Metallic Packing for Piston Rods and the like.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 15th June, 1892
Complete Specification Left. 14th Mar., 1893-Accepted, 2nd June, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Metallic Packing for Piston Rods and the like.
I JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH of 23 Withington Street Pendleton near Manchester
in the County of Lancaster, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a new form of metallic packing, which consists of 2 or
more rings that clip the piston rod or barrel etc. to be packed, & are themselves
clipped by one or more outside rings.
The
On the outside of the latter is one or more spiral springs arranged so as to clip
them & force the rings to the piston rod in order to compensate for wear.
whole of the above are enclosed in
against the end of same by means
them by one or more spiral springs.
ordinary stuffing box.
a cast iron or other metal casing & are forced
of a plate or washer which is pressed against
The cast iron casing is fixed to the end of the
DETAILS.
The inner rings are made much thicker than the outer ones as they have to
withstand the wearing action of the rod & in addition to being cut through at one
place as in an ordinary Ramsbottom ring, they are nicked nearly through with a
saw from the inside at several places so as to render them pliable & capable of
following the rod as it or they wear thinner.
The joints of the inner & outer rings are arranged so as to break joint both
laterally & vertically & the rings themselves are made perfectly true on their flat
faces, the inner ones being exactly the same total length along the rod as the outer
ones so that their outer flat faces can be ground up together. The whole of the
above rings are bound together by means of a spiral spring or springs say
about " diameter (but may be smaller or larger according to size of rod) & nearly
as long as the circumference of the outer rings. The ends of this spring instead
of being drawn together in the usual way by means of screws & nuts, are made to
form their own screw & nut. This may be done by making the spaces between the
coils of the spiral spring a little larger than the thickness of the wire (which wire
may be round, square or any suitable section, but preferably square) then the ends
of the spring are brought together by bending it to an approximate circle & one
When
end is twisted the reverse way to what is required to coil into the other.
the end of the spring so twisted is released, its coils will enter into the spaces of
the other end just as a bolt screws into a nut & will run just as many turns into
it, as it has been twisted the reverse way. The ends are thus firmly interlocked &
cannot be separated unless the spring is broken. After being thus treated the
spring will appear to be an endless coil in the form of a circle & can be forced
over the outside of the outer packing ring forcing the whole of the rings inward
& compensating for any wear that may occur in them or the rod.
Other ways of screwing the ends of the spring together may be adopted, but
the principle is the same in each, namely, to first twist one end the reverse way to
what is required for it to enter the other & then run it into the other end just as
is done in a running joint in screwed piping.
One method is to cut the spring into two or more pieces & twist the ends together
by running the coils of one end into the spaces of the next, thus forming one com-
bined spring nearly equal in length to the circumference of the outer ring. The
ends of the combined spring are then brought together & one end twisted into the
other without first twisting it backward as this has already been done in twisting
its component springs together.

page_text: A still better way is to make a short cylindrical piece of metal, having a screw-
thread formed on its surface of equal pitch to the coils of the spiral spring, its
diameter being such that it will screw into one end of the spring. When thus
screwed right into the spring the ends of same can be brought together & by
means of a small tommy bar or by milling the tops of the thread on the small
metal piece, it can be twisted out of the end of the spring first mentioned & into
the other one until it screws an equal distance into cach, when the spring will
again form an apparent endless coil as before.
The packing rings & springs thus described may be inclosed in a cast iron
casing in the ordinary way with or without a ball joint; but the casing must in
any case be so constructed that the rings can give easily to any lateral motion
of the piston rod, the rings are also forced against the end of the casing by means
of a washer forced up to them by means of one or more springs so as to keep
the flat faces of the rings firmly together & thus prevent the escape of steam or
other substance.
Dated this 14th day of June 1.892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Metallic Packing for Piston Rods and the like.
I, JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH, of 23 Withington Street, Pendleton in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer 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 :-
My invention relates to a new form of metallic packing which consists of 2 or
more rings that clip the piston rod or barrel etc. to be packed & are themselves
clipped by one or more outside rings. On the outside of the latter is one or more
spiral springs arranged so as to clip them & force the rings to the piston rod in
order to compensate for wear. The whole of the above are enclosed in a cast iron,
or other metal casing & are forced against the end of same by means of a plate or
washer which is pressed against them by means of one or more springs.
