IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF DRAINAGE AND OTHER PIPES WHETHER OF EARTHENWARE OR METAL
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Nelson Hutchinson General in Her Majestys
Army of Wellesbourne near Bideford in the County of Devon. for an
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF DRAINAGE AND OTHER
PIPES WHETHER OF EARTHENWARE OR METAL
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Nelson Hutchinson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th November 1882.
WILLIAM NELSON HUTCHINSON General in Her Majesty's Army of Welles-
bourne near Bideford in the County of Devon "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS
OF DRAINAGE AND OTHER PIPES, WHETHER OF EARTHENWARE OR METAL,"
"
The object of this invention is to show a means by which the joints of all pipes
could be made gas-tight yet partially flexible, and drainage pipes and pipes for
pure water be accurately and expeditiously laid down with little manual labour
and without risk of future leakage.
The body of the pipes is, as usual, cylindrical. The socket or collar might be
cylindrical, but I prefer to have it coned with an increasing diameter from the
shoulder to the mouth. At the opposite end, the spigot end, the exterior surface
of the pipe is coned at a similar angle for a length a little exceeding the length of
the socket, but towards the extremity the coning is at a greater angle. Sharp
edges are rounded.
The edge of the mouth of the socket is crenated with, say, from five to eight
openings or gaps, all of equal length, at equal distances apart, and about half an
inch deep
When the glazed spigot-end of the pipe is home in the socket of the one last
fixed in position they are no where in contact, unless perchance the extremity of
the spigot end should touch the shoulder of the other pipe. There is a slight
interval between them, an annular section of which interval is filled with a band
(or ring) of vulcanized india rubber, or other suitable elastic material.
Seen in section this band is a triangle (with the apex towards the centre of the

page_text: band) or a segment of a circle. I prefer that the exterior surface of the band, instead
of being cylindrical, should be coned to the same angle as the interior of the socket,
and bave such a depth that the apex of the triangle, or crown of the segment, as
case may be, shall come in contact with the introduced incoming spigot end the
moment they are in the same transverse plane. The band is then gradually 5
flattened by an equable pressure through its whole breadth, exerted by the spigot
end as it travels inwards with the many revolutions caused by the action of a fine
threaded screw. Even could sufficient manual, or other power be given to push the
spigot end home, such compression would detrimentally force forward the part of
the elastic material first acted on.
1
As it would-be unreasonable to expect that ordinary pipes would be manufac-
tured with their ends truly conical, good depth is given to the band to afford
substance for filling all irregularities and hollows, Bands of such. depth, it is
manifest, would not retain their position when pushed against in a longitudinal
direction by the incoming pipe, therefore it is necessary that its entrance be effected 1
by travelling inwards spirally-the more spirally the more is the pressure applied
on a mechanically right principle.
=
As the exterior central diameter of the band exceeds by a trifle the inner central
diameter of the coned socket, the band is retained in position with sufficient
firmness, for that part of the socket is unglazed and rough, and might be slightly 2
scored. In pipes-of-large diameter marine glue or other suitable adhesive substance
would be employed to prevent any possible-derangement from rough carriage. As.
the threads of the screw are numerous (of fine pitch) the spigot-end-in its travel
does not disturb the surface of the band that lies in contact with the socket. That
surface lies at a distance from the influence of the revolving spigot. Were it 25
preferred, the band could be stretched over the spigot end of a pipe, instead of
being placed within-the-socket, but the other seems the best disposition.
=
The crenated edge affords a parchase for firmly holding a light inexpensive frame
in which the screw works. It gradually forces the spigot end of the-fresh-pipe
into the socket of the pipe last laid in position, without in the least deranging its 30
position, or the position of any of the pipes further back. This machine saves
expense in labour and is easily managed. Embracing the fresh pipe the machine
when placed on the last pipe fixed in position would have the longitudinal axes of
the two pipes in the same line. The most unskilful labourer could hardly avoid
screwing it home in a true direction, in which position it would continue without 35
detrimentally sinking from weight.
