AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING AND LAYING CONTINUOUS CONCRETE-PIPE
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of No. 11, Wellington Street,
Strand, London, in 'the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for an Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN OR APPARATUS FOR MAKING AND LAYING
CONTINUOUS CONCRETE-PIPE." A communication from abroad by Ezra M.
Hamilton and Charles Nelson Earl, both of Los Angeles, California, United
States of America, Gentlemen.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Edward Gedge at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st May 1880.
WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent. "AN IMPROVEMENT IN AN APPARATUS FOR
MAKING AND LAYING CONTINUOUS CONCRETE PIPE." A communication from
abroad by Ezra M. Hamilton and Charles Nelson Earl, both of Los Angeles,
California, United States of America, Gentlemen.
My Invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for the manufacture
of concrete or cement pipe; and it consists of a cylinder or case which is laid
horizontally in the trench prepared for the pipe, said cylinder being provided
with a piston or plunger, which is operated by hand, and which forms the pipe
from the mortar or cement, which is fed to the cylinder from a feed tube or hopper
on top.
A flexible core is attached to the end of the piston, which forms the orifice
through the pipe, the pipe being thus made in a continuous piece without joints of
any kind, so that all leakage is avoided.
The operation of the lever attached to the piston while it forms the pipe serves
also to force the cylinder or case along the trench gradually as the pipe is made
and laid by the same operation, as is more fully described in the accompanying
Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of our apparatus; Figure 2 is a
longitudinal section.
The case or cylinder A is largest at the rear end in order to avoid any friction
of mortar inside of it, so that the earth may be pressed firmly to support the pipe
when it is bedded after leaving the cylinder, as hereinafter described.
This case is split or divided, as shown at a, behind the feed tube B so that the
diameter may be increased or decreased at will.

page_text: A draw band C passes around this end of the pipo so as to keep it at any desired
diameter in order that different sized pipe may be made with the same cylinder.
This draw-band is made with clongated slots on one end, and a thumb key on the
other, said key fitting into slots, so as to hold the band or hoop to any desired
diameter, and thus regulate the size of the cylinder.
The feed tube B which is provided with a hopper b opens into the cylinder A at
about the middle, and is made tapering from the cylinder upward as shown, the
larger end opening into the cylinder so as to prevent the mortar from sticking or
clogging.
A piston D works easily in the case or cylinder, and is operated by a lever E
at the front end of the cylinder, said lever projecting upward as shown.
Working loosely through the piston head is a rod c having a nut or head upon
the front end, and attached to a cone d at the rear end.
This cone d forms one end of the flexible core F, which may be made
of vulcanized rubber or other suitable substance, and the rear end of the core may be
tapered and have a rounded end. The office of this flexible core is to form the
bore of the pipe, and its conical forward end facilitates the formation of the bore
by gradually pressing the concrete or mortar outward as the core is drawn forward
until the proper size of the bore is reached, when the concrete or mortar will be
thoroughly compacted around the core. The form of the rear end facilitates the
passage of this core as it moves forward and prevents the breakage or marring of
the pipe in turning corners.
To the rear end of the case is hinged a hook G weighted on top as shown, which
follows along on the pipe to prevent its being upset by the pressure of the piston
after it has left the cylinder or case.
The operation of our device is as follows:-The cylinder is laid in the trench
with the feed-tube upright. A man stands in the trench at the end of the machine
in which the lever is placed and as ho works the lever he moves along backward
in the trench.
The mortar or cement placed in the hopper passes readily down the tapering
feed-tube into the case or cylinder behind the piston.
A stroke of the piston forces the mortar back into the case and around the cone &
to which is attached the flexible core thus forming the pipe, and at the same time
driving the machine ahead correspondingly or about two inches per stroke.
The case is largest at the rear end to avoid the friction of mortar inside of it and
to press the earth in the trench firmly so that the pipe shall be well supported or
bedded after leaving the cylinder; loose earth is shovelled into the trench alongside
of the forming cylinder as it is being worked; but in loose sandy soils the machino
will plow its way so as to properly bed the pipe. In order to facilitate the'
movement of the cylinder the front end is rounded or turned up as shown at H.
The flexibility of the core is necessary in order to prevent cracking or breaking
the pipe in passing curves or following undulations in the bottom of the trench.
It must be long enongh, say about three feet, to preserve the bore of the pipe
against the pressure in the cylinder or clods rolling on it while moving the
cylinder. This core is drawn ahead by the rod which works in the piston, as
described.
The reciprocating motion of the core smooths the bore of the pipe and closes
any small cracks or holes, acting in this respect like a trowel in the hands of a
plasterer. The weight on the hood keeps said hood down on the pipe making it
smooth and preventing its cracking in an undulating trench.
The concrete or mortar may be mixed on the ground and fed into the hopper
coming out of the cylinder in the form of a continuous pipe. As the piston is
worked and the mortar is crowded back around the cone and core and against the
cylinder cach stroke of the piston moves cylinder ahead in the trench by the piston
impinging on the end of the newly formed pipe.
The cone and core do not necessarily have the same stroke as the piston by
reason of the rod connecting them with the piston passing freely through said,

page_text: piston. On the forward stroke of the piston the core is drawn ahead so that the
cone may form the hole and the core smooth the same. On the back stroke a
certain freedom of motion is allowed to both cone and core so that they shall not
be necessarily pushed back, but will remain so that the concrete or mortar will be
crowded around them.
It will be seen that the machine may be used on the surface of the ground as
well as in the trench, and when the earth is too moist to allow the mortar to be
well worked in the trench. In this case the pipe may be made upon the ground
and cut off in lengths to suit. When the pipe becomes sufficiently hardened it
may be laid like any other drain tile.
Having thus described the Invention communicated to me as aforesaid, what
1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. The outwardly enlarging case or cylinder A with its tapering feed tube B
and hopper b in combination with the piston D provided with the moveable cone d
and flexible core F, whereby the plastic material is forced back and formed into a
pipe shape, and the central hole formed at the same time, substantially as
herein described.
Second. The pipe forming cylinder A with its piston and lever D, E, core F, and
cone d, and provided with the slots a in combination with the regulating draw
band C, whereby the diameter of the cylinder is changeable, and the size of the
pipe determined, substantially as herein described.
Third. In combination with the pipe forming cylinder A with its piston D and
flexible core F, the weighted hood G, whereby the pipe is prevented from being
pressed out of shape after leaving the cylinder, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. The pipe forming cylinder A with its piston D and lever E, in
combination with the flexible core F, attached to said piston by the rod c and
provided with the cone shaped and rounded ends d, d, whereby the bore or
opening through the pipe is formed smoothly and breakage prevented in turning
corners or on undulating ground, substantially as herein described.
Fifth. The cylinder A with a feed tube B with its splits or slots a and draw-
band C provided with the hopper b and weighted hood G, and having the piston D
and lever E, said piston having connected with it the flexible cone ended core F,
the whole adapted to be placed in a trench along which it is moved by the action
of the lever and piston in forming the pipe, whereby the pipe is made and laid at
the one operation, and at the same time in a continuous piece, substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto set my