Year: 1887

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by ALEXANDER LÉON, of 48, Rue de Bondy, Paris, in the
Republic of France, Manufacturer.]
I JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
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:
According to this Invention Gas pipes or other like conduits are encased in an outer
tube sheath or casing of wood prepared as hereinafter explained. This tube sheath or
casing is more particularly advantageous for protecting gas pipes which are laid
underground and may also be used for protecting or covering pipes laid along the
walls or cornices of buildings or for protecting electric wires or conductors similarly
situated and employed for lighting transmitting power or for telephonic or telegraphic
purposes.
The said tubes sheaths or casings may be employed separately as pipes or conduits
for gases or liquids for lighting water supply drainage or other like purposes.
Any suitable kind of wood may be employed in the manufacture of these tubes or
conduits but it is preferred to employ pitch pine or other resinous wood.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on annexed Sheets of drawings the same letters of reference indicating corre-
sponding parts in all the corresponding figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a transverse section and
Figure 2 a side elevation of a tube or conduit for gas arranged according to this
Invention.
Figure 3 is a plan of the same and Figures 4 and 5 are transverse sections illustrating
modified forms hereinafter described.
These arrangements of tubes or conduits illustrated in the drawing are merely
selected as examples to show how the Invention is carried out in practice as the form

page_text: and arrangement of the parts may evidently be modified in various ways according to
circumstances or conditions under which they are employed.
The wood is first squared by three saw cuts at gh, hl, kl Figure 1 after which by
a fourth cut the upper part kef is severed from the lower part. This upper part
forms a lid or cover by which the tube is closed after the centre has been cut out by
suitable machinery at m n p. When the cover gk e f is afterwards replaced in
position a tube is formed of any length to which wood or spars are usually cut such as
the wood used for props in mines for example. The same process of cutting out or
channelling the centre may be applied in cases where two or more passages are
required as shewn in Figure 4 for example. This arrangement is adopted in the case
of electric conductors for example which are thus effectually separated.
Sheaths thus prepared present great advantages and are protected from decay by
injecting or impregnating with preservatives such as creosoie sulphate of copper in the
same way as in the case of railway sleepers.
The tubes or sheaths prepared by the operations herein before described that is to say
by sawing and channelling and afterwards treating with creosote sulphate of copper or
other preserving agent constitute a new article of manufacture of great value in laying
or insulating in the ground pipes or conduits of all description and serve to effectually
protect the same against, external injury resulting from natural causes or from
subsidence or other disturbance of the ground.
Figure 2 shews in longitudinal elevation a sheath b c enclosing a gas pipe a. The
joints r of the covers are arranged to break joint with the joints s of the under part
in order to import strength to the structure. The upper and lower parts of the
sheath are connected by nails as indicated in Figure 1 or by small cramps as in
Figure 5.
The pipes contained in the recess or channel m n p may be additionally protected by
imbedding them in any suitable insulating material such as pitch or colophony, clay or
the like as indicated at Figure 1.
Figure 3 represents the conduit in plan a portion of the upper part being removed
in order to show the pipe a. In addition to the protection afforded to gas pipes by
this arrangement of sheaths it should be observed that the said sheaths or casings serve
to arrest leakages which may be discharged through small chimneys arranged at
suitable intervals. By these means trees and plantations or shrubberies are protected
from the injury frequently resulting from the percolation of gas through the soil.
Figure 5 represents the transverse section a wood sheath made in two similar parts.
The wood is first squared up and then sawn through longitudinally so as to divide it
into two equal parts which are channelled or hollowed out after which the parts are
put together so as to break joint as herein before described.
This arrangement has the advantage of providing two similar and consequently
interchangeable parts for the top and bottom. Figure 5 also shews the gas pipe,
imbedded in insulating material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
First. A tube or conduit provided with a wood sheath manufactured as described
being made in two parts one part being channelled for the reception of a pipe and the
other part forming a cap or cover substantially as hereinbefore described with reference
to the accompanying drawings.
Second. A tube of wood manufactured as described formed by joining together
horizontally or at any suitable angle two sections of similar form constituting a tube
or conduit with or without a central pipe (a) subsisting as hereinbefore described.