AN IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING ▲ COMMUNICATION WITH WATER OR GAS MAINS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Morris, of the Kent Waterworks,
Deptford, in the County of Kent, Engineer, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING A
Sealed the 12th November 1872, and dated the 14th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Morris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th May 1872.
I, WILLIAM MORRIS, of the Kent Waterworks, Deptford, in the
County of Kent, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING
▲ COMMUNICATION WITH WATER OR GAS MAINS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of and appliances for connecting gas
or water service pipes with the mains under pressure without waste of
gas or water.
According to this Invention after the hole has been bored and tapped
in the main by any suitable and well-known apparatus so arranged

page_text: as to prevent escape of gas or water, I screw into the said hole a brass
or other metal ferrule, which is closed for the time being by an internal
screwed plug, the upper or projecting portion of the plug being screwed
into one end of a rod or handle, and locked therein by a transverse
key or cottar, the stem of the said rod being passed through and work-
ing in the stuffing box of the apparatus which is employed for primarily
drilling and tapping the hole in the main. The plugged ferrule having
been thus screwed into the tapped hole in the main so as to close
the same, the drilling and tapping apparatus is removed, as is well
understood, leaving the rod attached to the screwed plug. The key or
cottar is then withdrawn, and the rod is removed by unscrewing it from
the plug. A T junction piece is then screwed tight on to the upper
external screwed part of the ferrule so as to enclose the plug. The
branch or service pipe is then connected by the ordinary screwed union
or other joint with the T piece, after which the internal plug is
unscrewed from the ferrule by a screw driver inserted through the top
of the T piece, which portion of the T picce is screwed internally to
correspond to the plug before referred to. As the said plug is
unscrewed from the ferrule its upper end enters and screws on to the
upper part or mouth of the T piece, thereby closing the same before
the ferrule is actually opened. The screwed plug is screwed upwards
until a perfectly free water or gas way is left, whereupon a collar is
screwed on to the portion of the plug which is left projecting above the
T piece, and a permanent joint is established by a washer or hemp
packing applied in the well-known manner. The plug may be screwed
back again into the ferrule, and the gas or water supply thereby shut off
at any time by an ordinary screwdriver.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Morris in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MORRIS, of the Kent Waterworks, Deptford, in the County of Kent,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the 35th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors give and
grant unto me, the said William Morris, Her special license that I, the
said William Morris, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Morris, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OR METHOD OF AND
MEANS FOR ESTABLISHING A COMMUNICATION WITH WATER OR GAS MAINS,” upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Morris, my
executors or administrators, 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 Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Morris, 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
following 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 a mode of and appliances for connecting
gas or water service pipes with the mains under pressure without waste
of gas or water.
According to this Invention after the hole has been bored and tapped
in the main by any suitable and well-known apparatus so arranged as to
prevent escape of gas or water I screw into the said hole a brass or
other metal ferrule, which is closed for the time being by an internal
screwed plug, the upper or projecting portion of the plug being screwed
into one end of a rod or handle, and locked therein by a transverse key
or cottar, the stem of the said rod being passed through and working in
the stuffing box of the apparatus, which is employed for primarily
drilling and tapping the hole in the main. The plugged ferrule having
been thus screwed into the tapped hole in the main, so as to close the
same, the drilling and tapping apparatus is removed, as is well under-

