IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS OR CONNECTIONS FOR PIPES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS OR CONNECTIONS FOR PIPES."
_ A communication from abroad by Anton Richter, of Königsaal, and
Romuald Bozek, of Prague, both in the Empire of Austria.
Sealed the 12th February 1867, and dated the 31st August 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st August 1866.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS OR CONNECTIONS FOR PIPES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in joining together the ends of pipes by means of
rings or short tubes of india-rubber or other similar suitable elastic material,
so formed and arranged in combination with a peculiar formation of the ends
of the pipes, that a water, steam, or gas tight joint is thereby produced, which,
while it allows of any lateral or longitudinal motion of the pipes at such joints,
will become all the more water, steam, or gas tight the greater the internal
or external pressure exerted thereon may be. For this purpose in one
arrangement of this Invention for forming a butt joint between two pipes
having to withstand internal pressure, the ends of the pipes are recessed on
their internal surfaces for a short distance, and into such two contiguous recessed

page_text: ends is placed a correspondingly formed short tube of india-rubber, which,
when the pressure is exerted inside the pipes is forced against the surfaces
of the recesses, and thus closes the joint the more effectually the greater the
pressure is.
In order to make a still more perfect joint the inner meeting
edges of the pipes may be chamfered off, so as when placed together to form
a circular V groove, and a correspondingly formed V projection on the outer
surface of the india-rubber tube is then made to fit into such groove. For
suction pipes where the pressure is external a similar joint may be employed,
the V
groove being formed by the outer chamfered edges of the pipe, while
the V projection is formed on the inner surface of the india-rubber tube, which
in this case is placed over the exterior of the joint.
In another arrangement, where it is required to form the joints of socket
and spigot pipes under internal pressure, the spigot end is formed with an
external rim a little way down, which fits into the socket, and a cupped india-
rubber ring is placed over the spigot end so as to rest with its closed end
against the said rim. When the spigot with such ring is put into the socket,
the fluid or gas under pressure is forced into the open end of the cupped ring,
and presses the sides thereof firmly against the surfaces of the socket and
spigot.
In applying this arrangement to pipes under external pressure, the position
of the cupped ring is simply reversed, so that the external fluid, air, or gas
enters the open end of the same, the closed end being in this case made to
rest against a shoulder in the socket.
In another mode of applying the cupped ring to a socket and spigot joint
under internal pressure, the ring is placed between the butt end of the spigot
and a shoulder in the socket, in such a position that the cup opens into the
interior of the pipe, so that the sides thereof form the requisite fluid or gas
tight joint with the end surface of the spigot and shoulder of the socket. For
pipes under external pressure the spigot is formed with a flange or shoulder
outside of and equal in dimensions to the end surface of the socket, and the
cupped ring is placed between such flange and the end of the socket in such
a position that the cup opens outwards.
In another arrangement for internal pressure the spigot end is made less
in external diameter than the other part of the pipe so as to form a shoulder,
and the external surface of such reduced end is made either entirely or
partially tapering. A plain india-rubber ring is then placed upon the spigot
end, and the latter is pushed into the socket, which is somewhat widened out,
whereby the india-rubber ring is compressed between the socket and spigot,
and is forced against the shoulder of the latter.

page_text: In applying this arrangement for external pressure, the shoulder on the
spigot is dispensed with, and a shoulder is formed in the socket, against which
the india-rubber ring is pressed.
In another arrangement the socket is formed with a broad internal shoulder,
and the outer edge of the spigot end is chamfered off to a considerable extent.
A ring of india-rubber, the section of which has the form of a quadrant
of a circle, is placed in the angle of the shoulder of the socket, and the
chamfered edge of the spigot is made to press against the surface of the ring;
or in place of the form of india-rubber ring just described, an annular
disc may be used, the inner edge of which projects somewhat into the pipe,
so that when the spigot (the edge of which in this case is not chamfered off)
is forced in, so as to compress the part of the disc between it and the shoulder
of the spigot, the projecting part of the india-rubber disc forms a circular rim
or flange, which is made by the internal pressure to overlap and press against
the edges of the joint, so as to make it perfectly fluid or gas tight.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th February 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first 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 Charles Denton Abel, Her special licence that I, the said
Charles Denton Abel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN JOINTS OB CONNECTIONS FOR PIPES," a communication to me
from abroad by Anton Richter, of Königsaal, and Romuald Bozek, of Prague,
both in the Empire of Austria, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors or administrators, by an instru-

