Year: 1886

page_text: I, SAMUEL PERCY BLACKBURN, Merchant, of 370 Atlantic Avenue, in the city
of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts; one of the United States of America, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement
This invention relates to a valve formed of such soft or yielding material as
will give all the benefits derived from the use of an india rubber valve, and
possesses a durability which is impossible with an india rubber valve in places
where it is subjected to the action of steam or gases.
The invention consists in making my improved valve of any suitable animal,
mineral, or vegetable fibre, in the manner hereinafter more fully set forth and
described.
The invention will be readily understood by reference to the accompanying
drawings, of which
Figure 1 is a central sectional elevation of one of my improved valves, and
Figure 2 is a general plan of it.
The body of the valve A is made of any animal, vegetable or mineral fibre, such
for instance as hair, wool, cotton, flax, hemp, jute, asbestos, mineral wool &c.,
which may be placed in position in the said valve in any desired or practical form,
as for instance, it may be formed into sheets or layers, by weaving, plaiting, laying,
felting &c. or packed in mass in a suitable enclosure or case a, which is made of
any suitable woven fabric, as for instance, any strong canvas, cotton duck, or any
similar material. In making this case, the material is cut into the form desired,
and then sewed together with its inside out, leaving a suitable slit in one of its
sides through which it may be filled. After having sewed, up this case in the
required form, it is turned the proper side out, and it is then filled with the above
described filling of an animal, vegetable, or mineral fibre, either in sheets, or layers,
woven or platted together or with the fibre in mass, and then the filling slit is
sewed up. The entire valve should then be stitched or sewed together by through
and through stitches, preferably made in concentric or radial lines, or in both
concentric and radial lines about the common center of the valve. After this

page_text: forming of the valve shall have been completed, a suitable aperture through the
valve may be made for the valve rod B, using for this purpose a concave cutter or
other suitable implement.
In lieu of the enclosing case of textile fabric above described the valve may be
constructed of sheets formed of any of the said fibres, or mixtures of any of them,
and the pieces or leaves a so formed, are placed or laid together so as to form the
complete valve A, of any size or shape desired, and in this position the said pieces
or layers are sewed, stitched, riveted, or otherwise fastened together, and these
combined sheets are cut out, before or after they are fastened together, as above
described for the valve rod. Or in lieu of either of these forms the valve A may be
formed of one single piece or sheet a, by felting or laying it up of sufficient
thickness to form the complete valve. In either of these two last forms of
construction textile fabric disks may be placed outside of the fibrous filling or
valve proper, to hold the same in form. Either of the before mentioned forms of
construction is considered the full equivalent of the other, and each is, for some
purposes, fully as good as either of the others.
When the valve is formed of the smaller sheets or leaves, and several of the
sheets or layers are used, they may all be formed of a homogeneous material or
fibre, or the different layers or sheets may be formed of different fibres, or, there
may be a mixture of the fibres in any one sheet, whether it be thick or thin, single
or multiplied, or made solely of a hemogeneous material.
After the valve is thus formed into the proper shape, it is further prepared for
use by soaking or boiling it in a preserving and hardening substance, as for
instance, paraffine, boiled linseed oil, or oil and turpentine, and after that it is
beneficial to press it by a suitable press, or between rollers, this pressure causing
the said filling and hardening material to penetrate to the innermost part of the
substance of the valve.
The fibres herein described are unaffected by heat or wet, and consequently
much more durable and desirable for this purpose than any india rubber, or other
soft valve which has ever heretofore been used.
Although several fibres, including animal and vegetable, as well as mineral, have
herein before been mentioned, I consider the mineral fibres, such as asbestos and
'mineral wool, the very best materials for the construction of these valves, owing to
their exemption from injury by heat, oils, or acids, and their very great durability,
and resistance to wear.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A valve for steam engines, pumps, and similar devices formed of felted
plaited, laid or woven goods, consisting of any mineral fibre, such as asbestos,
mineral wool etc., and a suitable enclosing case, the whole being sewed or stitched
together, substantially as described.
2. A valve for steam engines, pumps, and similar devices, formed of layers of
any suitable mineral fibre and an enclosing case, the whole being securely fastened
together by sewing, substantially as shown and described.
8. A valve for steam engines, pumps, and similar devices formed of layers of
fibrous material, said layers being partly of mineral fibre and partly of animal or
vegetable fibre, the whole being securely fastened together by sewing, substantially
as shown and set forth,
4. A valve for use in steam, water, oil or other engines pumps, or appliances,
formed of any suitable animal, vegetable, or mineral fibro, fastened together by
sewing, riveting or equivalent means, substantially as shown and described.
5. A valve formed of any suitable animal, vegetable or mineral fibre, closely
packed or laid in an enclosing case or cover, the whole being securely fastened
together by sewing or equivalent fastening means, substantially as described.

page_text: 6. A valve made of any animal, vegetable, or mineral fibre, held between two
confining disks of a textile fabric by means of sewing, riveting, or similar fastenings,
substantially as described.
7. A valve formed of any suitable animal, vegetable or mineral fibre secured
together by sewing, stitching, riveting, or equivalent devices, and saturated with
any suitable filling material such as paraffine, oils &c. for filling, preserving, and
hardening it, substantially as described and set forth.
.8. A valve formed of any suitable animal, vegetable, or mineral fibre, sewed or
otherwise fastened together, saturated with any suitable filling material such as
paraffine, oil, turpentine &c. and subjected to pressure so as to leave it in a
condensed form, substantially as described.
ALLISON BRO³.
Agents for the Applicant.