CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL PIPES, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HARRISON SCOTT, of Somers Town, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixth day of July, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Harrison Scott,
my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said John Harrison Scott, my exors, admors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said John Harrison Scott, my exors,"
adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part
of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL PIPES, AND IN THE
MANUFACTURE THEREOF;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso that I, the said John Harrison Scott, shall cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same
is to be performed, under my hand seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in pursuance of the said proviso, I, the said John
Harrison Scott, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully set forth and
ascertained in and by the following Specification thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:
My said Invention consists in the following improved methods of joining
several lengths of metal pipe together.
First, in the case of cast-iron tubes, I effect the joinings by means of nuts
and screws, but instead of casting the nuts separately from the pipes, as nuts
for other purposes are usually manufactured, I cast each length of pipe with
a suitable nut, loosely encircling but inseparable from it (except by violence),
and I cast both the pipe and the nut by one and the same operation. The
manner of effecting this improvement is shewn in the sectional view, Figure 1,
of the Drawings hereunto annexed. A is a plain core of loam or sand, or
other suitable material, for forming the interior pipe of the pipe B, which pipe
is formed externally (by moulding to pattern in the usual way) with a male-
threaded screw piece (b) at one end, and a plain flange (b) at the other.
C is a second core on which the nut D. is formed in like manner, which core
is made hollow to allow the other core A to pass through it, and large enough
to admit the metal to flow through which forms the exterior of the pipe. On
the outer surface of this core there is a male screw thread moulded, of the
same depth and pitch as that on the piece of the pipe B, so that when the
nut is cast upon it there shall be produced in the inside thereof a female screw,
exactly corresponding with the male screw b. The nut, at its least internal
diameter, which is in the line d', d¹, is narrower than either of the end
pieces and 3 of the pipe B, so that when cast it cannot be slipped off
either from carelessness or design. After both cores have been prepared the
patterns are removed and the cores placed within the casting flask or frames,
in the manner usually followed in founderies, the inner pipe or core being
supported and kept firm by screwed wire greins, as they are technically called.
The metal is then poured in and both the pipe and nut cast at one running.
When the metal has cooled, the sand or loam or other suitable material is
removed; and should the pipe or nut present any excrescences, arising from
bad moulding, faults in the pattern, or otherwise, they are removed in the
ordinary way by hand tools. In Figure 2 I have shewn two lengths of pipe
of the form and with the appliances aforesaid, joined or coupled together (with
a washer E between them), from which it will be seen that the nut encircling
each length must always be slipped forward to the plain flanged end of the
length of pipe to which it is attached and screwed on to the male-threaded
end of the other or adjoining pipe. It will be necessary, of course, that all the
lengths of pipe, in any series or system of pipes, and all the nuts attached to

page_text: them, should be cut after the same identical patterns. Instead of having male
threads on the end of the pipes and female threads on the inside of the nuts,
as represented in the Drawings, Figures 1 and 2, the former may be female
and the latter male. In either case the facility of connecting and disconnect-
ing the pipes, and of keeping the joints always perfectly tight, is the same.
When it is desired to take out an imperfect or damaged length of pipe, or to
insert a new washer in a joint which has become leaky, all that is required is
to unwind the couple of nuts by which it is held fast (by a spanner wrench or
any other suitable lever); and when the new length of pipe or new washer has
been introduced the nuts are at hand, requiring only to be brought forward
and screwed upon the new or old pipe. The nuts may also be screwed up to
any degree of tightness required, and being of the same metal with the pipes
themselves, they do not easily relax their hold from the alternate effects of
expansion and contraction, so that as long as the washers remain in good
order, an occasional tightening of the nuts is all that is needed to keep the
joints steam or water, or even gas and air tight.
The second of my improvements consists in joining pipes by means of nuts
and screws in the same manner as before described, but in casting the nuts
first, and the pipes with screws to correspond afterwards. In this case I take
a nut or screw made in the usual way, and coat it internally with loam or sand,
or other suitable material; and when the internal coating is dry I pass the
pipe core (moulded in the ordinary way) through the nut, and then pour in
the heated metal which is to form the pipe. I thus obtain a pipe and nut or
screw to suit, in two separate pieces, which are inseparable except by violence.
The interior diameter of the nut should be just as much larger than that of
the pipe as to allow it to turn easily round it when cold.
My third improvement consists in casting pipes with nuts or screws upon
them by a process the reverse of that last before described. After the pipe
has been cast in the usual way, & with screw and plain flanged ends, as
b' and b, Figure 1, I fix upon the outside of this pipe a core box, having the
proper threads and spaces in it, and coat the pipe with sand or loam, or other
suitable material. I then mould the pattern of the nut in the ordinary way, and
lay the pipe aud core in the flasks or frames, and finally pour in the hot metal.
I thus obtain a nut which, on the removal of the core, sand, loam, &c., turns
freely on the pipe, and yet is as securely attached to it as that first before
described; or, in place of the nut I substitute loose screws, affixed in manner
following: I take a pipe, after it has been cast in the usual way, with two
plain flanged ends like b', and coat the part of the pipe between the flanges
with sand,, loam, or other suitable material; I then mould in the ordinary way

