Improved Méans for Rendering Tight the Covers and Doors of Vessels and Compartments Containing Fluid under Pressure.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd July, 1892
Complete Specification Left. 18th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 20th May, 1893
. PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Méans for Rendering Tight the Covers and Doors of
Vessels and Compartments Containing Fluid under Pressure.
CHRISTIAN HAMILTON GRAY of Silvertown in the County of Essex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The present invention has reference to manhole, hand hole, and similar doors or
covers, which have to close perfectly against the pressure of steam or other fluid
imprisoned within the jacket, casing, compartment, or vessel, to which the door or
covering is applied.
The usual method of obtaining efficient joints in fixing such doors, is to employ
a multiplicity of bolts and nuts, very tightly screwed down, together with packing
compressed between the edge of the aperture to be closed and the cover.
To properly fix a door by this means is obviously a matter of no little labor, so
much so, that in some cases when a door has been removed, it is the work of hours
to replace it.
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the laborious bolting
and packing is obviated, and an efficient joint is provided for doors and covers, as
soon as they find themselves in position.
According to my invention, a flexible flange of rubber or thin sheet metal is
firmly secured within the aperture to be closed, the edge of the flange projecting
somewhat beyond the edge of the opening. The cover or door is placed in position
before or in front of the aperture, and fixed there by any suitable means of support.
On steam, air, water, or other fluid under pressure being introduced behind the
door or cover, the flexible flange will be forced against the said door, thereby
bridging over and completely closing the joint between the aperture and the door.
Thus, it will be seen, that the pressure of the fluid within the vessel is made
available for sealing the joint, so that external packing and tight compression of
the cover from the outside, by means of numerous bolts and nuts, is rendered
unnecessary. The greater the internal pressure, in fact, the more tightly will the
flexible flange bear against the cover, and the better will be the joint."
Dated this 22nd day of Tul 1905
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Rendering Tight the Covers and Doors of
Vessels and Compartments Containing Fluid under Pressure.
I, CHRISTIAN HAMILTON GRAY of Silvertown in the County of Essex,
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 :-
The present invention has reference to a mode of securing the joints of doors or
covers of steam or air-tight vessels or chambers, against the pressure of steam or
other fluid admitted thereto.
The usual method of obtaining efficient joints, in fixing in place the doors of
condensers of steam engines, and of the large steam tight vessels used in bleach
works and in indiarubber manufactories, is to employ a multiplicity of bolts and
nuts tightly screwed down, together with packing compressed between the edge of
the aperture to be closed and the cover.
Properly to fix a door by this means, is obviously a matter of no little labour,

page_text: so much so, that in some cases, when a door has been removed, it is the work OI
hours to replace it and secure it fluid-tight.
The object of my invention is to provide means whereby the necessity for
laborious bolting and packing is obviated, and an efficient joint is secured for doors
and covers as soon as they are placed in position.
According to my invention, a flexible flange, composed of sheet rubber, thin sheet
metal, or leather, or a combination of metal and rubber, or a combination of textile
fabric and rubber, is used to overlap the joint which is to be made steam tight, and,
by the pressure of the fluid contained in the vessel, to fit snugly over the joint, and
effectually prevent the escape of steam or other fluid through the joint.
In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated my invention as applied both
to condenser of a steam engine and to a cylindrical vessel known in the india
rubber manufacture as a cure," "in which articles to be vulcanised are submitted
to steam heat and pressure.
Fig. 1 shews, in end elevation, the condenser of a marine engine, its door being
locked. in place; and
Fig. 2 is a partial sectional clevation of the same, shewing the door fitted with a
flexible flange by which the joint is closed water-tight.
These figures are intended to represent a condenser door measuring some eight
feet by four, the attachment and detachment of which has hitherto been a matter
of great labour, owing to the number of bolts and nuts required to be removed and
replaced, when access to the interior of the condenser was desired, for the purpose
of repairing damaged tubes, or replacing them with new ones.
Fitted to the inner face of the door A, is a strip of sheet rubber or equivalent
flexible material a, which follows the lines of the door, and is held in place against
the door flange by means of metal strips a¹ secured to the door flange by screws.
The flexible strip a is held in such a manner, and in such position, that it will
form a flexible flange, which overlaps the joint formed by contact between the
door A. and the shell B of the condenser.
In place of using bolts and nuts, for retaining the door in place, I adopt the
following contrivance, which provides for the instant locking or releasing of the
door, the flexible flange being relied on to secure the joint water-tight.
