IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM OR OTHER VAPOUR AND WATER OR OTHER LIQUID TIGHT JOINTS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM OR OTHER VAPOUR AND WATER OR OTHER
LIQUID TIGHT JOINTS."-A communication from abroad by Joseph Har-
rison, of Philadelphia, in the United States of America, Engineer.
Sealed the 17th January 1862, and dated the 12th November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th November 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN, THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM OR OTHER VAPOUR AND WATER OR
OTHER LIQUID TIGHT JOINTS," a communication from abroad by Joseph
Harrison, of Philadelphia, in the United States of America, Engineer, to be
as follows:
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction of joint suitable for steam,
gas, and water pipes, or for other: purposes where a perfectly tight joint is

page_text: required, and consists in the combination of an open or split packing ring of
copper or other suitable metal, with a V or angular circular groove formed on
one or both junction surfaces, or with angular or bevilled surfaces on the two
faces of the joint in such a manner that the ring which is open or in a slightly
expanded state when placed in or upon one of the angular surfaces, shall be
closed and forced into its groove or recess by the act of compressing the two
parts of the joint together. In making the ring above mentioned care should
be taken that the two abutting ends of the piece of wire or round metal
after it has been bent into an annular form, be made perfectly square and
even, so that when forced against each other a perfectly tight joint in the
ring itself will be formed. In all cases the ring should be slightly larger in
diameter than is required for the actual joint before it is compressed by the
tightening up of the two halves of such joint, so that the compression of the
two parts of the joint will at the same time effect the tight closing of the
split in the ring, and so complete the efficiency of the entire joint. Any
section of ring may be used with any form of groove or angular surface
provided such ring and surfaces be so constructed as to effect the closing of
the ring by the compressing together of the two junction surfaces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th May. 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of
166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
Ône thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should,
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
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 "IMPROVEMENTS

page_text: IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF STEAM OR OTHER VAPOUR AND WATER OR OTHER LIQUID
TIGHT JOINTS," a communication from abroad by Joseph Harrison, of Phila-
delphia, in the United States of America, Engineer, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under
the band and seal of one of them, 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 immediately after the date of the said.
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner. the sanie is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction of joint suitable for
steam, gas; and water pipes, or for other purposes where a perfectly tight joint
is required, and consists in the combination of an open or split packing ring
of copper or other suitable metal with a V or angular circular groove, formed
on one or both junction surfaces, or with angular or bevelled surfaces on one
or both faces of the joint, in such a manner that the ring, which is open or in
a slightly expanded state when placed in or upon one of the angular surfaces
or grooves, shall be closed and forced into its proper place by the act of
compressing the two parts of the joint together. In making the ring above
mentioned care should be taken that the two abutting ends of the piece of
wire or round metal after it has been bent into an annular form be made
perfectly square and even, so that when forced against each other a perfectly
tight joint in the ring itself will be formed. In all cases the ring should be
slightly larger in diameter than is required for the actual joint before it is
compressed by the tightening up of the two halves of such joint, so that the
compression of the two parts of the joint will at the same time effect the tight
closing of the split in the ring, and so complete the efficiency of the entire
joint. Any section of ring may be used with any form of groove or angular
surface, provided such ring and surfaces be so constructed as to effect the
closing of the ring by the compressing together of the two junction surfaces.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings shews in section one form of joint constructed
according to this Invention and applied to the "units" of a steam generator
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on or about the
Thirtieth of August One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, Number 1970.
In this instance I make an angular groove on the edge of the joint of the lower
piece b as shewn in the Drawing, the edge of the joint on the adjoining piece a
being left flat in the groove above mentioned. I place a ring of copper or
other metal wire c about three-sixteenths of an inch thick, which rings resting
upon the angles of the groove and against the flat surface of the adjoining
piece will make a secure and tight joint when drawn together by a screw bolt
or other means. To enable the ring above mentioned to be made with greater
facility after bending it into the circular form, I make the ends of the wire
forming the ring square, butting the ends together to secure perfect tightness
at their point of junction. I make the ring a little too large in diameter for
the groove so that when placed therein the ring bears only on the outside angle
of the groove as shewn in Figure 2. When the ring is thus placed and the
joint is to be screwed tight, the first pressure tends to force the ends of
the wire in the ring hard together, which continues until the ring bears evenly
on both angles of the groove. The joints have been made with a wire ring
between two flat surfaces, but it was found that the ring was liable to be
forced out of place by the pressure, and at the same time unless the ring was
soldered it would leak at the junction of the wire. By using the angular
groove as above described on one or both sides of the joint both of the above
evils are entirely avoided. Figure 1 shows the joint screwed tight with the
wire forced against both angles of the groove. Figure 2 shows the same joint
before any pressure has been put upon it, and in which it will be seen that the
wire ring only touches the outside angle of the groove. Figure 3 shews (in
plan) the ring slightly open at the ends of the wire before being subjected to
the pressure by which the joint of the ring is brought together. Figure 4
shews the same principle of making a joint as the one just described with a
slight alteration in form, In this case the ring is made as before, but previous
to bringing the two pieces together the ring is forced into the conical opening
in the upper piece a until it rests against the angular bed; the lower piece b
has a single angle, against which angle the ring presses when the joint is
drawn together. This joint last described has all the advantages of the former,
and when it is desirable that the joint should have no tendency to move side-
ways, this last one might be preferred; in the former instance stability can be
given to the joint sideways by a groove in both edges of the joint, the wire
ring resting in each groove. Figure 5 represents a section of another form of

