US1291406A - Electric donductor. - Google Patents

Description

i E. D. CHAPLIN.

, EtECTRIC CONDUCTOR. APPLICATION FILED FEB. a. |915.

1 ,291,406. Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

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W'tne ses." .I Inventors @2Q/jim Edwv'nwzwpwn; ff@ @my EDWIN D. CHAPLIN, or NEW Yonx, N. Y.

ELECTRIC CONDUCTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1919.

Application led February 8, 1915. Serial No. 6,689.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWIN D. CHAPLIN, a citizen of th(` United States, residing in New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Conductors, of which the following is a specification.

A principal object of the present improvements is to furnish electric conductorswhicli shall combine the properties or qualities of being fireproof and waterproof while having a sufficient amount of flexibility for meeting ordinary and unusual requirements, and also be a good insulator.

A further object is to provide for a requisite insulation while avoiding the use of substances which on being unduly heated, whether by the action of electric elements or by external gases, will result in a pressure combustion'or in a distillation of materials forming noxious gases of a dangerous character. y

It will be remembered in this connection that when insulating materials are subjected to incomplete lcombustion or to distillation as occurs for instance in feed cables, dangerous gases are sometimes formed in large quantity, especially .when the insulating materials consist of rubber or other compounds of vegetable ori in such for instance as combinations inclu ing rubber substitutes as are manufactured from oils or other materials.

These and other features, capabilities and advantages of the invention will appeary from the subjoined detailed description of one specific embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 shows a short portion of a conductor made in accordance with my present invention, some parts being broken away for more clearly illust-rating a preferred construction thereof.

`Fig. 2 is an end view as seen from the right hand of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 4 and 5 are detail views illustrating relative features and modifications of construction of the gap-forming member as hereinafter more fully explained.

Fig. 4a is a fragmental end view of the segment illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a diagramm-atic View corresponding to Fig. 1 for illustrating the manner in which the yseveral components of the conductor are shifted or rearranged in their relative positions when the conductor is forcibl bent to a relatively small curvature.

igstl 7 and 8 are views corres onding to Figs. 1 and 2 for illustrating t c further feature of my invention whereby a leadingv wire and a return wire may be arranged .within the same insulation core and outer casing therefor. Fig 9 is a view similar to Figs. 2 and 8 illustrating how the construction may be arranged for using a plurality of conductors greater than two and with a non-circular cross sectional form of the conductor.

My improved electric conductor or conduit may be briefly described as comprising in its more simple forms a conducting wire which will ordinarily be located in the centerv of the conduit and mayconsist of'a single wire or of a plurality of iwires twisted togetherin a well known manner; an outer tube or casing of suitable character and preferably of ductile metal which for ordinary practice may be lead; and, an intervening gap-forming core consisting of mineral bodies of improved construction arranged in a continuous series within the outer tube or casing and provided with a passageway for the conducting wire or cable. Thus the cable is built up of members assembled together in an organized arrangement and consisting lwholly of materials not subject to distillation whereby the formation of dangerous gases cannot result.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, 1 designates a tubular casing preferably of lead or similar ductile metal while 2, 2 indicate a series of insulation bodies of the general character of disks arranged in a continuous series and having central openings 3 for the conducting wire 4. This wire'is indicated in the drawing as bein in the form of a small cable made u o a plurality of small wires twisted toget er in the usual manner. The insulating bodies 2 are composed of any suitable mineral composition, preferably vof earthenware or porcelain of a kind substantially such as now commonly employed in making articles for use in electric devices such as switch bases, and the like.

One feature of `my present invention relates to the insulating members 2 which said vi'ire 4 to the outer casing 1. A further feature relates to the construction and arrangement of the members 2, 2 of the 1nsulatin core whereby a large amount of iexibility may be secured soA that the completed conductor may be curved to a considerable lextent on an unusually small radius without subjecting the ductile outer casing 1 to an excessive amount of deformation. In bending the ductile tube or casing 1 such as indicated at 6 in Fi 6, it is well known that it is desirable to e ect the bending in such a mannerthat one side of the tube will be compressed the same amount to which the other side is extended so that the lexure of the conductor considered as a whole will occur along the neutral axis which is about central of the conductor.

