IMPROVEMENTS IN ELASTIC PACKINGS FOR THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH PACKINGS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Keirby. of Rochdale, in the County of Lan-
caster, India-rubber Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ELASTIC PACKINGS FOR THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES. AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH
PACKINGS."
Sealed the 22nd May 1868. and dated the 9th December 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Keirby at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition.
9th December .1867.
on the
1. EDWARD KEIRBY, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, India-rubber
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVE
MENTS IN ELASTIC PACKINGS FOR THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES. AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH
PACKINGS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the mode of manufacturing the square clastic
packings known as "gaskin," which elastic packings are used for packing the
pistons and stuffing boxes of steam engines, the buckets of air and water pumps
and other similar purposes, and consists in uniting four or more hollow india-
rubber or other elastic tubes or cores by means of a machine somewhat similar
to a braiding machine. or by the usual machine for making the ordinary square
hemp gaskin or by hand.

page_text: My improved machinery for uniting the tubes or cores of the gaskin consists
in a number of spindles and bobbins containing the binding threads; these
spindles and bobbins in revolving pass round and between the tubes or cores,
and they are carried by revolving hollow shafts through which the iubes or
cores pass. Each set of spindles and bobbins is supported by one of the hollow
shafts, the spindles and bobbins passing diagonally from one hollow shaft to
the other, thereby passing around and uniting or binding the tubes or cores and
the tension of the binding threads is regulated by weights suspended to the
threads up the hollow spindles. In order to make the gaskin perfectly square
it is passed between pressing rollers and between side rollers or discs, the
thickness of which depends upon the size of the gaskin. The packing can
then be finished, thai is to say, coated or saturated with oil or fauty matter
in the manner described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to
me on the 4th day of January 1865, No. 19, or in any other convenient.
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Keirby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
June 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1. EDWARD
KEIRBY, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, India-rubber Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unio
me, the said Edward Keirby, Her special license that I, the said Edward Keirby.
my execniors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1. the said
Edward Keirby, 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 IMPROVEMENTS
ELASTIC PACKINGS FOR THE PISTONS OF STEAM ENGINES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES,
AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUCH PACKINGS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that 1, the said Edward Keirby, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one

page_text: of their hands and seals. 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 I, the said Edward Keirby, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is t0
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists, first, in an improved mode of manufacturing the
elastic packings for the pistons of steam engines. for pumps, valves, and for
other purposes, which packings are square and are known as "gaskin" and,
secondly, in certain improved combinations of machinery for manufacturing
the said elastic packings.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation. I will proceed to describe the accompanying two
Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
On Sheet 1, Fig. 1 is a side view, and Fig. 2 a section of my improved elastic
packing commonly called "gaskin." This improved packing consists of four
hollow india-rubber or other elastic tubes or cores united together and surround-
ing a central elastic tube or core by yarns of hemp or other fibrous substances
by means of a machine somewhat similar to a braiding machine. or by the
usual machine for making ordinary square hemp gaskin, or by hand. I wish
to observe here that in some cases the central tube or core may be dispensed
with.
My improved machinery for surrounding and uniting the clastic tubes or
cores for making the above improved packing is shewn in Figs. 3, 4, and 5;
Fig. 3 being an elevation of the machine: Fig. 4a plan, and Fig. 5 a section
through the line A, B. on Fig. 3.
The machine consists of a strong frame a supporting the top plate by the
shunting plate e. the top plate d. and the bottom plate c. In the centre of
the machine is the column, up which passes the central elastic tube or core
forming the centre of the gaskin. This elastic tube or core is drawn off a
reel or bobbin placed in the room or cellar under the room in which the
machine is at work. The four elastic tubes or cores for the centres of the
four angles of the packing are also wound on reels or spools, and are brought
through holes in the floor from whence they pass up the four hollow revolving
shafts marked g, h, i, and j. which are geared together by spur wheels as

page_text: is pressed against the
ordinary braiding machines; these hollow shaits are provided with discs
revolving in recesses in the plates b and c, and these dises support the hollow
spindles, and the bobbins containing the hemp or other yarn by which the
elastic tubes or cores are surrounded and united: to each spindle is cast or
fixed a bracket, and the yarn from the bobbin passes under a guide
roller then over the roller . and afterwards over the roller which is
supported in an arm jointed to the bracket the arm fixed in a notch
in the upper flange of the bobbin 1. and the yarn after passing over the
roller is taken under a roller in the upper end of the weight m which is
thus suspended by the yarn and is capable of sliding up and down in the
spindle by changing these weights the tension of the yarn can be regulated.
After the yarn has passed under the roller in the weight it is taken up through
the top of the hollow spindle . and passes thence to the point above the
central column where all the yarns and tubes or cores are united; at the
upper end of the column is the adjustable bush which can be raised or
lowered by turning the nut. ; the end of the bush
yarns and elastic cores, and by increasing or reducing the pressure the gaskin
is made more or less flexible without changing the weights. When the
machine is at work the hollow spindles with their bobbins pass diagonally
from the dises of one hollow shaft to the other being shunted in the same
manner as the hobbins of braiding machines. thereby uniting and interweaving
the yarns around the elastic cores and the central core as shown in Figs. I
and 2.
As the gaskin is formed it is gradually drawn up through a hole in
the rail which is supported by side rods and sockets fixed to the framing: in
this rail is fixed the adjustable roller which is held against the gaskin 10
steady it. The gaskin is then taken over the guide pulley by the grooved
pulley to which a slow motion is given by the wheel fixed to the hollow
spindle gearing into the carrier wheel which drives the wheel on the
upright shaft to which is fixed the worm gearing into a pinion p'. this
pinion is fixed on the same shaft as the change pinion which gears into the
carrier pinion p gearing into the wheel o' on the axle of the grooved pulley o.
in which shaft. pointed studs are fixed to prevent the slipping of the gaskin as
it is drawn forward. After the gaskin has left the pulley it is taken over
another guide pulley and wound on the reel or bobbin s. the flanges of
which hear upon and are driven by the friction of the shaft s': as the machine
works the bobbins are prevented turning round on their axes by the arm 1
taking into the notches in the bobbin 1, but as soon as the tension on the yarn
becomes too great the arm is raised out of the said notch and the bobbin is
then turned partly round, thus drawing a fresh portion of yarn off the bobbin,

