Mains, and in jointing the same.
Year: 1897

page_text: Mains, and in jointing the same.
I NIMROD SIMMONS of Victoria Street Clifton in the City and County of Bristol,
B.Sc.; F.R. Met. Soc.; Mem. Soc. Arts; Certified Inspector of the Sanitary Institute,
Civil and Sanitary Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My Invention is for pipes and conduits and jointing the same. It is intended to
overcome the difficulties which are always experienced when Electric or Telegraph
mains are opened for inspection, repairs, and in substituting new for old or defective
pipes, and in jointing the same, thereby avoiding the necessity of breaking pipes in
order to obtain access to the wires, and to be able to replace the conduit in such a
manner as to be air and water tight. In such cases the broken pipe has to be
replaced by roughly improvised methods of repair which are troublesome, take
considerable time to effect and unsatisfactory in results.
In my improvements I arrange the pipes or conduits in halves and joint them with
special joints and packing rings also in halves. The half pipes are provided with
lugs and bolts and are grooved longitudinally throughout their whole length and the
said grooves are fitted with an elastic cord packing of any suitable section. In some
cases the grooves are arranged only in the upper half of the pipe and tongues are
provided in the lower half which fit into the packing provided in the upper half pipe.-
In this case the packing cord is of special section, that is to say square in cross section
and provided with a V shaped Channel into which the tongue on the lower half pipe
engages to expand the sides of the packing. The said half pipes are jointed with my
improved detachable socket joint and the whole is arranged so that the cable or wires
can be opened up and inspected at any point desired without breaking the encasing
pipe or conduit.
The detachable socket is similar to my patent joint (No. 7355, 1894) and in this
case consists of half sockets and half ferrule provided with lugs and bolts suitably for
bolting the sockets at the jointed end of the conduit. The packing rings are of india
rubber or other elastic material and are also provided in halves, and the said packing
rings effect a tight joint when compressed upon the pipe by the bolted sockets.
When whole pipes are used for the conduits, I use at points determinined upon for
inspection or in case of breakage, a special sleeve in the form of two half pipes with
half sockets formed on each at the ends. The sleeve is grooved at the edge (as
described for the split pipe conduit) for the reception of elastic cord packing and
sockets are cast upon the said sleeve for the reception of the ends of the piping to
be jointed. The sockets are larger, suitably than the fitting pipe and the difference
allows of the insertion of elastic packing rings round the pipes and in the
sockets.
The halves of the socketed sleeves are provided with lugs and bolts to compress the

page_text: said halves together and by this form a tight joint at the edges and at the circum-
ference of the pipes is made.
The said sleeve may be of any convenient length and inay be long enough to
replace a whole length of pipe if desired or it may be a short socket jointing the
butting ends of two pipes."
As any of the parts described are used as envelopes for electric, telegraph, or
telephone wires, it is obvious that they must be in halves for the convenience of use
with endless lines and cables.
. 1
Improvements in Pipes and Conduits used for Electric Cable.
Mains, and in jointing the same.
I. NIMROD SIMMONS of Victoria Street Clifton in the City and County of Bristol,
B.Sc., F.R. Met. Soc., Mem. Soc. Arts, Certified Inspector of the Sanitary Institute,
Civil and Sanitary 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 is designed to obviate the difficulties which arise when access is
desired to underground wire mains laid in conduits.
In many cases pipes have to be broken in order to reach the wires or cables, and
inspection at intermediate points is very difficult unless provision is especially made
when the conduit is put down; and inspection at every point in the main is
impossible without breakage.
My improved conduits are constructed as half pipes or channels of any suitable
length, and the said half pipes are grooved through their whole length for the
reception of elastic packing of suitable shape.
A socket is provided at one end, or at both ends of the lengths of conduit ;
and a recess is formed round the inner circumference of the socket for the
reception of a circular elastic packing ring, the packing ring whole or in halves
as may be convenient.
Lugs are provided at suitable points on the conduit pipes, and bolts or screws
engage the said lugs to compress the half pipes upon the elastic packings.
The conduits are completely laid with the half pipes described, or if conduits are
laid with whole pipes; the said half pipes in the form of short lengths can be used to
joint the said whole pipes, and are then considered as detachable joints or
connections.
These short connections are also made in the form of branch pieces and bends of
various grades, and the wires are always accessible at any part of the whole pipe
conduit where these improved connections are fitted; or a whole pipe can be removed
and a length of the improved half pipe conduit substituted at any desired point after
alterations to wires; and the wires are afterwards accessible at the said point.
When the conduit is wholly laid with the described half pipes, the wires are
accessible at any point without difficulty or breakage. The longitudinal packing,
and the groove in which it is placed may be disposed at the interior of the bore of the
conduit, or at the exterior of the same; or the groove may be formed in the edge or
thickness of the half pipes forming the conduit.
My improved conduits can be laid in lengths of six feet or nine feet, and when

