IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE OF ELECTRICAL WIRES OR CONDUCTORS
Year: 1884

page_text: BALTICATION,
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE OF
ELECTRICAL WIRES OR CONDUCTORS * to be as follows:-
This invention relates to electrical wires or conductors made of two or more
metals, one at least, of which is used for providing the conductor with sufficient
tensile strength and other material qualities, and which shall possess great
conductivity.
For the purposes of strength I prefer to use either steel or what is known as
combined iron and steel, or an alloy of copper with other metals; and for con-
ductivity I prefer to employ copper, either pure or alloyed with other metals.
For certain uses, it is desirable that a conductor should have capacity for
carrying a large volume of electric fluid; and in such conductors I prefer to arrange
the conducting metal upon the exterior of the wire. For certain other purposes, it
is not so essential to provide for the passage of a large volume of electricity,
therefore in such cases I prefer the conducting metal at the centre of the wire.
The electrical conductor may consist of a steel core, an iron intermediate section,
and a copper exterior electro deposited upon the iron.
The usual way of making what is technically known as "combined iron and
steel" is by inclosing the steel in an iron envelope and then, after heating,
reducing the envelope, which may be considered as an iron crucible, and the steel
contained in it together. By this means a perfect union of iron and steel is
obtained of uniform, or nearly uniform, co-efficiency of extension, and the iron
exterior has a higher degree of electric conductivity than the steel core, and any
quality of strength and ductility can be secured. This basis of compound iron and
steel is a good electric conductor in itself, and a copper surface will increase its
conductivity, while the steel core gives great supporting strength and the iron a
high modulus of fragility, while the modifications of the tensile strength are much
less at atmospheric change of temperature than in iron or steel alone.
Price 811

page_text: The copper plating may be done upon the combined iron and steel wire and the
wire immediately used without wire-drawing or further manipulation. I prefer in
order to get good results, to plate a billet or rod of combined iron and steel rather
than the wire, or to plate a wire of a larger diameter than I propose to use, and
draw it to size, rather than plate it and then use it without drawing.
Having plated the wire or wire rod or large wire with copper, I draw it to the
requisite size and the copper, iron and steel will reduce proportionally.
If desired, the combined iron and steel wire may be "galvanized" with tin or
other metal before being plated with copper. By this means a very perfect con-
nection will be made between the copper and the iron, with materially less danger
than otherwise of galvanic action setting up.
The thickness of the steel, of the iron, or of the copper can readily be regulated-
those of the steel and of the iron in the early stages of manufacture and that of the
copper during the process of deposition.
Nearly all the alloys of copper with other metals have their temperatures of
fusion less than that of copper; many of them having physical properties equal or
superior to copper for hot working.
Among the alloys of useful strength, which I prefer to use, are those which are
known as aluminum, bismuth, carbon and ferro zinc bronzes or alloys, the Muntz
metal, the Delta metal-which is a ferro-zinc bronze or brass, the ajax metal, which
is a composition indifferently classified as bronze or brass, manganese and phosphor
bronzes, sterro metal, nickel and silica bronzes or silicious copper, because these
have, or can be made of, high tensile strength and high modulus of elasticity, and
are very little subject to corrosion. It will be obvious that any strong alloy of
copper will be the equivalent of these.
While such conductors will be more expensive than the compound conductors of
iron, or steel and copper in the first instance, they will probably in the long run
not be much more expensive because more durable.
In making the electrical conductor with a copper interior and an exterior made
of these bronzes, brasses or alloys, or with the copper upon its exterior and the
alloy upon the interior, they may be so put together as to ensure a union or fusion
between them, or they may be so put together as to have them in contact but not
united. There will be but slight difference in tensile strength or conductivity in
these two cases, but it is probable that a conductor of united metals would be
better in some respects than a conductor of dissociated metals.
The difference in manipulation to produce a unison from that which would
produce dissociation would practically be the difference between putting the two
metals together, one being solid (slightly heated or not as desired) and the other in
a fused fluid condition, for association, or putting them together with the extreme
of temperatures for dissociation.