page_text: upon which the arm again drops into the next notch. The machine is
driven by a strap passing around the pulley on the driving shaft, to this
shaft is fixed the bevel pinion gearing into the wheel loose to the hollow
shaft i. but connected to the wheel which is fixed to the shaft i when
required, and the machinery is stopped when an end of yarn breaks or
a bobbin becomes empty in the following manner: To the stop plate dis
jointed at the bent lever F, this lever is held in a notch in the upright
bar by the spring d'; to the upright bar is fixed a stud
hole in the starting lever d. and to the lower end of the bar
lever and fork d, which fork passes between the arms of the bevel wheel 7: the
spring bar is raised by the spring d.
taking into a
is fixed the
The mode of operation of this self-acting stop motion is as follows:--As
soon as an end breaks the weight m. by which it had been held up, drops until
the lower end of the weight comes in contact with the stop plate ; the
machine continues in motion until the end of the weight is brought towards
and acts upon the bent lever . which is displaced until the lever is drawn out.
of the notch in the upright bar which is then raised by the spring d and
lifts the fork out of the space between the arms of the wheel, the bevil
wheel is by this means disconnected from the wheel which then ceases to
revolve, thereby stopping the other parts of the machine: when the upright.
rial is raised as above described. the stud d also raises the starting lever".
and after the broken end has been piccel up or a fresh bobbin has been
put on the spindle the starting lever is depressed. thereby forcing down the
upright rod and causing the fork to take into the spaces between the
arms of the wheel by which means the machinery is again started. After
the gaskin has been made on the machine above described it is made perfectly
Square by causing it to pass between the pressing rollers as shewn in Figs. 6
and of Sheet 2: this squaring up machine consists of the roller a supported
in bearings fixed to the standards : below this roller is another roller revolving
in bearings which are also fixed to the standards: the distance between the
rollers and is capable of being varied according to the thickness of the
packing by turning the right and left handed screws
which are screwed into
are the side rollers
through which the axles of
and their lateral position
packing to be pressed.
the bearings of the rollers: between the rollers and
which revolve in bearings connected to the bridles
the Tollers and pass: the thickness of these rollers
are altered according to the thickness and width of the
The top roller is turned by the driving pulley y on the driving shaft and
the pinion
on the axle of the roller u, and the
lower roller is driven by the wheel
gearing into the wheel
which communicates motion to the

page_text: wheel through the two carriers
. The side rollers are pressed against the
and thus are carried round by
sides or edges of the packing by the screw
the friction of the packing.
I wish to observe that the rollers above described may be used for flattening
and squaring up clastic packings of every description. When the gaskin or
packing has been passed between the pressing rollers it may be coated or
saturated with oily or fatty matter in the manner described in the Specification
of Letters Patent, granted to me on the Fourth day of January. One
thousand eight. hundred and sixty-five. No. 19. or finished in any other
convenient manner.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner of
performing the same. I declare that I claim.
First. The improved square elastic packing commonly called "gaskin" con-
sisting of four hollow india-rubber or other clastic tubes or cores surrounding a
central tube or core, or without a central tube or core. and united by hemp or
other yarn as described and shewn in Figs. 1 and 2.
Secondly. The improved combination and arrangement of the machinery
shewn and described in reference to Figs. 3. 4. and 5. forming a braiding
machine for manufacturing gaskin.
Thirdly. The hollow revolving spindles through which the elastic tubes or
cores pass.
Fourthly. The adjustable bush for regulating the elasticity of the
gaskin.
Fifthly. The improved arrangement of machinery for keeping the yarn to
the required tension and for stopping the braiding machine when the yarn
breaks or fails.
And, lastly. The combination of rollers as shewn and described in reference
to Figures 6 and 7 for pressing and squaring up elastic packings.
In witness whereof. 1. the said Edward Keirby, have hereto set my
hand and seal. this Fifth day of June. One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight.
EDWARD KEIRBY. (L.S.)