IMPROVEMENTS IN MATERIAL FOR PACKING STUFFING BOXES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Brown, of No. 96, Newgate Street,
in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MATERIAL FOR PACKING STUFFING BOXES."-A communication from
abroad by Philomel Bailly, of Rue des Tripiers, Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium.
Sealed the 30th May 1876, and dated the 14th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Brown at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th December 1875.
I, THOMAS BROWN, of No. 96, Newgate Street, in the City of London,
3 do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MATERIAL FOR PACKING STUFFING BOXES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a material for packing the stuffing boxes of
steam or other engines, the chief object being to obtain a soft and
pliable substance offering little frictional resistance to the moving parts,

page_text: such as piston rods, plungers, and the like, which it serves to pack,
whilst it renders the stuffing box tight against the escape of fluid, and
can be readily lubircated. For this purpose a soft metal or alloy, pre-
ferably such as is used to form the soft metal bearings of shafts and the
like, is worked into thin pliable shavings by turning or planing a block
of such metal or alloy, and these shavings are inserted into the stuffing
box and pressed therein to the required degree of tightness by a gland
in the usual way.
on the 13th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BROWN, of No. 96, Newgate Street,. in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Brown, Her special
license that I, the said Thomas Brown, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Brown, 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 MATERIALS FOR PACKING STUFFING BOXES," a communication to me from
abroad by Philomel Bailly, of Rue des Tripiers, Brussels, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Brown, my executors or administrators, by an 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, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed

page_text: 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 Thomas Brown, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to a material for packing the stuffing boxes of
steam or other engines, the chief object being to obtain a soft and
pliable substance offering little frictional resistance to the moving parts,
such as piston rods, plungers, and the like, which it serves to pack,
whilst it renders the stuffing box tight against the escape of fluid, and
can be readily lubricated. For this purpose a soft metal or alloy, pre-
ferably such as is used to form the soft metal bearings of shafts and the
like, is worked into thin pliable shavings by turning or planing a block
of such metal or alloy, and these shavings are inserted into the stuffing
box and pressed therein to the required degree of tightness by a gland
in the usual way.
An alloy which is found suitable for such packing material consists of.
lead, 75 parts by weight; tin, 10 parts; antimony, 10 parts; copper, 5
parts, melted together and well stirred and mixed. This alloy being
cast into the form of a disc or cylindrical bar is put in a lathe and fine
shavings, ribbons, or threads are turned off it, these being preferably of
a width equivalent or nearly so to that of the annular space in the
stuffing box.
It is found advantageous to place in the stuffing box under and above
the metallic packing a piece of soft fibrous packing of ordinary kind,
such as hemp, cotton, and the like, and in the case of very deep stuffing
boxes one or more intermediate layers of such packing may be used.
The metal ribbons or filaments may be laid into the stuffing box flat, or
they may be twisted or plaited into a kind of loose rope or gasket.
A like packing is also applicable to pistons or buckets, these being
made with junk rings and recesses according to the ordinary construction
of packed, pistons.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my

page_text: foreign correspondent, I claim the use of thin shavings of soft metal for
the purpose of packing, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Brown, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.