AN IMPROVED PACKING FOR STUFFING BOXES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inu,
in the County of Middlesex, and No. 87, St. Vincent Street, in the City
of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED PACKING FOR STUFFING BOXES."-A communication from abroad
by Ivon Bruce Miller, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America.
Sealed the 15th October 1867, and dated the 29th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Davies at the Office or
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th April
1867.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
5 Middlesex, and No. 87, St. Vincent Street, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED PACKING FOR STUFFING BOXES," (a communication
to me from abroad by Ivon Bruce Miller, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America,) to be as follows:-
This improved packing consists of a core of fibrous strands impregnated
with powdered steatite, graphite, or other powdered mineral lubricant, and a
woven, braided, or knitted covering through which the powder can gain access
to and assist to lubricate the surfaces with which the packing is in contact.

page_text: The Invention further consists in combining with the said core and cover
an intervening coating of paraffine or equivalent material, which when the
packing is stored away or during transportation prevents the escape of the
powder, but which when the packing is in use melts, permits the powder to
escape, and serves as an additional lubricant.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 29th
October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 87, Saint Vincent Street, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and sucessors, give and grant unto me, the said George
Davies, Her special licence that I, the said George Davies, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Davies, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should any time agree with, and no
others from time to time and all time 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 "AN IMPROVED PACKING FOR STUFFING BOXES," being
a communication to me from abroad by Ivon Bruce Miller, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Davies, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Davies, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawing, that is to say:
This improved packing consists of a core of fibrous strands impregnated

page_text: with powdered steatite, graphite, or other powdered mineral lubricant, and a
woven, braided, or knitted covering through which the powder can gain
access to assist to lubricate the surfaces with which the packing is in contact.
The Invention further consists in combining with the said core and cover
an intervening coating of paraffine or equivalent material, which when the
packing is stored away or during transportation prevents the escape of the
powder, but which when the packing is in use melts, permits the powder. to
escape, and serves as an additional lubricant.
The view in the accompanying Drawing represents a piece of the improved
packing, the portion marked A representing the uncovered core of fibrous
strands; the portion B the strands coated with paraffine or its equivalent,
and the portion D the completed packing with its woven or braided cover.
The following mode or process may be employed in manufacturing the
packing: The fibrous strands of hemp, cotton, or other material of which the
core A is to be formed are introduced into a trough or box containing a supply
of finely-powdered steatite or graphite, and are partially separated and covered
with and rolled in the powder until they are throroughly impregnated with
the same. The strands are now collected and formed into a loosely-twisted
rope similar to ordinary spun yarn, and this rope is then passed through a.
bath of melted paraffine, stearine, spermaceti, wax, or equivalent material
which envelopes the rope in the form of a comparatively hard coating; after
the rope has been withdrawn from the bath it has to be subjected to the final
process, namely, that of covering it with a fabric by which the coated core is
maintained in proper shape. I prefer to make this cover by passing the core
of strands through an ordinary braiding machine, which plaits round the
coating of paraffine a covering composed of cotton or other yarn; this
covering, however, may be knitted or woven by different appliances. When
the packing is stored away or during transportation the coating B serves to
prevent the powdered lubricant from escaping from the strands, and maintains
the latter in their twisted condition. When, however, the packing is in use
the paraffine melts, becomes mixed with the powdered mineral, and with the
latter passes through the interstices of the braided covering D, and assists to
lubricate the surfaces against which the packing is compressed.
In some instances the coating B may be dispensed with, in such cases,
however, a cover D braided or woven closely enough to prevent the free
escape of the powder during transportation, but sufficiently open to permit the
powder to pass through the same when the packing is compressed, should be
used.
The improved packing is applied in the ordinary manner, a piece of the

page_text: desired length being cut from the rope and coiled in the annular recess of a
gland or stuffing box, and compressed by the usual follower.
Although a mode of manufacturing the packing has been described it will
be evident that the process may be varied, and different appliances used
in carrying the Invention into effect; the Inventor therefore does not limit
himself to any particular mode of producing his new manufacture.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for "An
Improved Packing for Stuffing Boxes," together with the manner in which
the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
would remark, in conclusion, that I do not claim, as the Invention of the
aforesaid Ivon Bruce Miller, the application of dry powdered substances as a
lubricant, nor the combination of such substances with fibrous materials for
the manufacture of packing; but what I do claim and desire to secure by the
said Letters Patent as the Invention communicated to me as aforesaid is,―
Firstly, a packing composed of fibrous strands impregnated with powdered
steatite, graphite, or other mineral lubricant combined with a cover of braided,
woven, or knitted fabric.
And, secondly, I claim the combination of the above with paraffine or
equivalent material, either as an intervening coating or otherwise.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)