IMPROVEMENTS IN STUFFING BOXES OR GLANDS APPLICABLE TO THE PISTON AND SLIDE RODS OF STEAM, AIR, AND WATER CYLINDERS, OR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Stannah, of Southwark Bridge Road, in the
County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN STUFFING
BOXES OR GLANDS APPLICABLE TO THE PISTON AND SLIDE RODS OF STEAM, AIR,
AND WATER CYLINDERS, OR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Stannah at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th December 1878.
"
JOSEPH STANNAH, of Southwark Bridge Road; in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN STUFFING BOXES OR GLANDS APPLICABLE TO THE
PISTON AND SLIDE RODS OF STEAM, AIR, AND WATER CYLINDERS, OR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
This Invention relates to improvements in the stuffing boxes or glands applicable
to the piston and slide rods of steam, air, water, and other cylinders, or to other
like purposes where a stuffing box is now used.
In place of the usual loose gland I cast solid with the surrounding metal the
space now thus occupied. Around the hole through which the piston rod works a
groove is cast or formed in the metal of the cylinder or part where the stuffing box
is applied as near the centre of its thickness as possible. In connection with the
said groove a hole is drilled or formed from the outside at a tangent to this groove,
and corresponding in size, this bole being tapped and fitted with a screw to close it,
or it may be otherwise securely closed.
By forcing the packing down this hole it fills the groove, and the same is kept
tight by means of the screw or other contrivance.
Two or more holes or passages may be formed if desired in connection with the
groove, to insert the packing, such holes or passages being closed by screws or
otherwise.
Or a spiral groove may be formed around the piston or rod to be packed, having
holes or passages to introduce the packing into the groove, and closed by screws or
otherwise, as before described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Stannah in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd June
1879.
JOSEPH STANNAH, of Southwark Bridge Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN STUFFING BOXES OR GLANDS APPLICABLE TO THE
PISTON AND SLIDE RODS OF STEAM, AIR, AND WATER CYLINDERS, OR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."
:
This Invention relates to improvements in the arrangement and construction of
stuffing boxes or glands applicable to the piston and slide rods of steam, air, water,
and other cylinders, or to other like purposes where a stuffing box is now used.
And in order that my improvements may be clearly understood and readily
carried into practice I will proceed to describe the same, reference being made to
the Drawings hereto annexed and to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a stuffing box arranged and constructed in
accordance with my Invention as applied to the piston valve or other rod of an
upright steam, air, or water cylinder or other vessel.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan of the same.
Figure 3 is a plan showing how two or more passages and packing screws may
be applied to one circular groove.
Figure 4 is a sectional elevation showing how my improved stuffing box may be
applied in cases where an ordinary gland has previously been in use. Figure 5 is a
sectional plan of the same.
Figure 6 is a section of a vessel or cylinder through which a shaft or other rod
passes, the ends of which are fitted with my improved stuffing box.
Figure 7 is a section showing the application of my improved stuffing box to
oscillating engines.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the Drawings.
In place of the usual loose gland, see Figures 1 and 2, I cast with the surrounding
metal C the space or groove R to receive the packing.
Around the passage through which the piston rod works a groove R is cast or
formed in about the position corresponding with that of the packing in an ordinary
stuffing box.
In connection with the groove R a passage H is bored or formed from the outside
at or about a tangent to this groove. The passage H is tapped and fitted with a
screw S to close it, or it may be otherwise securely closed. By forcing the packing
through this passage H it fills the groove R, and the same is kept tight by means
of the screw S or by means of a key plug or other contrivance.
Two or more holes or passages, as shown in Figure 3, may be formed, if desired,
in order to provide for a more perfect packing, such holes or passages being closed
by screws S or other contrivance.
A spiral groove may, if desired, be formed around the piston or other rod to be
packed, having holes or passages at a tangent to the groove to introduce the
packing, and closed by screws or otherwise, as before described.
Figures 4 and 5 show how the apparatus can be substituted for the ordinary
gland in existing machinery or apparatus.
It will be evident that the form of the apparatus can be made to suit any old or
ordinary stuffing box, while the screws or studs A firmly hold it in position.
In Figure 6 I have shown a modification in which a shaft, whether hollow or
solid, passes through a vessel or cylinder V, which is required to be steam, air, or
water tight. In this arrangement the vessel or cylinder V may be of any shape.
According to my Invention I do not confine myself to any particular movement
of the bottom shaft or rod, nor yet the vessel or cylinder in which or through
which it passes.

page_text: The motion of the shaft, hollow spindle, or rod may be rotary or reciprocating
and the vessel stationary, or the vessel may move and the shaft, hollow spindle, or
rod be stationary, or both have motion, or the vessel may have an oscillating motion
round the shaft, hollow spindle, or rod.
The apparatus may be very conveniently applied to the bottom parts of steam,
water, or other power cranes where the steam, water, or other power has to be
brought from an independent source and conveyed up the pillar of the crane to the
cylinder.
It can also be usefully employed in steam fittings and expansive joints.
The apparatus will apply to oval or any section of rod that the packing can be
forced around when the motion is reciprocating.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of carrying
the same into practice, I would have it understood that I do not claim any of the
parts separately, which are well known, neither do I limit my claim to the exact
details herein described, as the same may be varied without departing from the true
character of my Invention, but what I claim is,-
The improved arrangement and construction of stuffing boxes, in which the
packing is forced into a groove or passage around a solid or hollow shaft of any
convenient section, and secured in position by means of one or more packing screws
or otherwise, as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Stannah, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirtieth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy nine.
J. STANNAH. (L.S.)