page_text: joint. In this arrangement the parts a and b fit one into the other, forming a
species of socket joint, and the ring c is interposed between them. One of the
surfaces which press upon this ring is perfectly square; that is to say, it is not
bevelled or angled, whilst the other surfaces may be more or less bevelled as
shewn in the Drawing. By making the joint of the form shewn in Figure 5;
the ring is acted upon simultaneously by the three surfaces 1, 2, and 3, two of
which surfaces, videlicit, 2 and 3, are bevelled so as to act at different angles
upon the ring.
In describing the above mode of making a joint in combining the wire ring
with the angles on the castings, I do not mean to confine myself to any special
form of wire ring or to any special form of groove or angle, but reserve the
right to adopt any form of wire ring or groove, provided the groove is so made
as to close the ends of the wire together when the ring is made a little too
large, and where the groove or grooves admit the ring to be so placed as to
effectually prevent it from being forced out of its place by the pressure against
it. The making a steam or water tight joint by the introduction of a copper
or other metal ring between the parts has long been known, and I lay no
claim to invention in this respect. My improvement is in the combination of
the angles as above described with the wire ring, and manner of making the
ring without soldering, for the purpose of making a tight joint for steam or
other purposes.
In Figure 6 I have also illustrated a simple and effective joint in which the
ring is dispensed with, but I lay no claim to this formation. In making the
joint the part 6 is made to enter the part a so as to form a socket joint and on
one of the two surfaces which abut against each other when the joint is
tightened up as in Figure 6, I cut a series of annular V grooves so as to
leave A shaped projecting rings upon such surface. The part a is made.flat
at the junction surface, and this flat part is forcibly pressed against the sharp
edges of the projections formed on the part b, so as partly to crush them or
embed them into the metal of the part a, thus effectually closing the joint
steam and fluid tight.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and
original and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
1st. The general constructions of steam or other vapour, water, or other
liquid tight joints as herein-before described.
2nd. The making of joints for steam apparatus or other purposes wherein

page_text: an open or split wire ring is used, and wherein the ring is made tight at the
junction, being compressed by the action of the outer angle of the groove in
the casting, the ring being made larger in diameter than the groove.
3rd. The application and use of an open wire ring or a wire cord or other
form of metal bent into an annular shape in combination with an angular
surface or other form of groove, or with angular surfaces on one or both the
castings which shall compress the ends of the interposed ring together for the
purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification, hereunto set my hand seal, this Twelfth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)