PROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC CONDUCTORS, AND BATTERY ARRANGEMENTS CONNECTED THEBEWITH
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC CONDUCTORS, AND
BATTERY ARRANGEMENTS CONNECTED THEBEWITH."-Partly a communica-
tion from abroad by Werner Siemens, residing at Berlin, in Prussia.
Sealed the 11th April 1860, and dated the 3rd November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Siemens
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents. with his Petition, on
the 3rd November 1859.
I, CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of Great George Street. Westminster.. in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of..the said. Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC. CONDUCTORS, AND.IN
BATTERY ARRANGEMENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to-be as follows:
Submarine and subterranean electric telegraphic conductors or line wires
are generally insulated by gutta percha, and suspended line wires are generally
insulated by supports of earthenware or glass. India-rubber has been found
to be less porous and a better insulator than gutta percha, but being less plastic
in its nature it is not so easily applied to the wire. .and, moreover, its good
qualities are injured by the process of reducing it to a plastic state. By the
present Invention I am enabled to employ india-rubber for insulating all
descriptions of line wire, as herein-after mentioned, and to defend the insulating
[Price Sd.]

page_text: material from the attacks of insects or other animals. It is well known that
the insulation of submarine line wires may be destroyed or injured by the use
of batteries of too great power. For this and other reasons it is desirable to
employ batteries which are very constant in their action, so that the amount
of power in use may always be known and depended upon, and it is also
desirable to reduce the battery power to the smallest amount capable of
working the telegraphic instruments. The present Invention is intended to
effect these objects.
Submarine and subterranean line wire requires to be insulated along its
whole length, and for this purpose I cover it with strips of india-rubber in the
following manner:-I cut long strips from the Paraguay bottle or from blocks
of other india-rubber, and I join several of these strips end to end by cutting
them with clean scissors or shears, and pressing the fresh cut edges together.
The adhesion is facilitated and strengthened by the use of heat. I construct
two rollers with semicircular grooves and sharp-cutting edges, and I conduct
the wire to be covered through the centre of the circular opening between the
adjoining parts of these rollers. Over each roller I conduct one of the afore-
said strips of india-rubber, so that the edges of the strip may be cut and
pressed together round the wire as they pass through the rollers..
means the freshly cut edges are united, and the wire is thus cased in a tube
of india-rubber. The covered wire then passes between another similar pair
of rollers, but with larger grooves, and placed at right angles or other suitable
angle with the first pair, so that the joints of the strips may be in a different
position. Any required number of coverings may thus be added in succession.
Instead of cutting the strips as they meet, they may be previously cut by
"means of two other rollers, whose edges form shears or scissors with the
edges or sides of the grooves in the first-mentioned rollers.
By this
The operation is facilitated and rendered more certain by heat, which is applied
by introducing steam into the hollow frame of the machine, or in any other con-
.venient manner.
The covered wire is conducted into hot water or into a hot
chamber, or is otherwise heated to perfect the adhesion. The wire may be
first coated with collodion or shellac, or other suitable varnish if desired, before
covering it as above described. This mode of covering the wire may be used
alone in some cases, or it may be used in combination or alternation with
gutta percha, hemp, waxed tape, or other known coverings. Thus it may be
bound round with tape or string, or fibre saturated with wax, and again
covered or not with another coating or coatings of india-rubber, and then
covered with hemp or string, and then with iron or steel wire. It has been
found that hempen yarn is attacked by a submarine shell fish or animal, and

page_text: to prevent this I poison the hemp by forming within its substance a precipi-
tate of sulphuret of zinc or copper, or arsenic, or other poisonous metal; thus,
I steep the hemp in a hot solution of sulphate of zinc or other suitable
salt, and then expose it to sulphuretted hydrogen in vapour or in solution,
when a precipitate of sulphuret of zinc or other metal will be formed, which
being poisonous will prevent the inroads of animals. When several wires are
required in one cable, they may be separately covered with india-rubber as
herein-before described, and then bound together in one outer coating. The
india-rubber may be used in the ordinary state or vulcanized. In the case of
suspended line wires it is unnecessary to encase the whole length of wire in a
tube of india-rubber, and I therefore employ a short tube of india-rubber to
insulate the support of the wire in the following manner: A rod or stalk of
wrought iron or other suitable material is covered with a tube or coating of
hard vulcanized or "hornified" india-rubber, which encloses one end and a
great part of the length of the stalk. This tube may be made, separately, and
screwed or cemented or otherwise fixed to the stalk, but I prefer to manu-
facture and harden the tube at once on the stalk. The stalk so covered is
screwed or cemented or otherwise fixed in a socket in a bell-shaped cup of
cast-iron or other suitable material. The lower end of the stalk is screwed.