The process of making these compound electrical conductors has several stages;
first the formation of the ingot; second, its reduction into billets, bars and rods
and third, the reduction of the rods into wire.
The formation of the ingot is of the most consequence; but there is a special
manipulation required whenever a partially reduced ingot is cut for convenience of
manipulation in further stages.
The ingot may be formed in a mould, the fluid metal being cast around a bolt or
bar set up within the mould. This bar preferably is shorter than the mould and so
centred and supported that the molten fluid metal poured to it can flow around it
completely enveloping it, equally upon all sides. The complete enveloping of the
central metal by the exterior metal is not an absolute requisite, but it is deemed
preferable in practice.
The atmospheric action which takes place during the working of an ingot thus
made will be simply the surface action upon the encasing metal and will not affect
the interior at all, while the work to which the ingot is subjected will be work
that affects the mass throughout. When the centre is completely enclosed
inequality in the reduction of the metals of the centre and exterior will be

page_text: avoided, or reduced to a minimum, while if it were unconfined at one or both
ends there would be a liability to unequal reduction, especially when hot, when the
centre bolt is put in hot for the purpose of having the two metals united in the
finished article. In this case the molten metal for the exterior section should be
poured quickly.
In case it is desired to make the bronze or alloyed exterior of the ingot first, and
then pour molten copper into it, this may be done but in such case the shell might
require to be chilled on its exterior while the copper was poured, and for some
little time after, so that the copper should not fuse the more fusible metal into
which it is cast. This chill should be applied as well to the bottom of the hollow
ingot as to the sides because of the danger of molten copper eating out the bottom
of the ingot, therefore a small section of copper or of some non-conducting
substance could be placed upon the bottom of the cavity in the ingot thus pro-
tecting it, the material thus inserted being removed at a subsequent stage.
In case molten copper is poured into the cavity of the more fusible ingot, as
above described the upper end of the ingot may subsequently be closed by molten
metal of the character of the exterior, by plugging with refractory material, or by
closing over the end in any proper way.
If it is desired to produce an electrical conductor with a copper exterior and a
centre of stronger metal, a copper ingot may be first cast hollow and its centre
filled with the more fusible metal, and if desired to have a union between the two
different metals, the hollow copper ingot should be heated to a proper temperature.
So, also copper may be poured upon a solid bar of the alloy or bronze, and if done
quickly and there is not too much copper, the alloy will probably not be taken up
by the copper. But I do not recommend this as the best way of doing. In any
case where a fused union is desired and the metal of highest fusing point is used in
a solid condition, it will be necessary to raise its temperature to a proper degree
immediately prior to pouring the metal of lower fusing point to it.
In the finished wire the exterior and interior metal have the same general
magnetic and galvanic natures but differ in electric conductivity.
In case the copper absorbs the alloy, or is absorbed by it, both the electric
conditions will be injured, and the tensile strength will be impaired, so that it is
desirable that the two metals should be kept from anything more than mere
surface union, substantially like sweating together.
The surface of that part of the ingot which is first prepared, whether it be the
core or whether it be the exterior, should be clean and should be in such a
condition as not to bave much air adherent to it.
.
If these surfaces are thoroughly cleaned from scale and then washed with oil
and lamp black, or other substances well known to copper workers for making such
a coating, these substances will be taken off by the molten metal and float upon it
or destroyed, removing all the air from the surface at the same time, and thus the
surface of the original part of the ingot, whether it be the bar for the centre, or
the hollow ingot for the exterior, will be clean for contact with the part subse-
quently to be poured into it or around it.
The ingot so made has, by preference, closed, ends, and may be manipulated in
the usual manner by hammer or rolls, at the working temperature of the most
fusible metal.
The ingot is then reduced to billets bars and rods in the usual manner of such
reductions. In case it is necessary to cut any of these products because they are
too long, it may be necessary that care should be taken, before reheating or making
use of either of the pieces with a cut end, to close the exterior metal over the
interior metal as much as possible, and thereby eliminate the exposure of the
enclosed metal to the atmosphere, and keep it in the same condition and relative
position in which it was.
