IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TELE- GRAPHIC CABLES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Chatterton, of Highbury Terrace, and Wil-
loughby Smith, of Pownall Road, Dalston, both in the County of Middle-
sex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TELE-
GRAPHIC CABLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Chatterton and
Willoughby Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 22nd January 1861.
We, JOHN CHATTERTON, of Highbury Terrace, and WILLOUGHBY SMITH, of
Pownall Road, Dalston, both in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of tele-
graphic cables. For these purposes in order that the gutta percha insulating
coatings should not be subjected to heat in the process of manufacturing a
cable, as has heretofore been the case, when applying hot pitch, rosin, and.
other matters, together with or after the fibrous materials and wire coatings have

page_text: been applied around the gutta percha coated wires, we apply oxides or carbonate
of lead or other preparation of that or other metal combined with tar, oil, or
varnish, together with the fibrous materials used externally of the insulating
gutta percha coatings, whether wire be employed as well as fibrous materials
to give strength to the cable or not. For these purposes the fibrous materials
used, whether made up in the form of tape, yarn, cord, or otherwise, is coated
or saturated with the paint or composition above mentioned, and by preference
in the act of applying such fibrous materials, and whether such fibrous mate-
rials are wound spirally around or laid longitudinally over the surfaces of the
gutta percha, and it is preferred to bind an uncoated tape exterior of the
saturated coatings of fibre in order that the cable may be at once coiled.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Chatterton and Willoughby Smith in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 22nd July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
CHATTERTON, of Highbury Terrace, and WILLOUGHBY SMITH, of Pownall Road,
Dalston, both in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reigo, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Chatterton and Willoughby Smith, Her special licence, that we,
the said John Chatterton and Willoughby Smith, our executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Chatterton and Wil-
loughby Smith, our 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 MANUFACTURE OF TELEGRAPHIC CABLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Chatterton and Willoughby Smith our exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their
hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one us or them, should particu-
larly 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

page_text: Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Chatterton and Willoughby
Smith, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of tele
graphic cables. For these purposes in order that the gutta percha insulating
coatings should not be subjected to heat in the process of manufacturing a
cable, as has heretofore been the case, when applying hot pitch, rosin, and other
matters together with or after the fibrous materials and wire coatings have
been applied around the gutta percha coated wires, we apply oxides or carbo-
nates of lead or other preparation of that or other metal combined with tar,
oil, or varnish, together with the fibrous materials used externally of the insu-
lating gutta percha coatings, whether wire be employed as well as fibrous
materials to give strength to the cable or not. For these purposes the fibrous
material used, whether made up in the form of tape, yarn, cord, or otherwise,
is coated or saturated with the paint or composition above mentioned, and by
preference in the act of applying such fibrous materials, and whether such
fibrous materials are wound spirally around or laid longitudinally over the
surfaces of the gutta percha, and it is preferred to bind an uncoated tapo
exterior of the saturated coatings of fibre in order that the cable may be at
once coiled.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, we will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
We prepare a paint, by preference of oxide of lead (red lead), though
carbonates or other preparations of lead may be used, or oxides or other pre-
parations of other metals suitable for paint may be employed in place thereof
with boiled linseed oil, or it may be varnish or other suitable fluid, such as
Stockholm tar, taking care to avoid the use of turpentine and other fluids
which are solvents of or act injuriously on gutta percha. We would state that
we make no claim to the paints above mentioned, they separately and apart
from their use in carrying out our Invention not being new. The peculiarity
of our Invention consist in the manner in which such paints are used in com-
bination with fibrous materials in the manufacture of telegraph cables,
whether wire be applied or not. to give strength to such electric telegraph.
cables.
The electric conductor (whether consisting of a strand of metal wires or

page_text: otherwise formed) is first coated with gutta percha, as heretofore; and when
wire is not used to give strength to such gutta percha covered conductor, it is
coated with fibrous materials coated or saturated with the paint above men-
tioned. The fibrous materials may be in the form of tape, yarn, cord, or other-
wise, and the most convenient manner of performing this process is to cause
the tapes or yarns, or cords, or other forms into which the fibre is manu-
factured, to pass through a bath of such paint immediately previous to their
being paid or served, or otherwise applied either longitudinally or spirally, or
both, around the gutta percha; and there may be one or more layers of such
coated or saturated fibrous matters employed on or around the gutta percha
covered electric conductor.
When iron or steel wires are used to give strength to the electric telegraph
cable, whether such wires be laid around spirally or longitudinally, we prefer
that they should each be first covered with fibrous materials saturated or coated
with the paint above-mentioned, and this may, we believe, be most advan-
tageously performed by causing each wire to pass through a bath of the paint
above mentioned as it is about to be paid, or served, or otherwise coated with
tape, cord, or yarn, or other suitable preparation of fibre, and the tapes, cords,
yarns, or other preparations of fibres thus used on the wires should be also
passed through a bath of or be otherwise coated with the paint above men-
tioned, as the same are applied to the wires, by which means the paint will be
wet both on the wires and on the preparations of fibrous materials as they are
brought together.
When the preparation of fibrous materials saturated or covered with the
paint is not to be wound round or otherwise applied to the individual wires
used to give strength to a telegraphic cable, then the gutta percha core con-
taining the electric conductor is first to have the wires laid or otherwise
applied thereto as heretofore, and is then to be coated with fibrous materials
suitably prepared in the form of tape, cord, or yarn, or otherwise, and coated
or saturated with the paint above mentioned, and the same applied over the
wires by serving or otherwise either one or more layers thereof on to the cable,
which we believe may be most conveniently done by causing the cable to pass
through a bath of the paint, and the preparation of fibrous material, whether
tape, cord, yarn, or otherwise coated or saturated with the paint, is applied
whilst the paint on both are wet; and we then apply over the same another
coating of tape or other preparation of fibres which has not been coated with
the paint.
We would remark, that we make no claim to the use of fibrous materials

page_text: when uncombined with the paint, whether applied to the individual wires of an
electric telegraph cable or to the wires after they have been applied to the core
of gutta percha containing the electric conductor.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Chatterton and Willoughby
Smith, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-second
day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-one
JOHN CHATTERTON. (L.S.)
WILLY. SMITH.
(L.S.)