AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAKING OR CONSTRUCTING OF PIPES OR TUBES FOR THE PASSAGE OR CONVEYANCE OF FLUIDS
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
HANCOCK, late of King Street, Northampton Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Jeweller, but now of Stratford, in the County of Essex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of July now last past,
did give and grant unto me, the said Walter Hancock, His especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Walter Hancock, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Walter
Hancock, 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 of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MAKING OR CONSTRUCTING OF PIPES
OR TUBES FOR THE PASSAGE OR CONVEYANCE OF FLUIDS;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Walter Hancock,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Walter Hancock, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained by the following description thereof, together with the
Figures herein-after delineated, that is to say :-
In the construction of the said pipes or tubes I use or employ any of the
malleable and laminable metals; and in some instances wood, as herein-after
stated. Of the metals, I prefer iron or copper, and I make use of either
one or the other as it may best suit the purpose to which the pipe or pipes to
be made is intended to be applied. The above metals can be procured rolled
out into sheets or strips of appropriate lengths, widths, and thicknesses. The
length and diameter of the pipe intended to be made will determine respectively
the length and width of the sheet of metal, and the required strength of the
said pipe will determine the thickness of the sheets and strips of metal of
which the said pipes are to be, constructed or made. Supposing for instance I
am about to make a pipe of four feet in length and six inches in diameter, I
take a sheet of iron or copper of any required thickness, the length of which
is four feet, and of a width exceeding by about three quarters of an inch or an
inch the circumference of a circle whose diameter is six inches, or, in other
words, the width of the sheet should be greater than the circumference of the
pipe to be made by-about an inch or three quarters of an inch, which greater
width is used, as herein-after explained, in closing the pipe. I first make both
edges, as well as the ends of the said sheet, straight, and when the said pipe
is intended to be cylindrical, I make both the said edges parallel to each other,
at the same time taking care that both ends of the sheet shall be square with
the edges thereof, or that the form-of-the-said sheet.shall be rectangular. For
the sake of clearer explanation, I will suppose two straight lines to be drawn
parallel to each edge of the said sheet throughout its length, each line being
at the distance from each edge of the sheet of half the excess of the width of
the sheet over the circumference of the tube intended to be made; I then
proceed, by any of the well-known methods for bending sheets of metál, 'to
bend up or fold over each edge of the said sheet, so as that, in the operation
of 'bending, each of the before-mentioned lines shall form or be nearly in the
situation of the axis round which each edge of the said sheet is made to turn,
and I continue, by one or more operations, to bend the same until that portion
at or near each edge of the said sheet, between one of the said edges and one of
the said lines, is brought round and made to lie parallel with that side or face
of the sheet to which it had, by so bending it, been made to approach, leaving

page_text: a distance between the part which has been bent over and the surface of the
sheet equal to or a little more than the thickness of the said shect. By this
operation, each edge of the sheet may be said to be doubled or folded back
upon the sheet itself, and both the said edges are folded back upon the same
side of the said sheet, and the lateral dimension, or the width of the sheet, will
be lessened by the width of the two marginal pieces so doubled back, and the
width of the sheet will now be equal to the circumference of the tube intended
to be made, or nearly so. I now bend the said sheet into the cylindrical shape
by the same means as are commonly employed by the makers of wrought-
iron pipes, so that the now rounded edges of the said sheet are made to
approach or be in contact, or nearly so, with each other.
The following Figure marked A C
B
A
represents a section or end view
of the said sheet, with its edges turned back, and the following Figure, marked B,
represents a section or end view the said sheet after it has been bent
into a cylindrical shape. I next take a slip or narrow piece of sheet-
iron, of the same thickness and length as the thickness and length
of the sheet herein-before described, the two sides of which I make
straight, and also parallel with each other; and I make the width of the said
slip or picce nearly four times the width of one of the edges so turned or folded
back as above described, and I turn or fold back both edges of the said
strip or piece, precisely in the same manner as the edges of the said
sheet are herein-before described to have been folded back, so that an end
or sectional view of the said strip or piece would be similar to the following
Figure marked C C_. By inspecting the said Figure C, and also
the Figure B, it will be understood that if the said strip or piece
marked C be turned upside down, and one end thereof be applied to one end
of the aforesaid tube, that the edges of the piece C may be made to enter
the space formed between the outer surfaces of the said tube and its two
clges, and that, by sliding the said piece forward, the edges of the said tube
Lady path
D
and those of the said piece may be made to mutually envelope or
embrace each other in the manner represented by the following
sectional or end view (marked D), in which the said tube and
piece appear combined. The joining of the edges of the said tube
being so far made, I bring the parts into closer contact by hammering, so
as to make the whole as close and tight as possible. This method of joining
the edges of the tube together may with equal facility be made on the inside
of the tube, if, in turning the sheet up in the cylindrical shape, the said
sheet be bent in the contrary direction to that represented in the Figures B
aud D.

