IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKINGS FOR PISTONS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Roberts, of Staley Bridge, in the County of
Chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PACKINGS
FOR PISTONS."
Sealed the 15th September 1859, and dated the 21st March 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Roberts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st March 1859.
I, JOSEPH ROBERTS, of Staley Bridge, in the County of Chester, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PACKINGS FOR PISTONS," to be as follows:-
In order to keep the piston or plunger perfectly packed and tight in the
cylinder, I introduce a ring made of metal, gutta percha, or other suitable
material, and to keep it always fully extended to the interior surface of the
cylinder, I use any convenient number of studs and nuts, so that as the ring
becomes slack by wear and tear, it can be tightened or screwed up, and thus
always kept in perfect action without the trouble and expence of taking the
ring out and replacing it. For small pistons I make the joining of the ring to
lap over with feather edges, if found desirable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Roberts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th September 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ROBERTS, of Staley Bridge, in the County of Chester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Roberts, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph
Roberts, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Joseph Roberts, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PACKINGS FOR PISTONS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Joseph Roberts, 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 Joseph Roberts, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement (that is to say):-
In order to keep the piston or plunger perfectly packed and tight in the
cylinder, introduce a ring made of metal, such as steel, iron, copper, brass,
or other suitable material, and to keep it always fully extended to the interior
surface of the cylinder, I use any convenient number of screwed studs and
nuts, so that as the ring becomes slack by wear and tear, it can be tightened
or screwed up, and thus always kept in perfect action without the trouble and
expense of taking the ring out and replacing it. For small pistons I make
the joining of the ring to lap over with feather edges, if found desirable, so as
to enlarge the spring ring if necessary.
"
The manner in which my said Invention is to be performed will be clearly

page_text: understood by reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings and the
letters of reference thereon, in which Fig. 1 is a view of a piston, with corner
bits to make up the break in the working rings to prevent the escape of steam;
Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof; Fig. 3, a plan, with the cover and top
working ring removed to shew its action; Fig. 4, a plan of the body of the
piston, shewing the elastic spring, with screw studs and recesses for the same,
if such recesses are needed; and Fig. 5 represents a section of a modified
arrangement of the piston.
a represents the piston rod; b, the body of the piston; c, the cover screwed
by the bolts d; e, the working rings, which are turned accurately and ground
to their places; f, an inner V-shaped annular ring of an uniform size, cut in
one or more places as required; into which a V wedge 9 is inserted; h is a
spring which may be made of steel, cast or wrought iron, brass, or other
suitable metal, and of an annular, square, triangular, or other suitable form,
with any requisite number of screw studs i, according to the size of the piston,
having two nuts and a head on cach, the spring to be between the two nuts,
and the head behind the annular ring f; the screw studs i acting against the
ring f, force the working rings e against the inside of the cylinder, so as to
ensure a good and perfect fit, being able at the same time to follow up the
wearing of the working rings, one of the studs i acting against the V wedge
9 inserted into the slit. To put the piston in working order, the bottom
working ring being laid on the body of the piston, the annular V-shaped
ring f is next laid on (being cut in one or more places as required), the spring
h is then put in, having the screw studs i placed radially, one against the
V wedge g, in case of being cut in only one place, the rest behind the ring f;
the screw studs are then screwed outwards, forcing the ring f upward and
outwards a little. The top working ring is then put on the ring f, which will
then be a little apart from the bottom working ring. On the cover being
screwed down by the bolts d, the top ring is forced down until it arrives at
its proper position, as shewn in the Drawing, forcing the annular ring f, into
contact with the spring h more forcibly by the screw studs i fixed in the spring,
causing the said spring to act as intended, giving strength with perfect elasticity,
and also being able to follow up the wearing of the working rings without
losing any strength or elasticity, as is generally the case by the plans hitherto
adopted.
In Fig. 5, I represent a modification of my improved piston, in which the
rings can be tightened without removing the cover. Between the annular
V ring and the heads of the screw studs i, I place wedges k, which are forced

page_text: down so as to press the rings outwards by the screws 7, the said rings being
bevilled where they are in contact with the wedges, whether such wedges be
square, round, or other desired form.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be distinctly understood
that I do not claim the packing or wedge ring as herein described; but I
claim as my Invention, and which to the best of my knowledge and belief
has not been hitherto used within the realm, the combination of an elastic
spring with, screw studs acting against the inside of such rings and packing
ring, as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Roberts, have hercunto set my.
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Joseph Roberts, in the
presence of
JOSPH ROBERTS. (L.S)
JOSPH ROBERTS. (L.s)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by tho
within-named Joseph Roberts, in the
presence of
E. J. HUGHES, Patent Agent,
Manchester.