As a means for providing 'for such a proper action or flexure, I prefer to employ gapforming` disks or members in which each one has a relatively convex surface on one side and a corresponding concave surface on the other side so that when two of vthese members or disks are turned one against the other, one of them may be said to form a socket bearingagainst which the other one operates with a motion similar to that of a ball and socket joint. In this manner each of the gap-forming members moves so tospeak about a central point or axis and by a relatively turning movement about such point while these points as 7, 7, Fig. 6, are located approximately in a longitudinal axis which isabout central to the conductor. The features here described are illustrated in diagram in Fig. 6 where the successive members 2, 2, 2, are shown turned one upon another for bringing the series into a curvilinearI arrangement in such a manner as to secure the desiredcurvature without an elongation of the conductor as measured along the central axis thereof.

As a means for more fully securing the described results and mode of action, 'I make the said convex and concave contacting surfaces of the disks,*as clearly shown and disclosed in the sectional portions of Figs. 1 and 6,*of a spherical form, and also make said surfaces as portions or zones of geometric spheres of the same size which intersect in such a manner that in the sectional view in Fig. 6 the circular line of the convex surface comes near to the center of the circle, or circular line, of the next curvature of said core, while avoiding sharp corners. l v

The assembling of the several component members of the cable may be erformed in several` different ways. For instance, the wire or cable `4 may have the series of insulation members 2, 2 assembled thereon by slipping these members over one end of the wire and then sliding themalong into a compact series. In practice, this method may require that the insulation members will be applied by machinery in an automatic manner, and for this purpose Ihave devised a machine especially ada ted for carrying out this method of ma ing the conductors. After the conductor wire 4 has the insulation members 2, 2 assembled thereon, the outer covering l may be applied in any convenient or suitable manner as for instance by forming the same upon the in- ;sulation core (this comprising the said members 2, 2) after the manner now employed for covering electric conductors and cableswith a lead casing. This" method being well known will not require particular description. I prefer, however, to apply the lead casing by making the same of sheet lead wrapped about the cable and fused together along the joint by the use of appliances now well known in the formation of tubes for other purposes, thus avoidinsulation members may be composed of two parts put together so as toform a'disk. This construction is indicated in Figs. 3 and 4 which are therefore supplemental to Figs. 1 and 2. In Fig. 3, the insulation disk .D is shown formedv of the two parts d and d and these may be. duplicates of each other, or if preferred, they may be made in a manner so that one supplements the other. rIhe portion d of the complete disk D is shown in Figs. 4 and 4a as seen from left hand end in Fig. 3, and this arrangement of said device being for the purpose of illustrating the preferred manner of forming the parts Z and d', so that they will interlock and thereby be located one upon the other in a proper manner. When the insulation disks D are in segments or separable parts inthe manner here illustrated, they may be readily applied to the central wire 4 by hand or otherwise and without the necessity of sliding them intoplace as when the disks are integral.

Instead of forming the disks as in Figs. l and 2 or in separable and complemental `where an open space or slot is made therein at 5 by means of which the disk D may be passed over the central wire 4 when assembling the insulation core thereon. In p1'actice,.-when using the form D of the core members, it will, of course, be desirable to apply these disks in miscellaneous positions circumferentially of the wire so that contiguous core members will have the said openings in non-coincident positions relative to each other and thus avoid the accidental forming of an opening of any considerable length longitudinally of the core through which the central wire might by some accident become misplaced. Any such objection is overcome by turning the disks D to different circumferential positions so that the said openings will preferably come in transverse directions as regards anypair of contiguous core members. In practice, any 'turning of the core members after the outer casing is placed thereon ma be prevented by forming slight indentations as 9, Fig. 5, in the periphery of the gap-forming disks D, so that when the lead casingl is drawn in'to place the metal thereof will slightly engage or enter into such de ressions .9 and thus efiectually lock all o the core members in their proper relative positions. e

It is believed that usually the circular peripheral form of the insulation members as indicated, for instance, in Figs. 2 and 3 will be preferable, but in some cases, if desired, these members will be made of an oblong peripheral outline either elliptical or otherwise, as indicated, for instance, in Figs. 8 and 9, the latter figure showing the insulation membervv D? of substantially a triangular form. The elliptical form D2, as indicated in Fig. 8, is especially intended Y for use in my improved conductors' when these are made in small sizes as required, for

instance, in electric lighting and for signal-v ing lines and the variety of analogous purposes. The arrangement of the details as indicated in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, is thought to be especially .adapted for conductors used in connection with power lines and especially for use in underground conduits and articularly such conduits as are required in subways and tunnels.

Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate more especially the form and arrangement of my present improvements especially intended for use in small conductors, but it will be understood that the disks or insulating members D2 may, if desired, lbe of circular eripheral form instead of having the elliptical form shown in Fig. 8. However, the use of this elliptical form has the advantage of saving mateally' of Such dis rial and also indicating to the buyer vthat the conductor is of a two-wire construction. The size and form'of the openings in the disk D2 through which the respective wires 4, 4, pass as indicated in the sectional portion of Fig. 7, will, in practice, be arranged for permitting such an amount of curvature or flexibility of the cable as may be desired for the particular purposes for which the cable may be designed in any particular instance. lt should be understood in this connection that a relatively greater amount of flexibility or bending capacity may be secured by making the insulation blocks, in either of .the arrangements illustrated, to occupy a relatively short space longitudinally of the conductor.

The insulation disks 2y forming the articulated core member of the construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6 are substantially spherical bodies, each having a concave spherical socket 10 formed on one side thereof, the central o ening 3 being disposed' axilrc); terminating. at one end in the center of said spherical socket 10, and as it approaches its ends in each direction enlarging progressively. The remainder of the surface of the disk is substantially a spherical convex surface' 11 so that when these disks are in osition on a cable 4, the arrangement is suc that the spherical concave surface 11 of one disk will be disposed in the spherical convex socket 10 'of its adjacent disk, so that these disks together can have a substantially universal movement relative to one another, and/the enlar ed ends of the o enings 3- will facilitate 51e angular disp acement of such disks 2 relative to the cable`4 which occurs when the conductor is being bent as shown in Fig. 6. y

In the form of disk shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 4, the segments al and "together form a disk which has a conformation substantially that of the disk illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 6. These segments d and d are identical with one another, each comprising onehalf of the complete disk 2 and dividing the said complete disk 2 along a plane that passes axially throu h the opening` 3. Each of the disks al and dg therefore has two ends to engage with two corresponding ends of its complemental segment, in which there are formed interlocking members, one end having an elongated recess. 12, and the other end having an elongated lug 13 both eX- tending transversely of the complete disk 2, and the recess 12 corresponding to and being formed to receive the lug 13 of its complemental segment.

The disk D2 illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 has a somewhat elliptical conformation in the elongated portion of which there is formeda spherical socket 14 jon one side thereof, while the remainder of the surface of said disk is substantially convex. Ex-

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. formed two openings 15, to take the place of the single opening 3 of the disk 2 illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 6, such openings 15 being substantially parallel with one another and terminating at one end in the socket 14:. Similarly, these openings 15, 15 as they approach their ends in both directions enlarge progressively for the purpose already set forth. rihe disks D2 are thus equipped to receive two wires and will have a special utility for lighting systemsand the like, in which cases the two wires may be the leading and the return wire.

rlhe disk 1Ds, illustrated in l@ ig. 9, is substantially triangular in cross section, which forni is especially adapted to form core meinbers through which three wires are Ato be extended. for which purpose there are provided three openings 16, 16 and 16. rlihe disk D3 has also formed in one of its ends a spherical socket 17 to receive the convex end of an adjacent disk D3 in which socket 17 one series of the ends Osaid openings 16 terminate.

lt is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made to the detailsof construction without departing :from the general spirit of the invention.v

claim:

1. The hereindescribed electric conductorv having an outer ductile casing, and having a gap-forming core disposed in said casing and composed oi mineral bodies having a diameter greater than their length and formed convex on one side and concave on the otherl side thereof, there being openings in said mineral bodies which together form a continuous passageway in such core, each said mineral body having said convex and concave faces of spherical shape and conforming to similar faces of the adjacent mineral bodies, for facilitating a practically free movement of said bodies relative to one there being openings in said mineral bodies which together form a continuous passageway in such core, a conducting wire disposed in said passageway, each mineral body comprising a segmental portion to permit positioning of such mineral body on said conducting wire through a movement transverse to said conducting wire, and a series of relatively shallow depressions longitudinally disposed in the periphery of said mineral body to be engaged by the outer casing and rictionally hold said mineral body against rotation.

' EDY/V 1N DCHAPLN. Witnessess Fnac. d. Donn, Josera F. V. Crmrs'rornnn.

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