IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PACKINGS.
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark of the firm of A. M and
W. Clark of 53 Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents
A communi-
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC PACKINGS.
cation to him from abroad by Leopold Katzenstein, of New York in the
County and State of New York, United States of America, Machinist.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st November 1882.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK of the firm of A. M and W. Clark of 53 Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents. IMPROVEMENTS IN METALLIC
PACKINGS Communicated to me from abroad by Leopold Katzenstein of
New York in the County and State of New York, United States of America,
Machinist.
This Invention relates to an improved metallic packing which may be used for
piston rods and other similar purposes, as, for example, for packing the joints of
steam or other pipes, and the special object of this present Invention is to produce
a packing which shall be readily and easily put in place, and which on account of
its elasticity will adjust itself and yield when there is any displacement or.
movement of the pipe joints or of the rod. The packing is also to be of such.
construction that steam and water will assist in keeping it tight.
The Invention consists in making the packing rings hollow and by preference
triangular in shape and alternating around the rod or pipe so that the base of one
triangular ring and the apex of the next triangular ring will come next to the
surface of the pipe or rod to be packed. The rings will thus fit closely one against
another, any number of them desired being used. The Invention also consists in
making each of these packing rings of hollow tube around which is wound or spun
metallic wire which may again be enclosed in a metal tube, the whole being
covered with a fibrous coating of asbestos or equivalent fibrous strands wound or
spun around the outer metal tubing to prevent the metallic surfaces of the several

page_text: rings from coming into contact, said construction making this packing flexible and
adaptable to the purposes for which it is intended to be used, all as hereinafter
more fully described. The Invention also consists in leaving said hollow rings
open at the ends, or providing openings in other places for the admission of steam
or water to their interior.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal sectional view
of a stuffing box showing the improved packing placed therein and its form and
the manner of arranging it in the box and around a piston rod. Figure 2 is a plan
view of the packing shown in Figure 1 cut away at one portion of its surface.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a piece of the packing. Figure 4 is a cross
section on an enlarged scale of the packing.
Referring to the drawings, A represents a stuffing box, B the gland or follower
thereof. C is a piston rod or other rod or piece to be packed, and D E F G H are
five (more or less) packing rings fitted around the rod C within the stuffing box.
These packing rings are constructed as follows. I make a tube a of brass or other
suitable metal whose shape is preferably that shown in cross section in Figure 4
and which is wound-to be of double-thickness. This tube is continuous and hollow
from end to end and may be flexible so that its ends can be brought together, as
shown in Figure 2. The edges of the metal of which this tube a is composed
overlap as shown in Figure 4 thus permitting slight expansion and contraction of
the tube, according as there may be pressure upon it from either the inner or the
outer side. Around this tube a as a core, I wind a metallic wire or strips b, using
--preferably-a-soft-wire, the coils-of-the wire being laid-closely together around-the
tube to its entire length from one end to the other; the coils may then be wound
back again, breaking the joints of the first winding, and then again wound back if
desired, breaking the joints of the second winding. The coils of the wire are kept
from slipping off from the tube a by a flange or flanges d which may be bent up
on the tube at either end thereof, and which may also serve to clamp and hold the
ends of the wire upon the said tube. When the winding with the wire b has been
completed, I surround the same with another sheet metal tubing f which is like the
tube a only larger, and I then wind over said tube f the asbestos or fibrous
covering e in a series of close, successive, coils covering the whole surface of the
tube f. Instead of asbestos as a covering, I can use hemp, cotton, or other suitable
fibrous or mineral material and the same may be applied in strips or in any
suitable manner which will effectually cover and protect the tube a and metallic
coverings band f. When the tubes a and f are of triangular shape as already
stated, their form is transmitted to the successive windings b and e, and the whole
ring when finished is triangular in cross section, as in Figure 1. I now have a
flexible hollow strip which is of the form shown, or of other analogous form, and
which may be made of various lengths according to the diameter of the ring
desired. When a series of these rings is slipped over the joints of steam pipes or
over rods or stems into the box A one on top of the other so as to make a close fit,
as shown in Figure 1, a metallic packing is formed which is readily applied and
which adjusts itself to varying conditions on account of its great flexibility. As
the ends d of the packing ring are not fastened rigidly together but only brought
close when the packing is used, the steam or water will penetrate between the two
ends and enter the hollow portion of the tube a, filling it and acting as a further
packing and assisting in the objects for which the packing is intended. But if the
ends of the tube be fastened very closely together, steam or water can be admitted
to the hollow of the tube through apertures specially provided for that purpose.
In use, the triangular rings alternately present a flat side and an angular edge
to the surface to be packed, as shown in Figure 1. I can also make these hollow
packing rings with tubular cores of any angular form desired, or with a round or
oval tubular core, the shape of the tubular core and the packing not being essential,
though I have shown a triangular form of core and packing as one best adapted to
the purposes for which it is used.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing

page_text: the same, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is.
1st A packing composed of inner metallic tube a, metallic covering b applied
directly to said tube and outer fibrous covering e, substantially as herein shown
and described.
2nd A packing composed of inner tube a having end flange or flanges d, and of
the metallic covering 6 and fibrous covering e, substantially as herein shown and
described.
3rd The hollow packing rings of substantially the construction described, arranged
one above another around the surface to be packed.
4th The hollow packing rings having fibrous covering, and opening or openings
in the inner tube to admit steam or water, substantially as specified.
5th In a packing ring, the inner tube a made with overlapping edges, substan-
tially as and for the purposes specified.
6th The packing composed of inner tube a, soft wire b, outer tube f, and fibrous
or mineral covering e, substantially as specified.
In Witness whereof I the said Alexander Melville Clark have hereunto set my
hand and seal this sixth day of November, A.D. 1882.
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