IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO TELEGRAPHIC OR TELEPHONIC CARLES AND CONDUCTORS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Leveson Gore, of the City and State of New
York, United States of America, but now of 8, Southampton Buildings,
London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO
TELEGRAPHIC OR TELEPHONIC CARLES AND CONDUCTORS"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Leveson Gore at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 2nd November 1881.
CHARLES LEVESON GORE, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, but now of 8, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
RELATING TO TELEGRAPHIC OR TELEPHONIC CABLES AND CONDUCTORS."
My Invention relates to the insulation of telegraphic or telephonic wires or
conductors, and is designed to provide means whereby such wires or conductors
formed into bundles, masses, or cables may be effectively insulated one from another
at a much smaller cost; and whereby the separate wires may be caused to lie
considerably nearer to one another than is possible with any of the methods here-
tofore in use, thus permitting a considerable diminution in the thickness of the
bundle, mass, or cable. By this Invention I am enabled to use wire of a cheaper
kind than is ordinarily employed in the construction of underground lines.
According to my Invention I provide each wire with a number of rings or
otherwise formed pieces of insulating material, that is to say, inaterial which is a
Don-conductor of electricity, these rings or pieces being secured upon the wires at
suitable intervals apart in such a manner that they will keep an adjacent wire at
a sufficient distance to ensure insulation.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I provide small insulators which
may be rings or pieces of glass, earthenware, or other suitable nonconducting
material, each piece having a central aperture large enough to permit the said
pieces to be readily slipped or threaded upon the wire. These insulators may be
in the form of balls, rings, discs, or of any other desirable shape, and are of such
dimensions externally, that when upon a wire they will prevent an adjacent wire

page_text: from touching the wire upon which they are secured. These insulators are placed
at intervals along the wire, and are secured thereon by wedges or by any other
suitable means. They must be placed at such intervals apart as will prevent any
danger of the wire sagging or bending by its own weight between any two of the
same. This distance will depend somewhat upon the circumstances of cach
particular case. Each wire to form the bundle or cable is provided in like manner
with these insulators, and when the said wires are to be bundled or massed
together or made into a cable, the separate wires are so placed relatively to one
another, that each insulator upon one wire comes between two insulators on the
adjacent wire or wires. This feature of my Invention is of great importanco for
the reason that I thus bring all the wires closer together than is possible when each
wire is coated or covered continuously with insulating material. When each wire
is coated throughout its entire length with insulating material, it is obvious that
the wires forming the bundle, mass, or cable, are all separated from each other by
two thicknesses of insulating material, and thus the bundle or cable is made
unnecessarily thick. But by my method of insulation and arrangement of wires,
it will be seen that only one thickness of insulating material is interposed between
any two of the wires.
My said Invention is chiefly applicable to wires which are to be placed together
in tubes or other receptacles or coverings in or upon the ground, but it may also be
employed with considerable advantage wherever series of wires are to be carried
through the walls of houses or the like, and in fact in all cases whero wires are to
be arranged in bundles, cables, or masses.
-In-the-tube,-box, or other receptacle_containing the wires separated or insulated
according to my Invention, I may, if necessary, place or pour within it some
additional insulating material in a pulverized or liquid or semi-liquid condition to
fill up the spaces between the wires and insulators, to better effect insulation and
prevent induction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles Leveson Gore in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st May 1882.
CHARLES LEVESON GORE, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, but now of 8, Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND
RELATING TO TELEGRAPHIC OR TELEPHONIC CABLES AND CONDUCTORS."
My Invention relates to the insulation of telegraphic or telephonic wires or
conductors, and is designed to provide means whereby such wires or conductors
formed into bundles, masses, or cables may be effectively insulated one from
another at a much smaller cost than heretofore practicable, and whereby a greater
number of wires may be arranged in a given space than is possible when the
methods of insulation heretofore devised are employed, and a considerable dimi-
nution in the thickness of the bundle, mass, or cable of wires thus ensured. By
this Invention moreover I am enabled to use wire which is cheaper than that
ordinarily employed in the construction of underground lines.
My Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which
Figure 1 is a plan or top view of a series of wires with my improved insulating
rings or pieces applied thereto, and
Figure 2 represents various forms of the said insulating pieces which may be
employed in carrying the said Invention into practice.
Figure 3 represents my improved method of securing the insulators or rings in
the desired position upon a wire by flattening portions of the latter, as bereinafter
described.
Figure 4 is a transverse section illustrating the arrangement of a series of wires
insulated according to my Invention within enclosing tubes or housings.
Figure 5 is a transverse section of a portion of the outer tube or casing shewn in
Figure 4, with the two parts of the same separated to elucidate the form of joint
for preventing the ingress of moisture, as hereinafter described.
Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I arrange upon each wire a a series
of small insulators b, which may consist of rings or pieces of glass, earthenware, or
other suitable non-conducting or insulating material, each piece having a central
aperture large enough to perinit the said pieces to be readily slipped or threaded
upon the wire. Or the said pieces may in some cases be so constructed that they
may be compressed in any suitable manner upon the wire or conductor. These
insulators may be in the form of rings, as shewn in Figures 1 and 4 of the
Drawing, or of any of the forins illustrated in Figure 2, or of any other desirable
shape, and of such dimensions externally that when they are secured upon a wire
they will prevent an adjacent wire from touching the wire upon which they are
The said
secured, and thus ensure perfect insulation between the said wires.
insulators b are placed at intervals along the wire, and may be secured thereon by
compression as above described, or by forcing a small wedge in between the said
insulators and the wire. Or I may secure the said insulators in position upon a
wire in the manner shewn in Figure 3, that is to say, after the insulators or
rings b have been properly spaced or arranged at the desired distance apart, I
flatten the wire a with a hammer or other suitable means on each side of the
insulator or ring, as shewn at a*. By thus flattening the wire I increase the
width of the same on each side of the insulator or ring as shewn, and thereby
prevent the latter from slipping or becoming displaced. The said insulators must
be placed at such intervals apart that they will prevent any danger of the portion