page_text: F
The Figure E represents and end view or section of a pipe
joined in the inside; and for reasons which will herein-after
appear, I prefer, in many cases, having the projecting part of the
joint inside instead of outside. As the tube, the manner of
making which I have hercin-before described, forms only a part of my
improved pipe, namely, a lining thereto, I shall, for distinction sake, herein-
after call it the inner tube. In order to give sufficient strength to my
improved pipe, and to render it capable of withstanding or resisting the strain
of the column of fluid it is intended to bear, I coil around the said inner tube
a long strip of metal, for instance, iron, of any convenient form, but I prefer
hoop iron, either in one piece or in any number of pieces, rivetted or welded
together end to end, so as to make the said strip of metal or hoop iron of
sufficient length to allow of its being wrapped or coiled round the said inner
tube the required number of times. This operation of wrapping or coiling
the said hoop iron round the said inner tube may be performed in various
ways. I perform it in the following manner:-I fix the said tube upon a
wooden roller of a diameter nearly corresponding to the internal diameter of
the said tube, the said wooden roller being properly mounted upon an iron
axle, with a bandle at one or both ends thereof, by which it may be turned
roun; and the said axle being laid horizontally upon, and supported at each
end by a fixed frame, I fasten one end of the said strip of hoop iron to one end
of the said tube by rivetting them together, and then holding the said hoop
iron obliquely, or so as that it forms a proper angle with the axis of the said
tube, I cause the said tube to be turned round, at the same time giving such a
tension to the hoop iron as to make it apply itself close and tight to the out-
side of the said tube as the coiling operation proceeds, and until the said tube
throughout its whole length is covered from end to end with successive coils
of the hoop iron laid close to each other, or having any required intervals
between the said coils. Having thus completed the number
of coils, I fasten the other end of the said hoop iron to the
other end of the said tube by rivetting them together.
Figures F and G, in the margin hereof, represent the pipe
or tube after this process. In Figure F the coils are repre-
sented close to each other, their edges touching; in Figure G
they are apart. If the iron be coiled on while hot its con-
traction on cooling will cause it more firmly to embrace the
inner tube. From the foregoing description, it will be under-
F
G
stood that the obliquity or inclination of the successive coils of the hoop iron
will occasion a part of the said hoop to project beyond each end of the said tube.

page_text: It is sufficient for me to say, that the parts thus projecting are to be cut off
even with each end of the said tube. In order to more securely fasten the ends
of the said hoop iron to or upon the said tube, I take another piece of hoop
iron, and by a rivet fasten one end thereof to one end of the said tube, and
holding the hoop iron at right angles with it, I cause the said tube to be
turned round three or four times, during which the said hoop iron, being held
tight, is made to apply itself in so many coils one upon another round the end
of the tube, and thus to form a kind of boop. I then fasten the whole together
by a proper number of rivets.
In like manner I put a similar hoop upon the
other end of the said tube.
I would here observe, that hoops made in the usual way by welding will
answer the purpose equally well with those I have described, and I occasionally
employ welded hoops for the purpose before stated, and in putting them on to
the ends of the tube, I previously heat them, by which the iron becomes
expanded, and they are then easily driven on to the ends of the pipe, and over
the hoop iron, and by the contraction which takes place on cooling, they become
fixed close and tight round the ends of the tube, and over the ends of the said
hoop iron. In order to render the tube or pipe so formed water or air tight,
I apply cement, herein-after described, melted in an iron or other vessel, of
such a width and depth as will admit of the said pipe being immersed in the
said cement when in a melted state; by these means the joint of the said pipe,
and all the interstices or spaces between the pipe and hoop iron, and between
one coil and another of the said hoop iron, become filled with the said cement.
The outside of the said pipe may be protected from rust and other injuries by
wrapping a piece of canvass or other cloth around the same, so as to cover it
completely by one or more layers or thicknesses thereof, and I occasionally
make use of such a covering; and when I do so, I put the cloth upon the pipe
previously to immersing the pipe in the cement, in order that the cloth may be
completely saturated with the cement when the said pipe is immersed therein; or,
instead of the said outside covering of cloth, I sometimes make use of and apply
an outside covering of iron; that is, I make a tube of sheet iron, similar to the
one herein-before described, but of a diameter large enough to admit of its being
put upon or over the hoops of the inner tube, and I afterwards fill the space
between the inner and outer tubes with cement, herein-after.. described.
When two or more of my improved pipes are to be joined together, I prepare
for each joining a tube made in a similar manner to those already herein-
before described, of a length equal to somewhat more than its diameter, and
I make the internal diameter thereof from half an inch to an inch (according