and receives a nut and a small bent plate with two hooks, on which the line
wire is laid. By screwing up the nut the wire is pressed by the hooks against
the end of the screwed stalk, and is thus secured. Other means of attaching
the wire may, however, be used. The cup is fixed to a post or other support,
or the wire may be carried by the cup while the stalk is fixed to the post
or other suppert. The india-rubber tube may be parallel, or taper and
smooth, or polished or coated with shellac. or other varnish or solution, or
provided with undulations or projecting rings. so as to increase the distance
which the electricity will have to travel before it can escape in the event of
the tube becoming damp. The batteries which I employ are constructed in
the following manner: The copper element may consist of one or more
straight or bent pieces of sheet copper attached to a wire and placed at the
bottom of a glass jar. An inverted cup of porous or perforated earthenware
or other permeable materia! is placed in the jar, so as to surround and inclose
the copper element. This inverted cup has a central aperture. in which is
fixed or cemented a vertical glass or porcelain cylinder or large tube, through
which passes the wire or electrode from the copper element: Into the space
between the inverted cup and the glass jar, paper pulp, or other suitable
porous material is placed or tightly rammed in, or an india-rubber ring is
inserted, and the top of the cup is then covered with a bed of sawdust or

page_text: similar porous material. Above this is placed a cylindrical piece of zinc having
a conducting wire or electrode cast. in it, or otherwise attached. The zinc
may be amalgamated or not. The inverted cup and glass cylinder are filled with
solution of sulphate of copper, and the cylinder is filled with crystals of the same.
The space around the cylinder, and between it and the sides of the jar, is filled
with dilute sulphuric acid, or dilute solution of sulphate of zinc. or muriate of
ammonia or common salt, or other known exciting liquid. When this solu-
tion becomes too strong by use, a portion is withdrawn. and water is added,
and crystals of sulphate of copper are introduced from time to time into the
glass cylinder, and if necessary a portion of the liquid is withdrawn from it or
water is added. A very constant battery is thus produced. Instead of the
inverted cup. a perforated or porous plate or disc resting on a shoulder in the
jar may be employed to support the sawdust. In lieu of the glass or porcelain
cylinder, a cylinder made in one piece with the porous disc or cup may be
used. the cylinder being rendered impermeable by saturating it with hot wax
or similar material. In transmitting signals through long submarine line
wires by alternate, positive and negative currents, in lieu of connecting the
end of the line wire to the earth, I connect it to a species of battery, consisting
of a succession of cups or vessels containing dilute sulphuric acid or water, or
aqueous mixinres or solutions. In each cup are two platinum plates. The
line wire is connected to the first plate in the first cup. The second
this cup is connected to the first plate in the next cup. and so on.
plate in the last cup may or may not be connected to the earth.
positive current is transmitted through the line wire. it arrives at this battery,
and produces a certain amount of polarization or decomposition of water in
the cups. The oxygen and hydrogen gases being in small quantity, remain
attached to or condensed upon the surface of the platinum plates forming a
gas battery, which has a tendency to produce a current in the opposite direc-
tion to that which it has just received. The next current transmitted through
the line wire being negative, is thus assisted and strengthened by the reflex
current from this battery, and consequently a smaller amount of battery power
or of electricity is sufficient to work the instruments. This apparatus is also
useful in destroying the currents or residuary charge in the coils of the instru-
ments and line wire, when currents in the same direction are employed. By
combining all the aforesaid parts, I am enabled to construct telegraphs
traversing great extents of land and water, while presenting the prospect of
much more. durable and effective insulation than has hitherto been obtained
in long lines.
