US459509A - Henry w - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

H. W. JOHNS. 901111911 P011 51110111.10 WIRES.

No. 459,599. Patented sept. 15, 1991.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY IV. JOHNS, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

CONDUIT FOR ELECTRIC WIRES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,509, dated September 15,1891.

liflpplication iilecl April 27, 1891. Serial No. 390,554. (No model.)

To a/ZZ tu/wm, t may concern/.-

Be it known that I, HENRY IV. JOHNS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Insulating-Oonduits for Electric lVires, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful insulating tube or conduit for electric wires intended especially for interior work; and it consists in making a seamless flexible braided, knitted, or woven tube of a fire-proof material, andso treating it that it shall be water-proof, and preferably lining-and covering` 1t on the inside and outside, one or both, so that the wires may be easily introduced, and also so that the exterior may be hard and firm, presenting a surface which may be readily painted or otherwise decorated. The flexibility of my conduit is of great advantage because corners and angles may be turned withoutfdisjointing it, and also because it can be made in long pieces and rolled up for transportation.

Theiigure of the drawing illustratesa longitudinal section of a piece of my conduit.

To make my improved article I take asbestus yarns or strands and saturate them with a water-proof material during the process of weaving or braiding or prior thereto, orI may first braid the tube and afterward waterproof it. The waterproofing material may be paraiiine-wax or a solution of the same, properly-prepared tar, or a drying-oil of any kind, or it may be in the nature of a cement, which should preferably be elastic, or it may be india-rubber, or its equivalent, treated more or less with sulphur, so as to become vulcanizable, and the tube or conduit may thereafter be partially or wholly vulcanized according` to the degree of flexibility required. The conduit thus formed should have its pores filled so that it will be air-tight, and it may be additionally coated so as to present a smooth or measurably smooth interior, so that the wires will not catch in its inner wall while they are being introduced. I sometimes also coat the tube on the interior with plumbago. I may also coat the exteriorwith any of the materials before mentioned or with asphalt, pitch, guin-shellac, or a suitable i heavy varnish. For special purposes the couduit may be coated inside and outside, one or both, and either in conjunction with the coating above mentioned or not with a plastic material, such as plaster-of-paris, oxide of zinc. powered asbestus, or like materials combined with oil or other substance which will stiffeu it to a desired extent.

In the drawing, A represents the seamless Woven asbestus tube proper, which is treated with the waterproofing material.

B represents an asphalt coating on the inside and outside, and C represents an exterior plastic lining or coating. I show the last coat C on the exterior 'of the tube only. It may be on the interior also, if desired.

For certain purposes my woven asbestus conduit will be improved by an interior or exterior coating, one or-both, of suitable sheet metal-as, for instance, lead. This may be applied to the conduit in the form of a thin sheet with a suitable cementing material, or it may be wound or pressed thereon, or, the conduit being made of asbestus, it may be immersed in molten metal without injury, and may thus be madeto receive a thin film or coating of metal, or the metal may be applied by an electrical. process or otherwise.

It is obvious that my invention may be practically employed by making the tube of material which, although not fire-proof of itself, has been made tire-proof by special treatment. For instance, hemp and certain other fibrous materials may be subjected to a fireprooing treatment-as, for instance, by saturation with silicate of soda or other fireproofing material-and may be substituted for the asbest-us, which, however, I prefer, and when I use the words fire-proof strands or yarns in the claims hereof Imean such as are either tire proof in themselves, as asbestus, or which have been rendered fire-proof by treatment, and such treatment may be either before or after they are woven into the tube or conduit. I may also braid, knit, or weave the fireproof strands upon a tube of paper, preferably asbestus paper, which may be made into tubular form, as set forth in my pending application, Serial No. 387,316, iiled April 1,1891, or otherwise. The construction gives additional strength against indentation, and also furnishes a smooth hard interior.

ICO

lt will be seen that my invention possesses the desirable Characteristics of ineonibustibility and iiexibility, and that it is Waterproof; also, thatit may be made in long lengths and rolled into coils for transportation.

I olaimt l. A seamlesswo'ven, knitted, or braided tube or conduit made from asbestus strands or yarns, the saine being Waterproofed, sub-A saturated or oated with a lvulcani/gable mad tel-iai, substantially as set forth. v Ll. A seamless Woven, knitted, or braided tube or conduit made from reproof strands or yarns of iibrous material and having an exterior coating of protecting and strengthening' material, such as metal, plastic ma* terial, and the like, substantially as set forth. 5. A seamless Woven, knitted, or braided tube or Conduit made from fire-proof strands or yarns of fibrous material, the same being waterproofed, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of NeuT York and State of New York, this 21st day ot' April, A. D. 1891.

HENRY WV. JOHNS. Vitnesses:

PHILLIPS ABBOTT, J. E. HOFFMAN.

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