page_text: to circumstances) more than the external diameter of the pipes intended to be
joined. Into this last-mentioned tube I put two of the ends of the pipes
intended to be joined together, so that the said two pipes are placed end to
end, and I fill the annular space between the said tube and the said pipes
with cement such as I shall herein-after describe, and thus effect a tight joint
between the two pipes. In doing this, the two opposed ends of the said pipes
are placed half way between the ends of the said tube; and in order to
prevent the cement, when in a melted state, from running through between
the ends of the pipes so opposed to each other into the inside of the said pipes,
I first bring the said ends of the said pipes together, and cause the pipes to be
held or fixed in that position; I then cover the joining or the two ends which
have been placed in contact with each other with a ply or two of loose spun
rope yarn or oakum or tape. The joining tube hercin-before mentioned is
now drawn over the said ends of the pipes, and in order that the said tube
may be held nearly concentric with the said pipes, I insert into the annular
space a narrow ring of wood (previously prepared for that purpose) at each
end of the said joining tube, so as that cach of the said wooden rings shall
fill up each end of the said space, and prevent the cement, when poured into
the vacuity or space left between the said two rings of wood, from running
out; I also, previously to applying the joining tube, cause a hole to be made
through one side thereof at or about the middle of its length, and through
this hole I inject the melted cement by means of a syringe made of iron..
By immersing the said syringe in a pot of melted cement, kept hot for that
purpose, it becomes heated, and may then be filled with cement, and the hot
cement may thus be lifted and a syringe full at a time be injected through
the said hole until the said annular space is filled therewith. In forming
my said improved pipes I sometimes make them partly of wood, such as deal,
fir, &c., and I then substitute such wood in place of the inner tube herein-
before mentioned by making a wooden tube of any required thickness; and
I find such tubes may conveniently be made of a number of pieces or staves
of the length of the pipe intended to be made, and of such a shape as that,
when a sufficient number of the said picces or staves are put together, they
shall form a cylinder or tube of any required diameter. These pieces of
wood or staves having been previously wrought to a proper shape, I
put them together into the form already described, namely, that of a
cylinder or tube, and I put the said tube upon a wooden roller similar
to that herein-before stated to have been used in coiling the strip of
hoop iron around the herein before mentioned iron tube; and in like

page_text: manner I coil a strip of hoop iron around the said wooden tube or cylinder,
so as that the staves of the said cylinder are thereby held firmly together.
I prefer making the inner tubes of my said improved pipes, when of large
size, of wood, because the said inner tubes when made of wood are stiffer
and bend less than those made of sheet iron of any moderate thickness.
These wooden tubes having been covered or bound with hoop iron coiled upon
them, as I have herein-before explained, I likewise immerse in the melted
cement as herein-before stated, either with or without being previously covered
with cloth, or surrounded with an outer tube of sheet iron, as occasion may
require. The cement I make use of for the purposes herein-before mentioned
is composed of the following ingredients mixed and melted together in the
following proportions, namely, two pounds of becs-wax, two pounds and an half
of linseed oil, twelve pounds of common white resin, eighteen pounds of
pitch, and one pound of tallow, and with this cement, when it is employed for
filling up the vacuities between the inner and outer tubes of my said pipes, or
in joining two of the said pipes together, I find it advantageous to mix with
the said cement about sixteen pounds of plaister of paris, or of roman
cement, or of quicklime in fine powder; and if it be desirable to give a
greater degree of elasticity and toughness to the said cement, I then add to the
aforesaid quantities of the said materials two pounds of indian rubber
previously dissolved in five quarts of spirits of turpentine. I do not confine
myself to any particular mode of joining different lengths of the said tubes
to each other or to any particular kind of cement; there are various modes
well known of joining tubes and various cements applicable to the same purpose
as the cement I have mentioned. When the tubes are entirely of iron,
copper, brass, gun metal, or any metal with which tin will unite, the interior
or exterior surfaces, or both, may be tinned and the interstices filled with tin;
After which the cement may also be applied, if required. In turning a
corner I use a cast-irou elbow in the manner commonly used.
Lastly, I declare that I do not claim the exclusive use of any of the
materials berein-before mentioned, but my Invention consists in the making
or constructing of pipes or tubes for the passage or conveyance of fluids in the
manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Hancock, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.
(L.S.) WALTER HANCOCK.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Fourteenth day of January,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Walter Hancock came before
our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also tho Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Fourteenth day of January, in the year above written.