plate in
The last
When a

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles William Siemens in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WILLIAM SIEMENS, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Third day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors. give and grant unto me. the said
Charles William Siemens. Her special licence that I. the said Charles William
Siemens, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles William Siemens, 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 "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHIC CONDUCTORS, AND IN BATTERY
ARRANGEMENTS CONNECTED THEREWITH," partly communicated to me from abroad
by Werner Siemens. residing at Berlin, in Prussia, and partly my own
Invention. upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
William Siemens. my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should 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 I. the said Charles William Siemens. 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
Submarine and subterranean electric telegraphic conductors or line wires
are generally insulated by gutta percha, and suspended line wires are generally
insulated by supports of earthenware or glass. India-rubber has been found
to be less porous and a better insulator than gutta percha, but being less
plastic in its nature. it is not so easily applied to the wire, and, moreover, its
good qualities are injured by the process of reducing it to a plastic state.

page_text: By the present Invention I am enabled to employ india-rubber for insulating
all descriptions of line wire, as herein-after mentioned. It is well known
that the insulation of submarine line wires may be destroyed or injured by
the use of batteries of too great power. For this and other reasons it is
desirable to employ batteries which are very constant in their action, so that
the amount of power in use may always be known and depended upon; and
it is also desirable to reduce the battery power to the smallest amount capable
of working the telegraphic instruments. The present Invention is intended to
effect these objects. It is a well known. property of india-rubber. that when
two pieces are cut with a clean knife or scissors, and immediately and firmly
pressed together, they adhere and form one piece. I take advantage of this
property in applying the india-rubber as a tubular casing or covering to wire,
as herein-after described.
Submarine and subterranean line wire requires to be insulated along its
whole length, and for this purpose I cover it with strips of india-rubber in the
following manner:-I cut. long strips from the Paraguay bottle india-rubber.
or from blocks of other india-rubber. and I join several of these strips end to
end by cutting them with clean scissors or shears, and pressing the fresh cut
edges together. The adhesion is facilitated by a moderate heat or by warming
the scissors, but. I avoid the application of such a temperature as would be
likely to injure the india-rubber. These strips are applied to the wire by
means of a machine shown in Sheet T. of the accompanying Drawings,
Figure is a side view partly in section, and Figure 2 is a plan of the
machine Figure 3 is an end view. partly in section, of the same. The same
letters refer to similar parts in each Figure. A and B are two hard steel
rollers, having semicircular grooves, and mounted on spindles C. D. whose
bearings are supported by the framing E. On the spindle D is a toothed
wheel F. which is driven by a pinion G on the spindle H. or in any other
convenient manner. The roller A may also he driven by geering, or it may
be driven by its contact with the roller B. or with the india-rubber between
them. I and J are two hard steel rollers, with sharp cutting edges, which
intersect the circles of the rollers A and B a little in advance of their point of
contact. The spindles of the rollers I and J are supported by bearings K. L.
and are inclined a little, so that their acting parts may come in close contact
with the rollers A and B. Their position and inclination are capable of
adjustment, and they are kept close to the rollers A and B by screws a; a.
The passage of the india-rubber strips through the machine causes the
shearing rollers I and J to revolve, but they may be driven independently if
preferred. M is a conical tube, or die or guide, through which passes the

page_text: wire W, which is to be covered; this may be a plain wire, or strand of wires,
or a wire which has already been covered with gutia percha, or wax and rosin,
or other suitable material. The aforesaid strips of india-rubber are wound
upon reels with ribbons of silk or other suitable fabric, so that they may not
adhere or become unequally stretched in unwinding. N is one of the strips
of india-rubber, whose silk ribbon n passes round a small roller c, and returns
between other rollers not shown in the Drawing, but driven at the same or a
slightly less speed than the rollers A and B, and by which it is reeled up or
delivered into a basket or other receptacle, whence it is afterwards taken and
again wound up with a fresh strip of india-rubber. P is the other strip of
india-rubber, with its ribbon p, which returns round the small roller d.
