IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COPPER COVERED AND COPPER CORED WIRE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COPPER
COVERED AND COPPER CORED WIRE."-A communication from abroad
by Selah Hiler, of the City and State of New York, United States
of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lako
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th June 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
.COPPER COVERED AND COPPER CORED WIRE," a communication, to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to fabricating copper coated or copper cored
wire, by treating the two metals of which such wire is made, and before
the same are rolled into a rod preparatory to being drawn into wire, in
any of the following modes:-
First. By alloying the copper upon the surface or in an aperture made
through the centre of the steel. Second. By rolling the steel into a rod

page_text: of suitable size, preferably not more than one inch in diameter, inserting
it into a copper tube or pipe of a suitable thickness to give the wire the
amount of copper coating desired, and heating the steel to as high a heat
as it will bear without injury; then, while it is hot, communicating a
portion of the heat to the copper, immediately rolling and drawing the rod
and tube thus combined into wire and treating them to this end as a rod
of steel alone would be treated. Third. By inserting in an aperture made
in the centre of a cylinder of steel, a rod of copper of a suitable size to
constitute a copper core of the size desired in the wire when completed,
the copper to be inserted when the steel is heated white hot, or as hot
as it will bear without injury, and the two combined to be at once rolled
and drawn into wire.
To alloy the copper on the surface of the mass of steel designed for
the wire, I take a mass of iron or steel, preferably though not neces-
sarily of cylindrical form, and as large as can be conveniently manipulated,
and heated in a retort or crucible, and having thoroughly cleansed its
surface by acids or otherwise I cover it carefully and completely with a
suitable flux, say of borax, with sufficient water to barely dissolve it, so
that it may be made to adhere to the metal. The mass of iron or steel
thus prepared I place on end within a fire-proof retort or crucible, pre-
ferably of blacklead, so formed that when the mass of iron or steel is set
centrally within it there shall be on all sides between the walls of
the crucible and the iron or steel a space equal to the thickness of the
copper with which it is to be covered. I then fill this space with copper
in the condition of filings, or otherwise reduced to small particles, packing
it in tightly around the iron or steel, and adding a further quantity to
supply the shrinkage in melting, so that when the copper is melted the
space between the iron or steel and the walls of the crucible will be
filled.
I then place the crucible with its contents in a suitable furnace, and
raise the temperature until the copper is fully melted, the iron or steel
being at the same time heated to a bright red or white heat. The object
of thus packing the comminuted copper around the iron is to retain the
flux in place upon the surface of the iron or steel until the copper is
melted, and the temperature of the iron is raised sufficiently to effect a
union between the two metals.
When this is accomplished I remove the crucible from the furnace,
and cause the copper to cool and solidify at the bottom of the crucible

page_text: first, and at the upper surface last, thus causing the shrinkage to occur
at the upper surface and not in the body of the metal. This cooling of
the copper from the bottom upward may be effected by depositing upon
the top of the crucible as soon as it is removed from the furnace, a mass
of iron, fire-brick, or other suitable material heated to a white heat.
When the two metals are thus united the combined mass may be
wrought and treated as a single body, and hammerred or rolled into bars
or rods, and drawn into wire without disturbing the copper or stripping
it from the iron or steel, and it will be found that the same relative pro-
portions of the two metals existing when taken from the crucible will
be maintained throughout the operation.
Instead of using comminuted copper and packing it around the iron
in the crucible, the mass of iron or steel, with its covering of flux, may
be covered with copper wire coiled around it from end to end; or it may
be tightly enveloped in a sheet of copper and firmly secured by wiring
or otherwise; or strips or rods of copper may be arranged around it
longitudinally, and then wire coiled about the strips; or the mass of
iron or steel with its coating of flux may be forced into a copper tube
just large enough to receive it; or the mass of iron or steel covered with
the flux may be heated to a red heat and plunged into melted copper;
then in either case the iron or steel is placed in the crucible with
additional copper, and the whole heated together as before described.
To alloy the copper in the centre of the steel, I take a mass of steel
of suitable size, preferably of cylindrical form, having an aperture through
the centre; I cover the surface of the aperture with the flux so that it
will adhere to it; I then plug up one end of the aperture in some
suitable manner, then fill the aperture with finely divided copper, or
with a copper rod fairly fitting into the same, and submit the whole to
heat until the copper is melted and the steel is raised to a bright red or
even a white heat; I then remove them from the furnace and let them
stand until the copper solidifices, when the mass may be at once rolled
and drawn into wire.
To make copper coated wire without alloying the two metals together,
I take a rod of steel, and having heated it as highly as it will bear, insert
it while hot into a copper tube also somewhat heated, fitting closely.
The combined rod and tube may, without reheating, be rolled into a small
rod, and then drawn into wire of any desired size.