Were there no crenated edge, a firm hold of the ingoing pipe for the screw to
turn it, could be obtained by excentric pressure on the inner surface of the socket,
or by concentric pressure on its outside, or by a purchase on the lips, while the
brackets of the frame (the machine) would have a retaining grasp of the body of 40
the pipe last in position-but the crenated edge seems the better plan.
By using the screw the elastic material interposed between the ends of the pipes
is compressed in a direction transverse to their length. The resistance to the spiral
progress of the spigot end being thus in lines parallel to the threads of the screw,
the resistance to compression is in the same direction-therefore the effort to 45
expand is in the same direction, thereby making it a lateral bursting pressure, ono
in no way having a tendency to separate the pipes, which would be the tendency
had the pipe been forced home in the direction of its length. The whole of the
pressure arising from the elasticity of the substance is usefully employed in retaining
the gas.
50
The more the smallest diameter of the coned socket exceeds the largest diameter
of the body of the pipe, the greater would be the depth that could be given to the
band. Good depth is necessary to impart the flexibility to the joint required when
the pipes are to be laid down on undulating ground. Such depth renders much
breadth unnecessary. The band is pressed until it becomes thin, in order that it 5
may present but a small surface to the injurious action of any chance acid in theŝ-

page_text: sewage. There is the hope that by the combination of parafin, or other suitable
substance with india rubber, the detrimental action of the acid may be pre-
vented-but it would be of little consequence were this scheme not feasible, for
only a small surface would be exposed to its action, and it is well known that
vulcanized india rubber in which much sulphur is not incorporated, is singularly
dúrable when kept from the air; and such would be the case when the bands are
used with pipes laid underground. They would retain their elasticity as they
would have been compressed not stretched.
When only a very slight flexibility is required in the joint, there is a special
advantage in thus systematically forcing home the spigot end transversely, by a
fine threaded screw instead of forcing it home in a longitudinal direction, namely,
that so powerful and so equable a pressure can be easily exerted that hemp, manilla,
or other suitable yielding, non-elastic substance (rendered by alum or other means
unusually impervious to wet) can be economically used as the gas tight material
interposed between the pipes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor filed by the said William Nelson Hutchinson
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th May 1883.
WILLIAM NELSON HUTCHINSON General in Her Majesty's Army of Welles-
bourne Bideford County Devon IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF DRAINAGE AND
OTHER PIPES WHETHER OF EARTHENWARE OR METAL
The object of this invention is to shew a means by which the joints of all kinds
of earthenware or metal pipes can be made gastight yet partially flexible, and
drainage pipes, or pipes for water be expeditiously laid down most accurately, with
but little manual labour, and having in all cases a close tight joint without any 1
risk of leakage.
Instead of using cement at the joints an elastic or pliant gasket is employed
which by a gradually increasing spiral pressure of the incoming pipe is rendered
compact, making the joint impervious to the escape of gas or water.
The body of the earthenware pipes is, as usual, cylindrical. The socket might
be cylindrical but I generally prefer to have it coned (tapering) with an increasing
diameter from the shoulder to the mouth. At the opposite end, the spigot-end,
the exterior surface is coned at a similar angle, with decreasing diameter, to the
mouth for a length usually equalling that of the interior of the socket-Towards
the extremity the coning is at a greater angle. Such abstraction of substance?
would not cause a fracture, as the force exerted in screwing in the spigot is a
compressing not a bursting power. Sharp edges are rounded by hand.
The edge of the socket end is crenated. There are two or more openings or
gaps about an half an inch deep-say an inch and a half or two inches broad
contingent on the number of gaps all of equal width, and at equal distances one
from the other. The two inner faces lie in the direction of planes cutting the
longitudinal axis length-wise. Lest the projections thus left on the edge should in
small pipes not have sufficient substance to sustain the weight of the soft clay
when expelled in a vertical direction from the mould, through being thinned by
the coning of the interior of the socket, the exterior of the socket end, would not
be cylindrical. It would be increasingly coned from the shoulder. This would
give greater substance at the edge, and it would be judicious to have only two
openings, though in the mould any thickness could be given to the edge of the
socket. The openings might be made after the pipe leaves the mould, but they are
best effected in it.
