IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF TELEGRAPHIC WIRES, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE- WITH
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, Patent Agent, of the British
and Foreign Patent Offices, 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the
Empire of France, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF TELEGRAPHIC WIRES, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH." A communication from Gustave Eugène Michel Gérard,
Manufacturer, residing at 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, in the City of Paris,
and Empire of France.
Sealed the 29th December 1868, and dated the 4th July 1863.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 4th July 1863, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, Patent Agent, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
24, Rue du Mont Thabor, Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF TELEGRAPHIC WIRES, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THERE-
WITH," a communication from Gustave Eugène Michel Gérard, Manufacturer;
a person resident at 24, Rue du Mont Thabor, in the City of Paris, and
Empire of France aforesaid, and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn declaration that it is a communication.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my band and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be performed, that is to say:-
These improvements consist in the hereafter described processes for and
means of securing the complete isolation of the wires used for electric
telegraphs, without sensibly increasing their diameter, and with the advantage
of great strength and impermeability. The wires, whether naked or already
protected by cotton, are covered with one or more coats of collodion. The
coating thus formed adheres perfectly, and prevents the loss of any portion of
the electric current, and the contact of any damp with the wire however thin
the coating may be. The collodion may be rendered more or less supple by
the addition of olaic acid, raw or boiled castor oil, or any substance which may
be mixed with it, such as common resin or grease. For wires which require
to be very thickly covered, an envelope of galvanised india-rubber is placed
over the coating of collodion. The india-rubber not being in contact with the
metal is not exposed to the rapid détérioration resulting ordinarily from such
contact. This india-rubber may be mixed with gum lac, for the purpose of
hardening it, in the proportion of from 10 to 300 parts of lac for 100 of india-
rubber. This envelope presents some analogy to gutta percha, but is much
superior, as it is not like it subject to alteration. The india-rubber envelope,
pure or mixed with gum lac, is applied either by means of the press used for
covering telegraphic wires with gutta percha, or what is preferable, by means
of two small fluted rollers, the flutes of which are worked perpendicularly to
their axes.
The wires are stretched in such a manner as to pass between the
two rollers, always exactly in the centre of each flute, and for this purpose
they are passed between combs or guides placed before and behind the said
rollers. Two bands of india-rubber passing in a heated state from the rolling
press are directed the one above and the other below the wires, thus surround-
ing and enveloping them, and their edges become united in passing between
the cylinders, receiving the form of the flutes, the corresponding angles. of
which cut at the same time the united bands of india-rubber, and consequently
not only are the two bands glued together around the wires, but in addition
are separated into distinct round threads, in the centre of which are placed
the wire.
By means of the above processes, wires may be obtained either covered with
one or more coats of collodion, so as to obtain an envelope more or less thick ;
or wires covered in the first place with a coat of collodion, and then with
cotton, simply wound on or doubled and crossed, and afterwards again covered

page_text: with one or more coats of collodion, or coated with collodion and then covered
with an envelope of india-rubber, either pure or mixed with gum lac. The
contact of the india-rubber with the wire may otherwise be prevented by
tinning its surface, but the coating of collodion is much preferable and less
expensive.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner
in which it is to be carried into effect, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details above given, and without restricting
myself to the particular modes of coating above indicated, what I claim is,-
1st. The use of collodion as an insulating and impermeable substance for the
covering or coating of wires, generally intended for conducting electricity,
whether the collodion is pure or incorporated with foreign substances, such as
oils, greases, resins, or other bodies, thus forming an adhesive compound.
2nd. And the use by means of a press, such as is used for coating wires
with gutta percha, or of fluted cylinders, as above described, of india-rubber,
pure or mixed with gum lac, applied to the wires either with or without an
intermediate coating of collodion.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
H. BONNEVILLE. (L.S.)