Mounted on a stud axle projecting from the outer face of the door, is a disc C,
to which are pivotted four arms C, connected respectively with bolts C². These
bolts are severally formed of a straight bar, from the outer edge of which project,
at right angles, a series of parallel tongues or fingers, that slide through slots
made in the perimeter of the door, and lock into openings made to receive them in
the flanges of the shell B. By turning the disc when the door is in place, the
bolts will be simultaneously thrust forward, or withdrawn, as the case may be, and
thus instantly the door will be locked or released.
By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that the flexible flange a overlies the joint
formed between the door and the shell B, but to enable it to secure the joint, the
flange a has to be pressed close against the shell of the condenser; this is effected
by the water admitted to, and circulating through the condenser, the flexible flange
being so placed as to receive lateral pressure from the water.
It will now be understood, that the tightness of this joint will have a tendency
to increase as the pressure of the imprisoned fluid increases.
For securing the joint between the partition B-and the door A, which partition
serves to direct the course of the flowing water, 'a flexible flange a is provided.
This flange is attached to the door in a similar manner to the circumscribing
flange a, and its action in closing the transverse joint will be similar to that above
described.
In applying my invention to a "cure "such as that used in india rubber manu-
factories, which cure may be described as a cylindrical vessel set either vertically
or horizontally, and measuring from 6 to 10 feet in diameter, I prefer to attach the
door or cover to the vessel by means of a hinge. Such an arrangement is shewn in
the vertical section, Fig. 3, and in the plan view, Fig. 4.

page_text: a is a strip or ring of india rubber or other flexible material, suitable for the
purpose, secured in an annular recess in the wall of the cylindrical vessel by
means of a metal ring a. This ring of rubber a is so proportioned and fitted that
its free edge constitutes a ring flange, which projects into the vessel.
The metal ring a¹ is caused to grip the rubber firmly by means of screws.
A is the door or cover, hinged at A', and arranged to close evenly down upon
the edge of the vessel B. A variety of ways may be adopted for holding and
locking the cover in position, but the means illustrated will be found satisfactory.
C² Care
C is a plate or its equivalent, pivotted centrally on the cover A.
radial projections from the plate C, which, on the rotation of the latter, become
engaged with lugs or hooks B arranged around the mouth of the vessel B.
A handle D is provided for rotating the plate C. If preferred, the cover may
be loose, instead of being hinged, as shown, and obviously may take a square,
oval, or other shape, to suit the sectional form of the vessel to which it is to be
applied.
It will be understood that the pressure of the steam admitted to the curing
vessel, for the purpose of raising the temperature of the inserted goods to the
required degree, is made available, like the water in the preceding. example,
to seal the joint, by forcing the flexible flange a, in this case, against the cover A.
The advantage afforded by the application of my invention to vessels of large
diameter, constructed to resist a high pressure of steam, will be manifest, when it
is stated that the attachment and the detachment of the door of * cure occurs
at varying intervals, from fifteen minutes upwards, repeated throughout the working
day, and that the labor of closing the vessel steam tight, and unclosing the vessel,
sometimes greatly exceeds the time required to cure, or partially cure, as the
case may be, a batch of goods.
"
An obvious modification of the arrangement Fig. 3, is shewn at Fig. 5, where
the rubber ring is applied to the door or cover, instead of to the vessel. In this
example, the door A is formed with a flange, as in Fig. 2, projecting at right
angles from the inner face thereof, and an annular recess is formed in the inner
periphery of this flange, to receive the strip or ring of rubber a, which, as before
explained, is held in place by the metal ring a'. The projecting part of the ring a,
constituting the flexible flange, will in this case lie against the end of the vessel,
and being subjected to the pressure of the confined fluid, will seal the joint, as
before described.
The examples illustrated in the drawings shew the invention as applied to vessels
of large capacity, with openings of corresponding size, but it will be obvious that
the invention is also applicable to manhole doors or covers, although not with the
pecuniary advantages consequent on its application to condensers, "curing "vessels,
and bleaching vessels, where the ponderous character of the doors or covers makes
it a serious labour to manipulate them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
The means above described for rendering steam, air, and water-tight, vessels
or compartments containing fluid under pressure, and closed by covers or doors
(preferably fitted with a sliding bolt attachment), such means consisting of a border
or ring of flexible material secured to the wall of the opening to be closed, or to
the door or cover which closes the opening, and so situated, that a flange formed
by such border or ring of flexible material will overlie the joint between the
attached parts, and fit snugly against it, under the pressure of the confined fluid.
Dated thin 10th day of stl 1802
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.