Q, Q, are rollers on the spindle H, which conduct the waste strips, which are
sheared off to a roller R, which directs them into a basket or other receptacle
below the machine. The roller R is driven by a band from a pulley on the
side of one of the rollers Q, and its surface is caused to move at a somewhat
greater velocity than that of the rollers A and B, so that it may remove the
waste strips immediately.
The action of the machine is as follows:-The plain or covered wire W is
introduced with the ends of the two strips of india-rubber between the rollers
A, B. The narrow edges of these rollers are of cylindrical form, rounded off a
little towards the groove, but are brought to a sharp rectangular edge on the
outside. The width of these edges may be about the same as the thickness
of the coating of india-rubber which is to be applied. As the wire and the
strips of india-rubber are drawn in by the rollers A, B, the strips are bent
round the wire, and their edges are compressed by the edges of these rollers,
and in this state they arrive at the shearing roilers I and J, which shear off
the superfluous india-rubber. The strips which are thus sheared off the edges
are conducted away by the rollers Q, R, as herein-before described. The two
strips of india-rubber being partially compressed before they are cut, their
adjacent edges are caused to bulge out somewhat, and they are cut while in
this state; the consequence is, that if the strips were then released, it would
be seen that the cuts are bevilled, and not at right angles to the plane of the
strip. The surfaces next the wire W are thus narrower than the outer sur-
faces, so that when the strips are bent round the wire, the cut edges meet,
and there is much less tendency for the joint to be torn open by the elasticity
of the india-rubber than would otherwise be the case. When the edges of
the strips have thus been sheared off, the wire with the two strips passes on
between the rollers A, B, and the strips are thus more and more compressed.
The india-rubber cannot escape on the outside, which is closed by the contact

page_text: of the shearing rollers, but from the rounded form of the inner part of the
edges of the rollers A, B. the india-rubber is forced inwards, and its cut edges
are thus brought in contact, and compressed together with great force, thus
firmly uniting them in a continuous tube or coating on the wire. This
operation may be performed at ordinary temperatures, or the machine may
be placed in a chamber heated to about seventy-five degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, or more or less, or the strips of india-rubber may be heated a little
by passing them through a moderately heated curreat of air just before
entering the machine.
Figure 4 is a front view, and Figure 5 is a side view. of a portion, of a
machine of slightly different. construction to that shewn in the preceding Figures.
A and B are the two grooved rollers; I and J are two sharp edged steel rollers,
which act as revolving knives and cut off the superfluous edges of the india-
rubber strips N, P, while they are pinched between the rollers A and B. The
rollers I and J are mounted on a spindle. V, which passes over or under the
wire W, and is driven by geering or otherwise, so as to make their cutting
edges revolve at a greater speed than the rollers A and B, or sufficiently fast
to cut the strip of india-rubber. Instead of the revolving knives, reciprocating
kuives or shearing edges may be used to cut the india-rubber.
In many cases it is desirable to apply two or more successive coatings
of india-rubber, in which case I employ two or more machines in succession,
and I prefer to place them so that the joints or seams of the india-rubber may
come in different positions, as, for example, at angles of ninety or sixty degrees
with each other. Figure 6 is a side view of two machines so placed. The
machines may be conveniently driven by a shaft S with an endless screw »,
driving a worm wheel T on one of the spindles of each machine. A and B are
the grooved rollers of the first machine, and A' is the upper grooved roller of
the second machine. The lower roller in the second machine is hidden by the
frame E¹. E is the frame of the first machine; W is the wire; and N, P, N', P',
are the strips of india-rubber.
