IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING PIPES AND OTHER STRUCTURES ARTIFICIALLY IN MOULDS WHEN USING STONE AND OTHER MATTERS
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BUCKWELL, of the Artificial Granite Works, Battersea, in the County of Surrey,
Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventeenth day of
November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Buckwell, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Buckwell, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said
William Buckwell, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times 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, my Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING PIPES AND OTHER STRUCTURES ARTIFICIALLY
IN MOULDS WHEN USING STONE AND OTHER MATTERS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said William Buckwell, should
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date

page_text: of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Buckwell, 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 in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention of manufacturing pipes and other structures where stone and
other matter is used, consists of condensing, solidifying, and compressing such
matters by subjecting them to percussion in moulds; and my Invention also
consists of improvements in forming the connection of such pipes, and which
is applicable to other pipes. In describing my Invention I will take, for
example, a cylindrical structure or pipe; the material to be used, such as
stone or clean gravel, is to be broken and mixed with a small quantity of
cement and a small quantity of liquid. I cause such matters to be fed or fall-
in this state into a strong cast-iron mould of the form and dimensions of the
intended cylinder pipe, the mould being firmly fixed and well supported. In
this mould a ram works. I use and prefer for this purpose a steam hammer;
but other means of applying the requisite percussion may be used. In making
pipes of four feet: diameter, having a sectional thickness equal to four
hundred square inches, I use a two and one half ton, hammer, capable of
acting through a space of five feet, and working at the rate of fifty blows per
minute: In..making, pipes of a less sectional-thickness it is only necessary to
diminish the space of the hammer acting through; the repetition of blows may
be equally quick, and I prefer. and recommend as: advantageous a quick
repetition, of impact. As the mould is fed with the mixture the ram or
hammer strikes and beats it in the mould, and thus compresses or solidifies it;
and. the best effect I find to be produced by feeding in small quantities at a
time between successive repetitions of blows of the ram. When the mould is
filled so that the fall of the hammer or ram is diminished about two thirds or
three fourths, more or less, the pipe so formed must be removed, provided it is
of the desired length, or otherwise it must be moved so as to allow its length
to be added to without its being taken out of the mould. As in practice I have
found it expedient.not to take the structure-out immediately, but to suffer the
structure, or pipe;ior portions of pipe-so made, to remain for a short time in
the mould, for this purpose I adopt the following method, which I 'préfér
and recommend: as advantageous: I make the mould; and also the portion of
the. 'foundations to which it is to be fixed, of about double the depth of the
space through which the hammer or ram is capable of acting: Supposing a
pipe to have been formed four feet long, or a four feet portion of a pipe
"

page_text: intended to be twelve feet long, 'the next blow; as hereafter explained; will carry
the pipe or portion. of a pipe. forward into the lower part of the mould: In
the case of its being a four feet pipe, 'a ring of iron fitting the mould, being of
the like thickness as the substance of the pipe, being introduced to form the
ends and separate this pipe from the next, which will be made in the upper
part of the mould; as before described: If the pipe is required of a greater
.length, the separating ring is omitted, and the pipe continued in length by the
addition; which will be made in the lupper part of the mould, in like manner as
the first portion has been done. The pipe or portion of pipe in the lower part
of the mould is then ito be driven fout, the upper pipe or portion following into
its place, and which is effected" thus:-The ring under the lower end of the
pipe, and which formed a bottom in the mould at the commencement, resting
on a strong plate or platform forming a support, which is held up by pistons
working in cylinders filled with steam, the support moving with the.ipistons.
This support, whilst a pipe or portion of a pipe is being formed, is fixed or
locked up from descending, but when a pipe or portion of a pipe has been
formed it is unfixed and only held up by 'the force of steain or other power
against the pistons. By the succeeding blow of the hammer the pipe :or
portion of pipe in the lower part of the mould will be driven' down, the support
descending, and the pipe or portion of pipe' in the upper part of the mould
following. By allowing the support to descend the pipe is then released,
except that before it can be removed the support of the core part of the mould
-(to which the inside of the! pipe has been formed), which has been supported
by a prop moving in a cylinder as a piston fixed or. locked up, must be
unfixed. The prop will then descend, and the pipe can then be removed, the
core mould remaining supported by the pipe or portion of pipe in the lower
part of the mould. The pipe being removed; the steam or water pressure
being let into the cylinder will bring the prop back into its place of supporting
the core part of the mould, where it is again to be. bolted or fixed; ör. otherwise
prevented from descending, and the process repeated. In the first instance,
and before any pipe for other structure is formed in the mould; it will of
course bei necessary to place in the lower part of the mould as 'many sepa-
rating rings, or. other suitable filling capable of bearing the blows, as will
bring the commencement of making a pipe or other structure within the
acting space of the hammer or ram, which filling, being driven out after
the first pipe or other structure or portion has been formed, may.then be
removed, leaving the ring or other form forming the bottom only under the
pipe or other structure. It is also desirable to use the like filling at cessation
of work, leaving it, the filling, in the mould, in preference to a pipe or