page_text: ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said Charles Denton Abel, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in joining together the ends of pipes by means of
rings or short tubes of india-rubber or other similar suitable elastic material,
so formed and arranged in combination with a peculiar formation of the ends
of the pipes that a water, steam, or gas tight joint is thereby produced, which,
while it allows of any lateral or longitudinal motion of the pipes at such joints,
will become all the more water, steam, or gas tight, the greater the internal
or external pressure exerted thereon may be.
On the accompanying Drawing are shown various arrangements by which
this Invention may be carried into effect.
Figure 1 shows an arrangement in which a butt joint is formed between the
pipes A, B, having to withstand internal pressure by recessing the inner
surfaces of the abutting ends thereof, as shown, and placing inside such
recessed ends a short tube of india-rubber C, which when the pressure is
exerted inside the pipes is forced against the surfaces of the recesses, and thus
closes the joint the more effectually the greater the pressure is. In order to
form a still more perfect joint the inner meeting edges of the two pipes may
be chamfered off, as at a, Figure 2, so as when placed together to form a
circular V groove, and a corresponding V projection c is formed on the outer
surface of the india-rubber tube C which fits into the V groove on the
pipes.
A similar arrangement may be employed for suction pipes, or- pipes
sustaining external pressure, as shown at Figure 3, where the outer surfaces
of the ends are recessed, and the outer edges thereof chamfered, so as to form
a V groove at a, and the V projection c is formed on the inner surface of the
india-rubber tube C, which fits over the outside recessed surfaces of the pipes,
as shown.
Figure 4 shows an arrangement for socket and spigot pipes sustaining
internal pressure. The spigot end B has a rim or shoulder at b, against
which rests the split or cup-shaped india-rubber ring C, the edge of which

page_text: abutts against a circular shoulder a formed in the socket A. The fluid or
gas under pressure in the pipes is forced into the open end of the ring C, and
in pressing the sides thereof against the surfaces of the socket and spigot
makes the joint all the more fluid or gas tight. For pipes sustaining external
pressure the position of the ring C is reversed, as at Figure 5, the bottom of
the cup resting against the shoulder a of the socket, while the outer surface of
the spigot is recessed at 6, so that the inner edge of the cup is flush with the
outer surface of the pipe.
Figure 6 shows another mode of applying the cupped ring C to the socket
and spigot joint A, B, of pipes under internal pressure. In this case the ring
is formed so that the cup opens on the inner circumference, and is placed
between the shoulder a of the socket and the end surface 6 of the spigot, so
that the pressure in the pipes tends to open out the ring, and consequently
presses it against the surfaces a and b. In Figure 7 a similar form and
arrangement of the cupped ring is shown adapted to pipes under external
pressure. In this case the ring C opens on the outer circumference, and is
placed upon the end of the pipe B, and held between the flange 6 formed on
the pipe B and the flange a formed on the pipe A; the end of the pipe B is
made to fit into a recess a¹ formed in the pipe A.
Figures 8, 9, and 10, show arrangements for forming the requisite fluid or
gas tight joint in socket and spigot pipes by means of an india-rubber ring C
of a solid circular transverse section. Figures 8 and 9 show arrangements
for internal pressure, and Figure 10 shows the same applied under external
pressure; in the first case the spigot end B is made entirely tapering up to
the shoulder at b, so that when it is pushed into the socket the ring C is
forced on the same up to the shoulder, and is compressed between the surfaces
of the socket and spigot, as seen at the left-hand joint. In Figure 10 the
only difference is that the spigot end is made only partially tapering, and the
shoulder is rather deeper. In Figure 10 the spigot end B is also made
slightly tapering, but has no shoulder, which in this case is formed on the
socket at a, the ring C being forced against this shoulder when the spigot is
inserted, as seen at the left-hand joint.
Figure 11 shows an arrangement suitable both for internal and external
pressure, in which an india-rubber ring C of angular section is placed in the
angle of the shoulder a formed in the socket A, and the end of the spigot B is
formed with a chamfered outer edge b, which in being pushed into the
socket A, compresses the india-rubber ring C, as shown at the left-hand
connection, so as to force it somewhat in each direction into the crevices
between the socket and spigot.

page_text: In Figure 12 an annular disc of india-rubber C is placed between .the
shoulder a of the socket A and the end surface 6 of the spigot B, the ring
being so formed that when compressed between the surfaces the inner edge
thereof projects into the pipes as at c, and in lapping over the inner edges
thereof increases the efficacy of the joint formed thereby, as the pressure of
the fluid or gas inside the pipes will only tend to increase such lap.
It will be readily understood that various other modifications of the form
of the india-rubber ring and the ends of the pipes may be employed embodying
the characteristic features of those before described, which are, namely, firstly,
that the pressure of the fluid or gas upon the ring renders the joint formed
thereby all the more fluid or gas tight the greater the pressure exerted may
be; and secondly, that there is nothing to oppose any moderate longitudinal
or transverse motion of the pipes, beyond the elastic resistance of the india-
rubber ring.
This improved mode of forming joints for pipes has in addition to the
above, the following advantages, firstly, that the connections of the pipes may
be effected in a much more simple, rapid and less expensive manner than
heretofore; and, secondly, that it may be employed with advantage in con
nection with earthenware pipes, which have hitherto met with but limited
application on account of the difficulty experienced in making effective joints.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, what I claim is, the before described modes or any mere modifications
thereof, for forming fluid or gas tight joints between pipes by means of rings
or tubes of india-rubber so arranged in combination with a peculiar for-
mation of the ends of the pipes that the internal or external pressure upon
such joints tends only to make them all the more fluid or gas tight.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.