When the spigot of a pipe is home in the socket end of the one last laid down
they are no where in contact, The depth of the annular interval between them
quite depends upon the nature of the gasket or packing interposed between them
to render the joint watertight, or gastight. The depth would be very little were
the fitting of the spigot end of the incoming pipe and the inlet of the receiving
pipe accurate, and the gasket a ring of vulcanized indiarubber, or other elastic
suitable sub-tence.
It would be unreasonable to expect cuch accuracy with ordinary earthenware
pipes made with incomplete machinery, therefore to obtain sufficient depth to fill
with packing all irregularities and hollows, the required depth would be obtained
by increasing the exterior diameter of the socket, which would be better than to
remove much substance from the spigot end. The thick gasket then required
would be made of tarred tow, oakum, flax or hemp yarn, manilla, or other non-
elastic yet yielding material. In some instances bees wax would be preferred to
tar. Grease or some suitable substance would usually be mixed with the tar to
prevent its hardening when the gaskes are kept in store. A coarse band might
3

page_text: bo manufactured for the gasket faced on one side with a thick compressible
substance, to be cut into lengths of the interior circumference of the socket end and
glued within it.
Seen in section, the deep gasket (G in diagrams) is the segment of a circle with
the crown of the are towards the centro of the gasket; or nearly a triangle with
the apex towards the centre of the gasket. In practice the exterior surface of the
gasket would be cylindrical, but theoretically speaking it should be coned to the
same angle as the interior of the socket. It should have such a depth that
the crown of the segment, or the apex of the triangle, as case may be, would meet
near the extreme edge of the coned part of the incoming spigot the moment they
were in the same transverse plane. The gasket is then gradually flattened
throughout its breadth by the equable pressure given by the coned spigot as it
travels inwards with the many revolutions effected by the action of a fine threaded
screw. Even could sufficient manual or other power be applied in the line of the
axis to push the spigot home, such compression of the gasket would detrimently
force inwards the part first acted on, thereby preventing the gasket being equally
pressed in all parts. Should the clay bo of an inadhesive character, or the joint
be subjected to an unusually severe strain, a compressor around the socket would
prevent its cracking.
It should be observed that the gasket being compressed by the screw in a
direction transverse to the length of the pipe, the resistance to the spiral progress
of the spigot is in lines parallel to the threads of the screw. Thus the resistance
to the compression is in the same direction, whereby it becomes a lateral bursting
pressure, one in no way having a tendency to separate the pipes longitudinally,
which would be the tendency were the pipe forced home in the direction of its
length against an elastic gasket. The whole of the pressure arising from any
elasticity in the gasket is solely employed in retaining the gas.
numerous are the threads (the finer the pitch of the screw) the nearer is the
approach to a direct transverse, smooth, gradual pressure on the gasket, which is
just the kind of pressure most suitable for metal pipes when unusually strong
pressure on the gasket may be required to prevent the possibility of leakage, as
when they bring water from distant heights.
The more
The interior of the socket of earthenware pipes is rough and unglazed, and might
even be slightly scored.
The gasket is retained in its position by its exterior surface being made very
slightly greater than the coned part of the spigot with which it is to come in
contact, and by its being generally fastened in position by marine glue or other
suitable substance. Such adhesion prevents any possible derangement from rough
carriage. As the threads of the driving screw are by preference of fine pitch it is
obvious that the spigot in its travel inwards does not disturb the remote surface of
the gasket glued to the socket. The deeper the gasket the greater is its flexibility,
therefore the greater the deviation from a straight line that may be given to the
incoming pipe after it is screwed in. Evidently much depth should be given when
pipes are laid down on uneven ground. Junction branches would have the
crenated end added to them.