In some cases it may be desirable to apply heat to the wire in order to cause
the adhesion of the coating to it, which may be conveniently done by passing
the wire W through a gas flame U. In such cases care must be taken to
keep the flame, and the speed of the machine uniform, or to regulate one in
proportion to the other, and especially not to stop the machine with the wire
in the flame, and then start it again, as by such means the covering might be
so injured as to spoil the insulation, or to expose it to the risk of being destroyed
by the process of laying the cable or line wire.
Figure 7 is a front view, partly in section, of a portion of a machine, which

page_text: is more particularly adapted for coating wires with a very thin layer of india-
rubber. The upper roller A consists of a series of grooved rollers a, a, fixed
on a shaft C alternately with sharp rectangular-edged discs or shearing
rollers I, I, of hard steel. The lower roller B consists of similar grooved
rollers b, b, fixed on the shaft D alternately with smaller discs . . which may
be of paper or other suitable material. and which merely support the grooved
rollers in their proper positions. A wire is introduced into the circular aperture
formed by each pair of grooved rollers, and a sheet or broad strip of india-rubber
is placed above, and another below the wires. The whole is then passed
through the rollers. The sheets of india-rubber are thus cut into narrow strips
which are united in pairs, forming tubes or coatings on the wires. by the
pressure which they receive in passing between the grooved rollers. The action
of this machine is not, however, so perfect as that of the machine first herein-
before described, as the cut edges of the india-rubber are not so accurately
brought together. The wire thus coated may, however. be advantageously
employed for covering electro-magnets, and for indoor purposes, where it is not
exposed to wet. This mode of coating may also be used in conjunction with
gutta percha or other coatings. The dimensions of the grooves in the rollers
are varied according to the size of the wire and the thickness of the covering.
The rollers can be removed from the spindles and others substituted when
required, and secured by the nuts on the spindles.
In any of the cases herein-before mentioned. the wire. or strand of wires.
may be used plain. or it may be previously coated with collodion or shellac or
other suitable varnish, and it may be heated or not, as may be preferred. The
aforesaid mode or modes of covering the wire may be used alone in some cases.
or in combination or alternation with gutta percha. hemp. waxed tape. or
other known coverings. Thus it may be bound round with tape, or string.
or fibre saturated with wax, and again covered or not with another coating or
coatings of india-rubber, and then covered with hemp or string, and then with
iron or steel wire. It has been found that hempen yarn is attacked by a sub-
marine shell fish or animal, and to prevent this, I poison the hemp, by forming
within its substance a precipitate of sulphuret of zinc or copper. or arsenic, or
other poisonous metal. Thus I steep the hemp in a hot solution of sulphate
of zinc or other suitable salt, and then expose it to sulphuretted hydrogen in
vapour or in solution, when a precipitate of sulphuret of zinc or other metal
will be formed, which being poisonous will prevent the inroads of animals.
When several wires are required in one cable, they may be separately covered
with india-rubber, as herein-before described, and then bound together in one
puter coating,

page_text: The india-rubber may be used in the ordinary state or vulcanized. When
it is required to be vulcanized, the compound of india-rubber with sulphur or
other vulcanizing material is applied in strips in the mode or modes herein-
before described, and the wire with the india-rubber coating is then exposed to
the proper temperature to effect the change or combination which completes
the vulcanizing process; or ordinary india-rubber is applied to the wire, and
the vulcanization is effected afterwards by any of the known processes for
that purpose.
Coatings of elastic vulcanized india-rubber, or of hard or
"hornified" india-rubber, or of intermediate degrees of hardness, may thus be
produced.
If a wire is first coated with a mixture of wax and rosin or other fusible
material of sufficient hardness and toughness. and is then coated with one or
more tubular coverings of india-rubber, and is then moderately heated. the
wax and rosin or other fusible material may be melted, and the wire may be
drawn out, and a tube of india-rubber will be left. The india-rubber tube thus
produced may be subjected to heat in order to consolidate it more thoroughly.
or it may be subjected to the processes of vulcanization or hard vulcanization
or hornification."