page_text: patterns for two screws, one male and the other female, and placing the
patterns and pipe in the flasks or frames, pour in the metal as before. I thus
obtain a pipe with two loose screws encircling and inseparable from it, the
male one of which takes on to the female screw of the pipe next adjacent to it,
but on one side, while the other or female screw takes on to the male screw of
the pipe at the other side, or vice versa.
My fourth improvement consists in effecting the same object as is obtained
by the processes before described by a different method, more particularly to
wrought iron and soft metal tubes. If the pipes are of wrought iron I cause
them to be drawn of one diameter throughout, both internally and externally;
I then slip on to each pipe a cast nut and screw piece, such as are represented
by F and F in the sectional view, Figure 3, of the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and having done so I heat the ends of the pipe the one after
the other, and dropping them upon a round metal stud the size of the bore of
the pipe, affixed to some solid hard surface (the purpose of which stud is
to prevent any compression of the pipe inwards), I produce, by repeatedly
raising and letting them fall, or by hammering (f), of such height that neither
the nut nor screw piece can pass over them. The joining of any two such
pipes is then readily effected by winding the nut Fi at the end of one pipe on
to the screw F at the opposite end of the other, interposing as usual any soft
substance between the ends of the pipes; or instead of making cach pipe carry
a nut and screw piece, each pipe may carry two screw pieces, one at each end,
as represented in Figure 4, and the joinings be effected by winding a nut upon
cach couple of opposite screw pieces. In the case of soft metal pipes, such as
lead, I join them with nuts and screws of iron or brass, or any other similar
metal, fitted on to thein exactly in the same way as that just described, adding
only a thin metal washer, to prevent obtrusion at the end of each soft metal
pipe; but the flanges at the end are produced simply by cold hammering or
compression. And though I have stated several ways in which such flanges
may be produced, both in hard and in soft metals, I do not limit myself
to these modes exclusively, but claim a right to use any mode by which such
flanges may be conveniently produced. Instead of producing the flanges by
either of the methods which I have described under this branch of my
improvements, metal rings may, in the case of hard metal pipes, be shrunk
en to the ends of the pipes, and secured there by screws or rivets in the
manner shewn in Figure 5; but though this is a convenient method to adopt
in occasional emergencies, it does not produce so tight a joint as the others,
and is not therefore to be recommended in preference.
The fifth and last of my improvements consists in providing for the

page_text: elongation and contraction of metal pipes from variations of temperature.
by the means represented in Figure 6 of the Drawings hereunto annexed..
A and B are two pipes. The pipe A is plain at the end where the two pipes
meet, with the exception of the projecting pin F, afterwards mentioned,
but the corresponding end of the pipe B is made of three diameters, the:
first (1) being the same as that of the pipe A, and the two others (2 and 3).
larger, and it terminates externally in a screwed flange C. D is a nut with
internal threads to correspond with those of the screwed flange C. E¹ is a
tubular ring or metal washer, which is passed over the pipe A and pushed.
forward to the bottom of the nut D. F is a screw pin tapped into the pipe
A, the projecting head of which takes into a groove G, which extends through
the whole length of the diameter (2) of the pipe B, as shown by the dotted
lines 9, 9, of Figure 6, and the separate half end view Fig. 6. The exterior
of the pipe A from a to b is wound tightly round with hemp yarn (or any
other suitable material) to a depth nearly equal to the difference between the
diameters 2 and 3 of the pipe B. A metal ring E2 is then passed over the.
pipe A and brought up against the end b'of the hemp or other packing just
described, so as to be flush with it. The pipe B is next passed over the pipe
A, and its hemp or other packing, and the ring E', after which the nut D is.
wound round the screwed end of C till the packing from a to b is strongly.
compressed between the tubular ring-E¹ and the ring E², as also the shoulder
H of the pipe B. A. joining is thus formed between the two pipes, which,.
without interfering with their extension or contraction lengthwise, will be
found to be, for all ordinary purposes, perfectly tight and sound. The pipe A
may be inserted into the pipe B to any extent, more or less, within the limits of
the diameter 2 of the. latter.; but every degree of expansion or contraction
commonly met with in practice will be provided for by leaving a space equal
to I, I, between the pipe A and the end of the first diameter (1) of the 'pipe
B. The pin F sliding in the groove G allows the pipe A to advance or
recede to any extent within the limits of the groove, while at the same time it
serves as an effectual security against the separation of the one pipe from the
other for supposing the pipe A to be withdrawn to the end of the diameter
(2) of the pipe B, the pin F would then catch against the ring E² and packing
between a and b, and prevent any further movement in that direction; and in
like manner the pipe B is free to move exactly to the same extent in the
opposite direction. Instead of one pin, two or more such pins as F, with
suitable grooves, may be used, where greater security against separation is
desired. The arrangements which I have described under this head for pro-
viding against this elongation and contraction-of-tubes from variations of

page_text: temperature, need of course to be adopted at intervals only in any series or
system of pipes, as, for example, where there are bends or angles, or where the
piping has to be carried through walls:
And having now described the nature of my said improvements, and the
manner in which the same are to be performed, it is only necessary further
to observe, that though I have in the preceding description considered the
pipes joined together as being joined in straight lines, yet that each of my
improvements is equally applicable to pipes made of any other form, angular
or curvilineal.. And I declare that what I claim as of my Invention, is,-
First, the mode before described of casting at one operation metal pipes,
with nuts loosely encircling the same, and inseparable from them (except by
violence), and of joining pipes so manufactured with one another.
Second, the mode herein-before described of casting pipes within nuts or
screws previously cast, and afterwards joining such pipes together.
Third, the mode before described of casting nuts upon pipes previously
cast, and afterwards joining such pipes together.
Fourth, the mode before described of raising flanges on pipes of wrought
iron and any soft metal after nuts and screw pipes and washers have been
slipped upon them, and of afterwards joining such pipes by means of the said
nuts, screw pieces, and flanges; and,
Fifth, the means before described for providing for the elongation and
contraction of metal pipes from variations of temperature.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Third
day of January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and forty throa