On ordinary occasions the gasket, partly in order that it may present but a small
surface to the injurious action of any chance acid in the sewage, is pressed until it
becomes. broad and thin. There is, however, the hope that by the combination
of paraffine, or asbestos, or other suitable substance with indiarubber, the detri-
mental action of the acid may be prevented. Any way it is satisfactory to know
that vulcanized indiarubber in which much sulphur is not incorporated is extremely
durable when kept from the air, as would be the case when the gasket is used in
pipes underground. It would retain elasticity as it would be compressed, not
stretched.
Were it preferred, the gasket instead of being placed within the socket could be
stretched over the spigot but this does not seem the best disposition.
In the sheet of diagrams, in nearly all the figures similar letters and numbers

page_text: refer to similar parts. G is the gasket. Figs 1 and 2 show in section the machine
designed to screw the pipes home, one half resting on the last pipe (XX) laid in
position, and the other half of the machine supporting the pipe Y Y lying on two
chains fixed near n, n. One of the chains is shown in Fig. 4. They are short and
of a form little likely to kink. The machine might be nearly wholly formed of
wood, but metal would be more durable and seems the best. The brackets A and C
are just clear of the coned part of the pipes. D should be in such a position that
under no circumstances could the spigot end of the introduced pipe be so far
screwed in as to grate against the shoulder of the socket of the receiving pipe.
In Fig. 1 the pipe Y Y is seen in the position ready to have its spigot end
screwed into the socket end of the pipe X X as soon as the projections of the
screw-board F are pushed longitudinally into the openings on the edge of the
socket. In Fig. 2 the pipe is seen screwed home.
No. 2 is the uppermost of three parallel rods of equal length which pass through
the four similar, almost semicircular brackets A, B, C, D and the screw-plate of an
outline nearly identical to the bracket's. Fig 4 is one of the brackets, and 1, 2, 3,
mark where the rods so numbered pass through all the brackets and the screw
plate (Fig. 5). These brackets are of the size adapted to closely embrace half the
body of the largest pipes ever likely to be used with that machine. Every sized
pipe would have its own true-fitting, removeable set of four brackets. They would
-be-plates-to-be severally attached to the side of the fixtures A, B, C, D nearest the
screw arrangement, by merely turning-a-button-pushed through a slot on the
stationary bracket at w, Fig. 4, for they would respectively fit under a fixed-clasp-
at t and abut against the three rods, as shown in the dotted outline. As a rule
drainage pipes are of similar length, vis. 2 feet, exclusive of sockets. Whatever
their diameter the chains n, n would have a designated link to give the length
required for the-several sizes._
B is not quite similar to the other brackets. Although-X-X is.a_fixture_to_the
preceding pipe, to prevent XX ever revolving with Y Y (from any unusual strain).
the bracket B, instead of being arched interiorly, is rectangular as shown by the
three straight lines in Fig 4, in order that the bracket may fit on the square stop,
formed in the mould, in rear of the sockets. To prevent the possibility of the
vertical edges of the bracket in-injuring the pipe they have a narrow flange on the
side nearest to A. The stop is seen (marked c) in Figures 11 and 12 as the upper-
most side of the square is not represented in a horizontal position. Its angles are
small portions of the circumference of the socket unless the diameter be much
larger than that of the body of the pipe.
Fig. 5 is the screw-plate E showing the central opening in which the square-sided
metal case m is firmly fixed. In it the square-sided screw nut b (Figs. 1 and 2)
travels freely parallel to the axis of the ingoing pipe for about an inch to and fro.
E in Figs. 1, 2, 8 is drawn as if wood, but metal would be better.
The distance between the bracket B and the plate E is a fixed quantity, being
the length of a pipe including its socket added to the length of another socket and
the thickness of the screw board F. The socket of X X overlapping the body of
the pipe where they unite, there is space for the easy lodgment of the pipe Y Y
within the frame. The bracket D lies so far from E as not to come in contact
with the square stop when the pipe is forced honie, The bracket C is just clear
of the coned part of the pipe when it is put into the frame. The distance of A
from B is an uncertain quantity as A is merely a guide for placing the frame in a
right direction on the pipe X X.
