IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF INSULATING AND COVERING WIRE
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles West, 15, Mornington Place, Camberwell
New Road, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF
INSULATING AND COVERING WIRE,"
Sealed the 11th February 1859, and dated the 18th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles West at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1858.
I, CHARLES WEST, 15, Mornington Place, Camberwell New Road, London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MODE OF INSULATING AND COVERING WIRE," to be as follows:-
For many years I have used india-rubber as a means of insulation. The
submarine cable which I laid experimentally across Portsmouth harbour
upwards of twelve years ago was formed of this material. Subsequently
gutta percha has been introduced, but I use the india-rubber in preference.
It is less impure than gutta percha, and does not become softened at the same
low temperature, and is altogether less affected by heat. From this reason,
however, it cannot be drawn on the wire like gutta percha, but must be wound
[Price 8d.]

page_text: spirally round it by machinery, consequently the tubing of india-rubber so
formed is not solid, and in many instances has allowed the water to permeate
between the interstices formed by the several layers of india-rubber, thus
injuring or destroying the insulation. To remedy this and to make a perfect
solid tube of india-rubber impermeable to water, I fix immediately under the
reel from which the india-rubber is wound on the wire another small reel
covered with flannel or some spongy substance, which I saturate with mineral
ether or other solvent of india-rubber, in passing over which from its own reel
to the wire the india-rubber is saturated with the solvent, which causes it to
adhere to the india-rubber previously delivered, and thus becomes a solid tube.
This is novel, and is part of the Invention I now desire to patent.
I also adopt another process either seperatoly or in conjunction with the
foregoing. fter the wire is covered with the requisite number of coatings of
india-rubber, I wind it on a grooved drum, and in this state immerse it in a
boiling solution of bisulphate of potassa and sulphate of alumina or of chloride
of sodium, or muriate of soda, or sea, or other hot water, in which I boil it for
a short time, by which means the tubing becomes solidified. This also is
novel, and forms part of my Patent.
For the outside covering of the wire or wires, when insulated either with
india-rubber or gutta percha, I adopt the same plan of plaiting with hemp or
other fibrous material as I used in the rope across Portsmouth harbour, but
my improvement is previously to apply a thin solution composed of metallic
carbonates, or sulphates, or oxides mixed with some of the fixed oils either in
conjunction with a volatile oil or alone, or I use a solution of what is known
as Peacock & Buchan's composition for ships' bottoms, & which has been
patented by thoso gentlemen, & which is now & has been for some years
extensively used by the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Ship Company. I also
apply over all a solution of shellac or other gum. By these means, which are
novel & form part of my Patent, I preserve the material which composes my
exterior covering from decomposition or injury, from the action of the water,
which otherwise would speedily rot, but which by this application will be
preserved for many years.
The foregoing several processes are novel, for which, & their application,
I now desire to take out Letters Patent.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles West in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WEST, of No. 15, Mornington Place, Camberwell New Road, in the County
of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her hairs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Charles West, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
West, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles West, my 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 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MODE OF INSULATING AND COVERING WIRES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Charles West, my exccutors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same 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 1, the said Charles West, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say :-
"For many years. I have used india-rubber as a means of insulating wires or
conductors of electricity. The submarine cable (containing a conducting wire)
which I laid experimentally across Portsmouth harbour upwards of twelve
years ago had the wire covered with this material. Gutta percha has been
since introduced and used as an insulating material, but I prefer to use india-
rubber. It is less impure than gutta percha, it does not soften at the same
low temperature, and is altogether less affected by heat. Wires or conductors
cannot, however, be coated with india-rubber in the same manner as they may
be covered with gutta percha. In order to obtain an effective and permanent

page_text: covering of a wire or other conductor with india-rubber, I have found that the
india-rubber must be woundspirally round the wire or conductor by machinery,
and the tube or covering of india-rubber thus formed upon the wire or
conductor is notsolid, in consequence of thefolds of india-rubbernoteffectually
adhering together, and in many instances it has been found that the water
permeated between the interstices betweenthe several layers or folds of india-
rubber thus injuring or destroying the insulation. To remedy this defect and
to make a perfect solid tube or covering of india-rubber upon a wire or other
conductor of electricity impermeable to water, Icause the folds of india-rubber
to adhere together, as herein-after described. I proceed in the first place to
cover a wire or other conductor with flat strips or ribbons of india-rubber,
which I wind spirally upon it by any of the well known machinery used for
covering wires; and I wind the strips or ribbons upon the wire or conductor
in such manner that each circle or round of india-rubber strip covers or laps
over about one-half of the previous round or circle of india-rubber, so as to
ensure a good lap joint and effective covering to the wire or conductor to be
insulated. I fix immediately under the reel, from which the india-rubber is
wound upon the wire or conductor by the machine, a small roller, the outside
or peripheryof which is covered with flannel or some spongy fibrous substance.
I cause the fibrous material upon the exterior of this roller to be kept
saturated with mineral ether or other solvent of india-rubber during the
whole time of the working of the machine by any convenient means. The
strip of india-rubber as it passes from the reel to the wire or conductor passes
over the roller, and its under side comes in contact with the roller so as to be
thoroughly moistened with the solvent upon the exterior of the roller. In
this way a sufficient quantity of the solvent is applied to the strips of india-
rubber to cause the folds to adhere together and form a solid or continuous
and impervious tube or covering upon the wire or other conductor. One, two,
or more coverings may be put upon a wire or other conductor in this
manner.
I also use another process for causing the surfaces of the strips of india-
rubber to cohere, which consists in submitting the wire or conductor upon
which the strips or ribbons of india-rubber have been wound to the action of
moist heat, which I prefer to effect by plunging the covered wire or conductor
into heated water. This may be done as follows:-After the wire or con-
ductor has been covered with the coating or coatings of india-rubber, I wind
upon a drum having a spiral groove made upon it, so as to prevent the sides
of the coils of the covered wire or conductor from coming in contact with each
it