Wire is then drawn from the rods formed in the usual manner, and this wire, if
it be made from the ingot with the bronze exterior and the copper interior will have
a comparatively uniform filament of copper throughout its length surrounded by &

page_text: с
casing of bronze or copper alloy, of much greater tensile strength, preserving the
copper from atmospheric action, and insulating it to a certain degree, and so
protecting it from induction.
The conductor may have an interior of copper and an exterior of steel.
The process employed in manufacturing this conductor does not vary materially
from that which has been already described. A steel casing is formed, preferably
by casting, and this ingot is prepared for the reception of the copper by having its
scale removed from the inner surface and the copper placed therein either solid or
in moltén condition, and the end of the cast ingot closed. It is then heated to a
proper temperature and reduced to billets and rods by rolls suitable for this purpose.
The copper will preserve its central position within the steel envelope, and will
reduce regularly and uniformly therewith, and the result is an electric conductor
having a copper core and a steel exterior.
Thin wire may be reduced to any size, and the proportion of the metals may be
varied to meet the requirements of the conductivity or of the strength by increasing
or reducing the proportion of the copper to the steel.
I prefer to use a steel high in manganese for a number of reasons, but particularly
because of availability during the process of manufacturing, and because of its
non conducting properties when in electrical use, which not only shields or protects
the copper core or conductor from the influences of extraneous electric currents, but
'while thus insulating the copper or electric conductor it does not retard the operative
electric current, as is the case with electric conductors insulated by attached
appliances.
The wires herein described and especially the copper cored wires or those having
a steel or a copper alloy exterior are also valuable for use in a telegraph cable
because all the advantages of the present cables, so far as strength and durability
are concerned, would be retained with greater utility for electric purposes, in so
much as each metal may, or the wire of the entire cable would, contain a perfect
electric conductor within itself free, comparatively, from retarding influences.
Perhaps the best wire for the cable is the one having a non-oxidizing bronze
alloy or exterior enclosing a pure copper core, as by its use high electrical and
physical conditions are obtained; and as the bronze or alloy forming the exterior
section is not affected by the corrosive action of smoke, sea air, acid fumes or the
like, incidental to the sea coast, cities and manufacturing towns, it is of great value
for cable purposes.

page_text: I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents;
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE MANUFACTURE
OF ELECTRICAL WIRES OR CONDUCTORS" and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement:
This invention relates to electrical wires or conductors made of two or more
metals, one at least of which is used for providing the conductor with sufficient
tensile strength and other material qualities, and one of which possesses great
conductivity.
For the purposes of strength I prefer to use either steel, or what is known as
combined iron and steel, or an alloy of copper with other metals; and for
conductivity I prefer to employ copper, either pure, or alloyed with other metals.
For certain uses it is desirable that a conductor should have capacity for
carrying a large volume of electric fluid; and in such conductors I prefer to
arrange the conducting metal upon the exterior of the wire. For certain other
purposes, it is not so essential to provide for the passage of a large volume of
electricity, therefore in such cases I prefer the conducting metal at the centre of
the wire.
"
The usual way of making what is technically known as "combined iron and
steel is by enclosing the steel in an iron envelope and then, after heating,
reducing the envelope, which may be considered as an iron crucible, and the steel
contained in it, together. By this means a perfect union of iron and steel is
obtained of uniform or nearly uniform coefficiency of extension, and the iron
exterior has a higher degree of electric conductivity than the steel core and any
quality of strength and ductility can be secured. This basis of compound iron and
steel is a good electric conductor in itself, and a copper surface will increase its
conductivity, while the steel core gives great supporting strength and the iron a
high modulus of fragility, the modifications of the tensile strength being much less
in atmospheric changes of temperature than in iron or steel alone.
The copper plating may be done upon the combined iron and steel wire, and the
wire immediately used, without drawing or further manipulation. I prefer, in
order to get good results, to plate a billet or rod of combined iron and steel, or to
plate a wire of a larger diameter than I propose to use, and draw it to size rather
than plate a wire and then use it without drawing. Having plated the wire or
wire rod or large wire with copper, I draw it to the requisite size, the copper, iron
and steel reducing proportionally.
