A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF MANU- FACTURING WIRE FOR ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND FOR SUCH OTHER USES AS THE SAME IS OR MAY BE APPLICABLE TO
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wilkes, of Birmingham, in the County' of
Warwick, Manufacturer, and Thomas Wilkes, of Birmingham aforesaid,
Manufacturer, and Gilbert Wilkes, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufac-
turer, for the Invention of "A NEW AND IMPROVED METHOD OF MANU-
FACTURING WIRE FOR ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS, AND FOR SUCH OTHER USES AS
THE SAME IS OR MAY BE APPLICABLE
TO."
Sealed the 1st November 1860, and dated the 25th August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wilkes, Thomas
Wilkes, and Gilbert Wilkes at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 25th August 1860..
We, JOHN WILKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufac-
turer, and THOMAS WILKES, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufacturer, and
GILBERT WILKES, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW, OR, IMPROVED METHOD OF
MANUFACTURING WIRE FOR ELECTRIC: TELEGRAPHS AND. FOR SUCH OTHER USES
AS THE SAME IS OR MAY BE APPLICABLE TO," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the method herein-after explained, of manufac-
turing wire from copper or other suitable metal or alloy for electric telegraphs
and for other purposes... Wire made according to our Invention is stronger
than ordinary wire' and less liable to injuries which affect its conducting power..
We carry our Invention into. effect in the following, manner :-We take a.

page_text: hollow cylinder or tube of copper or other metal or alloy of which the wire is
to be made, and we fill the said tube with three, four, or more wires of the
same metal or alloy; we then roll or draw down the said tube and wires until
the mass has acquired the requisite diameter. The wires with which we fill
the tube may either be cylindrical in figure or be wedge-shaped, so as the better
to fill up the tube. The figure of the wires, is, however, of little importance,
as in the rolling or drawing process the said wires and the tube become con-
solidated into a compact mass. Wire made according to our Invention is not
so liable to loss of conducting power when used for electric telegraphs as ordi-
nary wire, for a defect in or injury to one of the wires does not extend across
the compound wire, and little loss of conducting power results from such defect
or injury.
In ordinary wire a defect or injury may extend across the wire and result
in a total loss of conducting nower
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Wilkes, Thomas Wilkes, and Gilbert Wilkes in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
WILKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, and
THOMAS WILKES, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufacturer, and "GILBERT
WILKES, of Birmingham aforesaid, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Wilkes, Thomas Wilkes, and Gilbert Wilkes, Her special licence
that we, the said. John Wilkes, Thomas Wilkes, and Gilbert Wilkes, our
executors, administrators and assigns, or such others as we, the said John
Wilkes, Thomas Wilkes, and Gilbert Wilkes, our 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF MANUFACTURING WIRE FOR
ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS AND FOR SUCH OTHER USES AS THE SAME IS OR MAY BE APPLI-
CABLE TO," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Wilkes

page_text: Thomas Wilkes, and Gilbert Wilkes, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our' or their hands and seals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the sanie 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 Thomas Wilkes, on behalf of myself and
the said John Wilkes and Gilbert Wilkes, 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:-
Our Invention consists of the method herein-after described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, of manufacturing wire from copper or other
suitable metal or alloy of metal for electric telegraphs and for such other uses
as the same is or may be applicable to. Wire made according to our Inven- '
tion is stronger than ordinary wire and less liable to injuries which affect its'
conducting power; which latter quality makes it well suited for use for electric
telegraphs. We carry our Invention into effect in the following manner:-.
We take a hollow cylinder or tube of copper or other metal or alloy of which
the wire is to be made, and we fill the said 'cylinder or tube with three, four,'
or other number of bars or wires of the same metal or alloy.
Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing represent in transverse and longitudinal
sections respectively, a hollow cylinder or tube filled with bars or wires accord-'
ing to our Invention: The hollow cylinder or tube is marked a, and the bars'
or wires are marked b. One of the said -bars or wires is represented separately
in side and end elevations in Figure 3, and four of the said bars, Figure 3, are
shewn in end elevation in Figure 4. Each of the said bars 6 has the furni
represented, that is to say, is so shaped as to form a sector or quadrant of a
circle, and when the said bars are put together in the manner represented. in.
the Drawing, they form a solid cylinder. After the hollow cylinder or tube a
has been filled with the bars b, we roll and draw down the said tube and bars
until the mass has acquired, the requisite diameter, and make the compound
billet or rod into wire in the same way as that by which billets or rods are
rolled and drawn by the ordinary method to the proper diameter.
Figures 5 and 6 represent in end elevation and side elevation respectively
the tube a and bars b, Figures 1 and 2, elongated and reduced in diameter
by rolling or drawing the said tube and bars, being consolidated into a com-
pact mass. The position of the bars 6 in the said compound tube or rod,

page_text: Figures 5 and 6 is indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5. The bars or wires.
with which we fill the tube, or, cylinder may either be cylindrical in figure or
be wedged-shaped, or sectors of a circle, so as. the better to fill up the tube.
The figure of the wires or bars is, however, of little importance, as in the rolling
and drawing processes the said bars or wires and tube become consolidated.
into a compact cylindrical mass..
Wire made according to our Invention is not so liable to loss of conduct-
ing power when used for electric telegraphs as. ordinary wire, for a defect in
or injury to one of the wires, does not extend across the compound wire, and.
little loss of conducting power results from such defect or injury.
In wire manufactured by the ordinary method, a defect or injury.in the billet
or rod from which it is made may extend across the wire, and result in a total
loss of conducting power..
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
carrying-the-same-into.effect, we wish it to be understood that we do not limit
ourselves to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of our Invention; but we claim as our
Invention the new or improved method. of manufacturing wire for electric tele-
graphs, and for such other uses as the same is or may be applicable to, hercin-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
manufacturing wire from billets or rods made by filling or nearly filling or
inserting in a tube, three, four, or other number of bars or wires, the said
tube and bars or wires being consolidated into a compact mass by rolling or
drawing, so as to form a compound billet or rod; the said compound billet
or rod being afterwards reduced into wire in the ordinary manner.
--In witness whereof, I, the, said. Thomas. Wilkes, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Twentieth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
! Clerk to George Shaw.
THOMAS WILKES. (L.B.)