IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GAS-TIGHT JOINTS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Edwin Keirby, of Parker Street Mill, Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, India-rubber Merchant, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND
GAS-TIGHT JOINTS."
Sealed the 5th February 1867, and dated the 11th August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Edwin Keirby at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th August 1866.
I, JOHN EDWIN KEIRBY, of Parker Street Mill, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, India-rubber Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKING FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND
GAS-TIGHT JOINTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to that description of packing usually termed rope
packing, and which is made by covering wire with hemp or other fibrous
material saturated with red lead, and my said Invention consists in combining
india-rubber or other flexible substance with the said wire and fibrous
material.
I propose in carrying out my Invention to braid or wind strips of india-
rubber upon the wire, and then to apply the hemp or other such material and
red lead.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Edwin Keirby in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
EDWIN KEIRBY, of Parker Street Mill, Manchester, in the County of Lan-
caster, India-rubber Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
l'atent, bearing date the Eleventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Edwin Keirby, Her special license, that I, the said John Edwin
Keirby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Edwin Keirby, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PACKING FOR STEAM, WATER, AIR, AND GAS-TIGHT JOINTS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Edwin Keirby, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 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 John Edwin Keirby, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to that description of packing usually termed
rope packing, and which is made by covering wire with hemp or other fibrous
material saturated with red lead, and my said Invention consists in combining
india-rubber or other flexible substance with the said wire and fibrous
material.
I
.
propose in carrying out my Invention to braid or wind strips of india-
rubber upon the wire, and then to apply the hemp or other such material and
red lead.

page_text: In using it for forming steam, water, air, gas, or other joints it is applied
similarly to other packing now in use. .
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood. I now
proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner under
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, reference being had,
for the sake of more complete elucidation, to the several Figures upon the
explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I have. hereunto appended, that is
to say:-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the rope packing constructed in
accordance with my, Invention; Figure 2 is a corresponding longitudinal
elevation of the same; and Figure 3, a transverse section.
On referring to these Figures it will be clearly seen that the central part of
the rope packing consists of a metallic wire marked a, a, which is surrounded
by or imbedded in a layer or coating of india-rubber b, b, around which is
knitted the hemp or other fibrous material marked c, c. The wire in the
centre may be of any suitable metal, and the india-rubber may be put on in
various ways, as may under any circumstances be found most convenient, for
I do not lay any claim to the mode of manufacturing the said rope packing,
and this will to a great extent depend upon the state in which the india-
rubber or other elastic substance is obtained. If the rubber or other elastic
material is obtained in long filaments or strands it may be braided over the
wire by an ordinary braiding machine or otherwise; if it is obtained in strips
or ribands it may be twisted thereon or laid parallel thereto, and become fixed
in position and drawn tight around the wire by the compressing action upon
it of the outside covering of hemp or other fibrous material. The hemp or
other fibrous material previous to being placed over the cover of india-rubber
and wire is saturated with red lead, and when so saturated is knitted over the
core by an ordinary knitting machine.
A very efficient form under which packing of the kind herein-before
described may be used is shown at Figures 4 and 5; it consists of a piece of
the packing constructed similarly to that herein previously specified, which is
turned round two or three times in such manner as to form a ring, as shown
in plan in Figure 4; this ring is wound or bound over with hemp or other
suitable fibrous material, which may or may not be saturated with red lead.
One quadrant, that marked A in Figure 4, is shown with the binding thereon,
the other part being shown uncovered, so that the construction of the ring or
annulus of packing may thereby be better understood. Figure 5 shows a
transverse section of this ring, and need not be herein further referred to.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe in conclusion that what I consider novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, the combining together india-rubber or other flexible
substance with wire and hemp, or other suitable fibrous material, for the pro-
duction of packing to be used for steam, water, air, gas-tight, and other joints,
as herein-before described, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edwin Keirby, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.