Improvements in or relating to the Construction and Erection of Telegraph or similar Posts, and in Appliances for use in con- nection therewith.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Aug., 1891-Accepted, 5th Sept., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Construction and Erection of
Telegraph or similar Posts, and in Appliances for use in con-
nection therewith.
A communication from abroad by Charles BourDON, of 26, Boulevard Magenta,
Paris, in the Republic of France, Engineer.
I, GEORGE CECIL DYMOND, M. Inst. M.E., of the Agency for Foreign Patent
Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in the
County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings
and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon:-
This invention has for its object a method of preparing and erecting metallic
poles whereby great economy is effected when compared with the present methods
and which also is more particularly applicable for telegraphic and telephonic lines
of secondary importance where the question of the cost of erection is of pre-
ponderating importance.
The cost of wooden poles, the duration of which is very limited, is to-day greater
than that of metallic poles, which latter besides do not necessitate repairs so as to
keep them in order, and which also are only insignificantly deteriorated from being
exposed to the air. The use of metallic poles is therefore very advantageous when
it is desired to construct a cheap line.
The construction of posts according to this invention being closely connected to
the process employed for fixing the posts, this first operation will therefore now, be
described.
It is easily understood that to fix a post in the earth, the most economical method
and the one which at the same time yields the maximum degree of solidity consists
in forming a hole in the earth by driving into the earth a round or square
crowbar having a sharp point, the driving being done by blows from a mallet or
hammer, whilst at the same time slightly agitating the crowbar as it descends.
Even in comparatively hard ground, holes may be rapidly made by this method,
the depth of which may be one mètre or more if necessary, and which will be in
good condition to receive the posts, because the sides of the holes will have been
strongly compressed by the driving and agitation of the crowbar.
The posts having been placed in position, it is evident that in whatever manner
they are constructed it will be necessary that their lower ends should be of a shape
corresponding to that of the holes. Iron, moulded to shape, is the material which
affords the maximum amount of rigidity at the least expense, but such can only be
used for the purpose in question if a cylindrical, conical, or square shape be given
to it, in place of the original shape, by causing the mouldings to be covered with a
kind of sheath corresponding in dimensions and form to the hole dug for receiving
the posts. This is the result that is obtained by the process of manufacture which
will now be described.
In order to form posts on this system, bars of rolled iron or steel of any suitable
section are used which are selected according to the number of wires that the posts
must carry. They are then cut to a suitable length, and after having been com-
pletely dressed, a sort of point is formed at one of their extremities having the
same angle as that of the crowbar which was used to form the holes. This point
is intended to fill the lower part of the hole and to establish between the posts and
the earth a contact, thereby preserving the line from the effects of being struck by

page_text: lightning. This can be very easily done by removing with a shears the flanges or
webs of the moulded 'iron.
As soon as the bar assumes its ordinary section, it is fitted into the sheath to
which such a height is given that its upper part, when the posts are erected, rises
above the soil, say to between 10 and 20 centimètres. This sheath may be made
of a movable picce independent of the post, or it may be cast at a suitable height
on the bar of moulded iron from which it cannot then be separated.
In either of these cases, metallic sheaths may be used, or sheaths formed of not
so hard a material, such as plaster, cement, concrete, or terra-cotta.
If the metallic sheaths are made separate from the posts, they may be made from
ends of iron or cast iron tubes, cylindrical or conical, according to the shape of the
holes, and their position on the post is secured by means of bolts or rivets which
pass through the two parts.
°
When the sheaths are made adherent to, and are cast on, the bars, the latter
are placed in moulds which should be of such form and depth as may be desired,
and the ordinary processes of casting are employed, or those processes may be
employed which are made use of in preparing the material of which it is desired
that the sheath should be made. Both these methods of preparing the sheaths are
applicable for metals and for materials of less hardness which have been previously
mentioned.
If it be thought desirable, so as to avoid the deteriorations which may take place
in sheaths made of softer materials, such may be covered with very thin metallic
cases.
It is useful to take this precaution when the posts have to be transported after
being manufactured, but it is not necessary to leave these cases on the sheaths at
the time when the posts are being fixed, and they may be utilised for the trans-
portation of other sheaths. Besides, it is almost always preferable to employ
adherent sheaths of concrete or cement and to make them in advance at the
factory.