DETAILS.
The inner rings are made much thicker than the outer ones, as they have to
withstand the wearing action of the rod, in addition to being cut through at one
place as in an ordinary Ramsbottom ring, they are nicked nearly through with a
Saw from the inside at several places so as to render them pliable & capable of
following the rod as it or they wear thinner.
The joints of the inner & outer rings are arranged so as to break joint both
laterally and vertically, & the rings themselves are made perfectly true on their
flat faces; the inner ones being exactly the same total length along the rod as the
outer ones so that their outer flat faces can be ground up together. The whole of
the above rings are bound together by means of a spiral spring or springs say
about " diameter, (but may be smaller or larger according to size of rod) & nearly
as long as the circumference of the outer rings. The ends of this spring instead of
being drawn together in the usual way by means of screws & nuts, are made to
form their own screw & nut. This may be done by making the spaces between
the coils of the spiral spring, a little larger than the thickness of the wire (which
wire may be round, square or any suitable section, but preferably square) then the
ends of the spring are brought together by bending it to an approximate circle &
one end is twisted the reverse way to what is required to coil into the other.
When the end of the spring sɔ twisted is released, its coils will enter into the
spaces of the other end just as a bolt screws into a nut will run just as many
turns into it, as it has been twisted the reverse way. The ends are thus firmly
interlocked cannot be separated unless the spring is broken. After being thus

page_text: treated, the spring will appear to be an endless coil in the form of a circle & can
be forced over the outside of the outer packing ring, forcing the whole of the
rings inward & compensating for any wear that may occur in them or the rod.
Other ways of screwing the ends of the ends of the spring together may be
adopted, but the principle is the same in each, namely to first twist one end the
reverse way to what is required for it to enter the other, & then run it into the
other end just as is done in a running joint in screwed piping. One method is to
cut the spring into two or more pieces & twist the ends together by running the
coils of one end into the spaces of the next, thus forming one combined spring,
nearly equal in length to the circumference of the outer ring. The ends of the com-
bined spring are then brought together & one end twisted into the other without
first twisting it backward, as this has already been done in twisting its component
springs together.
The packing rings & spring thus described may be inclosed in a cast iron casing
in the ordinary way with or without a ball joint, but the casing must in any case
be so constructed that the rings can give easily to any lateral motion of the piston
rod, the rings are also forced against the end of the casing by means of a washer
forced up to them by means of one or more springs so as to keep the flat faces of
the rings firmly together.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood, reference is made to the
drawings shewn on sheet herewith:
Fig. 1, is a section along the piston rod "A" & shews the packing clipping
same.
Fig. 2, is a section across the piston rod at "J. K."
The inner rings which press against the rod are marked "C" the outer ring
which clips both rings "C" is marked "D," the springs which fit on the outside
of this latter, & bind the whole together, are marked "E." The ends of the
springs are connected together at "F" & it will be seen that the coils of one end
enter into the spaces of the other, exactly as described in the former part of the
Specification. Of course the spring may be divided into two or more parts, when
the same kind of joint can be made at each point where the spring is divided, the
action thus becoming similar to a running joint or what is known as a long screw
in wrought iron piping. The inner rings are cut right through at "G" & the
outer rings at "H." In addition to this the inner rings are cut partly through
from the inside as shewn at "I."
The packing is held between two washers as shewn at "B" one of which works
against a ball joint & the other is pressed against the packings by means of a
spring or springs, thus pressing the whole of the packings & the other washer
against the ball joint before mentioned in the Specification.
The ball joint & springs & casing have not been shewn, as these do not form
part of the invention & are in general use. I do not confine myself to any
particular type of springs or ball joint or casing.
Having now particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, & in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1st. The methods of joining the ends of the helical springs "E" shown at "F"
in Figure 1 & 2, by screwing the coils of one end into the spaces of the next.
2nd. Cutting the rings nearly through at several places from the inside as
shown at [* so as to allow them to close easily on the rod to compensate for
wear.
3rd. The combination of rings & springs forming the metallic packing, substan-
tially as hereinbefore described.
لبيد
11002
JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH.