Improvements relating to Pipe Couplings.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Aug., 1896-4ccepted, 20th Mar., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Pipe Couplings.
I JOHN FOSTER PICKERING of 2 and 3 White Street, Moorgate Street
Station in the City of London, Gentleman, 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:-
This invention relates more especially to couplings for the hot-water pipes used
with the travelling horticultural structures for which I obtained Letters Patent
dated February 24th 1894, No. 3993, but the invention is also applicable for
general purposes, where the ready coupling and uncoupling from time to time of
pipes and other parts is desired.
In working the travelling horticultural structures above referred to, it is found
inconvenient to carry the boiler with the house, while with a fixed boiler and a
movable bouse, the connections between the boiler and the pipes is difficult to.
make, because the connections at one end of the house will be right-handed, and
at the other left-handed.
Now, the object of the present invention is to provide connections or couplings
which can be used at either end of the house without any difficulty.
In the accompanying drawings I have shown my improved coupling as applied
to various kinds of pipes,
Fig. 1 being a sectional elevation, and
Fig. 2 an end view.
Fig. 3 shows, in section, an elbow or bend.
The pipe couplings form butt joints, and each end of the pipe has a swelling or
enlargement, A, the abutting faces of which, are turned down, and are formed on
their outer edges with annular recesses B.
The enlargements A have perforated ears or lugs A¹ in the positions shown in
Fig. 2, to receive bolts, by which, with nuts, the abutting ends are drawn tightly
together.
C are rings of rubber or other suitable material, which will form a packing in
the annular recess, to make a tight joint.
D represents a socket into which any ordinary pipe will be fixed in the
ordinary way, the outer face of this socket being formed as above described to
make the joint.
As there is no sucketting at the couplings, the necessity for right and left
handed pieces will be obviated.
By the means proposed, I obtain a good rigid water-tight joint without increased
cost, and one that may be used in any position,-the coupling and uncoupling being
effected with the greatest facility.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The mode of coupling up pipes, bends, T's, and sockets, and corresponding
parts, as herein shown and described.
2. The combination with an ordinary pipe, of a socket formed so as to be

page_text: coupled up to another pipe, socket, or other part, in the manner shown and,
described.
Dated this 20th day
T1007
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Aug., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 11th May, 1897-Accepted. 26th June, 1897
Improvements relating to Horticultural Structures.
I, JOHN FOSTER PICKERING of 2 & 3, White Street, Moorgate Street Station,
in the City of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
In carrying out the invention relating to travelling horticultural structures, for
which I obtained Letters Patent dated February 24th 1894, No. 3993, various
points have arisen which present more or less difficulty, and which it is desirable to
overcome.
Now the object of this invention is to provide means by which these difficulties
may be obviated, and otherwise to improve the construction of horticultural
structures.
It is desirable, when building a greenhouse, to place it north and south, so that
in the winter months both sides of the house may get full benefit of what sun
there is.
At this time of the year, however, the sun is low, and about noon in each day
the sun is excluded, by the bars or rafters of the ordinary construction, from falling
on the floor of the house, where the plants are situated.
With a view to overcome this inconvenience, I form the bars or rafters so that
they will slope, say, towards the south at an angle adjusted to the latitude of the
place where the house is erected.
By this means a much larger proportion than heretofore of the sun's rays can be
admitted to the house, with a consequent improvement in the forcing capacity of
the house.
An economy of construction will also result, because the diagonal bars can be
larger and deeper, and yet cut from thinner and less costly timber.
Although the improved form of bars is intended more especially for the travelling
structures before mentioned, it will be obvious that they are equally applicable to
fixed houses of all kinds.
In my former patent, I described a small boiler travelling with the house, but
I find that, under certain circumstances, this is inconvenient.
I also described an arrangement of fixed boiler placed at the centre, say, of the
run. This arrangement has its inconveniences, which it is desirable to overcome.
To overcome these difficulties, I place the boiler outside the house, making
suitable pits at the stopping places, and I mount the boiler on wheels, one side to
run on the railway carrying one side of the house, and the other side to run on a
separate railway, suitably arranged parallel to the structure, and carried preferably
by wood plates laid on dwarf stanchions.
The connections I make in a special manner, which forms the subject of another
application of even date with the present application.
Dated this 11th day of August 1896.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements relating to Horticultural Structures.
