IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADAPTATION OF INDIA-RUBBER AND ANALOGOUS GUMS AND COMPOUNDS THEREOF TO VALVES, PUMP BUCKETS, PACKING, AND OTHER PARTS OF STEAM, WATER. AIR, AND GAS ENGINES AND APPARATUS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Coles Fuller, of No. 2, Bucklersbury, in the
City of London, James Archibald Jaques, of Tottenham, in the County
of Middlesex, and John Americus Fanshawe, of the same Place, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADAPTATION OF INDIA-RUBBER AND
ANALOGOUS GUMS AND COMPOUNDS THEREOF TO VALVES, PUMP BUCKETS,
PACKING, AND OTHER PARTS OF STEAM, WATER. AIR, AND GAS ENGINES AND
APPARATUS."
Sealed the 14th June 1861, and dated the 3rd January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Coles Fuller
James Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 3rd
January 1861.
We, WILLIAM COLES FELLER, of No. 2, Bucklersbury, in the City of
London, JAMES AROHIBALD JAQUES, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex,
and JOHN AMERICUS FANSHAWE, of the same Place, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADAPTATION OF INDIA-
RUBBER AND ANALOGOUS GUMS AND COMPOUNDS THEREOF TO VALVES, PUMP BUCKETS,
PACKING, AND OTHER PARTS OF STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GAS ENGINES AND APPA-
RATUS," to be as follows:-
India-rubber valves are at present made of the elastic substance well known
as vulcanised india-rubber, but as this elastic substance is not so well adapted
for the holding part of valves where fixture is necessary, the present improve-
ment consists in forming such parts of what is usually termed as "hard
D

page_text: rubber," firmly united to the soft in the process of vulcanising, thus form-
ing a perfect hinge or joint of the material itself.
The improvement in pump buckets and steam packing consists in making
those parts of the material which are liable to friction of hard rubber united
to the soft, so as to form a more perfect wearing surface.
The same Invention is also applied (viz., the junction of the hard and
soft rubber) to other wearing parts of machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Coles Fuller, James Archibald Jaques and John
Americus Fanshawe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd July
1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
COLES FULLER, of No. 2, Bucklersbury, in the City of London, JAMES
ARCHIBALD JAQUES, of Tottenham, in the County of Middlesex, and JOHN
AMERICUS FANSHAWE, of the same Place, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said William Coles Fuller, James Archibald Jaques, and John Americus
Fanshawe, Her special licence that we, the said.William Coles Fuller. James
Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, our executors, adminis
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said William Coles Fuller, James
Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADAPTATION OF INDIA-RUBBER AND
ANALO.OUS GUMS AND COMPOUNDS THEREOP TO VALVES, PUMP BUCKETS, PACKING,
AND OTHER PARTS OF STEAM. WATER, AIR, AND GAS ENGINES AND APPARATUS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Coles Fuller,
James Archibald Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, our executors cr
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our
or 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,

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said William Coles Fuller, James Archibald
Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, do hereby declare the nature of our
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 of the present improvement in valves, steam packing, pump
buckets, and other parts of steam, water, air, and gas engines and apparatus
consists in the employment of two distinct kinds of india-rubber in the forma-
tion of such articles. The one being that compound usually known as
vulcanised india-rubber, which possesses great elasticity; the other is also
well kuown as "hard rubber or vulcanite. The perfect chemical adhesion
of these two substa ces to each other in the process of vulcanization being
also well known to manufacturers, and our improvements consist in adapting
such united compound, which we term "junction rubber," to the purposes
herein-after described.
In the formation of india-rubber valves great flexibility is essential in that
part of the valve which covers the bore or waterway, but such flexibility is not
needed, and proves an impediment to the proper fixing in other parts. In
circular valves, which usually work on a grid or grating (the centre hole
through which the spindle passes forming the holding part of the valve); this
part in our improved valves is composed of a disc of hard material, and the
advantage is, that the valve may be screwed down tight where required, or if
a little movement is preferred, as in feed pump valves for,steamers and other
cases where the volume of water is large, the friction on the spindle being
confined to the hard material (which never alters its shape) will tend to
preserve the valve from injury for a much longer period. In forming the
junction between the soft and hard material we prefer to take a diagonal line
across the thickness, so as to give greater holding surface between the two
substances (see Fig II.)
For foot valves, pump valves, scupper valves, and other kinds, as shewn in
the Drawings, the edge or holding part is made in like mauner of hard
material, chemically united to the soft or elastic compound, and in certain
cases where the pressure is great the valve may be strengthened by a thin
surface of the hard material.
For stop valves used by plumbers and engineers in certain parts of water,
steam, and other apparatus, we form a disc of hard rubber, with a thin surface
of the elastic material united thereto; such valves may be moulded separately