If desired, the combined iron and steel wire may be "galvanized" with tin or
other metal before being plated with copper. By this means a very perfect
connection will be made between the copper and the iron with materially less
danger of galvanic action setting up.

page_text: The thicknesses of the steel, of the iron or of the copper can readily be regulated;
those of the steel and of the iron in the early stages of manufacture, that of the
copper during the process of deposition.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section an electric conductor comprising a
steel core, an intermediate iron section and an exterior metal of greater conductivity
than iron.
Figures 2 and 3 illustrate the method of manufacturing the conductor shown in
Figure 4.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 show sections of a steel and copper core conductor illustrating
the reduction thereof from one size to a smaller by rolling and drawing.
In Figure 1 a is the steel; b the iron; and c the copper.
In Figure 4 is represented an electric conductor in which d represents the core
or cover of copper, and • represents a core or cover of metal of higher tensile
strength than the copper and made of an alloy of copper which shall retain nearly
the copper coefficient of expansion and be superior to it in most respects, except
the property of conductivity.
.
Nearly all the alloys of copper with other metals have their temperatures of
fusion less than that of copper, many of them having physical properties equal, or
superior, to copper for hot working.
Among the alloys of useful strength which I prefer to use, are those which are
known as Aluminum, Bismuth, Carbon and ferro zinc bronzes or alloys, the Muntz
metal, the Delta metal-which is a ferro-zinc bronze or brass, the Ajax metal which
is a composition indifferently classified as bronze or brass, Manganese and Phosphor
bronzes, Sturro metal, Nickel and Silica bronzes or Silliceous copper because these
have, or can be made of, high tensile strength and high modulus of elasticity, and
are very little subject to corrosion. It will be obvious that any strong alloy of
copper will be the equivalent of these.
While such conductors will be more expensive than the compound conductors of
iron, or steel and copper in the first instance, they will probably in the long run
not be much more expensive, because more durable.
In making the electrical conductor with a copper interior and an exterior made
of these bronzes, brasses or alloys, or with the copper upon its exterior and the
alloy upon the interior, they may be so put together as to ensure a union or fusion
between them, or they may be so put together as to have them in contact but not
united. There will be but slight difference in tensile strength or conductivity in
these two cases, but it is probable that a conductor of united metals would be
better in some respects than a conductor of dissociated metals.
The difference in manipulation to produce a union from that which would
produce dissociation would practically be the difference between putting the two
metals together, one being solid (slightly heated or not as desired) and the other in
a fused fluid condition, for association, or putting them together with the extreme
of temperature for dissociation.
The process of making these compound electrical conductors has several stages;
first, the formation of the ingot; second, its reduction into billets, bars and rods;
and, third, the reduction of the rods into wire.
The formation of the ingot is of the most consequence; but there is a special
manipulation required whenever a partially reduced ingot is cut for convenience of
manipulation in further stages.
Figure 2 shows a mould for casting the fluid metal to the centre bolt or section
set up within it. This bolt preferably should be shorter than the mould, and 80
centred and supported that the molten fluid metal poured to it can flow around it,
completely enveloping it, equally upon all sides. The complete enveloping of the
centre metal by the exterior metal is not an absolute requisite, but it is deemed
preferable in practice.
The atmospheric action which takes place during the working of an ingot thus
made will be simply the surface action upon the encasing metal, and will not affect.

page_text: the interior at all, while the work to which the ingot is subjected will be work
that affects the mass throughout, fibrizing the copper and improving its conductive
qualities. When the centre is completely enclosed, inequality in the reduction of
the metals of the centre and exterior will be avoided, or reduced to a minimum,
while if it were unconfined at one or both ends there would be a liability to
unequal reduction, especially when hot; when the centre bolt is put in hot for the
purpose of having the two metals united in the finished article, this covering or
boxing-in of the centre section will be of importance. In this case the molten metal
for the exterior section should be poured quickly.
In case it is desired to make the bronze or alloyed exterior of the ingot first,
and then pour molten copper into it, this may be done, but in such case the shell
might require to be chilled on its exterior while the copper was poured and for
some little time after, so that the copper should not fuse the more fusible metal
into which it is cast but that its excessive heat should be rapidly conducted off.