This type of post is certainly the one which can be most economically con-
structed, and will thus fulfil, better than any other, the end which it is desired to
attain.
When the system of adherent sheaths is adopted, it is a good plan to form
irregularities in the edges of the mouldings of the iron. For instance, holes may
be bored, which would be filled up with liquid material and will then connect the
two parts of the sheath one to the other.
If the ground, in which the posts are to be fixed, has not properly set and it is a
somewhat loose one, the solidity of the posts may not be sufficiently secure, the
fixing may, therefore, be completed by digging with a spade a square hole of larger
or smaller dimensions and depth according to the nature of the ground, which hole
is then filled with a quantity of cement having at its centre a hole of the same
dimensions as the sheath of the post.
In order to facilitate it being placed in position, the block of cement, if
necessary, may be made in two parts, which can be placed on each side of the
sheath.
Whichever method of construction be adopted, when the block is placed in
position, the earth is firmly rammed down all round it.
The use of moulded iron for the construction of posts has the further advantage
of enabling the insulators to be economically fixed. The foot of the support of
these latter being fitted into the angle of the projections or webbing, a single bolt
will suffice to fix it.
The holes bored by the crowbar, as hereinbefore described, are of somewhat
limited dimensions, and, for telegraph posts of great height, which are intended to
carry many wires, this method of erection can only be employed by increasing
considerably the diameter of the hole, formed by means of the crowbar, by the
.removal of a certain quantity of spoil.
For this purpose, a special tool is employed, which is shown on the annexed

page_text: drawings. It consists of a vertical shaft A, Figures 1 and 2, of suitable diameter
and height, being finished off at the top by a cross bar B, which forms a horizontal
handle bar, and has at its lower end a point C. This shaft A has, towards the
lower part, a helicoidal trough D, having an edge sufficiently raised to retain the
earth. By turning this tool in a suitable direction and then drawing it out vertically,
a quantity of earth is withdrawn from the hole, the greater in proportion as the
earth has been loosened by the crowbar.
If the hole go through pulverulent ground, it will be necessary to limit the
spiral to a single turn, and to fit in the lower part or plug F, see Figure 2, which
may be controlled by a rod E lying along the shaft of the tool. This plug may be
guided by grooves made at the commencement and at the end of the spiral.
plug must be raised whilst the tool is being rotated, and be lowered at the moment
of raising the tool in order to enclose the spoil which is to be extracted.
The
The spoil, as a rule, will not be collected above the lower spiral. The upper spiral
is intended to act as a guide in operating during the collection, so that the axis of
the hole is maintained as exactly vertical as possible. For this purpose, the spiral
may be replaced by a sheet metal tube of a given height, the axis of which will
coincide with the shank of the tool.
In order not to destroy the shape of the sides of the hole while placing therein
sometimes very heavy posts, the hole may be protected by a section of a thin sheet
steel cylinder of 15 to 30 centimetres in height with rims. This cylinder may be
constructed in two parts in order that it may be withdrawn after the post has been
placed in position. It may be useful, in certain cases, either to ease the boring
tool, or to lengthen it, in order to make the holes more easily of a funnel shape, in
such case, the top of the tool is provided with a cylindrical part G, Figures 3 and 4,
on which may be fitted, as desired, either a steel tube H, thereby prolonging the
tool in the direction of its axis, (see Figure 3) or an anvil I, intended to receive the
blows of the mallet (see Figure 4).
This method of constructing the digging or boring tool allows of the holes being
bored to a great depth with relatively short bars, the upper extremity of which will
be, during the whole operation, at a suitable height for receiving forcible blows from
a hammer. Notwithstanding this shortness of the bar, it is possible, by replacing
the anvil by an extension, to have at command a great lever for working the bar
and increasing the hole.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The arrangement of telegraph or similar posts hereinbefore described, which
consists in forming such posts of moulded metallic bars fitted at one part of their
length with movable or adherent sheaths of suitable form for filling a hole of
the same form dug mechanically by any suitable boring tool, or by hand, by means
of a crowbar.
2. The apparatus or appliance for use in enlarging the holes for receiving the
posts and removing the spoil, such apparatus or appliances being as described and
shown with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the annexed drawing.
Dated this 31st day of July 1891.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.