page_text: of the wire between any two of the same sagging or bending by its own weight.
This distance will depend somewhat upon the thickness of the wires and the
material of which they are formed, and upon other circumstances of each particular
case. Each wire to be used in the formation of the bundle or cable is provided in
a similar manner with the said insulators, and when the said wires are bundled or
massed together so as to form the cable, the separate wires are so placed relatively
to one another that each insulator upon one wire occupies a position between two
of the insulators on the adjacent wire or wires, as clearly shewn in Figure 1 of the
Drawing. This feature of my Invention is of great importance, for the reason that
I am enabled thereby to bring all of the wires closer together than is possible
when each wire is coated or covered continuously with insulating material, as when
each wire is coated throughout its entire length with insulating material it is
obvious that the wires forming the bundle, mass, or cable, are all separated from
each other by two thicknesses of insulating material, and thus the bundle or cable
is rendered unnecessarily thick. But by my improved method of insulation and
arrangement of the wires only one thickness of insulating material is interposed
between any two of the said wires, as will be readily understood by reference to
Figures 1 and 4 of the Drawing.
My Invention is chiefly applicable to wires which are to be placed in tubes or
other receptacles or coverings in or upon the ground, but it may also be employed
with considerable advantage wherever a series of wires are to be carried through
the walls of houses or the like, and in fact in all cases where wires are to be
arranged in bundles, cables, or masses, or where it may be necessary to bring them
close together.
In Figure 4 I have shewn a series of wires provided with the insulators &
enclosed within a tube c, which in turn is enclosed within an outer tube or
sheathing d. The inner tube c is preferably constructed of porcelain or earthen-
ware, and formed in two parts as shewn, to permit the ready insertion of the wires;
the outer tube or sheathing is formed of metal (preferably cast iron), and in two
parts d', d, secured together by the bolts and nuts e passing through lugs or
flanges d³ on the said parts d', d. To prevent the ingress of moisture between the
parts d', d, of the tube d, I form in one of the said parts a recess f, in which I
place a strip g of india-rubber or other suitable flexible material, as shewn in
Figure 5. The other part of the said tube is provided with a rib or projection d*,
which when the parts of the tube are secured together by the bolts and nuts <,
compresses the strip g, and thus forms a watertight joint between the two halves
of the same. If however any moisture should enter the tube d, I provide for the
escape of the same by forming the said tube with a channel h, along which the
water may flow to a suitably arranged outlet orifice.
In the tube, box, or other receptacle containing the wires separated or insulated as
above described, I may if necessary place or pour some additional insulating material,
or filling in a pulverized or liquid or semi-liquid condition, to fill up the spaces
between the wires and insulators, and enhance the insulation and prevent induction ;
for instance, I may introduce into the tube, housing, or receptacle containing the
said wires liquid glass, which when it solidifies will form a solid mass, and thus
ensure a good insulation. Moreover sand may be used with advantage for filling
the said tube when means are provided for preventing the entry of water into the
said tube or housing.
Having thus fully described my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. Providing a wire with a series of rings, discs, or pieces of insulating or
non-conducting material, substantially as above set forth, and for the purpose
specified.
Second. Securing the said rings, discs, or pieces of insulating or non-conducting
material upon the wire, substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.
Third. A telegraphic or telephonic cable or conductor consisting of a series of
wires provided with rings, discs, or pieces of insulating or non-conducting material,

page_text: and so arranged that each ring, disc, or piece on one wire occupies a position
between two of the rings, discs, or pieces on the adjacent wire or wires, substan-
tially as above set forth, and for the purposes specified.
Fourth. The combination with the wires provided with insulators as above
described, and arranged within a tube or receptacle of filling material, substantially
as above set forth, and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Leveson Gore, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two.
CHARLES LEVESON GORE. (L.S.)