The screw S V, Fig. 1 and 2, is necessarily long. To the metal plate on its
inner end the centre of the board (F) with the radial projections (Fig. 3) is fixed.
About half of the outer end (V) of the screw is cut with leaves in planes of the
longitudinal axis (like a watchmaker's pinion wire), whereby the vertical cogged
wheel T rotates the screw (acting on board F) so that the spigot end of the
ingoing pipe YY is driven any required distance into the pipe XX. This wheel (T)
is driven by the bevelled pinion P attached to it, for the pinion is acted on by a

page_text: bevelled horizontal wheel U having a handle h for manipulation. Supports ƒ and 6
for the axles of both wheels spring from the screw plate E. Ties t, t strengthen
the supports. To give stability and prevent wear of long screw, the part V rotates
on a fixed axle w held by three arms, one of which is shown marked a, or V
might be produced and revolve in a eye.
Fig. 3 shows the projections on the board which are generally the same in
number as the openings on the crenated edge of the socket, and fit loosely into
them when the board is pushed for about an inch longitudinally inwards. The
projections being radial, suit the openings of all sockets made on the same principle,
whatever may be their diameter. The projections have such a purchase on the
pipe that it is made to revolve by the labourer operating on the handle h after he
has pushed the bolt o behind the projecting rim k on the screw nut. The bolt o is
also shown by the dotted line in Fig. 5, where q is the slot in which the crank-handle
of the bolt travels. The bolt prevents the screw-nut from retreating when the
screw S, working in the screw-nut, turns the board F. A flat, weak spring in
the loop (not shown) that clasps the bolt, pressing against it (the bolt), retains it
in its two alternate positions.
•
In Fig. 1 the bolt (o) is seen raised, a position necessary to allow of the screw-
nut (6) being drawn back an inch (with the long screw and the board F) to make
room in the frame for the reception of the pipe Y Y. In Fig. 2 the board is
shown having its projections in the openings on the edge of the socket. The bolt
must be raised to allow of the screw-nut b being drawn back an inch, carrying
with it the board just clear of the socket. The board would then be entirely
brought back by the returning revolution of tho screw, and resume the position
shown in Fig. 1.
The labourer having unwound the screw removes the compressor j, encircling X's
socket in a close grasp, to Y's socket, (should such aid have been given from
unusual pressure being exerted on the gasket),-loosens the chains n, n,--removes
the machine, laying it on the ground with the arched part downwards as seen in
sketch view Fig. 15-puts a fresh pipe into the machine just clear of the board F,-
secures the pipe to the machine by keying the end of each chain to its fastening-
places the other end of the machine on the pipe last laid down so that its upright
(not rounded) shoulder shall abut against the bracket B, and pushes the projections
on the board into the openings on the crenated edge of the pipe.
The two chains n, n are carefully cut to such a length that when the ingoing
pipe, supported by them, and the brackets A and B are in close contact with the
body of the pipe last laid down, the longitudinal axis of the two pipes and the axis
of the screw nut b must be in the same line. The most unskilful labourer would
necessarily screw the pipe home in a true direction. Or, instead of the chains,
curved metal bands might be used, travelling in the segment of a circle round the
body of the pipe through a loop fastened to the frame. With one of the machines
and the assistance of a boy he would be able in a single day to lay down a large
number of the ordinary sized pipes. He would not be tempted to leave a joint in
an unsatisfactory state as the work would be accurately and expeditiously done
by his merely turning the handle h. Virtually the radius, and therefore the
leverage power of the wheel U would be increased by giving a long crank to the
handle, which would revolve in a plane above E, to be unshipped when not in action
as shown in Fig. 8. It would be keyed in a large square hole, or holes near the
periphery of the wheel. How far he should drive in the pipe would depend upon
the nature of the gasket. A removable ring-stop () secured at the correct spot by
a wire running centrically transversely through it and one of the several holes
piercing the extremity of the long screw S V, would arrest him at the proper
moment.
To prevent the pipe from ever jumping when screwed home with unusual
rapidity, a weak spring (p Fig 4). running transversely across the top of the arch of
the brackets C, and D slightly presses against the pipe.
