AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE, LAYING DOWN, AND JOINTING METAL PIPES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Rafferty, of Manchester, in the County.of
Lancaster, Gas Engineer, and John Henry Storey, of the same Place,
Brassfounder, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE
EMPLOYED IN MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE, LAYING DOWN, AND JOINTING
METAL PIPES."
Sealed the 20th December 1867, and dated the 24th June 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Rafferty and
John Henry Storey at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 24th June 1867.
We, THOMAS RAFFERTY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Gas
Engineer, and JOHN HENRY STOREY, of the same Place, Brassfounder, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS
TO BE EMPLOYED IN MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE, LAYING DOWN, AND JOINTING
METAL PIPES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention is designed principally to facilitate the "laying" of pipes of
large or comparitively large dimensions, and used for the conveyance and
distribution of gas, or water, or for other purposes. The apparatus which we
employ for this purpose consists of a carriage or "traveller" made principally
of timber, or of other suitable materials, and fitted with flanched or grooved
wheels to travel on rails which are laid along each side of the trench in which
the pipes are to be "laid," or a rail may be laid on one side of the trench, the
wheels on the other side running on planks. A form of "traveller" which

page_text: we have found to be suitable for the purpose consists of two A-shaped
standards firmly connected by cross pieces. The upper cross pieces or cross
piece carries a set of "differential pulley blocks" or other suitable "tackle"
for lifting and lowering the pipes, and from another part of the said cross
piece or from a projection from the end framing is suspended the "tup" which
is used to drive home the pipe when making a joint, as is well understood.
The slack chain of the "differential blocks" may be worked in the usual
manner, or may be operated upon by means of a "chain barrel" fitted with a
winch handle. To move the "traveller" from place to place we employ a
portable form of steam engine with a boiler attached, or a gas engine having
a reserve of compressed gas contained in a reservoir, the engine being fixed in
a suitable position on the traveller, and connected to the wheels of the
traveller, the method of connection being well understood. If it is preferred
to give motion to the traveller by hand winch handles connected, with the
wheels by means of gearing are employed for the purpose. The pipe which
is to be laid is brought into a position in a line with the open trench, so that
the traveller can be moved into a position to take up the said pipe by means
of the lifting tackle; the traveller is then moved back until the pipe is brought
over its intended position in the trench, when it is lowered into its place and
connected with the pipes already laid, the tup. suspended from the traveller
being used to drive home the end of the pipe into its socket as is usual. By
the employment of the above-described traveller to transport the pipes and to
lower them, exactly into position, and of the tup suspended in the right
position relatively with that of the pipe, large pipes are laid with great
expedition.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Rafferty and John Henry Storey in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th December 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
RAFFERTY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Gas Engineer, and
JOHN HENRY STOREY, of the same Place, Brassfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of June, in the year of our Lord'
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first, year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Thomas-Rafferty and John Henry Storey, Her special license that we,

page_text: .
the said Thomas Rafferty and John Henry Storey, our executors, adminis
trators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Rafferty and John
Henry Storey, our 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 "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN MOVING FROM PLACE TO PLACE, LAYING DOWN, AND
JOINTING METAL PIPES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Thomas Rafferty and John Heury Storey, by an instrument in writing under
our 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 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 we, the said Thomas Rafferty and John: Henry
Storey, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer
tained in and by the following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is
to say :- :
Our Invention is designed principally to facilitate the "laying of pipes" of
large or comparatively large dimensions, and used for the conveyance and
distribution of gas or water or for other purposes. The apparatus which we
employ for this purpose consists of a carriage or "traveller" made principally
of timber or of other suitable materials, and fitted with flanched or grooved
wheels to travel on rails which are laid along each side of the trench in which
the pipes are to be "laid," or a rail may be laid on one side of the trench,
the wheels on the other side running on planks. A form of "traveller"
which we have found to be suitable for the purpose consists of two A-shaped
standards firmly connected by cross pieces; the upper cross piece or cross
pieces carries a set of "differential pulley blocks or other suitable "tackle"
for lifting and lowering the pipes, and from another part of the said cross piece
or from a projection from the end framing is suspended the "tup" which is
used to drive bome the pipe when making a joint, as is well understood. The
slack chain of the "differential blocks" may he worked in the usual manner,
or may be operated upon by means of a "chain barrell" fitted with a winch
handle. To move the traveller from place to place we employ a portable
form of steam engine with a boiler attached, or a gas engine "having a
reserve of compressed gas contained in a reservoir, the engine being fixedi in
66