I, JOHN FOSTER PICKERING of 2 & 3 White Street, Moorgate Street Station,
in the City of London, Gentleman, 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 :-
In carrying out the invention relating to travelling horticultural structures, for
which I obtained Letters Patent dated February 24th 1894, No. 3993, various
points have arisen which present more or less difficulty, and which it is desirable to
overcome.
Now the object of this invention is to provide means by which these difficulties
may be obviated, and otherwise to improve the construction of horticultural
structures.
It is desirable, when building a greenhouse, to place it north and south, so that
in the winter months both sides of the house may get full benefit of what sun
there is.
At this time of the year, however, the sun is low, and, about noon in each day,
the sun is prevented by the bars or rafters of the ordinary construction, from falling
on the floor of the house, where the plants are mostly situated.
With a view to overcome this inconvenience, I form the bars or rafters so that
they will slope at an angle adjusted to the latitude of the place where the house
is erected, so that they will not present an obstruction to the passage of the
sun's rays.
By this means, a much larger proportion than heretofore of the sun's rays can
be admitted to the house, with a consequent improvement in the forcing capacity
of the house.
An economy of construction will also result, because the diagonal bars can be
larger and deeper, and yet cut from thinner and less costly timber.
Although the improved form of bars is intended more especially for the travelling
structures before mentioned, it will be obvious that they are equally applicable to
fixed houses of all kinds.
In my former patent, I described a small boiler travelling with the house, but
I find that, generally speaking, this is inconvenient.
run.
I also described an arrangement of fixed boiler placed at the centre, say, of the
This arrangement has its inconveniences, which it is desirable to overcome.
To overcome these difficulties, I place the boiler outside the house, making
suitable pits at the stopping places, and I mount the boiler on wheels, one side to
run on the railway carrying one side of the house, and the other side to run on a
separate railway, suitably arranged parallel to the structure, and carried preferably
by wood plates laid on dwarf stanchions.
The connections I make in a special manner which forms the subject of another
application of even date with the present application.
In the accompanying drawing, I have illustrated the several features which
constitute my present invention.
Fig. 1 shews the manner in which I obtain, from a batten of 7 inches by 2 inches,
the diagonal rafters or bars.
Thus, the batten is first cut in a diagonal direction on the lines marked a, and
afterwards the rebates for the glass are formed in the rafters or bars thus
produced.
The piece marked c is generally wasted, but the piece marked d is used of the
shape shown, these rafters or bars being placed at suitable distances apart to serve
as strengthening bars. This will effectually prevent any tendency of the diagonal

page_text: bars to cant over, as the glass acts as a strut between the bars, and the more
pressure there is, the tighter and sounder does the glazing become. It will thus
be seen that, by cutting the rafters or bars in a diagonal direction from a batten, a
larger and deeper bar can be cut out of thinner and more economical timber, and
a saving will be effected in the prime cost of the material.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation, shewing the mode of carrying the external boiler,
and Fig. 3 is a diagram representing a run of, say, four shifts.
In these figures, A will represent the travelling structure, and B the travelling
boiler.
This boiler may be of any convenient construction, such as saddle, return-flue
saddle, independent Cornish, Trentham, multitubular, or any other self-contained
boiler, capable of heating water without being set in brickwork.
The boiler is provided with laterally-extending brackets B¹, to carry the axles
for the flanged wheels B².
On the outer side, the wheels will run on a special track C, supported in any
convenient manner, and on the inner side the wheels will run on the track on which
the wheels of the greenhouse run, and which is carried by the side wall D of the
house.
E designates the flow and return water pipes, which are carried by the main
rafters of the house A, and E' are the corresponding pipes leading from the boiler,
and which project through the side of the bouse just above the track, and are
attached to the system in the house, in the manner indicated in the Specification of
my patent of even date with the present application, No. 17806A of 1896.
G are stokeholes or pits placed at points which will correspond to the front end
of each shift.
I prefer that the grate bars shall be independent of the boiler, and be removable,
so that they may be used for each pit as occasiou may require.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The use, in horticultural structures, of rafters or bars set at an angle from the
vertical, as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The mode, as herein shewn and described, of producing from cheaper and
more economical timber than heretofore, rafters or bars to be used as indicated in
Claim 1.
3. The combination with a travelling horticultural structure, of an independent
travelling boiler, as and for the purposes set forth.
4. The combination with a travelling horticultural structure, of an external
boiler provided with means whereby it may be caused to travel, such means, on one
side, working one track of the structure, and, on the other side, on an independent
track, as herein shewn and described.
D
1
A 1007
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.