IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPH WIRES AND CABLES, AND IN THE MEANS OF INSULATING THE SAME WHEN USED FOR SUBTERRANEAN, SUBMARINE, AND OTHER LINES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Potts Scott, of Westoe Villa, Burdett Road, Bow,
in the. County of Middlesex, Commission Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPH WIRES AND CABLES, AND IN THE MEANS OF
INSULATING THE SAME WHEN USED FOR SUBTERRANEAN, SUBMARINE, AND
OTHER LINES." A communication from abroad by Wilson Strickler, of
Lebanon, Lebanon County, and State of Pennsylvania, United States, America.
Sealed the 10th November 1876, and dated the 3rd August 1876.
!
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Henry Potts Scott at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd August 1876.
HENRY POTTS SCOTT, of Weston Villa, Burdett Road, Bow, in the County of
Middlesex, Commission Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN TELEGRAPH WIRES AND CABLES,
AND IN THE MEANS OF INSULATING THE SAME WHEN USED FOR SUBTERRANEAN,
SUBMARINE, AND OTHER LINES." A communication from abroad by Wilson Strickler.
of Lebanon, County of Lebanon, and State of Pennsylvania, United States,
America.
This Invention relates, first, to the application to a telegraph wire or cable, when
originally manufactured from the metal or metals of which it may be composed, of
grooves or furrows passing transversely around or parallel with the wire or wires
the entire length of the same, or in any other suitable manner, Fig. 1 A.
This Invention relates, secondly, to the application to a telegraph wire or cable
'after being grooved or furrowed, as above specified, of sheets of mica or pulverized
mica heated to about a cherry red heat, and then suddenly cooled in a bath of
water, then dried and applied as a covering to the wire, as herein-after more fully
described, Fig. 1 B.
This Invention relates, thirdly, to the application to telegraph wires or cables,
after being grooved or furrowed and covered with mica, as above specified, of a
coating or coatings of liquid mineral asphaltum, Fig. 1C.
"
In the manufacture of these improved telegraph wires or cables I apply to the
wires, grooves, or furrows passing transversely around or parallel with the wire the
entire length of the same, or in any other suitable manner, so that atmospheric
presence is secured and maintained between the mica covering and the wire or

page_text: cable, and indirect contact with the wire or cable the entire length thereof,
Fig. 3.
In the manufacture of these improved telegraph wires or cables I employ mica,
either in the form of thin sheets or pulverized, or both. The mica is heated to
about a cherry red heat, which will cause it to lose its elasticity, and drive off any
impurities. It is then suddenly cooled by immersion in a bath or cistern of cold
water, and when dried, whether in sheets or pulverized, is attached to a base of
Manilla paper or any other suitable fibrous material by first coating the paper or
fibre with liquid asphaltum, Japan, or any other suitable adhesive material. After
the paper or fibre has been thus prepared with mica it is applied to the wire or
cable by being cut into suitable strips, winding these in a spiral or in any other
suitable manner, or the mica may be applied to the wire or cable in a pulverized
condition at the same time that the fibrous covering of cotton, hemp, or other
suitable fibre herein-after described is applied thereto. Mica prepared as herein
described may be applied in sheets to sea cables before the final or outside covering
of steel wires or other material is applied.
A covering of fine paraffined Manilla paper, or any other suitable paper, or any
other suitable insulating material instead of mica may be applied to the wire, if
desired, by being wound around or encompassing the wire by running parallel with
it, and attached to the wire by a binding of cotton, hemp, or any other suitable
material, or in any other suitable manner.
In this Invention the mica covering is placed in contact only with the elevated
surface or surfaces of the wire or cable, and in passing over the grooves or furrows
produces a space or spaces filled with atmosphere between the conducting body and
its covering, and in direct contact with the conducting body the full length of the
wire or cable, Fig. 3. The mica covering is then given a binding of cotton, hemp,
or any other suitable fibrous material. It is then treated to a coating or coatings
of liquid mineral asphaltum made liquid by the addition of mineral tar or maltha,
or in any other suitable manner, and finally wound with paper or any other
suitable material cut into suitable strips, or else drawn through pulverized mica,
Fig. 1 D.
In thus constructing telegraph wires or cables by the application of grooves and
furrows and atmospheric insulation, as hereby secured and maintained, the pro-
pulsion, transmission, or operation of the electric force is increased, and retardation
of the same is decreased in the telegraph wire or cable to which this Invention
may be applied.
The motion of the electric force is more readily propagated and retained upon
the conducting body, and an accelerated mode of motion is produced through the
auxiliary insulation of atmosphere, as hereby secured and maintained, thereby
allowing a working electric force of increased quality and velocity to be transmitted
through such insulated wires or cables, which will not lose its strength, and thus
annihilating retardation of transmission of the electric force, and which retardation
has heretofore been experienced and effectually arrested transinission of the electric
force in working conductors when insulated and submerged in the water or buried
in the ground and wires thus grooved or furrowed present more surface of material
to the transmission of the electric force than ordinary wires of the same diameter.
By thus constructing wires or cables the mica at the joints serves both as an
insulator and as an auxiliary means of uniting them in making good electric con-
nections, Fig. 2. It also serves to protect the wire against chemical action, because
the mica itself is insolvent my most chemicals, and being a pure mineral produces
no action upon the wire, and, further, the mica acts as an insulator to retain the
electric force upon the wire, and prevents it from being dissipated.
The asphaltum coatings preserve and protect the wire, and in conjunction with
the binding of cotton, hemp, or other suitable fibrous material produces requisite
flexibility.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention I would state that I do not
confine myself to the exact details herein described, so long as the peculiar character

