Improvements in and connected with Pipe Joints.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Sept., 1891-Accepted, 24th Oct., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Pipe Joints.
A communication from abroad by THE HOGAN ENGINEERING COMPANY, a
Corporation organised under the laws of the State of New York, and doing
business in the City, County, and State of New York, United States of
America.
I, JOHN CORRY FELL, of the firm of Fell and Wilding, of 1 Queen Victoria
Street, in the City of London, Patent Agent, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to furnish a means of grasping the ends of
wrought iron pipes such as are used for water and gas, without forming any screw
thread thereon.
The invention is adapted for coupling pipes together by butting the ends of the
pipes upon one another with or without an interposed packing; and it is also
adapted to draw the end of a pipe firmly against a suitable face on a tee,
elbow, Y, cock, or other fitting.
To grasp the pipe end and draw it toward another pipe or fitting without the
use of a screw thread, a collar having conical exterior is locked upon the outside
of the pipe near the end, and a coupling sleeve applied over such collar is used
to lock the collar to the pipe, and to draw the pipe end to the opposed bearing
face or seat. The collar is divided at one or both sides so as to make it bite
when pressed upon the pipe by the coupling sleeve, and may be locked to the
pipe by several means, as, first, by forming the interior of the collar with serrations
or with sharp rasp teeth adapted to indent the pipe when the collar is pressed
thereon; secondly, by forming a narrow V-shaped groove in the exterior of the
pipe near the end, and providing the collar with an annular V-shaped rib to fit
such groove; thirdly, by forming a shallow cylindrical groove in the exterior of
the pipe adapted to receive the whole width of the collar. The V-shaped groove
or the shallow cylindrical groove may be readily formed in the exterior of the
pipe by the use of an ordinary pipe cutting tool having its cutter made of the
desired shape.
The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawing, in which
Fig. 1 shows an elbow with pipe ends clamped thereto, one end of the elbow
and the pipe coupling shown in section to exhibit serrations in the collar.
Fig. 2 is a side view, and
Fig. 3 an edge view of the collar divided at one side only;
Fig. 4 is a section of two pipe ends grooved to admit the entire width of the
collars, and coupled together by flanged sleeves.
Fig. 5 is an end view of the collar divided at both sides ;
Fig. 6 an edge view of the same;
Fig. 7 is a side view of the pipe end with wide groove;
Fig. 8 shows the end of a pipe with V-shaped groove, and a ribbed collar in
place thereon;
Fig. 9 is an end view of the same; and
Fig. 10 represents two pipe ends connected by a coupling with such ribbed
collars, a portion of the coupling being shown in section to exhibit the con-
struction.
In Fig. 1, a is a pipe elbow provided at its ends with threaded nozzles 6 having
at their ends seats c against which the ends of the pipe d are butted.
e is the

page_text: •
collar shown in the section, and also in Fig. 2, with internal serrations f
and g is the coupling sleeve provided with conical seat fitted to the exterior of
the collar and formed with a threaded socket i to screw upon the nozzle b.
The collar as shown in Fig. 3, is formed witli-an opening or division ; at one
side, which adapts it to spring elastically over the end of the pipe.
The collar is adjusted at a suitable distance from the end of the pipe, and when
the sleeve is screwed upon the nozzle bit operates first to jam the serrations into
the exterior of the pipe by its pressure upon the conical surface of the collar, and
then draws the pipe end firmly against the seat c upon the fitting......
The serrated collars are formed by rolling a bar of steel of suitable cross section,
and then bending portions of suitable length into a circular form, and the coupling
collars are always, in practice, made much thinner than is shown in the drawing,
to afford the desired elasticity, and it is thus enabled to conform to the exterior of
the pipe if the same varies a little from the standard diameter.
No groove is required in the pipe end to operate with such collar.
In Fig. 4, the pipe ends are represented (as in Fig. 7) with broad shallow
grooves formed therein, and the collars e, shown in Figs. 5 and 6, fitted to such
grooves with conical sleeves g¹ fitted over the same and coupled together by
flanges, and bolts m.
0
With any of the coupling devices, a packing o may be applied between the pipe
end and the opposed bearing, if desired, although I have found that such packing
is not necessary in most cases, as 'the pipe end will make a tight joint' with the
fitting if the contiguous surfaces are smoothly finished.
1
If desired, the adjacent faces of the flanges may be formed' with annular
'tongues n tol center them upon one another, and thus hold the pipe ends in line,
and such tongues perform an added function in holding the packing o between the
ends of the pipe to prevent it from pressing inward or outward.
I
In Fig 10, two pipe ends are shown provided with shallow V-shaped grooves p
such as are readily formed by the knife or wheel of an ordinary, pipe cutter, the
cutter being forced only part of the way into the pipe, and the collarse are then
provided with small internal beveled ribs which in practice are made a little
higher than the depth of the groove p, and are clamped firmly therein by the
coupling sleeves. In joining two such pipe ends by threaded sleeves g, one is
formed with a nozzle like the elbow in Fig. 1, and the other is formed with an
internal thread i..
The conical seats within the sleeves are in all cases suitably proportioned to first
press the collar firmly upon the pipe, and then draw the pipe 'end toward the
opposed pipe or fitting.
In joining two pipe ends, the coupling 'sleeves are first slipped over'the ends of
the same, the divided collars then applied to the exterior of the pipes near the ends,
and the 'sleeves are then drawn toward one another by means of screw threads
formed upon the exterior and interior of the opposed sleeves, or by bolts and nuts
inserted through flanges formed upon the sleeves.
+
11-
L
In connecting a single-pipe end to a fitting, the latter is formed with a suitable
face or seat, against which to butt the end cf 'the pipe, and the coupling sleeve
upon the pipe is drawn toward such' fitting by screw threads or bolts, as just
described.
h 1.
By forming the joint at the butted ends of the pipes, the contents of the pipes
are prevented from reaching the coupling, and the pipes are thus better adapted
for conveying corrosive liquids; which have an injurious effect 'upon ordinary
couplings.
.f
'
By this invention, the pipe is always cut to the exact length between the
-shoulders to which it is fitted, and no allowance is required for screwing into the
fittings.
Any piece of pipe in a system of piping may be readily removed without
disturbing the rest, by backing off the 'coupling sleeves, and sliding the pipe