This chill should be applied to the bottom of the hollow ingot as well as to the
sides, because of the danger of molten copper eating out the bottom of the ingot.
A small section of copper or of some non-conducting substance could be placed upon
the bottom of the cavity in the ingot, thus protecting it, the material thus inserted
being removed at a subsequent stage.
In case molten copper was poured into the cavity of the more fusible ingot, as
above described, the upper end of the ingot may subsequently be closed by molten
metal of the character of the exterior by plugging with refractory material, or by
closing over the end in any proper way.
If it is desired to produce an electrical conductor with a copper exterior and a
centre of stronger metal, a copper ingot may be first cast hollow as shewn in
Figure 3 and its centre filled with the more fusible metal; and if desired to have
a union between the two different metals the hollow copper ingot should be heated
to a proper temperature. So also, copper may be poured upon a solid bar of the
alloy or bronze, and if done quickly, and there is not too much copper, the alloy
will probably not be taken up by the copper. But this is not recommended as the
best method. In any case where a fused union is desired and the metal having the
highest fusing point is used in a solid condition it will be necessary to raise its
temperature to a proper degree immediately prior to pouring the less fusible metal
into it.
The finished wire is shewn in Figure 4 in which the exterior and interior metals
have the same general magnetic and galvanic natures, but differ in electric
conductivity.
In case the copper absorbs the alloy, or is absorbed by it, both the electric
conditions will be injured, and the tensile strength will be impaired, so that it is
desirable that the two metals should be kept from anything more than mere surface
union, substantially like sweating together.
The surface of that part of the ingot which is first prepared, whether it be the
coring part, or whether it be the exterior, should be clean of sand, scale or other
impurities, and should be in such a condition as not to have much air adherent
to it.
If these surfaces are thoroughly cleaned from scale and then washed with oil and
lampblack or other substances well known to copper workers for making such a
coating, these substances will be taken off by the molten metal and float upon it or
be destroyed, removing all the air from the surface at the same time and thus the
surface of the original part of the ingot, whether it be the bolt for the centre or
the hollow ingot for the exterior, will be clean for its contact with the part
subsequently to be poured into it or around it.
The ingot so made, has by preference closed ends, and may be manipulated
in the usual manner by hammer or rolls, at the working temperature of the most
fusible metal.
The ingot is then reduced to billets bars and rods in the usual way of such
reduction. If it is desired to cut any of these products because they are too long,

page_text: -it may be necessary, before reheating or making use of either of the pieces with
a cut end, to close the exterior metal over the interior metal as much as possible,
and thereby prevent the exposure of the enclosed metal to the atmosphere and keep
it in the same condition and relative position in which it was.
Wire is drawn from the rods formed, in the usual way, and this wire if it be
made from the ingot with the bronze exterior and the copper interior will have
a comparatively uniform filament of copper, throughout its length, surrounded by
a casing of bronze or copper alloy of much greater tensile strength. This casing
preserves the copper from atmospheric action, and insulates it to a certain degree,
.and so protects it from induction, and what might be called the "vagabond
.currents which lead from adjacent wires and disturb the usefulness of an electric
conductor.
"
In Figures 5, 6 and 7 I have represented a conductor in which the interior is of
.copper and the exterior of steel.
The process employed in manufacturing this conductor does not vary materially
from that which has been already described. A steel casing is formed preferably
by casting, and this ingot is prepared for the reception of the copper by having its
scale removed from the inner surface and the copper placed therein either solid or
in molten condition, and the end of the cast ingot closed. The ingot is then heated
to a proper temperature and reduced to billets and rods by rolls suitable for this
purpose. The copper will preserve its central position within the steel envelope,
and will reduce regularly and uniformly therewith, the result is an electric con-
ductor having a copper core and a steel exterior, the said conductor having much
greater conductivity and strength than heretofore.
Thin wire may be reduced to any size, and the proportions of the metals may be
varied to meet the requirements of the conductivity or of the strength, by increasing
or reducing the proportion of the copper to the steel.
