IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ASBESTOS PACKING FOR PISTON AND VALVE RODS, PISTONS, PIPE JOINTS, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Wotherspoon, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ASBESTOS PACKING FOR PISTON AND VALVE RODS,
PISTONS, PIPE JOINTS, AND OTHER SIMILAR PURPOSES."

page_text: and used for the stuffing boxes of piston and valve rods, and pistons of
steam engines, pump plungers, pipe joints, man-hole door joints in boilers,
tanks, or other vessels, and for other similar purposes, consists in using
the asbestos or amianthus in the woven state, that is as cloth.
The cloth may be composed wholly of asbestos or amianthus yarn or
other fibrous substances, such, for example, as hemp, flax, and jute, or
wire may be mixed therewith, and in order to convert the same into
packing it is rolled into a rope-like length of circular, oval, oblong or
other suitable section. The packing so made may be formed with a
core of india-rubber or other elastic material, and the packing may be,
treated with a solution of india-rubber or gutta percha, and afterwards
vulcanised.
In order to render the improved packing more elastic it may have
elastic material placed between the layers of the cloth, such as the chips
or shavings of cork, or asbestos in the state of a flock or floss or in the
fibre may be placed between the layrs of cloth.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Wotherspoon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
WOTHERSPOON, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Wotherspoon, Her special license that
I, the said James Wotherspoon, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Wotherspoon, my executors, admini-
strators, 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,

page_text: and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ASBESTOS PACKING FOR PISTON AND VALVE RODS, PISTONS, PIPE JOINTS, AND OTHER
SIMILAR PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Wotherspoon, 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 James Wotherspoon, 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention, which relates to improvements in the manufacture
or construction of packing, formed wholly or partly of asbestos or
amianthus, and used for the stuffing boxes of piston and valve rods,.
and pistons of steam engines, pump plungers, pipe joints, man-hole
door joints in boilers, tanks, or other vessels, and for other similar pur-
poses, consists in using the asbestos or amianthus in the woven state,
that is as cloth.
The cloth may be composed wholly of asbestos or amianthus yarn or
other fibrous substances, such for example as hemp, flax, and jute, or
wire may be mixed with either on spinning the yarn, or in the weaving
operations. In order to convert the cloth so constructed into packing,
it is rolled either by hand or by suitable mechanism into a rope-like
length of circular, oval, oblong, or other suitable section. The packing
so made may be formed with a core of india-rubber or other elastic
material, and the packing may be treated with a solution of india-rubber
or gutta percha, and afterwards vulcanised.
In order to render the improved packing more elastic it may have
elastic material placed between the layers of the cloth, or the core may
be composed of elastic material, such as the chips or shavings of cork or
dust ground from cork or asbestos in the state of a flock or floss or in
the fibre may be placed between the layers of cloth.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would

page_text: 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 Letter Patent is, the construction of packing from
cloth formed wholly or partly of asbestos or amianthus, and with or
without elastic substances between the layer of cloth, as herein-before 5
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Wotherspoon, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of September One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.