page_text: necessary the lengths may be shorter; and may be as short as six inches for the
purpose of joints or connections for longer lengths, or for whole pipes.
Branches are carried off from the main conduit where desired for the divergence
of wires, and the branches are generally enlarged for the convenience of jointing
the wires or cables.
I use a special form of longitudinal packing for jointing the described half pipes.
The said packing is X shape in cross section, and it is placed in grooves formed in one
of the half pipes. A corresponding wedge shaped tongue is formed on the opposite
half pipe, and the said tongue engages with the packing and expands the same
tightly within the grooves mentioned.
The half pipes or channels described can be usefully employed for purposes other
than wire or cable conduits, and are especially adapted for portions of Sanitary
Systems or drains where inspection is necessary or desirable. Any of the parts
described can be so used. The bends and junctions being particularly useful at
points where drains or pipe lines are diverted, and therefore more liable to become
choked.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of the improved
conduit showing the bottom half pipe only. The conduit pipes a a¹ are of
any suita-
ble length, and are provided with sockets b b to receive two spigot ends of the
conduits as at a' or each length of conduit is provided with one socket and one
spigot end.
The sockets bb are recessed, and the said recesses are fitted with elastic packing
rings preferably of circular section, and the rings whole; or in halves through the
diameter of the ring. The elastic packing rings are shown in the sockets
at c c.
The half pipes are provided with longitudinal grooves d d containing elastic packing
cord ee of any suitable section, and the half pipes are compressed upon the said
packing cord by means of bolts or screws engaging with lugs f f, and a tight joint
at the sides and ends of the conduits is thus ensured.
Figure 2 is a cross section through a pair of the half pipes forming the conduit,
and shows the half pipes a a, socket b, elastic packing ring e dotted, longitudinal
packing cords e e, lugs ff, and the compressing bolts gg.
Figure 3 is an elevation of a pair of the half pipes at the socket end, and shows
partly the packing ring c recessed in the socket; the outer diameter of the ring
being shown by the dotted circle. The longitudinal packing ee is here shown in
grooves formed at the interiors of the half pipes; in contrast with Figure 2 where
the grooves and packing are outside the bore of the conduit.
Figure 4 is a cross section of the conduit similar to Figure 2, and shows the special
form of longitudinal packing beforementioned. The packing ee is A shape in cross
section, and is placed in grooves formed in one of the half pipes. Wedge shaped
tongues e el engage with the packing, and expand the sides of the packing
tightly into the grooves when the half pipes are bolted together.
Figure 5 is a plan of the bottom half of a short connection between half pipe
or whole pipe conduits, and is shown as a branch piece on whole pipes h h. This
connection is also an inspection chamber, and is extended at i for the convenience of
jointing wires in the conduit.
The longitudinal packings are shown at ee and the circular packing rings c c in
recesses in the sockets b b as before described.
Figure 6 is a pair of loose straps and lugs to be used at any place on the conduits
instead of lugs integral with the conduits.
Figure 7 shows in elevation a pair of channels forming a complete junction similar
to Figure 5 The elevation of the socket is similar to Figure 3, and shows the full
bore of the socket and conduit.
Figure 8 is a plan of a bend formed with the half pipes, and a small junction at b₁
indicates one of many possible variations in the arrangement of the conduits and
branches. In all the figures similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts,

page_text: Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, indicate various sections of longitudinal packing used in
jointing the conduits, and which are here shown to an enlarged scale.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In an improved conduit and joints or connections for the same. The combina-
tion of two half pipes fitted with longitudinal elastic packing, the half pipes bolt or
screw pressed upon the packing.
2. In an improved conduit and joints or connections for the same, half pipes with
sockets as described; the sockets recessed and fitted with elastic packing rings as
described and shown.
The special
3. In an improved conduit and joints or connections for the same.
form of longitudinal packing expanded into grooves as shown and described.
4. In an improved conduit and joints or connections for the same. The alternative
forms of longitudinal packing shown, or modifications of the same to suit the
purpose named.