page_text: laterally between the shoulders at its opposite ends. This method of coupling pipes
enables an operator to construct a system of pipes where they are to be erected, as
no threads are required upon the pipes, and the pipes may be readily cut to the
desired length where they are to be used, and the grooves then formed upon the
exterior, to hold the divided collars in place, if such grooves be employed.
The collar having a conical exterior, and a sleeve having conical seat to fit such
collar is common to all the constructions shown, and the different forms given to the
interior of the collar are employed to make the collar grasp the exterior of a
metallic pipe, and hold the same with sufficient firmness to make a permanent joint
under high pressure.
It is known that packings have been clamped upon the exterior of pipes and rods
by sleeves, in connection with a coupling, merely to make a tight joint at the
exterior of the pipe; but it will be observed that no joint is made upon the exterior
of the pipe in the present invention, but that the joint is formed exclusively at the
end of the pipe.
By confining the fluid within the ends of the pipes, the fluid is prevented from
access to the screw threads, collars, and conical seats fitted thereto.
When threaded couplings are removed from the ends of old pipes, they are
usually so much injured by corrosion that they can never be used again, but in the
present invention, the threads and the conical collars are entirely preserved from
injury by the fluid in the pipe, and the couplings may be unscrewed without injury
at any time, and the coupling employed to unite new pieces of pipe; when the old
ones are worn out, burst, or otherwise injured
Where it is necessary to measure the lengths of many pipes for erecting a
system, the pipes may, by the present invention, be fitted up and connected with
much greater rapidity than heretofore, as all the pipes may be cut without allowance
for the penetration of screw threads into the various fittings, and coupled together
without any subsequent variation in the length, which variation is likely to occur
where screw threads are used.
All the joints in the present system are rendered union joints, and no unions are
required to permit the introduction of any portion into the system, or the removal
of any pipe or fitting therefrom.
As the pipes are not inserted within the ends of the fittings, it is obvious that the
internal bore of the fittings may be made no larger than that of the pipe, and all
the fittings employed in such a system of pipes may therefore be made much lighter
and smaller in the body than those used with threaded pipes.
No claim is made herein to forming a joint between the sleeve and the exterior of
the pipe, as such a construction is old, but this invention relates wholly to pipes
adapted to form a joint with a bearing seat upon an opposed pipe or fitting.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :
1st. The combination, with a pipe adapted to form a joint at its end with an
opposed pipe or fitting, of a divided conical collar fitted to the exterior of the pipe,
a sleeve fitted to slip over the pipe end, and provided internally with a conical seat
to fit the collar and with means for drawing it toward the opposed pipe or fitting,
substantially as herein set forth.
2nd. The combination, with a metallic pipe adapted to form a joint at its end
with an opposed pipe or fitting and having a V-groove in its exterior (substantially
as shown and described in reference to Fig. 10), of a divided conical collar provided
with an internal beveled rib to fit the groove, a sleeve provided internally with a
conical seat to fit the collar, and with means for drawing it toward an opposed pipe
or fitting, substantially as herein set forth.
3rd. A coupling for connecting metallic pipes consisting in the two sleeves
provided internally with conical seats and with means for drawing the sleeves

page_text: together, and divided conical collars fitted to the seats in the sleeves and shaped
internally to fit the metallic pipes, substantially as herein set forth.
Dated this 22nd day of September 1891.
FELL & WILDING.
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.