page_text: or cut out from junction sheet rubber prepared for that purpose. Air valves
for pneumatic railways, for hot blast furnaces, for the ventilation of mines, and
similar purposes where heat and other atmospheric changes are injurious to
leather, may be constructed of our junction rubber, and will be found both
effective and durable.
Our improvements in pump buckets consist in making the body of the
bucket of the usual elastic material, and coating the same with a surface of
hard rubber for the wearing parts. In the usual lift pump buckets the hard
surface is on the outside. In some cases, as in plunger pumps, it would be on
the inside, whilst in large lift pumps for sewer works, water works, &c. a
packing ring or rings would be required with a hard surface on the outside.
Our improvement in packing for piston rods consists in making rings of
every size to suit the diameter of the stuffing box; the body of the ring is
made of elastic rubber, and the inner surface of hard or "vulcanite," where
requisite each ring has a slit, by means of which it is threaded on to the piston
rod, and a sufficient number of rings are used to prevent the escape of steam,
the joints of each ring being placed opposite to each other as usual.
Another part of cursaid improvements relates to the use of large size rings
of the junction rubber for packing the shafts of screw steamers. The main
shaft by which the screw is attached to the machinery enters the vessel by the
steru pipe many feet below the surface, and consequently requires effectually
packing to prevent the ingress of sea water; but it is often found, especially in
stress of weather,that the leakage becomes inconveniently large,besides which
there is great difficulty in removing or replacing the package in case of need
during a voyage, and a vessel has been known occasionally to go hundreds of
miles out of her course to be dry docked; we propose to remedy this by sub-
stituting in place of the hemp or rope packing now used a series of rings of
the junction rubber, made accurately to fit round the shaft, and so arranged
that the gland may be removed at any time without difficulty or delay, as
illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
Another application of our improved junction rubber is to hydraulic ram
rings; these rings are at present usually made of leather, doubled over and
fitted to the recess in the cylinder of the ram.
Our improved rings are moulded to the required shape with a hard surface,
but the body of the ring is made so as to retain sufficient elasticity to double
back and spring into the recess. They will be found more perfectly water-
tight, and bear the immense pressure better than leather; other shapes are
also made (adapted to the different forms of hydraulic rams) as shewn in
the Drawings.

page_text: Another application of our improved junction rubber is to sockets or tubing
of various diameters and thickness for steam, water, air, or gas engines and
apparatus; and this tubing may be made with the hard surface inside (see a
section, Fig. 17) or in some cases the hard surface may be outside (see
Fig. 18). It is well known that certain acids, gas, oils, and other fluids act
injuriously on the elastic vulcanised rubber, but will not affect thehard surface.
In such cases the junction rubber tubing (Fig. 17) will be found of great
advantage in preventing decay, and also preserving the bore of the tube from
collapse without the use of wire; and when cut into short lengths such tubing
will be found well adapted as bearings for various kinds of machinery. Iu
some cases where a flexible joint is required, as in connecting the basin of a
water-closet with the supply pipe, the junction of hard and soft may be cross-
wise (see Fig. 19).
Another application of our improved junction rubber is to the seats of
plummer blocks and other similar parts of machinery. The advantage of a
slight degree of elasticity for the bearings of heavy shafts (especially on board
steam vessels) is generally admitted, it tends to lesson vibration and enable
the metal bush to adapt itself more perfectly to the shaft or journal. For
such purposes we provide sheet rubber of the requisite shape, with alternate
layers of hard and of elastic material, which will accomplish this object, and
yet admit of the parts being effectually and firmly screwed down to any part
of the vessel.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a circular valve. A is the centre hole; B (colored dark)
is the hard material, and C (colored light) is the soft or flexible part. These
valves are made of every size from 3 inches diameter to 3 feet, or even in
some cases as large as 4 or 5 feet. The thickness and consequent strength
must be regulated accordingly.
Fig. II. represents a section of Fig. I., and shows the diagonal line of
junction between the hard and soft material. In some cases, especially where the
valve is large, we may prefer to strengthen the union of the parts by extending
portion of the disc of hard between the two surfaces of soft; or, in other
cases, it may be radiated in the manner of a star-fish, or the spokes of a
wheel, the object being to give mechanical strength in addition to chemical
adhesion.
a
Figs. III., IV., V., VI., VII., VIII., represent different kinds of valves,
in most of which the same principle of construction applies. In foot valves
Fig. III., and pump valves Fig. IV., the advantage of a hard edge for fixing

