IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONTAINING AND PROTECTING SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND TELEGRAPH WIRES
Year: 1879

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Thomson King at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st November 1879. A communication
from abroad by Charles Linford, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
of America.
JOHN THOMSON KING, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Patent Agent
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR CONTAINING AND PROTECTING SURFACE AND
UNDERGROUND TELEGRAPH WIRES." [A. communication from abroad by Charles
Linford, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.]
Many efforts have been made to secure suitable and practicable apparatus for
containing and protecting telegraphic wires laid on the surface or underground;
they have been however at best only partly successful.
Among the chief reasons for failure have been, 1st, the inability to secure a
perfect exclusion of moisture from the interior of the container; and, 2nd, the
inaccessability of the wires when once put down, which in many instances has
rendered it necessary to take up the whole line of containers in order to make the
most simple repairs, thus making the cost of repairing equal to that of originally
putting it down; and, 3rd, the lack of durability either of the material of which
the container is composed or with which it is coated to exclude the moisture.
The container mentioned as inaccessible are tubes of various forms in the bore of
which the wires are laid. If a break occurs it is impossible to get at it or to relay
the wire without uncoupling and taking up the whole string of pipe.
The object of the said Invention is to overcome these difficulties, and for this
end a container is employed which is practically indestructible, impervious to
moisture, and capable of being opened easily and quickly at any desired point
without removal from its bed, so that the wires are accessible at all times.
The Invention consists essentially in constructing apparatus for containing and
protecting such telegraph wires of lengths of metal, rolled, cast, or otherwise formed
with grooves or channels for containing the wires. The grooved or channelled
surface is enamelled with porcelain or with a like insulating impervious material,
or the said grooves or channels may be formed in blocks of glass, porcelain, or like
material fitting within the said bed pieces; the surface of the said containers which
are in contact with earth are tinned, japanned, or otherwise treated to prevent
rusting. Covers which fit over the said containers are also provided, and coupling
pieces are used to surround the lengths of container where they meet. The bed
pieces of the container, the covers, and the couplings are formed or constructed
with grooves or channels, into which cement or other suitable agent is run to close
all the joints and exclude moisture. The telegraph wires which are placed in the

page_text: grooves of the bed pieces are covered or coated with any suitable insulating
or protecting composition or material in the ordinary or any desired manner.
Glass, enamelled, or like pipes are fitted in openings made in the covers when it
is desired to lead the wires to the surface.
It will be perceived that my improved container is not only a perfect and almost
indestructible insulator, but that it possesses the property of perfect accessibility
for the purpose of inspecting and repairing the wires. The covers can be removed
and replaced with ease and celerity, and there is no obstacle to the complete
exposure of the wire at any desired point. It also possesses cheapness, as it can be
constructed and laid at a comparatively low cost.
This container can be used for the protection of wires laid upon the surface of
the ground. The cement used for sealing the joints is preferably such as possesses a
slight degree of elasticity so as to obviate danger of opening at the joints by the
expansion and contraction of the metal.