IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR PREVENTING PIPES OR VESSELS CONTAINING WATER OR LIQUID FROM BURSTING BY THE EFFECTS OF FROST OR SIMILAR FORCE SUDDENLY BROUGHT INTO OPERATION
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Johannes Avetician Calantarients, of Scarborough,
in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS
FOR PREVENTING PIPES OR VESSELS CONTAINING WATER OR LIQUID FROM
BURSTING BY THE EFFECTS OF FROST OR SIMILAR FORCE SUDDENLY BROUGHT
INTO OPERATION.
Scaled the 25th June 1872, and dated the 29th December 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Johannes Avetician
Calantarients at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 29th December 1871.
I, JOHANNES AVETICIAN CALANTARIENTS, of Scarborough, in the
County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR PREVENTING PIPES OR VESSELS CONTAINING
WATER OR LIQUID FROM BURSTING BY THE EFFECTS OF FROST OR SIMILAR FORCE
SUDDENLY BROUGHT INTO OPERATION," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in passing through the ordinary water pipes as
they are now laid in houses a flexible air-tight tube of about the tenth

page_text: of the area of the water pipe, and joining this tube outside the water
pipes to a reservoir of air, as, for instance, to an india-rubber or any
other kind of air-tight bag capable of holding at least twice as much air
as all the air tubes put together, and which may be placed in any con-
venient corner of the house. Upon this air reservoir is put a pressure
(by means of weights or springs) equal to that which the water
exerts on the air tube at its lowest point and at its greatest pressure.
Thus one end of the air tube being connected with the air reservoir and
the other end (or ends if there are branches joining the main) secured
air-tight; there is a column of air throughout all the tubes (which are in
free communication with one another), and under just sufficient pressure
to prevent its being thinned by the mere weight of the water at any
point, but ready to give way and escape into the air reservoir under the
additional amount of tension produced by the formation of ice. It thus
serves to convert the expansive force of the ice into the mechanical one
of lifting the weight on the air reservoir, and so diverts all the tension
from the water pipes and ensures their perfect security. As soon as the
ice melts the air tube which had become compressed expands again
under the pressure of the weights on the air reservoir, and assumes its
former shape and proportions ready to be acted on again by another
frost, and so on successively for an indefinite number of years (or as
long as the tubes will last) without once requiring interference.
If desired a metallic air-tight tube of small diameter can be joined to
the iron tube (which is interposed between the air and water tubes and
the air reservoir) and carried to the kitchen fire, there to be placed in the
boiler or any convenient place by the fire to heat the air inside, cause a
circulation of warm air throughout the air tubes, and so prevent the
water freezing altogether. As water expands one-twelfth of its bulk by
freezing the area of the air tubes need not be more than a twelfth of
that of the water pipe; but to be on the safe side I would make it a
tenth or even larger. With very old pipes larger air tubes will be
necessary on account of irregular expansions in them by previous
frosts.
I prefer using tubes made of xylonite fabrics and coated with xylonite
or ordinary collodion. The air tubes are to be inexpansible, and should
be able to resist a pressure of air at least equal to that of the water.
This pressure can be measured by any instrument at present in use by
applying it first to the tap at the lowest part of the house, and then to

page_text: the air reservoir either before it is attached to the pipes or by a separate
screw or other kind of air-tight tap after it is attached and weights put
on until the pressures are equal. As the pressure of water in the main
varies according to the time of day it must be taken at its highest,
which will be I suppose carly in the morning.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Johannes Avetician Calantarients in the Great Seal
T
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHANNES
AVETICIAN CALANTARIENTS, of Scarborough, in the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Johannes Avetician Calantarients, Her
special licence that I, the said Johannes Avetician Calantarients, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Johannes Avetician Calantarients, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED ARRANGEMENTS FOR PREVENTING
PIPES OR VESSELS CONTAINING WATER OR LIQUID FROM BURSTING BY THE EFFECTS
OF FROST OR SIMILAR FORCE SUDDENLY BROUGHT INTO OPERATION," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Johannes Avetician
Calantarients, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Johannes Avetician Calantarients,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
The nature and character of my Invention consists in passing through
the ordinary water pipes as they are now laid in houses a flexible air-
tight tube of about the tenth of the area of the water pipe, and joining
this tube outside the water pipes to a reservoir of air, as for instance to
an india-rubber or any other kind of air-tight bag capable of holding
at least twice as much air as all the air tubes put together, and which
may be placed in any convenient corner of the house. Upon this air
reservoir is put a pressure (by means of weights or springs) equal to that
which the water exerts on the air tube at its lowest point and at its
greatest pressure. Thus one end of the air tube being connected with
the air reservoir and the other end (or ends if there are branches joining
the main) secured air-tight; there is a column of air throughout all the
tubes in free communication with one another, and under just sufficient
pressure to prevent its being thinned by the mere weight of the water
at any point, but ready to give way and escape into the air reservoir
under the additional amount of tension produced by the formation of ice.
It thus serves to convert the expansive force of the ice into the
mechanical one of lifting the weight on the air reservoir, and so diverts
all the tension from the water pipes and ensures their perfect security.
As soon as the ice melts, the air tube which had become compressed
expands again under the pressure of the weights on the air reservoir
and assumes its former shape and proportions ready to be acted on again
by another frost, and so on successively for an indefinite number of
years (or so long as the tubes will last) without once requiring human
interference.
If desired a metallic air-tight tube of small diameter can be joined to
the iron tube (which is interposed between the air and water tubes and
the air reservoir) and carried to the kitchen fire, there to be placed in
the boiler or any convenient place by the fire to heat the air inside,
cause a circulation of warm air throughout the air tubes, and so prevent
the water freezing altogether. As water expands (1) a twelfth of its
bulk by freezing, the area of the air tube need not be more than a one-
twelfth of that of the water pipe, but to be on the safe side I would
make it a tenth or even larger. With very old pipes larger air tubes