page_text: To make copper cored wire, I take a cylinder of steel and drill or
otherwise make a hole longitudinally through it. Then after heating it
to a high heat, I insert in the aperture a rod of copper that will fit
tightly, and immediately roll the combined metals into a rod, and then
draw the same into wire in the usual manner. Wire may be both coated
and cored with copper in the manner here described, combining the two
operations in one and the same wire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administra-
tors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
exccutors, 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 MANUFACTURE OF COPPER COVERED AND COPPER CORED WIRE," a commu-
nication to me from abroad by Selah Hiler, of the City and State of
New York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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:-
This Invention relates to fabricating copper coated or copper cored
wire, by treating the two metals of which such wire is made, and before
the same are rolled into a rod preparatory to being drawn into wire,
by any of the following modes:—
First. By alloying the copper upon the surface or in an aperture made
through the centre of the steel. Second. By rolling the steel into a rod
of suitable size, preferably not more than one inch in diameter, inserting
it into a copper tube or pipe of a suitable thickness to give the wire the
amount of copper coating desired, and heating the steel to as high a heat
as it will bear without injury; then, while it is hot, communicating a
portion of the heat to the copper, immediately rolling and drawing the
rod and tube thus combined into wire and treating them to this end as a
rod of steel alone would be treated. Third. By inserting in an aperture
made in the centre of a cylinder of steel, a rod of copper of a suitable
size to constitute a copper core of the size desired in the wire when
completed, the copper to be inserted when the steel is heated white hot,
or as hot as it will bear without injury, and the two combined to he then
rolled and drawn into wire.
To alloy the copper on the surface of the mass of steel designed for
the wire, I take a mass of iron or steel, preferably though not neces-
sarily of cylindrical form, and as large as can be conveniently manipulated,
and heated in a retort or crucible, and having thoroughly cleansed its
surface by acids or otherwise I cover it carefully and completely with
a suitable flux, say of borax, with sufficient water to barely dissolve it,
so that it may be made to adhere to the metal. The mass of iron or
steel thus prepared I place on end within a fire-proof retort or crucible,
preferably of blacklead, so formed that when the mass of iron or steel
is set centrally within it there shall be on all sides between the walls of
the crucible and the iron or steel a space equal to the thickness of the
copper with which it is to be covered. I then fill this space with copper
in the condition of filings, or otherwise reduced to small particles, packing
it in tightly around the iron or steel, and adding a further quantity to
supply the shrinkage in melting, so that when the copper is melted the