page_text: stood, leaving the rod attached to the screwed plug. The key or cottar
is then withdrawn, and the rod is removed by unscrewing it from the
plug. AT junction piece is then screwed tight on to the upper external
screwed part of the ferrule so as to enclose the plug. The branch or
service pipe is then connected by the ordinary screwed union or other i
joint with the T piece, after which the internal plug is unscrewed from
the ferrule by a screwdriver inserted through the top of the T picce,
which portion of the T piece is screwed internally to correspond to the
plug before referred to. As the said plug is unscrewed from the ferrule
its upper end enters and screws into the upper part or mouth of the
T picce, thereby closing the same before the ferrule is actually opened.
The screwed plug is screwed upwards until a perfectly free water or gas
way is left, whereupon a collar is screwed on to the portion of the plug
which is left projecting above the T piece, and a permanent joint is
established by a washer or hemp packing applied in the well-known
manner. The plug may be screwed back again into the ferrule, and the
gas or water supply thereby shut off at any time by an ordinary screw-
driver.
And in order that the 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 the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings is a sectional view of a connection made
with a gas or water main according to one mode of carrying out my
said Invention; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the screwed metal
ferrule with its internal screwed plug and the lower end of the key for
screwing the ferrule home into the main; and Figure 3 is a sectional
view showing the T junction piece screwed on to the ferrule, which is
here shewn as being still closed by the internal plug, in order to prevent
any escape of water or gas whilst the service or branch pipe is being
connected to the T picer.
A is a portion of a water or gas main, and B is the service or branch
pipe connected therewith. In making the connection I first drill and tap
a hole into the main, in doing which I prefer to employ the apparatus
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to Alfred Upward,
No. 145, A.D. 1867, with a view to the prevention of any escape of
water or gas during the operations of drilling and tapping the hole, and

page_text: the screwing in of the metal ferrule C. This metal ferrule is screwed
at a to fit the internal tapped hole in the main; it is also screwed
internally to receive the screwed internal metal plug D, and has another
screw thread formed externally upon it at 6 to receive the junction
T piece E, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3. The hole having been prepared
for the reception of the ferrule I remove the drilling and tapping tool,
and pass down through the top of the apparatus employed for preventing
loss of water or gas the ferrule with its plug D screwed well home
therein, the upper projecting end of the plug being at the same time
screwed into the end of the key F, and prevented from turning therein
by the cottar c, which is inserted transversely through the key and
through a notch made in the top of the plug, as shown clearly in
Figure 2. The ferrule is then screwed well home into the main by the
action of the key, after which the enclosing apparatus is removed and
the key is taken off, leaving the hole effectually plugged by the ferrule
and plug D. The T or junction piece E is then screwed firmly on to the
thread 6 of the ferrule, a leather or other washer d being interposed
between the two, in order to make a good joint. The service or branch
pipe B is now joined on to the T piece in any well-known or convenient
manner, and the communication with the main is then opened by intro-
ducing a screw driven down through the open screwed mouth e of the
T piece, and unscrewing the plug D from the interior of the ferrule;
but before the lower end of the said plug entirely leaves the ferrule its
upper end enters the internal screwed mouth e of the T piece, conse-
quently no escape of water or gas can possibly take place except into the
service pipe. The plug D is screwed upwards until it projects suffi-
ciently above the top of the T piece to receive the screwed collar G,
which acts as a jamb nut for holding the plug securely in its place, the
said plug and collar being left permanently on the T piece, as shewn
clearly in Figure 1.
It is obvious that in lieu of a T junction piece the body of a cock or
valve may be screwed on to the ferrule.
Figure 4 is a slightly modified arrangement wherein a much shorter
plug D is employed, and the ferrule C is screwed into the main A by a
key F, the external screwed end ƒ of which screws inside the ferrule
above the end of the plug, as shown clearly in Figure 5, in lieu of
baving an internal screwed socket in the key screwing on to the pro-
jeeting end of the plug as in the first-described arrangement.

page_text: Figure 6 shows a modification wherein the plug D is so short as not
to close entirely the lateral branch of the T piece E before it has left the
ferrule C, which is screwed in its place by a key similar to that shown
in Figure 5; but in order to prevent any escape of water or gas through
the upper part of the T piece whilst the plug D is being screwed
upwards a cap H with a central round hole g therein and a leather
packing ring & underneath it is screwed on to the top of the T piece
before inserting the key F; the round shank of the key fits water and
gas tight inside the hole g, and its square end ƒ enters a corresponding
recess in the top of the plug D, which is screwed well home up against :
the packing ring h.
In Figures 4 and 6 I have represented the plug in dotted section lines
in its position in the ferrule, and in full lines in its elevated or open
position.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my :
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the con-
necting of gas or water service pipes with their mains by the employment
in combination of the screwed ferrule, the internal screwed plug, and the
Tjunction piece or its equivalent, substantially in the manner herein-
before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Morris, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of November
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.