Improvements in Pipe Couplings.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Mar., 1891-Accepted 16th May. 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by JOHN WILLIAM LINZEE, Jr., of No. 3, Asburton
Place, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Gentleman.]
Improvements in Pipe Couplings.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention has relation to conduit pipes generally, and particularly to pipes
of the kind mentioned designed for the reception of insulated electric wires.
It is the object of the invention to provide such improvements as will permit
of the laying of conduit pipes much more rapidly and economically than heretofore.
It is also the object of the invention to provide such improvements as will
render the employment of skilled pipemen in laying of the pipes entirely
unnecessary.
It is also the object of the invention to provide such improvements as will permit
of the laying of sections at points where it is quite impossible with existing
contrivances to place conduit pipes.
It is also the object of the invention to provide such improvements as will permit
of the removal of a section of laid pipe without the necessity of cutting the same
as is now the case.
It is also the object of the invention to provide such improvements in conduit
pipes as will obviate the necessity of forming screw threads upon and in the ends of
the sections, as also the reaming of the ends down to a substantial knife edge.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing and to the letters of
reference marked thereon, forming a part of this Specification, the same letters
of reference indicating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever
they occur.
Of the said drawing,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of two sections of pipe coupled in accordance
with the improvements.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the same on a somewhat larger scale showing the
coupling and adjunctive devices in section.
Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the line 3, 3 of Fig. 2, and
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the wedge-block and wedge employed in the
invention.
In carrying out the invention a sleeve or collar a is provided which is adapted to
fit closely over the pipe 6 for a greater portion of the distance therearound, as is
shown in Fig. 3, and is extended at its upper part, though it might as well be at its
side part, so as to admit of the introduction, between the pipe and the sleeve, of a
vedge-block c, which wedge-block is adapted to fit closely around the portion of the
pipe not closely embraced by the sleeve or collar a.
The collar a may be provided at a central point on its interior with a rib d of a
hickness corresponding substantially to the thickness of the pipe b, so that the ends
of two sections of the pipe may be inserted into the opposite ends of the sleeve or
collar a, and abut against the rib d with the result of leaving the interior of the
pipe practically smooth, and so that wires passed into the same will not catch
gainst or be abraded by contact with the ends of the pipe. The rib d serves
s a means for centering the sleeve or collar a upon the ends of two sections
f pipe.
The pipe being placed in position in the sleeve or collar a as before stated

page_text: wedge-blocks may be placed in position between the collar and the pipe as before
stated and wedges e be driven in between the wedge-blocks and the collar, securing
the collar in place upon the pipe. If it need, be red or white lead or similar
substance may be introduced between the collar and pipe and means for securing the
parts in place, to insure a perfectly water tight joint.
By the means described it will be seen that the necessity of screw threading and
reaming the ends of adjacent sections of the pipe, in order to secure the same
together, and form a practically smooth interior surface, and that the need of
employing the services of expert pipemen to screw the sections together is entirely
obviated.
Instead of providing the collar a on its interior with a rib d the interior surface
of said collar and sleeve may be made entirely smooth, in which case the adjacent
ends of two sections of pipe abut one against the other, while with this construction
a little more care is necessary to insure the centering of the sleeve a upon the ends
of the pipe, than is required with the construction shown in Fig. 2. A form of the
device is provided which will permit the removal of the wedges and wedge-blocks,
and the slipping back of the collar or sleeve a entirely off from one section upon
another, and so permit the removal of any one section without cutting the same, or
disturbing an adjacent section..
Where it is desired to form a curve or elbow in the pipe being laid, the said
curved portion of the pipe may be given a form similar to the sleeve or collar shown
in Fig. 2 that is to say, the rib d will be, as it were, extended so as to form a
substantial portion of the pipe, and such portion being given the curved or elbow
form, and the ends of the sections of pipes will be secured in place in the ends of
the sleeve or elbow by means of wedges and wedge-blocks before mentioned.
When the sleeve or collar a is made of cast iron it may be made of the form
shown in the drawings; but when it is made of wrought iron the end ribs or
flanges a' may be dispensed with.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In combination with the abutting ends of two pipe sections, a continuous
sleeve or collar surrounding and fitting closely against a portion only of the pipe,
blocks e fitting upon the pipe in the space remaining between the sleeve or collar
and the pipe, and wedges e between the sleeve and the blocks to compress said
blocks and sleeve against the pipe sections, as shown and described.
2. The combination with the abutting pipe sections bb, of the sleeve or collar a
having the internal flange d with its inner edge coincident with the inner surface of
the pipe, as shown and described.
Dated this 31st day of March 1891
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.