IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE AND INSULATION OF TELEGRAPH CABLES AND TELEGRAPHIC WIRES IN GENERAL, AND OF APPARATUS FOR LAYING MARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Searle, of Woodford Wells, in the County
of Essex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE AND INSULATION OF TELEGRAPH CABLES AND TELEGRAPHIC WIRES
IN GENERAL, AND OF APPARATUS FOR LAYING MARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES."
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated the 1st April 1861.
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Searle at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st April
1861.
I, RICHARD SEARLE, of Woodford Wells, in the County of Essex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE AND INSULATION OF TELEGRAPH CABLES AND TELEGRAPHIC WIRES
IN GENERAL, AND OF APPARATUS FOR LAYING MARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES," to be as
follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in improvements upon an Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to me on the 29th day of March 1859, the
number of such Patent being 785; and, secondly, in an improved method of
[laying or paying out marine telegraph cables.
The first part of my present Invention consists in an improved method of
insulating the corrugated or grooved wires, or wires or bands of any other
form than round, the use of which was secured to me by the above-named
Letters Patent, and this I effect by threading or otherwise covering such wires

page_text: with beads, tubes, or discs of glass, porcelain, stoneware, gums, or other
material, by which means a flexible non-conducting covering or case is formed,
through which the conducting wires or bands pass, such beads, tubes, or discs
being secured into one continuous flexible line by an outer covering of plaited
material.
The second part of my Invention for improvements in apparatus for
paying out or laying marine telegraph cables consists in passing such cable,
during the process of laying or paying out, through a flexible tube of india-
rubber or other material of any desired length, the diameter of such tube
being so regulated that a gentle and uniform pressure or resistance to the
passing out of the cable is secured, thereby relieving the cable from a portion
of the strain to which it is subjected when paid out or laid by the methods at
present in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Searle in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
September 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
SEARLE, of Woodford Wells, in the County of Essex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of. Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Searle, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Searle, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Searle, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE AND INSULATION OP TELEGRAPH CABLES AND TELEGRAPHIC WIRES IN GENERAL,
AND OF APPARATUS FOR LAYING MARINE TELEGRAPH CABLES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Searle, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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 Richard Searle, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, that is to say :-
My Invention consists, first, in improvements upon an Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to me on the Twenty-ninth day of March One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, the number of such Patent being 785;
and, secondly, in an improved method of laying or paying out marine telegraph
cables.
The first part of my present Invention consists in an improved method of
insulating the corrugated or grooved wires, or wires or bands of any other
form than round, the use of which was secured to me by the above-named
Letters Patent, and this I effect by threading upon or otherwise covering such
wires with beads, tubes, or discs of glass, porcelain, stoneware, gum, or other
material, by which means a flexible non-conducting covering or case is formed,
through which the conducting wires or bands pass, such beads, tubes, or discs
being secured into one continuous flexible line by an outer covering of plaited
material; and by preference I carry out this part of my Invention in the
following manner, that is to say, having provided a grooved or corrugated
conducting wire or band of the desired form, I cover it with or thread upon
it short tubes or beads of glass or other material, and between each of these
tubes or beads I place, if necessary, discs or washers of india-rubber, gutta
percha, or other material. I then cover these tubes or beads with a layer or
coating of india-rubber or gutta percha, over which I place another layer of
tubes or beads of glass or other material, as before described, the external
surface of these beads being by preference impressed with a series of diagonal
or other grooves for the purpose of receiving and retaining a plaited or laid
covering or network of fibrous material dressed with bitumen. A section of
my improved cable would thus exhibit a central corrugated or grooved con-
ducting wire or band of any other form than round; secondly, a ring of glass
or other non-conducting material; thirdly, a ring of gutta percha or india-
rubber; fourthly, a second ring of glass or other non-conducting material; and,
fifthly, an outer ring of fibrous material made up with bitumen. If it should
be necessary to provide against the effects of abrasion or friction against
substances liable to injure the softer material used in the construction of the
cable, as in shallow waters or on rocky shores, I place an extra outer covering
of tubes or beads of glass or other material upon such portions of the cable,

page_text: 1
and by these means I produce a telegraphic cable of great strength and
flexibility, and composed of materials little liable to injury from tension or
abrasion, and with a greatly reduced amount of induction. My Invention is
also equally applicable to telegraph wires used on shore, and in this case also
I, by preference, cover the corrugated or grooved conducting wire with tubes
or beads of glass or other material with or without discs or washers of india
rubber or gutta percha.
The second part of my Invention, for improvements in apparatus for paying
out or laying marine telegraph cables, consists in passing such cable, during
the process of laying or paying out, through a flexible tube of india-rubber or
other elastic material of any desired length, the diameter of such tube being
so regulated that a gentle and uniform pressure or resistance to the passage of
the cable is secured, and which may be increased to any desirable extent while
being paid out, thereby relieving it from a portion of the strain to which it is
subjected when paid out or laid by the methods at present in use.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the precise details herein described so long as the general principle of my
.Invention be adhered to..
'
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Searle, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
RICHARD SEARLE.
(L.S.)