page_text: will be necessary on account of irregular expansions in them by previous
frosts.
I prefer using tubes made of xylonite fabrics and coated with xylonite
or ordinary collodion. The air tubes are to be inexpansible, and should
be able to resist a pressure of air at least equal to that of the water.
This pressure can be measured by an instrument at present in use by
applying it first to the tap at the lowest part of the house and then to
the air reservoir, either before it is attached to the pipes or by a separate
screw or other kind of air-tight tap after it is attached, and weights put
on until the pressures are equal. As the pressure of water in the main
varies according to the time of day it must be taken at its highest, which
will be, I suppose, early in the morning. The air tubes, if preferred,
may be made much larger and the air reservoir dispensed with, so that
when the water freezes it will compress the air in the tubes instead of
exerting its force on the pipes. This might be applicable to special

page_text: of the ice, and so completely divert all injurious tension from the pipes
in which it is contained, and yet be able to resume its former volume
again as soon as the ice has melted.
The Invention then in its simplest form consists in passing thro' the
service pipes of a house, Figure No. 1, A, B, (m, m, being intended to
represent the street main water pipe) a flexible air and water tight
tube C, D, of about the tenth of the capacity or area of the water pipe,
and of sufficient strength to resist being compressed by the mere weight
or pressure of the water in the pipe, and in fixing it there by means
of a short piece of metallic pipe E, and so allowing the air within the
air tube to communicate with the atmosphere. Having thus a column
of air running throughout all the water pipes, and of a volume more
than the difference between that of water and ice, when a frost comes
the ice as it forms gradually compresses the air tube and squeezes the
air out of it, the air tube thus acting as a safety valve completely
diverts all tension from the water pipes. As soon as the ice melts the
air tube by its resiliency reassumes its former shape, and is ready to
be acted on again and again by repeated frosts for an indefinite
number of years without once requiring human interference. This
simple form is applicable especially to localities where there is no
.

page_text: air out into the air reservoir, when it melts, the air by its own elasticity
returns again to its former position and distends the air tube ready to
be acted on again.
In No. 3, m, m, represents the street main; A, B, the service pipe; C, D,
the air tube opening into the air reservoir or chamber R at E. The mode
of action here is just similar to that in No. 1 and 2, only that here I can
make use of as thin an air tube as I like with perfect efficiency, and I do
not require any pumping of air into R or the trouble of using pressure
gauges for this purpose, for it is entirely self-acting. All I require to
know is the length of air tubing required in a house, its capacity, and
the degree of water pressure. I then attach to it an air reservoir of
proportionate size in the manner shewn in the Figure 3. Supposing it is
just fitted up and every part full of air, as soon as the water is turned
on it rushes into the air reservoir as well as into the water pipes in the
same proportion as the water presses on the outside of the air tube in
the same proportion by rising in the air chamber it forces the air
through E into the air tube, and so the pressures within and outside are
kept constantly equal. However much the water pressure may fluctuate
there is not the slightest tension in the air tube.
Suppose the water rises up to R¹, if any part of the water freezes
the air would be compressed into R through E, as in No. 2, and return
again in the same manner. Of course I place the air reservoir in a con-
venient well-protected corner of the house, so that there may be no
possibility of its freezing. But I can further enclose it together with a
small part of the adjoining piping, so as to include F in a properly made
non-conducting case, and can open into it just under the screw-like
metallic ending of the air tube marked F, a metallic tube which
extends to it from behind the kitchen fire-place or boiler, or wherever
fire is kept most often (provided its position is lower than R), so that
warm air might fill the case, and keep that as well as R constantly
warm, and above all by coming first in contact with F, might cause a
circulation of warm air through the air tube, and so prevent freezing
altogether or melt it when frozen. Of course if thought desirable some
other source of heat might be applied. For the same purpose a small
case may be made for No. 2 and No. 4, just enough to surround the
parts about F, and the point C of No. 1 may be continued to the fire-

