The Patent Office
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 1985, page 14
To all whom it may concern:
Be it known that I, HENRY J. ROGERS, of New York, in the county and State of
New York, have invented certain Improvements in the Construction of Telegraph
Lines, more particularly on the means of insulating the wires, of which the
following is a specification:
My invention relates to what may be called a dual
insulator, which is constructed in such a manner as to compel the current of
electricity to overcome two insulators or insulating contrivances before it can
reach the cross-bar of the telegraph-pole; and, also, overcome two other
insulating devices before it can reach and perfect the circuit with another wire
upon the other end of the telegraph cross-bar.
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It is a well-known fact that
wires which are perfectly insulated during dry weather lose their insulation
more or less during damp weather, by means of a continuous water medium,
sometimes between the wire and the earth through the bar and the pole down which
the force of the electricity passes, and sometimes between two or more wires
attached to the same pole or cross-bar.
The object of my invention is to
interpose a series of insulators and dry surfaces under all circumstances
between points liable to be brought into connection, as above, by the presence
of moisture.
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the top of a telegraph pole and
cross-bar, and two dual insulators in position with wires attached. Fig.2 is a
vertical sectional view, cut in a vertical plane through the center of the
insulators, cross-bar, and head piece.
A is the telegraph pole. B is the usual
cross-bar secured to the same. C is a sub cross-bar or a head-piece to and in
which the insulators F and E are secured. D D are insulation columns, composed
of glass, hard rubber, or other insulating material, provided with
right-and-left hand screw-threads upon opposite ends, and also provided with
projecting flanges for throwing off the moisture. E is an insulated hook,
inserted in the sub cross-bar C, and insulated in the usual manner. F is another
form of insulator, made of glass or other similar material, and secured to a pin
fastened in the sub cross-bar C. a a are pins for keying the insulators D D in
place. b b is a telegraph-wire, secured in a loop to the insulator F. b' b' is
the same secured to the insulator-hook E.
The method of proceeding when the line
is in process of construction may be described as follows, to wit: The wire
being stretched across the end of the bar B, between the sockets of the two
insulators D D, may be held there by any common pins inserted in the two holes
provided for D D. When it is desired to secure the wire to the insulators and
finish the construction, the insulators D D may be screwed into both the bar B
and the sub cross-bar C, by simply turning the same with the parts in position,
the wire remaining between the same. When the parts are entirely secured
together, the wire may be raised from the cross-bar B, and being looped about
the neck, provided for that purpose, on the insulator F, may be secured by a tie
or strap wire applied as in Fig. 1 at F, or attached to the hook inserted as at
E. It will be perceived that with this arrangement the electric current upon the
wire b, in order to be conducted away, must first pass through the insulator F
secured in the sub cross-bar C, thence through the insulator or insulators D,
and so into the bar B, and to the ground; or through the insulators D D of the
opposite end of the cross-bar B, up into the sub cross-bar C, and thence through
the insulated hood E to the wire b'.
The insulators D D are shown upon one side
of the bar B with only one flange, and upon the other side with two flanges. I
do not intend to limit the number of flanges employed; I use one, two, or more,
as many as may be required. They may also be varied somewhat in form, their
general purpose and object being to throw off the drip or moisture falling or
condensing upon the apparatus. So other forms of insulators may be substituted
in the place of D D.
The importance of perfect insulation is evident and need
not be dilated upon; so, also, with security from accident, if the suspended
wire breaks loose from the insulator in my invention it is caught and securely
held by the supporters of the insulated sub cross-bar, and prevented from
falling to the ground or across railroad tracks.
Claims.
I claim as my invention -
- The insulator F suspended between the two
supports D D.
- The sub cross-bar C provided with the insulator F, and
supported upon the cross-bar B by the insulators D D.
- Two or more sub
cross-bars, C C, secured to the cross-bar B, in the manner and for the purposes
set forth.
HENRY J. ROGERS.
Witnesses:
James A. Skilton,
Hezekiah Watkins.
- - - - - - - - - - -
"The Patent Office" article this month was submitted by Wendell
Hunter of DuBois, Pennsylvania. To quote Wendall:
"Should anybody find one of these glass things that look like bushings,
don't throw it aside, for it would be a legitimate old insulator especially if
it had a dowel groove."
HENRY J. ROGERS (March 10, 1811 - August 20, 1879), a pioneer in the
development of telegraphic communication and an inventor, was born in Baltimore,
Md., the son of Col. John H. Rogers. He was educated in St. Mary's College,
Baltimore, and immediately applied himself to the art of telegraphy and
signaling, which from his early youth had appealed to him strongly. He was
engaged in developing a system of marine signals with flags when he was
attracted to the work of Samuel F. B. Morse [q.v.] and his electro-magnetic
telegraph. As a result, about 1843, he obtained employment with Morse in the
construction of the demonstration telegraph line between Baltimore and
Washington, sponsored by the federal government, and when this line was opened
for public business under the direction of the Post Office Department, he was
appointed telegraph operator at Baltimore. When the government refused to buy
Morse's invention at his stipulated price of $100,000 and the privately owned
Magnetic Telegraph Company was organized, May 15, 1845, Rogers was a subscriber
to the new company and one of the incorporators.
In 1848 he joined the North
American Telegraph Company, which used the telegraph invented by Alexander Bain.
Its line extended from New York to Washington but the system failed to work
properly until Rogers introduced certain modifications. He continued with the
company as superintendent until 1852 when, as a result of the successful
infringement suit brought by the Morse interests, it was absorbed by the Morse
Company. Rogers then became superintendent of the House Printing Telegraph
Company, organized about 1852, and operating between New York and Washington. In
1855 he severed his connections with it, in order to devote his time to
perfecting his marine signaling system, which he had patented on Sept. 27, 1844.
He succeeded in having the system adopted by the United States Navy, but failed,
after making two trips to Europe, to secure its adoption by any foreign power.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, he was called to Washington and rendered
important service in the establishment of field telegraph lines, particularly
for the Army of the Potomac. He served also as secretary of the Potomac flotilla
and as a navigation officer at the Washington Navy Yard. While in Washington,
May 17, 1864, he patented his semaphore telegraph system. At the close of the
war he became superintendent of the Bankers' and Brokers' Telegraph Line between
New York and Washington, but eighteen months later relinquished this position in
order to accept a similar one with the Southern and Atlantic Telegraph Line. He
continued in this capacity, with headquarters in New York, until 1873, when he
retired to his home in Baltimore. There he engaged in writing a history of the
telegraph, but his death prevented the completion of the work. In addition to
his two signaling systems, he devised a code of flare signals for use at night
and a system of insulation for telegraph lines patented on Dec. 3, 1872. He was
married to a Miss McGlennan of Baltimore, and at the time of his death in that
city was survived by his widow and four sons.
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