Figs. 6 and 7 show transverse sections through a screw of the cylindrical

page_text: compressor that under peculiar circumstances strengthens a joint constantly, or
merely during the time it is undergoing an unusually severe strain while the spigot
is gradually squeezing the fibres of the gasket more closely together than is required
on ordinary occasions. The screw-rod 7 plays loosely in holes in the stout flanges
ff, attached exteriorly to the lips of, the longitudinal opening in the compressor.
To prevent the rod from revolving, the end furthest from the screw nut is
squared, and the hole in which that end plays is also squared.
In many instances, the compressor is a cone rather than a true cylinder, as it is
always of the form and length best suited to the requirements of the joint it
strengthens. It is, as a rule, made of thin galvanized metal, or zinc, lined with
indiarubber (Fig. 6) or other suitable substance to fill inequalities on the surface
of the joint. It might be unpadded (Fig. 7), and have some suitable material
interposed between it and the joint. To prevent such packing from protruding,
one edge of a lip at all times overlaps the other, as shown in Fig. 7. The opening
throughout the entire length of the compressor is in the plane of its longitudinal
axis, and allows of expansion for access to the joint after the pipes are laid down.
However great may be the bursting pressure on the joint in the labourer's
endeavour, under circumstances of excessive difficulty, to keep it watertight, the
compressor should enable the joint to successfully resist the strain, for it (the
compressor) could be made of any reasonable strength. The lips of the compressor
would be gradually forced nearer and nearer by turning the screw-nut t. This nut
-is-for-the-moment-wholly-withdrawn_when_the_lips are so widely separated as to
allow of the compressor; working on the longitudinal hinge h, being removed. That
side as well as the opposite might be tightened by screws. The extremities of the
upper lip extend a little beyond the extremities of the lower, to enable a workman
to separate them. Clays vary much in their adhesive qualities, and should the
compressor be retained as a constant support to the joint, the facility with which it.
could be expanded-and-temporarily-pushed-aside-would_at_all_times allow of the
packing, &c.. being rearranged. Manufactured in numbers slight compressors
would not be expensive.
With the aid of suitable compressors, joints could be made so thoroughly gastight
that, at much saving of expense, mains from gas works could be laid down with
vitrified earthenware pipes in lieu of metal, provided the clay was of a very
tenaceous quality. With such clays for the mains the compressor would at times
be found unnecessary were unusual substance given to the socket end.
With metal gas pipes too long for a bracket to abut against the socket of the
pipe last laid down, a fulerum to prevent the machine from retreating could bo
obtained by a crow-bar driven into the ground behind it. The support demanded
would be trifling as the threads of the screw are fine. The brackets would bo
useful as guides to give a true direction to the screw.
By sufficiently strengthening with compressors the joints of wholly cylindrical
metal pipes (Figs. 13 and 14) such substance could with safety be taken from the
inlets of the receiving pipes as would give space for gaskets of tolerable depth.
The space would be obtained by making the interior of the inlet less tapered than
the spigot After having enabled the receiving pipe to sustain the strain of the
entrance of the incoming pipe, it (the compressor) could be shifted a few inches sn
as to protect the whole joint (Fig. 14). The spigot end might be slightly scored
in threads of a screw having the same pitch as thoso on the driving screw S V.
For E to get a purchase on the socket end, projections much such as seen in Fig. 3
would terminate in spring-nippers, made on the principle of the common wooden
holders that clip linen hung out to dry. The nipper would be increased in holding
power by a screw, which would also serve to part the lips of the nippers.
Figs. 12 and 13 are sections showing great and small sizes that could be given to
the socket ends with a corresponding depth in gasket. The length of the socket
and spigot parts should depend on the breadth the gasket would have when
sufficiently squeezed.
Fig. 12 shows a socket end of such a large diameter compared to that of the

page_text: spigot end, that the depth given to the gasket allowed the introduced pipe to be
much slewed aside after it was screwed in.
