CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PISTONS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bower, of Droylsden, in the County of
Lancaster, Iron Moulder, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN METALLIC PISTONS."
Sealed the 1st November 1860, and dated the 1st May 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Bower at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st May 1860.
I, GEORGE BOWER, of Droylesden, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Moulder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN METALLIC PISTONS," to be as follows:-
My Invention is designed for the purpose of expanding the packing rings of
metallic pistons, in order to maintain a steam-tight contact between the piston
and cylinder. The improvement consists in expanding the internal V-edged
ring of metallic pistons by means of conical, tapered, or wedge-formed screws,
which pass through the piston cover and act or exert pressure between the
"piston block" and three or more projections formed upon the internal surface
of such ring, so that by expanding and forcing it outward by means of such
screws the packing rings of the piston are kept in steam-tight contact with
the cylinder.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Bower in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BOWER, of Droylsden, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Moulder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign.
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Bower, Her special license that I, the said George Bower, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Bower, my 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
METALLIC PISTONS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Bower, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 I, the said George Bower, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My Invention is designed for the purpose of expanding the packing rings of
metallic pistons, in order to maintain a steam-tight contact between the piston
and cylinder. The improvement consists in expanding the internal V-edged
ring of metallic pistons by means of conical, tapered, or wedge-formed screws.
which pass through the piston cover or through the bottom, and act or exert
pressure between the piston block and three or more projections formed
upon the internal surface of such ring, so that by expanding and forcing it
outwards by means of such screws the packing rings of the piston are kept in
steam-tight contact with the interior of the cylinder.
In order that the Invention may be better understood and explained in

page_text: detail, I have hereunto attached a Sheet of Drawings, having similar letters of
reference marked upon corresponding parts of the apparatus.
Fig. 1 is a plan view of the metallic piston to which the improvement is
shewn applied, one-half of the cover being removed to illustrate the interior
arrangement more clearly; and Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a, a, is the piston block; b, b, the cover secured thereupon
by the bolts c, c; and d, d, are the screws, having their lower ends conically
tapered, which may pass either through the cover or bottom of the piston, so
as to act upon the V-edged ring e when screwed or tightened up in such n
manner as to cause the packing rings f. f, to be expanded to the required
extent to maintain a steam-tight packing between the piston and interior of
the cylinder.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, together with the
manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim the novel employment and use of tapered screws, or
screws having their lower portions conically tapered, and acting directly
between the piston block and the said V-edged ring, for the purpose of
expanding the said ring and maintaining steam-tight contact between the
piston and interior of the cylinder, as herein-before described, set forth, and
fully illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Bower, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
GEORGE BOWER.
(L.S.)