In the case of suspended line wires, it is unnecessary to encase the whole
length of wire in a tube of india-rubber, and I therefore employ a short tube
of india-rubber to insulate the support of the wire in the following manner:
Figure 8, Sheet II., is a front view, and Figure 9 is a vertical longitudinal
section, of an insulator for suspended line wires constructed according to my
Invention. A is a stalk, which supports the line wire W. This stalk is
generally a round iron rod, but may be made of other suitable metal, if
preferred. It is encased in a tube B of hard vulcanized or "hornified" india-
rubber, applied in the manner herein-before described, or by means of dies or
moulds, or other known means employed in the manufacture of hard vulcanized
india-rubber. The mixture of india-rubber with sulphur or other vulcanizing
material having been applied to the stalk A, the whole is submitted to heat in
the ordinary manner of the manufacture of hard vulcanized india-rubber. C is
an additional tube or coating of the same india-rubber mixture or compound
applied over the first, and submitted to heat at the same or at a second
operation. The stalk' thus coated and insulated is then cemented into the
upper cylindrical part D of a cup or bell E of cast iron, or porcelain, or other
suitable material, which is provided with a flange F. which may be attached
to a wooden post by screws, or to a metal post in the manner described in the
Specification of certain Letters Patent granted to me, and bearing date the
Twenty-fifth day of February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine,

page_text: No. 512. The cement may consist of sulphur or sulphur melted with crocus
or oxide of iron. The vulcanized india-rubber tube may be made on the stalk,
as herein-before described, or it may be made separately, and the stalk may
afterwards be cemented into it. Thus a wire, or rod, or mandril, may be
coated with a mixture of wax and rosin, and then encased in a strip of india-
rubber, combined with sulphur or other vulcanizing material, which strip is
carried up one side and folded over the end, and down the other side. The
mandril so covered is passed between the aforesaid grcoved rollers, and the
strip of india-rubber is thus formed into a tube closed at one end. The wax
and rosin are then melted out, and the mandril withdrawn, and the tube is
submitted to the proper temperature to complete the hornifying process. This
tube is afterwards cemented on the stalk of the insulator. Or the tube (after
removal from the mandril) may be placed on the stalk, and then exposed to
The
the heat necessary to complete the vulcanization or hornification.
operation may thus be facilitated in cases where the form of the stalk (as in
that shown in Figures 12 and 13) renders it impossible or inconvenient to
apply the india-rubber to it directly by the rollers. The rollers may, however,
in some cases be made with grooves and notches of suitable forms to allow the
stalk to pass through. They may also be employed for covering square or
octagonal stalks, or stalks of other similar sectional forms, by making the
grooves in the rollers of corresponding forms. Taper stalks may also be
covered, or taper tubes (like that shown in Figures 12 and 13) may be made
by making the rollers with taper grooves, and using strips of india-rubber
tapering in width, or in thickness, or both. The tubes may also be made with
flanges or undulations, so as to increase the distance which the electricity
would have to travel to escape from the line wire in the event of the surface
of the tube becoming damp or wet.
In some cases the vulcanized india-rubber tube may be manufactured and
vulcanized in the cast-iron bell, or simultaneously in the bell and on the
stalk, so as to unite the parts without cement. Or the first coating or tube may
be made on the stalk and vulcanized, and a second coating may then be applied
to the upper end, which is then inserted in the cast-iron bell, and the whole
The
exposed to the proper temperature to complete the vulcanization.
lower end of. the stalk A is screwed, and carries a nut G and a small bent
plate H, with two hooks h, -h, on which the line wire W is laid. By screwing
up the nut G, the wire W is pressed by the hooks h, h, against the end of the
screwed stalk A, and is thus secured between the two hooks on one side, and
the intermediate point on the other side. Other means of attaching the wire
may, however, be used. The wire may also be carried by the cup, while the

page_text: stalk is fixed to the post or other support. Figure 10 is a longitudinal section,
and Figure 11 is a plan, of such an arrangement. A is the stalk, which is
bent up and terminates in a screw a at or about the level-of-the-line wire W.