page_text: of this Invention, as stated, be retained; but I declare that what I do claim and
desire to secure by Letters Patent is,―
Claim 1. As a new article of manufacture a telegraph wire or cable provided
with a groove or grooves, or furrow or furrows, substantially as described.
Claim 2. As a new article of manufacture a telegraph wire or cable insulated
by atmospheric presence through grooves or furrows passing transversely around or
parallel with the wire or cable, or in any other suitable manner, and provided with
a covering of mica and asphaltum, thereby securing and maintaining atmospheric
presence in direct contact with the wire or cable, substantially as described.
Claim 3. The method herein described of securing and maintaining atmospheric
presence in direct contact with the conducting body of insulated telegraph wires or
cables, consisting of the application of grooves or furrows to telegraph wires or
cables, and passing transversely around or parallel with the wire or cable, or in any
other suitable manner, and provided with a covering of mica and asphaltum, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Claim 4. As a new article of manufacture a telegraph wire or cable insulated with
a covering of mica, substantially as described.
Claim 5. The method herein described of insulating a telegraph wire or cable,
consisting of the application of a covering of mica around and next to the wire or
cable, and enclosing said wire and mica with a covering of cotton, hemp, or any other
similar or suitable fibrous material, which is then covered with asphaltun, substan-
tially as and for the purposes set forth.
Claim 6. The application of mica to deep sea and other telegraph cables and
wires for preventing the destruction of the insulation of the wire or wires, and also
as an insulator for the same, substantially as set forth.
Claim 7. The application to telegraph wires or cables of asphaltum properly
tempered with maltha, or in any other suitable manner, in conjunction with a
fibrous binding as a protective and flexible covering for the same, substantially as
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Potts Scott, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
HENRY POTTS SCOTT. (L.S.)

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Newton Sears at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th August 1877. A communication
from abroad by Louis S. Robbins, of the City and State of New York, United
States of America.
JOHN NEWTON SEARS, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, Merchant.
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS OR METHOD OF TREATING WOOD TO PRESERVE THE SAME
FROM DECAY." [A communication from abroad by Louis S. Robbins, of the City and
State of New York, United States of America.]
My Invention relates to a novel process or method of treating wood to cure or
season the same, and prevents its rotting or decaying from exposure to atmospheric
or other influences.
Wood has been heated in a chamber for driving off the watery matters in the
form of vapor, or for kiln-drying the same. This operation is designed to prevent
the subsequent shrinkage of the wood, but it is well known that the strength of
the wood and its weight are diminished by the kiln-drying operation. Wood has
also been compressed in moulds and heated for curing it and giving to it the shape
of the mould. In this case the curing operation is not adapted to irregular forms,
and the treatment cannot be relied upon because the pressure may vary more or
less, according to the more or less perfect tightness of the mould.
My improved process is designed for curing green wood, and in the said process
the wood is heated under atmospheric or gaseous pressure until the natural fluids
become homogenous and fixed with the fibre, the temperature is increased simul-
taneously with the pressure within the closed vessel containing the wood until the
required heat and pressure are attained to complete the operation. By the sur-
rounding increased atmospheric pressure the vaporization of the sap is prevented,
and the vaporizing products are diffused with uniformity throughout the mass, and
retained so that the pores of the wood are freed from air and filled with vegetable
juices, which are so changed by the heat that the risk of fermentation and decay are
avoided.
In carrying my Invention into practise any suitable apparatus may be employed,
but I prefer to use apparatus comprising a chamber for receiving the wood of any
suitable size. This chamber should be provided with rails in the bottom, and a car,

page_text: on which the wood is placed; this car is run into the chamber, whose end is closed
by a suitable head or doors. A boiler is connected with a steam pipe in the said
chamber so that the temperature of the latter may be raised to any desired degree.
Heated air may be introduced into the said chamber. An air pump is employed to
force air into the said chamber or receiver. A pressure of about 60 lbs. to the
square inch is produced in the said chamber. In the mean time the steam from the
boiler is admitted into the pipes in the said chamber, the temperature being thereby
gradually raised to 250° Fahrenheit. This heat and pressure are maintained during
the treatment, which will require from four to five hours if the wood be in the con-
dition of boards.
The above-described operation may be accelerated by forcing the air through a
heated cast-iron tube or cylinder fitted with small or broken stone to increase the
heating surface before it passes into the said chamber or receiver; but when this
mode of heating is employed, the air, after the desired pressure is attained, must be
allowed to escape to permit the pump to work until the required heat is established.
A lighter degree of heat and more pressure may be employed in heating some kinds
of wood.
When the curing process has been continued a sufficient time, which will depend
upon the size of the picces under treatment, and their quality, the pressure is not
to be reduced suddenly, but the heat is to be shut off, the air pump continued in
action, forcing in cold air, the escape of heated air continued, and the supply and
heating of the air to be so regulated that by the time the temperature is reduced
to about 200° Fahrenheit the pressure will be about the same inside the aforesaid
chamber as outside of it. By this process the sap and resinous matter are volatilized
and changed and become fixed, at the same time they are thoroughly diffused through
the fibre of the wood, and the mass is rendered uniform and homogenous.