page_text: a suitable position on the traveller and connected to the wheels of the
traveller, the method of connection being well understood. If it is preferred
to give motion to the traveller by hand winch handles connected with the
wheels by means of gearing are employed for the purpose. The pipe which is
to be laid is brought into a position in a line with the open trench so that the
traveller can be moved into a position to take up the said pipe by means of
the lifting tackle. The traveller is then moved back until the pipe is
brought over its intended position in the trench, when it is lowered into its
place and connected with the pipes already laid, the tup suspended from the
'traveller being used to drive home the end of the pipe into its socket, as is
usual. By the employment of the above-described traveller to transport the
pipes and to lower them exactly into position, and of the tup suspended in the
right position relatively with that of the pipe, large pipes are "laid" with
great expedition.
In order that the details of our Invention may be more readily described,
and that this present explanation and description may be easily understood, we
have supplied herewith two Sheets of Drawings made to a scale of about one
and a quarter inches to a foot, and having corresponding letters of reference
marked upon the same or similar parts in the various Figures. Referring
here to Sheet 1 of the said Drawings, Fig. 1 is an end view in elevation of
'an apparatus constructed according to our Invention, and designed to be
employed in the laying of pipes of a comparatively large size, the apparatus
being represented as holding in suspension a length of piping, and Fig. 2 is a
side elevation of the same apparatus representing the pipe as having been
lowered into position in the trench, and the tup suspended in its place ready
for being used to drive home the end of the pipe into the socket of the pipe
next previously laid, as is well understood.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a, a, are the A-shaped standards made of wood or other
suitable material, the two standards being firmly connected together by the
cross piece or pieces b, and the cross pieces c, c, the two standards and the
cross pieces being shewn in the Drawings as of timber strengthened at the
points of connection by metal castings d, d, and d¹, d', the castings d', d',
being suitably formed to receive the tram wheels e, e, which run upon the
rails f,f, laid on each side of the trench, so that the carriage or "traveller
can be readily moved along the trench as required, for which purpose the
wheels e¹, e¹, are fitted with spur. wheels g, g, which spur wheels are actuated
by the pinions g', g', through the winch handles h, h, metal scotches u, u,
being employed to prevent the movement of the "traveller" on the rails
when such movement is not desired. The wheels e, e, are by preference
"

page_text: fitted in frames arranged to swivel in the castings d'; d¹, as shewn detached
at Fig. 3, this arrangement allowing the traveller to pass more readily.around
curves. The "lifting tackle" i, i, as shewn is a modified form of "Eade's
Patent pulley blocks," but any other suitable tackle may be employed. The
lifting chain is fitted with a hook i, i, at each end, one hook rising as the
other falls, the two hooks being used .alternately when the apparatus.is
employed in lifting pipes from the surface of the ground and lowering the said
pipes into a trench, a great saving of time. being effected in consequence of not
having to run the blocks back the whole of the next previous "lift." The
endless chain employed to actuate the "blocks" is passed around a chain
pulley r on the barrel or shaft r¹, the said barrel or shaft being fitted at
each end with winch handles s, s, by means of which the necessary motion is
communicated to the said endless chain. As the modification in the ".
Patent blocks" consists in an alteration in the framing of the said blocks to
enable them to be permanently attached to the cross piece b it will not be
necessary to further describe their action here. When it is desirable: to
increase the lifting power of the tackle one end of the chain is hooked: into
the eye k fixed to the cross piece b, and a "snatch block" is placed in the
loop thus formed, the snatch block being connected to the object to be raised.
The "tup" is suspended from one of two eyes m, m','projecting from the upper
ends of the traveller, or if preferred the cross piece b may be continued
beyond the standards a, a, a sufficient distance to form points of suspension.
To enable the height of the "tup" to be adjusted to a nicety we prefer to
suspend the said "tup" by means of a pair of "Weston's pulley blocks," but
other suitable tackle may be used in lieu thereof.
If found, desirable a gas
Eade's
or steam engine may be fitted to the apparatus and be carried by the framing
thereof; the said engine being suitably arranged to give motion, to the
pinions g', g', for the purpose herein-before mentioned.
In Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawings is represented an apparatus
adapted for the laying of pipes of comparatively small size, Fig. 1 being a
side elevation, Fig. 2 an end elevation, and Fig. 3 a half plan of the said
apparatus. In the form of traveller herein represented the gearing attached
to the wheels of the traveller represented in Sheet 1 is dispensed with, the
traveller being pushed along the rails, or drawn by manual or horse power.
All the wheels are made to swivel, but when off the rails as when the traveller
is being drawn "through the streets" or over roads to its place of operation
the binder pair are fixed so far as regards their freedom to swivel the
paralellisin of the leading pair, being maintained by means of a bar n having
a projection at each end, the said projections entering holes in the arms o, o,

page_text: attached to or cast or formed. on the swivelling frames which carry, the
wheels. When desired the whole or any of the wheels may be fixed so far as
regards their freedom to swivel by tightening the screws p, p, or other suitable
means, may be adopted in lieu thereof. Eyes q, q, are formed in the ends of
the arms o, o, for the attachment of the ropes or: chains' employed to draw or
drag the traveller along the rails, and are used when the traveller is being
drawn to the place at which it has to be employed...
Having now described the nature' and objects of our Invention, and methods
for carrying the same into practical effect; we will proceed to define what we
consider to be the extent of our Invention; and to this end we wish it to be
distinctly understood that we claim as novel,-..
.
J.
First, the construction and employment of travellers of the form or forms
and for the purpose herein described and illustrated in the Drawings attached
hereunto, or of any modification thereof, the same being fitted with wheels,
either. with or without gearing for actuating the said wheels, or any number
thereof, the said wheels .being. adapted to run upon rails laid upon each side of
the trench in which the pipes are to be "laid," or being adapted to run upon
a rail laid on one side of the trench and upon a plank laid upon the other
side of the said trench; and the said traveller being fitted with suitable tackle
for raising and lowering the pipes, and with arrangements for suspending the
"tup and for adjusting the height of the same.
. Secondly, the general construction and arrangement of the apparatus and
of the lifting and other "tackle" attached thereto or connected therewith, as
herein described and illustrated in the Drawings attached hereunto.
In witness whereof, we, the said Thomas Rafferty and John Henry
Storey, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-third
day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-seven.
THOMAS RAFFERTY.
(L.S.)
Signed and sealed in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
JOHN HENRY STOREY. (L.S.)
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent,
Manchester.