The screw a may be screwed at once into a wooden post. If preferred,
however, a flange or other fixing may be substituted for the screw a. The
stalk A is cemented into a tube B of hard vulcanized india-rubber, which
expands into a bell form at its lower part, and has its upper part cemented into
the upper part D of a cast-iron bell E, which carries two. opposite projections
and g. In the projection is a notch, which receives the line wire W. His
a bent rod, with two hooks h, h, which receive the line wire W; this bent rod.
being hooked on the line wire and. then pressed down over the projection g,
draws the line wire firmly into the notch in the projection; the wire is thus
held between the two hooks on one side, and the. intermediate notch on
the other: The form of the projection g is such that it draws the, rod H
tighter as it is pushed further down, and thus acts as a .wedge.. i, i, are two
small lateral projections to keep the bent rod H from.moving laterally.
Figure 12. is a front view with one-half in section of an insulator with
tightening rollers for stretching the line. wires; Figure. 13 is a side view,
partly in. section, of the same. A is the stalk. with its screw a; B.is the tube
of hard vulcanized or hornified india-rubber, which is cemented into the upper
part D of the cast-iron bell E; this tube is shown of a taper form on the
outside, being thickest at the top; J and K are the rollers, which receive the
line wires, and are provided with ratchets and pauls in the usual manner, and
are mounted in brackets cast on the bell E.
Figure 14 is a vertical section, and Figure 15 is a horizontal section, of a
galvanic or voltaic battery, adapted for working electric telegraphs. The
copper element consists of one or more straight or bent pieces of sheet
copper A, attached to a wire or strip of copper B, and placed at the bottom of
a glass or porcelain jar C. An inverted cup D, of porous or perforated
earthenware or other permeable material, is placed in. the jar, so as to surround.
and inclose the copper element. This inverted cup D has a central aperture,
in which is fixed or cemented a vertical glass or porcelain cylinder or large
tube E, through which passes. the wire or electrode B, from the copper
element A. The cylinder E and cup D may be made. of one piece of porous
earthenware, and the cylinder E may be glazed or saturated with melted wax,
so as to render it impermeable. Into the space between the inverted cup D
and the glass jar C paper pulp or other suitable porous material is placed or
tightly rammed, or an india-rubber ring is inserted, and the top of the cup is
then covered with a bed of sawdust or similar porous material, which has

page_text: previously been soaked in dilute sulphuric or other acid. On this is laid a
sheet of canvass F, on which rests a ring G of plain or amalgamated zinc,
which forms the other element of the battery, and is provided with a wire or
electrode H and binding screw I. The inverted cup D and cylinder E are
filled with solution of sulphate of copper and crystals of the same. The space
around the cylinder E, and between it and the sides of the jar, is filled with
dilute sulphuric acid, or dilute solution of sulphate of zinc, or muriate of
ammonia, or common salt, or other known exciting liquor. When this
solution becomes too strongly charged with sulphate of zinc, a portion is
withdrawn and water or fresh solution is added. Crystals of sulphate of
copper are introduced from time to time into the cylinder E, and, if necessary,
a portion of liquid is withdrawn from it, or water is added. Instead of the
inverted cup, a perforated or porous plate or disc resting on a shoulder in the
jar may be employed to support the sawdust.
In the event of any accumulation of dirt or impurities from the zinc, the
liquids are drawn off by syphons, or by plugs or taps provided for the purpose, and
the dirt and a portion of the sawdust are removed, and fresh sawdust introduced.
The gradual growth or precipitation of copper which takes place on the porous
cells of ordinary Daniell's batteries," or sulphate of copper batteries, is ob-
viated by constructing the battery in the manner herein-before described, and
a very constant battery is thus produced.
