IMPROVEMENTS IN. ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS
Year: 1852

page_text: KEID AND BR
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
REID, of University Street, Electric Telegraph Engineer, and THOMAS
WATKINS BENJAMIN BRETT, of Hanover Square, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
William Reid and Thomas Watkins Benjamin Brett, our exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
we, the said William Reid and Thomas Watkins Benjamin Brett, our exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Reid and Thomas
Watkins Benjamin Brett, our exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the said William Reid and
Thomas Watkins Benjamin Brett, or one of us, should cause a particular
description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of one of us, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's

page_text: High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Reid and Thomas Watkins Benjamin Brett, do hereby declare that
the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our Invention relates to the preservation and protection from injury of the
wires used for transmitting electricity for electro-telegraphic purposes.
Our improvements in the means for effecting this object consist, first, in
enclosing the wires (which have previously received a coating or coatings of
insulating material or materials) in pipes of wrought or cast iron, wood, slate,
or earthenware, of the peculiar forms and constructions herein-after fully de-
scribed; the principal characteristic of such pipes being that they are com-
posed of a trough-like portion or body, and a cap or cover which fits upon the
same.
Secondly, our improvements consist in enclosing the wires, or those portions
of the wires which are intended to traverse a river or other body of water, in
what we propose to call a vertebral chain, consisting of a series of short
hollow portions of iron, united together in a manner somewhat similar to that
of the several portions of the vertebra or back bone, and so as to leave a
free passage throughout for the reception of the insulated wire or wires, while
at the same time the whole is flexible, and the several portions are capable of
turning freely.
We will now proceed to describe the Drawings accompanying this
Specification.
Figure 1 is an end view, and Figure 2 a plan view, of an iron pipe con-
structed according to the first part of our Invention. It consists of a body or
trough a, over which a cover 6 is fitted. In using this pipe for receiving
insulated wires, beneath the surface of the earth, a trench is formed, on the
bottom of which the body or trough a is laid, the wires, properly insulated by
any of the well-known means, are then laid therein, the cover is placed over
the mouth of the body or trough, and the trench is then filled with
earth. The adjacent lengths of pipe may, if preferred, be connected to-
gether by the clamp or stirrup-shaped fastening, shewn in side elevation at
Figure 3, and in plan view at Figure 3 xx, in applying which it is first
passed over the end of the length of pipe which has just been laid down and

page_text: covered, and after the next length of pipe has been laid down with one end in
contact with the end of the first-named length of pipe, the clamp is slidden
partly over it, and fixed by driving in a wedge between the bottom of the pipes
and the part c of the clamp. Clamps may be also placed between those at
the joints, if the length of the pieces of pipe or other circumstances render the
same advisable. In general however, the clamps will be only used at those
places where there are joint boxes, as herein-after described.
Figures 1, 2, and 3* exhibit one method of uniting the lengths of pipe
together by means of socket joints.
Figure 4 is an end view, and Figure 5 a plan view, of another iron pipe, the
body of which is similar to that shewn at a, Figures 1 and 2, but a channel or
recess is formed in the upper edge thereof at each side, and a flat lid or cover
is dropped into the bed thus made for it.
Figures 6 and 7 represent end and plan views of a wooden pipe or trough,
the body of which is produced by taking a piece of wood of a rectangular
figure in its transverse section, and making two saw cuts therein lengthwise,
in such manner as to remove a portion of the wood and leave a V-shaped
groove to receive the wires. From the portion thus removed a slice is cut
off to form the lid, shewn at d, in Figure 6. The dotted lines in Figure 6
indicate the form in which a pipe with a V-shaped groove might be advan
tageously made in cast iron.
Figure 8 is a section of another cast-iron pipe formed with a V-shaped
groove therein; Fig. 9 is a plan of the same.
Figure 10, a transverse section of a pipe, the body of which is made with a
channel or recess in the upper edge at each side, but such recesses, in place of
being formed along the inner side of such upper edge, as in Figures 4 and 5,
are on the outside.
Figure 11 is a plan view, and Figure 12 a transverse section, of another form
of iron pipe, 'the' body portion of which is cast with two flanges e, e, with small
holes ex therein at each end of the length of pipe or at the middle of such
length, and the lid f is of such size as to extend to the edge of such flanges,
and is cast with short pins on the under side thereof to fit into the holes ;
the principal object in employing these steady pins being to retain the
lid in its place whilst the earth is being rammed into the trench upon the
pipe.
Figure 13 is a plan view, Figure 14 a longitudinal section, and Figure 15
a transverse section, of a pipe, which is nearly cylindrical, having the upper
side open, and formed with raised edges at each side of the opening, over which
& cap or cover' ġ is fitted.

page_text: Figure 16 is a transverse section of a cylindrical pipe having an opening in
it from end to end to receive a long cover or plug h. The pipe may be made
of iron by rolling in the manner of making gas pipes, but without welding the
edges together, or it may be made of earthenware. In the former case the
cover or plug h may be made of wood or iron, and in the latter it should be
made of wood. These pipes may be connected by means of sockets or fer-
rules, or in any other convenient manner.
Figure 17 represents the section of a curved portion of pipe to be used for
carrying the line of wires round corners, &c.; Figure 18 is a section of a
short curved pipe, which may be used for altering the line of direction of the
wires; Figure 19 is an elevation thereof; and Figure 20 is a plan view of
the cover for the same; Figure 21 exhibits a cross piece to be used for lines
of wire converging to each other and meeting at one point; Figure 22 is a
T-piece to be employed when branch wires are required to leave the main line
for a station or instrument.
Figure 23 is a longitudinal section of the joint box, where the alternate
lengths of wire terminate and are united to the succeeding lengths of wire S;
Figure 24 is a transverse section; Figure 25 is a partial plan view, shewing
the mode of fastening on the cover; and Figure 26 is a plan view of a joint
box, with its cover and fastening keys complete.
We propose to use an iron box, with a lid hinged thereto, as a testing box
for the wires, and to let such box into the roadway or pavement, and flush
with the surface thereof, so that by unlocking or unfastening the lid the wires
can be readily got at,
Figure 27 is an external elevation, and Figure 28 a longitudinal section, of
two links of a vertebral chain constructed according to the second part of our
Invention. Each of the links is cast in two halves, with holes i, i, therein to
receive pins or rivets, whereby the two parts are connected together when the
two halves of the neck j of the next link have been inserted in the hollows or
recesses k, k, of such first-named halves. By this mode of connection the
several links composing the whole vertebral chain will be securely fastened
together, and form a strong continuous flexible casing for the insulated wires
which are inserted in the interior of the chain.
Although in the above description we have stated that certain pipes were
made of iron and wood, we reserve to ourselves the right to make pipes for the
purposes of our Invention of wrought or cast iron, wood, slate, or earthen-
ware, as circumstances may render most advisable, the principal feature of the
first part of our Invention being the construction of pipes or troughs with lids
which do not necessarily require any fastening, so that the trouble and expense

page_text: of bolting or otherwise affixing them together is thereby saved, and this plan
also admits of the introduction of the wires into the pipes or troughs without
the liability to straining and injury to which they are exposed when being
introduced or drawn into the ordinary perfect or whole circular pipes, as hereto-
fore practised.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Reid, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.