page_text: space between the iron or steel and the walls of the crucible will be
filled.
I then place the crucible with its contents in a suitable furnace, and
raise the temperature until the copper is fully melted, the iron or steel
being at the same time heated to a bright red or white heat. The object
of thus packing the comminuted copper around the iron is to retain the
flux in place upon the surface of the iron or steel until the copper is
melted, and the temperature of the iron is raised sufficiently to effect a
union between the two metals.
When this is accomplished, I remove the crucible from the furnace, 1
and cause the copper to cool and solidify at the bottom of the crucible
first, and at the upper surface last, thus causing the shrinkage to occur
at the upper surface and not in the body of the metal, whereby the
copper will become completely alloyed to the iron or steel throughout its
entire surface. This cooling of the copper from the bottom upward may 1
be effected by depositing upon the top of the crucible as soon as it is
removed from the furnace, a mass of iron, fire-brick, or other suitable
material, heated to a white heat, which will maintain the copper at the
top in a melted state after the bottom has become solidified.
When the two metals are thus united, the combined mass may be
wrought and treated as a single body, and hammered or rolled into bars
or rods and drawn into wire by the means and according to the method
ordinarily employed in making iron wire, without disturbing the copper
or stripping it from the iron or steel, and it will be found that the same
relative proportions of the two metals existing when taken from the
crucible will be maintained throughout the operation.
In place of using comminuted copper and packing it around the iron
in the crucible, the mass of iron or steel with its covering of flux may
be covered with copper wire coiled around it from end to end, or it may
be tightly enveloped in a sheet of copper and firmly secured by wiring
or otherwise; or strips or rods of copper may be arranged around it
longitudinally and then wire coiled about the strips; or the mass of
iron or steel with its coating of flux may be forced into a copper tube
just large enough to receive it, or the mass of iron or steel covered with
the flux may be heated to a red heat and plunged into melted copper,
whereby a thin coating of copper is deposited upon the iron, retaining the
flux on its surface; then in either case the iron or steel is placed in the

page_text: described.
The object is to exclude the air from the surface of the iron or steel,
thereby preventing oxidation while it is being heated, and securing the
presence of the flux upon the surface of the heated iron at the moment
when the melted copper is brought into contact with it, thereby effecting
a complete union of the two metals.
To alloy the copper in the centre of the steel, I take a mass of steel
of suitable size, preferably of cylindrical form, having an aperture through
the centre. I cover the surface of the aperture with the flux so that it
will adhere to it. I then plug up one end of the aperture in some
suitable manner, which may be done with fire-clay, or setting the steel
on end on clay deposited in the bottom of a retort or crucible; then I
fill the aperture with finely divided copper, or with a copper rod fairly
fitting into the same, and submit the whole to heat until the copper is
melted and the steel is raised to a bright red or even a white heat. I
then remove them from the furnace and let them stand until the copper
solidifies, when the mass may be at once rolled and drawn into wire in
the manner ordinarily employed in making steel wire.
To make copper coated wire without alloying the two metals together,
I take a rod of steel, say, an inch or so in diameter, and as long as can
be conveniently handled, and having heated it as highly as it will bear,
insert it while hot into a copper tube, also somewhat heated, fitting
closely. The heat of the steel will be communicated to the copper, so
the combined rod and tube may be rolled into a small rod, and then
drawn into wire of any desired size.
To make copper cored wire, I take a cylinder of steel and drill or
otherwise make a hole longitudinally through it. Then after heating it
to a high heat, I insert in the aperture a rod of copper that will fit
tightly, and immediately roll the combined metals into a rod, and then
draw the same into wire in the usual manner. Wire may be both coated
and cored with copper in the manner herein described, combining the two
operations in one and the same wire.
When thus treated these metals may be worked together without the
copper being separated from the steel, but it will remain on the surface
or in the core, as the case may be, during the operation of rolling, and

page_text: drawing, the same relative proportions of the copper and the steel being
maintained throughout the operation.
The wire thus made is useful for many purposes, but that made without
bringing the two metals together is more particularly suitable for tele-
graph lines for the transmission of the electric current. When the
metals are alloyed together, the conducting capacity will be somewhat
impaired as the metals run with each at the surfaces of contact. When
not alloyed together, the two metals are kept separate with distinct
surfaces, thus forming good conductors, the copper supplying the superior
conducting element, and the steel giving tensile strength. Telegraph
lines of this wire may be made much smaller when made of the requisite
strength than the iron wire usually used for the purpose.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,-
First. The fabrication of combined steel and copper wire in the
manner and by the methods herein described.
Second. Combined copper and steel or iron wire, whether copper
coated or cored, or both, when the two metals are not alloyed together,
fabricated substantially as and for the purpose herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
tive
Witness,
JAMES EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings, W.C.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)