In transmitting signals through long submarine or subterranean line wires,
in lieu of connecting the end of the line wire beyond the receiving instrument
to the earth, I connect it to a species of battery consisting of a succession of
cups or vessels containing dilute sulphuric acid or water, or aqueous mixtures
or solutions. In each cup are two platinum plates. The line wire is connected
to the first plate in the first cup; the second plate in this cup is connected to
the first plate in the next cup, and so on, the last plate in the last cup being
connected to the earth. When a current is transmitted through the line wire
it arrives at this battery, and produces a certain amount of polarization or de-
composition of water in the cups. The oxygen and hydrogen gases being in
small quantity, remain attached to or condensed upon the surface of a
platinum plates, formning a gas battery, which has a tendency to produce a
current in the opposite direction to that which it has just received; thus
tending to discharge the magnetism of the telegraphic instrument in proportion
to the charge it had received, and thus facilitating rapid working. In like
manner I place a similar battery or series of surfaces capable of being polarized,
of larger dimensions, between the earth and the signalling battery at the

page_text: signalling station, and I connect it to the line wire at the moment that the
signalling battery is disconnected. In general, these batteries or series of
polarizable surfaces should have as many or more pairs of plates as the signal-
ling batteries when the latter are "Daniell's batteries." This apparatus may
be called a polarization battery, as it is only put in action by the current or
wave of electricity which it receives from another battery. Its plates, being of
the same metal and immersed in the same liquid, do not of themselves originate
any electric current. The plates may be of platinum, or gold, or other metal,
which is not oxidized or attacked by the liquid, or they may be of carbon.
Plates or rods of porcelain coated with a thin film of platinum may also be
employed.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
generally the application of india-rubber for insulating and covering wire for
electric telegraphic purposes; but what I claim is,-
. First, insulating and covering wires for electric telegraphic purposes with
india-rubber, by applying the same in strips whose edges are cut and the
freshly cut surfaces united by means of grooved rollers and cutting edges, as
herein-before described.
Second, insulating and covering wires for electric telegraphic purposes with
two or more coverings of india-rubber, applied in strips, in manner herein-
before described, and with the seams of successive coverings in different angular
positions, by means of two or more machines placed in succession with the
grooved rollers of each machine at an angle to those of the preceding
machine.
Third, insulating and covering two or more wires simultaneously with india-
rubber, by passing the wires and two broad strips of sheet india-rubber between
two or more grooved rollers and shearing discs, placed alternately upon one
spindle and similar grooved rollers, with or without soft or elastic intervening
discs placed upon a second spindle, as herein-before described in reference to
Figure 7.
Fourth, the mode or modes of constructing plane or vulcanized, or hard vul-
canized, or hornified india-rubber insulating tubes and tubular insulators, by
cutting and uniting the edges of a strip or strips of india-rubber, by means of
rollers and cutting edges, as herein-before described.
Fifth, constructing insulating supports for electric telegraphic line wire of
metallic stalks, partly incased and insulated by tubes or coverings of hard vul-
canized or hornified india-rubber, which tubes or coverings are either manu

page_text: factured separately, or are manufactured or completed on the said stalks, and
are inserted or cemented in bell-shaped cups of cast iron or other suitable
material, as herein-before described.
Sixth,, securing suspended electric telegraphic conductors or line wires to
insulating supports by means of a bent plate or rod with two hooks and a
wedge or screw, by which the wire is held between two points on one side and
one intermediate point on the other side, in manner herein-before described in
reference to Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11.
Seventh, constructing galvanic batteries, to be excited by two different
liquids, with an upper chamber or compartment containing the zinc element,
and a lower chamber containing the copper clement, and separated from the
upper chamber by a thick layer of paper pulp, sawdust, or other porous ma-
terial, and provided with a cylinder or funnel of impermeable non-conducting
material, by means of which the crystals of sulphate of copper or other mate-
rials or solutions can be introduced into the lower chamber, as herein-before
described.
Eighth, the application at both or either of the signalling or receiving
stations of electric telegraphs of a series of surfaces capable of being polarized.
for the purpose of discharging or assisting in discharging the line wire. or
increasing the effect of weak currents on the receiving instrument by means of
the reflex or secondary current resulting from the charging or polarizing of
such surfaces.
In witness whereof. I. the said Charles William Siemens, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
C. W. SIEMENS. (L.S.)