page_text: other structure, or a portion thereof. In making any structure not requiring
a core, as a landing, paving, solid block, column, or pillar, the like process
as described in making pipes is applicable, omitting the use of a core and its
'prop..
The materials of stone, when it is desirable to have great strength of
resisting strains, I prefer and recommend to consist of hard, slightly absorbent
carbonate of lime stone, such as some of the hard oolite, in a broken, crushed,
or fractured state, with other matter; and when it is desirable to have a very
hard dense mass to resist crush, I prefer and recommend the use, with other
matter, of flint, gravel, or shingle, or other like stone, mixed or unmixed with
the oolite or other similar stone. I use and prefer it to be in fragments, of which
the greater part shall be two thirds the mesh or guage of the substance of the
structure to be formed, the remainder being assimilated to fill interstices; : and
in mixing cement I apply it in quantity according to the amount of surface
in the fragment or broken stone. In large structures I have used it, one
part cement to four and sometimes more of stone. The cements I use and
recommend are those containing a large quantity of clay, and that have been
burnt a long time, of which the Portland is highly applicable; but I prefer
cement having a larger quantity of clay, and subjected to a larger amount of
firing; but other cements may be used, as well as any of the limes suitable to
withstand the action to which the structure is to be applied.
As respects the quantity of liquid to be applied to any of the mixtures
before subjecting them to the percussion in moulds, I would state it is im-
possible to specify any exact proportion, as the quantity of surface would
materially affect it; and the stone or other matter itself varies as to its dryness,
according to circumstances, and particularly according to the condition of the
atmosphere. In general it will be necessary to mix a small quantity of water
or matter in a fluid state; I have found in some cases about five per cent. in
weight sufficient. If it be not sufficiently damp when subjected to percussion
the stone will powder and dust will arise, and the solidification will not be
complete; if, on the other hand, it be too much loaded with liquid, the excess
will shew itself on the surface, and in this case again the effect of percussion
will be less perfect. A workman will very soon be able to judge with
sufficient accuracy of the proper condition from the mere appearance of the
materials. It will have been obvious that the percussion applied is on matter
in moulds, the sides of which are parallel to the direction of the percussion,
consequently the pipes or other structures are without projections; and my
improvements in connecting pipes is, with reference to all pipes without pro-
jections, by means of an expanding and collapsing band, the bands being cast

page_text: with internal flanges and a bolt hole, the line of which forms a tangent, being
cast and collapsed by the same bolt, so that they may be rather less than the
external diameter of the pipe, is to be turned out to nearly fit the pipes, where
necessary, and being allowed to expand and placed on the pipes, the screw
will draw the flange of the band tight to the external surface of the pipes.
When applying the bands to cast iron or other mettallic pipes, I prefer and
recommend a chase to be turned or cast in at the ends of the pipes a little
broader than the thickness of the flanges of the band. If accurately fitted the
joints can be made steam-tight without any cement, a small piece of gutta
percha or vulcanized caoutchouc or other matter being introduced at the
jointing in the band; but in using cement or bedding of any kind, a very small
quantity is required, and the joints are made with great facility.
Having thus described the nature of my Inventions, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is the
compressing or solidifying by percussion, as herein described, in moulds,.
cylindrical structures called pipes, and other structures where stone and other
matter is used; and I also claim the connecting or joining of such cylindrical
structures or pipes, and other pipes made without projections or flanges, by
means of a collapsing and expanding metal band, as herein described.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Buckwell, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty