Year: 1886

page_text: I HENRY EDWARD NEWTON of the Office for Patents, 6 Bream's Buildings,
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer 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:—
Where electric conductors are laid underground, it is necessary that they should
be provided with such insulation as will not only effectually insulate the conductors
against the loss of electricity passing through them, but also insulate them from
earth currents or circuits.
According to this invention, tubes or tube sections are employed, which are
composed of strips of vegetable paper, wound spirally one on the other, and
secured by india rubber or other suitable cement, the tube sections being water-
proof, and serving effectually to insulate the conductors or conductor sections
which are in them from earth currents of electricity, and serving also to protect
the conductor sections from moisture. Such a tube or conduit constitutes one
feature of this invention.
Another feature of this invention consists in the combination with tube sections
laid with separate ends, and composed of superposed strips of vegetable paper
wound spirally, and secured with india rubber or other suitable cement and a
coupling sleeve connecting the tube sections, of conductor sections arranged in the
tube sections, and having their ends joined between the tube sections, and each
having an insulation composed of spirally wound strips of vegetable paper, and a
filling of insulating material within the tube sections and coupling sleeve, and in
which the conductor sections are embedded, the tube sections being waterproof,
and serving to insulate the conductor sections from earth currents or circuits, and
to protect the conductor sections from moisture. The insulating material with
which the tube is filled may be composed largely of paraffin or analogous moisture-

page_text: resisting substances, and such composition will preserve both the tube sections of
paper and the conductor sections which are embedded in them.
Electric conductors have been insulated or covered with a vulcanizable compound
containing sulphur, but where this is done, it is found that the sulphur attacks the
wire unless first tinned, and such covering is therefore undesirable.
Another feature of this invention, which relates to the insulation of electric
wires, consists in an electric conductor having an insulating covering composed of
one or more spirally wound strips of paper, and a vulcanized adhesive substance
serving to secure the strips of paper upon each other. With such a covering
composed of strips of paper and a vulcanized adhesive substance, an india rubber,
gutta percha, or other non-vulcanizable material may be employed, which is applied
within the spirally wound paper, and directly upon the wire.
In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of the adjacent
ends of two tube sections coupled together by a sleeve, and containing conductor
sections laid according to this invention.-Fig. 2 is a view of a portion of a tube
section shewing more clearly the method of forming it of spirally wound strips of
paper. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a tube section embodying the invention
and conductor sections arranged therein, showing the method of filling the tube
section with an insulating compound after the conductor sections have been placed
in it; and Fig. 4 represents a conductor section showing the manner in which it is
covered, first, with a non-vulcanizable material directly upon the wire, and then
with spirally wound strips of paper secured with a vulcanized or vulcanizable
cement or composition.
Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.
A A designate the adjacent end portions of two conduits or tube sections which
are laid in line, with their ends separated, and are united by a coupling sleeve B.
Within the conduit sections A A are arranged any desired number of conductor
sections C, which are separated from each other, and which have their ends joined
in the space between the separated ends of the tube sections A, and within the
sleeve B. These conductor sections may be, and preferably are, embedded in a
filling or insulating material D, which entirely fills the tube sections A and the
sleeve B.
The tube sections A are made of numerous strips of thin vegetable paper, which
are wound spirally and superposed one on another, and which are secured together
by any suitable cement or composition. For this purpose, it is now preferred to
employ a solution of india rubber in naphtha or bi-sulphide of carbon, shellac, or
apy
other suitable cement or composition, which preferably is water proof. After
the tube sections are formed by spirally wound strips of vegetable paper with
adhesive substance, so as to make a body of desired thickness, they may be coated.
inside and outside with bitumen, asphalt, or other composition or material, which
will render them waterproof, and indeed the adhesive substance which is employed
to secure the superposed layers of paper one on another, when it has an india-
rubber base, will serve to render the tube water-proof. In Fig. 2 is represented a
portion of a tube and the strips 6 of which it is composed, showing the method of.
winding them. The conductor sections may be simply primary conductors properly
insulated by any suitable material or composition, or they may be insulated by
spirally wound strips of pure vegetable paper which forms, of itself, the principal
insulation of the wire, and which has its layers secured one on another by adhesive
substance, as described with reference to the tubes A.
Fig. 4 represents a portion of a conductor C, which has applied directly upon it
a coating' or covering c of non-vulcanizable compound, and outside this coating c,
strips of paper c³, c², c³, c' are wound, spirally, and secured by adhesive substance.
The strips of paper are so wound as to break joints with one another, as
represented, and any number of strips may be employed to form an insulating
covering of the required thickness.¯
In order to prevent the primary currents in each conductor C from being affected
"by secondary currents or induced currents, a secondary conductor C may be pro-

page_text: vided in connection with each primary conductor C.-This secondary conductor.
may consist of a fine wire wound spirally around the conductor C outside a portion
of its insulation, and within the outermost portion of the insulation. As shown in
Fig. 4, the wire C¹ is wound on after the spirally wound strip c¹, and beneath
the spirally wound strip c.-In order to secure the several strips c¹, c² &c, one on
another, an adhesive substance, which is vulcanizable, may be employed.-The
adhesive substance may consist of a solution of india rubber and sulphur in
naphtha, bi-sulphide of carbon, or other suitable solvent of india rubber, and
áfter the wire has thus been covered with spirally wound paper, it may be
subjected to a sufficient degree of heat in an oven to vulcanize the adhesive
substance employed between the strips of paper. It is undesirable to have the
portion of the insulation c which comes directly upon the wire, of a vulcanized
material, because the sulphur which is necessarily employed to render india rubber
and the allied gums vulcanizable, will frequently attack the wire, unless it be
tinned, and form a sulphate of the metal of which the wire is made.
The conductor above described, having an insulator comprising spirally. wound
strips of vegetable paper secured by a vulcanized adhesive substance, may be
employed for other purposes than laying underground in the tubes or conduits A.
When the tubes or conduits A are employed to contain primary conductors
which have severally embodied with them secondary or induction conductors C¹,
the ends of the primary conductors C and the secondary or induction conductors C₁,
may be joined in the space between the tube sections A, and within the sleeve' B,
as shown in Fig. 1:
The tube sections A may be filled with any suitable insulating composition or
material D, such as paraffin, asphalt, bitumen, or a combination of these substances,
but for filling the space within the sleeve B, it is preferred to employ paraffin or
other substance D, which is comparatively soft, so that it can be readily dug away
to afford access to the connected ends of the conductor sections, when the sleeve B
is slipped back upon one of the tube sections A, and this paraffin filling for the
sleeve B may be introduced through a pouring hole 6' provided in the sleeve.-
Fig. 3 represents a method which may be pursued in order to fill the tube section A
with asphalt or other insulating material D.-The conductor sections C are placed
within the tube sections A, and are held isolated from each other in proper
positions by means of temporary heads A¹ applied over the ends of the tube
section, and in which are formed perforations for the passage of the wires C. The
tube section A is then placed in a vertical position, and the asphalt or other
insulating material may be introduced through a funnel E applied at its upper
end. After the conductor sections C have been thus embedded in the insulating
material D, the tube sections may be laid in position with separated ends, with the
sleeve B upon one tube section, and after the conductor sections have been properly
joined, the sleeve may be slipped lengthwise so as to couple the two tube sections A
together, and then the paraffin or other filling D may be poured into the sleeve.
Where electric wires are laid underground, it is of the utmost importance that
they should be insulated or protected from earth currents or circuits, as well as
that the currents of electricity passing through the wires should not be permitted
to escape, aud a tube section constructed of paper in the manner above described,
is of great importance in effectually insulating the conductors from earth currents.-
Tube sections which are made of pulp moulded and pressed into the form of
cylindric tubes will not effectually accomplish this result, and it is desired to limit
the present invention to tube sections which are composed of thin strips of manila
or other vegetable paper, which are wound spirally, and of which a great number
are superposed one on another, breaking joints with each other, in order to form a
tube of desired thickness.-Such a tube, when the strips are wound with a
water-proof adhesive substance, and when the tube is coated with a water proof
material, is almost indestructible, is thoroughly waterproof, and the paper tube
forms a most perfect insulation from earth currents for the wires which are
contained therein. Where paper contains any air cells, it is not a high grade

page_text: insulator for electric wires, but where the paper is in thin strips, and is wound
closely with adhesive substances placed between the layers, a hard and solid tube
is formed in which there are no air cells and which is therefore an effective
insulator against earth currents for the conductors which it contains.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention 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. A waterproof tube or conduit for containing underground electric conductors
composed of strips of vegetable paper wound spirally one on another, and secured
by indiarubber or other suitable cement, the tube serving to insulate the conductors
arranged therein from earth currents or circuits of electricity; substantially as
herein described.
.
2. The combination with tube sections arranged end to end, and composed of
strips of vegetable paper wound spirally one on another, and secured by indiarubber
or other suitable cement, and a sleeve connecting the adjacent ends of the tube
sections, of conductor sections arranged in the tube sections and having their ends
joined in the sleeve, and between the tube sections, the paper tube sections serving,
of themselves, to insulate the conductor sections from earth currents or circuits of
electricity, and to protect the conductor sections from moisture, substantially as
herein described.
3. The combination with tube sections laid with separated ends, and composed
of superposed strips of vegetable paper, wound spirally, and secured by indiarubber
or other suitable cement, and a coupling sleeve connecting the tube sections, of
conductor sections arranged in the tube sections, and having their ends joined
between the tube sections, and each having an insulation composed of spirally.
wound strips of vegetable paper, and a filling of insulating material within the tube
sections and coupling sleeve, and in which the conductor sections are embedded,
the tube sections being waterproof, and serving to insulate the conductor sections
from earth currents or circuits, and protect the conductor sections from moisture ;-
substantially as herein described.
4. An electric conductor, having an insulating covering consisting of one or more
spirally wound strips of paper, and a vulcanized adhesive substance serving to
secure the strips of paper upon each other; substantially as herein described.
5. An electric conductor, having a coating of nonvulcanizable material, and a
superposed insulating covering consisting of spirally wound strips of paper, and a
vulcanized adhesive substance serving to secure the strips of paper upon each other,
substantially as herein described.