AN IMPROVED SELF-LUBRICATING METALLIC ELASTIC PACKING BODEGATTY ADAPTED POR HIGH TEMPERATURES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wallace Girdwood, of 9, Lea Cottages,
Barking Road, Bromley, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SELF-LUBRICATING METALLIC ELASTIC
PACKING BODEGATTY ADAPTED POR HIGH TEMPERATURES
"
Sealed the 26th April 1870, and dated the 29th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION [left by the said William Wallace
Girdwood at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th October 1869.
I, WILLIAM WALLACE GIRDWOOD, of 9, Lea Cottages, Barking
Road, Bromley, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SELF-LUBRI-
CATING METALLIC ELASTIC PACKING ESPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HIGH TEMPERATURES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce a self-lubricating packing
that will remain perfectly steam-tight under any required degree of heat,
and at the same time reduce friction on it to a minimum, and this I

page_text: accomplish in the following manner:-I construct gland packing by
coiling woven wire, such as wire gauze, on a core or otherwise until the
coil becomes of such a diameter that when bent in the form of a ring and
passed around the rod into the gland it will fill up the space between
the two.
The sheet of woven wire may be coiled either by hand or machinery,
and either in the direction in which the wires run in the sheet, or in an
angular direction; or the wire may be at once woven into a coil either
in the form of rings of the required sizes, or in lengths to be afterwards
bent into the required form and size. The meshes of the wire gauze
acting against the rod intercept a certain portion of the steam, which
condensing remains there, and in that condition serves to lubricate the
rod in its reciprocatory motion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Wallace Girdwood in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WALLACE GIRDWOOD, 9, Lea Cottage, Barking Road, Bromley, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Wallace Girdwood, Her special
licence that I, the said William Wallace Girdwood, his executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Wallace
Girdwood, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 IN SELF-LUBRICATING METALIC ELASTIC GLAND PACKING,"
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Wallace Gird-
wood, executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
upon

page_text: 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Wallace Girdwood, 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 following statement, that is to say:
The object of this Invention is to produce a self-lubricating packing
that will remain perfectly steam-tight under any required degree of heat,
and at the same time reduce friction on it to a minimum, and this I
accomplish in the following manner:-I construct gland packing by
coiling, rolling up, or twisting woven wire, such as wire gauze, upon a
core or otherwise until the coil or roll becomes of such a diameter that
when bent in the form of a ring and passed around a rod into the gland
it will fill up the space between the two.
The sheet of woven wire may be coiled, rolled, or twisted either by
hand or machinery, and either in the direction in which the wires run in
the sheet, or in an angular direction; or the wire may be at once woven
into a coil, roll, or rope either in the form of rings of the required size,
or in lengths to be afterwards bent into the required form and size. The
fibres of the wire gauze acting against the rod intercepts a certain
portion of the steam, which condensing remains there, and in that con-
dition serves to lubricate the rod in its reciprocatory or rotary motion.
The coil, roll, or rope formed by any of the above mentioned or other
well-known methods may, when desirable, be pressed or moulded so as
to cause it to assume a section any other shape besides the circular form
already described.
In order more fully to explain and set forth the nature of my said
Invention, I will now proceed to describe the methods of manufacture.
A piece of woven wire, such as wire gauze, as commonly manu-
factured, or as manufactured for the purpose (the wire may be of brass,
copper, or other suitable metal or alloy) (and the section of the wire may
be a circle or any other figure as preferred) is folded, rolled, or twisted
into a coil or roll either by folding, rolling, or twisting it round a core,
(the core preferred is a piece of wire rope of a convenient size), or by
turning up one edge of the sheet and folding, rolling, or twisting the

page_text: sheet upon itself until a coil or roll is formed to the required size. The
core may or may not be withdrawn after the coil or roll is formed. The
sheet is folded or rolled in such a manner that the axis of the coil, roll,
or rope, and consequently the direction of rolling makes an angle
(preferrable about forty-five degrees) with the warp or weft of the sheet.
This method of rolling renders the coil or roll clastic, and render it
possible to bend to a circle (as when bent round a spindle so as to go
into the stuffing box) without creasing, puckering, or rendering it
necessary to cut any part of the coil, roll, or rope. The coil or roll may
be composed of one or of several sheets, or of one or of several descrip-
tions of materials. The packing may be used in this state (that is to
say, when its section is circular or nearly so), but it is preferred to cut
it to the required lengths, and press it to the required shape and size.
Secondly. The material may be woven into a tube the required size
in a similar manner to that by which is known as blind cord or tubular
lamp wick is woven, and the interior may be filled with cuttings and
scraps of wire gauze or similar materials. In some cases I prefer before
rolling to coat or dress the fabric or saturate the packing at any stage
of the manufacture with a solution of caouchouc or any other suitable
material. In some cases also I prefer to roll with the metalic fabric
tin or copper foil, or other suitable material, with or without the
solution above described.
I have not explained any mode or methods of applying the packing,
as these are well known and my Invention does not relate to them;
neither have I described any method of combining packing, as above
described with other packing, as my Invention does not relate to any
combination thereof, but as referrence solely to the mode of composing
the coil, roll, or rope, which may be applied in different ways, and be
used either by itself or in combination with other descriptions of packing
as preferred.
Having now described my Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not mean to
confine myself to the precise forms and modes of manufacture described,
but I declare what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,-
Firstly. Construction of a coil, roll, or rope of packing by coiling,
rolling, or twisting a sheet of woven metalic fabric in the manner
herein-before described.

page_text: Secondly. The construction of a roll of packing by weaving a tube,
as described.
And, thirdly. Filling the hollow in the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, William Wallace Girdwood, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-seventh day of April,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
WILLIAM WALLACE GIRDWOOD. (L.S.)