Should it be required to connect lengths of piping by laying down pipes in the
intermediate space, unusual elasticity would be given to some of the gaskets to
allow of extension and contraction telescope fashion, after the pipes were laid
down,
In laying down pipes with cement in the socket, it frequently happens that the
incoming pipe squeezes some of the material into the interior, which if not promptly
removed by a scraper, arrests particles which accumulating form an obstruction
that might ultimately choke the drain. Further, heavy or carelessly laid pipes,
especially when the cement is a little too soft, often sink, leaving gaps above, and
become fixtures below the level of the mouth of the receiving pipe, thereby greatly
retarding the flow of sewage. Moreover, cements on hardening cause a rigidity
that leads to breakages on any subsidence of the soil. With the described gaskets
none of these evils would be experienced.
As the longitudinal movement forward and back of the board (E) need rarely
exceed an inch, and the four brackets (A, B, C, D,) hold the three bars (No. 1, 2, 8,)
firmly in position, it is questionable whether it would not be best to dispense with
the bolt o and intead of making the square sided nut m travel, make it a fixture
in the screw plate E and allow it (the plato) to advance the inch and retreat as
wanted. This could easily be effected by making it slide on produced ends of the
three bars in the way a board is forced up or down by the screw in letter-presses.
Cross stays from the extremities of the bars would give a fixed fulcrum for the
action of the screw with handles to operate upon the short screw attached to the
plate.
Or, (Fig. 8) instead of the screw plate E travelling the inch forward and
backward, it might remain a fixture, and the necessary purchase on the crenated
edge of the ingoing pipe be obtained by making a deep rectangular groove (about
the width of the openings on the edge of the socket) along the face of the screw
board F in the direction of its diameter. It should be in an upright position (its
central plane lying in a plane bisecting the plate E in the plane of the axis of the
long screw) when F is so far drawn back that it touches E. The board and
socket being in, or nearly in contact, and the groove facing an opening, a small
rectangular block of hard wood, (H), the length a little exceeding the exterior
diameter of the socket, the thickness that of the openings on it, and about threo
times as broad as thick, would be slid down the groove, simultaneously entoring
the two openings facing it on the socket. Such bulk is given to the block as to
nearly fill up the groove and the two openings. An open slot at the bottom of the
block fits on a supporting cross-bar within the rectangular groove. The sides of
the openings would be paralled, not radial. To prevent confusion F in Fig. 8 is
still called the screwboard, but the board is really the rectangular block, for it is
the substitute for the projections on the board seen in Fig. 3. The rectangular
groove to grasp the block would be formed by preference of metal. A spring bolt
passing through its two parallel sides and the block would retain it temporarily in
position. It could readily be replaced when worn out. Or, a notch in the top of
the groove would receive an eye fixed in the block that would be entered by a
spring bolt attached to the side of the groove. A spring-catch, i Fig. 8, fixed on
the top of the block bolds the shoulder of the socket and prevents its jumping
away from the block however rapidly the screw SV may be driven. In a much
similar way the pipe in Figs. 1 and 2 would be retained.
The block might be a fixture, and F not be immediately unscrewed were it
certain that the position of the pipe would not be deranged by carelessness in
removing the frame. The block would then be less than half the stated breadth.
The nut is firmly secured by the ties t, t.
This machine is easily made. Its being in two pieces is the only drawback.
Four rods as represented instead of three would avoid the inconvenience of having
one in the central longitudinal plane of the machine when the block is inserted,

page_text: The same screw arrangement would answer whatever might be the diameter of the
pipe. It is of such a durable form that one machine would serve to lay down
hundreds of miles of piping.
With joints secured on the described principle earthenware pipes of unusually
large dimensions might be employed.
It might prove useful to have screws in the produced sides of the bracket A,
running in the direction le Fig. 4, to aid in making the machine a temporary
fixture to the pipe XX, by gripping it, while the workman is supporting the
bottom of the screw plate E with stones or earth. Such screws, both on the
bracket A and B would be required when laying down metal pipes without raised
sockets. The edge of the threads of the screw would be roughed like a rasp to get·
a firm hold of the pipe.
When the pipe is delivered in its soft state from the moulding machine to the
finishing workman, in order to cone the spigot with greater accuracy and
expedition than could be done by hand, he could with one circular travel of a
cutting instrument round the pipe, while reducing it to the proper length, pare the
exterior surface of its spigot, giving it the required coning whatever might be the
angle. Fig. 9 shows the instrument. M is a small pear-shaped flat piece of thin
steel. It is firmly connected by the arm A (a little exceeding the length of the
socket of the pipe) to the semi-cylindrical piece of wood W having the handle h.
A fine wire gruns taut from M to W, inclined at the same angle from the plane of
the face of Was-the inner surface of the socket of the pipe is inclined from its
longitudinal axis. The wire is followed, throughout its length, at a distance
of an of an inch, in a plane tangential to the coning, by-a-steel blade (not shown)
about half-an-inch wide and not thicker than a watch spring, fixed-to Wand
soldered to the side of M.
By means of the handle h the workman keeps the flat side of W parallel to, and
in slight contact with the side-of-the pipe while travelling round it. The sharp
narrow pointed part of M-cuts off the pipe to the proper length, being guided by
the top of the drum embraced by the pipe. Simultaneously the wire cuts off what
should be detached, which is instantly pushed aside-by-the blade.
Instead of a wire the blade alone could be used were its cutting-edge as thick
as the wire and rounded, the rest as thin as possible. The thickness would lie on
the side of the blade furthest from the pipe. The workman keeps the instrument
constantly wetted. Were the blade and top M one piece-one part being bent at
right angles to the other-durability would be gained, and possible thickness from
soldering at the junction be avoided. A moveable face d on the flat surface of W
is so adjusted by screws 8, 8 that when it is in contact with the side of the pipe,
it (W) is at a calculated distance from the axis of the pipe. Such distance
determines the position of the wire (or edge of cutting blade as the case may be)
and consequently the amount of clay that is removed. Unless under exceptional
circumstances the inclination given to the wire is a constant quantity, being similar
to the angle of coning in the interior of the socket.
Two cones of largely perforated tin, soldered on similarly perforated cylinders
(A and B Fig. 10) that slide one within the other, afford a rough means of making
gaskets of the required form. The diameter of A's cylinder equals the diameter
of the smallest part of the spigot end of the pipes. Greater substance might be
given to the part of the gasket first pressed by the incoming pipe than the opposite
part, as shown in Fig. 8, by making one cone stand at a wider angle to the axis
of its cylinder than does the other cone. Were it preferred, in lieu of perforated
tin the frame might be made of wire plaited hexagonally. In either case the
appertures would be so large as to allow long needles with coarse thread to freely
pass in and out of the same openings, in order to loosely bind together the fibres
of tow, oakum, or other flexible material wound round the part of the cylinder
lying between the cones. How far they shall be placed apart depends upon the
breadth to be given to the gasket. By the handles h, h to disengage the gasket,
the cones are drawn aside. They had-been retained in position by a thin copper

page_text: wire passed through contiguous holes in the telescoped cylinders. The material
would not be wound in strong unbroken filaments for the interior circle of the
gasket increases as the thickness diminishes by the pressure of the spigot. The
material is held exteriorly by an encircling strip of any cloth slightly exceeding
in length that part of the socket to which it will be glued, and of the same width
as such part.
Having thus explained the nature of my invention, and the manner in which I
think the same can best be carried out, I wish it to be understood that, I claim tho
method of rendering the joints of drainage and other pipes whether of earthenware
or metal, gas and watertight, by employing the screw to make the spigot end of
one pipe compress a gasket lying within the socket end of another pipe (for the
sake of security occasionally aided by a compressor), substantially as explained in
type and illustrated by diagrams-but I make no claim to the compressor (Figs. 6
and 7), nor to the instruments for coning (Fig. 9) and forming a gasket
(Fig. 10).
In witness whereof I, the said William Nelson Hutchinson, have hereunto put
my hand and sool this tentu nicht 100th do of Al
ANA thousand