
When the wire or cable is to be laid down, I place over the cone an apex
or top, which is conoidal, as shewn in the Drawing, or conical, and around this
I suspend several rings of iron or other metal by means of cords, so as to
admit of adjustment at various heights over the cone, as at c.
rings is to prevent the bight of the rope from flying out when going at a
rapid speed, and the combination of these parts of the apparatus prevents the
wire or cable from running into kinks. The two rings nearest the coil are
lowered, so as to be about six inches and a foot respectively above the coil as
it is being paid out.
When the wire or cable is to be paid out, the end is led up through the
rings over the pulley and round the break wheel; or if two break wheels are
used, it is led round the first one several times to obtain adhesion, then round
the second and over the stern of the vessel to the shore, where it is made fast.
The vessel then goes ahead, and the wire is drawn from the coil, sufficient
friction being applied by the handle of the break wheel or wheels to keep the
wire or cable tight.
Having thus described the nature of the apparatus I employ in laying
down submarine electric wires, what I claim as my Invention is,-
First, coiling the wire or cable round a cone.
Second, the supports placed cylindrically outside the coil round the cone.
Third, the use of rings in combination with the cone, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Stirling Newall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
CHARLES LIDdell.
R. S. NEWALL. (18.)