I prefer to use a steel high in manganese for a number of reasons but particularly
because of availability during the process of manufacturing, and because of its
non-conducting properties when in electrical use, which not only shields or protects
the copper core or conductor from the influences of extraneous electric currents, but
while thus insulating the copper or electric conductor does not retard the operative
electric current as is the case with electric conductors insulated by attached
appliances.
The wires herein described and especially the copper cored wires, or those having
a steel or a copper alloy exterior, are also valuable for use in a telegraph cable,
because all the advantages of the present cables, so far as strength and durability
are concerned, would be retained, with greater utility for electric purposes, insomuch
as each metal may, or the wire of the centre cable would contain a perfect electric
conductor within itself comparatively free from retarding influences.
Perhaps the best wire for a cable is the one having a non-oxidizing bronze alloy
'or exterior enclosing a pure copper core, as by its use high electrical and physical
conditions are obtained; and as the bronze or alloy forming the exterior section is
not affected by the corrosive action of smoke, sea-air, acid fumes &c, incidental
to the sea coast, cities and manufacturing towns, it is of great value for cable
purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First. The improved electrical conductor herein described consisting of a com-
bined iron and steel core, of which steel is the central thread, with a copper
envelope, substantially as, and for the purposes, described.
Second. The improved electrical conductor herein described, consisting of a
combined iron and steel core, of which šteel is the centre thread, plated with tin or
other proper material, and provided with a copper envelope, substantially as, and
for the purposes, described.

page_text: Third. A compound electrical conductor of high tensile strength and high
conductivity, formed of continuous superposed layers of copper and copper alloy of
comparatively uniform section, substantially as described.
Fourth. The compound ingot for the manufacture of compound electrical con-
ductors formed of copper and copper alloy, or of alloyed metal of which copper
forms a component part, substantially as described.
Fifth. In the manufacture of compound electrical conductors, of two metals, one
of high conductivity and low tensile strength, and the other of high tensile
strength and low conductivity, closing the cut ends of billets, bars and rods, during
the process of manufacture, over the interior of the metal, substantially as, and for
the purposes described.
Sixth. A compound ingot (for the production of wire billets, wire rods and wire
with copper core and iron or steel exterior) formed of an iron or steel ingot cast
from molten malleable tenacious metal and cleaned of scale on its interior and then
covered or plated on the said interior with a metal capable of uniting (at a heat
below a fusing heat of either of the component metals) with both the adjacent iron
or steel and copper surfaces, and of a copper centre introduced either as a closely
fitted bolt or in a molten state, both ends of the copper centre being shielded from
the air when heated to work, substantially as described.
Seventh. A compound ingot, (for the production of wire billets, wire rods, and
wire having a copper core with an iron or steel exterior) formed from an iron or
steel ingot cast hollow from molten, malleable, tenacious metal, the said casing
being cleansed of sand scale only on the interior, and then coated on the said
interior with carbonaceous matter, or other material of equal effect and import,
and of a copper centre introduced either as a closely fitting bolt or in a molten
state, both ends of the copper centre being shielded from the air when heated to
work, substantially as described.
Eighth. The hollow iron or steel ingot completely closed at one end with steel
or iron cast from molten malleable tenacious metal, combined with a copper core
inserted in its cavity after the iron or steel has cooled, or partly cooled and set,
without an interposed flux or material capable of fluxing, substantially as
described.
Ninth. The method of preparing the interior of the iron or steel part of the
compound ingot for the reception of its copper core by the removal of sand scale,
the retention of oxide scale, and the application of a carbonaceous coating on the
oxide scale, substantially as described.
Tenth. The method of preparing the interior of the iron or steel part of the
compound ingot for the reception of its copper core, by removal of sand and oxide
scale, and the application of a metallic coating capable of alloying or uniting with
the iron or steel and with the copper, substantially as described.
Eleventh. A compound ingot having a core of malleable metal, of high electrio
conductivity and comparatively low fusing temperature, partially or completely
enclosed on its sides and ends by a malleable tenacious metal of lower electric
conductivity and comparatively high fusing point, substantially as, and for the
purposes, described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.