IMPROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES, AND IN PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick William Ewen, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, Manufacturer, and George Frederick James,
of Salford, in the same County, Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES, AND
IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick William
Ewen and George Frederick James at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 8th May 1875.
We, FREDERICK WILLIAM EWEN, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturer, and GEORGE FREDERICK JAMES, of Salford,
in the same County, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES,
AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention consists in the use of ground glass, fine sand, or other
powder possessing non-conducting properties for insulating electric
telegraph wires.

page_text: In carrying our Invention into operation we employ the following or
any other equivalent arrangement of machinery:-The wire to be insu-
lated is carried through a hopper containing the ground glass or other
powder, and six or other convenient number of yarns are guided through
holes in the top and bottom of the hopper to carry forward the powder,
which is surrounded by any convenient number of yarns passing through
guides in the bottom of the-hopper. The wire, with the powder and all
the yarns surrounding them, form a core, which is taken through a
conical tube placed above a circular braiding machine, by which the case
or shell formed of threads or wires is plaited over the core. The whole
is then passed through melted tar or other equivalent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick William Ewen and George Frederick
James in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 4th November
1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
WILLIAM EWEN, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturer, and GEORGE FREDERICK JAMES, of Salford, in the same County,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
cighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Frederick William Ewen and George
Frederick James, Her special licence that we, the said Frederick William
Ewen and George Frederick James, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederick William Ewen and George
Frederick James, 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 thercin 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INSULATING ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH WIRES, AND
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME," upon the con-
"

page_text: George Frederick James, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of our or their hands and
scals, 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 we, the said Frederick William Ewen and
George Frederick James, do hereby declare the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following state-
ment (that is to say) :—
Our Invention consists in the use of ground glass, fine sand, or other
powder possessing non-conducting properties for insulating electric tele-
graph wires.
In carrying our Invention into operation we employ the following
or any other equivalent arrangement of machinery:-The wire or wires
to be insulated are carried through a hopper containing the ground glass
or other powder, and six or other convenient number of yarns are guided
through holes in the top or bottom of the hopper to carry forward the
powder, which is surrounded by any convenient number of yarns or
wires, or both, passing through guides below the hopper. The wire or
wires, with the powder and all the yarns or wires surrounding them, form
a core, which is taken through a conical tube placed above a circular
braiding machine, by which the case or shell formed of threads or wires
or both is plaited over the core. The whole is then passed through
melted tar or other equivalent.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and
readily carried into operation we will proceed to describe the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings.
Figs. 1 and 2 are a front and side elevation, and Fig. 3 a plan of an
ordinary circular braiding machine to which, our improvements are
applied.
Figs. 4 and 5 are detached views of part of the machine.

page_text: connected by the spur pinions b¹; c, c, are the spindles with the bobbins
d, d, the yarns or wires from which are intertwined or braided together
in the ordinary manner at a point a little above the tops of the spindles c.
The number of spindles and bobbins may be varied, but I find that
sixteen give a good result.
The mechanism for driving the upright shafts & and for shunting the
spindles and bobbins c, d, does not require to be described, as it is similar
to that employed in ordinary circular braiding machines. e is the stationary
hollow central spindle similar to that described in the Specifification of
Letters Patent granted to the within-named George Frederick James
on the 3rd day of August 1871, Number 2045. Above the spindle e
is the funnel or hopper f containing the ground glass, fine sand, or other
powder possessing non-conducting properties for insulating the electric
telegraph wire or wires a, which pass through the lid of the hopper f.
The spout of the hopper fis supported above the hollow central spindle e,
and in order to facilitate the filling of the braid or case with the ground
glass, fine sand, or other powder we carry one or more warp threads of
soft cotton or other fibres from the bobbins g, g, through the hopper and
through the ground glass or other powder, as described in the Specifi-
cation above referred to. These bobbins, and the others required for the
filling-up warps, are supported in the creels 7 placed at each side of the
machine.
The spout of the hopper f is supported by the plate f¹ fixed to the
pillar o, which is capable of being raised or lowered in the socket of the
top bobbin plate. The plate fi is provided with any convenient number
of holes surrounding the spout of the hopper to guide the filling-up
warp yarns of jute or other fibre around the ground glass or other powder
that is conveyed out of the hopper f. Below the adjustable plate f¹
supporting the hopper is the plate p, shewn detached in Figs. 4 and 5.
This plate is also supported by the pillar o, and in it is the conical tube p¹,
the object of which is to contract the yarns around the ground glass or
other powder, and around the tube p¹ are twenty-four or other convenient
number of holes for guiding other warp yarns or wires around those
passing through the conical tube.
All the yarns or wires which are brought from bobbins supported in
the creels g, and which form the core of the telegraph wire, are sur-
rounded by an outer casing of braided yarn or wire, or both, from the

page_text: bobbins d. The insulated telegraph wire thus completed passes down
through the bush e¹, then through the hollow central spindle e, through
which it is drawn by the grooved pulley i on the driving shaft. In order
to give the requisite friction the insulated wire is taken under the guide
grooved pulley 1, and thence it passes up to the drum m, on which it is
wound. This drum is turned round by a friction band from the driving
shaft 2
bobbins d. The insulated telegraph wire thus completed passes down
through the bush e¹, then through the hollow central spindle e, through
which it is drawn by the grooved pulley i on the driving shaft. In order
to give the requisite friction the insulated wire is taken under the guide
grooved pulley 1, and thence it passes up to the drum m, on which it is
wound. This drum is turned round by a friction band from the driving
shaft
The braided cover of the wire is passed through a solution of india-
rubber or melted tar or other suitable material to render it waterproof.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention and described a con-
venient manner of carrying the same into operation, we claim,―
First. The application and use of ground glass, fine sand, or other
powder possessing non-conducting properties for insulating electric tele-
graph wires.
And, Secondly. The application of the machinery or apparatus shewn
and described for surrounding telegraph wires with ground glass, fine
sand, or other non-conducting powder, and for braiding or covering the
same to form an electric telegraph wire or cable.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Frederick James, for myself
and on behalf of the said Frederick William Ewen, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.