page_text: place, as mentioned above. This would necessitate having a stop tap in
the kitchen to prevent the circulation of warm air in summer.
In No. 3 T is the stop tap, for which I have shewn an arrange-
ment H, K, whereby the continuation of the air tube might be kept up
when a tap intervenes; or when it is wished to connect two separate
systems of air tubes together. H, K, is a metallic tube bent twice
at right angles, the ends joined to the air tubes on each side of and
close to the tap inserted in and soldered to the water pipe at the
points H, K.
In No. 4 the letters refer to the same parts as in the others, only
that R is a closed air-tight bag, on which rests a hollow cylinder L,
closed at the bottom but open at the top to admit a strong spring S,
attached at one end to the bottom of L and at the other to the screw W.
By turning the screw W the cylinder L is lowered, and so the bag R is
compressed between it and the outer cylinder Y containing them. The
air in the air tubes is thus put under just sufficient pressure to keep the
air tubes open under the given pressure of water in the pipes. If
required air also may be pumped into R through F to assist the
spring S in producing the required pressure. In the Figure it is
represented as slightly compressed.
Instead of the spring S I may of course use simple weights to effect
the same purpose, as for instance, by making L solid and much larger,
or by applying weights by means of a lever. But I consider No. 4 and
the other modifications of it as inferior to the other methods I bave
described, for however perfect springs or their equivalents might be
none can equal the perfect elasticity of air.
As to the materials of which I would make these:-The water pipes
would be of course just the same as they are now. The air reservoir
may be made of cast iron, galvanised on the inside, or any other suitable
material. The air tubes of any material that would at present best
answer the purpose. I believe india-rubber would be by far the best,
either alone as for No. 3, where it would not be subjected to any interal
pressure, or better still combined with some fabric, as in making water-
proofs, and made into tubes. I have had such tubes made, and they
are perfectly satisfactory. As it is essential that they should impart to
water neither taste nor smell I coat the air tubes with insoluble flexible

page_text: collodion, and this answers the purpose admirably. Provided the source
of heat can be depended upon and is constant, the air tubes might be
made of metal, and constant irruption of warm air kept up to prevent
freezing.
For water pipes of large diameter where it is not likely to interfere
with the flow of water, as for instance, those used for heating houses,
churches, &c., I may use large sized air tubes enclosed in the water
pipes without any communication with the atmosphere; or a reservoir
for a large volume of air being already enclosed in them it would easily
get compressed into a smaller volume by frost quite sufficient to relieve
the pipes of their tension.
In No. 5 I have shewn an arrangement which will be very useful for
waterclosets and other similar purposes. A, B, is the water pipe which
conveys the water from the cistern to the pan of the watercloset W, C,
just below A.; C, D, the air tube, beginning in a bell-shaped expansion
at C, which may be somewhere under the seat, and ending at the open
extremity D, a little above the water level. The parts of the air tube
outside the water pipe and its coils in the cistern are metallic. T is the
tap which supplies the cistern with water, and the air tube makes a turn
round this before ending at D. The air tube in A, B, will of course
prevent its bursting by frost, and the cistern being open at the top can
sustain no damage. But as great inconvenience is caused by the water-
closet becoming inactive during a frost, by putting a light such as a
lamp under C, warm air might be sent through the air tube, the ice
melted, and the watercloset made serviceable in a short time. If
desired the heat may be kept up so long as the frost lasts, which may
be done at a nominal cost, and thus a great inconvenience removed.
The means I have described for melting the ice once formed, and for
keeping the water always liquid, may with great advantage be applied
in cold countries not only to houses separately but to a whole town by
one or more central sources of heat, from which warm air might be sent
throughout all the pipes, and thus a certain temperature kept up more
economically than by any other method.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my Invention, and in what manner the same may be per-
formed or put in practice, I hereby declare that I claim, the Invention

page_text: of "improved arrangements for preventing pipes or vessels containing
water or liquid from bursting by the effects of frost or similar force
suddenly brought into operation, herein-before described and illustrated
in the Drawings, it being understood that I do not claim, per se (neither
do I limit myself to the use of), the mechanical details of construction
illustrated by the Drawings, and herein described, but claim to vary such
details as the occasion may require.
In witness whereof, I, the said Johannes Avetician Calantarients,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of
June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.
Witness,
GEO. TAYLOR,
Sol.,
37, Queen St.,
J. A. CALANTARIENTS.
(L.S.)
Scarborough.