IMPROVEMENTS IN PILES OR CYLINDERS FOR PIERS, EMBANKMENTS, COFFER DAMS, AND OTHER TIZ " STRUCTURES THAT ARE WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY UNDER WATER
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Phillips, of No. 11, Albert Square, Clapham
Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PILES OR CYLINDERS FOR PIERS, EMBANKMENTS, COFFER DAMS, AND OTHER
TIZ
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Phillips at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
January 1864.
I, JOSEPH PHILLIPS, of No. 11, Albert Square, Clapham Road, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN PILES OR CYLINDERS FOR PIERS, EMBANKMENTS, COPPER DAMS,
AND OTHER STRUCTURES THAT ARE WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY UNDER WATER," to be
as follows:--
My Invention bas for its object to render more or less perfectly water-tight
the vertical joints, interstices, or spaces existing between metal piles or
cylinders employed for structures that are wholly or partially under water, and
consists in forming grooves, recesses, shoulders, or flanges upon the contiguous
sides of such piles, and then inserting into such grooves or recesses, or against
such shoulders or flanges pieces of wood or other suitable material, so formed
that the pressure of the water causes them to fit tightly against one or more
surfaces of the grooves, recesses, shoulders, or flanges of two contiguous piles
or cylinders, and thereby to prevent the water from penetrating through the

page_text: joints, interstices, or spaces between the two piles to the back of the same. I
prefer to make the grooves in the piles and the pieces of wood to be inserted
of a rectangular form, and I form the lower extremity of the piece of wood
with a double incline, so that when driven into the ground in the said grooves
it is made of itself to press against the back surfaces of the two grooves and
the side surface of one of them. In some cases I so form the grooves and
pieces of wood that when the latter are in their places, wedges or packing
pieces may be inserted, so as to press the piece of wood against the back
surfaces, or back and side surfaces of the grooves independently of the action
of the water; or the grooves and pieces of wood may themselves be made
with inclined surfaces, so as to produce a wedging action. In some cases also
I compress the pieces of wood before inserting them into the grooves, so that
when they come in contact with the water they swell out, and thus of them-
selves exert a pressure against the surfaces of the grooves.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Phillips in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
PHILLIPS, of No. 11, Albert Square, Clapham Road, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Joseph Phillips, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Phillips, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Phillips, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PILES
OR CYLINDERS POR PIERS, EMBANKMENTS, COFFER DAMS, AND OTHER STRUCTURES
THAT ARE WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY UNDER WATER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Joseph Phillips, my executors or administrators, by
au 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,

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Phillips, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:―
My Invention has for its object to render more or less perfectly water-tight
the vertical joints, interstices, or spaces existing between metal piles or
cylinders employed for structures that are wholly or partially under water, and
consists in forming grooves, recesses, shoulders, or flanges upon the contiguous
sides of such piles, and then inserting into such grooves or recesses, or against
such shoulders or flanges pieces of wood or other suitable material, so formed
that the pressure of the water causes them to fit tightly against one or more
surfaces of the grooves, recesses, shoulders, or flanges of two contiguous piles
or cylinders, thereby preventing the water from penetrating through the joints,
interstices, or spaces between the two piles to the back of the same.. I prefer
to make the grooves in the piles and the pieces of wood to be inserted of a
rectangular form, and I form the lower extremity of the piece of wood with a
double incline, so that when driven into the ground in the said grooves it is
made of itself to press against the back surfaces of the two grooves and the
side surface of one of them. In some cases I so form the grooves and pieces
of wood that when the latter are in their places wedges or packing pieces may
be inserted, so as to press the piece of wood against the back surfaces, or back
and side surfaces of the grooves, independently of the action of the water, or
the grooves and pieces of wood may themselves be made with inclined
surfaces, so as to produce a wedging action. In some cases, also, I compress
the pieces of wood before inserting them into the grooves, so that when they
come in contact with the water they swell out, and thus of themselves exert a
pressure against the surfaces of the grooves.
On the accompanying Drawings are shewn various arrangements for carry-
ing my Invention into effect.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, on Sheet I., shew one arrangement. Figure 1 shews
a sectional plan of several metal piles or cylinders A, A, A; Figure 2 shews &
part sectional front elevation of the same; and Figure 3 shews a part end
elevation. The metal piles A, A, A, which in this case are of an oval
transverse sectional form, are provided with rectangular grooves a, a, a, at the
contiguous sides, between each two of which grooves are inserted the rec-