page_text: is at once apparent. In butterfly valves (Fig. VI.), the hard portion is in the
centre, with a flexible wing or flap on each side. For scupper valves (see
Fig. VII.) the outside frame A for fixing is hard, and the flexible part B is
attached by the upper edge. The remaining portion of the valve B may fit
into the frame by a bevilled edge.
Fig. IX. represents a pump bucket of the kind usually termed "
cup
buckets. These are moulted in various sizes from 2 inches to 10 inches and
upwards. The outer rim is slightly tapered, so as accurately to fit the bore
of the pump, the outer surface or wearing part being hard.
Fig. X. represents a ring of the junction rubber, the body of which is
elastic, and the inner surface of the hard material. These rings are applicable
to steam, packing, and force pumps.
Fig. XI. represents a similar ring, but with the outer surface of the hard
material, and the body and inner surface elastic. These rings may be made
of any size and diameter from 2 inches to 2 feet and upwards, and are
suitable for hydraulic or lift pumps for sewer and waterworks of the largest
dimensions.
Fig. XII. represents in section the inner part of the stern pipe of a screw
steamer, with our improved junction rubber, packing, and double gland
A, A, is the stern pipe, which is usually made of cast brass or gun metal, and
extends from the opening near the screw through the dead wood into the shaft
alley, where it terminates in a socket or enlarged end to contain the packing;
B, B, is the main shaft connecting the screw with the machinery, and is pro-
vided with bearings at proper intervals; C, C, a metal ring threaded on to
the shaft, and accurately fitted to receive the packing.
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, represent our improved junction rubber rings, which
are made of firm elastic material, with an inner surface of hard rubber or
vulcanite of suitable thickness. D, D, is a cylinder or inner gland of gun-
metal, which may be constructed in two halves, and E is the outer gland.
If it be found in practice that the rings numbered 1, 2, 3, are sufficient, the
remaining three rings 4, 5, and 6, together with the cylinder (D, D.) may be
dispensed with, the gland E being constructed so as to fit the flange of the stern
pipe A. The chief advantage contemplated by the double gland is the
additional security afforded for keeping out the water, and the facility with
which the first three rings may be removed and replaced, if needful, during a
voyage.
Another plan for effectually stopping out the sea water during repairsmay also
be accomplished by means of a hollow ring of square or oblong section formed
of the junction rubber, with three surfaces of hard and one surface next to

page_text: the shaft of flexible material (see section, see Fig. XIII.) This ring may
occupy a space before or behind the collar C, and on being filled with air or
water by means of a small force pump the flexible surface A will perfectly
close the orifice round the shaft, and prevent the ingress of water during
such repairs.
Fig. XIV. represents an hydraulic ram ring of the usual kind moulded to
fit the recess in the cylinder, and to fit the ram on the inner side. Fig. XV.
represents a section of the same.
Fig. XVI. represents a variation of form in our junction rubber rings as
applied to hydraulic rams, but on a different principle, in which the most
enormous pressure exerted would only tighten the joints without allowing
the escape of water.
Fig. XVII. represents a section of our junction rabber tubing, with the hard
surface on the inside. It may be made of any size from of an inch diameter
to 3 inches diameter and upwards; the thickness of the material in each case
being adapted to the purpose required. Fig. XVIII. represents a section
of similar tubing, with the hard surface on the outside.
Fig. XIX. represents a tube of which one part is hard and the other
flexible, the junction being crosswise instead of longitudinal. For the purpose
of obtaining greater flexibility in tubes where the lining or the covering is of
hard material, we sometimes prefer to make such hard material in the form of
a coil (see Fig. XX.) which from its adhesion, is not liable to displacement
as iron wire coiling occasionally is, and such tubing where it is required to
withstand pressure may be coated with canvass.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performing, we would further observe that the
terms "soft" and "hard" herein used are employed not in the strict or
absolute, but in a relative sense; for instance, there are many degrees of soft-
ness or flexibility comprehended under the general term soft or elastic rubber,
and so again the hard rubber varies according to its treatment in degree of
hardness, being sometimes moderately hard, and at other times as firm and
incompressible as horn or ebony; and the degree of firmness in both kinds
must be varied according to the purpose for which it is destined. (Thus, for
valves, we generally prefer the "soft" part to be of the most flexible kind,
and for steam and shaft packing it should be of a firmer kind). But what we
claim as new and desire to secure by the present Patent is, the adaptation of
the aforesaid distinct kinds or densities of india-rubber or other analagous
compounds chemically united to each other in the process of vulcanizing to the
construction of valves, pump buckets, hydraulic rings, steam packing, shaft

page_text: acking, tubing, gas apparatus, and other mechanical purposes, as herein-
efore mentioned.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Coles Fuller, James Archibald
Jaques, and John Americus Fanshawe, have hereunto set our hands
and seals, this First day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
Signed in the presence of
F. P. GARDINER,
2, Bucklersbury.
W. C. FULLER.
JAS. A. JAQUES.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
JOHN A. FANSHAWE. (L.S.)