A New and Improved Piston-rod Packing, and Process of Manufacturing the same.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Feb., 1894-Accepted. 31st Mar 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM JAMES HENNESSY, Doctor of
Medicine, of Palmyra, County of Wayne, in the State of New York, one of
the United States of America.]
A New and Improved Piston-rod Packing, and Process of
Manufacturing the same.
I WILLIAM HUMPHREY WHEATLEY, of 40 Chancery Lane, in the County of
London Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion for A NEW AND IMPROVED PISTON-ROD PACKING, AND PROCESS OF
MANUFACTURING THE SAME, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to a novel construction of and new process of manufacturing
packing-rings for piston-rods. The packing-rings are formed of alternate layers
of india-rubber and some suitable textile fabric from which the air is exhausted
and a lubricant forced, under pressure, into the materials composing the rings so as
to thoroughly permeate the same.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 represents a stuffing-box in the head of a cylinder with some of the
improved packing-rings in place.
Figure 2 represents a plan view of one of the expansion rings prior to the
divisional cut being made transversely therein, the line, a, indicating the line of cut
or division.
Figure 3 represents a perspective view of one of said expansion packing-rings
after being cut or divided.
Figure 4 represents a perspective view of an automatic or sectional packing-ring
constructed according to this invention.
The packing-rings are composed of alternate layers of india-rubber, b, and some
suitable textile material, as cloth or duck, c, with a side slit, division or cut, a,
transversely through one side to facilitate their application and removal. The slit
or cut, a, formed in the rings are, it will be seen, of angular or bevel shape whereby,
when said rings are placed in position on a rod the slit edges will, as shown in
Figure 1, meet and form a tight joint; the external and internal diameters of said
rings being such as to meet the walls of the stuffing-box and of the piston-rod,
respectively. The application of the rings is clearly shown in Figure 1 in which
A represents a portion of the cylinder-head, B the stuffing-box, C the screw cap or
gland and D the piston-rod. The configuration of the packing-rings may, without
departing from this invention, be varied according to the particular uses to which
they are to be applied. For instance, they may, as shown at E, be of ordinary
flat form with straight circular side walls so as to serve as an expansion ring, or
they may be constructed in sectional form, as shown in the representation of an
automatic ring in Figure 4 of the drawings; in this latter construction which is
adapted for steam, water and ammonia pumps, the outer section, F, is, in its interior
diameter of bevel or cup shape to adapt it to receive the inner section, G, having a
bevel-shaped and inwardly-converging outer diameter, H.
After the rings have been thus formed, but prior to the side slits or divisions
being made therein, they are placed in a strong, metallic, air-tight receptacle. An
air pump connected with said receptacle is then joperated so as to exhaust the air
contained therein and also draw out and exhaust the air contained between and in
the interstices of the materials of which the rings are composed, thereby creating a
vacuum in both the receptacle and the rings. Then, without exposure to air,
a lubricant composed of cold oil having in suspension therein, or intimately
ID 1

page_text: commingled therewith, a powdered lubricant such as steatite or plumbago, is supplied
to said vessel or receptacle and is, by means of a force pump, or hydraulic pump,
forced into the interstices between the materials composing the rings and into the
spaces or cavities formerly occupied by air, so as to thoroughly permeate the entire
body of each ring with said lubricant. By this means, cach ring is freed from
every particle of air it is possible to remove, the places formerly occupied by the
air being filled with the lubricant, and the rubber and textile material composing
the rings are also thoroughly saturated and permeated with the lubricant; the
result being that the rings come out of the receptacle thoroughly lubricated
throughout; they are toughened and rendered susceptible of longer life; their
lubricating qualities are increased; their elasticity is not impaired and they are
uninjured by any chemical action as by employing the oil in a cold state, or at a
temperature not exceeding that of the room in which the operation is carried on,
the liability of the oil rotting or destroying the elasticity of the rubber, which
would exist were warm oil employed, is avoided. The evacuating of the air from
the receptacle and from the rings therein and the impregnating of said rings with
the lubricant occupies but a few minutes; the entire operation can be cheaply
carried into effect and without the necessity of the employment of highly-skilled
labour.
After the packing-rings have been prepared as above described, they are removed
from the receptacle and tumbled with powdered steatite or plumbago to give them
a final coating and polish, said final treatment serving, also, to reduce the friction
of the rings on the piston-rod.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
1. Packing-rings for piston-rods consisting of alternate layers of india rubber
and textile material and having lubricating material between and within the
interstices of and permeating the material.
2. A packing-ring for pistou-rods composed of alternate layers of india
rubber and textile material from which the air has been evacuated and said
air spaces and the materials composing the ring filled and permeated with a suitable
lubricant.
3. An expansive packing-ring for piston-rods consisting of alternate layers of
india rubber and textile material from which the air has been evacuated and
the air cells, interstices between and the body of the rubber and fabric filled with
lubricant, said ring being split or cut away at one side to facilitate application
and removal.
4. An automatic packing-ring for piston-rods consisting of two wedge-shaped
sections one adapted to wedge and fit within the other, each section being composed
of alternate layers of india rubber and textile material from which air has been
evacuated and the interstices between, the entire body of the materials, and the
*paces formerly occupied by air, filled with lubricating material.
5. The process of manufacturing packing-rings for piston-rods, consisting in
forming the rings of alternate layers of india rubber and textile material, placing
said rings in a closed vessel, then exhausting the air from said vessel and from the
materials composing the rings then, without exposure to air, supplying to said
vessel a lubricant composed of cold oil having in suspension therein either steatite,
plumbago or other suitable material, then by a force or hydraulic pump forcing
said lubricant into said packing so as to permeate the same and, finally, tumbling
the packing in steatite or plumbago.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.