page_text: tangular pieces of wood or keys B, B. These are provided at the lower end
with shoes having a double incline, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3, so that when
they are driven down in the earth between the two grooves they are thereby
pressed against the back surfaces of both the grooves, and against the side
surface of one of them, whereby a water-tight joint is formed between each two
piles, which joint is made more secure by the pressure of the water itself taking
place in the direction of the arrows. If necessary, the narrow interstices
between the piles on either side of the grooves may be filled with suitable
caulking. Instead of making the wooden keys B, B, to fit only against the
back surfaces and one side surface of the grooves, they may be made to fill the
grooves completely or the wood may be previously compressed so as to swell
out on coming in contact with the water when inserted in the grooves, and
may thus be made to fit tightly against the back and front surfaces of the
grooves, as at Figure 4. Instead of forming the grooves rectangular they
may be made polygonal, or with only one angle, as at Figure 5, or they may
be made of a curved or semicircular form as at Figure 6, but I prefer the
rectangular form, as the joints formed with the back surfaces of the grooves
would in that case remain water-tight even if the piles separated somewhat.
Instead of forming the grooves or recesses in the piles, as shown in Figures 1
to 6, they may be formed as shown at Figure 7, by fixing angle irons C, C,
or trough-shaped iron to the piles.
Figure 8 shows a sectional plan of piles A, A, of a rectangular form, having
grooves a, a, in which are inserted the pieces of wood B, B, according to my
Invention.
Figure 9 shows a part sectional plan, and Figure 10 a part sectional
elevation of an arrangement applicable where the piles are at times uncovered
by the water, or where the front surface is accessible to divers, in which the
piles A, A, have a shoulder a, a, formed upon them, against which the piece
of wood B is pressed by means of the wedges D, D, that are driven in between
the piece of wood B and the jaws C, C.
Figures 11 and 12 show a sectional plan and elevation of an arrangement
in which the piece of wood B is pressed against the back surfaces of the
grooves a, a, by means of a tapering piece E driven into the tapering angular
groove formed by the front surfaces of the grooves a, a.
Figures 18 and 14 show a sectional plan and elevation of an arrangement
in which the water-tight joint between the piles A, A, is formed by the two
pieces of wood B, B', both formed of a wedge shape on plan, and also tapering
in a vertical direction, so that on driving in B' after having driven B, a water-
tight joint will be made against all four sides of the grooves a, a.
Instead of

page_text: making the pieces of wood to taper in both directions they may be made
tapering in only one direction either vertically or horizontally.
Figure 15, on Sheet II. shows an arrangement in which the grooves a, a,
are formed dovetailed, and the wooden key B made in a corresponding
manner so that if the piles should subsequently separate somewhat the
water-tight joint will be made all the more secure by the surfaces of the wood
being pressed more firmly against the sides of the grooves.
Figure 16 shews a similar arrangement, in which the wooden key B
is formed dovetail only on one side, and is pressed against the back
surfaces of the grooves by other pieces D, D, which may either be of the
same length as B or may be short tapered pieces as at Figures 9 and 10,
Sheet I.
In Figure 17 the pile A is formed with a groove a, and the pile A¹ is
formed with a shoulder or flange a', which fits into a, and the joint is made
water-tight by means of the piece of wood B driven between the end of the
flange a', and the bottom of the groove a; each pile may be formed with a
groove on one side, and a flange or shoulder on the other, or one pile may be
formed with two grooves, and the next with two flanges. Figure 18 shows
a similar arrangement to that just described applied to square piles
A, A¹, the piece of wood B being in this case driven between the back surfaces
of the groove a, and of the flange a¹. In Figure 19 each pile A, A, is formed
with a shoulder a, a, between which the piece of wood B is inserted, the
meeting surfaces of the piles being formed sloping as shown, so as to pre-
vent the piles being pushed outwards by the driving in of the piece of wood.
In Figure 20 a metal pile of an H section E, is driven between the cylin-
drical metal piles A, A, which are provided with flanges or shoulders a, a,
that fit between the flanges of the pile E, the water-tight joint being made
by the insertion of pieces of wood B, B, between the back surfaces of the
shoulders a, a, and the back flange of E.
Figure 21 shows an arrangement in which shoulders or flanges a, a, are
formed on the piles A, A, against each side of which a piece of wood B, B,
is driven; these are tightened up against the shoulders by means of bolts F.
Or instead of forming flanges or shoulders to the piles, these may themselves
form the shoulders against which the pieces of wood are pressed, as shown in
Figure 22, or the piece of wood may be formed as at B in Figure 23 and
driven between the ends of the piles A, A, having a sharp curvature as shown,
or made angular as in Figure 24, the wood B being pressed against the
surfaces of the piles by the pressure of the water.
Although in all the before-described arrangements I have mentioned pieces

page_text: of wood, as the material employed for making the joints water-tight, yet it is
evident that any other similar suitable material, such as india-rubber, felt,
or cork, might be employed for that purpose, in which case they would require
to be fixed upon pieces of wood or iron to afford the requisite rigidity; also
wood in combination with iron might be employed, as shown in Figure 25,
where B is a piece of wood fixed against a piece of iron C, the water-tight
joint being made by the surface of the wood prossing against the back surface
of the groove a, a, of the piles A, A.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what
I claim is, forming a water-tight joint between metal piles or cylinders for
piers, embankments, coffer dams, and other structures that are wholly or
partially under water, by means of a piece or pieces of wood, or wood, india-
rubber, felt, cork, or other similar suitable material in combination with
iron, made to fit closely against the surfaces of grooves, recesses, projections,
flanges, shoulders, or their equivalents forming part of the contiguous sides of
such piles or cylinders.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Phillips, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
JOSEPH
HPS.
(1.C.)