page_text: other. Or the outer surface of the india-rubber may be coated with Venetian
or French chalk, or tale in powder, so as to prevent the india-rubber surface
adhering together in case the covered wire or conductor be coiled or placed in
such a position during the process that one part of the outer surface of india-
rubber shall come in contact with some other part. The covered wire or
conductor being wound upon a drum, or protected from external adhesion in
the above or in any other convenient manner, is to be placed in a convenient.
vessel containing heated water. And if it be desired to have a temperature
exceeding that of ordinary boiling water, the water may have common salt,
alum, or any other salt dissolved in it, so as to raise the temperature of the
boiling point of the liquid. I regulate the temperature and the time of
immersion in the heated liquid according to the thickness and the number of
coatings of the india-rubber, and the quality of the india-rubber which forms
the insulating medium, examining the covering from time to time during the
process inorder to ascertain whether the requisite adhesion has been produced.
A wire or other conductor covered in the manner firstly above described may
also be subjected to the action of a moist heat in this way for the purpose of
more effectually insuring the a dhesion of the folds of india-rubber, and driving
off the solvent or a portion of it, and so prevent the india-rubber from being
too soft or plastic.
For the purpose of preserving one or more wires or conductors when laid or
placed in the interior of a rope or cable, I use a covering composed of hemp
or other fibrous material saturated with a composition consisting of some one
or more of the metallic carbonates or oxides mixed with some of the fixed oils,
either alone or in conjunction with a volatile oil, or saturated with (what I
prefer) a solution of what is known as Peacocks and Buchan's composition for
ships' bottoms (which I believe has been patented by those gentlemen) and
which is now and has been for some years extensively used by the Peninsular
and Oriental Steam Ship Company.
In the formation or construction of an electric telegraph cable or rope for
submarine or subterranean or superterranean purposes composed of one or
a plurality of wires I adopt the following process:-If the cable is to be
constructed with a plurality of wires, I lay up the number of insulated wires
or conductors required into a rope or cable, in like manner as several wiresor
strands are laid into a rope in rope making, each strand being composed of a
separate and distinct insulated wire or conductor. I surround this rope with
yarns of hemp or other fibrous material saturated with the compositions before
adverted to, which I wind round the rope in aspiral form, and then I enclose

page_text: the whole in a plaiting of yarus of hemp or other fibrous material saturated
with the same or a similar composition. If the cable is to be constructed
with only one insulated wire or conductor, I lay it together with two or more
strands of hempen or other yarns, into a rope in manner above mentioned,
the hempen or other yarns being saturated with a composition such as already
described. The insulated wire or conductor in such a case forms one of the
strands of the rope, and the hempen or other yarns form the other strands of
the rope. The rope so formed I enclose in plaiting in like manner as above
mentioned, and the cable is then complete. Or I enclose it in hempen or
other fibrous yarns prepared with a composition such as before described
wound specially round it. For some purposes, when it is not likely there will
be any very great strain upon a rope or cable containing a single insulated
wire or conductor, the laying it into a rope with other strands, as above
mentioned, may be dispensed with; and then I cover or surround the insulated
wire or conductor with yarns of hemp or other fibrous materials saturated with
a composition such as above mentioned, and wound round the insulated wire
or conductor in like manner as above mentioned with respect to a rope con-
taining several wires or conductors, after which I enclose the whole in a
plaiting of yarns saturated with composition in like manner as above
described.
When it is necessary that a rope or cable containing one or more wires or
conductors should have extraordinary or great strength, I give it two or more
of the plaited coverings of saturated yarns, as above described.
When a cable or rope has been completed in any of the modes above
mentioned, I prefer to give it a coating of shell-lac or other similargum in
solution, in order to assist in preserving it and rendering it more impermeable.
Having described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which it may be performed, I declare that I claim as of my
said Invention,-
First, the mode of applying a solvent to the india-rubber covering of a wire
or other conductor of electricity, as above described, for the purpose of causing
the folds of india-rubber to adhere together, and effecting a more perfect
insulation of the wire or conductor.
Second, the mode of subjecting the india-rabber covering of a wireorother
conductor of electricity to the action of a moist heat, as above, for the purpose
of causing the folds of india-rubber to adhere together, and effecting a more
perfect insulation of the wire or other conductor.
Third, the covering of insulated wires or conductors with yarns of fibrous

page_text: material saturated with a composition, as herein-before described, for the
purpose of preserving such fibrous material, and causing it more effectually to
protect the insulated wires or conductors from injury.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles West, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
CHARLES WEST. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the above-
named Charles West, in the presence of
J. GODFREY HUMPHRY,
Clerk to Messrs. Wilde & Co.
College Hill, London.